We had a very interesting day today. I managed to bring to a conclusion the study in the Book of Ephesians. It is such a wonderful book it reminds us about the kind of Gospel we preach and the kind of church God calls us to be. It was good to conclude the study by focusing our attention on the great power that prayer can bring into our lives.

It was great to see the reality of that prayer work out in the healing service this afternoon. Although numbers wee small the power of God’s touch reaching out to the people was great. This theme of prayer seems to be running straight through the day.

This evening I took some time off to support my nephew Jonathan who was professing his faith publicly at
Stirling Baptist Church. Here again was an example of God answering prayer. As a child Jonathan had professed his faith with his grandfather listening . Today he did it with hundreds looking on. The point here is that both my mother and father prayed regularly for all their grandchildren. Tonight another prayer of faith was answered.

Here is a picture of one of our local heros in Bo’ness Craig Hannah. When he’s not putting out fires he’s firing up young people to make music. I’ve known Craig since he was a teenager. In fact he played the drums in the first Bogle Band line up way back in ‘87. Well thanks to Craig the young rock musicians in Bo’ness have a rehearsal room. It opened on Friday evening 21st September.

Four bands all based in Bo’ness were headlining the night. Johnny Lapsley’s band “Fearless Dave” played an excellent set. One of the things I enjoyed about this band was their original material. Their ages belie their musical maturity. ” Fearless Dave” are well worth going to listen to. I can honestly say that I was disappointed when their set came to an end. Here’s picture of Johnny doing his stuff. I was also impressed with a young band called ” The Rising” this band have been around for a wee while now although I believe they have changed their original line up. They played a cover version of the one of the “Rolling Stones” songs and they made it their own. When it came to the next band, “Butch and the Bandits”, they put on a fantastic performance full of energy, I tell you it was so believable. Chris Allison the lead singer, tackled some serious songs and he sounded really convincing. He tackled songs from Bono to Freddie Mercury, well done, these guys were like bandits because they made these songs sound like their own.

Finally, Stephen’s band “We See Lights” came on the stage. This is a completely new band who where making their first public appearance. Of course three of them were formerly of the popular Bo’ness Band Soulstarr. This was a set up that showcased the boys ability to write and compose outstanding material. Their playing was technically superb but it was their ambient atmospheric sound that reminded me of Arcade Fire. Paul Dougall afterwards spoke to me about the band being a collective of musicians, and he was delighted that their first gig had gone so well. On a personal note, as father of one of the band members I have to declare an interest in” We See Lights”

However it was good to see so many father’s hanging around supporting their sons, whether they were mixing the music or playing in a band, or working the lighting rigg. All of them can rightly be proud of their boys. Can I say a special thanks to Richard Hannah of Richard Hannah Photography who took the pics