As well as this weekly blog, written by a team of 10, we hope to have another team to lead interactive seminars at the CVM regional day conferences on topics that are important to the over 50`s.

These topics could include subjects that may not be covered in depth by the churches such as:

– Reaching Boomers….born 1944-64
- Care for elderly men in homes and at home
- Preparation for retirement….discovering your next vocation
- Discipling and ‘every member ministry’ ….No passengers!
- Social care…..Word AND deed
- A fulfilling life with the over 80`s……the last lap
- Men`s health and fitness

Running in parallel with the seminars will be a web based discussion forum that you can access from the CVM web site. The forum will be divided up into topic groups. This can then include those who can`t attend the CVM regional days, live overseas or simply wish to continue the discussion started at the seminar. You can input to as many topic groups as you wish. Each group would have an editor/ coordinator.

Please email me direct if you know of anyone who would like to be involved as a seminar leader, discussion group coordinator or blog writer. Please contact me if you would like more details or have suggestions for titles of topic groups. If any of the topics mentioned above are close to your heart please let me know.

eddie.james@cvm.org.uk

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In an emotional first home match for Liverpool since the findings of the Hillsborough Independent Panel were announced, Robin van Persie’s 81^st-minute penalty clinched all three points for Manchester United.

Steven Gerrard opened the scoring for the home side despite having Jonjo Shelvey sent off before the break. Defender Rafael da Silva equalised five minutes later before van Persie’s winner.

At the Etihad Stadium Manchester City drew 1-1 with Arsenal. Laurent Koscielny’s 82^nd-minute goal cancelled out Joleon Lescott’s first-half header

Demba Ba marked his return to the Newcastle starting line-up with a goal that proved the difference against Norwich. It leaves Chris Hughton, former Newcastle manager, still searching for his first win in charge of Norwich.

At White Hart Lane, Spurs were booed off at half-time, trailing 1-0 to Bobby Zamora’s strike but came back to beat QPR thanks to an own goal from Alejandro Faurlin and one from Jermain Defoe.

On Saturday, Chelsea maintained their lead at the top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 win against Stoke. Ashley Cole scored the winner in the 85^th minute.

There was still enough time for Jonathan Walters to head onto Petr Cech’s crossbar but Chelsea held onto the points.

John Terry announced his retirement from international football, one day before the FA’s disciplinary panel are due to rule on their charge of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, citing his position as “untenable”.

India embarrassed England in their World Twenty20 match, bowling England out for just 80 runs after 14.4 overs.

India had posted a score of 170-4 thanks to knocks of 55 and 45 from Rohit Sharma and Gautam Ghambir respectively and they skittled England to condemn their opponents to their worst ever T20 defeat.

Sebastian Vettel won the Singapore Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. Lewis Hamilton’s title hopes all but vanished after he was forced to retire with gearbox failure.

In the Aviva Premiership, Exeter edged out Saracens  14-12 to tighten things up at the top end of the table.

Sireli Naqelevuki scored the only try of the match to turn the match in Exeter’s favour and condemn Saracens to their first defeat of the season.

Champions Harlequins beat Leicester 22-9 to maintain their one-point lead at the top of the table over Northampton who beat Worcester 37-31.

Wigan Warriors have chosen to face Leeds Rhinos in the semi-finals of the Super League. Wigan, who earnt the right to choose their opponents by virtue of finishing top of the league, left St Helens and Warrington to face each other in the other semi-final.

Laura Robson reached her first WTA final at the Guangzhou Open but lost 6-3 5-7 6-4 to Hsieh Su-wei in the final, having led 3-0 in the deciding set.

Brandt Snedeker comfortably kept ahead of the field to finish ten under and win the PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta, three shots ahead of Justin Rose and four ahead of Luke Donald.

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After a wholesome fortnight of Olympic sport, the juggernaut that is Premier League football rolled back into town as if it had never been away with the start of the 2012/13 season.

Yesterday champions Manchester City came through a sticky second-half against Southampton, winning 3-2 after goals from Ricky Lambert and Steven Davis had put Saints ahead in their first top flight game for seven years.

Chelsea turned in a below-par performance but still managed to beat Wigan 2-0 with new boy Eden Hazard picking up both assists on his debut.

Steve Clarke’s West Brom side gave a 3-0 beating to the team who sacked him as assistant manager at the end of last season, in what was a tough opening day for new Liverpool boss Brendan Rogers.

Daniel Agger was sent off for a trip in front of goal and although that penalty was missed, Peter Odemwingie put away a second with Zoltan Gera and Romelu Lukaku finding the net either side of his penalty.

Swansea and Fulham both handed out 5-0 thrashings, to QPR and Norwich respectively.

South Africa are on course to take the world number one test ranking from England in the third test at Lord’s.

