New Friends in Fellowship
We live in a very visual age. People will still respond to the Word, of
course but alongside this, God uses different media to get His message
to those who have never heard. Christians have been using film for many
years in order to reach out with the Gospel message. I personally
remember helping my Dad and others to put up some old black-out
curtains in the chapel so that a travelling mission film group could
show us a film in our own church. With the passage of years, Christians
have a huge opportunity to make movies that can be viewed over and over
again to reach the lost and encourage the saints.
Christian film
makers are widespread and sometimes feel out on a limb. Just as this
UKGM.org site was introduced to provide a connecting point for
evangelists and witnessing Christians, a new site has been developed to
encourage Christian film makers. Their name is
ChristianMovie.com and, in their own words...
"Christians within the sphere of independent film making are a
collection of passionate, creative people working collaboratively,
rather than an organized machine, like what is found in Hollywood
today.
This doesn't need to be a bad thing or a shameful thing.
Most importantly, it should not be an excuse. Though you may not feel
"big-time," and you may not be on the big screen, you can still create
excellent film work.
Christian-Movie.com is your location for
independent film making resources that answer "How?" questions, so that
you can learn how to do what needs to be done. This is also your stop
for information answering "Who?" questions, so that you can find and
network with others who can help you do what needs to be done."

A Parable - The Fishless Fishermen...
There was once a group called The Fisherman's Fellowship.
They were surrounded by streams and lakes full of hungry fish. They met
regularly to discuss the call to fish, the abundance of fish, and the thrill
of catching fish. They got excited about fishing!
Someone suggested that they needed a philosophy
of fishing, so they carefully defined and redefined fishing, and the purpose
of fishing. They developed fishing strategies and tactics. Then they realized
that they had been going at it backwards. They had approached fishing from
the point of view of the fisherman, and not from the point of view of the
fish. How do fish view the world? How does the fisherman appear to the
fish? What do fish eat, and when? These are all good things to know.
So
they began extensive research studies, and attended international conferences on fishing. Some
travelled to far away places to study different kinds of fish, with different
habits. Some were awarded PhD's in fishology. But no one had yet gone fishing.
So a committee was formed to send out fishermen.
As prospective fishing places outnumbered fisherman, the committee needed
to determine priorities. A priority list of fishing places was posted on
bulletin boards in all of the fishing fellowship halls. But still, no one was fishing.
A survey was launched, to find out why. Most did not answer the survey,
but from those that did, it was discovered that some felt called to study
fish, a few to furnish fishing equipment, and several to go around encouraging
the fishermen. What with meetings, conferences, and seminars, they just
simply didn't have time to fish.
Now, there was a young man named Jake. He was a newcomer to the Fisherman's Fellowship.
After one stirring meeting of the Fellowship, he went fishing and caught
a large fish. At the next meeting, he told his story, and he was honoured
for his catch. He was told that he had a special "gift of fishing." He
was then scheduled to speak at all the Fellowship chapters and tell how
he did it.
With all the speaking invitations and his election
to the board of directors of the Fisherman's Fellowship, Jake no longer
had time to go fishing. But soon he began to feel restless and empty. He
longed to feel the tug on the line once again. So he cut the speaking,
he resigned from the board, and he said to a friend, "Let's go fishing."
They did, just the two of them, and they caught fish. The members of the
Fisherman's Fellowship were many, the fish were plentiful, but the fishers
were few!
...
Meanwhile...
... the Fishermen's Fellowship met to discuss the embarrassing problem
of the fisherman named Jake. Firstly, they called into question
his "by the book" methods of fishing. There were far more stylish ways
of netting fish these days and, well, Jake hadn't been a fisherman
for long enough to know any better. It must be "beginner's luck,"
they reasoned. He hadn't attended the mandatory fishing classes at the
Advanced Fishing Academy so it was decided to leave him be. After all,
he'd eventually pick up the ways of the Fisherman's Fellowship by
reading the monthly magazines and newsletters that still dropped
through his door.
As Jake's friend had been out fishing too,
they branded him as a turncoat and ejected him from the
meetings. He was no longer welcome as he was seen to be boastful,
always talking about how many fish they'd caught by using the ways of
the master fishermen of old.
In time, yet another new way of fishing was
discovered. The fish were allowed to grow old and die in the water
without any interference from the fishermen. After all, the water was
their natural environment and it would be wrong for the fishermen to
impose on their happy lifestyle. Ways were found to befriend fish,
before they died, by equipping the fishermen with underwater breathing
suits. In fact, once they were wearing these fishing suits, they looked
and behaved just like the fish.Everyone was happy and fulfilled.
In spite of the frustration they felt, Jake and his friend carried on
fishing the plentiful waters. They felt a calling to go out into all
the world and fish in wider, deeper waters. There was a whole world
full of fish waiting. They still used the same fishing techniques that
they'd always used, only this time
the net was bigger...
Till He comes
David
The Place We
Live In
The United Kingdom, whilst once hailed internationally as a
Christian country, seems to have lost the plot when it comes to public
moral values. The Christian
Institute keeps tabs on what's going on in this weary country
of ours.
They also keep you informed about how your MP voted on moral
issues.
Free
Books
All deserve reading in this
present climate of seeker sensitive
evangelism. Click on the title for the .PDF download.
Good Person?
Do
you honestly think that
you're a good person? Reckon you're good enough to get to
Heaven?
Click Here
to see if you're right

Maybe you
thought that our national, publicly funded
TV channel, the BBC, was impartial when it
came to reporting on faith issues. Not according to this article from "
This
Is London." Prepare to be disturbed as your preconception of
a neutral BBC flies out of the window.
You CAN
Pass Out Tracts - Oh Yes, You Can!!!
Carlisle
Council
tried to stop an OAM evangelist from distributing tracts on
the
street. Close examination of the relevant bye-laws show that both
"religious"
and political leaflets are exempt from new legislation aimed at
licensing street advertising
material.
It is not illegal to pass out Gospel tracts in public in the UK
And
Finally... Something To Ponder.