by Sam | Apr 17, 2015 | Reflection
Yesterday was quite a hectic day at work! It started off earlier than usual because we had to go to a big event in Brooklyn. So we left from Jersey City at 6:30AM to go and set up. Yet while we were driving through Chinatown, we hit a huge pothole in the middle of the street. We immediately knew that something was wrong. Then the low tire pressure signal started going off on the dashboard. The tire was most likely flat… So I jumped out of the passenger’s seat, to go see what the damage was. To my surprise both the front and rear tires were not only flat, but the rims were cracked as well. We immediately pulled over onto a quiet street trying to figure out how to deal with this crisis. We called a tow truck for this car and a taxi for my co-worker so that she could take the equipment and go set-up. Our other co-workers came in their vehicle to take as much equipment as well. So now I am left alone to get this car back to New Jersey. About an hour later, the tow truck finally came, we got the disabled vehicle onto the flatbed, and we started making the journey back. While sitting in the front, I started talking to the mechanic who came to the rescue. I listened to his story, and we immediately kicked it off because he was a current Queens native who missed living in his hometown in northern New Jersey (I know what that’s like since I am a Jersey outsider at my home church in Queens!). He...
by Sam | Mar 26, 2015 | Inspiration, Reflection
In one of the most exciting and competitive NBA seasons of late, the Golden State Warriors have the best record this year. They are a fun team to watch on both ends of the court. Offensively and defensively, this team has excelled and their team chemistry has been noted throughout the media. While superstar Steph Curry might grab most of the headlines, what stands out the most to me is that they are led by a first year coach in Steve Kerr. It is remarkable what Coach Kerr has done, and is rightfully one of the leading candidates to be coach of the year. He took an already good team, and took them to the next level in just his first year of coaching ever! The Warriors aren’t just the best team in the league this season, but statistically, one for the ages. How does a rookie coach succeed so quickly? While there are many reasons, I think one thing that can’t be overlooked is the fact that while as a player himself, Kerr, played for 2 of the greatest head coaches of all-time. Under the tutelage of Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr won multiple championships, first with the Chicago Bulls and then with San Antonio Spurs. Kerr also played with some of the best players ever in Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Tim Duncan to just name a few. One cannot be around excellence and hard work, and not learn the ins and outs of the game. I am sure as a player, Steve Kerr saw how the best did it day after day. Who we surround ourselves with affects us...
by Sam | Mar 4, 2015 | Inspiration, Reflection
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” — 1 Corinthians 13:13 What better feeling is there than love? It’s hard to think of one, if any. I mean love is one of those things that I can spend every minute thinking about. Past loves, loves that didn’t work, the loves that almost was, and the future loves that are to be. Admitted, I am a hopeless romantic, but if everyone is honest, love creeps into almost all fabric of life. The songs we listen to, the movies we watch, and the stories that grip us are saturated with love. Simply put, love is powerful. What other feeling can make us do the crazy things that love does? Yet the thing is, if love is only a feeling, it will always be dependent on our moods or circumstances because all feelings come and go. No matter how powerful, at the end of the day, feelings by nature oscillate. Then can something so fickle, be a virtue? If love only remains a feeling, then it can never be a virtue. Love as a choice, however, is a different story. All virtues must be fought for and lived out on purpose. Love is a virtue when we choose to love. Love is a virtue when we choose it in the face of difficulties, sacrifice, and pain. The same goes with faith and hope. It’s one thing to feel full of faith and hope, and another to choose to believe and hope against all unbelief, hopelessness, and despair. That’s what makes it truly faith, truly hope,...
by Sam | Feb 5, 2015 | Reflection
“The most humbling thing one can do is to look upon how Jesus responded to suffering and mistreatment. His whole life was ordered around the attribute of meekness. It was his greatest pursuit. From the moment He was born the Father was contemplating His own humility in the person of His Son. Love would be openly displayed as Jesus went lower and lower. Anyone who truly looks upon the man Christ Jesus and His meekness will be left staring at the great mystery. How can One so strong be so tender as He stoops so low? Looking upon Jesus is the great sanctifier to areas of pride and anger in the human heart.” – Allen Hood, the Associate Director of IHOPKC “Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness”. I remembering first seeing this phrase several years ago. I think I saw it on Xanga (wow…)! Anyways, there’s something about this phrase that resonates with me though and has stuck ever since. Maybe it’s because I am allergic to weakness, or rather being seen or thought of as weak. The last thing I want is for someone to think I am weak. Isn’t that why we hide so well? Hide behind our accomplishments or by bragging about who we know or even by emotionally checking out… Isn’t that why when someone hurts us, we hurt them back? We cut them deeper. Hurt them where they’re most vulnerable. Because even if I am weak, at least I am not as weak as you. I may bleed, but the wound I left you is a fatal blow. All because we just don’t want anything to do...
by Sam | Jan 29, 2015 | Events, Reflection, Testimony
In the last few years, God had given me promises about raising up a generation of sons and daughters. Men and women who understood that they were the children of the Most High. At the time I had no idea how such a vast promise could ever come to pass. Yet our first conference ever, “Living as the Beloved Son”, was a glimpse into exactly that. Words can’t describe how privileged and humbled I am to see His words unfolding and being fulfilled right before my eyes… Wow! I am in complete awe of what God is doing through a ministry like this. I was even wrecked that even one person would come! I‘ve been to packed out conferences as well as decked out conferences, this wasn’t one of them. Yet God came and did what He does best, which was fathering and loving His sons. How sweet it was to see Him show up and be Father – encountering lives, filling broken places, and ultimately bringing life change. It was surely a weekend to remember, celebrate, and build upon. Check out this video that captured a look at our Young Men’s Conference. — Here are also some testimonies from both those who ministered and attended… “It was a privilege to partner with Sam and Jesus to invest in the next generation of Christian men. From the time of worship, talks, seminar, and to the Blessing Ceremony, God moved powerfully. I truly believe greater things are yet to come through Pursuit NYC!” – Danny Cheong “I was invited to the Pursuit NYC conference to be part of the ministry team, but I ended up...
by Sam | Jan 5, 2015 | Guest Blogger, Inspiration, Reflection
This year is looking full already… more speaking engagements and seminars… lots more personal as well as professional challenges and areas of growth that already stretch into December. It’s exciting for sure, but I can also feel myself almost (almost) going to that place of feeling overwhelmed, mostly because I don’t want to fall into the “busy” trap. Been there. Done that. And it was really. Ugly. In fact, the word actually causes me to have a visceral, physical reaction that makes me cringe and grit my teeth. And I’ve resolved that when someone asks me how I’ve been, to not answer “busy.” Let me explain… “Busy” took a toll on me physically, emotionally, spiritually & mentally. It took the last half of 2014 to just BEGIN to undo the gordian knot of at least 6 years worth of just being “busy” all the time. 6 years ago was when I had begun my MA in Marriage and Family Therapy. We were also two years into developing our church plant and I had given birth to our second daughter somewhere in the midst of all that. (Ironically, these years were also one of the most self-reflective and life changing years of my life) BUT… Busy became my “thing” and I had happily embraced it in the beginning because if I’m honest, it made me feel important. I wore it like a badge and it was how I derived a big sense of my identity: Busy with school, busy with work, busy being a wife, a mom to two young children, a church planter’s wife, a therapist… busy meeting with...
