This is LONDON CALLING

Dec | 25 | Sun | THIS IS LONDON CALLING | Winchester Proclomation

2011-12-25T00:04:00.000-08:00

Dec 16 Why no recent Blogs

2011-12-16T13:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks as though we have had a technical hitch!
All blogging should be resumed tomorrow

Blessings!

Nov | 16 | Wed | Westminster Abbey | 400th Anniversary Celebrations

2011-11-17T03:24:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS WESTMINSTER ABBEY - THE 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART
I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

My final destination of this 66 Day 66 City Tour is Westminster Abbey and this short clip is the final 6 minutes of my 3,300 mile, 95,040 minute journey!
If you want to walk the last 6 minutes to my final destination – then come along!

___________

"The scholars who produced this masterpiece are mostly unknown and unremembered. But they forged an enduring link, literary and religious, etween the English-speaking people of the world."
Winston Churchill
_____________

Today is the 16th of November, or the 16th of the 11th, or better still, 1611, a number combination to mark the very when the King James Bible was first published and this the very specific day has been chosen to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible.

It is now 12 noon on 1611 and I am sat in 'Poets Corner' within Westminster Abbey looking at the staring eyes of that most unusual of British Prophetic Poets, William Blake. This place in the Abbey is a always a good place to be.

Even so, in the great East West layout of these giant cross shaped buildings scattered over the face of the United Kingdom, I am sat in the south transept area, the alter of proceedings hidden from my view, the choir barely visible along the Northern wall. Never the less, I am surrounded by the great and the good and though I cannot see her, less than 30 metres from me, Her Majesty the Queen is sat with her back facing toward me, and possibly maybe another 2,000 people are also seated along with her. This event has been long in the planning by the King James Bible Trust and it goes off swimmingly.
The Lord Mayor of Westminster is received at the great West Door by the Dean and chapter. The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales are all then received and as we all stand, a Royal fanfare is sounded.

The Marquis of Salisbury reads out some opening verses from the Holy Bible:

"And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." Exodus 3:4-5 KJV

and with these we are now plunged into Geoffrey Rowell’s new six verse Hymn written for this special occasion

“Words to the Word still pointing, Word in those words expressed, Words of prophetic longing, Of mercy, hope and rest, Words that can speak in silence Your presence, dearest Lord, In prayer and praise and worship Eternally adored.”

The Bidding followed on, and while the Choir sang, "THE PROCESSION OF THE BIBLES" brought the books to the fore and the Dean then says

“ BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning; grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hop of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.”

Polly Frame then performs a lively extract from “THE CROSSING IN RESPONSE TO EXODUS by Anne Michaels (b 1958) whilst the choir follows on with Psalm 119-89-93
The most majestic words of 2 Corinthians 4:1-13 are then read out (are not these the most magnificent words ever written?) and we then all stand to sing ‘Lord they Word Abideth'

After this the Archbishop of York reads out John 1:1-14 (adding a few of his own interpretation on a few words just for good measure) in preparation for the Arch Bishop of Canterbury’s Address ( which if you don’t know it is ‘The Other Palace, just across the Bridge, London SW1A 1AA) followed by The Anthem composed for this event, the haunting and wonderful ‘Out of the South Cometh The Whirlwind’ by Zachary Wadsworth, which were then followed by prayers, the reading of the Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20, closing hymn, the blessing, the national anthem and then as the great and the good paraded out the way they came in, it was all over.

It was good to be there. However, what was I doing there? I was alone. I knew no one there. No one knew me. No one greeted me. No one asked who I was or where I had come from or what I had been doing? I was a nobody set in an Abbey full of some bodies; Royalty, Dukes, Princes, Bishops, Trustees, Directors, all representing Kingdoms, Diocese, Parishes, Businesses, Charities and the Performing arts. Who was I representing? Me? 66 Cities? WhisperingWord? No. Not at all.

As I walked out of the Abbey, the tomb of the unknown soldier was still bedecked by poppies. The church is still awash with unknown soldiers. It always has been. And yes, I am convinced that those places at the right and left hand of Jesus in the majesty on High shall be occupied by a man and a woman, both whose names none shall have heard of on earth, but who will have been long feared by hell and already greatly honoured amongst all the watching angelic host.

My preaching from the closing books of the New Testament highlight to me what must have been a vast army of unknown and ever roving ministers of the Gospel. Peter we know and Paul as well, and then from the rest of the New Testament a few dozen more prominent folk besides and lastly from church history, maybe a few hundred more besides. But really, the church has spread and continues to spread by the efforts of hundreds of thousands of unknown soldiers.

It is DR. J Vernon McGee who maybe suggests that as a representative of these unknown folk we might choose a one verse wonder. The Apostle John, while castigating that malicious prat called Diotrophes makes mention of both his name and character. Listen:

“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but* he who does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true."
3 John 9-12 NKJV

It’s gone mid-day in Westminster Abbey and I believe I am here unknown, unseen, unrecognised, and so maybe representing the millions of other unseen workers and proclaimers of the Everlasting Gospel. I do not possess his apostolic affirmation of character that's for sure, but if anyone asks me who I am, I shall shake their hand and say

“ I am Demetrius. Who the heck are you?”

______________

"Those first preachers who took the Gospel and most that take it still, are mostly unknown and unremembered. But all along the front line of conflict, they continue to be the link between earth and heaven, proclaiming the only hope for a lost and hurting world"

Rev. Victor Robert Farrell

_________

After the service my good friend Phil gave me a call. He happened to be in London attending a Seminar and wanted to speak to me about the naming of our new Subscription based APPs. we met outside the Abbey and wandered across the road to The Methodist Hall where he bought me lunch. Phil always buys me lunch! It was lovely.

Not long after, I met with an old friend called Ian, who kindly gave man an interview and then bought me a Cappuccino and a mince pie ( well it is Christmas) in the staff Canteen of the Housees of Parliament.

I got home not long after 5pm and had Pizza with Bridget, snuggled up in front of the tele with the cat and a couple of hot water bottles and a blanket. Lovely Jubbly.

SOME FURTHER LINKS YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN

Zachary Wadsworth ‘Out of The South Cometh The Whirlwind’

A copy of the Order of Service Can be Found here

The Arch Bishops Sermon INSERT MP3

The text of Bishop Rowell’s New Hymn

The Arch Bishops Sermon| 16 November 2011 at Noon

The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan

What is a good translation? Not one that just allows me to say, when I pick it up, ‘Now I understand’. Of course, if I’m faced with a text in a strange language, I need to be able simply to read it; but a good translation will be an invitation to read again, and to probe, and reflect, and imagine with the text. Rather than letting me say, ‘Now I understand’, it prompts the response, ‘Now the work begins.’
One of the most striking things in the wonderful Preface to the King James Bible composed by Miles Smith is the clear conviction that there is never an ideal or a final translation. To translate any work of significance is to reveal a certain range of meanings in the original; but there will always be, as the 1611 translators fully recognized, another range that hasn’t yet been captured and will need another round of engagement with the text. If this is true of any important text, how much more true is it of Scripture, where the meanings are the self-communications of an infinite mind and love? The invitation that Scripture offers is an invitation to a pilgrimage further and further into the mysteries of that mind and love; and a good translation of the Bible must therefore be one that opens out on wider and wider horizons.
We have all suffered from a mindset in the last couple of centuries that has assumed there is an end to translating and understanding and thus that there is something wrong with any version of a text that fails to settle disputes and to provide an account of the truth that no-one could disagree with. But what the 1611 translators grasped was that hearing the Word of God was a lifelong calling that had to be undertaken in the company of other readers and was never something that left us where we started. Of course they believed, and said so robustly in that same Preface, that the essential lines of Christian belief were clearly laid out – belief in God the Creator, God who makes covenant with his people, God who becomes flesh and creates a new and universal community of believers by the death and rising again of the Word made flesh and the gift of the Holy Spirit, God who justifies us in freedom, not as a reward for good works. But this is not so much the revelation of a series of self-contained truths as an inundation of vision, a flooding of human language that can be strange and extreme and bewildering; it is a vision whose presence makes the sacred writers stumble and search for words at least as much as it makes them fluent and persuasive. Doesn’t St Paul say just that in I Corinthians 2? ‘My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.’ That ‘demonstration’ may be most powerful when it is most inarticulate by normal standards, and Paul himself illustrates this again and again. ‘What shall we say then to these things?’ he asks, as he lets himself be swept along lyrically by the joyful mysteries of Romans 8; and ‘O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!’ he exclaims as he lays out the sorrowful mysteries of Romans 11, his agonised meditation on choice and rejection in the history of Israel and humanity and each human soul. His tortuous path towards the celebration of grace is no easy argument but a wrestling with the shattering implications of the events of Jesus’ life and death. And a good translation is one that leads us through Paul’s wrestling in all its clumsiness and passion.

And think too of how the Old Testament prophets cope with this shattering of their world; of Ezekiel trying to evoke the vision of the chariot of the Almighty filling the sky, awkwardly qualifying everything he says with ‘as it were’, and ‘the likeness of’, or ‘the appearance of’. ‘Above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it…This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake’ (Ezek.1.26, 28b). What makes the translation a good translation is that there is no attempt to smooth over the stumbling of the original: it was if it were like the impression of something, as it were…This is the precision of revelation because it is language showing the weight it bears, the weight of a Word from outside ordinary categories. And the 1611 translators never let us down in this, never seek to make it easy. It is one of the things that gives this version its abiding importance. It remains an invitation to work, to open up our own language to this weight of presence and gift.
‘In the beginning was the Word’. Before anything, God is a God whose life pours out in the intelligence of love, necessarily and always. Every created word, even the words we use to speak of this eternal truth, will be struggling breathlessly to keep up with the Word itself, himself. The English Reformation often made use of the phrase ‘God’s Word written’ to describe Scripture. And we should not take this to mean a mechanical dictation; rather it says that when human language writes what God does and says in all his acts throughout history, the Bible is what it looks like. Wax bearing the imprint of what I called just now the weight of the Word. To read or rather to hear that Word in our reading and hearing of Scripture is not to thumb through a volume of records and commands but to absorb Scripture’s language in such a way, at such a depth, that we sense that weight and accept the burden and the joy of labouring at a lifelong response to it.
I’ve mentioned hearing as well as reading. It’s easy to forget that when the 1611 Bible was first published it was not yet a volume that everyone could be expected to own. Like its Reformed predecessors, Tyndale’s Bible, the Geneva Bible, the Bishops’ Bible—and unlike its Catholic parallel, the Rheims/Douai version—it was meant to be read aloud. And that means that it was meant to be part of an event, a shared experience. Gathered as a Christian community, the parish would listen, in the context of praise, reflection and instruction, to Scripture being read: it provided the picture of a whole renewed universe within which all the other activities made sense. It would not be immediately intelligible by any means, but it marked out the territory of God’s work of grace. It affirmed, with St Paul in II Corinthians, that the landscape of the world was illuminated by the new and radical act of God in Jesus Christ, so that the standards of this world and society were shown to be under judgement; yet it also affirmed that this illumination was something it took time to get used to, time to find words for, and that the clay pots of custom and ritual were both necessary and problematic – and that this was simply how human beings heard and echoed the Word. ‘How can man preach Thy eternal Word?’ asked George Herbert a couple of decades after 1611; ‘he is a brittle, crazy glass.’ But, as that great poem of Herbert’s goes on to claim, even in fragile material God’s story can be sealed and printed, and the light come through.

So to celebrate the Bible of 1611 is not to genuflect before a timeless masterpiece, to salute a perfect translation; the translators would have been both baffled and embarrassed by any such idea. It is to recognize the absolute seriousness with which they sought to find in our language words that would pass on to us hearers and readers in the English tongue the almost unbearable weight of divine intelligence and love pressing down on those who first encountered it and tried to embody it in writing; those who like Moses and Ezekiel found themselves overwhelmed by the sheer ‘density’ of divine presence, those who like St Paul found themselves dizzy with the number of connections and interrelations between God’s acts over the ages and unable to put it all into a theory, only into a hymn. The temptation is always there for the modern translator to look for strategies that make the text more accessible; and when that temptation comes, it doesn’t hurt to turn for a moment—for some long moments indeed—to this extraordinary text, with its continuing capacity to surprise us into seriousness, to acquaint us again with the weight of glory – and, we hope and pray, to send us back to the unending work of letting ourselves be changed so that we can bear just a little more of the light of the new world, full of grace and truth.
Christopher Southgate wrote a poem for the meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature here in London last July which captures much of this, and I end with its opening words:

‘To begin on the Bible
To be caught by the rise of a huge wave breaking
To know all the conflict and chaos to be faced
If their book could not command
The nation, the language, in a foment of becoming.
They heard Scripture’s ancient voices, remote,
Tasting of the desert,
Its longing, in a strange land.

Their task they called
A paradise of trees of life. Long hard years
They walked in this forest.’

So we listen in turn; and we walk into that forest, among the trees of life.

© Rowan Williams 2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15761535
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15754581
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15752153

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Nov | 15 | Tue | Westminster Abbey | To The Jews First

2011-11-15T07:24:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS WESTMINSTER - To The Jews First | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

I was planning to preach at speakers corner in Hyde Park in the City of Westminster at 2pm. I might need to take some step ladders to stand on and so with the PA system, I would need the car. I logged on and paid the £10 congestion charge to enter that part of London (Another carbon tax rip off! My goodness, even churches are talking about having small carbon footprint campuses! I am sure we will get into the are where we are doing low carbon footprint evangelism, I mean, we’ve already taken the sulphur emissions out!)

Just in the very cold but nice weather changed today I wanted to make sure that I had a backup location and some interviews lined up.

I rang the Lord Mayor of Westminster. Her PA would get back to me. She did. The Mayor just could not squeeze me in, but wished me well. Obviously she was preparing for tomorrow's event at which she would have a prominent presence.
I emailed a couple of prominent evangelical churches. They never got back to me. Ever.
I emailed Christian radio. No response.
I got an email from Mark who was with me at the first preach. He had pulled his back out when getting out of bed and was in agony. He would not be joining me today. Sigh. I would have to find another camera man from somewhere.

I got back board and marked it up for the last book of the Tour

“The City of Westminster.
Revelation
Book 66 of 66!”

So, I was on the road by 10:30am and the day was lovely. So different to yesterday. The Park Lane car park had loads of spaces and I managed to park the car almost under speaker’s corner. I loaded up my rucksack and I was off to see who was around. It was tourists.

Speaker’s corner was going to be a great place over the weekend but today, it was going to be a bit of a dead loss today.

I walked around the area looking at it from every angle, trying to find the best position to hit the tourists with a message from the book of Revelation. I got cup of coffee. Prayed, looked prayed. Thought, prayed, mused. Prayed scratched my head and prayed some more.
I got up, packed up my bag and began to go and look for another spot in Westminster.

A text came in from my mate Pete Snelling who worked for the Sally Bash up in London. It said “Praying for God’s protection for you and your family today. Asking that your voice will be His and that ears will be open and hearts changed. Bless U.”

I replied to the text with an “Amen” and then began to walk out Hyde Park. Blow me down, if on the very edge of the park I didn’t bump into Pete Snelling right there! He had taken the afternoon off and had come looking for me. Bless him.

So, it was back to speakers corner and with a cup of hot chocolate in my hand, I parked my already haemorrhoidal behind on a very cold outdoor coffee bench just to see if I could grow the grapes of wrath a little more larger than they already were. No healing Evangelist has yet to lay his hand on those bad boys and frankly, if I anyone asked, I would politely decline. Did you know Wigglewsworth suffered with the grapes of wrath terribly for all of his life. Yes indeed, I wonder if a thorn in the side could be contemporised by saying a pain in the rear?

So there we were, me, Pete and a few seated tourists and passers by, when all of a sudden a young guy in his mid twenties walks by us, plonks his bag and jacket down by the railings in from of us all and says something like

“Well, this is speakers corner, so I want to talk about my philosophy on life, which is having fun” and away he went.

Now how can I sum up his philosophy? Well, it was very simply, to go through life facing all things whilst whistling, “Always look on the bright side of life”. It was mental. But you know, Rob (that was his name) did great. It takes some guts just to stand up and for the first time ever, and publicly unpack your own personal philosophy on life and the universe. It was utter drivel, but man what courage and let me tell you, what a nice bloke as well!

I heckled him all the way. But not nastily, no, just good banter. I shouted and asked him if we was on drugs, medication, in therapy, and if he had really thought it all through to which he constantly and thoughtfully responded. I tell you I took my hat off to him.

He came to sit down after his delivery and we shook hands and talked. His friend Michael sat to my right. Michael was from New York and had some kind of a faith. He believed in Jesus, but really it was the cosmic Christ and not the Christ of the bible. Super guys though. I mean we had a great time.

Now it was my turn and time for them to heckle.

I passed Pete the Camera and stood up to do my thing. I spoke for about 5 minutes and not one heckle, on the contrary, they listened intently and when I finished they applauded.

As I went to sit down again, they stood up, shook my hands and we embraced. I tell you, these were lovely guys.

We sat down and spoke a little more. Rob and Michael were both Jews. Michael knew of the day of atonement and all it entailed, rob did not. We spoke to them about Jesus and His sacrifice and parted on the very best of terms. Two nicer blokes I have not met on this tour. Please pray for these two fellas that they might find Jesus as their Saviour, Lord and Messiah.

And that was that. My final wee preach to two lovely Jewish guys, a few Spaniards and some passers by and just to top it all, I had failed to put the camera on video and so all Pete had down was take a couple of snapshots. I am such a Wally. However, I was very cold and very tired Wally.

Across from Marble Arch tube station, Pete treated me to some hot food in Pete a Manger, which was manned by French ladies. After which we got the car, and I drove up to the Abbey to collect the ticket for tomorrows celebrations, I turned Southwards once more and dropped Pete off at his home in Croydon and crawled through traffic all the way back to Sevenoaks where I arrived around 6pm. The tour was now all but over bar the shouting.

Chicken Curry, hot tea and tele. I was asleep by 8:00pm again. I was done in.

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Nov | 14 | Mon | St Albans | Closed

2011-11-14T05:59:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS ST ALBANS - CLOSED | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

I had let myself sleep today. No alarm. Even so I was awake by 07:00am and went down to make the coffee for Bridget. We had our morning prayers together for the first time in a good few weeks. What a blessing.

I was downstairs pounding the keys at 7:30am and Bridget blew me a kiss as she went out to work around 8:10am.

I emailed the communications officer of Westminster Abbey telling him what I had been doing and asking him if I could get a ticket for Wednesdays celebrations and also get some interviews to boot. I hoped there would be a very positive response to both.

I contacted St Albans civic centre to see if I could get an interview with the mayor…however, the Mayor was having a surgical procedure done today.

I contact the university and left a message. No one got back to me.
I contacted St Albans Cathedral, containing the shrine of Saint Alban recognised to be the first Christian Martyr in Britain. They were getting ready for a large event and no one was available to meet with me. Parking was not possible.
I contacted five other city centre churches, but it was a Monday, Pastors were having their day off, and quite frankly, no one was interested. I looked outside at the very dour and very grey day it was. I could understand why, it was a day to stay under the duvet. Unfortunately I couldn’t.
I rang the Christian bookshop and arranged to pop in and say hi. Maybe they could help.

It was a long and miserable drive to St Albans. I arrived around lunch time, maybe 12:30pm and got my bag and headed off to look for a place to do some naked Bungee Jumping. The day was dark. The Market place was too noisy and the clock tower area was virtually empty, save at lunch time when some blazer wearing teenagers were stuffing their mouths with chips. Neither place seemed to be conducive to a message from the book of Jude.

I went round to the Christian book shop

It was good to see Sorted Magazine on the shelves of the Bookshop. Unfortunately Guy could not recommend any churches today and had not had time to access his database.

My goodness. It seemed as though At Albans was totally closed to me today. I could not find a Nero’s in St Albans (not a good sign) so settled for a Starbucks and got a Chai Latte lunch and tried pray and regroup my thoughts and directions. The Wi Fi was not working. Sigh. However my 3G iPad did contain some good news with a a reply from the Abbey which said that though they could not give me any interviews, they did have a ticket I could have! Wehey! I was going to Westminster Abbey and the celebrations of the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible. Result!

I know the Cathedral could not accommodate me but I thought I would get on down there anyways and pray some more, take a ‘looksee’ and see what to do. It was dull and cold, but Ann the guide was warm and welcoming. I am afraid the recording is a little dark, but I think you will find Ann very interesting. She did here Cathedral proud.

The make no mistake about it, though St Albans bones have long since gone, the shrine left to there is still venerated. Yes, though the Puritans and the reformers did quite a good job in smashing it all to pieces, they didn’t do a good enough job as the remains were found and re-assembled and today’s technology has allowed a full reconstruction of the shrine.

It was of course, and still it but less so, a great money making exercise for the monks. The ignorant and superstitious people of the day, tied into dead works and indulgences, desperate some kind f miraculous healing, would have journeyed anywhere and pad money to get what they craved from God. There is still a lot of money to be made in the religious market place today and the folks totting the snake oil and shrines around today are the slick fast talking Evangelical charismatic tele-Evangelist's of today who are still taking money off superstitious mugs. Oh, by the way, I do count myself as an Evangelical charismatic doing the work on an Evangelist)

I wandered back into town, the light was failing, the market place was still too noisy. I grabbed a quick cup of tea, waiting to see if God would open up something in St Albans. He didn’t. So, I paid my money to the parking metre and then headed on back to Sevenoaks where I arrived a couple of hours later. St Albans was a seeming waste of time, the most closed city I had been to yet.

I ate and chilled out with Bridget and fell asleep alongside her two hours before we went to bed.
Tomorrow was my last day on the road preaching and I had invited whoever could come to the City of Westminster and speakers corner in Hyde Park. I hoped there would be a good crowd. Certainly, Mark who had been at my first preach in the City of London was hoping to be there for my least preach and take me for something to eat thereafter. I was looking forward to that. Bring it on!

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Nov | 13 | Sun | The City of CAMBRIDGE |

2011-11-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS CAMBRIDGE - REMEMBRANCE DAY | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

The bad thing about being at home this morning was that I did not want to leave. I was up around 5:45am and the cat (now recovered from his recent illness) was on the couch, on his blanket and meowing to be fed. The high speed internet at home was working well and compared to the last two months my videos seemed to have uploaded in an instant. I still wasn’t feeling well though and it was obvious I was in need of some R & R. I still had 3 cities to visit and preach in and today was Cambridge. And that was about a two hours drive from my home in Sevenoaks.
From my own lounge, with hotwater bottle, blanket and coffee, I reached out to maybe 35 different churches, Chaplains, organisations and Christian Unions. Cambridge appeared to be swimming with them. Today was remembrance Sunday and they were going to be busy.
I was dressed and on the road around 08:15am. I didn’t know what God had planned for me today, where I was going, or when I was going to eat again. Not that had been a problem in any city thus far that’s, for sure, but it was a great excuse to get a Maccy D’s breakfast and a black coffee to keep me going on the journey, so on my way to the M25, I swung down to Otford and picked up some Maccy Vitals.

