Not much text to read this week as I would prefer you to spend the time watching and listening to this amazing talent!

Quote of the week

Darren and Nikki Bovis-Coulter

Because Of Your Grace” featuring Harun Kotch from the album “The Season of Singing” recorded and produced by Ross Gill

Back in January I shared with you Mustard Seed Songs’ latest project “Theophilus- The Musical- A Journey of Faith”. I said that we had filmed two episodes and now we are nearly ready to contact church leaders to see if they might be interested in using the resource as a supplement to “Alpha” or “Christianity Explored”, or as a separate 4- 8 week course for church home groups and their guests.
So yesterday I was with my old mate Darren Bovis – Coulter watching his computer “wizardry” as he created a promo video for church leaders.
Darren and his lovely wife Nikki have, from the start, been indispensable to Mustard Seed Songs, producing the His Story multi-media, countless amounts of artwork and design for CDs, DVDs, brochures, banners and in addition the websites for Risen! The Musical (www.Risenthemusical.com) Mustard Seed Songs (www.mustardseedsongs.org.uk) and His Story (www.Hisstory.org.uk) Darren also designed and built the stage set for the 1918 Risen! The Musical Theatre in Education tour which reached over 4000 children.
Darren read the prayers at Caroline and my wedding so that is an indication of how much I rate him.
Darren was a Pastor in Coventry where he instigated the first live professional performance of Risen! The Musical at the Coventry Pentecost Festival of May 2015. We also co- wrote today’s featured song “Because Of Your Grace.”
On one of his birthdays, Darren posted a mini bio of which an extract is below:
Some will know my full story and others not but looking back on my life and reflecting on how far I’ve come, today has just been the most amazing day.
I wasn’t brought up in a Christian home but it was in a loving family, unfortunately when my parents split up I found myself in a difficult …place which ended up with a period of homelessness, and as a result of that homelessness I went on a journey where I met my biological father, Paul, who at the time was on a journey through Faith which in turn led me to Christ. Many other wonderful people were also part of my journey which was full of stories, twists, turns and life can be so ‘exciting??’ sometimes.
I went to Uni where I met my wife Nikki and we lived in Portsmouth for about 14 years. Now my journey to Faith started a few years earlier when I was listening to a preacher one night speaking about all the things you want in life, the house the wife, the boat the car the whatever, but at the end of the day it all turns the dust and the one thing that doesn’t is the love of God.
So here I was 40 years old with the house, the wife, the boat, the car, the family, the kids and cats, a thriving business etc., when God said to me, pack it all up and come and follow me, the things that you do, the skills that you’ve got, don’t take them to the grave without serving me first, so I uprooted my family in obedience and came to Coventry to work in what I thought was the dream job where God wanted me and my family to be. This was not to be and after a short time, the role came to an abrupt end.
We found ourselves living in an area we didn’t know, and it seemed all our new family and friends of church had gone. We felt very lonely and redundant… Not required!
But it was Nikki that had the wisdom and said there’s a church just round the corner Limbrick Wood Baptist Church, and long story short, having looked for many different jobs the church and I agreed to dip our toe in the water and see if God was calling me to serve there…
And I can assure you that God was very much calling Darren to serve there -he was a great blessing to that community and now he has been called to Pastor in Falmouth, Cornwall- so his journey of faith continues …..

Quote of the week

Walking with Jesus featuring the Mustard Seed Soul Band from the album “Heart and Soul” recorded and produced by Ross Gill

So, we are about halfway through Lent. So, what exactly is “Lent” and “Ash Wednesday” and “Shrove Tuesday,” often known as “Pancake Day”.
The expression Shrove Tuesday comes from the word shrive, meaning “absolve“. It is the day in February or March immediately preceding Ash Wednesday” which is the first day of Lent.
Shrove Tuesday is celebrated in some countries by consuming pancakes. In others, especially those where it is called Mardi Gras it is a carnival day. Pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent, because they are a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. The liturgical fasting emphasizes eating simpler food, and refraining from food that would give undue pleasure: in many cultures, this means no meat, dairy products, or eggs.
Ash Wednesday derives its name from the placing of repentance ashes on the foreheads of participants to utter the words “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”. The ashes may be prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebrations. Because it is the first day of Lent, many Christians, on Ash Wednesday often begin abstaining from a luxury that they will not partake of until Easter Sunday arrives.
Lent is traditionally described as lasting for 40 days, in commemoration of the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and, during which he endured temptation by Satan before beginning his public ministry, The history and beginnings of the observance of Lent aren’t clear. According to Britannica.com, Lent has likely been observed: “since apostolic times, though the practice was not formalized until the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE.” Christian scholars note that Lent became more regularised after the legalization of Christianity in A.D. 313. St. Irenaeus, Pope St. Victor I, and St. Athanasius all seem to have written about Lent during their ministries. Most agree that by the end of the fourth century, the 40-day period of Easter preparation known as Lent existed, and that prayer and fasting constituted its primary spiritual exercises.
So, there you have it – and no more chocolate for me until April 9th!

