President's blog

In the match reports for Friday's England game at Wembley, I found this comment in the Daily Mirror. 

Around 73,000 fans turned up to the 90,000-capacity Wembley as the squad returned to the competitive stage two months after flopping out of the World Cup. Large blocks of the upper tiers were a sea of empty red seats - and some fans even unfurled banners calling for Capello's head.
Mark Baker, 27, said: "Nobody seemed excited going into the stadium. It felt more like going to church than an international football match."

The implication is that old cliche that you have to be silent - and therefore miserable as it's dull - in church. It shouldn't be and Mark's misperception make me sad. But how much are we doing to perpetuate the myth? 

Wemberlee - as quiet as church?  - September 5, 2010


With our son arriving a little earlier than expected, there have been a lot of loose ends at work left hanging. Having to drop what you're doing is important sometimes but there's always that nagging feeling going on that you should be doing something rather than being a dad. 

We've also got a toddler daughter. We don't want her to feel isolated and second best while our attention is focused on our newborn son. So part of the plan for my paternity leave has been to have some daddy/daughter time. 
It's included a visit to a theatre, a picnic, lunch out, walks to town and a visit to the Post Office and my workplace. She's done the shopping, sung songs and danced her way through these past few days. 

This morning, I thought I could use the babysitter better known as the telly to catch up on some work. We turned the set on together, sat down and waited for our Virgin Media box to power up and talked about what she would watch. As we did so, she draw my arm round her for a cuddle and wouldn't let go, safe and secure in my arms.  

Work can wait a little longer.


Daddy time - September 4, 2010

A friend got in touch today to tell me that his church is taking part in The Bigger Breakfast on Saturday, September 25. As it's their first time, he wanted to ensure it would be a good event. Any tips he asked. Well... 

Be the best
I've been to quite a few men's breakfasts in my time. The worst have been when every expense has been spared. Asking people for £6 for a cheap and cheerful sawdust filler banger and a few Safeway Saver baked beans with dry toast is a bit much. You wouldn't accept that when you dine out at a restaurant, so why should a church meal be any different?
Spend a little more on the ingredients - if you can support your local butcher and get some freshly made bangers in. Instead of serving up instant coffee, get some filter coffee in. Buy decent bread, not a cheap loaf. Make sure you get plenty of ketchup and brown sauce in too. Don't forget some people are vegetarians.
The Bigger Breakfast should be a treat, not a chore. 

Charge as little as possible - be brave and make it free
Some of those cheap breakfasts have cost me £6. I could have gone to BHS and spent 99p on a better meal. Why not be brave and ask for donations instead of charging a fee? What's left over can go to charity. 
In case you think the fee-free model wouldn't work, my wife has run ladies breakfasts on a donation only basis and been able to donate a good couple of hundred pounds to charity each time. People can be very generous if you give them the opportunity to do so. 
Not charging also makes it easier for non-Christians to come along, they're seeing grace in action. 

Keep the coffee coming
There's nothing worse than not having enough to eat or drink, especially if you have a speaker. If there's seconds left make sure people know they can come and get it. Ensure that drinks are freely available throughout the event - and there's plenty of milk and sugar too.

Be prepared
Over cater. Ensure you've got the milk and sugar in. Know where you can go to get last minute supplies if needed. Share the workload for the morning - buying food, sorting tickets, cooking, washing up, clearing away and talking/praying with people can all be divvied up between regular members of your church. 

Don't let the speaker go on for too long
It's early in the morning. My brain doesn't kick in until there's several cups of coffee in my caffeine stream. I don't really want an hour-long slide show. But an engaging speaker who talks for around 15 minutes is good enough for me. At my church's Bigger Breakfast, held in a pub, I spoke for three minutes and prayed. There's a lot you can say in three minutes! 

It's not another church meeting
We encourage people to invite their friends and family along to a Bigger Breakfast. Why? We want people to see that Christians are ordinary people. Getting together for a morning of good food and good chat is what it's about. Treating it as if Sunday morning has come 24 hours early is not a good idea. This is about the church fellowship, building friendships and discipling, not a hymn sandwich.  

