Download Depression Talk

According to the NHS at around 15% of people will suffer from severe depression at some point in their lives. Last Wednesday Dr. Andrew Collins spoke at a public meeting in Dromore RPC and his very helpful talk is now available to download. Listening to it will be of great help if you suffer from Depression or know someone who does as the speaker addresses the following questions:

What is Depression?

How does Depression develop?

What causes Depression?

How can Depression be treated?

Can I help someone who is Depressed?

Where can we find an answer to feelings of despair and purposelessness?

Who are you?

It’s always nice when Britain displays such good manners on the world stage however the rude MEP Nigel Farage does ask a legitimate question. Just a pity he didn’t try to start chanting it afterwards.

Read BBC report

(This post isn’t making a political point about the EU or UKIP rather it is posted for being an interesting but very bizarre piece of news)

Senior Camp Reunion Talks Online

(HT: Carla’s blog, she’s also got some new photos from the weekend)

The spiritual food was even better!

Warren Peel’s talks are now available to download. They’ve appeared on the RPC website only shortly before the Messenger report of the weekend (rumours suggest you might get it this Sunday). If you were there you’ll undoubtedly be eager to listen again and if you missed Reunion don’t spurn the opportunity to put these on your mp3 player.

Prayer as Spiritual Warfare

Be a Good Soldier of Jesus Christ

Know your Enemy

Fight the Good Fight

(If you need any more encouragement to listen check out Philip’s summaries of the talks)

Evening Worship Because Jesus is There

Second reason from Rev. David McCullough’s leaflet answering the question “Why Evening Worship?”.

2. Because of the Presence of Christ

The psalmist writes I love the house where you live, O Lord.  The place where Your glory dwells. (Psalm 26:8)   God does not live in any building made by the hands of men.  He does reside by His Spirit amongst His people.  Where Christ’s people are, He is in the midst of them.  When we gather for public worship we enjoy the presence of Christ with His people in a way that we cannot enjoy when we are on our own.  One way to express our love for Christ is to delight in being where He is in this special way.  No right thinking believer would want to snub their Lord and Saviour by absenting themselves without due cause from public worship.

Part 1 – Because of the Glory of God

Depression- the Stubborn Darkness

How to find Dromore RPC

The talk should be available online shortly after the event.

Totally Like Whatever, You Know?

Piper described this poem by Taylor Mali as “Serious humour. It’s a God issue.”

Don’t talk as if you’ve got no convictions rather “say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it”.

Goodbye Pluto Review

Guest Post from Alistair Rolleston reviewing local band Goodbye Pluto’s self-titled debut EP.

Writing a review on local talent can be difficult at times. Feeling you owe them a good review because they’re ‘Born of our Land’ while not actually liking their music is a danger. Doubly so when it’s a new, young band as you really don’t want to throw them into the dirt before they’ve even found their feet.

Thankfully, Ballymena based Goodbye Pluto made my life a lot easier with the release of their self-titled EP, because it’s rather fantastic. Sara Crockett, Peter Burton, Clark Thompson and Daniel Ross have started to make their own little mark on the local music scene, and it’s a little mark which could very quickly turn into something much, much bigger. Listening through the EP I had to keep reminding myself that several of the band members are still at school, with a sound and presence years ahead of themselves. Comparisons to Paramore are inevitable, even if they were only a rock band with a female vocalist, but the style of the music is very close as well, and Crockett’s powerhouse vocals will be drawing many a Williams’ comparison. Seriously, girl can sing.

The EP opens with the distorted sounds of “Distance”, which is an interesting and curious opener, showcasing mainly Peter’s skills on the guitar and actually reminds me for some reason of the Foo Fighters.  The second track was my first ever experience of Goodbye Pluto, and to date, “Fall from Grace” remains one of my favourites, with fantastic vocals and lyrics throughout. It’s been produced differently from the version I had earlier heard, so I now have two quite different incarnations of the song.

