This Wednesday 8th March we took a trip down to Belfast to catch Blossoms in concert. It still seems strange to me to live somewhere where we have to drive over an hour to watch any of the more renowned bands on the scene. Blossoms were impressively on point all night vocally and musically. So…
Author: marknathanriley
Watch out USA!
As many of you will be aware, over the last few years we have had the privilege of working towards creating healthy and sustainable teams for the Pais Movement in Northern Ireland. It has been exciting to see that develop through our partnership with Causeway Coast Vineyard (CCV) in Coleraine and then has been really…
Staff Devotions: Mark 4 Parables & Storms
In chapter 4 Mark records 4 parables Jesus teaches and an account of the storm he calms. The first parable Mark retells is the parable of the sower, one of the few that Jesus explains later to His disciples. In some ways it is not out of place in a modern context because most of…
Gig Review: NI Music Prize 2016 – Ash
Last Friday my wife and I attended the NI Music Awards 2016 presentation of the OH Yeah Legends award to Ash. Growing up in the 90s as teenagers Ash were one of our favourite bands and we were excited to be out together. We’d been talking about it for a while and were excited to…
Staff Devotions – Mark 3: The Pharisaical Irony
At the beginning of Mark 3 we find Jesus in a Synagogue again. Mark documents, there he noticed a man with a deformed hand. Should He heal on the sabbath, the holy day, set apart for God, instructed to be devoid of work? The Pharisees didn’t seem to think so, Mark already made that point…
Pais Ireland: Staff Devotions MK2
Mark chapter 2 continues recounting stories of Jesus healing, with one of my favourite instances where a paralysed man’s friends carry him to Jesus and when they find they cannot get him to Jesus, climb up onto the roof, dig a hole and lower him down in front of Jesus. How desperate are we for…
Because You’re Loved Promo: An Explanation
Earlier in September during our Pais Ireland training I took a group of our new teams down to the beach to help me film a short promo about my recently release book. I wanted to capture some of our hope behind Because You’re Loved as a initiative in motion, part of the wider Pais movement….
Pais Ireland: Staff Devotions
This term I have decided to take a read through the gospel of mark together with our staff team. Once a week we meet for devotions, training and staff meeting. Similar to most teams who are part of the Pais Movement (paismovment.com) we use haverim (haverimdevotions.com) as a helpful method to explore together some of…
City Review – Cartagena
Over the summer we spent some time in the Murcia region of Spain. It was gloriously sunny and fantastically relaxed. While we were there we took a couple of trips to Cartagena, a beautiful historic port in the region where of all things the kids bought boomerangs as souvenirs. Once we had navigated the busy maze…
Because You’re Loved Book Launch
I am looking forward to gathering with friends tonight to celebrate the launch of a book I never thought I had in me. Writing a book has never particularly been on my radar. For so long music was always my passion and I always hoped that it might be something in that direction I would…