Leadership/Ministry Training (Page 4)
What If We based Our Decisions On Community Instead Of Self Interest?
When was the last time you met a person who took a decision in their life based on how it would affect their Christian community? As a pastor I am informed about decisions to move house, job etc and my immediate response is always, ‘What is the motivation behind your decision?’ For a…
How Do I End a Bad Discussion?
This is always an awkward situation. What do we do when caught up in a discussion that we just don’t know how to end? How do we handle things when we can’t even agree to disagree? There are 4 helpful little pointers from ‘The Cripplegate’ here.
How To Cope With The Stress Of Ministry
By Andy Constable Life in schemes can be tough at the best of times. It is, sometimes, an extremely face paced, intense ministry. I know today as I woke up that I felt tired and distracted. The business of the next couple of weeks clouded my mind. Now at this point I could (a) get on with the day and get as much as done as possible but keep stressing. Or (b) I can commit…
Getting To The Heart of Anger
By Andy Constable Anger is a problem with which everyone struggles. For some it is such a problem that it is destroying their lives. As Christians we are called to be self-controlled people who sew peace in our lives. But not all anger in the Bible is bad. Anger is a characteristic of God. Jesus was righteously angry in His ministry on earth. There is, therefore, good…
Shalom in our Schemes: Impossible Ideal or Gospel Soaked Reality?
The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern (Prov. 29:7). Shalom has become a popular buzzword in certain evangelical circles, particularly around the whole ‘justice for the oppressed’ debate. What do we exactly mean by the word Shalom? Tim Keller…
Inner City Regeneration: Friend or Foe?
This is an emotive issue for many on our scheme. Much of the old housing and tenements have now gone from what was, historically, regarded as ‘old’ Niddrie. In its place are green fields, building sites, new flats, houses and a variety of government agencies and voluntary services. Almost everything feels new and shiny. The school, the doctor’s surgery,…
What to say to somebody who doesn’t want to read their Bible
There is a great little article here on this very common problem in the church.
Multiplying Churches in Housing Schemes!
My team and I were recently discussing one of the units of our current Porterbrook Training course which was looking at the whole idea of reproducing churches, ministries and missionaries. I was personally struck by the catchphrase of the Chinese church: “Everyone is a church planter”. According to our reading one of the key factors in reproducing growing…
Preventing Burnout In Housing Scheme Ministry!
Ministry in any context is tough but ministry in housing schemes can be the cause of much burnout, stress and depression among pastors, planters and gospel workers. In Brasil we saw people come and go, attracted by the romance of working with street children, but soon demoralised by the reality…
What is the Number One Failure of 90% of Pastors?
Joe McKeever, Preacher, Cartoonist, Pastor, and retired Director of Missions at the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans has written about this question here.