tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40113812011-09-05T10:20:29.998+10:00Stinky Convoluted Past is Dreamland's collaborative Blog. Dreamland consists of Stephen Said, Mark Sayers, Darren Rowse, Kel Smyth and Alan Hirsch (Forge).markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.comBlogger801100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1075445414337844422004-01-30T16:50:00.000+10:002004-09-15T11:46:35.090+10:00

Off to {neurotribe.net}... Well, I have decided that it is time to start my own blog. I seem to be the only one blogging here and (a) I don't want everyone thinking I speak for the whole site here and (b) there is some more personal stuff related to me and the journey of my own community that I want to record, so you can catch me at neurotribe.net...

Stephennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1073862315756457472004-01-12T08:41:00.000+10:002004-01-12T09:07:02.610+10:00

Gearing up for the week... And what a big week it will be! First up is Soul Survivor in Melbourne. We are doing gigs on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Then for me, it is off to Perth in Western Australia for AMUC. I just got an email from my mate Steve McKinnon in Perth and he has organised some great catch up times with some key emerging church and urban mission leaders there. I am so excited!

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1073430528205334762004-01-07T09:04:00.000+10:002004-01-07T09:11:09.060+10:00

Intensive Time Working on putting together the February Intensive. The intensives are always a good time to catch up with mates in mission, and also to see new faces on the scene. We were truly inspired by the open night at the December intensive. I think we have really turned a corner. It is no longer a matter of trying to agitate for change, change is upon us. It was evidenced by the crowd of

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1073259048013430662004-01-05T09:23:00.001+10:002004-01-05T09:32:41.450+10:00

That other thing I do... I thought that I might also keep tabs on our fledgling missional community as it develops too. Well, we finished up a week before Christmas and are planning a kickoff at the end of Jan. The idea here is to think about the disciplines that will act as our core. Think of it as an embodied mission statement rather than one you write down on paper. As Greg (one of the

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1073258789286856032004-01-05T09:23:00.000+10:002004-01-05T09:28:06.686+10:00

Technology Here I am at the start of a new year, with a great refreshing break behind me and my laptop dies two days before I start back at work! Sheesh... So here I am waiting for the Dell technician to arrive. I had such grand plans for the day. Anyhoo, hooking up with Rob Lutton from GIA to talk about this conference idea we have been kicking around for emerging leaders in Australia. It is

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1070862899809672412003-12-08T15:54:00.000+10:002003-12-08T15:56:00.170+10:00

End of an Internship I finished my Fore Internship last week. I mean I still have the second half of the second essay to write, but essentially, I have finished the practical component of a year long missional internship. It is bizarre... I have worked for Forge for the last 5 years or so and this is the first time I did it as an intern. It was a powerfully transforming experience. I must say

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1069815094086186352003-11-26T12:51:00.000+10:002003-11-26T12:52:19.373+10:00

Advent The other thing was that the household (we have a share house) has just begun advent together. I kicked off the reflection and asked the question, "if Jesus was coming to dinner Christmas Christmas eve, what would we be doing?", and there were interesting responses. The two main ones were wanting to brush up on who the visitor is so we could have an interesting evenings conversation, and

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1069814722392233362003-11-26T12:45:00.000+10:002003-11-26T12:46:07.140+10:00

Haven't blogged for ages. It is the end of the year, the time when all the essays are due. It has been a pretty tough year, and I had to remind myself that I have visited two different countries this year and spent about 2 months overseas. I do not know how people do it for a living. The year is coming to and end and there are some pretty big vocational changes that I will hopefully be able to

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1066971605107778672003-10-24T15:00:00.000+10:002003-10-24T15:00:05.336+10:00

Love I think I am in love. For the small fee of $20 US I am free of spam! This little application kills spam before it gets to your inbox so you don't waste valuable bandwidth. I hope you don't mind the plug, I was just so excited. It is not uncommon for me to get 120 emails a day and 100 of them are spam. I should be less stressful these days. Had a good catchup with my mate Adam, one of the