“Heart made of Glass” is the real stand out track on the EP, lyrically and musically. Parts of the song leave the vocals very exposed and it’s paid off well, showing that Crockett doesn’t need the other instruments to make her sound good. Again Peter shows himself to be a stand-out guitarist, while Clark and Daniel provide a fantastic foundation for the band to stand on. “These Four Walls” again showcase the talent of the whole band, fantastically driven in parts.

Next big thing? Goodbye Pluto are certainly going places, count on that. If they keep producing music like this, it’s not going to be long before they make it big.

EPs cost £5 and are available from the band themselves and at their shows, or talk to Hannah Drennan or Abi Nelson who may be able to sort you out with one.

You can listen to some of the tracks on their Myspace site.

Impotent Bayern Fail to Score in 5 Goal Defeat

Porter plays Ian through

• Passing football rewarded with victory

• Renwick keep first competitive clean sheet of the season

• Cromie Joel makes an impressive debut

Renwick bounced back from their defeat to arch-rival Derryvolgie by recording an impressive 5-0 victory. The Elmwood team approached the game confidently having also scored five in a friendly against Bayern Eunuchs two weeks ago and were pleased to improve upon that result in this week’s competitive fixture by keeping a clean sheet. Gareth Smith returned at centre-back to play alongside Andy Lynch whilst Porter and Mitchell started on the wings in a 4-4-2 formation. Promising youngster Cromie Joel was handed a start in the centre of midfield where he partnered the more experienced Andy McKelvey. Coachwell had already indicated he wouldn’t be present until the second half but Morrison was surprised to only have 11 players present for kick-off and refused to comment after the game on whether the four latecomers would face club disciplinary proceedings.

McKelvey bossed the midfield on one leg

Renwick had the lion’s share of possession

Mitchell winning the ball

12 minutes after the game began a quick throw from Ian Buchanan found Joel Cromie inside the box who scored with first time volley low to the keeper’s right. This was an ideal start for the Donegal man whose partnership with McKelvey’s strength and poise dominated the centre of the park throughout the first half. Joel started the move from which Renwick doubled the lead skipping past an opponent in his own half before playing the ball down the right flank for Porter. The ball was then played into the feet of McCavery who squared the ball to Ian whose powerful shot deflected off the onrushing defender into the bottom righthand corner leaving the keeper stranded.

Renwick were really begining to find their stride playing the ball beautifully along the deck and it wasn’t long before another attack down the right wing yielded a third goal. Buchanan made a run into the channel and crossed to provide Mark with an easy tap in at the back post. In the 36th minute the team in black were fortunate to retain 11 men on the pitch as the Ethiopians (HT: SWS) used their pace to counter attack swiftly, last-man Lynch came across to tackle and completely failed to connect with the ball. Bizarrely the Eunuch’s ref told the players to continue much to the relief of the Bready defender, if the Renwick Pundit was superstitious I would suggest that it was because he was wearing the former skipper’s jersey. Otherwise Andy L gave a very solid defensive performance but will have been disappointed not to have scored a free header from a corner at the other end a few minutes later. Bayern survived another good corner delivery when Gareth Smith’s free header was cleared off the line but they failed to learn from the mistakes in their own area.  From the next set piece Renwick’s prolific centre-back was given another opportunity and made the score 4-0 before the interval.

Tracksuitwell

At the break Morrison made sweeping changes with Cromie, Buchanan, Mitchell and Porter leaving the pitch whilst Ben Hanna took over as referee. Carson came on to the right wing, McCaughan on the left, Aicken and Blackwell in centre midfield whilst Hawthorne joined the strike force. Renwick failed to impose themselves on the game in the same way as they had dominated the first half but the Eunuchs could only respond with long hopeful balls aimed at their quick strikers. Michael Hawthorne had a well-finished goal controversially disallowed for offside and McCullough had to produce a save to keep out a sweetly hit Bayern freekick.

