SPIN LIKE THE WIND-the blog of Nigel James.

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.

WHAT I'VE LOVED ABOUT STORNOWAY.

An amazing weekend in the town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis has just come to an end, and sitting in the pastor's house I'm reflecting on how much I've been privileged to be hear. My personal highlights:
* The passion of my new friends here to see God be glorified especially amongst young people.
* The wonderful hospitality of Robert and Marina Sinclair.
*Meeting their pastor and long-time friend Tommy MacNeil and his wife Donna.
*Visiting the Callanish Stones- the island's version of Stonehenge.
*Witnessing all 50 young people at the Ignite conference stand in readiness to commit themselves to the Ignite declaration.
*Sneaking off between meetings for an hour's fishing.
* The great parable of a dad teaching his son to fish.
*Experiencing worship led by Ian MacKinnon - he's a big Third Day fan!
*Hearing that Tommy MacNeil had a phone call at 10.30pm on the Sunday night to say that a girl had given her life to Jesus in the youth service that evening. He's meeting another guy tomorrow who wants to share the difference God has made in his life,
*Seeing the church with more people in it than in living memory, for that youth service.
*Discovering that the Isle of Lewis has a similar religious heritage and present day set of circumstances that I see in Wales.
*Having a snooze on the bed this morning, with the Sinclair's cat Tiger snuggled up next to me- he's so much like my old cat Tinker.
Here's the team for the weekend:
back row-Ian MacKinnon, me, Norman Morrison(youth worker), Robert Sinclair. Front row- Marina Sinclair, Tommy MacNeil and his son Matthew.

REVIVE US LORD!

Later today I fly to Glasgow and then tomorrow onto Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis off the coast of Scotland.
I'm leading an Ignite weekend for a group of churches in Stornoway and I'm very excited, if not a little daunted at the prospect. Stornoway was the scene for the first stirrings of the Hebridean Revival of 1948-52. As a Christian living and ministering in Wales, often called the Land of Revival, I'm aware of the cry of those who so desperately want to experience God move in their land once again.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE.

I went to a family wedding over the weekend, where our daughter Bethan was a bridesmaid. The wedding ceremony was nice enough, but the highlight for most people was the speech by the bridegroom. No embarrassing stories or funny jokes, just a real heartfelt declaration of his love for his new wife, and for his family- especially his grandfather who was sitting there listening. All the women on our table where in tears, and I have to admit I wiped one or two away as well. Seeing or hearing declarations of love, when they are truly meant, always impacts people at the deepest level. It's amazing that Christians, defined by the most amazing declaration of love ever seen, so often find it difficult to share that love with others, and occasionally hide Gods' love behind a smokescreen of theology, religious practice, legalism and prejudice. There's no shame in loving people, and in showing them the one true source of love.

SIR NIGEL JAMES.

No- I haven't been knighted, but this is the name of my new blog with Third Day- a name not chosen by myself I hasten to add! It's simply one of the various Third Day blogs and can be found at Sir Nigel James. At the moment I've been posting some sneak peeks from chapters of the book about life on the road with Third Day.

YOUR PRAYERS ARE NEEDED!

Over the last year or so I've been working on a book project called 'Lessons from the Road' with the guys in Third Day. It's now finished and currently being touted around a few publishing houses in the USA by a friend in the industry. This book could prove to be instrumental in enabling me to step into a new season of ministry both in the USA and the UK. Please would you pray that a publisher will catch the vision of the book - devotional, autobiographical, behind-the-scenes, stories behind the songs from the band themselves- and will want to publish it!