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.

In a recent survey conducted by SAGA, respondents put the age at which someone in the UK is deemed to be old at 59, whereas in most other European Countries it’s the mid-60s. This seems to contradict what we hear so often that the new 40 is 60 and the new 50 is 70 and what we hear generally said in society. It would seem that in the underlying psyche of most people, the age-old myth is still being perpetuated – that by the time you reach 60 you are ‘past it.’ But surely not prevalent in the psyche of our church?

What are older people expected to do in the church? Pray, be tolerant, accept changes, stand down from the PCC, keep up with the young, make tea, don’t rock the boat, do flowers, don’t talk about the past, help with the crèche, ‘sit up shut up and pay up’, knit squares, dust, hand out books, run the Mother’s Union, organise the bazaar or jumble sale, mend the church furnishings, polish the brass, do maintenance, help in the church office – not with computers, but in sticking stamps on envelopes.

Older people if given the option would like to: Help others, share experiences, use talents, listen to older hymns, be loved, be recognised as part of the church family, be listened to, pray, be involved in decision-making, share more activities in the general church, be part of the visiting programme. Help the handicapped, be a granny/grandpa figure in the crèche, take part in hospital visiting, work with ‘Gideons’, prison work, be in a home group, take services in old peoples’ homes, counsel, teach, evangelise, help children in school, help with publicity, keep identity, have a clear ministry, share wisdom, have links with younger people, not clean brass, have a voice in things, lead worship sometimes, be part of a pastoral care team, be part of all events, have a prayer partner with a younger person, learn how to pray for each other.

WHAT DOES GOD SAY?

Those that are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in Him.” (Psalm 92 vv13-15)

Are our churches listening to Him?

Norman Critchell - Director, Outlook Trust   www.outlook-trust.org.uk

The first time I entered a church for a ‘typical’ Sunday service, I was scared. Don’t get me wrong; I had been to weddings, christenings and remembrance services before, but going to church for no reason was something different.

It all happened around eleven years ago, and by this point, my wife Shelly had become a Christian at Holy Trinity Church in Ripon.

Unbeknown to me she had been taking our two children to Sunday school. However, this particular Sunday she was going shopping and wanted me to take them to church instead.

To be honest, I was reluctant to do this, but for our children’s sake, I agreed.

I can remember planning a strategy of how not to spend much time in church. My plan was to drop the kids off quickly, head to the nearest pub to read the paper, and pick the kids up afterwards.

I thought it was a foolproof plan but didn’t count on a fiery blond-haired woman welcoming me when entering the church. I entered the building with much unease. It didn’t help that my two children Tayla and Curtis ran off downstairs leaving me to be led by one of Shelly’s friends to a seat inside. I couldn’t refuse. It was so awkward. I would have felt more at home entering an adult shop or a casino in all honesty.

During the nest two months I witnessed the change that God had made in Shelly’s life. I knew I had got to the point where I also wanted to give my life to God. The walk towards God wasn’t an easy one, and the decision to follow Jesus wasn’t easy either, but now I wouldn’t want to be on any other path than the narrow one.

I soon learnt one of the most popular teachings in the Bible for myself. As the angel said to Mary: “Do not be afraid” so did the Lord whisper that same thing to me. Everyday I am discovering more and more what it means to live with God on my side. The Bible says that because I gave my life to Jesus, God is now “For me and not against me.”

I am sure that many more guys would jump at the chance to know more about this God.

Why not join us on the 21st of this month at the Forum Hall, Wythenshawe, Manchester, for a National Men’s Day in partnership with New Wine. It would be a great place for any blokes to take their first steps with their creator. It will also be a cracking event for Christian men to develop their walk with God.

Get yourself booked in here.

See you there guys.

Deano.

Having spent nine years working for Age Concern I feel just a little qualified to know something about growing older – and according to Age Concern you are an older man when you reach the age of 50! Now before you start complaining, I did not say OLD – I said OLDER! Older is a relative term used purely to distinguish you from someone who is younger.

Sadly, however, it was always hard to engage with older men. Even when events were specifically designed for them, very few seemed to attend. Does that say something about how independent we men like to think we are? How solitary? How self-assured?

This being said, it is interesting that our CVM group here in Northumberland attracts high numbers of older older men – repetition intended! Many of these men live alone and are less able to get out and about on their own. However, good friends and neighbours bring them along to our regular breakfast meetings and, although having led lives of independence, they are welcoming being included and are open to talk about spiritual matters.

