Missional Living (Page 17)
Good Shepherds Love Their Own Sheep!
There are lots of good books, websites, blogs and good conferences (in the USA at least) as ‘church planting’ seems to be making a bit of a sexy comeback. I mean, how cool is Mark Driscoll? He pastors a multi-site church of tens of thousands, he writes amusing books, he has a cool blog, he drinks beer, he talks about getting jiggy with it in the pulpit and…
A Critique of Radical!
As with all books there are fans and detractors. I am reserving judgement until I have read the whole thing but I have to say, being a fan of polemics, that I am mightily impressed with the first few chapters. Given all the wishy-washy lovey dovey rubbish being spouted these days by so-called evangelicals, it is nice to read guy unashamed by the hard truths of the gospel.…
Radical Living!
Thanks to my friend Robert Briggs for posting this. It looks interesting. We may not be chasing the American dream here in the UK but we have our very own version of it. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoicm4wnQ4c&feature=player_embedded]
Tarquin Syndrome (1)
I don’t know if you have seen the YouTube clip called ‘gap yah’. If you haven’t then you should definitely check out this clip: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFjWR7X5dU). In it, a stereotypical upper-middle class guy calls his friend on his gap year (a year out taken by many in the UK between leaving school and going to university) and he talks about the life changing…
A New Vision for small groups
This little video has been doing the rounds on the blogosphere and is definitely worth a look, if only to provoke thought and further discussion for whatever your context is. I got it off Paul Rees who is the pastor of Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh. Check out his blog here. [vimeo http://vimeo.com/22754743]
Fishers of Men
I hate fishing. Hate is a strong word so let me restate. I absolutely, categorically, fundamentally hate fishing. Don’t get me wrong, I have great admiration for the courage and strength of those who trawl the seas day in and day out so I can have a nice bit of cod on a Friday. I also enjoy watching ‘Trawlermen’ on the Dave channel from time to time and…
Should we Kill Our Small Groups?
I just read an interesting article on why small groups don’t work. Whilst from a USA perspective, let me assure you that some of what he says couldn’t be truer, particularly in our context. People in Niddrie don’t want to sit around for 1.5 hours a week and pretend to like other people they don’t really know or associate with outside of the…
Are you wasting your life?
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/20106948] Enough said.
I pay my taxes!
I remember preaching in a church once on Micah 6v8: ‘He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’ (NIV) Amongst other things I was talking about the connection between a life of love for God and acts of mercy toward the poor. Straight after the service a…
Planting Missional Churches
I have just finished reading Stetzer’s latest book, ‘Planting Missional Churches – Planting a church that’s biblically sound and reaching people in culture.’ I have been reviewing it piece by piece, particularly with regard to the ’10 Marks of an Effective Plant’ series. As with all books there are good bits and there are bad.…