ELIM SOUND’S LATEST RELEASE New Sound of Hope for the Movement PLUS RESOLVING TO LIVE OUT YOUR FAITH IN 2013 Elim GS John Glass unpacks fresh teaching for the New Year
SERIOUS4GOD IS GATHERING MOMENTUM Mark Pugh talks about the future for Elim’s young people
M Y A BA M B H I e a R IES an led AC A or a ex fte LE R E ia r
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JANUARY 2013 Issue 136 £1.70
SPIRIT HELPED ME STAND AT SCHOOL How NLT member Stuart Blount’s life was changed
THE BIBLE REALLY DOES ADD UP Uncovering the numbers behind the verses
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CONTENTS 5
EDITORIAL Keep on keeping on, says John Glass
30 CHINESE SINGER FOLLOWS UK CALL How Jasmine Wong was inspired by a movie
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I WAS TOLD I’D NEVER BE A MUM Anorexic Sharon Nelson beat her illness after finding Jesus – and it changed her life
32 PUT DOWN THE WELCOME MAT Reach Director Gary Gibbs says we must act like hosts to encourage people to church
10 NEWS from Elim and the wider church 12 OUT AND ABOUT WITH THE GS John Glass opens his diary 14 MY PRAYER FOR EVERYONE FOR 2013 John Glass unpacks fresh teaching for the New Year and explains its impact on Elim
35 GREAT GRAN IS ON A MISSION! Jean Dickinson’s unique fund raising work 36 HOW A CARAVAN BECAME AN ARK Chilterns Christian Fellowship found an innovative way of engaging with youth 37 MUSIC REVIEWS with Ian Yates
17 OUR HOPES FOR THE NEW YEAR As we enter the New Year, the Aspire team send their greetings and thoughts for 2013
38 COMIC DUO MADE ME THINK Footballer Dennis Pearce speaks of the moment he discovered the love of Jesus
18 BRIDGING THE GENERATION GAP Direction introduces Elim Bible Week 2013 and its theme: multi-generational Church
40 WHEN INSULIN DOESN’T WORK Dr Sharon Kane looks at Type 2 diabetes
20 LIVE WORSHIP ALBUM RELEASED With their new live album and a school of worship times are exciting for Elim Sound 22 I LIVED A DOUBLE LIFE AT SCHOOL NLT member Stuart Blount shares his testimony in the first of a new series 25 WE’RE GATHERING MOMENTUM! Serious4God’s Mark Pugh talks about the future for Elim’s young people
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42 THE BIBLE REALLY DOES ADD UP John Williams reveals a complex system of numbers that is unique to the Bible 44 WE’RE CALLED TO BREAK THROUGH Jesus broke down walls and built bridges – and we should too, argues Nigel Tween 45 BOOK REVIEWS with Richard Dodge 49 ANSWERS with Jim Dick 50 AND FINALLY with John Lancaster
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Church Direction Representatives: please advise any alterations to your order before the 10th of each month
Direction Magazine is the official publication of the Elim Pentecostal Church @elimpentecostal www.elim.org.uk 0845 302 6750
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Editor-in-Chief: John Glass, General Superintendent Publishers: Elim Pentecostal Church Elim International Centre, De Walden Road, West Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 4DF Charity no. 251549 (England)
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DIRECTION
F I R S T WO R D S
Keep on keeping on It was the late Magnus Magnusson that coined the phrase on Mastermind, “I’ve started so I’ll finish,” – a phrase which is five words better in this month of resolutions than, “I’ve resolved so I’ll start.” As we all know, it’s far easier to start the diet than reach the weight loss goal or the 101 other things that we believe, if accomplished, will leave us in better shape physically, emotionally or spiritually in 2013 than we were in 2012. The fact is that the strength of local church is not the launching of new ideas that blast into orbit like fireworks on a November night only to lose momentum before the exclamations of delight have subsided, but the solid commitment of faithful people who serve the Lord tenaciously week after week. It is seen in the crèche worker, musician, treasurer, Sunday school teacher and countless others who do not give up at the first hurdle or sign of discouragement. A few months ago in Direction we celebrated the volunteer. But if there is one person better than a volunteer, it’s the volunteer that stays the course. The real value of the postage stamp is not the price we pay over the counter, but its ability to stick to one thing until it gets there. Every one of us, as we enter a new year, has a reason to thank God for his patience with us over the year that has passed. I love the verse in Philippians 1:6 in any translation or paraphrase, but especially in The Message, “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this
