Missional Living (Page 7)
Learning From One Man’s Mistakes In Over 40 years of Ministry!
You’ve got to take up your cross and follow Jesus. So this is no career move for the faint-hearted. This is no career move for someone who wants an easy life or a nice life. You’re not going to be accepted, and you’re not going to be liked: you are following the crucified one. Wise words from the…
Could This Be The Best Conference For Church Planters in the World?
OK. So, I maybe exaggerated a little bit, but I bet you it is still going to be a great conference! In a recent British poll of people claiming to be ‘Christian’, less than half believed that Jesus rose from the dead. One study suggested that Christianity will be statistically irrelevant in…
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…
How Are Single Mothers Supposed To Raise Godly Young Men?
By Sharon Dickens (Women’s Worker at NCC & Single Mother) I was interested and challenged reading Mez’s blog a few months ago about raising our sons to be Godly men. One of the questions rolling around my head has simply been, “How different is it raising godly men when the father is absent,…
Church Planting Supersite!!
I am always on the hunt for good resources when it comes to church planting. The problem we have in the UK is the lack of quality material on the topic, relevant to our context. The problem we have in housing schemes is contextualising material written for a largely middle class demographic. However, if you can think on your feet and are able to work hard at this,…
14 Obstacles We Face In Church Planting Ministry!
Housing scheme ministry is a tough gig. It is made somewhat harder when you are and/or have renewed a stagnant and/or dying congregation. We do have to watch our for all sorts of obstacles. 1. People Fatigue – I know I am tired and I need to refocus spiritually when I get sick of people and…
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…
8 Keys to Housing Scheme Gospel Ministry (8)
Avoid Paternalism & Dependency Many, great, Western missiological thinkers have battled with the issue of paternalism in cross cultural contexts for decades. What exactly is paternalism? The essence of paternalism is providing outside direction and resources by some “mature” party to someone considered “immature” and not yet capable to carry full leadership…
8 Keys to Housing Scheme Gospel Ministry (7)
A Wholistic Approach to Christian Discipleship We would be foolish to think that the many problems of housing schemes could be solved by any one approach, or if we just managed to solve one particular problem. We see the foolishness of this thinking in Niddrie as we observe the many tens of millions spent on building new homes and schools etc and yet many of the deep,…