Now I am one for camping. I am happy to sleep in a flimsy tent half way up a mountain. I am familiar with tents of all types. The one-man kind that you could carry in a ‘manbag’ (if I used one) right the way up to the 20 person dormitories that come with a set of instructions bigger than the yellow pages.

But what I got involved in this weekend made every other tent that I had ever handled look like some sort of a complex tea-bag. The tent I have just been involved in putting up and taking down was HUGE.

A few stats;

• 5 tonnes in weight
• 48 guy-lines
• tent pegs of over a metre long that would hold a truck
• 133 poles; the smallest being 2½ metres – the largest being 20m high
• area covered about 4,000 square metres

It took 20 blokes a day and bit, a lot of grunting, sweating, shouting and other bodily noises (but never a cross word or a swear word – really) to put this monster up.

And for why? To welcome 1000 men to a conference in a small Yorkshire Dales town and hear the word of God spoken into their lives.

The vision started with one man who felt that he heard God say “Do something for me” and that something was to ask Angus Buchan to the UK to speak at the Mighty Men conference (25-27 May 2012). Some of you might know Angus from the South African ‘Mighty Men’ conferences and the book and film ‘Faith like potatoes’.

Questions were asked at the start – How many people do we think might come? 200?, 300? Can we believe for 500? But that was the wrong question – the real question is how BIG should we think. You see, if we think in terms of numbers we limit what God can do to that number. Instead if we go for the biggest we can (and then some) God has promised to do the rest.

Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep … Isaiah 54:2 (MSG)

OK so I know that the scripture is a bit obvious for this blog, but it makes the point well. Ian, the bloke who had the vision to ‘do something for God’ has a saying he often quotes. “If your vision doesn’t scare you, it isn’t big enough”.

So a man with a tent was found. What’s the biggest tent you can let us have? One that will seat between 2500 and 3000. (gulp) Ok we’ll go for that (scared or what) Hang on – How many will we cater for then? How many seats? How many stewards, how many … well … everything!!!!

We thought perhaps 500, God sent 1000, and on the Sunday morning when the men’s wives and families were invited we welcomed nearly 1500.

Think not how many, but think HOW BIG. God has promised to fill your tents, make it a big one!

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This blog is not about using super-spiritual language referring to the congregation or a fellowship, but is actually about being a shepherd.

Now this is not my normal employment, my job takes me all over the country delivering support and training for businesses, but every year I take a couple of weeks off and look after a good friends flock of sheep whilst the mothers try and run away from their lambs.

In many ways I simply teach sheep to count up to 2 (the ones I look after have twins) and sometimes the advance class can go up to 3!!
So for the past two weeks I have been looking after these sheep. Now sheep are not as thick as people may think. In truth they are cunning, plotting and planning animals that will take advantage of you as soon as you as you drop your guard; running through the smallest of gaps because you didn’t quite tie up the gate as well as you should; deliberately aiming for your knees rather than going round you as they run past, ignoring their lambs so you need to bend down to their level just in time for you to receive a swift blow to the temple by one of their horns.

Believe me, sheep are not thick – they know exactly what they are doing!!!

It was after just such an instance that I found myself beginning to lose my patience with one ewe in particular. She had been nothing but trouble all day. First she forgot she had two lambs and was ignoring one of them, then she bolted as I was moving her to a place where we keep mother and lambs closer together, she had butted me as I tried to get her own lambs to suckle and finally she had jumped out of her pen whilst I was feeding other sheep.

I was tempted to pick the flippin’ thing up and chuck her back in the pen with the sort of force that reminded her that I was meant to be the clever one in the shed, not her!!

As I lunged for the ewe (and I was actually quite proud of how quickly I made it across the sheep-shed to catch her) I was suddenly reminded of a bit of scripture, which I later found was in Matthew ch. 25: “You were faithful in a few things, come and be in charge of many”.
Here was I getting frustrated with an animal, and deep in my heart I want to be able to guide my fellow believers. If I can’t control my frustrations with sheep, how will I cope with the complexities of leading people?

Every day we have a choice to respond to the opportunities we are given in a few, small things to learn how to deal with the many, bigger things God has in store for us to be part of. I don’t want to lose my opportunity to serve the Living God – even more because I can’t deal with the frustrations of the few things He gives me to do now.

Steve Laugher – Area rep for Ripon and the Dales, Methodist Preacher and member of the Leadership of Masham Methodist Church.

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I have a little confession to make. I like to be the one that thinks of the ideas, finds the way forward, makes the running does the work and takes the prize.

Shocking? Surely not? I hope that I’m not the only bloke that still has a competitive instinct after my 52 years on earth (and 35 years following the maker of the earth).

But I’ve noticed something else about this competitive nature of mine that can really get in the way if I am not careful. At 52 I have started to think about whether I have made my mark for God in this world. Is there a more significant role I can take on in the church? how can I use that wisdom and experience that God has given me in my life, while I am still able?

But this can lead to me trying to do everything and leaving no space for others to shine. Not because I am trying to prove myself to others, but perhaps sometimes trying to prove myself to me. The focus for that competitive instinct has become internal.

“I can still do the things I used to do,
I can still be everything to everyone”

Scripture tell us that we are each set a bundle of tasks that are ours to do (see Ephesians 2:10). My role is not to seek to do just something, but to allow God to guide me into the things he would have me do. So it becomes easy when I recognise that where I am right now, at this moment is because God has put me here to find one of those tasks He is asking me to do. In fact I am discovering that I don’t even need to look for them, I just need to be alert and they become obvious.

My lesson – Do what is obviously right and good. No more is needed, if you are following God He shows you what to do.

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