Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Reserve your spot in Heaven

Came across reserveaspotinheaven.com

It is selling a place in heaven for $12.79. It includes:

  • Heavenly issued certificate of reservation registered in the Book of Light™
  • A First class ticket to Heaven. Why walk those stairs when you can fly?
  • The Official Heaven Identification Card so you can get around without getting hassled.
  • Heaven 101 mini informational guide. Don’t be a victim of culture shock. Get acquainted with the land.
You can even purchase an all access pass to mix with VIPs for an extra $15.95.

Think I have heard it all. Their banner suggests space is limited so its time to book now and once paid for your space is 100% guaranteed or your money back. Struck me as some small consolation that if I loose my space I would take the grand sum of $12.79 into hell with me.

Glad to know my space is already guaranteed. It cost Jesus everything and he gave it to me for free. Its called grace.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Immanuel

This morning I have been preparing a video with a voice over based around the text Matthew 1 v 22 - 23.

Thanks to Scot McKnight for the following insight.

One of the richest Advent texts is this one:

All of this happened to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and he will be called Immanuel

(meaning, God is with us)” (Matthew 1:22-23).

Advent is about “God with us.” It is about Incarnation. But “God with us” is more than simply a proposition about Incarnation, a proposition about God doing the really unthinkable — taking up humanity by becoming human — a proposition about christological natures. “God with us” is more than that.

Immanuel is promise — promise given from Adam and Eve and Abraham on, promise expected from the days of Israel’s yearning for redemption, and promise now fulfilled.

Immanuel is redemption — God with us is the good news, the gospel story that God has now taken up our case completely, God identifying with us in order to redeem us. “Immanuel” explains “Yeshua” (YHWH saves).

Immanuel is mission — if God is with us by sending the Son, the Son is with us as carry on the mission of making disciples (Matthew 28:16-20). It is not accident that Matthew both begins his Gospel on this note: “God with us in promise” becomes “Jesus with us in mission.”

Monday, December 17, 2007

Prince Caspian

Two weeks away, a few days of jet lag, 2 weeks of work to catch up on and Christmas services to plan so my blog has been somewhat neglected.

Just a quick post then. The oficial trailer for Prince Caspian has just been posted. Following on from The Lion the witch and the wardrobe our 4 heroes return to Narnia after a year to find 1300 Narnia tears have passed and it has been taken over by a sinister king. Releasing in June 2008 in the UK.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Willow



On stage at Willow Creek. Well if you enlarged it by about 1000 times you may see my head if you looked very closely.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Radiate


The last two days have been intense 9 hours of teaching each day from various speakers at Willow Creek Community Church. I have heard:

Randy Frazee - Neighbourhood Strategy
Brian McAuliffe - Operations
Kyndra Singer - Community Care Ministry
Gordon McDonald - Self Leadership
Nancy Beach - Arts

I have tried to make copious notes of all that God has been telling me through these great people. Once I have assimilate my thoughts and actions I'll write more on that.

What speaks to me more is the people themselves. The spirit in what they communicates shouts louder tan what they actually say. Each of them exude passion, humility, authenticity and what I can only describe as a tender heart for both God and people. Each of them had a crystal clear understanding of the vision and ethos of their church and more importantly understood clearly their contribution to the collective whole.

I copied this quote from our time with Gordon McDonald today:

"Into the hands of every individual is given a marvellous power to do good or do evil. The silent, unconscious, unseen influence of his or her life. This is simply the constant radiation of what a person is, not what that person pretends to be. - William Jordan.

To often we live behind a mask. We try to be something we are not in the hope that we can convince another we have some worth even if we do not believe it ourselves. What we must realise is that as we do not fool ourselves we do not fool others. We are constantly radiating who we are. What we radiate will also affect others. It will either build them them up or bring them down. It so important that we do not shortcut the vital ministry of self leadership as if we do it will not only radiate into our ministry but also the people we touch.

Young pastor Timothy received the following advice from his mentor.

1 Timothy 4 v 12 - "be an example to the believers with your words, your actions, your love, your faith, and your pure life. 15 Continue to do those things; give your life to doing them so your progress may be seen by everyone. 16 Be careful in your life and in your teaching. If you continue to live and teach rightly, you will save both yourself and those who listen to you."

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Voices can lead you astray

Four of us who are attending the conference at willow next week are staying with Chuck & Sharon, members of Willow Creek Church. I met me travelling companion Sunil for the first time at the Dollar Rent a car depot. We invested in a SatNav and put our trust in the electronic sounding voice on the dashboard, to get us too our destination. Everything went smoothly and we arrived safely 40 min later.

However one of the other guys did not find it so easy. Having arrived at O'hare airport some 5 hours before us he had a bit of a nightmare and when we arrived at our hosts he still was not there. Seems like the SatNav had taken him to a street with a similar address in the south side of Chicago when the pace we are staying is north. Seems like his place was misplaced.

It pays to double check what you are being told and to do that effectively you need to have a little knowledge.

Around church my experience is that whether intended or not many Christians put their faith or blind trust in other people voices. The accept teaching and direction from pastors and leaders without checking it with Jesus first hand. They don't read and study Gods word for themselves so can't filter what they are being told.

Our trust and faith is to be place in Jesus not people.

By the way when you spell check SatNav on blogger you get Satan!

JetBlue Rock

Had a great flight up to the windy city with JetBlue. I am told they are a relatively new airline and my experience was great. Check in was all computerised. In fact they even sent me an automatic email to remind me of my flight details and informing me of my check in procedure. That was a self serve idea with a simple bar code allowing me to get a boarding pass before dropping off my bag.

They also did the unthinkable they kept you informed of the situation prior to boarding. The incoming flight was running slightly late. They told us that it was in holding pattern and when it landed. This seems to be in total contrast to most airlines who seem to take pleasure in keeping things secret and think that a delayed post next to their flight on the airport information system will suffice.

On board the leg room was incredible the seat back AV system had about 40 live TV stations as well as pay per view movies. I watched 2 premier league matches on the journey.

All together a great experience.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Time to Move Church

Brings a whole new meaning to moving church.

People or Souls


Flying over with Virgin Airways I watched one of the many movies they had on offer. Surprisingly the one that took my attention was "The Flying Scotsman". A biopic of world champion cyclist Graeme Obre.

