August 2nd
No more chemotherapy, methetrexates
and ATRA tablets!
I praise God for the speed of my
recovery and give thanks for the
consultants, nursing staff, medical
science, prayer from Christians
all over the world and of course
for my wife Irene, our children,
family, cathedral clergy and congregation
and our close friends.
You will probably never realise
just how much your love and support
has meant to us as a family. We
have been overwhelmed by your wonderful
messages, prayers and practical
giving. You have carried us through
the darkest time of our lives.
Please keep praying that the cancer
cells do not return, both I and
my consultant would be very surprised
if they did...they have really had
a good bashing! I am convinced that
a miracle is happening and I am
so pleased to still be alive and
I am assured that God still has
more for me to do yet!
As From September 2010 I will be
fully back on the road doing what
I love doing most, Praise Parties,
Family Services, Seminars, etc.
and distance will be no object.
It will be a joy to be well enough
to visit Churches again and hopefully
be a small blessing to others.
I can't wait to teach you and your
children the songs from the 'Bigger
Barn' CD!
As my life and ministry begins again
with hopefully fresh power and anointing,
if you feel that you as an individual
or your Church would like to offer
financial support then please contact
me direct at ishmael@ishmael.org.uk.
Ishmael's Cartoon Karaoke
3: ReleasedJuly
2010
A brilliant fun way to teach
children stories of Jesus and
get them to sing-along with
Ish!
Featuring 6 of the best from
the 'Bigger Barn' CD:
Bigger Barn Bubbling Pool Of Bethesda Old Friends New Friends (above) Sow'n'Sow 10 Silver Coins Wolfy Wolfy
PLUS special bonus track 'Gifts
and Fruit'.
Pre order before June 30th
2010 and get 'Ishmael's Cartoon
Karaoke 2' FREE!
Special introductory price:
£9.99 plus P&P
or get:
Cartoon Karaoke 3 DVD + Bigger
Barn CD + Backing tracks CD
for £19.99 plus P&P.
The album
title comes from the parable
that Jesus told about a wealthy
man who decides he's doing
so well, he needs a bigger
barn to store all is wealth.
The song seems to be quietly
taking off in grassroots church
circles, though it probably
won't surpass Ishmael's biggest
hit, "Father God I Wonder".
Ian "Ishmael" Smale is, of
course, the veteran children's
ministry man who introduced
a whole generation of children
to the exciting idea of the
"praise party".
This album sees the grizzled
survivor writing and recording
a batch of songs for older
kids and with their driving
retro rock accompaniments
wouldn't feel out of place
on Ish's 1979 album with his
band Ishmael United. A lot
of the material here is based
on the parables of Christ.
The combination of story telling
and application is both powerful
and fun filled while the witty
'borrowing' of tunes and arrangements
from classic pop hits of yesteryear
is constantly amusing. Have
a listen and see if you can
spot the influence of some
of the songs. Here's a couple
to get you started! There's
the party groove of "Wolfy
Wolfy" which brings to mind
a certain Sam The Sham hit
from the sixties. Then there
are hints of Dylan's rambunctious
"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
on "Sow 'n' Sow".
If you listen to the title
song, you may find yourself
getting up to do a bit of
a Greek "Zorba's Dance" or
reminiscing about the '60s
song "Bend Me Shape Me". So
if you buy your older kids
this album, you'll be scratching
your head trying to remember
the songs that Ishmael's hinting
at as your loved ones feed
on the lyrics about Jesus
and His teachings. Ish has
undergone major health problems
over the last few years so
it's particularly pleasing
to report that 'A Bigger Barn'
is his best recording for
many a long year.
On the 7th April Ish was admitted into hospital
and diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.
He was hospitalised for several weeks while
undergoing intensive chemotherapy treatment.
Ish had been feeling tired and unwell since
January and we just assumed he had been overdoing
things as usual. The week before he went into
hospital he began to have headaches and came
out in bruises all over his body, including
in his mouth. That was when we began to get
alarmed. He was admitted into hospital on Mon
7 April for tests and we were shocked to discover
that he had cancer as there had been very little
advance warning.
We were advised by Ish’s consultant, who is
a Christian, that thankfully this is a type
of cancer that can be treated and the treatment
has a good success rate. This was we believe
an answer to prayer.
Since then our children and I have kept a journal
by maintaining Ish’s web site and posting updates
daily while he was in hospital. As a family
we have been able to gain strength and encouragement
from all your messages which have been printed
off and filed for Ish to keep as a positive
incentive to get well. Words cannot describe
how grateful we are to you for your prayers
through what has been the most difficult time
of our lives. God has touched us so very deeply
through you.
