SPIN LIKE THE WIND-the blog of Nigel James.

GILL IN INDIA.

Only a year after her first ever overseas mission trip-with me to open the Gateway School-Gill has been leading a team of her friends back to the Gateway School to help train the school's teachers and to give examples of good educational practice.

 

As well as working at the school, the team have visited a couple of Ignite churches, spent some time at the leprosy village, enjoyed the hospitality of Prasad and Sunee and their family, and taken part in the first anniversary celebrations of the school. Here are Gill and Prasad speaking at the anniversary.

 

HOME WIN.

Been at home for a week off from the Winterjam tour with Third Day. Had a busy time back but nevertheless a fulfilling one. A three- day conference at City Temple, Cardiff, led by Bill Johnson from Bethel Church in Redding, California was ample opportunity to re-charge my spiritual batteries and I've had some good family time. Daughter Rachel came around with grand-daughter Hannah, which is always a delightful occasion. Hannah is growing up a little bit every time I see her, and this time instead of bonding over the kiddie fun apps on my iPhone we enjoyed a few Peppa Pigs books together whilst the pregnant Rachel chilled out on the sofa. I cooked a Valentine's day meal for Gill, including a red rose, two days early as she is now in India leading a mission team of teachers to the Gateway School-;I'm really proud of her and looking forward to hearing all the exciting stories of the trip. In her team she has good friends that she works with, as well as folk from church and other personal friends. So I'm alone at home for a few days, getting a taste of my own medicine as Gill has to spend so much time here when I'm away. But perhaps the highlight of the few days at home, and the rugby highlight of many a year was when Bethan (now at Swansea University) and I got tickets for Wales v. Scotland in the 6 Nations Championship. It was one of those Max Boyce 'I was there' moments when Wales won a dramatic game 31-24 having trailed by 10 points with 3 minutes to go. Bethan and I, along with the vast majority of the 74,000 crowd, were going absolutely crazy as Wales won in the final play with the clock already way past the official 80 minute mark. 'The greatest sporting comeback ever', one Sunday paper called it today. A Wales game at a packed and singing Millennium stadium is a really incredible experience, and I love being able to spend time with Bethan there!

BUILDING A HEALTHY FUTURE.

As part of our Living Life on Purpose series at City Temple sunday night church, I recently preached on Building a Healthy Future. It focused on 4 key decisions that if you get right when you are young will help you develop a robust and healthy faith for the future. Here's part 1 on YouTube. (The sound level is a little quiet for the first 5 minutes or so.) You can find the next 3 parts by entering 'sunday night church' into the YouTube search or by simply clicking on the upward arrow sign on the side of the video clip here.

GRAMMY AWARD, SNOW, INTERVIEW.

I've been back in the USA for a few days now on my latest trip out with Third Day. I'm in guitarist Mark Lee's guest bedroom (my regular home from home) having just congratulated Mark on the Grammy award the band have won moments ago for Live Revelation as best Rock Gospel Album. We are back in Atlanta 24 hours earlier than expected because of severe snow forcing the cancellation of today's WinterJam concert-but at least bass player Tai Anderson got to the Grammy show to accept the award.

 On Wednesday evening I'll be doing a live interview about life on the road with the guys. It's being conducted by a website called Obscure Genius and the details are as follows:

LIVE ONLINE WEBINAR INTERVIEW WITH NIGEL JAMES

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD, 2010

9:30PM EASTERN

http://bit.ly/pastornigel

HOPE FOR HAITI-HOPE FOR GUERBY.

Like most people, I've been stunned by the devastation of Haiti and the tragic scenes on TV over the last few days. It's even more sad for me because I've visited the country and I have a sponsored child there through Compassion UK. His name is Guerby and as yet Compassion have been unable to contact any of their staff in Haiti to establish just how badly affected the thousands of sponsored children have been.

At a time like this it's vital to get our theology right. Did God cause this to happen to Haiti? No. But it is part of the consequence of living in a fallen world. Does he stand idly by watching devastation and suffering? No. He's present in the suffering, bringing hope, compassion and comfort to those who suffer, to those who mourn and to those who minister to the broken. It's in the darkest places that the light of Jesus can shine the brightest.I believe we will hear many miraculous stories of God at work in Haiti in the coming days.

Not really able to articulate my prayers very well I have simply prayed that in Haiti the Lord would be revealed as Paul understands him:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1.3-4.

Lord God Almighty, right now would you be present in Haiti as the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.

If you haven't given to a Haiti disaster relief fund yet you can do so through Compassion UK.

NEXT GENERATION LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES.

In response to my recent blog about Equipping the Next Generation, Keith Jennings asked me:

Nigel, what do you hear these prospective next generation leaders asking? What are they hungry to learn? What challenges do they say lie ahead for them?

