I read this interesting article in “Premier Christian News” and thought it very much worth sharing.

It’s been revealed that Elvis Presley said a prayer before his performances to settle his nerves and to ask God to bless his concerts.

In a new interview with the Observer, the rock n’ roll legend’s stepbrother Bill Stanley, who also worked with Elvis said: “It [the prayer] was probably about 15 seconds long. I asked him once, ‘Why do you say the prayer before?’ He said: ‘It kind of settles my nerves but also I want God to help bless this concert, so make it a good one.’ He always turned to God whenever he needed help.”

Stanley, who’s written a new book called The Faith of Elvis believes people don’t know the true depth of the singer’s Christian faith and that he relied on God for everything.

“It’s where he got his strength,” he told the newspaper.

“Elvis was so appreciative of what the Lord had given him. He thanked God every day and constantly sought God’s guidance through prayer and reading the Bible.”

He added: “Everybody looked at the glitz and glamour [of Presley]. They didn’t look at the man and try to understand his faith. When you’ve spent 17 years with an individual, you get to know him pretty well.”

Stanley recalled Presley reading Bible stories to him and praying with him at bedtime around the age of seven. He said one of his fond memories was of Presley singing gospel music around the house, which he said was similar to “singing the Bible”.

Stanley also revealed the music star didn’t attend church because he thought attendees would pay more attention him than the preacher.

The Faith of Elvis is due to be published in October.

Incidentally it was Caroline and my 14^th wedding anniversary on Tuesday and “How Great Thou Art” was one of the hymns sung at our Service at Holy Rood Church. Elvis’ version, featured today is absolutely wonderful – what a voice that man had!

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Elvis Presley adapting the words of Bob Dylan and Mary Torrans Lathrap

One of the highlights of the staged concert of “Theophilus -The Musical” on May 14th was Evieanna Mullane singing “Out of the Depths.”
I heard Evieanna sing at Waypoint Church, Locks Heath and immediately thought “Wow.” I spoke with her after the service and she kindly agreed to sing “Out of the Depths” in the staged concert. She portrayed a woman imprisoned by Saul as he persecuted the church.
I soon realised that by tweaking the words, for example changing “Save me with your unfailing love” to “Save them with your unfailing love” the song would be appropriate for the Ukrainian crisis, in particular supporting refugees.
Bishop Philip kindly allowed us to use St John’s, the Catholic Cathedral in Portsmouth so with our MD, Joffy recording and filming, and Evieanna singing, the result, as you can see from the video, is truly wonderful.
Next step will be to feature it in a “Just Giving” campaign in support of Ukrainian refugees so please “watch this space.”

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A Time for Everything featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album “The Season of Singing” recorded and produced by Ross Gill

In last week’s blog I shared some of the content of our Arts Council application for funding of Theophilus -The Musical. As part of the application, we could include an attachment which is the feature for today – the application went off yesterday and we should hear whether or not we have been successful in the next eight weeks.

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The Gospel of Christ featuring the Mustard Seed Soul Band from the album Lift Your Hearts To Heavenly Places recorded and produced by Ross Gill

