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Blog Archives
Film Friday Thought: The Power of the Dog
The title of this film comes from the Bible, from one of the Psalms – 22 verse 20, ‘Save my precious life from the sword and from the power of …
Wednesday Riff: Mountains
I climb one mountain, Convinced that I’ve made it to the top, Only to discover there is another peak up ahead, Another climb, another challenge. And so we climb on, …
Monday Rewrite: Feet on the ground
Jesus wasn’t insecure. Never needed to do anything for show or to prove himself, or big himself up. When he washed feet it wasn’t about him. Though it could have …
Film Friday: Blinded by the Light
There is a moment in this movie when Javed gives a heartfelt speech about his passion for writing and for the music of Bruce Springsteen, and for the love he …
Wednesday Riff: The Revolution
The revolution goes on, led by subtle rebels, And faithful, courageous, ordinary radicals, In the smiles and the serving and the showing of love, In the grind and the grit, …
Monday Rewrite: Jesus on a Dull Day
Jesus on a dull day, There were many of these, When nothing much came his way, Just hammers, nails and bits of trees. He’s famous for the full days, Of …
Film Friday: Phantom of the Open
Back in 1976 Maurice Flitcroft entered The British Open Golf Championship. He’d never played a round of golf in his life and became famous for making the highest score in …
Wednesday Riff: Help
Before everything else, As we face a new day with all it holds, And we’re tempted to rely on our own resources, Help us to put our trust in you. …
Monday Rewrite: The Blame Game
They want him to join in, to point out what this man has done wrong, to call him out for his mistakes and misdemeanours. To put him down so that …
Wednesday Riff: Life
Life walks the streets, encompassing all: The faces full of joy, the minds full of questions, The frustrated souls, and the hearts about to break. And in his wake, justice …
Monday Rewrite: 40 Days
As he walked through that wilderness, in those 40 days of space and silence and emptiness, with time on his hands and the thoughts rattling like stones in his mind… …
Film Friday: The Duke
‘I am you and you are me.’ So says Kempton Bunton when he finds himself in court accused of stealing the painting of the Duke of Wellington. Kempton wanted to …
Wednesday Riff: Dusty
Easy to think that God is only about The bright and beautiful, happy and glorious, Forgetting that Jesus was a man of sorrows Acquainted with grief and trouble. A dusty …
Greener Grass (5000 Questions)
Overheard at a certain feast of fish and bread: Right everyone, sit down, just sit down, that’s it, it won’t be long, the food’s coming round. Er… excuse me. Yes? …
Film Friday: The Last Duel
This film features one of the most intense and gripping fight scenes I’ve seen in a good long while, as the two leads, Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris …
Wednesday Riff: Timing
We live through many times and seasons, Sometimes in a single day. Times when it’s good to speak up and Times to appreciate the silence. Times to cry out, and …
Monday Rewrite: The Great Influencer
Not one who merely talks through a phone or tablet screen, not mentioning the new and trendy products that he’s been wearing or using – not here for applause or …
Film Friday: Jerry Maguire
This film is famous for two lines – ‘Show me the money!’ and ‘You had me at… hello.’ Jerry is a sports agent who one night sees things so clearly …
Wednesday Riff: Giants
There are days when the world seems Too hard, too lost, too painful, The hills higher than they were before, The valleys darker and the roads longer. The giants loom …
Monday Rewrite: What We Can
As the woman anoints him with her exorbitant perfume, he can see the disdain on the sneers of those around, their thoughts scrawled large, like newsprint, across their faces. So …
Film Friday Thought… On Gleaning
I recently read in the news that gleaning is making a comeback – groups of folks are collecting leftover veg from fields that have been harvested, and they are then …
Wednesday Riff: Through Your Eyes
Not easy to appreciate the small things The way that you do, In a world where the frenetic scramble for Success, popularity, accolades, and awards, Is not only applauded but …
Monday Rewrite: A Hillside for the World
And seeing the crowds he sat down on a hillside and began to teach them, and more and more people came to hear him. Some were looking at their mobile …
Film Friday Thought: Enemy of the State
One of my favourite films – Will Smith, aka Robert Dean, goes on the run when he gets caught up in some unpleasant shenanigans with some nasty villainous-types. It’s a …
Wednesday Riff: Confession
We believe in God the father, maker of heaven and earth, With all our doubts and misgivings and meandering, We believe in Jesus Christ his only son, our Lord, Daily …
