Typing while my i-pod updates

The cheque's in the post

2009-01-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

There are a fair few things in this world that really bug me, I mean REALLY bug me (Happy New Year by the way).

One of those things is people who use percentages over 100 ("we're gonna give this 110%") I hate it!! There is a list of things, most of which have appeared on this blog at one point or another, however there is one that has not so far and it is time to rectify that.

It's a joke, a terrible, overused, hideous excuse for a joke and it goes like this:

John: Well what can I say about Michael? He's kind, generous, hard-working and has been a real asset to this company. And as we say goodbye on his retirement it's only fitting that we pay tribute to this wonderful gentleman.

(round of applause as Michael come to the microphone)

Michael: Thanks John, lovely words........I'll give you that fiver I promised afterwards - ha ha ha ha

People of all ages, up and down the country, birthday parties, retirements, weddings, leaving parties........it appears everywhere!!

And it could be solved with one simple phrase, often underused and always appreciated - 'Thank You'

Using every medium

2008-12-10T05:01:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow evening in Starbucks in Chelmsford High Street we're holding our first ever carus Christmas Singalong.

It's going to be a great night and we'd love as many people as possilbe to come join us. It's the first "public" thing we've done as carus and we're really excited.

I was waiting to calm down before writing this......

2008-11-20T02:18:00.000-08:00

....but I haven't yet!!

For the last few weeks I've been going to gigs, TV recordings and parties. I've met lovely people and had a lot of fun. There's a long story of meeting people and getting invited to stuff that ended up 2 weeks ago with me being at the recording of a new sketch show in London. I got into conversation with the assistant floor manager and before I knew it he had very kindly offered me the chance to come and work on the show the following week.

And so last Friday I went along to the studios at 8.30am and had an amazing day working there.

When all was said and done I got invited back this week and so tomorrow will once again be the floor runner.

I've been asked a lot by friends and people who I met if I enjoyed it and my answer is always the same. Sometimes when you want to do something for a long time with no success when it finally happens it can be a let-down. Last week was the opposite, I loved it, all the waiting around, all the getting food and drinks, all the nice people, all the crew, all the laughter and all the great conversations.

Amazing!!

Mr Leeder look away now

2008-11-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

Last year we went skiing and after much umming and ahhing (great NI phrase for you all) I decided to ski instead of snowboard. This was mainly down to my good friend Matt Leeder who really wanted me to ski. I had a great week learning and really enjoyed the experience of skiing......but something was missing.

My ski mentor and all round great guy Roland Spencer told me halfway through the week that he thought I should give boarding a go. He couldn't explain why but he felt I should try it.

Anyway I put the thought to one side and assumed I would be back on the slopes this year on skis but now things have changed.

I really want to try snowboarding!!

So I've asked Christina to buy me a day pass at the snow dome in Milton Keynes for Christmas to give it a go (well.....8 hours) to see how I feel about it and get ready for April in Les gets.

Only time will tell but whatever happens ski or board I will be proudly wearing this bad boy

A week of many parts

2008-11-09T16:03:00.000-08:00

The last week has been full of experiences.

All of these have been positive (even the ones that didn't feel that way at the time). I enter this week to come with new hope for a number of areas in my life.

Today at carus we looked at influence and prayed for influential people around the world and ourselves and the influence we have each been given. It was a really helpful time for me and was the culmination of a number of decisions and conversations I've been making and having recently.

This week is full of opportunity and as I head off to bed looking forward to tomorrow I leave these words from Henri Nouwen:

"All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let's live with hope".

Spinning around

2008-10-20T01:33:00.000-07:00

I had an experience last week of walking down the stairs outside work and feeling a bit like I was in an episode of The Simpsons. Every now and again there'll be a scene where one of the characters will be walking along and people's faces will be hovering around them reminding them of a conversation or question they've been in. As the voices all start to blend together either confusion or clarity tends to come out of it.

Well, as I walked down the stairs I was having 10 or 11 bits of previous conversations going round my head. Thankfully they didn't bring any confusion (I am not descending into a breakdown or 'hearing voices') but they also didn't bring much clarity. They just added to the general malaise of life right now. I heard someone pay tribute to a colleague recently by saying this;

"They don't have a closet big enough for all the hats they wear".

I guess we can all identify with that. We're friends, parents, children, brothers, sisters, leaders, servants, lovers, fighters, losers, winners, leaders, followers and all in a days work. I'm not looking for sympathy, I enjoy the diversity and I love the changing and rotating lifestyle I get to lead. I just wonder what it would take for everything to stop spinning for just a few minutes and more than that, would I miss the dizziness if it did??

A song

2008-10-15T02:13:00.000-07:00

Last night at carus we wrote a song together as a community for the first time. As part of this process my good friend Ben wrote this little song (with his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek).

I am like an orange - By Benjamin Bewers

I am like an orange,
My life is so segmented.
I am not reptilian,
I cannot shed my skin.
But God is so columnal,
He supports me with His pillars.
God is all providing
And I am content in Him.

In case you're wondering we did also write a song together to the tune of "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay called "Identity".

It's not show-friends

2008-10-09T01:12:00.000-07:00

The last 5 or 6 days have been a strange collection of experiences;

On Friday night we went into London to celebrate the birthday of Mel Wiggins. It was lovely to catch up with Mel and Dave and hang out with friends we see loads and others we see not enough.

Saturday, Chris was at a hen do so I was all alone with a day to spend so I got some work on a project done in the morning, hung out with Seth (Simon and Beth) in the afternoon and then went to town to meet Ruth. Having bought some skinny jeans and a coffee we were getting ready to head to the cinema when Ruth got a call to say there were 2 tickets for The Secret Policeman's Ball going if we wanted to go. It started at 7pm and it was now after 6pm!! We rushed home, got ready and drove to London.

Bendy buses and traffic lights are rubbish!!!!

We arrived 50 minutes late but the gig was great and afterwards we headed downstairs to the party where we ended up chatting to a guy called Ben who invited us to go and see Never Mind The Buzzcocks get filmed on Tuesday. We went along to that on Tuesday evening and it was a very funny evening.

It's been an interesting look into this world that I'm trying to get into and I have loads of thoughts running round my head about it all, maybe I'll blog them one day, maybe not.

If you're really interested to find out more why not invite me out for a coffee (I'll pay, I get a discount - and you thought the media had perks!!).

Another picture

2008-10-03T07:03:00.000-07:00

Once again big thanks to Matt Hollidge for this one, this time he took it back home in Northern Ireland

A picture....

2008-10-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

In this case a moving one.

Big thanks to Matt H for pointing this one out to me and for a really creative couple of hours this morning

It's hard not to be impressed

2008-09-25T02:53:00.001-07:00

Last night we took Matt and Chell to see Bear Grylls in London. This was our Birthday gift to Matt as we know he loves all Bear's shows.

We arrived at Holy Trinity Brompton church where the event was happening and after a brief lesson in crowd control and what not to expect from Christian people we were in some great seats and ready for the night to begin.

It was a great event, loads of clips, good questions from Nicky Gumbel and some great stories from Bear and his cameraman Dan. Reflecting on it this morning and amidst all the craziness of jumping off stuff, eating stuff and climbing stuff one thing has stuck with me. Bear was talking about his heroes and he mentioned his dad who gave his this bit of advice to live with;

"Go after your dreams and look after your friends".

From a man who has done so much in his life this seemed like good advice.

Back with a bump!

2008-09-19T03:08:00.000-07:00

So following the last post our little showreel has been doing the rounds and it's fair to say I've come in for some pretty heavy criticism for my part in it. Mainly up for grabs is my complete lack of interest in what's going on.

Having watched it a number of times I think it's fair to say the criticism is well founded. And so as I get settled into year 2 of this 2 year journey it's time for a fresh start and a new wave of enthusiasm. The process begins today with a new look for my head (just the hair bit) and continues with new clothes next week and then some hard work at getting better on screen.

The positive thing is I'm more positive now than I've been for about 3 months.

So much to blog about.......

2008-08-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

......but I'm starting with this!

As you may or may not know I've given these 2 years of my life to try and work in television. I've been making showreels since January and they've been okay.

A week ago my friend Ruth and I decided to make one together and this is the result;

Loses and Gains

2008-08-01T02:40:00.000-07:00

Since my last blog a lot has happened.

In terms of media stuff I've been doing a lot of filming and editing of my own stuff which has been great experience and hopefully I'll put some of it up here soon. I had another audition last week which went okay and was a good experience but I didn't get the job.

I ate chips with Chrissy, Chell, Simon, Beth & Lauren at 10.30pm on Brighton beach (a bit of a whim)

We had our first ever carus baby shower/BBQ on Monday and it was awesome.

I saw the Dark Knight with Jon, Glyn and Ben - amazing!!

Went to a wedding last weekend and am heading to another this weekend.

My cafetiere broke.

A week of things being said

2008-07-11T02:21:00.000-07:00

The three best things said to me this week so far;

"Have you just finished your A-levels?"

"Can I stop worrying about you now?"

"Are you the religious guy?"

Different settings, different reactions and different relationships. One made me smile, another made me think and another made me realise that people care.

The punchline's worth it

2008-07-08T01:09:00.001-07:00

It's Tuesday morning, a quick look back;

Went to see Hancock on Thursday night. Good laughs, great twist in the middle and overall a fun night out.

Spent Saturday with the Leeders collecting their new cats, breakfast at a garden centre (what??) then off to the sanctuary to get Fletch and Rosie (the latter name was chosen by committee). Then the rest of the day was spent eating playing with cats and watching movies (Be kind rewind was disappointing, The Darjeiling Limited was surprisingly good).

Sunday was church followed by a vision day. We had one of these back in January to define our purpose and values which was really good. Sunday was different, probably because vision is something very different. We got loads of great work done and for me it answered some important questions.

Finally, I donned my green apron yesterday to begin working in Starbucks. I had a really good day, time went by quick, the team are really nice and I was made to feel very welcome. I also discovered I am excellent at spilling milk......oh well no point crying over it.

A very talented little place

2008-07-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

Been doing some writing today and trying to give myself a soundtrack to inspire me. In doing so I've discovered a whole bunch of new stuff coming out of the beautiful land that is Northern Ireland. A tiny country with a huge ammount of creativity;

Any group of people in their 20's who get together to find out more about community and God will always get my attention. When that group start writing music then I'm hooked. Rend Collective Experiment are just such a group. I know a few of the people involved from way back. The music is amazing and their heart behind it is evident. They have a website and have released 2 EPs this year that can be downloaded from that site. You can check out some of the tunes and get details on their site etc at their myspace here

I first met Micah Vincent about 8 years ago. He was the younger brother of a friend of mine, Johnny. Whilst at uni I taught drums and percussion and Micah was one of my first pupils. He was always a good laugh to teach, full of energy and a bit of a thinker as well. Anyway I left Northern Ireland and still bump into Johnny every Christmas at Stansted. I don't know if Micah still plays the drums but I do know he's learnt to play the guitar and write songs you can hear some of them at his myspacehere

Next the ever blogging Mel Wiggins, I've blogged about mel's music before but never put a link up so here's her myspace here

Finally, not music, but anyone from back home looking for a photographer should check out Dave. His website's here

The one in which Matt dips his toe back into the shallow world of inter-church politics

2008-07-02T13:43:00.001-07:00

Do you know when people say;

"I could never go to church you guys can't even agree with each other never mind all my stuff".

Yeah, we should all probably listen to that.

p.s. I told you I was just dipping my toe.