The roads were clear and the journey was bathed in blue skies and morning sunshine. I wish I was just hanging out with Bridget today.

I was asking God to give me that Golden thread to pick up and follow today when about 09:15am my phone rang with a response to one of my early morning emails. Hannah was a student in Cambridge and was from Norwich. She was thrilled to see that I had been there the previous day and recognised some of the places and people I had interviewed, especially Carrie. Nice! So, I was going to meet her at Holy Trinity around 1:45pm and she was going to take me to the Round Church and ‘Christian Heritage’ who were committed to sharing the history of Christianity in England and demonstrating that it is a real and living faith with the power to change society today and in addition to that, invited me to student homeless outreach tonight meeting at Newnham College. It could be a very long day and frankly, I was wondering if I was going to make it home tonight.

En route I rang my friend John in Scotland to see if he had any contacts in Cambridge. The only one he came up with was Pastor Soandso of Suchandsuch Christian church. I reckoned both Bridget and myself had already emailed him. Sigh…. I tried looking him up on my iPad (I had pulled over) but it wasn’t happening. Oh well.
I arrived in Cambridge around 09:50. There were no parking places or Cathedrals to cajole and so it was yet another expensive city centre car park on Jesus lane. The place was buzzing, uniformed personnel all booted and spurred, a big issue seller ‘guilting’ people into buying “C’mon put me out my misery, buy a big issue, then we can all stop pretending I’m invisible” and across from him a dour 20 year old with a sign saying he was into the 2nd day of his animal rights hunger protest trying to stop the UK government smashing puppies and kittens heads in with hammers. Meanwhile the shops were open, the market already beginning to bustle and if you wanted a coffee and a sit down then you would be lining up a long time in a Q. It’s a mad world made even madder this morning by men in caps and gowns darting past you on bikes. Religion, civic responsibility, remembrance of the armed forces dead and disabled, all vivisected alive by hot iron and glass, education, exploitation, social class segregation and the degradation of the poor all seemed to be squashed into a small area around the Bridge of Sighs, with the fruit of gender carrying vicars, and genderless women with purposefully cropped hair, topping this strange cocktail smoothie mix of madness on this blue sky sunny Cambridge morning. This city looked like a great place to be a middle class extrovert. I mean who would notice and who would care?

For some reason my battery had not charged correctly on my Video Camera, so with an early lunch of a Chai Latte in Nero’s, across from Holy Trinity, I found a socket and plugged it in. There was a service at 11:30am across the way and I might just make it there. I did some journaling until 11:20 and then decided to mosey on over to see what was happening at Trinity. Again, I was not feeling well. I am convinced I have some kind of infection.

Anyways, I asked the young man on the welcome team and also on church staff if he could give the vicar my card and ask him if I could have an interview after. He got back to me PDQ and told me that the Vicar was too busy to have an interview. Fair enough. It was a busy church and a busy Sunday morning.

The speaker this morning, no preaching was done, was a former full career Army Officer and former Commander First Battalion Grenadier Guards from 1997-2000 which included 2 operational tours. David Hutchison reached the rank of Colonel and his Staff experience included posts at Ministry of Defence and HQ Land Forces. This was remembrance Sunday and the former Colonel spoke of the image of crosses in medals of honour, especially the VC. It was a good but unusual message, more suited I thought to a men’s meeting than a church full of say, 300 22 year old brain boxes all being very cool. (NO, I am not being cynical, just observational). One of the more unusual reference points of sharing was when he told us how his recently received gift of tongues had kept him calm and sent him to sleep for a couple of hours prior to a boxing match, thus reserving his energy for the fight. Like I say, it was an unusual message. Maybe you can download the message from their website. I am sure you will find it very interesting. http://www.htcambridge.org.uk/welcome.htm

Service over, I tried to mingle. However, no cool 22 year old wants to talk to a grey haired old fart, so I was pretty much by myself save I eventually gravitated to another young fifty year old and we hung round together leant against an old pillar in the church sucking on our oatmeal chocolate biscuits and tepid tea and making uncomfortable conversation. What a shame I hadn’t the chance to interview the Colonel, after all, I had interviewed his boss the other day. What a missed opportunity. I think I needed to have been more pushy and just barged on over to the pew? Ah well.

I retired to Nero’s across the way and in just a wee while was joined by Hannah. It was 13:45 and she had to be off by 14:30, so after a brief chat, she took me around to the 12Th Century round church where I arranged to go on a 1.5 hour tour of the Christian connections of Cambridge which was being organised by Christian Heritage . Fantastic. I also managed to get an interview with Hannah and the Peter Greyling the development director at Christian heritage who was conducting the tour.

Now Cambridge is a brainy place. Indeed, being there, it made me realise just how stupid I really was and as I was getting older, seemed more prone to be. There is no doubt that we are in need of some great Theologians. Maybe, some time ago, I might have aspired to be one. But it’s too late now. Even so we do need them, and it is true that we do need to follow God with all of our mind and no doubt, all heart and no head has contributed to the imbecilic nature of the church, especially we Biblical charismatics who often times get hooked into such hok-iness in the name of the Holy Spirit that it just isn’t funny. We need to go see the Wizard.

So anyways, the tour started on time. There was about a dozen of us and about ten minutes in this geezer asks me where I am from. I tell him and ask him where he is from and what he does. He’s from Cambridge and is a Pastor. “Which church?” says I.
“Suchandsuch” he says
“Oh you must be Pastor Soandso then!” says I. “How spooky is that! I have been trying to contact you and was just speaking about you this morning and hear you are!”

So, I give the brother my card and then tells him what I am doing. Now, for some reason, my excitement was not really communicated and it felt as though I was a mud pie slipping down a wall. Ah well. Maybe I just did not communicate well? Maybe he had no meetings today? Maybe he thought I was a nutter. In any event, when we got to Latimer’s Pulpit in St Edwards church I was so busy chatting to the church secretary to see if he would ask the vicar if I might speak there tonight that I got separated from the tour and Pastor Suchandsuch just disappeared. What a missed opportunity. I think I needed to have been more pushy and hounded him? Ah well. Sometimes, it’s not just me who misses a God opportunity. Phew!

Meanwhile the church secretary in St Edwards didn’t seem to be confidant that I would get the opportunity to speak. “Listen” I says, “As the great Philosopher has said “Who dares wins Rodney. Who dares wins.” This was Cambridge however and he was obviously not familiar with the my Philosophical reference point. Still, though I left my card but he never called back. What a missed opportunity. I think I needed to have been stayed with him whilst he made the phone call? Ah well.

I eventually made my way back to the Round church. It was dark but the nice geezer still took me by myself around to Sydney Sussex College to see the plaque indicating that Cromwell’s head was buried there, the location of which was only known to three people .The Royalists might just dig him up again.

I paid my £11 for the parking (it would have cost £22 on a weekday) and pulled out a couple of miles to Maccy D’s to get some supper, do some journaling and prepare for tonight’s meeting back at Holy Trinity, where I was going to meet with David Torrance who would escort me to Newnham College for the 8:45pm prayer and preparation for the homeless outreach.
After a couple of hours of screeching kids in Maccy D’s I was willing to confess that I was the one who had killed Cromwell, anything to make it stop, and left the place a very jaded and fatter individual. It was time to get back into the city centre.

It was late and so parking on the street was both easier and more importantly…free! David is a young Theologian and I met him outside Costa at around 8:00pm and we walked to Newnham to meet the other Students.

In the end, there was about 6 Cambridge Christian students. I interviewed three of them and then helped them make Sandwiches and hot drinks for the homeless.

Apparently this project started on an informal basis and continues on one as well. Previous students handed over the baton and introduced the new workers to the existing ‘homeless clientele’. Look you now, these Cambridge Christian students are busy bunnies. They usually don’t have a job whilst studying as the demands of their degree course are so high. They are very bright and very busy, and are usually already committed to their local church in Cambridge as well as the Christian Union there, so, in addition to this, to turn up, plan up, pray up and mount up, for two nights a week it really quite remarkable. I can think of more than enough excuses not to do this, yet there they are, on top of a very heavy workload, reaching out twice weekly to the homeless of Cambridge. Now, I think that is quite remarkable and most commendable.

The wee team splits into two once on the streets. One team patrolling known haunts in the city centre and the other team, like outriders, take about a 45 minute walk to haunts external to the centre which might occupy the stragglers that never make it into the centre. Tonight they only found one wreck of a poor individual, unconscious with alcohol covered in blankets and laying under the Chlorine packed outlet vent of the local swimming pool. Warm but not so good for your health. Hannah tried to wake them whilst Joshua poured a hot drink. The person was not for moving though and so Sandwiches were left next to them for when they became conscious. I walked back with them to the City Centre where they would join up with the other tam and continue their patrol, still armed with Sandwiches and hot soup. I found my way back to the car and as I pushed in my address for home, I got a text from Hannah:

“Thanks for coming out with us this evening – just saw a couple of people who could use prayer – could you pray for Jonny – who needs peace and also a lady who is quite mentally unwell”

I am so glad these guys are out there on the streets. Its quite an example to me in particular.
I got back home around 12:30 and dropped into bed not long after and was asleep by 01:00am. I was aching and absolutely knackered.

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Nov | 12 | Sat | The City of ELY | And Nothing But The Truth

2011-11-12T23:48:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS ELY - REMEMBRANCE DAY | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

I slept really well last night and awoke around 6pm. By 8:45 I had updated the website, washed, packed and was on the road for 8:45am.The roads were clear and it wasn’t long before I was in Ely. It was around 10:00am and I parked the car and, got hold of my stuff and began walking into the city centre.
I could not get hold of the Cathedral staff to ask for free parking, but it didn’t matter too much as this was free and Ely is not a big city.

I hadn’t gone but 50 yards before I found a church with the doors open and a course going on. I popped my head in and asked if I could stay a while. I was well greeted, given a cup of coffee and listened to some course instruction on ‘How to hear from God’ by recognizing God’s voice as spontaneous thoughts and realizing the importance of two way journaling.’ The Christian church this morning had 10 older ladies and two older men. I was the youngest and the other was a former Pastor in town. The subject matter was ‘experimental’. I bought a book and left to continue on into town
2nd John, the letter I was speaking on today, is all about the truth. It is the test of the saints and truth and love go together like grace and peace, and as peace comes out of grace, so love comes out of truth. In other words, truth trumps love. It always will. No I know that sounds hard, but you need to take that up with god and not with me. These last 60 days have seen me filling the role of a travelling preacher and everything I have done must be according to the truth, indeed, if has not been, then you my prayerful readers have in some way partaken in my sin. This is tough stuff isn’t it? And this is what I was going to speak about to a group of prayer walkers who would be returning from a couple of hours of walking and praying around and over their city.

2nd John is usually described as a letter to ‘The Elect Lady’ and today I was heading to the Countess of Huntingdon Chapel to get a snapshot from a great paining of ‘The Elect Lady’ herself, Selina Countess of Huntingdon. I was told that her picture had been moved to the gallery of the chapel, but when I arrived the local amateur dramatics group was in full swing and they didn’t know where it was. It would have to wait until I met the Pastor. So, I was out on the street again until my high noon appointment at the church they would be meeting back at.

It was a beautiful day and the City centre was buzzing, I mean it looked like market day and it was packed. My eyes connected with a Big Issue guy and we got talking. Now this geezer was different to all the rest. He was happy, almost content, not on drugs, very healthy looking and well fed. You see, for him, this vagabond lifestyle was for him. I reckoned he made around £250 a week in selling the Big Issue. He slept in homeless shelters so his overheads were minimal. He bought food, ate well, was clean and banked his profits money every day. He seemed more than OK. He didn’t want to be interviewed and eventually asked me to move on as he had 25 Big Issues to sell and money to make. He wished me well on my journey. A different kind of entrepreneur.

I was hungry and the church where I was having my 12:00 appointment had a coffee shop, no more than that, it had free Wi Fi and even more than that, it had a sugar business with some 15 ladies learning to make sugar items. I love sugar!

Two toasted tea cakes later, all topped with strawberry Jam, I managed to interview the owner and her daughter. Amazingly the owner had gone to the same school as my wife!

CHLOE FROM BUTTERFLY CAKES

LEAH FROM BUTTERFLY CAKES

It wasn’t long after this that the intrepid prayer walkers had returned and I was pleasantly surprised to find among them, two delightful Christian ladies from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who spoke beautiful French and had arrived in Britain via Belgium. Their observations on a nation that had sent them missionaries was both fascinating and embarrassing. I thank God that they are here.

DR CONGO LADIES

After sitting with the prayer walkers and listen to them unpack their observations and impressions, I was again reminded that we are sailing far from the isle of rationalism and close to the shores of postmodern paganism. I am not knocking it, I am simply making some navigational observations. I am going to be investigating and commenting on this much further in the coming days.

ELY MEDITATION

The lovely Pastor invited me to lunch and fed me well. Then we popped into the church where I found Selina facing the wall for protection. I told Karl that I would be more than happy to take her with me and give her a good home. You see, I am an ordained Countess of Huntingdon Connexion Minister…but that’s a story for another day. Today I was going home.

I visited the Cathedral on the way back to my car, and mused over visiting the Ely home of God’s Englishman, Cromwell. But Bridget called. So, I turned the car South and headed on my way.

The rest is my business :)

YELLOW BUTTERFLY CAKES

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Nov | 11 | Fri | The City of NORWICH | The Feet Washers of Society

2011-11-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS NORWICH - REMEMBRANCE DAY | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

Today in Britain at the 11th Hour on the 11th day on 2011, the nation stopped to remember our war dead. Here are some interviews from old Soldiers, including a Royal Marine who was at Normandy and the recent head of the British Army.

General Lord Dannatt – Former Head of the British Army

The Rt Rev. Graham Norvic | The Bishop of Norwich

I was up around 5:00am this morning and managed to get out the door and on the road by about 8:15am. En route, Carrie gave me a call to arrange to meet up in the city centre and kindly arranged for me to park my car in ‘The Chantry’ and lined up a few interviews for me.
Carrie is a gregarious and generous individual with muscles a massive heart and probably one of the most unusual ministries you can would come across. She is an under the radar connector, living by faith and functioning wherever God sends her. It is obvious that here generosity of spirit is respected by all.

Today was going to be an oestrogen packed day. Which for a minister to men, is always going to be a challenge. Frankly, I find it very humbling to see all my sisters working so hard and so valiantly, when most men don’t. Good on yer girls!

So after chatting with Janet, it was off for some interviews at the Sally Bash

Peter was a fascinating guy and raised an observation at the end of his interview which I have now heard a couple of times. Essentially it infers that the rise of the welfare state laid off thousands of volunteer Christian workers and removed the personal responsibility of individuals to care for their fellow man.

Carrie took me over to the Forum for about 11:00am and we bumped into a young woman in her 60’s who is prison Chaplain to men.

Sheila bought me coffee and sat down for a chat. Sheila was driving down the Motorway and was continually seeing prison vans carrying people from court to court to prison. She thought to herself that these then became the hidden and forgotten people of our society and that it is amongst those people that Jesus would have probably gone and ministered. So. She gave up her job and went and did so.

Out of my conversation with Sheila, I spoke with her about her conversion and the circumstances from which it came. She quoted the general confession of the 1928 Book of common prayer call to communion. Here it is |

ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men; We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, And are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; The remembrance of them is grievous unto us; The burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, Forgive us all that is past; And grant that we may ever hereafter Serve and please thee In newness of life, To the honour and glory of thy Name; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“Robert” she said, “The Burden of my sins became intolerable to me”
And I tell you what, I have not heard such a confession from so many who have claimed to be converted today

Meanwhile, Carrie was buzzing around like a bumble bee, calling in at the BBC, calling in a few favours and going back to the car to collect my stuff and now it was time to go outside into the bitter cold to see if we might do some open air proclaiming. Carrie even brought her guitar.
We pitched up in front of St Peter’s in front of that great community edifice called the Forum.

It really was cold and miserable and my battery on my video was needing charging. So, I nipped inside the church whilst Carrie sat outside and started singing. It was freezing but there she was, and then joined by Janet for a wee while, singing out to whoever was listening. And there wasn’t many. Folks were trying to find a warm place as quick as they could. It was obvious to me that this wasn’t going to work. However, a few young people had come over to see what was going on and as Carrie was singing away I interviwed them real quick.

Alex is a Bboy and a nicer chap you could not find in Norwich. Alex hung out with us for a wee while and became my camera man at the next event we went to. He was brave enough to come and join us at the URC church where we had lunch with about thirty folks. The United Reformed Church crew regularly served up the best of meals to whoever could not afford them. Soup, bread, cake, fruit, coffee and sweeties, all served at table. AMAZING. Alex was really impressed with such service and we were impressed with Alex. I shared the Gospel with him and I did tell him that I would be getting everyone to pray for him. So please do. Alex, a lovely young bloke.

So after this, Carrie got her van and ferried us down to another church being used as a Café for homeless people, and an evident hang out of people from the Metachurch, just loving Jesus and serving people. Quite remarkable really. So I got the chance to sit down and speak with a few folks and later interview with the Camera lady, Carries lovely helper.

It was shortly after this that I got a text in from Keith Morris of the Network Norwich website (awesome website by the way) who had arranged for me to go to the opening of a New Extension to the YMCA in Norwich.

Carrie and Sophie had to go, so they dropped me back at my car, unpacked my stuff and prayed with me. Honestly, it had been a most unique and valuable day to be around Carrie and Sophie, Janet and Sheila, the women at All Saints and the URC all getting on and serving God where the rubber meets the road. Remarkable. I haven’t had time to tell you about Carries detours today. Collecting wages to give to former prisoners, telephoning asylum seekers, loaning out her van to other service organisations to help evicted people grab the last of their possessions before they get dumped onto the streets, her ‘Leg Up’ fund….No, and the truth is, there is a lot I have not told you. I asked Carrie if she was an adventurer? “No” she said “I’m just an adult with ADHD” And so may we all be.

I had an hour or so before the 5:30 start at the YMCA and was flagging. I needed some Carbs to keep me warm and so popped into Maccy D’s to tope up on the same and pick up some emails and chat to Bridget. Did I tell you I was going on a diet on Thursday?

I arrived at the YMCA and managed to get an interview not only with the communications officer but also one of the residents who had been living there for two and half years.

Of course, it was also here I got to speak to General the Lord Dannatt and the Bishop of Norwich, a lovely guy, indeed when I apologised about not knowing the correct protocol in addressing him he just said “Oh call me Graham.” And I did.

I got back to my good friend Simon Ladd in Bury St Edmunds about 8:00pm. Beer was poured and Chinese was ordered. He and his wife and family have been such an overwhelming blessing to me. Thanks guys.

I got to my room around 09:45pm. Lined up the videos for YouTube switched off the light and mused on the day. I had been truly moved by Norwich. Christians from all strata society. Young men, Lords, Generals, Bishops, housewife’s, geezers…..all, according the Bishop, the Bible and Lee, damaged people, forgiven people washing the feet of others. Amazing really. I get around folks like this and wonder if I’m truly saved.

At 11:20pm I got notification of a gift made to the tour. It was from Carrie and the emails said….. “Great meeting you today thanks for encouraging so many people . Be blessed! Be a Blessing! Carrie” Truly, it was all the other people who had been a blessing to me today.

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Nov | 10 | Thu | The City of PETERBOROUGH | Baptists, Barbers, and Barking Buddhist

2011-11-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS PETERBOROUGH| (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

I was up at 5:00am. Somehow I had to get my last four blogs posted before I departed for Lincoln, and of course, try and publish my app Devotions for today. I broke for breakfast at seven, wanting to be on the road for 7:30 and in Peterborough for 9:00am. It wasn’t going to happen and it was 9:30am when I finally got the emails off and the car loaded and on my way. Now my Lincoln landlady was lovely. Tough as nails, always wearing a ‘pinny’ but lovely. She even came out to give me a hug as I left. Little did I know but Hugs were going to feature high on the list today.

I still wasn’t feeling good. I think I have an inner ear infection. Have been drinking too much coffee, eating to many Maccy D’s and or full English Fry Ups! In any event, as of next Thursday I would be on a strict recovery regime of rest, exercise and a better diet. This was going to be my last Thursday on the road.

I arrived on the edge of Peterborough and parked myself up in a Maccy D’s with a power socket to see who I could reach out to today. It was already getting late and the clock ticked past 11:00am.
I think probably the first person I contacted was Pastor Tim Edworthy of Park Baptist. He was a busy man today, with church work, a Cathedral service to be involved with and an important funeral on his hand. Even so he would be pleased to give me an interview and he would also check if I could share at a lunch club of around forty folk meeting at the church this lunchtime. Indeed, if I wanted I could stay for a roast pork dinner. Did I tell you I was on a diet as from next Thursday?

In addition to this, Tim wanted me to talk to a Street Evangelist called Chris Duffett who just might be in the city this Thursday and would be a good guy to interview. Tim told me that Chris had some interesting takes on Evangelism, recently having a push on ‘Pastries and Prayer’ offering free cake to folk along with an offer to pray for them. Chris sounded and interesting character. What Tim did not tell me was that Chris was also an artist, speaker, writer ( Smack heads and Fat Cat’s) and founder of The Light Project, ooh, and President Elect of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (2011-2012). Apparantly he would be the youngest President ever and an Evangelist to boot.

I rang the Cathedral but people were running around like mad fools by the sound of it, with lots of visitors today and the ordination service of that evening. However, yes, I could park my car there, free of charge all day. It just so happens that the Baptist church was a five minute walk from the City Centre Cathedral.
So, I parked my car, introduced myself to the lady who lived above the Cathedral’s Coffee and Cake rooms and got on my way to Park Baptist. I was going to be 1 minutes late but that was OK.

The place was buzzing and to my delight and surprise there was a least three young men washing, waiting, and serving the hungry senior citizens. I sat down with Tim and his wife and chewed the cud. And the roast pork, roast potatoes, cabbage, gravy, Yorkshire pudding with rolley polley pudding and vanilla custard to follow. Well, I didn’t want to offend and it had been at least 5 hours since my full English. Did I tell you that this was my last Thursday and I was in the gym and on a strict diet as from next?

I spoke from 2nd Peter and then did a few interviews to follow. I hope you are blessed

I was beginning to look a little dishevelled. Maybe a haircut would tidy me up and perk me up a bit and it just so happened that there was a barbers shop across the way and no waiting to be seen to. So, I parked myself in the char for my £10 chop.