So I've found some down-time on the road with Third Day, and come up with these thoughts- more about what I see and perceive rather than what young leaders have actually articulated:

1. COMMITMENT ISSUES- it seems that the current generation have a problem committing. Whether that be to a life-partner, a job, a cause, and particularly to a church. It's almost as if they are so wary of commitment, and so used to seeing older people hurt by commitment breakdown, that the next generation of leaders are afraid to jump into a relationship full-on and forever.

2. VIRTUAL INTIMACY- today's emerging leaders are used to having 'friends' by the bucket-load on facebook and a long list of email addresses and phone numbers, but can often resort to 'virtual' online connectivity rather than real in-depth friendship and relationship. Social networking isn't always as 'social' as it appears. Next generation leaders easily slip into 'the worship time' of contemporary songs, but need to avoid the mistake of believing that intimacy with the Lord can be achieved through 30 minutes of worship on a Sunday.

3. BIBLICAL ILLITERACY- I was recently at a meeting of UK Christian leaders where 2 heads of Bible Colleges admitted that the lack of Bible knowledge from their new students each year was frightening. It's never been easier to own a Bible, to find a Bible reading plan, and to have a Bible app. on your computer or phone-yet for all their passion and enthusiasm, many next generation leaders are not reading their Bible with much meaning or depth.

4. CULTURAL CONNECTIVITY- the challenge of being 'in the world but not of the world' is perhaps more difficult now than it ever has been. I marvel at the way many young people are able to engage in society, to maintain friendships with non-believers, without compromising their faith in Jesus. In a constantly changing landscape, next generation leaders must be helped to discern what is culturally acceptable and what is not-even more than that, they must be equipped and enabled to shape culture themselves.

5. LEADERSHIP TRANSITION- next generation leaders (whether they realize it or not) embrace a post-modern leadership dynamic, but are mostly operating within churches or structures that still feature more of a modern leadership style. So I'm teaching the next-generation one paradigm but they may still have to struggle on in an 'old school' situation. In case you don't know what I'm going on about, here's what I mean:

Modern Leadership Mindset	Postmodern Leadership Mindset
Presentation	Participation
Excellence	Authenticity
Performance	Realness
Does it make sense?	Was it a good experience?
Rationality	Mystery/Transcendence
Planning	Preparedness
Program	Relationship
Abstract	Concrete
Consecutive/Linear	Concurrent/Layered

  

NEW IGNITE INDIA CHURCHES.

Just got some great pictures from Pastor Prasad in Rajahmundry, India, of the two latest Ignite churches to be officially opened -these two happened during the Christmas season. Seethanagaram was funded by Third Day fans in last June's London concert, and Mondepulanka was funded by Gill and I and our friends Paul and Amy Reed. Here's a picture of Mondepulanka:

 

I've put a few more pictures of both Seethanagaram and Mondepulanaka in the Ignite India Churches album.

EQUIPPING THE NEXT GENERATION.

Being home for a couple of months has given me the opportunity to do some lecturing on the Leadership Academy here in Cardiff and on the Serious 4 Youth Ministry course at Elim's new international centre and college in Malvern, Worcestershire.

The Leadership Academy started quite a few years ago now as an initiative of Ignite, and we've relaunched it over the last year with help from our friends at Going Public. I was able to teach the first two sessions to the 13 students back in October time, and recently shared the last session with them and attended the graduation ceremony. It's aimed at 18-25 year olds, and equips them to be inspirational leaders both inside and outside of the church.

I've been lecturing a module called 'Communication in a Youth Setting' on the Serious 4 Youth MInistry course since its inception 5 years ago. The course takes students who hope to be youth pastors in the coming years and gives them an intense 1 year or 3 year training programme. I'm glad to be able to input younger leaders in this way and especially glad to contribute to developing leaders for the Elim movement.

FAMILY WEDDING.

Family highlights over the last few months have been seeing Bethan flourish as she settles into her first year at Swansea University, a lovely few days with James and his girlfriend Tiffany in Texas, but the biggest highlight by far was the wedding of Rachel to Chris. A quiet family wedding, with the ceremony in City Hall, Cardiff, a meal at the Park Plaza Hotel and then an evening gathering back at our house. Gill and I are thrilled for Rachel and Chris, and were able to experience a day that ,those who know our family well will understand, we once feared we would never see.  I've posted a few pictures in a gallery.

 

WORLD TRAVELLER.

I'm used to fairly frequent international travel but I'm a novice compared to my friend Benny Prasad Kandukuri. He's a missionary and also India's most travelled musician-as acknowledged by the India govt. Benny just send me an email summary of his recent trip to Antarctica where he was able to share his faith in Jesus through testimony and music to the scientists based there.

This year Benny has been on the road for 244 days, in 51 countries and on 7 different continents. He signed his email off by saying 'All glory to Jesus' -Amen to that. I'm hoping to arrange some concerts for Benny in Wales in the summer of 2010.