Categories: ministry stuff

• review: captured by grace

  Encountering God’s grace changes lives forever, and this beautiful three-part volume is truly a keeper as it consistently initiates a fresh experience of God’s grace on almost every page. It tracks the dramatic stories of John Newton, Paul and the author himself in the freeing power of permanent forgiveness and unending mercy. Captured by Grace drives home that none of us, no matter what we have done, are beyond the reach of grace and forgiveness. Dr. David Jeremiah’s writing challenges [...]

• bad harmony

  Did you hear that three-piece squawk painfully on weekend TV? Did you see the shame and courage, the attempts and the misery that the early episodes of the X-factor (inevitably) induce? They are incredible (mad-bad-incredible!) examples of what happens when you surround yourself with people who are not wiling to speak truth. Do you reckon each one of these people sat with friends and family and belted out those songs: that  someone actually heard them and then said, “That’s so [...]

• Rev. and that….

  I’ve really enjoyed Rev right from it’s tv-start… and I’m always prone to comedy but this rarely co-exists  with faith! The Vicar archetype has long been a staple of British Comedy for years, so it’s relativity familiar territory for the viewer. Yet here in Rev Rev Adam Smallbone is a grittier, less pious, more realistic representation of the model, and the show is based deep in urban London, away from the pastoral idyll settings we so often see televisionally-representated! At [...]

• quoteable quote:- our part….

  “All we can do is try to keep our hands cupped and open and ask God to teach us how to keep our hands cupped and open.” Richard Rohr

• blessed hurricane

  I attended “Together on a Mission” conference, a few years ago and have always appreciated some of the podcasts coming out from this New Frontiers conference. Yet this year the most moving and challenging preach of all was brought by someone who wasn’t even there. PJ Smyth leads GodFirst Church in Johannesburg, South Africa, a 5-year old church plant.  He was scheduled to speak this year in Brighton but withdrew hours before travelling, due to a cancer scare. Technically, therefore, [...]

• quoteable quote: perspective

  “If you attempt to talk with a dying man about sports or business, he is no longer interested. He now sees other things as more important.  People who are dying recognize what we often forget, that we are standing on the brink of another world.” – William Law, 18th-century British theologian

• contextless links

  You’re the offspring of eternity, if you know Jesus! Take heart! Divided about how you see God, yet very united in relationship….! It is wonderfully possible? Ways to fight loneliness in leadership,…… Great writing advice from CS Lewis! Brilliant holiday advice: re eating and sleeping ratios! Gordon McDonald, offers a way to debrief with God and stay connected…. Eugene Peterson’s timeless wisdom living from Jeremiah! John Piper’s epic advice to emerging leaders… The LICC’s very helpful discipleship blog-conversation Mark Driscoll [...]

• quoteable quote: God’s presence

  “I want the presence of God Himself, or I don’t want anything at all to do with religion…I want all that God has or I don’t want any.” A W Tozer

• random ruminations

  Meals, and the grace of hospitality….. Procastination is considered a sin, according to Joe Thorn Success v Blessing, helpfully explored by Pete Wilson Bishop Tom Wrights closing preach in Durham, calling for a renewed passion for social justice. Marilynne Robinson speaks helpfully about the unity of science and faith. Great leadership checks for working with young adults. A classic list….. The brilliant free global ministry-leadership event, the nines, scheduled for late September. Register and it’s yours!

• my earnest prayer….

  I want my behaviour to be consistent; I want my initiatives to be creative; I want my teaching to be truthful. I want my compassion to be real; I want my heart to (always) be tender; I want my word to be reliable; I want my gifts to be available; I want my emotions to be stable; I want my attitude to be suitable; I want my life to be reproducible; I want my work to be sustainable; I want [...]