The first installment of Monday Musings, where you basically get to listen to me ramble on randomness for 30mins! LOL! Muse and news you can use!
This week: 
Sean Connery died, man! Good innings, second-favourite Bond.
Friends visiting this week. YASSSSS!
Drivers I can't stand. @ me!
A book I'm reading.
Oh, yeah. The Presidential election... It's about responsibility, not winning.

It's sad that such a necessity has become mere cliche, man. It took me going through my own situation at work, and putting the statement into actual practice, to see how powerful a thing it is. It was a feeling of absolute relief when the problem was dealt with, after over a year of stress and worry.

If you are in a long term problem, you must be part of the problem. God can only deal with the problem when you are removed from it. Let go and let God.

It's so important to learn, for ourselves, what comes from behind a pulpit.
Aged 40, I've just verified, for myself, that God said it's fine to consume alcohol, and that wine was a normal part of life in ancient Israel. Warning was never given to NOT drink alcohol. The warning was against drunkenness. There are circumstances, though, where I see alcohol is best left alone. Circumstances like mine.

My Aurora PD background is finally complete and I'm booked in for my Job Suitability Assessment, November 13th. Please remember me in your prayers.

Also, THANK YOU for the contributions I received from Carl and Rita. Got a decent microphone!

After battling cancer for 7mths, Ben was taken from us. This world will be a darker place without him. Yet, there is legacy in his passing, and a good one. I hold this man on a par with Sidney Carton, from A Tale of Two Cities. Indeed, he was a key motivator in me starting down this road of YouTube and padcasting. He's gonna be greatly missed.
I also discuss the endgame for the podcast in this episode and would greatly appreciate any support offered.

Please feel no pressure to donate.

paypal.me/Darren552

There is a difference between attending church and having a relationship with God.

Being a smart, curious 7 years old boy, in "black church" caused me to to confront a social construct that left me believing I was worthless. Especially after the "exorcism", which was nothing more than child abuse clothed in religious ignorance.

Broken, I left church for the last time aged around 21. It wasn't until I was 33, and still broken, that I decided I wanted to try again, this time focusing on the relationship with God, as opposed to attendance at a church.

I'm now in a genuinely happy place and encourage everyone, believer and non-believer, to allow themselves to be shaped by God's word, as opposed to cherry-picking his word to support where we are currently at. Try him. I promise you won't be disappointed.

When I was younger, I had a very abrasive relationship with my mum. As a result, I became a man that hurt women. When I was in my early 20s, I finally gave myself to a relationship, only to be dropped and cheated on.
These things, compounded with coming from a broken home and being rejected by the church I was attending, put me in a position where I carried these rejections into my relationship with God.
I didn't realize at the time but, coming across Psalm 51, and learning to actually surrender to the relationship, in order to get to know God's character, set me on a trajectory where I now know what is needed in order for me to be free of the hurt of past rejections.

In 2016, I was instructed, by the Holy Spirit, to pray for a man who was dying of cancer. Specifically, I was to tell the cancer to leave, in order for Joe to be healed and for his family to be saved. I never followed through as I was supposed to and Joe died, quickly.
It haunts me to this day and I hope that by sharing my story, I can encourage someone to hear what God has to say to you, acting accordingly, for your own good standing and for the standing of those that God wishes to work on through you.

Also, I passed my Aurora Police Department fitness test. The application is going well so far. Plus, after much deliberation, I submitted my application to enter into my church's Pastoral Internship Program.

Shalom.

A good friend of mine posed the question, "What is the difference between belief and faith?"
Initially I thought they were one and the same. However, I discovered that they are different entities, requiring each other's presence to develop our relationship with Christ.

PSA - I will be switching to a once-a-week schedule, as I learn this new world of podcasting. Bible studies will be shared on Sundays, beginning with this coming Sunday, 9/20/2020.

The Apostle Paul tells us, in Colossians, that we should do everything heartily, as unto the Lord. He goes on to tell us that, in doing so, we can expect to reap the rewards of our inheritance.

Reading through Luke 16 and the story of Lazarus and the rich man, I asked myself if I was really happy with where I'm at. Given the date, I realized that many who left us, in the 9/11 attacks, would still have been with us if they were living lives they were passionate for, as they would have been in a different place at the same time.

It's so important to chase the lives we are passionate for. Worrying about relationships, after a life of success and riches, will see us doomed as the rich man from the story.