I’m still stunned after my conversation with Des, punch-drunk by the simplicity of what he does. Why do we make it so complicated? What is wrong with doing what Jesus did? Here’s seven simple lessons Des taught me: If you’re in ministry and you’re not growing leaders, you’re not doing your job. If you grow [...]
Monthly Archives: July 2006
Christ didn’t die for an abstraction
30 July, 2006 – 12:19 PM
A student of C.S. Lewis, visited Wheaton College and the works of Lewis housed there. He picked up a volume from Lewis’s library, “Eternal Life”, by Frederick von Hugel. In pencil on the inside cover Lewis had written: It is not an abstraction called Humanity that is to be saved. It is you yourself —yourself, [...]
How Des builds builders
29 July, 2006 – 3:59 AM
Following up my post on Des, here’s how he builds builders: 1. Recruit Des’s first workers came through his ministry to young men in his local church. He hung out with them. He took them away on 4 Wheel Driving trips into the bush and the desert. (The photo above is of Des—back to the [...]
Des
27 July, 2006 – 2:13 AM
Had coffee and pancakes with Des the other night. His guys built our extension. “Heard you’re building hospitals and factories these days Des. Are you getting out of building houses?” said I. “Steve, I don’t build buildings.” “Well what do you do? You’re a builder!” “I build builders.” You could have knocked me over with [...]
Leaders are readers
24 July, 2006 – 8:59 AM
You don’t need more information. You already have enough to read. So I’m reluctant to let you know about David May’s book summaries for Christian leaders. Just in case you are bed ridden or in jail at the moment with access to the internet, here are some of my favourites: Built to Last First Break [...]
Satisfied with God
23 July, 2006 – 9:41 AM
Trusting in God to meet our needs breaks the power of sin’s promise to make us happier. The essence of faith is being satisfied with all that God is for us in Christ. John Piper “The Pleasures of God : Meditations on God’s Delight in Being God”, 247. QuotesSpiritual Formation
1.5 million new churches
21 July, 2006 – 4:58 PM
In the next 20 years the world will grow by 1.5 billion people. Most of them in Asia, Africa and Latin America: the “global south”. At one new church per 1,000 new people we need 1.5 million new churches in the next 20 years just to keep up. Head over to the World Population Clock. [...]
Making sense of the world’s spiritual chatter
21 July, 2006 – 8:55 AM
When I was at university authors like Francis Schaeffer, Os Guiness, Colin Chapman and James Sire were constant companions as I wrestled with what I believed as an evangelical Christian in the midst of the confusion of competing worldviews. Today some of the alternatives have changed, but the challenge remains. Now a new generation has [...]
Heart of a founder: William Seymour
19 July, 2006 – 10:25 PM
Craig Borlase is William Seymour’s latest biographer. Recently Craig attended the Centenary of the Azusa Street Revival. The Azusa Street Revival launched Pentecostalism as a world wide movement. Seymour was the key figure in that revival. Here are his reflections on Seymour as a founder and on how far modern Pentecostalism has come from it’s [...]
Reading the mind of a church planter
18 July, 2006 – 10:07 AM
Church planters typically hate explaining themselves. That’s because if they know what to do they can’t understand why everybody else can’t read their minds, and if they don’t know what to do they can’t understand why everyone else can’t just trust their instinct. So if you’re supervising a church planter, or worse being led by [...]
