'Andy Constable' Tagged Posts (Page 3)
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…
Why Confrontation is Crucial for the Christian
by Andy Constable One of my biggest struggles in ministry is having ‘confrontational’ conversations with people. I find it almost unnatural to broach difficult conversations and offer biblical rebuke. In particular I find it hard to confront people on their sin issues. This is an area…
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…
Are You Sure You Want Converts From Inner City Housing Schemes?
BY ANDY CONSTABLE There is a lot of talk these days about living ‘missionally’ as the answer to the problems of the local church in housing schemes/council estates. People say that if we live like they did in Acts where everybody shared their possessions and spent more intentional time together…
Superiority Complex? Try Service and Love
By Andy Constable There can be a temptation when coming to work in schemes to simply see the social problems that many schemes face. People from the outside see the drugs, crime, dysfunctional families and young teenage mothers. These stereotypes fuel a superiority complex where the ‘well-meaning’ Christian thinks that they are coming to release these ‘poor people’ from…
The Importance of Training Leaders
by Andy Constable When I wanted to start working in ‘poorer’ areas I genuinely thought that it would be a case of going in, sharing the gospel, praying and everything would change. Although these are the fundamentals of any gospel work I was naive about the culture, the work of the local church and the pressures involved working in a scheme. The heart was good but I…
It’s in the details!
By Andy Constable I hate thinking about details. I love thinking about the vision and the concepts but not how we are going to get there. I’m the worst person in the world to organise events because I can envision what I want to happen but am rubbish at thinking about the plan. The leadership team at church have a tag line whenever I forget something, they say: “Remember…
Redeeming Tiredness
by A Constable Work on schemes is tiring. The people we deal with everyday have some sort of drug or alcohol dependency and/or one or more mental issues. When you are building a relationship with someone from that kind of background you aren’t going to be asked very often how you’re doing? The relationship, at least to begin with, is very one sided as you sew into their…
Low Self Esteem? It’s Worse Than You Think!
by Andy Constable We live in a society that has bought into the idea that people need their self-esteem boosted. The problem, psychologists tell us, with people is that they think too lowly of themselves and they don’t love themselves enough. If people would simply think more highly of themselves…