After the visitors’ built a solid second innings score of 351, thanks in part to Hashim Amla’s 121, Vernon Philander dismissed Andrew Strauss and Alistair Cook both lbw. England finished the day on 16/2 and require 330 more runs to win.

Bradford Bulls reclaimed their place in the Super League playoff places with a comfortbale 34-12 win away at Huddersfield.

The Bulls had dropped out of the playoff positions after they were docked six points for entering into administration but returned to eighth place as Hull KR lost to Wakefield in another dramatic win for the Wildcats.

Paul Sykes kicked a last-minute drop goal to win the match for Wakefield in a repeat of last weekend’s denouement against St Helens, when he also kicked a match-winning drop goal in the dying seconds.

Roger Federer won his fifth Cincinnati Open title, beating Novak Djokovic in surprisingly comfortable circumstances in straight sets, 6-0 7-6 (9-7).

Li Na won the ladies title, coming back form behind to beat Angelique Kerber 1-6 6-3 6-1.

Sergio Garcia responded to dropping out of the places for a spot on Europes’ Ryder Cup team by moving into the lead ahead of the final round of the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina.

The Spaniard missed the cut at last weekend’s USPGA Championship but bounced back to take a one shot lead ahead of Tim Clark and Bud Cauley.

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Have you ever heard a friend say, “I’d like to believe in Jesus but …”?

Perhaps you’re at the pub with your mates or having lunch with a colleague. The conversation turns to you and your faith and suddenly it feels like something a little deeper. You share a little bit, unsure of how far to really push it. And your mates, being mates, push back.

There are a thousand and one ways to find Jesus and just as many obstacles that can get in the way of Him. For some people they’d love to believe in Jesus, they really would, but they have this [intellectual barrier] [emotional barrier] [why-should-I-care barrier] (delete as appropriate).

Christian Vision for Men is all about introducing men to Jesus. To do that sometimes a little boulder removal is necessary. A little bit of heavy lifting is required to remove the obstacles that obstruct people’s view of Jesus.

That’s why CVM has set up the Demolition Squad.

1 Peter 3:15 instructs us to “Always be prepared to give a defence of the hope that you have to those that ask.” The Demolition Squad aims to help equip you guys on the front line to do just that.

Comedian Andy Kind and Apologist Jonathan Sherwin will be spearheading this new division of CVM. Over time resources, blogs, podcasts, talks – you know the drill – will be produced.

So, what do you think? Drop us a line if you’d like to set up a Demolition Squad training day in your area and stand by for announcements of new events and resources coming very soon.

In the mean time, leave a comment and help shape this new project.

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Between September and January CVM will be traveling to various places across the UK to host top quality Men’s Days for Churches. Each event will consist of top quality teaching, loud worship and typical wholehearted CVM banter. Some of the events will be run between CVM and New Wine to mark an exciting new partnership.

We would love for you to join us at any one of the CVM Regional Days below:

Sep 22 East London - Romford Baptist Church
Sep 29 East Midlands - Humphrey Perkins School & Community Centre, Barrow upon Soar
Oct   6 London - St Paul’s Hammersmith (With New Wine) 
Oct 20 South West - Woodlands Church, Bristol (With New Wine)
Nov 10 Hereford - Hereford Baptist Church
Nov 17 Sussex & Surrey - Charis Centre, Crawley
Nov 24 South Coast - Kings Community Church, Southampton (With New Wine)
Jan 26 North West - Audacious Church, Manchester (With New Wine)

See you there guys,
CVM Team

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Knee deep in mud, gale force winds and hauling millions of chairs across a field in Swindon, was not how we were expecting our internship to begin.

OK so maybe we were only ankle deep, and it was probably more of a strong gust than a gale… and there were probably only 1000 chairs but you’ve got to have a dramatic opener for your first proper CVM blog. We were thrown in at the deep end and were told to expect the weekend to look like a lovechild of New Wine and Top Gear, which it really was. This is how two young men in their late teens survived The Gathering XII…

Jack Undrell: Diary Entry

Thursday was jam-packed, muddy but HOT! All the team started to look like tomatoes after a couple of hours. We worked from midday until late evening, washing up, putting up tents and marquees. At the end of play we had fish & chips before a well-earned sleep.

Friday morning was mental! The boss wanted us to sort out a lot of last minute preparation before 800 men arrived. My main duty was assigned to me: Managing the CVM stand, which was brilliant. It was amazing talking to everyone who came through check-in and later that evening, I got to listen to Jon Burns. As a football and rugby fan, his story was incredible.

Saturday, what can I say, the blokes must have got a lot out of the sessions as the resources were flying off the stand. Darrell Tunningley went on to give his testimony of how God transformed him from a heroin addict and a convicted armed robber to a church minister, which was incredible. However, for me, the best moment of the weekend was seeing around 40 men commit their lives to Jesus later that night.

