'discipleship' Tagged Posts (Page 2)
Discipleship: What Does it Really Look LIke?
Thomas Chalmers, the well-known Scottish preacher, in his famous sermon, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection,” says it all: “Seldom do any of our habits or flaws disappear by a process of extinction through reasoning or “by the mere force of mental determination.” Reason and willpower are not enough. “But what cannot be destroyed may be dispossessed… The only…
Why the Right Wife is Important for Housing Scheme Ministry
By Andy Constable The most important decision for any man who wants to work in schemes, after professing Christ, is choosing a suitable wife (if you plan to get married). This ministry is tough and tiring and if your wife isn’t on board and supportive then you will flag very quickly. The last thing…
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.…
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 (6) Church Based Community Development
Part A: Church Based Community Development In his book, Generous Justice, Tim Keller states: “All I know is, if I don’t care about the poor, if my church doesn’t care about the poor, that’s evil.” Jesse Johnson, writing an article for The Cripplegate Blog, has a…
8 Keys to Housing Scheme Gospel Ministry (5)
Listening to Your Community It is noticeable in Niddrie that there are many housing association groups and various other social agencies, largely staffed by outsiders, who impose their ideas and ideals on to the community without much prior discussion. It is taken for granted that the ‘professionals’ know what we need. Often, many church plants can be guilty…
Are You a Porn Addict?
by Andy Constable We live in a highly sexualised culture with a multi billion pound sex industry. In the USA, 3000 dollars per second is spent on pornography. Sadly, this is a problem that many Christian men struggle with. They try to escape the reality of their lives through sexual fantasising. They give in to their lusts and seek fulfillment through sexual…
What Happens When Your Church has No Christian Youth?
by Mike Stark (Children’s, Youth & Community Worker) Historically, we haven’t had many ‘Christian’ young people in Niddrie Community Church. We have a vibrant and active work among children and youth in the community, yet this is almost exclusively evangelistic, rather than…
It Takes a Church to Raise a Child!
On Sunday evening I have been teaching a parenting class for a group of about 15 people crammed into my front room. One of the dangers of parenting courses is that people think they are only applicable for those with children. Singles think they have no need to know, older couples think they have done it all, those struggling with having children find it difficult and…
The Marks of ‘real’ Manhood
Yesterday, my Pastoral Assistant, Andy Constable, posted on the issue of men and laziness. This begs the question of what constitutes real manhood in our feminised society which has blurred the distinctions between men and women, often not for the better. The ‘Mark Driscoll’ response to this has been to call for men to beat their chests, grab a keg of beer and…