Great preaching

Those who have preached for many years may not always be considered great preachers but they know what is considered great preaching and they realise that it usually either involves a preacher taking a familiar text and saying something unusual and profound or taking an unfamiliar text and saying something less unusual and profound. Meanwhile most of us preach what is not profound or unusual from familiar texts.  

Matters spiritual and practical

There is no spiritual matter that does not have a practical dimension.

There is no practical matter that does not have a spiritual dimension.

(And so although a well run church will have elders and deacons, the elders being the spiritual leaders and the deacons dealing with practical matters, the intermingled nature of things will always be borne in mind)

Dreams

No-one can be held responsible for what they do in someone else's dreams but there is surely a measure of responsibility upon as to what we do in our own dreams.

Wise words

A wise man does something before he speaks. He considers. He makes sure that the clutch of his reason is engaged before he employs the gear of his mouth and pours out words.

(Based on: A wise man has something to do before he speaks, and besides speaking; namely, to consider, and let down the bucket of his tongue into the well of his reason before he pour forth words. Thomas Manton on James)

God's omniscience

God may be hidden from my sight but I am never hidden from God's sight.

Riches and poverty

Poverty does not guarantee blessing and riches do not preclude it.

Starting again

It's always difficult to begin again,
To get up once more after falling is a pain.
What good is progress when you lose all that gain?
Success if blown will adversely drain the brain.

(Written after losing a lot of weight and then putting a lot of it back on again over Christmas but it has wider applications)

Preaching

Don't assume that anyone who hears you preach
Will get the opportunity again

Squeezing out prayer

The easiest thing to squeeze out of a busy day is prayer - Don't!

Against blanket condemnation

Because a man is found to say
At some point something wrong
To say he's wrong in every way
Is really far too strong.

Easy option

Switching on the TV or computer is always the easy option

Watch!

 

 

Watch! Watch! Watch
A moment's slumber can mean disaster.

Retrace your steps

As soon as you're aware things have gone awry
Trace your steps backwards to see the reason why

Ministers and September

September - the minister's back to it month

Negative feelings

Negative feelings can lead to positive actions

A fresh start

There is always opportunity for a fresh start in Christ

Getting things done

Doing a thing often takes a lot longer than thinking about it.

Corollary
Doing a thing often takes a lot less time than you spend thinking about doing it.

New shoes

It may be superficial, but it's amazing how transforming are a new pair of good shoes

Who pastors the pastor?

Who pastors the pastor? The pastor.
If he can't pastor himself he won't be able to pastor anyone else.

Time

Guard your mornings - and your evenings too