Love Is The Way featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album Love Is The Way recorded and produced by Bob Ross.
It is said that a picture paints a thousand words and I believe that this is true of today’s featured photo.
Yes, I am aware that this and similar images have been staged and so could be regarded as “fake”, however can I put this thought to you? “If fake, does the message become even more powerful than if true”? In other words, is the desire for it to be true more powerful than if it were true?
England’s Marcus Smith kicks a conversion during the Summer Series match at Twickenham Stadium, London. Picture date: Saturday July 10, 2021.
There’s More Than One Way Of Saying I Love You featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Uplifted recorded and produced by Bob Ross.
I am not sure if you have been watching the Rugby Union World Cup, but for those that are not enthusiasts this week we have the semi- finals with Argentina taking on New Zealand and England taking on South Africa.
I am not a fan of the style of rugby that England are playing at present- it is not adventurous enough and that is one reason why my favourite player Marcus Smith is unlikely to be in the starting line -up. He is a fly half, but the problem is Owen Farrell, the England captain also plays in that position. To accommodate Marcus in the last game against Fiji Marcus played full back, but because of tactics he is unlikely to play there against South Africa.
Anyway, in addition to being a brilliant young rugby player Marcus is also a Christian. An extract from an interview with “Square Mile” is below:
Fuelled by his unwavering faith, strong family values, and an insatiable drive for success, Marcus Smith, the England fly-half, has swiftly ascended to the pinnacle of rugby.
Born in the Philippines, this exceptional talent reflects upon the challenging journey that has led him to the upcoming Rugby World Cup this autumn.
He said “Obviously, that season wasn’t all plain sailing. Around November-December time, I was on the bench a few times at Quins. I wasn’t in contention with England, I wasn’t playing my best rugby.
“My mum is massively religious herself, so she always used to encourage us to pray with her. I wanted a solution. I wanted to try something different because what I was doing wasn’t working, and therefore I trusted my mum and listened to her and started praying with her regularly.
“Through that I felt more at ease with myself. I felt more able to deal with the ups and downs of professional sport and life as well.
It allowed me to understand that everything happens for a reason and everything is meant to happen. As long as you are good and do the right things and you work as hard as you can, that’s all you can ultimately do.
“And so I surrendered all the outcomes, everything that I can’t control to Him and worked as hard as I can at the sport I love dearly. It’s definitely brought me very, very close to God and I believe strongly in Him.
Yours Is A Jealous Love featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album Precious recorded and produced by Ross Gill.
I recently read this in the “Word For Today” and thought it well worth sharing.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ‘There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.’ Most people know about Isaac Newton’s famed encounter with a falling apple; how he introduced the law of universal gravitation and revolutionised astronomical studies. But few people know that had it not been for a man called Edmond Halley, the world may never have heard of Newton. Halley was the one who urged Newton to think through his original theories, corrected his mathematical mistakes, and formulated geometrical figures to support his discoveries. It was Halley who persuaded a hesitant Newton to write his great work The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. And it was Halley who edited and supervised its publication and financed its printing, even though Newton was wealthier and could better have afforded the cost.
Historians have called Halley’s affiliation with Newton one of the most selfless cases in science. Newton began almost immediately to reap the rewards of prominence, but Halley received little credit. He did use the principles Newton established to forecast the orbit and return of a comet that would later bear his name. But since Halley’s Comet returns only every seventy-six years, relatively few people still hear his name. However, Halley didn’t care who got the credit as long as the cause of science was advanced. He personified what it means to live by this scriptural principle: ‘Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.’ Anytime God gives you an opportunity to put others first and yourself second, grab it and run with it.
Give Us A Heart On Fire featuring the Portsmouth Gospel Choir from the album How Great Are His Signs recorded and produced by Joffy James.
I have already shared the faith of explorer and TV presenter Bear Grylls e.g. https://risen.org.uk/?p=1343 and it is now reported in Christian Premier Media that he has fulfilled a lifelong dream by being baptised in the Jordan River, the same sacred place where Jesus received baptism from John the Baptist.
