A sincere thank you to all those who joined us at Rileys for our recent annual Men at the Forge pool tournament. I hope you all enjoyed the evening as much as I did. The highlight for me was the superb atmosphere throughout the night; I don’t know about you but I come away from every single one of these events buzzing about what a top bunch of guys we have at the Forge! How encouraging to see so many new faces too; it would be fantastic to see those boys again at our breakfast in March!

Congratulations to Andrew Fairweather for reigning victorious on the night, taking with him a £70 voucher for him & his good lady to enjoy at the Angel Hotel in Bury or the Salthouse Harbour Hotel in Ipswich for his efforts. A big pat on the back to yours truly as well for finishing runner up! I am still trying to work out whether I achieved more satisfaction from spending my £40 voucher on a nice valentines meal out with Louise or from knocking our ever humble & meek senior leader out of the competition in the final group match! A mention also has to go out to Dave Mangan who can look forward to an afternoon of tea, sandwiches & cakes with his wife at Hintlesham Hall following his impressive 3rd place finish & to Ash Stannard who walked away with two cinema vouchers for achieving 4th place on the night.

Next up is our headline breakfast event with guest speaker Matt Levett. For those of you who do not know Matt, our youth leader at the Forge, all I can say is expect the unexpected! Even though Matt is one of our own, I consider this a real coup as he has to be one of the most engaging & inspiring speakers I have had the pleasure of listening to. The morning will kick off at 8.30am at Yaxley Cherry Tree Pub (IP23 8BH) with an approximate finish time of 10am. There are only 38 places available (with half of these already taken) at a cost of £6.50 per person; a full English breakfast, coffee & juice is included within this price. Sign up is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, please call (07702 792594) or email (men@forgechurch.com) me. A sign up sheet will also be available at the back of church for the next two Sundays.

Thanks again & I look forward to seeing you all there!

Chris.

Boys, Boys, Boys! 2012 is here & we are looking to kick off in style with a visit to our favourite Pool & Snooker Club, Rileys in Ipswich (IP1 1PH). Few could forget the drama of last year’s tournament with the Steve Davis like efficiency of Nigel Brinkley eventually reigning supreme over the Ronnie O’Sullivan like flair of Tony Mallett following an epic final.

So what stories will this year bring? An all Brinkley final perhaps with Sam, a semi-finalist last year, no doubt gunning for his dad’s crown? Or could this be the year that our ever humble senior leader finally ‘walks the walk’ rather than just ‘talking the talk’?! One thing you can be certain of is a quality night out amongst a top bunch of guys with no shortage of banter along the way!

Early sign-up for this event (via men@forgechurch.com, 07702 792594 or the sheet at the back of church on Sunday mornings) would be appreciated as I will need to provide Rileys with names/numbers in advance to allow the draw to be made prior to our arrival. Cost will be £5/person with a 7.30pm kick off. Other facilities include a licensed bar, an XBox, dartboards and a Fanzone (3 metre HD screen). What more could we ask for?!

Thanks,

Chris.

After another superb breakfast last month, we have decided to return to the Yaxley Cherry Tree Pub for our final Men at the Forge event of 2011!

So, the question is….are any of you boys up for a night of ‘Beer, Biryani & Banks’? That’s right, quality local brews, sumptuous Indian cuisine (curries to suit all tastes) and a few wise words for good measure from our very own Big Dunc’! We are looking at a 7.30pm arrival for an 8pm start and have opted for a Monday night to allow us exclusive use of the pub. The buffet will cost £8.50/person with drinks available to be purchased separately from the bar.

I look forward to seeing you, your friends, your work colleagues & your family members there for what should be another quality night! Keep in mind that there are only 36 places available so sign-up will have to be on a first come, first served basis via email (men@forgechurch.com), my mobile (07702 792594) or the sign-up sheet in church on Sunday mornings.

Thanks,

Chris.

Thanks to all those who attended the recent event at Solar Bowl; it was fantastic to see so many new faces amongst the 25+ that attended. Hats off to newcomers Gez & Ian for claiming victory on the night; fair play also to Mark Beaton for accepting his wooden spoon prize in such good spirits for the lowest score of the evening – you will be nicely warmed up now for when we return next year mate!

