Monthly Archives: October 2009

Church budgeting

Holy Trinity is small church in an urban priority area, so we have a small church budget. Financial priorities and regular monitoring are crucial. I wrote the following briefing paper for our PCC and thought it might be of help … Continue reading

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Why Christ’s love is better than wine #2

I was a binge drinker between the ages of 17 and 23, regularly getting wasted for the buzz. I was drawn to Christ at the end of that time and simply stopped drinking. Old friends asked “why don’t you get … Continue reading

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Human rights or responsibilities?

The disastrous effect of human rights on the gospel. It’s been 61 years since the United Nations drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 11 years since the British Government passed the Humans Rights Act 1998. The legal debate … Continue reading

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Carson Pue on Mentoring leaders #4

Lots of churches have vision statements. I would like to know what process churches adopt to develop vision. If you have led the development of vision for a local church your comments would be really appreciated. At Holy Trinity we … Continue reading

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Why Christ’s love is better than wine #1

I’ve started reading CH Spurgeon’s sermons on Song of Solomon and really loved his first meditation on why Christ’s love is better than wine. These are the first Spurgeon sermons I remember reading. His work is not expository but what … Continue reading

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O teach me what it meaneth

If there are any modern hymn writers who read this blog, could you write a new tune for this? O teach me what it meaneth, That cross uplifted high, With One, the Man of Sorrows, Condemned to bleed and die! … Continue reading

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Carson Pue on Mentoring Leaders #3

Here’s a helpful list of danger zones in Christian leadership. Pue suggests that any one of these is sufficient to bring down leadership. I found it helpful to consider how each one has its own counterweight in the character, purposes … Continue reading

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If the Lord is for you…

Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us? Ebenezer Erskine unpacks what it means for God to be for us from the covenant-grant “I am the Lord your God.” The greatest word ever God spake since … Continue reading

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From the vicarage August 2009

In the busy summer season I missed posting this: From the vicarage The Next Generation What makes grown men and women dress up as clowns in the streets of a north Devon town, act out plays as jugglers, trapeze artists, … Continue reading

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Why I don’t wear a dog collar (part 3)

We had a friend round one evening last week and I asked her what the local community thought of the church. She said: it seems much friendlier since you arrived because you are like one of us. You don’t wear … Continue reading

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