I often wonder about the age profiles of other CVM groups around the country. Sometimes I get the impression that we are a ‘young guys’ movement, which is brilliant – reaching men in the younger bracket. But are we missing out on having a word to say and a message to deliver to older men? Men who may be considering more ‘end-of-life’ issues? Men who are still looking for what life – real life – has to offer.

After all, when Jesus said that he had come to bring life in all its fullness, I am sure he meant it to include those living in the fullness of years.

In truth I’ve actually spent more years as a bible teacher/pastor than as an evangelist. As a pastor I had a deep concern to introduce all types of people, from all walks of life, ages, stages to Jesus and to see them grow in faith and understanding. That concern hasn’t changed. In fact over the years its grown to be a burning passion and one of the driving forces of my life. In turn its generated some of my greatest frustrations. But then, as a much wiser man once said to me; “make your frustrations your friends and they won’t eat you up!”

For the last seven years I’ve been working in a much more specialist field and work predominantly with men and almost exclusively in the area of evangelism by seeking to mobilise, equip and resource the local church to reach all types of men. We also try to tackle some of the ills in society that men perpetrate and create. Because of this I face some tough and somewhat stretching challenges. In the following, for “we” I’m meaning you, me and the church.

• How do we reach the itunes generation whilst keeping in touch and empowering. with men who don’t know what itunes is?
• How do we reach the builders and the geezers (not necessarily one and the same) without being labelled as being a ministry just for blokes?
• How do we reach the gay community?
• How do we reach the retired men in our community?
• How do we create a brand and an image that is accessible to all, or is that even possible.
• How do we reach the businessman on his second sunseeker yacht.
• How do we reach the white working class young men that the middle classes love to call “Chavs”
• How do we reach the opera lovers as well as the drum and bass fans.
• How do we reach the long term unemployed.
• How do we reach the misfits and the so called “geeks”
• How do we reach the man I see every day, chain smoking outside the working mens club who has chronic liver problems.
• How do we reach the family guy as well as the single man, the grandad and the divorced and struggling.
• How do we help the church reach disabled men?

Over the last few years I’ve been asked what we are doing for every single one of these examples and more and to be honest with you all, its a constant source of frustration and angst. We recently had a long meeting as a team, addressing some of these questions and hopefully we will stay balanced whilst trying to address the lack of balance in most churches outreach activity. So far we’ve managed to resource a group reaching the over 50s, developed some resources for the itunes brigade, fathers, students, builders and geezers and dabbled in working in the business community. We’ve produced resources for footy and film fans (and I don’t even like football)

Theres so much more we want to do but with very limited resources, people, time and crucially money there is only so much we can do at a time. With the church having been largely chronically unsuccessful at reaching “blue collar men” and the itunes generation, we have been trying to deal with this lately but how successful we are being remains to be seen!

The winner of the Yorkie Bar prize for naming the CVM ’50 plus group’ was Keith Harper from the Netherlands … he wisely suggested that we keep it as it is – 50 Plus -

“it does exactly what
it says on the tin”

Our thanks to Roger Leitch, Mike Stenbrook, David Entrican and Oliver Street who gave some good ideas and encouragement.

The message that I keep hearing from lots of guys who want to reach the ’50 plus’ is what Jesus said, “… go and make disciples …”, this means both being discipled and making disciples: we are talking about small groups of 3 or 4 men meeting up regularly to encourage each other and gradually develop their gifts. This is a command of Jesus and not an option.

If you would like to share your experience on this theme, please contact me on eddie.james@ cvm.org.uk or make comments on the blog.

God bless you, Eddie

As you may know, I have two daughters Emily and Annie. When Karen was pregnant we spent months thinking about what we would call them – obviously there were a few names we had to avoid with Beech as a surname! (Please don’t email in with suggestions such as “Sandy”!)

Jesus’ parents didn’t have to spend any time deciding on his name as an angel told them to call him Jesus (Matthew 1 v 21). Actually, in the bible, Jesus has over a hundred different names or titles! The one I like best, and the one that we sing about a lot at this time of year in carols, is a name he was given over 700 years before he was born. The prophet Isaiah said he would be called “Immanuel” (Isaiah 6 v 8).

