Prayer (Page 3)

Prayer (Page 3)

Killing Sin Before It Kills You!

“He that trades sensuality for Pharisaism has not mortified sin… He has changed his master, but he is a servant still.” (John Owen) [vimeo http://vimeo.com/43983757] The Resurgence website has a 12 page analytical survey of John Owen’s position on the mortification of sin and can be downloaded in pdf here.

A Book Guaranteed To Improve Your Preaching 100%!

I picked this book up a while ago and recently got around to reading it. The subheading is: “With illustrations from the sermons of Thomas Watson”. The book was so good that instead of reading it in my customary speedy fashion I forced myself to read a chapter and then slowly digest it…

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…

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,…

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…

How Do We Reach People On Housing Schemes With The Gospel?

I often get asked how and why we have so many contacts and have so many unchurched people attending our services throughout the week. The answer is quite simple: 1. We pray for people. Are you really praying for people in your area, consistently, specifically an intelligently. when I first came to…