Tonight, my son and I had a boys night out when we went to see Rocky Balboa on the opening night. Let's be honest there are no great suprises. It is Rocky by numbers but there is nothing wrong with that, we loved it!! My boy has been punching me ever since!

Stallone, claimed this is his most Christian film and whilst there are clear Christian themes I would not say it was any more spiritual than the previous 5 movies. One of the characters in the movie reads from the bible in the dressing room. He quotes from Zecharia 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. Rocky then goes into the ring as a 60 year old man to fight the current world champion. I will not give the ending away.....

The truth is that often we go against the world in our strength. It is no wonder that we end up battered, bruised and punch drunk. However it doesn't have to be that way. With the Holy Spirit living inside us we have the ressurection power of Jesus with us. That makes us not losers but inheritors of the victors crown!

As for me I will be out running up all the steps in Barry, punching sides of beef in the butchers and chasing chickens around the local farm yard!

Last night was yet another visit to the cinema. This was a film that Lesley and I were looking forward to, we were not disappointed, it was brilliant. Will Smith, always an excelent actor, was outstanding. The surprise was his son, Jayden Smith who also played his son in the movie. Often child actors are unconvincing but this kid has to be a star in the making.

The plot is a simple one. For Will Smith's character, life seems to be a series of disasters. His job is sellin machins no one wants, his wife leaves him and he has no money to pay any of his bills. Seeing a chance to change his circumstances, he accepts the job as an unpaid intern in the feint hope of landing a job as a stockbroker. The pain served up in this movie is almost unrelenting! All that to say, go see it.

What happiness are you pursuing? Truth to tell the only eternal source of happiness is found in Jesus.

The next movie? Ben and I are going to see Rocky Balboa!

I went to see the movie Miss Potter last night with Lesley. It was a good film. There have been some report about Rennee Zellweger not been very good as this most English of authors. Let me dispell this rumour straight away, she is magnificant! I am also a fan of Ewan McGregor and he is also great as her publisher. Okay it is a romantic film, but no worse for that!

As I write this I am watching the programme "Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS?" It is a fascinating programme where the business leader sees if, without any money, he can reduce the waiting list in one hospital.

In February I am intending to take a one month sabbatical from my work at Ignite/Big Ideas. It will be my first break for more than 12 consecutive dates in eleven and half years. As it approaches, I am really looking forward to it! The question I have been asking myself is what will I do with my time? Part of me thinks that just chilling out and catching up on a million and one jobs I have needed to do for ages would be a good use of this space. However, I beginning to be increasingly challenged to be a more effective leader/manager.

So here is the connection between my blog and the programme I am watching! It is so evident as you watch these types of programmes where the problems are. It strikes me that one of the things we need to do as leaders in Christian organisations is not to work harder but to work smarter. So I think one of the things I want to look at is effective leadership in Christian organisations. I am beginning to read around this subject and I want to accelerate this during my month off. In addition, I want to spend some extended periods with God.

To facilitate this I intend to spend some times in the Austrian Tyrol
and the Yorkshire Dales

So if you have any book recommendations, please let me know!

As we approach 2007, I am beginning to think about what my New Years Resolutions should be. Now I know this is not original thinking but it is real life! So what are they to be? Well here are a few....In 2007, I want to be more a man of God, a better father, a good boss and leader and a great friend. If I am honest these are the same as in 2005 and 2006 and I suspect the may feature on 2008. There are a couple of additions for 2007. I want to lose 2 stone in weight (28lbs to any US readers!) and ensure my faith fits seemlessly into my new relationship with the the beautiful Lesley.

Will I succeed? Well only of I work at it. With God's help I intend to!

Happy New year!

On sunday, Tim and I were guests at the Michael W. Smith show. It was his Christmas show and he played with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. By the end we were both harmonising all our favourite carols. We especially enjoyed the rendition of "O Little Town" by our mate Chris Eaton.

