A highly gifted man I know has just moved to pastor a new church. He’s a good preacher, down to earth, warm and greatly loved – and in the decade he’d been at the previous church it had more than doubled. He’s left multiple services, a packed church, a growing staff team and a building
It’s quite the thing these days for churches to have pithy descriptions of their values. A list of them, usually around five in number, starting with the same letter, appears on a large number of church websites. I think this is a great idea. It clarifies and prioritises. But I think sometimes we fool ourselves
Because, as someone said today, it’s like doing open-heart surgery, on yourself, without an anaesthetic, in public. Or at least it should be. Think it through: What’s the opposite of each part of that description? How does this Sunday’s sermon shape up? H/t. Trevor Johnston, from the mission society, Crosslinks.
I’ve been running off-and-on since I was at uni, but my latest ‘off’ has been my longest, around 18 months because of an ankle injury. But I’ve been easing myself back in, and this morning I did my first timed, distance run. What helped me was a series of podcasts which I downloaded for nothing.
Why do we put off making the hard decision? Often we are looking for answers in two areas to line up. But in reality they may never do so, and our desire to wait for them is what holds us back. Clarity This is the search for precision over what we should do. What would
I recently had lunch with an old friend who is also the pastor of a large (in UK terms) church – 600 members, grown pretty much from scratch. I was hungry for my Thai curry, but hungrier to learn. As we mulled over various things, he sketched out some of the basic maps he uses
I met a local minister in a car park the other day, and he was already looking flustered. The summer is over, the term card hasn’t been sorted, and September’s here, which means one blink and we’ll be singing ‘Hark the Herald.’ Deep breath, don’t panic. Make a cup of coffee and grab a pen
At the back of our church was a small, rather drab, bookcase. It was used to store songbooks, and Bibles. But we had bought a larger new one, and we were going to redecorate, so we wondered about chucking it out. The brakes went on. Because fixed to the top of the bookcase was a
From the time you leave home on Sunday morning to the time you get back, approximately a gazillion thoughts have flitted through your head. Some are trivial (because I assume your mind, like mine, occasionally wanders during a song. Shocking, I know). Some are important, but they strike you at an odd moment. And now,
One church has a full time musician on its staff. Another has to use digital recordings on a keyboard because no-one can play. One church produces full colour notice-sheets. Another uses a twenty year old duplicator. One church puts on a full scale Christmas pageant. Another can hardly scratch together a choir for the carol
Tom looked at me straight. “Well? What did you think?” We were back in his house sharing a kebab, after I’d preached at the church where he’s the pastor. It’s a good, smaller church – maybe 25 people that evening. What did I think? I told him that he was doing a great job: the
I recently stayed in one of those commercial, chain hotels, and it got me thinking about my experience and what was good and bad in it. So here are four positives: Helpful. The staff were on duty the whole time, and were attentive and efficient. They knew the answers to my questions, and pre-emptied several
Give yourself ten seconds to answer this question: do you know anyone who started out well in Christian ministry but who has subsequently quit or moved on? That was the easy one. Now give yourself thirty seconds to answer the next one: how many more can you think of? When Paul write to Timothy and
The fatal slip happens so easily. We move from loving ministry because we love the Lord Jesus, to thinking that the Lord Jesus loves us because we love ministry, his people, his church. And before you know it, we are in the forsaken place where we teach grace to others, but preach and practice works
I recently gave a talk on managing your time for gospel ends, and being well organised. I was quite struck by the high proportion of people even in their twenties who were not aware of the brilliant free software that is able to help us stay on top of things in a fast paced world.
So, I’m sitting in a relaxed and friendly setting, just watching the people engage with each other. Any guesses? They’re obviously at home. Lots of first name terms, and smiles. Hugs and handshakes too. Mostly young, but not all. Kids obviously welcome. The energy level is quite high. And they are inclusive – racially, and
One of my heroes is Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier. But it’s not because he was the first, or the fastest, that makes him my hero. It’s what he chose to do to make that happen that makes him a parable of leadership. Many other people had tried before him,
Good question. True question. A small church with around twenty members is in a depressed part of town. Money is tight all round – the pastor is paid for by a generous denomination, weekly giving is around £25, and they have around £1000 in the bank. Most of the members are not tax payers. Years
It sounds so wrong when they say it but the flight attendants are right – if you’re travelling with children and the oxygen masks drop down, put your own on before fitting your kids’. Your instinct will be to help them, but if you conk out first, the kids can’t help you. And you can
An artist in a church decided that one way she could use her gifts was to design cards, especially ‘Thank you’ cards, for people to express their appreciation for each other. I didn’t buy any – partly because they were a bit pricey, but mostly because I thought they were a bit too over-the-top in
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