I spend my days doing stuff for Soul Survivor NZ and my church "Blueprint" in Wellington NZ. I am perplexed, amazed, in awe of, and spend a lot of time thinking about this revolutionary called Jesus and what it means to follow Him. Facebook me! Skype Me! On the link below
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Saturday, December 02, 2006 by Sam
The world is a far brighter, far more welcoming place. I have being enjoying interactions with fellow humans in a "non-leper" kind of way.
But I was thinking; anyone up for januhairy (no shaving for the month) before dropping into MO7? Up in gissy, about to launch into a youth alpha training day. Youth workers are a fun bunch to hang out with so it should be a good day. I packed my wettie in case there was a wave, but even though we sourced some boards, gissy has no waves. And dare I say it, this is my first time in gissy. Which is the equivellent of blasphemy for a surfer.
Labels: movemeber, travel
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006 by Sam
 With great relief we are entering the final stages of movember, and to be very honest I cant wait for the flippin month to end. I am thinking about going for a walk to a playground, and just sitting there enjoying the fact that the little children are not running away - screaming. I hope you appreciate that white trash nature of my photo; wife beater, aviator glasses, and the dirty dirty slug. A huge shout out to Adam, Rob M, Rob Mc, Scott, Sam B, Dan, Chris, Matt P, Chez, Nathan C, Pete, Clay, and the many other mo-bros that have gone through this very dark month. If you want to have a look at the journey... update one. update two. update three. update four. In other news...It's business time, back from my much needed break and into a very full season as we start heading towards the very first Soul Survivor festival in January. I am curious to know how people get back on the horse spiritually, because I need to do that at the moment. It may be the mo effecting me in more ways than one, but I am in a bit of a weird space where I feel quite disconnected from God. The problem is that life doesn't stop to let me have a bit of space to get back on the horse; I am up in Gisbourne this Saturday for a youth alpha training day, then speaking at the Rock church on Sunday night, and have a pretty full plate with different speaking things and churchy stuff etc till (gulp) May next year.  I feel like I have very little to offer at the moment, and the temptation is to just bluff it. And on top of this, I really don't want the motivation to get back on the horse to be because of what I have to do for God. I want it (and I think it is) because I want to be with God. I really don't want to feel like a hypocrite, I despise playing the Christian game, I loathe saying one thing and living another, I desperately want to live with integrity. I need Grace yet again. Grace; that amazing concept, that reality, that truth, that injustice. Grace which needs to be something alive in my heart right now, rather than just another head concept. Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Songs of Songs 8:5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on their beloved? Labels: movemeber, personal, soul survivor
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Friday, November 17, 2006 by Sam
 It’s the business end of movember, and it turns out that this molestache is just as bad as the last time I grew one, just thicker, with more substance. I do want to have one little rant if I can. You will notice that I have gone for the classic “slug”. The slug is the purist form of movember. I have noticed a lot of people have chosen to go for the “handlebars”, or even the “beard that I will shave a couple of days near the end”. From my perspective, I wonder why you are bothering. I am sorry is this sounds really harsh, but I am very passionate about his particular topic. Let me put it this way. Having the handlebars is like going for a nudie run with your boxers on. Whoopdeedo. You think you are participating, but there is no risk, no cost, and no fear of being caught looking like an absolute idiot (which by the way those with the slug have to deal with every day). The slug is where it is at… those with the slug are the ones on the edges of society, they are the ones shunned in public places, they are the lepers of our culture. I would contend that the word “mo” and “slug” are interchangeable, and therefore I would strongly argue that we could be calling it “slugvember”. Which raises serious questions about those who are choosing to have a more “culture friendly” version of the mo. To those with the bars and with the beards I say… step up!!! Acknowledge your error, shave the offending part, and join the purist movember crew. You will be welcomed to the inner circle with the love and tenderness that only those with dirty slug mo’s can give. Wink wink Labels: movemeber, rant
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Tuesday, November 07, 2006 by Sam
 Well the mo is coming along nicely. I must admit that the idea of doing movember, and the reality of doing movember are very different. The idea seemed like fun, a good laugh, a journey with a bunch of mates. But the reality of standing in front of a bunch of young people and talking about Jesus, the meetings with youth pastors, as well as general interactions with strangers with this freaken slug across my lip is a whole different ball game. Thankfully I was in Masterton in the weekend, and the slug probably opened more doors than closed them. But is it worth it? I think the answer is yes, certainly when I think about what this beast will look like at the end of the month. On a whole different tangent, I have been reading a biography on a guy called Charles Simeon who died in 1836 and was an Anglican minister back in the day. He was a bit of a legend because he would preach Jesus, and people got so agitated by his sermons that they would often get interrupted