Grylls shared a picture (as featured) of this significant moment on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “It had always been a dream of mine to get in the water that Jesus was baptised in by my hero John the Baptist. The story is so amazing, & it seems wherever Jesus went, that new birth, new life, a new vision followed. Luke (in the bible) was probably a Syrian doctor before he met Jesus. He writes a reliable, poignant account of his life. It’s short. I like it.”
The Gospel of Luke tells the story of Jesus Christ’s life, teachings, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension and it is often used to help new believers understand Jesus’ teachings and how to live the new life in Christ.
Grylls has often been open about his faith and is an ambassador for the Alpha Course, which introduces people to Christian basics.
Earlier this year, the adventurer made headlines after he said he believes “Jesus would struggle with 99 per cent of churches nowadays” during an interview with the Christian Post.
For him, Christians should prioritise a personal relationship with God over religious rituals.
He said: “Our job in life is to stay close to Christ and drop the religious, drop the fluff, drop the church if you need to because that means so many different things to different people anyway. Keep the bit of church which is about community and friends and honesty and faith and love. All the masks, performances, music and worship bands and all of that sort of stuff—I don’t think Christ would recognize a lot of that.”
Grylls was also famously seen praying for former president of the USA, Barack Obama during an episode of his TV show Running Wild with Bear Grylls.
Although I have shared a highlights video of the staged concert version of our “Theophilus- The Musical” I have not shared the complete show. Last week I shared Act One and this week it’s Act Two. Once again, I am a tad embarrassed that the title is Theophilus By Ken Shearsmith – it should have read “Mustard Seed Songs Present Theophilus The Musical”.
The Cast were:
Theophilus + Priscilla- Natasha Bain
Luke + Aquila – Edward Baker- Duly
Peter – Richard Mellion
Paul – Mark Bernard
Mary Magdalene- Katie Forge
John and Ananias – Andrew Dovaston
Crippled man and Simon the Sorcerer- Casey Lloyd
Stephen the first Martyr and Julius the Centurian- Sam Townsend
Philip the Evangelist and Barnabas – Adam Collins
Tabitha- Mei-Ling Thomas
Lydia – ChiChi Uzodinma
Woman from Ephesus – Amy Millar
Imprisoned woman – Evieanna Mullane
Musical Director – Joffy Girling
Tech team led by – Adam Kemp
The Staged Concert took place on May 14th 2023 at Bay House School and Sixth form and was filmed and edited by Tom Clark
Although I have shared a highlights video of the staged concert version of our “Theophilus- The Musical” I have not shared the complete show. So here is Act One – I am a tad embarrassed that the title is Theophilus By Ken Shearsmith – it should have read “Mustard Seed Songs Present Theophilus The Musical”.
The Cast were:
Theophilus + Priscilla- Natasha Bain
Luke + Aquila – Edward Baker- Duly
Peter – Richard Mellion
Paul – Mark Bernard
Mary Magdalene- Katie Forge
John and Ananias – Andrew Dovaston
Crippled man and Simon the Sorcerer- Casey Lloyd
Stephen the first Martyr and Julius the Centurian- Sam Townsend
Philip the Evangelist and Barnabas – Adam Collins
Tabitha- Mei-Ling Thomas
Lydia – ChiChi Uzodinma
Woman from Ephesus – Amy Millar
Imprisoned woman – Evieanna Mullane
Musical Director – Joffy Girling
Tech team led by – Adam Kemp
The Staged Concert took place on May 14th 2023 at Bay House School and Sixth form and was filmed and edited by Tom Clark
Sherlock began busking in Cork and later, from the age of 11, began performing almost weekly on Grafton Street, Dublin. Her father, who is her music manager, is also present and remains “on guard when people are inappropriate”. He films and uploads her YouTube videos.
In 2014, Sherlock’s YouTube channel was created and, as of April 2023, had over 5.73 million subscribers and generated over 1 billion views.] She later started a Patreon channel,[10] and (as of April 2023) had over 2.3 million Instagram followers and 3.5 million on Facebook.