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1066942241701811942003-10-24T06:50:00.000+10:002003-10-24T06:50:41.166+10:00

Baptismo I am off to see the Baptists, the wonderful Baptists of Oz... (To the tune of "The Wizard of Oz)... How very extemporaneous of me? Been asked to share with some Baptist Youth Pastors this morning what I'm thinking about this morning and to challenge them. I think I am going to talk about Ruth (see Tue Sept 30th post) and get them thinking about the long term effects of Youth Ministry.

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1066906805484955792003-10-23T21:00:00.000+10:002003-10-23T21:00:05.703+10:00

All New Super Crime Saturday I hate having to come up with something intelligent for blogging and email subject lines so I have resorted to an old practice of mine from years gone by in IT. I just use the last phrase I saw, a commercial on TV for a new programming lineup. Just finished hacking through my emails after a day of contrasts. I met with a young emerging leader who imho is doing some

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1066627428031497342003-10-20T15:23:00.000+10:002003-10-20T15:23:47.873+10:00

Do we really believe in the Kingdom? Had a great chat to Matt Fredrickson from the Eden Project in Melbourne today. I am always inspired by people doing mission. I even got to use my favorite thought in the conversation today. "Church is what happens, after you do mission." I think the thing that I felt most strongly today was, do we really believe in God's Kingdom? I mean in the Hebaic sense,

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-106603112293609912003-10-13T17:45:00.000+10:002003-10-13T17:45:22.503+10:00

The end of the road... This will be my last blog from the UK. I head of later this evening back home. Yeah! I feel a bit of sadness, I met some great people in Tearfund UK, and connecting with the 24/7 guys was also a bit of an inspiration. Catching up with Johnny Baker was pretty cool as well. I think I will be praying for these guys on a regular basis these days. I often feel that my work in

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1065260311297316132003-10-04T19:38:00.000+10:002003-10-04T19:39:13.633+10:00

Prayer AND Mission Spent some time with the guys from 24/7 Prayer and all I can say is that I was pretty inspired. To be honest, I was a little apprehensive. I did not know anything about these guys. Part of me was expecting those spooky prayerful types that float a few inches above the ground, like the nun in Blues Brothers. Matt and Oria were great value. The thing that excited me the most

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1065165216256013102003-10-03T17:13:00.000+10:002003-10-03T17:13:36.296+10:00

Transcendence Overload Went to the Chicane gig last nite in Manchester. Was struck by a few things. The similarity between the gig and some alt.worship endeavours left me thinking that alt.worship is still along the "come and consume" line. Also had an interesting chat with a colleague of mine in ministry here in the UK. Is church about "coming to get something"? I guess the reason that this is

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1065005392900993482003-10-01T20:49:00.000+10:002003-10-01T20:54:00.686+10:00

Identity Crisis When I was a kid, I went to a school that had a uniform and my next door neighbor went to one that did not have a uniform. I remember my next door neighbor asked me why our school had a uniform. I remember replying "so when I get out the front door, if I forget where I am supposed to go, I'll just look for the other uniforms like mine and then follow them to school". (Witty child

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1064927459148704792003-09-30T23:10:00.000+10:002003-09-30T23:14:40.680+10:00

There I was, in that same pub in Oxford that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien used to sit and muse. And sit an muse I did. I sat and mused with Ruth (not her real name), a young Australian woman, working in the city of Oxford. Do I often pick up strange Australian women whilst travelling alone in the UK? No, you see Ruth is a woman who used to be part of a youth ministry that Lisa and I were

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1061808486264874042003-08-25T20:48:00.000+10:002003-09-30T23:11:53.213+10:00

I never realised that Mark's photo on this site looks like a security camera mugshot.

