10Oct 2012 by Nigel Ring

Servanthood pt 2 – Jesus, the Servant

Administration in the Church, Equipping, Serving
Bringing good news What was Jesus called to do on earth? According to the Kingdom mandate of Is 61:1-3 (ie his job description), which he ‘owned' in Lk 4:17-21, he was called • To preach good news to the poor (we all are) • To proclaim release to the captives • To heal • To free the down-trodden • To proclaim the year of favour i.e. to bring justice by releasing people from bondage How was he to do this? As a servant. People thought Messiah would come as a King or General but God the Father had other ideas (see Is 42:1-4): ‘Behold my servant...'. God put His Spirit on Jesus • To bring forth justice • To support a bruised reed • To fan a smouldering wick Did…
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04Oct 2012 by Nigel Ring

Servanthood pt 1 – the privilege of serving

Administration in the Church, Equipping, Serving
Privilege Have you ever thought what a great privilege it is to be a servant? In many cultures servants are looked down on as menial. In the upside down culture of the Kingdom of God servants are exalted! If you need proof just look at Phil 2 and see how Jesus is commended by the Father for coming to earth as a servant, or at Joseph who served faithfully in Potiphar's house and then in prison (even in fetters and irons Ps 105:18) to the extent that those around him were blessed because God was with him. If we strive to be exalted we shall be rewarded only in this life. If we serve out of genuine humility it seems to please God and we can expect rewards in the…
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27Jul 2011 by Nigel Ring

The joy of Serving

Administration in the Church, Christian ministry, Conference Administration, Equipping, Together on a Mission, Together on a Mission
A serving spirit I love being with people who have a serving spirit! Last week we had a great 'away day' with the team who were the ‘behind the scenes' people at TOAM. The purpose was to say ‘thank you' to them and to mark the end of over three decades of running major events for the Newfrontiers family. These began in 1979 with the Downs Bible Weeks (there is a video on this link). They were followed in 1991 with the Stoneleigh Bible Weeks and finally the TOAM conferences which began in 1990 though, in their present form as an annual conference with two streams, Leaders and Mobilise, they have taken place since 2002. We had with us some from Endis, the team who have served us with the…
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10Dec 2010 by Nigel Ring

Planning and Implementation pt 8 – Implementation

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Good Practice, Leadership, Planning
PS = pre-script! Before continuing my series I encourage you to look at the following YouTube video. Fascinating and challenging about the change in economies and life expectancy in 200 countries over the last 200 years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo&feature=player_embedded#! Implementation So far I have shared with you my approach to event planning - I will develop a series in the New Year related to some aspects of planning a ministry i.e. something that is continuous and has no particular climax. But now we will look at some of the matters related to implementing the planning methods we have been discussing. Leadership Many at this time of year will be preparing for a Christmas event, maybe a Carol Service or Presentation. Often this will come out of the creativity of one or more…
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01Dec 2010 by Nigel Ring

Planning and Implementation – Pt 7 – Creating a timeline

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Conference Administration, Equipping, Planning
Continuing the series on Planning we will now look at creating timelines. Timelines A timeline is a critical ‘driver' in achieving the end goal. Like a map it provides a constant reference against which progress towards a target can be measured at any point in the journey. It is a monitoring tool. And so it is worth taking sufficient time and effort in creating it to ensure that it is realistic. There are various ways of producing a timeline but I will consider two here: an Activity Table and a Bar Chart. I have found that the first helps me with planning an event where there are critical dates by which certain activities must be achieved, such as a conference. The second is more visual and is valuable where there…
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10Nov 2010 by Nigel Ring

Planning and Implementation – Pt 6 – Ordering your thoughts

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Planning
The illustration I used in the last brainstorm related to this series of blogs about Planning. However, since this does not illustrate planning an event I will first show you how to ‘clean up' this brainstorm and then revert to a different example to show the importance of a timeline for event planning. Ordering the results of a brainstorm There are two stages to this. 1. Review each item in turn and amend the diagram. Without the self imposed pressure of time, which initially I find valuable to help ideas to flow, you now review the diagram taking each item in turn and adding as appropriate. The result looks more cluttered as there are additions that have been made, as highlighted, but simplification will come in the next stage. There…
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