• Richard Sweatman
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• 19 August 2019

The fanciest theological prayer is no better than the simple cry for help. Having said that, our small group prayer could often be more open, more God-centred, more wise and so on.

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• Hannah Ploegstra
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• 14 September 2015

In a previous post, I proposed regarding the analogy of the vine (John 15) that we sometimes mistake our leaves for fruit, thinking that if we’re “getting involved” in ministry, we’re producing fruit. But ministry activities are just leaves—an essential part of the health of our ‘branch’, but not what makes God’s mouth water. Leaves aren’t yummy to him; fruit is.

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• Sandy Grant
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• 9 September 2015

Sandy Grant focuses his reading list on the European refugee crises, as well as marital faithfulness, the problem of youth-driven culture, and more.

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• Stephen Leston
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• 18 September 2015

I am currently preaching through the book of Acts. It is my second time preaching through this book, and I love it! I just recently finished preaching through Acts 11:19-30: the formation of the church in Antioch. This account is one that has always intrigued me.

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• David Mears
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• 11 September 2015

A Christian is “at the same time justified and a sinner” (simul iustus et peccator). It is one of the more well-known phrases of the Reformation. God in his grace and mercy has declared the Christian to be righteous due to the atoning work of Jesus Christ. And what God declares something to be, truly is. And yet at the same time, sin is still at work in our flesh.

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• Craig Hamilton
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• 10 September 2015

Doing things well and developing new leaders are both valuable and necessary objectives. The trouble is that these two agendas often clash. Training someone up means, almost by definition, that in the beginning they won’t be particularly good at whatever it is they’re learning to do. And they almost certainly won’t be as good at it as you are.

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• Gordon Cheng
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• 27 September 2017

We know the apostle Peter’s reputation as the biggest and best disciple because he shows moments of true greatness. He is the first disciple named in Matthew, Mark and Luke’s gospels.

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• Jean Williams
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• 4 September 2015

I love personality tests. That’s not surprising, because people with my personality type enjoy self-analysis. My husband, on the other hand, dislikes personality tests. Yet he still uses them in ministry training because he appreciates how useful they can be in helping people understand themselves and others a little better.

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• Craig Hamilton
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• 3 September 2015

Sometimes when you first start out as a leader it can be tempting to look at the people higher in leadership over you and think to yourself, “I can’t wait to be in that position. I’ll be able to do what I want and I’ll have lots more flexibility. The more authority and responsibility I have, the more freedom I’ll have to do what I want.” But that’s not how it works—and especially not in Christian leadership.

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• Dave Burt
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• 31 August 2015

Bible verses are hard to remember, because you’re trying to hang a tiny shred of Scripture on the flimsy hook of an arbitrary chapter and verse number. They lack context, which makes them not only harder to remember but less useful for disciple-making ministry, and potentially dangerous.

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