SPIN LIKE THE WIND-the blog of Nigel James.

LOSING IT IN BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA.

Tonight I did something I'm not very proud of. Outside the venue were a bunch of protesters from a local church who turn up with billboards and leaflets outside every Christian concert that comes through Baton Rouge. The basic premise of their argument is that bands such as Third Day 'charge for the gospel' have 'sold out to the world' are 'using demonic  rock and roll music' and 'are deceived by the devil and deceiving others'.  When I asked what they called Rock and Roll they  could only reference Elvis Presley and AC/DC. I made the mistake of trying to have a rational conversation with these protesters and found that they tried to trump every comment I made by quoting a Bible verse back at me. Despite my best efforts, I found myself losing my temper and acting with the same judgmental and condemning attitude that I was so appalled to see in them. I could just about take their criticism of Third Day but when they spoke out against AC/DC that was too much!!  (Okay- I am really only joking about this!!)

In fact, their criticism of Third Day really hurt me. Any attempt I made to mention Third Day's worship songs based on Psalms, or the tons of lives I have seen who have been personally ministered to at our concerts, or of the marriages restored, individuals healed, or lives given to Christ, was met with a simple retort that all this was deception. When I retorted that believers should be very careful before they judged other believers, their answer to that was convenient- the likes of Third Day and I aren't genuine believers.

David and Mark from the band also went out and conversed with these protesters-asking them many of the same questions I had asked and repeating an inivitation I had made to come into the concert, experience it for themselves and then make an informed judgment. They came away equally as frustrated as I did. The ultimate irony is that the protesters come from a church called Consuming Fire ministries. One of Third Day's oldest hits, and one of my personal favorite songs is called Consuming Fire, and their own record independent record label is called Consuming Fire records. Oh well....

PAINTINGS FROM THE GATEWAY SCHOOL.

On this tour with Third Day I am auctioning a picture from the Gateway School each evening in the VIP meet and greet. The children in the school experienced painting for the very first time over the summer and Third Day fans have been generous in paying for the pictures.  This last weekend we raised $1,000 in just 3 concerts. All the money raised goes back into Third Day's Come Together fund and will be used for projects at the school in the future. I've been pleased to be able to share a little of the Gateway School story each night with the VIP guests, and hopefully some of them will want to help out with support for the school in the future.

 

MAKING MY MOVE...AGAIN.

So I am back in the USA (sitting in the Hampton Inn in Cool Springs near Nashville, to be precise) for the Fall (that's Autumn to us in the UK) leg of Third Day's Make Your Move tour.

We have a compere  for our concerts on this tour. His name is Bob Smiley and I worked with him years ago on a Newsboys tour. Turns out Bob can only make about half of our shows on this tour, so I'm standing in as compere for the other shows. That means I'm hosting a meet and greet Q and A session, I'm introducing the opening act Trevor Morgan , speaking about the tour sponsors Grand Canyon University ( a couple of the guys in Third Day have begun to study online to get the degree they never managed to complete years ago) and about World Vision's child sponsorship program, and introducing the band Tenth Avenue North. It's great fun!

WALESWIDE.

Over the last year or so I have begun to get involved in Waleswide.

Waleswide is a collaboration of evangelical churches and organisations for the planting and strengthening of churches across Wales.

Waleswide was established after a nationwide gathering of church leaders in 2005.  This church planting consultation acknowledged the need for an intentional and collaborative approach to church planting and strengthening in Wales.  As a result Waleswide was formed and commissioned.

Waleswide works with leaders to see churches established especially where there is no evangelical church presence, and where churches need to be strengthened in their effectiveness.

I am loving the opportunity to get involved in building the Kingdom of God, shaping the destiny of a nation, and working in collaboration with leaders from across the length and breadth of Wales.

To check out more about Waleswide visit the Waleswide website.

 

LAPAROSCOPIC CHOLECYSTECTOMY.

In other words-keyhole surgery to remove my gall bladder. Currently recovering at home from the operation yesterday. Plenty of pain killers, anti-inflammatories, occasional glances at 4 holes in my stomach, chocolate, and Keith Richards' autobiography.

PRAY FOR THE NATION.

With headlines all over the world screaming out LONDON'S BURNING, churches are mobilising themselves into prayer and practical action wherever possible. Here in Cardiff, our church is focusing our prayer like this:

1.  Pray to the Prince of Peace for peace in our land.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

2.  Pray for an end to violence, looting, and the burning of property, and that none of this spreads any further in the UK.

