backyardmissionary

Danelle and I spent today without the kids and at the wedding of one of our local youth pastors. Jono is a friend from way back and great bloke, who has been waiting for quite while to find the right girl.
Well, he and Cate Prout got hitched out at Upper Reach Winery in the Swan […]

The last church I was at decided it was going to build a community centre.
The idea was that rather than build a bigger church building to get used one day a week for services, we would build a community facility that could be used as much as possible by community groups with church just meeting […]

For the last couple of months I have taken Sam on Tuesdays while Danelle has taken the day to do whatever she wants. Often this involves some time reading, praying and tuning into God in a more focused way than is possible with fatboy around.
We were talking last night about this practice of taking time […]

“Blessed are the pessimists for they shall never be disappointed.”
I don’t know if anyone has actually said this, so if not I will claim it as my own quote!
I see a spectrum of people in this world:
Idealists - who dream of the perfect world and believe it is possible.
Optimists - who know the world […]

Go here to get a ‘picture cloud’ that reflects the primary issues your blog discusses.
Interesting I thought…

This piece of wisdom from my mate across the road…
Quite often we ask ourselves hard to answer questions, like, “What is a bastard?”
And we wax philosophic with metaphysical postulations, incomplete aphorisms, and inconsistent sophisms that make one more and more sure that the only true thing is that a picture is worth a thousand words.
In […]

from Howard Snyder’s ‘Liberating the Church’ via jonny baker
The church gets in trouble whenever it thinks its in the church business rather than the Kingdom business. In the church business people are concerned with church activities, religious behaviour and spiritual things. In the Kingdom business people are concerned with Kingdom activities, all human behaviour […]

Will Jesus replace The Wiggles as the band aid of choice?

Via Purgatorio

Thom Rainer’s latest book (along with Eric Geiger) is entitled Simple Church - Returning to God’s process for making Disciples.
What a novel idea…
Or is it now a trendy idea, given much of what is happening in emerging circles?
Whatever the case I am sure simplicity is a definite key to continual growth in discipleship. I imagine […]

Ok - I have deleted what was on this post. Sorry to all those who are curious by nature!
I got involved in a conversation that I would rather leave behind.

This comes from Simon The questions aren’t always the best, but it does challenge you to think.

You scored as Kingdom as a Christianised Society. Christians shouldn’t withdraw from the world, but by being present in it they can transform it. The kingdom is not only spiritual, but social, political, and cultural.

The Kingdom is mystical […]

When we came to Brighton in 2004 we started with 5 core families of whom 4 are still here, but that is soon to become 3.
P & J are two great friends and have been a fantastic support to Danelle and I over the last 2 and a 1/2 years. We fully support them in […]

From my notes at the recent Anglican minister’s retreat:
“I am convinced that our job is not to get the community into the church, but to get the church into the community”.
Unfortunately I think it sounds easier than it really is…

Baptist pastors in WA have just had a pay rise.
At least the denomination is recommending a pay rise that is in keeping with what is typical for pastors in other states. Whether pastors actually get it is another matter as all churches are totally autonomous on this issue.
However it does look interesting. From a top […]

We’ve been doing some reviewing, reflecting and clarifying who we are as Upstream and this is a list of our ‘distinctives’. By that I mean some characteristics that may shape our own unique identity as distinct from ‘the church down the road’. It isn’t an exhaustive list, but it does indicate our slant in how […]

As I was writing yesterday I thought it might be helpful for us to remember what we are not seeking to do and become. While I agree its always more helpful to describe something in the positive, I thought it might be worthwhile to also describe who we are not and why we have made […]

“If you’ve got a group that calls itself church, Christian church, and doesn’t oppose and confront the culture, I don’t think you have a New Testament church no matter how much you respect the people.”
Gordon Cosby

“Without the Kingdom idea, the church loses its identity-forming hope. Without the church, the kingdom loses its concrete character.”
Stanley Hauerwas, Against the Nations, p. 112
Source

Increasingly I am aware that my closest friends - and the friendships I really value - are with people who take a genuine interest in my life and who seek me out.
That ought to be self evident… you’d think… but (perhaps because of the work I do) I am aware that there are plenty […]

Wherever you go these days it seems that tolerance is held up as a prime value - something we all ought to aspire to. We ought to tolerate other religions, other belief systems and cultures.
Really?
Is that the attitude Christ would have?
I was discussing this with a friend who made the excellent point that ‘tolerance’ is […]