backyardmissionary

Last night I watched an excellent episode of Compass - one which I also found incredibly infuriating and nauseating.
It was a lesson in how not to raise a child in a Christian home.
It was the study of one family’s life as their teenage daughter grew from 16 to 22 and sought to discover her own [...]

Danelle is off to Bali again for the next week and I am again Mr Mum.
It is her sister’s 40th brithday so she and her other sisters have made the trip across partly for that and partly for the work they do in the orphanages.
So until Saturday I am mum, dad and whatever else.
Might [...]

The bloke selling his life on ebay must be a tad disappointed.
The early bids of $2.2 million were false and when the auction ended today he had only managed to raise $399 300.00 for his house, contents and vehicles. Assuming the reserve was met I reckon someone got a pretty good buy.
I can’t imagine [...]

If you’ve followed this blog for a while then you’d know that it started as a way of documenting the journey we have been on as suburban missionaries, exploring different ways to express church and mission.
It was a way of trying to help those from our old church stay in touch. But I don’t [...]

After Ellie restated her disbelief in God last night she began asking us for proof. We went back over the ground we had been before, but she wanted concrete evidence.
Hmmm… tricky…
Then she came up with an idea of her own.
‘Hey remember that story in the Bible where the guy hung out a sheep’s fleece?’
‘Yep’
‘Well [...]

I sit in a cafe in Leederville this morning reading part II of Phil’s adventures in Afghanistan. (Part I is here)
I am very glad for my Leederville cafe workplace.
I am also inspired by and grateful for people like Phil & his family who keep going in places others wouldn’t even give a second thought to.
As [...]

I was reading Mark’s blog this morning, where he was discussing the role of leadership. I liked this quote:
“When you are a leader you place a megaphone to your dysfunctions, amplifying their devastating effects on those in your sphere of influence.”
One of those things that makes you go ‘oh crap…’

I was chatting with a friend last night and in our frivolity we discussed planting a ‘mega-church’. I have been pondering the idea further…
It got me wondering what would happen if:
- we set aside a couple of million dollars for seed capital, (this was the first obstacle )
- hired a team of brilliant professional [...]

I use Sacred Space a lot in my morning prayer. It often lets you know which section of the church year you are in eg. advent, pentecost or easter.
I can’t help noticing how much ‘ordinary time’ there is…
Another reminder that most of life is ordinary and this is where we must focus our energies.

The bloke who started selling his life yesterday is going to be very well set by the time he walks out the door!
The auction is up to $2 200 000.00 already with 5 days to go.
For a house and contents in Wellard, as well as vehicles and not a heap else I reckon he’d done [...]

It looks like this ship may have left port without me, but I have a few thoughts I’d like to add.
It is a synchroblog organised by Rick over at Blind Beggar and he frames it like this:
“I have a continuing concern that the term missional has become over used and wrongly used. Audio Ur posted [...]

Next time someone tells you to ‘get a life’ go here.
This Perth based bloke is selling his entire life on ebay.
Auction starts June 22nd if you’re interested… or not… I’m guessing if the current owner is putting it up for sale then it probably isn’t one you’d want to ‘own’.

If dejavu is feeling like you’ve done something before then I am wondering what the term is to describe the feeling of anticipating doing something. Maybe its ‘premonition’!
As an avid reader I have recently joined the new Brighton estate book club, meeting monthly on Monday nights. I was very much looking forward to it but [...]

Getting people to come to Butler to look at any item you have for sale is very very difficult. It is the most outlying northern suburb and most people don’t want to go there.
Today I had two calls about the Landy, both who lived a fair way away - but in suburbs I happened to [...]

If you live in Perth you have may have noticed the new TV and newspaper ads for land in Ellenbrook. The image they are using is this one.

The message is that while the rest of the city is slowing down in its property purchases you may well be able to get ahead financially by buying [...]

It seems that running a successful café these days is about finding a niche and being the best you can be in that zone. Very important in an increasingly competitive market.
I have just come back from two days down south where the choice of cafes has increased exponentially over the last few years and I [...]

I spent the last two days in the south west hanging out with the Binningup & Busselton crew as well as catching up with Steve Bailey of Christian Surfers. Steve’s a good bloke and I have been interested in how they have developed as a national movement. We are wearing some similar shoes - him [...]

Tonight Ellie told us the secret she has been keeping for quite a while.
She warned us that we might get angry with her and she was nervous about telling us… We have been wondering about this secret for a while and were even a little concerned. But its no use pushing Ellie on that stuff.
So [...]

Over the weekend we held our re-imagine learning days in the city and in Busselton. Both were really valuable, but it meant that yesterday I spent 7 hours in the car driving in the rain - very tiring and I felt it this morning.
Tomorrow I do it again.
I am off to meet with the Anglicans [...]

Red tape and inefficiency is one of those things that gives us all the irrits…
If you thought Oz was bad try living in Afghanistan.
Phil Sparrow is a West Ozzie living and working in Afghanistan with an NGO and has ben trying to get a work permit. This is a wonderfully excruciating story!
The moral - be [...]