Deep as a Puddle

Transmission Ends

2009-01-21T14:02:00.003+13:00

Well ive decided to put the ol blogging thing to rest for a little while. Not necessarily for ever, but at this point im hanging up the gloves. Why?

Life is pretty full with Church, Soul Survivor and my Masters study starting this year. And Ive got one or two friends that I am pretty keen on hanging out with a little more frequently.
I've realised I dont know as much as I thought I did, I think I am a bit less opinionated than I was a couple of years ago. Until I feel like I have something to say, the blog will probably stay quiet.
Anything I do want to share is best shared in the context of sharing at my Church or some of the camps and events I have the privilege of been a part of, and my favourite place to hap on of all... over coffees and meals.
Facebook has become my online communication mode of choice. I've got a crackbook addiction, its not pretty, but im running with it. Join me there if you want to stay in contact

Cheers everyone for reading and engaging from time to time. Ive met some amazing people through this medium.

Love!

Sam

Rant on Christian Music No.2

2006-12-14T15:01:00.000+13:00

I really appreciate the honesty of the comments in the last post, great stuff.

The Second big issue I have with the Christian Music scene, particularly here in NZ, is that there is a huge desire to make it in the States. A large number of bands have either moved to the states, or go their to tour to maybe one day crack in the scene. In fact I was part of a band that had being signed to a major US label... though fortunately (it didn't feel like it at the time!) I was dumped from the band, and then later the contract fell through...

The big question I have is why? Why on earth is there such an interest in going to the states? Is it because the states need more christian music? Come on, what a load of bollocks, the place has got more music than it knows what to do with, christian and non-christian...
Is it for mission? That cant be the case, the place is full of churches and bands propagating the Jesus message. The conclusion I therefore come to is that a lot of bands go to the states because there is a HUGE amount of money to be made, as well as the fact that if you make it in the states, you make it in the entire world.
Money, Success, Significance, Power.

The truth is that a lot of christian people support christian labels here in NZ, but a lot of this money is used to fund these very expensive expeditions to the states. When I look at the needs worldwide and here in NZ I feel sick that this money is being invested into sending bands to a country that doesn't need the music, with questionable motives, and I would suggest that there is very little return in terms of the world being a better place because of this investment. I struggle to see how this lines up with values of Jesus as I see them in scripture.

Now I have no problem going overseas to tour your music. But if you want to go overseas to spread the love of music, your love for Jesus, then why not go to Africa or South America and encourage the Christians there, or influence and be influenced by the local music scene? Or why not go to Europe, a highly secular area in desperate need of artists who love Jesus and live by his teachings.

My last question; why is there so little talk about this whole christian music scene. We seemed to have become so used to having a whole industry that has a "christian" attached to it, yet seems to have the same motives and methods as any other label or industry, just dressed up with different language. Aren't we called to live a radically different lifestyle, with radically different business practices, with a very different set of values, and a completely upside down view of success? I love the story of Keith Green giving away his records when he was alive and touring... it infuriated his record company, but is this not the kind of wild behaviour that I think Jesus was trying to encourage?
How come we are so comfortable with this whole scene, shouldn't it make us uncomfortable? Or am I reading it completely wrong?

I am truly sorry if this comes across as a real judgemental angry position. That's not how I'm trying to come across, just genuinely confused after playing in christian bands for the last four years, and seeing the incredible power and influence this scene has on many young people (as well as the very corruptable power that it brings... story there for a later time) - and trying to reconcile it with how Jesus lived and what he taught. I would really appreciate your comments and feedback because this whole thing has being brewing for a while now...

Another (way more positive rant) to round of this discussion is on its way in a day or two... and then we can go and have Christmas, I can chill out a bit and stop being so angsty, and we can begin the new year being a wee bit more happy!!!!

Sweet Tunes

2006-12-22T22:26:00.000+13:00

Ok, please check out the twig records myspace site, and have a listen to the two tracks there. I especially want to get all over-stimulated about the track "grey matters". This complete genius called Tim Armstrong has written and played just about every track on that song and his upcoming album. He is a freaken machine, I would gladly throw my undies at him in concert any day of the week, the frustration is that he very rarely performs. I'm not one to get all crazy about artists, especially musicians but this guy deserves some respect, and is one of those wonderfully strange musical freaks that come along, absolutely unknown, and yet writing music as good as any I have heard.

I have got a lot out of the last couple of conversations on music, and have had a lot of food for thought. Some of my views have shifted quite considerably thanks to some of the comments... so cheers for that. And im pretty amped that Marcos Curiel is rejoining POD, with Jason Truby on guitars as well, this is going to be one interesting line up, and will make the next POD album worth the investment just to hear where they go.

Shesh, there is a lot of music talk on this blog...

Happy 21st Pete!

2007-01-13T14:36:00.000+13:00

Im getting ready for a big night, its my bro's 21st! The beer is stacked in the fridge, our cheap gazeebo (that we have set up for the very first time, and managed to break!!) is set up, the spit roast is getting fired up, and there is that cool feeling of looking forward to having a night laughing with ya mates.
My bro is my hero, and with countless surf trips and shanadigans we have become best mates over the years.
The reason pete is a hero is that he is a dude that totally lives out the christian life, and is pretty low key about talking about it. Pete is one of those rare people whose practice actually lines up with his theory... which is pretty convicting because im one of the many many people whose theory looks very diffrent from their practice. While im all about talking about it, pete actually lives for others, is an amazing servant, has given himself to work for urban vision and looks after and shares life with people on the fringes.
The other thing is that everyone in our family is looking forward to him cranking out some business once he finishes his accounting degree (mainly coz we need the financial support), I may have got the hair, but pete got the brains.

Happy 21st bro, you da man!!!

