Shows
Elim MPowerEpisode 29: Special Edition on Toxic Masculinity with Mark, Liam, Wes and NickToday’s social and mainstream media channels frequently describe a cultural backdrop of a “Toxic Masculinity” - it’s a phrase that can make some of us guys flinch and self-reflect and perhaps consider how we as Christian men, husbands, fathers, brothers in Christ can respond without being defensive about being men made in God’s image and demonstrate a more tender masculinity?
Toxic masculinity could include emotionally distant men, denying or repressing their emotions, to avoid looking "weak"; and to “toughen up” when faced with adversity. It can also manifest as hyper-aggressive behaviour, the objectification of women, and a b...2023-07-0643 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 28 with Richard GambleOn this episode we had a great opportunity to catch up with Richard Gamble, the pioneer of the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, which is to be built between the M42, M6, HS2 and Birmingham airport and which will become visible to approximately half a million people a week once complete.
The architecture is configured into a Moebius strip comprising of a million bricks, each one linked to a testimony of answered prayer – in written, audio or video form.
Richard’s heart is for the stories of answered prayer to be told in much more acce...2021-10-1528 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 27 with Leon MillsDo connect with us on our Business WhatsApp by clicking https://bit.ly/MPowerOnWhatsApp!
In this episode we are chatting with Leon Mills, the manager of the foodbank on the staff team at Birmingham City Church.
Leon talks us through his role in overseeing the foodbank – how it originally started out, who it serves and its heart to bring the compassion of Jesus to people in financial difficulties. He explains how the foodbank feeds people physically with food for up to 3 days, and also spiritually through offering prayer. A big driving factor for him in le...2021-06-2532 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 26: Special Edition on Loneliness with Mark, Gordon, Liam and NickIn a special and extended edition of the podcast, we feature four of Elim’s MPower team: Mark Lyndon-Jones, Gordon Allan, Liam Husband and Nick Whittome.
We have gathered some of the team to speak especially via the podcast into a big issue affecting men’s lives: loneliness.
Do respond to us via our Whatsapp by clicking this link: https://bit.ly/MPower-PodcastLinkToWhatsapp
Mark explains that men can find it hard to build and maintain friendships and avoid isolation – and the recent pandemic has undoubtedly made this worse.
Isolation is a real t...2021-05-1550 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 25 with James GlassWe are chatting with James Glass, who is the Elim Regional Superintendent for the North West of England and for Scotland. James is married to Beryl who is also an ordained Elim minister and they have three children aged 24, 21 and 16.
In this episode of the podcast we discuss the idea of truth: how culture interprets, handles and presents truth, and how far that might differ from what the bible says about truth.
James suggests that in our western culture there is a prevailing trend for relativism, which is the postmodern idea that we each have...2021-04-2936 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 24 with James AladiranWe are chatting in this episode with James Aladiran who leads Prayer Storm, a charity that aims to “gather people together around divine encounters and equip them to be increasingly fervent and strategic in prayer.”
James opens by telling us about his family and explaining the background to his journey towards Prayer Storm. He confesses that to begin with he never had an ambition for Christian ministry as such, and on top of that hated public speaking! He likens how he felt about his speaking ability to one of those really bad X-Factor candidates who can’t sing!2021-03-1231 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 23 with Luca RussoPODCAST OUTLINE
In this episode we are chatting with Luca Russo, who looks after the livestream production and the student and twenties ministry at Birmingham City Church in Birmingham UK, as well helping to lead worship on Sundays and create video productions.
Luca is Italian, the son of a pastor from Sicily, and he became a Christian as a teenager in a youth camp. He went on to study in bible college, and has always wanted to serve God with his life. Luca is married to Deb and they have a son.
Luca shares his strong confidence in God’s ca...2021-02-1723 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 22 with Mark RyanPODCAST OUTLINE
We are in conversation with Mark Ryan, Pastor of Birmingham City Church.
Mark became a Christian in the mid-70s through an R.E. teacher who was the pastor of a small Pentecostal church.
Mark’s interest in Christianity grew as his class worked through the gospel of Luke in school, and it was after Mark got invited to church by his teacher that he made a decision for Jesus.
He shares a strange encounter with God when he was filling in a survey about whether to go into Ch...2021-01-1433 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 21 with Steve LeggPODCAST OUTLINE
We celebrate 3,000 plays in episode 21, in conversation with Steve Legg, evangelist, escapologist, comedy magician and editor of Sorted Magazine.
Steve is the only bloke in his household with 6 other females (7 if you count the dog), and as you might imagine he occasionally pines for male banter about football!
He opens with an incredible story of leading three hundred people to Jesus from the main stage at the occult Festival of the Dead in Mexico.
We also chat about how he came to launch Sorted Magazine after a conversation with...2020-12-1725 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 20 with Piet Van WaardePODCAST OUTLINE
In this episode we are chatting with Piet Van Waarde, a pastor at Shoreline Church in Texas, America - a longstanding friend of 'Discipleship For Busy Blokes' podcast host, Nick Whittome.