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1061808376359030682003-08-25T20:46:00.000+10:002003-08-25T20:46:16.226+10:00

"The things that we once thought were interuptions are now the point." That was how my friend Greg summed up his experience of Ignition. We finished the course officially yesterday and to be honest, I am still reeling as to the consequences this 12 weeks of immersion in mission has had on our little group. We talked about the journey and the effect has been profound. The temptation is to focus on

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1059792954601376662003-08-02T12:55:00.000+10:002003-08-02T13:27:38.546+10:00

Mine and Mike Frost's book (The Shaping of Things to Come (Henrickson) is about to be released (at last!!) and so I have been wondering about who/what I can dedicate this book to. Basically, I could not get past all the everyday heroes that make up the Forge network past and present. I really am inspired by people who are willing to try new things and are willing to take risks in the name of

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503068294670421340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1059527680484656912003-07-30T11:14:00.000+10:002003-07-30T11:14:40.463+10:00

It was good to hang with Darren (livingroom.org.au) yesterday morning and pray about some of the stuff occuring in our community. It was also good to talk about the stuff that is happening, so we asked God to help us to see the good, and to try and help us to look at things in a more organic way as opposed to a machine like way that we are used to. Had a couple of good conversations with some

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1059367576273941712003-07-28T14:46:00.000+10:002003-07-28T14:49:05.183+10:00

Well, it all just went pear shaped for us this weekend. One of the people that Lis has been getting to know in our local community was murdered last week. Someone came up to me at a workshop I was participating and asked me how our experiment was going. I mentioned Hurstbridge (which is where we live) and then he said something about a body being discovered in a shallow grave just north of our

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1059054904485738862003-07-24T23:55:00.000+10:002003-07-24T23:55:04.303+10:00

And another thing! I was at the Baptist Union of Victoria's "Young Adult Ministry" morning. A discussion of Christian leaders involved in some way shape or form, with ministry amongst young adults in Victoria, Australia. The key inputer (is that a word?) was Kaye Dohle, a friend of mine involved in Young Adult ministry here in Melbourne. The first real interesting thing was that Kaye has a

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1059054088190116402003-07-24T23:41:00.000+10:002003-07-24T23:41:28.073+10:00

Had a chat to Dazza (see the link in the side bar) the other day and shared with him my frustration with blogging, one of them anyway. You see, I am part of this evolving network experiment in the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne, trying to figure out what it means to be the people of God in a missional mode. The problem I have is that a few of the people that God is connecting Lis and I with

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1058777954003117092003-07-21T18:59:00.000+10:002003-07-21T18:59:13.760+10:00

What a busy last few days. Bust for two reasons. The first one is that the missional experiment that I am part of in the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne seems to be stirring somewhat. A friend of mine is starting to develop the notion of missional community. He is interested in gathering around some of his friends who have fallen through the "church cracks" and go on a discipleship journey

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1058424666951207272003-07-17T16:51:00.000+10:002003-07-17T16:51:06.950+10:00

Well how excited am I? This post is the first to come to you from a Linux desktop. I have finally demicrosofted myself. I feel as though the weight of sin has been lifted from my shoulders. I can check out my dvd's, burn cd's, edit all of my applications with the freeware office application called OpenOffice (you can use it on Windoze if you like to, screw the big multinational!) all completley

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1057121736927293772003-07-02T14:55:00.000+10:002003-07-02T14:57:12.546+10:00

Currently at the Forge Intensive. For those who know not what a Forge Intensive is, it is a time when new and current "church planters" from all over Oz get together with some input sessions and round table conversations with some of the best local and international practitioners in the emerging church scene. This year is my first year at Forge as an official student. I am doing the internship

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-1056678561226881432003-06-27T11:49:00.000+10:002003-06-27T11:50:47.300+10:00

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. As StrongBad (www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail.html) would say, "The system was down". Apparently this blog update software should be new and improved. I am getting scared as I am getting older. When will the new and improved me be available? What changes will they make? Anyway, just wanted to get this quote up here: "Urban is no longer a geographical place,

