I have never heard of anything so daft!!! - 2 PC hits CofE!

Church of England Bishops have rejected a request to ring out the bells of churches on St George’s Day.
The idea to ring out the bells was suggested by churchgoer Libby Alexander, who wrote to each of the 44 Church of England diocesan bishops suggesting the idea.
Only five of them responded positively to the idea, whilst more than half did not respond to the letter.
In her letter, Alexander said that church attendance was falling because of “the lack of assertiveness or confidence emanating from the top… [and the] strangulations of political correctness”, reports the Daily Mail.
She also encouraged the bishops, “What an uplifting, wondrous sound it would be if bells rang out to remind the country that Christianity exists and that churches are there to welcome."
However, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Rt Rev John Packer, responded saying, “I am not sure assertiveness is a Christian value.”
The Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Dr Kenneth Stevenson, also expressed concern that “some secularists would claim the Church was imposing its beliefs and practices on the whole population”.
The Rt Rev Dr Peter Foster, Bishop of Chester, said meanwhile, “There would be dangers in putting on ‘public displays’ of confidence.”

Something to pray about.. (in case you're stuck)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Japanese, South Korean and U.S. missile-destroying ships set sail to monitor North Korea's imminent rocket launch, as Pyongyang stoked tensions Monday by detaining a South Korean worker for allegedly denouncing the North's political system.
North Korea says it will send a communications satellite into orbit between April 4 and 8. The U.S., South Korea and Japan suspect the regime is using the launch to test long-range missile technology, and warn it would face U.N. sanctions under a Security Council resolution banning the country from any ballistic activity.
North Korea has threatened to quit international talks on its nuclear disarmament if punished with sanctions. The communist regime's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reiterated that warning Sunday, saying the talks will "completely collapse" if taken to the Security Council.

Film Night

FAFF Film Night - Great nibbles provided and a great crowd but unfortunately it had to be cancelled due to bad light!

Man

If a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking and there is no woman around to hear him...is he still wrong?

Alice Kahn - Technology

For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three.
- Alice Kahn

John Piper - Prayer

A prayerless Christian is like having your room wallpapered in Sak's Fifth Avenue gift certificates but always shopping at Ragstock because you can't read.— John Piper

Matthew - Good Gifts

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
Matthew 7:7-11

10,000,000 Baptisms in Africa

The Africa Assemblies of God Alliance (AAGA) has set out to baptise 10 million believers within a 10-year period, reports the denomination’s news agency.
AG African leaders committed themselves to the “Decade of Pentecost” at an AAGA meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, earlier this month that occurs once every four years.
Spearheading initiatives for the Decade of Pentecost will be Acts in Africa, a ministry aimed at encouraging Pentecostal revival in the Assemblies of God in Africa.
During the Decade of Pentecost, which will begin in 2010 and continue through 2020, national Assemblies of God churches will mobilise for global missions with the vision of reaching “yet-to-be-reached” peoples in Africa and the world with the Gospel, according to AG News.
AAGA’s strategies for achieving its goal include an annual Pentecost Day when about 48,000 AG pastors will be challenged to preach on the “baptism in the Holy Spirit and the mission of God” and pray with believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
There are about 16 million AG members meeting in more than 50,000 churches in 50 countries in sub-Sahara Africa and the Indian Ocean Basin, according to the denomination. In 1990, there were only 2.1 million constituents and 12,000 churches.
The Assemblies of God is the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination with somewhere between 57 to 60 million adherents.
Three decades ago, the combined total of Pentecostals and Charismatics was less than 5 per cent, now they make up some 17 per cent of Africa’s population, or about 147 million people, according to a 2006 Pew Forum study that highlighted the dramatic growth of the movement within half a century.
"Pentecostalism's dramatic expansion has left almost no part of sub-Saharan Africa unaffected," stated the Pew Forum. "If Pentecostal churches continue to grow in numbers and activism, the long-range political impact of Africa's vibrant Pentecostal community will become increasingly difficult to ignore.”
The Pew Forum report on Pentecostalism in Africa was one of three parts that also examined the movement’s growth in Asia and Latin America.

Anyone else catch this? Not much said in the press!!!

Anyone else here a fan of soccer genius Paul Gascoigne? Over the years I've followed his career with desperate fascination as he has hurtled down towards the bottom of the cliff, wanting to reach out and not knowing how.

As a one-time journeywoman along that 'road most travelled', I feel a gruesome horror when watching another flawed human being in the grip of compulsions they cannot believe they cannot control, lurching from one disaster to the next, pursued by those hideous 'horsemen of the apocalypse'.

All around, all the time, there are others making that same journey. Most never 'get off the lift'. When they do, they often rarely stay off it. Death or insanity are too often the result. But I've seen others, deemed beyond hope by all who know and love them including me, make incredible recoveries.

Gascoigne credits his new-found faith in God. 'I just thank Him for today. If I don't drink, I just say thanks.'

An old friend of mine, Andre, used to say: 'When even one man or woman gets to this place, all the angels in heaven are silent in awe.' I believe that's something of what Jesus meant when he talked of not even one sparrow falling without God knowing of it.

Judging by this interview that I caught on Sky this morning, Paul Gascoigne has finally got it. I really never thought he would, and can only pray silence in awe.

Ruth Gledhill is The Times Religion Correspondent. In this blog she offers her views on the issues of the day. Your responses are invited.

Indira Gandhi - Shake Hands

"You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist."

You can get anything in the Trade-It

"Nagging Wife. No Tax, No MOT. Very high maintenance -- some rust," wrote Gary Bates, 38, in a small ad in Trade-It, more usually used to buy and sell cars or household goods.

Bates, a self-employed builder from Gloucestershire, southwest England, snapped after his wife Donna on got on his nerves while she was watching television and decided to place the ad as a joke.

"She was nagging me for doing something small, while she was watching some rubbish on TV. So I just thought I'd put an ad in to get rid of her.

"I didn't think anyone would ring up but I've had at least nine or 10 people calling about her. It's gone mad. There was no one I knew -- just people asking, 'Is she still available?'"

The couple only married last year, and Bates said his 40-year-old wife -- whom he advertised in the magazine's Free to Collect section, along with some of his fishing tackle -- initially gave him "a bit of an ear-bashing."

But he said: "She's seen the funny side of it now though!"

Dwight L Moody - Faith

A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul.
Dwight L. Moody