“The One Whose Name Begins With J” featuring the Mustard Seed Soul Band from the album His Story Live (unreleased) recorded and produced by Ross Gill.
I was quite interested in the recent court case in New York in which Ed Sheeran was cleared of infringing copyright of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” with his massive 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud”.
It seemed obvious to me that the two are completely different songs apart from a riff which is apparently based on a well-known chord progression. An expert in these things explains much better than I can here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rBN4UtkWQ
My understanding of plagiarism is that you are basically stealing someone else’s (in this case song) without regard for copyright. Sampling is where you use a part of a song – usually a riff -and have the permission of the original composer – or not as in the case of “Ice, Ice, Baby” by Vanilla Ice who used the bass line of the 1981 song “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie and which went to court- with Vanilla Ice losing.
Influence is simply that – influence. So when composing, being influenced by a certain style of music -there is no issue with this – it is impossible to write a song without having first heard other songs which have a similar style.
While here I recently heard the Christian song “Goodness of God” (Bethel Music) which I think is great, but actually has a very similar chorus line to that of Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” as in “And I can fly higher than the eagle …..”
Have a listen – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iAzMRKFX3c starting 1 min 34 secs
And “Goodness of God” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f4MUUMWMV4 starting 54 secs “Cos all my life You have been faithful”.
Has Mustard Seed Songs sampled or been guilty of sampling or plagiarism? – I’ll let you know next week- however today’s featured song might give you a clue!!!
I hope that you enjoyed the wonderful performance of Malaki in last week’s blog. I said that BGT was not the first time that he had performed on a large stage and so for all those who enjoyed his performance last week – here is one more.
Also here are a few facts about him:
Malakai Bayoh was born in 2010 in London, England, United Kingdom and holds English nationality but his roots are in Sierra Leone as his parents are from there.
Malakai began his journey as a chorister at St. George’s Cathedral when he was 7 years old before attending Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, where he joined the school’s prestigious Schola Cantorum.
Malaki has shared the stage with renowned singer Aled Jones and has performed at several iconic music locations including London’s Royal Albert Hall.
He has 32K followers on Instagram.
I stumbled on this the other day and it is simply amazing. Malaki has a voice from heaven. Ok Britain’s Got Talent was not the first time that he had performed on a large stage but perhaps more of that next week – keeping the text short so that you have plenty of time to enjoy the video- I promise you will not be disappointed.
Last week I shared some photos and a video of children from the Risen Christ Central Chapel in Southern Nigeria receiving books featuring stories from the Bible. They had kindly been donated by Faith and Football. For those who are unaware of the connection between Mustard Seeds and the Risen Christ Central Chapel I promised an explanation this week.
On the death of his Grandfather (his father had already died) Patrick Oki was about to become Chief of his village in Nigeria. However the elders wanted him to denounce his Christian faith and return to the native religion which had been practiced before his Grandfather was Chief – this included human sacrifice. When he refused his life was in danger and so he sought asylum in England. It was in Haslar Detention Centre, Gosport that I first met Patrick some ten years ago. Unfortunately his asylum claim was rejected and he was deported to Nigeria where he had to re locate a long way from his village to stay safe.
Patrick told me that when he returned from England, he was ill for two years, not being able to walk or even stand; having been rejected and abandoned by his family and friends- he was left to die, with no one to care for him except his son Emmanuel. Sometimes they had no food to eat, and he even prayed for God to take his life- all this because he had denounced the religious tradition of his people to follow Jesus. Patrick said “I made a vow that if the Lord healed me, I would serve him all the rest of my life and one day the Lord sent a servant – Evangelist Lady Lizbeth who prayerfully joined hands with me and the Lord set me free. Praise the Lord I became born again to the glory of God.”
Patrick went on to serve God and is an unpaid Pastor in Cross River State, Southern Nigeria. His congregation was worshiping in a hired hall and looking after a number of orphans (see pic) Mustard Seed Songs raised funds to build a new church which was named The Risen Christ Central Chapel. (see pic)
Tragically Pastor Patrick died on Easter Sunday two years ago, but thankfully his wife Rev. Elizabeth took on the leadership of the church. It was Rev. Lilly that featured in last week’s blog when she received a package of children’s books (Bible stories) donated by Faith and Football
This week’s featured song is Patrick’s favourite “A Mustard Seed of Faith” sang here by the Portsmouth Gospel Choir and produced by Mustard Seeds’ Musical Director, Joffy James (Girling)
There’s Going To Be A Party featuring Lucy Stimpson Maynard from the album “Uplifted” recorded and produced by Bob Ross
My dear friend, Mick Mellows who founded and runs the charity Faith and Football https://www.faithandfootball.org.uk/ kindly donated a number of children’s books that Faith and Football had produced. The books come in numerous sets that feature well known stories from the Bible told with age related texts. I sent them to the Risen Christ Central Chapel in Nigeria by what I thought was airmail, but it turned out to be classic snail mail which took an age to arrive, not helped by the chaos caused by their recent elections. However, in the end they arrived on the perfect day for them to be given as presents to the children- Easter Sunday!
The pictures show Mr Gabriel Eteng the treasurer of the Risen Christ Central Chapel handing the package containing the books to the Rev. Lilly Oki. The video shows how much the children appreciated the gift.
Mustard Seed Songs has been supporting the Risen! Christ Central Chapel for many years – if you are not sure of the story of how this came about, I will share with you next week.
“One Day A Crown” featuring the London Touring Cast from the album Risen! The Musical recorded and produced by Ross Gill
Risen! featuring the London Touring Cast from the album Risen! The Musical recorded and produced by Ross Gill
I thought that during this Passion Week it would be good to share two clips from our Risen! The Musical. The first “One Day A Crown” centres on the events of Good Friday and the second Risen! – yes, you’ve guessed it, that centres on the events of Easter Sunday!
I was delighted to see that Revelation TV are broadcasting Risen! The Musical at 3.30 pm on Easter Sunday.
And here is an excellent video of the Easter Story written by J.John.
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 …..
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!
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.
