New Friends in Fellowship
We live in a very visual age. People will still respond to the Word, ofcourse but alongside this, God uses different media to get His messageto those who have never heard. Christians have been using film for manyyears in order to reach out with the Gospel message. I personallyremember helping my Dad and others to put up some old black-outcurtains in the chapel so that a travelling mission film group couldshow us a film in our own church. With the passage of years, Christianshave a huge opportunity to make movies that can be viewed over and overagain to reach the lost and encourage the saints.
Christian filmmakers are widespread and sometimes feel out on a limb. Just as thisUKGM.org site was introduced to provide a connecting point forevangelists and witnessing Christians, a new site has been developed toencourage Christian film makers. Their name is
ChristianMovie.com and, in their own words...
"Christians within the sphere of independent film making are acollection of passionate, creative people working collaboratively,rather than an organized machine, like what is found in Hollywoodtoday.
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 createexcellent film work.
Christian-Movie.com is your location forindependent film making resources that answer "How?" questions, so thatyou can learn how to do what needs to be done. This is also your stopfor information answering "Who?" questions, so that you can find andnetwork 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 metregularly to discuss the call to fish, the abundance of fish, and the thrillof catching fish. They got excited about fishing!
Someone suggested that they needed a philosophyof fishing, so they carefully defined and redefined fishing, and the purposeof fishing. They developed fishing strategies and tactics. Then they realizedthat they had been going at it backwards. They had approached fishing fromthe point of view of the fisherman, and not from the point of view of thefish. How do fish view the world? How does the fisherman appear to thefish? What do fish eat, and when? These are all good things to know.
Sothey began extensive research studies, and attended international conferences on fishing. Sometravelled to far away places to study different kinds of fish, with differenthabits. 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 neededto determine priorities. A priority list of fishing places was posted onbulletin 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 studyfish, a few to furnish fishing equipment, and several to go around encouragingthe fishermen. What with meetings, conferences, and seminars, they justsimply 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 caughta large fish. At the next meeting, he told his story, and he was honouredfor his catch. He was told that he had a special "gift of fishing." Hewas then scheduled to speak at all the Fellowship chapters and tell howhe did it.
With all the speaking invitations and his electionto the board of directors of the Fisherman's Fellowship, Jake no longerhad time to go fishing. But soon he began to feel restless and empty. Helonged 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 theFisherman's Fellowship were many, the fish were plentiful, but the fisherswere few!
...
Meanwhile...... the Fishermen's Fellowship met to discuss the embarrassing problemof the fisherman named Jake. Firstly, they called into questionhis "by the book" methods of fishing. There were far more stylish waysof netting fish these days and, well, Jake hadn't been a fishermanfor long enough to know any better. It must be "beginner's luck,"they reasoned. He hadn't attended the mandatory fishing classes at theAdvanced Fishing Academy so it was decided to leave him be. After all,he'd eventually pick up the ways of the Fisherman's Fellowship byreading the monthly magazines and newsletters that still droppedthrough his door.
As Jake's friend had been out fishing too,they branded him as a turncoat and ejected him from themeetings. 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 ofthe master fishermen of old.
In time, yet another new way of fishing wasdiscovered. The fish were allowed to grow old and die in the waterwithout any interference from the fishermen. After all, the water wastheir natural environment and it would be wrong for the fishermen toimpose on their happy lifestyle. Ways were found to befriend fish,before they died, by equipping the fishermen with underwater breathingsuits. In fact, once they were wearing these fishing suits, they lookedand behaved just like the fish.Everyone was happy and fulfilled.
In spite of the frustration they felt, Jake and his friend carried onfishing the plentiful waters. They felt a calling to go out into allthe world and fish in wider, deeper waters. There was a whole worldfull of fish waiting. They still used the same fishing techniques thatthey'd always used, only this time
the net was bigger...
Till He comes
David
The Place WeLive In
The United Kingdom, whilst once hailed internationally as aChristian country, seems to have lost the plot when it comes to publicmoral values. The ChristianInstitute keeps tabs on what's going on in this weary countryof ours.
They also keep you informed about how your MP voted on moralissues.
FreeBooks
All deserve reading in thispresent climate of seeker sensitiveevangelism. Click on the title for the .PDF download.
Good Person?
Doyou honestly think thatyou're a good person? Reckon you're good enough to get toHeaven?
Click Hereto see if you're right

Maybe youthought that our national, publicly fundedTV channel, the BBC, was impartial when itcame to reporting on faith issues. Not according to this article from "
ThisIs London." Prepare to be disturbed as your preconception ofa neutral BBC flies out of the window.
You CANPass Out Tracts - Oh Yes, You Can!!!
CarlisleCounciltried to stop an OAM evangelist from distributing tracts onthestreet. Close examination of the relevant bye-laws show that both"religious"and political leaflets are exempt from new legislation aimed atlicensing street advertisingmaterial.
It is not illegal to pass out Gospel tracts in public in the UK
AndFinally... Something To Ponder.