Do We Really Need Youth Ministry?

Posted: May 29, 2012 by mezmcconnell in Websites, Niddrie Community Church, Church Planting, Recommended Resources, Evangelism, Random Stuff, Youth
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Our Children’s & Youth Ministry at Niddrie is currently going through somewhat of an overhaul. Working with teenagers on the scheme is brutal and slow work. The children’s ministries in general have lacked cohesion and so we are working hard at trying to bring everything together towards a united vision and purpose.

The whole issue of whether youth ministry has ‘failed’ as an experiment in Christian churches has been much debated recently. Here are an interesting set of articles from The Gospel Coalition website on some of the current debate around youth ministry. Also, there is another article here on the topic.

In Niddrie the issues are somewhat different given that we have only one new Christian, teenage girl at the moment. More teenagers are coming along to our services but, as yet, we have not seen any credible professions of faith. The rest of our work is, on the whole, evangelistic. We have no ‘crowd’ to attract a crowd, so to speak, and therefore this does present us with some difficulties. We do have lots of things going on but with no real fruit. Please pray for a breakthrough in this area over the next few years. We are currently building a solid foundation and hope to reap a harvest in God’s timing.

Again, please pray for us, particularly for a female youth worker, currently an urgent need. We have some potential people in the pipeline but as yet we have not found the right person.

Working With Addictions (4) Dealing With The Double Minded

Posted: May 28, 2012 by mezmcconnell in Uncategorized
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This is Part 4 of a series I started some time ago on how to work with those with addictions. Parts I, II & III can be found by clicking on the number.
How many people do we know that have ‘original’ opinions on anything? The media have saturated our lives to such an extent that they largely drive public opinion and thought, almost at will. Every single person on a housing scheme will have a strong opinion on the issue of God. You won’t find too many people who are ambivalent, for that is a middle class disease. Every addict I come into contact with will have some deeply held presuppositions about Christianity, God, the Bible and the church (sometimes referred to as cultural defeaters). They do not come to me as blank sheets. Usually their view of God includes the following descriptions: angry, old, irrelevant, pointless, uncaring, scary and judgemental. Christians are viewed as a weird bunch who don’t do ‘sex or getting drunk’. Many, if not all, will feel like they’re too bad and too far gone to be saved. Normally, I will quote the following two passages from the Bible:
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:“I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,to revive the spirit of the lowly,  and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Is. 57:15)

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands,forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Ex. 34:6-7)

My point is that very often their view of God is almost certainly a wrong and unbalanced one. God is the God who comes to help the outcasts and the poor and the lowly and the rejected. God knows what our lives are like, He knows the suffering we have been through and are going through, and He is able to help us if we let Him. The problem for many addicts (and sinners in general) is that they have listened far too long to the voice of folly in their lives. Folly has told them that nobody can help them, nobody really understands them and it is not going to get any better. But, if we would only listen to the voice of wisdom. Wisdom is pointing us to the God of the Bible who says He does care about us, He does understand us and He can help us if we will let Him.

We must help addicts to realise that the Bible is no stranger to the struggles that they feel inside. Talk to them about the Apostle Paul, a great man and yet he often felt great despair in his life. Let them read for themselves the truth of  Romans 7:18-23

18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Explain to them that Paul was a bad bloke in the Bible. He murdered Christians, he was the original ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ and he had them banged up. He stitched Christians up and yet he became one later in his life. This is what he wrote when he began to realise that God was actually more real than he had thought

15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:15-17)

The problem for the human race is that we are all double minded. We want to believe this stuff and yet we don’t really believe it at the same time. We want to believe there is some higher power out there that could help us but we also think that it is just a fairy tale at the same time. We want to admit to having a problem in our life and yet we don’t want to appear to be weak in front of people. So, we just pretend that everything is OK. But we do need to press addicts to start responding to this information they are receiving.