Live concerts by Sherlock in Ireland have included performances at the Cork Opera House (December 2016), Cyprus Avenue in Cork (December 2018), and at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin in April 2019. She performed at the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall in Hamburg, Germany in early 2020. During their European tour in March 2020, Sherlock supported OneRepublic at concerts in Paris (France Cologne (Germany), Utrecht (Netherlands), and the London Palladium (UK).
On 4 June 2022, Sherlock performed at the AO Arena in Manchester (shown on ITV) for the Queen of the United Kingdom‘s 70th Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
On 7 April, 2023, Sherlock celebrated her 18th birthday and released the album “Allie”, including 11 cover songs
I have just arrived in Scotland during a two- week holiday with Caroline my wife and our two doggies Genna and Dylan. As I was not sure about the internet connection quality up here, I had “pre – recorded” today and next week’s blogs which feature Irish busker Allie Sherlock. Ill give a bio of her next week but today is just about enjoying her and the young Ed Sheeran lookalike sing Leonard Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah”.
The Gospel of Christ featuring the Mustard Seed Soul Band from the album Heart and Soul recorded and produced by Ross Gill
Although I support England in all sports and not least Rugby – I was delighted with the way the Fijian’s played on Saturday and thought that they thoroughly deserved their first ever win over England. What really took my attention was the way that a number of the Fijian team dropped to their knees to pray at the end of the game. (I could not find a photo of this so the featured pic is of a Fijian team praying at another game)
I was interested to read that before the last World Cup the Fijian players said that they are united by a deeply held Christian faith. One player remarked “We Fijians don’t have large facilities like other teams have, but we know that being here is not from our strength but from God and it’s all God’s plan that we are here. Even if we lose we know that there is something bigger. Another player said “Faith helps keeps us together. It helps bond us as a team”.
Prior to the 19th century, indigenous Fijians practiced various traditional religions based on divination and animism. With the arrival of the Europeans in the later years, the religious landscape of Fiji started to change, with Christianity gradually gaining popularity. The conversion of Fijian tribal chiefs to Christianity helped spread the religion among their followers. The colonization of Fiji by the British led to further changes in the country’s religious landscape. While Christianity became hugely popular during this time, other religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, and Islam were also introduced in the country by indentured laborers that the British brought from India to work in the country’s sugar plantations.
According to the most recent census in 2007, most people have a Christian background (64.4% of the population), with a sizable Hindu (27.9%) and Muslim (6.3%) minority. Religion tends to split along ethnic lines with most Indigenous Fijians being Christian and most Indo-Fijians being either Hindu or Muslim.
We Are Hard Pressed featuring Ross Gill and Helen Joy Rubio from the album “The Season of Singing” recorded and produced by Ross Gill
Last week I shared a video featuring “We Are Hard Pressed” sung by Evieanna Mullane. It is from our work in progress “Theophilus- The Musical”. I said that we are yet to decide which causes it may support, but neglected to say that the song was originally recorded some 11 years ago by Ross Gill and Helen Joy Rubio- their version features today.
I also did not say that the charity “Release International” had used Ross and Helen’s version 11 years ago. I decided to ring Release to see if they would be interested in using the latest video. They were, in fact delighted and will feature it in the near future when they decide how best it can be used.
For those who do not know “Release International” their website states:
Release International is a Christian ministry working through local church partners in around 30 countries across the world, helping persecuted Christians prayerfully, pastorally and practically.
We were founded in 1968, inspired by the testimony and ministry of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand. Following the demise of Communism in Eastern Europe and the increase in the persecution of Christians elsewhere in the world, the Ministry broadened its activities and changed its name to Release International.
Our ministry is based on Hebrews 13 v 3: ‘Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.’
In 2008 Mustard Seed Song’s first musical “His Story” was produced by Release International to become part of the London Pentecost Festival. “His Story” was performed three times at the Central Hall, Westminster. Details can be seen on today’s image.
