Wishing Pope Benedict XVI a smooth transition into his next phase of life as simply Joseph Ratzinger. What a surprise!! I was thinking of running for Pope. Change is good. I have been a Baptist, an Anglican, and a Presbyterian, but never a Catholic. And besides that, the Catholics have the coolest church buildings, especially…
Read MoreRemembering Richard Twiss
My friend Richard Twiss just passed away from a massive heart attack. He was a great man, activist, thinker, a pioneer and spokesperson for First Nations people in general and Native Americans in particular. Cody L. has some good thoughts and links. I first met Richard 24 years ago in Vancouver, Washington when I was…
Read MoreWilf and Jan and 50 years of marriage
Wilf and Jan Wright have been married 50 years. They invited us to their wedding anniversay and we had a hoot. Their photographer forgot his camera but I had mine – yes someone donated a camera to replace my old Panasonic which was stolen by Christians in Egypt (another story) and I now have an…
Read MoreLiving Lighter
We just finished volunteering at the Organic River Festival. It’s an amazing thing to set up a village out of nothing, share a great experience with a lot of people, and then pack it all down again. Highlights were hanging out with young people from Germany and France (WOOFers) who were the main volunteer force,…
Read MoreTapu Te Ranga with Bruce Stewart
“I got out of jail with $25 and a dream”, Bruce Steward, Stuff At the invitation of Bruce Stewart we are parked up at the amazing urban Marae Tapu te Ranga, a creation of Bruce and friends who built it out of recycled materials in the 1970’s. This “living marae”, which can accommodate 300 people, sits on 24…
Read MoreEgypt: 2 Years Later
So it’s 2 years after the historic Protest at Tahrir Square and things are still really really dodgy in Egypt. Some great stories, but much suffering and hardship. As you probably know, we went to Cairo in 2011 during a very difficult patch for the church and were there to witness the historic all night prayer…
Read MoreTallskinnykiwi interview with Frank Viola
My friend Frank Viola just posted an interview he did with me a few months ago. Its about blogging and the early days of Christian blogging. You might have noticed that I have only been blogging once a week at the most and over the past year I haven’t spent much time at all in…
Read MoreCatching up
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 More