A menu

2008-07-02T05:00:00.001-07:00

One of the great things about not getting up at 4.30am is I am able to get back into the kitchen and enjoy cooking again.

Alongside this, Christina is also getting in there and trying out new stuff as well. Between us we've racked up;

Chocolate cake
Scones
Pancakes
Meatloaf
Yorkshire puddings
Fajitas

And last night we made our first ever Creole Jambalaya - amazing but way too much of it so next time we're making it for a more people.

Tonight Glyn's here so we're doing fajitas for the second time ever - as always if you fancy a dinner invite just let us know.

I am officially a cliche

2008-06-30T02:59:00.000-07:00

I'm 26 years old

I'm currently trying to break into the world of TV

And tomorrow I put on this.......

An update

2008-06-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely weekend in Sheffield. Christina and I were leading the YP weekend at Sheffield Citadel and staying at Wigley (with Chell and her parents). The corps were really great and responded really well to the meetings. The food and company was amazing as always and it was great to spend time with Roan (Roland and Joan), Nicola, Adrian, Isaac and Essex's very own Chris Carter.

Now back at home and working on a few things to clear up before I begin a brand new job tomorrow - more to follow.

A new challenge

2008-06-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

I have been, and continue to be, a fan of Big Brother. I'm not sure if I've blogged about it before and I don't have the time to check but anyway I love it. This post is in in no way an attempt to justify or explain it, it needs neither. I'm a big boy and I can choose what I watch without much help.

What this post is about is something that bugs me every year. There are some very simple rules to Big Brother (they can be found here) Rule 5 is a biggy;

DISCUSSION OF NOMINATIONS - Participants may not discuss their nominations with each other either before or after they have taken place. Big Brother will take any attempt to break these rules very seriously as it is a key principle of Big Brother that the housemates' nominations must be their own choice and must not be influenced by the other housemates.

It's fairly fundamental an yet every year the people seem to think they can get away with it - very confusing.

So last night as I watched Rex and Mohamed get into trouble for discussing nominations I asked myself;

"Is there something I could no stop myself from talking about for 13 weeks??"

I want to now set myself this challenge.....but need something to not talk about.

Answers on a postcard - or a comment if you're not up for postage.

..........oh and by the way any smart "try not to talk about Big Brother again" answers will be met with.......well nothing..........I've kind of stolen your thunder in this sentence.

Keeping this up......I'm no longer tired!!

2008-06-23T06:09:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a lot recently.

Like most things in my life I go through phases of reading (fits and starts as my mum would say). In the last 3 weeks I've been ploughing through some books and it's been great.

Some highlights;
This was in the book drawer in our apartment in Italy. I have always enjoyed Ben Elton's writing and this was a great read.

This was a birthday present from ben and Rach. It's a really great read (as Mr Hill will soon be able to testify). A clever look at human beings and why we do what we do even when we don't want to.

I met these two men in Australia in 2006 and was really impressed with their commitment to The Salvation Army (in a good way) and their heart for their nation. The book is a collection of stories of the people who did seemingly crazy things and what happened because of them. The book also ends each chapter with challenges and questions for today. Anyone who gives two hoots about The Salvation Army should read this book and try and answer the questions at the end of each chapter (I may blog this fact again).

Reading books by people you know can be a real challenge. Reading books by people you know and have worked with can be a greater challenge. It's easy to put your bias or friendship or respect for the person into the mix as you read. With that in mind I received my copy of Russ Rook's new book with a lot going on in my head. I've read and heard Russ a lot in recent years and have always been impressed. He's been a good friend, trusted adviser and big supporter of me and my work. And so when I read this book I stopped and read it again to be sure of my thoughts.

It is beautifully written, full of truth and perhaps one of the most well-timed additions to my library I've ever had. No bias, no woofy friendship addition needed. It's a great book.

I started this on Saturday. I really enjoyed his similar study of Jesus and have wanted to get into this one for a while. We'll see how it goes.

Just some thoughts from the library of Matt.

The end of.........

2008-06-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

So some big changes this week;

I decided a few weeks ago to give up my show on South London Radio. There are loads of reasons for it (and I'm not going into them all here) but in the end it was the right choice for me to make and so I've done it.

I did my last show today and had some lovely calls, texts and e-mails from my listeners (one lady even got emotional).

It's been an amazing 7 months and I've learnt a lot.

What's next? I have no idea

Just what I needed

2008-06-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

Alain Emerson blogged this Tozer quote a few weeks ago, I've just come across it today, sometime's timing is everything;

'Thank-God for everything up to this point, but do not stop here. Press on into the deep things of God. Insist upon tasting the profounder mysteries of redemption. Keep your feet on the ground but let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average or to surrender to the chill of your spiritual environment. If you thus 'follow after', heaven will surely be opened up to you and you will, with Ezekiel, see visions of God.'

Trying to keep this up

2008-06-16T04:43:00.000-07:00

Hello,

life is pretty hectic at the minute. I had a good weekend, the garden looks good and I went to see some professional wrestling with my brother Simon (and despite my protests I actually quite enjoyed it).

Loads of decisions to be made in the next few weeks but overall life is good.

Once more with feeling

2008-06-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

So the last post didn't seem to capture the feeling I was trying to express so a few more pics might help;
This first one was taken while we spent a week in Italy with Christina's mum and dad.

Unfortunately the pic in the previous post was taken on a Friday afternoon (when I tend to look like I'm about to collapse).

Farewell old friends

2008-05-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

So for a while now I've been cultivating a long hairstyle. And today was the culmination of that journey when it looked like this (apologies for the blurriness but I was walking to the hairdresser and was late)

For a number of reasons I needed to get it cut and so began a process of trying to choose a new (shorter) cut. I discovered that John Mayer has a similar type of hair to me through pictures and so found him with a shorter style. And so this became my goal;

And so today I went to my hairdresser (the greatest hairdresser in the world) and he did this;

Thoughts on a postcard

What more...........?

2008-05-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

I belong to a beautiful community of people who look after each other, pray for each other, feed each other, challenge each other, support each other and love each other.

I belong to a family that accept me for who I am and love me in that. They drop everything to run errands for me, they take my whiny phone calls and ease my stupidity.

I have been trying to get a job in the media for less than a year now and I host my own breakfast show in London on a commercial radio station.

I get to work for my church part-time coming up with ideas and seeing them become real because of the hard work of a team of dedicated people.

I have a wife who is incredible and who supports my life in every way.

I have a healthy body and roof over my head.

............yet I keep asking.

God, make this less about 'me' and all about You.

Euston station is a less than inspiring place!!

2008-05-01T03:55:00.000-07:00

After much deliberation I am now taking the train and Chrissy is driving to ROOTS.

It's been a good day today, we found out that our station has made a slight improvement in the latest rajar figures (1,000 listeners and a 0.1% share increase). It's small but it's the right direction and I the team and management seemed pleased.

I've got a bit of a wait before the train arrives and whilst I could've jumped on an earlier one it would have cost more than my original ticket to do so (and so the seat remains empty). I've just "enjoyed" a burger king meal before looking at my watch and realising that I'd wolfed down a bacon double cheeseburger, chips and a coke all before 11.20am (my body is messed up).

Looking forward to the weekend - lots still feels not quite there yet but that's sometimes a good place to be as it tends to take the "I" out of the weekend and allows some good stuff to happen naturally. What we have got is a great team and some quality speakers lined up to come and share in the Parklife programme,

Once I get back my life heads back to medialand again with my show continuing and attempting to find some TV work as well. Doing Spring Harvest and preparing for ROOTS have been great. I love this part of my life and would hate to imagine a time when I'm not involved in serving the church (in these event type things but more importantly locally in my community). I got asked by a good friend the other day;

"When you do these church things again do you still feel you made the right move in career?"

My answer isn't rehearsed or polished because it's a question I ask myself often as well (usuall at 4.30am when my alarm goes off). But today as I sit here and think about who I am and what is happening in my character and journey I have no regrets.

Wherever I end up working I am far more interested in WHO I am becoming than WHAT I do for a living.

........maybe Euston station isn't that uninspiring after all.

Everytime

2008-04-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a while so here goes with the update;

JOB 1 - Going well. It's been a busy week on the show and calls and texts are coming in thick and fast.

JOB 2 - ROOTS is coming up soon so my life is pretty manic with that. It's gonna be a great weekend.

SPRING HARVEST - We had a great week at SH this year. We were part of a quality team and it was nice to hang out with old friends whilst getting to meet some new people too. Had some great chats and some really challenging moments personally which is good.

CHURCH - We continue to go to Chelmsford SA Corps. Our cell group is going really well and we meet monthly for a cool new emerging prayer thing. It's all good.

FRIENDS & FAMILY - All well, got to hang with dad for a few minutes the other evening which was cool. Haven't seen Si in a while so hoping to rectify that soon. The same goes for Ads and mum. Catching up with Graham & Kirsten next weekend. And had a great meal and chat with Mick & Lynn last night which was really lovely.

NEW STUFF - Experienced my first 'freebie' this week with two great tickets to see Wicked courtesy of a promotions company who advertise on my station and were hosting a press night. The night was great and we'd have loved to go to the part afterwards but my body would have imploded if i'd stayed up any longer. Also been sending out DVD showreels to TV agents and companies. SO far everything is coming back very nice but 'no'. I've been holding off on TV stuff for lots of reasons, but it's time to push on now and rejection is a huge part of that.

That's it I think. The MTV thing I blogged about here is going out this week, it's been really interesting to watch and I made it into their "best auditions" reel which is cool for my first effort.

I think that's it for now.

Skiing - some reflections

2008-04-03T08:23:00.001-07:00

We're now back to normality (our code for me being permanently exhausted).

Skiing was amazing!

A couple of injuries and a few doses of sunstroke but overall we return unscathed and having loved every minute of it. Some highlights;

1. The roadtrips. The way there was started with a 5 hour delay and the way back was A 5 hour drive for Chrissy but it was really lovely to spend time with Matt and Chell. We see each other a lot but real time together is sometimes hard to come by. It was great.

2. The views. I blogged the one from our bedroom but that doesn't even begin to sum up the sights of a skiing holiday. Amazing!

3. The company. Catching up with Roland and Joan was, as always, a treat. Roland has great taste in coffee and cheese (except for that one......you know which one I mean). Getting to know Adrian, Nic and Isaac was brilliant and hopefully we'll get to spend more time with them soon. And meeting Scuba Steve was great. He's a great guy and we had a lot of laughs. (I've already mentioned Matt & Chell but they are great holiday buddies).

4. Learning to ski. I took a while to get going, then got going too much then got scared and had to get going again then got going and loved it.

5. Isaac. He is 2 years old and is great fun to be around. He has terrible taste in movies (Charlottes Web 2 was either a bet by or a punishment to an animator) but has a great little personality and made us all smile.

6. EuroDisney. It was our second visit in 6 months but it was great. We missed Space Mountain and I can't do the stupid Buzz Lightyear thing but it was a cool day.

7. "Bleh de blah - Ble de blah" Okay you won't get this without being there but imagine a 2 year old offering 2 pieces of fruit and asking us each to choose one of the two each......yeah it makes no sense but it was very cool.......someone who was there back me up.

There are loads more but one more that stands out

8. My beautiful wife. It was great to not get up early, to spend our days together, to learn something new together, to have fun together.......loads more. She's amazing and I don't deserve her but I am blessed and grateful to have her.

Great holiday.

A quick skiing update

2008-03-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

We set off on Friday morning for France and after a long delay for the eurostar we arrived at our hotel at 4am (it's okay Chell says we're young).

