Here are some popular worship songs from 2005. As I frequently point out, “modern” for us in Tipperary meant 1980s choruses. We didn’t know anything about 21st Century songs, but I’m enjoying familiarizing myself with them now.
In our fellowship in Tipperary, I remember studying Romans, Judges, 1 Samuel, and Daniel. I also visited Limerick fellowships a little more than I did in the few previous years. One notable event was a concert by a group from a fellowship from Tramore that was held at Pery’s (Glenworth) hotel. It was quite an enjoyable evening. A chap from Canada, who was originally from Northern Ireland spoke.
In 2005, I remember being introduced to the Christianity Explored course for those investigating Christianity. As with similar courses, such as Alpha and Christianity Explained, many existing church folk take them. I first encountered it in Mallow Street Christian Fellowship in Limerick (where we live). We used it in subsequent years in Tipperary Christian Fellowship. It was an impressive course. I also took a few speaking engagements in Mallow Street Christian Fellowship that year. That was also the first year that we went to the Aontas conference in Abbeyleix. And I created the Tipperary Christian Fellowship website. The church, now named Tipperary Bible Church, has a new site now. Mine would be seen as very old-fashioned nowadays. We did update it a few times. It was a good opportunity to explore and promote good Christian resources – a little like what I aim to do with this blog. I pretty much pointed to every helpful Christian resource that I could find. I think I was wanting to point to good sites to steer people away from some of the wacky people in the evangelical world. But maybe people found some of my stuff wacky. Who knows?😀 I’ve reused some of my earlier material in this blog. An example is the Gospel in a Nutshell page. Looking at it now, it isn’t much of a nutshell, but perhaps the diagram says it all. We come to God by repenting and trusting in Jesus:
Since then, I’ve found many other Gospel in a Nutshell videos and web pages. Hopefully, my one is the best, or maybe it’s the worst 😀.
John Piper does a good job of expressing it all concisely. He got 205K views. My one has only 3 views so far, but I’m slowly but surely catching up with him 😀.
It was nice to see a Baptist Missions work begin in Nenagh in 2005. Eventually, a little Baptist church was formed in 2015 – Nenagh Baptist Church. I remember travelling up there from Limerick for outreach in 1989 and to give Bible studies in 1993. Nothing much came of it then, but that’s often the case in Christian work. You need to wait awhile to see the fruit. Ultimately, God gives the growth. Carrickmacross Baptist Church, in Monaghan was formed in 2005. I remember visiting the little fellowship there back in 1998. Some of the folk visited us in Tipperary Christian Fellowship some years later. We always appreciated visitors.
I read one of my favourite books for the second time in 2005. I recently read it again. The author explores the various accounts of the resurrection of Jesus and puts together a hypothetical account of the exact sequence of events.
We went to the UK for our family holiday in 2005, visiting Southport, West Yorkshire (including Hebden Bridge, Haworth and Bolton Abbey), Blackpool, the Lake District and York. We went to an aircraft museum near Wolverhampton and hung around Shropshire that day too. I remember Ironbridge, Much Wenlock, Bridgnorth and the Severn Valley Railway. A particularly lovely spot was Hampton Loade on the Severn Valley Railway. And we saw the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car going by us in Southport. We also went to Holmfirth where the comedy Last of the Summer Wine was filmed. And then we travelled over Saddleworth Moor back to Southport. I remember listening to The Sunday Half Hour, an old hymn show on BBC Radio 2, as we drove across the moors. I used to love listening to that show. Nowadays, my equivalent is Sounds Sacred on Radio Ulster.
I don’t post pictures with family members in them, but I found one with just the top of a head. Hopefully, it’ll be of little use to the cybercriminals among my readers 😀.
We took this one in the lake district.
My young kids particularly liked the JCB song. I asked Microsoft Copilot if any 2005 UK chart songs had spiritual themes. It pointed to Fix You by Coldplay and I Believe in You by Kylie. I can see why Fix You might sound spiritual. I do like Kylie, but I think I would vote for Bob Dylan’s I Believe in You over her’s.
Anyway, here are some music, events, and films/TV shows that would have formed the background to 2005. I don’t necessarily endorse all the songs or films 😀.
10 Songs
- Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own – U2
- (Is This The Way To) Amarillo – Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay
- Smile Like You Mean It – Killers
- Speed Of Sound – Coldplay
- City Of Blinding Lights – U2
- Diamonds From Sierra Leone – Kanye West
- Fix You – Coldplay
- Biology – Girls Aloud
- JCB Song – Nizlopi
- Armantyne – Enya
10 Events
- A Limerick woman won the largest EuroMillions jackpot in Europe
- Suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured hundreds in coordinated attacks on the London Underground and a bus
- Prince Charles Marries Camilla Parker Bowles
- Live 8 Concerts and G8 Summit
- Death of Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI
- Hurricane Katrina Devastates New Orleans
- Sudan Signs Peace Agreement, ending 20-year civil war that had claimed over 2 million lives
- Syria withdrew from Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence
- Tony Blair’s Labour Party won a third term in the general election, though with a reduced majority
10 Films or TV Shows
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Walk the Line – Biopic of Johnny Cash
- Madagascar
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Batman Begins
- Chicken Little
- Pooh’s Heffalump Movie
- Doctor Who (revival) – BBC One sci-fi classic returns
10 Famous People Who Passed Away
- Pope John Paul II – Head of the Catholic Church
- Eileen Desmond – Irish politician
- Johnny Carson – Legendary host of The Tonight Show
- Anne Bancroft – Oscar-winning actress (The Graduate)
- Richard Pryor – Groundbreaking stand-up comedian
- Luther Vandross – R&B singer
- George Best – footballer
- Robin Cook – British politician
- Robert Moog – Founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music
- Edward Heath – British politician
- James Callaghan – British politician
Hibernia Gospel 