During the film a friendship developed with a local minister. In one conversation Graeme suggested that the Minister was his friend because he was after his soul. The ministers reply really stuck with me.

Souls are God's business, people are my business.


This was so simple but so true.

1. We cannot save anyone.
2. But God can.
3. Being a friend is our first priority
4. Its amazing the influence you have when you are a friend.
5. Jesus had many friends - some disciples some not.
6. We need to stick to our job and let Jesus do his.

New York New York


Just arrived at JFK, New York on my way to Chicago for a weeks conference at Willow Creek. I have about a 5 hour lay over before I experience Jet Blue Airways for the first time.

So taken the time to fill up my stomach at New York Sports Grill. A massive sandwich, fizzy drink and some of my favourite American food - Macaroni Salad. With another couple of hours to wait I may have some more.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

The wally with the brolly


Just one of the imaginative headlines in today's papers after last nights England loss.

England 2 Croatia 3 the result of a performance devoid of commitment, class and competence. Yet again we are left deflated and disappointed in yet another failure. How the manager after 2 years of failure does not just come out and resign is beyond me but I suppose its all about money and a pay off. But the truth is that England failed to qualify for a major championship despite being thrown a lifeline by Israel. To finish with the same points total as Israel is completely unacceptable.

Maybe we will bring back the Home Internationals in 2008 because Scotland, England, Wales & N. Ireland will have nothing else to do.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Church and Pop Culture


Tim Stevens, Executive Pastor at Granger Community Church is in the process of writing a book about the Church and Pop Culture. Help him and his publishers out by completing the following Survey.

Book Survey

Reputation Vs Character

Preparing for this past Sundays message I came across this quote:

"Reputation is what men and women think of us. Character is what God and the angels know of us." - Thomas Paine


This sent me on a bit of a detour on my preparation. We can build a reputation quite quickly but we can also loose it in an instance. You can read of many leaders including "successful" church leaders that have large churches and huge ministries. Everything in the garden seems rosy only for the wheels to drop of and in an instance the reputation is in ruins.

This usually seems to happen because the character does not meet the reputation. If reputation can be quickly obtained and easy lost then character is the opposite. It takes a long time to develop and will stay with us for eternity. Its also the thing that keeps our reputation intact.

God keep us focused on the main thing. Mould my character to be like Jesus so that His reputation will be great.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Very Tired

Just arrived in London after a hectic couple of days.

Amongst many other things went across to Norwich to the Delirious? concert and see another potential band for the Ultimate Event 2008. Today has been one long meeting with the design team and MK planners about our potential development at the centre.

By the end I just couldn't think anymore so what on earth have I travelled down to London for on a Friday evening when there is football on. Well I found out that Bobby and members of the team from Lifechurch.tv are over in London for a few days.

I follow his blog avidly and have received much assistance from his musings and also have utilised much of there resources through open. So really it was too good an opportunity to miss. I can always watch the footy on video and of course the big match is tomorrow - Scotland v Italy.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

U2 Wave of Sorrow

An incredible inside peek at Bono singing and talking about the story behind the release of Wave of Sorrow.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Who is praying around you?


This last week Tearfund released details of a survey about peoples prayer habits in the UK. Their results were very interesting. In a day when overall church attendance is heading south it seems that their survey shows that 42% of Britons pray.

One in six prayed daily and one in for prayed weekly. 57% of people suggested that it changed what happened in their lives.

This tells me that although many people have become disillusioned with the church and other religious establishments there is still an innate belief in God within us and a spirituality.

I am sure that many people pray out of a sense of complete desperation. They have no where else to go so they try God. Well that's a good place to be realising our helplessness and talking to our creator about it.

We have got to do a better job within the church in helping people into the glorious relationship that is on offer through this God they are asking for help.

Full Tearfund survey.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Worship

Need I say more

Mud Pies


I recently read the following quote from C S Lewis.

Our lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are half hearted creatures fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday by the sea.

Jesus said he came to give us an incredible life. Somehow I don't think I have experienced a fraction of what God has in store for me. Someone once said the only difference between a rut and a grave was the depth. I am asking myself what has become to comfortable for me? Am I settling for a level of growth that is so far below where God wants me to go?

I can't even imagine what this abundant incredible life is that God has in store. What challenges lie in wait. What changes I need to make. Where the journey will take me but I am up for the journey.

God help me not to settle for the mundane, messing about with mud pies when you have so many surprises in store.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Preventing a scandal

Week after week we seem to come across some news about some scandal in some ministry. Some pastor has messed things up or it may just be some member of a congregation. Surprise is usually one of the reactions. That's the last person I would have expected to do that is a common statement.

What that tells me is that it can happen to any of us if we are not careful. I read the following this week. 10 tips to prevent a scandal in your own life. Originally posted by Charisma Magazine.

1. Live a humble, transparent life.
2. Stay open to correction.
3. Audit your actions regularly.
4. Stay in touch with the real world.

Ministry is about loving people. But you will never develop compassion unless you are close enough to the grass roots to smell the poverty, lay hands on the sickness and cry with those who are in pain.
5. Don’t allow people to make you a celebrity.
6. Make family a priority.
7. Live modestly and give extravagantly.
8. Don’t build your own kingdom.
9. Develop keen discernment.
10. Maintain your spiritual passion.

People who experience moral failure almost always lose their spiritual passion first.

I would add number 11 - Keep your relationship with Jesus sweet and intimate.

What would you add?

Monday, October 29, 2007

Nothing stays the same


On holiday I caught up with an old friend, Andra Whyte. He is a great guy and owner of a huge trawler, Forever Grateful, based in Fraserburgh.

He kindly gave me and the family a tour round his boat. Now my family have been fishermen as long as I know about. Brother, dad, grandad have all been fisher men. My dad owned 5 different trawlers so I spent a lot of time in and around boats as I grew up. During school holidays I would often spend a couple of weeks on the boat. What I remember is a tough job and a reasonably tough life on board.

On this new massive boat things are certainly different. All the aspects from the sleeping arrangements, kitchen, deck etc are luxurious compared to what I remember. The wheelhouse seemed to be completely computerised and knowledge of computers would seem to be a requirement for the job of a fisherman now. Things have progressed and boats have moved with the times making sure they have become better and better at catching fish.

