http://www.thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace Latest Blog - Learning in the grip of grace Wed, 16 May 2012 10:47:00 +1000 Wed, 16 May 2012 10:47:00 +1000 en-au Copyright - The Geneva Push. All rights reserved. thegenevapush 5 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_people_need_most_from_their_pastors http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_people_need_most_from_their_pastors Robert Murray M’Cheyne often said to ministers “what your people need most from you is your personal holiness.” This flies in the face of so much church leadership talk. Because holiness doesn’t really get a mention does it?  M’Cheyne is saying  that the most important thing a leader needs is a holy, loving, Christ-like character….»

]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 10:47:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/the_one_thing_christians_need_from_their_leaders http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/the_one_thing_christians_need_from_their_leaders Robert Murray M’Cheyne often said to ministers “what your people need most from you is your personal holiness.” This flies in the face of so much church leadership talk. Because holiness doesn’t really get a mention does it?  M’Cheyne is saying  that the most important thing a leader needs is a holy, loving, Christ-like character….»

]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 10:47:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/the_seven_things_all_christian_leaders_need_to_have http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/the_seven_things_all_christian_leaders_need_to_have Leadership books sometimes make leadership too complex. Good leadership principles like any other principles should be easy to digest and understand. With that in mind I have distilled my thoughts on what a good leader is into seven things that all leaders need to have. Character. This is a given, if a leader does not…»

]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 09:09:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/the_key_to_having_great_meetings http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/the_key_to_having_great_meetings Most meetings suck and are boring. They leave people unengaged and lacking motivation. That is why we hate meetings. What is the key you having great meetings? Conflict. Yes, conflict Not the I hate your guts type conflict or the political type conflict that can plague churches. Healthy conflict is discussion where disagreements are brought out on the table…»

]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 09:10:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_the_next_archbishop_of_sydney_cant_be http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_the_next_archbishop_of_sydney_cant_be I am not an Anglican but I have been profoundly influenced by the Anglican Church and I am so thankful for years of being faithfully taught the bible at Anglican churches and I am thankful for my time at Moore College. The Sydney diocese is a very influential diocese not just in the Anglican Communion…»

]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 11:00:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/three_books_you_have_to_read http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/three_books_you_have_to_read We Become What we Worship by Greg Beale. This book is a biblical theology showing how we resemble what we revere for ruin or restoration. Beale shows that this theme is pervasive in the bible which opened up the bible in a new way for me. I also found the book to be very helpful…»

]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 08:38:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/how_to_pastor_like_the_apostle_paul http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/how_to_pastor_like_the_apostle_paul One of my greatest heroes is Paul. He was a man who loved his people with great passion and intensity and he was a great pastor. In 1 Thessalonians 2 we get a glimpse of ‘Paul the pastor’ as he reminded the Thessalonians of how he cared for them. Therefore 1 Thessalonians 2 is great…»

]]> Tue, 08 May 2012 16:17:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/how_good_things_become_sinful_things http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/how_good_things_become_sinful_things “To make sin even more difficult to see, it often rides on the back of many good things. For example, work is a good thing , but sin can take it and exalt it to the point where it rules us. We become workaholics who say we are doing it for the kids, but we…»

]]> Mon, 07 May 2012 12:20:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_is_involved_in_an_internship_at_resolved http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_is_involved_in_an_internship_at_resolved Resolved exists to impact the city of Sydney with the love of Jesus, for God’s glory. We want this impact to go beyond the lifetime of the current members of the congregation. If God should will it, we want Resolved to be impacting Sydney and the world with the love of Jesus, for God’s glory,...»

