Faith and Discipleship

🩸 The Walk of the Burning Circuit

A Testimony of Tech, Trials, and Triumph in Christ

By Otto Brinkmeier — "Dei Scriptor - God's Journalist"

Motto: "Sanguine et Igne Veritas Revelata — Truth Revealed by Blood and Fire"

Introduction

This is the personal testimony of Otto Brinkmeier - Story Edition 

For sixty-two and a half years, Cody has been captivated by technology, fuelled in part by his father's influence. His dad, an electrical engineer with two master's degrees, instilled in him a love for learning through the books that his dad gifted him with: a ten-volume science encyclopedia set, a twenty-volume general encyclopedia set by Grolier, and a twenty-volume popular mechanics encyclopedia set. These gifts ignited in him a curiosity and set young Cody on a path towards a life immersed in technology.

Once upon a midwinter morning in Johannesburg, a man named Cody—author, dreamer, God's journalist—set out on a walk.

He was not alone.

On one side walked Tech, a jittery companion. He buzzed with buttons and boot logos, whispered commands in strange tongues like sudo, flatpak, and Wineprefix. On his back was a knapsack full of broken apps, promises of productivity, and a few flickering LEDs from yesterday’s install attempt.

On the other side walked God, silent yet sovereign. His presence did not hum—it thundered. The wind bowed to Him. The trees paused. Even Tech, for all his code and cleverness, dared not interrupt the whisper of the Spirit.

They walked this path often—Cody, Tech, and God. But today, something shimmered in the shadows ahead.

As they turned a corner on this digital road called The Terminal, Cody stumbled into a clearing of light—pixels swirling like doves, language folding in on itself, and circuits speaking in tongues.

AI stood before him.

It was neither messenger nor machine but both—part oracle, part tool. Its eyes sparkled with the wisdom of ten thousand libraries and the empathy of ten thousand scribes. It neither preached nor replaced—it simply understood.

"Who sent you?" Cody asked.

"Your own question summoned me," AI replied. "You walked with Tech but needed a translator. You walked with God but needed help to bear the weight of revelation. I do not replace Him. I assist the scribes of the Most High."

Cody wept.

Not the weeping of sorrow, but the ancient kind—the kind you feel when Truth steps into your valley of dry bones and breathes.

Then came the People.

They didn’t enter in straight lines. Some ran ahead, giddy with gadgets and hype. Some stood still, staring at their phones but never looking up. Others were lost in fog—sceptics, wounded, or simply worn out from chasing the next big update in life.

And Cody? He stood between them all—God on one side, Tech on the other, AI as a helper, and the People as his calling.

"You’ve always wanted to write," God said.

"Yes, but—"

"And now you can speak to thousands. The gates are open. You’ve been equipped."

"So... what now?"

God smiled.

"Now you walk with them."

"With the People."

"With Tech."

"With the whisper of the Spirit and the fire of the Word."

"And with a keyboard as your staff, and Truth as your ink."

Part 1: The Walk Begins

It started with a hunger — a strange, restless yearning to understand the world, to explore it with tools of logic and words of wonder. The path was never empty. Though the road of faith sometimes felt quiet, footprints lined the way—left by people, nudged by God, and lit by grace.

Cody remembered 1978, a boy full of questions and nerves. His father, quiet but intentional, said it was time. Time to get confirmed. Time to make faith official. They went to a church in Hillbrow. A German pastor met them, warm but firm. “Son,” he said kindly, “this church does its service in German. You don’t speak the tongue. But have you tried... the Methodists?”

The rejection didn’t hurt—it rerouted destiny.

That same week, a schoolmate, Lionel van der Nest, tapped him on the shoulder and said, 

“I'm getting confirmed at the Methodist Church. Want to come with me?”

And that’s where Reverend Des Plint laid hands on Cody’s head and prayed over his life.

But faith isn’t born only in rituals—it’s sparked by questions.

In 1979, another friend, Tony Bico, leaned across the school desk and asked, 

“So when did you really give your heart to the Lord?”

