Fruitful Ministry
How do you lay the ground for a fruitful ministry? Spiritual fruit was certainly what Paul longed for in the visit to Rome he was planning. He’s very clear about his motivation or the trip ahead: ‘in order that I might have a harvest among you…’ (Romans 1:13). And the first fifteen verses of his […]
Make The Most Of Being A Ministry Trainee
‘What on earth have I let myself in for?’ If you’ve just started a new role as a ministry trainee, you may have found yourself asking that question a bit more than usual! It’s many years since I was in that position, but we have 10 associates (apprentices / MTs) with us on staff at […]
Raising up workers in non-student churches
So many of us became Christians in a student setting, or were significantly discipled there, that it left its fingerprints all over us. That’s where we learnt to read the Bible for ourselves, lead a Bible study for others, and making a convincing case for Christ to an unbelieving friend. That all this happened at […]
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 […]
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 […]