They need to admit their double mindedness. They need to admit when push comes to shove they like to hang around with old enemies. They like their drink, their pills, their unhelpful friends and their secret sins. They hate them and they love them at the same time. The most important and the most basic step on the road to recovery is help them to admit their double mindedness and to stop kidding themselves that they are 100% sold on changing their lives when they’re not.

We need to encourage them that none of this surprises the Lord. It is in the Bible after all! There is hope for addicts because the Bible offers us a way to deal with this problem in our lives. We need to challenge them about the necessity to be changed inside out and that won’t happen unless God gives them a complete overhaul. They think that their double mindedness is a sign that they’re not ready to change their lives. But, we must teach them that it is the sign that they must change their lives. We need to take them to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Part 5 to follow.

How Not To Prepare For A Baptism!

Posted: May 27, 2012 by mezmcconnell in Fun stuff, Niddrie Community Church, Random Stuff, Recommended Resources, Video
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Thanks to Matt Cottington for sharing this. Highly amusing!

watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wFSYeYe2YUw

Don Carson on Pursuing Holiness & Fighting Pornography

Posted: May 26, 2012 by mezmcconnell in Discipleship, Leadership/Ministry Training, Niddrie Community Church, Random Stuff, Recommended Resources, Video, Websites
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There is a great three minute interview here with Don on the issue of holiness and pornography.

Why The Trinity Matters!

Posted: May 25, 2012 by conand17 in Biblical/Pastoral Counselling, Doctrine & Theology, Leadership/Ministry Training, Niddrie Community Church, Preaching, Tarquin Syndrome
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By Andy Constable

Last week we were at a conference for gospel centred churches who are working in housing scheme/housing estate ministry. The conference was focused on the book of Titus and the main speakers did a great job at expounding it for the context of estate ministries. One of the things that struck me at the conference was Titus 1:1: “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness.” Duncan Forbes spoke on this passage and made a great point that we are to explain the truths (or the doctrines) of the Bible to new believers (in fact all believers) because they lead to godliness. One of the doctrines that we need to know well is the doctrine of the Trinity and its application to believers. Here are a few things that I’ve learned about this important doctrine for our lives.

Firstly, the Trinity challenges us to be gracious people. Before the world began there was no, ‘you and me’. There was no world, no stars, no galaxies, absolutely nothing. There was simply God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit in perfect harmony, unity and love. There was perfect serenity and peace. Ed Sanders calls this the ‘Happy Land’ of the Trinity. God was happy and satisfied and needed nothing else because He was and is completely sufficient in and of Himself. And then God spoke and He created this universe and, eventually, you and me. He didn’t need to, and didn’t have to, but He did because everything is an overspill of His great love. All creation is an act of grace. Our lives are an act of absolute mercy. The world and all its fullness is not something that we deserve to have but its something that God created because of His great love. This is the very core of His character.

This grace is further shown in the fact that He then sends the eternal Son to die on the cross to buy back a people that He had originally created for his glory. The cross shows what has always been at the center of God’s character – grace. Everything we have, including our salvation, is undeserved. He doesn’t need to save us. But He chose to save us because He is gracious. This challenges me deep down. We live in a culture that is inherently self-centered. We give us little as we can away and keep as much as we can for ourselves. We are to reflect a God who is constantly giving to us by giving to those around us in time, energy, and finance.

Secondly, the Trinity challenges our individualistic society. Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in perfect harmony with one another. They are one and three, three and one. God is a community. And then God created humans to reflect this community. The Trinity says to itself in Genesis 1:26: “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” As one famous person said: “no man is an island.” We cannot live a full life without a network of relationships around us because we are wired to be in relationships. We are created with community in our DNA. In contrast, we live in a society that tries to push people away. We live highly privatised lives and try not to share too much with those around us. This has taken root in our churches. We see each other on a Sunday and a Wednesday and try to bypass people in between. And we wonder why nearly 1 in 4 people suffer with depression and isolation? In Acts 2:42 we see the model we are called to reflect as the Apostles met regularly with the people, preached, prayed and everyone shared everything with one another. The is something that challenges my way of life and the choices I make.