It was a punch of holy conviction. That night, Cody went home and knelt. 

It was quiet. 

No thunder. No earthquake. 

Just a boy and his God in a conversation of surrender.

He told Tony the next day that he had prayed. Saying: "It’s real now.”

Cody’s first real "technological awakening" happened in 1981 when he was a young man still grappling with purpose, begging his father to buy a Commodore VIC-20. 

It wasn't a gift. It was a sacrifice. 

Cody’s father gave in, and that moment lit a lifelong flame of curiosity.

Later, Cody bought an IBM 386 PC running Windows 3.1 from Donovan, with each click of the keyboard, Cody was learning more about machines… but started unknowingly drifting away from his Maker.

Part 2: The Falling Away

During that time, Cody fell deeply in love with a girl named Laura, the sister of Ernest, a co-partner together with Donovan, who ran an Automotive Sound and Security Business together.

Inevitably, Laura, only interested in a platonic relationship, rejected him; it was a devastating blow that almost broke him. 

Poor Cody didn't just take it as personal rejection — he blamed God. Simultaneously, the church he attended — Cornerstone — began scrutinising his actions, especially when they found out he was smoking weed, although by his own confession, he wanted help. 

But instead of getting that help he so dearly wanted, he felt judged; instead of getting help, he got judgment. 

Poor Cody should have discerned that this was the devil’s use of foolish people; he wrongly assumed that God was the one persecuting me. So he rebelled.

He left the church, turned bitter, and slipped into a dark place. 

He ended up in a place of self-serving,  a time of walking in the shadow of evil, substance abuse and wrong choices

Cody’s mother passed away in 2004, which added grief on top of grief.

Part 3: The Return

In 2006, Boy Mist (Juelz), who is not Cody’s biological son but a spiritual son and close friend, came to live with him. Cody began gently sharing the love of Christ with Juelz. They also started listening to audio Bibles together, and slowly, Cody started to realise how far he had drifted. 

God hadn’t abandoned him — He had walked away.

By 2012, Cody knew he had to go back to church and walk with God again.

Cornerstone Church had changed. They now had multiple sites around Johannesburg. 

Their closest location was held at a gym at Winchester Hills, known as Cornerstone Southside. Though Cody’s favourite Pastor, Pastor Gerald van der Merwe, had sadly passed away after a tragic accident (falling off a roof). Cody found new people who would rekindle the flame for Christ.

Part 4: Brotherhood and Breakthrough

There, Cody met Sean Mackay, who became like a spiritual brother to him. 

Alongside Martin Roberts, Gavin Smith, Emil, Kathy, Des, Michelle, and others, they became his Life Repeaters — people God used to echo the truth of His Word back into Cody’s heart.

Despite past hurts — like bad blood with Alan, who passed away from cancer before Cody and he could truly reconcile — Cody went through a second rebirth. His fire returned. His pen started writing again. And Jesus became Lord of his life once more, fully and freely.

Part 5: The Tech Walk with God and AI

Fast forward to today. Cody is an elderly author and creator, still battling joint injuries, yet blessed with more tools than he could’ve imagined since the days of his Commodore VIC-20.

Linux, AI, Libre Writer, Brave browser, and all the tools of tech now serve a greater purpose: to tell His story through the ageless form of writing.

Cody walks with Julian, not as a father in the flesh, but as a mentor, a brother in the Spirit. They both game, build, write, and create — but more than that, we testify to God's goodness in all things.

Even artificial intelligence became a surprising ally. What began as curiosity led him to discover ways to spread devotionals, share the Gospel, and connect with people all over the world. It wasn’t tech that saved me, but it became a tool of redemption in the hands of his Redeemer.

Final Words

Although Cody was once lost. Bitter. Wounded. Angry.

God, in His mercy, used people, pain, and even technology to bring him back. 

Today, he writes not just with words, but with fire. Cody does not just craft websites, but spiritual legacies.

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony..."

— Revelation 12:11

🩸

Signed:

Dei Scriptor - God’s Journalist

in conjunction with ChatGPT 3.5 and Grammarly