The K town boys and some SS photos

2007-01-18T13:13:00.000+13:00

Ok, firstly I am sending subliminal jealous vibes to my boys from Karori who are on their way to the big day out... tool, muse, jet, the violent vemes, the killers, freaken jealous (not the band, thats my feeling after writing that list of glory).
I have being thinking a wee bit about the karori lads and lasses, and how cool it has being to hang out with them over the last four years. There has being a very cool transition from "sam the youth pastor" and the boys he gets paid to hang out with, to a bunch of mates that totally rock my world, and I consider as great friends. We've being on a holiday a couple of times last year, and these larikens totally enrich my world.

Im just about to launch into four days of camp, im leading worship twice a day, have two seminars and a main meeting, so its going to be a rather busy time. In fact its way more busy than soul survivor was for me, which is a reflection of the ninjas we had there. I have a bunch of photos from people that were there - they will be on the soul survivor website shortly. But here are a couple to whet your appetite, and make you book yourself in for next year... Will try and upload some from the afternoon serving events, some of the bands and other gaps later...

The Late Night story with Mason, went orf!!

The Twister Tournament... NZ vs the rest of the world. NZ won

My tent... there will be justice

The Steward Team, the servant legends of the event

Main Meeting in the morning...

The Horizontal Bungy was sweeeeeet

Emo Music every night at the cafe... *sob*

Cafe where all the deep and meaningful yarns happened

Mike Pilavachi in full flight during a Main Meeting

The Marquee

What a pain in the...

2007-01-24T19:18:00.000+13:00

Well the youth zone at summer wine was a lot of fun, there were an awesome bunch of young people there, particularly a crew from the Chinese Anglican Mission which had to be the rowdiest of the bunch. It was nice to have no "superstar" speakers or worship leaders, and have an awesome to hanging in with God. Very cool.
I was pretty nailed at the end of the camp, two camps on the trot exposed the reality that the days are over where I could happily live in a tent and charge around for weeks on end with no apparent change in energy.
I was looking forward to a couple of chill out days, however these have being robbed from me by a right pain in the stomach. Went to the doc this arvo and it is possibly appendicitis, but its not at a stage where they are 100% so I have to wait around for another 24 hours to see if it gets worse or whether my body does a kung foo hit on it and sorts it out. I reckon I have a jackie chan style immune system so hoping that I don't have to have the ol brave heart, rip out your guts operation.

Two reasons im stoked

2007-01-25T14:36:00.000+13:00

Firstly my Jackie Chan immune system told my appendix where to go, and I'm feeling heaps better, which is sweet. Not out of the woods yet, but if I keep heading in this direction, im gonna be fine by the weekend. You beauty, no stoopid hospital visits.

But most importantly; Rage against the Machine are re-uniting for one gig!! Im so stoked, and the truth of the matter is that I would give my appendix, a kidney, a couple of toes, a few children, and a kick in the goollies to go to the gig. Alas I will probably have to content myself with looking at you tube footage of the show. Still, it will fuel prayers that they start talking honestly about how incredibly lame audioslave is, and how rockin rage is, and the rage boys will surely see the light, dump Chris Cornell, get back with Zac, so that they can go on and continue to bless the world with slammin tunes. Seriously, jump on you tube and check out a rage clip and an audioslave clip back to back. The two bands are so far apart in energy, in crowd response, in the crucial X factor that it is embarrassing.
Throw in to the mix that Rage have being going hard on justice issues since the first canoe (waayyyy beofre it was the popular thing), that Tom Morello pioneered so many new sounds with his guitar that he might as well have invented the thing, and the way that Zach de la Rocha is an incredibly intelligent student on history with every song loaded to the hilt with refrences to all sorts of movements..... arrggghhhh I want them to reunite for good...

Anyway, after that moment, im going to go chill out somewhere and stop dribbling on the keyboard.

Eating some bread, drinking some wine

2007-01-26T19:41:00.000+13:00

I WOULD DEARLY LOVE TO GO AND RE-WRITE THIS POST, THE POINT I WAS TRYING TO MAKE IS VERY BADLY COMMUNICATED, AND I DISAGREE WITH WHAT, BUT MAINLY HOW I HAVE WRITTEN IT. BUT TO PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY OF THE POST AND THIS BLOG IM GOING TO LEAVE IT AS IT IS... ENJOY ; )

Note: this is an not an attempt to try and raise the maturity of this blog after the comments in the last post. It came out of conversation with a guy today... who lives in Palmerston North. Please pray for him, and for anyone else you know living in Palmy. If you have being there, you know why.

Does anyone else find Communion empty and boring? Does the very word “Communion” conjure up the most religious and dull of memories? Doesn’t it all sound so… Anglican?
Now I (frustratingly sometimes) love the Anglican Church don’t get me wrong, (I am a closet Anglican) but surely this ritual wasn’t meant to be so lifeless?

While I think the words in the Anglican liturgy are incredibly beautiful words, (warning: judgement alert) hearing them said in a monotonous voice from a guy who sounds as spiritually excited as a plate of sausages and bored witless makes contemplating this incredibly act of grace difficult. And then to have the same words repeated every week, year on year until they have had every bit of life beaten out of them seems to be adding insult to injury.
I am well aware that for many the marriage of liturgy and communion really is something that works for them. This is not the case for me, and I would argue that many young people struggle to engage with this expression (and if we are really honest many not so young).
Once every now and then when I haven't being to an Anglican service for a long while (as in right now) and it is a deep experience. Thrashed out every week, and before you know it I am thinking about everything but the cross, it becomes another empty ritual. C.S. Lewis disagrees with me and writes that the familiarity of these words makes it like a well-worn shoe in which one can easily dance. The familiarity of the words for Mr Lewis helped the act of contemplation, didn’t hinder it.

