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Your pastor doesn’t need to have experienced your special circumstance in order to pastor you
It is a firm reluctance to trust the word of God as authoritative when people assume they can only be “pastored” by a minister/church staff/gospel worker who has been through what they’ve been through. The single person CAN do marriage… Continue reading
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Why gospel workers don’t need real life experience
It’s often said that young men and women who are keen on doing gospel ministry full time should get some real life experience. But this advice is often misunderstood. The goal of getting real world experience is the same goal… Continue reading
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If people are most likely to remember the last thing you say, wouldn’t you want to end with…
Grace? There seems to be a common formula in modern preaching, it’s not bad, but it’s just worth thinking about. Often a preacher will apply a passage in two ways. First for the non-Christian, and then, once they’ve been invited… Continue reading
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Entering a Ministry Pragmatic break
Even though these posts get written a few weeks in advance, I’m taking leave now*, so I’m going to also take leave from writing for a while**. But it raises the issue of leave planning – particularly in ministry. How… Continue reading
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The goal of public prayer is…
Encouragement? People awestruck at our pious praying styles? No! The goal of public prayer is simply that people would pray along with us. Public prayer is a weird thing. I think we forget that if we’ve seen it done for… Continue reading
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“More important than” does not mean “rather than”
It just means one is more important at the moment. Saying something is more important than something else says nothing about the value of either, nor the evil of either. Just because something is more important doesn’t mean that the… Continue reading
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Offer suggestions without emotional consequences
If you’re not the one making the decision, you still have a place in the decision making process… The place of offering suggestions. However, when you offer a suggestion – because you’re not the one making the decision – you… Continue reading
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Leadership Styles PDF workbook
A little while ago I made up a booklet that takes people through the ideas of leadership styles (called S1, S2, S3 & S4). Feel free to run it as a discussion paper with your leadership team, your actual team… Continue reading
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The difference between an Emergency and an Urgency
Too often, myself included, people treat both Emergencies and Urgencies in the same way. It’s worth being aware of the difference and the different responses for each. Emergencies are things like a fire, a flood, etc… They require everyone to… Continue reading
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Why you shouldn’t take it upon yourself to speak on other people’s behalf
If you know what someone thinks, lucky you. But don’t take it upon yourself to speak on their behalf. Speaking on someone’s behalf is a sacred role. You need to get specific permission to speak for someone. And if you… Continue reading
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The mathematics of normal complaints
A common experience among growing churches is they experience a growing number of complaints from “within”. This is often given as anecdotal evidence that larger churches don’t work in australia. However, there’s some simple reasons for this. Consider how often… Continue reading
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Practice predicting other people’s responses
Some people do this more naturally than others, but it’s a great skill to develop. Especially in pastoral ministry. The fact is, when you speak to people (anyone) those people are going react to things you say. That is, they… Continue reading
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Creative ways to build relationships in 1:1 ministry
If you’ve ever had to do 121s with people you don’t know very well, it can be daunting to sit down and just read the bible. It might feel a bit odd or awkward if your don’t feel you know… Continue reading
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Why the verb “use” works so well in prayer
How we pray, particularly in public, matters. And how we speak to God, and ask him to work in people’s lives matters. But it’s hard to give God appropriate verbs! (See previous post) One of the great verbs to ask… Continue reading
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We all need to stop praying, “I pray that…” and just use some manners
“To pray” means to beseech, to request, to ask. And from a very early age, we’re taught how to ask for things politely… “Excuse me, can I please have the pony?” However, for some reason, we’re not taught or modelled… Continue reading
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Just be a bit more careful with using the word “idea”
Words means different things to different people. I heard about a daughter who told her dad that a twig had fallen on the family car, but that “twig” was an inch thick and left a dent. The word “idea” is… Continue reading
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I don’t agree with the posts I write!
I agreed with them when I wrote them, but that doesn’t mean I agree with them now, or that I will in a few years time. That’s a principle of dealing with pragmatics; you’re only ever thinking about how a… Continue reading
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Why you should answer questions with statements and statements with questions
Whether you’re in a small group or answering questions from out the front, this is a good rule of thumb. If someone asks a question, and assuming its a genuine question, you don’t want to beat around the bush or… Continue reading
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Disagreement does not mean devaluing
It’s really important that we separate disagreeing from devaluing. Being disagreed with does not mean that we’re being devalued. Just because my boss doesn’t agree with me, that doesn’t mean he devalues me. Just because a husband decides against his wife’s… Continue reading
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Unfortunately, behaviours dictate theology
It would be nice if people developed their personal beliefs from the Bible, and only from the Bible. But that’s just not the world we live in. The reality is that people have experiences, they make choices, they have behaviours… Continue reading
MINISTRY PRINCIPLES & PRAGMATICS 