Quote of the week

Pic of mum with caption Audrey Lillian Shearsmith on her 102nd birthday

Precious featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Precious recorded and produced by Ross Gill

This time last year and, I think also the year before, I shared the story of how my mum became a Christian at the age of 102. I thought even though, yesterday, March 8th would have been her birthday I would not retell it again but then I thought again – and decided that it is such a wonderful story that it really needs to be told over and over again – well at least once a year! So here we are again:
My mum, Audrey Lillian Shearsmith, had attended Chapel as young girl and I knew that she said her prayers without fail every single day. However, in 1997 I still was not sure how she would react to me telling her that I had become a Christian. I therefore showed her a little book from the Alpha course entitled “Why Jesus?” and we had a short chat before she told me to leave it and that she would read it later.
When she was 102 years old and was living in the wonderful Chesterholm Lodge Care Home mum asked me what a Christian was and how you could become one. I simply said that to become a Christian you ask God to forgive you for all the things you have done in your life that have displeased Him and to ask Jesus to come into your life. She then smiled her special smile and pointed to her bag and nodded for me to look in it. And there it was -the “Why Jesus? book that I had given her five years before. I told her that there was a prayer in the book that she could say if you wished to become a Christian. Mum immediately read out the prayer aloud. I was sitting on the bed beside her overjoyed, but at the same time almost not believing what was happening, in fact so much so that I told her that just saying the prayer was not enough she had to really mean it; so, she said it again, but this time with even more meaning in her voice! I noticed, Mandy, one of her Carers who worships at my church was outside mum’s room, so I went out to tell her the good news. “Halleluiah” Mandy cried out before telling me that she was not in the least bit surprised because mum had been talking about Christianity for some time. So, mum became a Christian at the age of almost 103!
A few days before she died in August, 2006, I was with her on my own. She looked at me with so much love, smiled that wonderful smile again and told me that I was precious.
The day after she said “precious” to me I was looking at Psalm 116 and the word “precious” jumped out of the page. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” I read in the concordance that “precious” means, not only highly valued, but also carefully looked after – I can’t tell you how reassuring it was to know that in mum’s last days she was being carefully looked after by God. And she was; all those who were with her will testify to how much at peace she was. She was in no pain whatsoever and was as sharp as always. She left this life in a very gentle and serene way – there is no doubt that she was indeed being carefully looked after and watched over by God.
The day after reading Psalm 116 it was a Sunday and I sat at the back of Holy Rood church with no one on the one seat beside me. Beryl, a retired Curate, came in, which was a bit of a surprise because normally on a Sunday morning she worships at an associate church; coming to Holy Rood for the evening services. Although we are good friends I had not sat with Beryl before, but on that Sunday, she asked if she could sit on that one free seat by my side. She knew that my mum was very unwell from the church notice sheet and when she asked me, I told her that mum was, in fact dying.
At the end of the service Beryl told me that she had prayed for my mum and me and that during the service God had given her a picture. She had seen a beautiful meadow in which stood a rock- a rock that had been very “precious” to her friends and family. The rock was also “precious” to God. Beryl saw the earth around the rock become disturbed and God taking this “precious” rock up to heaven to be with Him.
Mum died the very next day.
Beryl led mum’s thanksgiving service.