by some of the more powerful church members. But people flocked to hear him speak. The guy is a flippin legend for a whole bunch of reasons and I don't want to write a long post on why... you might as well just read a book on him. But one particular moment did stick its head out as one worth reflecting on. "Simeon invariably rose every morning, though it was winter season, at four o'clock... he devoted himself the first four hours of the day to private prayer and the devotional study of the Scriptures."Straight away my mind started getting warmed up thinking ..."damm those morning people, they have it so easy. If I wasn't so nasty in the morning I would be that spiritual as well". Then I read "The early rising did not come easily to him; it was a habit resolutely fought for and acquired. Finding himself too fond of his bed, he had resolved to pay a fine for every offence, giving a half crown to his servant". The hilarious thing is that Charles soon starts justifying why his servant needs the money, and so has to up the anti. He would fine himself a guinea (money not an animal) and throw it into the river if he slept in. Which was a lot of money for a guy living by faith. A hardcore guy. What a challenge, and I wonder if the young leaders of today's church (point finger at me and some friends) are getting way to soft, way to comfortable, and way to dependent on what we think we know of God, rather than spending time in scripture and praying with God, learning his thoughts, being filled with God's Holy Spirit before each day. I finished Phillip Yancey's book; "Prayer", and again that was filled with challenge and conviction for me. I am very much reminded of Jesus' seemingly impossible challenges to "be holy like I am holy" etc. And once again I am faced with the tension in my life of what is, and what should be, and deep inside I desperately want the "what should be". Labels: jesus followers, movemeber, prayer
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Wednesday, November 01, 2006 by Sam
 And so it begins. Day one of MOvemeber, and it is set to be a stunner with a huge contingent up for it. You may notice that there is a bit of a shadow on my face already. Well that is because I forgot to shave last night before the big month, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that this will be the perfect foundation from which to launch the molestache. I am even thinking about going for the handle bars, but will wait for a good weeks worth of growth before I decide on that one. I have being thinking about the spirituality of movemeber... and before you jump to the conclusion there has being too much wacky backy floating around the water supply in kapiti, hear me out. My theory is that most of the time I am wwaaayyyy too serious, and rightly so in most cases with a lot of the crap in the world, not to mention the church as we know it to get bugged about (and to blog about!). But at the end of the day, life is to short to be serious all the time, and I don't want to be part of any church movement that cant have a good long laugh at itself. And so opportunities like movember are a God given gift where someone like me (and about half of NZ) can grow a bit of stupid hair, look like an idiot, and join a bunch of mates who are equally foolish to do this little adventure. My mo has produced a bit of joy in my heart, and hopefully my mates as well as complete strangers will get a good laugh out of it. And if there is anything we need in the world today, its a bit more joy. What I love about Soul Survivor is the stated value that we "take God very seriously, but we don't take ourselves seriously". As you can imagine this has meant that Soul Survivor has got in a bit of trouble from time to time when shanadigans get out of hand. But I would far rather be part of a group that gets in trouble from time to time because the fun went a wee bit too far (mmm, or in my history... way too far but that is a story for another time)... than part of a boring, rule driven group that is lame and dull and is no flipping fun to hang around. So if you are at the festival in January, come prepared... Game on folks Labels: jesus followers, movemeber
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Sunday, October 29, 2006 by Sam
Lads, its time to step up. In just a couple of days its movember and like many others from around NZ, I am going to grow a dirty moustache. Or as I affectionately call it, a molestache. So far I know I will be joined by Chris Darnell, Tim Costley, Brook Turner, but I am sure there must be many more guys out there that are up for a month of celibacy, of lady wilderness, and more importantly of RESPECT.  The last time I grew a moustache was for my youth group camp two years ago, and I had long dreadlocks at the time. Make no mistake; dreds and a moustache do not mix. And to date, this is the worst photo I have ever had taken of me. The mo was terrible, and made me something of a social leper. Mums were shuddering as I walked past them in the supermarket, grabbing their children and hiding them away from this seedy looking guy. Even small animals would scurry away in fright. So this round will hopefully be a lot less scary, I think I have hit puberty since then, and I dont have the dreds...The most frightening thing about growing a mo was that it came out with a bit of a ginger tint. I swear I have no ginger in my family, but somehow it had an auburn flavor. Needless to say I was gutted. Im up for it again, I am not going to let these experiences hinder this month, or even make me a but fearful about what could be. Because I am ALL MAN, and this is more than just a moustache, its a revolution. I am going to try and give a weekly update with a photo to track the growth of the beast. Please pray that there is no ginger this time. I need some more MO bros, you up for it? Chez? Stu? Sean? Gareth? Marko? Darryl? Kim? Step up boys. Labels: movemeber
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