Virtual Methodist

Among the huge pile of sludge fiction I took with me on holiday this year, were 2 or 3 books I wouldn't be embarrassed being seen to be reading by anyone who actually knows me. One was this offering by Richard Foster, chosen by our church book group as their summer reading. However, whilst I am not one to judge a book by its cover, two things annoyed me with this book before I opened it. First was the fact that the author's name is printed bigger than the title. This, to me, speaks of the alarming trend in Christian literature, as in the rest of contemporary literary culture, to treat respected authors as brand names to be exploited to the full, resulting in some very poor books being released under such brands. This feeling was further enhanced when I noticed that this particular book was written 'with' Kathryn A. Helmers, although to notice this you had to look very carefully as her name is less than a 12th the size of Foster's and in a much lighter type, indicati...

Managed to turn up for my live radio slot on Downtown yesterday morning without my pre-prepared "Review of the Week"... Ooops... so I had to quickly write it from memory... and given that this was at 7am, even with an extra hour in bed it was a miracle that I wrote anything vaguely coherent... Here is an amalgam of the pre-prepared script and my improvised one... Should we show tolerance to the intolerant? Should we afford the full rights of a democratic society to a party, which, if they gained power even for a nanosecond, would completely overturn that democracy, in the same way that the Nazi Party did in Germany in the 1930s? Were the BBC influenced by their respect for the 1,000,000 people who voted for the BNP in the recent European elections, or by the thought of the extra 4,000,000 viewers they were likely to get for Question Time by stirring up a media storm around it? And did Nick Griffin's subsequent appearance reveal him to be the "squalid racist...

A sketch for children requiring 2 readers, 2 builders, 4 children acting as “walls” for the wise builders house, all the same size with small umbrellas, 4 “walls” for the not so wise builders house, of various sizes with napkins, 2-4 children acting as “rainclouds” armed with water pistols. Reader 1: There was once a wise builder… Builder 1: Good morning! Reader 2: And a not so wise builder Builder 2: Bout ye! Reader 1: And one day Reader 2: Both of them decided to build a house Reader 1: The wise builder studied the plans Reader 2: Tested the ground carefully Reader 1: And dug the foundations deep down on to solid rock Reader 2: He built slowly and carefully with the best of materials Reader 1: Because he wanted his house to last Reader 2: Meanwhile the not so wise builder Reader 1: Got started as quickly as he could Reader 2: He built his house on a nice level piece of sandy ground Reader 1: And he used anything he could get his hands on Reader 2: So he could get finished as soon as ...

Actually posted this almost a year ago, and was planning on using it this Sunday... however, can't seem to find a way of downloading it... Any ideas? Cheers

The Bible Society has ordained that this Sunday is "Bible Sunday" . Don't know what was wrong with the old tradition of having it on the second Sunday of Advent, apart from the fact that with everything else in Advent it gets swamped by the approaching behemoth that is the modern Christmas. But anyway, for those celebrating it this weekend, over the next couple of days I'll be posting various resources we are using this weekend... Here's a responsive psalm to start with: The law of the Lord is perfect, strengthening the soul. The promises of the Lord are trustworthy, offering insight to all. The signposts of the Lord are straightforward, bringing joy to life. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving light to walk by. The fear of the Lord is right and good, enduring for ever. The decisions of the Lord are sure and altogether unquestionable. His word is more precious than gold, than a bank vault full of gold ; His word is sweeter than strawberries in summer, Tasti...

I wonder what Simon Cowell would make of this? Being a little under the weather over the weekend I ended up watching the nonsense that is "The X Factor" and remembered again why I loathe these programmes... What passes for talent in Britain's pop culture these days is so mass-manufactured and over-produced that it has no real depth or authentic poignancy. That is occasionally subverted in the auditions and more frequently in "Britain's Got Talent" but in both, the genuinely talented is more than swamped by those who are simply wanting to ape other artificially produced celebrities and those who are more to be pitied than scolded. The following entry from "Ukraine's Got Talent" would never make it within a million miles of its British equivalent because of form, subject matter and, most importantly, its length ("Sorry dear, it has to be less than 3 minutes...")... It's long even by the standards of most of the things I post...

As promised I am returning to the "Top 10" format again... this time my favourite cinema musicals... I know that making such a list immediately casts my masculinity into doubt, but who cares. As with my previous list there's a house rule... no animations, or partial animations (I feel another list coming on), which excludes Mary Poppins (which might have been excluded on the grounds of Dick van Dyke's accent anyway)... But that said here's my choice for what it is worth: 1) Singing in the Rain : It's funny, the dance routines are amazing, the songs are memorable, and it takes a huge rise out of the movie industry. What's not to like? 2) High Society : Take a great film like the Philadelphia Story, add some great songs and a wonderful cast, and you got jazz! 3) West Side Story : The only version of Romeo and Juliet I like (despite being a huge Shakespeare fan)... A superb score and book, great dancing and a grittiness that was unseen in musicals up to that ...