Quote of the week

Lord I Come To Bathe In Your Glory featuring Lucy-Stimpson Maynard from the album “Love is the Way” recorded and produced by Bob Ross

In the two blogs before last, I shared two America’s Got Talent performances from Amanda Mammana, perhaps unkindly known as “the girl with the stutter.”
I was delighted to read in the American “Christian Post” that Amanda is, in fact a Christian. This is what was written about her:
America’s Got Talent” finalist Amanda Mammana used her gift of song to share the Gospel at an Andrew Palau evangelistic outreach event where she testified to how, despite the challenges of having a speech impediment, she’s undeterred from telling the world about God and His glory.
Mammana first won over the hearts of millions when she appeared on “America’s Got Talent” over the summer. During her audition, she revealed that singing was instrumental in helping her to overcome the challenges she faces daily in communicating.
Last weekend, Mammana was a special guest at the Andrew Palau Association’s CT CityFest where she shared her Christian faith.
“For about 10 years now, I’ve had a stutter, and it’s definitely something that has caused me to shy away and to not believe in myself,” the 19 year old said. “But by the grace of God, I found that I don’t stutter when I sing.”
“I’ve been able to take that and to let that just be a great way to spread the Gospel,” she added
During her stint on the singing competition, Mammana credited God for helping her make it through each week’s challenge.
“The Holy Spirit just took over and He put a fire inside of me,” she declared, “All Glory to God.”
In a message to others struggling with insecurity, Mammana encouraged believers not to listen to the derogatory messages they hear daily both internally and externally and rebuked those self-defeating messages as “lies straight from the devil.”
“But it’s amazing that we have a God that is so much stronger, and He’s given us the power to overcome anything that comes our way,” she added.
When she first appeared on “America’s Got Talent,” everyone gave her a standing ovation and the judges Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Simon Cowell, and Sofía Vergara were overcome with emotion by her story and performance and voted to advance her to the next stage.
“There were times when I was a kid where I was like, ‘I can never do anything like this … I’m not good enough,’” she tearfully shared after her audition. In response, an audience member yelled, “You are good enough!”
Mandel added, “I believe you’re moving millions of people at home. I just want to say, Thank you.”
If you would like to recap her journey then here is a link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Xw9aAqPJw

Quote of the week

“Its From The Lord” from the Mustard Seed Soul Band featuring Jassica Castillo -Burley – from the album Heart and Soul recorded and produced by Ross Gill.

Blog February 23rd 26 Years a Christian
So, yesterday, February 22nd was the 26th anniversary of me becoming a Christian.