Next up is the Men’s Breakfast with guest speaker Leon Evans. Leon, who heads up the Zion Church in Halesowen, is a familiar face to many of us within the Forge & I am sure you will all agree is a real coup for this event! I believe this may be his debut appearance on a Saturday morning at Yaxley though so be sure to give him a really warm welcome on what is sure to be a cold October day!

Kick-off will be at 8.30am at the Cherry Tree Pub (IP23 8BH) with an approximate finish time of 10am. There are only 36 places available at a cost of £6 per person; a full English breakfast, coffee & juice is included within this price. Sign-up is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, please call (07702 792594) or email (men@forgechurch.com) me. A sign-up sheet will also be available at the back of church for the next two Sundays.

Thanks (& look forward to sharing a nice healthy fry up with you all!),

Chris.

I hope you’ve all had a great Summer! It’s time to rock & roll again with our second trip of the year to Solar Bowl (now called Namcofunscape) in Ipswich.

Will Andy Stewart & Nigel Barker return to defend their titles is the question on everyone’s lips?! Nigel Brinkley, who allegedly will be bringing his own ball (!!), appears a genuine contender having not been able to make the first outing in February. We cannot have him being bowling & pool champion though guys (we would never hear the end of it!) so lets head to Ipswich in numbers to make sure that does not happen!

Please arrive 7.45pm for an 8pm kick-off. Cost will be £8.30 for two games (including shoe hire). We should be finished by 10pm albeit there are also pool tables & video games available together with a licensed bar for those wishing to stick around until closing time at midnight.

I could do with an idea of numbers by Sunday 25th at the latest to allow me to pre-book the right number of lanes. There will be a sign-up sheet in church this Sunday; alternatively please register your interest by calling (07702 792594) or emaling me (men@forgechurch.com).

Thanks (& look forward to seeing you all there!),

Chris.

Jessie J’s ‘Price Tag’ is the tune of the moment for me right now; what a profound song! Check out the acoustic version in this YouTube video and see if the words challenge you like they have me. You may have to play this through more than once if you find Jessie J to be an initial distraction!

So what is life about for us? In my head I would not see myself as materialistic yet if I look back over recent years I have bought a bigger house and spent thousands on a new kitchen, new doors/windows & new furniture. To those from the outside, would my life suggest that for me it’s not about the money, money, money?! Do my actions really give the impression that I don’t believe money can buy me happiness?

Let me give you a quick snapshot of the last three years in my life. In January 2008 we moved to our current house & spent much of the first couple of years modernising. In this time, despite still attending church and being part of a small group, we took our eyes off the ball (or more specifically God!). Josh & Amy witnessed numerous arguments as our ‘busyness’ ultimately pulled us apart. When Lou came home one day and said, maybe we should take a break for a week or two around the summer of 2009, I was stunned! Thankfully, we pulled through that & if anything are stronger now as a result. So in the words of Jessie J, why did we get so serious?!

For me, it is because we stopped looking to the left & stopped looking to the right or to coin a Forge term stopped ‘looking outside ourselves’. It’s because I became increasingly tired making sure that the ka-ching ka-ching (my pay packet) was enough to pay for the ba-bling ba-bling (typically jewellery but for the purposes of this blog material ‘stuff’). It’s because we thought we could put God on hold until the house was sorted! We had lost sight of those things that made our relationship good in the first place, such as fun! We just needed to stop for a minute and smile!

2010 & 2011 for us has seen next to no progression on house projects; it has seen me head off to Zambia, drop to a four day week to give more time to the church and my family; it has seen me get my financial giving in line with where I believe God wants it to be; it has seen far less friction between Lou & I as well as far more laughs in our household! We have not completely forgotten about the ‘price tag’ in life; we still waste too much money on eating out & buying stuff we don’t really need but finally after that much needed wake-up call we are beginning to get our priorities right in slowing down & enjoying right now!

Thanks again to the 25+ guys who attended the Greene King event last Saturday; banter, beer, food, heckling & even an embroidered (!!) glass to take home with us – what more could we have wished for from a boys’ night out?!

