Posts by Mere Agency (Page 11)
Win them with fun!
For the past few weeks I’ve been blogging about an evangelical documentary on youth ministry from the States, produced in association with the National Centre for Family Integrated Churches, called Divided. If you missed my previous posts, you can check them out here: PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 So far I’ve been quite critical about the film but, as I’ve…
The trouble of joy (2)
by Andy Constable So we saw last week that Paul was going through some difficult circumstances but that he doesn’t seem upset, or in despair, or angry but quite the opposite. He is a man full of joy. Why is Paul joyful despite the circumstances he faces? To begin with it’s important to note that joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is an emotion that depends on…
Is youth ministry biblical? PART 3
Hopefully by now you’re familiar with the American short film called Divided. It comes from the NCFIC (National Centre for Family Integrated Churches) and it makes the case against segregated youth ministry as it has no basis in scripture and is founded upon pagan evolutionary principles. If you missed my first two posts, you can find them here: PART 1 and PART 2.…
The trouble of joy
by Andy Constable Philippians is one of my favourite books in the Bible. It’s one of the first books that I read when I became a Christian and I remember it challenging me so much. I’ve been preaching through this book on Sunday evenings over the last year and I want to share with you some of the things that I’ve been learning. The first thing I want to look at is the…
Showcasing Niddrie Community Church
For the past 10 days, I’ve been putting together this short video that showcases some of the work of Niddrie Community Church. It includes: What Niddrie’s like What the church is doing How the gospel is impacting lives What our plans are for the future It’s 5½ minutes long. I’m pretty sick of the video by now, but I hope you enjoy it!…
Disappointed? Don’t get cynical now!
by Andy Constable The reality of living and working in an estate area is that there lots of disappointments. We pray, we serve, we hold out the gospel and yet some seem to simply turn their back on it all. This work takes graft and perseverance and a lot of the ‘success’ stories are surrounded by brokenness and discouragement. This is often exacerbated by the fact that…
Is youth ministry biblical? PART 2
A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to an American short film called Divided. If you missed it, here’s the first post: ‘Is youth ministry biblical?‘ As promised, I’m going to take the opportunity over the next few weeks to reflect on some of the issues raised by the movie. According to the movie, ‘youth ministry’ has no basis in Scripture,…
Low Self Esteem? It’s Worse Than You Think!
by Andy Constable We live in a society that has bought into the idea that people need their self-esteem boosted. The problem, psychologists tell us, with people is that they think too lowly of themselves and they don’t love themselves enough. If people would simply think more highly of themselves…
Is youth ministry biblical? PART 1
My name’s Mike Stark, I’m the lead youth worker at Niddrie Community Church. Mez brought this interesting little video to my attention. Here’s the trailer (3 minutes long), which gives you a flavour of the argument. The movie is called ‘Divided’ and was produced in conjunction with The National Centre for Family-Integrated Churches. The…
Why local churches suck in inner city housing schemes
by Andy Constable The local church is the hope for the world. It’s God’s primary means for reaching the lost. However it is seriously floundering in housing schemes across the UK and I’m sure across the world. And there are a number of reasons why. Firstly, there is simply a lack of Christians…