backyardmissionary

No?… Oh go on!

Today I am off to speak to the Seventh Day Adventist Church Planters School - sharing the story of what we are doing here in Brighton.
Having heard a number of people share stories of their adventures with churches both established and newly planted, I have been really disturbed by how easy it is to ‘not […]

TSK pointed out that there is now blogging software exlusively for Christians…
Like we needed to create another parallel universe to dive into! Christians separating themselves from society and huddling together is hardly what Jesus had in mind.
If nothing else it raises those great ‘who’s in and who’s out?’ questions. How do you decide if I […]

I got in last night from the SU national conference on the Sunshine Coast.
6 days sure feels like a long time to be away. And when wife and family all get sick I imagine it feels even longer to them!
The time was nice, enjoyable and relaxing. It was great to get to know our WA […]

Update: Part II is now online here
I have come back from the week in Queensland with a question that is disturbing me more and more, so I’ll try and describe it here and see where it goes.
Here are some stats I am sure you have heard:
1. 80% of young people make a ‘decision for […]

What sits on the floor in your toilet?
Mine has a stack of old surfing magazines I picked up for 20 cents each at the Busso Jetty fundraising op shop. They are great toilet fodder. This morning I was reading about the late Viscount Ted Deerhurst, the UK’s first pro - surfer who hit the pro […]

Ok… some deep thoughts to leave you with…
Danelle is one of those women who loves to make birthdays special for the kids.
She is amazingly gifted at coming up with creative ideas and making each birthday really unique. This year for Ellie’s 5th birthday she worked with an ocean theme because ‘Ariel’ (The Little Mermaid) […]

This week I am off again, this time to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland for 6 days at the SU national conference.
In trying to be away as little time as possible I will be flying out on Tuesday at 5.50am (which means leaving home at 4.15am!) and then getting in on Sunday night at 10.50pm […]

So many people reading this book…
I have just finished it and am well and truly underwhelmed.
With all due respect to Rob Bell (who I am sure is a good bloke) can someone tell me what all the fuss is about? I found it moderately interesting, but hardly inspiring or life changing.

I have the opportunity to have a stand at the upcoming Sexpo
I like the thought of a space for a Christian presence that affirms the beauty and joy of sex and helps people see the very healthy perspective God has on sex (being the inventor and all that).
I’m still debating
a) whether I have […]

It seems every community has its ‘characters’, the people who are a little zany, but who bring life and about whom we tell stories and remember.
When I lived in Scarborough there was the ‘wheelie man’, a bloke in his 50’s or 60’s who rode a hi rise bike around the suburb but always in ‘wheelie’ […]

Can anyone guess why Ian loved his birthday cake so much?!
Amanda is a very creative woman…

Al Hirsch tried to make a comment on this post, but it didn’t come thru. He has sent it thru so I’ll set it up here as a separate post. The power of multiplication
Movement Math
February 8th, 2006
All movements have their own special arithmetic. Movements, for example, always prefer multiplication over addition. They just love […]

Its been a busy weekend so far and tomorrow I’m off to Melbourne until Wednesday for a Forge National Team meeting.
Last night we had a ‘games’ night at our place, playing Greed (I won ) today a bunch of us blokes went and played 18 holes for Ian’s birthday - nearly killed all of […]

More on the question of mega or mini here.
Its a good article and has some great questions, like ‘is the house church movement a reaction to the megachurch or is it a logical outcome of it?’

Sadly he said this around 30 years ago…
“The church today should be getting ready and talking about the issues of tomorrow and not the issues of 20 or 30 years ago, because the church is going to be squeezed in a wringer. If we found it tough in these last few years, what are we […]

I was out getting a Bible for a friend who is interested in knowing more about Jesus and I picked up one called Beginning the Journey’ - only $2.95 at Koorong.

In it the author has chosen the 5 books he considers most critical for a person on a spiritual search to interact with.
So here’s the […]

This year I have responsibility to oversee a Spiritual Formation group for .acom and this morning was our first meeting.
We spent from 7.30am -11.30am in conversation and reflection on what was going on in our lives as we seek to be disciples of Jesus. I always love meeting with people who take their discipleship seriously, […]

I am often intrigued when people make radical, bold statements and argue strongly for them.
Steve Timmis did this yesterday and I am still pondering his thoughts.
He stated ‘there is absolutely no biblical warrant for, nor actual need for larger church gatherings. In fact these are detrimental to the processes of discipleship and mission’. I […]

A number of years ago when I was youth pastor at Scarborough Baptist there was one particular person who always let me know if my sermons were on the money or way wide of the mark.
He would do this by looking down and shaking his head in despair (if he disapproved) or by nodding strongly […]