Gary, Rebecca and Benjamin are now on holiday. Hurrah!!!

Yesterday I went to Soul Survivor. It was a great time. The main reason I went was to see the band I manage, Superhero perform in the gigs venue but it turned out to be so much more.

It was day one of Week B and the youth group from my church youth group led by my mates Matt Gregor and Pete Joyce. They were having a great time. They were looking forward to life changing teaching, intimate worship and times with their mates that they will never forget.

I met up with some good friends, Roy Crowne, Andy Hawthorne, Liz Biddulph, Jonathan Brown and Simon (Botty) Ward. These were special times and alone made the journey worthwhile.

I spent most of the day hanging out with Superhero. Boy were they tired. Lead singer, Tom Cheshire gave the best quote of the day when he said "This is the 7th most tired I have ever been in my life!" So we asked, "what caused the other 6?" The band had been on the road for 14 days and had played lots of amazing shows. The reviews had been wonderful, kids had got saved and Compassion children had been sponsored....but the boys were knackered!!

So how was the show? Well they more than rose to the occasion. 500 people enjoyed a storming set from the boys. many fans were made and I was so proud of the way they rose to the occasion.

To be honest I am really tired and so looking forward to my holiday but as i drove back home, I was thinking, that God does not ask us to be fresh and alert before he uses us, he just asks us to be willing and he will do the rest! This is surely a good thing as if He waited for me to be on top form there might be about 10 days a year!!!!!!

I have just returned from another great but tiring week at Flames of Fire. Nigel and I ran the youth programme. There were many highlights, fewer greater than having a team of young people working with us to deliver a powerful programme. Another was truly inspiring worship provided by the Ignite band and then Superhero (www.superhero.org.uk). One highlight was singing the Delirious? song History Maker. There was a true sense that the young people present really believed that they could make history in the name of Jesus. Please God let it come to pass!

It is the first time I have been to the event without my children and I must admit that felt strange. It has been a strange couple of years, much of which I would not wish on anyone, but I'm still here! A friend of mine said one thing that marked out the army of God from any other army in the world was that it puts its wounded in the front-line and the more it does it the more invincible it will become.

Working with young people you see sometimes just how vunerable they are. The world is a tough place and they have a lot of challenges to negotiate. Some fall to drugs, teenage and pre-marital sex some are victims of abuse. It is terribly sad, BUT there is hope and that hope is in Jesus. With a willing heart, he can use us. The singer songwriter, Eli, said "God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called" I find that comforting.

Also when life is tough, God can still use us. One of the lyrics in he song history maker is "We'll see broken hearts making history" amd I join with them in singing "and I believe it"

Today has been a great day. My daughter went shopping with some of her friends. My son and I first met with Ed Lumley to do some last minute shopping for Flames of Fire (www.flamesoffire.co.uk). After that we went to see STORMBREAKER at the local multiplex. The film was orignally from a book by Anthony Horowitz and features the 14 yr old school boy hero, and spy, Alex Ryder. Well let me say it was a great film! Lots of action, chases, martial arts and, of course, good triumphed over evil! If you like James Bond, do not demand a plot that is too complicated then this is a definite movie for you. It had some great British actors in it, Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid in Harry Potter), Bill Nighy (fresh from Pirates of the Caribbean, Dad Man's chest) Andy Serkes (Gollum and King Kong) Steven Fry and many more....

In recent days, for reasons I will not bore you with, I have had a greater understanding about what it means, as a Christian, to carry your cross daily. Much of my life gives me great joy and celebration but there is is one part that is a real trial. As i thought about the movie tonight, I realised that Jesus is the real Stormbreaker. As the son of God, "even the winds and the waves obey Him" So whatever life may throw at me, I follow a saviour who can calm any storm!

Somedays, I wake up, and metophorically speaking, look the devil in the face and say, "I'm still here!" It is my way of saying, whatever the devil throws at me, I have Jesus in my life and "He that lives in me is greater than he that lives in the world."

So go see the movie but more importantly, know the real Strombreaker!

On Friday I travelled down to the Gower with my children for a short break down at Nigel and Gill's caravan. It is in a lovely spot and the site is a great haven, being as it is child friendly. So Friday consisted of swimming in the pool and having a lovely meal in the local pub. Saturday arrived with a huge suprise, rain! I am not sure the last time it rained in Wales, suffice to say it was many weeks ago. However this weekend it arrived with avengance! You should realise that if the international community ever wants to end a drought, they should invite me to go on holiday, in a relatively short period a cloud will appear on the horizon and in no time the rivers will be overflowing their banks!

The lovely thing was it did not phase my fantastic children at all! What we do? Well dad suggested a trip to the nearby Borders Books where we could all look for books and then read them over a frappuccino in Starbucks. They loved it, I loved it and we all chilled. After that we all went back to the caravan for fish and chips, the odd dvd and some Saturday night TV.

I love being away for a break and even better if it is with my kids, my two favourite people in the whole world!

Thank you God!!!!!!

It is Thursday night and the first night I have been at home for a while with a chance to relax. So I decided to watch a bit of tv. The main programmes at the moment are Big Brother and Love Island. I have to say that my life is worth more than this! It seems that the thing that keeps people watching is that there is a chance you might see a couple have sex (which never struck me as a spectator sport anyway!). Some people suggest these programmes show a cross section of real life. Honestly, this is such a fallacy. The producers select people who they think will make "good tv". Well trust me this is not good tv, it is rubbish. End of rant!

So my solution? Pack for my trip away with the kids, read a good book and maybe watch an episode of West Wing!