On Sunday morning we all shared communion, (first time for some blokes) and quite a surreal experience for me. Before we set off for home, I knelt with hundreds of men to meet with Jesus in the mud.

Looking forward to next year!

Andy Cozens: Diary Entry

I couldn’t have thought of a more effective way of getting to know my colleagues than sharing a campsite and actively serving Christ with them. The type of bond that was formed between me, Jack and the team over the weekend would have probably taken over a month to form if we’d just been sat at CVM HQ.

Having such a close band of brothers and sisters made the kit-hauling, dishwashing, tea making and errand running so much more easy to cope with. Not to say that it wasn’t hard work, but it would have been much harder without the team’s general supportive attitude towards each other.

Within the CVM team was the camera-team, which I was blessed enough to be a part of. It was our job to capture all the main meetings, seminars and worship times with four old BBC cameras.

I had prayed a lot before joining CVM that I would be able to use the gifts and skills that God had given me to bring glory to him and already, on the second day, I was doing just that. What an answer to prayer!

Without doubt the best part of the weekend was 40 guys came to be prayed for after a Gospel message. It was at this moment when I realised how much God had been working over the weekend.

Who knows what happened when those men arrived home again but my prayers are definitely with them and their families. The Gathering XII gave me a new heart for men’s ministry and I am so glad to have joined a movement that is so effectively making Christ known to so many men.

All the Best,

Jack&Andy

Book Now for The Gathering 2013

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Spain made history in last night’s Euro 2012 final, becoming the first side to win three successive major international tournaments with a 4-0 win over Italy in Kiev.

Italy were outclassed from start to finish by the Spanish, who opening the scoring as early as the 14th minute through David Silva. Jordi Alba’s surging run was spotted by Xavi Hernandez and the full-back finished past Buffon in the Italian goal for his side’s second just before half-time.

Italy were forced to play with ten men from as early as the 60th minute when their third and final substitute Thiago Motta pulled up with a hamstring injury minutes after coming on. Spain showed no sign of letting up, though, and Chelsea duo Fernando Torres and Juan Mata completed the rout.

Australia’s tour of England got off to a bad start over the weekend. England won the first one-day international by 15 runs at Lords on Friday and followed it up with victory at the Oval on Sunday.

Ravi Bopara scored 82 from 85 balls after Ian Bell’s 75 to put England within two runs of victory before being run out by Brett Lee. Eoin Morgan finished the job for England to win with more than four overs to spare.

Andy Murray made it into the second week of Wimbledon after a late-night win over Marcos Baghdatis. Murray came though 7-5 3-6 7-5 6-1 on Friday night, finishing at 11.02pm. Murray will play Marin Cilic who beat Sam Querrey in what was the second-longest match in Wimbledon history.

Jo Pavey won a silver medal in the final of the 10,000m at the European Championships in Helsinki yesterday, behind Ana Dulce Felix of Portugal.

The men’s 4x400m team earnt a silver medal as well, but the 4x100m team suffered embarrassment yet again. Christian Malcolm couldn’t pass the baton to Dwain Chambers within the specified area.

Welsh golfer Jamie Donaldson took his first European Tour title, winning the Irish Open at Portrush on Sunday by four shots, shooting 65 in his final round.

The first stage of this year’s Tour de France was won by tour debutant Peter Sagan in a sprint ahead of Fabian Cancellara and Edvald Boasson Hagen. Cancellara maintained the yellow jersey, seven seconds ahead of Bradley Wiggins.

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Fernando Torres finally found form in front of goal with a hat-trick against QPR on Sunday. His Chelsea side cruised past local rivals Rangers 6-1, with Daniel Sturridge, John Terry and Florent Malouda scoring the other goals before Djibril Cisse pulled one back for the visitors.

Blackburn gave a poor account of themselves against Tottenham, failing to register a single shot over the 90 minutes in a 2-0 defeat which sees them with three points to make up to avoid relegation with two games remaining.

Wigan’s survival hopes continued to improve with a remarkable 4-0 victory at home to Champions League-chasing Newcastle. Four first half games gave Wigan some breathing space and would have been enough even if Papiss Cisse had scored in a seventh-straight game rather than hit the woodword twice.

Bolton gained a well-deserved point away at Sunderland thanks to a brace from club captain Kevin Davies who showed his worth after being recalled to the starting line-up.

The shackles were off Wolves whose relegation was confirmed last week as they battled back from a three-goal deficit to draw 4-4 with Swansea.

Southampton confirmed their place in next season’s Premier League with a 2-0 win over already-relegated Coventry. West Ham beat Hull but needed Saints to slip up stand any chance of reclaiming the automatic promotion place which they occupied for so much of the season.

They will now face Cardiff in the playoffs semi-final while Birmingham play Blackpool in the other tie.

