Blog (Page 41)
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…
Why The Atonement Matters For Church Planters (2)
Atonement’ edited by Gabriel Fluhrer (P&R Publishing 2010) This is a series of lectures about ‘blood’ according to the book’s sleeve and is a compilation of 8 essays on the topic by 7 evangelical theologians and pastors. Such is the importance of this subject for every Christian, whoever…
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’…
Top 10 Preaching Mistakes
Food for thought for your Sunday afternoon here.
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…
Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
I must confess to a great deal of ambivalence to Halloween. I vaguely remember doing ‘trick or treat’ as a little boy which usually involved me and my mates ‘egging‘ doors whether people gave us a treat or not. Early in my ministry I was involved in putting on an ‘alternative’ event for the children of the church I was serving as 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…
Why The Atonement Matters For Church Planters (1)
‘Atonement’ edited by Gabriel Fluhrer (P&R Publishing 2010) This is a series of lectures about ‘blood’ according to the book’s sleeve and is a compilation of 8 essays on the topic by 7 evangelical theologians and pastors. Such is the importance of this subject for every Christian,…
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…