The barber was about my age, and had been doing the same job for thirty years in the same shop in Peterborough. As I engaged him about his city, it was obvious that he appeared perplexed. He was not a racist by any means, but seemed to mourn the loss of his culture and the safety he experienced as child Certainly, the 1960’s were not perfect but the truth is that most kids in the UK went out by themselves in the morning and did not return home until the evening. His daughter had never been out by herself and there were areas in his city that were no go areas, even for him and older white guy. Now, I am just repeating what he told me, but it was obvious this place with a long history of immigration, had some problems it was ‘still needing to work through’ and I suspected that this was an understatement. He certainly seemed very disenfranchised and disseffected and if he was younger and did not have commitments to parents would certainly consider emigration. In Britain, I suspect that these issues will never be addressed and the only way forward is to make peace with the fact that the Britain may of us knew has now long gone and quite frankly, will never be resurrected. Now, we have somehow to make the best of where we are today but I suspect the increasing dominance of Islam in Britain will make that increasingly difficult. Certainly, we as Christians do need to be talking about this more. The haircut was great, the conversation was honest, without rancour but troubling.

I went to find a Nero’s so as to check my email and make a few calls about tomorrow. There was one just around the corner from the Cathedral and I managed with just a black Americano by my side, to contact a Christian Network called ‘Norwich Network Direct’ - it looked like a great website and Keith Morris was exceptionally helpful in saying that he would try and get word out ref my arrival. He also recommended I go to the ‘Forum’ to be available to meet people. I said I would!

In addition to this, I would be in Ely on Saturday and I knew there was a Countess of Huntingdon Connexion Free church there and so I tried to get hold of the Pastor. Interstinglt the book fo the day on Saturday would be 2 John, all about the ‘Elect Lady’ and you know, Selina Countess of Huntingdon was just that. However, that is as story for Saturday.

As I made my way to the Cathedral where I wanted to get a look on the inside of this great edifice before I made the maybe 90 minute drive down to Bury St Edmunds where I was staying with a Pastor friend of mine when my phone went. It was Chris Duffet. He was in town and indeed operating outside the front of a church maybe 200 yards away from where I was standing. Excellent. I made my way toward the church and he met me half way. He was wearing a Dwarffy hat. I would not judge him for this. He was being culturally relevant. And it was also a bit cold.

Chris is an immediately open hearted guy. One of these chaps who makes you question the reality of your own salvation and sanctification. Just wonderful. Apparantly he had been following me on facebook! We chatted for just a wee while as he had committed to speaking to an older man robbed in the orange robe of a Buddhist monk. He obviously had some issues and Chris was had committed to spend time with him.

No problems as this allowed me to get with one of his street partners, a brave lady called Sheila who was giving out free hugs and telling people that Jesus loved them. 42 hugs in a couple of hours. Not bad going really. I think if I stood their offering free hugs, I would probably get a smack in the mouth.

As I stood and watched a Muslim man came by and was embraced by Sheila. He looked a but surprised and went on his way. Two minutes later he was back arguing about alcohol and asking for a copy of the Bible. I gave him one of Chris’s gospels according to John and we exchanged information. He was a Muslim ‘Advocate’ and we talked about Jesus, God, drunkenness and alcohol. All because Sheila gave him a hug. Go figure.

When Chris had finished talking with his orange robed enquirer, we packed up his sings and retreated indoors for a prayer time, where I have to tell you all, I was most thoroughly blessed.

Here is Chris Duffett, and may I say, that you would have to go a long way to find a more humble, encouraging, delightful and dedicated man on the planet. Chris blessed me out of my boots and encouraged my heart greatly. I think the Baptist Union are going to be exceptionally well served through Chris and I would join them just because he was there. A great guy. Ooh and he bought me a Hot chocolate with cream in Café Nero’s when we were chatting with another young minister in training called Kyle. Of course, I had to drink it so’s not to offend him. Did I tell you I was back on a diet next Thursday?

I picked up the car from the Cathedral and was on the road by about 5:30pm. It was dark. I was tired and I still had a number of catch calls to make. I checked my iPad before I got on the road and found out that Network Norwich had come through with their article about my visit tomorrow. The email said “Story now online Victor and I just sent out in e-news to our 2,300 subscribers (including a load of local journalists). Hope you get some response and a warm welcome in Norwich.” Keith Morris you are a superstar. Thank you so much.

One of my many calls on the way down was to the Pastor of the church in Ely, where it was confirmed I would be speaking to a group of prayer walkers at high noon on Saturday. Excellent. I had also decided that on Saturday night I would return home and strike out to the final three cities from my own bed. I couldn’t wait to see Bridget.

I arrived in Norwich around 7pm and it was great to see my old buddy Simon Ladd. I will try and describe Simon tomorrow, the man with more energy and vision in his little finger than I seem to have in my whole body. His wife is a teacher and had just gotten back from a long day and a parents evening, so me and Simon went out for a meal where he treated me to steak and chips over a bottle of wine followed by Cointreau coffee with cream. My stomach is suffering for Jesus and did I tell you that was going on a diet next Thursday!

At the end of our meal I received a text from somewhere in Norwich which read

“Hi! I would be interested in meeting you and possibly helping you meet Christians around the city. Give me a ring if I can help. Every blessing for your day with us in our fine city…Carrie, chaplain to the streets (working with 22 different Norwich churches)”

Network Norwich was already doing its magic.

Around 10:30 I lined up my videos for an overnight upload and was asleep by 11:00pm. Brilliant.

Peterborough - Park Lane Baptist YouTube Bible
Isaiah 40

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Nov | 09 | Wed | The City of LINCOLN | Bringing

2011-11-10T00:43:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS LINCOLN| (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

I was up at 06:00am this morning, packed up and down at breakfast by 07:00am. It was horrible. Avoid Brittania Nottingham. Not very good.

I checked out, paid the £20 to get my car out of the parking lot and was on the road by 08:00 to Lincoln. City 60 of 66.

I pulled into a Maccy D’s just outside the coffee, and loaded up with porridge and Cappuccino, which is the only way to start the day. I started networking and calling, from a booth with a power socket. Amazing.

I called the Mayor and her PA said she would try and contact here even though ti was her day off. I got a call back around 5pm from her PA, telling me that the Mayor had been uncontactable all day. Good on her! If you’re having a break, hide your cell phone!

• I called the ‘Tommy Cooper Memorial Church’ which quite frankly made me giggle, and left a message for the Pastor.
• I texted a Pastoral friend to see if I could kip at his house Thursday and Friday night. I could!
• I called the Methodist church but they had nothing going on today.
• I called the largest church in Lincoln but they had nothing going on today
• I called the five other churches but no one answered the phone
• I called the Methodist church but they had nothing going on today.
• I called the local University and left a message but no one got back to me
• I called BBC Lincoln and left a message with the newsroom
• I called Lins FM and spoke to the presenter who would give me a plug
• I rang hospital radio but no one answered

I decided to go into Lincoln a.s.a.p. and see if anything could be done in the Cathedral. I met Verger Michaels’s brother in law, (the one from St Peter’s yesterday) who happens to be Deans verger but I there was no way anything could be done today. The majestic Cathedral of Lincoln looked as though it might explode with business and preparation with the events of the coming weekend.

I went back to the car, scratching my head as to why nothing seemed to be opening up. John Lonsdale up in Aberdeen even called and hooked me up with another minister down here, but all to no avail. Lincoln seemed to be spiritually closed as a city on a Wednesday. As I despaired, The BBC called and asked if I could go to the studios at 14:30 for an interview. I would be there.
Now, I had seen the word NOMAD on a number of Lincoln web sites and it appeared to be a Christian charity dealing with the homeless in Lincoln. So, as I could not get anyone to pick the phone up. I went to knock on the door and was kindly allowed in to get an interview with one of their street workers.

INSERT VIDEO HERE

Through them I had heard of another church St Mary Le Wigford (who knows?) but it is a very old church and you know has an interesting history some people saying that that King stephen tethered his horse here in the tower during fight with Maud, and subsequently Henry II had his son crowned here and possibly himself in 1154…this is of course challenged by various historians but if there is any truth in it, then it would be probably the only church in England outside Westminster Abbey to hold a coronation! Now, it was under Rev Jeremy and his team, crowning the abject homeless with warmth and honour. Anyways, I went hunting for it.

Unfortunatly I could not find it, so pacified myself with a bacon brie and cranberry Paninini. Nice. By now, I had to go and get back to the car and go visit the BBC. I arrived dead on time, was greeted, taken into the studio and the five minute interview would be broadcast tonight on drive time sometime between 5 and 7pm

I got back out to the car and Pastor Mike called me from Thomas Cooper Memorial church who really wanted to help. Lovely. So I would be speaking tonight at the mid week prayer meeting. Thank you Lord.

Following this, I managed to speak to Rev. Jeremy of St Mary’s Le Wigford and he would be able to see me asap.

Rev Jeremy has been around a bit. A former paratrooper, Major in the British Army and intelligence officer means he’s had a bit of a colourful past. He would not go with all of my Theology for sure, but I tell you, the work he is doing in this broken down old church is just stunning.

INSERT WEB SITE AND BEATTITUDES

It was getting dark and I needed to find a bed for tonight. I decided just to drive around and see what I could see. The Pines guest house was on the corner, it had WORKING Wi Fi and for £35 bed and breakfast looked like a real and blessed option. I really needed to try and upload some stuff!

So I parked the car, got the room and went to work, transferring, and lining up the video uploads. It was about 5pm by now and I had 2.5 hours to go before I met Pastor Mark at Tommy Coopers.

It was great to be with my FIEC family at TCM church in Lincoln and a privilege to share from 1st Peter before a good straight forward prayer meeting!

I got back to my room around 9:30 and rang Bridget. I tried to get on with the type ups but you know, I was so pooped, I just had to go to bed. I am shattered and just hoping I can get through the next few days.

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Nov | 07 | Sun | The City of SHEFFIELD | The Chinese Are Coming

2011-11-10T00:07:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS SHEFFIELD | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

I was zig-zagging North again today. Sheffield calleth, 58 of 66. Unusually for me, I was up late today at 7:00am and you know, I could have slept an awful lot longer. Hmmm.

It was great to have breakfast with Clive and his wife Cath. In my book, they are both giants and in heaven, I hope to be allowed into the ‘great reward’ area to visit with them there. It’s not a theological statement but you know what I mean. This had been a real treat. What I have not told you yet, is that in 1984, we moved back from the USA and next door to some young unmarried Rolls Royce engineers. Clive was one of them and it was our pleasure to lead him to Jesus. To see Clive again today and to see Jesus in him in such strength, was a gift to me beyond description.

I was on the road before nine. It was a typical November morning in Derbyshire. Miserable. Arriving in the city, my Sat Nav took me to a Maccy d’’s that had Wi Fi but no power sockets. They all seem like this in this part of the world. I assume they want to maintain a regular customer turnover. Certainly the Maccy D’s I was in yesterday had cameras clocking your car as you went in and a system that issued £80 fines if you dared to stay over two hours. And they had no power sockets. Cheek.

Still, this Maccy D’s was warm and though my Laptop battery died pretty quickly I managed to get my badly constructed 4 page overview on the Psalms off to the Magazine designer and editorial staff. I am very unhappy with 50% of it and no doubt will be reworking it before it actually goes to print. Anyhoo, after the quick death of my laptop my iPad got me the telephone numbers I desired.

I was there about an hour or so and in the end my day lined up as follows

12:00am |A Nero’s café coffee meeting with Christina Boote who is the Face Book prayer coordinator for 66Cities. It will be the first time we have ever physically met!
12:45pm | An interview with Madame Lord Mayor of Sheffield
16:00pm | Interview at the Chaplaincy of Sheffield University
17:00pm | An invitation to a discussion group at the University Arms in Sheffield
19:30pm | An invitation to visit and speak at 21:00 to the International Café in Sheffield which was mostly attended by Chinese folk.

Praise God!

Sheffield has a nightmare one way system and I managed to temporarily park up next to the famous Crucible theatre. Here I met up with Christina. It was great to finally meet her and I parked her up in Nero’s whilst I went to see the Lord Mayor. We would grab a coffee together later.

The Mayors Parlour in Sheffield has to be the biggest one I have ever seen. Again may I thank the Lord Mayor for giving me time out of her very busy schedule to meet with me.

I managed to get back and spend a very quick twenty minutes with a very patient Christina. It was great to hear her story and find out just how active she was in her church. She has been through a great deal and if you get chance to hear how God has healed here and helped her, then you will be truly blessed. So, why not get onto the 66 Cities group on facebook and drop her a line.

INSERT CHRISTINA VIDEO

I had to find somewhere to stay tonight and managed to negotiate a reduced rate for two nights at the Brittania hotel in my next city of Nottingham. Yes, I had decided that I would make the journey tonight even if it meant arriving very late. They had free Wi Fi and as it was in the centre of the city I would save money on parking. Sorted.

I went back to the socket-less Maccy D’s and got some lunch/dinner and took it to my car. I sat in the front seat with the laptop plugged into the cigarette lighter and power convertor and accessed the internet and began to prepare for this evenings internet Café message and also to see if I could find any way to link the book of Hebrews into the University arms discussion on the efficacy and morality of University fees. Hmmm

Rev Kat welcomed me into the chaplaincy and I collected 4 very interesting interviews!

INSERT INTERVIEW 01
INSERT INTERVIEW 02
INSERT INTERVIEW 03
INSERT INTERVIEW 04

The university arms discussion was like any good discussion done over beer. Kat graciously invited me to make some comments at the end. So I made a few interesting observations about the kingdom of God and then did and interview and left these good folks to get down to the International Café

INSERT UNIVERSITY ARMS INTERVIEW

I arrived at 7:30pm at the Café. These folks have been at this for about 7 years. It is in the heart of student accommodation land and sponsored and staffed by several churches. At the prayer meeting before hand it was made very clear that my method of communication had to very simple indeed and had to be seen as being part on an ongoing evangelical process. No problems. Though, it is very surprising that Chinese high level degree students would be troubled by the English language.

The place was packed. Good job guys. And you know, in chatting with these highly intelligent students it was obvious that they did indeed struggle somewhat with the English language. Don’t we all! But hey, these are the bravest of the brave, coming across the world to study in another language in another country. I am sure the University system is making a packet out of foreign students and I wonder if they will be the primary customers in the emerging education market. Certainly a lot of Brits will not be able to afford to go to Uni. Interestingly, purely as an observation, the Midlands do appear to be awash with Chinese folk.

After speaking from Hebrews I spent a little time talking to a nice Chinese and Taiwanese guy before departing around 9:45pm for the City of Nottingham and my waiting bed.
I arrived around 10:45 and had to stand behind several Chinese folk who were also checking in. This was the night staff, and they were more grumpy than me. I was shocked to find out that there was no parking! I had to park across the way in a very expensive public parking lot. Ridiculous! But I was too tired to complain and so parked my car and pulled by case and bag back to my room on the 8th floor. I had a great view of wet Nottingham in the midnight hours.
I logged on to YouTube and lined up my videos. I even sent off an email to the Mayor of Derby ref my parking ticket.

Dear Mr Mayor
I wonder if you might help me.
I was sorry, that it being a Sunday when I visited Derby, I could not try and get an interview with you. So far on my tour of our nation’s 66 Cities in just 66 Days to speak from each of the 66 Books of the Bible, I have had the privilege of interviewing 12 Mayors, Lord Mayors and Lord Provosts. Maybe we could do a telephone interview? Any way sir, my tour brought me to my 57th city (Derby) on Sunday. I was pleased to be interviewed on BBC Radio Derby and then to have the opportunity to speak at my old church on Green Lane, Trinity Baptist church. I parked up on Forester Street and went into the Church to make myself known. I was told to return to my car quickly and given a Trinity Parking Pass. Unfortunately, it seems within minutes, on a totally deserted street I was given a ticket! I have been in 56 cities in 56 days and this has never happened. Especially on a Sunday. I was quite surprised for sure. I am pretty sure that in contacting the relevant dept myself to get this unexpected ticket rescinded would be to no avail at all and so sir, I am asking if you and your dept might be able to get this ticket cancelled. I hope you don’t this too cheeky Mr Mayor, but to be ticketed so very quickly, on a completely empty street on a very quiet Sunday Morning was quite the surprise! Whatever happens sir, I thank you for reading this email and wish you and your city well
I remain your obedient servant, Rev. Victor Robert Farrell

It had been a long day, and I eventually dropped into bed around midnight. I was knackered.

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Nov | 08 | Tue | The City of NOTTINGHAM | Arsenic & Old Lace

2011-11-08T00:26:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS NOTTINGHAM | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

I was up at 5:30am. The internet had only been alive a wee while to start my uploads, but then had been down all night. None of my stuff was uploaded, thus leaving me now three days behind! The battle for getting the connection fixed would go on all day, but to no avail. Free Wi Fi in most places is a complimentary service. The providers have no obligation to fix it. And they didn’t. Sigh…..

Frankly, I wasn’t feeling too well today. I don’t know if I have a bit of a head cold or my 59 days have finally caught up with me, leaving me exhausted but almost as soon as I got up, I was ready for bed. A friend called me to see if I was OK. He had not seen any blog posts the last three days and wanted to make sure I was still keeping on. It was an encouraging call in many ways and greatly appreciated. Tell you more later. Meanwhile I had already picked up two emails, one of which was chasing me about ‘where their video interview was,’ and the other asking me not to put their video up as my visit had created a somewhat of a crisis. Oh dear! The day and all its repercussions were calling.

I went for breakfast around 7:30. Fried eggs this time, but you could tell that the hotel was struggling. Everywhere was more than a bit grubby. I got back and decided to have a bath to see if it might perk me up. It did a little, but not too much, my body was still feeling mighty aged.
Anyhoo, after drying off and doing some tidying up of my stuff, it was gone 9:00am and so I went on to make some calls and was graciously allowed by St Peters church Nottingham to come and speak at their lunch time communion service, and also another church called GRACE which meets in the former labour exchange also returned my call to say I could come and do some interviews in the afternoon. Grace was not too far from St Peters, so that was great, indeed, St Peters was less than ten minutes away from the hotel. I decided to go and check it out. I wanted to see if I could drag my PA system down there without moving the car. Despite the damp weather, I had a feeling I would be doing a little open air speaking today.

Nottingham’s market square had the now familiar ‘Occupy the whatever’ tents up. The little Himalayan shanty town of igloo shaped tents were all neatly corralled at one end of the square. I decided to go and check them out, and see if I could get a few interviews.

The church is reluctant to get involved in Politics. Unless it is in Northern Ireland. It would appear that both it and its ministers have been muzzled to a point of utter ineffectiveness. Yes, the church’s ministers have become political eunuchs for should they ever open their mouths with comment, condemnation or suggested solution, someone just might fire them. It would appear that the church is so far above these things that the best thing it can do is to make tea and sing songs whilst copulating ignorance and numpti-ism give birth to ineffective political dwarfs who never grow out of their diapers. And there should be enough in that little sentence to offend a multitude of wet onlookers. I thoroughly believe that we the church have political solutions to the mess we are in, but tell me, where on earth are we on the political horizon? I see no ships!
Behind the tented ‘information desk,’ I asked some slightly probing questions of an unshaven ‘oik’ (well, he was) wearing a dwarves hat, sorry, I mean a political protestor wearing a Peruvian bobble hat. I was trying to find out just what they were trying to achieve by all this camping out? I was simply, trying to smilingly and politely probe for some cohesive and logical even slightly intelligent reason as to what they wanted to change and how they were going to do it. However, all my simple questions, seemed to simply exasperate him until after less than five minutes he walked away from me suggesting I seek some help for a mental condition he perceived I had. Yes, I needed to see a Psychiatrist. Frankly, I probably do. However, I do know what I am trying to achieve and how I intend to achieve it and why. He hadn’t got a clue. Neither did his dwarfy hatted mates. Sorry, his Peruvian bobble hat adorned political activists. Well, those who weren’t asleep in their bags, after all, it wasn’t yet mid day.

I think, I might sum up what he in particular wanted by saying that he wanted to see each country have its own manufacturing base and free global trade with jobs for everyone with a wage cap limit on high earners, and substantial tax breaks for Peruvian hat makers in China. This sounds pretty much like a communist philosophy to me. Oh and also he did not want any world leaders representing their own country but simply an elected global speaker who would represent the planet to…..? well I suppose to itself. As a secondary issue, they all in Nottingham wanted a free lease from the local council on a large empty building to run a community centre which free marmite for everyone over the age of 65. I reckon his dwarfy hat needed un-tightening a bit. This was just plain Peruvian bonkers.

A nicely dressed old woman passed by and was accosted and told she looked like she had a few bob to share with others. She replied that she was a pensioner and had worked since she was fourteen. When asked what she did, she told them she helped rebuild a bombed out country after Word War II. She was told she should have been thankful she had a job.

The democracy and the freedom we have has been bought with people’s blood. It allows us to form political parties with practical objectives to proclaim its views, get elected and thus push forward social change. Maybe, just maybe, if these folk got off their arses and out of their tents and tried to do just that, THEN we might just see some change. Can we do it? Yes we can! Who said that now?

The existing political parties have all failed abysmally, each one allowing the gap between the rich and poor to grow like a yawning abyss. If this is not fixed. They and we all, might just fall down it. In any event, before that happens, I am pretty sure we might just go to war again just to take our minds off the crisis before us. Syria? Iran? Another surprise maybe? Let’s wait and see,

The church however, especially the established church, has thoroughly committed the sin of the book of James in bowing down in preferential deference to the rich. The confusing thing is that it has done this whilst doing probably more than anyone else in taking care of the poor? It is grossly confusing. Tell you what though, to the growing Islamic community and to the sizable secular society it is still an absolute irrelevance. This needs to be addressed. Yesterday. Maybe we should start getting our Biblical shaped personal opinions out of the cupboard of fear, for the gap between how relevant we think both the church and are Bible are is so far removed from what other people think, I reckon we must all be wearing our own invisible dwarfy hats that are all a little tight.

Anyhoo, as for all our ‘occupy the city’ stuff. Unless you can come up with practical solutions and workable policies, go home. And as for our existing and continually failing governments, watch out, because many of us are now going to rise up like never before and ballot box you out of the ring. I am calling all Christians to now thoroughly engage at every level with the political process. If someone tells me they are ‘in the city for the sake of the city’ once more and are not part of the political and governing authorities, I will, from hence forth, give you a slap! Your faith without works is dead. ‘In the city for the sake of the city’ what does that mean anyway? I’ve been hearing that for 15 years now on both sounds of the pond. Stop saying it! Its so annoying!

One more thing to note about my encounter with the Nottingham Peruvian attired political inactivists, was my brush with yet another angry and abusive atheist. Its always astonishing to me how angry most atheists are and how derisory they are in their so called scientific approach to Christians. I think this whole turning of the cheek business needs to be dropped for these folk. Honest, God forgive me, I just feel like smacking them in the mouth! Can anyone please find me a ‘get out’ clause regarding not repaying evil for evil and all that, blessing and turning the other cheek, cause these angry offensive folk are really getting on my wick! I know, I know. I am repenting even as I type. Even so, is there such a thing as a calm and nice inoffensive atheist?

