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The similarity between Ministry and Magic…
…it’s only cool until you know how its done. Every kid who’s seen a magic trick starts imagining themselves as a magician. That’s why toy stores sell those starter-magic kits. But if they sold so many, wouldn’t there me so… Continue reading
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Reblog: Intentions, no matter how good and determined, are not enough
Do you notice how God the Father responds to the Son’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane? Jesus makes clear that he intends to drink the cup of God’s wrath. He agrees to do it. The decision is made in… Continue reading
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Why you need to squeeze the pus in difficult conversations
When it’s clear someone has a concern, the longer it takes to get the concern out of them, the more likely there is that there’s other concerns still sitting behind that one. Once you’ve started digging, and they’re opening up… Continue reading
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Reblog: Christians can learn from the corporate world because…
Jesus is sovereign over everything. Imagine a Christian working in sales. They meet a potential buyer, they make a call, they arrange a meeting, the do a sales pitch. They really want to make a sale. They’re honest and godly… Continue reading
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Why Oxygen2014 is valuable
This year I’ve been given the opportunity to go to Oxygen2014 – as a blogger/reporter. I reckon that’s an offer that’s pretty hard to refuse. And it comes back to what makes inter-church conferences valuable. Inter-church conferences are when people… Continue reading
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Reblog: Who do they love?
Ministry is a hard game. We’re building relationships with people, as we help them build a relationship with Jesus. Its a big volunteer game too; we invite them to devote themselves to projects and events… But there’s a wonderful question… Continue reading
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Reblog: You can’t be a leader unless you…
make decisions. In the end, that’s the basic things leaders need to do… They might do it with their team, or without their team – but that’s one of the decisions they make. Heck, they might even decide to ask… Continue reading
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Did you miss your expected outcomes, or miss-communicate your expected outcomes?
This is a really important question to consider as a leader. When something doesn’t go to plan, after you’ve planned it, and delegated it… what’s the problem? Where do you go for answers about what went wrong? The only question… Continue reading
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Reblog: Modern Day Gifts: The Mood Reader
Don’t you love the person who can just read the mood in a room? Whether its a small group, a big church meeting, a special event, or just in a social setting. This is what a great MC will do…… Continue reading
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How much should you pay church staff? #3
Looking at Church staff pay over the last few posts… basically a summary of what our Association Committee discussed and decided last year. In the last post we saw that staff salaries should be: Comparable, according to the work they… Continue reading
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How much should you pay church staff? #2
When our Association Committee reviewed our staff salary packages, we asked the question, “How should staff pay compare to other salaries?” When we looked to the Bible, we found a bunch of passages that gave us some good principles which… Continue reading
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How much should you pay church staff? #1
Last year, our Association Committee (of Elders) discussed a concern that we may not be paying our staff sufficiently. In the past we effectively operated like a small business – paying our staff what we could manage, which wasn’t much, but… Continue reading
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Introducing a new Safe Ministry Training Course that your church will actually want to use
Our church has always wanted two things; We want to make it easy for people to get their hands dirty in ministry. We want to make it safe for kids, teenagers and adults by training volunteers and leaders well. However, over… Continue reading
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Reblog: Whenever someone joins a church, re-appoint the ‘elders’
Paul’s instruction to Timothy; “appoint elders in every town”… do we do that any more – or was it just an early church thing? Think about those early churches; Paul went and preached in a town, the gospel spread and… Continue reading
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A great 3rd party in difficult discussions… a pen a paper
When you need to have a difficult conversation, one of the keys is to de-personalise it. You want to avoid them feeling attacked by you. You want to avoid it turning into a “relational issue” (simply because this is an… Continue reading
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What to say when you’re told that “some people” are unhappy…
He asks you over to the side of the room for a quite chat. With grave concerns in his eyes, he tells you that “some people” (or worse, “lots of people”) have expressed some discontent about something you’ve said or done. How… Continue reading
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Beware the person who won’t let it go
As pastors, we have (I hope) a natural bent towards helping people. When people come with issues in their Christian life (sin, spiritual questions, etc) we want to help them through it. But that’s the key… through it, as in out of… Continue reading
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5 podcasts on pastoring people with mental illness
Over the past 5 weeks, Richard Sweatman and I have been recording a podcast for GrowthGroup/SmallGroup leaders, with advice on how to helpfully deal with people suffering through mental illnesses in their groups. It’s a very tricky topic, and I… Continue reading
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Reblog: Learn to say, “Maybe we’re not for you”
When Christians visit your church, and they’re looking at becoming regular/members… you need to ask yourself whether you want them to join you because it’s good for your church, or good for them. It always feels good to have new… Continue reading
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Maybe it’s better to ask “Why did you become a Christian?”
Hearing Christian testimonies is great, and reminds us that every Christian is a converted Christian. But I wonder if we often frame them in the wrong way by asking HOW did you become a Christian. There’s nothing wrong with this! But… Continue reading
MINISTRY PRINCIPLES & PRAGMATICS 