Missional Living (Page 13)
Niddrie Pastor lifted by the police…
by Mike Stark True story!! OK, so this isn’t exactly new news, but it is very funny none the less and well worth a read – click on the photo to see an enlarged copy. This is from Scotland’s Daily Record newspaper on 3rd September 2007, describing a memorable incident that happened shortly after Mez took up his new post as pastor of Niddrie Community Church. He…
Missional Lifestyle v Pulpit Monologue: FIGHT!
‘Expository preaching’ can appear to be a dirty word in some church planting circles. Likewise, for many the ‘Sunday gathering’ is relegated to an afterthought in the pursuit of authentic ‘missional community’. There is talk that ‘Pulpit Preaching’…
How to plant a church?
I read this article on a blog here recently and found it to be quite stimulating. OK, the ‘huddle‘ language doesn’t quite fly contextually for our situation but I get the point. Have a look at it and see what you think. It is basically the same thing as the ‘Trellis & The Vine’ stuff but I like the fact that this guy is trying to work it…
Why We Need To Commit Long Term To Housing Schemes
By Andy Constable As I have worked in some of the most deprived areas of our world I have become convinced that for any deep down spiritual change we need to commit to area’s long term. Recently my wife and I have decided to commit to Niddrie for the next 10 years unless God calls us on. This is a…
On being a school chaplain
It’s been nearly 3 years since I first got into the local high school. Since those early days, my job as Niddrie Community Church’s youth worker has involved an increasing amount of time and energy spent there. Last month, I was invited to consider becoming the school’s chaplain, an official position within the school community that would give Ellis and…
Do Short Term Mission Trips Do More Harm Than Good?
Many years ago in Brazil we had a team come over from the UK to do some short term ‘missions’ work (defined in this article as 1-2 week trips run by local churches). What that meant in reality was that 10 young people came over to see our project, run a couple of holiday clubs, do some…
Are you running on empty (1)?
We all know that feeling when Monday morning feels like Friday evening and the energy levels are at an all time low. The question of how we recharge our batteries spiritually, physically and mentally is important for church planters, pastors and inner city church workers. I have just spent some time with a dear friend of mine and as a fellow labourer in the gospel it was…
The power of an invitation
by Mike Stark This past week we’ve had another team over from Champion Forest Baptist Church, Houston, Texas. This is the second team we’ve had over from the US this year. Its always a great encouragement to us as a church, as the Americans inject a bit of money, man-power, and enthusiasm to the work in Niddrie. On Saturday night we had an X-Factor style…
How should Christians disagree?
Keeping Community Real
by Andy Constable It’s the cool and trendy thing these days to talk about the need for ‘community’. Christians talk like it’s the best thing since sliced bread and that it’s the thing that the church is really lacking in the West. The argument goes that the evangelical church has been great at preaching God’s Word but lacking in gospel community. Whilst I agree that this…