And you thought people in Northern Ireland were paranoid about symbols

Have a look at this.

The Gospel Coalition: 'They Testify About Me' Conference and Resources

The Gospel Coalition is an international network of rock-solid Christ-centred churches and organisations. For those of you who got in touch following a few recent blog posts here about how Jesus can be found throughout the Bible, and not just the Gospels or New Testament, this three day conference, entitled 'They Testify About Me: Preaching Jesus and the Gospel from the Old Testament' will be of interest. With 70 speakers, including Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, John Piper, Mark Dever, Alistair Begg, our own Keith & Kristyn Getty, Craig Dyer, Darrin Patrick (who I've blogged about before with this hard-hitting video which shook a few of you who emailed me about it), and Russell Moore - it's an astonishing line-up of probably the best Gospel presenters in the world today.

It's just a shame that it's in Chicago! For those of us who can't go, this list of resources (workshops, books, videos, articles and sermons) looks like a brilliant introduction to the subject. Craig Dyer is one of the speakers at this year's Keswick at Portstewart convention in July, so maybe he'll be touching on some of the same themes when he's over here.

There are quite a few UK churches in the Gospel Coalition (directory here), including Ballykeel Presbyterian in Ballymena and Greenwell Street Presbyterian in Newtownards - Graeme and I have played/sung in both (to the best of our limited abilities). Regular readers will know that Greenwell Street is close to the site of the original 1620s Montgomery school in Newtownards where John McLelland was the principal, and occasional lay preacher. Famous people still attend Greenwell St today!

> Follow The Gospel Coalition blog here
> Follow The Gospel Coalition on Facebook here

Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund

Last Autumn, I was invited to take part in an event at BBC Northern Ireland, as a discussion session about Ulster-Scots and broadcasting. The audience was made up of the local independent television production sector (I blogged about the event here.) The Fund itself comes from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in London, is set at £1m per annum for five years, and will be administered through Northern Ireland Screen. Just before Christmas N.I. Screen invited me to join the Committee, for an initial 2 years, which will oversee the Fund and the programmes which it decides to support.

I've accepted this role (unpaid!) and am very much looking forward to seeing the proposals which are brought forward, and to working with such a professional, experienced organisation as N.I. Screen. As such, I have declined a number of approaches from tv companies to assist with their programme proposals. Submissions are to be made by 4th March.

• NI Screen information about this first call for proposals is available here.
• BBC Northern Ireland has published guidance for independent producers which is available here.

The Southern Melody Boys - Tribulation Days

On the theme of the previous post...

Evangelical Millennialism in the Trans-Atlantic World, 1500-2000

Crawford Gribben's latest book carries on the theme he first outlined in this book which I blogged about before. His new one is entitled Evangelical Millennialism in the Trans-Atlantic World, 1500-2000 (available here on Amazon). The promotional leaflet says this:

This book offers the first complete overview of the intellectual history of one of the most significant contemporary cultural trends. In the early seventeenth century, European evangelicals recovered those expectations of an earthly golden age that had been deemed heretical by medieval and reformation theologians. Throughout early modernity, and across the spectrum of evangelical belief, these millennial expectations were deployed to mount a series of radical critiques of church and wider culture. In modernity, these expectations were appropriated by religious and cultural conservatives, who found in millennial theology the framework of their hostility to an unbelieving world and a rationale for their critical engagement with it – a critical engagement that ranged from an attempt at the wholesale reconstruction of a Christian society to an expectation of its imminent and catastrophic demise. This account guides readers into the origins, evolution, and revolutionary potential of evangelical millennialism in the trans-Atlantic world.

It's a contentious, yet deeply influential subject. Particular denominations embrace it, others reject it. Some individuals spend more time trying to work out which emerging world leader might be Antichrist rather than getting to grips with Christ! Some prefer to speculate about the future rather than to understand, and apply, the lessons of the past.

Talking to a Presbyterian friend the other day, he said that his church was about to begin a study on Daniel. Unable to resist a bit of theological banter, I said "Great - will you be getting stuck in to the 70 weeks?", to which he laughed out loud and said, "No, we'll be sticking to the bits that are true, none of that other nonsense!". Philip Thompson tweeted a quote from Alastair Begg last week: "chronology - theology = mythology" !. There's so much divergence within the Protestant denominations that sometimes I wonder if the all-embracing term is even useful any more. But the big charts and diagrams are visually brilliant - I remember seeing a hand-painted one in a mission hall about 30 years ago that was so big it filled the entire back wall and stretched round the corner onto one of the side walls too. A detail of a printed one of mine is below. Click to enlarge.