great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish.” We worship and serve a God who is not just the author of our salvation but the finisher of our faith. He who is the Alpha is also the Omega. I travelled by road recently through a European country that has been hit the hardest in the world recession. The landscape was littered with unfinished buildings – testimonies to unrealised dreams, mortgages that could not be paid, interest that could not be met or interest that had been lost. God will never leave us as a derelict building site. Though we are all ‘unfinished business’, he has not lost the blueprint, nor has he run out of resources. Even when we despair of our own capacity to reach completeness, he considers us his ‘masterpieces’, according to Ephesians. So as he holds on to us, he encourages us in a new year to hold on too, and to fulfil what Eugene Peterson calls in the title of one of his books ‘a long obedience in the same direction’. Big things can emerge through the smallest things holding on. After all, a great oak tree comes into being simply because a little nut holds its ground! May 2013 be for you a year for not only embracing new things but maintaining a secure grip on all that God has given and entrusted in the past. John Glass General Superintendent Elim Pentecostal Church
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How Coventry Elim learned to value its volunteers
CAPPUCCINO COMMUNICATION
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Exciting initiative to benefit all Elim members
SHORT TERM MISSIONS WORK
CO M M UN IT th
Stand up for truth, says Lyndon Bowring
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Don’t just stay at home, argues Chris Jones
WHY CARE ABOUT THE LAW?
rist Ch
ian
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NOVEMBER 2012 Issue 134 £1.70
FAITH & FINANCE Why we need to rethink money Solving the debt headache Tithing isn’t giving God a tip! PLUS DAY I WAS THROWN OUT OF CHURCH
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Preparing for a future after your own PLUS How Elim minister Dennis Niziol found his real father
STAYING PURE IN A SEX CHARGED WORLD
THE CHURCH IS ‘BEST PLACED TO HELP’ Facing up to the gangs crisis in our major cities
PRAYING 24/7 FOR A WHOLE DECADE
The church celebrating 10 years of prayer ministry
AMMANFORD GROWTH PLAN
The little Elim church with a big vision
IC SU
E& ID
N IO AT LV SA
DECEMBER 2012 Issue 135 £1.70
CHRISTMAS PRESENCE z z z
Celebrating the season in the community New movies retell the old, old story How the festive fractions add up
PLUS BALANCING CAREER AND MUSIC MINISTRY
Top pianist Fabia D’Andrea on leading worship in church
SHADES OF GREY VS BLACK & WHITE Love, marriage and sex the way God made them
WHY GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK Ethics aren’t a fad, argues Emma Greenwood
Get your
ELIM SOUND’S LATEST RELEASE
Direction Magazine
New Sound of Hope for the Movement PLUS
RESOLVING TO LIVE OUT YOUR FAITH IN 2013 Elim GS John Glass unpacks fresh teaching for the New Year
ever y mon th
SERIOUS4GOD IS GATHERING MOMENTUM Mark Pugh talks about the future for Elim’s young people
SPIRIT HELPED ME STAND AT SCHOOL How NLT member Stuart Blount’s life was changed
THE BIBLE REALLY DOES ADD UP Uncovering the numbers behind the verses
M
pra ye
r’
E
o ro g p of lkin er wa pow f ‘I’m o
FA BR IC
How churches can help in the fight against trafficking
DISPELLING SUICIDE MYTHS
M U AM BA
Kissagram girl who kissed a preacher, then married one!
STAMPING OUT SLAVERY IN THE UK
There can be a better day for you
SCHEME LAUNCH
7 steps to bring your desires under control – by Colin Dye
D ay da I w rk en lig ness t fr ht to om
WHAT’S A NON-VOLUNTEER SUNDAY?
LEGACY ELIM
‘I FIRST MET MY DAD WHEN I WAS 60!’
M Y A HE N A H D R ow T T th I es ER BR e ca R E occ pe O A ult d R K
We talk to Matthew Barnett of the LA Dream Centre
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Volunteers are the backbone of the Church PLUS
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THE UNSUNG HEROES WE CAN’T DO WITHOUT THE MINISTRY WITH 8,000 VOLUNTEERS
OCTOBER 2012 Issue 133 £1.70
JANUARY 2013 Issue 136 £1.70
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