Why? To put it simply, it was their version of the red carpet treatment. Today, people that are considered worthy of honour and respect, celebrity, dignitaries and most applicably here, royalty, have that respect illustrated by entering a place on the red carpet. The people of Jerusalem we showing their respect to Jesus, who was entering the city as the anointed one (Christ or Messiah)  just as the prophet had foretold. On a donkey.

A donky was a humble animal, symbolising the common person, the working person. Here was the Messiah entering Jerusalem  humbly, any praise or splendour generated not by Himself, but by the people themselves. He had no pomp or ceremony in Himself, just the response of the people.

These same people who were shouting “Hosanna” will be the same ones screaming “Crucify Crucify” in a few days time.  It is amazing how fickle people can be. It’s also amazing how easily people can be persuaded. It was easy 2000 years ago, it’s just as easy today. People will do and believe what the media tell then to believe or do.

However, the New Testament reveals that many of them would change their mind again under the preaching of the Risen Christ by Peter.

Now you need something to shoot. Any archer, any club and even a number of archery shops will tell you the 2 same things. First, never buy anything until after the beginners course (you might not need it). Second, rent / hire your first bow.

This is good for the club, as they get some more revenue off you by hiring out the equipment with a deposit. It’s good for the archer because they get to learn on basic equipment that they will outgrow, usually before the rental charges outweigh the cost of the bow. With a rental bow, as technique, ability and strength improve, the limb weight (bow strength) can be increased simply by swapping limbs for stronger ones. The basic wooden takedown type bows are about £60, so you can expect the deposit to be about £70 to cover the arrows, sight, string, tab and arm guard that should be included in the offer. You want a bag for all that? Any right sized sports bag will do, even a supermarket “bag for life”. Monthly rentals will vary in cost. 

So, there you are, £100 just to belong, £70 deposit on a bow plus monthly rental charges. £200+ for the first year and you still own nothing.

It’s not that I want to put anyone off, it’s just that in any sport where you need equipment to play with, like cricket, tennis, badminton, golf etc. there is always an initial outlay. Sometimes this outlay can be very expensive at the beginning. Unfortunately, this puts a lot of people off, especially in archery. The clubs do their best to lighten the load by hiring basic kit. If you really want a cheap pass-time, take up walking. But then that could become hiking, and that’s a world of expense as well…

It’s the end of the last beginners session, balloons have been popped, maybe sweeties earned and that sort of thing. You may have already had the membership sales pitch, sometimes it’s part of the course, because there are things you need to know. You may fit into one of four categories:

You have tried and found that you just can’t get the basics, you know it’s not for you and decide to concentrate on things you can do. But it was fun trying.

Yo’ve done the course, mastered the basics but to be honest, you don’t know what the fuss is about, it just doesn’t rock your world. But it was fun while it lasted.

Beginners courses allow someone, for a fee, to try archery with competent instruction in a structured manner and to decide if they like it or not. Some don’t like it, some don’t complete the course, no problem, it’s a free world and it’s their money. Clubs would prefer to have you on the course than not especially as they’ve taken your money, but hey ho.

You’ve done the course, loved it, popped the balloons at the end and like the idea of taking it up, but you are not so completely sure, life is busy, money is tight.

You’ve done the course, loved every minute, popped a few baloons, spent hours on the internet looking at archery web pages, even read the beginners course manual. You would sell your grannie for another hour shooting arrows and have your chequebook and pen ready.

If you are the latter, well you’re hooked and grannie is being taught how to fletch arrows and other useful archery stuff by her new owners. You still only have perhaps a 50% chance of lasting more than a year before giving up. If you are still shooting after 18 months, then you are in for life. Don’t forget to buy grandma back.

If you are hovering, then it’s likely the bottom line will send you away from the sport. Archery is as expensive as you want it to be, but it is never cheap. To begin with, you need to pay the club joining fee. This should include any affilliation fees to County and Regional organisations, e.g Warwickshire and West Midlands. The fee is likely to include at least the outdoor shooting. Some clubs just need to charge extra for the indoor season, some have a shooting charge of a few pounds each session. The fee will be different for each club depending on their outgoings.

On top of that, if the club is affliliated to the Grand National Archery Society (Archery UK) then you need to pay your affilliation fees to shoot, that’s £35 for an adult. That’s where the insurance and being able to compete in official tournaments come from. There are other organisations out there for different archery styles.

So you are looking at possibly £100 a year just to belong. And you aint got no kit yet.

Counterstrike is a famous Mod of Half Life (HL), it uses the game engine to produce a game that plays very differently to the original. A less well known but well loved Mod is DoD, which uses the game engine with new graphics to have a team based game based in World War II, Allies verses Axis.

I recall downloading an early version and thinking it was rubbish. This changed with the latest version running on HL1 engine, which was very bright and fun. The current Source (HL2) version is different but the same and enjoys a large but slowly declining following. The British Allies vanished with the Source version, so is only American vs German troops on a huge number of third party maps. It is mainly a capture the flag game, but with variations on the theme with the need to destroy objectives (one way capture) and even the “Orange maps” which do away with the fancy scenery for a minimalist approach. Even then, you can have an Orange capture the flag, or a “Gun Game” where individual players on both sides begin with the same weapon, but advance through the weapons with each “kill”  and the round ends when a player has used all the weapons.

Online clans and communities have prolonged the lifetime of DoD, although there seems to be much less interest in competetive leagues of DoD than there once was. Worth a look.

You need to understand and accept that Beginners courses are a valuable source of income for archery clubs, as well as potential recruitment sessions. Those involved in delivering the course to you will in the vast majority of cases, be doing it voluntarily at their own expense and time. There will be at least one qualified recognised coach, but the majority of the instructors will be experienced archers who know what they are doing.