Why is it that sometimes in the church that we think the best way to do something is how we did it years ago. Was it so good 10, 20, 40 or even 50 years ago. Were so many more people getting to know Jesus for the first time. We shouldn't ditch everything or change the message the good news of Jesus never changes but surely we have many more methods and ways to share the message today.

Same message more methods. Asking a skipper like Andra to ignore all the advancements and go back to the way things were done would be madness. Lets not do the same with the most crucial fishing adventure in the planet.

Home from home

I got back from a weeks holiday yesterday. I've been up to my home town for a week. It was a very quiet relaxing time. There really is very little to do there. We visited many many coffee shops - but I'll be glad to get back to my favourite haunt in Starbucks.

There was little or no Internet access so I had no e mail, no blogs to read and no Internet to surf. I had my MacBook but it felt like it was broken with no Internet access! Without the the Internet something was missing. Made me think about how sometimes I can loose my connection with Jesus. I still look the same, act the same, talk the same but really there is something missing. I need to ensure I always have a good connection to Jesus in my life.

Its back to work with a bang:

1. We launched "40 days of community" our new teaching series on Sunday.

2. We are developing some exciting ideas for our church to be part of for Christmas.

3. The Ultimate Event looms ever nearer and Bands have been difficult to sort out.

4. There are a number of meetings this week regarding our proposed development of new facilities at Church.

Time to hit the ground running.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Its Wednesday so its business time

This totally cracked me up. Now I'll find out if my wife reads my blog. Thank God for Wednesdays.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

I'm a Christ follower

Check out the video below:

Salvation Joy

At the weekend I fulfilled a long standing obligation to go and preach at on old friends church. I met him about 25 years ago in Bible College. It was great to meet up with him and his wife again.

In church we sang that song based on Psalm 51 which has a line in it: "Restore unto me the Joy of my salvation". You know them times when you feel like Jesus is standing right next to me prodding me in the ribs saying listen to what you are singing.

I remember the first time I heard that song thinking why on earth would you have to ask God to restore Joy over the best thing that has ever happened to you. Salvation is like all your birthdays and Christmas's coming at once and more beside. And I have to ask God to sort out how I feel about that. As though I could be sad about God's greatest gift.

I know now there are some things that take away your Joy:

We take Jesus and what he has done for granted.
We allow circumstances to dominate our lives.
We replace intimacy and relationship with rituals.
We replace knowing Jesus with doing things for him.

But I think the number one problem in loosing our Joy in our Salvation is sin in my life.

In Psalm 51 that was David's problem. He had messed up big time and he was living with guilt. He had sinned against God and he couldn't live with himself and he found it hard to live before God. The great thing is that the antidote to guilt is forgiveness. We can have the certainty that as we confess our sin to God he has promised to forgive us. We are accepted because of his "Unfailing love".

The best way to restore the missing joy of salvation is just to take time out now and meditate on what Salvation is and what it means for you.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Don't put Jesus first

Steven posted this on his blog.

The worst thing you can do as a Christian is to try and put Jesus first in your life.
I know it sounds good, and Lord knows, I’ve said it plenty:
Put Jesus first, your family second, your job third…
But it’s a flawed paradigm.

Jesus doesn’t want to be first on your list. He doesn’t need your shout out.
He’s not content to be first in your life.
He insists on being the center of your life.

Putting Jesus first in my life means I kind of segregate Him from my other priorities.
Making Him the center of my life means I integrate Him into every priority.

It’s not Jesus, then my family, then my job…
It’s Jesus: in my family, in my job…

It’s not Jesus, then anything…
It’s Jesus in everything!


Said that phrase many times God help me to keep you at the centre of everything.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Lesson time

Yesterday I was working away on some stuff. Think I was developing our website or something like that when the phone rang. Someone had stopped by church and wanted to see a pastor urgently.

It seemed like I was the only guy around could I see him? Now if I am truthful my first thought was oh no! This is going to be another waste of time. Its going to be another person looking for money and of course we have never laid eyes on them before and will probably not do again. But we are a church and people seem to think we should give them money. So I made some flippant comment to the office staff and set of to meet the guy.(shows you the garbage in my mind)

To my absolute surprise and shame I met a great guy who had some hard times recently but in the middle of it had connected with God. Friends had advised him to come to our church and he wanted to come along before Sunday and check the place out so at least he would know someone when he turned up!

God proceeded to kick me around my office bringing back to my mind some of the things I have said like "Its all about People" "People matter to us".

Sorry God!

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Conservative Conference

Posting this not as an endorsement of the Conservatives or their policy but because of the passion shown by Dave Sharples from Frontline.

Guys like this inspire me because you can see their sacrifice and passion not for position or power but for children and young people.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Prayer

Had a great time on Sunday starting our new series Time 2 Build as we look at the book of Nehemiah. The thing that hits me most as I started to study the life of Nehemiah was that he was a man of prayer.

I know its a bit of a cliche but he really was. At least 9 times through the book Nehemiah went to prayer. He prayed before he started the job, he prayed on the job, he prayed in difficult circumstances and he prayed in thankfulness.

He hears the bad news and he goes to prayer. Its so easy to complain and criticise. He could have blamed the leaders for the mess they made. He could have blamed people for not making right choices but he went to God in prayer.

Complaining is not the same as changing something. Sometimes by talking about some thing we think we are doing something about it. We are not. He doesn’t phone up his friends or log on to his blog and glory in reporting how bad it has become in Jerusalem. It’s a sad existence if you get your self worth about communication about someone else’s misfortune.

Talk to God about a situation first and get his perspective.

Nehemiah's prayer was a prayer of:

Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication

Its a good path to follow.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Liam is off Paint balling with some friends. Nicola and Abbie have gone to a Ladies Breakfast at Church so have spent the morning in Starbucks preparing for preaching on Sunday. Love iTunes party shuffle. Listened to some great tunes. Particularly loved Daniel Beddingfield - Honest Questions.

Really looking forward to tomorrow. We launch our brand new teaching series - Time2Build. We are studying my favourite leader in the Bible - Nehemiah. Here is this ordinary Guy working a relatively obscure Job as a Butler but he becomes one of the greatest leaders of the Bible. Don't you love God.

