Tag: vision

Beware. This may not build your self esteem.

‘Jars of Clay.’ Whole talks I’ve heard about this passage and blogs I read around it talk about being ‘cracked pots.’ There’s a problem with that. It’s not in the text. It doesn’t say anything about the pots being cracked. I wonder whether we want to add that in because we want to make it about US again. The point is not about your cracks. Don’t make it about that. The point is, the container is NOT the point. It’s what’s inside that matters.

THE CHURCH BUILDING CYCLE. (ALC Network Day)@StephenMatthew_

 Stephen Matthew has become a friend whose wisdom I appreciate greatly, he has been very generous with his time and encouragement, mentoring me individually through numerous conversations over in Bradford and also coming across to meet with some of our leaders at Ivy recently as we prayed and planned into our future. He is a surveyor by background and combines theological acumen, practical skills and a pastoral heart through 25 years of ministry to be a man with a brain worth picking for anyone who wants to build a prevailing church. Here’s my notes on his talk at the ALC Network day this week:  There are only two kinds of churches: The church everybody wants to build (It’s there in Acts 2, and the ideal church, it inspires us). The church God wants you to build. If you try and copy the church ‘out there’ you’ll always fail. God wants to speak to YOU about YOUR people and place. It’s always bespoke. You work the process and start to build from scratch or reinvent what’s been built so far. What […]

TALE OF TWO BROTHERS: Charlotte Gambill: @CharlGambill – ALC Network Day

GREAT TALK from a fantastic Network Day! All our team who attended were blown away. Well worth looking over and praying through in your teams etc. Psalm 133: 1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, 
running down on Aaron’s beard, 
down on the collar of his robe. 
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon 
were falling on Mount Zion. 
For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. Have we accessed this blessing to its full extent?1 We can INSTIGATE this, bring it in ourselves. If… we can figure out how to be united. And that’s not about standing up and all hold hands. That can be purely external. We need this REAL unity. In our teams, churches, cities. In our marriage and with our kids is where it starts. Where has this gone wrong? Go and look for brothers in the Bible that got along – there weren’t many! Cain and Abel Jacob and his […]

Debra Green – Mountains or Fountains

My notes from this, the first talk in our 40 Days of Ivy DNA Series: RELEVANT. People are surprised when we as a church are normal rather than ‘religious’ Text –  John 4- the samaritan woman at the well. 1) Jesus asked – ‘Will you give me a drink?’ This is a very controversial conversation for him to have at all. He’s showing us the type of Saviour he is. He’s speaking to her in her language, about her every day life and needs. Connects with the familiar. If we want to be relevant we need to offer and speak into what people need. Cf Breathe City Church in Stoke- their ‘When‘ ministry: giving clothes to the poor in the city. Thousands of clothing packages given. When we meet the felt needs of people, we’ll be relevant. We’re not relevant because the worship is great or the preaching is good: people outside of church are not even asking about that anyway! But if we help people and connect in people in prison, in debt, when we are marked by hospitality, […]

Releasing our potential needs work

Malcolm Gladwell, whose books I love and who I heard speak this year at Catalyst 09, reminds us in this short video (click here to view) that releasing your potential is not about genes, talents or ability but about capitalisation. That means hard work! It’s getting up and paying the price, rather than resting before you even get tired! Attitude is everything. Reminds me of the story Jesus told: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, ‘Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.’ “The son answered, ‘I don’t want to.’ Later on he thought better of it and went. The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, ‘Sure, glad to.’ But he never went. “Which of the two sons did what the father asked?” It’s no good just saying you will do something, or thinking it’s a good idea. Ideation without perspiration is constipation!