Posts by Mere Agency (Page 7)
How Should We Respond When People Attack Us?
By Andy Constable Four weeks ago, at 11pm on a Friday night, our door bell rang. My wife and I were asleep and we ignored it because we thought it was kids messing about. But it rang again and so I got up and opened the door to find our neighbour at there. She apologised for waking us up but thought we would like to know that our car windows had been smashed. I peered out…
Do You Love Sport More Than Christ?
By Andy Constable Like most men, I love sport. It is something that has always been part of my life from an early age. I especially enjoy playing or watching football! Sport is a great creation by God and is something we should enjoy. However, many men, including myself, need to watch that sport doesn’t become an idol. When we think of idols we usually think of Hindu or…
Urban Myth: Inner City Young People Can’t Listen to Sermons!
by Mike Stark Most of us are familiar with the terms ADD or ADHD (attention deficit disorder, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). We work with and know many local children who have been diagnosed as such, placing them in a box and giving them a medical label to help them understand their…
If You Don’t Guard Your Life You Won’t Lead Your Wife!
By Andy Constable Paul writes in Ephesians 5:23-24: “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Saviour.” Paul is very clear here that in the marriage, the husband is to be the head in the relationship. In other words he is to lead…
PROXIMITY: For People Interested In Urban Ministry
Incarnational Living | Church Planting | Urban Youth Ministry | Missional Community| Urban Church Proximity 2012 is a conference happening this May (25th-26th) in Salford, hosted by the Eden Network. It aims to bring these five streams above together in one place for two days of vision,…
Are You a Porn Addict?
by Andy Constable We live in a highly sexualised culture with a multi billion pound sex industry. In the USA, 3000 dollars per second is spent on pornography. Sadly, this is a problem that many Christian men struggle with. They try to escape the reality of their lives through sexual fantasising. They give in to their lusts and seek fulfillment through sexual…
What Happens When Your Church has No Christian Youth?
by Mike Stark (Children’s, Youth & Community Worker) Historically, we haven’t had many ‘Christian’ young people in Niddrie Community Church. We have a vibrant and active work among children and youth in the community, yet this is almost exclusively evangelistic, rather than…
Men: Are you being lazy?
by Andy Constable One of the biggest struggles for Christian Men is the sin of laziness. It is a difficult term to pin down because it comes out in so many different forms. The dictionary gives us characteristics of laziness, such as ‘unwilling to work or use energy’. In the New Testament laziness is defined as a failure to use the gifts that God has given us…
Evangelising the Young on Housing Schemes
by Mike Stark (Youth & School’s Worker for NCC) I recently attended “Deep Impact”, Scotland’s National Christian Youth Work Conference in Aviemore. I came back refreshed, inspired and excited about all the work ahead. I’ve got a lot to reflect on over the next couple of weeks: the people I met, the things I learned, and truths I just…
Christian Men: Where is Your Vision?
By Andy Constable Last week we were thinking about the lack of biblical men in our churches. One of the biggest problems for men is that of apathy and I think much of it is caused by a lack of vision. Many men are being taken in by pornography, television and computer games because they have little vision for the gospel and the church. They have little direction and don’t…