Yesterday I was at All Saints [Hataitai] Church to witness and participate in a covenant signing ceremony. But before you get all excited about that word “covenant“, I should tell you that: 1. Yes, I know all about last week’s contract/covenant controversy at Mars Hill Seattle and agree that covenants can be abused to control people…
Read MoreTall skinny elves at The Hobbit casting call
I took my tallest kids over to Lower Hutt today for The Hobbit casting call. Filming starts next month for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and they were looking for extras: the short, the tall, the skinny, men with big biceps [not me} and those with ‘character faces’. Unfortunately, 3000 people turned up and they could…
Read MoreSweet Voice Amber Hunter
Amber Hunter has been giving songs away online for years but now is creating her first CD. She led worship at our roundtable gathering at Cornerstone Festival last year and we really loved having her there. She has a story to tell. Watch the video and if you want to help out, visit her project…
Read MoreWhat if church could be more like summer camp?
Camps are cool. My youngest kids went to Christian camps last week. TJ (9) went to El Rancho and Hannah (14) went to Lakeview Bible Camp with some Gospel Chapel people from Foxton. They had a great time. They came home with huge smiles and heads full of memories. I also have very fond memories of New Zealand…
Read MoreTop 15 Ways Pastors Get Rich
Ever been ripped off by a pastor? It’s embarrassing. In San Francisco many years ago, my wife and I were relieved of our wedding rings at a Pentecostal meeting. The mega-church preacher had flown in “unexpectantly” from Argentina to host this spontaneous meeting for us pastors and leaders. I don’t remember if I handed over…
Read MoreThe Bourne Ecclesiology
Can’t wait for the next movie in the Bourne series. Here’s a suggestion.
Read MoreNeo-Reformed Movement and the Fiasco
– David Fitch asks an interesting question regarding Driscoll as the poster-boy for the Neo-Reformed Movement and the emphasis on hierarchical authority: My question is: are these assumptions part of the larger Neo-Reformed movement as a whole and does this mean that the Neo-Reformed will always be inhibited somewhat from true missional engagement? (Can I…
Read MoreLausanne Young Leaders
Nominations are open for the Lausanne Consultation for North American Younger Leaders, July 24-26, 2012 in Madison, Wisconsin. Go here to nominate someone. Feb 3 is the deadline. Because this gathering is by invitation only, we are seeking recommendations. Participants must: be in their 20s or 30s have a broad influence in their country for the…
Read MoreBest Coffee in Wellington
Wellington, New Zealand. This little city of 400,000 apparently has more coffee shops per capita than New York and more coffee roasters than London. It’s fast becoming a coffee capital of the world. I went to visit Peoples Coffee at the recommendation of pretty much everyone. We visited Matt Lamason, who started the business in 2004…
Read MoreBack to Turkey for earthquake follow-up
Looks like I am going back to Turkey next month. You remember a few months ago we delivered blankets and warm clothes in the first week of the earthquake. There is some follow-up work with the earthquake that I am involved in. Very exciting but will be hard to leave the family. I am looking…
Read MorePioneer Mission Leadership Training
Great news for training for Anglican ministry and ordination, especially young people working in pioneer urban situations. I have blogged about this a few times along the way because we have been supporting this process in a number of ways. Heres the news: CMS has been given the BIG THUMBS UP to train ordinands in…
Read MoreNew Christian websites
2 new Christian websites are launching soon that you should know about: OpenChurch.com from USA (January) courtesy of Kent Shaffer. Christian.co.uk from UK (February). Everyone say hello to Ian Matthews. Both are open for Christian content, articles, blog posts, etc. Go check them out, join them and submit something before the crowds come. What other similar…
Read MoreThe English church that went up a mountain but came down a hill
I have lived in USA for ten years and UK for five. In both countries I worked for the churches. They are different, the churches in USA and UK, something that became more evident this weekend after Mark Driscoll suggested the UK church was the poorer for not having any well-known teachers. Interview is here.…
Read MoreReligion: Love it and Hate it
Discussion going on about a YouTube video released this week with 10 million hits already. “Why I hate religion but love Jesus” by spoken word artist Jefferson Bethke, was also the most watched video on Facebook. Jeff seems a nice guy and his message sounds like mine when I was his age. Some people are confused…
Read MoreThe wonderful and lonely path of Dieter Zander
Dieter Zander is one of those guys who make a huge impact on you. In the eighties he pioneered one of the first GenX churches in USA. In the nineties was a well-known pastor and worship leader at Willow Creek. But even then he was a lovely person [its possible!!!] and success had not gone…
Read MoreGuys in dresses preaching to grandmas
What does a sex-drenched society need most of all? Another book on sex, perhaps? Some preachers think so. In Texas, Ed and Lisa Young are promoting their new book on sex from the rooftop of their house as part of a Sexperiment. [Sounds like “Buy our book or we will do something you will regret!”] And…
Read MoreMulti-media gospel preaching from 1892
The “Wordless Book” being used in open air preaching. From the book “China’s Millions”. Found by Matt Stone. Nice find, Matt!!!!
Read MoreJasmin Jones in the house
No relation, but musician/surfer-chick Jasmin Jones from the band Triplet is in the house. Make that IN THE YURT, because a few days ago we managed to fix up a storm damaged yurt and move into it. Jasmin is the Ozzie-born daughter of a Kiwi dad and Portuguese mum and is in NZ for a month. She…
Read MorePractices of a new Jesus movement
I visited a number of Asian countries in 2011 and was amazed at the dynamism and commitment of the young Jesus followers. One network, in a country that I will not mention, stuck out to me as an outstanding example. They have started almost a thousand new communities, many of them multiplying into the…
Read MoreThe Christians stole my camera
If my blog has been lacking in cool photos recently, its probably because I no longer have a camera. The Christians stole it. It was in Cairo, Egypt, last November, when I found myself pushing and shoving inside a thousands-strong mob of Christians trying to enter the Cave church for all night prayer meeting. I…
Read More