Tag: failure

How can you tell if your church planting is successful?

I think that’s helpful.  Being fruitful as individuals and churches seems good Biblical language.  Keller is right to caution against a shallow understanding of faithfulness.  In fact, the church claiming to be faithful may in fact be unfaithful if it has just dug a hole and buried its talent. So, what will it mean for… Continue reading How can you tell if your church planting is successful?

Why do we struggle to talk about pastors and depression?

A few years back I was asked to cover a couple of sessions for a ministry training course. One of the sessions was on “failure.” The request came with a couple of those expected awkward jokes along the lines of “we aren’t picking you for any specific reason.” Indeed, at the time, arguably I’d not… Continue reading Why do we struggle to talk about pastors and depression?

Pastor: Preach grace to yourself

It was just after I’d preached my first placement sermon whilst studying at Oak Hill and the pastor of the church, Joe Kapolyo came over to me to give me a little bit of feedback. “Well I’ve got some good news for you.  It wasn’t perfect.” My initial mental response was “Well if that’s the… Continue reading Pastor: Preach grace to yourself

The Wounded Christian – love letter to a broken child of God – Book Review

The wounded Christian is a book by John Piper, no not THAT John Piper, but by another Christian with the same name although also based in the States. This John Piper is originally from the UK and as a child experienced a strong calling to serve God on the mission field. In his case, his… Continue reading The Wounded Christian – love letter to a broken child of God – Book Review

Depression tells you that you are weak – and that’s okay

It’s the funny thing about Sertraline.  Every morning if you’ve been pre-scribed it, the box sits there on the breakfast table as a reminder that you need to take your medication. And each morning, it shouts out to you “You are so weak.” It’s funny because you don’t think that when you get up and… Continue reading Depression tells you that you are weak – and that’s okay

Why we should embrace failure

In a previous article I started to look at the question of failure.  Here I want to offer x good reasons for why we as believers and particularly church leaders should embrace failure. What happens if we refuse to encounter failure? First, if I don’t embrace the reality of failure then I am unlikely to… Continue reading Why we should embrace failure