Who am I?

Who I am is best endlessly explored in person. But alas, I’ll at least give you a ‘synopsis’ of my life thus far, at least the highlights. 

People have described me as an interesting mix of someone who is both deep & reflective, and also joyous & energetic. I seek to embody these harmonious traits in myself, and as such can be found doing karaoke, making dancing videos, and making quick witted jokes, yet also in reflective conversations, sitting with peoples pain, and publicly teaching about things related to faith & life.

My interest in the big questions started when I was a young boy, as I would think about questions like “what happens after you die?” or “If there is a God, what is God like?”. However, such deep thinking though was often overshadowed by a childhood that had baked into it an equally strong desire to have fun parties, be the prankster of the group, and the leader in all things fun. Whilst I didn’t stop being fun, I did refine and seek to be a more mindful and a considerate person of joy as I got older, and this was fostered through my new found faith at 17. I had started attending a youth group at 17, and had an experience of God that in the moment combined my inquisitive mind with an overwhelming sense of the Kingdom of God come-in-flesh. The answers to my question were found in Jesus Christ. 

In 2015 I graduated with an accredited counselling degree. During this degree I learnt to weep with those who weep, to sit with both mine and others emotions, and grow in the capacity to be empathetic. Around the same time, I became interested in exploring topics within Christian faith itself, and started to listen, read, & reflect very intensionally on a variety of theological and ethical topics. I also begun to preach and seek to find new and creative ways to communicate and share that which I thought would be life giving. Since then I have spoken at a variety of churches and been a licensed  minister. 

I now find myself as a loving husband, a son, a brother, an uncle, and a friend, and also a counsellor for at-risk youth, a podcaster, a public speaking, an infrequent blogger, and a seeker in ways to participate in the common good. I am also studying a Masters of Divinity.   

My ‘flavour’ of Christianity:

Sören Kierkegaard wrote, “Once you label me, you negate me.” In a similar vein I’m always cautious to label myself, because of both the shifting tides of what culture means by particular words, and also the subtle ways I might try to squeeze myself into a box in order to please the masses and  feel ‘settled’. But likewise, I cannot ignore the ways I have been influenced by tradition and different teachers who have existed across the eons of time. To that end, I would broadly describe myself as spiritual and religious- in that I seek to intentional follow the teachings of Jesus within my own cultural context, and do so believing that I have a living relationship with Jesus, and I locate all of this within the worldview as broadly described in the Apostles & Nicene Creeds that I believe to be true (including the literal death, resurrection, accession, and return of Jesus to renew the world), and a view of ethics that I believe are shaped by Jesus, the Apostles, and the great (and messy) tradition of church history.

Zooming in a little closer, I would describe myself as a theologically and spiritually eclectic Pentecostal, in that I learn from many Christian thinkers and seek to incorporate many spiritual disciplines across the Christian spectrum, but do so within the Pentecostal tradition.  I do have a particular soft spot for an existential approach to faith (i.e. it’s about trust, and relational knowing), a holistic approach to faith (i.e. Jesus is Lord of all things, not just the private or public world), and a enchanted & sacramental view of the world. Also, I live out a mixture of contemplative, liturgical, and charismatic expression of spiritual practices, and my local church community reflects this. 

Whilst I wouldn’t use the labels “conservative” and “progressive”, I understand that I would stereotypically look “conservative” and “progressive” on different theological and ethical topics depending on how the culture chooses to label certain views. For example, I see sex as most ideally had in a marriage, and between a man and a woman (Often labeled “conservative”), but I also believe that the way of Jesus seeks to avoid killing people at all costs (Which is often labelled as “progressive”). But even if I do look like “conservative” or “progressive” on some things, I am truly and sincerely just trying to wisely & reflectively discern truth, as opposed to merely trying to be knee-jerk “conservative” or “progressive”. To that end, some of the areas to which I ‘land’ on are quite nuanced and delicate, rather than purely black or white, whilst hopefully still being clear and taking a stand on things.