So, anyways. I went back and got my board and changed the lettering to “City 59 of 60 – Nottingham and the book of James.” I dragged the PA and board down to the church in time for the Communion service and arranged to give my little proclamation after the service, both inside and outside. However, St Peters did not at this time want me proclaiming form the church steps just in case they were seen to be associated with what I said publicly.

Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera and so had to hightail it back to the Budget Hotel and the 8th floor to get it. Sigh. I got back half way through the service and after Rev. Christine had finished up, stood up to find that everyone had stayed behind to listen. Actually, St Peters had about maybe 15 people there that day and they all listened intently and a couple even came out support me outdoors.

I set up my board facing the upward stream of the Nottingham shoppers. I recruited a very active young man to do the video recording.

INSERT OUTSIDE VIDEO HERE

I interviewed a couple of people after, one of which was my cameraman who had been awake for a month. I told him that his condition must be sending him bonkers! He replied “No, its sending other people bonkers.” Please pray with me for Michael as he bounces around Nottingham with his King James Bible.

INSERT VIDEOS.

I left my PA and board in St Peters and went down to GRACE church. It’s a great building and a surprisingly younger congregation of former students. Maybe 3-400 folk. I did not have time to do any real homework, but it would appear that the city of Nottingham and its 60,000 students are wells served by young and growing churches. My impression was that churches were working well together here and were established, healthy and growing. I would love to have my impressions conformed.

I popped into a local store and picked up some vitamins and some grub for later. I was exhausted. I went back to my hotel and complained to the manager about my lack of Wi Fi, his lack of information on his lack of car parking space, and a couple of other things. He listened but could do nothing. So, no Wi Fi connection again tonight.

Arriving back in my room, I was so glad that I had nothing more to do today. I need a sleep. I ate my reduced in price clearance chicken sandwich, downed some fizzy pick me up vitamins and got my head down for half an hour. I am aching. Day 60 tomorrow, 7 more days to go. I intend to make it. Please God.

When I woke up, I typed for a few hours and then had to re-park my car. I got back. Packed in preparation for an early start tomorrow, got a bath, rang Bridget and then got my head down once more. For those interested. The Cat seems much better. I hope I am feeling the same tomorrow.

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Nov | 06 | Sun | The City of DERBY | Avoud Bald Men

2011-11-06T22:48:00.000-08:00

THIS WAS DERBY | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

I was up at 6:30am-ish today, packed, breakfasted with Ron and Beryl and out of the door by about 8:30am. The service started at around 11:45 and I wanted to be at the church at 10:15. Apart from the Pastor not many people knew I was coming, and that included Clive and Cath Barker, missionaries on furlough from Pakistan who are very dear to our hearts.

I parked in the centre of Derby just down from Green Lane. In 1977 I got the bus from Staveley to Chesterfield and then the train to Derby. I had an interview at the Royal Navy recruiting office. The Medical was carried out at what is now Admiral house on Green lane. I was a not a Christian and had no interest in Jesus whatsoever. Yet, less than 100 yards from this medical centre was the church I would be a member of and preach in not a few times, and then again, today. Amazing. By the by, I remember being naked in my medical and told to stand on my tip toes, flex my muscles and pirouette. I was 17, still less than 110 pounds when wet and I am sure they were having a laugh. I think they might get arrested nowadays.

I found a Nero’s to do some preparation in from the book of Philemon and interestingly enough, walked past the very spot I first ever preached on in the open air. There should be a brass plaque on the ground which reads “He was here as well!”

Derby was mostly deserted on this Sunday Morning and I drove to the church and parked on a deserted road across from the church.

Trinity Baptist church has been around a long time. It’s had its upheavals for sure, but has been faithfully attended to by a number of committed folks over the years, and blow me down, the bald headed geezer on the sound desk was my old mucker Mark and both our kids had been a page boy and flower girl at his wedding with Maureen. Howe wonderful. Time has taken its toll on both of us. My Belly and his follicles. Gail another dear friend from the past asked me where I had parked my car and discovering that I had done so on a the street opposite gave me a parking pass and told me to move it quick as the collection sharks where very active on a Sunday. A Sunday? Parking’s free on a Sunday in most cities, even on single yellow lines and I was in a clear space?

I went out to find my solitary car being looked at intently my Marks wife Maureen. She did not recognise me. I couldn’t help myself. The spiritualist church was just up the road and so I shouts to Maureen “hey are you a Christian” and she says “yes” . “Well says I I have a message for you from God”. Now I can see that Maureen’s a bit panicked so I deliver my message quickly. “At all costs, you must avoid bald men.” And she turns and walks away! So I gently calls after her “Maureen it’s me” and she turns worried and says “Do I know you?” Now, I must admit that I felt like Jesus with Mary in the garden of resurrection on a the first Lords day and was sorely tempted to say “Touch me not but got my disciples and tell them that…” But I didn’t. I just gave her a hug and said, “It’s me you daft bugger, its Bob”. I really should have auditioned for Christ in the Centre. Put my head in a bucket of Grecian 2000 and gone for it.

Pastor Murray welcomed me and Clive recorded the message from Philemon. I hope you are blessed. Many of the folks seemed to be and one young man in particular.

Now, the Pastor was very quick off the Mark and invited me to lunch with id delightful family we dined on Pasta followed by apple crumble, icecream and custard. I am putting my stomach through hell for the sake of the GOSPEL

Here is my interview with the Pastors of Trinity Baptist Church
INSTERT MURRAY AND WIFE VIDEO

It was nearly 4pm when I left the lunch time get together and arrived at yet another Maccy D’s before arriving at my hosts for the evening, my very good friends Clive and Cath Barker.
The only power socket available for me again was in the kiddies section, where my ears were once again accosted my much screeching. Is this a new phenomena? Have kids always screeched with impunity. Have parents always had the insane ability not to let it bother others or themselves? Mind you, I was in the kids section. Even so. Have you tried finishing of a study in the book of Psalms on a Sunday afternoon in Derby surrounded by screeching kids. If this were ever used as torture I would ‘fess up to anything to make it stop.

I arrived at Clive’s at around 6:30pm. This was one of my treats of the whole tour, to be sat with these good folk and you know, they fed me yet again and out of consideration of their efforts, I did eat and was no more an hungered. Clive gave me a very interesting interview and I recommend it to you

THUS FAR - THIS IS 'THE INTERVIEW'

Despite the joy of being with Clive and Cath. I was well pooped and dropped into bed around 10:30pm. I am really beginning to feel the pace. I think I shall finish this tour most thoroughly exhausted and spent. Maybe that is how it should be. I have thus far given it my all and a little bit more besides.

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Nov | 05 | Sat | The City of LEICESTER | Christ in The Centre

2011-11-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

THIS WAS LEICESTER | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO IF ITS NOT HERE - DO CHECK BACK LATER -MEANWHILE :

I was up at 4:30 today and journaling up yesterdays adventures. In addition to this, I have to have completed an overview of the book of Psalms as the editorial deadline for the magazine I write for has been brought forward. SORTED will go into W.H. Smiths in January and so the heat is on!

I packed and breakfasted with this lovely family having very healthy poached egg on toast and was on the road by 9:00am. Leicester was not too far away. I was going to meet Rev Barry at one of his churches and speak at the jumble sale café.

It was great to meet Barry and another ‘Vicaress’ and of course to speak a little from the book of the day as well as do a couple of interviews

INSERT VICARESS INTERVIEW

Now, it just so happens that today, Barry and some others were interviewing a few prospective Messiahs and I was graciously allowed to come along and be a fly on the wall during the interview process.

‘Christ in the Centre’ is an annual event put on by a number of churches in Leicester which is in effect a resurrection (excuse the pun) of medieval passion plays. Being a multicultural city with several religious multicultural events has led to the privilege of a Good Friday passion play. With up to 10,000 onlookers, the 60 dedicated amateur staff are headed up by professional actor playing Jesus. I am told, and I believe it, that it is a VERY moving affair. I certainly hope to be in Leicester myself when the 2012 Christ in the Centre production goes live.

I got out of the interviews between 3 and 4pm maybe and headed over to the city of Derby to hunt me down a Maccy D’s. I had some serious preparation to do regarding the book of Psalms.
I must have arrived around 5pm and my first Maccy D’s next to the football stadium (I used to sell advertising space for the ‘Derby Ram’ by the way) did not have power sockets. Why have Wi Fi without power sockets? Mental. So I stayed until my battery died and got myself to KFC. It was a trial I can tell you. Have you ever tried to study the book of Psalms, when you are surrounded by screeching kids and a tiles floor with metal legged chairs. It was torture. Even so, I made my coffee last about three hours and got on best I could. Psalms was taking priority over everything at the moment, including my daily journaling and blog publishing. This had to get done. Now, you might be interested that each Bible Book overview for the mag will in totals take me an average of around 30 hours solid work, from my home study. Goodness knows what this was going to look like with 13 hours work mostly from KFC and Maccy D’s with a bad internet connection! Thank God for the internet, other hills to graze upon and those two marvellous gifts of the Holy Spirit called cut and paste!

I arrived at the people I was staying with tonight around 8:30pm. It was great to see Ron and Beryl again, both in their 70’s and both looking tremendous. They have a big mad chocolate Labrador to keep them young at heart. We all used to go to the same church together a long time ago when we lived in Derby and so we chatted over all times, caught up on family and people we knew, and they graciously allowed me to fall into bed around 10:00pm.

I got to bed. Called Bridget and honestly, only had the strength to say goodnight darling. I must have been asleep as I turned the light off. I am really beginning to feel the strain.

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Nov | 04 | Fri | The City of COVENTRY | Bombs & Naked Ladies

2011-11-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

THIS WAS COVENTRY | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

I am in Leicester today so do please pray for me. Thanks

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

Coventry and its city centre present the two things it is famous for even today. First the nakedness of Lady and secondly, the shell of a the bombed out Cathedral emblazoned with the Words – Father Forgive.

Let’s let Wikipedia deal with the first one when it says: ‘Godiva (Old English: Godgifu, ‘god gift’), often referred to as Lady Godiva (fl. 1040–1070), was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants. The name ‘Peeping Tom’ for a voyeur originates from later versions of this legend in which a man named Tom had watched her ride and was struck blind or dead.

Secondly, on November 14th 1941, in one night, the first concentrated Nazi air raid destroyed or damaged about 60,000 buildings in the centre of Coventry, and is known to have killed 568 civilians. The raid reached such a new level of destruction that Joseph Goebbels later used the term Coventriert ("Coventrated") when describing similar levels of destruction of other enemy towns. During the raid, the Germans dropped about 500 tonnes of high explosives, including 50 parachute air-mines, of which 20 were incendiary petroleum mines, and 36,000 incendiary bombs. The shell of the burnt out Cathedral still stands today as testimony to this awful destruction.

I was awake by 5:00am this morning and finishing my journaling. Breakfast was at 8:00am with a repeat of yesterday’s communal small talk, however, the bacon and eggs were good!

I finished off my emails, packed, loaded up and was on the road by 10:10am. Coventry was not too far away. On the way in I contacted the Cathedral and spoke with the PA to the Dean, who was very helpful. She would get back to me.

My Sat Nav miraculously took me directly to the Cathedral. The ruins looked magnificent but the once new post WWII structure of a Cathedral which was designed to be connected to it looked thoroughly awful.

I was still waiting for the PA to get back to me. Remaining in mu illegally parked car then, I called the local Jesus Army Centre and spoke with a geezer called Piers. Now, my wife Bridget’s brother is associate with Jesus Army and I have always been impressed by their dedication and so I really wanted to have an interview from them to add to the rest I had gathered on this tour and so I was delighted when Piers said I could both visit and interview him and thenspeak at the drop in centre at 2:30pm from the 55th book of the Bible which was 2nd Timothy. Now, no sooner had I put the phone down when it rang and hanging off the end was the guy I was staying with tonight.

Peter worked for the Barnabas fund which, can you Adam and Eve it, was literally adjacent to the Cathedral and not 50 yards in front of me. Peter immediately came to see me and of course, I immediately interviewed him.

Being warned of hungry parking attendant sharks, I moved the motor down into the Cathedral parking space and popped in to the visitors centre to inform them who I was and what I had done. They understood, and having put my name on the inside windscreen of the car, I walked over to the Barnabas centre for the official tour and coffee. When I get off this tour, there is no doubt that I will go into withdrawal as I cut down on my Caffeine intake
.
The Barnabas fund are doing a phenomenal work and I was particularly interested in finding out that I had been probably eating Imam blessed Hallal meat in Maccy D’s! Another story for another day, but check this out a little.

By the time I got out of Barnabus I had an hour or so to kill before my meeting at Jesus Army. So I thought I would check out Coventry City Centre and then see if I could find a Nero’s Café.

Now considering that just about all of Coventry City Centre is less than fifty years old, I had expected to find, horrible 1950’s and 1960’s concrete high rises and you know they are there, BUT, Coventry is one of the nicest city centres I have seen. They have made an excellent job of making Mutton look like Lamb. The Nero’s was a cool circular shape as well. Though for some reason I could not get access to the internet? Anyhoo, whilst I was there the PA to the Dean called back and YES, I could park my car (phew) and YES I would be welcome to speak from the 55th Book of the Bible to any warm bodies I could find, in both the ruins and the new Cathedral. How nice was that. So I told them I would be there around 3:30pm.

I arrived at the Jesus army centre for 2:15 on the dot and was greeted by Piers. I think those who have taken the MASSIVE step of entering into Community with the Jesus Army have in effect entered a modern day monastic order, living by certain sacrificial and servant heart ‘rules of life’. This band of monastic brethren then, were reaching out and serving the city community very well indeed. I had a great and thoughtful, even educational interview with PIERS. After the grand tour of course!

I have to say, that with my experience of homeless people, the poor and the addicted on the streets of Britain, Jesus Army seem to be the only people I personally can credit with ‘success’ in terms of journeying with broken redeemed people as they move into wholeness. I think their ‘rule of life’ leads them to such a sacrificial sharing that the consequent openness of their family life somehow fosters acceptance, respect and growth. It’s not without tears of course. Indeed, though the centre was opened by a homeless man who later came to faith in Jesus, he was later murdered by other homeless folk for not a great deal of money which he was carrying on him at the time. The small chapel in the Jesus Centre has two books of remembrance documenting some 50 deaths of people personally known to them over the last ten years.

It was great to share with some of the folks of the Jesus Army drop in Centre, some of the final thoughts of an ex con called Paul, who was about to kick the bucket himself. And he knew it. Last words spoken are very important words.

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8 NKJV

I hope you are blessed as well

I spent some time after chatting with some folks and got a tip from an Evangelist that I should really remember people’s names. I wish I could! Anyhoo, I had to get on back to the Cathedral.
My free parking space was still available and I was looking forward to seeing inside and going inside what appeared to be a veritable monstrosity. The architect described his building I believe as a ‘Plain box with Jewels inside’. I need to tell you now that he was so right and I was so wrong.
On this tour thus far, there have only been two Cathedrals where I have been emotionally overcome and this was one of them. The Cathedral seems to contain a ‘visiting presence.’ The architecture is beautiful, the space is massive, the Word of God is everywhere, write large. Coventry Cathedral is filled with Jewels and most of them have a spiritual quality about them. I just loved it.

I found the spot where I wanted to speak from 2nd Timothy and though ‘Organist Number 4’ was practicing on the inter-galactic instrument, the head verger was kind enough to have her desist for five minutes or so, so that my words could be heard and a recording made.
One of the staff recorded the Mediation and I hope you are blessed.

Now, immediately after this, I went to thank the Organist and of course, to ask her for an interview.

Of course, I could not resist recording her musical interpretation of this Sundays Bible reading at the Cathedral and she very kindly, obliged in playing it for me. So here it is

I got back to my car and did some work, and then arrived at Peter and his wife’s house in time for Spagbol. Loveley jubbly. Later, they were off to a Bible study and I was off to the local Maccy D’s to catch up on some study and make some calls. Tomorrow I was going to be staying with some very old, old friends in Derby, and touch based with them to check on my Saturday night ETA. In addition to this, I had made contact with a vicar in Leicester who took care of a few city centre churches. I was going to be meeting with him at 10:30 tomorrow morning.

Maccy D’s was a bit mental tonight. Maybe it was because it was bonfire night and the fireworks were filling the air, but the little kids were painted up, hyped up and screeching. I hate screeching. A couple of teenagers were trying to stick their tongues in each other’s ears behind me and none of this was conducive to study. Even so, I persevered for a couple of hours over yet another cup of coffee.

I got back to the house around 9:40pm and by 10:30pm, I was tucked up in bed asleep. I was knackered. I was too tired to think about what tomorrow would bring.

P.S. I used to own a Hillman Avenger. It was rubbish but it grieved my heart when I got rid of my Rover 700 series. Also, the Specials are one of my top bands, with far too many hits to put up here. But if you like ‘2 Tone Ska’….enjoy!

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Nov | 03 | Wed | The City of BIRMINGHAM | Preacher Jim Casy

2011-11-03T01:49:00.000-07:00

PRAY FOR ME TODAY | FRIDAY | 03rd NOVEMBER AS I GO TO | COVENTRY

THIS WAS BIRMINGHAM | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

I slept like a log last night and was awake around 6:00am. Journaled a spot, showered and breakfasted around 800am. Good local sourced bacon and sausage. Excellent. It was a single large dining table with a great deal of uncomfortable small talk. Not good for the indigestion.
I got back to my room, rather perplexed at what to do today. St Jonathan of Wolverhampton had hooked me up with a corporate Chaplain and my mate John the Scot in Aberdeen had hooked me up with Claudio whose daughter worked at Birmingham Christian Centre who also had gotten a room for me for the night if I needed it and said that the Pastor knew me? Really?
So anyway, I checked BCC out on line and sure enough, the face of Mark peered out at me! Excellent

So, as it happens in Stories, Claudio was at BCC doing some work, and so I could pop in and see him at 10:30 for an interview, interview Mark at around 11:00 and then fly the around the corner to interview the Corporate chaplain for 11:30.
And I did

INSERT CLAUDIO VIDEO

Mark was a diamond, inviting me to use the City Centre church as a base for operations, for taking a lie down, for mediation, for mucho coffee, which by the way has become the latest place for communal activity. Eating and a drinking, coffee and cake is the new way to communicate. Of course coffee shops are now for churches of every kind not just a source of connection, but of income. If the church has leased out part of its building to a commercial shop, then I would suggest that the lease has the proviso of ‘Sup Interruptus’ etched into the contract. Which clearly states that ‘Within the agreed bounds (see subsection 4 paragraph 2 a) the Café space may be adorned with proclamation sung or otherwise at any time.” If its not elased out its building, then I would suggest you dare to break your own rules and despite the business consequences, which might be quite substantial either way, you practice Sup Interruptus.

So anyway, I drove up to yet another Coffee shop to meet the chaplain, put in £2.50 in the meter for an hour’s grace and got myself indoors. The parking attendants were already prowling like sharks, ready to slap on a sticker if you were a minute over time. I had to watch myself here.
A former lawyer,Deborah had only been in the job for about ten months. She had some good things to say. After all, it is quite true that we Pastors see the need for men to serve the church rather than we serve the men. C’mon guys let’s be honest, most us want what church men we have left, to be ‘around.’ We want them on the doors, with the youth, at the breakfast, in the prayer meeting, at the midweek meeting, and twice on Sundays if possible. And we all know, that all of this is virtually impossible. So, I think Church Pastors in the 21st Century do really need to see themselves in the job of stores and supply, taking resources to the men of the church community as they work on the front line. Maybe then, these folks will truly see themselves to be indeed, ‘on the front line’ and rise to the task of becoming true Christian soldiers. So Pastors, get your guys to invite you to work. Go meet them where they are. Be their servant. Supply them to do a task you are not in the position of doing.

‘Specific Calling’ was another issue we discussed. To me, it’s a bit like the old red herring of marrying ‘the one!’ My view is, that after a first night of honeymoon romping, when you wake up and look over at your lover in the clear light of morning, guess what and no matter what…..they are THE ONE! Let me unpack this a moment in terms of employment. I do believe that people have a vocational calling. Some folks are called to the caring professions, the teaching profession, mechanical professions, etc etc…I believe that. However, there is more than one arm and more than one company and more than one job within the caring profession et al, that you might like to work in. So, if your called to be a lawyer, (and frankly I’m not sure it’s righteous profession to be in mind you) then don’t think God has rejected you if you can’t get a job as a Barrister. Maybe you need to be a Barrista for a while whilst you are volunteering in getting some charities sorted out with the charities commission. God has called you to work and to work and fish in a particular sea, however, the tidal jobs available in that sea may wax and wane depending on the economic climate and you know, you may even have to go to the seas of a different countries to fulfil your heart’s desire. Be flexible! We need to get real about this stuff, if God has called you be a Coal Miner in Derbyshire in 2012, then I suspect you are going to be sorely disappointed. Not that God would ever call people to such a menial task mind you! Yes indeed, most real people are not after the luxury of callings, they are after roof and table provision. Look, my point is this, what you are doing right now, is where you can glorify God and enjoy Him forever (unless you are a lawyer) so just get on with it. Anyways, now I have lost myself in my own rant, I shall move on, suffice to say, the church leadership are there to support and supply its members labouring on the rock face. We have our church supply structures al, the wrong way round. You know, if we could take some of the inginouity we have applied to food banks and the like and apply it to feeding the flock in their place of work, then you know, we just might see people growing.

I went to Birmingham Cathedral and the Dean was out. Why am I not surprised . However, one of the Vergers kindly laiased with a Canon and boom, (little pun there) if I came around 5:30 that night I might be able to speak from 1st Timothy at evening prayers. Nice.
Mark had also told me that he might be able to get me into to speak to a young Christians group tonight.

As I sat there I was tapped on the shoulder by a very upset 25 year old Polish guy looking for a priest. He was thin enough to be doing drugs. He smelt of pungent tobacco and was sweating. Whatever he was about to say was going to be very difficult for him. Now, I have been duped before and will no doubt be duped again, but this man’s story seemed genuine. Lost his mother to cancer, came for a job in Birmingham, it fell through, he starts work at another job on Saturday and needs £25 to give the guy he is staying with so he is not homeless. If he was conning me, then he was doing a stunning job. The verger gave me some contact details and I started to ring round. He had no phone. Some numbers just never picked up. It was 12:15 and I could smell the circling sharks. It’s hard to minister when you are thinking about wheel clamps and fines.

