Trumpet Angels

I went to church this morning (I know, I know... but I am a minister), and there was a very beautiful 'Christmas banner' adorning the front of the church. It had three feminine angels blowing three elegant trumpets. Lovely.

Except...


... What has this to do with Christmas????

Out of sheer awkwardness I asked a few people, and they said (and I parapharase), "well... Angels... Christmas... innit?"

Well... yes, but not angels with trumpets!
When angels are happy they sing, when they are trouble, they blow trumpets.

The angels who appear to the shepherds washing their socks by night are singing:

Luke 2:13-14 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

Angels with trumpets come from, you guessed it - the book of Revelation!

Revelation 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

Revelation 8:6-9 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets made ready to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

And so on, and so on, and so on...

When I pointed this out, I was asked by those close to me to keep quiet, and stop spoiling Christmas.

Bah Humbug.

But watch out for those angels with trumpets...

Postcards from the wall #12

Here's the latest in my series of postcards from my study wall...


With thanks to Christine and Harry.

Poor Joseph...

Read more at Ekklesia
HT: JW

Postcards from the Wall #11

Here's the latest in my series of postcards from my study wall...

WFT??????

I popped into Crane's music store in Cardiff yesterday to buy a new guitar stand. They had this very clever folding unit reduced from £14.99 to a fiver, so I bought it.

When I got it out of the packet, I started unfolding, and trying to work out which bit went where.

After a few seconds of fumbling around, Liz said to me, 'Why don't you just read the instructions?!?'.

So I did.

It was very enlightening...

Here they are (and I quote exactly!):

• One: The prototype of the foldaway guitar rack
• Two: Step One Take the top of the circle head and from the top downward to the fix side
• Three: Step two Take the middle A type horizontal pole and from the left and right sides to the fix side
• Four: Step three Put the guitar at the rack and from ascend toward front to the fix side
• Five: Step four Take the empress feet rack and from the front hereafter revolve to the fix side
• Six: Step five Take the forepaw rack and from empress to front to the fix side
• Fold then take the above steps and anti face operation.Please take the steps of the operation,in order to prevent damage the products.

He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!

You have 7 days left to listen on iPlayer to the BBC tribute to the iconic Python film, broadcast in honour of it's 30th anniversary. The BBC blurb is as follows:

When Monty Python's Life Of Brian was released in 1979, it was denounced by many around the world as blasphemous - and was an instant box office smash. Thirty years later it is regularly voted one of the funniest films ever, topping a Radio Times poll only last month.

Comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar celebrates this anarchic British classic, looking at the film's origins, the shoot in Tunisia, and its controversial afterlife. The Python film is an absurdist take on the story of Christ, where a man called Brian (played by Graham Chapman) is mistaken for the Messiah and attempts to escape the attentions of his devoted followers. It is a deft satire on religious intolerance which brilliantly lampooned Biblical epics like Ben Hur.

George Harrison stepped in with the money, setting up Handmade films to get it made, because he wanted to see the film. And it gave us many unforgettable scenes and peerless lines: John Cleese's Roman Legionnaire correcting Brian's Latin graffiti; "What have the Romans ever done for us?", "Welease Woger" and the singalong crucifixion finale.

Contributors include the film's director Terry Jones; producer John Goldstone; Carol Cleveland; and Sonia Jones, who sang the title song. We hear Michael Palin recall the moment of inspiration in a Paris bar; Terry Gilliam talks about his fantasy space ship animation; John Cleese remembers the pain of being "crucified" in Tunisia; Carol Cleveland recalls working with Spike Milligan (he made a cameo appearance as a prophet); and Eric Idle remembers the less then enthusiastic response to Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.