The lead was extended to five by Robert McCaughan whose pace had tortured his opposite number on several occasions. Hanna had been relieved of refereeing duties and  found the left winger with his throw, Rob skipped round the right back and placed the shot inside the right post. A few minutes later James was forced to use his feet to take the ball from the toes of the Eunuch striker but this was one of the last threats to the his goal. The last few minutes were fairly uneventful apart from Renwick’s marauding left back missing an opportunity at the back post. A five goal win was a fair reflection of Renwick’s dominance and the defence was delighted to keep their first competitive clean sheet of the season.  The title may now be beyond them but the Elmwood team still have important fixtures to play and all squad members will be keen to mount a strong finish despite several tricky fixtures remaining.

The next ad for Deep Riverrock

Stretchinghisbackinordertoavoidinjurywell

Lynch is so quick it’s a blur

Man of the Match: Ian Buchanan

Renwick House: McCullough, Morrison, Smith, Lynch, Hanna, Porter, Cromie, McKelvey, Mitchell, Buchanan, McCavery Subs: Blackwell, McCaughan, Hawthorne, Carson, Aicken

Scorers: Cromie, Buchanan, McCavery, Smith, McCaughan

Thanks to Rosemary and Heather for the photos.

Shaftesbury Reformed Conference and GO Team

On Wednesday of last week, Shaftesbury Square RPC held it’s approximately annual Reformed Conference. Following on from the two day conference on John Calvin last year, two American speakers had been invited to give an address.  Dr. Joel Beeke, of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and author of many books, and Dr. Joesph Pipa from Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary gave talks lasting about 45 minutes dealing with doctrinal issues, speaking to the average Church member, rather than just those with a special interest in theology.

Dr. Pipa’s address was on the subject Right with God. You can listen to it online at the Shaftesbury Sermon Audio site, or download it and listen to it on your mp3 player or iPod. After a short interval, Dr. Beeke spoke on Children of God. Again, this can be downloaded from the Sermon Audio website.

There were about 120 people, a very encouraging turn out for Shaftesbury. David McKay noted that of that number, around half were under the age of 30. Stafford Carson, present PCI moderator and speaker at last year’s conference was in attendance. Pray for all who heard the talks, and those who will hear them online, that God will use them to his glory.

Three days later, it was back to Shaftesbury for a one day GO Team. About 20 people assembled in the Church hall on Saturday morning before leaving to give out a flyer advertising the various means of outreach Shaftesbury undertakes to the houses in the areas near the Church building. Unlike other years, it wasn’t snowing, and was actually a very pleasant day, perfect for walking the streets of south Belfast.

The other side advertised the weekly Church services

About 5000 leaflets were given out on the day, leaving about 1000 for Paul and Philip to distribute over the next few weeks. Remember to pray for the lunchtimes services held on Thursdays starting on 4th March and for the men who will speak at those.

Later on that evening, some of the team went to Great Vic. Baptist to hear Stuart Olyott speak.

Ben passing on Joel and Steelo’s regards

The talks are not online yet, but when they are I’d guess you’ll be able to find them here.

Finally, Shaftesbury Fellowship is on tonight, Warren Peel speaking on God The Father. Tea at 6.45, talk around 7.30.

Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

The Wisdom of Heaven on Sex

It’s not just Premiership footballers who struggle with these sins.

Proverbs 5-7 contains God’s wisdom on a very important and difficult issue. Public figures like John Terry and Iris Robinson’s lives would have  fewer regrets if they had heeded it but this isn’t just an issue for heavily criticised celebrities. In his sermon a few Sabbath evenings ago Dad preached on these three chapters and said “there is not one of us who is without sin in this area”. This sermon is essential listening as we strive for purity in an impure world.

The Wisdom of Heaven on Sex – Rev. David McCullough
(Proverbs 5, 6v20-35, 7)

Right click on the sermon title and select “Save As”.