Bloggin Ministers

Not, not Mr McCausland (even though his blogging is impressive - which was nominated for an award recently), but ministers of the church kind. Here are a few that I dip into from time to time and can thoroughly recommend:

Martin McNeely (Presbyterian, Ballykeel in Ballymena): MartinMcNeely.com
Scott Woodburn (Presbyterian, Ballygowan): Empire of Dirt
Philip Thompson (Presbyterian, Rathfriland): PhillyThomp - although Twitter is really his thing)
Alan Wilson (Baptist, Portstewart): Coastal Pastor
Philip Dunwoody (Enniskillen, Reformed Presbyterian): MI7:7
Robert Robb (Enniskillen, Reformed Presbyterian): Pastor Robb's Blog
Robin Fairbairn (Presbyterian, Communications Officer) takes care of MissionIreland

I also enjoy:
TheResurgence.com - part of the MarsHillChurch phenomenon
MarsHillChurch.org - I listen to something on this site every day that I'm deskbound

There are probably a lot more that I'm not aware of. Luther, Wycliffe, Calvin, Tyndale and Knox all benefitted from the new communication technology of their time, which was of course the printing press. It's good to see that attitude still at work five centuries on.

Real folk with Scrabo

Found this great photo on Flickr today.

God's Secretaries by Adam Nicolson

This year is the 400th Anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. The book shown here, by Adam Nicolson, has been recommended to me by a friend who works in the broadcasting industry here in Northern Ireland. I haven't bought it yet, but I have listened to his other recommendation - a podcast of Nicolson giving an amusing, engaging and informative talk on the subject, which is available FREE here on iTunes.

Here's a short interview that Nicolson gave to PBS about the book.

Yrland Schotlandt map, cropped, 1658

For you map fans out there, here's a crop from a map of Ireland and Scotland by Dutch cartographer Hendrick Doncker of Amsterdam, dated 1658. The world looks different when it's turned on its side. Click to enlarge:

Plooterin aboot

Blogging is a funny thing. I've had enquiries this week already from a man in Australia trying to locate old recordings, a man from Scotland trying to find an old poem, two people looking for family tree information, and an enquiry to give a presentation in the Autumn about new media as a communications tool. They're the nice ones, which show that the casual 'plooterin aboot' that this blog is can actually have some positive benefit.

Then are the strange oddballs who monitor every word, who poke around here and on various associated blogs, and who then concoct dark shadowy theories about some mysterious hidden agenda. I know of a handful of such people who hoke around here, and there are probably more. A normal body would make direct contact and get to know you over a pot o' tay, but then again these maybe aren't normal folk.

So, whoever's out there, if you want to get in touch please do. I'm out and about most weeks, so I can meet up any time. And when I'm at home the kettle is usually on and the door is usually open. But then again if you'd prefer to make things up, then fire away. It'll be more interesting than the mundane reality anyway.

Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine

The best packaging design I've seen in years; with thanks to Glen.

"...Our Scots-Irish ancestors brought their knowledge and skills of whiskey-making with them as they came to Appalachia. Conditions in the area were good for growing corn, but it didn’t take long to realize a lot more money could be made off of a gallon of corn liquor than a bushel. Once the law began cracking down on the industry, the nature of our people and the rugged mountain terrain made way for the hay day of bootlegging..."

Visit the magnificently-designed website.

"...We practice selective annihilation, of mayors and government officials for example, to create a vacuum. Then we fill that vacuum..."

The title above is a line from the Guns N Roses song Civil War, which was released in 1990 on a Romanian orphan charity fundraising album called "Nobody's Child". They were the biggest rock group in the world at the time; the line was borrowed from a speech made by a South American dictator. Up until this point, the majority of Guns N Roses' songs had been about their hedonistic lifestyle, so to suddenly hear them tap into current affairs and politics was a bit of a shock. I was just 18, but having grown up during 'The Troubles' I had a fair idea that the neatly-packaged evening news broadcasts didn't always tell the full story - whether about events here in Northern Ireland or on the other side of the world.

As ripples of revolution rock the Middle East, firstly in Egypt, now in Libya and Bahrain, there has been some scepticism about the risings, and whether they were spontaneous at all - or whether they might have been carefully co-ordinated with Western assistance. Or maybe that the West has spent years propping up the very régimes which, in the face of sudden, high profile public protests, they now so quickly disapprove of.

In May 1842, the 75-year-old former President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845; pictured left in a photo taken in 1844) whose parents had emigrated from Carrickfergus in 1765, was being lobbied by an Irish-American organisation called the Irish Repeal Association of New York. They were seeking his support for their political objectives back in the "old country".

In a letter of reply to the organisation, Jackson, whilst acknowledging 'the Irish blood which flows in my veins' *, skilfully avoided becoming drawn into overseas issues. He wrote of '... that maxim which teaches us not to interfere offensively with the internal affairs of other nations. The preservation of the principle on which this maxim rests is far more important to the good of mankind than any benefit which can possibly be obtained by a departure from it ...' Jackson went on to say that representative government in Ireland should be achieved 'without violence or civil commotion', based squarely upon 'the will of her people'.