Today has seen a bunch of meetings with managers, booking agents and label people. At this stage we are feeling very positive! We caught up with out old label president, Tony Patoto

This evening we had dinner with David and Helen Smallbone and then went on for a cup of tea at the home of Rebecca St James

So am I tired?...absolutely! Do I feel we are here for a Kingdom purpose?....definitely. Would I swap my job with yours?......Not a chance!

I am currently in Nashville with my mate Tim Cheshire from the band Superhero. Essentially we are here to meet with lots of people to explore the possibility of the band moving to the USA.. We arrived via Chicago and drove the 30 minutes to stay with our hosts Charlie Peacock and his wife Andi

After a great supper we received a call from my old mate Eli. He was only a few minutes away so we decided to meet him at the local Starbucks. We could have stayed chatting all night! The reason we didn't were 2 fold....1) The starbucks closed so we ended up sitting for 30 minutes talking outside. It was -3! and Tim and I had been up for 24hrs straight!

Tim was collected about midnight and he drove the 3 hours to Memphis. We are exploring the possibility of the band been based there.

So its wall to wall meetings for the next few days. Sunday is an easy day. I meet Jan Hevroy from Norway (the picture at the top of this site is on my way with Rebecca St James to perform a concert in his village). Then Tim and I are on the guest list for the Michael W. Smith Christmas show.

Will keep you posted!

This weekend we went to see the movie sixty six. It is the story of a young jewish boy who feels he is almost invisible to his family. When he finds his barmitzvah is on the day of the world cup final he knows that is England qualify, no one will care about his big day. Well we all know what happens! A enjoyable British movie!

On 20th July 1966, as a 4 year old boy I was taken on holiday by my mum and dad. We stayed at the Roker Hotel and as I drank lemonade and ate cheese and onion crisps, I watched England beat Germany 4-2! Forty years of hurt and I am still waiting for another day like that. As I look back, crisps, drink, England, holiday, my parents....can it get better?

I believe the answer is a resounding YES! I know live in Wales (hurrah), have great kids, am really happy, know I am doing what God would have me do.......I love my life!!!

In the last couple of months I have been trying to lose a bit of weight. I knew something had to change when I realised I had more chins than a chinese phone book! Well I have had some success and lost 1 stone. Truth to tell I need to lose more and so I have decided to get fit (again!). The good news is I have decided not to join a gym. This is good news for my bank account and bad news for the gym owner. Over the years I have been a member of loads of gyms. The only common factor is a huge amount of money going out of my bank and me not going training!

Anyway, my current plan is to do some running and some weights. As my old mate Pete McCahon used to say, I am not a runnnig sort of a guy. Never the less, I have pounded the street near where I live. Don't get me wrong I am a long way from a marathon (in fact I am quite a long way from a mile) but at the moment I am quite keen. I need to be there are lots of hills in Barry!

So will I keep it up? What do you think?

Watch this space!

Last weekend my son and ! and I went to see the new Adam Sandler movie "Click". In a seperate cinema across town, my daughter also saw the movie.

Briefly the plot is that Sandler, a busy architect, goes to buy a universal remote control. However he gets more than he bargained for when he discovers the remote will also pause, fast-forward or rewind his life. As you might expect the results initially are hilarious but as the movie progresses the consequences of the decisions he makes become more poignant and in some ways tragic. We really enjoyed it. My daughter said to me afterwards, "during the movie, I had an epiphany moment."! She went on to explain that it made her think about how important it was to take care of relationships and make sure that people who were important to her knew she cared.

Last night Becky Williams and her friend Beth came to my house for dinner. It was in the words of Becky "a grand time". I know I shouldn't say it but the food was good (Sea bass for mains and apple and raspberry fool for dessert

It was nice to talk, laugh and eat. I love having people to dinner and this occasion was no exception. After dropping them off a friend of mine called to say her Gran had died. Although she was 102, it did, of course, still hurt. As i talked with her and she described a little of her Gran's life and about the last time they had been together, again it made me think about those wise words from Rebecca. We should be sure that the people we care about are in no doubt that we love them. Every day is precious and each relationship is unique. I think my friemd is comforted in the fact that she had done that with her Gran but it leaves me with the question; is there anyone I need to tell how important they are to me?