Gospel Needs in the North of England
A while back we did some number crunching for the gospel needs of Sunderland and its surrounding area. Sunderland has a population of around 280,000 people. If just 1% of the population were in evangelical churches of 80-100 people there would need to be around 30 gospel churches. If only we had that many! And that […]
Lessons in Prayer from Daniel 9
The above photo is of a panel which was once part of King Nebuchadnezzar’s throne room in his palace in Babylon. You can view it at the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin. It’s worth being clear: the Bible is not about me! It is about God. And the book of Daniel makes this point strongly… it […]
From Student to Starting out in Full-time Ministry
We interviewed Charlie Butler about his experiences going from bring a student to working for a church as a Ministry Trainee. 1. Charlie, what are you currently doing? I am currently in my 2nd year of training for ordained Anglican ministry at Oak Hill Theological College. 2. How did you decide to do […]
Persevering in Ministry – Advice for the next generation
In what ways could testing the waters of full-time gospel ministry, via a church-based ministry training scheme, be a help or a hindrance when it comes to persevering for a lifetime of ministry? I think a church apprenticeship type scheme is particularly useful in two situations. The first is when someone is uncertain, but trying […]
Persevering in Ministry – Dangers and lessons learnt
It’s not uncommon to hear or read shocking statistics about how many people give up on full-time gospel ministry; what, in your experience, are the most common reasons people do so? I’m afraid I think that one of the chief reasons is that many probably shouldn’t have been in full-time ministry in the first place. […]
Persevering in Ministry – the fruitfulness of forgetfulness
I’m in my 20th year in full-time gospel ministry, and there have been many highs and lows, though sometimes the agony and the ecstasy has been near inseparable. That seems often to be the way, and I have come to realise that what Paul articulates in 1 Cor 16:8 is an abiding principle of all […]
From Secular Work to Full-time Ministry
Rob, what are you doing now? I’m a Curate at St John’s Chapeltown in Sheffield; I’ve been there since July 2015, so I’ve been in full-time ministry for around 18 months. You’re not the youngest of spring chickens, are you? Let’s say mid forties. Just about. I’m married to Caroline and we have three school-aged […]
Raising Up Godly Leaders
Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington D.C. spoke about Growing Healthy Churches at a one-day conference at Duke Street Church, Richmond-upon-Thames. His final session focused on the importance of Raising up Godly Leaders. Mark has kindly allowed 9:38 to summarise his advice on identifying, training and growing godly leaders. As Mark explained, […]
Clarifying the Call
In summer 2005 a survey, conducted by Generation Next, of 400 men either in or considering word ministry showed significant confusion about what constituted a ‘call’. This is a practical and important question: how do I know that Christ has called me to “prayer and the ministry of the word”? Rather than start with ourselves, […]
Saved by Grace and not by Ministry
I’m pretty sure we all know what it feels like. We’re tired and stressed. We’re too busy and are not enjoying the work. In fact, nothing is fun. We’ve been prioritising serving the Lord Jesus – we’ve taken on all that’s been asked of us, and more besides. But we’re still not doing enough. It isn’t […]