There must have been a vast array of priests, high priests, generals etc but he chose a waiter. The difference with Nehemiah was that his heart broke over the same things God's heart broke over. Once his heart was in the right place anything was possible through a partnership with God.

Nehemiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem accomplished the impossible the rebuilding of a city in a matter of weeks. What can you accomplish with God on your side. Impossible is nothing.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Walk on the beach?

Read this quote today from Mark Beeson of Granger CommunityChurch :


"If we were just walking on the beach, we wouldn't need innovation. But we are climbing a mountain together."

Born and brought up in a sea side town I have spent many many hours walking on the beach. There is something very therapeutic strolling along yards of sand hearing the sea crash on to the shore. Its a great place to think, relax and reflect. We certainly need times like that in our lives. Maybe we need more times like that in the hive of activity we call life today. But we can not live there.

Church life has been anything but a walk on the beech this last few weeks. It has resembled more of a mountain climb. Great satisfaction at goals reached followed by great obstacles. Finding solutions and moving on. We have always got to remember that God is interested more in what we are becoming that what we are doing. Our destination is to become like Jesus. Sometimes our obstacles are of our own making, sometimes they are the creation of hell but sometimes they are there because God wants us to grow.

Becoming like Jesus and introducing a world to Him is a mountain worth climbing and ultimately more satisfying than a stroll along a beach.

You Version Launched


Lifechurch.tv yesterday launched YouVersion yesterday. Its an online bible that lets you do some incredible things.

  • Read the Bible in multiple versions
  • Star, tag & email verses and content
  • Associate images, videos, links, and text to verses or series of verses
  • Create an online Bible journal
  • And much, much more
It is your own online personal study bible as well as access to a whole community.

Its only just started there are many more developments to come. Check it out today! Did I say its all free.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Sex and the Squirrel


Graig Groeschel has launched a new book called Going all The Way. Its a book aimed at helping people prepare for a great marriage. I have been married for 19+ years but I will be adding it to my reading list when it is released at the beginning of October. If you are passionate about building a great marriage then make sure then I am sure Graigs insights will be well worth the read.

Take a look at the video used to launch the book.

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Wednesday, September 26, 2007

29

29 years ago a 15 year old boy sat in a very small hall with about 20 or so people on a cold Thursday night. He had a great career planned out. Studying hard for his exams and getting ready for uni and hopefully a job as an accountant. It all seemed so clear.

Attending the small prayer meeting as he usually did every Thursday tonight was a little different there was a visiting speaker. A 62 year old pastor from England, Earnest Shearman. The massage surrounded the handover of God's prophetic mantle between Elijah and Elisha. It was as though the preacher was talking directly to the boy. With tears in his eyes he summoned up the courage to talk to Pastor Shearman and asked him to pray for him. As he was prayed for the old pastor took off his coat and placed it over the young boys shoulder and said some quiet words to him about his future.

I knew that a career in Accountancy was no longer an option and my life had to take a different path. It has not been totally smooth but from that night I have always tried to serve God to the best of my ability. In recent years this has meant taking up a full time role within church, but still some of the things that old pastor told me have not quite happened.

Why am I writing this now. Well this last weekend we had a visiting speaker a good friend of our church, Andrew Shearman, the son of Earnest. Although I have spent many great times with Andrew I have never told him about my encounter with his dad 29 years ago. This Sunday evening Andrew preached a very similar message (with a twist) to his dad 29 years ago and Andrew is now 62. I sat there and realised again that God was talking to me yet again.

Seems like God has something he wants me to hear. He somehow sent two men into my life a father and a son both at the age of 62 over a 29 year period. I think I better listen. Thank you God.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Still Listening

Stuck itunes on to shuffle mode this morning as I sipped my decaf Americano in my early morning haunt of Starbucks. Most of the time I am probably not even listening to the music that comes through the little white apple earphones. It sort of just tunes me out of my surroundings as I read.

This morning one of the songs gradually got my attention. Stephen Curtis Chapman song "Still Listening". I was blown away by its simplicity. God is our father he is my friend and he hears every word we say. Does it get any more simple than that.

I've heard many people complicate the subject of prayer. Sometimes its made to sound like a military exercise, sometimes its a formula, sometimes the preserve of the specialists. It just reminded me again that God loves childlike faith and he hears every word we say be it a whisper or a shout.

Check out the words below:

I would lay me down to sleep
And pray the Lord my soul to keep
And though I never saw Him there
I believe He heard each prayer
For God was great, And God was good
And I knew if I spoke the words
He would be listening

The years can take us far away
From the simple child like faith
But I am longing to return
To the place where I first learned
That God is great, and God is good
So, I will speak the words

God, our Father, once again
I bow my head to pray
You are my Father and my friend, and You hear every word I say
A prayer for forgiveness, A desperate cry for help
Or praise flowing from a thankful heart
Like each time before, I come knowing You're still listening

I will never understand
How the words of mortal man
Can reach the ears of One so pure
And touch His heart, but they do I'm sure
For God is great, and God is good
And He is love

God, our Father, once again
I bow my head to pray
You are my Father and my friend, and You hear every word I say
A pray for forgiveness, A desperate cry for help
Or praise flowing from a thankful heart
Like each time before, I come knowing You're still listening
You're still listening

Now I lay me down to sleep
And pray the Lord my soul to keep
Though I may not see You there
I believe You'll hear each prayer

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Worth it?

One of the actions we have taken as a church recently is the formation of a communications team. Church is all about people and one the things we are constantly trying to do is communicate. We are communicating the most important message on the planet. Jesus loves people and gave His life to make a relationship possible.

We want to get better at communicating this message. We know that is Jesus that makes the difference but we owe it to Him to do our best to tell as many people as we can in a real and relevant way so they don't miss the message.

We want to improve every aspect of our communication from preaching to a newsletter. This takes time, effort, money and of course creativity but isn't Jesus worth it?

Heads up to Tim who blogged about this video today. Think about the creativity, the time and the finance that went into this proposal. Are we prepared to put the same commitment into telling someone about Jesus when they attend our church.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Time 2 Build 2007

About a year ago we went through a capital campaign at MKCC. The goal raising finance for our development of a new auditorium and community facilities at our existing base.