Thirdly, the Trinity challenges our selfish nature. The Godhead lives to serve one another and love one another. The Son is obedient to the Father and wants to bring Him glory. The Holy Spirit wants to point people towards Christ. They don’t live to serve themselves but each other. This is a challenge to a human race that looks after number one first. We sort ourselves out first and make sure we are all right but Father, Son and Holy Spirit are other centered. They are all co-eternal and co-equal. Think about this verse from the gospel of John (chapter 17) when Jesus prays to the Father: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Now think about the conversations that we have everyday. We want respect. We want glory. We want adoration. We want to serve ourselves. But Jesus Christ came to earth and wanted to glorify His Father and carry out the work that He had been given before the world even began! God’s very nature challenges us to serve and to not look to our own interests first. God’s very nature challenges us to bring Him glory alone!

The Trinity is a complex subject but at the heart of understanding as much as we can, there are deep truths that we can use to apply to our lives. Let us continue to study God’s very nature not simply so that we can know God but so that we can reflect His character in our lives. He is a gracious God who calls us to be gracious people. He is a communal God who calls us to live in community. And He is a selfless God who challenges us to be selfless people. These doctrines can change churches and housing schemes and nations.

The Christian & The War on Drugs (1)

Posted: May 24, 2012 by mezmcconnell in Church Planting, Discipleship, Evangelism, Niddrie Community Church, Random Stuff, Working With Addiction
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I live in a scheme which is blighted by drugs. Children as young as 7 and 8 years old are smoking Cannabis regularly (I smoked my first joint at 12). Heroin is as easy to get as a pint of milk from the local store. Crack, Coke, E’s, LSD, you name it and it can be delivered to your doorstep in minutes. That’s just the illegal stuff. Prescription drugs are even more problematic. Valium is pretty much the accepted currency in these parts. Uppers, downers, anti-psychotics, painkillers, Morphine, Methadone – you name it, there is a market for it. We are in the grip of a prescribed drug epidemic in Niddrie (indeed, our nation) and very few people seem to either (1) notice, or (2) care.

The results are here for all to see. Young men and women selling their bodies for sex, robbing their parents, grandparents and neighbours for a quick fix. Children as young as 5 used as drug mules, violent crime and intimidation part of the norm, muggings, suicide, chronic depression and a whole host of mental health issues, and – not the least – murder. To many the drugs war is lost and government policy should be about ‘containment’. Cannabis is, apparently, ‘medicinal’ now – an argument I have laughably heard used by every user I know on this scheme. Apparently, according to some ‘experts’, there is little or no evidence to suggest it is a ‘gateway’ drug (a way in to harder drugs) and yet, every single user I know, without exception, started off their drug habit by experimenting with Cannabis. So, I am not sure who is responsible for all the so-called statistics on this stuff – but let me tell you they have never spent more than 5 minutes in a housing scheme!

The government’s current formula for dealing with heroin addiction is to treat it with some form of a combination of Valium, Methadone, sleeping pills, anti-psychotics and anti-depressants. Let me be clear: Methadone is not medicinal. In my opinion both Methadone and Valium are far more addictive and have far-ranging long-term health problems than many so-called illicit drugs. So, why do people do it? Any number of reasons:

    • Social pressure,
    • Boredom,
    • Curiosity,
    • A desire for a new experience,
    • A better sex life,
    • To gain wisdom & intelligence (really!),
    • To escape pain, worry, responsibility, tension, etc.
    • Because they are hopelessly addicted

The scare tactics of yesteryear (‘Just say “NO!”‘) hold no sway over this generation. Drug taking in the early years can be hugely enjoyable (and we should stop pretending that it isn’t) and it can have some pleasant benefits, including:

