SPIN LIKE THE WIND-the blog of Nigel James.

NEIL BOND -LICENSED TO SELL

I went to another funeral today. Neil Bond was four years younger than me and had been suffering from cancer for the last couple of years. Sadly, I didn't even know this and so the news of his death a week or so ago shocked me deeply. Neil was an officer in The Boys' Brigade and served faithfully for many years in a church in Riverside, Cardiff and then in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. I first met him when I moved to Cardiff in 1987, and he had already gained a reputation of making a profit on the 'tuck shop' at summer camps. He seemed to give most of the sweets and crisps away but still made a huge profit- we later discovered he was paying for most of the kids himself. It was that, alongside a surname he shared with James Bond, that generated his various nicknames.
A story was told in the funeral service about how Neil gave his life to Christ in a church service as a young boy- the preacher had appealed to the gathered boys to put their faith in Jesus NOW- to use the words and the emphasis Neil himself had used to the storyteller. Thirty years later, Neil was still advancing Christ's Kingdom. Apparently, he often said that his mission in life was to make people laugh; in his own unassuming way he certainly achieved that. One of the nicknames we gave him was 'Basildon Bond' - from Russ Abott's TV spoof secret agent character. Neil and I were driving through Essex one day on the way to a BB council meeting and he spotted a sign for 'Basildon' - it reduced him to tears of laughter for the next hour because he hadn't actually realised Basildon actually existed!
Throughout the 10 years of Big Ideas/Ignite Neil would regularly and faithfully send us financial donations to go towards our work with young people. He came to our 10th anniversary service last year, and my wife and I would occasionally see him walking his dog in the streets around our church City Temple in Cardiff.
Neil was not a famous celebrity or a high-flier but he was faithful, servant-hearted, dedicated to Jesus and to serving him through The Boy's Brigade. There will be many young men in South Wales who were introduced to Jesus through the love and enthusiasm, through the dedication and humour, through the compassion and strength of Neil Bond.
I shall regret not getting the chance to meet him for a final goodbye, but I'll look forward to visiting his heavenly tuck shop. I'll remember too the vital importance of encouraging young people to make a specific response to the good news of Jesus- this world needs more Neil Bonds.

BLACK BEAN CHICKEN AND HOISIN PLUM PORK

Over the weekend my wife Gill and I cooked a Chinese meal for Lois Richards and Paul and Amy Read.Paul spent 18 months working as an intern for Ignite about 4 years ago, and Lois spent a year with us about 3 years ago. Both of their stories are featured in 'Ignite- God's Purpose for this Generation' and the meal was the first time for ages that we had been able to catch up.
Paul is now happily married to Amy, he works in a managerial position in a local finance company, and along with Amy he runs a Sunday night youth group at his church. He's also the lead vocalist in our Ignite worship band and leads worship at our "Igniting a Passion" events.
Lois has recently returned from the Toronto Airport Church in Canada, where she was firstly a student on their school of ministry, and then later a small group leader. Whilst out there, Lois met a Brazilian called Junior and love is in the air! She's got plenty of God-given dreams for the future.
I get a real buzz out working with young adults and seeing them grow and develop, but often it's very hard to release them onto other things. Usually, they are so gifted and have so much potential that we'd like to keep them all for Ignite, but that's not always possible. Our interns in Ignite stay the same age each year, but I'm getting older so that doesn't help either.
Two other people featured in the first Ignite book are also really flourishing: Matt Gregor is the youth pastor at City Temple in Cardiff, and Pete Joyce is a teaching assistant and one-to-one mentor at the Bishop of Llandaff High School in Cardiff.
Over a delightful meal of blackbean chicken and hoisin plum pork, it was great to listen to Lois, Paul and Amy, and to see their passion for serving God burning strong. I felt privileged to have played a small part in 'fanning into flame the gift of God' that is in them.

GOLD...PURE GOLD.

Opened the door in my dressing gown this morning (funny place to have a door!) and had a pleasant surprise when the delivery man handed me a parcel from the USA. Inside was a gold disc from Third Day to commemorate 500,000 sales of the 'Wherever You Are' album. It's now hanging on the wall of my study at home.
There's something special about giving and receiving gifts- I'm big into buying people presents and love it when I get one. I know that the Bible tells us to value a reward in heaven most if all, but isn't it great to receive a nice gesture of thanks on earth now and again? I can look at the Gold disc on my wall (and the one for 'Wire' on my Ignite office wall as well) and be reminded of all the shared ministry times with Third Day and the hundreds of concerts where I've seen them lead thousands of people into an intense worship time and a deeper relationship with Jesus. Thanks guys!

BONO EDITS THE INDEPENDENT... AND I TRAVEL TO NANTWICH.