The last few days, I have spent time with some great people, both at the Ignite golf day and yesterday at the Royal Welsh show. Now that is a better way to spend time. Forget the tv, hang out with friends!

In the last 6 months, my children and I have developed a pattern. Monday night is movie night! Often it's a DVD but tonight it was off to the multiplex to see Superman Returns.

Just a little detour....last week, Nigel and I travelled to Gateshead to visit Emmanuel College. We met the lower 6th and Nigel gave a lecture called "Is Bruce Almighty" Basically it looks at spiritual themes in Hollywood movies. He made a good point that many recent movies look at issues such as self sacrifice and friendships etc.

Anyway back to Superman! Firstly let me say it was a great film, definitely recommended. With great cinematography, special effects and fantastic music from John Williams it hooked you in from the start. In my view it is at least as good as the previous Superman outings. Anyway, there is no doubt in my mind that if Nigel is called upon to give the same talk he will definitely use this movie. It has some classic quotes. At one point Supermans father (Using a "resurrected" Marlon Brando) says "(humans) only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all—their capacity for good—I have sent them you, my only son." and then Superman says to Lois Lane "You wrote that the world doesn't need a saviour, but I hear them crying for one everyday. "

There is more obvious parallels in the storyline but I do not want to spoil it for you. Go see it and tell me what you saw in comments (BUT remember to start it with the word SPOILER so as not to give the plot away to others!

God does not require us to be superheroes. He has no illusions about us and He loves us unconditionally. However, last night Ugandan "Super" Pastor, Joseph Serwadda, whilst preaching at City Temple, said; "make sure your charisma does not overtake your character" I found that so powerful and challenging. So often we work on developing our gift when the main thing we need to develop is our character.

Keep in touch!

Gary

On Monday night I took my children to see "Pirates of The Carribbean 2 - Dead Man's Chest" at the local multiplex. It was a great movie and we all loved it! The sword fighting was fantastic.

Recently, I was on tour with Rebecca St James and her band. Immediately before a show in Switzerland, I looked in a locker and found some fencing gear. I threw a foil (the posh name for a sword!) and a mask to Scott Murray, the legendary rock and roll gutarist from the band. What started as a joke with a few tentative moves soon escalated to a full on swashbuckling fight. It was utter madness, one slip and either one of us could have seriously damaged the other. With pride on the line it quickly degenerated to a wrestling match....I will leave you to guess who won.

As i reflected on this, I thought of other times when I had done other stupid things like runnig through a railway tunnel on the mainline between Leeds and London, jumping from the roof of one building to another, climbing to the crows nest on an ocean going tall ship, driving down a single track road at 90mph, are just a few. Now I hasten to add, all these are acts of madness and I neither condone them, recommend them or think I am likely to any of them again. However, when I look at the risks the early disciples took I can now see that much of my Christian life is safe and lacking in adventure. What are the big risks I can take for God? I am planning to be here for a little while yet but wouldn't it be amazing to say, and really believe it, as the apostle paul did that to die in the service of Jesus be a gain?

So now we are all excited about "Pirates 3" what will we do until then...Well there is Superman Returns!

Last night saw the culmination of the FIFA World Cup. France played Italy. Settled on penalties, Italy won. However, that will not be the major headline. That will be dominated by Zinedine Zidane. This French footballing genius was the player of the tournament. Persuaded by his nation out of international retirement, he scored a penalty at the beginning of the match the was so simple it was brilliant. Everytime he touched the ball you felt like he could turn the match, whatever the result he was destined to be a national hero. This was his last ever professional football match, what a way to finish, as captain of your country in a world cup final....and then in a moment of absolute madness he head butted Marco Materazz in the chest with such force it knocked his opponent to the ground. The result? He was sent off in disgrace. The abiding memory of his career and that world cup final will be that action!

At Ignite we work with many young people, some of whom work with us on our year out internship scheme. At some point in the year, I often have to take them to one side and tell them it is essential you finish well as that will be the abiding memory. I know as I am a good initiator but have to work hard to finish one project before starting 20 others!

The Christian life is like that. We are often reminded that the life of discipleship is a marathon not a sprint. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that "...we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, let us run with perseverence the race marked out for us." I am hoping that the race God has marked out for me still has some way to go. I am also mindful that I cannot be arrogant in purely believing that I will finish strong. It will only happen if I "fix my eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfector of my faith." (Hebrews 12:1)

I am sure that as Zidane thought about his last match, he dreamt about holding the world cup trophy aloft, remembered as a legend of the modern game. In reality it was so much different. Lord help me hold the crown that will last forever! (1Cor 9:25)

Today I visited two key partners to our ministry. Firstly I met with Bill Ritchie. He is the man in charge of the Ultimate Event at Alton Towers. Over the years we have taken Rebecca St James, superhero and newsboys to the festival. They have a commitment to excellence, a true ministry heart, a very realistic outlook and an event that probably attracts more non- Christian young people than just about any other. Over the years they have been great for Ignite and we are looking for more ways to effectively partner together.

From there i was off to see our publishers, Authentic. They have just published our latest book, 7 ways to ignite your Life
This is the 4th book they have published from Ignite and I think there are plenty more to come. Clearly, it is important to them that the books sell but they also value our ministry and us as individuals.

The other key person was my Co-Director Nigel James. Now strictly speaking I left him asleep in the hotel when I left this morning but late into the night we talked about some key plans and I went to sleep energised and excited about the plans that God has for us.

It is great the people that God puts into your life and journey!!