How to (not) be a humble leader
‘Pastors should preach boldly and lead confidently. The foundation of Scripture gives this assurance. But when church leaders begin to rely on their own abilities, arrogance builds, especially when the church grows. Arrogance is the catalyst for building your own kingdom instead of God’s kingdom. How can you tell when confidence is slipping into arrogance?’
5 common ways church members go astray
‘As you engage relationally with your local fellowship and hear of a member in one of these situations, take note: that brother or sister could already be straying. Here are five common ways church members go astray.’
The trouble with the UK blessing
You may have come across ‘the blessing’ online. This one points out some of the issues with it. I’m sure there is a valid point to be made in the section, but I’m not wholly convinced by the part on the church. But there is a lot of other good stuff in this one.
Why I am a Christian – David Wood, former Atheist’s conversion testimony (video)
This is an old one, but I only saw it for the first time this week. It is a beautifully shot video. It’s quite long but worth sticking with – one continuous shot for about half an hour.
The Foo Fighters and the future of large gatherings (and corporate worship)
‘We were created to worship together. We were created for both worship and community. According to Grohl we need to sing arm in arm at the top of our lungs. By worshipping in community, we are reminded that we are not alone. Yes, we are reminded of our fragility, but we are also reminded that God’s grace has rescued us from ourselves. When will we gather for worship together again?’
An ordinary abundant life
This is a good one: ‘ It was Brylen’s moving day. His family has lived in our small town and ministered at our church for seven years, almost all of Brylen’s life, but today he helped carry his own things to the moving van. He seemed excited and full of hope for the future. I watched him, standing there with an expression of satisfaction on his face while he looked around his empty bedroom, and I said, “This is weird, isn’t it? Your room is empty!” And he nodded with a little smile and said, maybe a little ruefully, “It’s like it never even happened.”’
From the archive: A tacitly racist policy on Asian Sex Gangs can only lead to further racism
‘Nobody wants to see groups such as Britain First and their ilk using such issues to spread their racist bile. But, to be brutally frank, I know they will be back in Oldham town centre (and places like these) making hay with this news, or more specifically, the total lack of it. If the matter had been dealt with swiftly and justly, their noise would come and go with few paying it any heed. Their claims would be baseless. But they will inevitably get a hearing by some. Why? Because the explicit racism of Britain First and the like has been given credible fodder by the tacit racism of those refusing to acknowledge or deal with the problem…. When MPs next pontificate about the nasty underbelly of the UK, particularly when they patronise areas full of racists in cultural backwaters, you tell me, dear reader, who caused the problem?’