He was just 25, the top end of homeless and vulnerable. He needed a referral and I managed to find the place he had to go to get a referral. It was on the backside of the bus station. So I took him outside and we flagged down a passing pedestrian and asked her for directions. Yes, she was walking half way down there and she would be pleased to walk with us and then we could get directions from someone else. He seemed happy as the three of us made our way to the backside of the bus station. Now at this point, even the best of dupe merchants would have made some excuse and done a runner, he was staying the course. As for me however, I could see the shark fins break the surface of my waters. I was now past the hour. I took a tenner out of my wallet and pushed it in his hand “I’ve gotta go mate, look here’s the money I owe you and I’ll catch you again sometime.” This young man wanted a job and not a hand out and the last thing I wanted to do was to embarrass him in front of the lady.

I beat the sharks back to my ‘dead meat’ car and in short time was back at BCC to make full use of their coffee shop, leather chairs and free Wi Fi. I really needed to get ready for 1st Timothy and if at all possible do a little work on the book of Psalms.

I got back to the church around 12:45 and sat down to do some catch up. I was glad that tonight was sorted out. The excitement of Birmingham city centre was calling me outside. I knew that the possibility of adventures with God out there were high, but you know, my publishing deadline commitments were calling me to heel. Today, I had to get on with them and God had already seemed to have lined up two opportunities to speak. We shall see.

Meanwhile, Radio Derby had been in contact over the last few days and had invited me on to the Radio Program at 08:45 on Sunday morning. They also wanted to do a web page on my visit. So I rang an old church I used to be member of called Trinity Baptist Church in Derby and YES, I could speak at their church on Sunday morning. How about that!

About 3:30am I needed to go to the bank, so I slipped out and into town passed the all the plastic smiled chuggers. Apparently, now there is a three step rule to stop them pursuing you with smiling guilt dripping from their lips. I must admit I do not like charity muggers. I have watched them at work in many cities I have been in, from save the tiger to green peace and a whole lot more besides. Same people, all on commission. If you ever get the chance to listen to private on street chugger team leader talk to his crew, I can tell you it’s one of the best RaRa sales pump ups you will ever come across.

Still, Birmingham was buzzing

Coming back from town I was accosted by a beggar.

“Can you spare any change mate, only I can’t get my benefits cause I haven’t got an address..”
“I can give you a quid for a two minute interview mate. Are you interested?”
“Nah not really, I could miss collecting more money if I give you an interview” And in an instant he was gone. Plunging into the crowd and doing his own personal chugging. A different to the 25 year old as you can imagine.

I got back in time to do some final prep and as I slipped out of the door to go back to the Cathedral I popped my head around the door and asked Mark about the time for tonights talk. Anyways, long story short, he thought I was going for a curry and didnlt think the Portugeese speaking church or the DNA group would be suitable for 2 Timothy.

Ah. So thank goodness for the Cathedral! I asked one the church office staff if they could direct me to St Martin’s and they did. I would need a good twenty minutes to walk there and I had given myself 35 minutes to do so. Easy peasey. St Martin’s was in the centre of Birmingham’s Bull Ring shopping centre. Twenty minutes later, around 5:20 pm I arrived with ten minutes to spare. I was meeting with the minister 15 minutes before the wee service. Unfortunately, this was not the church. The directions were correct but I had gotten the name wrong! I now had ten minutes to find the name of the Cathedral (it was in fact St Pauls) and get there. I got my 35 iPad out and went for it. I mapped out my root. If I ran, I would get there 5 minutes before the service started. I ran. I ran against a city changing its face. Workers going home, hidden Police Vans packed full of coppers waiting for any trouble from Birmingham City football fans already drunk and chanting on the streets waiting to face the Brugge fans. (it was a 2 all draw). I got there with 5 minutes to spare. The minister was waiting for me. I was out of breath and sweating like a pig.

Unfortunately, communication had failed again. The verger had told him I wanted to read the lesson. I explained no, I wanted to bring a mediation from 2nd Timothy. It was going to happen. He did not believe I would stick to my allotted time and he needed to be off straight after the wee service. Ah.

So anyway, I stayed, prayed and read from Matthew. I texted Mark to see if he had got any other contacts for tonight and he didn’t.

I had wasted my day.

I rang Bridget to get some consolation only to find that the cat was vomiting blood and we had flees. A trip to the vet for an examination and antibiotics and some flee spray for the house did not leave much change out of a £100. Great.

So, still sweaty and now even more crest fallen I made my way back to BCC. Yes, a mate had called me, was paying for my B & B tonight and wanted to take me for a curry. I had called to put back the pick up time until 8:30pm. Maybe I could do some naked Bungee Jumping?

The problem is, 2 Timothy is a Pastoral letter. In other words it’s for the church. It was dark, people were going home after a long day and I had simply missed my chance.

Two are better than one. And this whistle stop tour of the cities can be a bit of a bummer when you are down. I understand how Paul, whilst doing the business, still was maybe a bit beaten down and tired and was in need of some extra rocket fuel to do what he needed to do. You know, tell his fellow Jews who Jesus really was. Interestingly, Paul was only compelled in Corinth to do this, AFTER the arrival of a couple of mates.

When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. Acts 18:5

I recorded a brief mediation on front of some of the finest buildings in Birmingham. I hope it doesn’t depress you too much!

As I was going back to the car, yet another Beggar accosted me. A young woman? Its hard to tell. Maybe in her 30’s. I told her I would give her a £1 for a 2 minute interview.
“£3” She said. “I will do it for £3, after all your gonna get something out of it, me I’m sleeping on the streets.”
“£2” I said “I’ve only got “£2 on me”
“No” she said shaking her head “£3. There has to be something in it for me.”
Well I did not have £3 on me and so I apologise and begin to leave. That would have been the end of that you know, except she looked cold.
“Have you got a sleeping bag?” I asked, knowing that I had one left in the back of the car.
“No. Have you got one I can have?”
“Tell you what then” says I “A sleeping bag and £2 for an interview.”
The deal was done.

When I returned ten minutes later there were three homeless women and a cat, all sat outside the main entrance to the library come indoor shopping centre. Across from them were a number of interesting men. There was a gathering. Bottles of wine being offered for favours returned. It was a very surreal scenario. Unfortunately my battery ran out not long after I started filming, but what I have will give you a flavour.

It’s hard to know how to address street people. They have real names, street names, Nick names, false names….you name it. But the blond haired women who I had negotiated an interview with was a real street person in the sense that she had been on them for so long, (seventeen years) that it was now the only culture she really felt comfortable in. She was badly damaged, but she knew the ropes. She preferred the streets to some of the hostels she had stayed in and tonight, would be sleeping in the car park with fifteen other people.

I think her real name was Tracy and she tells me that a documentary has already been made about her. She says that when she was 17 she had helped another runaway on the streets and had finally persuaded her to go home. This other young woman (Claire) had finally got her life together and then came looking for Tracy to thank her for saving her life and in the process had made a documentary called “Looking for Tat”

Now, I don’t know if this young woman was the same one. If not, she was remarkably well informed. If it was, then imagine that. Seventeen years on the streets had destroyed her. Alcoholism had pickled her brain and hardened her liver, had robbed her of everything. You can call it people’s personal choices. You can call it bondage to the demon drink but the stench which resides in the very breath of alcoholic street people, gets into your clothes and you know, for hours after, you can still taste it on the roof of your own mouth and still smell it rising up from where it has now taken residence in your own clothes. It’s all exceptionally depressing, for quite frankly, these folks seem to be beyond redemption. Most certainly, I sat among them as one who had no power. Just empty words. Sometimes I feel a little like Preacher Jim Casy from Steinbeck’s ‘Grapes of Wrath’, you know, just ‘Tom Cat’in’ around without the Holy Spirit.

YOU WILL NEED AN HOUR OR SO TO SEE WLL FOUR OF THESE FILMS 'STONECOLD'

YOU WILL ONLY NEED 15 MINS TO SEE THIS

I drove back to the Bed and Breakfast calling Bridget on the way and dumping my depression all over her. Sigh……… When I got back I called the man who led me to the Lord. He had just gotten back from the States visiting newly discovered family and it was good to hear a happy voice.

Kyle came and picked me up for a Curry and for a couple of hours we unpacked the day in one of the most crowded and popular Curry houses I have ever been in. The two middle aged ladies sat next to us, got increasingly slightly ‘worst for wear’, as the time went on. Somehow we managed to get talking about life under the sun and Solomon’s sex drive, Ecclesiastes and coming judgement. The lady sat next to me told me all she wanted was to be happy. Her husband of many years had left her. This week.

Life under this present sun is tough and the more I am exposed to the futility of other people’s problems the more I find it hard to cope with even mine. And that’s WITH God, never mind without Him. Everything seems contrary to soundness in this world full of deceiving spirits, old wives tales, widows and unmarried women, muzzled oxes, unwholesome words, piercing sorrows, greediness, gossips and gyms. 1st Timothy may be a Pastoral Epistle, but it has a lot to say to the world as well.

But whose really listening?

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Nov | 02 | Wed | The City of WOLVERHAMPTON | Wonderful!

2011-11-02T02:22:00.000-07:00

THIS WAS WOLVERHAMPTON | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

I was awake around 6:00, journaled, showered, packed and ready for Breakfast by 08:00. I went down for the grub and bumped into a lovely couple up here visiting family and the geezer was from ‘up the road’ from where we were living. We chatted over breakfast about ‘66Cities’ and arranged to meet up for a beer once I got back. The poor fella was suffering bad from Neuralgia from his Sinus issues. I didn’t offer to pray for him but I did give him my tried and tested cure all for all sinus related issues. I can’t tell you here because it involves lots of cod liver oil, boiling water, bodily contortions, saline and snot, lots of it. But it works. So if you are interested, call me and I will cure you. My years of internet quackery have not been in vain. I can’t make your legs of even length but I am a healer in this area.

Actually, I was on the road pretty soon after breakfast and somehow needed to carve out some time by the end of the week to write up a four page overview of the book of Psalms. So as it Wednesday, I had hoped to find a church meeting somewhere tonight and then hunker down and study all day. God had other plans, He always does.

I had been warned about Wolverhampton, named just 2 years ago by the lonely planet’s guide as the Fifth worst city on the Planet, indeed they wrote, 'Wolverhampton is so bad we don't even have it on this site'. “Oooh your off to Wolverhampton then….we’ll be praying for you!” Man I didn’t know what to expect. Nice!

It has been my privilege to have lived some of my life in the USA. I used to love driving down to Florida from Kentucky passing through the state of Alabama, or as it called itself on the road sign “Alabama The Beautiful”. Well anyhow, someone needs to give Lonely Planet a slap, because I would suggest those resident ‘black country’ folk change their own city welcome sign to ‘Wolverhampton The Wonderful’, and before some of you ask, no, I have not been on the Wacky Backy. Sure Wolverhampton has got a long way to go with inner city redevelopment, sure the lovely folks are sometimes hard to understand, but the heart of the city seems healthy and the people are right friendly.
I pulled over to a Maccy D’s somewhere around Mid Morning and rang Pastor Jonathan of Wolverhampton Baptist Tabernacle. His name had been given to me by Jeff and his wife of yesterday and when I told him my story and my requests he asked when I would be coming. “I’m here now”.

Now you know, I always say this, but if it was me on the end of the phone when I ring, I probably would not help. What I mean by that is I would probably suggest someone else help them. Which is of course the same thing. Jonathan on the other hand asked me where I was and then told me to sit tight as he would make a few calls and send a few emails to see what he could do.

In amazingly short time it seemed, Jonathan had lined me up with three visits and three interviews, a tour of Wolverhampton and the possibility of speaking tonight at one of his church groups or at a Brazilian church meeting in his building. And to top it all, he would pop by at Maccy D’s at 11:30 to come and get me. Oh and I was eating with him and his family at 7pm that night. Now look, this guy had now sacrificed his day to come and be with me and I knew that before Sunday, he was going to have pull the next ten hours he was gonna spend with me today out time he should have been using for other stuff. Nice or what!

Like I say, I had my plans and God had His. I was going to go with the better one.
Jonathan, true to his word, picked me up to take me to my first appointment. Now, probably one thing Lonely Planet failed to tell people was that drivers in Wolverhampton are worse than New York Cab Drivers. Suffice to say, that following Jonathan around the Wolverhampton ring road was invigorating. When I arrived at the Food Bank, I found angel sweat on the driver’s door of my car. Either that or where I had peed myself had leaked through.

I was now introduced to one of the most passionate Christians you could ever meet on a Wednesday morning. I lovely brother, who in true Wolverhampton style, slid down each extended vowel sound like a big kid on a slow banister. These folks are shifting 3.5 tonnes of food a month to the needy people of Wolverhampton, with each bag of free food containing a letter of ‘Love from Jesus.’ They are growing people of city influence and I can see that they, their ministry and its impact will continue to expand.

So, now we were off again. Jonathan leading the way. The angel sweat had disappeared from the car and as we headed back on to the Wolverhampton road I found in its place a simple not in gothic script which stated, “You’re on your own!”

So far, everyone I have met is excited about their city. They are hopeful, they are expectant that God is blessing them. Now, I have come across many Christians claiming their city for Jesus and strutting around as if they own it and talking about being gatekeepers. Many are misled, for it is obvious that they don’t even exercise authority in their families or churches never mind their cities. However, these folks on Wolverhampton seemed to have a different angle. They were not ‘in the city for the sake of the city’ they were not ‘ruling and reigning in the city to bring in King Jesus’, no, they seemed to be ‘In the city for the sake of their Lord, serving at His behest, and giving Him their best.’ I think this is a subtle but profound place to come from. These folks were servants of God in the city and in real terms, were bringing light into the darkness. It seemed to be working.

Parking in the city Centre, it was time for a quick look round. We visited the shops around the MOTH. (The Man on The Horse) and saw some Christian street preachers and were hoping to catch sight of some folk form that other evangelizing faith, the Muslim community. They weren’t out today. Again, though the place was ripe and earmarked for redevelopment it did have a vibrant and open centre, it was dynamic place and not a dead one. I do think, that this place is an open door for whoever would like to come and plant a church.

After our short sojourn, Jonathan took me to meet Steve the Pastor of All Nations, whilst in their 3:16 Café, surprise, surprise, my friend from Tunbridge Wells popped in for a coffee. This geezer had gone out of his way to come and meet with me. How wonderful is that! I know that Phil really enjoyed listening to the Interview with Steve Uppal (who also gave ma a copy of is latest book! Cheers mate)

Jonathan was now the replacement for the angels that had jumped ship on the ring road and he guided me next to meet an Anglican geezer who was Pioneering a ministry of Fresh church in the heart of Wolverhampton. I tell you, I was humbled and truly blessed by the stories this man had to tell

INSERT STAR BUCKS VIDEO - YOU MUST SEE THIS WHEN I UPLOAD IT

Jonathan had had to leave to get his Kids from school I think, but by the time I had finished with Aaron it was nearly time to go anywhere. You know, we prayed for each other at the end of the meeting, and I had no qualms whatsoever in getting on my knees to do so in Starbucks. Aaron had made this a sacred place. Amazing.

I arrived at Jonathans at 6pm and was treated to a family meal with the family, how wife, two pickles and a dog like Nana, all made me welcome. I wasn’t Billy no mates tonight that’s for sure.
Shortly after seven, we left for the Bible study group where once again I was welcomed and allowed to share from 2nd Thessalonians. The folks seemed really blessed. I know I was.

INSERT VIDEO HERE

I was back at the B & B around 10:15 maybe and by the time I have lined up the videos, I just collapsed into bed. I don’t think anyone can live at this pace forever, but you know, despite all our present slow down trending. I am finding God is IN the busyness. I thank Him for that.

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Nov | 01 | Tue | The City of LITCHFIELD | NOT St Chav!

2011-11-02T00:06:00.000-07:00

PRAY FOR ME TODAY | WEDNESDAY 02nd NOVEMBER AS I GO TO | WOLVERHAMPTON

THIS WAS LITCHFIELD | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

I was up at around 5:00am this morning. Did some journaling and emailing, breakfasted on cardboard bits and milk (Muesli) was washed packed and out the door by 8:30am. Lichfield was about an hour away. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to exclude toll roads on my Sat Nav, and as I ardently refused to get on the M6 Toll, my Sat Nav determinedly tried to get me back on it. I waisted about 30 minutes on this technological tussle.

Finally, I pulled over to a Maccy D’s about 20 minutes from lovely Litchfield and you know, it was a very lovely blue sky day as well. It was a day for some open air work, though my 52nd of 1st Thessalonians did not seem to me to lend itself to market square proclamation.

Still, the coffee was doing its job and waking me up. I had been to Litchfield a few times before, and remember it to be a beautiful place. The Cathedral itself, though very badly damaged by the Parliamentarian forces in the civil war, at one time housed the relics of St Chad, (not to be confused with St Chav of course, the patron saint of Essex) and being subsequently endowed by Charles he 2nd at the Restoration, always seemed to me to be one of the plusher Cathedrals in our nation, boasting three spires just to prove the point. Litchfield has always struck me to be the same, you know, prosperous, settled and unwilling to be disturbed. In Lichfield, every days except Saturday seems to be a sleepy Sunday.

I rang the Cathedral and left messages for the Verger. I don’t think the dean was available.
I rang St Chads for some church contact names and got permission from the very nice and helpful personnel lady to park my car there for the day.
I rang Litchfield Civic centre to see if I could get an interview with the Mayor. They would get back to me.
I contacted a few churches and even got through to a Pastor Jeff Fry (I know! A Miracle) of Darwin Park community church. It looked like a church plant based on a cell church model, so I asked if he had any meetings I could come along to and share. He said he would get back to me.

As a side issue, I think UCB did some very recent research where they called 1,000 churches. 700 of them did not pick up? In other words, 70% of our churches had no warm body at the end of the phone. May I say it one more time: Fixing this IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!

Anyhoo, as I was pondering, panicking and praying what to do next, the phone rang. It was the Sheriff of Litchfield and former Mayor, Dr. Neville Brown. I suspect the incumbent Mayor was not available today but had kindly asked Dr Brown to meet with me. I would meet him at his school at 12:00am.

Now the Sheriff is also, I believe, a Neuropsychologist and within the state schooling system regarded maybe as a bit of maverick. Even so, he is the founder of the very successful ‘Maple Hayes Hall’ special school in Litchfield, and an award-winning expert on dyslexic pupils with literacy problems. If you are interested then Dr Brown’s book, ‘Morphemes, Meaning and Literacy’, outlines his theory of language, which led him to develop the alternative, visual literacy method that has been used at his school since 1981. I am pretty sure he could help me and even my family. Just in conversation for example, I picked up that as a male, my left and right hemispheres were more out of phase than females which is probably why when typing I always type ‘hte’ instead of ‘the’. So there you go Bridget, I am ‘out of phase’. I am emphasizing this male peculiarity so evident in me because I have been slighted twice today. The first was when one of my interns from a previous church called me to tell me that whenever her friend felt a little ‘mental’ she looked at my 66cities blog just to remind herself that someone far worse than her was already let loose in Britain! The second was when moaning to my good wife today I frustratingly exclaimed that “darling I am either an idiot or a hero, what do you think?” She replied “Well, a bit of both dear.” I could feel her patting my head as she said it. Well! To you both and to the whole word I can now almost certainly say, that I am just a little ‘out of phase’.

I had a great tour of the successful school. With only 120 pupils and smaller class sizes, I can definitely say that everyone seemed orderly and even happy. I had a smashing and very educational time with the Sheriff of Litchfield who very kindly gave me an interview.

It was 3:00pm. I had picked up a message from Pastor Jeff who in short had invited me for Shepherds Pie at 7:00pm and given me the opportunity to share from 1 Thessalonians at a cell group meeting at 8pm. Thanks Jeff.

I tried to make my way to St Chads and to Litchfield Cathedral but for some reason, the Cities one way system just led me a very merry dance. Get it sorted Litchfield! However, I did eventually arrive at the Cathedral and parked for free outside.

The verger could not find anyone to give me an interview, so I spent my time visiting the shrine of St Chad (no relics here right now, but did I read that some of his ‘long’ bones were in Birmingham Roman Catholic Cathedral? Yes I did. 2 Kings 13:21 has a lit to answer for!)
Much more importantly in Litchfield Cathedral are the St Chads Gospels, The St Chad Gospels which is an eighth century Gospel of 236 surviving folios, eight of which are illuminated and four which contain framed text and it also contains as marginalia, some of the earliest known examples of written Welsh. I think the book just contains Matthew, Mark and a bit of Luke. It’s all interesting stuff!

http://www.lichfield-cathedral.org/st-chad-gospel.html

What’s most importantt though is that the Puritans wanted to burn both it and the bones. I get the sense that the present day lovers of the Cathedral hold these Parliamentarian Puritans in some disdain. I am longing for the film to come out which tells the story of what Britain would have looked like without the restoration of the Monarchy.

By now it was near 5pm.The day was lost. I managed to find a bed and Breakfast about 25 minutes away and drove up there to drop my bags off and prepare for tonight’s cell group meeting. I was greeted by a very friendly Border Collie which cheered me up no end, and grabbed an hour or so in preparation.

I arrived on time at Jeff the Church planters home. The Shepherd’s pie was lovely and this latest Missionary to Britain was dedicated to his task as was of course, his lovely wife. I shall have been sticking with this mission for 66 days. They have been persevering with this church plant for over 6 years. Now THAT’S dedication.

When the other cell group members arrived, the DVD in the TV allowed us to sing along to some digital songs. Frankly, I have always found it hard to be digitally led in singing songs to God. Me and my wife Bridget have done this many times ourselves mind you in church planting situations we have started but I always found it difficult. In fact, I find any intimate front room singing very challenging. In fact let me be honest, I find it difficult when we call it worship. You see, me and old Fred (there is always an old Fred of an old Freda) always sound like two knackered geese with a walnut stuck in their orifice. I always feel this home or house group ‘worship’ time is a most unnecessary bolt on in our gathering together and in terms of getting blokes to come along, is attractive as Doris waving her caramel coloured flag at the front of the church on a Sunday morning. This really has to stop.

But that’s just me.

And apparently most every other bloke in the world.

Hot Coffee, lots of Chocolate Cake, a little reading sprinkled with some exhortation and some doctrine, maybe followed by some good stories and prayerful praise, is a great recipe for a good cell group meeting. And let me moan a bit more by saying that the often perpetually long lists of those whose are dying of cancer this week and those who have gotten persecuted in Africa last Tuesday, always seemingly brought to the table by dour old ladies getting some strange delight in recounting other peoples troubles, need to be totally taken OFF the mid week house group /cell group agenda. There is a most definite place for this kind of stuff. There is a most certain place for this kind of stuff. There is a most needful place for this and it’s in the resurrected public prayer meeting, where we are ready, armed, prepared and all rightfully gathered together to do serious business with God and the devil.

So let’s keep our singing for the public gathering of the local church and then lets do it well, let’s do it prayerfully, let’s do it lustily and with good courage! And let’s keep our ‘serious’ prayers (for want of a far better descriptive phrase) for the serious prayer meetings. What? You don’t have those now? WELL GET IT SORTED! It’s not rocket science.

