Great quote

My friend Paul Benger just put a great quote from Erwin Mcmanus on his blog. I like it.
Here goes…

“There’s no calling that God places upon a persons life that eliminates the necessity of hard work”

Fasting and Prayer

We are beginning three days of prayer and Fasting as a church on Wednesday this week, with Prayer meetings 7-8am and 7-8pm at our Aycliffe venue. I thought I would write some practical thoughts about Prayer and Fasting to help you, whether you are part of Xcel Church or whether you want to join us, which is great! January is a great month to do some focussed prayer and fasting as it’s the start of the year and a time to refocus and recommit to the year ahead.

We will be praying for:

Our Nation and the Nations during the Financial Crisis that we are in, for Governments and leaders to have wisdom and grace to know what to do.

For protection for our men and women in the forces serving in Afghanistan and iraq

For our church : 

• For Wisdom for the leaders and staff of Xcel Church as they prayerfully seek to carry out the vision that God has given them
• For every member of Xcel Church and their families  for wisdom and prosperity during this difficult time in our nation, that they would have know God’s grace and favour on them.
• For health and strength to carry out the purposes and the plans of God
• For protection and provision in every way.
• For more opportunities to talk about Jesus in our every day lives
• For more opportunities to help people ‘do life better’ and that we can make a difference through God’s love.
• For every ministry that we are involved in as a church that it will grow in every way this year, that more people can be helped :
• For Example: 

Our Community Outreaches (Community Action Teams , Cloud nine Charity Reach out care to the elderly etc)

Youth Ministry 

Children’s ministry

Our Services in Darlington and Durham for growth and increase in 2009

For growth and increase in our Sunday services in Aycliffe including United night and our transition to the Xcel Centre this year.

Xcel Centre 

For completion of the Centre on time and on budget

For protection for Caddick Construction and all workers on site, that there will be no accidents and that everything will run as smoothly as possible

For continued financial provision throughout 2009

Fasting

Why do we fast?

It’s Biblical – Matthew 6:16  Jesus said “When you fast…..”

It’s Beneficial – Daniel Ch 1 v 12 -15

Spiritually and Physically

• The Purpose is to ‘deny food’ so that you can spend that time reading the Bible and or talking to God. 
• It increases spiritual awareness  ”After they had fasted and prayed….the Holy Spirit said “Acts 13:2
• Nehemiah 1:4 ” I sat down and wept and mourned for days and fasted and prayed constantly before the God of heaven”
• Daniel 10:3 ” I ate no pleasant food, nor did any meat or wine come into my mouth;”

Fasting and prayer are a powerful combination…

It is not about us trying to change God’s mind, it is about us denying our bodies and as a result becoming more aware of what God is saying and there is a blessing in obedience and focus on God.

There are different types of food fast: 

1/ Total Fast – with only water – To be attempted with caution and done gradually in terms of extending the period of time – It is recommended to do this for short periods at first, maybe 2/3 days, being aware of taking extra rest etc…check with doctor re: Medication.

2/ Partial Fast – ie fast certain meals each day for a period 

Daniel Fast – This is a Partial fast and is taken from the Bible where Daniel ate only vegetables and water and ate no ‘pleasant food’ for 21 days. There are a few variations on this but it’s easy to get information on this just google ‘Daniel Fast’ and there are websites such as www.daniel-fast.com which give loads of practical help including recipes!

Also go to www.jentezenfranklin.org/  for more information and resources on Biblical fasting.

3/ Non food fasts - 

Some people decide to fast certain things like TV, Facebook, internet….these can be good ways of increasing discipline and focusing on fasting and prayer for a period. Why not combine some of these and see the benefits.?

Let me know if you are joining me and let’s pray that God will do great things in 2009!

Destiny

Here’s a thought…..
your destiny is not as fragile as you think, it’s actually quite robust….
what do you think?

TV Fast….

Been on a TV Fast since Monday. It’s no big deal because it’s only Friday but I have already noticed a few things:
I’ve had some good interaction with my boys
I haven’t really missed it
It’s helped me to think, read, process more, TV is not evil, but it can become a mindless waste of time and be a lazy excuse.
I am not saying stop watching TV – It’s like the internet – it’s a great medium for information and entertainment, but balance is a blessing and I find that some breaks and pauses from stuff really sharpens me up -
Gonna do some other fasting this month as well – church has 3 days of prayer and fasting this month, I’m going to do a Daniel Fast -
By the way will probably still watch match of the day on Sunday night – And I still have my Mac – Now that would be a fast too far! – It’s my most treasured possession!

2009 Sporting Wish List

Sporting : Trying to keep it away from the realms of Fantasy….
Liverpool win the Premiership at Last….it’s very possible
England regain the ashes – 3-0 or whatever score as long as we win…..very possible as the aussies are at the end of a cycle of great players getting old, a bit like our Rugby team in 2003

That’s it……those two things would be great….sporting wise this year…..oh and England to qualify for the 2010 World Cup… which I think they will

New Year….

Been thinking about next year…2009…This time of the year is always a time for a bit of reflection, but also planning ahead.

It’s amazing how much of the diary is filled up already!

The challenge is to be strategic, purposeful and ’semi – organised’…I am quite spontaneous so have to force myself to plan. I find it easy to think ahead, but not to nail stuff down, I’m a ‘broad strokes’ guy naturally.

For me, I think it’s important to have a balance of organisation and spontaneity in any organisation. My role is to ‘throw a spanner in the works’ of different areas of church life and leadership!

