
Category Archives: Author’s wisdom


Free Cartoon 2 – From Gone Astray
There are lots more church related cartoons in Brendan Boughen’s (Jim’s) book Gone Astray
Click here for Print books
& here for eBooks (Kindle, ePub and PDF).

Free PDF – Pat Booth returns to India 2018
The story of Pat Booth’s return trip to India in January 2018
Pat Booth, author of Pat’s India, returned to India in January 2018 for the 75th anniversary celebration of St Paul’s School, in Agartala, Tripura state. She also visited Darjeeling and Kolkata.
Click the link to download a Free 18 page PDF booklet about her fascinating trip.
https://pgpl.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/Pats_India_Return_to_India_2018-16_Nov_2018.pdf
Here are some of her photos:
Dancers perform at 75th celebrations
Pat with Lalbulliana Rokhum, first Indian principal of St Paul’s School
Pat & Konica (a former St Paul’s primary school pupil) at the Kiwi House on the Tripura Baptist Christian Union site at AD Nagar.
Order your copy of Pat’s India
Click here for the print edition and here for the eBook editions

When the Tui Calls – Reviewed in Tui Motu
Review by John Thornley for Tui Motu Magazine.
Issue 219 September 2017 of
When the Tui Calls:
Rural Ministry — Origins and Futures
By Bill Bennett. Published by Philip Garside Publishing Ltd, 2017.
“Described as an “essay”, this 65-page book provides an informal and readable introduction to rural ministry. Parts one and two cover the historical origins in Roman and Celtic religion, embedded within parish and monastic structures, moving through the Reformation and Evangelical revivals, from a post-medieval to the 18th-century industrial, to the urban world.
The story comes to New Zealand in the third part, “Clash of Cultures”, which covers the missionary and settler activities of Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and Catholic developments. This section concludes with the treatment of Māori Missions and Pastorates and with the independent Māori ministries in partnership models which emerged later in the 20th-century.
In Part Four, “Changing Patterns of Rural Ministry in the 20th- and 21st-Centuries”, the subheadings highlight the interplay of religious and secular conflicts and compromises that have been central to the story of rural ministry from the beginning. They include, “Rural Prosperity and Adversity”, “Affirming the distinctiveness of a rural ministry theology”, “Minita-a-iwi”, “The Impact of Political and Economic Changes”, “Rural Religion and Politics”, “Local Shared Ministry” and “The Near Landscape and Beyond”.
Bill Bennett is the ideal writer of this book. As an Anglican Pākehā minister he has been a major mover and shaker in the development of a rural ministry theology and praxis in Aotearoa New Zealand. Much of his ministry has been in rural parishes in the Diocese of Waiapu as well as in Norwich and Lichfield Dioceses in England. His publications of prayers and hymns (both lyrics and music) are a taonga for ecumenical and bicultural worship services.
I strongly recommend this book for ministry formation, seminary and pastoral theology libraries and as a resource for lay and ordained ministers throughout New Zealand.”
Original review is online here:
https://hail.to/tui-motu-interislands-magazine/publication/KrJM98L/article/lOeKq7g
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Free Sample poems from A Celebration of Life by Meg Hartfield
Here are two sample poems from Meg Hartfield’s A Celebration of Life
The book is available in print and in 3 eBook formats – see below for ordering links.
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Emmaus
We had heard Mary
rapturous, glowing
afire with excitement
“We have seen him – he spoke to me!”
Well, we know women –
the harrowing, terrible last few days
prostrated with grief
obviously her mind unhinged –
women are unreliable witnesses
that is well known.
So, wearily, returning home
seven miles, from Jerusalem to Emmaus –
but seeming longer,
discussing, despairingly
the seeming futility
the end of our dreams.
The stranger was not noticed
was obviously ignorant of events
so momentous to us –
so we told him.
Strange the way he responded –
explaining
courteously we invited him in.
And as we ate, amazingly,
the stranger became host
broke the bread, passed it –
a stunned moment of recognition –
only one man broke bread thus!
Jesus! alive! here!
gone!
Seven miles was as nothing
with winged feet returning
bursting
with incredulous joy.
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Swords Into Ploughshares
Ploughshares –
implements for cutting furrows
Swords –
implements for cutting people.
Ploughshares –
fixed in a frame
drawn by a horse
guided by a man
Swords –
fixed in a hand
wielded by a man.
Ploughshares –
used before sowing
Swords –
used for cutting down
Ploughshares –
used for rooting out weeds
Swords –
used for rooting out lives
God help us
to prepare our life-soil
to receive your seeds
of fruitful love.
Isaiah 2: 4
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Click here to order Print or here for eBooks

