Gordon MacDonald (1) (1939–)

Book 45 - Gordon MacDonald - When Men Think Private Thoughts

Many many moons ago, Nov 1996 I attended my first Christian conference. More than that...it was a men’s conference. It was a very special year as just a few months earlier I had got married. I had never really been challenged about my faith until that day. With Floyd McClung and Gordon MacDonald it was the most inspiring event I had ever witnessed. Uplifting...you have not lived unless you have heard over a thousand men singing and praising God.

Gordon MacDonald has stuck in my head all these years...his honesty about his failings...how hard it is to walk the walk...being tripped my his own humanity and how God brought him back...willing and patiently.

I bought this book that day...I even went as far as getting Gordon to sign it...

It touched me in a way...an honest way that I don’t think any other book like this ever has...before or since.

The depth to which this book has challenged me can’t be put into words. On picking it up for the first time in nearly 25 years reminds me of those private thoughts...where are we going ? How are we getting there ? Who was and continues to signpost us ? How do men open up to each other ?

The book taught me to be thankful...for family...for friends...

More importantly it has reminded me of times I spent with my own father as well as times I spend with my Heavenly Father. Praise God for our sons...fathers...uncles...friends.… (more)

Book 133 - Gordon MacDonald - Ordering your private world

The influence this now elderly gentleman has had on my 50 years is difficult to measure. His ability as a man of faith to cut through the wastefulness of today and focus on what is real and actually important is palpable.

This book belongs to my wife and has been on the shelf for decades…back to …well…you know…those shelves that are bending under the weight of books we all promise to read…one day. This is a revised version and is now one I know I will return to annually. Trying to sum it up is hard but it quite literally challenges us to cut through the chaos and put some order into those private moments.

MacDonald is brilliant at doing this as he has lived it…walked it…fallen from it and been picked up again…worth grabbing ‘When men think private thoughts’ and thumbing through another amazing text on what ‘private’ actually means.

I picked out several points that are worth focusing on

1. Being driven - what drives us ? Are we relentlessly being moved or compelled…controlled even… to accomplish a goal. The definition for me that struck home the most was being self-motivated. In our sacrificial life…who should we be driven by ? Who actually motivates us in our private world ?
2. Think Christianity - a simple but brilliant expression…should be central to all decisions…in life…in work…at home…’What would Jesus do ?’
3. Remember to keep racking the balls - this is the one that left out of the book at me. Dealing with change is so hard on all of us…we don’t like it…we don’t like how we don’t have control. MacDonald illustrates this as a set of pool balls at the start of a frame. All neat and tidy …exactly how WE want our day/ life to be…and then the cue ball crashes into it…scattering our organisation all over the table. This is life…this happens…change happens. With God’s help we can keep re-racking the balls. Be prepared to reorder and go again.
4. Keep pounding the nails and return to rest - following on from re-racking is the message to be prepared to work at it…nails come loose in any piece of wood…we must keep hammering away to ensure the object keeps its shape. We must do that in life BUT we must also ensure, just as Jesus did, a time to rest follows a time of busyness. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)
5. Jesus rested, reflected and returned to God - He Sabbathed - an active time where he left the sharing of God to go off and just think, listen and pray.

Essential reading…rereading and rereading again.… (more)

I was drawn to this book because it promised “practical advice on how to bring order to your every day.” Not the kind of order that Marie Kondo preaches, but for your inner world, to equip you to live life from the inside out, giving balance to your private world – the central point of a life in touch with God.

MacDonald asks questions we’ve all asked related to the importance of maintaining our inner world: “Is there a private world beneath the noise and action at the surface? A world that needs to be explored and maintained? Can strength and resilience be developed that will bear up under the growing pressure at the surface?”

MacDonald answers these questions with thoughtfulness and honesty, using his personal experiences and describing his spiritual growth and maturity. The book was first written in 1984 and has been updated in 1985, 2003 and 2017, so the references are current.

But this is more than a book about MacDonald’s spiritual growth. It’s a well-written how-to for the reader – how to maintain a balance between the chaos of our daily lives and the necessary peace of a spiritual relationship with God. This book contains many examples for readers to connect with, solid advice to consider and put into practice, and support in developing a strong spiritual life.

MacDonald encourages the use of a daily journal, including actually writing out prayers. He finds this technique to be a practical way to learn to listen to God speaking to him. The book concludes with a study guide that can be used alone or with a small group. Again, it’s another tool to remove ourselves from the commotion of outer life and move toward inner-directed living.

My favorite part of the book, which was full of encouragement and support, was the importance of cultivating real friends – “Capital-F Friends.” These are the people who know you best, who you can be totally honest with, those who know your heart, and you know theirs. Having these friends is part of what makes an ordered private world. I appreciated the prompting to cultivate real friends. I’m going to work on that one now!

This is a book I could read more than once, and continue to learn from with each reading.… (more)