backyardmissionary

With thanks to Steve
ISTJ: Lord help me to relax about insignificant details beginning tomorrow at 11:41.23 am e.s.t.
ISTP: God help me to consider people’s feelings, even if most of them ARE hypersensitive.
ESTP: God help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though they’re usually NOT my fault.
ESTJ: God, help me to not try […]

* Note - this is now ’sold out’ so don’t just roll up and expect to get in. I’m told there is a ‘wait list’ for people keen to attend.
Theologian Don Carson is coming to town next week and as part of his time here we are having a meeting focused on the emerging church.
Carson […]

A good friend who would not regard themselves as a Christian asks you ‘What is the gospel?’
What do you reply?
Come on!
Who reckons they can offer a simple definition?…
Its one of the most critical questions we can ever be asked but so many people stumble around like drunken hooligans when faced with it.
I think we need […]

Sam our 3 year old:
“Mum I did two poos. One floated and the other drowned”
That’s my boy!

Ok here goes… my final take on Spencer Burke’s new book.
I have really enjoyed this whole process as it has moved my mind into gear theologically more than I have had to for a little while. The book is not a hard read by any stretch, but it does call you to think about what […]

What about Cowboy Church?
Yeeha!

Well after 3 1/2 years of blogging its probably time to update my links. Its a painful process - both tiresome and frustrating because I have known some precious people to get offended over this stuff.
I was very tempted to have no links at all, but in the end I have recategorised and added […]

Last night for church we watched Patch Adams, the brilliant story of a man with imagination, initiative and the ability to see what others couldn’t.
He just wanted to ‘help people’ - to be a doctor - someone who ‘improves the health of others rather than simply prevents their death’. He dared to challenge a […]

I recently did an interview for an Oz magazine. Here are the questions and answers if you are interested!…
When was this ministry established and by whom?
[Andrew ] 2003 we arrived - team led by Andrew & Danelle Hamilton, but also 4 other families from Lesmurdie Baptist Church
How did your journey begin to explore […]

Scott has been writing and here’s a promo for an interesting documentary

Ok here’s a question for the missionary church planters of this world…
What do you miss about where you have come from?
What was there about church as you used to do it that you would like to inject into this current expression?
For me, its a greater diversity of ages, especially the presence of some old […]

Pages 100-150…
Page 107 ” No one recorded Jesus words at the time he spoke them, so we have no proof that they are indeed his words and what he did say, he said in Aramaic, which means that nothing in the Bible as translated into other language can be take literally anyway.”
If I could summarise […]

A friend of mine who is also a local youth pastor, wrote to me recently and asked what people were feeling regards the whole Youth Alive scene here in WA.

I suggested he post here and we could discuss it. So here is his email:
G’day guys, I’m looking for youth pastors/leaders feedback on thoughts of Youth […]

My neighbour across the road continues to send me his stuff…

Pages 50-100… (warning - this was written with a shocking headache so nonsense is to be expected)
Reviewing 50 pages at a time is probably a lousy way to review a book, but its the best I can do right now with all else that is going on around about.
I am also aware that Scot McKnight […]

Yesterday I designed the flyer for this upcoming forum on ‘results in the emerging church’.

I wasn’t sure which image to use and these were the two I was toying with. I tried using them both, but the final product looked too cluttered, so I went with the ‘clean bowled’ pic rather than the ‘Matt […]

I sent our latest Upstream Newsletter out this week.

If you are interested in what has been happening in our backyard then feel free to drop me an email and I’ll send you a copy.

Coming up shortly will be an open forum for local West Ozzies who want to know just what is being achieved in experimental mission. I sent this email out today…
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I’m sure you are aware that over the last few years there has been plenty of attention given to what is known as the ‘emerging church’. […]

It seems there is a syndrome/condition for everything!
The last two nights Danelle has had to get up from our bed and sleep in the spare room. I haven’t been naughty - but I have been ‘twitching’ in my sleep.
My legs move when I sleep often in a rhythmic kind of a way (so I’m told), […]

Ok - so its not quite like that…
But if you haven’t been to Scot McKnight’s ‘Jesus Creed’ blog then you are seriously missing out on some of the best stuff on the web. Scot is a well known Christian author and professor who writes prolifically online on issues of theology and ecclesiology in a changing […]