And then there is the Pentecostal churches who are just as bad in my opinion. It seems that whole command to do this to remember what Jesus did is a bit of a pain in the back side, and so they seem to quickly get communion over and done with, and do it every blue moon to tick the box. Throwing the bread and a thimble of juice down the aisle in between songs is as much an act of contemplation as the drive thru, and again seems to have cheapened the whole point of it.

So what’s it to be; the token or the boring?

Now all these conversations are fine if you don’t actually help pastor at a church. Alas, my theory, my rants, my frustration can actually be used to try different things. Unlike many, I cannot enjoy the satisfaction of being pissed off about something and enjoy stewing about it with out ever trying to make a positive alternative. The exploration of different ways of "doing" communion began in my old church in Karori in 2005, and was really emphasised at the beginning of last year as I began helping to lead at a church called Blueprint.

Like many emerging churches, Blueprint has being guilty of throwing out the baby with the bathwater in its exploration of what Church looks like these days. And so communion had hit the sack heap until someone piped up from the church and challenged the leadership on the whole deal part way through last year. Brook, my good mate saw the point and re-introduced the event. I can take none of the credit, but love the way that things have turned out and have learnt a lot. Let me explain what has being happening the last 7 months.

In between every series through out the year (or about every 6 weeks) there is a night in which we focus on grace. For a church filled with new Christians, or old munted ones (like me), I struggle to really believe the scandal of grace, and so this is a welcome reminder. Obviously central to grace is the cross, and at the end of the talk, or sometime in the night we spend a decent amount of time either in silence or with background music eating some bread and drinking some juice. I cannot overstate that they are the most powerful nights where there is a very tangible sense of beauty and a very deep sense of contemplation of this incredible act of love. The whole process of listening to someone speak on grace, and then to spend time with some physical elements and to consider that this God loves us that much, to consider the implications of the cross, and the implications of grace on our lives. This has brought such renewed life, passion and gratitude in the act of communion on a personal level, and a desire to see new life breathed into this ancient ritual that is filled with mystery, freedom and beauty.

In no way has blueprint got it nailed and if anything it is a church marked by its obvious and very real imperfections. The truth is that in every church there is the danger that we can very easily slide into ritual and loose meaning of important parts of the fabric that make "Church", but on the other side there are things that we can learn and grow from. And I know that no denomination or church has ever set out to try and make something loose meaning or disengage young people. My argument is that something so special and powerful as communion is worth having some hard yarns about as there is such a depth that we can easily loose when we have not spent time thinking about how we will create an atmosphere of contemplation and reflection.

My apologies for the judgemental tone of the post, I would be very interested in your thoughts and experiences in this matter, and look forward to my Anglican friends roasting me on a spit.

In other news…

A blog well worth checking out is my mates Dave “Bare Theology” (no its not the theology of nudistst…). Dave has some very impressive titles next to his name; dean of men, lecturer at the Bible College of NZ, writer for Soul Purpose magazine... etc etc. Dave was my flatmate for the whole time I lived in Auckland, we completed our degrees at the same time. The difference was that I was content with the mantra "C's get degrees", Dave actually studied... and after I graduated Dave stayed on, has just about finished his masters, and lecturers at the college to this day.

He has shamelessly advertised his blog on my comments twice, and seeing that putting his blog on my link page is not enough, I am going to advertise his site in the hope that this monkey will stop peddling his new blog on my blog... jokes its a good read. Although to be honest my brain cells get a little fried after reading to much of blogs like his, a reflection of my simple mindedness and his intellect. In fact, I would encourage you to find the comment I left on his blog, which was all I could think of at the time. His last post had me cross eyed.

But for those bored of the paddling round the puddle, and know its time to have a “real meal” and tackle some meaty issues, then head over to Dave’s blog. On top of his intellect he is a quality guy, we had some legendary times flatting together.

A good day off

2007-01-29T13:08:00.000+13:00

First up, congrats to my mate Dan on his new baby boy; Bede. This photo is of the new arrival with my gorgeous god-daughter Hannah.

Secondly, some love thrown Gareth's way, after a very nice post he wrote. To beat his wife in the first of the series of "people he likes" may well have earned him some time in the dog kennel, but means a lot! If I may return the kiss to the nether regions; Gareth is a real legend of a guy who has chosen to work in the offices of the church, which means he can run his business there, but also that he gets called on for all sorts of IT support, and subtly (or not so as the case may be) influences the flavour of all that happens in the office and church. If only we had more business people thinking about doing the same thing, the support and resource that people could offer be simply being around would be incredible. And I love the new series. In a country that loves tearing people down (and my gosh have I being on the receiving end of that in my 25 years) it is awesome to see this new series of posts on his blog build people up.

Anyway, down to business; how do we have recharging, refreshing days off?

The thing that munts you up in ministry is that you actually do very little physical work, you spend your days engaging with people in which you want to give your full attention, there is the stress of sermons to write, youth programs to nail down, more pastoral coffees with kids just getting munted in their lives (so many you have to say no to some of them which kills you), staff meetings, camps to plan, brochures to write, parents to communicate to, emails to countless people in networks to keep the wheels turning, newsletters, reports, worship planning and practises, a meeting for nearly every event that happens, strategy retreats and days, youth leadership training and on top of this, most actual youth ministry happens in the evenings after these long days. Its very easy wind up just cranking it a little too much. Add to this the necessity to be spiritually developing, and trying to connect with Jesus in a meaningful way as often as you can. And then that the ol enemy isn't entirely happy with your little efforts to build the kingdom and you have quite the recipe for some weirdness.

