So last week I returned to hospital with another kidney stone on the move. I have been so grateful for the calls, emails and facebook comments offering me sympathy. The facts are that at least a couple of times a day I am in quite a lot of pain. The solution is to take pain killers that knock me out. As a result I am not able to go to the office and only work in short bursts. I do not have the concentration levels to read a book or watch a movie.

This means I am cheesed off because I love to be active, healthy, engaged and busy! I am praying that the stone will pass VERY quickly now!

I have just spent the end of last week in hospital. Having been discharged by the urology consultant a couple of weeks ago with a clean bill of health, I was shocked to feel the familiar pain of a kidney stone on the move on 

Wednesday morning. I got myself from the shower, got dressed and Lesley took me to the UHW hospital. I then spent 26hrs on a trolley waiting for a bed before being admitted into a ward. 

To be honest it was very inconvenient. I am really busy and have got lots to do. More than that the team at Ignite are really busy and I did not want them to be working really hard and for me to be just laid up! Often we are defined by what we do. It was helpful to listen to some teaching from the Abundant Life Church in Bradford that helped give some clarity on this.

The bible says "Be Still and Know that I am God". Psalm 46:10. It is not in doing that we get to know God it is being still. However, then reality is that "being still" is not just about spending time alone and in contemplation it is about being in God. Knowing Him and getting to understand Him. Remember the time when Jesus calmed the storm? (Mark 4: 35-40)

 ³⁵That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." ³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

 ³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

 ⁴⁰He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

One of the reasons it has been suggested why Jesus was not afraid is because he had stated where they were going (to the other side). Whatever came against them was not going to stop this happening. However, the disciples seemed to either forget what the destination was or they did not have faith in the declaration of Jesus. 

How many times have we got confidence in the plans and promises of God until something in our circumstances or our situation seem to say something different? I am conscious of the belief that God is my provider but then looking at our situation with one salary and two mortgages it is easier to consider our circumstances than those promises! At times like this it important to stand on the word of God rather than the falseness of that which seems to be all around us. Of course that looks like reality BUT this should not shape our thinking as God has promised to be our provider. So at times like this what do I want to focus on? How about:

" But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)

Or

"whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Phil 4:8)

Better to fill our minds with positive, biblical thoughts than the false thinking of our perceived situation.

As disciples it important to know God enough to transcend our circumstances. 

With more than a month to go until the Gaither homecoming friends visit London, we have sold almost 2,000 tickets. This is such a refreshing change! So often we are worried whether enough ticket will sell, but with this show, it almost certain to be a sell-out. My advice? If you want to come, book now! 

You can buy tickets online at http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/. If you buy them online there is a transaction fee of £1.45. You can buy them in person at the Southbank Centre (where there is NO transaction fee) or finally by calling 0871 663 2500. For telephone, fax, postal and group bookings there is a £2.50 transaction fee.

CONFIRMED LINEUP...
GLORIA GAITHER
GAITHER VOCAL BAND
WES HAMPTON
BILL GAITHER
DAVID PHELPS
MICHAEL ENGLISH 
MARK LOWRY
ERNIE HAASE & SIGNATURE SOUND
BUDDY GREENE
JANET PASCHAL
LYNDA RANDLE
GORDON MOTE
KEVIN WILLIAMS
GREG RITCHIE

 

I found this challenging when I saw it. What about you?

In the last year I have been honoured to be part of the Men's Ministry in my local church. It's leader has become a great mate of mine. Mark Lyndon Jones shows inspirational leadership of the disparate bunch of blokes. In the last few weeks I have been facing a number of challenges and it has made me reflect on what is means to be part of a "Band of Brothers"

The phrase was originally coined to the bard himself, William Shakespeare in the play Henry V. On re-reading it I have discovered that as i get my head around the language it sums up what it means to "do life together" Here it is:

What's he that wishes so? 
    My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin; 
    If we are mark'd to die, we are enow 
    To do our country loss; and if to live, 
    The fewer men, the greater share of honour. 
    God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more. 
    By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, 
    Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost; 
    It yearns me not if men my garments wear; 
    Such outward things dwell not in my desires. 
    But if it be a sin to covet honour, 
    I am the most offending soul alive. 
    No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England. 
    God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour 
    As one man more methinks would share from me 
    For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more! 
    Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host, 
    That he which hath no stomach to this fight, 
    Let him depart; his passport shall be made, 
    And crowns for convoy put into his purse; 
    We would not die in that man's company 
    That fears his fellowship to die with us. 
    This day is call'd the feast of Crispian. 
    He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, 
    Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd, 
    And rouse him at the name of Crispian. 
    He that shall live this day, and see old age, 
    Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, 
    And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.' 
    Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, 
    And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.' 
    Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, 
    But he'll remember, with advantages, 
    What feats he did that day. Then shall our names, 
    Familiar in his mouth as household words- 
    Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, 
    Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester- 
    Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red. 
    This story shall the good man teach his son; 
    And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, 
    From this day to the ending of the world, 
    But we in it shall be remembered- 
    We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; 
    For he to-day that sheds his blood with me 
    Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, 
    This day shall gentle his condition; 
    And gentlemen in England now-a-bed 
    Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, 
    And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks 
    That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

It is clear that a band of brothers is built through battle and conflict and standing alongside one another. I look forward to the coming season and how God will use it.

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