Free Sample – Forty – from Redemption Songs by Mark Laurent
Here’s another sample poem from Mark Laurent’s Redemption Songs.
The book is available in print and in 3 eBook formats – see below for ordering links.
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Forty
I’m not good at being patient
but God always hears me when I call
Lifts me up when the time is right
steadies my stumbling feet – I’m still walking
I was pretty depressed there for a while
but now I’ve got a fresh song in my heart
People have been noticing – they seem impressed
some have even started asking about Jesus
There’s not much joy in the idols of culture
but great reward in simply having faith
If I think about my life, it’s full of miracles
things that can’t be explained any other way
God isn’t demanding payment for this blessing
that matter’s already been taken care of
Jesus came, just as predicted in the stories
did everything God said was necessary
Jesus delighted to do what God wanted
heal us – forgive the sad things we’ve done
This is so important we should tell everyone about it
it’s heartless to keep such good news to ourselves
God’s love and constancy anchors our hope
we’d be adrift and lost without mercy like this
When I look at the world – so many problems –
my confidence shrinks and life feels hopeless
Without Heaven’s grace I’m certainly a wreck
my many faults keep catching up with me
But God gets me through – no, more than that
I’m overcoming things that used to bring me down
Let’s pray everyone finds this joy, this help
the poor and weak who need to know they’re loved
Come quick Lord – please don’t wait too long.
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Click here for Print or here for eBooks

Free Sample – Thirty – from Redemption Songs by Mark Laurent
Here’s another sample poem from Mark Laurent’s Redemption Songs.
The book is available in print and in 3 eBook formats – see below for ordering links.
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Thirty
Lord I want to say thanks
I’ve got a passionate song in my heart
your love fills me with joy
I’m throwing off the drab colours I used to wear
I’ve a mind to dance in the street
My life was a real disaster
I was self-destructive, depressed
it was all about me, and I knew that was
a loser’s game
When I yelled out to you for mercy
I was afraid you wouldn’t notice
but you came over and lifted me up
out of that hole I’d dug myself into
I’m standing on solid ground again
it was a long and lonely night
but morning’s come, and I’m wide awake
Sing to the Lord everybody
tell the world how good God is
there might be anger, but it never lasts
this love, however, goes on and on.
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Click here for Print or here for eBooks

Sample – Seventy One – from Redemption Songs by Mark Laurent
Here’s another sample poem from Mark Laurent’s Redemption Songs.
The book is available in print and in 3 eBook formats – see below for links.
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Seventy-one
Create a quiet place in me, Lord
hush the babble of my mind
the racing of my pulse
then my heart will begin to hear
your ‘gentle, murmuring voice’
Slow me down, Jesus
I need to take time
to see the beauty of creation
the exquisite intensity of your care
that way I’ll come to appreciate
and be thankful
Teach me to listen, Abba
to the cries of those in need
the questions of the confused
so I can learn compassion
In this unquiet world
help me to find a quiet place
and a quiet time
Lord, I need to hear
the counsel of your spirit
the poetry of your love
then I’ll have something to share
with those who cannot hear you.
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Click here for Print or here for eBooks

Sample – Forty Five – from Redemption Songs by Mark Laurent
Here’s a sample poem from Mark Laurent’s Redemption Songs.
The book is available in print and in 3 eBook formats – see below for links.
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Forty-five
I never had a song worth singing
until I wrote a song for Jesus
No-one is finer than you, Jesus
you set my voice free, like ink on paper
Your words are grace and power
richness and inspiration spill in your footsteps
I’m in awe of such strength and wisdom
overwhelmed by how impressive you are
Everything you do is amazing
each word rings with the chime of truth
your meekness shows us what justice looks like
The world’s power-brokers are pathetic by contrast
nothing on this planet can stand up to you
When the dust of Armageddon settles
you’ll be the only one left standing
Earth will be as it should be at last
You’re the champion of all that’s good
we, your companions, are bathed in joy
Beauty and romance will return to Earth
songs of celebration ring out after all these years
Women love you, men revere you
some gladly leave all else to follow
You see the best in us, Lord
inspire us to be more than we are
Though all we have is rags and dust
we bring it to you, and you spin it to gold
We’ll be beautiful, as you said we would
our anxiety and shame all washed in joy
At last we’ll truly be Children of God
it’s what we’d hoped for, but never thought we’d see
We’ll keep on telling this story, Jesus
everywhere, every day, we’ll remember you.
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Click here for Print or here for eBooks

Sample – Eighteen – from Redemption Songs by Mark Laurent
Here’s a sample poem from Mark Laurent’s Redemption Songs.
The book is available in print and in 3 eBook formats – see below for links.
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