My experience is that I would come home just exhausted, my brain fried from a day of intensity, and all I would want to do is jump in my cave, turn on the TV, and zone out before jumping into bed. But the problem is that because you have done jack tweety all day physically, your body is not tired even though your brain is full of stuff, and so you normally lie in bed wanting to sleep but not being able to because you have all this stuff running around in your head and wake up nailed...
So when it came to days off, the temptation would be to catch up on some emails and write some talks, or to blob and watch some dvds, again just a lame way to try and recharge before another week, and even then I had to fight a sense of guilt for not doing too much (especially as my pay check came from people that donated to the church).

A revelation came early last year when I worked as a builders labourer for about four months. From full time ministry to the building site full of rough chippies and sub-contractors and conversations about cars and rugby and killing animals....
I would wake up, work my lil guts out for 8.5 hours, come home physically shattered, eat a big feed and then crash out exhausted, sleeping like a baby. It was the most refreshing four months I could hope for and it scared my how much my lifestyle before that was really pretty unhealthy. Doesn't sound like a sabbatical, but it certainly felt like one.

And so as I continue a slightly different line of full time ministry type stuff (what a dumb way to express it, aren't we all?) I'm trying to make the most of my days off to recharge and refresh rather than just blob. And I am trying to stay physically healthy on my days charging around the place. I'm trying to soak up life and stop to reflect, to not feel guilty about doing little that is productive.
What does this look like? Well it used to be a long walk on the beach, but its now morphed into a run as often as I can (which will be hilarious for anyone reading this who actually knows me... that will not compute at all!). Of course, the ultimate chill out refresh activity is going for a surf, and as we are now living at the beach the wave count has seriously increased. We have biffed out the TV, and it is all very old school with lots of reading books (very CS Lewis of me, I know), and im trying to not feel guilty about the day off even though I now live off support not my church salary. I was fascinated to read Stu's post on his retreat day a while back... again some interesting thoughts, and with the amount of church workers wigging out at "burning out" it is probably a good conversation to crank out.
The truth is that I still suck at unwinding, and that its taken me this long to begin to get a handle on this. It certainly wasn't something taught at bible college!

Not a lot of answers I know, but be interested if you have any more ideas or stories.

Go the commies

2007-02-02T11:58:00.000+13:00

Tony Campolo wrote a book called "we have met the enemy and they are partly right". In it he looks at other ideologies and pulls out what followers of Jesus need to learn from these worldviews. I recently stumbled across a letter on an old article written by Keith Green that was written by an American Student breaking off his engagement to his fiancee after converting to communism. I love the tone of the letter, and want to have the same passion for cause and teaching of Jesus that this young guy had for communism. There is a lot we could learn from this dude...

"We Communists have a high casualty rate. We're the ones who get slandered and ridiculed and fired from our jobs and in every other way made as uncomfortable as possible. A certain percentage of us get killed or imprisoned. We live in virtual poverty. We turn back to the Party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep us alive. We Communists don't have time or the money for many movies or concerts or T-bone steaks or decent homes and new cars. We've been described as fanatics. We are fanatics! Our lives are dominated by one great overshadowing factor - the struggle for World Communism.

"We Communists have a philosophy of life which no amount of money could buy. We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life. We subordinate our petty, personal selves into a great movement of humanity. And if our personal lives seem hard or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the Party, then we are adequately compensated by the fact that each of us in his small way is contributing to something new and true and better for mankind. The Communist cause is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife and mistress, my bread and meat. I work at it in the daytime and dream of it at night. Its hold on me grows, not lessens, as time goes on. Therefore, I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair, or even a conversation without relating it to this force which both guides and drives my life. I evaluate people, books, ideas, and actions according to how they affect the Communist cause and by their attitude toward it. I've already been in jail because of my ideas, and if necessary, I'm ready to go before a firing squad."

I love the passion, the emotion, and the reckless flavour of this letter, and it reminds me of those first times when you knew Jesus was real, where I was blown away by the holiness of this God. I really want (and feel like we are slowly getting back to some degree of "first love" in recent weeks) that totally crazy sense "living like a dead man" with a life totally given to the cause and person of Jesus.
On top of this, I would argue that the early church looks like Communism functioning pretty well, with "no one having need", and the sharing of possessions amongst the community, anyway it looks pretty similar to my un-trained eye (see Acts 2 vs 42 - 47).
Inspiring and challenging stuff

Cool stuff going on

2007-02-07T12:53:00.000+13:00

Like many of us I suspect, I am prone to a bit of discouragement from time to time. The needs of the world around us, the hurt that friends are experiencing, the "constructive criticism" from mates that doesn't feel very constructive, the hurt in my own life starts to build up sometimes to silly levels. I was reminded again today that there are more people in slavery than at any other time in history... I dont know about you, but it feels like there is just so much to do, and that the efforts of those giving themselves to trying to make a difference are drowned in the apathy and selfishness of the world in which we live, not to mention the battle with my own selfish living, my self centerdness etc etc.

And yet we are called to be faithful, in some ways to plod along trying to do our bit. And in truth we see these little glimpses of God's Kingdom here on earth, with little initiatives around the place, and the right conversations beginning to happen. And so here are a few encouraging places that I found positive in the last week...

Debs, one of my hero's (who I have yet to have a decent yarn with, but is someone I respect off the charts) with this great initiative from some of the blueprint ladies. I would encourage you to give to this as generously as you can.

Stu with a great post that deeply moved me, and I think nails it completely. In particular the statement hit home;

Following Jesus will have no value until allow yourself to be overwhelmed by a radical love for yourself, that wrestles with addictions, selfishness, reactions and has an accurate understanding about why you do things you do, doesn’t settle for ‘well this is just who I am’ when it’s not who Christ asks you to be, someone who is transparent and broken, and strong in the spirit, not power hungry or glory hungry but actually content with who you are because God is doing great work inside you

My mate Will has just starting teaching barrista skills to unemployed kids, which is taking off. I am hugely proud of him.