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-949729472003-05-28T14:08:00.000+10:002003-05-28T14:08:51.070+10:00

Ignition, Ignition, Ignition. Yes it is all that I talk about. How can you not when it has such a profound effect on your life and the lives of those with whom you are journeying? We meet weekly at the Diamond Creek Pub and again it was another time of being struck by just how much of a gulf there is between the traditional/contemporary church models and the average joes who live in the homes

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-944370322003-05-16T17:33:00.000+10:002003-05-16T17:33:47.453+10:00

mark (my colleague) sent me this incredible quote from Stanley Grentz. check it... Dr. Grenz: Despite their critique of modernism, evangelicals seem to have grown quite comfortable in the modern world. Several factors have contributed to this. For example, many historians of evangelicalism point out that although its roots lie in the Reformation, the evangelical movement as we know it today was

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-937974352003-05-05T23:05:00.000+10:002003-05-05T23:05:46.570+10:00

Strange how every time I log on to Stinky and see SS has been blogging that it strikingly resembles what we're going through with our fragile little community too. I had similar feelings today as I met with someone also wanting to know more about what we're on about and expressing interest in joining. Whilst the prospect of others joining our rag tag band of travellers, it also scares me half to

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-937815962003-05-05T14:28:00.000+10:002003-05-05T14:28:33.160+10:00

it's all a matter of perspective really. i am fully convinced these days of the statement the grass is always greener. i mean, here i am feeling like i am holding a fragile thing in my hands, that definatley needs more than two hands to hold. this loose network of people who are trying to do church together. i feel like it is taking so long, that we are not really accomplishing very much, that

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-933839062003-04-28T16:19:00.000+10:002003-04-28T16:20:14.000+10:00

what a fantastic afternoon of contradictions! finally, i was able to get a bunch of people who i have informally been "doing" church with over the last few years. some still hanging in there trying to fix it, others in the process of leaving, others considerably gone. we gathered in a pub midway between where we all lived on the outskirts of melbourne to begin "ignition", the bible study written

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-933834622003-04-28T16:05:00.000+10:002003-04-28T16:20:37.000+10:00

(con't from previous post) then the contradiction. i headed over to a church building church for a baptismal service. one of the girls who lives in our home was getting baptised. i have not been part of a church building church for over 2 years now. i have been a few times to services for different things but this was the first time in about 2 years as a non doer. it was a bizzare experience for

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-926296852003-04-15T14:30:00.000+10:002003-04-24T13:40:31.000+10:00

i love the scientific mind. "is it a house church?" ask those who are aware that i am experimenting again. "well, i guess so, we meet in our homes occassionally and have dinner, conversations and pray together, but we also meet in the local pub too". "oh, so you're a pub church then?" again, curiosity. "well, as you have already pointed out we meet in our homes as well, but in addition to our

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-919692712003-04-04T17:46:00.000+10:002003-04-04T17:54:51.000+10:00

For those of you who have been asking for an online version of Ignition here it is! Ignition is a 12 week course for people who want to engage in innovative mission, in the place where they live. It is for people who want to learn and be challenged about the missional nature of God and want to find creative ways of being his people. Ignition is a course that places together people in small

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-906761152003-03-14T09:52:00.000+10:002003-03-14T09:54:25.000+10:00

Just posted two more articles to Phuture. One by New Zealander Mick Duncan on 'The Death of OUTRAGE' and another with information on Forge's latest resource - IGNITION. Get your copy now!