]]> Thu, 03 May 2012 08:36:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/adultery_homosexuality_and_the_quest_for_grace_and_truth http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/adultery_homosexuality_and_the_quest_for_grace_and_truth If you haven’t heard the latest blow up in the blogosphere here it is. Andy Stanley, a megachurch pastor from Atlanta in the States preached a message called “When Gracie Met Truthie” which was based on John 1:14. The point of the passage is that Christians and churches need to hold both to grace and…»

]]> Wed, 02 May 2012 10:45:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_is_a_good_sermon http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_is_a_good_sermon In the book Truth and Power J.I Packer says that preaching is “An applicatory declaration in which the word of God delivers through the preacher a message about God, grace, the Gospel and Godliness.” I think this is a great quote about  what preaching is but it is also a useful definition of what a good sermon is. So…»

]]> Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:53:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/tim_keller_on_staying_spiritually_vibrant http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/tim_keller_on_staying_spiritually_vibrant Here is how Tim Keller stays spiritually vibrant: Private devotions – regular, consistent; morning  (40 mins), lunch-time (5 mins – recap), evening (40 mins), bed-time (pray with Kathy his wife) Spiritual friendship – Christian brothers & sisters who hold you accountable. Intimate friendship. Hebrews 3.16. Who have you given the right to do that? Right…»

]]> Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:25:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/training_the_next_generation_of_leaders http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/training_the_next_generation_of_leaders “What are you doing to raise the next generation of leaders in the church?” This is the question that Mark Dever put to me least year when I was over in Washington. He said that all pastors should be working hard at raising the next generation of leaders of the church because if we don’t who will? So what…»

]]> Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:21:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/inerrancy_and_the_character_of_god http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/inerrancy_and_the_character_of_god I have been reading the book Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith which is edited by Hoffmeier and Magary. So far it has been a great read and if the titles of the essays are anything to go by it is a very important book in light of the current debates about the historicity and…»

]]> Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:10:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/do_you_do_ministry_or_empower_others_to_do_ministry http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/do_you_do_ministry_or_empower_others_to_do_ministry I have been reading a lot about growing churches of late and one of the major factors in a growing church is getting everyone involved in doing ministry. If people are involved in doing ministry they feel like they have more ownership of the churches ministry and they are more likely to invite their non…»

]]> Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:10:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/do_you_love_doctrine_more_than_jesus http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/do_you_love_doctrine_more_than_jesus I have been reading Iain Murray’s great book Spurgeon Vs. Hyper-Calvinism: The Battle for Gospel Preaching. The book is about Spurgeon and his battles with pastors who said that a pastor should not offer salvation to everyone because God has only given salvation to the elect. Therefore you offer salvation only to those who have…»

]]> Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:14:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_are_you_looking_for_in_a_church http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_are_you_looking_for_in_a_church At Resolved we have many people come through looking for a new church. When I ask them what are they looking for in a church there are a lot of different responses. Some are legitimate some are selfish. Most Christians these days change churches every 5-7 years and so we need to know what to…»

]]> Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:36:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/you_shouldnt_go_out_with_him_her_if http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/you_shouldnt_go_out_with_him_her_if He/she doesn’t love Jesus. Why shouldn’t you go out with this person? Because the two of you aren’t on the same page no matter how much you love each other. He/she is impairing your walk with Jesus. Why shouldn’t you go out with this person? Because the point of your life is to follow Jesus…»

]]> Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:48:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/book_reviews_march http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/book_reviews_march Humility CJ Mahaney This is a book I read every year. Not only because it is a great book but I am realising that I need to be humbled more and more. Two great thing about this book are: It grounds humility in the gospel It is extremely practical This is a book I am…»

]]> Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:19:00 +1000 http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_i_wished_i_knew_before_getting_married_all_the_hard_work_is_worth_it http://thegenevapush.com/blogs/learning-in-the-grip-of-grace/what_i_wished_i_knew_before_getting_married_all_the_hard_work_is_worth_it As the last few days have shown marriage is hard work. The thought of two sinners committing their lives to each other and then coasting along is a recipe for disaster. Just like anything good in life we need to plan and work hard for our marriages to succeed. That being said it is all…»

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