backyardmissionary

I have heard this a few times lately.
Its a statement I struggle with because it:
a) implies Christians are ‘nice’ - some are b) people who aren’t Christians might be ‘nice’, but its not to be expected
When you take that point of view into the world with you its going to show in relationships.
Actually […]

Or stupidity?…
Knowing it was going to be 38 degrees today we (Ellie, Sam and I) ventured to the beach. As some of you would know it is a major operation to get 2 kids to the beach when there are two parents present - but with just one it certainly adds to the adventure!
After […]

Over the last few months we have been discussing how we will gather as a ‘church’.
We are aware of the need for the mission to shape our gatherings and not the other way round. But we need to do something now…
So what we came up with is the following 4 week cycle.
Week 1 - Focus […]

Today I got up at 4.00 to drop Danelle at the airport. Ouch!
She has a conference in Sydney until Monday - which means that I am now responsible for two children…
Thankfully we have good friends who have offered to look after the kids while I work today and tomorrow. But after that its all down […]

One thing I always feel when I work hard and get busy is that I run the risk of getting behind on my ‘think time’.
When life is ambling along at a steady pace I am able to create lots of space for thought and reflection - when it speeds up I find myself thinking […]

Tomorrow Herdo and Mark and I head out to try and catch a few fish. Herdo is a fairly legendary fisherman and Mark is a neighbour I have only just met.
Me” I’m a lover of fish but pretty hopeless at catching them. Hopefully I’ll learn a bit of these two!
It’s funny how we met […]

Saturday night was Sam’s birthday and ‘dedication’. We called the night ‘Thank God for Sam’.
You may not know that Sam is our second IVF child - Ellie being the first. For 8 years we waited and tried” and tried and waited.
Then on our first IVF attempt Ellie came along. She is a babe!
[…]

One of today’s sermon illustrations…
“Let me ask - in the last week how many of you seriously pondered whether you would head off a nudist colony this weekend?
Hmmm… not many!
But” If that nudist colony had better volleyball courts, a bigger swimming pool, better food and great coffee would you then go?
Still not convinced hey?!
Makes […]

Believe it or not that is news!
I’ve got a stack of preaching gigs over the next 6-8 weeks and the first one was today at Warwick Church of Christ.
I really enjoyed it - the whole bit! I haven’t been to a church service for over 8 weeks but it was really nice to be back […]

A few people asked what this looks like.
To save me re-inventing the wheel go here to see Darren’s take on it.
Or pick up Sacred Companions by David Benner. This is a brilliant book on personal spirituality.
Essentially for me what it means is something like this:
- 10 mins centring prayer - very difficult
- 10 mins […]

The last year I have been on long service leave, and while it was a great break it has played havoc with my spiritual disciplines.
The chaotic nature of that period actually made it harder for me to regularly connect with God than easier. I think I need a structured approach to life to help me […]

Today I completed my third week of teaching… only 37 to go.
I wish I felt different but that’s just where its at.
We had a swimming carnival today where I bumped into a lot parents who I hadn’t seen for ages. They all wanted to know ’so what brings you back to teaching?’
My answer?… ‘I need […]

Two quotes from Martin Robinson’s latest book ‘Invading Secular Space’
“What would it look like for a church to function in such a way that the primary goal of church life was not to attract more people into attendance and membership, but to produce people who had a profound sense of their personal relationship to God, […]

Life still feels very chaotic as I navigate the path between three paid roles, a voluntary position and regular preaching around the place.
I’m also aware that spiritual disciplines are floundering as is my exercise and diet.
Two days given to teaching actually feels like a big slab of the week at present. I’m not sure I […]

Now that the first Forge intensive is over people are asking me was it a ’success’? Or was I happy with how it went?
The short answer… yes.
In terms of a valuable learning experience and life shaping encounter, for many of those present I’d say it was definitely those things. For some I’d say it […]

Ever had one of those people come to your place how is a well known / world renown communicator?
I’ve met a few over the years - some who do their thing, then ‘take the money and run’ and some who seem to be actually interested in what’s happening.
One of my fondest memories from our four […]

After a very very busy week, preparing for the Forge intensive, teaching and all that goes with that, I decided to take today off.
As usual I woke at 6.00am… gone are the days of sleeping in until 11.00!

The plan was to jump in the Kingswood (my boat) and head out to a break […]

The fourth in my series on how simple it is to connect with people…
Its summed up here
Its easy to have lame, superficial, fluffy relationships. If we’re going to see things move along then I think it will mean going beyond this to making some real connections.

That’s just how I feel today!
Sounds like the Forge intensive has been going really well and I’m bummed at missing so much of it. Such is life when you’re a bivocational missionary church planter!

Currently I am running hard to try and teach at school as well as being involved with overseeing the first Forge intensive. Today I went and got things under way then headed back to school - taught in the steam box (gym) for 5 hours and then drove back to hang out with the guys […]