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-906302952003-03-13T14:28:00.000+10:002003-03-13T14:28:33.356+10:00

Just launched forge Queensland. It was a blast!! 70 really open and missionally excited people came together...some already doing really innovative missional things. Among the group though, were some Established Church bods who found it a little too much to cope with. I must say that I have a hard time with those happy-positive pastor-tacher types who are so much into control....you know, the

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503068294670421340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-905532812003-03-12T10:19:00.000+10:002003-03-12T10:19:57.200+10:00

what a weekend! i spoke at two workshops at forest edge and i am pretty sure i am just about as excited as the people who attended my workshops. here is what one of the festival organisers had to say in an email that i received this morning... "I know you had a good response to what you presented to people, and I certainly had positive discussions with others about you and your offerings. To my

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-895180562003-02-22T07:27:00.000+10:002003-02-25T08:03:47.000+10:00

Pictures above gone till we find a place to store them! :-) So for now you'll just have to imagine our cheesey smiles and Roger David looks. UPDATE They are back....as spunky as ever.....love that Steve shot! (far right!)

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-894243262003-02-20T19:57:00.000+10:002003-02-20T19:57:00.896+10:00

Just updated Phuture with two articles and a new discussion forum - check them out!

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-888209902003-02-10T10:31:00.000+10:002003-02-10T10:32:56.000+10:00

Wow! What a busy week or two. We all had a great time at the forge first intensive which as always provided a stimulating input on missional church in the developed world. Normaly the week after I suffer from information overload.! I also spoke last night at Balwyn baptist about our ignition project. For those who are interested here is a good little article which introduces people to simple

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-882991612003-01-31T11:16:00.000+10:002003-01-31T11:16:13.353+10:00

well i just finished my tour in 'nam. what an experience. i have to hack through the debriefing stuff now. it is good to be back. i now have to turn my mind to our fledgling community. it is amazing to think that these expressions of god's kingdom can be so fragile. and then to reflect on the fragile nature of people and the complex web of relationships that we weave, combined with the fact that

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-880937632003-01-27T22:59:00.000+10:002003-01-27T22:59:42.310+10:00

Sometimes being a christian is hard. Just had dinner with a friend who dosen't know Jesus yet, a fantastic guy, who was telling me all about his ability to remember everything that has ever been said or done against him. When I asked him why he dosen't forgive, he replied that he does forgive, but just stores everything up, just incase he needs to use it to his advantage one day. I'm not sure

Kelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07343714607637009059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-879439962003-01-24T16:35:00.000+10:002003-01-24T16:35:12.103+10:00

Added this new article to Phuture - a review of the excellent little book - Multiplying Churches, edited by Stephen Timmis.

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-878803882003-01-23T14:16:00.000+10:002003-01-23T14:16:48.583+10:00

ps - someone please feel free to fix my grammar. the link here is ssssssssllllllllllllooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww....

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-878800172003-01-23T14:08:00.000+10:002003-01-23T14:08:45.636+10:00

hey guys, been keeping tabs on the conversation. mark, i am praying for liverpool! there is so much english football here it is fantastic. headed back from a field trip in north west vietnam. the impact of ourconsumer needs on local tribes is incredible. the only explaination i could give to the group was it's like playing monopoloy but these people got an "i owe the bank $2000" at the begining

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-877668912003-01-21T14:51:00.000+10:002003-01-21T14:59:12.000+10:00

I gave the teaching at south melbourne restoration community on sunday. did a bit of reflecting upon the whole idea of eternity. seems that the idea of eternity carries quite a bit of cultural clout in a world obbsessed with temporality. Our discipleship is hamstrung by Immediacy and this slavery to immediacy comes from our fear of boredom. The children of this condition are superficiality,

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-877634272003-01-21T13:40:00.000+10:002003-01-21T13:40:52.706+10:00

Mike Todd has been thinking and ends up terrifying himself with the conclusions he comes to. He asks some good questions and invites our response. He writes I have a theory. It may not be good theology, but I'm on a roll. I submit to you that God has never, ever, ever called anyone to be a good doctor, lawyer, bus driver, construction worker, accountant, parent, etc. Nobody. I think He calls all

