SPIN LIKE THE WIND-the blog of Nigel James.

CHANGE OF PLANS.

At this present moment I should have been sitting on an United Airlines planes to Chicago, ready to meet up with Third Day tomorrow. But at the last minute,plans changed and I'm actually in my study at home. Sadly, David Carr-who is the drummer with Third Day-lost his father a few days ago after a long illness. So this weekend's concerts have been cancelled and I'll fly over next week when the tour starts. Whilst I'll value the extra time at home with Gill, and will no doubt fill the time constructively (I'm already going to speak in the Presence youth service in church on Sunday night),  I do find that being back in the UK when the guys in Third Day are going through hard times is frustrating. 

Yesterday was strange-the day before I fly is always hectic, and yesterday-what with changing flights and travel plans- the day before I didn't fly was equally hectic! I did manage to confirm flights for Gill and I to go to India in February, with Paul and Amy Read, to visit Pastor Prasad and his family and hopefully to attend the official opening of Gateway School. Bryon Castle will almost certainly lead a team from City Temple out a few days after us to join in the opening ceremony as well.

WALKING THE WALK.

           The theory behind my days at home between touring with Third Day is that they are for recovery from traveling and preparation for the next trip. In practice, they become filled with lots of catching up- on sleep and with people, and end up pretty busy. In this particular 17 day break I have preached at City Temple, will have spoken on two Offensive evangelism roadshows, spoken at City Temple's Kingdom Academy and Alpha Course, and attended a handful of meetings. I'll also managed to have seen Cardiff Blues play a couple of big games against English opposition, namely Gloucester and Leicester.

         With my eccentric blood count levels falling back to normal I'm trying to exercise more, and today I got out to Cosmeston lakes and enjoyed a spot of Nordic Walking. A few months ago my wife bought me a set of 3 personal fitness sessions with Sarah Parkhouse, a friend of ours, in a fundraising auction for the Gateway School in India. In one of the sessions, Sarah introduced me to Nordic Walking-which is basically like walking in a skiing motion with poles but without the skis. I love it- mostly because it's not as demanding as jogging, is more demanding than a simple walk, and is good all round exercise. I get some funny looks, and some shouts of 'Oi mate, you've lost your skis' or 'There's plenty of snow in that direction'. 

      One of my big challenges is to use these times at home wisely, and find a balance between rest, quality family time, preparation and study, socializing, and office paperwork. Over the next few days I'll be turning my thoughts to devotions for the Third Day Live tour-  I'll be challenging the audience each night to sponsor children in India and by doing so to support the final building work for the school, salaries for the staff, and the beginnings of construction for a children's home.

BAHAMAFEST!

So the Cruise with a Cause was fantastic- a time to chill out, eat a lot, use the gym, hang out with the guys in DecembeRadio, catch up on some study and some reading, listen to some good concerts, but most of all to experience an incredible day of mission in Nassau, Bahamas. Most of the 1,500 cruise participants split in small groups and headed off to over 40 schools, the hospital, and the prison, as well as the streets, in an evangelistic campaign that ended with over 20,000 people attending the free BahamaFest in the evening. The night featured the actor Danny Glover ( of Lethal Weapon fame) amongst others. My personal contribution was to be the Gospel speaker at Gambier Primary School in the oldest community on Grand Bahama. The school only had 104 pupils, but 79 on them came forward for prayer to invite Jesus into their lives as Saviour, Lord and Friend! It was such a thrill to see the volunteer counsellors with me praying for the children- for many of the Americans present it was their first taste of overseas missions. What I learnt from Cruise with a Cause: *Matthew Dunaway and his team from PraiseFest ministries are a faithful, visionary and dedicated bunch of people who love Jesus and love to share Him with the lost. *Scotty Wilbanks is a genuine 'diamond geezer' for getting me on the cruise. *Decemberadio know how to ROCK! *If I was on a cruise for a month I'd be so fat they'd have to roll me off the boat. *Thank the Lord for onboard gyms! *Black gospel fans know how to dress up smart for a concert-and how to participate! *God is more attuned to verbs than nouns (you'll have to read The Shack to understand this.) *Sharing the love of Jesus with young children is such a fulfilling opportunity. *Michael English is still a powerful singer, and now has an even more powerful testimony of God's grace, forgiveness, and redemption. *Cruise with a Cause brought together people from all 50 American states, from 25 different denominations and about 12 different ministries. *Cruise with a Cause is such a good way to introduce Christians to overseas mission in the middle of their vacation. *10,250 people made decisions for Christ in the one day-that's recorded first time commitments and re-dedications. *By the time we left Nassau on the morning after BahamaFest, local churches were already beginning the follow-up process, and over 60% of last year's converts were still going strong in the church 12 months later. * If you haven't realised by now- I'm hooked on the Mission/Cruise concept!

CRUISE WITH A CAUSE.

At very short notice I was invited to take up a VIP place on 'Cruise with a Cause' which combines a vacation cruise with a mission trip. It's fitted in perfectly to a 4 day window of time off between Third Day concerts so I flew to Miami yesterday to join the ship Carnival Imagination, I'm writing this in Freeport and tomorrow will be taking part in a mission in Nassau. I'll be speaking in a school and being a lead counsellor in the 20,000 people crusade in the evening. There are loads of Christian bands and speakers taking part in the cruise- including DecembeRadio, Andrae Crouch, Donnie McClurkin, Tony Evans, Josh McDowell, Sonicflood, Michael English, Mary Mary, The Crabb Family, Building 429, and Ted DiBiaze- the Million Dollar Man back in the heyday of WWF wrestling!

I'll post a fuller review of the cruise in a few days time.

JAMES AND TIFFANY.

Back on the road with Third Day- and last night we were in Dallas, where my son James lives. He bought his girlfriend Tiffany to the concert, and so I became the first member of the family to meet her in person. It was great to catch up with them, and I watched the Third Day set with them and then took both of them, along with a bunch of Tiffany's friends, into the band meet n'greet. James loves living in the USA, and Dallas especially, and he's very proud of Tiffany. Love is in the air!