SPIN LIKE THE WIND-the blog of Nigel James.

A CRY FROM IRAN.

Last night at City Temple we watched a powerful video called A Cry from Iran. Being a church of the nations and a church to the nations, we have a number of ethnic fellowship groups-one of those is our Persian fellowship, many Farsi speakers who are originally from Iran. We also have a group that prays for the persecuted church, and these groups came together at our midweek meeting to watch the video. It tells the powerful story of Pastor Haik Hovsepian, who was martyred for his faith in 1994. It really is an astonishingly emotional and challenging story, showing the Iranian church flourishing despite much persecution. It reminded me of the famous quote by Tertullian- The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

HOME JAMES.

So what have I been up to lately?

*Getting intimately acquainted with the lives of Othniel, Jephthah, Gideon and Samson for my latest Master's research paper- Examine the role of the Spirit as presented in the book of Judges.

*Watching plenty of Twenty20 cricket on SkySports- star performers? Graham Napier and Dawid Malan.

*Cooking my wife some meals. Best so far? Spicy beef medallions with sweet potato mash and mixed vegetables. Suffice to say I surprised even myself.

*Planning a few talks- Other Lovers for the 16+ venue at New Wine Cymru, Why shouldn't I be baptised for a baptismal service at City Temple.

*Drinking coffee in the new Starbuck's drive through near Asda's in Cardiff Bay.

*Doing loads of radio interviews on US Christian stations for 'Lessons from the Road'. Best question so far? What would you do, who would you be if you weren't touring with a Christian rock band? Answer? Pastoring a church, leading a mission organisation, or earning a living as a sports journalist.

*Listening to plenty of Classic Rock on digital radio station Planet Rock. Favourite songs?  Need you ask- anything by Supertramp or Pink Floyd.

*Beginning to plan the next set of tour devotions for Third Day. To find out more visit my road pastor blog.

*Sorting my putting stroke out on my brand new astroturf putting green on the lower level of our back garden. A lovely little 3 hole course which sadly I haven't really mastered yet!

*Writing content for the Mission pages on the new City Temple church web site.

*Attending fundraisers for The Gateway School in India. We still need a bunch of money to get the roof on.Creative fundraising ideas gratefully received.

*Planning a family excursion to Chicago for a few days before Third Day play there in August. Hotel? The Essex Inn-looks good.

HITTING THE TARGET.

Just back from leading another WILD AT HEART weekend with Chris Cartwright. As well as watching 8 DVD sessions from John Eldredge and his band of brothers, we enjoyed a high ropes course and some archery. Chris and I never cease to be amazed at how God breaks through into men's lives during this weekend. Especially powerful is the session when men share their 'wounds'. It was humbling to hear stories of brokenness from the participants-all involved in City Temple church but originally from Poland, the Congo, Malaysia, India, and Nigeria, as well as a few from Wales! What I love about Wild at Heart is that it's not about sin-management or rigid accountability, more about an adventure, a brotherhood. It's non-religious and allows blokes to be blokes. The introductory session when we talk about our favourite films and film characters never fails to get the guys talking and laughing, and another highlight was the testimonies from David and Richard who had both been on WAH weekends with us before. They spoke of the crossroads experience they had at WAH previously and how they've seen a positive change in their lives as Men of God since. I've been impacted by Wild at Heart over the last few years, no doubt about it, and it's brought Chris and me to a deeper and more vulnerable level of friendship.

INDIAN SUMMER.

Well I'm back home after a mammoth 30 hour journey from Pastor Prasad's house! I fell ill on Tuesday night and didn't travel with the team on the overnight train. Instead I flew Rajahmundry-Hyderabad-Delhi-Zurich-London with long waits in Hyderabad and Delhi. Feeling very hot, tired and ill all the way! Apart from that minor frustration, the mission trip was a great success and the team from IPFW were outstanding.

