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Never appoint two people to lead something, instead…
Always make one person the leader. Always make it clear that, in the case of a disagreement, one of them gets to make the call; one of them bears the responsibility. If you don’t appoint a clear “leader” the two… Continue reading
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The single reason people get marriage wrong…
The main reason people get marriage wrong is that they (usually) subconsciously want the marriage to be for their good. That’s a politically correct way of saying “I want my spouse to give up the rest of their life and… Continue reading
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Modern Day Gifts: The Girl Gusher
There’s a certain type of guy who, without any particular intention to, just seems to get into conversations with girls who then feel comfortable to open up, share their histories, their struggles, their pains. These guys don’t try to find… Continue reading
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Be sad, but not surprised, when people lie
Even though you’ve read the bible with them, prayed with them, and cried with them… people will still lie to your face. They’ll lie about their sin, they’ll lie about their feelings towards you, they’ll lie about what they are… Continue reading
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Church size and inter-church involvement
So, following on from yesterday’s post about inter-church involvement, there’s a practical aspect to consider when it comes to church size (which I’ve alluded to earlier, but it’s worth exploring). See, if you’ve got a quite small church, chances are… Continue reading
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Thoughts on inter-church involvement
Inter-church involvement is great – but it doesn’t make Christians united (because Christians are, by nature of our union with Jesus, ALREADY united) – but it is one (of many good ways) we can express the unity Christians have. Let… Continue reading
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The simple (yet deeply spiritual) stumbling block to evangelism
People cite all sorts of reasons why our culture is resistant to the gospel, individualism, consumerism, sexual-ethics, so on. But for the day-to-day Christian hoping to talk to their friend, these are rarely the stumbling block. Rather, the reality is that… Continue reading
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Ignore anonymous feedback
Feedback is good. Even when its critical, hard to hear, ill-informed, or just wrong. But feedback is bad when its anonymous because feedback – no matter how critical it may be – is relational. Its my opinion about you, but… Continue reading
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Phone calls, SMSs, email, Social media and Pastoral Ministry
Since we pastor people, and people are not in a vacuum but are part of a culture, the cultural norms and tools affect what pastoral ministry look like from generation to generation. Our culture uses SMSs, phone-calls, emails and social… Continue reading
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Groundhog Day Christians – reliving the same Christian questions over and over again
This was an idea that came up as we looked through Romans 12. Paul describes Christians as those who, through offering their lives and being transformed by the renewing of their mind, they would know God’s will. Some Christians though,… Continue reading
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Welcome people well by telling them…
Welcome people well by telling them what their next step “in” would look like. You know your church. Your regulars know your church. But the new person doesn’t. So, you can’t just assume they’re going to find their way in… Continue reading
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The difference between accusing and rebuking is…
Intended outcome. The difference between accusing and rebuking is the desired outcome. A rebuke is a form of love. It’s really an appeal. It’s an appeal to stop, repent and renew ones commitment. Sometimes it’s an appeal to have a… Continue reading
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Be careful giving feedback to people who don’t report to you
At one level, I think we all need to get better at giving specific, regular, behaviour based, feedback. But, we need to be careful that on doing so, we don’t undermine our peers, by encouraging their people to do things… Continue reading
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Three types of human power at work in your church
Power is an odd word, but in this case I simply mean the ability to make things happen within an organisation/church. 1. Role Power This is the power someone has because of their title or position. They are the “pastor”,… Continue reading
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Like unkept lawn, our hearts just keep producing weeds
Older and wiser pastors used to say to me, “Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to human sin.” I always thought that was a defeatist view, but it’s not, it’s just realistic. Sin is, by nature, deceitful. It is,… Continue reading
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Conference ideas from #oxygen14
For many people missing out on a conference, it’s not just the preaching and encouragement they miss out on, but it’s also observing the well-run machine of a big conference so they can take and apply the ideas in their… Continue reading
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The leadership skill you don’t want to learn #oxygen14
Sitting here at Oxygen14 in Paul Tripp’s session on leadership in a room of about 200 (mainly guys, mainly pastors). I’d imagine most of these guys were hoping for tips and tricks on ministry skills (much like what I write… Continue reading
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Reblog: Do you understand what you’re asking?
Those of us “in ministry” often talk about moving people from spectators to playing on the field. We want people to move from simply attending, to being part of church; involved, giving, committed. But have you realised what your asking… Continue reading
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5 HUGE talks on Homosexuality, Gender-roles, Identity and the Gospel
Over the past few months, our staff team has been preparing for Forge2014 – our unistudent Mid-year conference. Greg Lee (our senior pastor) has been preparing the talks. These talks do a great job of laying the foundation of how God… Continue reading
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When they say, “Church needs some people to NOT do full-time ministry”…
It seems like a sound argument… If 100% of Christians tried to do paid-ministry, there’d be no-one to pay them. Therefore the church needs people who will faithfully decide to not do paid-ministry. Right? Even though the statement is “true”… Continue reading
MINISTRY PRINCIPLES & PRAGMATICS 