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-875748862003-01-17T15:16:00.000+10:002003-01-17T15:18:38.000+10:00

This is one of the wierder offers that I had in a long time..... INFLATABLE CHURCH BRINGS NEW MEANING TO MOBILE WEDDING........ The worlds one and only inflatable church is here to allow couples to get married where-ever their heart desires. This fantastic air filled building is 47ft long by 25ft wide & 47ft high. The attention to detail is heavenly complete with plastic "stained glass"

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503068294670421340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-875743992003-01-17T15:05:00.000+10:002003-01-17T15:05:15.983+10:00

I have had an ongoing email discussion with a very significant and influential North American missiologist who is doing some work in an un-named European country this week. In part of the conversation he comments: "I have been struck and struggling with the fact that many of the (country) leaders are really taken with Williow Creek and the whole Seeker movement. They struggled with my

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503068294670421340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-875700222003-01-17T13:34:00.000+10:002003-01-17T13:34:57.786+10:00

Part two of Phil McCredden's article Lessons from an Emerging Church has just been posted on Phuture.

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-874700482003-01-15T21:29:00.000+10:002003-01-15T21:39:34.000+10:00

I met with a senior exec with the World Bank in Hanoi today. It was fascinating to hear of his journey through the NGO world to work for "the enemy". I asked him how he understands God and His Kingdom in the context of his work with the WB. It was fascinating to hear him discuss the incremental yet life changing work he feels God has called him to at this point in his life. It was fascinating

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-874604182003-01-15T15:37:00.000+10:002003-01-15T15:39:25.000+10:00

Thinking and Praying for the Crew from Wavemakers the conference is running in Melbourne at the moment catch them soon in Sydney and Adelaide.

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-874407982003-01-15T08:54:00.000+10:002003-01-15T09:23:04.000+10:00

Many of my friends know that I am absolutely mad about Soren Kierkegaard (SK), a full on nutter/philosopher/disciple/genius who lived in Denmark in the 19th century. I think SK has much to teach us now as we try and engage the new millennium. One of the issues we struggle with at South (my local church) and at Forge is the issue of embodying the message we are trying to communicate. What SK

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503068294670421340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-873772702003-01-14T09:29:00.000+10:002003-01-14T09:29:49.320+10:00

Well just to check in re my session at soul survivor. I had a large group maybe 70 people and there was lots of good discussion, it was great to see so many young people asking about what church should look like for our new context. It was really interesting to see how youth festivals have changed, there is so much happening at night. Well done to the Soul Survivor team.

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-873328862003-01-13T13:12:00.000+10:002003-01-13T13:12:17.750+10:00

New article just added to Phuture entitled - Lessons from an Emerging Church - by Phil McCredden. It will come in two parts (second to follow in a couple of days). Its good stuff written out of real experience and not just untried theoretical mumbo jumbo! Have a read.

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-872879672003-01-12T13:04:00.000+10:002003-01-12T13:04:49.956+10:00

While Stephen jet sets around the globe I've been working on a couple of Dreamland projects. Firstly have been trying to convince some of my international and local friends to pen an article for Phuture. Happy to say that there are a number of very stimulating pieces being written in Melbourne, London and Auckland as we speak. I've also been working on raising some support ($ and prayer) for my

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-872532192003-01-11T15:47:00.000+10:002003-01-11T15:47:36.190+10:00

Gone in 10 Hours... Soul Survivor one day, Hanoi the next. The sessions at Soul Survivor went really well as far as I can tell. I spoke about Refugees and Asylum Seekers (apparently that tape was the hottest seller when I left on Friday!?), Jesus and Globalisation and then came back the next day to do Text Messaging the Gospel to Brittanny Spears. There was an overwhelming response to that. So

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-870561292003-01-07T22:10:00.000+10:002003-01-07T22:11:20.000+10:00

Darren! How did that photo of me escape your camera!? There will be a reckoning... ;o

