Tag: matthew

This is not Bible Bashing!

I’ve been to church more this weekend than I have in the last 10 years.  I attended a mate’s funeral on Friday in a Catholic church and today I attended a Christening in a C of E Church.  As it was a ‘young persons’ funeral on Friday the place was full of young people.

However, when I attended the Christening today and it was a normal mass, I noticed that the majority (over 70%) of the parishioners were well into their 80s.  It made me wonder about the longevity of the Church.

It was a very progressive Church with a female Priest, a children’s club and we received a very warm welcome, but I couldn’t help feeling that it was not with the times.  I couldn’t sing along with the hymns if I tried, not because I’m tone deaf but I couldn’t work out the tune.  It was far too long; I was physically in pain by the end of it and the reading from Matthew 5:27-30, made my jaw hit the floor.

28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into hell.

And this was the corker???

32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

The Priest did address that God’s word is written in black and white and was not written in modern times.  Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to explain how this would fit into life today, however, she did emphasize that we should focus on repenting.

So, with one in two marriages in the UK ending in divorce have they not just turned their back on a large percentage of the population?  People divorce for many reasons, and this does not mean that they’re bad people.  My mother is a divorcee but she strongly believes in the 10 commandments.

I think the Church has a lot to offer people, but if it is unable to evolve and reflect modern times I can’t help thinking that it will disappear.

So what do you think?

Bush Tales by Matthew R Jameson

Prior to agreeing to review Bush Tales by Matthew R Jameson, a multimedia collection of 12 stories rooted from the legends and Folklore of Africa performed by West End stars, I had a quick look at their website.  Madame was transfixed immediately, so I agreed.  We haven’t listened to the CD yet, as I’m too lazy to load it into I-tunes but we have read the Bush Baby Chorus Book and watched almost all of the stories on DVD.

I was a bit worried that the language was a bit beyond a 3 year old but this didn’t take away from her enjoyment.  She loves the musical scores and the beautiful illustrations. She keeps saying ‘I want to watch another one’.  My personal favourites are Unthinkably Pink and the Meerkat Muchachos.  It’s a wonderful way of introducing children to Classical Music, something which we may not have done otherwise.

I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on the Unthinkably Pink Bush Tale Games and Story Book app.  We had a small hiccup with I-tunes codes so I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

*product review