It is another church meeting
At my first Bigger Breakfast, after the event had formally finished people stayed around. And chatted. And that chatter led to prayer for various situations. It was a privilege to be part of that and it reminded me of the church in Acts - ready to look out for each other's needs. So although your breakfast might not have any formal church input, it is still an act of worship. 

Be welcoming
People who have been looking for God have come along to Bigger Breakfasts and left as Christians. This is brilliant and we rejoice that men have been saved as a result of some bacon and eggs. A large part of that will be down to the message they heard but also the welcome they felt when they came along to the Breakfast. 
If you're talking to someone you don't know, don't talk about yourself - have a conversation! Find out what they're interested in, like spending time doing or are involved in. Don't let people come into your church family and feel that they had to be moulded in to shape or that they have to break into a clique - let them be welcome as they are.

Have fun
The Bigger Breakfast is a simple event aimed at getting men together for a good morning. So enjoy it! 

What Makes a Brilliant Bigger Breakfast? - September 2, 2010
It's A Boy - September 1, 2010
Baby Creighton

Barely had the electronic ink dried on my last post when I got a call from my wife: her waters had broken and it was off to hospital. So much for a waiting game. 

After a day spent waiting, reading and praying together, our son (and second child) was born on Sunday, August 22 at 2126. Being a little small, he spent the first nine days of his life living in the special care area of the hospital, so we had to endure a different kind of waiting. Over the week, he gained strength and convinced the doctors that he could finally come home yesterday where his big sister has been patiently waiting. 

Now BMM has a new member - and it's youngest too! 

Of course, as a new dad, I have hopes and dreams for him. I want him to grow up knowing Jesus. I want him to have opportunities and experiences that will challenge, excite and inspire him. I can't wait to share Doctor Who, Oor Wullie and typography with him. I can't wait to have those father and son chats where I can share what I've learnt about life (and dating) so he can avoid some of the mistakes I made. 

And I also need to remember that he's unique, special and created by God to be him, not a mini-me. As he grows up, I have to remember that he needs to find out about life himself. He needs to discover the Gospels for himself and not have a second-hand faith. And I need to be there to encourage him, sure, but let him make his own way in life. 

Fatherhood is fun, but tough. But then my dad could have already told me that! 
Phil Creighton

My wife, toddler and I are currently playing the waiting game - our second child will be born very soon now and we're busy making all the preparations. 

We've bought the cot and Moses' basket out of the loft, dusted it down, sorted out the nappies and now my daughter is busy playing with the feeding bottles and dummies that will, in a few days time, be pressed back in to action. 

I've also spent much of today sorting out my mancave, getting rid of junk and clutter that has built up for years - do I really need that copy of Internet Magazine from 2003? Or the workings out from my dissertation a good 11 years ago? Of course not. 

As many of you know, getting ready for a new arrival is an interesting time. You have to be ready at all times for the bundle of joy to arrive. Every time my phone bleeps for a new message now, I think it's my wife giving me the five-minute warning! 

It reminds me of 2 Peter 3, here's The Message's take on it:
"When the Day of God's Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a huge conflagration, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.
"Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day—but we'll hardly notice. We'll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness."

I like the bit that says "Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival". That's the type of Christian I aspire to be. 

I'll be back soon. I need to get the baby car seat ready again, after all, the baby will come when he's ready, not when we think he'll come.

We've had a makeover and very fine and dandy it looks too. 
I'm really grateful for the hard work that has been put into this by Adam Brown, BMM's webmaster, and the talented team at Decode Studios. 
As we get moved in and settled into the new site, you'll see we'll have a range of exciting and new features. Can't wait to share them with you all!
Every blessing
?hil Creighton
BMM President
Breakfast and Match sites are ready!
Posted on 02 May 2010 20:15
by Decode Studios Support Team
Bigger Breakfast Site

It's hard to believe that this year's BMM Bigger Weekend was nearly two months ago now. It was a brilliant weekend - the Holy Spirit was there, challenging us and renewing us. Men who came along left with a renewed sense of calling to men's ministry and helping disciple and encourage the men in their home churches. 