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-870560072003-01-07T22:05:00.000+10:002003-01-07T22:09:51.000+10:00

I am feeling a little thin, like butter scrapped over too much bread. (I got a DVD player and the LOTR extra footage DVD for Christmas! Woo Hoo!) I am heading off to Vietnam with my other employer, TEAR Australia on Sunday morning (1:00am!) and have three workshops at Soul Survivor to do before then. It only get's crazier when I get back. I am gonna have the busyest 2 months. I am feeling tired

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-868545032003-01-03T11:52:00.000+10:002003-01-03T11:52:54.040+10:00

Forge will be appearing at the Melbourne Soul Survivour festival from the 8-12 of Jan at Belgrave Heights convention centre. Check out the details at the site The sessions we are running are listed below People on the move - Thursday, 9th January, 11am (Stephen Said) Jesus of Seattle - Thursday, 9th January, 2pm (Stephen Said) Text messaging the gospel to Britney Spears - Friday, 10th January,

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-867245102002-12-31T13:22:00.000+10:002003-01-02T10:44:43.000+10:00

Should i stay or should i go now? Found this interesting quote in Jordan Coopers interview with Robert E Weber, "The younger evangelicals will not have a voice in the pragmatic, fixed mentality. Stay there and your spirit will die (there are some exceptions, pray for discernment). Many pragmatic churches, like old shopping malls are dying. Very few people under 30 are in pragmatic churches.

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-866816222002-12-30T13:36:00.000+10:002002-12-30T13:37:34.000+10:00

Ruminating this morning on the place we find ourselves in. The emerging church is well,...emerging. This means that what we will become is not yet solid. Yet there is pressure from both inside and outside to make it happen now, to get the model up and running, to be doing it.. With such pressure we can fall into the trap of focusing on the productivity of our programs, communities and models

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-866379412002-12-29T08:59:00.000+10:002002-12-29T08:59:44.633+10:00

my goodness, we're pink! i go away for a few weeks... gonna head into the centre of the shopping district of our new "home" of hurstbridge in melbourne. gonna have breakfast with my wife, gonna do a little praying and watching. lord, lead us and guide us!

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-864972952002-12-25T10:32:00.000+10:002002-12-25T10:37:35.000+10:00

christmas! i really fail to understand all the schmulz that hangs around the season. i can't see the attraction. reasonable people become very unreasonable--dare i say, silly. nonetheless, the Incarnation still has a marvelous hold on my imagination. i am just about to rewrite the element in the book that deals with this theme in a missional way. it isn't hard to be inspired, evevn

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04503068294670421340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-864244892002-12-23T16:08:00.000+10:002002-12-24T13:45:21.000+10:00

Kel, Mark and Darren worked on Igntion Facilitators manual today. Progress is being made as demand for it increases. I had a great second meeting with Ian this morning. Swapped more stories. Its interesting to see the similarities but also some stark differences between Australia and the UK. Sounds like we have alot less political crap to deal with here - more doors are open for emerging church

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-863527232002-12-21T16:48:00.000+10:002002-12-21T16:48:08.696+10:00

Enjoyed meeting with Ian and others yesterday. Looking forward to more specific conversations. I too was struck with similar almost parallel developments globally. Ian asks some top questions - really attempting to get past the 'theory' and 'talk' of emerging church and into the nitty gritty of the 'how' to engage with our communities. Got the sense as the conversation went on that perhaps we

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-863149072002-12-20T22:03:00.000+10:002002-12-21T16:50:36.000+10:00

Alan, Darren and I today caught up with Ian Mobsby from London. Had a good chat about the emerging church in both our countries. Interesting to note the similarities and the local flavours. Check out Ian’s work at www.epicentre.org.uk and klisia.net

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-861047562002-12-16T21:51:00.000+10:002002-12-16T21:52:49.000+10:00