I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and comfort those who mourn.  Then words of praise will be on their lips. May they have peace, both near and far, for I will heal them all,” says the LORD. Isaiah 57:87-19

3.  Pray for strong and wise leadership in the UK and especially in London.

Without wise leadership, a nation falls; with many counsellors, there is safety. Proverbs 11:14

4.  Pray for the Christian churches in the affected areas to be salt and light in their communities and to be agents of reconciliation.

All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. 2Cor. 5:18-19

5.  Pray that the perpetrators of the rioting and looting, especially the ringleaders, will come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and realise their sinfulness.

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 2Cor. 7:10

6.  Pray that those who have been involved-either as rioters or as innocent victims and bystanders-will come to realise that their only hope for life and for a future lies in Jesus Christ.

    They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be! Deut. 32:28-29

 

 

JT'S BLOG.

A good mate of mine by the name of John Tancock has recently started a blog and I want to recommend it! John lives in Swansea. Wales, has been involved in church leadership, church planting, and youth ministry for most of his life and also contributed regularly to Revelation TV. He's a gifted theologian, and has written amongst other things, a good review of N.T.Wright's  New Testament For Everyone. Check it out at JT's blog.

IGNITE LIBERIA COMMUNITY SERVICE.

It's always fulfilling to hear what Ignite gets up to in the countries outside the UK that we operate in, and just recently I received an email from Stephen Wonbenyakeh in Liberia outlining a new intitiative:

In an effort to continue to make our presence felt and to impact more young people, Ignite Liberia (Montserrado Branch) has launched a community service project focused on repairing the main road connecting Soul Clinic community with the main route to Red Light. Specifically, the project seeks to close pop holes, clean in water ways that have been closed, redig gutters which have been covered with grass and dirt, and give a general facelift to the community. As usual, we do not only desire people to see or know Ignite, but to also to feel its presence through the impacts it makes. And this, of course, is one of the ways to make this happen. 

This is very much like our own Ignite Hope in the UK, which is an effective Word and Deed outreach programme.  Here is a picture of some of the Ignite Liberia team re-opening a closed gutter:

 

FAREWELL TO PRASAD AND HIS FAMILY-AND TO INDIAN TOILETS.

This morning, after two weeks staying with them, I bid my farewell to Prasad and his family and headed off to Hyderabad for flights back to London.

I've led so many mission team to Rajahmundry over the last 6 years that I'm beginning to get a bit complacent about their impact. I still immensely enjoy seeing folk who visit for the first time begin to have their eyes opened to what the Lord is doing here, and have seen that these last two weeks with teams from Cardiff and from the USA. However, just yesterday I was really impacted by our visit to the Leprosy Church. Again, I've been there many times, and nothing will come close to the very first visit when I spoke in their little mud-hut church, but yesterday was different. Let me explain....

Over the years I've suffered from irritable bowel syndrome and regular bouts of stomach cramps and what we euphemistically call 'the runs'. Consequently, mission trips to India have tended to be fraught with the likelihood of me ending up unwell. This trip I had been fine until arriving at the Leprosy colony I had a sudden and desperate urge to use a toilet! The back story to this is that when the lepers moved to this new village a few years ago, the local govt. provided them with houses but no sanitation. After a visit to them I felt that City Temple church in Cardiff had to provide some toilets and so our Christmas missions offering two years ago bought a simple Indian toilet for every house in the village. Thank the Lord for the generosity of our mission offering because yesterday I had cause to use one of those toilets. They are what my American team members call a 'squatty potty' and crouching down over on I began to realise that this was quite a challenge to use as an able-bodied person let alone if you were disabled as most of the lepers are. This reminded me again that these folk have been given a little more dignity by the provision of these toilets ( their options would have been to go outside the doors of their house or crawl or be carried to the outskirts of the village and go by the side of the road) but that their situation is still a very difficult one. Their demeanour is always so positive despite their circumstances, and I guess the wake-up call that I had again yesterday was a reminder that life is much more than our physical condition and the situation that we find ourselves in. The inner peace and strength that these folk find in the Lord is an example that I don't want to forget.... but their toilets I will happily erase from my memory banks!

 

GATEWAY CHILDREN'S HOME.

Here's a video that Gary put together last week about the opening of the latest development on the Come Together Compound- The Gateway Children's Home now joins the Gateway School.