Views, Visions and Values.

Saturday 27 December 2014

Abba - Chiquitita

The 10 People Nobody Can Help by Joseph Mattera

1. Those who do not take responsibility for themselves.

The first step toward self-improvement is to remove all excuses for mediocrity or failure. Those that continually blame other people for their failures will never go to the next level.

Leaders can complain about their spouses, the income level of their congregations, the lack of staff, etc., but I have learned that within every challenge is the seed of opportunity for success, which requires the creativity of problem solving.

2. Those who do not have a heart to seek God.

The Bible teaches us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).

Those who do not respect God enough to seek Him and study His word so they can make wise decisions in life are violating Scripture (Joshua 1:8-9) and cannot be helped either by myself or any other leader or minister.

Those who do not obey what God requires for success have decided to try to be successful in life without God’s blessings!

3. Those who create distance so they are not accountable.

There are certain people I have met in our church who only let others get so close before cutting off the relationship. Many go from one church to the next because they fear becoming too close to a leader who will hold them accountable.

Often, some will attempt to attend a megachurch where they will be able to hear the word of God in the context of a large crowd so that no one will really know who they are.

Whether it is fear or rebellion, those who live like this have put a low ceiling on their lives and will not grow past the infant stage concerning their potential in life.

YEAR IN REVIEW: Vicky Beeching and the Reason So Many 'Christians' Are Coming out as Gay

Friday 26 December 2014

6 Deadly Lies We Believe About Church, By Nicole Cottrell

“One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is life, always.” – A. W. Tozer

1. Church is optional.

Ah, the lone believer, hell-bent on staying out of a church community for one reason or another.

They were burned, chastised or mistreated.

And I get it. I, too, was a solo “Christian” trying to call a five-minute quiet time and a snippet of Scripture “church.” I know what it is to be community-less and long for (but never actually believe it could happen) a spiritual family, where brethren would lay down their life for one another—reminiscent of the book of Acts.

Oh yeah, but then, through a series of painful life-altering events (another post for another time), I came to see church was not optional because, I was, in fact, the church.

When scripture refers to the church as “the house of God,” “the Body of Christ,” “Christ’s bride,” it is referencing a people. The ekklesia, in Greek. It is not a place or a building, which leads me to …

10 Troubling Statements Pastors Make

If you want your church to move toward a slow yet certain death, make certain your church leadership and membership affirms most of these 10 statements. They are troubling statements. Indeed, they are proclamations that virtually assure your
church's decline and probable demise.

What is troubling is that these statements are not uncommon. They are articulated by both staff and lay leaders at times. See if you have ever heard any of these
10:

1.

We hire our pastors and staff to do that. "That" can be evangelism.
Or discipleship. Or caring for others. Or visiting people in the hospital. Some
lay leaders view pastors and staff as hired hands to do ministry they should be
doing themselves.

2.

We have enough churches in our community. I rarely see a community that is
really "overchurched." The number of unchurched people in any one
community is typically increasing, not decreasing. This comment usually comes
from church leaders who view new churches as competition.

3.

We are a discipleship church. Or an evangelism church. Or a ministry church.
Church leaders who say their churches are focused on only one area of ministry
are offering excuses not to be obedient in other areas.

4.

We have never done it that way before. Yes, it's cliché. But it's still a very
pervasive attitude among change-resistant people in the church.

Under-10s in Scots hospitals for illegal drug use, The Scotsman Newspaper

A SOARING number of children are being hospitalised in Scotland as a result of drug-taking, official figures have revealed. Some youngsters under the age of ten have been treated by doctors in Scottish wards in the past year.

The increase is causing “real damage” to Scotland’s younger generation say  opposition parties, who are demanding government action to address the rise.

Cannabis is the most common type of drug offered to teenagers, followed by stimulants such as cocaine and speed, then psychedelics including LSD and magic mushrooms.

It has now emerged that the number of times youngsters were admitted to hospital after taking illegal substances has increased by more than a third in two years, according to statistics obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

There were 119 incidents where youngsters aged between ten and 18 required hospital attention after taking drugs in 2013.

The figures, uncovered using freedom of information legislation, revealed an increase of 35 per cent on 2011, when the total across Scotland was 88.

Awareness of the dangers of drug-taking also appears to be falling among teenagers, a recent report found.

Thursday 25 December 2014

16 Christmas presents every Welsh person will get – at least once | South Wales Evening Post

THERE are some presents under the tree you can guess straight off.

You don’t need to feel them, shake them or smell them – they just stick out like a sore thumb.

They are the presents every Welsh person will receive, at least once, and possibly more.

Here’s a few of them (some of which you might not get if you live outside south west Wales!):