It was a very exciting and humbling time as our church gave and made pledges to give £1 million over 3 years. We have been working hard with our design team to develop a solution that will take us to the next level and are now close to submitting our application for planning.

A year down the road we want to share with everyone the current status and also give the many people who have joined our church in the mean time an opportunity to be part of the miracle.

On Sunday 30th September we kick off Time 2 Build 2007. Based on what Jesus said in Matthew 5 v 14: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.

Here is a little video we put together to introduce the series to the church.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Super Sunday

We had a blast this Sunday. We were supposed to have our friend Andrew Shearman with us for the weekend at church, but there was a bit of a mix up so Mark had to step into the mix.

It was an incredible day. We had what was probably our biggest crowd on a Sunday - 750 people. Although we have over 900 people on our database that regularly attend MKCC that's the biggest crowd that has turned up in any one Sunday.

One of the songs really rocked my world. A Chris Tomlin song - Everlasting God. Part of the lyrics:

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary
You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles

Taken from Isaiah 40 it really is an incredible song. It made me remember again just who is on our side. God is for us not against us. Too many time I go into fix it mode or defence mode trying to do things in my own strength. I need to remember that the key to life is waiting on the Lord. I am promised that I will gain new strength when I wait on the Lord. In the cold light of day why would I want to do anything else. It surely is madness that so often I do anything but.

I need to wait on the Lord for strength, wisdom and direction.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

19

Nicola and I celebrated of 19 anniversary yesterday. 10th September 1988 was a big day in the history of Milton Keynes. No not because Michael Jackson was playing at the Milton Keynes Bowl but I married Nicola Jayne Brown. It is still the best thing I ever did in my life.

Its been a great adventure so far and I am sure the best is yet to come. Here are some photos of 1988.






It was another milestone for Nicola she has now been married flonger than she was single. Unfortunately I can not say that for a few years yet!

Extraordinary Love

Reading Peppermint-filled Pinatasby Eric Bryant I was challenged yet again. He quotes Matthew 18 v 15-17 in relation to how we as followers of Jesus should treat other Jesus followers who had messed things up or had offended us.

Jesus was quite specific about what we should do even laying out a procedure to adopt. Now me being the personality type I am this makes me really comfortable. Jesus spells out exactly what I should do in this circumstance. Don't you hate it when he is vague or seems to say very little about a what you should do in a certain situation.

We need to go and see the other person in person, face to face, and talk it through. If no joy we need to get a person whom both people would respect and go and talk it through. Still no joy then its time to take it too the church. Even then Jesus tells us that some people will not listen. Then its time for drastic action. We are to treat them the way we would treat "pagans and tax collectors."

On first look and probably the way that I have heard it taught in Church is that we have given this person 3 chances and if they still wont learn we need to stop having anything to do with them. They have had there chance and that's it.

Reading Eric's book yesterday it dawned on me, probably everyone else in the world was already there, how did Jesus want to treat "Pagans and Tax Collectors" people who were "sinners"?

Well Jesus gave us the ultimate example his time and energy went into loving them without condition. Basically he is saying do your best to work things out but if that fails revert to serving and loving them passionately.

This love thing is challenging.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Sports Saturday

Got home quite late last night. Spent a great night with our Youth Team at a friends house. We had a great food and great fun even though they are completely mad. It was good to hang out with them they are doing a great job with our young people.


Although Nicola believes that they have captured Lenny the mascot of the Children's Ministry. She keeps on getting ransom notes demanding chocolate be left in various places. She has even received a photo with Lenny being held by a gorilla. Things are getting tense!

Today some of our leadership team are meeting for brunch at or Senior Pastors place. After that its wall to wall sport.

10 am - Cricket - England V India
12 noon - Golf - The Walker Cup
1 pm - Motor sport - Qualifying for Italian Grand Prix
3 pm - Football - Scotland v Lithuania
5 pm - Football - England v Israel
5 pm - Rugby World Cup - England v USA

The remote control will be hot. And its church tomorrow.

Life is good apart from the whereabouts of Lenny.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Things I wish I had known

Although I am getting on a bit, I'm 45 next year, I am still quite new to this church leadership game. I've been around church all my life and been really involved most of my adult life. But I have only worked as a full time paid leader for the last 5 years. Looking back I just was not aware of what I was letting myself in for.

Don't get me wrong there is nothing else I would rather do but its also the most difficult thing I have ever done. Garry posted an item in response to a question asking "What do I now know that I wish I had known then?" You can read Gary's list here. Many of them strike a cord with me.

A few on my list:

1. Christian's tell lies. A bit harsh I know but I've lost count of the people who show up pledge there undying loyalty for you and the church. They are going to do anything for you and the church. Then you here that God has told them that it is time to move on and join another church.

2. There are a lot of experts out there. I love watching football on TV. One of the interesting things is that they always have a panel of EXPERTS who dissect what is going on. Now many of them tend to be ex players so they have some knowledge of the game but they tend to be ex players who have either failed at management or never had the guts to become a manager. But they from the comfort of the armchair know exactly what the manager should be doing to win the game. They even suggest that maybe its time for the manager to be moved on. Why is it that so many Christian's who do very little in church life seem to think they know how things should be done.

3. There is lots of ways to swing a cat. Or should I say build a church. Its so easy to get pulled around by all the different ways that leaders are building church. Its easy to follow the latest "new" thing. The Internet is such a blessing but is also a distraction. This works here, something else works there. It is so important to keep focused.

I keep reminding myself of these things: Its all about Jesus. Communicate grace, authenticity and humility. Church is for those who don't know Jesus yet. Oh and did I say its all about Jesus.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Back to school

The kids went back to school today after their long summer break. Its good to get back to a bit of normality and into a routeen again although that means some homework. Can't believe I am doing algebra again. (well I mean the kids are doing it with my help) Does anyone actually use algebra after school?

Liam went up into year 9 and Abbie is now in her last year of school. Scary. Abbie returns with a plastered foot after breaking it during the summer. So she returns centre of attention so she is happy.



Difficult days

I have not posted much over the last week or so. There seems to be so much going on. Some great things and some not so great. The variety of stuff that you seem to have to get your mind around as a local church pastor is literally mind blowing. It seems to go from the sublime to the ridiculous and all the time your actions are on view to be scrutinised by so many people.

