A little catch up with me . . – Our family has just spent a whole year in a monastery, enjoying the prayers three times daily and being. We leave here in a week or so and will be back on the road, and hopefully with more time to blog and write. It was a…
Read MoreSynchroblog: Serving the homeless
This post is part of today’s Synchroblog on Serving Others in the New Year “We can’t solve hunger by throwing cans of food at people. We can’t solve the homeless problem by sentencing vagrants to a life of unaffordable mortgage repayments.” I said that a few months ago, as part of our Worldwide Dinner Party. But…
Read More25 Years Ago: Shipwreck of the MV Logos
25 years ago the mission ship MV Logos hit a reef in South America. Debbie and I had been sailing on the Logos for 2 years but had left some months before the tragedy. We were deeply saddened to hear of the loss of the ship but thankful that our friends on board all got…
Read More2012: Muslims, Marijuana, Mormons and other things that make you go mmmmmmm
I kept a pretty low profile in 2012 with some pathetic sporadic blogging and only the occasional dip into blog controversies surrounding the church. But despite my silence, I was doing my best to keep up on the conversation. Here are my big M’s of the Christian blogosphere in 2012, all of them stemming from…
Read MoreAfternoon tea with Douglas Campbell
Just finished a nice cuppa with Douglas Campbell of Duke Divinity School. Douglas is the author of a whopping 1200 page book called “The Deliverance of God” which Tom Wright says will take readers breath away and, according to one reviewer, “some enthusiastic readers proclaim Campbell’s book as potentially the most high-impact work on Paul…
Read MoreMissions Conference highlights a Third Way regarding indigenous missions and new expressions of church.
December 29th marked the culmination of a great international missions conference. Highlights were a Christmas morning resolution, drafted by the Japanese and Chinese delegates and adopted unanimously, and a long series of talks that dealt with, among other issues, the increasing interest of the gospel among Muslims, Muslim secret believers, indigenous churches, relating to other…
Read MoreNinety Mile Beach
We just got back after 6 weeks on the road, driving up to the top of New Zealand’s north island. The highlight for us was Ninety Mile Beach, a deserted wild beach on the West Coast that is actually about ninety kilometers in length. We drove the whole beach which was exhilarating and memorable. Keep…
Read MoreMy role in The Hobbit: I was the Fairest of the Elves
The Hobbit premieres tomorrow. My daughter Elizabeth attended a special opening event in Wellington but we are all waiting for the real thing to release. I think most people would agree that my role was pivotal to the success of the movie and, indeed, I was the fairest of the Elves. But before I tell…
Read MoreHanging with the Brethren Church
We visited my old Brethren church yesterday which is now called Orewa Community Church. I attended the youth group here as a teenager and a few people remembered me. I have been away overseas for 30 years so I thought it would be just POLITE to return and say hi, and thanks. Good Bible teaching, as always.…
Read MoreCatholic Worker Community in Hokianga
We are spending a few days up in the north with the Catholic Worker community who are spread over various low-tech farms in the Whirnaki/Opononi area of the Hokianga harbour, a site famous for the entry of Methodist and Catholic missionaries into New Zealand in the 1700’s. Great people. Some of them are fourth generation…
Read MorePassionFest 2013
Passionfest is one of our favourite micro-festivals and there is always a strong emphasis on justice from a Christian perspective. I have been asked to speak at the next one along with Dave Andrews and Alison Robinson. Feb 22-24, 2013. Bring your tent.
Read MoreAmerican Christians and the Mormon factor
Right now is an interesting time in American politics and religion. There are plenty of conservative evangelical Christians in USA who are about to vote for a Mormon to be their president. Who woulda thunk??? I read a few snippets on Billy Graham removing the “cult” status on the BGEA website. I would be curious to…
Read MoreBlogsy
Now that we are on the road again and living with reduced electricity, I am trying to adjust my blogging and social media accordingly. Blogsy for iPad might help me blog more often and easier. Worth a try. This is my first post from Blogsy. OK heres a test ride. A few videos thrown in…
Read MoreWhy I decided to become a follower of CHRISLAM
You know when a word has real scare potential when Hal Lindsay starts using it on TV. Like the word “CHRISLAM”. Last year, televangelist Jack Van Impe got kicked off TBN for calling Rick Warren a ‘Chrislam’ promoter. Rick Warren says the newspaper reports were false and he does not promote Chrislam, but the damage had already been…
Read MoreGlobal Church Forum
A really important missions gathering is happening from Tuesday to Thursday in Chicago and is being streamed. I was invited to be there and blog the conference but I am still in the southern hemisphere and couldn’t make it. But I hope it goes well. A lot of my friends are speaking there and I think…
Read MoreBlog Action Day: The Power of We
Today is Blog Action Day when bloggers from 100+ countries post something on the changing the world. You may remember my earlier posts on the themes of poverty (2008) and water (2010). This year’s theme is “The Power of We”. No urination jokes, thank you very much you Australians, even though I am sure it probably…
Read MoreLiving Simply in a Complex World
UPDATE: Living Simply in a Complex World – Videos on YouTube are here: Part 1, 2, 3, 4. If you are interested in buying the DVD, please contact the people at www.franciscanthirdorder.godzone.net.nz ORIGINAL POST: Susan Pitchford was in town recently, at the invitation of the Third Order Society of St Francis, and I was asked to video the…
Read MoreTime to unplug?
Nice to see people talking about UNPLUGGING from their social media networks and fasting from blogging. Some of us need to every once in a while, especially us blogaholics. Check out this infograf that my social media network served up to me, while I was wasting time . . . . Thanks Pinterest. Source: cdn.bitrebels.netdna-cdn.com…
Read MorePizza Yodero for the Mennonites
25 Mennonites will arrive today and stay for the weekend. Tonight is pizza night so I thought about creating a pizza that will reflect Mennonite influence. Sparse, strong, thrifty but satisfying in a non-epicurean way. But puhleeezzeeeeeee NO BEANS because that would be just plain WRONG! The leaders of this group are Jim and Kathy…
Read MoreOur WorldWide Dinner Party
Tonight was our worldwide dinner party as part of the Feast on Good movement. We made our own pizza and had a nice dessert (thanks Claire!) The issue we chose to tackle was poverty in our area. Here’s what we came up with. Poverty is a real issue in our area. We want to help…
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