Pastor Nigel

THIRD DAY PAINTING.

An artist gomer has painted a picture of Third Day to commemorate their 10 year anniversary and to raise money for another India Ignite church. It is signed by the band and can be found on ebay. Here is the linkTHIRD DAY PORTRAIT

BACK HOME.

Whilst the guys have been busy in the studio in LA, I've been in India catching up with work at the Come Together Compound and opening the latest series of Ignite churches-paid for by donations on Third Day's UK tour last May. The school work has been a bit slow at the compound recently, but work on the ground itself has progressed well, and we met many local young people when we went there. Our final night was The Blessings Festival in the compound-where 2,000 people from local villages came in for an evening of music, preaching and prayer ministry. It was a thrill to preach there and to see many people respond to the Gospel message despite a plague of flies! Earlier in the day we had struggled through boggy terrain to get to the Ignite church in Ambajipeta for the dedication service. It really has been exciting to see the impact that new church buildings have made on these rural village congregations- and along with the Come Together Compound are a lasting legacy of Third Day's ministry in far-flung India!

INDIA MISSION TRIP.

Here's my itinerary for India- I'm heading off on Sunday leading a team of 8 people. I'm still suffering with throat problems and coughing, so prayers would be appreciated! We'll be visiting the Come Together Compound which Third Day helped fund, and most of the churches that Third Day's UK tour recently helped to build.

Sunday 14th -Depart Cardiff at 3pm. Arrive Gatwick 7.00pm. Depart Gatwick for Dubai on Emirates Airlines at 9.15pm

Monday 15th- Arrive Dubai at 7.10am, Depart Dubai at 11.45am. Arrive in Bangalore at 5.15pm.

Tuesday 16th- Elim India Conference.

Wednesday -17th Elim India Conference.

Thursday 18th- Elim India Conference. Depart at 10.30pm by train to Chennai.

Friday 19th -Arrive Chennai 5.30am. Flight to Rajahmundry departs 9.30am, arrives 11.30am. Settle in to Prasad’s house. Afternoon rest. Evening meeting at church.

Saturday 20th- Come Together Compound (School) visit. Nidigatla Church opening service. Evening – 2 outreach teams to different villages.

Sunday 21st- Tapeswaram Church dedication. Tatapudi Church construction visit. Leper Church visit. Evening- Gummuluru Church visit, one team goes onto another village for outreach.

Monday 22nd- Pastors and Wives Conference- 2 sessions. Evening- 2 outreach teams to different villages.

Tuesday 23rd -Ambajipeta Church dedication and visit to another village. Evening-Ignite India Youth Meeting.

Wednesday 24th – 5.30am return to airport for flight to Hyderabad. Arrive Hyderabad 8.30am

Thursday 25th – flight to Dubai departs Hyderabad 10.20am, arrives Dubai 12.20pm Depart Dubai 3.00pm, arrive Gatwick 7.35pm

MY HERO.

Last night my wife and I went to see one of my all-time heroes in concert. He's a man called Roger Hodgson who was the lead singer of Supertramp. Now the guys in Third Day give me a lot of stick for being a Supertramp fan, Brad especially always reminds me lightheartedly of my devotion! The concert was awesome- with just Roger Hodgson and a multi-instrumentalist playing with him. Old songs like Take The Long Way Home, Breakfast in America, and It's Raining Again, were brought to life by Hodgson on guitar or keyboards and his accomplice on saxophone.
Yet I've been reading lately about someone who's rapidly becoming an even bigger hero. The first research paper for my Master's degree has been on John the Baptist and was inspired by a throwaway phrase from my lecturer when he said- 'of course, we are all modern day John the Baptists.'
In the Message translation we read this:
Luke 3:15 The interest of the people by now was building. They were all beginning to wonder, “Could this John be the Messiah?”
Luke 3:16 But John intervened: “I’m baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.
Luke 3:17 He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

These verses were an inspiration to me years ago when I had the vision for the Ignite ministry, and I've been revisiting them recently to seek further insight into John the Baptist and his message.
I'm not going to preach the sermon to you here, but consider what John means by these phrases (with thanks to Eugene Peterson!):

The main character
This drama
A mere stagehand
Ignite the kingdom life
A clean sweep of you lives
Everything true in its proper place before God

Let me know what you come up with!

By the way- I got an 'A' grade for my research paper, and I've booked my flights to join Third Day on their Christmas tour so I may see some of you on the road. Before then, I'll be in India on a mission trip for 10 days and I'll post the latest news about the Come Together Compound and the Ignite churches funded by Third Day's UK tour.