As new trends of connectivity spread in the emerging missional church movement, new and exciting possibilities appear. If you look at church history you can see that ideas sometimes took centuries to move across Christendom. Yet today emerging missional communities in Iceland can partner and have daily interactions with like minded peers in New Zealand. Sometimes as i browse through websites and

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-859649112002-12-14T08:12:00.000+10:002002-12-14T08:15:05.000+10:00

just got back from sydney (i need sleep). wearing my TEAR hat we looked at developing resources at a national level for the 16 to 20 demographic. now this may surprise you but guess what the biggest issue was? you are so smart! that is right: "where are they?" and the answer definatley was not "in church". this led to all sorts of tangents and discussions around young people and their {very

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-859271622002-12-13T13:44:00.000+10:002002-12-13T14:16:25.000+10:00

( The following post was written as a group of teenagers play and alcohol fuelled game of cricket only a few metres next to me and i am listening to the Ramones' Psychotherapy at high volume. So i take no responsibility for what i write :-) ) The more i think about sharing your faith the more complicated it gets. There are a lot of resources and opinions about how to share you faith, to be

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-859234892002-12-13T12:28:00.000+10:002002-12-13T12:28:24.160+10:00

Had another enquiry about 'Ignition' today - the interest here in Australia seems to be growing to it. Looks like a number of churches will be running it with small groups and congregations in 2003. As Steve said - if you're interested in this resource, guaranteed to get you and your people thinking missionally, just shoot us an email.

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-859233602002-12-13T12:26:00.000+10:002002-12-13T12:26:08.126+10:00

Spent the morning touching up a paper I've written reviewing the book 'Multiplying Churches' edited by Stephen Timmis. Should be up on Phuture shortly with any luck.

Darrennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-858691712002-12-12T11:53:00.000+10:002002-12-12T11:53:30.900+10:00

"Australia is quite simply the most secular country I have ever had the opportunity to visit" Stanley Hauerwas in 'The Gospel and Our Culture' Vol 14 No.1

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-858223802002-12-11T15:01:00.000+10:002002-12-11T15:01:11.090+10:00

Let the blogging begin! I'm not sure what this is going to do to my social life being a blogger on two sites at once. It'll be great to have a place to throw DREAMLAND kinda ideas around though!!! And plus - what a great picture that is of Mark to our right =========>

Darrennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-858213912002-12-11T14:39:00.000+10:002002-12-11T14:47:02.000+10:00

Just read the article "Postmodern Proselytizers" by Josh Dulaney> Quite an interesting piece and it links in to what I wrote in my last entry. There are three trends i see that have caused some of the problems that Josh is discussing. 1) Initial Debate - I guess that with any new train of thought their is always a process of discussion and debate. This becomes solidified in action later on. The

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-858194932002-12-11T13:57:00.000+10:002002-12-11T14:07:56.000+10:00

HI this is Mark with my first contribution to the Dreamland blog. I see this page as the walking journal of four people who are both trying to resource the emerging church in australia and beyond; as well as all being invovled in initiating missional communities themselves. While in some places around the world probably more so the US than Europe and Australasia the emerging church has not moved

markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04490949337556903688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-858105272002-12-11T10:50:00.000+10:002002-12-11T10:51:56.000+10:00

excellent news! we now have more ignitions! i picked them up from the printer this morning. if anyone who was chasing an ignition at the intensive last week in melbourne didn't get one, email me and i will get one into your hands asap! also there is activity once again on the "contemporary charismatic worship" article again. you'd think after 2 years some people would move one...

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011381.post-857673992002-12-10T15:20:00.000+10:002002-12-10T15:26:07.000+10:00

Due to popular demand, the Dreamland Team have organised this Blog Spot. Many of those in our network have asked us to let them know when we are doing what and rather than muck around organising a detailed itinerary, we're just gonna "advertise" here. So stay tuned for regular updates from Mark, Darren, Kel and Stephen.

Stephennoreply@blogger.com0