The following morning we woke up to get to our resort and after adding our snowchains to the car we arrived at LesGets and had a quick afternoon skiing before getting into the chalet.

In terms of the skiing, I have so far given myself mild whiplash and twisted my knee (all strapped up now) but I'm loving it. We've been and done some beautiful slopes and Chrissy and I are really getting the hang of it. The company is also lovely, the spencers, leeders, wilemans and scuba are great holiday companions and we laugh lots, chat lots and are really enjoying the time together. (Issac being 2 years old and very cute also adds something really nice to the whole occasion).

I'll blog more but for now I'll leave you with the view from our bedroom - enjoy

The rat

2008-03-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I woke up (at 4.45am) and went down to the bathroom. I noticed things were weird when there was water all over the seat and floor (not the usual way Chrissy leaves the room). The second clue that things weren't right was the scuttering along the floor behind me. The third clue that things weren't right was the sight of a tail disappearing behind our washing machine in the utility room.

Not good!!

I closed the utility door and with my back squarely against it flicked the light on at which point I saw a rat run into our bathroom. At this point I closed the door and called on Christina, being the responsible husband I am I wanted to stay and deal with the situation but I needed to be on air at 6am so I had to go leaving Chrissy to sort it out.

Chrissy called a local exterminator who could come and visit the house early. They soon came and after a thorough inspection informed Chrissy that the rat had gone back down the toilet from whence it had come. This is not an uncommon occurrence in downstairs bathrooms and we learnt our lesson to keep the lid down.

I was in touch with Chrissy as much as I could be and she soon e-mailed a list of cleaning products to get our bathroom ready for human use again. I finished my shift, went shopping and came home tooled up for an afternoon of bleaching.

Having spent 25 minutes cleaning the bath and surrounding tiles I was taking the job seriously! I finished this section of the room and then moved onto the sink and shelf under it. As I went to get some of the things off the shelf one of the objects fell onto the floor and I heard a hiss. I quickly realised what was going on when from behind my sink came a rat towards my face!! (I'm told the rat was not going for my face but instead I was blocking the light and it was merely making a bid for freedom).

At this point I closed the toilet lid and door. I rang Chrissy to get the number of the exterminator (who was no doubt by now flying to the Bahamas on my cheque from the first visit). I got in touch and explained the situation "You came earlier? Rats still there". After some jovial banter he told me he could get someone to me by 4pm.

I'm now in the house, with a rat unable to use the bathroom.

The man finally arrived and went into the bathroom - QUICK ASIDE My bathroom has three things in it a sink, a bath and a toilet. The rat was behind the sink. When inspecting a bathroom for a rat wouldn't behind the sink be an obvious place to start?...........I thought so too!

Anyway, he went into the bathroom and after a few seconds I heard a high pitched squeak and out he ran into the kitchen (the man NOT the rat!!) He was able to reliably inform me that "You've got a rat in there!!" GENIUS

He went out the van to get some glueboards and came back and threw them into the bathroom. I suggested that having hidden behind the sink for 11 hours we might need to coax it out a little. He reluctantly agreed and began to kick the pedestal this served to totally wind the rat up and it began to squeal and hiss loudly at which our brave hitman ran out again nto the kitchen.

He decided to give the rat a 10 minute break (I'm still not sure what for, was there a designated smoking area in there?) And after a break came back in with a litter picker. The plan was to grab the rat and stick it to the board (good plan).

Off he went back to the room with a hearty encouragement from me (to which he replied "that's easy for you to say from in here"). After a few seconds I realised he'd changed the plan when instead of grabbing the rat he began hitting the pedestal with the litter picker.....more hissing, more squealing and another short break.

He arrived back with another 10 glue boards which were once again strewn on the bathroom floor. After more hissing and squealing he came out to inform me the rat was now behind the radiator (those glue boards are worth every penny).

Another break ensued and he this time re-emerged with a large black bag. Chrissy was now back from work and we looked as confused as each other. He made us promise not to laugh (I was not much for laughing so it was an easy promise to make). And he opened the bag to reveal a shotgun.

Go on read that last bit again.

Yeah - a shotgun.

He assured us it only shot pellets and I assured him those tiles on the wall were.........tiles.

After a few practise shots (you couldn't make this up) he went in. After a few more practise shots he eventually steadied himself enough to take aim and shoot.

He ran out of the bathroom and when asked if he'd got it replied "don't know'

Eventually he was persuaded to go back into the bathroom and discovered he had indeed exterminated the rat. He cleaned up the rat and left. After two hours we had cleaned the bathroom and the next day had a new floor put down.

Here ends the story - 2 lessons;

1. Leave the toilet seat down.
2. When looking for exterminators, don't assume one that begins with 'A' will be the leader in their field.

Some things since my last post

2008-03-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know why it's been so long but I'll try and update;

1. The shows going well, new features are working and I get new callers and texters every day.
2. I continue to be unpopular with one contributor at digital spy - oh well can't win them all.
3. My church moved out of it's building.
4. I presented a daytime show on TIME 106.8
5. We had a day at aqua springs with Matt & Chell (very nice)
6. We spent a day in London with Mike & Meghan
7. My Mac died (and with it I lost all my files) ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR FILES!!
8. We had a rat in our bathroom...........

.........yes this needs more explaining.

Pick me.......

2008-02-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

I spent Saturday auditioning for a new reality TV show. It's called Pick Me MTV and they're looking for a new MTV News presenter. I posted a video online back in early January and got invited to audition live. Unfortunately I didn't get through to the next stage and as much as I was disappointed it was a good experience and I met some lovely people.

Since I started this journey in September I've been knocked back dozens (if not hundreds) of times. It never gets easier and I tend to take things quite personally. I guess the reality of this lifestyle is that knockbacks are all part of what I do.

In other news, the show's going really well. I'm enjoying what I'm doing and we've got a good line up of guests over the next few weeks. I'm getting to know my colleagues better each week and that's great too.

Lots to look forward to in the next few weeks/months;

A weekend with my family
A week skiing with Matt & Chell
A week at Spring Harvest with a really good team.
A week in Italy with Chrissy's mum and dad
A long weekend at ROOTS

......and loads more that I don't even know about yet.

Things one should be able to reasonably expect from a vetinary surgery

2008-02-22T06:19:00.000-08:00

1. That the vet will like animals
2. That the vet will refer to your pet by name or gender (in our case "elfie" or "she")
3. That the vet will be able to clip a rabbits claws without leaving a scene reminiscent of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
4. Bandaging would be taught early on in nursing training.

A view summed up by this picture

Instead we had a slightly difference experience - thankfully elfie is fine and recovering well from the incident (without a bandage).

p.s. I've never seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but I imagine blood and hay.....what we ended up with yesterday.

It's been too long.........

2008-02-19T03:45:00.000-08:00

A phrase I seem to use a lot these days.

Work's great, Youth Rally went really well, the breakfast show is going good and I've got some exciting things happening in the next week or two.

We had a lovely weekend back home with family last weekend which was really nice, Chrissy and I led the YP weekend at my mum and dad's church which people seemed to enjoy.

A rubbish update but I felt I should add something

I don't often ask you to do much

2008-02-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

Okay a quick update before I ask you to do something for me;

RAJAR figures came in last week. We now have officially got 23,000 listeners listening for an average of 5.9 hours per week. The reason for this sharp increase in listening figures is complex but I can safely say it has very little to do with me (the survey was September - December I arrived in December). Anyway I'm pretty chuffed and feel very priveleged to be the breakfast presenter on this station.

Aside from figures it's going well and I'm really enjoying it. My boss Gary left last week. Gary was the man who gave me the opportunity at SLR and has been a real encouragement to me and has spent 2 months providing me with really important and constructive criticism. Last week was the first time he told me he'd enjoyed my show. It sounds silly but he told me I'd done a really good show and that meant a lot from a man who hears a lot of radio (good and bad).
ALOVE work is great youth rally is this weekend so getting ready for that as well as working on new media opportunities.

I'm still trying to get my first TV job and continue to work towards this.

Anyway that's enough about me - now for my good friend Mel.

Mel and I have been friends for.......well forever.

Our friendship has had ups and downs and we seem to end up meeting up at some very random times and places. In the last 6 months I've been mainly seeing Mel at weddings, firstly her own (which was to Dave who I have gushed enough about.....but he really is great) secondly at Matt and Chell's (who I probably don't gush enough about and should more often).

ANYWAY!!

Mel is someone who I admire a lot. She's got a real heart for justice, a passion for young people and an amazing talent for singing and songwriting. Her songs are from the heart and her voice is stunning. She sings truth, not wooly, patronising truth but straight from the heart truth.

Mel has entered a singer / songwriter competition called Slice The Pie. She has the potential to win £15,000 to record and promote an album which would be her dreams come true. She is currently in second place with 15% of the overall vote. The band in first place have 16% of the vote, so she's close....really close. The competition runs for just a few more days.

Here’s what you do:

* Register your email with www.slicethepie.com
* Go to the bit along the top that says 'showcases'
* Select 'All Genres 2'
* Select 'vote'.
* Find Mel on the list
* Click on Mel

If there is anything on there that asks you to buy any shares or backstage passes, you don't have to and it will not effect the votes.

Like I said at the top I don't often ask you much on my blog but I’d love it if you took five minutes to do this. Please pass this on to other people and lets see if we can make it happen.

Maybe it's because I'm feeling tuned into someone trying to "make it"
Maybe it's because I think Mel is great
Maybe it's because I really like Dave (too gushy.....yeah I thought so)
Maybe it's because she's Northern Irish (or is it Canadian?? - Kidding!!)
Maybe it's because her songs really are that good (and they are)

Whatever the reason if you're reading this blog you're interested in some part of my life and I'm grateful for that so I'd love it if you'd do this.

Thanks

I'm not sure this is compliant

2008-01-29T07:05:00.000-08:00

One thing you notice when you visit other countries is their differing views on health & safety laws.

Whilst spending the weekend in Copenhagen we noticed this little basement shop;

Obviously this would be a inaccessible for someone in a wheelchair or with a pram and so they came up with a way of solving this problem by ensuring there was another entrance suitable for entry;

They could enter this in the X Games!!

living with ny choice

2008-01-25T10:03:00.000-08:00

So I got a blackberry! It's the 8310 aka the curve and I like it!

It enables me to blog from the airport.....whilst delayed by easyjet - AGAIN!!

The choice of a blackberry-excellent

The choice of flying with difficultjet-awful!!

I guess we all live with consequences

Where do we go from here......

2008-01-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

I'm going to write first then think of a title!!

Friday night was spent at Big Brother's Big Mouth. Myself, Christina, Ruth and Glyn headed to Elstree to be part of the live studio audience. The house looks awesome all lit up and we got to sit in on the rehearsal before the show began. It was loads of fun and even got a little moment to make a point (it was to do with bleeding eyes). The video is below (check out the dance moves at the end.....and the hair) ;

Saturday was spent at church where they were holding a vision day. It was really encouraging to be there for the day and I think the outcomes were incredibly positive, the future could be awesome.

Saturday night was with the Leeder's and friends and it was lovely to see them back in the UK (2 weeks is too long).

Sunday was spent at church in the morning before men's fellowship at Costa and then round the Leeder's again for lunch and Monopoly (Matt White edition).

And then today I had my first celebrity interview on the breakfast show. James Corden joined me on air for a chat about his career, Gavin & Stacey and Big Brother. He was very tired but a great guest.