In last week’s blog I shared a promo of the staged concert version of “Theophilus – The Musical” – so what is next in the development of this, our latest musical? Well, we are applying to the Arts Council to fund 5 live performances at Bay House School and the New Theatre Royal; one of which will be filmed. We had to explain in 800 words what the application was for – so please see below:
Mustard Seed Songs, in association with Gosport Council and the Gosport and Fareham Multi- Academy Trust wish to produce a co- creation community project featuring the original “Theophilus- The Musical” using the narrative of the Bible’s Acts of the Apostles to raise questions on belief and encourage discussion.
The project will inspire local young people who have limited access to the arts. 170 Primary school children will receive musical theatre workshops, vocal instruction and will work alongside professionals, performing arts students and amateur actors in 5 live performances. They will be joined by 80 dance school members to perform and help choreography the project.
This is an open application to which all local Primary schools and dance schools are invited
I wish that is all we needed to submit, but in fact the process was – well let’s say “extremely challenging.” All the below, plus sub-sections, had to be completed with most sections having a 1500 -word limit. The application is to be sent off on Monday and we should hear whether or not we are successful within 8 weeks – The amount we are asking the Arts Council for is just under £30,000- the actual project will cost more than twice that amount, but we hope to raise the extra from ticket sales and donations.
• Introduction
• Applicant details
• Address information
• Contact information
• Financial background
• Governance document
• Priorities
• Amount requested
• Your Project
• Who and how
• Where
• Budget – Income
• Questions
• Budget – Expenditure
• Questions
• Partners and collaborators
• Risks and challenges
• Delivering the Outcomes
• Investment Principles
• Inclusivity and Relevance
• Environmental Responsibility
• Ambition & Quality
• Dynamism
• Attachment
• Monitoring information
• Declaration
• Submission summary

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Back on May 14th Mustard Seed Songs held the Premiere Staged Concert of “Theophilus – The Musical” -my blog of May 27th gave thanks to all the wonderful people that took part.
This week you can have a look for yourselves as my great mate Darren Bovis-Coulter has put together a “promo” of the evening.

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We Can Do Anything featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album “Precious” recorded and produced by Ross Gill

Last week I started to describe my experience with tithing- today I wish to share what I hope is a really useful article from “The Word For Today”- I believe the opening paragraph to be particularly profound.
Your desire for financial security can discourage you from giving. Why? Because each pound you give away feels like it’s no longer available for your protection. But the opposite is true. Our sense of freedom and security actually increases when we give, because giving is a declaration that our security rests someplace other than the bank or our own earning capacity. Giving is an act of confidence in God, and it’s the only way to overcome financial insecurity.
Think of all the things in life over which we have little or no control. Illness. Accidents. Job losses. Economic conditions. No wonder we’re insecure! The Bible says: ‘One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed’ (Proverbs 11:24-25 NIV). To the rational mind it sounds counterintuitive, but to the kingdom mind it makes good sense.
Paul writes: ‘“A few seeds make a small harvest, but a lot of seeds make a big harvest.” Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give. But don’t feel sorry that you must give and don’t feel that you are forced to give. God loves people who love to give. God can bless you with everything you need, and you will always have more than enough to do all kinds of good things for others’ (2 Corinthians 9:6-8 CEV). In your hand, a pound will never be worth more than a pound. But when you sow it into God’s kingdom, it begins a harvest you can reap when you have a need. Giving is truly the key to financial security.

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In Times of Trouble featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album “I Look Up To The Heavens” recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson

When I first became a Christian a teaching colleague, Dave Stevens started talking about tithing my salary. I admit to being most unsure about giving a tenth of my money away, especially as, at that time I felt I had no surplus with which to be generous. I could not understand Dave when he said that God’s economics are different to our own and that the more we give away the more we receive.
I spoke to my dear friend Bob Miliken who told me that God would not expect me to tithe straight away – it would be ok if it were a process. I thought that there was one area in which I could give money away and that was from the school disco that I ran called “The Heat.” I did not make a great deal from the “Heat” but what I did make I kept. So, I decided to give that money away and it was in fact very liberating – instead of only giving to charities when a box was rattled in front of me I was able to choose which charities, in addition to my church, that I would support.
At that time I was having real problems with the local youths who were hanging around at the end of the “Heat” and being abusive and even threatening, when the youngsters, who were all from my school, were being picked up by their parents (the ”Heat” was held in a venue about 4 miles from where most of my school’s children lived.) Anyway, the day that I decided to give the money to charity instead of keeping it myself – all those troublemakers just faded away – they no longer turned up and so there was no longer a problem. I felt that perhaps what Dave had told me could be true.
It took a bit longer for me to fully experience the principle that tithing results in you receiving more than you give away – i.e., God blesses you because you are blessing others, but I can categorically state that it does work and next week courtesy of “The Word for Today” I will explain how.

