Much of the time I tend to operate in my own world, too busy to ‘look over the parapet’ and see much of what other denominations are doing. However now and again I get an opportunity to do so. One such opportunity occurred a while ago when I was invited to a meeting on the … Continue reading There Are A Lot of Us ‘In the Box’
The Beast Devouring Mission
One of the aims of the designers of cars, trucks and planes is to make them lighter. This makes them more efficient because less energy, that is fuel, is needed just to propel the vehicle itself and more is available for either more speed, acceleration or a bigger payload. This can serve as an analogy … Continue reading The Beast Devouring Mission
Back to the Celts for Our Future
In 563 AD an Irish prince set out with a bunch of friends in small coracles to cross the Irish Sea to the wild west coast and islands of what now is Scotland. The purpose of the dangerous journey was mission, to take the gospel to the fierce pagan tribes of Scotland. He and his companions set up a … Continue reading Back to the Celts for Our Future
Green Shoots in the Melancholy Sadness
During my recent travels through the United Kingdom I took the opportunity to visit, in some cases revisit, a number of famous cathedrals, abbeys etc. as well as more humble local churches. As I did so I felt an overwhelming sense of melancholic sadness, for here was I in the ‘Valley of Dry Bones’. For … Continue reading Green Shoots in the Melancholy Sadness
Who Will Be Timothy?
It is my conviction, and the 'driver' of the 'Unbounded Church' concept, that the church urgently needs to be set free from its rigid, cumbersome and change-averse ‘Christendom’ influenced forms and structures in order to be ‘A church as we haven’t known it for a society as we haven’t known it’. For this reason I … Continue reading Who Will Be Timothy?
A Herd of Elephants-‘Conversations’ We Need to Have
The inspiration for this Unbounded Church site is an idea-the idea that the Australian church, if it is to resurrect its mission, needs to be unbound. That is it needs to be set free from its current rigid, cumbersome and change-averse ‘Christendom’ influenced forms, structures and mission strategies in order to be – ‘A church … Continue reading A Herd of Elephants-‘Conversations’ We Need to Have
Mission and the ‘Einsteinian’ Insanity
Albert Einstein defined ‘Insanity’ as “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result!” I was reminded of this by the experience of a number of our ministry leaders who took a group of teenagers to a regional youth outreach event. The intention was that church youth would invite non-church friends … Continue reading Mission and the ‘Einsteinian’ Insanity
‘System Failure!’
A recent headline to an article by Paul Kelly of the ‘Australian' newspaper caught my eye. It read- “Broken System Can't Fix the Nations Problems" Of course Kelly was referring to what he calls the "failure in Australia's political system". However I think paraphrasing Kelly’s title a little to “Broken System Can't Fix the Churches … Continue reading ‘System Failure!’
The Village
In the ‘Village’ pretty much everyone dressed up and gathered in the church building for the Sunday service. During the week they lived and worked in, or in close proximity to, the ‘Village’, either on the land, or in service enterprises (blacksmiths, coopers, shoemakers etc). This proximity meant that they rubbed shoulders with and connected … Continue reading The Village
“Crying Jesus Tears”
At a recent gathering I attended a young international university student told us how his heart was breaking, and I started to wonder why. Was it because of some personal loss, a relationship break up or death of a loved one? No he told us, his heart was breaking over the spiritual status of three … Continue reading “Crying Jesus Tears”
