Mr Blenkinsop is quoted as saying, ‘The changes pave the way for schools to teach creationism’.

Why is creationism trotted out every time there’s any hint of religion playing a part in education. If every child, from tomorrow, was taught that the world came about as a result of creation and not a cosmic event, what would the result be? The origins of the world play a very small part in a child’s education. Any religious education would have very little impact on maths classes or PE. Religious education should, I’d hope, still involve an understanding of different world religions, French and German would still be the same languages, English would still require the reading of classic books and an understanding of grammar.

What should worry us more is that children are being taught that the world came into existence by some kind of cosmic event with no thought given to other theories. Even world class research scientists wouldn’t discount the possibility that there is something more behind the dawning of our universe than just a collision of particles.

See more videos in this series from God: New Evidence

One of the questions we thought about last night was, ‘What do you like about Cornerstone?’. I said something about liking the fact that it was a bit messy and disorganised – it meant that people could be themselves, as questions, interrupt, that the children feel welcome and able to be themselves. Actually, I don’t like that, there’s a whole part of my personality that leans towards wanting a building and pews and a sermon slot and for the children to sit quietly… but I’m not sure that fits with my belief of what a church should be. The formal stuff sounds much more like a meeting than a family gathering.

So what should a church be like for you? Taking sermons and Bible readings and prayers and songs for granted… what would you want your church to look and feel like?

If you don’t go to church, this can be answered by you too. If you were going to walk into a church building for a church service, what would you want (not what do you expect, but rather what would you want)? What would you want a church service to feel and look like?

Renault Clio Repair Manual

Tany’s back at the garage with the car. I wish I was a practical kind of guy who knew what was what under the bonnet and could fix things myself, but that’s not me so we have to use garages.

Yesterday the car went in for new front tyres (we had a bit of a slow puncture) and to have the handbrake tightened. The new tyres were a quick fix, but the car was leaking a bit of brake fluid, so Tany had to take the car back in this morning to have that sorted out and some new discs put on.

Only, today, when they start removing bits to fix the breaks the wheel bearings fall out. So that’s another bit that needs replacing.

The cost has gone up accordingly, from £100 to £250 to somewhere over £300. Oh well, better that the car is safe and working well than in pieces at the side of the motorway. Besides, it’s why Tany’s job comes with mileage payments. As she drives around to visit patients she gets more than the fuel costs to help to keep the car on the road.

That said, when do payments for car repairs outweigh the cost of replacing the car? I don’t think we are there yet. Tyres and brakes are to be expected when you’re doing the kind of mileage we are. But when the other bits start packing up, where’s the line?

The episode has given us one funny story. The guy working on the car told Tany about a girl who was bringing in a car with a puncture. The phone conversation had included the classic line… “it’s not too bad, the tyre’s only flat at the bottom!”

This week BBC4 have been marking the anniversary of Live Aid with a couple of programmes that show how the concert was put together. It may have been one of the largest concerts ever put on but it was pulled together by Bob Geldof, Harvey Goldsmith and Midge Ure with bluff, smokescreen and an inability to accept the word ‘no’. If you can access the BBC’s iPlayer it’s worth taking a look at the Live Aid programmes broadcast this week – be warned, you usually only get one week to access them.

The concert was claimed to have raised between £40 and £50 million for famine relief. Consider this was back in the 80′s and you’ll start to realise what an amazing feat it was.

This was largely down to two events. One was Bob Geldof charging into the BBC commentary box because he was sure the TV wasn’t making enough appeals. He just sat down, looked at the camera and said, ‘send me your money’. He’s been misquoted a bit as he was reported to have dropped an expletive into the appeal, but looking back at the television footage it’s clear that he didn’t. He swore at the BBC commentator who wouldn’t give the phone number out before reading the appeal address.

Then there was David Bowie – even a huge star back then – he cut his set short to be able to show the following film.

You’ve got to feel sorry for the Who, who were the next band on stage.

The acts that appeared realised pretty early on that performing could make a real difference to their careers. While everyone was pretty good, two bands stand out for special mention. U2, who were a new(ish) band and Queen, who had been huge but had kind of started a downward slide. Both bands managed to command the huge crowd in their own unique ways.

Sarah Barnes is in the process of joining Wycliffe in Canada and will go into a role recruiting a mobilising more people to get involved in the translation movement. You can read more about her on her blog – she’s still got a way to go raising her support before she can start properly so you can see how that’s going too.

One page worth taking an extended look at, is the collection of videos she’s put together illustrating all the different aspects covered by the work of Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Godly Living – Titus 2:11-15

We also celebrated our 1st Wedding anniversary, which resulted in a trip to the Shepherds Bush Empire to see Brad Paisley on the American Saturday Night tour. I won’t say more now because it’ll spoil some of Sunday for those of you coming along to Cornerstone!

It was a fascinating time to go and see the planes as the weekend was marking the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. When the Allies battled the German Luftwaffe for supremacy in the skies above Britain. In memory seven Spitfires, a Hurricane and a Lancaster bomber all made an appearance, the eight fighters flying together at the end of the display. There was also a mock dogfight with some German fighters making an appearance. You can see some highlights in the video below.

As a side note, there’s a really interesting website that’s been set up to mark the anniversary. Releasing stories in real time, there are tweets from characters that could have been around at the time and a daily blog updating the story of the battle. See 1940chronicle.com

Of course, what isn’t so easy to judge from this video is the difference in noise levels between the propeller driven aircraft and the modern jets. The Eurofighter with afterburners turned on managed to set off the alarms of cars parked at the side of the airstrip.

By the time I found out he was playing here the tickets were almost gone. That’s why the photograph makes it look as though we were a long way from the stage… we were. But, we had to go. The Brad Paisley song, She’s Everything, was our first dance when we got married and the tickets came up around the date of our first anniversary.

The concert was superb. You don’t get many rock acts that will play for two hours straight. There’s no doubt about Paisley’s talent either, his ability to play guitar while also being mauled by the audience was quite remarkable.

Of course, I’d love to embed a whole host of YouTube videos here for you to see what I mean about the music, but thanks to some deal with his record company they don’t appear to be available in the UK. Which is silly if they have designs on him breaking the UK and getting to play to more than two packed nights in London. So you’ll have to follow the link to one track here – Welcome to the Future.