SPIN LIKE THE WIND-the blog of Nigel James.

SANCTIFIED RANT.

Dai Hankey is an evangelist, youth communicator, church planter, passionate Welshman and an integral part of the Ignite team. He's just launched a blog called Sanctified Rant which is well worth a read.

CHOICE No. 4- Pursuing the presence of the Holy Spirit.

 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.  John 14.7

Having grown up in a distinctly non-charismatic, even non-evangelical church, I was amazed and attracted by the Christians I met at university who seemed to be living life much more faithfully and powerfully than I. That set me on a course of discovery- into books, churches, events, people-about the Holy Spirit. Suffice to say that 30 year journey has now seen me become a pastor in a pentecostal denomination.

Early experiences of the Holy Spirit saw me desperate to speak in tongues, and applying some crazy strategies to do so, seeing people 'filled' in charismatic meetings, and occasionally having some 'carpet-time' myself- slain in the Spirit flat out on the floor. Most memorably was the first time I was prayed for to that end, on a Christians in Sport cricket tour to Zimbabwe believe it or not!

Nowadays I'm still pursuing the Spirit-specifically a greater biblical understanding of Him through a Master's degree in Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology, and also daily and experientially as I learn to trust Him more as counsellor, comforter and guide. It's worrying how many Christians have a 'binitarian' faith- aware of God the Father and Jesus the Son, but unaware of the presence and power of the Spirit in their lives.

NEW AUDIO SERMONS UPLOADED.

At last I've uploaded three new audio sermons preached at City Temple, Cardiff over the last few months.

You can find them in the 'Some of my Sermons' list, and the new ones are:

The Holy Spirit-Our director of missions: examining how the church in Acts responded to the prompting of the Spirit, and how we should be doing the same today.

Burden bearers or burden makers?: from a series on 'Doing the things Jesus did' this sermon examines how Jesus lifts our burdens and shows that we have a choice in the way we treat others-making life lighter or heavier for them.

Why should I be baptized?: delivered at a baptismal service this is a message about Philip and the Ethiopian and was intended to challenge the people being baptized, Christians who hadn't yet been baptized, and those present who hadn't yet put their faith in Christ.

CHOICE No.3 - Being faithful in the small things.

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin...   Zechariah 4.10

From my earliest days as a Christian I've loved the opportunity to preach to whoever, whenever, wherever. Oftentimes as a young preacher I would load my car with friends from youth group and we'd double the size of the congregation at the church I was preaching in. I never minded how small or seemingly insignificant the opportunity was to talk about Jesus- I just did it and enjoyed it. When I commenced work for The Boys' Brigade much of my time was spent talking to small groups of young people or small groups of adult leaders. A lot later on in life, when Gary and started BIG IDEAS (which became IGNITE) in 1995, we decided to accept all invitations and explore what God was calling us to more permanently. Often we would be working with smaller churches, fairly uninspiring and with little money to pay us expenses. Our office was one cold room in a Baptist church in Cardiff with borrowed and second-hand equipment.  Gary and I took it in turns to rive the one decent car we had between us, and our first monthly salary was about £30 each! We had an old van full of sound and lighting gear and our technician Pazza would drive us the length and breadth of England and Wales as we led seeker services, youth missions, schools weeks, and outreach events in theatres and working mens clubs. My prayer all through this time was 'Lord, please speak through me to someone tonight, even if it's only one!'

Often people ask me how I ended up as Road Pastor to Third Day. I believe that being faithful in the small things has not been insignificant in my journey.

 The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together! Matthew 25.21

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM IGNITE INDIA.

Here's a model of an Ignite India church made out of biscuits by the church in Ambajepeta, Andhra Pradesh, South India.

CHOICE No.2- Seeing God as my Heavenly Father.

