In June of this year, we were back! The Gathering happened! Around 1500 men were in ‘a field near Swindon’ and I would say the Spirit of God hovered over that place for the entire weekend. Without any shadow of a doubt, the power of the Gospel was palpable.
Whilst we were setting up the main tent, I took the opportunity to stand behind the lectern on the stage. Written on it were the words: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel.”
The tent was empty, apart from a few other team members setting up, but the chairs were all out and a sense of what was about to happen became very real.
I was also feeling very excited because of the contingent coming from Wales. Each man, part of a local men’s ministry. Each men’s ministry sharing the Gospel with their mates. A small, but very important, number of Welsh boys gripped by Jesus and wanting their mates to get introduced to Him too. It could equally have been Gasky, or Coops, Nathan or Beechy feeling the same about the men coming from their areas too.
As the weekend unfolded, we got to Saturday evening. Beechy belted out the Gospel and more than 80 men responded to the call of Jesus on their lives. 80 new men unleashed on the world with a new hope, with Gospel hope for all their mates.
Each year the Gathering is a moment of calibration for me. I don’t need to be reminded that what we all do across the British Isles to reach men for the Gospel is so important, but if I did the Gathering would do that every time.
“I will unashamedly make Him known in all I do.”
Later today I am going to be interviewed on a podcast. One of the questions I am going to be asked is “Is reaching men hard work?” I think reaching anyone with the Gospel is hard, it is so counter-cultural and to follow Jesus is not always going to be easy. But when we see more than 80 men come forward and take the knee in front of the Cross, it is worth everything it costs us.
A couple of weeks ago I was about to go swimming in the sea with a mate of mine. We meet up each week, have coffee, chat, pray and whenever possible we go for a swim in the sea. On this week a lady started to chat to us as we were having coffee. The topics were the same as usual; are you going in? is it cold? etc, etc… But then the lady asked us what we did for work. My mate told her he was a church pastor and I told her that I worked for Christian Vision for Men. She dug deeper, and we had a long conversation about how we see men come to know Jesus. Then they become better fathers, better husbands, better sons, colleagues, friends, the list goes on. I then said to her:
“And it all happens because Jesus always brings hope!”
That lady is into wellbeing, reiki and other forms of spirituality, but she also said she would like her husband to join us.
I don’t know if he ever will, but I do know that “we are not ashamed of the gospel.” When we speak with boldness and demonstrate that we believe in what we are doing, good stuff happens.
Here’s my #TopTip for this week, invite a good mate to join you in some activity that you both enjoy doing. Meet up regularly, have an open heart and open hands. Talk about life, work, relationships, whatever you need to. But keep an eye open for those around you—believe in what you share and share what you believe in. You never know what might happen if you do!
On writing this blog it is nearly 30 degrees in North Wales, so I am going to go for a swim in the sea—I know, I know, it is a tough life.