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I Will Tell featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album ” I Look Up To The Heavens” recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson

So, one more “God Given Ideas” from UCBs “The Word For Today” written by Bob and Debbie Gass.
In What the World Owes to Christians, Dr Victor Pierce, an Oxford scholar, shares the story of the typewriter. ‘The typewriter was a forerunner to the modern word processor. But how did a Christian come to invent it? To write sermons. Seriously!
Christopher Sholes was concerned about his pastor who’d been busy all week visiting victims of an epidemic, comforting the bereaved and conducting funerals. Consequently, he had no time to write his Sunday sermons. One day Sholes, discussing with a friend what could be done, said, “It seems a pity there ain’t some quick method of writing for busy folks like parsons.” His friend replied, “Why not invent a machine?” Sholes responded, “I’ll try.” That rainy afternoon was the beginning of months of hard work. Finally a group assembled one day to see him tap out on paper, in capital letters, C LATHAM SHOLES, NOV 1867.
Six years later the Remingtons recognised the typewriter as something that could revolutionise business. In those days clerks were mostly men, but the Young Women’s Christian Association started offering courses in typing for women. Initially it created a scandal, but as the first typists to be trained were women, employers rushed to hire them. Hence the typewriter and the YWCA determined that a woman’s place was not only at home, but could also be in the office.’ Is it okay for me to pray for God to bless my business? Yes! God wants to bless your business so that you can help carry out His, which is the business of reaching the world with the gospel.

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The Gospel of Christ featuring the Mustard Seed Soul Band recorded and produced by Ross Gill

So, after a gap celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee its back to “God Given Ideas” from UCBs “The Word For Today” written by Bob and Debbie Gass.
One God-given idea can change so much. Braille sure did! In 1824, Louis Braille, a Christian, invented a system of raised dots on paper so that blind people could read. He invented 63 symbols representing every language, hence God’s Word was placed into the hands of the visually impaired for the first time.
And communications? In part, you owe your mobile phone and your computer to a Christian named Samuel Morse. How different the world was before him! First-class news took two weeks to reach the USA. And reports of a major victory could take six weeks to reach Britain. One day a friend said, ‘Morse, when you were experimenting did you ever come to an absolute deadlock, not knowing what to do?’ Morse replied, ‘More than once.’ His friend asked, ‘What did you do then?’ Morse shared a secret, ‘I got down on my knees and prayed for light, and light came, and when my inventions were acknowledged by flattering honours from America and Europe, I said, “Not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but unto Thy name give the glory.”’ That’s why the first message sent by transatlantic cable read, ‘What God has wrought.’
Now add another Christian named Louis Pasteur, the French scientist who showed us that infection is the result of things we cannot see, namely germs and viruses. He introduced sterilisation methods that eventually saved the lives of multitudes. Think God has run out of good ideas? Not a chance! Ask Him for one for your life, your ministry or your business!

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There’s Going To Be A Party- featuring the Mustard Seed Soul Band from the album His Story recorded and produced by Ross Gill

I will return to the theme of “God Given Ideas” next week as I could not miss the opportunity to share some wonderful moments from the Queen’s 70th Jubilee Celebrations.
Last Thursday Lee on Solent was absolutely heaving with people in a fantastic street party, typical I am sure of so many that took place around the country. One brilliant story was that Selsey Avenue, Gosport ordered 4.5 km of bunting by mistake with the result a sea of red, white and blue fluttering as seen below.

The concert was great with Adam Lambert (what a voice he has!) and Queen being a personal favourite. And, of course the Pageant with all the seven decades of Her Majesty’s reign honoured. However, the Queen, herself with Paddington Bear probably “stole the show” as can be seen in todays featured video.

Or perhaps it was Prince Louis – with a time honoured “gesture” towards his mum. I’ll let you decide

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