Still working on some TV ideas and hoping to come up with something worth pitching again soon.

I also got a blackberry.

That's me

Love to you all

I'm Sick

2008-01-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

It's only a cold but I'm feeling pretty rough.

2 thoughts;

1. I asked my boss the other day what happens if I'm sick. I start the day really early and so if I wake up really ill its a bit late to get someone to cover so I wondered what the procedure was. The answer was short and to the point;

"You come to work - the show comes first!"

I like that atitude but I'm still worried what happens if I get really sick.

2. In my four and a half years at DHQ I don't think I ever had a day off sick (maybe one but even then I worked from home) the point is my parents never encouraged illness (not that any parents do) and days off were not really an option. The weird thing is that now as a self-employed person, time off sick really isn't an option. No work means no pay. It's a weird feeling!!

Anyway, sick or not tonight we begin our ballroom dancing lessons - very exciting.

Hello

2008-01-10T07:15:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty tired at the minute. The early starts are getting to me again but definitely getting easier as each day passes. The show seems to be going well with today being the most fun I'd had yet. I'm starting to find my own style of presenting which is good and I'm looking forward to getting some new stuff in there in the next few weeks.

This weekend we're off to the 24/7 prayer gathering which Christina and I are both really excited about. We're leading a seminar together which will be cool and I'm speaking in the last session so a busy weekend but a great place to be.

ALOVE work is all good, presenting my first draft of my document to the team next week so putting the finishing touches to that today and tomorrow.

I'm really loving the darts on the BBC (you can't deter me I love it!!) Anyway watching today they interviewed a dutch player who was describing the feeling you get when you win a trophy;

"It's an amazing feeling, you get covered in chicken pox"

I think he meant goosebumps......either that or darts prizes are really weird!!

Happy New Year

2008-01-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

Apologies for lack of bloggage recently - a lot has happened.

1. I went home for Christmas with Chrissy which was lovely!! We had a great time with family

2. I did some Christmas and New Year shows on SLR. These were not as fun as my breakfast show but good experience all the same.

3. Matt & Chell got married!! It was a brilliant day.

4. BPM Big Band did their best job ever!! Much down to the great players we had and having a conductor

5. I sang in public (not something I do often) I may post the video if I feel brave anytime soon, I'm no Susanna Hart (awesome) but I tried my best and had fun.

6. Chrissy's parents came to stay which was great and we headed to the Midlands for New Year to see family which was as cool as ever.

7. I went to the secret nuclear bunker.......that is all I can say for reasons of national security.

8. I have struggled to get up at 4.30am again but my body is slowly getting used to the idea once more.

9. I have stopped being so scared of getting sacked and am taking each day as it comes and having fun, I'm also getting fired up again about pushing some doors into TV.

10. This is a great picture of our little Baddow Road family which this month will come to an end. Glyn is now dead to us.......not really, this is my public announcement that we hope to have him round at least once a week for food.

Another day - another new experience

2007-12-19T04:06:00.001-08:00

Today was the first time I got to play my first parody song.

It's called "Here we are this Christmas" and it features our daytime line-up and news editor. It's being played out on the station from today until Christmas.

Apologies for the rubbish visuals, it's a radio feature.

Bringing people together

2007-12-18T06:17:00.000-08:00

I arrived in the studio this morning to find the phone ringing. It was a lady from Bromley who told me that her boyfriend had proposed last night. I said congratulations and was all ready to give little on-air mention to them both. However, she told me that she'd said "no". At this point I got very confused. I've only been doing radio for a little while but I get the idea that people usually want to share good dedications (I was asked to tell a lady how much her boyfriend loved her and was really excited that they were expecting their first child, I was the first person he'd told). And so the idea that I was about to announce some poor man's failed prposal was not really my idea of a good start to the morning.

It soon became clear that this lady had not wanted to say no and was hoping I could tell her boyfriend on the air that she did indeed want to marry him. And so I said that it wasn't really my place and instead offered her the chance to go on air and tell him herself. And so at 6.20am this morning she came on air and I asked her the question "what do you want to tell your boyfriend?"

She took a deep breath and said "I love him and the answer is yes"

He then came on the air and was clearly really chuffed with .

And in a nice end to the tale, her father is Irish and so they'll be a real Irish flavour to the wedding and they'd like me to be there as a guest.

It was a lovely start to my day.

As promised

2007-12-12T03:41:00.000-08:00

We decided to put our tree up this weekend. We'd orignally thought we'd do this Saturday afternoon but the plan chabged and we ended up on Sunday afternoon going to our local garden centre to pick up a tall, thin tree for our living room.

For some reason we came home with the incredible Hulk (the closest resembling large, green mass to the one we bought). And so having realised it was not only too big for our room but also for our tree holder, I went and bought a new tree holder. Unfortunately as buying a new room was not an option we instead had to move around the whole living room (furniture, wires, TV, CD towers etc). At which point all I had to do was push the tree into position.

I lay flat on the floor, pushed the tree from the base and before I knew it had obviously pushed too hard as the tree came down on top of me leaving me pinned to the floor.

I cried out for help at which point Chrissy came into help unfortunately she too ended up pinned to the floor.....I say pinned too.......it was more rolling around - in laughter!!

Anyway after a few hours of frantic work we finally now have this;

Where I'm at

2007-12-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

On Saturday at Gateway FM Ruth Cordon joined me in the studio to co-host. We had a great time working together and I really enjoyed having someone else in the studio to banter with. It was good fun and we're talking about seeing if we can work together more in the future.

I've also had a very social few days as well. Thursday night I went to cook for the electralyte boys. Friday night Chrissy and I had a night in. It was awesome!! We watched TV and ordered Pizza in. It was lovely. Saturday night we were at Ben and Rach's new house (which is lovely) for a little shindig. And finally we were at Church on Sunday then I headed off to coffee with some of the men (and girls this week) before lunch with Matt, Chell, Ruth and Gareth. And finally people around Sunday night for food and laughs.

We also bought our tree.......that is a blog ALL OF ITS OWN - EPIC!!!!

How it all begins

2007-12-05T04:53:00.000-08:00

I've now presented 4 live radio shows.

The first one was on Saturday at Gateway FM. This is a small community station which operates on a RSL (explained here)

This was a great experience and helped put me at ease before beginning my first real radio presenting job which started on Monday. I'm loving the job!! I work with a lovely bunch of people and have a programme controller who is both brutally honest in his feedback and incredibly encouraging in his support. It's an awesome place to work and once I get over the daily fear of being sacked I'm sure I'm going to love it even more.

Life is good!!

How it all began

2007-12-04T05:08:00.000-08:00

I will be writing about my new job soon I promise but there's one more thing to do before then.

Yesterday I handed my car, mobile and office keys back to DHQ. I'd got back late so I had to make my own way home (obviously without my car.....well not my car. My old car) And so I walked to the station to catch a train back to Chelmsford.

As I was walking I realised that on my very first day I had walked from the station to the office and in the four and a half years I've been there it's a walk I have never repeated, until yesterday. I took the time to think and reflect on my time as DYO and also to be thankful for the timing of starting a radio job on my last day at DHQ. As I walked over the bridge that goes over the A12 I realised that on my first day I hadn't noticed the road. I didn't realise just how much of my life would be spent driving up and down the road (especially when we bought our first home in Colchester). I reflected that on that first walk, I didn't know my wife, many of the people I call my friends or my colleagues. I didn't know the joy I'd experience, the frustrations I'd live with or the emotions I'd go through. I realised that the 21 year old who walked along that bridge in SA Uniform had no idea what would happen because of those simple steps of obedience.

As I walked yesterday I had a feeling of excitement as I stepped out in more obedience into the unknown. I know it's hard for people to understand and I appreciate there are lots of other things I could be doing in this next phase of my life but this is the right one and It's really exciting (more to come).

And so I stood on the bridge, I stopped and just gave thanks for all that's been and all that's to come.

THE END

......some sunny day

2007-11-30T02:23:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was my last day at DHQ.

I've been working there for four and a half years and during that time my life has changed dramatically in every way. The team prepared a really lovely lunch for me and I had some lovely cards and gifts (including the world's most incredible cake from Yvonne). I also has a really great meeting with Elwyn (who would have been my new boss) and it was great to chat some things through and share some experience and stories with each other.

I'm going to miss my job. I'll miss the people in the office, the opportunity to sit down and chat things through with great people on a daily basis. The friendship and warmth of the team. I'll miss the work itself and the young people who have ispired me for all the time I've been here.

And yet as I left yesterday and came home I had a real sense of peace. I know I'm doing the right thing and I know the future is going to be great for the division. And I'm trusting for my future too.

Exciting days ahead!!

A change to the published schedule

2007-11-29T02:49:00.000-08:00

Okay so after typing my list down yesterday I had a moment of realisation which despite numerous people's attempts to influence previously I had ignored. The fact is I have a confession to make, it's one I hate to say publically and even more to admit to myself;

I AM HUMAN

I love to think of myself as some of robot who can work and work and work endlessly without sleep or food and at times I've lived like this and paid a heavy price health and relationship wise. This next step in work would have seen me working a 78 hour (before any new projects) week and trying to get by on less than 4 hours sleep a night. I foolishly allowed myself to believe I could do it and ignored the concerns of my freinds and family who all graciously backed down when I told them I could. But the truth is I can't.

I need to eat, I need to sleep, I need to be around the people I love and trying to do all these jobs would stop me doing all of that. Some things matter more than a career or money. My health, my marriage, my family and my community of friends are most of those things.

Turning down work is not a good idea. And I'm still deeply afraid that my breakfast show employers are gonna call and say "hi Matt, change of plan - no show!" If not I start Monday - this is scary!!

It's okay though.....us humans are allowed to feel scared.

A blatant...

2007-11-28T02:18:00.000-08:00

My new life is slowly getting going and come Monday it will be all go.

If you'd like to hear any of what I'm doing then here's a little schedule for the next week;

Saturday 1 December. 12pm - 3pm I'll be presenting on Gateway FM. It's on 87.7FM in the Basildon area. Or online at www.gatewayfm.com

Monday 3 December - Friday 7 December. 5am - 9am I start the breakfast show at South London Radio. 107.3 in the Lewisham/Bromley/Croyden area or online at 1073.timefm.com

Monday 3 December - Friday 7 December. 3pm - 6.30pm I will be updating trafficradio london every 10 minutes with news on the roads. It's a DAB station but is also available online

Monday 3 December - Friday 7 December. 7pm - 11pm I will be updating various BBC local station with travel news including, BBC East (Essex, Norfolk, Cambridge etc), 3 Counties Radio and BBC Midlands.

Saturday 8 December - 12pm - 3pm I'll be back presenting on Gateway FM. 87.7FM in the Basildon area. Or online at www.gatewayfm.com

Of course all of this depends on me being any good at any of this.....and the people I work for liking what I do.

Some initial thoughts after a tour

2007-11-24T16:23:00.001-08:00

So I've been on tour for 4 days now and it's all almost over. Having stayed in the world's largest house with the world's largest dog last night we headed to Dundee to play the last gig. After set-up, a quick walk into the city centre and then tea, the boys played their final set. I did some filming and then we packed up and headed into the world's ponciest VIP room to watch the D..? boys play.

One of the funniest bits of the tour for me has been trying to explain to everyone why I'm here (not the electralyte boys....they knew I was coming). There are a couple of common misconceptions;

1. I am in the band. This is the most common mistake people make. Now when someone hasn't been there or it's before they play it's easy to understand. HOWEVER when standing around after the gig and someone comes up to tell that they loved the set but my vocals could have been higher in the mix you know something's not quite right (although I agree that my vocals should be higher in the mix).

