Hint: They aren’t biblical.
Ministry that does not have disciple making as the goal is anything but merciful. There is much good work done in the name of mercy by churches and Christians that might very well be good, helpful, and generous but, when considered in the light of God's mercy, they come up short. Mercy is the act of […]
As I think about my friendship with Mez McConnell and the developing partnership between our two churches that has led to the launch of 20schemes, I am reminded that gospel partnerships are God-honoring unions that bear much good fruit! Mez and I come from two diametrically opposed backgrounds. Apart from geography and grace, there is […]
We have seen a sad development in modern evangelicalism. Churches believe that they exist to make disciples of their own local community. Churches send money to a missionary society in order for that society to make disciples of other nations. We have cut off the local church from its commission to make disciples of all nations. It […]
There are plenty examples of friendship in the Bible. We have the example of David & Jonathan in 1 Samuel 18:1–3: “As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day […]
When it comes to reviewing books on this site, I ask three questions: Content. Is it biblical? Application. Is it relevant? Is it helpful for our type of ministry in housing schemes? This book comes in three distinct parts: I. What does the Bible say? This is broken down into eight chapters which are suspiciously […]
Our current church membership stands at about 70, with another 10 or so waiting in the wings to be baptised. We have a Sunday attendance of anywhere between 70 and 100 (I suspect that’s roughly the same number of urinals found at many mega-churches). By any description, we are a small church. Yet, as of […]
We have baptised at least a dozen people in Niddrie over the last six months, and it has been a powerful reminder to the congregation and the local community of the saving power of Christ even in the most hardened heart. When I came to Niddrie over seven years ago, there was a young woman […]
Despite lots of discussion on working with the poor and mercy ministry in many evangelical circles, not much is said about the ‘undeserving’ poor. In other words, those who purposely do not want to work or better their current situation. Shouldn’t Christian ministry focus its attention on those who ‘deserve’ our kindness, particularly in housing […]
I picked this book up a while ago and recently got around to reading it. The subheading is: “With illustrations from the sermons of Thomas Watson”. The book was so good that instead of reading it in my customary speedy fashion, I forced myself to read a chapter and then slowly digest it over a […]
Many great, Western missiological thinkers have battled with the issue of paternalism in cross-cultural contexts for decades. What exactly is paternalism? “The essence of paternalism is providing outside direction and resources by some “mature” party to someone considered “immature” and not yet capable to carry full leadership responsibility. Though it is much more than providing […]