Lancaster City

Last night I was a turncoat. I went to a special meeting about the new Lancaster City Football Club. The Dolly Blues have been going through a rough patch this season. They went into liquidation, immediately losing ten points from their overall League Score, and were relegated two divisions. So last night's meeting could have been called Picking up the Pieces.

I was invited along by Andrew Pye, one of the members of IMC, who used to be on the board. He was invited back onto it during the meeting and Steve Ball was appointed chaplain. I had been willing to do that job, but I felt Steve is better suited to it. But Andrew, I and Ray Coote who went with us, all offered our support as a chaplaincy team.

John Boyers, who spoke at my dinner at Turf Moore last autumn is coming to Lancaster Baptist Church on Sunday 8 July. So we hope to get some men to come along to that.

St Mary's 24-7 Prayer Weekend

This is a very significant weekend. The folks at St. Mary's Ingleton are praying 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Well, two days actually - Saturday and Sunday. But hey, it's a start!

This is the time when 24-7 comes to Ingleton. I believe that in the future there will be continous prayer in the Ingleton House of Prayer. Watch this space.

That reminds me: St Mary's have put up a banner outside which reads:

We're Praying

Watch this Place!

I will.

Bride of Christ

Yesterday and today I have been thinking about what it means for the church to be the Bride of Christ.

Every morning at 6.00 a.m. I watch the God Channel Daily Devotional with Mike Bickle from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

It is an hour long programme and they start with 20 minutes teaching on prayer. Then they usually go to a prayer session led by Misty Edwards and occasionally to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem for one led by Mike Hess. I suggest you tune in, or record it. It makes a great start to the day.

Anyway, last night Audrey and I had a frank discussion about life and the future, and this morning the lady on the TV with Mike Bickle was talking about the Church having a "Bride Identity." This has got me thinking about the teaching of Paul in Ephesians 4 on marriage and also out of Genesis 2 where it talks about God making woman from Adam's rib.

Paul quotes the words from there: "Thus shall a man leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." He then applies this to Christ and the Church.

Its fascinating stuff.

Finding my way home: Hope 2008

http://www.hope08.com/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=50577

http://www.hope08.com/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=50134

Hope 2008

Last night Audrey organised a meeting at IMC about Hope 2008. She invited folks from St Mary's CofE, who sent their best men and women - only three, but the best three they could send. Ingleton Evangelical Church was invited but did not reply or attend.

Colin Hardicre spoke about the ideas behind Hope 2008 and showed a DVD and PowerPoint. Then I led a question and answer session, and a praise time. I felt anointed.

I think this meeting was a watershed for our church. We are at last seeing how we can make prayer and evangelism the main thing. As Andy Hawthorne says on the DVD - "Let's make the Main Thing the Main Thing."

Follow the links to find out more.

Why am I so tired?

Over the last few days I have been feeling very tired. On Friday I slept for three hours on the settee after taking Nathan to Bentham and back. I do not usually find driving to Bentham so exhausting.

Yet that night I slept soundly. OK, I do get up at 5.30 a.m. but I enjoy that because I am a morning person. But surely I shouldn't be tired all the time.

I still have about an hour's kip after lunch and that helps, but just lately I've just been so tired. Is it the depression? Is it my age? God give me strength and energy.

Mind you, I did have a great talk to a guy called Les who has been through the same things I am going through at the moment. I talked to him after church yesterday. The service was all about men being DRIVEN. It was exciting.

Back Again

I went to the doctor again and talked about ADD. He said he would look into it.

I talked to a friend on the way home and she said to take time out.

I then went to the Pendle Prayer Meeting at Shekinah and found it very difficult to concentrate for two reasons: 1: I was so tired 2: I wasn't thinking properly. Peter Capstick suggested I put together a book on the Christian heritage of Pendle. But because of my state of mind my enthusiasm for this was not great.

Back home I slept on the settee for an hour and then rejoiced at being back on the Internet on my laptop. This was fixed by Matthew Page from Bentham last night. But I couldn't get onto this blog.

The early evening was spent at Redshaw talking things over with Martin Coates. He gave me a lot to think about.

The rest of the evening was spent watching "Springwatch" and a nature programme on the Wye Valley. I think Springwatch is one of the best things the BBC has ever done. Well done them.

Wendy's Hip Day

This is a painting by Rembrandt of Jacob wrestling with the angel. It is based on Genesis Chapter 32 verse 25.

I have chosen it because Wendy Thornton, a person very dear to the heart of God and IMC is having her hip replaced today. She is less than 50 years old, and this has been a traumatic time for her.

It has been painful for us, her fellow believers, to see her struggle with more and more pain in her hip joint as she studied a Christian Ministry course at St. Martin's College. We have been praying and longing for this day. Pray for her as God touches her hip.

She then has to endure six weeks of complete rest. For Wendy this will be agony in itself because she is always busy, busy, busy. But our Methodist Covenant Service says: "Let me be laid aside for thee." I pray that her experience of enforced rest will be a time when God deeply touches her spirit.

Remember too Mark and Andrea Armstrong as they attend their uncle's funeral in Leicestershire and Chris and Julia Balchin as they care for Chris's dad for a week. He has Alzheimer's Disease.

As for me, I am learning each day.

OK. I'm back - and how!

Sorry to have been away from this site for so long.



I have been enjoying a voyage of self-discovery the like of which I have never known before.



It all started a week ago Friday when I rang the University Counselling Service to find I had missed an appointment by a week. Normally this would send me into a downward spiral, but I chose to use it to my advantage.



I took my thoughts and feelings (disorganised confused frustrated helpless) and Googled them.



What I came up with was Advanced Deficit Disorder. As I looked at the various websites brought up on the search engine I noted a lot of similarities to my problems: viz. Time Management and Organisational Ability.



I then found myself staring at the personality trait I have always had but never knew.



Allow me to introduce myself: I'm an INFP - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving - person. Only 1% of the population have this trait and they are writers!



Reading that profile was like seeing myself in a mirror.



Later that night: i.e. at 4.00 a.m. I got up and Googled INFP + ADD and the formula I was presented with was: INFP + ADD = Depression? I couldn't believe it. Well, I could.



So that explains a lot. It answers many questions I have had for years. Now I've got to use the information to my own advantage.



Thank God that He has opened my eyes to these things at last. This is indeed a turning point in my life.