That’s why a great team is so important….I have a great team….They are different to me but that is the point….great teams are built with very different people but with united purpose.They help break down stuff so that we can make stuff happen

I like what I heard at a conference in Sweden: I believe in a ‘democracy of ideas’ but not a ‘democracy of decisions’ : Everyone should have a voice when it comes to inputting ideas, even if those ideas are not taken up……

Thinking about 2009 it’s a great opportunity to have a fresh start… I am challenged on the usual things : Not always that I am not doing them, but that it is good to have  a ‘check up’ and pause and reflect before we set out on another year……

Goals should be:

Written down : Increases your chances of them happening by something like 90 times if they are written!

Attainable……not ridiculous but possible

Specific….’Exercise more’ is not enough 

Accountable : Increases your chances of them happening massively if someone is walking the road with you

Edition and revision : It’s ok to revise and edit as long as you are moving forward! – No guilt in February – just adjustment!

So here is what I’m thinking….

 

• Bible reading…..Been challenged to read a new version right through in 2009 (maybe ‘The Message’)
• I need to exercise more (i know not specific enough but I haven’t finished yet!!…..thinking about swimming, gym, table-tennis, walking…..(not all together at the same time!!)
• I need to read more books…….need a budget and a target and a plan!! (maybe I’ll get some vouchers for Christmas!!)

Planning:

• Plan my Calendar better so Holidays are set in my Calendar first! (shoudn’t be hard but always is…..)
•  Conferences I am going to visit….i’m going to sort that out 12 months ahead……

I heard of one pastor who follows the 6-6-6 rule…. No don’t worry I’m not talking about the ‘end -times’ mark of the Beast! 

• every 6 days he has a day off
• every 6 weeks he  has a short break (2-3 days)
• every 6 months he has a 2 week break….

Good thought….

What are your thoughts on planning/resolutions for 2009? Go on  let me know!

Architects

Off to Watson Batty in Leeds today. Have a meeting to get the Building back on track in terms of a new Contractor. I’m hoping and expecting we can get going again really soon. We have lost very little time because of the weather anyway so we will see. Will keep you posted when activity starts again!

Manic Mondays!!

Well it’s been an interesting week! We heard on Monday morning from our architect, that York house, our building Contractor for the Xcel centre  had gone into administration! This was totally out of the blue and very disappointing, not just because of the inevitable delay in the construction of the Centre, but also because of the loss of jobs involved at York House. It’s a sad situation when people lose their jobs ‘out of the blue’ and the York House team were very enthusiastic about our project.

Where does this leave us? 

• We are fully committed to building the Xcel Centre and getting the project on track as soon as possible 
• We are working with our architect and Consultants to this end. Our Architect is confident that we can get on track very soon in terms of getting a new contractor on site and moving ahead.
• We are in a favourable position in terms of the build because the programme is past the point of greatest risk. Because we have steel 90% completed and much of the ground works completed the risks of ‘finding anything’ untoward in the ground are now much less and we are moving towards getting the roof onto the building and it becoming ‘watertight’ once we get a new contractor on board.

 We are waiting to see how it all unfolds, but this is one interesting and challenging journey that we are on and it will definitely be worth the wait….!!

Men are from Mars…..

I am off to Bradford tomorrow to the Xcel Men’s conference .Expect about 2000 blokes, plenty of testosterone, sweat and inspiration.

There are about 50 of us guys going down from Xcel church It’s funny because us men are so low maintenance. 

When the girls go to a women’s conference, there is all the pre conference talk and excitement which builds up for weeks. Our office is bombarded with phone calls from anxious women who want to change the details of who they are staying with, or move hotels or reserve their seat. Then the girls all arrange to meet in the church car park and discussions take place in said car park for at least an hour……

This week, everything is silent, noone is calling the office. I don’t even know who is going. I have made two or three texts to arrange a lift, I don’t really mind who I’m staying with…or even who I’m sat next to…..

We will turn up - 

We will have a good time -

We will leave -

That’s one of the big differences between men and women -

and when we get home, our wives will ask us what it was like and we will say…….Great……it was really good………

and we will go to sleep……

Whatever it takes!

We had our 2010 partners night last night, to celebrate and update everyone on the Xcel Centre building project. We met at the Workplace, which is a recently opened building next door to the Xcel site. Thought it would be great for people to get a feel for being in the vicinity. After visiting the site the other day, I was really excited.! Came away feeling inspired and challenged and basically saying “whatever it takes” to make it happen…

I spoke to the Partners about why we need to build the building…10 points, here they are:

1/ Because of our limitations where we are. There are so many things we are unable to do at the moment. It can make us settle and become complacent.

2/Because I believe that it is our destiny to build something significant for the Kingdom of God to be extended

3/ Because I believe that God is with us. Nehemiah used a beautiful phrase when involved in building the walls of Jerusalem thousands of years ago. He said ‘the good hand of the Lord was upon me’. I like that. I believe that is true of us also, not because we are any more special than anyone else but because we are his kids and he loves it when we step out of the boat!

4/ Because I believe that it is our time to build. It is the season. We are ready! there is a time for everything and there has to be a right time to build. I believe this is our time.

5/Because I love this town and this region and this building will help this town to prosper. Proverbs 11v10 “When it goes well with the righteous the city rejoices” Our town deserves some nice buildings. We want to play our part in bringing regeneration and prosperity to our town.

6/Because somebody has to show what it’s like to to step out of the boat and walk on water. Leaders set the tone!

7/ Because everyone should have the opportunity to be involved in something bigger than themselves in their life. Some ‘grand design’ that gets hold of you.

8/ Because thousands of lives are going to be influenced and affected for the good by what happens in this building…”if we build it they will come.”

9/ Because I believe all of heaven is cheering us on. Hebrews 11:40 seems to say that we are connected to the great line up of faith in Hebrews 11. What a privilege ! Wow What an honour

10/ Because I am not satisfied with where we are. I want something more, we want to make our mark, our 2010 partners are up for it. Are you? Come and join the journey

Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city!