Next up is the Men’s Breakfast! With ex-professional footballer & current general director of Christians in Sport Graham Daniels as the guest speaker, this really is an event you cannot afford to miss! Kick-off will be 8.30am at Yaxley Cherry Tree Pub (IP23 8BH) with an approximate finish time of 10am.

There are only 36 places available at a cost of £6/person; a full English breakfast, coffee & juice is included within this price. Sign-up is on a first come, first served basis via the sheet on the connecting table in church or by calling (07702 792594) or emailing me (men@forgechurch.com).

Thanks, CC.

It’s only a week since Nigel Brinkley deservedly reigned victorious at Riley’s and I am already thinking about the next boys’s night out! A sincere thank you to the 25+ guys that attended for creating a fantastic atmosphere throughout and many congratulations to Nigel who walked away with a brand new cue/box set for his efforts! A special mention should also go out to group stage winners Mark Hurren, Sam Brinkley, Steve Fenning and Tony Mallett (runner up on the evening) as well as to fellow quarter-finalists Andy Stewart, Ben Clarkson and Graham Hart.

Greene King brewery in Bury St. Edmunds (IP33 1QT) is the destination for our next Men at the Forge event. Places are limited so please highlight your interest to me ASAP (07702 792594, men@forgechurch.com) to avoid disappointment. The evening, which kicks off at 6.45pm, will include a tour of the brewery, a number of beer tastings, a two course meal (home made beef & abbot ale pie with new potatoes & vegatables OR vegetarian equivalent followed by a seasonal home made dessert) and a beer to compliment each course. The cost of this event will be £20/head; this needs to be paid in full by Friday 29th April. If you are keen to attend but need a couple of days beyond this for your May pay-packet to clear in your account, please speak to me and I am sure we can sort something out. In terms of transport, I would recommend train travel where possible with trains running out of Bury into Stowmarket and Ipswich at 22:23, 22:50 and 23:25 depending on how long you would like the evening to go on! Looking forward to it already! CC.

Boxing fans amongst us will recall some of the epic battles the twice world champion  ‘Dark Destroyer’ treated us to across the 80′s & 90′s. Top of my list would be his grudge match with Chris Eubank for the WBO Middleweight title in 1990; without doubt one of British Boxing’s greatest ever encounters despite it ending in defeat for Benn. For others perhaps it would be his WBC Super Middleweight title clash with Gerald McClellan in 1995 where he picked himself up off the canvass twice before stopping his opponent in the 10th round; this was widely considered to be one of the most brutal & gruelling fights ever witnessed in a British ring.

With a fearsome reputation & a professional record of 42 wins (35 of which came by way of a knockout), 5 losses and 1 draw, some would perhaps be surprised to hear that Benn has since given his life to Christ & become an ordained minister! The River of Life Church in Felixstowe (IP11 2FS) is hosting an evening with Nigel & his wife Caroline in two weeks’ time. Nigel will talk openly about the highs & lows of his career, the challenges that came with fame & importantly about the transformation of a broken & empty celebrity life into a powerful & purposeful Christian life.

I have a number of (free) tickets available for those that are interested. Please let me know in advance if you intend to go & perhaps we can arrange shared transport where appropriate. Thanks, CC (07702 792594, men@forgechurch.com).

Hats off to Nigel Barker and Andy Stewart for their dazzling displays at last month’s ten pin bowling tournament; the pre-match favourite (in his own head!!) Steve Fenning simply had no response to strike king Barker in the first game and comeback kid Stewart in the second. A special mention also goes out to Andrew ‘Uzzie’ Arbon for his performance across both games given that this was only his second ever visit to an alley. Great effort mate; you put some of us more experienced bowlers to shame!!

I don’t know about you guys but I am well up for round two so to speak! Rileys Pool & Snooker Club in Ipswich (IP1 1PH) is the destination of our next Men at the Forge event. Cost will be £5 per person; kick-off 7.30pm. If we provide Riley’s with names and numbers beforehand they will set up a champions league style tournament for us so please register your interest as soon as you can via the sign up sheet in church or by emailing (men@forgechurch.com) or calling (07702 792594) me. Other facilities include a licensed bar, dart boards and a Fanzone (3 metre HD screen). What more could we ask for?! Hope to see some familiar and new faces there for what should be another quality boys’ night out! CC.