backyardmissionary

If you’ve been wanting to explore mission, discipleship and Christian living in the suburbs from a whole new perspective then here’s a golden opportunity to join the Upstream team and be part of the journey.
My good friend Owen Beck who lives just down the road from us in Brighton has recently got engaged to a […]

While we were away over Easter I read my copy of The New Conspirators, the latest book by Tom Sine (who will be speaking at the Forge Festival in 2 weekends time and then in Perth after that for a few days)
I don’t have time at the moment for an indepth review, but I will […]

People would rarely use the words ‘Hamo’ and ‘romance’ in the same sentence, however that’s not to say it isn’t possible…
Anyway today I enthusiastically said to ‘the wife’, ‘Next weekend we are in Busselton for the weekend- our wedding anniversary. What about we leave the kids with someone, book into Bunker Bay resort for a […]

Some excellent clarity of thought here. I post it as much for my own future reference as for your enjoyment.
“There is no agreement in the church today about what happens to people when they die. Yet the New Testament is crystal clear on the matter: In a classic passage, Paul speaks of “the redemption of […]

Having just got back from a Forge National team meeting in Melbourne, I’m off to the southwest with 6 or 7 families from the local community for a camp so things will be a little quieter around here.
Before you go and buy any Easter chocolate you should read Grendels’ post here….

Roo (aka Andrew patrick) is asking the question:
“I want to hear where people stand on the issue of evolution within a Christian context. Do you think it’s possible to follow Jesus and agree with evolution? Or are the two mutually exclusive?”
You can give him your thoughts over here.
FWIW I think ‘yes’. It is possible to […]

I had another email this week from the BUWA asking the question ‘how is your church influencing the community it is a part of?’ The results are to collated and used at the next Baptist assembly.
I was pondering how to answer this, and then I asked Danelle…
“By living in it and being part of […]

It seems a pretty standard trait of almost every church I’ve been a part of (including Upstream) that when it comes to praying in a group, we almost always ’share’ what’s going on (talk about it) and then when everyone’s had a turn we pray about it.
I have often wondered if the ’sharing’ isn’t actually […]

For those interested I’ve been invited to be the Christian speaker at the Freo Palm Sunday Peace Rally. Here’s the details:
16 Mar 2008 - 12:00pm
“Troops out of Iraq and Afganistan, No more war on terror - defend civil liberties, renewables not wars for oil.”
Kings Square, Adelaide St, Fremantle (outside town hall).

Come and say G’day if you’re there. […]

From Sacred Space today:
“When we speak of ‘letting your light shine before others’ what are we talking about?… It means living in such a way that our lives would not make sense if God did not exist.”
I like this description and find it sufficiently challenging to be an ongoing question for reflection.
In what way […]

I picked this up from Phil’s blog
For the unfamiliar a flashmob is a group of people who show up in a specific place at a specific time and do something together. They usually have no previous connection and are contacted via SMS. The results are often hilarious. Watch and enjoy!
Here are a few others to […]

I have just finished a ‘2 day’ retic job that took me 3 days and my body is telling me all about it.
A huge house with an intricate garden design that required 300 individual drippers connected up and functioning not to mention a couple of other idiosyncratic requests. I hadn’t done anything quite so […]

A couple of posts back where I was pondering how we are sometimes not seen as a real church by others (who invite us to come and join them), I made a comment regarding the new ‘Draft Covenant for Membership in Baptist Churches in WA’.
I had just finished reading the document and my comment […]

G’day!!!!
Hamo has invited me [Jarrod] be back this year and have some great stuff coming on the witness of the early Christians with my friend Ali and what it means for seeking lives of grace today!!!!  More of that latter.
But first hear is some stuff EPYC is partnering with to “Empower Peacemakers” bring the witness of “Radical Christianity” to the […]

Who can remember this classic Christian Television Advertisement?…

Chuckling or vomiting?…

I was meeting with Cameron today, one of our Forge interns and we were discussing some theological stuff.
He asked what Jesus meant in John 20, the part bolded:
John 20: 21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and […]

I always find it interesting when people ask me if we are connecting with a bigger church, or when people from nearby churches suggest we should just come and join them.
My response is increasingly ‘why don’t you come and join us?’ which only receives puzzled looks, as if to say ‘Why on earth would […]

Geoff and Sherry have written some great thoughts on the value of stability in a transient world.
As a lover of change the challenge of stability is something I wrestle with constantly. And at times like these when I feel quite tired and de-energised the appeal of a new place looms large.
They write:
“Will has suggested […]