2. I am the delirious..? cameraman. This happened last night. I was wearing an electralyte t-shirt and handing out electralyte stickers which apparently qualified me for the job.

The truth is, I don't really know at what point I got involved with these boys or what I really do. I just try to make their lives a little easier by being around and doing whatever isn't being done by someone else.

I spend a lot of my life at the front of things, speaking, hosting, in a previous life playing percussion. It's a privelege to do these things and in my next part of life I'm going to be doing even more stuff at the front hopefully. And yet despite my penchant for the limelight I really enjoy serving behind the scenes for these guys. They don't have a crew (in a technical ay not a hip-hop way....although they don't have one of those either) or a massive team behind them. Just a bunch of friends and loved ones who pray, support, love, encourage, challenge, carry stuff, design stuff, book stuff and help out in any way they can and I'm proud to be one of them.

It's also a real lesson in how to live. There are some people who treat you differently depending how highly they rate your importance (in my case - not high!!)

Father God may I never be one of them, friends and readers may you never let me be.

p.s. I want to be clear in case any numpty reads too much into this. The delirious..? boys are not like that, in fact quite the opposite. As far as they know I'm some Irish tube who carries electralyte's stuff around and they were lovely to me. The elctralyte boys are also not like that and take real time to meet and chat with their fans as well as serving in whatever setting they find themselves.

Some tour highlights....so far

2007-11-23T08:15:00.000-08:00

I've now been on tour with the electralyte boys since Wednesday and am having a great time so far (I mean...I'm sure I'm going to have a great time until the end of the tour....but I've also had one so far). Anyway there have been few highlights to.....umm......highlight;

1. Having arrived safely in Dublin I went to meet the boys at the venue and headed out for some tea before coming back, meeting up with Rachel Power (HIGHLIGHT 1)

2. The gig in Dublin was amazing!! The boys were on it and the crowd were loving it. 'You' was really great and Matt led the whole club in singing the chorus as an act of worship. (HIGHLIGHT 2)

3. (HIGHLIGHT 3) Is mentioned on Matt L's blog and so I will outline it beneath;

We were taken from the gig to a Bible college outside Dublin where we were to be staying for the night. Once we arrived the offer of chips was placed before us. And so Jon Mitson and I (Paul and Matt L were tired....you can insert your own insult here) decided to head into town with Lawrence (our new American buddy) for chips from the "chipper". As we waited in the foyer someone apeared at the top of the stairs, found out we were going to the chipper and ran back to her room to get hr ourse screaming all the way. At this point, obviously alerted by the screaming someone appeared up another set of the stairs to enquire if we were going to chipper and then headed upsatirs to get his wallet, passing him arrived another person without shoes or socks and on discovering where we were headed came downstairs to get his shoes and socks. After a few seconds of Jon and I standing in stunned silence. A door to my right opened and some looked out and said only one word - CHIPPER?

And so we all piled into the minibus to head for chips, whilst on the way there we noticed someone running along the street alongside us, the others instantly recognised him as one of their friends from the college who had heard we were going to the chipper, missed the bus and decided to run there!!

And so we arrived at the chipper, ordered and then were ready to leave when Lawrence asked if we wanted to "hang out". We were standing in a chip shop with 2 chairs in it with a minibus of bible college students from all over the Southern Hemisphere and so "hanging out" seemed a bizarre idea. And then we entered the Godfather!!

Lawrence looks to the man behind the counter and gives a gentle flick of the head at which point the man reaches under the counter and a door behind me clicks open. We then walk back to a room with 2 picnic tables in it and "hang out". Ladies and gentlemen my first chip shop lock-in. ROCK AND ROLL!!!!

4. The college was great, warm beds, warm showers, a lie-in and then they took us to an amazing cafe for breakfast. It was really lovely and lawrence made sure we were well fed and looked after. (HIGHLIGHT 4)

5. As we finished breakfast Lawrence became overcome with joy and suggested we all do a High-5 at the table to celebrate this momentous occasion, he was unsure if our Britishness would allow us to indulge his desire. We decided that as it was Thanksgiving and he'd been so kind to us we would indeed hifh-5 around the table. It was a beautiful moment made only better by Matt Leeder's exclamation - "I FEEL LIKE I'M IN THE O.C.!!" - Awesome (HIGHLIGHT 5)

6. BELFAST!! It was nice to be home (HIGHLIGHT 6)

7. Seeing Mel & Dave, they are gret people and as always we didn't have enough time together. (HIGHLIGHT 7)

8. Going home, it was only a few hours but it was amazing to see Adam and mum. Adam's getting into his rugby and it was great to hear all about the training and matches he's played. (HIGHLIGHT 8)

9. So we got on a ferry and came to, Matt L and I were driving buddies for the day and we decided to make a Christmas CD to listen to. And so at 9am this morning we drove through the Scottish countryside, taking in some amazing scenery and listening to the Pogues, John Rutter, Harry Connick Jr, Paul McCartney, Wham, Chris Rea, Freiheit, Sufjan Stevens and Tony Bennett singing Christms classics....and singing along. (HIGHLIGHT 9)

10. Aberdeen fnally made it's way to our cars and we unloaded and headed upstairs to the dressing room where Stu G and Jon from delirious..? were chilling out. We got into a nice chat (in case I forget to mention it they are a lovely bunch of guys with real integrity and great characters) and as we are chatting Matt Leeder's (who earlier in the tour wrecked his phone and now is using one of Adam's older phones) new phone rang. Unfortunately Adam had last left the ringtone as the evanescence track "Wake me up". And so as we sat chatting with the lads from D..? Matt L answered a phone playing bizarre prog rock/emo/bizarre rubbish. His face went red and he may forever be known in Christian music circles worldwide as an evanescence fan (second only to being known as a heretic!!) (HIGHLIGHT 10)

I'm sure tomorrow will bring more great stories and more highlights but it's important to note that I'm having a great time. I'm missing Chrissy like mad and can't wait for Sunday to see her again. It's amazing seeing this much of the UK and hanging out with some great mates making great music and living with real integrity.

A weekend ends and a new week/lifestlye begins

2007-11-19T06:47:00.000-08:00

So here I am sitting in my new local starbucks in Farringdon. I'm about to go and try my hand at traffic broadcasting for the first time which is a mixture of brilliant and scary (I might not be very good at it!!).

Anyway the weekend spent at the Youthwork Conference was excellent. It was lovely to hang out with guys from Wickford corps and spend time really thinking about what we're doing and the work that chrissy and others put into the work with young people at our church. Too many highlights to mention but a really good focussed weekend. Jeff Lucas told the story of how as a young preacher he worked at a church at which every time he got up to speak there was a deacon who would turn his chair around and face the wall until he'd finish and then he'd turn back and face the front. He told this story to a whole group of people and ended it with this - Life is hard and church is tough because it's made up of idiots like us (slight paraphrase). I've never had people turn ther chair around on me (I have had people put their fingers in their ears or leave the building when I've done stuff) but the reality is church is hard because it's made up of idiots like us. The question is - what are you gonna do about it? Give up?

.....yeah that really was a question.

Some good news

2007-11-16T00:50:00.000-08:00

I've been holding off writing this blof for a little while now and in doing so it's got even harder to write. Let me explain;

When I started thus whole new career thing I became quickly aware that I had loads of people in my life who were praying for me, looking out for me, finding work for me and loads more important stuff. This means that quite often I will meet up with someone who will be really keen to find out how things are going. This is a lovely feeling to be so supported and loved. The downside is that I quickly became aware just how much time I now spend talking about me. There's no way of getting round it. I want and need people to be praying for me and looking after me and their desire to find out how it's all going is truly grounded in that care and so I firstly want to apologise if they're getting bored of me talking about my life and work.

However I also want to continue to use my blog as a place where I share the good things in my life and over the last couple of weeks I've been avoiding two massive good things;

1. I GOT A PROFESSIONAL BROADCASTING JOB. A few weeks ago I sent a demo to Trafficlink (they provide the while country with traffic news by TV, radio, text, online, teletext and loads more). I went up to their office and did a live demo for them and got offered a job boradcasting to central London and the south-east of England. In my small mind I'd set myself the goal of getting a job like this by May 2008 and so when this happened I was just amazed and incredibly grateful to God whose mind is way bigger than mine.

So I needed a new goal (I'm all about setting goals). I now decided that I should be aiming to have my own show on a commercial station by May 2008. Nothing mega, maybe a cover week or two, or a graveyard shift. But by May 2008 I was going to be broadcasting on commercial radio in my own style.

2. I START A SHOW IN 2 WEEKS. The lovely people at South London Radio heard my demo and called me in to their studios to chat about some work. This was amazing, they're a small station (7,000 listeners) but they're in the London market which is where I want to be and the manager there is great and really encouraging. There's two more things to mention, it's not cover shifts it's my own chance to do a show....and also it's THE BREAKFAST SHOW!!!! And so 5am-9am Monday - Friday in Bromley, Lewisham, Croydon and surrounding areas I will be going out on 107.3FM and live online at www.south.fm.

God is good......so good I'm unsure what goals to set for May!!

Where I might have been

2007-11-09T01:33:00.000-08:00

Today is launch day for the iPhone.

Back in January I was in a meeting in Surrey, waiting intently checking WAP and with my wife at home to see if Steve Jobs had announced it yet.

In June I watched with interest as the first customers got their hands on one.

Between then and September I spent a few seconds every day googling the words "iPhone UK release date" in the vain hope that someone might know something. I allowed every rumour to become my beacon of light.

Eventually the news came through that it was O2 and it was Friday 9th November.

In late August, Christina gave me the permission I needed to go ahead and buy an iPhone on release day. She realised the great benefit it would be to my life and work patterns.....or she didn't want me to talk about it anymore.

I was ready to go. Counting down the days until I held it in my hands.

Then Tuesday October 9th happened and I blogged this

And so I sit here on November 9th, fingers twitching and mind wandering to where I might have been today

Standing in the pouring rain, waiting to pay over the odds for a device that will be out of date by January.....I know at this point I should have some grand epiphany and realise that I made the right choice but alas, I actually would love to be there!!

Ladies & Gentlemen I give you.........

2007-11-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

At the age of 12 I joined my frst band. We were called Mechanical Lobster and the line up was;

Bass Guitar & Lead Vox - Michael Aicken
Lead guitar - Paul
Rhythm Guitar - Sean Pettis
Drums & Backing Vox - Matthew White

A couple of years later we tweaked the line-up to become Mirage

Bass Guitar & Lead Vox - Michael Aicken
Guitar - Sean Pettis
Drums - Matthew White

We became Sexual Chocolate a little later and again the line-up changed;

Bass Guitar & Lead Vox - Michael Aicken
Lead guitar - Martin Robinson
Rhythm Guitar - Sean Pettis
Drums & Backing Vox - Matthew White

An appearance on the BBC meant we need the name to be changed on our schools orders and so we became Censored Chocolate with the line-up;

Bass Guitar & Lead Vox - Michael Aicken
Lead guitar - Tristan Collins
Rhythm Guitar - Sean Pettis
Drums & Backing Vox - Matthew White

School ended and we all wet our seperate ways with Michael taking his band Raucous and Sean getting back with Martin to form Phoenix.