Monday Rewrite – Love is Like This
Love is Like This… Based on 1 Corinthians 13 Themes – Love, friendship and support Cast – Narrator & Four actors, 1, 2, 3 & 4 Love is like this. …
A story with responses: Love is patient
A responsive reading. Ideal for assemblies, all-age worship and Sunday schools. A single narrator reads the following piece while the audience joins in with the responses whenever they hear the …
Film Friday Thought: Slumdog Millionaire
I love the moment in this film when Jamal, having jumped into a latrine pit filled with… well, you can guess… then pushes his way through a horrified crowd to …
Wednesday Riff: The Muddle
At times the road doesn’t seem to rise to meet us, It’s as if life buckles and slips from our grasp, The doors keep closing and the way is unclear, …
Monday Rewrite: The Land of Fear
Two went walking in the woods one spring, With no idea what the walk might bring. The girl fell asleep, near a big brown stone, But the boy soon discovered …
Film Friday: The Dream Team
In this 1980s screwball comedy four patients with personality disorders are taken out by their understanding doctor for a trip to a ball game. What could possibly go wrong? Well, …
Wednesday Riff: Common
I wonder how much we have in common with Jesus? We were born, as wide-eyed wonders, We cried, we cooed and giggled, We were fed and we filled our nappies, …
Monday Rewrite: Wilderness Voice
A voice calls out in the wilderness, Offering comfort and a way forward. ‘Lift up your eyes, look to the skies, And to the one who set them in place. …
#Signs
#Shelter Be our shelter please, our comfort and calm. Be our shield, our place of strength and safety, our source of help and inspiration. Our means of going on, and …
A Story for Candlemas
by James Clarke ‘Hello I’m Jacob, one of the volunteers here in Jerusalem’s great Temple. I guide people to the right places, stop some going where they shouldn’t, only a …
Film Friday: Belfast
In this riveting tale of a Belfast family, set in 1969 as the troubles were escalating, we see life in its fullness. Celebration, fear, hope and heartache are all writ …
Wednesday Riff: Living One
Wonderful counsellor, Everlasting father, Prince of peace. The pulse of life, our true north, The ground of our being, Source of hope and direction, Humility, pride, strength and service, One …
Monday Rewrite: Barn Fever
‘Welcome one and all, family and er… interested parties… of Mr Richard Fool for the reading of his will, following his sad and mysterious demise after the completion of his …
Film Friday Thought: The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
In this film the character of Louis struggles to connect with the world and others, it is only when he falls in love with his sisters’ governess Emily, that he …
Monday Rewrite: Ezekiel Jones and the Room of Snakes
Where was it, he was sure it was here somewhere. The torch flickered and the shadows danced on the ancient temple wall. Surely he heard right, that nudge, that whisper …
Wednesday Riff: All
We all get frightened, All get bolshy, all get frustrated, We all lose patience and find it again. We all have our loves and hates, All have our longings and …
Monday Rewrite: Walls & Windows
The walls had risen around them, so slowly they had not noticed. But now they felt it, the bricks of cynicism and self-doubt and confusion. And of drifting in a …
Film Friday Classic: Grease
There is a moment I love in Grease, when Danny is posing with his mates, trying to be cool for them and to impress the girls. And then he makes …
Wednesday Riff: This Holy Ground
This footprint, this turf, this moment, This carpet, this concrete, this rocky path, This holy ground. This church, this stadium, this field, This shop, this cinema, this school, This holy …
Monday Rewrite: Hebron Street
by James Clarke Yesterday – in the Temple, I saw something that took me back 30 years in a moment. A man was talking – arguing really – with the …
Film Friday Classic: A Town Like Alice
In Nevil Shute’s classic tale an Australian soldier is crucified for helping a group of refugee women and children wandering across Malaya during World War Two. Some of the group …
Wednesday Riff: Streetwise
I really love the way you’re rooted in reality, Well acquainted with sweat and spit and stress, Acquainted with fears and grief and frustration. A human being, moved into our …
Monday Rewrite: Hefty Prophets
The three prophets Zechariah, Jeremiah and Elijah (Z, J and E) meet up for a chat. Z. I’m trying to plan my sermon for Sunday but I’m getting nowhere. J. …
Wednesday Riff: Christmas King
And so this festive season falls once more, The Autumn hues melting into hopeful wonder, Perhaps snow will twinkle like so many diamonds, Sprinkled liberally across the winter ground. Carols …