It was particularly good to get to know Ben Gates and his wife Janet better. They are a good couple! One of the highlights I previously forgot to mention was when I presented Sagar, our Ignite India Youth Director, with the keys for his new motorbike-funded from the Ignite Office in the UK. It came in very handy on a number of occasions, especially when we visited a remote hillside village church only accessible by motorbikes. Sagar will use the motorbike to visit the growing number of Ignite youth in the many villages in which Gateway ministry have churches. The day at the Come Together Compound included speaking to 20 or so student teachers brought along by Prasad's wife Sunnee who is studying to be the head teacher of the school. Some of the students are Christians, but the number who are Hindu's were intrigued by my presentation about it's not just important what you know but who you know!

Particularly special was seeing the school a couple of steps nearer to completion-although I'm not sure we'll reach our September target- and to see children both having great fun and worshipping the Lord. India made a massive impression on the whole team- Ben,Janet,Benjamin,Rachel,Sarah,Jenn,Brittany,Valerie,Tony, Ryan, and Jordan. I'm sure that collectively IPFW Campus Ministry will develop a relationship with Prasad and help us with our Ignite India work and the school. For me, I'm praying that their experiences on this short-term mission will have long-lasting impact in their walk with Jesus.

RAJAHMUNDRY-WITH IPFW STUDENTS.

Only 2 days of our mission trip to go and it's the first time I've been able to get to an internet cafe.

Highlights have included:

Seeing an Ignite church being built in a remote mountain village

Visiting the Leprosy church- I've seen a drastic worsening of the illness in some of these lovely people over the last 3 years

A full day at the Come Together Compound with over 250 children and a bunch of student teachers.

Pastors conference with 90 pastors.

Will post  a fuller report and some photos as soon as I get home. Overnight train to Hyderabad tonight and then fly to London via Zurich.

THE LOVE OF JESUS CONSTRAINS ME...

I'm off to India tomorrow, leading a mission team with my friend Ben Gates from IPFW university in Fort Wayne, USA. He's bringing his family and students with him, and we'll be partnering with my great Indian friend Pastor Prasad. I'm taking money for our school, for the leprosy church that we visit, and for a motorbike so that Sagar, our Ignite India youth director, can visit the rural villages more effectively.

The Lord has been filling me to the brim lately with inspiration and insight, so although India is always physically demanding my spirit will be strong!

A highlight of the Elim national conference last week was the worship concert by Godfrey Birtill- he's a very English style of worship leader and already his latest live album has become a fixture on my iPod. You can catch some more reflection on the Elim conference on my Third Day pastor site.

Last night at City Temple we were treated to an evening with Bill Wilson from Metro Ministries in New York.

Bill preached on this verse:

2Cor. 5:14 For Christ’s love constrains us..

Bill focused on the dictionary definition of 'constrains' and unpacked what it meant to be motivated by the love of God.

1. Constrain means to 'force movement', so connecting to the love of God means that you will be moved, you will powered to move, you will be on the move, you will be someone who has to GO.

2. Constrain also means 'to keep you away from other things', so God's love will not only make you do the things you know will please him but also will prevent you from coming close to doing the things that you know offend God.

3. Constrain also means 'to keep you in', so the love of Christ keeps you in the work of God, the will of God, his plans and his purposes. Despite hardship and persecution, our commitment will always be stronger than our emotion.

I'm aiming to be constrained, compelled and controlled by the love of God during my trip to India. I'm taking my laptop so hopefully should be able to post some blogs and some photos.

WALKING WITH THE SPIRIT.

Last week was another block of study at Regents College in Nantwich, and I enjoyed a fascinating time exploring the Spirit of God in the Old Testament. My research paper will be on the role of the Spirit in the book of Judges-specifically in the lives of Othniel, Jephthah, Gideon and Samson. I'm approaching this with the usual mixture of excitement, expectancy, trepidation and tension. I want to deliver an academically robust piece of research, but I also want to learn more from the living Word and have an encounter that pushes me deeper into the ways of the Spirit. Talking of encounters, I eventually met up with Pastor Joe Corry, on Friday afternoon. He's a good friend of my mate Elliot Lewis, and every time Joe has been speaking in South Wales I've been somewhere else. Joe's church has been experiencing a powerful move of God over the last few months and he's been helping other churches experience similar as he travels around Belfast, the rest of Northern Ireland, the Irish republic, and mainland UK. It's worth reading some of the testimonies on his church web site.