Our love and thanks,
Irene, Joss, Dan, Suzy and Adam.
Ishmael's Revival Band (minus Ish) performed
a gig at Spring Harvest this year to honour
Ish who had just been admitted into hospital
suffering from leukaemia.
If you enjoy the set, do buy the CD and
also consider booking the band (with Ish)
to come and do a concert in 2009. Click
HERE
for further 'Ish's Revival Band' details.
We think that 'A Year According
To Ish' will be a great short
daily study book for any teenager
/ adult and also that God will
speak to them as they read it.
Each of the 365 pages carries
a Scripture verse, a short compelling
'Ish' story, a brief statement
of the point being made and a
one sentence prayer.
The great news is, you don't have
to start this book on January
1st, you can start any time of
year!
Click HERE
for a sample page and order it
online today
Timothy , my fellow worker sends his greetings to you. (Rom 16 v 21)
At the end of a letter its always nice to hear that other friends and family who had not written the letter pass on their love, best wishes or greetings. Here we see in this letter to the Romans not just Timothy but a few other names are added to the list sending greetings. I get many letters and e mails from many people and I often add at the end, Irene and the family send their love, but do they ? Sometimes they never even hear about the communication I have had, because I forget to tell them. I think we must be honest in all we say and do, I am sure most of the time Irene and the family would want me to send on their greetings, but its right that I ask them first...and not just make things up.
Lord, help me to be honest, even in the little things like sending greetings
Taken from the album Wakey Wakey, Sleepy Sleepy [1997]
A resource to help you to both to teach and learn a different Bible song every week of the year. Make it a regular feature in your children’s meetings. Each Sunday we will give you the song, the music, the guitar chords and tell you CD the song is taken from in case you have no musicians and want to use the music track. This will allow leaders 6 days to have it ready to teach (and make up actions) before the following Sunday meeting.
If you use any of Ish's songs, for legal copyright reasons, please inform your worship leader of the titles so they can be included on the CCLI forms.
Sometimes I feel like whispering the words 'Lord help me'. When I wrote this song I felt like shouting it out hence the loud manic music ! These great musicians really gave it their all...and what a great ending, I did not want them to stop playing !
If you use any of Ish's songs, for legal copyright reasons, please inform your worship leader of the titles so they can be included on the CCLI forms.
The audio tracks require RealAudio player to listen to them. This can be downloaded for free at www.real.com. If you can't find it then email ishmael@ishmael.org.uk.
People
are telling me that this
song is great to use for
all ages at Communion
gatherings. This being
the case we have provided
both the track and the
music / lyrics so that
everyone can use it. You
will note it is very simple
so your musicians should
have no trouble playing
it.
Although I am known mainly for children's songs, Father God I Wonder has remained popular with adults as well as children. Here are 3 more songs that I wrote many years ago which I am being told are just as powerful today and are really blessing adult worshippers. They are very simple so please give them a try, and see what God does through them.
At the beginning of each day try prayerfully singing this song with me. Its a great way to start each day. If we mean the words as we sing them we may start to notice a change in our day!
Lord give me a heart that's true
Help me keep loving you
Watch over all I do
This is my prayer
Be in my thoughts today
Help me in what I say
But most of all I pray
Make me like you.
(c) Glorie Music / Thankyou Music 1999 (Taken from 'Songs for little children' triple CD)
Click
HERE
to find out more about being
a Christian.
Please pray for Adam and Suzy. Please pray for my daughter Suzy and her husband Adam at this time. It's hard enough seeing an older person die, but to see your 15 month old son die is even harder to deal with.
We know Quinn's in a better place, I would llike you pray Adam and Suzy (in time) will also come to a better place. It's wonderful to know that God and your prayers will help them through this.
Click HERE
to see the dates available to
book Ishmael.
19 Sep - Bognor Bible Week. [Evangelistic Preach]
26 Sep - Kings Church. Southsea [Family Service]
09 Oct - Pendle Methodist Circuit. Colne. Lanc's [Praise Party]
10 Oct - Pendle Methodist Circuit. Colne. Lanc's [Family Service]
23 Oct - Romsey Abbey [St EthelFeada\'s Patronal Festival]
24 Oct - Romsey Abbey [St EthelFeada\'s Patronal Festival]
30 Oct - Chichester Cathedral [All Saints Family Celebration]
31 Oct - Chichester Cathedral [Mattins Preach 10.00am]
Job. He had suffered a lot, and his three best friends decided to visit him. When they saw how much pain Job was in, they were so sad they couldn't say a word, and sat in silence with Job for seven days and seven nights. Now I wonder if I would have managed to stay silent for that long if I had visited him ?
Lord give me a heart that's true