It was a privilege to have organised it and made the weekend happen. 

Since then, it's been back down to earth with a bump. This past week has been the first since the Bigger Weekend where I've done a full five-day working week in my day job, but because of the bank holiday tomorrow, I've been busy getting ready for this week's deadlines so it doesn't feel like a 'normal' week, should such a thing exist.

I can't complain because those few weeks have included a day with the Daleks in Sheffield for a preview of the new Doctor Who computer game that comes out in June, a holiday (although, thanks to a volcano, not to the intended destination) and a chance to catch up with family and friends. 

However, it's also been incredibly busy getting ready for this year's Bigger Breakfast and Bigger Match. We've got the websites for both ready and are now live. They're packed with advice and tips to help you run these great events and they will help you encourage the men in your church and encourage men outside of it. 

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have planned for your breakfasts this year!

Every blessing

Phil Creighton

BMM President


Now's the time to book in to The Bigger Weekend
Posted on 25 February 2010 21:36
by Decode Studios Support Team

Bigger Weekend
The BMM Bigger Weekend - Grasp The Vision - gets ever closer and we're really excited about it. It takes place on March 19-21 at the brilliant Bosworth Hall hotel in Market Bosworth and we'd love to see you there. We're now at the point where we need to tell Bosworth Hall how many of us will be coming along, so if you've been thinking about coming, now's the time to let us know by Monday.

Our theme, Grasp The Vision, has been designed to encourage you as you seek to be salt and light in your communities. We're aiming to give you inspiration and ideas that you can take back to your churches.

If you've never been before, you can expect a brilliant full-board residential weekend where you can worship God, learn about what other churches are doing to help reach men with the Gospel and tuck in to some fantastic food. Of course, there's more to it than that but I want to keep this email to the point! The short video above will help set the scene and we'll be delighted to answer any questions you might have - email me or secretary@baptistmen.org.uk.

Every blessing
Phil Creighton
BMM President

Conference preparations hot up
Posted on 23 February 2010 22:53
by Adam Brown

On Monday I've got a dress rehearsal for my presidential speech, which I'll give at this year's Grasp The Vision conference. I've been writing it in my head for months and yet getting it committed to paper (well, electronic paper) is proving more elusive than Gillingham's quest for an away win this season.

I spent the entire weekend completely ill. I went to bed on Friday with a small headache, only to find that by the morning it was a stomach bug of some kind and the only solution was to stay in bed and moan. It didn't actually make me better, but goodness, there's nothing better than a good moan when you're feeling ill.

Because the weekend was wiped out, I decided naturally to spend Monday installing Windows 7. Well, I had to really. We've been trying the release candidate since last summer and it runs out this coming Monday, March 1. I've grown quite attached to Windows 7 and the thought of going back to XP fills me with dread. Although I'm growing partial to Ubuntu (Linux) too.

So tonight - more speech writing? Nah! More procrastinating. Well, vital work. A proof-read of Men Matters and some more software installation. I now have all the programmes installed apart from one and am ready to go again. Will I? I'll probably end up tidying my desk instead.

So please pray for me. This speech is going to be very important, setting out my vision for our Movement over the coming years and how you can grasp the vision for men's ministry in your home town too. If that's not a lot of boxes to tick, I don't know what is.

Every blessing

Phil Creighton

BMM President

Hear me out...
Posted on 18 February 2010 21:15
by Adam Brown

Tomorrow (Friday, February 18), you can hear me on Premier Radio at about 3.40pm - I'll be on air talking about The Bigger Balti, the Bigger Weekend, the Bigger Breakfast and the Bigger Match ... all very exciting!

You can tune in from its website, or via DAB or even on the radio if you listen from London.

I've also made an appearance on GodGoss, which is broadcast on a Sunday morning on Heart Cambridge and Heart Norfolk. It's a blink and you'll miss me appearance but if you spare a minute (which is as long as it takes to hear the whole thing in full) you can hear me towards the end.