Jackson died before the United States descended into its own civil war; April 2011 sees the 150th anniversary of the Civil War (aka the War Between the States or the War of Northern Aggression). The anniversary has been turned into a major tourism opportunity over the next few years.

We can speculate of what Jackson would have made of the American Civil War, or of present-day American and British foreign policy.

.....

* I would suggest that Jackson was speaking geographically rather than culturally.

Ulsterisms, t-shirt style

These and more are available here. No offence to those in Co Tyrone, but the "Strabanistan" one is superb.

Packaging attitude

(Lifted from Ultonia.) I didn't watch the Superbowl so I missed this ad. It's a great example of how a product (in this case a car) can be packaged and sold through a set of emotional values, a personality, rather than through its rational, functional characteristics.

Jesus in every book of the Bible

A few other folk have posted this onto their blogs, so here it is again. UK readers might squirm a wee bit at the style now and again, but the content is 100% bang on. When I was a small boy, an old man advised me that when reading the Bible, to "look for Christ on every page". When I became a parent I soon realised that, with the ocean of Bible story books that are out there, it's possible to drift into treating much of the Bible as little more than a collection of bedtime stories, with 4 books about Jesus in the middle. The Gospel isn't about believing in God, it's about trusting in Christ. This video is a good starter -



And this is how Jesus presented the (Old Testament part of the) Bible himself: "...And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself..." Luke 24v27

Belfast in 1690

This illustration is from an old, old book:



UPDATE: The pics below, of King William Park in Belfast (near the Moravian Church at the end of the Lisburn Road) are posted as a follow-up to the comments from "Napalm". I worked close by for about 10 years. Click to enlarge.







A riveting account of William of Orange's "Glorious Revolution" can be found in US political journalist/commentator Michael Barone's book "Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America's Founding Fathers"- available here on Amazon. Irish history often reads better in the hands of someone who's not stuck in the usual Hibernocentric mindset.

Old-time Ulster music: The Harmony Trio, Newtownards, 1930s

When you hear or read of the old-time stringed music of the early 20th Century, it is of course the American artists that spring to mind. They were recorded and popularised on 78s and in the early days of radio - the record companies became professionalised and their musicians quickly became "golden geese" who were marketed, photographed and written about with care - selling millions of records and becoming multi-million dollar moneyspinners.

Over here on our side of the Atlantic there were many, but sadly now forgotten, musical groups. One of these was The Harmony Trio, who were three men from Newtownards and Belfast:

• Sandy McDonald (hammer dulcimer)
• Willie Gamble (1897-1985; hammer dulcimer and mandolin)
• Jack Noble (accordion)

In 1932 and 1933 they played on BBC Radio on a late night slot between 9pm - 10pm. Willie Gamble also made two dulcimers; during WW2 the Gambles were evacuated from Belfast to Newtownards, but upon their return to Belfast the dulcimers had become the home for an infestation of woodworm, and so were thrown out. However, the hammers have survived and are still with the family. The BBC Archive at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum doesn't hold any recordings of The Harmony Trio, so apart from photographs, clippings and memories that the families still have, nothing remains.

(Thanks to the family for the information above which they gave me many years ago. Previous blog post about the famous Co Antrim dulcimer player John Rea, 1915-1983, available here)

One Hundred Scotch Hymns and Poems (Chiefly in the Scotch Dialect), Edinburgh 1881

This book is the latest addition to my wee library, instantly doubling my "Sacred Scotch Solos" collection. Click the pics to enlarge:

Retro cool from Scotland

Most Ulster-branded "stuff" is rubbish. A lot of Scottish-branded stuff is rubbish too. This is how to do it right in 2011.

The Livingstones who made it to America

The portrait shown here is of Edward Livingstone. His great-grandfather was Rev John Livingstone, who had been one of the four Presbyterian ministers to commission the ill-fated emigrant ship Eagle Wing, which famously failed in its attempt to carry 140 Ulster-Scots emigrants to a new life in the New World in September 1636.

Even though John didn't make it, his son Robert Livingstone did, and subsequent generations of the Livingstone family made a massive impact in America. Two examples are:

• John's grandson, Philip Livingstone (1716-1778) signed the American Declaration of Independence. He was Presbyterian and you can bet that the Covenants coursed through his veins - his grandfather had carried a copy of Scotland's National Covenant (1638), non-stop on horseback, from Greyfriars in Edinburgh to London for like-minded Scots to sign it.

• John's great-grandson, Edward Livingstone (1764-1836), shown here, was Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State. Jackson's parents had left Boneybefore, Carrickfergus in 1765. Edward Livingstone was a close friend and ally of Jackson's for over 30 years.

I wonder, through those 30 years of friendship, if Jackson ever gave Livingstone any stick for his great-grandfather failing in the voyage, from Belfast Lough to America, that Jackson's parents later succeeded in?

And then there's the story that Jackson might actually have been born in Carrickfergus just before his parents set sail...