The courses generally have the aims of teaching safety and basic technique. The simpler courses will hope to have candidates hitting the target at 20 yards with a training bow and behaving in a safe and proper manner at all times, plus some idea of what the different bow and archery types are and how to score. The majority of time will be spent shooting (or waiting to shoot / collecting and/or looking for arrows)

The complex and longer courses will have the above but will have candidates beginning, after the safety lecture, by learning how to assemble a recurve take-down bow. Basically, there will be more theory and technical stuff and a little less in percentage terms shooting time.

At the end of the course, assuming you stick it out (some people don’t or can’t) you will know how to behave safely and understand the hazards and how to deal with them to protect yourself, the other shooters and members of the public (who tend to have a lemming like compulsion to put themselves in harms way.) You will also know if you can “do” archery. Not everyone can play football, play golf, drive a car or paint a portrait. Not everyone can “do” or enjoy archery. You don’t need to be “good” to enjoy archery, but you do need to be safe and have a basic competence.

You may get a certificate to say that you have successfully completed a beginners course. Other clubs my be willing simply to provide a reference letter to that effect if you wish to join a club closer to home. Either way, when you take the letter or certificate to another club, don’t be offended if they ask you demonstrate your competence.

The last session may involve a competition, bursting ballons or some other test of skill. The last session will include an offer to join the club. And this is where you find out if you really want to take up the sport.

I mean, it’s Valentine’s day today. Pancake day on Tuesday (yummy) and we are half way through February already. Seems only a short while since I was trying and failing to find a place to find a certain confectionery beloved by a relative and previously stocked in Woolworths, but seemingly vanished from the shops except in ASDA. Ok, promise, last mention of the W - word here, forever. Christmas was fun, better organised that previous years and New Years Eve was  quite sedate compared with previous years.

Facebook, yes, I’m there. Yes I have a farm. Yes I spend too much time there. Hmmm, can you make resolutions halfway through February?  Resolve to use time more productively.

So I decided to try archery, something I did have a single session of many years ago and hadn’t followed up. So first stop Google (other search engines are available) and after a little work found the only official way into archery was to find a local club and enrol on a beginners course.

Two local clubs available, one closer to home, one closer to work, either would be suitable, so emailed both and got replies fairly quickly.

First thing to realise is that beginners courses are not run that often and are very popular, especially if there’s been a movie, TV series or event featuring bows and arrows. The Olympics is increasing the general interest in sport, and archery is one that can be done at any age without the need for high levels of fitness and agility. So a 50 year old armchair athelete might not be up to football anymore, but could quite easily handle archery.

The local club had a vacancy available two months earlier than the one near work. So that was it, sent off the cheque and got the confirmation.

One thing to remember is that not all archery clubs are born equal. I mean not all have the same facilities on offer. The nobility of archery clubs are those that have their own grounds and facilities, both indoor and out. The upper crust may just have outdoor grounds and facilities. The middle classes will just own their ground and not have clubhouses, perhaps a lock-up. And the others basically rent the use of grounds from other organisations and face the steady increase in fees and uncertainty over availability.

This year, well, it’s different. I looked around the high street and nobody sells an equivalent range. The Thorntons shop did the chocolate range, but they don’t sell Malteaser Eggs. Tesco, well, admittedly it wasn’t a big store, but there were 4 varieties of Easter egg on sale almost as an afterthought. No malteasers there either.

And what do you get for nieces and nephews when their parents have forbidden you to buy them chocolate? (they have plenty without my contribution)

I might have to go around the local ASDA superstore and hope they have a good range.

But I do miss Woolworths.

The life of a shepherd could be a hard and dangerous one. Not only was the shepherd responsible for finding pasture and water for the physical needs of the sheep, but also for their safety. Not just wild animals, but robbers and bandits as well.
A hired hand would look after them for money. His interest was only in his wages and not the sheep. No wages would persuade him to put his life on the line for sheep that weren’t his own.
This could be a picture of the Pharisees to which Christ had been talking to at the start of the illustration. It is also a picture of false prophets, teachers, religeous or secular systems who would deceive people today.
Who are these other sheep who are not of “this fold” but will become part of the “one flock”? The context is Christ is talking to the nation of Isreal of that time who rightly considered themselves in the sheepfold. What was later revealed was that others outside that sheepfold, what the Bible calls “Gentile Nations” (non-Israeli) would be able to join the flock. Please note, He uses the word flock and not the word fold. he is referring to the Church Age in which we now live.
A true, good shepherd would look after the sheep because he cared for them, he owned them, loved them and valued them. He would defend them against wild animals and robbers. He would die for them. He was committed to his role. This is a picture of Christ, the Good Shepherd, a clear picture that those listening would understand. A picture that King David of old understood for he too was a shepherd. The 23rd Psalm gives a picture of the shepherd’s role, a picture of the Good Shepherd and a picture of what the sheep enjoy with such a shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the Sheep. His death on the cross was a voluntary act. We sing about how it was love that bound Him to the cross, not the nails. We read how He tells Peter in Mat. 26 v 53 that if He wished he could ask the Father to send twelve legions of angels to His aid. But He didn’t, instead he went to the cross.

This statement is followed by and linked to “the Good Shepherd.” The picture I think here is that he shepherd and the flock are out in the fields or wilderness and it’s time to turn in for the night. They wouild go to a sheepfold which was a circular wall with one entrance. Once the sheep were inside, the shepherd would camp at the door, so nothing could get in or out without him knowing.

Christ is the only door. He says “I am the door.”, not a door but the door. Many resent this teaching that Christ is the only true way to salvation, but Christ Himself states this.