Anyways, now I have in my rant both sorted out and fixed all our important Christian gatherings, let me say just how much I loved being with Pastor Jeff and his wife and the lovely people of the cell group. What an awesome couple, doing an awesome job for an awesome God.
I actually drove back and crawled into bed around 10:30pm. I was absolutely whacked!
Pastor Jeff had kindly given me a contact in Wolverhampton for tomorrow and praise God, an email I received tonight also indicated that someone had booked me into a bed and breakfast just outside Birmingham and wanted to take me for some grub on Thursday as well! Ooooh and my colleague, accountant and friend was also passing through Wolverhampton tomorrow and he wanted to hook up as well! How wonderful. My ‘Billy No Mates’ hat was beginning to gather dust in the back of the car.

Here it’s the very wee mediation on 1Thessalonians, with mostly grateful thanks to Dr. V. Vernon McGee.

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Oct | 31 | Mon | The City of STOKE | An Oasis of Hope

2011-10-31T01:08:00.000-07:00

PRAY FOR ME TODAY | TUESDAY 01ST NOVEMBER AS I GO TO | Lichfield

THIS WAS STOKE | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

The room next door were obviously catching an early flight this morning and wanted to let everyone know they were ready. Consequently, I was awake around 4:15am. Nuts.
Still it meant I was up, packed, charged and breakfasted by 8:00am and gathering some contact numbers for Stoke before soon checking out of my 3 night hideaway and getting on the road to that 14 mile long and 7 miles wide city of Stoke.

Safely on the ‘motorway’, cruise control on and hands free plugged in, I contacted UCB to see if I could get a bed for the night and an interview with one of the Directors. They would get back to me. I received a text later which said “Yes I could have a bed (UCB is better than any hotel) and yes I could have an interview with Carl Brettle at 13:45pm” This is a result! EVERYONE at UCB is ‘full on’ busy so to be able to get a piece of someone’s diary is verging on the miraculous.

Side comment here : Everyone at UCB has always blessed me greatly and have been exceptionally gracious to me and consequently, I highly recommend them to you.

I contacted a large church in Stoke and left a message for the Pastor. He had been out of the town and it seems there was no time for an interview.

I contacted BBC Stoke and left a message with the NewsDesk.They never got back to me.

I texted the studio of a local community radio station. No response.

I contacted the churches together secretary for the region and left a message on his answer phone. I heard nothing back today. Maybe tomorrow when it will be too late for Stoke.

I contacted Staffordshire University Stoke Campus and the secretary to the Chaplaincy there, I got the senior chaplain! Yes I could come and visit.

I contacted the Stoke Civic Centre and spoke to the Lord Mayors PA and requested to see him today. She thought he was out today. Later, the lovely lady got back to me and arranged for me to see the Mr Lord Mayor at high noon.

When I then rang York Minster, David the Rector not only would give me an interview, but would have me come and share from Colossians at evening prayer.

And finally, a couple of guys I already knew at UCB wanted to take me for lunch. Stoke seemed to be a city of favour for me today. Indeed it was. Here is how the day looked like it was shaping up:

• 10:45 Arrive in Stoke (there was a detour due to an accident)
• 11:00 Meeting at Staffordshire University Stoke Campus with Rev. Benedict
• 12:00 Meeting with the Lord Mayor of Stoke in his parlour
• 13:00 Quick Lunch meeting two good friends in the Potteries shopping Centre
• 13:45 Meeting with Carl Brettle a Director of UCB
• Later in the afternoon move into my room for the Night in Handchurch UCB and prepare for tonight’s message
• 16:45 Interview Rector Rev David of Stoke Minster
• 17:15 Share with the Folks at Stoke Minster from book number 51 Colossians

Now remember, Stoke is really a patchwork connection of six towns, hence the reason why its 14 miles long. That’s important because, if you put say a 7 instead of a 4 into your Sat Nav, then it could in fact take you quite a few miles out of your way whilst keeping you in the city. ( Yes. Of course I did!)

So, despite the detour on the road trying to down to Stoke, I did arrive on its outskirts with 15 minutes to spare in getting to my first appointment at the University. Indeed, the Rector had said I could park Free of Charge in the Minster, which was next door to the Civic centre and the Mayor’s office and only 5 minutes from the Stoke Campus.

I must say that Stoke is a challenge to some people, especially as its increased Brownfield sites make parts of it look like a clearance section after the Blitz. Councillor Terry, the Lord Mayor, explained to me that as a city they had prepared for inward investment by pulling down the old and abandoned industrial sites, then the cuts came and with those, the promised Government investment disappeared and consequently they were left with nothing but cleared ground. Actually I like that. You see, I wonder if Stoke is a place prepared? I mean, ‘Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.’

For me, I love Stokes surrounding and stunning countryside, it’s central locality to the rest of the UK and its quick road system. I like the people as well. They are down to earth, real, affable, and say ‘Duck’ as a term of endearment. They are ‘as different from the rest of England as their own landscape!’

However, some people are not so positive! And I can fully understand people wanting to get out of the place as soon as possible This video did make me laugh!

Compared to the other cities in the area, Stoke is a bit of a forgotten city, a very poor relation. No doubt about it. However, I am convinced that it is a ‘place prepared’ and much investment will make it flower. Concerning Stoke, the best is obviously yet to come. Maybe I need my eyes testing.

I say this because I input a 4 instead of a 7 into the Sat Nav and it took me to the opposite end of the city. Instead of being 15 minutes early, by the time I actually parked the car, I ended up being 15 minutes late at ‘Faith House’ in the University.

Rev. Benedict raises a very serious question here about the cultural sin of ‘judging others’ in how we communicate the Word of God.

Interestingly, In the USA Fox News Reports today that
“A private Georgia university is reportedly requiring its employees to sign a statement indicating they are not gay or face termination. Shorter University, a private Christian university in Rome, Ga., is forcing its 200 employees to sign a "personal lifestyle statement" rejecting pre-martial sex, adultery and homosexuality or risk getting fired, WSB-TV reports. "Our goal is not to offend people," Don Dowless, the school's president, told the station. "Our goal is to declare who we are."Dowless said if employees indicate a preference for any sexual activity "not agreeable with the Bible," they will be terminated. "I think that anybody who adheres to a lifestyle that is outside of what the Biblical mandate is -- what the board has passed, including the president -- would not be allowed to continue here," he told the station. Dowless reportedly says the pledge is legal because the private university does not receive any federal funding.”

Though students are reportedly not being asked to sign the pledge, some however, claim the requirement is a form of discrimination."Who is one person to judge what somebody else does?" said one student, who spoke anonymously to the station. "It's none of their business."

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/31/georgia-university-forces-employees-to-sign-statement-rejecting-homosexuality/?test=latestnews#ixzz1cRArTgek

I think Christians are caught up and held back on this horrible hook and the neglect of judgement is the reason for our lack of power in, and attempts at, real Evangelism. You see, an honest proclamation of the Scriptures means that you CANNOT get away from its judgemental nature, however, it is obvious that only forgiven people, devoid of any self righteousness, that can begin to express this whole truth of God’s Word. I wonder if the church might need to ask itself “in what way have we become self righteous?” Maybe if we deal with our self righteousness, we shall regain our integrity in proclamation?

I left Benedict and arrived on time in the Civic centre to meet the Lord Mayor and what a delightful and down to earth chap. Councillor ‘Terry Follows’ is ‘Stokie’, positive about and proud of his city. I think he likes its football team as well! (Are they any good? I’m not really up on these things. *)

The Lord Mayor is not a religious man, but he did pull out a gold nugget for us to get hold of and that is his observation of our lack of parental and church action with regards to church schooling. Biblical education must start at an early age and should be part of our Christian cultural life. I actually think that churches themselves can open their buildings and offer Biblical education to their members children and that this could be and maybe even should be a mandatory delight I wonder if the local church must rediscover its responsibility for religious education. I wonder if we have left Biblical education to the parents and if the parents have failed?

The Lord Mayor gave me great interview and a thorough tour of the Parlour and treasures of the Civic centre. Councillor Follows even gave me a parting gift of a Cup emblazoned with Stokes coat of arms to take away with me! Thanks Mr Lord Mayor for your time, interview, hospitality and gift. Just wonderful. In all ways, I am increasingly convinced that we as Christians should much more befriend, pray for and utilise the openness and service of our Civic Authorities.

I rushed away to meet up with my two good friends in Starbucks, where I was treated to lunch and some strange Starbuck brew which got me as high as a kite on its syrupy goodness for the rest of the afternoon. It was great to meet with these guys. They are part of my 66 City journey, praying for me every day and encouraging me greatly. I will embarrass them should I tell you more, but what a blessing they have been to me.

Carl Brettle is a director in UCB and I regard him much more as a friend and mentor than a contact. His vision is massive and his faith is great, so it was just super to chat with him and have him pray for me.

I left Carl at the UCB administrative centre and drove a few miles to UCB Handchurch, the home of the organisations Media Broadcasting section and checked into the room I was staying at tonight. I had to be at the Minister for 4:45 to interview Rev David and still had to prepare a few thoughts on Colossians. It was Halloween and in mixed up Britain, the message to be delivered in the heart of Pagan Britain was obvious. “Let the Word of Christ Dwell In You RICHLY!”

( P.S. note to self…You are in STOKE Minster and NOT York Minster! Wally.)

I interviewed the Rector of “St Peter in Chains”. I think this is an interesting name for the Minster of Stoke, where Rev. David readily acknowledges the need for HOPE in a city that can sometimes be quite depressive for many people.

It was a thoughtful interview, David knows his city and his people and brings a reality of HOPE to his Pastoral mission.

HOPE WORTH AND VALUE seem to be the churches communicable attributes to the people of Stoke. I wonder if these keys might just unlock Peter from his chains?

I returned to UCB and no sooner was I back than my two buddies came to take me out for some grub and good times. May I introduce you to the dynamic double act of the ‘2JAYS’ that are, Jim and Joel.

I have been blessed by being in Stoke. It’s been a bit of an Oasis for me and provided some real refreshing. Tomorrow is November, and I readily acknowledge that I have gotten thus far through the prayers encouragement and provision of people like these folk, of people like YOU. Thank you so much. For I am felling refreshed and ready for the final two weeks.

I got my head down about 10:00pm trusting that God had tomorrow and all my tomorrows in hand.

* Stoke City Football fans are fanatics and of course they are good! I just wanted to annoy a few ardent Stokies 

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Oct | 30 | Sun | The City of SALFORD | Me, Pee & The BNP

2011-10-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

PRAY FOR ME TODAY | MONDAY 30TH OCTOBER AS I GO TO | Stoke
THIS WAS SALFORD | (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

The clocks went back today. When I woke up, it was 1:30am. Sigh…I couldn’t get back to sleep and so I made a cup of tea and got down to some praying, emailing and studying.
About 2:45am emailed 5 Live in Salford to see if they wanted to do an interview? I eventually got an auto-response.

I emailed 6 Evangelical churches in Salford. By the end of the day none had got back to me save one. And that was very late on Sunday. As a side issue I did ring a few around 9:30am but again, no one answered and one message said “leave a message please but be aware that we only man the office from Tuesday to Thursday.” Well why bother! Are Sundays the day when we are open most as a church or not? Should this be the time we take calls? Maybe I’m just feeling grumpy. I mean, I visited a church this evening which advertised on the internet that it was a 7pm service, only to find out that it was in fact a private Diamond wedding celebration. So I apologised and left. I absolutely no longer believe what I read on church websites! P.S. Pastors, arm someone with a mobile phone! IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!

Anyways, around 4:00am I had fallen asleep again and grabbed another couple of hours or so. Nice.

I was at breakfast at around 7:15 and returned not too after to do some more study on Philippians.

I decided to visit a church I was aware of in Salford and arrived around 10:15 and introduced myself to the elders. They knew me as I had previously applied for a position with them. (Didn’t get it by the way). It was nice to be with them but “no there was” for a number of reasons “ no opportunity to share this morning or tonight. I grabbed some coffee after the service and a couple of interviews, though the background noise was much louder than expected.

INSERT VIDEO 2 HERE

So there you go. Now what to do? Off into Salford city centre.

I am glad it wasn’t raining. I might have got severely depressed. Unfortunately, what is described as Salford City Shopping is a dump. The Salford riots took place around here, burnt cars and all that, and I can understand why. No excuses mind you, but in my opinion, this part of Salford is GROSSLY underdeveloped.
I spoke to the security guard inside the centre and found out my limits. No PA and clear lines of demarcation. He recommended I used the spot that the BNP uses to speak from. If the BNP were active here, I wondered what it was that had got them a foothold. It wasn’t rocket science mind you. This was a very deprived area and someone had to take the blame…..

You know, this area seemed SO deprived that my message from Philippians didn’t seem to fit. Imagine that, a message that did not fit this underdeveloped area of Salford. Hmmm.
I grabbed my self some lunch at Subway and then headed on down to the Salford Quays. I had been reliably informed that it was not for the real folk of Salford but rather for them ‘Puppies’ ….(he meant them Yuppies).

As I was making my way back to the car, a shipwrecked fella pushing a Zimmer frame got my attention. Did I have 60p for a bus fare home. No I didn’t. His breath stunk of alcohol. Why did he need a bus fare home? He was in his slippers? He can’t have lived far away. “I’ve got MS mate. I’ve lost my job, my wife, my house, my two kids, and tomorrow the council might put me out of my flat and I just haven’t got the energy to push this f’ing thing back home and drag me legs after it.” His eyes were full of tears. I said “silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee” and I gave him a £1 for his bus fare home and he thanked me profusely. I had no power to help him.

“The poor will always be with us.” And I am sick of seeing them. And all of my brethren with the gifts of healing, visions of diamonds and gold dust on their hands and all anointed up to the hilt, should get their backsides down to Salford City Shopping and start doing the business and scraping some of the gold dust off and the cashing in some of the diamonds.

Meanwhile, the BBC has just spent what? Just under £1 Billion to move its operation from London? And I understand that this financial cost does not include the relationship breakdowns, lawyer and counselling costs. That’s all extra. The Poppy man told me that at one time, you could walk down to the Salford Quays and get a job any day of the week. Not now. Now we are shipping in the skilled labour.

I am glad that the, some would say, beautiful re development of Salford Quays is going on, but the people this end of Salford, might just get some jobs as toilet cleaners and litter picker uppers. That’s about it. The people I spoke to, and even the City Centre shopping area itself, oozed utter hopelessness. Now undoubtedly someone will tell me off about this. But I wonder if they sat on the same BNP urine soaked, bubble gummed fag end covered little wall that I sat on and interviewed people from? Probably not.

Anyhoo, before I got back to that City Shopping Centre, I made my way to the edge of Salford, and to that MECCA which seems to straddle Salford and Trafford. That’s right, the Manchester United Football ground and the statue of the ‘Holy’ Trinity.

The Manchester United Mega Store was open and because it was a Sunday, not all of the 37 tills were operating. Still, if you wanted a printed shirt, shorts, socks, ball and team boots, then you might just come away with some small change out £400. If you wanted a season ticket, well that could be anywhere from £500 to £900 and beyond and oh yes, be sure to read the small print, because once you’ve got the season ticket then you are liable for every cup game played at home, which could run you up another £400 per season.(Man Utd tend to do rather well.)

The outside of Manchester United’s ground this particular Sunday was mostly Chinese folks and people from former Eastern bloc countries. I am told that most people who support Man Utd and go to games are not from the area. It seems most of the players aren’t either. It seemed to me that everyone was benefitting from Salford apart from the out of work people of Salford? HA! What do I know? I’m only here for the day.

It got me thinking though, I mean, I wonder if the church is like a doomed hostage trying to cheer up some other doomed hostages. The church laughs at the sinful situation of our land, shouting ‘God is with us’, and in so doing, it mocks its economic and spiritual captors, and helps people far worse off than itself, as much as it can. But in the end, they are all going to get a bullet in the head. I wonder if we are kidding ourselves by simply getting us sum succour and some self justification for our existence by providing sacred palliative care to the marginalised of our city societies whilst we all die together. I think I am right. I think we are providing heartfelt, God glorifying, absolutely wonderful palliative care. But we have no cure. We are simply easing people’s passing into eternity where we can. In all our acts of kindness, in all our most necessary and massive do gooding, we are easing our nation’s economic , moral and spiritual collapse, taking away some of the pain of this slow death. That’s nice. We have become the spiritual MacMillan nurses of the 21st Century. That’s nice but it WILL NOT change society.

All of our prayers now need to be focused into political and social revolution. Frankly, I think it’s too late, but that’s just me. In any event, a return to the Word of God and prayer, even the much talked of Holy Spirit revival MUST include a political takeover. That means Christians MUST start new Political organised societies. Christians must start strategically taking over political institutions, both local and national. If we wait for revival to start, we shall have no chance of retaining the blessings. We must start now. And I am not talking of social reform I am talking about a new revolution of Biblical proportions, in regenerational righteousness at every level of society. Unfortunately, I think we are far too late and the lights will continue going out all over England. Am I saying that there is no power in the Kingdom of God! Absolutely. For whilst I see it in the Scriptures and believe it with all my heart, the reality is a rare as rocking horse poop. All we can do, and we are very good at it mind you, is provide the most excellent of palliative care. But that’s just what I think.

Maybe this dark talking of mine will be seen by some to be what it truly is and that is a challenge to start being SO heavenly minded that we the church finally becomes of fantastic terra forming use. Who knows, we might even see some real signs and wonders? Think on.

As I left Man Utd’s ground, I couldn’t help spot a Muslim guy, obviously dressed for e something important directing numerous cars back in the opposite direction they were coming from! “ Yeah it’s my brother’s wedding mate and these daft F’rs are all going the wrong way. It’s the Sat Nav, the postcode is sending them the wrong way. We’ve got a 1,000 people coming.”
“Man that must be an expensive do?” Says I.
“Well we don’t have gifts you know, everyone gives about £30-£40 cash. That’s’ why we’ve got so many coming you know. We’re not bloody stupid! If you want some Asian food mate, we’ve got loads down there.”
I told him I had a sign he might want to use. I went back to the car, got the sign and put my Hosea quotes on the reverse side revealing a new white surface. I walked back to give it to him but he shouted across the road
“I forgot to tell you mate. They can’t read!”

I took my sign back to the car and left the comedic Muslim guiding frustrated women on cells phones as they all did U Turns at the traffic lights. Salford City shopping centre was calling.
By the by, on my way back to Salford City Shopping, I popped into the Northern branch of the Imperial War Museum, which, apart from the £4 parking and £1.20 to get on to the viewing platform and the ask at the counter for a donation and purchase of a guide, is absolutely free! It’s a fantastic building which seems to have far much more space than real exhibits. Such a shame really.

The extravagant expense of Manchester United’s Mega presence, the mad move of the BBC, the vacuous and unused space in the War Museum all stood in stark contrast to Salford’s City Centre shopping area. It all seemed so ostentatiously obscene.

So anyways, I was back at Salford City Shopping Centre around 4pm. I did not have the heart to preach to these people. Here me now, for while I think that the eternal salvation of the soul is THE MOST WONDERFUL AND NECESSERY OF THINGS…. I felt I needed some power for healing, some hope for jobs and a future for these folks and you know, quite frankly, I didn’t. So, I decided to get my board, get my new sign and offer a £1 per interview and see if I could get into some private conversations going.
I did a couple of interviews,

And then, just as the 4pm shutters started to be pulled down and the light began to fade, Kenneth came around the corner. Bless him, his poor face was in a right mess. He’d been out of prison just a few days and had immediately gone out on the razzle and whilst being smashed out his skull had had someone push his skull down on to the ground. Kenneth’s interview is well worth the watching.

I prayed with Ken, he told me that he even felt the warmth of God’s love on his back as I prayed for him. Actually, I think my hands were warm and he was very cold. He is an honest man, but he is an alcoholic. I encouraged him to get back to church, back to AA and call upon God. He said he would. He asked me if I had another 50p. I didn’t.

Please pray for Ken. Unless God gets hold of him, unless he gets hold of God, it’s good night Vienna. Someday soon, someone will simply come upon his corpse. He needs God. He needs Hope. He needs deliverance. He needs a so much help. He needs to make the decision to stop drinking.
Drugs are a massive problem in our cities. The problems of Alcoholism however, seems to make that massive problem seem quite small.

I sat and spoke with Ken for a while and we were the last to leave Salford City Shopping Centre. Even the security guard said goodnight as he toddled off home.

I gave Ken my card and promised I would call him in a week or two and I got back to the Hotel around 5:00pm. I started to try and upload my videos, snacked on some Oat biscuits and decided to visit another church. The internet site definitely said the standard evening service was at 7pm. Well, you know what happened. So, it was back to the Hotel, and a hot bath and journaling.

I called Bridget and said goodnight. I can’t wait to see her.

I am in Stoke tomorrow, but you know, I really do need some fresh wind and some fresh fire. I am pretty sure that I could slug it out over the next 16 days, but I want more than that. I want to finish on a real high. I want, I want, I want!

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Oct | 29 | Sat | The City of MANCHESTER | That Bloody Book

2011-10-29T01:30:00.000-07:00

THIS WAS MANCHESTER (See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE)

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

Did I tell you that I managed to get this room for three nights? That’s right three nights with Breakfast for £87.50. It’s a great deal. It feels like a bit of a safe house. I can maybe rest up a little here. It will be good to come back to just one place.

The Hotel I am in, describes itself as the ‘Airport Hotel’, servicing Manchester City Airport. Certainly, it is packed, though at the moment it seems mostly with coach tours for the over 70’s. As long as they leave me some breakfast I don’t mind.

I was up around 5:30am and finished off uploading the blog and general portable office work. I breakfasted around 8:00am…it was OK…...scrambled egg? You can’t have a proper full English without fried egg. Scrambled rubbish is the lazy way to do a breakfast.

My appointment with Pastor Emmanuel was at 12:00 at his home. It was only 15 minutes down the road and I arrived on time. This Nigerian Assemblies of God Pastor and his wife ‘Shade’ are both PHD holders but have for some years now fully dedicated themselves to caring for the people of their church. They have a vision from God and are going for it! Lawrence, a member of the church and another PHD student (this time from Ghana I believe) joined us for prayer before we went out to Piccadilly Gardens Manchester. If you look at the Garden from the Tram Station, we were positioned ourselves at the extreme left before the tram lines.

We went in two cars, parked them around the corner from where we would be preaching, got our stuff out and trundled up the road. The Pastor had a bigger version of my own PA system. Stereophonic proclamation. Excellent!
We trundled past a couple of ladies wanting to do research on Christmas cards and the like. “Nope darling, sorry, I don’t have the time”. In cities, we are all either buying or selling. I was selling Salvation. The cost was both nothing and everything you are, have and ever will be. We should have had a ‘Securicore’ escort.