In 2001 I got the call asking if I'd be willing to join a new band Prospect Road with the line up;

Lead Guitar & Lead Vox - Martin Robinson
Rhythm guitar - Ian Higham
Bass Guitar & Backing Vox - Sean Pettis
Drums & Backing Vox - Matthew White

A few weeks later we sacked Ian and became;

Lead Guitar & Lead Vox - Martin Robinson
Rhythm guitar & Backing Vox - Sean Pettis
Bass Guitar - William ??
Drums & Backing Vox - Matthew White

And a few months later ended up with the final line-up of;

Lead Guitar & Lead Vox - Martin Robinson
Rhythm guitar & Backing Vox - Sean Pettis
Bass Guitar - Ian Higham
Drums & Backing Vox - Matthew White

One night we were playing an acoustic set in Belfast and our intro went something like this;

BAR MAN - "Ladies & Gentlemen I give you - Process Road"
MATT - "Prospect Road"
BAR MAN - "Progress Road"
MATT - "PROSPECT Road"
BAR MAN - "It's Process Road"
MATT - "Hello we're PROCESS Road.....I mean...Cak......never mind!!"

Anyway tonight we went to a debate type thing in Costa Coffee with David Robertson a man who has written a response to Richard Dawkins "God Delusion" It was a good evening made only better by the fact that this was the intro;

"Good evening I first became aware of David Roberts a few years ago when....what...oh sorry David Robertson. I became aware of David Robertson a few years ago BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH I'm a huge fan BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH great writer BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH a real privelege to have him here in Chelmsford...and so please give a warm welcome to - David Richardson!!"

It's what dreams are made of.

More minutiae.......it's a good thing you're loyal

2007-11-05T01:20:00.000-08:00

Life's pretty good at the minute.

We had Christina's parents staying this weekend. Thursday night we went to collect them at the airport and then sat up drinking coffee and eating Danish pastry.

Friday evening I was in Felsted for a fireworks display which was really good (big thanks to Jon & Laura for the invite) before coming home to have some food with the family and rewatching Gavin and Stacey on DVD.

I had been asked to cover for someone who was ill at BBC Essex on Saturday morning so I was there at 6am to BA for the morning (too many guests to mention it was a good morning). Saturday faternoon we headed back to Writtle tea rooms (our loyalty points card must be in the post by now) and then up to Nuneaton to celebrate Christina's Uncles Trevor's 60th Birthday on Sunday.

Sunday was spent at Nuneaton Salvation Army, family lunch and then an evening party before heading home in pretty rough driving conditions (if you value visibility).

THINGS I'M GRATEFUL FOR

1. Family. I got to spend some time with my dad last Thursday, Christina's mum, dad, brother, brother's girlfriend, aunt, uncle, cousins and every other relative from north of Watford over the weekend and hopefully Simon and Beth tomorrow and maybe even my mum and Adam later this month.

2. Worship. Nuneaton SA is a really warm and friendly corps. Graham & Kirsten led the meetings yesterday and on both occasions their mesage was challenging and has given me and Christina loads to think about over the next few months. Distilled down to the bare bones the day was about bread and water (it was way more in depth than this but I may blog about it more later).

3. Reading. I've been reading loads recently between finishing Harry Potter and having my whole life ripped apart by Pete Grieg my reading is back on track. I'm inspired about my service, I'm excited about revolution, I'm growing tired of church politicians whose loyalty is to themselves and their own vanity before all else. I'm seeking an end to the popularity contests and diversionary tactics employed by leaders to create THEIR empire not THE kingdom. And in all of these things I'm starting with confession and repentance for all the times I've done the same. The many, many times I've sought MATT first and hoped all those God things would be added anyway. The times I've hoped people wouldn't notice the inconsistency in my life and ministry if I could just divert their attention for a few seconds. The hours I've spent daydreaming of a life in professional Christendom where MY agenda looks and sounds so much like God's that people can't see the difference. Pete Grieg says that lives can be changed when we allows the secrets of our hearts to rise to the surface and be forgiven. I can only seek to be part of the love revolution if the enemy doesn't have insider info........wow all that from finding a few minutes to read a book.

4. Fidelity. I recently heard God's faithfulness described as "his part of the reciprocal arrangement" - not quite the poetry I was after. I'm grateful to a faithful God who promises things beyond my simple comprehension and exceeds them every time. I'm waiting on an e-mail to explain a bit more publically but God is good.

5. Christina. I know I say it every time I take a few minutes to be grateful (which by the way you should try....it's really good) but I am truly blessed to have such an incredible partner for life and her love and support are worth more than I could ever have imagined.

There you have it. A weekend, a change of heart and a lots to be thankful for.

Today Matt is mostly.......

2007-10-31T06:30:00.000-07:00

1. Happy with how last night at the Cathedral went. It was a SYM prayer & praise evening which I was speaking at. It was a lovely evening and there was a real sense of support and encouragement for the SYM team.

2. Working in the ALOVE UK office. I like it here, it's a shame it's not in Essex (apparently the land of Midsomer Murders).

3. Still convinced that it was entirely Christina's fault that a whole glass of coke spilt on the floor.

4. Looking forward to having some food and chat with his dad tomorrow in London.

5. Excited that DHQ are interviewing for a new DYO today.

More minutiae

2007-10-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

Another weekend round-up;

Friday night was spent hanging out with my old friend Nathan. nathan and I go way back and the lasy couple of years living back home were spend either in his student house, being late for orchestra rehearsals or visiting him in London. It was great to catch up and relive the late night chats.

Saturday morning I was playing host by making breakfast for us all before dropping Nathan to the station and heading out to Writtle tea rooms with Ben & Rach. It was all back to ours for some food, X-Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and Harry Potter 3 on DVD.

Sunday morning I was back at Chelmsford Corps for what was the first time in ages because of Main Event, West Mids Youth Councils, and work stuff. It was nice to be back. Sunday afternoon was spent at BBC Essex where it was a lot of laughs this week with Steve, Janet and Eric. I also spoke to Bobby Vinton (for those of you who follow my bizarre encounters) on the phone. Anyway I dashed home to pick up Chrissy so we could head to Mashbury to see Matt & Chell, some of their family and Gareth & Glyn.

And today, working for ALOVE, been to a meeting with SYM and been preparing for tonights cell.

There we go, you're up to date.

Love to you all.

Pull up a chair

2007-10-26T01:47:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I had a little clean up of my blog list. Well it's time to bring some new voices to the table;

TIM REYNOLDS - Tim and I have known each other forever. We used to play in a garage in Portadown before he went off to Canada. Then I went to Limavady a couple of times when he was working up there. Then he moved to England and now lives in Wales where he runs a NEO (New Expresion Of Church). What Tim probably doesn't know (because I've never told him) is that he's been a real inspiration to me for a long time. His love of God, willingness to share with others and passion for true worship had a tremendous impact on me as a teenager and his work in Gibbonsdown and his integrity still do. He's pretty new to this blogging thing but so far his work has been great.

ANDY HILL - Andy should have been on this list ages ago but I keep forgetting to do it and then assume he is on the list when he isn't......until now! Andy and his wife V (as in Verity not the number 5 or the rubbish Sci-Fi series) have been incredible friends and supporters of my work here in The Salvation Army and are part of our little cell group. Andy's a good friend and I'm really chuffed they live so close now. More meals and laughs definitely on the cards.

DAVE WIGGINS - I wish I knew Dave better. He's married to Mel, is a great laugh and blogs some great things. The few times I've spent with him I've found him to have a real heart for God and for serving. And everytime I leave his company I wish I'd had more time in it.

GRAEME HOWELL - Graeme is one of the first people I got to work with in my job here. He's great fun, incredibly supportive and has for me been a real source of enouragement over the last 4 years. I'm adding him to the list as well worth a read and also to my list of 'people to have a meal with really soon'.....it's not on my blog....it's more of a in my head thing.......in case you start looking for it.....it can be confusing.

KIRSTY CAFFULL - Kirsty is a great blogger. She's got a real heart for God and it's great to read her thoughts and feelings as she journeys her own discipleship. Kirsty is part of the Caffull dynasty and so I've had lots of chances to share with her in recent years on the phone when she was calling to speak to one of her parents in the office.

KATIE ALLEN - Katie is part of our little cell group and over the past 6 months or so it's been really great getting to know her better. She's a teacher in a primary school, loves rubbish films and was one of the founding members of the Baddow Road Movie Night. However - She has recently blogged on the joy of timbrels....almost didn't make the list.

TIMMY MAGIC - The original blogger and someone who really should have been on my list from day 1. This is my public apology and encouragement to you all to read his blog. Tim's a great bloke and again a real encourager over the past 4 years. He also loves to cycle and gets paid to eat discounted fast food.

ESTELLE BLAKE - I sometimes feel like the only person in the Salvation Army World who doesn't know Estelle...this makes me sad.

HOWARD - Finally for this little update is Howard. I've known Howard for years now. He was part of one of the most important 3 days of my life in Dublin in 2002, knows a huge array of campfire songs and always seems to know the right thing to say on the times a year I get to chat with him.

I know there are more blogs I read but this is all my little brain could deal with for now. I will update again soon if more blogs catch my eye and as always there is a space for Christina anytime she wants to start blogging - I think it'd be great.

.....I want the world to know

2007-10-25T03:06:00.000-07:00

You can click here to see the full article on why Microsoft invested 15bn into FaceBook but in case you can't be bothered here's an interesting point;

"14.Facebook is the acceptable face of blogging - you can reflect your life and personality online without being seen as a "blogger", which often carries a geeky stigma."

Hi, my name is Matt White and I AM A BLOGGER!!

I work on the extremes!!

2007-10-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

Today has been a good day for me, I'll talk you through it;

I locked myself out of my house this morning - not a great start but it meant I got to wake Glyn up and see him in yet another American teenager costume (he has some odd clothes!!) From here I had 2 main tasks today;

Firstly I went from home to meet the lovely people at Gateway FM. They're a small community radio station that operate on 28 day licenses for South Essex. Their next license in in December and this morning they asked me to be their Saturday afternoon DJ. I'm really looking forward to this, the people are nice and there's potential for it to be a great few weeks for me.

From this I went to start freelancing for BBC Radio 1Xtra by hanging around Chelmsford trying to get people to tell me what they think of some urban music and then hopefully, in the middle of a busy shopping street, sing into my microphone. Bizarrely loads of people did and hopefully the fruits of my work will be used on the national chart show on 1Xtra this Saturday.

My life is really varied, it's great to meet and work with loads of really nice people in lots of very, very different environments.

I know they've had some budget cuts.....

2007-10-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

.....but this is ridiculous!!

When I was growing up Mastermind was the height of intelligence. At school I had a teacher who did really well in the competition and it was a really big deal!! I mean the specialist subjects were things like;

The Tudor Period
The life and times of Henry VIII's butler
The FA Cup throughout history
The American Civil war
Quantum Physics
World Religions

It was for smart people to go and compete against smart people. You could be guaranteed most of the contestants had never kissed another human being they weren't related to because they had devoted their lives to their subject and its study.

But having watched it this evening I can only assure you that is has gone rapidly downhill!!

This evenings specialist subjects;

Coronation Street
The adventures of Asterix
Bob Dylan
The ramage novels of Dudley Pope (there are 5 novels in this series)

And so we've been discussing it and I will be entering next years competition with the subject 'The Premiership 2005-2007' and Glyn will be entering with the subject 'Glyn Harries 2005-2007'.