I know I have posted this before (in fact exactly one year ago!!) however I share it again as without it there would be no blog!
I had been attending an Alpha course and had started to think about becoming a Christian – I felt reassured by the words in John’s Gospel, Chapter 3 verse 16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” Eternal Life – that is what I needed to take away my fear of death. Not something to be earned but something to be accepted as a gift. Perfect – apart from two problems 1) did I have enough faith to accept Jesus” gift” with any degree of sincerity? 2) If I did ask Jesus into my life what would my mates say- how much ridicule would I have to endure? Let me have a look at problem no 2 first.
Three of my very special friends are Barry Stares, Dave Conchie and Ian Beacham. Barry I have known since Junior School and Dave and Ian since PE College. We regularly meet for a drink and something to eat (yes curry) At one curry Ian said “You will never guess what’s happened to Mick” He was referring to another ex-PE College friend, Mick Mellows who played football for Pompey and who is now a Director of the charity Faith and Football -www.faith&football.org.uk . I thought Ian meant that Mick had been struck down with some horrible illness but no that is not what he meant at all. He continued “He’s only gone and become a Christian!” To which Dave replied “No – and he was such a good bloke!”
Could I face that sort of comment if I “admitted” to becoming a Christian? I really doubted it.
As for problem no 1 re did I have enough faith? – Well thankfully someone told me I only had to have faith as small as a mustard seed (the smallest of all seeds in Biblical times.) I simply had to focus on what I believed not on what I did not – simply had to trust – simply had to take a “leap of faith”
During the Alpha course I had been given a little red book entitled “Why Jesus?” At the end of the book there is a prayer so I knew an opportunity was coming up for me to take that leap of faith and to say this prayer asking Jesus to come into my life. I felt it really difficult to sleep with my two “problems” constantly churning around inside my head. The weekend came when I knew I had to make a decision – as part of the Alpha Course I was at the Holy Rood Vicarage with the Vicar, Michael Christian- Edwards and his lovely wife Merlyn. When the others in my group were having a coffee break I escaped into the village to go through in my head what I was going to do. On my return sure enough Michael gave everyone the opportunity to say a prayer asking Jesus to forgive us for all the things we had done wrong – to ask Him to come into our lives- and for us to be filled with His Holy Spirit. I remember asking Michael if I could say the prayer twice. He seemed surprised but said that was fine and so that lunchtime on Saturday, February 22nd 1997 I asked Jesus into my life and became a Christian.
Why did I want to say the prayer twice? Well there was Mr Mill and his dad that I also wanted to be there on such a momentous occasion. So that evening in Mr Mil’s apartment in Titchfield I sat between the two of them confessing out loud all the things I had done wrong and again asking Jesus into my life. Some of the things I had done wrong were pretty big – one had been a real burden for many years but after I had confessed it the burden lifted- I know that sounds amazing and too good to be true but amazing is what it was and too good not to be true!
So I thought “micky taking” here you come, but I decided to be pro-active and tell people before they found out through the grapevine. First off was Barry who I had known the longest -he was surprisingly supportive – so too was Ian – but I could not tell Dave, it was Dave who had made the comment about Mick Mellows – he was sure to let me have it with both barrels. A couple of months later Barry and Ian told me that Dave was really upset with me for not telling him. So I took Dave out for a curry (of course) and felt pretty emotional when Dave told me that he loved me (in a bloke way!!) and that he would always support me in anything I did and that he was upset because it seemed that I did not believe I could trust him. So big apology from me and really all the worries about people “taking the mick” turned out to be groundless- mind you I think my two sons James and Chris took a bit of stick at school.
So did my fears of dying die (sorry) If I am honest not entirely – but I did have God’s promise to hold on to and you can’t have much more than that. In fact later I wrote a song called “It’s From the Lord” which is featured today – the last verse of which is “When your time on earth is ending and you look up to Him on high and your see His promises sparkling spelt out in stars across the sky and open arms reach to embrace you to welcome you home then you know, yes you know it is the Lord.”
I also wrote a song which was a sort of autobiography of me becoming a Christian and being worried about what people would think – this one is on the CD “Precious” and is called “If I Say I Love You Jesus” I did actually once sing it live myself at a Mustard Seed Concert but obviously nowhere as good as the fantastic Lucy Stimpson-Maynard whose version I will share next week.

Quote of the Week

Last week I posted another “moment of sunshine” which featured Amanda Mammana on America’s Got Talent (AGT)  She sang beautifully and was so inspiring as she suffers from a speech impediment – that is until she sings.”

In today’s blog she has moved from the AGT auditions to the finals.

Quote of the week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQGYv6Khk8E

Last week I handed over this blog to our webmaster who did such a brilliant job in celebrating the life of his dear mum, Carol. This week I am handing over, via the video, to a very brave and talented girl from Connecticut.  I will not say any more apart from the fact that every time I watch it a tear forms in my eye.

Quote of the week

Carol Radcliffe with her 6th grandchild Precious-Rose

Amazing Love featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson

Ken very kindly asked if I would like to turn from webmaster to blog writer in dedication to my mum, who died on Sunday 29th January 2023. The photo above is with her 6th grandchild, Precious-Rose. She loved all her grandchildren and great grandchildren all the same, it was just especially lovely for mum as Precious-Rose was the only one that myself and her got to be in our lives from birth. My dad died a long time ago, but had bad mental health for 20 years before he died. Mum cared for him all those years and never once complained or stopped loving him. The make of what a fantastic women she was. As much as I am missing her so much, because they both believed and gave their lives to the Lord, they are now together, whole and without pain, bad health or fear. Ken suggested I put a poem on this blog, and I was struggling to find something, then I remembered the text I got from my daughter after she told my granddaughter about my mum dying. She loved Nanny Carol as much as mum loved her, so I thought what better way to remember mum than by putting the text on this blog. Keeps me smiling that’s for sure.

At the end of the day, mum gave so much of her heart to others all her life, she forgot to save some for herself.

Love,

PJ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vqerq8lNKc

As I have probably said before I do not watch a great deal of TV- sport mainly, but the other day Caroline was watching something and I heard “Phantom of the Opera’s “ “All I Ask Of You” being sung. I love the song and assumed it was two West End singers that were performing- it was not – it was something so much better – a definite “Moment of Sunshine.” I will say no more –please have a look and see if you agree.

Quote of the week