“Gaining the World, Losing the Soul: How the prosperity gospel distorts the good news” is a book written by three authors: Maura M, Mbugua K and Piper J. The authors aim to show the harm prosperity gospel has had on the true gospel; how it has robbed, distorted, corrupted, sugarcoated and misinterpreted the true meaning of the gospel. It has reduced God to the level of a mere sugar daddy.…
Read MoreRoho Mtakatifu ni nani?
And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” (Acts 19:2) For a disciple not to have heard about the Holy Spirit is Not A Good Thing. For those of us who want to emphasise (I think rightly) the priority of preaching Christ and him crucified and who see the Spirit’s role…
Read MoreInduction 2016: The new team
Great time last weekend with the new team of iServe Africa ministry apprentices. Looking forward to a great year of listening again and again to the gospel together, exploring it, living it out, speaking it, enjoying Jesus more. Here are the notes for apprentices… 5 Keys to Personal Support Raising How to write a prayer letter Communication and Prayer God’s Mission & Our Mission The Priority of Preaching Living out…
Read MoreMTC days 2-5: Imara
Thanking God for teaching us lots of things about himself and ourselves last week. Thanks for our external speakers and facilitators who were really excellent. Thanks for our cooks who fed us wonderfully. Thanks for the apprentices who graciously endured long days and cramped conditions and engaged brilliantly. Here are the resources, notes and links to accompany the training: Sermon Preparation Toolkit; Evangelistic Preaching notes; 10 commandments for Evangelistic Preaching…
Read MoreWe are dust
As a follow up to the material from the last MTC on Self Care 101 and as a preparation for some of the material we’ll be looking at in next month’s MTC on the Book of Job and remaining steadfast long term, the video below is a very helpful interview with our friend and elder brother Christopher Ash. iServe Africa Webmaster
Read MoreWhat is this expository preaching thing?
If you hang around iServe Africa a bit you might (hopefully) notice that we have a passion for faithful Bible teaching – ‘faithful’ not in the sense of turning up every week but faithful to the Bible text – what you see (on the page) is what you get (in the sermon). This is often called ‘expository preaching’ but that can lead to some misunderstandings… For one thing ‘expository’ is an…
Read MoreScratching the surface
Increasingly aware that we’re only touching on some very big topics in these Training Wednesdays but exciting nonetheless to paddle at the edges of some big oceans and sense something of the vastness and complexity and beauty of some of these subjects – the person of the Spirit, the highs and lows of Christendom, the plan of God to display his glory in the church… The Spirit (session 5) The Church [session…
Read MoreAgainst the world for the sake of the world
Been loving Piper’s 2005 conference message on Athanasius. Very well worth listening to or reading in full. But to whet your appetite, here are the lessons he draws out: Defending and explaining doctrine is for the sake of the gospel of Christ’s glory and our everlasting joy. Joyful courage is the calling of a faithful shepherd. If something is worth fighting for, it worth rejoicing over. Let us stand courageous and out-rejoice…
Read MoreFloodlight ministry
A new term of Training Wednesdays and we kicked off with: New series – Doctine of the Spirit – Session 1: Introducing Him New series – Turning Points in Church History – Session 1: 70 AD New series – Preaching Skills – Session 1: Sermon Preparation Toolkit iServe Africa Webmaster
Read MoreTotal Gospel: MTC December 2015
Tim Keller puts it like this: ‘We never “get beyond the gospel” in our Christian life to something more “advanced.” The gospel is not the first “step” in a “stairway” of truths, rather, it is more like the “hub” in a “wheel” of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s of Christianity, but it is the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required…
Read More