Immanuel means “God With Us”

This year there are men all over the UK who know for the first time the reality of Immanuel – that God is with them! The reason they know this is that someone told them the truth that Jesus came to save them and they believed it. Each of these decisions is a miracle and that’s what CVM exists to see happen.

Here are a couple of amazing quotes from messages we have received recently:

“My husband went to a CVM event. I knew he was different as soon as he got home. I slept next to a Christian man that night for the first time in our marriage…”





”A paramilitary guy met with Jesus after your talk in Northern Ireland. He gave everything over to Jesus that night and since then has taken his family to church every week.”

Some other words in Isaiah that have a massive impact are: “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6 v 8). At CVM our answer to that is “send us!” The CVM team has spent this year travelling up and down the UK telling men that Jesus came to save them and we have been helping other men and churches tell their friends and contacts the same. The reason more men in the UK know Jesus as Immanuel this year is because this men’s movement, that I count you a part of, is willing to say “Send Me!” In the last 12 months, this movement has connected the message of Jesus to thousands of men all over the UK through CVM events, groups and evangelistic resources.

This Christmas would you be able to send us a gift to help us keep our small team on the road telling men about Jesus and equipping and inspiring churches, individuals and groups to do the same. Please make a off donation or set up a direct debit via JustGiving.

Thank you for supporting us. My hope and prayer for you this year is that you will know that God is with you and that you would be willing to say “Send Me!”

Happy Christmas from all of us at CVM. God bless and strengthen you!

Your brother in Christ,

Carl Beech

It turned out that he was the only one available to cut my hair on that day. I was secretly pleased at this news because deep down I wanted to look like this guy. We chatted about our lives and I found out that he always tried to keep himself in shape to impress his girlfriend. And after the first few minutes of small talk, he asked me a question I had never heard before: “So, how much work do you put into your hair?” I laughed at first, before clocking the fact he was serious. And so he should be. Though I had found a discount voucher for this particular salon, it was still one of the best salons in York. He wasn’t just a donkey with some hairclippers, he had dedicated his life to creating style. And though it’s not my idea of an exciting ambition, there was no doubt he was serious about it.

I was honest about the lack of effort I had put into my hair. He laughed for a short while before telling me about my hair’s potential. He said my hair had ‘the potential to turn heads.’ (I took the compliment but didn’t believe it). But he is an expert, so I watched him carve my strands into something a lot nicer on the eyes.

So, golf, football, creative writing, communication, long-distance running, speaking Welsh, snooker…hair. This is an updated list of those things in my life that I am happy to work on. I am happy to make sure I am always improving in these things. I am positive that the more I put into the above list, the more I will develop in each area.

But the Christian faith is not to be worked on. There’s no time. After all, the Christian faith is something which should drip into every area of my life. It’s not separate is it? At the end of the day its all about me being pleasant to others, cracking a few jokes at my midweek church group and being on time on Sunday. Surely I don’t have to work on my faith. Surely that’s not my responsibility. For I am saved by Grace, and not by works. Yes that’s right, grace. Lovely lovely grace. Hallelujah.

Philippians 2:12-13: Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

I guess there’s a difference between the faith that keeps its head down, and the faith that turns heads. So to echo the words of my hairdresser, ‘How much work do you put in?’

Peace.

It was Monday night and the queue started at 930pm. People were already gathering, excited, anticipating, literally sweating to get what they came for. And what they came for was a video game. Tuesday 8th November saw the release of one of the most anticipated video games of our life time, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The shop I work at was opening from 1030pm and selling the game from midnight so the public could get their hands on it as soon as humanly possible. The next four hours were a blur as customer after customer purchased their copy, and I trundled out thoroughly exhausted at about 2am.

It got me thinking. There are so many reflections I could make on the night. Comparing my own desire for the eternal with the crowd’s desire for the temporary and finding myself lacking, wishing the church was as desperate to spread the gospel as these customers were to get their hands on the game. The memory of the night encapsulates all that I think is wrong with today’s consumeristic society. The must-have attitude where people are so desperate for the latest game, fashion, phone that they have to be one of the first to own it. The sad fact that this will all be repeated on perhaps an even bigger scale next year when the next Call of Duty comes out.

Even reflecting on the name – do we, as Christians, treat our call as a duty rather than a pleasure? Is that why we so consistently get it wrong. I don’t know. However I do know that as I left the shop that morning, my own discounted copy clutched tightly in my hands, I lamented that something has to change.

Romans 12:1-2 (The Message) ‘So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.’