There were about ten of us in total. The Pastor had brought some information about his church, ‘Calvary International Church,’ and we began just to engage and hand them out. It had been raining most of the morning and it felt a little cold. But at least it was dry and you know, it would remain dry for the next two hours we were there.

I wandered around the massive square, the trams, the fountains, the moving masses. I needed a hook. An attention getter.

I went back to the car and got the bottle of Vampire blood I had bought for Swansea. I knew it would come in handy.

Getting back to the square, I had one of my black brothers smear my face with it all and I rolled my sleeves up and went to work on my arms. This Vampire blood is great stuff! It coagulates and clings quite nicely. I hope it would come off.

Now, you would think that this would have made me stick out from the crowd, except that all of a sudden the square was inundated with Charity workers collecting for the RNIB and they were all wearing Halloween costumes. So there I was all covered in blood and surrounded by Draculas, Witches and Zombies. I fitted in quite nicely.

The Message was all about “Grace, faith and being redeemed by the blood.” Blood atonement has caused some controversy in British Evangelicism over the recent years. Even so, hide it though we try, it is the Core of the Gospel message. We have not been honest about the blood. Like I keep saying, put Leviticus and Hebrews together and there is all you need to know about your Salvation, its necessity and inner workings, all laid bare. It’s all about the blood and don’t you forget it.

All afternoon I had no real meaningful conversations save one with a young agnostic atheist from Wales. I nice young fella up in Manchester for business. Do pray for him, cause I tell you what, I think God was on his case. Smashing Geezer he was as well.

So anyways, our two hour parking time was up and it was back to the car. The two Greeting Card ladies were still sharking the pavement and one of the sales researchers asked me If I bought my wife a card in the last year. I said “No.”

“Oh” she replied, “You miserable bugger!”

I am pretty sure this is not how surveys should go, but me explaining that my wife didn’t really care for that stuff and we had better ways of communicating our love, wasn’t really believed. A man covered in fake blood is not to be trusted. And I was covered. My towel and cold water wasn’t washing much off. Even so, messages of love and sacrifice are always better delivered with personal and heartfelt lips and heart. This trumps mass produced cards any day of the week and is also the best way to spread the message of the everlasting Gospel.

On returning to the Pastors house, I rather than get the blood off, my attempt in his bathroom to remove the red, simply had it mostly smearing round my face. I was now a beetroot. Slightly lighter, but significantly red.

Pastor Shade had made a feat of Nigerian food. Rice, fried sliced Plantains, black peas, pot chicken and VERY hot and spicy fish. I was on fire! But it was lovelely.

We talked about church planting, church growth, sacrifice and again, I was blown away by their commitment to the vision God had given them. In they end, they pursued the heavenly vision, no matter what. I think this is THE THING. Do what God has revealed for you to do.

I eventually left them and got back to my hotel for around shortly after 5pm.

I hot bath got all the blood off and you know, I was bathing with Cowper, probably my favourite depressive.

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow'r,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved to sin no more.

E'er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

When this poor, lisping, stamm'ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save.

The Bible…..its a very BLOODY BOOK

My intention tonight was to sit in bed, eat Ritz Crackers and Peanut butter, do some journaling, ring Bridget and chill. I did and I was asleep by 10:00pm.

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Oct | 28 | Thu | The City of BRADFROD | Tough Going

2011-10-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

PRAY FOR ME TODAY SATURDAY 29TH OCTOBER AS I GO TO MANCHESTER

THIS WAS BRADFORD | See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

I slept well. I was up maybe 06:00am. I had missed typing up my time on Armagh (nearly two weeks ago now) and I was determined to finish that off. By 8:00am it was all done. I had finally caught up with myself on the typing. The video uploads were still a disaster however, only 60% had been uploaded so far and really, the rest would not get done until I was back in the office with my fibre optic connection. I breakfasted then returned to my room. Bradford was only about 20 minutes away and I wanted to make full use of the quiet and the Wi Fi connection to make some people connections.

• I rang Bradford University. There was no onsite chaplaincy.
• I rang Bradford City Council. The Lord Mayor was out of town
• I rang a very large church in Bradford and all their Pastoral staff were away.
• I rang another large church and they never got back to me.
• I rang Bradford Cathedral and yes a Canon would give me an interview and yes I could use their car park.
• I rang Christians Against Poverty (CAP) and yes they would give me an interview.

It was time to go and I made my way the short distance into Bradford. It was pleasant drive and a very pleasant day and Bradford is a city nestling in am an ice-cream scooped out valley bowl.

I arrived at the Cathedral around 11:00am and the Canon made me Coffee and gave me two chocolate biscuits. One had toffee inside. The Anglicans know how to live it up . I have to tell you, despite no Cathedral recognising my ordination or daring to call me Rev. I am MIGHTILY impressed with their accommodation and openness. I keep saying this I know, but it’s the truth, large or small, these Cathedrals are places of refuge, sanctuary and help. I have to say that I fully understand the massive amounts of money needed to upkeep them, but I don’t believe in charging to get in. This demines the ministry and for sure, there will be other ways to raise the dosh.

I wanted to leave the Cathedral and get along to CAP who by now were waiting for my call. Interestingly, CAP was adjacent to the Cathedral! But it wasn’t happening, for an interesting gentleman had followed me in. He was a Christian who believed he was sent to Bradford to meet with me. Why not.

Frankly, we had a good time together and prayer for each other, though, and I know the brother won’t mind me saying, it was an interesting experience! I suppose you might say, he had 'the jerks'. Like I say, I am absolutely not mocking, and this man really did love Jesus. No doubt about it and you know, he was scarily sold out to Him. We prayed for each other there in the Cathedral whichw as just lovely.

It was nearly 12:30 and as I was leaving the one of the Verger’s met me and informed me that the lady from CAP came into the Cathedral to see me and left me a message that she would be in Daisy’s Café.

Daisy’s Café was part of the ‘Kala Sangam’, a leading South Asian arts organisation adjacent to the Cathedral in a building that they once owned but which turned into a financial folly and had to be sold. Been there. Done that. I asked the Verger how I would recognise the lady? “She’s wearing a long jumper and is with a very tall bloke.” Sure enough Deb was wearing a long jumper and the tall bloke was her husband Dave. They bought me Lasagne and I joined them for lunch. How cool is that. It turns out that Dave’s Dad is the Bishop of Birmingham and he is seeing him tonight. That was even cooler! Maybe I could get a hook up.

I joined Dave and Deb back at Jubilee Mills to receive a tour of the CAP organisation.
There are maybe 200 people working at CAP and they are handling over 70 Million pounds worth of debt. They are growing at a phenomenal rate and their vision is beyond fantastic. I think they client base is going to explode as this global financial crisis continues. I can tell you that I was truly humbled to see their very caring operation. Just amazing. So, if you have any financial problems, then please contact Christian’s Against Poverty, a most superb organisation.
OK, so now it was off in to town to see what God wanted me to do. As yet I had nowhere to speak or to sleep. It was a beautiful day and you know, some open air preaching was on the horizon. I hate it!

Anyhoo, I thought I would hunt down the Christian Bookshop and find out where the best place to preach in the open air might be, do some interviews and maybe find a place indoors to speak. Hopefully. After all it was getting late. Still the sun continued to shine and you know, the city centre was still busy.

The bookshop was really a cover for a place of prayer. Indeed, it financed the place of prayer. ‘Healing on the Streets’ met their each week for prayer before going out and the lovely ladies pointed out a small square just down the road from them which was a good spot for a preach. One of the ladies tried so hard to find me a church to speak in and was telephoning and texting all the time. In the end she hooked me up with a Youth Worker who was going to do some ‘Free Running’ with some kids that evening. But after all her efforts, it wasn’t possible for me to join them but how wonderful that Christians are engaging on all levels. ‘Free Running’ Ha! I am finding it a problem getting up when I bend down!

I went down to the square. Yes it looked a possibility and it just so happened there was a Salesmen there who had somehow got his car into the area. I needed to bring my PA and sign and that meant the car had to come. It was just too far to drag it. So asked him how he got his motor down there and he kindly gave me an interview as well. Allow me to introduce you to Lord Naz!

Across the road from the small square is the Vast Council offices of Bradford with an enormous open square. There is a tent of protestors occupying it. They look like a fly in an exceptionally large pot of Germaline. The protest here is a little ‘lack lustre’. Anyhoo, I wander over to the Civic centre and get the number for the Police and the people that control vehicular access to the small square. I get the numbers from a nice bloke on reception and walk back to the car. Can you Adam and Eve it, I lost the piece of paper? What! So, anyways I would go get the car, and if the Police came and questioned me about the use of the PA I would plead ignorance.

So anyways, I walked back to get the car and up the Cathedral steps past two sets of young Asian teenagers groping each other. Teenagers! They never change. I bump into a geezer and start talking about the niceness of the day. This man has been on the dole for seven years. He tells me that the country is just catching up with the recession that has been Bradford for years. He has been treated for depression but now won’t take the drugs. He is just living one day at a time.” What could I pray for?”

“A job – not too much money, just enough to live. Its not a lot to ask for.” No it isn’t.
Oh and as a side issue, apparently, “the heroin in Bradford is a far better quality than that muck down South?” I didn’t know that.

I plug the Video Camera for a recharge and bring the car over to the small square. I manage to find a parking space around the corner. This is a miracle.

The light however has gone from the small square by now and I am drawn over to the very large square across the way which is still sunlit and has the amazing backdrop of the Civic Centre.

I ask some interesting folks over there if they want to be on Youtube. They do.
I hire a young woman to be the Camera lady (£5) set the scene up, give her a bit of training and then go for it. Actually there is about 50 people I am speaking to and on my right the interesting group are eager to get involved.

John and the wee group are mostly foreign to these Isles. One of them is the agent that carried the Aids virus from Israel and distributed it into Africa. He spends most of his time now, dobbing in his former secret agent mates.

Now today, I have three very different and separate interesting incidents today and my next comments have no connection to them whatsoever, however, I have noticed that madness seeks its own company, and that demons hang out together. Like attracts like. So look around. Who are you hanging with?

I left John sorting out plans in making his own NGO ref recovery from Diabetes and high blood pressure. Good on him!

I got back to the car and plugged in the Post Code to my Hotel. That’s right, I forgot to tell you that whilst collecting the car from the Cathedral I rang and asked Bridget to sort me out with a hotel near Manchester. She got me a number and I rang and negotiated a room and Breakfast for £29.00. C’Mon!

The drive took about an hour. The road was bad busy. When I arrived at the massive hotel, the room I was directed to was directly adjacent to the Motorway. No. I needed to sleep and this was mental noisy. They changed my room and in the end I got one with two double beds. Tesco’s was a 5 Minute walk away and I had run out o Ritz crackers for my peanut butter jar and so I headed on down there and got some fresh fruit and water to go with the crackers. Sorted
It was 8:00pm by the time I sat down to type. My Face book has got message from Pastor Jarrod Cooper in Hull “Glad it all worked well for you in Hull. Alison, Steve, Phil.. All lovely ppl. Thanks for blessing our city! “ That was nice.

The Wi Fi upload is so pathetic here though that I don’t think ‘it’s’ going to happen tonight. I ring Bridget. Our Cat Bobo is sick.
Sigh….

It’s 11:00pm and tomorrow is my 49th City and I am in Manchester, speaking from Ephesians and joining with a couple of dozen Christians on the streets in a special outreach service. I am really NOT an outdoor preacher! Give me a coward’s castle any day of the week! Even so, I wonder what God was going to do tomorrow?

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Oct | 27 | Thu | The City of LEEDS | Unbelievable!

2011-10-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

PRAY FOR ME TODAY FRIDAY 28TH OCTOBER AS I GO TO BRADFORD

THIS WAS LEEDS | See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

CRYPT: “An underground room or vault beneath a church, used as a chapel or burial place”

I had paid £40 I didn’t have for a room in Budget hotel in Wakefield. The staff were lovely, but as usual the promised Wi Fi was a challenge and the floor I was staying on, though it had been refurbished, still had gaffa tape and torn wallpaper and some divvies at 3:00am knocking on giggly girls doors at 3:00am!

I woke again around 5:30am and got packed and ready and took some telephone calls. Yes, that early!

I was down for the breakfast at about 7:30 and the full English which was spoiled by some sausage, the very thought of which now as I type, are still making me gag.

I finished doing the usual Word preparation, City research and Contact information gathering by 10:00am and was on the road the hour or so’s drive to the city of Leeds. It was raining and miserable.

• I rang and left a message for the Lord Mayor of Leeds. He was a Vicar, so I had high hopes of meeting with him. A call later in the day informed me he was out of town. I passed on my kind regards.
• I called the University Chaplaincy and left a message. They got back to me but couldn’t squeeze me in today, but thought it was brilliant what I was doing.
• I rang a large church which had been recommended to me but the staff were tired up in training. They were on a tight uninterruptable schedule.

I hadn’t got a clue what God was going to do today. I tell you the truth, in the wet miserable rain of Leeds, not only was I not at all interested in open air preaching but I was feeling a little glum. I number of things had contributed to this, but right at this moment and I would find for all of the day really, I just wanted to go to bed, curl up in a ball, make the world go away and sleep. I was feeling depressed. I knew why.

I parked the car in the centre of town (£11 extortion) and went hunting for coffee. I needed just to get out of the rain and pray. Oh and I needed another pair of glasses and a quick visit to O2 to see if they could fix my old iPhone and its answer machine problems. I got a pair of new specs (1.5 Mag) for .99p. RESULT! ) O2 told me my last bill was £120 and I needed to upgrade my phone. DISASTER. Now I was more depressed. I was contemplating buying some razor blades when a received a text

“Hi there. Its Dave here from Leeds. Do you want to give a short talk at St Georges Crypt? They work with the homeless. I would need you be there at 12:25. The address is Great George Street Leeds, LS1 3BR, Dave.”

I left the blades, got out my 3g and got guided to George Street. I was there by Mid-day
Now the entrance to this Crypt is like the entrance to a hotel. Indeed, it was 1,000 times better than the hotel I stayed in last night.

Now, even though it was Dave who sent me the text, for some reason I asked for a Pastor Steve, and was escorted by a client into the Assisi café. Oh and by the by, I was once a male model for a wall Mural of St Francis of Assisi. Crowds still visit the Old People’s Home it is featured in. The artist told me that she chose me as the model because she wanted someone who was “Slightly emaciated and a little mad.” I am no longer emaciated and my mental health is currently under scrutiny. My how times have changed.

I imagine Steve to be a more rotund version of Woodbine Willie. On his first day in the job, he had to give the last rites to a client.

Steve is the Bishops Chaplain for the homeless and a couple of other things beside.

Steve very proudly showed me all around the facility which serves 65,000 hot meals to clients each year. 65,000 * 3 course meals of the highest quality for £1 each and if you can’t find a £1 then Steve will find one for you. They don’t only serve hot meals, but provide 15 beds and a whole lot more besides and Steve is only one person in this fantastic operation that is open 24 hours a day, 365 days per week. Look here are some videos I took from YouTube to give you a flavour. They are amazing!

For me a handful of big things stuck out a mile.

1) These were, for whatever reason, marginalised people of society. 90% of them today, seemed to be men. (More vulnerable women are better catered for) Yet, the premises, provisions and services and staff, were all of 5 Star excellences. The scabby place I stayed at last night and paid too much for the privilege needed to come down here and see service, care and excellent facilities. This place had care and excellence written all over it.
2) The clients were known, respected, cared and catered for and much PRAYED FOR.
3) 24% of the working staff were former clients. 24%!!!!
4) There palace was excellently decorated, linking the founding past to the most recent present and a hopeful future. Hessian, as used in sacks, could be seen to be part of some wall furnishings. Why? The founding priest used hessian sacks to cover the coffins whilst the homeless at the time were using the Crypt.
5) If the Christian church ceased to provide this service to the city and to our cities…it would be catastrophic.

I don’t know if Steve noticed, but I was fighting back the tears on a number of occasions as I was overwhelmed with the genuine goodness which was being displayed daily on this place.

My text for the day was: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 and it was a pleasure to try and share a few thoughts with them about these great verses.

These busy folk, Steve, Dave and Claire (who works for Leeds City Mission and visits the Crypt and is a prison chaplain and is so enthusiastic about her God and her calling all gave me an interview.

INSERT CLAIRE INTERVIEW
INSERT DAVE INTERVIEW

Now, while we are on the subject of women in leadership….yes, I know you know my Biblical views…..here is a tract put out maybe what, 60 years ago by the founder of the New tribes Mission

The New Tribes Mission |Paul Flemming

Here am I, Send My Sister

We're startled when we realize that many more women than men are applying for missionary work in foreign fields. While Bible schools and seminaries are turning out more men than ever in their histories, men seem to be crowding to the pulpits while the women are doing the men's job out on the tough pioneer mission fields of the world.

There is not much you can say for the multiplied hundreds of young men who continue to flood into the ministry and take refuge behind the pulpit while we continue to let the women in increasing numbers do the toughest job assigned to Christian soldiers.

What is it that attracts the women in the mission field in such great numbers, compared to men? What is it that attracts so many men to the ministry in their home land compared to those who go to the mission field?

Today, we have prepared men to be brilliant, capable, and eloquent and have emphasized their personalities. Such preparation hardly prepares a man for the jungles. The little brown or black tribesman is hardly capable of appreciating such a one's true earthly value.

So it seems that the man, who has worked hard to become what he is, is evidently too good to be wasted on the heathen and should stay where he is appreciated. Surely God isn't continually calling 95 percent of the Christian men to stay while 5 percent pursue the world objective which we, as Christians, have received from the Lord Himself.

The Church's need is not necessarily more preachers but more obedience to God's Word. God could surely do something about the ills of our nation if He found us willing to practice what we preach. Men of such shortsightedness and with the desire to remain in comfort while leaving others to do the dangerous job of preaching the Gospel will never challenge lives.

While we thank God for every woman who has made an effort toward reaching the untouched, we realize it is a MAN'S job. The leveling off' process must begin.
Either the Church must give more men for front line evangelism on the far flung battlefields of the world, or we will have a horde of shrivelled up pastors and laymen who are beating the air and dying because they have no vision that is big enough and positive enough to demand all that they are for God's front line job.

We men!
We are the stronger sex
It has always been so!
We send our gifts to mission fields
To which the women go.
While up the steepest jungle paths
A woman bravely treads,
We men, who are the stronger sex,
Do pray beside our beds.
When women leave to go abroad
The heathen souls to reach,
We men, who are the stronger sex,
Do stay at home to preach.
While women, in some far off shack
Do brave the flies and heat,
We men, who are the stronger sex
In cool and comfort eat.
Fatigued and weary, needing rest,
The women battle on.
We men, who are the stronger sex,
Do write to cheer them on!
O valiant men!-come-let us sleep
And rest our weary heads.
We shall not be the stronger sex
If we neglect our beds!

It’s not very PC I know, but I don’t care. I think in this wee tract “Here I am Lord send my sister” is maybe the real reason why we are in such a state today. Our pulpits have been full of geldings instead of stallions. And you can blame David Murrow for the gelding reference, not me.
Dave gave me the opportunity to join 50 students on a city tour of what God was doing in Leeds though His church. What a great idea! And Claire gave me directions to the Leeds market to interview some Christians who occupied a book stall there. Dave even got me a free parking pass to put my car in St Georges Car park in the centre of town. Brilliant. But you know I had a call I needed to return and then I would decide.

The call turned out to be a Pastor from Wakefield and we chatted a while and prayer for each other. But even after all this, my spirits were low. I wanted that bed and last week, I had managed to book a room for £29 in the Britannia Hotel.

By 4:30pm I was unpacking my car and settling in to my lovely £29 room. I had a full breakfast and a great meal at the Crypt (Bridget, I had rice pudding with strawberry jam for dessert – Oh my goodness!) And so I finished off my Ritz Crackers and Peanut butter in my room.

I listened to Dale Carnegies book “How to stop worrying and start living” and despite Dale being a bit bonkers and theologically crippled; I love this book and its positive true life stories. I have listened to it many, many times. But not even this lifted my spirits. So, I retorted to silence and journaling, telephoning and emailing for the next 6 hours.

I received a text which said,

“Hey Up Rob-Hope U R well. My name is xxxx and we met on Tuesday nite when U came 2 R prayer night at Church in Hull. I just wanted to say that U really blessed me with what you are doin’ it’s really quite amazing and the message from the book of Romans was very exciting. I’m very young in the faith and feel very blessed 2 have met you and would luv 2 meet up 4 a chat 1 day about your amazing 66 journey. May our Lord bless and keep you safe always, keep well brother. God bless.”

HOW WONDERFUL! And then later on in the evening an email from a brother in the USA which said:

Hey Victor. Hope you are well. Making plans to come over next year. Would like to begin chatting about shooting some interview segments covering a variety subjects on the church, the world, discipleship and asking questions perhaps others only think about. Would you be interested in something like this? …My thinking is to put a panel together and address some of the far reaching questions that are hanging on the tree that just need to be picked off. I would love your thoughts on this. …. I'm hoping this note might stir some new avenues of how we could get all of us together for some incredible conversations…..looking forward to your reply....

I am daily amazed at just who does have their eye on 66 Cities.

So, it’s now 11:00pm and after all of this, I am still feeling guilty for still feeling cruddy, and so adieu, I’m off to sleep. Meanwhile, Dale Carnegie, writing many, many years ago is now singing out “What a friend we have in Jesus” and encouraging me to prayer and thankfulness. He has just told me that in America (at the time of his writing) someone commits suicide every 35 minutes and goes insane every two minutes. Cripes! Goodness knows what the statistic will be nowadays. Dale says that without prayer and faith, I will ‘go mental and become suicidal.’ Carnegie and Yung obviously never had access to Cadbury’s chocolate!

Only joking. Its prayer, some Scripture and sleep. Tomorrow is almost here.

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Oct | 26 | Wed | The City of WAKEFIELD | Pop Goth?

2011-10-27T00:42:00.000-07:00

PRAY FOR ME TODAY THURSDAY 27TH OCTOBER AS I GO TO LEEDS

THIS WAS WAKEFIELD | See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

My alarm went off at 5:15 am and I was up packed and dressed and downstairs by around 5:45am. Rev. Alison had already been up and cooked bacon, Sausage Egg toast and other assorted goodies for her husband Robert and me. Two Roberts for breakfast and I wasn’t the good looking one. It was nice to chill out and eat together and this lady vicar had a long day ahead of her. Honest, I think she and Robert are brilliant. So we chatted, put Hull to right, prayed and by 6:30-ish I was on the dark road to Wakefield.

Actually it was a smashing journey, the roads were clean and empty, not too many cameras (obviously not cost effective over here) and as the sun came up, the early morning mist gathered in the low wetlands. Sounds nice. And it was.