High on the agenda is preparing for our planning application for our new building which has slipped a week as we try to finalise our traffic policy and liaise with the council transport department to ensure they are comfortable with what we are doing.

One of our major difficulties is that we do not have ample parking on site for our church members. We have however secured the use of a college car park which is about a 5 minute walk away. It continually amazes me that some (only a few) people will not walk 5 minutes. They insist on parking their car on residential streets restricting traffic flow. Even if we had the room it would not be good use of finance to develop a huge car park that only really gets used to its capacity on one day a week when there is ample spaces a few minutes walk away.

My frustration is that these few people jeopardise relations with our near neighbours and make our planning application more difficult.

We are in the business of building Jesus kingdom. He was prepared to walk to a cross for us surely we are prepared once a week to walk 5 minutes for His cause. A little inconvenience for us once a week surely is no price to pay.

If you are reading this from MKCC please just park across the road.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Consumers or Contributers

There at least 2 type of people who attend church. They are either consumers or contributors.

Consumers attend and receive and take. They judge the worth of attending on factors like were they welcomed. Were they blessed during the worship. Were they Fed during the preaching. Were there kids looked after.

Contributors attend and serve and give. They judge their worth of attending on assisting on bringing people closer to God. They did this by driving a bus to bring people from the car park, setting up the auditorium, welcoming people to church, serving tea and coffee, playing a music instrument, singing in a choir, cleaning a toilet, working a computer, stacking chairs, teaching kids.... the list goes on.

Read this article from lifechurch.tv. Craig compared how a visit to our churches should be like to a hotel he visited that showed him the most incredible customer service he has experienced.

After a few days at this luxurious resort, Amy and I agreed that we’ve never had a better experience. How did they do it?

Here’s what I learned from interviewing some staff members:

Their goal in everything was to exceed our expectations. In every way, they did. Whether it was putting down a towel for us on our chairs by the pool, remembering our names, folding down our comforter at night, leaving a handwritten note, or neatly arranging our shoes by the foot of the bed, details obviously mattered.

How did they do it?

* They were intentional. Each new staff member attends a three-day event to learn to culture of the resort. Then everyone attends a two-week customer service course.They had a large staff. This resort had 250 rooms.

* They had over 1000 staff members. If each room averaged two guests, the resort had a better than 2:1 staff-to-guest ratio. In our churches, if we have 100 members and have 5 guests on a weekend, we have a 20:1 ratio. Think about how we could better serve our guests!

Businesses should never exceed the hospitality of ministries. We must be intentional. And we must train our members to see themselves as “unpaid staff” or ministers to welcome those who don’t know Christ and invite them into our family.

Non-believers should feel more loved by the church than by any institution in the world.


If you are not already in the game its time join in and make your church the most incredible place on earth to visit.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

What its all about .. continued

Just read this story from Steven Furtick. All I can say is amazing. Its half way around the world, in a place I have never been, with people I do not know but I can not help be moved when I here 1 persons story of connecting with Jesus. Way to go Elevation.

I will try to make this short and sweet, but I’ll probably only be able to follow through with latter the of the two. I am Teri Miller. I am 33 years old and I have never gone to church. Never known Jesus. Never known God.
Definitely don’t know the Bible.

I have a friend, Kirsten Bynum. Kirsten and I have been friends for almost 20 years. Kirsten has always gone to church. Known Jesus. Known God.
Kirsten has always, always asked me to come to church with her. I’ve always put her off, coming up with different excuses each time. Who needs church?
It messes up my Sundays.

Several months ago, I noticed a wedge developing between me and my friend of 20 years. Concerned about this, I asked her if she noticed what I was noticing. Not only did she notice it, she said it was intentional. Scared to death of what was going to come out of her mouth, I asked her why. Her response? “Teri, I have been waiting for the right time and the right way to approach you with this. I love you and that’s why I need you to know Jesus. I need to know that you are saved and I need to know that I don’t have to worry about your salvation. I am not doing my job if I don’t help you.”
There was a different tone to her voice than in the past, so I knew she meant business. This was more than just “come to church with me.” I thought to myself “wow, she really cares about me - that’s pretty cool”. Let me just tell her I’m going to church with her to appease her. That will get her off my back about going. Because who needs church? I’ve been just fine without God.

Then, I realize that we have to haul ourselves all the way to Porter Ridge High School in Union County. At a high school? Really? You want me to come all the way over there for church? I’m in the University area in Charlotte and you want me to come all the way over there? To watch a preacher on a screen? Really? I definitely don’t need this church.

I used to laugh at Kirsten because she would say that she didn’t want her son to be born on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday morning because she didn’t want to miss church. Miss church? What’s the big deal? Church is boring. If you need some churching - turn on the tv and find a preacher - open your bible and read a couple of pages - but who cares if you miss church one Sunday morning? Who needs church?

So…..on Sunday, June 10th me, my husband and our two children packed up for our long haul to Union County for church. A parking crew? Smiling people at church? “Hi! Welcome to Elevation” screamed at us from every direction.
What? People want to be
here? They’ve got to be drinking the kool-aid.

Sunday, June 10th changed my life forever.

The sermon we heard was week 4 of Deep. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed the worship and sermon, I was still skeptical. I’ve never needed church, why do I need it now? So I came back the next week to see last week was a fluke. I felt the same way this week. So I came back the next week. And the next. And I haven’t missed one since.

This Sunday morning, August 19, 2007 I accepted Jesus Christ into my life as my personal Lord and Savior. There was no pomp and circumstance - so I hope it’s official! I was alone in my car on the way for my first day of volunteering for the first time guests. I was playing “The Sound” cd and a song began.
It was a song that I’ve heard over and over again, “Restored” - but just like page 23 for you - this song touched me in a way that I did not expect.
Tears were streaming down my face before I knew what was happening.
“Healer, come and make me whole. Make me over. Here in this moment.
Abandon my will. I am broken and poor…ready to be restored” It was at that moment, sobbing, that I said a prayer out loud in my car asking Jesus to enter my life and my heart and help me to be more like Him. At our small group tonight, I asked Kirsten to pray out loud with me about my decision - so as to make it a little more “official”! I also wanted her to know that she didn’t need to worry about my salvation any more.

