SPIN LIKE THE WIND-the blog of Nigel James.

CHURCH GROWTH.

Yesterday was strange- home in Cardiff but didn't go to church. Was still coughing and choking too much!
Prasad and his family went morning and evening and enjoyed their time at City Temple immensely. City Temple announced that because our numbers are increasing and we are almost at capacity in the mornings, from October we'll be running two morning services- at 9am and 11am. Should be exciting.
Prasad has been keeping me up to date on the Ignite India church situation. The first two churches in Bhopalapatnam and Gummuluru are growing strong, and the third church in a village called Nidigatla is ready to begin worship services.
Then we have had a big rush of activity thanks to the fundraising efforts on the Third Day UK tour. Tapeswaram church is more than half constructed, and the foundations have gone in on the Ambajipeta church. Money has already gone over to start the construction of a church at Tatapudi. We still have some money put aside for another church, and Third Day's UK fans are funding a church also, so by the end of this year we will have exceeded our target of six churches. Praise God!

BREATH OF LIFE.

I can safely say that over the last few days I have been in as much physical discomfort as I have ever been.
I can remember having a stomach bug on one or two mission trips and feeling pretty sorry for myself, but these coughing attacks have been very scary. I'll wake up in the early hours of the morning and succumb to a severe bout of coughing which ends up with me being unable to breath and gasping for breath. The frequency of these attacks is increasing but the severity is actually letting up a bit. It seems that after every period of sleep I end up struggling, and after an attack I feel drained but eventually peaceful. Drifting off to sleep I know that some time in the next few hours I'm going to go through the whole thing again.
I'm ashamed to say that for the last four days all I have done is cough, sleep, watch TV, eat, and have an occasional shower. I haven't even had the energy to pick up a Bible, but I have been overwhelmed by the prayer support from 3 different continents. Prasad is staying with us at the moment, and he's not only been praying here but mobilising prayer back in India. I've had emails from friends around Wales and the UK saying they have been praying, and also from various places in the USA. Here's a prayer that my friend Lois sent me in an email. If you are able to agree with it then please do:
So Holy Spirit, come right now and fill Nigel up. give him energy and strength and peace and rest. I take authority over the sickness in his body and command it to leave right now in the name of Jesus. Your Kingdom come, your will be done: on earth, right now as it is in heaven right now. this is your good and perfect will God for your son to be well, for him to have the riches of your kingdom in his life right now, so I agree with you God and with my brothers and sisters who are praying for Nigel too. I agree for his healing and for your blessings in his life! IN THE NAME OF JESUS!!!!! Amen

COUGH UP!

After an irritating cough that's been hanging around for 10 days or so now, I eventually ended up in the hospital early this morning after a particularly bad coughing fit. The hospital sent me on to my local GP who diagnosed me with 'whooping cough'. Despite most people being vaccinated against this when infants, it's apparently quite common but often undiagnosed in adults. I've been given antibiotics, an inhaler, told to rest for at least a week, and not to talk too much!
I feel pretty rough, and this has come at a busy time- Prasad and his family over from India, the Ignite golf day tomorrow, meetings next week, and New Wine Cymru's Flames of Fire conference only ten days away.

PRASAD.

At the moment my wife and I have our friend Pastor Prasad from Rajahmundry in India staying with us. He's been over a couple of times before but this is the first time he has been accompanied by his wife Sunni and his daughter Evangeline. The weather couldn't be more of a challenge for them-unseasonably wet and windy, and Sunni and Evangeline are experiencing culture shock. Eating a meal with the men and the women at the table at the same time is very unusual for them, and they have been learning to use cutlery!
Prasad is the head of Gateway Ministries, and our local contact for the school project Gill and I are raising money for as well as for the churches that Ignite are funding in and around Rajahmundry. You can see some pictures of our India projects in the gallery or click on the India flag on the Ignite web site.
Tomorrow Prasad comes with me to Belfast where I am speaking at the New Horizon conference.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

It's always a challenge to describe yourself without sounding pompous, arrogant, falsely humble, or self-obsessed. Here's Bono's description of himself:
I'm a scribbling, cigar-smoking, wine-drinking, bible-reading band man. An activist travelling salesman of ideas. Chess player, part-time rock star, opera singer, in the loudest folk group in the world.
Suffice to say, I'm enjoying reading a book about Bono on Bono.

THE SECRET MESSAGE OF JESUS.

Brian McLaren is rapidly becoming one of my favourite and most readable authors. Here's an extract from The Secret Message of Jesus:
What if too many of today's religious leaders-among whom I must be counted- are among the last to get the message of Jesus and the first to reduce, oppose, distort, or suppress it, just as they did in Jesus day?
What if Jesus had actually concealed his deepest message, not trying to make it overt and obvious but intentionally hiding it as a treasure one must seek in order to find? If that's the case, why would Jesus ever do such a thing? How would we find his message if he had indeed hidden it?
I won't delve any deeper- you'll have to read the book for yourself.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

In the USA on July 4th, with all the celebrations going on I thought it would be good to remind myself of the 10 American institutions that I love:

The mighty men that are..... Third Day
The community of believers in Fort Wayne..... Heartland Church
The planes I almost always fly on..... United Airlines
The best mints in the world...... Cinnamon Altoids (UK company-Cinnamon flavour not in UK!)
The cheapest clearance sales...... Old Navy
The most affordable underwear...... Walmart or Target
The bigggest bookshops....... Borders and Barnes&Noble ( now in the UK too)
The tastiest Chinese dish.... Lettuce Wraps at PF Changs
The Word-based and Spirit-filled teaching...... Loads of top quality Christian writers and speakers
The luxury tour bus........ life on the road with Third Day

.....and 4 things beginning with 'c' that I miss from the UK- Cadbury's chocolate, Cricket, City Temple Church, the city of Cardiff.

BOB LOBLAW'S LAW BLOG.

My daughter Bethan and I are both in the USA at the moment. We flew over together to Cincinnati and then went our separate ways-she to Fort Wayne to stay with our friends Andy and Trish, and me for a few days on the road with Third Day. The highlight of Creation Fest must have been the late night communion for over 35,000 people, topped and tailed by Third Day singing 'Communion' and 'Creed'. A highlight of a different kind was a laugh out loud moment in 'Arrested Development' ( comedy series loved by Tai Anderson of Third Day).
I've watched the first 2 seasons with him on the bus before, and in season 3 a lawyer called Bob Loblaw is introduced. Say the name quickly and it of course sounds like BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Many great lines ensued as a result of his name- 'We can't speak nonsense to Bob Loblaw' was one of them, and title of this post was another one.
The concert in Roach. Missouri, for a native American reservation was special in that only the band members themselves got there!. We missed our flights in Cincinnati, so the guys had to hire a private jet and the only one available had 6 seats. The crew drove back to Nashville and I flew back to Atlanta with 7 suitcases!
At the moment I'm in Tai's basement, about to head off to church, and tomorrow morning we have a meeting with a publisher about the Third Day book project I've been working on.