We are discussing a parable both of us have gained so much from over the years – the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Piet shares how the younger son in the parable reflects his own experience as someone raised in a Christian home who decided to go off to live a life of wild living, self-indulgence and drug-taking.
He sh...2020-11-1427 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 19 with Mark McClurgIn this important episode, we are in conversation with Mark McClurg, Pastor of Ards Elim Church in Newtownards, County Down in Northern Ireland.
Mark described how he contracted coronavirus amongst some of the first wave of those infected with the illness in March 2020. He started feeling unwell, and when he started to experience chest pain, one of the nurses in his church told him to take himself to A&E, even though he did not have the other usual symptoms.
He was triaged swiftly, because his oxygen levels were low and his temperature had started t...2020-10-2928 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 18 with Boyd RatnarajaIn Episode 18, we are chatting with Boyd Ratnaraja, pastor at Elim Christian Centre in Aukland and head of Elim in New Zealand, which comprises a network of 38 churches around that nation.
We kick off with an unfortunate international time zone mess-up, which means Boyd is chatting over WhatsApp wifi audio at 7am in the morning his time, rather than 9am. (Thanks for being so gracious Boyd!)
Boyd who is originally from Sri Lanka introduces us to his wife and two young boys, and also shares a great story from his childhood about ‘playing church’ and pract...2020-10-1929 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 17 with Billy Vunipola‘Discipleship For Busy Blokes podcast’ got a great opportunity recently to catch up briefly in conversation with Billy Vunipola, rugby player for Saracens and England.
Originally from Tonga, Billy and his family are now resident in England. He plays at Number 8 at the back of the scrum, and although he shares about notable games, tries scored and man of the match awards, he’s keen to stress how much it’s all about the team as a whole working together to gain victory.
He also shares about the special bond he has with his brother Mako, who...2020-09-0615 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 16 with Chris CartwrightIn Episode 16 we are chatting with Elim’s national leader Chris Cartwright. Chris introduces himself, his wife Annie and his three grown-up children and briefly outlines his journey in faith and ministry, up to his current role as the General Superintendent of the Elim Pentecostal movement worldwide.
We ask the million-dollar question: how can really busy blokes manage all the different priorities they are confronted by? We all get pushed into an extraordinary level of ‘busyness’, but we mustn’t beat ourselves up about that!
Chris shares that he has been slowly working his way through th...2020-07-2428 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 15 with Maldwyn JonesWe’re in conversation with Maldwyn Jones, who has been an Elim minister for 54 years. Maldwyn is married to Ruth and they have three children and two grandchildren. He is proudly Welsh, and became a Christian when he was 14. He has been a pastor at several Elim churches including in Plymouth, Belfast and Birmingham.
In this podcast episode, we discuss why men find it hard to face mental health problems. Maldwyn shares about a time when he himself suffered a mental breakdown at the age of 27, which took him several months’ recuperation to overcome.
He poin...2020-06-0622 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 14 with Mark GreenwoodWe are in a lively and fun conversation with Elim’s head of evangelism, Mark Greenwood, recorded just before the coronavirus lockdown in late February.
Mark opens by sharing the story of his family’s journey to faith in Christ, through a door-to-door evangelist called Brian Hardacre, who had only been a Christian himself for six days, amazingly!
We ask whether the way in which people come to faith can be a shaping influence in their later ministry, and Mark suggests this might be the case, referring to Bill Hull’s book “Conversion and Discipleship – You Can’t...2020-05-2529 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 13 with Will NevilleIn this episode we are chatting with Will Neville, who is a member of Birmingham City Church. Will is a big West Bromwich Albion fan, enjoys rugby and golf and loves going out on his carbon-fibre road bike. Will plays drums on the worship team at BCC, he is married to Charlotte and they have a young son called Ben.
Will is programme coordinator at the William Booth Centre, which is a ministry of the Salvation Army providing services to homeless people, in the heart of Birmingham in the UK.
Following the divorce of his...2020-05-1936 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 12 with Simon WhittomeIn this brief but entertaining episode, we are in coronavirus lockdown conversation with podcast host Pastor Nick Whittome’s own middle son Simon!
Simon talks about what lockdown has meant for him with school closing in his GCSE year, and going forward on predicted grades rather than having to sit a whole lot of exams.
He has started his own small farm in the garden, with Greek cress, spicy Arabic broccoli and radishes, which he reports has turned out to be easier than he was anticipating, surprisingly!
Simon is taking Drama, Music and Ma...2020-05-0214 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 11 with Gordon AllanIn this episode, which we recorded by iphone and Bluetooth speaker because of the coronavirus lockdown, we are in conversation with Gordon Allan, the lead pastor of Edinburgh Elim Church.
Gordon opens briefly about his family, background and liking for rugby – and then we discuss the impact the coronavirus lockdown has had on life in the city and in his church and how it has affected the way in which they are ‘being church’ together.
Social isolation has brought a steep learning curve with many challenges of different kinds, even for a ministry that was alread...2020-04-0727 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 10 with Danny EastonIn a special extended episode of ‘Discipleship For Busy Blokes’ we are in conversation with Danny Easton, one of the elders at Birmingham City Church.
After initially starting out in an apprenticeship in tool-making and then moving into Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Danny is now a car-seat designer for a company with automotive clients including Jaguar-Landrover and Nissan.
Danny describes a ‘step out of the boat’ season in his career when he had to deliver results for a new client rather quickly, and where he felt right out of his comfort zone. He spent a couple of weeks...2020-03-0943 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 9 with Mark Lyndon-JonesIn this episode we are in conversation with Mark Lyndon-Jones, leader of ministry to men across the Elim movement in the UK.
We open with a review of Mark’s written devotion from Philippians 3:13-14, that he brought to set the tone for men across Elim in 2020 at the beginning of the year. We reflect on the great athletic achievement from Eliud Kipchoge, who became the first athlete to run a marathon distance in under two hours, beating the mark by just 20 seconds.
Mark encourages us as men to remember that if Paul is able to...2020-02-2523 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 8 with Dammy AwosikaWe are in conversation with Dammy Awosika, one of the elders at Birmingham City Church.
Dammy is a network solutions architect designer, and he explains how he built his career in IT starting out from building PCs to working with servers and systems – and how he ultimately got into networking, which he has been doing over the last 20 years.
On this podcast we unpack the ‘Parable of the Good Samaritan’:
The surprise it holds of who is supposed to be helping but doesn’t
Who our neighbour really might be; and
How we should help peo...2020-02-0627 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 7 with Chris FletcherWe are in conversation with Chris Fletcher, lead pastor of Manna Church, Fayetteville Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Manna Church is right next to the largest military base in the world, offering around 15 services a weekend and has an ambitious vision to plant Manna churches in every U.S. military base across the globe.
Chris has a Masters in Christian Leadership, a big vision to equip people and plant churches and focuses 100% of his time on leadership development day-to-day.
He describes how Manna church has had to become highly competent at both leadership d...2020-01-2130 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 6 with Gavin CalverWe are in conversation with Gavin Calver, CEO of the Evangelical Alliance in the UK.
The Evangelical Alliance seeks to represent evangelical Christians in the UK, to bring Christians together and help them listen to, and be heard by, the government, media and society.
Gavin's infectious energy, vision and passion for Jesus and life is inspirational.
We talk about how men can be less passive and take more of an activist role in their faith. Football fans just start a song, which is not passive at all - whereas church can sometimes be a...2020-01-1015 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 5 with Darren PassmoreWe are in conversation with Darren Passmore, who is pursuing a part-time degree in Applied Theology at Regent’s Theological College. We discuss Darren’s decision to study theology as a mature student, what led to his decision and what God has been revealing to him through his study, particularly around trust in God, identity and confidence.
Darren opens up about how he was really challenged while he was growing up as a result of the divorce of his parents; and of finding out about his adoption as a young teenager. He describes how God has been buildi...2019-12-1928 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 4 with James ChipweteOn this episode, we are in conversation with James Chipwete about the book of Jonah. James is a doctor, and he is one the elders at Birmingham City Church.
We are also running a free prize draw with Episode 4, with the chance to win a £50 Amazon UK voucher to spend, just ahead of Christmas!
To enter, you need to contact us via the voice message facility on the Anchor app, or at https://anchor.fm/elim-mpower leaving three things on the message: (i) your name and contact number – for us to get hold of you if y...2019-11-2732 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 3 with Robbie AlencarOn this episode we are in conversation with Robson 'Robbie' Alencar from Birmingham City Church. We discuss Robson's journey to faith, and also how he navigated a recent tough time with some extreme pain from gallstones.
He describes his experiences of crippling pain, of having to wait ages for intervention, the frustration of repeatedly postponed surgery and of all the different ways in which the continual pain impacted him as a person: it affected him being a dad, he wasn't able to drive because of the heavy-duty painkillers, it impacted his work and it caused him to...2019-11-0730 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 2 with Liam HusbandIn this episode we are in conversation with Liam Husband, the lead pastor at Hope Community Church in Bournemouth.
We talked about:
Liam’s family and the perils of keeping ducks!
Recent church missions to Kenya and Estonia
The local ‘coffee and bacon rolls’ ministry to the homeless of Bournemouth
Advice for a bloke thinking about going on mission, and how we draw on skills we already have once we are in the mission field
Progress for the Hope Community Church team through the Church Leadership Academy being offered out of Birmingham City Church
The issue of father...2019-10-1924 min
Elim MPowerEpisode 1 with Mark Lyndon-JonesMark Lyndon-Jones leads Elim's national men's ministry MPower - and Nick Whittome at Birmingham City Church caught up with him just before a men's event, and asked him a few questions.
We talked about:
Mark's heart for men and ministering to men around the country, in his capacity as leader of Elim's men's ministry MPower
How you might start a men's group, with some practical advice, tips and experience
Struggles with isolation
Blokes being very busy - and countering that with prioritising and planning
Helpful resources, including the brief weekly MPower devotional email, starting in the...2019-10-0325 min