ministry
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Will your work survive according to 1Corinthians 3:9-16?
What is 1Cor 3:13 warning us about? A day when our ministry will be tested by fire? What does it mean that our gold ministry will last, while our straw ministry will burn? What is it all referring to? Not… Continue reading
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Is ChatGPT a Ministry Tool?
Yes. The big question is how can we use it for ministry, and to what extent should we use it? Here’s some meaningful ways you could use it right now: 1. Ministry Event Planning Go to ChatGPT and type in… Continue reading
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Repost: Gospel Ministry is not you speaking truthfully about God
It is that… but “to another human”. Think about that for a moment; it’s an important aspect not to miss. You don’t just “do” ministry, you do ministry “to people”. God made, became and uses humans. Ignoring the human aspect… Continue reading
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#Nexus2015 – Cross Shaped Ministry – What was missing…
(The recent Nexus2015 Conference “A cross shaped ministry” thought through the implications the cross has on how we think about gospel work in our churches. These are some of my personal reflections – see the previous 4 reflections here.) I do feel there was… Continue reading
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#Nexus2015 – Cross Shaped Ministry – Reflections Part 2
(The recent Nexus2015 Conference “A cross shaped ministry” thought through the implications the cross has on how we think about gospel work in our churches. These are some of my personal reflections.) 3. The cross sets the terms of gospel ministry The cross was… Continue reading
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#Nexus2015 – Cross Shaped Ministry – Reflections Part 1
(The recent Nexus2015 Conference “A cross shaped ministry” thought through the implications the cross has on how we think about gospel work in our churches. These are some of my personal reflections.) 1. The cross kills our wrong ministry motivations We don’t do ministry to… Continue reading
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Why most people get the ‘T’ in MTS wrong…
The Ministry Training Strategy (www.mts.com.au) is an awesome and much needed part of the Australian Christian landscape. But… most people think the ‘T’ in MTS is about being a Trainee… they think it’s the Ministry Trainee Strategy… and they’re wrong.… Continue reading
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When choosing your battles becomes laziness
The conventional wisdom is to “choose your battles” and it makes lots of sense. It’s a good application of 1Peter 4:8 “love covers a multitude of sins”. But choosing your battles can easily become and excuse for never entering into… Continue reading
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If their “attitude” is poor, should you tell them to just stop serving?
Well yes, it really depends on what you mean by having a “poor attitude”. But extremes aside, if someone’s attitude is just “off” or “a bit grumpy” about being part of a ministry… what should you do? Tell them to… Continue reading
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If you recruit on the basis of need you will usually get “average”
It is common for Christians to make a call for people to get involved or sign up to serve or even to give because there is a great need. And there is a great need! However, if the need is… Continue reading
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You’ll never nail it, you just operate between tolerances
A thermostat never keeps the temperature exactly right, it just has a “too hot” and “too cold” number, and tries to keep the temperature between those. And that’s like much of how we do ministry. Preaching that tends to focus… Continue reading
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Avoid the trap… Secular work “just as valuable” as gospel work?
The complaint usually goes like this; “When you keep challenging us to give up our careers and secular work, you’re subtly implying that our work is not as valuable as gospel work and that makes us feel like second class citizens… Continue reading
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Long & wordy offers unwittingly communicate immense workload
If you’re going to ask someone to take on a responsibility, make it short. Not the responsibility… but the “ask”. If you make the “ask” long and wordy, it will communicate that this task you’re offering them is so huge,… 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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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
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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: 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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A map to help people find their way into serving…
One of my responsibilities is to help pastor everyone at our church to have servant hearts and find their way into serving in formal ways at HBC. We recently sat down and realised that the types of roles we would… Continue reading
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Reblog: Empty bucket theology
Some people have complete ideas in their heads, some people have fuzzy ideas in their heads, and some people have “empty buckets” when it comes to certain ideas. All of these people have things they need to change… “Complete theological… 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
MINISTRY PRINCIPLES & PRAGMATICS 