2011 was a wild year for me. Driving through Eastern Europe, a train across China, a earthquake in Turkey, a revolution in Egypt, taking my kids to monkey forest in Indonesia. And best of all, landing back in NZ to celebrate Christmas as a family. Tonight I am leading a short reflection time at our…
Read MoreWhat is the world’s coolest church?
At sub-zero temperatures, Germany’s igloo snow church that opened this week is by far the coolest and the coldest I have ever heard of. 49,000 blocks of ice and snow make up this church that resembles a similar structure built a hundred years ago when people wanted a church closer to home.
Read MoreA Christmas story: God has answered
At Christmas, we remember the day when God answered the world’s longing for a Saviour. Like the old man Simeon who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel”, the world was holding its breath awaiting the fulfillment of ancient prophecy. This Christmas, a baby girl with special needs needed a family to adopt her. The…
Read MoreHappy Christmas
Happy Christmas to everyone. Thanks for reading and joining our journey this year. We are now in New Zealand after a crazy year around the world and its good to be here. Quiet Christmas this year. Hope you have a good one. Talk in a few days.
Read MoreHello Asia in 2012
BIG NEWS: Asia will feature prominently in our lives in 2012 and also, obviously, this BLOG. This is good news. This is big news. 2011 was an incredible year! We found ourselves floundering about in about 20 countries which was less than 2010 but still a fair amount for a family with 5 kids on…
Read MoreNativity Scenes. Whose idea was that?
Nativity scenes have been part of Christmas for hundreds of years. Some of them are really cheesy. Marko has a list of the 20 worst nativity sets he has ever seen. I took my family on an adventure to seek out the original source of the nativity scene. Our pilgrimage took us to a small…
Read MoreFollowing the Footsteps of Paul Blog
In 2006, I suggested that Bible training in the future will happen on-location. Looks like the future has come early. “By 2050 the training of ministers will have shifted to where the students are located. Teachers will travel a third of their time. This will be cheaper and more effective than transplanting students. Cheap travel will…
Read MoreFrom Indonesia to Malaysia
We had to get up at 3am this morning to catch our CHEAP Air Asia flight from Indonesia to Malaysia [more leg room please]. My teenage girls arrived home at 2:50am from jamming and dancing with local musicians in Bali. Last night my daughter Elizabeth, who shaved her head last week to express a “new…
Read MoreTop Ten at Blogs.com
KUDOS to Blogs.com for including me on their Top Ten Blog list for Christianity, and to Patton Dodd for his impeccable taste in quality bloggage. I am still getting hits from this list. TOP TEN BLOGS IN CHRISTIANITY: Crunchy Con Culture Making Fors Clavigera Get Religion Internet Monk Jesus Creed (updated link) Ragamuffin Diva Real…
Read More2011: The year we talked about hell
In 2011, the hottest controversy among theoblogians and readers of religion blogs in the USA, as well as a few other countries, was the subject of “HELL” which was connected to a book called Love Wins by Rob Bell and a tweet by John Piper that simply said “Farewell Rob Bell” If you’re anything like…
Read MoreIndonesia the most biggest Punker
Punk is huge in Indonesia. Some people say the scene in Jakarta is one of the largest on the planet. Or as one blog says, “Indonesia is the most biggest Punker in the world”. Image source, Today I am meeting with punk musicians who are now heading up ministries around Indonesia.Ten years ago, I met…
Read MoreBorn Again Muslim
Last week I had a coffee with guy who calls himself a “born again Muslim”. His mother was the first in his Indonesian village to follow Isa (Jesus) and she met secretly for about 3 years with other Jesus followers to pray for their families. Her son soon had an encounter with Isa and he…
Read MoreEgypt the top twitter hashtag for 2011
Egypt tops the most popular twitter hashtags for 2011. HT:Rombizco TOP 10 TWITTER HASHTAGS #egypt #tigerblood #threewordstoliveby #idontunderstandwhy #japan #improudtosay #superbowl #jan25 Egypt was on my radar also and I spent some time there in November. My most popular blog post in 2011 was about the historic prayer gathering on 11.11.11 that I attended. Go Egypt!!!…
Read MoreGrowing Cafe Churches Singapore Style
Tim Wong flew home to Singapore yesterday but we are still talking about his cafe-churches or “missional cafe communities” as he calls them. “It costs $20 million to buy land and build a church in Singapore. For that much money, we could buy 100 coffee shops.” Tim Wong What’s interesting to me is that Tim’s…
Read MoreGatecrashing a Bali Wedding
Not really gatecrashing. We were swimming at a pool in Bali while a wedding happened next to us. In true Indonesian style, they invited us all in. We couldn’t say no Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr and Mrs Irwin Oley. Irwin is the Reservation Manager for Alila Hotels and Resorts in Bali.
Read MoreMissional Cafe Communities in Asia
“Why are people so upset at the emerging church?”, Tim Wong asked me last night over a mango juice at a Balinese party. We didn’t have time to plummet the jelloed depths of EC criticism, although I do enjoy the subject. But we did discuss cafe churches and how they have evolved from cheesy church-basement…
Read MoreYou won’t get HIV from reading this blog
Today is World Aids Day and the theme is “Getting to Zero“ I am writing this from a Christian shelter for drug addicts in Bali. Our family has been living here for a week, helping them to think through some sustainable micro-business solutions. There are also a few HIV orphans living here since their parents…
Read MoreBethlehemian Rhapsody [video]
Christmas season is upon us. Yesterday I got my family in the Christmas mood by showing Jeff Foxworthy’s Redneck 12 Days of Christmas Video which is almost as catchy as Christmas Time by The Darkness. Today, I discovered Bethlehemian Rhapsody – a “parody written by Mark Bradford and directed by Darla Robinson”. HT: WhyisMarko And another version.…
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