Some Autumn housework

2007-10-22T09:29:00.001-07:00

It's time to clean up my bloglist;

And so we say goodbye to -

SIMON WHITE - Friday 1st June
MICHELLE SPENCER - Tuesday 19th June
GRAHAM OWEN - Tuesday 3rd April
STEVE TAYLOR - Wednesday 18th July
BETH HAMPEL - Tuesday 19th June (a bad day for the ladies!!)
SIMON GRAHAM - Sunday 29th July
SIMON SCOTT - I can't find this one so it could be my fault
JON MITSON - Monday 14th May

Thanks for all you brought to the table of blog - I wish you all the best for whatever the future holds.

For those of you that enjoy the minutiae of Matt White.......thanks mum

2007-10-22T01:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been a really good one;

Friday night was spent eating chinese with Christina and Glyn while we watched "The Inside Man" on DVD. We had planned to go out for a meal but everywhere was booked up and I'm against booking ahead much to my wife's annoyance (the thing is plans change and booking in ties you up). Anyway we had a lovely evening at home so that got the weekend off to a good start.

Saturday morning I was up at 5am to go and work at BBC Essex. I was on-air chatting with Ian on the breakfast show about a recent celebrity spot (Penny Lancaster) had a really busy three hours with the gardening show and then got asked to stay on to help do a live boradcast from the car park with a welsh male voice choir. All in all it was really good fun and the choir sounded great - even in a car park singing the South African national anthem.

The rest of the day was spent being exhausted, heading into town with chris to get some supplies for my new bike (oh yes!!) and some lunch. Came home, watched X-factor and then settled down for the rugby with a beautiful chicken stir-fry prepared by a beautiful christina.

Sunday was the second half of Matt L's stag day at 'Go Ape' in Thetford forest. I had a great time all day and it was cool to be there. Then last night Christina and I were joined by Jon Mitson for some coffee, sweets, "Derailed" on DVD and a bit of "Ross Kemp on Gangs".

Great weekend!!

This counts as a post.....

2007-10-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

The wonder of........

2007-10-12T01:51:00.000-07:00

A little while ago my good friend Matt Leeder posted a video explaining his "guy love" for me. And I was thinking recently how I had never repaid the favour.

And so here is my tribute to Matt L in 2 stories;

We were at a wedding recently and halfway through the day got chatting to 2 people about the day and the travel and the fact that we'd all hired cars. Now the other people had hired a very cool little mini which they were enjoying a lot and we had hired a grey vauxhall astra. Now I should point out, that I drive an astra. It is a car very kindly given to me by The Salvation Army to do my job with and it's a real blessing. At this point as we discussed the cars Matt said;

"I mean it's an astra but it's grey as well. I mean who in their right mind would want an astra?"

At this point the other couple smiled and we quickly guessed that they did indeed own as astra. Not to fear Matt L quickly covered it up;

"Yeah but it's a company car right??"

The ever expanding smiles led us to believe Matt was on the wrong track. Strike 2;

"Oh well this one's the pits - it's grey"

STRIKE 3

We were sitting chatting cars with the (previously) proud owner of a grey vauxhall astra which he had bought of his own free will.

Beautiful!!

Second story.

On our flight home we had some lively air stewardesses who every time they finished making an announcement over the PA would say "CLICK" before putting the phone down (and it clicking). These got variously louder and more drawn out until write and the end of the flight it was more like;

"......enjoy your stay - CLLLLLLIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!"

It was all very amusing.

So as we're getting off and going by the line-up of staff ("thanks for the flight", "good to see you", "take care", "sorry for your loss"......I get confused in line ups) Matt Leeder goes up to these 2 women and instead of saying goodbye instead said;

"G'Donnnnng"

Then calmly left the planes. It turns out he had misheard the click and thought they had made up a secret code word which he wanted to share in before leaving the plane.

I'm gonna miss working with Matt, there are so many stories like these for both of us and you don't quite get those working from home (our rabbit is so boring!!)

My Solemn Promise (part 1)

2007-10-10T02:04:00.001-07:00

I made a promise on Sunday. At the very end of The Main Event (well the very end of the youth bit)I promised the young people and leaders gathered in a very old barn that I wouldn't give up on The Salvation Army. For most of them it probably seemed a weird thing to hear from me, but for those that know me well it was one of the hardest things to say right now, you see...

I've been ready to give up on The Salvation Army.

Now before anyone gets really excited that I'm going to start divulging all my moans and problems about people I need to disappoint you. A blog isn't the place to do it. That isn't a jibe or a dig or a coded message it's a fact and one I've at times overlooked.

So why was I ready to give up??

Well there were loads of reasons, and a lot of them are good ones. They're based in truth and make sense. You see I'm not just an emotional fool who wants church to be more like I want it to be. I'm not a disgruntled customer who wants to know why the products on offer are so "out of date" and I'm not some immature brat who feels cool because he's fighting some sort of rebellion against 'the man'. I'm not any of those things. I'm 25 years old, I have a masters degree in theology and I've been working in ministry for almost 5 years now. I wasn't giving up out of immaturity or vanity. I really believe things are getting screwed up. And with leaving my job at DHQ I had my get out all sewn up, I was almost counting down the weeks until I could leave!!

So why the big promise on Sunday night??

Loads of reasons really, Linda Bond, Mick & Lynn, Matt Leeder, Christina, Phil Ball, Sus........the list goes on and it's all names. The bottom line is I'm not giving up....But I still really believe things are getting screwed up. First example;

Church should be easy, I firmly believe this. Coming to church and being part of that community should be so easy it's frightening. We should be welcoming, loving, caring for and accepting all those who are in need of those things. This shouldn't be practised in naivety or without wisdom but above all we should show love to all.

Discipleship should be hard!! Becoming a disciple should be time-consuming, costly, difficult, sacrificial and loads more.

So why does it seem like we've got this wrong? Becoming a disciple (in our case a Soldier) is really easy. You don't have to do anything except sit through a few classes, stand on a platform and sign a covenant that you can keep or not without accountability (and in some cases be encouraged only to break in secret, lest people find out and your "discipleship" be suspended for 6 months). There's no accountability written in (in fact I know of cases where young people have been made full members without their youth leader even being involved....well they might question the decision or want to start making it difficult).

So why does it seem so hard to be part of church yet so easy to become a disciple? Why do we make one thing reliant on another? Shouldn't someone be part of the family before they sign up? Did my parents only begin to love Christina on our wedding day because she was "in the family"? Of course not, it was the love shown to her that was part of the decision to become part of the family (and exactly the same for me with the Owens). Should we be wanting people to become soldiers? Absolutely! At its best it's about counter-cultural living, serving the poor, radical discipleship, warrior prayer and loads more. But at its worst it's about sticking a blue suit on a teenage boy and hoping that he'll enjoy sticking his lips on a baritone for longer than he will a bottle of WKD or someone he took to bed from a party and whilst for some it works....for many it fails. I'm on on thin ice I appreciate here because I'm essentially questioning a way of doing things that was part of my own, and many others, journey and so if I'm angering you right now here's a quick game for the Salvos amongst us - imagine your YP band or Singing Company from when you grew up, see the faces, remember the names. Now count who's still a disciple (not necessarily a soldier, who is still walking with God). How's it looking? Mine's 3 (and I'm one of them).

I could go on and on about this for a long time but I won't.

If we're not making disciples then we might as well give up (C.S. Lewis puts this way better than me but mine's shorter). Disciples don't wear certain clothes or turn up at certain things they passionately seek to become like Christ and we need more of them. Less crap (sorry mum), less petty fear, less mindless ritual and less pointless pointless harking back to the "glory days" (time for honesty - they didn't exist then and they actually do now, all over the world. So why not take a leaf from some of our Salvationist brothers and sisters who are actually making a difference instead of pretending that the 1970's and 80's were brilliant for the army??).

So why this post? Well I'm not giving up, but I'm not giving in either. It's time to make the main thing the main thing again. Let's get back to making disciples not by making it easier but by accepting the call of a sacrificial God who calls us to become like his Sacrifice of a Son for the sake of His Kingdom.

....there's one more thing that disciples do - they belong to growing churches and I'm not walking away from one of those.

Next time - A good telling off never hurt anyone

2 revelations from today

2007-10-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

NUMBER 1

I recently cheated on my unstable girlfriend of four years by having an affair with her 75 year old stepmother........I was helping rehearse a new pilot chat show.

NUMBER 2

I'm not getting an iPhone. I'm still very much wanting one, and still think others should, but I was really convicted whilst coming home on the train that I was seeking too much stuff before the kingdom. I need to make some sacrifices to my own consumerism and this is the first.

The Main Event

2007-10-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted a video of Miss Teen USA South Carolina struggling to answer her question in the competition. So this weekend at the main event we felt we should see if she deserved the hard time she was getting by seeiNg how others would fare with a similar type oF question......unfortunately it was not good.

Coming soon........

2007-10-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

I'll be uploading one of our videos from The Main Event....it's processing now!!

the main event, the main event, the main event, the MAIN event.....

2007-10-05T00:31:00.000-07:00

A short post whilst I await the arrival of Matt L in Optimus Prime.

MEDIA WORK - Been working more at BBC Essex which is great. The staff there are all incredibly friendly and there's no big egos working there. Evryone seems genuinely great to work with. I've been given a few more paid shifts as a BA and I got told yesterday they want me to shadow some weekday work as well so I cover those. RESULT!

Continuing to volunteer at Hospital Radio Chelmsford which is great and I am part of a lovely team.

Speaking of which my hugest ever thanks go to Oliver Rogers from HRC (and BBC Essex) for helping put together my radio demo tape. I think it sounds pretty good and I've been sending it to as many stations as I can.

The one thing that has been slow so far is TV work but as always God is good and next week I've got 3 days work experience with remedy productions (they make E4 music, ear candy, T4 Music, the NME music awards and the Video Game awards) I'll be working on the latter and also a new pilot show. It'll be a mixture of being a runner (not in a colin jackson way) and also being part of a pilot audience.

I'm finding this whole journey really exciting and whilst the temptation is to talk it up and make it all sound really glamourous and rock and roll, the bottom line is I still make tea at local radio and am the equivalent of a TV show extra. However I love it and the doors it's opening are amazing.

SA WORK - Main Event this weekend which will be great I'm sure. ALOVE stuff is really eciting and I'm looking forward to sharing more of my stuff with the ALOVE team next month. Phil Ball continues to be a great boss (we're aiming to chat on the phone for less than 3 hours one day.....it looks unlikely!!) and a great friend too.

FRIENDS - Still amazing. It was cool to go and be part of Mel and Dave's wedding on Monday

As you can see they both looked incredibly happy and the service was beautiful (Alain Emerson did an awesome job) it was fantastic to be part of their day and if you're reading this you are in my prayers as you start this new life together.

It was also great to hang out with Matt and Chell for the day in Belfast. We bumped into Orlaith from Big Brother and Barbara (an old friend who I haven't seen since school). Matt L and I also had the most manic airport trip ever but I'll explain more in my next post on Matt Leeder.

I also managed a quick trip into my old school to see the head of music and chat about old times and new things. It was great and I hope to do it again soon.

FAMILY - Simon has passed his driving test, I can't describe how pleased I am for him. He's also the proud owner of a lovely Mazda 3 which I'm a little jealous of.

Beth also passed her test (with only 1 minor) and good week for SETH (Simon and bETH).

It was great to see a few of my family at the weekend. It's always cool to hang out with Adam and I loved watching TV, playing board games, Fifa on the playstation and finally our jam session with Matt L on Tuesday night. He's getting older very quickly and I love being around him and all my family. Next time I'll be home for longer so will get to spend more time with them all.

