backyardmissionary

Cold Process - wow.
Take fresh beans, grind them coarse (for plunger) add coffee to plunger and a dash of cold water. Stir in into a paste then fill with cold water. Stir, then leave it sit for 12 hours.
Filter the cold coffee - the smell while you do this will drive you nuts - coffee […]

Ok - I’ve had my fun with evolution (yes we can still keep going with the comment chain if you want) it would not have been an authentic ‘Atheist Encounter’ If I didn’t play the evolution card would it?
But evolution just isn’t the core of who I am - I loved that part of biology, […]

Apparently I’m a dinosaur.
And I want an explanation!
Grendel and Beowulf
I’m going to put my neck out here and make a call - these guys are nut cases. Who in their right mind would attempt to interpret an Anglo Saxon saga as literal truth with dinosaurs as the monsters in support of creationist theology?
But wait! I […]

My coffee consumption was low, very low for the next 15 months, and I was a bit leery of gravy as well. But my next posting was to the tropical paradise of Airlie Beach, with its waving palms, multitude of tropical islands and suitably attired backpackers and an incipient cappuccino strip that was bribing nescafe […]

Well, I’m off on two journeys here so far, my spiritual journey and my one about faith. We’ll get back to the coffee in a bit and talk a bit more about faith.
There have been some interesting and thought-provoking comments posted - so thanks everyone, for your contributions so far.
My work has taken me to […]

I was reading a few comments on a political blog thread about the Greens vs the Exclusive Brethren and saw this comment
“I wish God would hurry up with the rapture so the impure could inherit the earth and start having a good time.”

First off - what is coffee?
Well coffee doesn’t dissolve instantly in water. It can’t be stored in a jar in powdered form and you can’t squeeze it out of a tube. There are a lot of ‘coffee flavoured’ and ‘coffee style’ things you can do this with, but coffee isn’t one of them.
Ok, yes I […]

Ok, I promised I’d get back to this so here I am.
I’m pretty tired right now so I may ramble (yes, you’ve looked at the timestamp of the post and its not even 9pm. . . My job at the moment is pretty full on and I don’t really have a team to delegate to […]

I was raised as a catholic and I received the sacraments of the catholic faith and participated in church life until the age of 24. I was raised in a catholic charismatic community, in which it was expected that the holy spirit would descend on you at some point and you would speak in tongues.
I […]

Grendel.
Ok - weird kinda name, like many internet handles.
There is a reason for it - anyone study early English literature? because this is from some of the very earliest. The story of how the hero Beowulf slew the monster Grendel. How I came to acquire the Dane-eating monster’s name rather than the hero’s […]

Okay - that’s me done for a couple of weeks.
I wanted to make a few comments on Mike’s book before calling it quits, but from here I leave you in the hands of Grendel who will keep things firing around here until I return. Thanks Mike!
I’ve been struggling with a sinus infection the last couple […]

I wanted to finish my reflections on this book before heading off on a break.
So here goes…
In short I found Exiles a challenging and stirring read. I had heard Mike present some of the content of the book in oral form when he was with us in Perth earlier this year for the Forge intensive. […]

May 15th 2003 was the day of my very first blog entry on what was then http://backyardmissionaries.blogspot.com The link takes you to the earliest stuff I could find courtesy of the wayback machine.
Since starting I have written pretty much continuously for the last 3 1/2 years and found blogging to be a practice […]

Yesterday we held our Forge Postcard event ‘Runs on the Board’.
One of the questions we are often asked as pioneers is ‘where are the runs on the board in experimental mission?’ Sometimes its asked with a good spirit and other times with a fair degree of cyncism. Either way we felt it was time to […]

Ok - this will disappoint the mac fans, but I have chosen to stay with a windows based machine… I have however taken a risk and bought thru ebay. Let’s hope it comes good…
My windows experiences haven’t been too bad at all over the years so when all was weighed up I liked the specs, […]

To all those still toiling away in difficult situations trying to bring change… this made me think of you…

Keep going!
Via

The genius of Alan Hirsch is finally in print again. This is a great book. I have only read the drafts, but I’d recommend it to anyone serious about missional activity in the west.
I couldn’t make a thumbnail pic for some reason so if you want to see the other half of the image right […]

Its ok because its annual “talk like a pirate day“.
So if you happen to call me today don’t be surprised if a different voice answers the phone

My laptop is about to be replaced. Its been over 3 years of faithful service, but its time to upgrade.
I have had a few people sing the praises of Macs lately and I must confess I am looking into them seriously.
If I were to buy one it’d probably be the mid range ‘MacBook’.
But I’m […]

Ok - here’s one for the armchair theologians to pontificate on…
I was chatting with a mate today who is a full time Christian worker. The conversation went like this:
Me: “So are you guys married yet?” (I knew his wedding was coming up)
Dave: “Yeah - we are - two weeks now”
Me: “Great - you got married […]