Well, as it turns out, Kirsten’s son was born on a Tuesday, so she didn’t miss church! And you know what - now I know why she didn’t want to miss it!
Not only do I not want to miss it, but I crave it. My husband craves it.
My children love it. My two year old, Sophie, doesn’t even whimper when we take her to her class now!
My four year old, Whit, is constantly singing “Oh no, you never let go, through the calm and through the store” - we’ve tried to tell him it’s “storm” but he insists it’s “store” - fine with me, you keep singing it baby!

I am so excited about what is happening in my life, I want to shout it out loud to everyone. That is why I shared my story with you. Pastor Steven, you may not like to take credit for saving people’s lives - but I have to give credit where credit is due. Did you catch me from falling off a building? Technically, no. But your preaching saved me from falling into a fiery pit. So at least take a little credit. You can preach. Boy, can you preach. You preach it like I’ve never heard and you preach it in a way that teaches people and the way you teach it reaches out to people. (There’s something there - a new slogan or something - Preacher, Teacher,
Reacher!?!) Anyway, thank you. Thank you for delivering a message every Sunday morning that gets me through the week. You have a true gift that touches thousands. Thank you. Chris, because I attend Union campus, I wanted to share my story with you. Everything you’re doing there - keep it
up - it’s working! Kirsten, you deserve to know that you are a huge
“turning point” throughout my entire life which is why I shared this e-mail with you.

I’ve cried to Kirsten about finding Jesus so late in life - because I’ve missed out on something so big for so long. She has taken some of the blame for that, thinking that she should have done more earlier in our friendship to get me to church. I disagree. Elevation is what I needed. I think her timing was perfect.

After 33 years of life on this earth, I’ve finally realized that I DO need God in my life. Not only that, but I WANT God in my life.
I bought a Bible and I study it every day. My husband and I both are volunteering. We’re tithing. We’ve joined a small group. I’m watching old
sermons online almost daily. I’m a faithful blog reader. I think I’m
obsessed.

I’ve still got question upon question and sometimes I’m still a little scared, because this is a new way of thinking for me. But with my husband, Kirsten and her family and the rest of my new family at Elevation, I’m going to make it! Elevation’s got something good going on and I’m so proud to be a part of it.

So - who needs church? Me. That’s who.

What its all about

Had a great time on Sunday. Carrying on our series Indescribable. Our subject The God Who Leaves you Speechless. It was on my favourite subject - Grace. I had a ball. Even though I had been a Christian for years I feel like I only came alive to God's amazing grace a few years ago. There is now nothing I enjoy more than introducing people to God's grace our helping Christians discover a God that they never knew existed.

To see people emerge from a life of condemnation and guilt into a new relationship where they have discovered the true character of God is just the best feeling ever. As I said on Sunday there are two reactions to God's incredible grace.

1. People just get offended by it. It's not fair. Why should someone who has worked 1 hour get the same as someone who has grafted for 12. (Matthew 20) Its not fair.

2. You can be absolutely captured by the heart of a gracious God. Realising that there is nothing God loves more than showing mercy and that God dispenses gifts not wages.

The high was that 5 people started a journey with God for the first time and were captured by His grace. Many more people who already knew Jesus started to see a side to His character that somehow they had forgotten or never really discovered.

That's what its all about.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Soil Investigation

Today saw us progress a little more with our building project.

Our contractors URS came on site to make some soil investigation on the adjacent piece of land. This consisted of digging 5 large holes in the ground to a depth of 3 meters. Take a look at some of our photographs.





We also have hosted 2 Public Consultation meetings for our neighbours in Oldbrook. It was great to hear their feedback. They have highlighted some things that we need to look at but they were all very much pleased with our proposals.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Thoughts on Sunday

  • Preaching at 3 services is hard.
  • I love doing what I do.
  • Chris Tomlin writes stonkin songs - check out indescribable.
  • These lyrics rocked my world: " You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same
    You are amazing God" I know whats in my heart sometimes and you wouldn't want to know me let alone love me. Thank you Jesus.
  • It's an adrenaline rush when people start following Jesus.
  • For 5 people this Sunday was the start of that journey.
  • Considering its a holiday weekend we had a good crowd in.
  • It was great to see the young people back stoked from Soul Survivor - they didn't seem to want to leave.
  • Had some good news on developments in Ultimate Events which will mean a more balanced life for me and more focus on Ultimate. More of that in the next couple of weeks.

Friday, August 24, 2007

30 Days to live

Lifechurch.tv are currently in the middle of a series called 30 Days to live. It is a very powerful message.

This last week they showed a video of Larry Damerval. Here is what Bobby says about it on his blog.

"Larry was diagnosed with ALS in 2005. He went from a very normal and healthy life, to being essentially a quadriplegic today without the ability to take care of himself. He is not currently expected to have much more time here on Earth.

I just had the team put this video segment on YouTube. I wanted you and others to have an opportunity to watch this brief, but powerful message about what he values at this point in his life."


Please watch the video below. It truly rocked my world and share it with your friends.


Sunday, August 19, 2007

America's Most Inovative Church

Outreach magazine is developing the second annual America's Most Innovative Churches list, coming in the January/February 2008 issue in conjunction with Tony Morgan. Click on the link below to review the churches nominated so far. Being from the UK I have only visited a handful of the churches listed and only experienced others though the wonders of the Internet.

The ones I would have listed are actually already nominated.

Lifechurch.tv
Granger Community Church.
Willow Creek Community Church
New Spring Church.


Describing God using Dog Food


I am sure this has been done many times before but Steve one of our teaching pastors at MKCC used a very gross illustrating to introduce us to our brand new series - indescribable.

He started by opening a can of dog food and proceeded to eat it. It had most of the audience screaming and feeling quite sick. He then got someone out of the congregation to join him in eating from the tin. Unbeknown to the congregation inside the can was actually chopped up mars bar - chocolate.

Somehow he tied it into "taste and see that the Lord is good." Certainly a different way to introduce a teaching series which is looking at the doctrine of God.

The main points were.

1. God knows all about your situation - God is omniscient.
2. God is with you in every situation - God is omnipresent.
3. God has the answer to your situation.- God is omnipotent.

Apart from Steve's teaching the highlight for me was the song - Indescribable - by Chris Tomlin.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Erik Mongrain


As an introduction to one of the sessions at the Leadership Summit last Willow Creek hosted an incredible musician - Erik Mongrain. Watch him below and be prepared to be blown away.