  1. The sensation of having great insight, intuition, & knowledge;
  2. A monistic or pantheistic perception of the universe;
  3. The experience of godhood by sensing that one is infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful, indestructible, and eternal;
  4. The sense of being possessed, overpowered, or carried along by some force greater than oneself;
  5. A heightened perception of sounds sights, and colours;
  6. A heightened sensual experience of sex, touch, and taste;
  7. A confusion of the senses in which one may see music and hear colours;
  8. The ability to live in the present without any care or concern for the past or future;
  9. The ability to be released from all responsibility and restraint and to do whatever one feels like doing;
  10. A mystical or religious experience

The problems appear, over time, with long-term abuse and can lead to all sorts of issues, including:

  1. The loss of the ability to rationally understand things;
  2. The loss of contact with the normal world and sense perception;
  3. The loss of any accurate perception of the size, shape, or colour of objects;
  4. The inability to perceive differences between objects;
  5. The loss of sense of self and its identity;
  6. The loss of the awareness of time;
  7. The loss of consciousness of the past and its importance;
  8. The loss of consciousness of the future and its goals;
  9. The inability to give sustained attention;
  10. The inability to communicate intelligently.

The social consequences can be massively devastating, including:

  1. The death of family and friends
  2. Committing crime to pay for a habit
  3. Stealing from family members and friends
  4. The loss of children from the Social Services
  5. A lack of parental responsibility
  6. Sexually transmitted diseases
  7. diseases through sharing needles
  8. Being shunned by family, friends and neighbours

Of course, there are far more consequences than just these. As a rule, drug addicts are inveterate liars, manipulators and cheats. That is a fact almost without exception. Middle class Christians, particularly, hate it when I say that but then they are open to all sorts of abuse from some of the characters around here who will turn on the water works if it means they get a quick score. Churches and Christians are ‘soft targets’ for drug users. They quickly learn how to get with the ‘lingo‘, what to say and when to say it and many Christians, in their naive desperation to do ‘ministry’ often lap up all this stuff and get taken for a gigantic ride.

So ,what do we do with chronic drug addicts and liars? What does the Bible have to say on these matters? How do we deal with a guy who has been injecting for 15 years, has robbed every member of his family, is blacklisted by every shop in town and turns up on our doorstep in floods of tears?

Tune in for part 2.


10 Tips for New Church Planters

Posted: May 23, 2012 by mezmcconnell in Church Planting, Discipleship, Doctrine & Theology, Leadership/Ministry Training, Missional Living, Random Stuff, Recommended Resources, Websites
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1. Make sure that your personal walk with Jesus is firing on all cylinders. Take the time each day to be with God in His Word, meditate on what the Spirit is saying to you and pray that He would fill you and keep you in step with His will for your life.

2. Remember that your family is your primary mission field. They must take priority, particularly when the children are small. You must always be true to your word and your promises. Never let them down for ‘church business’ and let them know constantly that they are supremely important to you and your life. Be present at the dinner table and ensure that they are being guided and led spiritually. Create memories, have fun and take regular time off together.

3. Don’t get cocky when things are going well. It is so easy to think that things are dependent on us as leaders and we become self-sufficient. Take heed he who thinks he stands…many a Godly man has shipwrecked His faith and ministry because of pride.

4. Love people more than you love projects. God’s people are not a means to an end for establishing ‘your’ ministry. They are the sheep of His flock and we are charged with taking care of them for the Lord. Never reduce people to strategies and methods.

5. Don’t be afraid to repent when you get it wrong. Fess up when you make mistakes. People will respect you for it. Don’t be afraid to show weakness. We are not perfect and we are not islands. We need to keep short accounts and be transparent to our people.

6. Listen to Godly advice and wisdom from those who have walked the trail before you. Not everybody is trying to slow you down and kill your vision. They may have great words of wisdom to speak into your life that may help enlarge your vision, encourage your soul and give you fresh ideas and input. Seek out men like this for they will add longevity to your ministry.

7. Trust in God even when things don’t seem to be going to plan. God works best in our lives when things are messy. Don’t get disheartened and depressed too quickly.