Im stoked about the work of Amnesty International , the foodbanks in many churches including my own, the work of youth workers, social workers, people everywhere who make decisions every week to do something for those hurting, on the fringes, who spend time and money trying to make a difference even when it costs, even when it hurts.

Here are some pics and a letter that were in the local media that were of huge encouragement to me from the Soul Survivor festival. You gotta read the letter! This afternoon of serving the local community was organised by Rebbecca of SSNZ and the local fielding churches.

Some great photos from the festival can be found here if you were not there.

And another article about the event can be found here...

Be great to see these sorts of stories of people trying to make a diffrence amplified, so that more and more people give themselves to serving others... if you have any more yarns that are lurking around then I would love to know.

Contrary to popular belief...

2007-02-13T12:14:00.000+13:00

Yesterday I brought a little TV to complete my bachelor pad (and to probably make it more difficult to actually "recharge" on my day off as I blogged about here). I caught a bit of the late-night news, a piece on the homosexual community leaving the church "in droves". The video of the piece can be seen here. And while the media are obviously out to stir things up and make a good story, it is still tragic that this is our reputation.
It would be great to sit here all day and really analyse the news clip (the destiny march, the comments of stuart lange who is a person I enormously respect and enjoyed the lectures of at BCNZ etc), but I can only procrastinate from writing a talk for so long... I will save that for a good coffee with those that want to yarn about it. Although I would be interested in Chez's reaction as I believe (I could be wrong) that we hold somewhat different views on this issue.

What really rips my guts out is that we (if we go to a Christian church we are sadly lumped in) have brilliantly managed to alienate, and I would argue, really hurt a community in our society that should know more than anyone that we stand for grace, love, acceptance etc. We have missed out on our churches being hugely enriched by the homosexual community. Somehow we have made this a great big naughty sin, and forgotten about the greed, the judgmentalism, the superior moral attitude's rampant in Christian culture that I suspect from the gospels would have really got Jesus mad. It seems ludicrous that we welcome those that struggle with lust, that are divorced, and get all agitated by this issue.
Im picking Jesus would be saying these days (as these great ideas suggest) "Contrary to popular belief I don't hate anyone who's gay"

The reality is that this is a complex issue, and a very divisive one in our churches at the moment. More than ever we need good voices to help us guide this discussion.

A great resource that I have found very helpful is this transcript of a talk between Tony, and his wife Peggy Campolo. Both hold very different views on the topic, but provide a great dialogue and perspective that I think is so healthy and important for those of us that follow Jesus. And a good read for those who wonder if all Christians are anti-gay. That is certainly not my angle, or that of many of my peers.
Another brilliant resource is this essay (the link downloads the pdf straight away) by my good friend Stu McGregor. In his words its an essay "that takes us through a survey of the Biblical, biological, psychological and philosophical debates. It’s conclusion may be controversial, but I think it was hard earned". One of the more intelligent people I know, I envy Stu and his ability to be so articulate and well thought out - if people want a super deep theological discussion on a blog, I am wrong person. Stu on the other hand is the one.

Comments are closed on this one because I dont want to turn it into a big freaken bun fight. They are closed to remind us that while it is a very important issue that needs to be thought out from a christian view point, we need to keep it in perspective with all that Jesus said (and in this case didnt say). And finally because I really don't want to put hours into replying to comments if the world discovers this and gets all angry.
If you strongly disagree or have something to say, blog about it : )
If you really really don't like what I have written (or really really do) you can email me at sam at soulsurvivor dot co dot nz

We act least like a Christian in Church (post two)

2007-02-27T09:59:00.000+13:00

I want to be quite careful about how I say this, especially after reading this from Scott McKnight the living legend, and this from Scottie - a legend because his bowels are so nasty his odour can clear a room of hardened men. It burns the back of the throat and makes the eyes water.

Now, it is a bit frustrating because I would love to have a good story about how I grew up. But I have had a pretty good Christian up-bringing, and have done all the things a good Christian kid should do. The camps, leading worship at church, degree from Bible College, tours with bands etc etc etc. And yet I have had a major (underline freaken MAJOR) re-adjustment about how it looks to follow the person of Jesus, and what it looks like to be living a life for Him which cemented itself about four years ago.

Ask me when I was 17 about the poster (found in a Christian mag with a huge circulation here in NZ, in the Soul Survivor UK festival booklet etc) below and I would have said, "yep that looks right, I hope one day i can have a life of significance like that guy".
Now I think that it is absolute rubbish.... this is NOT significance, and in no way is the destination I believe Jesus had in mind for us as I see it in the Gospels.

And so the re-adjustment in my worldview hits as I start doing youth-work, and it looks nothing like the picture. Its hard work, often boring, demanding, it doesn't feel "significant" like that stupid poster. As I start seeing with fresh eyes the needs in the kids around me, and the poverty in the world and as I start sharing life with people who are incredibly broken and messed up, as I start becoming aware of how much junk I actually have in spite of my nice upbringing something starts happening. I somehow wind up more transformed than the people I'm doing it for...

Without getting overly critical at some groups, I think we need to encourage and foster way more honesty in the pursuit of Jesus. I didn't feel like I could be honest as a kid at camps when I didn't feel super spiritual but everyone around me looked like they were (so sadly i faked it!!). I struggled when my rock-star dreams came crashing around me because I thought that it was significance and that in certain bands I was actually "somebody". I have discovered the hard way that speaking in front of groups is pretty empty. That my identity is not wrapped up in this stuff, and that it doesn't make me a better christian.

