Matthew Parris, a columnist with The Times newspaper

I was fascinated and pleased to read that Matthew Parris, a columnist at The Times newspaper wrote

“Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts.”

He goes on to say “Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.”

Couldn’t agree more. As one who has over the years campaigned for justice for developing nations – for Fair Trade, cancellation of debt and for political reform – I see the value of these but have long held that only the power of God can bring lasting change.

A truly refreshing, objective bit of media critique. Read more at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece

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The Government has been defeated in the House of Lords over its attempt to repeal a free speech protection from a sexual orientation ‘hatred’ law. Peers voted by 186 to 133 to keep the protection in place. The matter will be passed back to the House of Commons where MPs voted for repeal.

The protection makes clear that criticising homosexual conduct or encouraging people to refrain from such conduct is not, in itself, a crime.

Whilst I have no intention of treating homosexual people with contempt and accept their right to freedom of speech I am glad that at least we all can maintain that right.

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I know this song has been out for ages but I love it so much I thought I’d post it up here.

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The 2005 story of Joe and Helen Roberts – an elderly Christian couple from Lancashire who were interrogated by police because they criticised a ‘gay rights’ project being run by their local council.

In this new video, Helen speaks about how intimidating it was to be questioned by police officers for over an hour. The officers told them they were near to committing a hate crime which carries a seven year prison sentence.

Joe says Wyre Borough Council kept talking about ‘diversity’ but the council’s brand of diversity didn’t seem to allow him and his wife to express their religious beliefs on sexual ethics.

He says he never thought he would see the day when British police officers would be interrogating citizens because they had expressed a point of view in a telephone call.

A year after the events, following a legal action supported by The Christian Institute, the police and the council admitted they had acted wrongly towards the Roberts and changed their policies to avoid it happening again.

Last year Parliament passed a free speech protection making it clear that criticising homosexual conduct is not, in itself, a crime. But the Government is trying to repeal it. We expect a vote in Parliament sometime in July.

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I came across this song by accident while searching the Internet.  I’ve never heard of Apryl Lynn before now but if all her other stuff is like this I think I’ll check out some of her other stuff.

Hope you like it too.

Apryl Lynn “Shadow Of Your Wings” from sarahlongnecker on Vimeo.

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Good songs can last for generations. In the case of the old Irish hymn Be Thou My Vision it has been around for over 1200 years and still new versions keep coming!

It’s a traditional Irish Christian hymn, but is now sung in English-speaking churches around the world. In fact it is the world’s most popular Irish hymn.

According to Wikipedia it was written by Dallan Forgaill in the 8th century; although the text had been a part of Irish monastic tradition for centuries before the hymn itself was written. It was translated from Old Irish Gaelic into English by Mary E. Byrne in “Eriú”, Journal of the School of Irish Learning, in 1905.

I came across a unique version by Andy Rogers from the Causeway Coast of Ireland recently. He did a contemporary guitar driven recording and is giving it away free.

He talks about the amazing responses he has had to the song in such diverse venues as churches, orphanages and even night clubs and bars.

Check out his ‘Ethno-Celt’ version here:

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What the heck is going on??? The Church of England in yet another appeasement to the god of Political Correctness has apologised to Charles Darwin, founder of the theory of evolution for ‘misunderstanding’ him.

“Charles Darwin, 200 years from your birth [in 1809], the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still,” says the statement. “But the struggle for your reputation is not over yet, and the problem is not just your religious opponents but those who falsely claim you in support of their own interests.”

What is there to misunderstand? Evolution is a godless ideology that opposes the biblical account of creation. Yes, I do believe that science can help us understand some of God’s wonderful creation as so much scientific evidence is now confirming what the Bible says in Genesis 1 vs. 26 and 27:

‘Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ‘

Notice it does not say in the image of a monkey he created them.

Ironically, Andrew Darwin, a great-great grandson of the eminent scientist, said he was “bemused” by the apology, which seemed “pointless.” “Why bother?” he said. “When an apology is made after 200 years, it’s not so much to right a wrong, but to make the person or organization making the apology feel better.”

Come on C of E. Start providing some leadership to the nation. In such a time of uncertainty and despair it should be speaking truth and providing moral absolutes which can bring stability and security. The world must be laughing at it.

Nuff said.

