11Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 4

Biblical Administration, Christian ministry, Equipping, General, Good Practice, Leadership, Poor
Continuing our series on Indicators of Good Practice for ministries among the Poor we shall now consider the next three under the category of Church and Leadership. 3. Hearing God Jesus did nothing ‘on his own authority .. but always ..the things that are pleasing to Him’ (Jn 8:28, 29). It is vital that we are clear that we are in the centre of God’s will for at least two reasons. First, any ministry we undertake should be the result of seeking God and walking in obedience to Him. So, there needs to be a very clear sense of leading. This needs to be specific, which leads us to the second reason. When the going gets tough (and it will!) we need to be able to have the confidence that…
Read More
09Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

Conference planning

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Biblical Administration, Conference Administration, Equipping, General, Leadership
Every year Newfrontiers hosts a conference at the Brighton Conference Centre, UK, Together on a Mission. The conference has two streams: Christian Leadership and Mobilise. The latter is for Students and Twenties. For parts of the programme these streams are separate and for parts they meet together. This is an international conference which gathers around 4000 people from up to 50 nations, mostly from churches who are in the Newfrontiers ‘family’. Based strongly on teaching from the Bible and with an expectation of the activity of the Holy Spirit the purpose is to impart vision, train people in their leadership skills and provide a context for people to sense any commission from God about their future ministry. The conference includes times of worship and prayer. I chair the Management Team…
Read More
09Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

Conference planning

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Biblical Administration, Conference Administration, Equipping, General, Leadership
Every year Newfrontiers hosts a conference at the Brighton Conference Centre, UK, Together on a Mission. The conference has two streams: Christian Leadership and Mobilise. The latter is for Students and Twenties. For parts of the programme these streams are separate and for parts they meet together. This is an international conference which gathers around 4000 people from up to 50 nations, mostly from churches who are in the Newfrontiers ‘family’. Based strongly on teaching from the Bible and with an expectation of the activity of the Holy Spirit the purpose is to impart vision, train people in their leadership skills and provide a context for people to sense any commission from God about their future ministry. The conference includes times of worship and prayer. I chair the Management Team…
Read More
08Sep 2009 by Nigel Ring

The Poor deserve the Best – part 3

Biblical Administration, Christian ministry, Equipping, General, Good Practice, Leadership, Poor
We are looking at the principle of having Key Indicators of good practice when ministering to the Poor. Many of these Indicators would apply to ministry in general but the context for us is one of mercy ministries. The 20 Indicators we are exploring fall into 2 sections. In the first section, Church and Leadership issues, there are 8 Indicators. Having listed these we shall expand on the first two. 1. Apostolic endorsement 2. Local church eldership oversight 3. Hearing God 4. Vision to be clear 5. Gospel impact 6. Kingdom extension to be intentional 7. Individuals changed from poverty to active mission 8. Biblical principles to be clearly applied 1. Apostolically endorsed When writing to the gentile church in Galatia Paul told them of his commission from the apostles…
Read More
29Aug 2009 by Nigel Ring

Finishing well

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Biblical Administration, Conference Administration, Equipping, General
The concluding part of this series on lessons from Jesus’ feeding the 5000 focuses on completion of the task. Mk 6:42-45  And (the people) all ate and were satisfied. And (the disciples) took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men. Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. Once the people were fed we have an understanding of the scale of the miracle that has just occurred; ‘..all…were satisfied’. Can you imagine how much food that represents? Suppose there were in fact 10,000 people and each had quarter of a loaf of bread and half a fish. That would mean…
Read More
25Aug 2009 by Nigel Ring

Delegating with purpose

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Biblical Administration, Conference Administration, Equipping, General
We shall now look at the next administrative 'skill', number 7,  that Jesus demonstrated while feeding the 5000. Mk 6:41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. Not only does this verse demonstrate the exercise of faith, as discussed in the previous posting, but hidden in here is also the important principle of delegation. Delegation may be carried out for several reasons. Maybe the task is too big or time consuming for one person to do alone. Maybe there is the need for particular skills or gifting to carry it out effectively. Both of these,…
Read More