There are several prayers that I regularly pray as a preacher. 1. Lord, show them what you have shown me. Paul told Timothy to ‘Reflect on what I am saying and the Lord will give you insight’ (2 Tim. 2:7) A sermon is always the product of hard reflection, thinking and study, but there’s the
I was taught at seminary that my role was to do myself out of a job. The great temptation of the pastor is to hoard ministry, and so I must delegate, clear out the desk, equip the rest of the church for ministry, and then my job is done. Move on. There are at least
It was one of the foundational insights of the Reformers – the priesthood of all believers. No more priestly caste, because we confess our sins to “The Reverend One-Another” They even did away with the very word. ‘Presbyter’, or ‘elder’ was preferred, and the anchor point of their work was teaching. But because we are
You can now order ‘The Message of the Church‘ at 20% discount from IVP-US (the British IVP edition has reached #1 BestSeller on Amazon.co.uk). Just click on the link here. You can order the UK edition from IVP here at a 28% discount. And it becomes even cheaper if you buy several copies to read in your small group
Top of my list of warning signs for those of us in ministry, is that it’s fatally easy for Christian leaders to read the Bible – but to become so preoccupied with the opportunities of ministry that we only read it for others’ benefit, and never just for ourselves. Now, I know that’s a false
If your bible studies are feeling stuck in a rut because you always approach passages in the same kind of way, here are twenty ideas to try (well, nineteen plus the one you already use). They all aim at the same goal, of understanding the passage properly, but the tasks are a little bit different
I’ll keep you posted as I’ll be doing a giveaway.
Coming together as a group of Christians to study God’s Word together should be a rich experience. Paul describes the results of such an experience in Colossians 3:14-17, and we can see six elements: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be
This is what the Proclamation Trust have said, in their EMA review: “The latest BST book is a robust look at the Bible’s theology on being gathered together. This will be good for leadership teams and also thinking church members. A useful addition to your churches bookstore.” Highly commended Evangelical Ministry Assembly 2013 Details of
We’ve all been there – the cramped seat, the plastic food, the person sitting next to you whom you don’t know and don’t wish to know… I’m writing about Bible studies and comparing them to a plane flight, and the jokes seem to write themselves. But there’s a point. Passengers can doze and watch a
Giving talks, obviously. Leading bible studies, of course. Perhaps some personal work, and reading a psalm with someone in trouble. But the first and most important duty of your bible is to feed you spiritually, and keep you connected with the head, the Lord Jesus. Because if the enemy can disconnect you from him, then
As I’ve thought about the books I’ve read over the past year, one stands out as being remarkable for its depth and relevance. It has a shrewd understanding of what it means to be a Christian and a church living increasingly on the edge of society. And its author understands the temptations we face, whether
I’m excited to announce you can now pre-order The Bible Speaks Today, The Church, at discount! Open this post by clicking on the title, and then click here It’s also on Amazon, ISBN: 9781844748785 US readers can pre-order on Amazon.com, or wait for US publication in February 2014
What are we here for? What is the purpose of anything and everything we do? If we’ve been paying any attention to John Piper then you’ll know the answer off the top of your head: we bring God glory. Here’s how 1 Peter puts it, and notice the two purposes: But you are a chosen
The Bible, we rightly say, is a library not one book. But unlike any other library, and unlike other religious books like the Qur’an, it has a coherent narrative from open to close. Getting to that coherence takes a little bit of work, but not much, and any Christian could be able to grasp the
You can define an organisation three ways – by its centre, which is what it holds most dear, its circumference, which is where the limits lie for what it may or may not accept, and by its cause, which is what gives it life, energy, and what it would die for. The centre for us,
When Jesus underlined the first and greatest commandment he added to it. ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength’ (Mk.12:30). What was implicit throughout the Old Testament, that truth and words and wisdom are aspects of God’s character and therefore of
Yesterday was gorgeous. The sky was palest blue, dusted with pink and orange, there was enough snow to reflect the winter sunlight, and enough mist to make it soft at the edges. The God who made that is gorgeous. His wisdom and righteousness are breathtaking. Even the gorgeousness of creation, which he decided, using a
Thanks for stopping my my blog since August – I’ve enjoyed starting it up. The top three posts for the year were: Go away, said the welcome team What prayer and ministry of the Word can never do It’s not a sin Actually that’s a lie – the top post was the free e-book version
ministrynutsandbolts.com 