baptistmen.org.uk

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

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

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