Here is sanctuary Gulls are singing praise to God Stone and wood Touch earth and sky with grace The river laps the sand with ease Ancient sounds of monks are heard in the breeze Singing songs and chants of praise Holy Holy is the Lord Colm's island speaks of God Hermit prayers can still be heard Saints and sinners voices cry Amidst the ruins of our time Forgive our sins, redeem our lives We cry for sanctuary Prayer never ceases it cannot die It...
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Robert Calvert, in an article written for the Lausanne Conversation entitled " Secularity: Dogma meets Diversity in Europe", makes the following comment," The challenge of secularity is to make the case for the truth of Christ in societies that are pluralistic and globalized and to build the peace of Christ in societies that are broken and divided. Evangelical Christians, who need to critically engage rather than to escape the challenge of this secular age, are...
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I'm just back from having an interesting two days in London. A few of us from the Vine Trust had the honour of being invited to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace as part of the celebrations surrounding Princess Anne's 60th Birthday. It turned out to be an excellent day and the weather added to the whole occasion. It was hot and sunny and the Princess seemed to be enjoying meeting up with a number of representatives from the 300 and more Charities to which she is...
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I was speaking to a parent of one of our youth leader today. He told me he didn't go to church however he was perfectly comfortable coming into St Andrew's to work with his son on a joint radio programme. As we spoke he said to me. "Yeah this place is different its not a Sunday church this is an everyday church." I was really quite taken to hear him use that phrase about St Andrew's We truly want to be an everyday church that produces and mentors everyday Christians...
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It continues to be interesting to see how the press has picked up on the streaming of the service to iphones. We've had a number of inquires from churches and from individuals about what we are attempting to do here in Bo'ness with technology. I guess one of the things we want to be is authentic. We're not trying to compete with the mega churches. Indeed we're about trying to help local congregations see the advantage in them being local and streaming out their...
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