Celtic beat Rangers 3-0 in what could be the last ever Old Firm derby. They made light work of their rivals and after the match Rangers manager Ally McCoist suggested liquidation was a real possibility, saying after the match that it “looks more of a possibility now than ever”.

Leinster have made it to the final of the Heineken Cup with a 19-15 victory over Clermont Auvergne. The French side led at half-time but a Cian Healy try helped Leinster take the lead before Welsey Fofana was thought to have gone over for the home side only for the try to be ruled out by TMO Geoff Warren.

Ulster will be Leinster’s opponents in the final at Twickenham after an equally close win 22-19 over Edinburgh. A Pedrie Wannenburg try and more points from the boot of Ruan Pienaar put Ulster in control and Jim Thomspson’s try came too late for Edinburgh to mount a serious comeback.

Leeds Rhinos progressed to the quarter finals of Rugby League’s Challenge Cup but didn’t have things all their own way against Salford. They eventually won the match 16-10, but only gained the lead with eight minutes remaining.

Cup holders Wigan will face sterner challenges in their defence than that which was provided by Featherstone Rovers. Wigan ran in six tries to book their place in the next round, winning 32-16.

Leigh scored a vital golden point to beat Halifax 19-18 after they had mounted a second-half comeback and will be the only Championship side in the quarter-final draw.

Reigning champion John Higgins conceded the worst World Championship defeat of his career, losing 13-4 against seven-time winner Stephen Hendry. He will face fellow Scot Stephen Maguire who beat Joe Perry 13-7.

Ryan Day completed a 13-7 victory over Cao Yupeng while 2010 champion Neil Robertson progressed, winning 13-9 against David Gilbert. Ronnie O’ Sullivan has an 11-5 lead over Mark Williams while Matthew Stevens and Barry Hawkins are level at 8-8.

Rafael Nadal’s imperious form on clay continues as the Spaniard beat compatriot David Ferrer to win his seventh title Barcelona Open title 7-6 (7-1) 7-5.

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It was on Easter Sunday that Jesus rose from death. Jesus had told his disciples before he was arrested that he would be crucified and on the third day he would rise from the dead.

Sunday was the third day from Good Friday (Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Day).

The second day after Good Friday.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Walter Raleigh

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Manchester City’s stuttering form continued against in their 3-3 with Sunderland on Saturday, allowing Manchester United the opportunity to open up a five-point gap at the top of the league if they beat Blackburn this evening.

Sebastian Larsson scored either side of half-time for Sunderland to help his side to a 3-1 lead but City rescued a point with two goals in the final five minutes of the match.

Arsenal’s excellent run came to an end at QPR. Theo Walcott cancelled out Adel Taarabt opening goal before half time but Samba Diakite won it for Rangers midway through the second half to leave them only in the relegation zone behind Blackburn on goals scored.

Wigan were impressive in their 2-0 win at home to Stoke, and the only side in the bottom four not to win on Saturday was Wolves who lost their relegation six-pointer against Bolton 3-2 at Molineux.

Martin Petrov scored from the penalty spot to reveal a t-shirt in support of countryman and friend, Aston Villa captain Stilyan Petrov who was announced to be suffering from acute leukaemia. Petrov’s team lost 4-2 at home to Chelsea, with Fernando Torres scoring his first league goal in six months in the final seconds.

On Sunday, Liverpool’s dreadful league form continued as they went down 2-0 away at Newcastle thanks to a goal in each half from Papiss Demba Cisse. An exaggerated reaction from James Perch saw Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina shown a red card in the final minutes for an apparent headbutt.

Tottenham beat Swansea 3-1 at White Hart Lane to stop the rot and win their first league game in seven weeks. Rafael can der Vaart opened the scoring in the first half and Emmanuel Adebayor added two more in the final twenty minutes.

Andy Murray lost in the final of the Miami Masters, going down 6-1q 7-6 (7-4) to world number one Novak Djokovic in a repeat of the 2009 final. Djokovic bossed the match from beginning to end and deserved the win, not even allowing Murray a single break point chance all match.

Harlequins beat Saracens 24-19 in what was billed as the biggest game of the Aviva Premiership season so far. Jordan Turner-Hall, George Lowe and Danny Care all scored for Harlequins and the league leaders resisted a late charge from their opponents.

Third, fourth and fifth-placed Leicester, Northampton and Exeter all won to move ahead of Gloucester who lost at Wasps.

Huddersfield beat Leeds 22-12 to return to the top of the Super League ahead of Hull who have a game in hand. On Friday evening Warrington slipped up at home to St. Helens, losing 28-16, while Wigan beat Salford 40-20. Catalan Dragons thrashed bottom side Widnes 76-6 to keep pace in fifth.

Interim England head coach Stuart Lancaster was given the job on a permanent basis after guiding the national team through what was a successful Six Nations campaign in which England finished second with four wins from five matches.

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