I'm really excited with this ministry as it brings news about God and what's happening in his name to people who wouldn't normally hear it. While it's not an outright evangelistic message, it is actually creating interest in Christianity and its issues, plus proving once and for all that Christianity is anything but boring!

Ali, the show's producer, tells me that any area could have GodGoss on their local commercial radio station - for just a tenner a month. How exciting! You can see more about it when you log on its website. Worth a look.

 

Phil Creighton

BMM President

Woss going on?
Posted on 11 February 2010 22:08
by Adam Brown

We've been quiet lately ... it's been ages since the BMM website has been updated at The Bigger Balti took place on Tuesday.

So what's been happening?

Well, heaps!

I'm really excited about the work that's been going on behind the scenes over the past few months as we seek to be salt and light and relevant to today's society.

You'll learn about some of the new initiatives planned at the annual Bigger Weekend at Bosworth Hall. It takes place over the weekend of March 19-21 in Market Bosworth and it's going to be an excellent weekend.

  • Challenging speakers
  • Learn about the vision in your church
  • Enjoy time out with God and away from home
  • Great worship
  • Fantastic food!

Do you need any more reasons why you should come?

Find out more with our Bigger Weekend pages and book your place today.

 

Elsewhere, I took part in our Bigger Balti at the Garden of Gulab in Reading. We had a terrific feast and a great evening together. We're getting reports coming in from other churches around the country which we'll place on-line soon.

It was a smaller-scale event than The Bigger Breakfast but that's no bad thing as it was the first time we'd run the event and we wanted to test the waters and see what worked. I think it was successful - a lot of churches have reported that a lot of non-Christians came along. This is great news! Hopefully they'll want to come again.

 

At the Bigger Weekend, we'll launch The Bigger Match - with the World Cup around the corner, we can make the most of the Church's status as family-friendly venues by showing England's games on a big screen.

It's really simple, it's really easy and it's a great way to bring people together.

 

 

 

There's more up our sleeves too .... so keep your eyes peeled.

 

And please continue to pray for us - and for me - as we prepare for The Bigger Weekend.

Every blessing

?hil Creighton

BMM President

Happy Christmas!
Posted on 22 December 2009 21:52
by Adam Brown

When I was younger (well, seven days younger to be precise) I always dreamed of a white Christmas. After all, it wouldn’t be Christmas without a bit of snow, would it?

Except, white Christmasses in the UK are very rare. According to records there were just seven – in London - during the 20th century.

So naturally when it snowed in Reading last Thursday I was very excited. But the snow turned to ice and, for the past week, instead of having pavements and roads the town has a rather large ice rink.

Then on Monday, Reading received another drubbing of snow. During the afternoon, an impressive six inches of white stuff fell out of the sky, turning the town not in to a winter wonderland but a gridlocked hell. Colleagues at my workplace found their 20-minute journey home turning into eight hour epics as the roads slithered to an icy halt.

Although I normally cycle, I had walked instead so was able to help a couple of stranded motorists.

So while I love the snow, it’s the chaos it causes that I – along with millions of others – don’t like.

And it proves once and for all that dreaming of a White Christmas ain’t what Christmas is all about.

Over the next few days, people will celebrate the birth of baby boy – born to be king – with parties, presents, music and feasts. It will be, recession or not, snow or not, travel plans disrupted or not, a great day.

But for many, it’s a birthday party without the birthday boy.

I couldn’t imagine celebrating Christmas without carols, going to church on Christmas Day, gathering round a crib scene or remembering anew the events of that first Christmas. I’m genuinely excited that God sent his son Jesus not on some amazing spaceship or with a display of awesome power, but as a helpless baby, dependent on his mother and earthly father for support, nourishment and sustenance. And I long to be able to share that with others.

As you celebrate Christmas with your friends, families and church families, remember those who don’t yet know Jesus and pray for them, that they might know the truth and the truth might set them free.

Have a very happy Christmas.

Phil Creighton

BMM President

PS - I look forward to seeing you at the Bigger Weekend in Market Bosworth in March ... and look out for more news on the Bigger Balti in the New Year.