Tarquin Syndrome (Page 2)
How To Keep Going when People Screw Us & We Want To Give Up!
By Andy Constable The last couple of weeks have been particularly tough and tiring in Niddrie. One of our “pre-interns” who was getting his life together in Christ made a very unwise decision to leave the structure of our tailored discipleship programme/life to go back to his home town.…
Reaching Out to the Heartbreak Hotel!!
By Andy Constable Last week I was able to have a meeting with Kenny Macaskill who is the MSP for Eastern Edinburgh. We were meeting to discuss the possibility of opening a drop in centre up at Greendykes flats. As a church we are desperate to start a ministry up there because the area is filled with many difficulties. The flats are known as heartbreak hotel in Niddrie.…
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…
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…
If You Don’t Guard Your Life You Won’t Lead Your Wife!
By Andy Constable Paul writes in Ephesians 5:23-24: “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Saviour.” Paul is very clear here that in the marriage, the husband is to be the head in the relationship. In other words he is to lead…
Men: Are you being lazy?
by Andy Constable One of the biggest struggles for Christian Men is the sin of laziness. It is a difficult term to pin down because it comes out in so many different forms. The dictionary gives us characteristics of laziness, such as ‘unwilling to work or use energy’. In the New Testament laziness is defined as a failure to use the gifts that God has given us…
Christian Men: Where is Your Vision?
By Andy Constable Last week we were thinking about the lack of biblical men in our churches. One of the biggest problems for men is that of apathy and I think much of it is caused by a lack of vision. Many men are being taken in by pornography, television and computer games because they have little vision for the gospel and the church. They have little direction and don’t…
Christian Men: Take Up Your Cross in Housing Schemes!
by Andy Constable One of the biggest problems in schemes across Scotland is the breakdown of male leadership. We have many young men without role models. We have lots of men living off the state to provide for their income instead of working. We have many men being bossed around by their…
Don’t work in schemes if you can’t use your brain!
By Andy Constable Biblical thinking can very often be in short supply among many young Christians who want to work in ‘poorer’ areas. They can be guilty of explicitly reasoning that ‘thinking’ is somehow unspiritual or implicitly believing that the people they are working with only need…
What does ‘real’ friendship look like in an inner city housing scheme?
By Andy Constable As I have worked in Cape Town and Niddrie a question that I have often asked myself is what does friendship look like in these places? What does it mean to be friends with people here? We naturally build relationships around our socio-demographic. We are friends, generally, with…