It was light when I arrived in Wakefield and somewhere around 8:30am. I parked on top of the shopping centre and went for an explore. I needed coffee and a Wi Fi. One of Nero’s 501 Stores was in the High Street down from the Wee Cathedral, which was slap bang in the middle of town. What a tremendous spot! The Nero’s was free as one of my cards was fully stamped. So I settled down to information gathering. Wakefield is an ancient city with the Cathedral having the tallest tower in Yorkshire. It’s also part of the Rhubarb triangle. Don’t ask.

So anyways, from my base in Nero’s, I looked briefly at 2 Corinthians, and got caught up on some email. I was thrilled to receive this about the meeting I spoke at last night

Great to meet with you tonight Rob. We will certainly remember you in our prayers, you have been part of something very special tonight and we even had a young lady make a commitment and give her life to the Lord. Stay blessed.

Brilliant

A newspaper in Hull called me and gave me an interview over the phone about my experiences in Hull yesterday. I was very positive.

A woman with a foster baby was in Nero’s and was willing to give me an unrecorded interview. I had an open and honest time with her for a good intermittent half hour and I told her my testimony and some of the stories from my journey. I committed her to the grace of God, and then having gotten some contacts; I left Nero’s and started phoning to follow up my already sent emails.

• I rang Madam Mayor to see if I could get an interview. I also emailed her.
• I rang Wakefield churches together and left a message. They never got back to me.
• I rang Wakefield Elim. Pastor was busy all day.
• I rang Zion and left a message. No one got back to me.
• I rang a church called Destiny but the Pastor was busy all day
• I rang the Cathedral and left a message for the Dean. Also emailed him

Hmm….Nothing was opening up? It was by now nearly 11:00am. I decided that the quickest option as always was to visit face to face. So off the Cathedral I went.
The head Dean was a lovely lady called Julie, and I mean lovely and you know once I explained what I was doing, she bent over backwards to help me.

I tracked her down in the church Café where she was talking to a naughty old lady. I love naughty old ladies and naughty old Yorkshire ones are the funniest of them all. So as you can imagine I had a blast interviewing these ladies.

INSERT TWO COFFEE SHOP VIDEOS HERE

I asked Julie if I could speak in the coffee shop the Cathedral and outside on the Cathedral green which overlooked the main shopping area and she said yes to all three, and just for good measure the Dean and sub Dean came along for coffee and I snagged them for an interview.

David Attenborough would be cockahoop at this point, for remember, this is only the 2nd Dean that I have seen in the wild in 46 cities! I needed to go and get my PA from the car but before I could do that, Rosemary wanted to take me to the homeless ministry she worked for. So she marched me down the road, to a place less than 5 minutes away. I like Wakefield, its people are lovely and the city is compact.

The community Awareness Programme (CAP) was formed in September 1997 from a desire by Ernest and Elisabeth Hibbert at New Life to try and meet some of the needs of the homeless and disadvantaged in the Wakefield District. The project ran originally from the church but since 2004 has operated from a Resource Centre at No 7. Wood Street and is open 5 days a week. Clients are referred from other Service Providers in Wakefield and visit CAP for food, clothing, household goods, toiletries, a snack meal and shower, advice, counselling and to meet with any number of our social partners. The project is funded and resourced by public and private donations and is headed by six trustees and a team of 40 dedicated volunteers from around the city and I tell you what, being with Ernest simple blessed me out of my boots. He is a man of the Word and the Spirit a man of faith and integrity. I wish I could share all the time I have with him, with you all, but this wee video will have to do.

I went back to the Cathedral and the ever patient Verger was waiting for me in the café, where as soon as I could, I recorded a brief mediation to camera in front of the watching and listening folk. After this I was pleased to talk to a couple of guys about the church, marriage and Jesus.

INSERT VIDEO

In the Cathedral itself, Julie helped me record mediation, after which I spoke with a couple who had lost a friend to cancer just the night before. I prayer with the lady that the God of all comfort would comfort her greatly.

I left my Camera on charge in the Cathedral and headed outside.

INSERT VIDEO

Now I needed the PA system and board from the car if I was going to be speaking outside. I left the Cathedral to see the collection of teenagers gathered in front of the entrance way. I had an idea:

“Who wants to be on You Tube?” Everyone wants to be on YouTube! One of the young women volunteered to be the Camera woman and several volunteered to be interviewed live. Cool.

When I got back to the car and tested the battery it was flat! Arrgh! I had forgotten to put it on charge. So, I quickly plugged in the charger and started up the car. I would put ten minutes juice in it, whilst I read though the opening on 1st Corinthians for today.

Ten minutes later I had my board and very partially charged up PA system and headed back for the Cathedral. Would those young folk still be there? Yes they would. It was half term and this is where they hung out.

I told them my plan.

1) I would do some one on one videos with dead Mics to give them some practice. This would allow me to charge up the PA a little more in the Cathedral
2) I would then take a ten minute break to recharge to Video Camera
3) We would then get together and go for a complete and seamless interview and proclamation session.

The interviews went as I expected. Silly, with some serious bits. Some were already high. As a side issue, thought he sun was out, it was cold…brrrr

INSERT VIDEOS HERE

I went back into the Cathedral and put the video back on charge and prayed. My phone went off and it was the Newspaper in Hull wanting a picture. I could not get one to them until 3:30pm at the earliest. They were cool with that.

Ten minutes had past, the PA was carrying a good charge and so off we went. I hope you find the end result a little interesting.

I stayed behind a little to speak to the young folks. They were really nice. My Camerawoman was freezing. One of the young guys, a Jehovah’s Witness, helped me with my gear back to the car where it was a pleasure to pray with him.

It was nearly 3:45pm and I needed to send the photo and see if I had a place to speak and a place to sleep tonight.

I took one of my fresh T Shirts and dropped it off the freezing Camera woman and gave the remainder of my Sorted Magazines to the young men.

Nero’s was warm and welcoming and a hot chocolate and Wi Fi allowed me to send the 10mb photo off to the Newspaper in Hull.

The Mayor of Wakefield called me and we chatted over the phone. I gave her verbal invitation to the National Day of Prayer but it didn’t look as those her schedule allowed us to meet so late in the day.

I had no place to speak tonight and no bed to sleep in. I tried to get a place in Leeds but everything was booked, but I did manage to get a budget place in Wakefield for £40.00. It could have been worse.

I had an infection under my bridge. I had had this before and it was simply cause by bad Dental hygiene. I could feel the infection spreading up my face and so it was time to go to boots and get all the bits I needed to try and fix this. I wish I had taken care of my teeth. An arm and a leg later, I had a cleaning kit and all the bits that should do the job.

The budget hotel was just that. Dirty carpets with duct tape, damaged doors, dirty curtains and dreadful colour scheme and pictures, but it still was twice as good as the dive I was in, in Glasgow.

I attended to my infection. Then my laptop went doowally. It looked as though I had a virus or someone was hacking into it. Sigh….That took me an hour to get on top of. I lined up the videos for the long time overnight upload, had black coffee, Ritz crackers and Peanut butter for my dinner, a hot bath, rang Bridget, did bit of typing and collapsed into bed. I needed to sleep. Day 46 was over. Twenty more to go. Honest, I wondered what tomorrow would bring?

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Oct | 25 | Tue | The City of HULL | Where 3 Ladies offer me a bed!

2011-10-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

THIS WAS WAKEFIELD | See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURES
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

I am having tremendous problems with getting access to Wi Fi and when I do, the upload speeds are appalling and the connection drops are even worse. Consequently, though I got up around 5:00am this morning, had breakfast and packed, the limited internet uploads were not completed until about 10:30am. I was frustrated and behind schedule. (In my mind) As I made my way down to Hull the fast road had a detour on it, which took me miles out of my way. Dang!

Even so, I had gotten a contact from someone of about a large church down in Hull and upon ringing them was informed of a minister’s fraternal that was meeting for a an hour long prayer session until mid day that very day. If the traffic was good, I could make the last 15 minutes. I said I would be there and so a message would be sent to them that I was on my way! That was nice.

The traffic was good in the end and I did in fact arrive at the meeting at about 10:50am.
These praying folks, these ministers, were mostly charismatic. Now here is the thing I have noticed. Those folks more open to the surprises of the Holy Spirit are more open to folks like me being blown in by God. They are expectant. If you are mostly a Word centred fella however, then Missions like 66Cities will fill you with suspicions. And you know, just to complicate matters, the bigger the charismatic church, the greater their suspicion and wariness. Why is this? I wonder if in the Word based church it is no doubt a case of ‘Pulpit Protection’ just in case the mindless flock may get led astray and in the other case, it is a simple matter of corporate structure trumping spirit moving. Oh I don’t know. It’s just something I have noticed.

The leader allowed me to share my story and my requests which were but twofold: 1) a bed for the night (I always feel so very cheeky asking for this) 2) a place to share my message for the day. Three lovely ladies offered me a bed. One of which was a Vicar. In addition to this, one of the ministers was going to take me for lunch and that night I would also be sharing at an Elim Pentecostal church. Meanwhile Alison (the lady Vicar) was on the phone to her media contacts in Hull, making about thirty calls to see if she could get me on the radio and in the Newspapers. Alison is a firecracker!

(look at this :The notice, outside St Hilda's Church in Annandale Road also includes the message: "Hello Greatfield. My name is Alison. I am the new vicar at St Hilda's. I look forward to meeting you." Rev Gilchrist adopted the unusual approach not only to introduce herself, but also to make it clear the church is open as usual. She said: "As the Mail reported earlier in the summer, some people had assumed the church to be closed, which, of course, was not true." Having held the position for just a couple of weeks, she has already rolled up her sleeves and committed herself to becoming involved in an "action week" on the estate. Each day, Rev Gilchrist helps to cook breakfast for about 40 people by opening up the church as a community café. The vicar, who has previously worked in Lancashire and Yorkshire, was brought up in foster care and worked as part of a uniformed church service supplying café and bar facilities in the Falkland Islands just after the war there. She has previously published a book entitled Creating A Culture Of Welcome In The Local Church and made an appearance on ITV television show Loose Women.)

I told one of the older ladies that I was going to ring my wide immediately to tell her three women had offered me a bed for the night! What a super bunch to do this. I mean this is really impressive don’t you think?

INSERT VIDEO x3

Pastor Steve and I went for lunch and the Carvery he took me to was so popular that I think we lined up for at least 30 minutes to grab some food. The place was very understaffed and it was slap it on your plate service. I am amazed at what bad service we Brits simply put up with as the norm! Anyhoo, it gave me some time to spend with Steve, the Pastor of a ‘Primitive Methodist Continuing Church’. Not many of these have continued on into the 21st century mind you. You see in the early 19th Century when the differences between the Primitives and the Wesleyan Methodists became profound….

• The Primitives focused attention on the role of lay people.
o The Wesleyans developed a high doctrine of the Pastoral Office to justify leadership being in the hands of the ministers.
• The Primitives stressed simplicity in their chapels and their worship.
o The Wesleyans were open to cultural enrichment from the Anglican tradition and more ornate buildings.
• The Primitives concentrated their mission on the rural poor.
o The Wesleyans on the more affluent and influential urban classes.
• The Primitives stressed the political implications of their Christian discipleship
o The Wesleyans were nervous of direct political engagement.

They split. And then when in 1932 the two main streams got back together, those who said “heaven no we won’t go” CONTINUED on in the Primitive Path. Though the Club and spotted loincloth were both dropped as it was both silly looking and too cold to wear in the winter.

(See HERE FOR MORE INFO)

Anyways, brief and bad church history lesson over, this Continuing Methodist church is in Hull’s inner city, and ministering to people in difficult financial, emotional, and spiritual circumstances. In addition to this, Steve is facing many problems with people who have been involved in the occult. In our country, where popular TV shows push occult practice in sexy ways to desperate people hungry for any kind of help, then you open a doorway to spiritual oppression, possession and domination. Pastor Steve was dealing with these kinds of problems. He is quite a guy I can tell you.

As a side issue, I am told that Hull has the lowest church attendance rate in the country. Undoubtedly, like everywhere, there are pockets of churches that buck the trend in Hull, but on the whole, many people might suggest that ‘parts’ of Hull are seemingly ‘possessed’ by a sucking hopelessness? Certainly, Hull took a real pasting in WWII being the second most bombed city in the country. Yet reconstruction, renewal and regeneration have OBVISOUSLY been going on for some time now but wonder though, if it is and will be sustainable. You could of course ask that question all over the country and in most of our cities, and the answer would probably be ‘no’! However, the reasons elsewhere might be mostly economic, in Hull; I wondered if there might be another reason other than economics? Ah what do I know! I was only there a few hours. Never the less, I did ‘feel’ it to be quite a tough place spiritually. Most places that are at the end of a railway line are.

Anyways, after lunch with Steve and a good old chinwag, I had some praying, planning and exploring to do and so made my way around this very flat landscape. It reminded me very much about Florida. Yes, despite the lack of palm trees, scantily clad and good looking Hispanic women, bright sunshine blue skies, white sand, cheap food, cheap gas, smiling faces and hope, it reminded me very much of Florida.

Hmmm. For those of you who are interested and some in Hull may well be interested, Florida for me, was a place where your spiritual compass was being whizzed around by a number of ever moving forces. Vast immigrant populations, coupled with heat migrants and madness of every kind, made it a very difficult place to get your bearings. Hull I felt had much more demarcation. If you are interested in wanting to know more of my meanderings, then do please drop me an email at Robert@whisperingword.com

Anyways, you know what! I had lost the piece of paper with all of today’s contact details! I had forgotten where I was supposed to be tonight, had lost the Pastors number and two of the ladies who wanted to give me a bed! Fortunately I had Rev Alison’s number and so texted her if I could still stay with her and her husband and family tonight. I could. Phew! One of the other lovely ladies rang me later that day (which I was very relieved about) and we spent a good half hour chatting and praying on the phone.

I finished my exploration and a few bits and pieces and then I went down to the Continuing church in the late afternoon. I am sure Steve would remind me exactly where I was speaking.
Steve joined a Table Tennis league to help get these young men and brand new Christians involved in something healthy. They are very good. Well, the worst of them wupped me anyways! It was great to be with these very raw and real folk as they shared their real encounters with Jesus who has delivered them from their various darknesses and IS delivering them into light and life. Steve is a magnificent guy in his passion for these folk. It was great to be there. (Steve stopped wearing his spotted loincloth in 1992, but on special occasions, will be found dragging his wife into church by the hair, laying his club against the Pulpit and beating his chest whilst preaching.)

I was speaking at the Elim, Church on the Way at 7:30pm that evening. I had arranged to meet Pastor Phil at around 7:10pm so’s I could get a tour of the facilities and ask him a few questions before hand. Tonight was a prayer meeting that Phil said was ‘wild’. At the beginning, he said there were a few rules to be observed and one his elders re-interpreted them for me saying “just do what you want and pray what you want.” This was going to be interesting.

Phil introduced me and very graciously allowed me to share from the book of Romans. It was great to see some young MEN there. It was great to see some MEN with history there. The message seemed to be received well and then Phil got us down to pray. The chairs were kicked back and away we went. It was one of THE BEST prayer meetings I have ever been in. I was really blessed. You really could pray anyway you wished, anywhere you wished, with anyone you wished about whatever you wished. I could see that people were being ministered to by other folks, and I felt the freedom to do the same and so shared a few thoughts with one of the young men, who had not been coming along to church for too long, and was a recovering out of work heroin addict, now on Methadone. The guys then prayed for me and it was super to have a new Christian pray over and for me. I was really blessed.

If you get some time to call or email Phil and found out how they got the building you will be most truly blessed and what a building with a history, having had regular visits from FB Meyer, Dr M L Jones and even Eric Liddell. (No, he did not start the cut price stores found in each of our cities!) Though from now on, every Christian might now declare “Darling, I’m just popping down to Eric’s’!”

I got to Rev. Alison’s place at around 9:30 and was immediately offered hot chocolate and chocolate club biscuits. “No thank you” I said, “I am on a fasting diet”. Yeah right.

Alison’s husband Robert is a great guy, a man’s man and a biker. He gave me a Christian Motorcyclists organisation Bible. It has a picture of Moses coming down the Mount on his Triumph. Which as we all know, were far better than Harleys? Rev. Alison and Robert make a great team for sure. It wasn’t long before I was tucked up in a warm and comfortable bed wondering what tomorrow would bring.

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Oct | 21 | Fri | The City of SUNDERLAND | Severed Heads

2011-10-24T23:42:00.000-07:00

See my Full 66 City Tour List by Clicking HERE

THIS IS THE STORY OF TOUR & IS
THE CONTENTS OF MY HEAD AND HEART

I JUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD SOME VIDEOS or PICTURE
SO DO CHECK BACK-MEANWHILE :

This bed had an electric blanket and I was toasted well all the night long. I didn’t want to get up but journaling and Sunderland called. Pat, the spritely seventy year old I was staying with had made breakfast whilst we waited for her amazing husband to come back from his early morning power walk!

Pat was involved with ‘Healing on the Streets’. Now let me tell you, anyone that can set up a sign and a few chairs and then invite people to be prayed for is pretty phenomenal in my book. That’s takes courage. Indeed, it not only takes courage to offer to pray for people publicly but to be prayed for publicly also takes courage, especially for healing. So, if a wee seventy year old women can get out twice a month on the streets, then you know, so can we. Especially the Pastors. It’s really about time brothers that we started to ‘do the work of an Evangelist’ and get out there and start proclaiming and praying. Imagine if we got all our Pastors out on the streets once and a while! Great would be the laundering of undergarments for sure, but it would be interesting to see what God would do.

Pat and John fed me, prayed for me and then made me packed lunch and sent me on my way. I arrived at God TV around 10:30 on the dot and again John Lonsdale had even arranged a Parking spot for me in the underground car park. I met with Jens the European director had tea and biscuits and got a great interview.

Audrey was his PA and she put me in contact with a church not 5 minutes away.I walked down there under a very gloomy Sunderland sky. It wasn’t cold mind you, but by gum it was gloomy and heavy along with it. This is the second time I had been to Sunderland, it was raining the last time.

I found the church and the back of it had graffiti all over it and the front of it looked like Fort Knox with entry phone and pull down metal shutters. The church was called Hope but it was bolted up and under the grey sky did not depict its name. The wonderful lady inside however not only gave me a few more contact numbers but said that the church was doing exceptionally well.

I walked back to God TV and re-parked myself in their Café and accessed the Free Wi Fi. I made the usual calls but Sunderland was closed. However, though the priest in charge of Sunderland Minster was away, the lovely lady left to administrate said I could come along and speak my message. There was even a thriving Café and Bistro which was pretty busy at the moment. So I asked if I could speak there. She said she would ask the manager. So, Sunderland Minster, here I come.

No offence to Sunderland or its people, but the lack of inward investment is clearly seen on all the run down streets. Those that love this city will no doubt tell me different, but over all, despite the multitudes of bustling shoppers under this very grey sky, Sunderland seemed a very sad old place.

The Minster was tucked away in the Centre of the city, but was open and the Café was thriving. Margaret the administrator told me that the manager did not want me to disturb her customers. I fully understood, but I wanted to know if she would allow me to invite her customers to a five minute mediation. I went down the Café and it was very busy. I tried to speak to the manager and as I approached the door it was unceremoniously closed upon me. Message received and understood.

I left the café and literally bumped into three young women from Cyprus who were looking for an Orthodox church. I told them I was an Orthodox Minister would be doing a Bible mediation shortly and they were invited to stay. Indeed, I even recruited one of them to do the filming. Frankly they were too polite to say no.

I spoke from the front of the Minster about John Mark, the last words recorded in the Gospel being from a Roman Soldier and the fact that John Mark had damaged a missionary team, sending both he and Barnabas back to Cyprus. It seemed a very appropriate message for these three young ladies and Bob, after which I prayed for them and they departed.

Bob is the head verger and he is at the church every day. A lovely and knowledgeable man, he took time to show me around the church building.

I was fascinated by the fact that the list of incumbents there were three names there which were followed by the bracketed term of (INTRUDER). Apparantly these were Puritan ministers appointed by Cromwell. ‘Intruders' indeed. Religious episcopacy hold dear its apostolic succession and special licencing. Indeed, all religious institutions ‘protect’ their pulpits less the very stupid sheep are misled by someone with a couple more brain cells than they should arrive and leave them astray. One of the rooms in the minster has a portrait of John Wesley on the wall which he had commissioned for them as a gift. Apparantly he was taken care of by the minster when he regularly came to preach on the green outside, but he was never allowed to preach inside the church. Even though he was an Anglican minister, he was outside his appointed Parish and way outside the bounds of good churchmanship. By the way, we independants are no different and are often much much worse in our lack of openness to what God may be doing. My wife for example, trying to find a church for me to speak in Rippon this Sunday got the following email back

Dear Mrs Farrell,

Thank you for your message. However, we already have our services arranged for that day, nor would we accept a preacher unknown to us without a prior reference and commendation from his (Bible believing) church.
Kind regards, etc

It’s a polite and informative email. I am an INTRUDER, indeed, a much rushed priest came up to me and Bob and said he forgave me for inviting myself to preach in his church. He wasn’t joking and despite my getting permission to do so, made it very obvious that my actions had been a very rude intrusion. Sigh. It was a very brief and weird encounter without any open malice but it did highlight to me the gross secteraianism we proliferate within the Kingdom of God. The five fold ministries only exist within our denominational parameters and then with much control. This is the way it is. Maybe this is the way it has to be. However, let none of us call it the Kingdom of God, but rather let us refer to it as ‘The Confinement of the Spirit’.I did a couple of interviews and went back into town.

By now I had lost any heart do anything else. The grey drab and lifeless city centre did nothing to cheer my spirits, so I spent the rest of the afternoon in Maccy D’s catching up on administration. A colleague hadrecommended I get an external hard drive to back up all this vital video data. So, I npped round the corner to Rymans and got a cheap back up facility which I would back up to daily and keep in my suitcase in the car.

I collected the car from the underground parking lot at God TV ate around 5:30pm and headed on back to my hosts, where tonight they were hosting a wee birthday party for a young man of 88.

I got back around 6:15pm and connected the drive to begin the back ups and tried to set some video uploads onto a very weak wireless signal.

Pat is a tremendous cook and the Gammon and Pineapple with parsley sauce and boiled potatoes with fresh garden picked vegetables went down a treat. Add to that the blackberry cordial and the trifle and custard and you will understand how after a very disappointing day in Sunderland that I began to be cheered. Robert, aged 88, was as bright as a button and as sharp as a tack, being able to remember with intricate detail and accuracy every event of his long and well informed life. It was a fascinating couple of hours before I politely excused myself to my room to follow up on the backups and chase down some family matters.

I went to bed around 11:30pm, setting the alarm for 4:45am. I still had a lot to do before I was ready for Durham.

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