But the problem is that I'm still seeing young people get drawn in to a whole lot of empty Christian fluff. Our principle outward energy seems to be big meetings and crusade-like events. I'm still seeing huge amounts of young people (when we have the honest chats) dreaming about being a worship leader, speaker or in a band... basically that they will be significant following Jesus when they get to the front, when they are on stage. I could tell you story after story of young people I have sat down with who feel like utter failures because they don't feel "significant" like the conferences model "significance" to look like.

I would argue that we are dreaming the wrong dreams, and actually modelling a whole lot of stuff that looks very different to what we see in the person of Jesus. My experience is that the buzz of serving and living for others day by day does not even come close to the buzz of the high at camp or at the meeting. The mystery of "dying to self" which is painful and does not happen without a fight, but mysteriously "coming alive in Christ" couldn't be more true in my experience. But it has required huge amounts of courage to own my doubts, to give God my questions (which have increased not decreased over the years), to own my junk, to feel the freedom to question models that appear to be accepted as the "norm" in the Christian world.

And so am starting to realise that where we put our energy, time, money, how we go about our "normal" week is actually way more important than how we behave in the meeting.

To be very honest I'm angry. Angry that so many young people are missing out on the honest conversations about following Jesus; the conversations around faithfulness, around serving others, especially the poor, about the hard times, and the many moments of failure. I'm angry because I'm having so many conversations with kids disillusioned and munted because they couldn't keep the "happy christian" facade going any longer.

I think this quote by G. K. Chesterton nails it "its not the Christianity has being tried and failed. Its that it has never really being tried" (doesn't the guy just look like the sort that would be fun to have a good beer and a chat with?)

I long for the yarns of grace, of freedom, of hope, of real "significance" living for others, and serving even when we are not acknowledged by the crowd. And I have a suspicion that a mini-reformation is taking place, but it is requiring courage to talk honestly about what it looks like to follow Jesus, to be honest about the models around us that we feel uneasy about, and to be able wrestle with big questions even though it feels uncomfortable and we cannot come to conclusions quickly.

I am very amped about the future, because the revolution has begun, and many people are moving beyond the discouragement and frustration, and putting that energy into new ways of expressing "significance".

Got to run...

Auckland Visit

2007-03-01T10:07:00.000+13:00

I've being hanging in Auckland since monday catching up with old BCNZ mates, visiting different peeps for Soul Survivor.

Two photos that have a story:

Stu McGregor, one the the most respected writers and commentators in my circle of friends during "Agony Aunt", a weekly tough questions session with his youth group. Seeing Stu put on the Agony Aunt hat and have to answer some very curly questions was highly enjoyable for all the wrong reasons. And the questions? Is Masturbation wrong? Is dating a non-christian bad? And; who is more holy, NSYNC or Backstreet Boys? I had to get up after that and speak. Thanks Stu

And though this is a murky photo, it was a beautiful moment on Tuesday night as myself, dave and his wife mili sat outside on the deck surrounded by native forest and clear skies, cranked a pink floyd dvd on the big screen and soaked up the mellow vibes.

Lots of great conversations happening, off today to spend time with Rich Johnson and the guys from FreeSet. Im learning heaps from spending time with such amazing people, we are blessed here in NZ to have such a huge number of highly underated very approachable guru's.

Time to battle some traffic

Humility

2007-03-21T08:47:00.000+12:00

Christchurch has being fun, remind me to tell you the yarn about the surf and the dolphins sometime. And I left my freaken phone at the airport... the equivalent to leaving my brain there. Smart. And I picked up the flu. So yeah, great times.

So humility huh? Well interestingly there is actually a wikipedia article on the subject!
There are some amazing scriptures dealing on the subject of humility. Jesus said clearly that he was a a humble person (Mathew 11), he said statements like "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted". Philippians 2 is one of the most beautiful scriptures on this subject;

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross

Humility must be right up there in qualities to nurtured and desired as a leader, as a person, especially if we profess to follow Jesus, and therefore imitate Him in this aspect.

But here is my theory specifically here in NZ; I wonder whether introverts have often being seen as humble people – perhaps because they are quieter people. Extroverts are not normally seen as being humble – I suspect because they normally think out loud, especially if they have a “big personality” to boot. Surely humility is far more than how loud we are, how we are wired?

Now – to be honest I sit in the second category, I am an extrovert, I think out loud most of the time, I’ve being labelled by others as having a “big personality” and its probably an accurate description. As part of this wiring, I have been called proud and assumed to be arrogant by people in my life, some of them pretty important voices to me. And sadly there is a lot of truth in these statements, and so for many years now I have being reflecting on what it looks like to “walk humbly before God”.

I was talking to this guy called Bruce Collins about humility and he said; "Sam, don't worry about humility, if you get proud, God will humble you". And actually, I think to a degree he is right . My history is filled with moments that I am extremely grateful for, that have shaped my character and brought a change in attitude and heart. But they have being hard times, it has hurt to be humbled.
The tragedy in my story is that I started getting resentful about how I am wired. I became gutted that I was an extrovert, I wished I was not in the middle of the ruckus all the time. I started to feel uncomfortable about the speaking engagements that I had, and over analysing my motives for so much of what I do.

Now that is not bad stuff, but in the same breath, "the glory of God is Sam fully alive" to paraphrase Irenaus. How do I walk in freedom with the personality and gifts that God has given me while walking humbly? So how do I serve the world around me wired like this? So what the heck is humility?

