I had the pleasure of attending Leeds Festival over the weekend. British Indie music is clearly at the height of it’s revival with more bands than you can shake a stick at, each offering their own version of cheeky, arrogant, guitar music you can dance to, it’s great but will it soon get tired? I hope there isn’t a pop revival like the late ninties. The headliners didn’t particularly interested me but there was a few good non-mainstream acts there, Seasick Steve, !!! (chk, chk, chk) and Battles were all entertaining. !!! certainly had me a dancing. For me the stand out band were a four piece, American outfit called Mute Math. They had a great mix of amazing musicianship (their drummer is a machine), athletic performance and awesome sound. Check them out…

I have spent most of the summer away from home mostly working at the Soul Survivor festivals so blogging time has been reduced to well…..nothing.

However, I’m not one who likes to let people down, so make sure you CLICK HERE to see what I was involved with and visit the brand spanking new “Soul Survivor Underground” youtube channel - tip of the hat to Gareth for being such a machine.

tom

I have been absolutely addicted to Switchfoot at the moment. They are a great band, excellent musicians but the thing that sets them apart for me is Jon Foreman. He ability as a lyricist gets better and better with each album.

On the rat race

When success is equated with excess
The ambition for excess wrecks us
As top of the mind becomes the bottom line
When success is equated with excess

On modern relationships and promiscuity

My baby and me
We’re missing the same stuff
We’ve all got a disease
Deficiency of love

We don’t know what we’re doing
We do it again
We’re just amateur lovers
With amateur friends

On materialist/atheist thought

I still can’t believe that all we are
And that all of are dreams are nothing more than material

Souls aren’t built of stone,
Sticks and bones
And souls aren’t built of stone

Two of my favourite songs we written before they were on a major check out Sooner or Later (Soren’s Song) and Something More (Augustine’s Confession).

Verse three of Mark 14, can at first appear to be merely a trivial piece of information for the reader, however, it is in actual fact loaded with relevance.

“Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had leprosy.”

As we read through the gospels we see account after account where Jesus demonstrates his love and compassion by healing. Whether they are blind, paralysed or even already dead, Jesus seems to heal everyone he meets. However, here’s a scripture telling us that Jesus was at the house of Simon, “a man who had leprosy.” Not a man who used to have leprosy and not even a man who Jesus was about to heal from his leprosy. Jesus was hanging out with someone who was sick.

Now I’m no scholar. I don’t really know why Simon hadn’t been healed by Jesus. Maybe there was a good reason why Jesus chose not to. In Matthew 8 when Jesus healed another leper, he asked him whether he was willing or not. Perhaps for whatever reason, Simon wasn’t willing. Jesus may even have healed him soon after. I don’t know. All I know is that Jesus was hanging with the leper.

If you’re reading this, I feel pretty safe to presume that you are a person. As you are a person, I also feel pretty safe to presume that everything in your life isn’t always exactly perfect. Perhaps your sick, hurting, scared, frustrated, lonely, hungry, lost or depressed, I really don’t know.

Jesus hasn’t given up on you.

Jesus hasn’t forgotten about you

and most definitely………..

Jesus has not left you.

Jesus was spending time with Simon. A leper. A sick man. A social outcast. Probably a poor man and most definitely a needy man.

Simon’s sickness didn’t stop Jesus from wanting to be with him.

Why Simon hadn’t been healed and why so many of us haven’t been healed, I do not know. All I can do is pray and believe with you that someday God will restore and heal. However, what I do know, is that despite life’s circumstances Jesus hasn’t left you.

And he never will

Jesus is with you.

This past wekend I went to see the long awaited new Transformers movie. It was a good fun film to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed feeling like a 7 year old again for a couple of hours. The other day I saw a small boy playing with an Optimus Prime action figure and think I might have teared up a little at the sight.

Anyway, before the movie started, they showed the trailer for the currently untitled JJ Abrams film that is set for release in January. Looks like it’s gonna be pretty cool. Take a look at the linked preview below.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/11808/medium.html

Will be some new posts here very soon.