On Saturday. Mark Beacher from Ignite joined me to travel up to the Firm Foundations Festival which is organised by The Boys' Brigade. Nearly 20 years ago, Gary Smith and I were part of the team that had the original vision for Firm Foundations and brought the vision to reality. I hadn't been back for about 5 years or so, and really enjoyed catching up with friends- some  I'd known for nearly 30 years. My theme, linking into the overall weekend theme of Hope 08, was 'Change My Friends'. I preached about the friends who carried the paralysed man to Jesus-it was their faith that moved Jesus to action Mark Beacher gave his testimony, which fitted in perfectly.

Today we are barbecuing at home (in the rain) and enjoying some time with our friends The Frosts. Then Gill and I head down to our caravan for a few days break. I'll be preparing a sermon for City Temple on Sunday- The Holy Spirit, Our Director of Mission.

STUDY!

I'm currently on a couple of weeks of study for my Master's degree- this week "Pauline Pneumatology' and next week 'The Spirit in the Old Testament' - I'm enjoying the seminars greatly and looking forward to writing 2 research papers over the coming months. Not sure what the subjects will be yet, but over the last couple of days I've been drawn towards Paul's metaphors for the Holy Spirit- a seal, and a guarantee/deposit in particular, so it may well be that I delve deeper into them.

IGNITEHOPE HIGHLIGHTS.

I've now posted a photo album of the IgniteHope weekend. Here are some personal memories:
*The non-stop work of Mike, Ruth, Ben, John and Nathan. Legends!
*The Community Policeman in Ely joining one of the social action teams on his day off, so impressed was he with the idea.
*Getting all the young people and team leaders to stand up and clap along to 'We Will Rock You' each morning before I started the teaching.
*350 people booked in by the Thursday morning before, 800 people squeezed into the marquee 36 hours later on the Friday night.
*YFriday on the Friday night and Saturday morning really encouraging the young people to get stuck in and work hard for the Lord-And they gave me a copy of their new CD/DVD.
*Seeing the wide variety of churches involved.
*Spending some time with Jeremiah from New England, back in Cardiff to see what we were up to.
*The enthusiasm and commitment of the team leaders-they'd all payed for the privilege of being involved.
*Teams bringing unchurched people back in with them in the evenings and some of them giving their lives to Christ.
*Chatting to Andy Hawthorne about India- he wants to give some tithed money from The Message Trust to build an Ignite India church.
*Loads of volunteer stewards from City Temple.
*Flares party band on the Monday night-my kind of music.
*Having Naomi Hill back involved with Ignite for the weekend.
*Our team pastor, Nick Bradshaw-doing a great job and loving it.
*My wife Gill working on the Ignite merchandise stand all weekend.
*Visiting 11 projects in the afternoons, first with Nathan, then John and Jeremiah, then Nathan again, and seeing loads of stuff going on.
*A great picture of the church- gathering young people in the morning for worship and teaching, calling out place names and seeing the teams meet up and head to the social action projects in these communities and take the love of Jesus, watching them all come back in the evening and hearing the good news stories of what had been going on and seeing people come to Jesus.

MORE THAN WE COULD HAVE HOPED FOR.

The IgniteHope weekend exceeded every expectation. With over 450 young people meeting each morning for worship and teaching, over 100 adult volunteers involved, and nearly 800 people in total gathering for the evening meetings. Each afternoon, over 20 teams went back into their local communities to engage in social action projects- graffiti clean up, gardening, painting, car washing, rubbish removal, and loads of fun days. I managed to visit a total of eleven different projects and was amazed at the enthusiasm and the energy of the young people I saw. I'll post a gallery of the weekend soon, but here's a photo of me in a rare moment of relaxation with my grand-daughter Hannah. There have been so many stories told about the weekend already- not least about the 31 young people who gave their lives to Christ in the evening meetings. In another post I'll list some of the great things that we heard about over the 4 day duration of IgniteHope.