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Another thought on explaining why God only asks men to preach to men
A while back I wrote my response to someone who wants to submit to the bible’s teaching on men only teaching men. It used the metaphor of men protecting women in the event of a machine-gun attack. I thought of… Continue reading
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Why staff don’t take gifts
This is just one of the principles we made clear from the start with our staff. Staff don’t take gifts from the congregation. There’s OK gifts like “let me buy you a coffee” or “It’s your birthday”… they are common gifts… Continue reading
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Moving up the ministry hour-glass
When you’re a young christian, it’s almost as if everything is for you. Church feels aimed at you. There’s a special group for people new like you. You get invited to camps and getaways that teach you things you’ve never… Continue reading
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Reblog: If you had the cure…?
You might have heard the illustration that asks Christians, “if we had the cure for cancer, how would you feel if we only reached 3% of the sick population? We wouldn’t be happy with that… so why are we content… Continue reading
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Grace makes every story a miracle story
If God’s grace is the basis for salvation, that means that every salvation is only by grace. Simple, right? Always comes out in the way you speak, right? Think about it… every salvation is only by grace… so every christian… Continue reading
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Spell out the consequences… clearly and with examples
One of the common ways which those of us in christian leadership fail is in our communication. We communicate ideas and big pictures of things that are clear in our head, however… our hearers only get a fuzzy idea of… Continue reading
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The values of competition
In some circles competition is shunned and avoided at all costs. And there can be some very good reasons for avoiding competition – especially when dealing with people who have a very competitive nature. However, not everyone has a competitive… Continue reading
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“I haven’t started giving because…”
It’s worth being aware of the many reasons we Christians (myself included) come up with to justify being all “I love JESUS!” with our mouths, but all “I can’t give money”. You’ve probably heard the line, “the last part of… Continue reading
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Reblog: What MTS experience is worth having before college?
After catching up with some Moore College students who just finished first year, I was reminded how the type of MTS experience you get is so important. College doesn’t teach you how to “do ministry”; it doesn’t teach methods, principles… Continue reading
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Dream!
Leading, delegating, starting, serving… they all require a little bit of dreaming. Sometimes, they require a lot of dreaming. What would you LOVE to see happen… don’t worry about “how” it will happen just yet… just imagine. What would you… Continue reading
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Should you serve if you don’t have the skills?
Some Christians will “humbly” say they can’t do this or they can’t take on that because they feel they don’t have the required skills. This presents an opportunity to pastor them: Jesus designed them with gifts to serve the body… Continue reading
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Gossip or be content when people misunderstand your decisions. You can only choose one.
Many decisions in Christian leadership are tricky. This is especially so when the information you have to make those decisions includes sin and maturity issues. Why? Because for people to understand the leadership’s decision, they would have to be given… Continue reading
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Another attempt to pictorally display church
Recently we had our AGM which gave us another opportunity to try and help our church see itself. That might seem like a strange idea, but for most people, they only see (or even hear) about the aspects of their… Continue reading
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Reblog: Evangelism trumps everything
If you’re in Christian leadership, you probably already think this. But don’t assume your people get it. You need to play out what it means… If you have to choose between going to your small group or taking a non-Christian… Continue reading
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How should you instill in people a godly ambition to take on more responsibility?
It’s helpful when people “step-up” and take on more responsibility. It allows leaders to delegate more and start new things and keep things going. But how should we motivate people to step-up? Rewards? Notoriety? Offer to meet up with them… Continue reading
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The 2 types of new people… On my terms or your terms
As you welcome new people to church, one (of the many) things to be aware of is how willing they are to join church on church’s terms or on their own terms. The person who comes to church on their… Continue reading
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The only things you should advertise at church are…
Churches seems to have such a quandary about saying no to advertising things out the front. Its hard when someone runs up to you and says they need, really really need to you advertise their thing today!!! When the reality… Continue reading
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The Maturity Podcast
For a while now, Richard Sweatman and I have been recording a podcast quite like this blog. It’s brief, practical, and keeps thinking from the big principles. It’s called “The Maturity Podcast” and it’s aimed at helping Growth Group leaders… Continue reading
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Reblog: You are, by God’s design, a decision making machine
1Cor 3 reminds us that we don’t actually make disciples, we don’t actually make people change or grow. God makes those things happen, by his Spirit. But we do make decisions – that God uses. I don’t just mean that… Continue reading
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Don’t “act” out the front of church
Don’t pretend you don’t know what’s going on. Don’t make out like that interview answer surprised you. Don’t act like you’re being spontaneous when you’ve planned it all out. Why? First, because unless you’re a trained, seasoned actor… You suck… Continue reading
MINISTRY PRINCIPLES & PRAGMATICS 