"And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6.18

I've always been aware that I have inherited many of the flawed characteristics of my natural father-who walked out on my mother when my sister and I were very young- he struggled with responsibility, financial profligacy, sexuality, dishonesty, to name but a few. At my worst moments I still see the danger of some of these flaws raising their ugly heads in my character. My wife and my mother both notice the influences of my step-father John on my likes and dislikes and on some of my phrases and attitudes to married life! Undoubtedly I get my love of sport from my grandfather and my step-father, and I thank both of those men for helping me become the man I am now. Yet even more important than influence from earthly fathering, I made the choice to ask God to father me and to invest in me as much of his character as I could absorb. In that regard I'm still a work in process, but I've determined to live in the fulness of God's supernatural father heart rather than be dominated by any generational and natural character defects. If anyone reading this ever prays for me then my request would be that this 'choice' be the focus of your prayers.

CHOICE No.1- Following the call of God.

I can still vividly remember the night in my bedroom as a teenager when I committed my life to Jesus. In a cold and dark room, with my old valve radio fading in and out, I focused on what I had recently heard about Jesus. Not for a moment did I ever doubt he was Lord and Saviour, and that night as well as giving him my life I knew I was being called to share him with others. God appeared to me as a blinding light and an intense warmth, and that encounter has been what I have built my life on. Early on I believed that meant I would have to be a minister/vicar/pastor, and although I've only recently attained that title, I've found many ways to serve Jesus in the intervening years and to share Him with others. Despite all my weaknesses, occasional disobedience, sometime hardships, what has kept me going is the absolute conviction that all those years ago God chose to invite me into His story and be part of an incredible adventure. An adventure full of responsibility, privilege, joy and fulfillment. My inspiration comes from the Apostle Paul before King Agrippa in Acts chapter 26. Paul says that Jesus appeared to him and said:

Now stand up! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and my witness. You are to tell the world about this experience and about other times I will appear to you. (Acts 26.16)

And then Paul sums up his conviction and determination:

 “And so, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to that vision from heaven." (Acts 26.19)

CHOICES.

In the light of the previous post about overcoming obstacles I thought I would begin a series of reflections on some of the good choices I have made on my journey. Who we are is largely down to the choices we have made:

The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. Galatians 5.17

An old Cherokee Indian was teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too." The grandson thought about it for a long minute, and then asked, "Which wolf will win?"  The old Cherokee replied simply, "The one you feed."

The first choice I'll reflect on in my next blog is 'Following the Call of God'.

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES.

Earlier this week, for an interview that eventually didn't happen, I was asked to consider what personal character defects or challenges I had needed to overcome in order to get from where I was to where I am now in ministry. A very interesting question! And one that after reflecting on I was able to answer with the following 5 words:

FEAR-fear of what other people think of me has often been a challenge in the past, and also fear of failure has been difficult to cope with. Similarly, I still have to try hard to overcome fears about the future and sometimes find myself racked with gloom and almost despair.

FAILURE-actually failing occasionally has always bought with it self-doubt, anger and disappointment. Whether it's been losing playing cricket, doing badly in an exam or a test, or seeing a project not work.

FAMILY-now I need to say very forcefully that I don't mean anybody in my family, but rather that I fight hard to avoid demonstrating the same character defaults and damaging behavior that my natural father displayed. He left my mother when I was 4 or 5 by the way. Also, two of my biggest ministry challenges in life have been in trying to to be  good husband and a good father myself.

FOOLISHNESS-I have countless times been the victim of my own rash behavior, anger, loose tongue, selfishness and general stupidity!

FRUSTRATION-most often displayed when things don't go as planned, when things don't happen quickly enough, when people don't do what they said they would do. Selfishly manifested for a time when I thought I deserved more ministry profile and opportunity than I was getting.

THERE!- They say confession is good for the soul. Praise God that he's given me a new heart and a new spirit to conquer these obstacles!

INDIA-NA!

At IPFW last night, the students who had been with me to India earlier in the year wanted me to feel like I was speaking in an Indian church. Typically, a welcome in an Indian church would include a massive banner, a garland of flowers and a cold bottle of lemonade. The Indiana students welcomed me to their meeting with all three! Here's the banner-