Im no scholar, but I reckon that humility is a heart attitude which manifests itself in how we act and how we relate to people around us. Again Philippians 2 nails it when Paul says; "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves". Amazing piece of advice and something that has being rattling round in my brain for a while now. I would contend that this is partly outworked in our ability to listen to others (instead of waiting for our turn to speak). You can tell when someone is genuinely listening to you, and it is a beautiful thing (It turns out Steve Taylor ticks this box like few people I have met, a very very good listener). Mike Pilavachi challenged me on some of this stuff, and said "start acting humbly, the heart will then follow".

I think Micah 6 nails it; "What does the Lord require of us? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God".

I believe that there is something that happens when we spend time with the poor. Whether that is the socially poor, the lonely kid at school, the smelly weird guy, or the literal poor in the third world or in our cities. We are changed when we are with the poor, perhaps that is why Jesus said in Mathew 25 that we meet him in these places. Perhaps that is why those who spend there lives serving the poor in NZ and around the world are often such very humble people.

At the end of the day, its an awesome thing to spend time with someone in which there is a genuine humility which may be why I have being thinking about it so much in recent times. Ive met humble people all around the place, sometimes they are powerful people in the Christian scene, most of the time they are your wonderfully ordinary servant hearted person who loves others and loves God. One of my personal heroes is my grandfather, who has never had a "speaking ministry", never pastored a church, or released a worship album, but has had an impact on more people than you could imagine. I could tell you story after story of people challenged by my grandfather. I want to be more like him in many ways, its very hard to define, but humility just oozes out of him.

Classic

2007-03-26T23:15:00.000+12:00

Its just too good an opportunity to pass up... here is a sweet photo of my good friend - Mr Brook Turner looking very smooth today. Yes that is a man nappy and one legend wedgy.

He didnt seemed to mind, in fact the photo above would suggest enjoyment. And as we sail off into the distance I tried not to make brooks appearance affect my concentration...

Jemma Young - Somewhat Like You

2007-03-27T17:25:00.000+12:00

Those that have read this blog will know that I hold some fairly strong views when it comes to music (have a read here and here), however it has being my great privilege to work alongside Jemma Young and Rich Bryant and make an album of beautiful songs.

Reasons why this project was worth it in the midst of an overly busy life: Jemma is so incredibly humble it is frustrating. The songs are stunning, simple and honest. The words are amazing. Her voice is world class. And even though they are overtly christian lyrics, she plays them in pubs around Wellington and a huge number of her friends and most of her family are not Jesus followers but are fans of her music. Very very cool. It has being such a privilege to be a part of this thing.

So go HERE now and have a listen to a couple of the tunes. And email: lil underscore gems at hotmail dot com to order a copy of your own.

Off now to the album release at "The Front Room" Waikanae beach.

Easter Camp goodness

2007-04-10T17:05:00.000+12:00

I had a blast over the weekend in Rotorua for the Presbyterian Easter camp. Cranked out the talks, hung with the crew from the Bay of Plenty, clocked up 1400kms in the car, hung with my mates Rob and Sam from Karori. It was probably the best easter camp I have being to, with sweet games, great leaders, lots of fun times, a great band, good small groups, and crazy wild kids... and hot pools. Some photos of the weekend.

Rob all tuckered out. I forgot to tell Sam and Rob about the small detail that they would be involved in small groups and duties... hehehe, that meant a 6:30 start every morning. Poor Rob thought it was going to be a holiday.

This is how Sam spent nearly every moment on the car trip... theme seems to be developing here.

And thats me enjoying a big group hug from some of the crew there... and by the look on my face, enjoying it a bit too much

Apologies for the 7 times the last post appeared. I think it was because I was sending it from my phone in very limited reception.

I'm at church right now

2007-04-22T19:28:00.000+12:00

At hillsong church in Sydney at this very moment.

That is all I am saying

Home?

Celebrity Lookalikes

2007-05-02T22:12:00.000+12:00

Anyone else think it a little strange that a jewish man born in the middle east winds up looking like branson??? Or that branson looks like a rather well known character from a couple of thousand years ago???

Todays Surf Story

2007-05-18T17:01:00.000+12:00

For most of you this will be Hebrew, so just ignore. For those that have some time, here is today's yarns.

I had the most heavy surf in a very long time today. The story goes like this;

After leaving Wellington at 6:30 am (its one of the few things that will get me out of bed with a grin) and picking up my mate Hayden, we drove over to Tora, which is middle of the nowhere on the east coast of NZ.

After an uneventful drive, we turned up to discover the waves were amazing but huge. So big no one was out at the main break in Tora but we found a guy out at another break around the corner, which looked a lot smaller.

That was until we saw him catch one, which was when we realised that today was going to be a day when legends were made and stories exaggerated... But the pictures dont lie, so have a look at the size of the waves we were surfing today:

Well the waves were very very intense, made more so by the fact that we met my mate Dan who took us to a secret spot 20 mins up the coast that no one to our knowledge has surfed before. So me and Hayden paddled out, were totally blown away by how big and heavy it was (you could park a bus in those barrels). After sitting on the shoulder for about half an hour we started getting keen for a wave. I paddled for the first wave, an absolutely gargantuan wave, made the drop, bottom turn and starting flying down the wave. Very quickly I worked out that I wasn't going fast enough and so tried to punch through the side of the wave, and failed miserably. I got pretty punished, came up, saw Hayden catch a monster and then quickly jump off the wave, before that wave landed on my head, and the next three waves after that. By this stage I have a tiny amount of oxygen left, and after coughing up a bunch of sea water, manage to haul my lil carcass out of the way of the breaking waves by paddling across. Try to picture yourself at the bottom of those suckers... not cool. I was wondering whether it was my time to meet my maker at one point.

Hayden found this all quite amusing once he worked out I was ok. So after a while we try to paddle in and discover a rip like a river is flowing against us. By this point im throwing up the prayers, pleading with God, and convincing my muscles to keep on going.