8. Remember that your first love is the Lord Jesus Christ and if that starts to wane then it is time to take a break and a step back from the heat of ministry.

9. Don’t be tempted to water down the gospel in order to ‘win friends’. The early days can be lonely and a bit of a slog. But, be true to the Word and the message of eternal life – for that is what will ultimately save people.

10. Have a plan but be flexible, adaptable and open to changing it at the drop of a hat. Let the context dictate the method (not the message) and remember not to try to squeeze your ideas into a cultural mould that does not fit. This will save you a lot of time and heartache.

There are three pieces of advice offered on this topic here. Here are my personal suggestions:

How can Christians be so dumb when it comes to believing that the Bible is 100% true?

Posted: May 22, 2012 by mezmcconnell in Audio, Discipleship, Doctrine & Theology, Niddrie Community Church, Random Stuff, Recommended Resources, Video, Websites
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There is a great website called www.ehrmanproject.com which seeks to delve into some of these questions and more. Warning! Serious Scholarly Material Included.

Stop Trying To “Fix” People On Our Council Estates & Housing Schemes!

Posted: May 21, 2012 by mezmcconnell in Church Planting, Discipleship, Doctrine & Theology, Evangelism, Missional Living, Niddrie Community Church, Random Stuff, Women and Wives, Working With Addiction, Youth
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When you try your best, but you don’t succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can’t sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can’t replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

So go the lyrics of the famous song by Coldplay. So, often, goes the thought process of many well meaning Christians who want to work in housing schemes and council estates. We get so swamped by people and their myriad problems that we can easily become desperate to find solutions for them. This is compounded when our ‘advice’ is ignored or doesn’t work and we can slip into spiritual depression. It’s not a terrible thing to want to help the broken but it is a dangerous thing, both for ourselves and those we are trying to ‘help’, if we forget that it is only grace that can bring real, lasting change into our hearts and lives. I recently spoke at the RTU Conference in Liverpool on these verses from Titus 2:11-15:

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Paul has been telling Titus to urge his people to lead Godly lives that are an example for other to follow. He is to teach what is in accord with healthy doctrine and he is to be an example by doing good in his life (Titus 2:1-10). But in the above verses he is to remember that it is grace that saves, not doctrine. We need to be reminded that people will only begin to change when we resist the urge to try to fix them ourselves and instead point them to the grace of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes, we’re so desperate to see people change that it drives us to distraction when they just won’t follow our simple advice to sort themselves out. Yet, consider the following:

..in many churches advice often masquerades as the gospel. Messages filled with advice to help people improve their lives or turn over a new leaf are in contradiction to the nature of the gospel—news we must respond to, not insight we should consider heeding. Church leaders offering advice and calling it gospel will not develop transformed disciples. Worse, they will confuse people as to the true nature and content of the Christian faith. In churches where transformation is most likely to occur, the gospel is prominent and advice diminishes.

Our job as believers of every ilk, whether we’re planters, pastors or youth workers is to ‘speak’ healthy doctrine into the lives of those around us. That means constantly pointing them toward grace and let the Holy Spirit get on with His job. Notice in the text that the grace that save us also works to change us. Grace does not just get us through the door of salvation, it holds our hand and walks us through the trials of life and right into glory.

For those of us struggling in the ministry, it is a great comfort to know that the only thing that is going to transform our communities is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. His work is not reliant on our good intentions, great plans, training programmes, amazing discipleship and wonderful advice. It rest simply on His amazing grace. When we let Him take the strain an amazing thing happens – it frees us from the stress of ‘performance’ or getting sucked into the chaotic vortex of scheme life and relationships. It is only by His grace are we going to win back out communities one painful, stuttering, chaotic soul at a time.

We press on.

Christ Centred Womanhood

Posted: May 20, 2012 by mezmcconnell in Uncategorized
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see here. for a definition of this.

Also on the same blog is an interesting article concerning children. see here.

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