I've just come back from Regent's Theological College, which is the Elim church's National Training Centre. I was visiting to take part in a debrief for the Serious4Youth Ministry Course which the college runs. It's a one-year course for people who want to be youth ministry specialists and I teach a module on the course called "Communication in a Youth Setting". I've really enjoyed lecturing, but was a little bit wary at first: teaching on 'communication' meant I was setting myself up as an expert and had to practice what I was preaching! Happily, the feedback from students was positive, and even more importantly almost all of the 23 on the course are either moving onto further study or appointments in local churches around the UK.
On the way up to the college I bought the Independent newspaper which had Bono as guest editor for the day. Half of all the revenues from the edition go to fight AIDS in Africa. Bono made a great job of editing the paper, which included a startling front cover design by Damien Hirst featuring amongst other things a verse from Genesis. As well as six pages dedicated to what the paper called 'The Africa Issue', Bono interviewed Eddie Izzard in the arts section on the psychology of performing, and Bono's bandmate The Edge was interviewed about how culture in New Orleans is being rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. Tucked away in the middle of the paper, part of the editorial section alongside a piece by Bob Geldof, was this thought for the day written in 1669 by William Penn, a British Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania:

'No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.'

BRIAN MCLAREN-THE REAL DEAL.

Sitting in front of the TV channel hopping between the cricket Test match and the football FA cup final, I'm reflecting about last night when I went back to Glenwood church, on the other side of Cardiff, only a day after Rob Lacey's funeral. This time it was to enjoy a meal with other leaders from around the city and to listen to Brian McLaren- pastor, author, academic, and emerging church practitioner from the USA. I'd recently read one of his books and in the flesh he more than matched up to the printed word. He's a genuine, humble, intelligent and humorous guy who has so much of importance to share with Christian leaders all over the world. If you've never read any of his books then you've missed out on some crucial wisdom and insight on the challenges that face our faith in the 21st century.

ROB LACEY, WE'LL MISS YOU.

Rob Lacey's new book `The Liberator' arrived in the post for me today, on the very day that Gary and I attended Rob's funeral. The service looked like a who's who of the Christian performing arts scene in the UK, as Glenwood church in Cardiff was packed out with people who had come to pay their respects to a man who had finally lost his gallant battle with cancer.
In a world where pale imitations rule, and amongst the British church who tend to play very safe, Rob stood out as overflowingly creative and wonderfully risky. He was younger than me, and throughout a service that lived up to his creativity and risky faith I couldn't help noticing the parallels with another funeral Gary and I had attended on Christmas Eve 2004: Pete McCahon, also younger than me, was another gifted and creative Christian entertainer and communicator who died sooner than he deserved.
I have never met 2 men more able to make laughter rise up from my belly than Rob and Pete. Whenever we needed someone to add a buzz to an event, make a room full of people laugh, and help us communicate the message of Jesus, then Pete and Rob were top of the list.
Seeing his two young children (one daughter only weeks old) and his wife Sandra today surrounded by hundreds of mourners confirmed to me that Rob was a family man, a friend to many, a committed member of a local church, a passionate follower of Jesus, and widely loved and respected.
The arrival of 'The Liberator' and the success of its predeccessor, The Word on the Street, reminded me that Rob Lacey has succeeded in the way that truly matters- he's born fruit and fruit that will last. The legacy he leaves us is a rich one.
This poem by Rob Lacey was read at his funeral:

WHO AM I?

I'm normal Joe unique.
I'm a crucial nobody.
A vital nothing
Bog standard precious.
A backwater special task force.

I'm a run-of-the-mill winner
A finish the course loser
I'm significantly minute
I'm an everyday miracle
I'm typically original

I'm limited eternal
I'm an off-the-peg one-off
Standard fare gourmet
A naturally supernatural
Fully grown halfling.
I'm an unknown celebrity
A hero in my own story
A line in His-story
I'm one of, and one-in six billion me
A nonenity V.I.P.

That's all and everything I am.

SABBATICAL-OH YES!

Right now I'm at the start of the second week of a month long sabbatical. Reading, writing, studying, learning a bit of Welsh, time with God, time at home, time on the golf course, will no doubt make the month go by very quickly. I'm hoping to restore my energy, enthusiasm and re-equip myself for the task I know God has given me.
I've been at a crossroads for a while, not knowing exactly what the future holds and realising that I need to more carefully focus on what I do. I'm reminded of an identity crisis I had a few years ago, not being able to easily summarise what I did and why I did it. Paul Colman, an Aussie singer based in the States, solved that crisis for me as clearly as if the Lord himself was speaking. "I know what you do" he said, "You encourage people to follow Jesus." That's me- what a great life!