Granger rocks


I have had limited access to the Internet over the last week or so on my visit to the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. It was truly an incredible experience. It overwhelmed, inspired and challenged me all at the same time. It also equipped me to go on a journey to become a better and more effective leader. More of that in forthcoming posts I am sure. If you are in the UK do not miss the UK version - the Global Leadership Summit taking place all over the UK in September and October. Make sure you and as many people from your church attend. The return on your investment will be huge.

Whilst in the US I decided to travel to visit Granger Community Church. I have connected to them through Tim Stevens and his blog so thought it was time to connect in person. Tim unfortunately was on vacation but he arranged for us to have a tour of their buildings and facilities. Thanks to Shelly and John for putting up with us and all our questions. It was great to see what God is doing in Granger though this church. Their Children's ministry was amazing. Don't tell our Children's Pastor (actually my wife Nicola) or our budget in that area could increase.

It was great to be part of one of their services and see so many people connecting to God. I love it when church a church realises that its mission is to reach out to people who don't know God yet instead of focusing on meeting the demands of those who already know the God of the universe already. Everything about what they did seemed to have connecting to the unchurched. After all that's what we are here for isn't it. If you want you can watch their service on line.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Marcus Buckingham



Notes from session 4 at Willow Creek Leadership Summit.

• Build on my strengths and manage around my weaknesses.
• You do not learn about good by studying bad.
• Example of a strength based school Purnell School. – affinities programme
• People are not our greatest asset, people strengths are our greatest asset.
• 3 myths:

Myth 1: As you grow your personality changes.
Truth 1: As you grow, you become more of who you already are.

Myth 2: You grow most in your areas of greatest weakness.
Truth 2: You grow the most in your areas of greatest strength.

Myth 3: A great team member puts their strengths aside and does whatever it takes to help the team.
Truth 3: A great team member volunteers his strengths to the team most of the time.

• We are living in a day where our children are being characterised as what they are not by the people who love them the most.

3 skills

1. Identify your strengths.
2. Change something – push towards your strengths.
3. Talk about your strengths without bragging and your weaknesses without whining.

4 Signs of a strength.

Success
Instincts
Growth
Needs

Carly Fiorina



Some thoughts from the Willow Creek Leadership Summit session with Carly Fiorina ex CEO of Hewlet Packard.

• Don’t blame others for you not developing as a leader.
• I was not a gifted child but my parents were a gift to me.
• What you are is gods gift to you what you make of yourself is your gift to God
• Learn about the things that interest you.
• In logic taught me the power of asking the right question.
• Asking the right question forces people to learn.
• I must do what I am passionate about.
• Nothing worthwhile happens with a person working alone.
• Celebrate victories as a team.
• Many fears are stupid but they are real. Once you overcome them you are no longer afraid of them.
• Look past the fears and prejudice and reach for common ground. The problem we are trying to solve is common ground.
• Don’t letter other people smaller ideas and prejudices of me define me.
• Give people a vision that’s more compelling than what they are afraid of.
• Couple a vision with the hard reality of what it’s going to take. You can’t fake people out.
• Leadership is about seeing and unlocking potential in others.
• Every time a person took a chance on me it motivated me.
• There is an opportunity to learn from everyone and everything.
• You don’t learn inside your comfort zone.
• Passion can blind as well as motivate.
• At its core leadership is about character.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Rain Down


Settled in at our host home for our visit to the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. It is wonderful that the willow members open their homes to vagrants like us. It really adds to our experience. Instead of living in a sterile hotel you get a chance to learn up close and personal about their actual experience at willow. How does normal every day people connect with this local church? You learn so much the good bits and the difficult bits.

We all went to downtown Chicago. It really is an incredible city with so much incredible architecture both the new and the old. It was extremely hot – 95 degrees. At one point Phil and Steve decided to join the many children enjoying splashing about in one of the fountains in Millennium Park. The highlight being when the water would fall like a waterfall from the top of a tower. The result 2 very wet people. They did however dry out after walking around in sun for a couple of hours.

Made me think of the Delirious? song rain down. “Can’t you see the earth is singing, Rain Down. God refresh my life again so I can refresh others with your “living” water. I am thirsty for your rain Lord.

Immigration

Arrived in Chicago after a long day travelling. 8 hours to Cincinnati then another shot flight into O’Hare International Airport. One of the benefits of this 2-legged journey was the quick transition through US immigration. Having travelled into Cincinnati on Delta the vast majority of the passengers were Americans so the line of visitors was really short so it only took 10 minutes or so to get through.

As usual my passport was investigated. Even I almost don’t recognise myself from my near 10 year old photo! My photo taken and my fingerprints entered into the computer system. My visa waver form inspected and I was good to go. I entered the land of the free once again. Only temporarily of course.

One day my photo, fingerprints and passport will be inspected when I want access to a greater place the real home of the free. Only to find that my way will barred because of mistakes I have made. At the last moment Jesus will show up with my ultimate visa waver ticket. Thank you Jesus.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

USA Bound



Some of the Leadership Team of MKCC are heading off to Chicago for the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. Myself, Mark, Phil and Steve fly out tomorrow in time for the conference starting on Thursday.

We have used many of Willow's resources and visited many of their UK based conferences. In fact we ate taking around 25 of our leaders to the UK version of the Leadership Summit later this year.

We are going expecting to be inspired, challenged and built up.

We are also intending visiting Granger Community Church in Indiana. Its a little bit of a drive and as Tim Stevens of Granger pointed out goes through a time zone. Useful information for us Brits who do not have to think about such things unless we leave the country. We probably would have missed the service.

We also hope to visit Community Christian Church lead by Dave Ferguson author of the great book The Big Idea.

Three very important words: learn, learn, learn.

Check out the promo video below for the Summit.

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Goodbye


Finally said goodbye to the kids this morning. They are off to camp for the next 2 weeks. Nicola finally got there this morning with the ministry team. They ended up being brought back by a low loader last night because the car broke down.

The M1 was closed which meant huge tailbacks and the car overheated and cracked the radiator. Drat.

They got there safe and sound in a borrowed car so I am sure they will have a great time.Praying that many children's lives will be changed.