A 21-year-old Paul Simon would lock himself in the bathroom, sit alone with the lights off and play his guitar. It was while playing his guitar in the darkness he first sang, “Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again”. 

We walk these crooked streets

Watching thick, throbbing veins pump black ooze

Throughout our tiny world like drainpipes.

They infect people, houses, even churches.

The symptoms of this disease?

Loss of sight and loss of life.

Nadine Brandes stands up to many of my favourite dystopian authors in her ability to swiftly yet effectively create a vibrant and immersive imaginative world along with engaging characters who draw you deeply into their lives.

If you listen to Imagine Dragons lyrics, especially “Night Visions,” they are very honest about the nature of human existence. As we listen, it rings true with our own experience. But as we’ll see, the hope clung to is more sentimental and not so grounded in reality. The Bible shows us our problematic reality as well but also reveals God’s way of salvation from it.

It is an uncomfortable, painful, and sometimes even embarrassing experience to be a witness to the extremities of human emotion. In a culture where we are very guarded about our feelings and expression of them we can be lost for words when the agonies of someone’s heart are displayed. It is hard to understand and empathize. There is the fear that we will amplify the pain by trying to offer whatever inadequate comfort we can summon …

Rachel Platten had a dream to become a successful singer-song writer. For over a decade she tried to make this dream come true. She wrote a lot of songs. None of them were hits. She travelled across America and sang in small venues sometimes with an audience of just 20 people. She made many CDs of her music, but sold few. What was she doing with her life? She was 32. Most of her friends had solid jobs, houses and families while she was struggling to get by! She had written over hundred songs that no-one seemed to want to hear. Should she give up or keep on singing?

Do we as the church really understand what the Bible tells us about women? How do we teach our boys to view their mothers, sisters and other ladies in the church? What are we teaching our girls as they grow up in an age of raging feminism and increased sexualisation? Do you really know what the Bible teaches about half of the church?

In response to ‘An Epitaph in Kilraughts Old Graveyard’

This film deserves a whole lot of attention, and a lot more viewers. It will break your heart (and put it back together again). It’s powerful, moving, beautifully made, and will leave you thinking for days. If you haven’t yet seen it, go no further with this review: just go watch it

A few weeks ago I grabbed a bag of popcorn and a bottle of water and was ready to settle down to enjoy another film in the Avengers franchise! Yes, you’ve guessed - Captain Marvel! This film is similar to most Avengers films in that it’s aimed primarily for late teens to young adults. With plenty of action-packed scenes, witty jokes and a star-studded cast, what’s not to love!

The biography by Ron Chernow is the inspiration behind the Tony award-winning musical, which has recently arrived to the West End. The story of Alexander Hamilton is indeed a remarkable one, a penniless orphan (well almost) immigrant who manages through his diligence and hard work to become the advisor to Washington penmen of the American constitution.

The jeweller displays the beauty of a diamond against the blackest cloth, the contrast highlighting the clarity and purity of the stone. One recent news story which carried the darkest details was the trial of former US gymnastic team doctor Larry Nassar who used his position of respect and responsibility to prey upon vulnerable young girls. Yet against this horrific backdrop God used one of his children to display the fierce beauty of the gospel.

Bruno Mars released this simple but very catchy song on his first studio album in 2010. In an interview, Bruno Mars talking about the song, said he was trying to capture the feeling “when you’re in Vegas, and you’ve had way too many drinks, and you love everybody, and you want to do something that you probably shouldn’t do and you’ll regret in the morning.” In the song that ‘something’ is to spontaneously marry someone.

Every name has a meaning. Whether or not the individual lives up to their name is a different or perhaps even irrelevant matter. Whilst arguably our names and titles hold little importance and provide no more than a small glimpse into our lives, there is a Name above all others (Philippians 2:9). His name holds the greatest of importance, for “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

In these changing days, our history is suppressed

But remember us, remember our name.

We are the covenanters

And we stand with Christ.

As most of you will know with this pandemic going on the cinemas have not been that easy to get to. So, I have taken this version of the messengers review to an Amazon prime movie. I realise not everybody has Amazon prime, but you can't get this movie through other means either by buying as a DVD or renting it or whatever floats your boat. The movie I have chosen Is ‘Knives Out’.

Are you cold, indifferent, angry, frustrated, intolerant, castigating or hostile towards your local church? Or are you warm, concerned, involved, sympathetic, committed, patient, and full of love, grace, hope and peace, in your relationships and dealings with your brothers and sisters in the blood-bought congregation of God?

A desire for freedom is inherent in man. A yearning for liberty is part of the very soul of mankind. We can see it if we look through any history book. Tale after tale of people struggling to free themselves from oppression.

When we find high-profile sportsmen or women who share our faith getting slaughtered in the regular media or on social media for their outspoken views, or for what the world sees as outdated and intolerant convictions, how should we respond?

All ethnic Jews can trace their roots back to forebears who were refugees and migrants. From their original temporary residence in Canaan, to their becoming refugees and then slaves in Egypt, right through to the 40-year trek that took them finally to a homeland of their own, they were 'of no fixed abode' and were often dependent on the kindness of pagan neighbours in order to survive. And God used that kindness - even from their erstwhile oppressors, the Egyptians - to sustain them. But how quickly Israel forgot.