Needless we say, we got in, and straight away are super stoked, we tried to climb our own little Everest today... but in all honesty Everest probably won : )

So we walked through the swarms of bees to my mate Dan (who works as a beekeeper out at Tora)

Those black dots around Hayden are bees... many many bees

And then we drove through the small river to get out...

And finally (about five hours later than planned) we get home... I missed an appointment, but all in all it was a great day. It has being good to reflect on some of the things that matter in life, and to really push myself to do something out of my comfort zone. I lost a bit of confidence after getting so dusted today on some big waves, but reckon the next surf will see me back on the bike. Here's a goodie on some smaller waves from trip a month ago to Taranaki with Dad.

The only thing I can tie this to biblicaly is that I disagree that there will be "no more sea" in heaven. I think it is a purely metaphorical picture, Heaven must contain a sweet right hand reef break or else I will be having some stern words with Jesus and the crew.
And the one thing that has being a bit of a mission following Jesus is that for many years surfing had to cease. I am really enjoying getting back into it this year, and will fight for time to get away and have some waves as it is a very spiritual exercise for me. Though to be very honest I still feel pretty guilty about getting away to do this from time to time, and that is something I need to get over. Im going to try not to care what people think and just run with it.

Thus endith story.

Fav Tune Today: "Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News. Dont ask... just dont ask

My Hero

2007-05-20T10:59:00.000+12:00

Mason, official "Joy Pastor" of Blueprint and Soul Survivor talks about his hobby

The Movement is Taking off... here is Mason and some disciples at the festival in January

XXX Church

2007-05-30T11:22:00.000+12:00

So for the last couple of years on my computer I have this software called "X3 watch" that sends an email to a couple of guys I love and respect with a list of questionable websites that I might have visited, its a great accountability piece of software that has saved my bacon on more than a few occasions. You can download it from the http://www.xxxchurch.com/ website (how cool is that name). Anyway this is not a post on p0rn and my battle with it etc etc (will go there sometime in the future).
What I wanted to draw attention to is the newsletter this month that X3 send out. There is a brilliant yarn about the work this crew is doing - hanging out with Ron Jeremy, its pretty difficult to explain, but I was really challenged by this article. Check it out. And download the software lads.

Fuse 07

2007-06-05T13:38:00.000+12:00

What an amazing weekend, it was such a privilege to be part of the first ever Fuse event, replacing the CTC weekend after 41 years.

A couple of reasons why the weekend was special;

Scottie has summarised things very well, so have a look at his blog. But I want to underline how proud I am to be a part of my church, the blueprint crew. They have amazing hearts to serve, and do it with the best attitude - they have lots of laughs, happily do mundane tasks, chip in to help without being asked, serve and serve and serve.

Global Tribe are an awesome organisation, and one that deserve the platform they are quickly getting here in NZ and around the world. Particularly the generosity of its president Anthony Walton. He lives the values of Global Tribe, and is generous to a fault and his heart breaks for the poverty and injustice in this world. The generosity of Darryl and the YFC leaders to let this initiative be run by someone else is something special, and is a glimpse of the "body of Christ" working together in some sort of functional capacity without the usual paranoia of "guarding our turf". YFC happily and supportively handed there "turf" to another organisation, and I think God is chuffed.

The team putting the thing together were awesome. The huge number of YFC workers who worked this weekend, as well as Dave Treeby - an absolute machine, Tracey Bedford, Stacey, Scottie, Hayden, Andrew Galloway etc etc. As Scottie put it; "I can't wait to work with them again at our next underpaid and overworked venture together". Lots of fun, lots of submitting to one another, lots of affirmation thrown around. It was a very simliar crew to the Soul Survivor festival, and the depth in some of these friendships is why I think these events become more fun not less.

But most of all, it was the huge number of young people who expressed a little of the incredible creativity that God has crammed in them. What makes this event so cool is that nearly everyone at the event is contributing something creative, and so there is this very cool buzz happening. Everywhere you look there is art happening, created, expressed. What an awesome way to honour God.

I think Fuse 08 is going to be very exciting, and just like the Soul Survivor festival, I cant wait to see what God is going to do, and im looking forward to hanging with friends making it happen.

One little observation that I am chewing over. I was struck how young people are very clued up about the injustice and poverty in the world today. They know the information, the statistics, and a bunch of them got up and talked passionately about this issue throughout the weekend. It was awesome. For the most part young people cannot plead ignorance to the issues of poverty and justice

But the question I am wrestling with is this; Is it translating into action?

This weekend we tried to raise money ($5000) for a house for those impoverished in Mexico, and I think we did it, but it was a bit of a challenge. As I was MCing I felt the battle against apathy, I felt the sludge of consumerism, I felt the "compassion fatigue". And that was just in my life!!!
It wasn't like we were asking for money for a church building fund, or even for Global Tribe as an organisation. We were asking it for the poor, this money was all going straight to the poor. And yet it was so easy to go and buy some burger king or guitar strings, and a battle to give to something that isn't for me.

I don't know what the answer is. It is something that we will battle with in coming years with Soul Survivor, at Blueprint, at Fuse.

I do know where the problem begins.

Go Team NZ

2007-06-06T09:37:00.000+12:00

Straight out of the box I will say that I haven't being following the Americas Cup that much this year... until we started winning.

Yep, im that sort of fan. Im disappointed in myself, but hey... im going to run with it.

Just one race away from taking on Alighni. You beauty, I am really amped and flippin proud of the lads representing this little country over in Valencia. With no TV at home im watching things from here.

There are a couple of embarrassing stories about previous americas cup events, which I will save for future posts if we keep on kicking ass.

Mock on