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A couple of weeks ago I was at the 1st ever Psalm Drummers Summer School, held in St George’s School Windsor. 3 days of worship, frantic drumming, training and friendship and it was nice to escape the rain in Ireland and head for warmer climes!. (Why is it always raining every time I fly from Ireland???).

The emphasis was very much on practical hands on training. I found this very helpful as I really went wanting to improve my technique. There were 3 strands:

1. Drum kit course
2. Percussion
3. Children’s course

The quality of the facilitators was top notch with such people as Ed Freitas, Bono Hodge, Calum Rees, raul D’Oliveira, Stew Smith (ex Delirious) and others.

I was on the Percussion course, which was led by Mike Simpson of Inspire Works. This was awesome especially the session on using percussion for effect (as opposed to laying down a groove), ie. using instruments such as cymbals, shakers, tambourines, etc.

At the end of this Mike read out Psalm 23 line by line and we had to respond by playing in a way that reflects that line. It was quite remarkable that this sounded good as with about 10-15 people there it’s likely that each will have a different interpretation of each line. What I liked was that it was possible to have different instruments playing at different volumes and strengths and it didn’t sound a mess.

For example, verse 4 says:

“Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.”

Some people were banging a frame drum with increasing volume, symbolizing a victorious proclamation, while others were gently playing a shaker seemingly displaying a quiet confidence in God’s promise. Awesome creative stuff!!

Ed Freitas’ session on warm ups, sticks and heads was very welcome as not being a kit drummer I confess I haven’t a clue about how to even hold a drum stick! I didn’t realise that you needed to do warm ups before playing. You can even apply that to percussion instruments so that’s something practical to take away.

One of the highlights was the Strike the Drum Celebration in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Around 50 drummers gathered to play along dancers from Movement in Worship. Suffice to say that something like that has never happened there before! I could physically feel the ground shake and rumble as we played. No idea what all the tourists thought of this. It’s a shame we were not allowed to record anything there (apparently it is illegal to film the tomb of a dead Monarch). From there we played in procession from the Castle through the town.

Well I could say much more but if you are reading this I would recommend that if you get the chance you go along next year and see for yourself and learn from some top class drummers!!

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Date: Saturday 16th August
Venue: High Kirk Presbyterian Church, 65-71 Thomas Street, Ballymena, BT43 6A (click for Google Map)
Time: 10am – 12noon (performance will be in the evening)
Facilitator: Calum Rees (Kathryn Scott, Brian Doerksen, Vineyard Music, TOTPs)

As part of Fuel 08 in Ballymena, Psalm Drummers will be putting on a free kit workshop for drummers involved in playing in church or those who would like to know more about playing drums in worship. It will be facilitated by Calum Rees.

Calum has a great many CD releases to his credit including Vineyard albums ‘Hungry’, ‘Come Now Is The Time’ and ‘Surrender’. He was for many years at South West London Vineyard, but now lives in Vancouver, Canada with his wife Joyce. He is a drum teacher and session player by profession often working in the mainstream recording, touring and doing TV dates. He is also a long time member of Psalm Drummers and has been a regular clinician and workshop facilitator.

It will be a fully hands on workshop and all participants will be expected to take part. Also as part of the Fuel 08 main stage, Psalm Drummers will be performing and I wish to invite you to join with us for this performance.

What do I need?

You will need to bring a small (4 or 5 piece) drum kit, cymbals and sticks. A strap to carry a snare, floor tom or djembé (if you have one) for the evening performance.

If you do not have a kit available to bring but would still like to attend please get in touch. Also if you wish to play percussion (djembé, congas etc) you are more than welcome, however the workshop will be catered for kit players.

Please let us know if you wish to come as numbers are limited. Go to www.facebook.com/pages/Psalm-Drummers-Northern-Ireland/17217154509

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I noticed that since posting about the rally at the Houses of Parliament last year to protest against abortion a few people have searched this blog for a list of anti-abortion groups. So here are a few that may be worth contacting for resources, campaigning strategies etc. Some aren’t dedicated to abortion issues alone and have a broader scope in tackling other social and moral issues. There may be more but these are the ones I would recommend as I have used their resources for campaigning.

• Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC)
  
• The Christian Institute
• CARE (Christian Action Research and Education)

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