Ducks and Sticking close to God!

I was at a seminar yesterday at CWR in Farnham, Hampshire. Before it started I was walking by the river that runs along the lower grounds and saw a Mother Duck with three quite young ducklings. When they saw me the ducklings immediately swam to the mother and couldn't have been closer if they climbed on her back. God then made the point to me that this is how we should be in relation to Him. We should stick so close to God that we are under His protection and not stray away where we can be picked off by the enemy.

God speaks to me through nature as I guess that is the way I most easily hear His voice. Anyway here is a picture to help visualise what I saw. Sadly I didn't take a picture of the scene myself.

I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. (Psalm 61:4)

New Labour's attack on true Demomcracy - 'Free Vote' sham!

I have previously posted my views on the Human Embryology bill recently passed in all it 'glory' by our government. I knew the 'free vote' statement by Gordon Brown was a joke but this article just highlights what an utter sham and disgrace it was. It was obvious that 'Free Vote' means free to vote as long as you vote the way we want you to.

No party is without its skeletons and in any way perfect but Labour has become so dictatorial from its leadership that I question how democracy can be served in this country with them as the Governmental party.

Tina Dico - On the Run Video

Another great song from the lovely Ms Dico

Switcfoot - This is Home from Prince Caspian

Dispatches 'In God's Name' - Liberal intolerance and poor Journalism.

Channel 4 in the UK showed a program last night called 'In God's Name' and was placed in their Dispatches series of programs. Click HERE for a very good article and analysis of the program. Also views on the Embryology Bill.

Embryology Bill and the state of Scientific morality/ethics!

 

BBC NEWS | Politics | MPs to vote on abortion limit cut

 

The Link above takes you to the details about the bill from the usually biased BBC website. Here is a link from another point of view that details why in particular stopping Animal-Human hybrids, the threat of 'spare part children' and Fatherless families and Abortion Limit reduction are so important.

At least David Cameron is voting to drop the 24 week limit and Ian Duncan Smith is behind wanting to keep the requirement for a Father with IVF. Mr Brown on the other hand is voting yes on all of them. How can a man who professes to be a Christian support this Act.

The Hybrid arguments that support the creation of Animal-Human hybrid creation just highlights to me where evolutionary thinking leads. If we are just a cosmic accident and here by pure chance then there is no basis for morality. An argument that sticks dogmatically to the point that it 'may' help develop cures for diseases is missing a huge side. Where do we draw the line between the noble cause of wanting to help cure horrible diseases and taking another life to do it. From an evolutionary point of view it is survival of the fittest or just nature and natural selection. It is this kind of thinking that devalues human life and has led us to the point we are at.

It begs the question as Mr Spock said in 'The Wrath of Kahn', '... the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.... or the one'. I don't believe in this instance that applies. To understand why I feel that let me explain my point of view on when life is created. I believe at the point of conception a foetus should have the right to a full life. Therefore I believe it is quite simply infanticide or more bluntly murder to destroy a foetus for whatever reason. Therefore I believe creating a hybrid embryo to be morally bankrupt on so many levels let alone abortion.

We have crossed a line here in the UK by allowing this to go ahead. This is not the needs of the many or even the one in the case of a mother wanting an abortion. This is about the innate value of every human life. One persons 'rights' are not above another's. A woman's 'right' to choose stops when she gets pregnant from unprotected sex and is then responsible for another life. Up to that point she and her partner have a choice!

Lord Acton certainly had it right in saying, "Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought."

20:49 pm MP's have removed the necessity for a Father in IVF. Again the rights of Fathers is corroded to the point of non-existence. Contrary to Liberal PC nonsense a baby is made by a Mans stuff and a Woman's stuff mixed together. A further corrosion of the family unit by this Government.

I realise this is not a very well constructed article but I felt the need to vent!!!!

God help us all!

Tina Dico Live at Komedia Brighton - Review

As per previous post I saw Tina Dico live at the Komedia in Brighton last night. This was in what is known as Komedia Downstairs and is a fairly small intimate venue.

The support act who mercifully only played about 25 minutes was called Ain and hails from Dublin. All I can say if that is your day job then you are in trouble. Sorry to be so negative but it was truly awful and hats off to the very English polite crowd who clapped in the right places and didn't make any loud or rude comments. The man knows one melody, in the loosest sense I use that term and played several songs with different lyrics to that same melody. Awful!

Anyway to the reason why I went. Miss Tina Dico performed for around one hour fifteen minutes. Short yes but so very good. It was just her and her two guitars along with her beautifully crafted intelligent vocals. I knew she had a great voice from the albums and from seeing some recorded live work but in the flesh so to speak, simply knock out. Emotive, pure and powerful live bringing all the nuances of the songs to life.

Musically it really impressed me that way she can play some quite complex guitar rhythms and plucking whilst singing the melody lines she writes. Not only a great vocalist but great musician as well.

She deserves greater recognition in the UK than she has as she is so much more talented than the likes of Amy Whinehouse, Amy MacDonald or Katy Melua to name but a few. Go out and by her albums and help raise her profile in the UK.

Tina Dico @ Brighton plus Count to Ten Review

I am going to see Tina Dico tonight at the Brighton Komedia. This will be an acoustic gig as far as I know which will be interesting. I have not heard her live before except on video. If you have never heard of her then I suggest looking on her Home Page to discover a really great talent. She is from Denmark and has what I think is a quite unique style. Yes there are many female singer songwriters out there but her choice of melodies I think makes her stand out from the crowd.

Her new album Count to Ten is really very good. The previous album 'In the Red' is a firm favourite on my iPod and this is as good if not better. Stand out tracks are You know Better and On the Run to name but a few. This is an 8/10 album easily. Emotive and relaxing with well crafted lyrics and interesting melodies.

My favourite song from In the Red is Warm Sand and here it is live, enjoy:

Merry New Happy Year... or something like that!

Yes yes I know it is the 9th of January and all that merriment has long passed with the return of work and normal life. But hey I have been lazy and very busy in equal measures lately. Busy at work so no time for blogging there, which I shouldn't do anyway and busy at home with worship team commitments and Cell group leadership carrying on and general being a husband and all that.

So a belated Happy New Year and I pray that this year is a positive one for anyone who reads this little corner of cyberspace I inhabit.

I am working on a proper entry regarding a fridge magnet I was given over Christmas but that will be along soon. In the mean time here is what it says:

How many roads must a man travel down before he admits he is lost?

Jeff Wayne's - The War of the Worlds Live

On Thursday night, heavy cough, cold and all, I went to see Jeff Wayne's 'The War of the Worlds' at the Brighton Centre. I have been a fan of this piece of music since I was given a copy by my uncle shortly after it was released back in the seventies. It made a great impression on this young boy I can tell you. The ticket was a present to my Uncle who accompanied me and drove since I was feeling rough.

The show was very impressive with a screen across the whole back of the stage. A 10ft high projection of a digitally animated head of Richard Burton. Justin Hayward and Chris Thompson singing who were on the original. A large string section and numerous musicians, again some of the originals, bringing a big sound and the man himself, Jeff Wayne conducting the whole affair. Two hours of great entertainment with a mixture of live acting/singing, CGI animation and original artwork telling the story with the music.

As much as the music is very much of the seventies it still has somehow not dated either. The audience was both young and old. I guess parents bringing their children, Men bringing their partners, a whole mixture and totally sold out over three nights in Brighton. I recommend seeing it if they do it again next year.

Anyway here is a taster from YouTube: