My name is Andrew McCourt and I'm the senior pastor of Cornerstone City Fellowship located in the great City of Derry. Twelve years ago I, along with my wife Isabelle and a daring group of pioneers, lived the dream by 'having a go' at God's will! What has emerged is an amazing local church right in the heart of a city that is being re-birthed from the pain of the past.
I'm also involved in the National Leadership of AGI, I'm passionate about authentic leadership, raising the next generation and committed to modeling and communicating Christianity in a culturally relevant manner.
Oh yes, and the last 12 years have also seen the arrival of four great kids, Ben, Dan, Abigail and Nathan!
Meet Bahadur Chand Gupta, a former aeronautical engineer turned entrepreneur who's now dedicating his life to helping India's poor. Every morning, Gupta and his wife invite villagers and slum dwellers to board their Airbus 300 in Delhi, for an experience of a life time.
However, it isn't what you think; the plane doesn't actually fly anywhere. Instead, the passengers get a feel of air travel, listening to announcements and get waited on by stewardesses. They buckle themselves in and watch safety demonstrations and even get fed during the experience.
While Gupta is undoubtedly giving many under privileged kids an incredible educational experience, it does make me think of many churches going through the motions, but never taking off!
During the small hours of this morning I watched the Women's Olympic Marathon and was thoroughly impressed by the winning style of Constantina Tomescu as she made a bold break for the finish from the half-way mark - the 13th mile! In the past she had tried a similar tactic without success and 'the pack' she left behind falsely presumed that eventually she would tire and one of them would prevail. However, mile after mile 'the pack' were paralyzed with indecision and were even heard discussing tactic together, but everyone was scared to make the break. There is certainly comfort to be found in crowd along with sliver and bronze!
This commercial was probably the most impacting for me as a kid - I wanted to be skillful, American and have days off school drinking coke in a sunny park! What commercial has left an impacting memory in your mind?
Productivity guru Merlin Mann speaks about the endless pursuit of branding:
" If you're really worried about your 'branding', try to stop
thinking about life as a press release and just focus on making something! "
Let's pursue the real deal of character and endurance; we can't dismiss the potent atmosphere of an image-driven generation, but we can aspire to display authentic lives based on deep grace. I love brands, I like clever designs and originality but we need to find a deeper level of living beyond the skin of our facebooks, blogs and twitters. Undoubtedly, these things can provide style to our lives, yet they can never be the substance. Before we aim to get the commercials finished and the advertising flowing, let's put the product in the oven and get it tested before we make a launch. I don't mean to get negative on your Friday, it's just that I have heard of a couple of cases of Christian 'images' that were revealed to be all facade; the frightening thing is that it seems to say more about me than them because I bought the brand!
I was clearing out an old draw last week and I came across these notes from a talk David Shearman gave at one of our key leadership events. The session was called 'If I Could Start Again' and these wise words of instruction came from one of God's leading servants in the nation with over 40 years of experience. He said that he would have:
Sought greater academic improvement
Travelled to purpose sooner
Networked better - found greater and wiser mentors
Focused on family investment
Developed preaching gift
David pastors the Christian Centre, Nottingham, a phenomenal church with plans for a remarkable new building.
Today Isabelle and I celebrate 15 years of marriage - in total we have had 8 houses, 4 children, 2 churches and 1 big God! Isabelle has been the best a man could hope for and without her I would never have had the fun, culture and experiences that I have enjoyed so intensely through the course of our marriage. So to her I say (with the help of Yeats):
The wrong of unshapely things is a wrong too great to be told;
I hunger to build them anew and sit on a green knoll apart,
With the earth and the sky and the water, remade, like a casket of gold
For my dreams of your image that blossoms a rose in the deeps of my heart.'
'If you hang out with nice people you become a nice person; if you hang out with smart people you become a smart person, but if you hang out with yoyo people you become a yoyo person!' This is profound advice from the mind of the unforgettable Rocky Balboa. A yoyo person is someone who is always going up and down in a series of emotional successions and hanging out with these people will only pull us into similar extremes. Company is so essential to the development of character and endurance; there simply can't be any space for yoyo people. I met Tim when I was out running tonight and he informed me of his intentions to break the 3 hour mark in the Dublin Marathon. Originally we trained together for the Belfast Marathon and he is now breaking out in style because he has stepped up his programme and has started some preliminary training with other faster athletes - it's working! Take it from Rocky - keep away from yoyos or you'll become one!
Love and McDonalds have never had an association in my life - 'Happy Meal' being the greatest 21st Century oxymoron I know! However, forced by a lack of high speed internet access I was driven into the bottom tier of the culinary ladder and after many years of absence I was pleasantly surprised by what greeted me. The particular branch (Enniskillen, N.Ireland) I have been frequenting (incognito, of course) is bright, modern, and actually clean. What took my shock to Olympic proportions was the quality of their cappuccinos. It actually caused a sense of grief as I started wondering why I have paid so much for Starbucks over the last year and all of this with free wireless internet and loyalty tokens - buy six get one free! So what is it for you? Let me know for a basic coffee - McDonalds or Starbucks?
I haven't made a post in a couple of days as I've been away on holidays mixed with a blend of the NHS. My dad took a little turn in his eye a couple of weeks ago and after examination it transpired that he had a 'TIA' (transient ischemic attack) or sometimes known as a 'mini stroke'. The climax of this was surgery on Wednesday at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast to clear his carotid artery and apart from the anaesthetist damaging an artery in his arm, the whole operation was a 'roaring success' (direct quote from the surgeon). We are thrilled at this outcome and thank God for his protection. Thanks to everyone who prayed and sent encouraging notes during this period - your friendship and support have been invaluable! All of this is especially sweet as my dad only retired 3 weeks ago and so we look forward to many great years in the future - his friendship and example have been one of the main privileges of my life!
It is reported today that at least nine climbers are feared dead and another three missing on their descent of K2. This towering beast has been called the 'mountain of mountains' and the 'savage' mountain and has a 26% fatality rate (Mt. Everest has a 9% fatality rate). To put the magnitude of trying to scale this mountain into further perspective it must be remembered that to put the first two valiant climbers on top there was a team of over 600 people involved! One of the climbers that is thought to have been caught in this tragedy is Gerard McDonnell from Limerick who was the first Irish man to the summit K2; my hopes and prayers are with him - come on home Gerard!
During the small hours of this morning I watched the Women's Olympic Marathon and was thoroughly impressed by the winning style of Constantina Tomescu as she made a bold break for the finish from the half-way mark - the 13th mile! In the past she had tried a similar tactic without success and 'the pack' she left behind falsely presumed that eventually she would tire and one of them would prevail. However, mile after mile 'the pack' were paralyzed with indecision and were even heard discussing tactic together, but everyone was scared to make the break. There is certainly comfort to be found in crowd along with sliver and bronze!
Today Isabelle and I celebrate 15 years of marriage - in total we have had 8 houses, 4 children, 2 churches and 1 big God! Isabelle has been the best a man could hope for and without her I would never have had the fun, culture and experiences that I have enjoyed so intensely through the course of our marriage. So to her I say (with the help of Yeats):
'If you hang out with nice people you become a nice person; if you hang out with smart people you become a smart person, but if you hang out with yoyo people you become a yoyo person!' This is profound advice from the mind of the unforgettable Rocky Balboa. A yoyo person is someone who is always going up and down in a series of emotional successions and hanging out with these people will only pull us into similar extremes. Company is so essential to the development of character and endurance; there simply can't be any space for yoyo people. I met Tim when I was out running tonight and he informed me of his intentions to break the 3 hour mark in the Dublin Marathon. Originally we trained together for the Belfast Marathon and he is now breaking out in style because he has stepped up his programme and has started some preliminary training with other faster athletes - it's working! Take it from Rocky - keep away from yoyos or you'll become one!