WIFE - What to add. She's amazing and I love her loads. Patient, Kind, doesn't boast or get jealous, is slow to anger, keeps no record of my wrongs. I aspire to love others like she does.

Decision, Decisions

2007-09-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

Well the day has finally arrived and we now know that iPhone will be launched on 9th November and will cost £269 (as I super sleuthed last week).

It's on O2 (I never doubted everyones favourite network would win the day) and that means I don't have to switch network.

If I'm honest I expected to be more excited than I am (don't get me wrong, I am very excited) but I'm left with a dilemma. There's a conference for Apple in January and there's no doubt tere will some sort of update to the iPhone so should I go ahead and buy in November (I may even camp outside the apple store for effect) or wait for the undeniable upgrades that will follow early in 2008??

Just so I'm sure........

2007-09-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

Once I get a job you can;

Contact MY employer?
Access MY salary?
Take money out of MY salary each month?

However.......

Once I'VE paid back my loan you can't;

Stop taking money?
Realise I'VE paid you?
Let me know I'VE paid you?
Refund ME without ME sending photocopies of MY payslips?

Okay....yeah.....that makes perfect sense.....

Ladies & Gentlemen I give you.......

Annual Appeal

2007-09-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

Big concerns this week!!

Read here for details

we need to do all we can to help!!

Sometimes my idiocy astounds me

2007-09-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

Just call me Jessica.......

2007-09-07T06:18:00.001-07:00

So on Wednesday Apple launched their new iPod touch (an iPod with a touch screen). Also at the same time they ditched the 4gb iPhone and dropped $200 from the 8gb iPhone price (they also redid the iPod, and the nano - it's now a serious option).

So in the USA the 8gb iPhone is now the same price as the 16gb iPod touch ($399).

Now the iPhone is still not available in the UK but the iPod touch is.

And the 16gb iPod touch is priced in the UK at £269.

And so can we assume that the iPhone, when finally released in the UK, will be the same price??

And before you ask.....yes it really does matter!!

New video

2007-09-07T06:16:00.000-07:00

It should be already playing but it's on the side it's Fionn Regan who was a nominee for the mercury music prize this year.

This is a quality song and if you have a look on oyutube you can find his live mercury performance as well.

I'm going to try and get my hands on this album.

Another weekend ends......

2007-09-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

......and with it a new chapter begins for me.

Friday marked the end of my last week as full time DYO in London North-East. For the next few months I'm working part time while a replacement can be found. Alongside that I'll be working with ALOVE UK 3 days a week and then the rest of the time volunteering, doing work experience and othe things with TV & Radio companies. It's all very new and all very strange.

I blogged last week about this years X-Factor and just how strong I think it's going to be this year. I also blogged my strong distaste for the sob stories but this week whilst watching at the home of the lovely John & Laura I witnessed another quirk of the series.

It goes like this (for the sake of this sketch the contestant shall be called Jenny);

Simon - I'm afraid that's 4 no's so you've not got through
Jenny - What?!?!?! No way (begins to cry) but I really, really want it!!

Now at this point I struggle with what the contestant thinks that will mean for them do they expect;

Simon - Oh you really, REALLY want it. Well why didn't you say?? I feel so silly, if I'd known that I wouldn't even have asked you to sing.

It's ridiculous!! And then they beg, and beg and beg and it all gets awkward and a bit cringey........

But man must they want it!!

Back to life, back to.......oh cak!!

2007-08-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

Well it's all over. Another year, another series and with the lack of a celebrity BB this January we will each have to wait until next Summer before it begins again.

This years winner was Brian, a true BB fan who hasn't heard of Shakespeare and comes from the legendary Basildon, Essex. It was great to see a real fan of the show win and not just some random fame hunter. Fair play to the lad.

Unfortunately tonights 2 shows (why 2? Just stretch it to a whole evening!) were pretty poor. From the opening moment when Davina started delivering her opening line before stopping and starting again it felt less slick than normal. Then we flicked over for Big Mouth on E4 to be confronted by TV carnage as Ian Wright tried to make sense of a studio full of housemates and randoms most of whom either wanted to be with their family and friends or signing a Hello magazine deal.

I'll be sorry to say goodbye to BB, I'm still a big fan all these years later and I still think the BBLB with Dermot and BBBM formats are great (although I think they need a regular hosting team setup - my choice would be Matthew Horne & James Cordon or Chris Moyles....or perhaps a new, fresh, undiscovered talent from one of the smaller countries of the UK......but who could it be?!?!).

I know it is getting tired and I know it sends people running to the nearest moral highground at every opportunity but BB is still great TV and has kept me entertained throughout the summer.

So until next year........

Some thoughts of a well rested Matt

2007-08-28T15:04:00.001-07:00

Well after being reprimanded by Katie for the lack of words in my last 3 posts I felt I should return with some thoughts;

- Holiday was great. The pics below only give a very breif insight into just how relaxing and refreshing it was to be away with friends.

- The bank holiday weekend was a great chance to get ready to return to life again. I spent Saturday morning being interiewed on premier Christian Radio with Tony Miles which was cool while Saturday evening was spent with my beautiful wife watching TV. Sunday was doing the garden before dinner with Ben and Rach and then Monday was a lovely day of celebrating Bens birthday with friends.

- X Factor 2007. Undoubtedly it's strongest from a TV point of view (the dream team of Dermot and Fearne) but I felt strangely uncomfortable on Saturday night feeling like I was being asked to laugh at the meek and downtrodden of our society.

- X Factor (part 2). I cannot cope qith anymore flaming sob stories!! Seriously sing your song an get on with it. I don't care that your mums, nephews pet goat got tangled in a thicket or that you fell over once at school - JUST SING THE SONG!!!! Therefore I want to begin anational boycott of the sob story singers. Only genuine talent that doesn't need to pull at the heartstrings "it was my year 7 gym teachers last wish that I should win this competition and I want to do him proud" should progress. Join me.

- This is my last full week as a DYO and it's weird thinking about not doing it anymore. I even went back to work today after holiday to see my job advertised on a noticeboard. I'm glad I've got the next couple of months to get used to the idea, I'm gonna miss it.

- I have a quality family. When they're not buying paint or putting up light fittings they're driving around the country to come and support my summer school celebration or listening at the other end of a phone with some good advice. Adam and Simon provide all the laughs I ever need.

- I'm grateful once again for good friends over these last few weeks. One I live with, one I work with, another who joins those 2 for holiday. Some I eat with, some I play Buzz with, some I do church with, others I play spot the intro with and a new one who spills food on our dining room floor. I don't take you for granted and your patience and support mean the world to me.

- I love our home and our rabbit - Summer School and holiday make me appreciate these even more.

- Finally in these thoughts I am grateful for a wife that I don't deserve and the fact that she hasn't figured that out yet.

There we have it......oh just one more thing;

Some more spectacular views

2007-08-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

Spectacular views

2007-08-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

In the post below you'll see some highlights from our recent holiday. We spent a lot of time in the South of France and whilst in Cannes and Monaco saw loads of boats and cars that were siply incredible - some of the best;

And the absolute highlight on the cars front;

Yeah it's an Enzo!!

Some holiday snaps

2007-08-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

As one chapter closes.........

2007-08-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

Just returned from Summer School (hence lack of blogging this week)

It's been an awesome week and we witnessed some incredible stuff being done by God in the lives of the students and staff. Some highlights;

- The dance off between me and Jeff (a member of the canadian national breakdancing team).......I won.
- James Sparrow. 90 minutes of one man talking to a bunch of teenagers (no PowerPoint, no games) and every one of them captivated by his story.
- Seeing 2 new options launched at the school. Sports and Social Action.
- Heading to the project ith social action and seeing the childrens garden transformed by the team.
- Life changing stories from people who had tangibly had their lives changed at the week.
- Relaxing on a bass bin with Greg the monkey.
- Seeing the final celebration in full swing with attendance up (brass salsa will never be forgotten)
- Selling Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
- The protest from Beth

.......and loads more!!

It was a great week for me personally too.

I said in my last post that there were 4 reasons why my blogging had slowed down recently and the last one was a big one that I would explain soon;

CHRISTINA'S PREGNANT!!!!!!

Only kidding..........she's not really but she thought that's what people would assume when they read that.

Anyway the real reason was that this has been my last Summer School as DYO here. I will be reducung my hours to 2 days a week in September and then a new DYO will hopefully be appointed in the Autumn. It's been a really tough decision for us in the last few weeks but this is definitely the right time and that was really affirmed this week.

I'll post more about the future in the weeks to come no doubt but the overriding reason for moving on is that I really believe God is calling me to work in the media. I've been meeting people, volunteering, applying for jobs and work experience and now it's time to step out in faith and trust God. We've already seen some of His provision in the last few weeks and I'm going to keep working with The Salvation Army in the months ahead at least (more details to follow).

Anyway, I'm off to Soul Survivor tomorrow and then France on holiday on tuesday so blogging may once again be slow but we'll see what happens.

I've written a whole thing of thanks and stuff which I will post soon but for now if you're reading this you've probably touched my life and ministry over the past 4 years so thanks for all you've done.

Chubby sells the records

2007-07-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

So after my telling off from Mel (and Kirsty and anonymous....I hate that guy) I am back. There is a reason for my lack of blogging recently, well actually there are several;

1. Summer school - it starts this weekend.
2. Dean Jones wedding, Simon was putting together a band for the evening do and it all went crazy so I was helping with that (it went very well once we started the second set).
3. Summer school cell material - it starts this weekend - I'm still writing material - what idiot thought 'Holiness' was a good theme?!?!
4. And another kind of bigger reason which I can't quite blog about yet but hope to really soon.

Anyway on Sunday I was back at BBC Essex however this time not as a broadcast assistant's assistant, I was the BA for the afternoon. I was really pleased to be asked to cover a shift for the first time and it was great getting to work with the people on the shows I normally do anyway for my first time. I was really nervous about it but all went well. Steve's show was great and went without a hitch. And Eric's was the same.

Eric had Chubby Checker on the phone as his guest this week, I was quite excited about this, the guy is a pretty big deal worldwide and changed the face of music and dance forever when he brought the world the twist.

As a good slavo boy, rank and position are inbuilt into me so being this way when I rang him I addressed him as 'Mr Checker' (his real name's Ernest Evans but this seemed too formal) so I had a nice chat with him making sure his line was clear and putting through to the studio and before he went through he said this to me;

"Now son, when you put me through to the studio, tell the boys in there not to call me Mr Checker. Mr Checker doesn't sell records - Chubby sells the records". And with that I put him through.

An absolute legend.

Laugh out loud fun Part 3

2007-07-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

Last try.......by the way this guy is he brides brother......I hope he got her a good gift!!!!

Laugh out loud fun Part 2

2007-07-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

Go on......try not to laugh.......

Laugh out loud fun Part 1

2007-07-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

What follows is the first of 3 new clips found on YouTube this week

The challenge is to watch without laughing out loud at your screen!!!!

What a waste

2007-07-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

I truly don't understand these types of things.....they make me sad;

At the risk of sounding like..........

2007-06-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

So Chris and I have had a Saturday off together and we spent it brilliantly, headed to town, late lunch then cream tea with Ben and Rach before heading to see their new house (very nice!!). Then we spent the evening in front of the TV having a bit of a James Cordon marathon (not intentionally......it just so happened that the DVD arrived this week from Love Film and BBC3 scheduled this way.....I promise....we're not stalking him).

First off, 'History Boys' the brilliant adaptation of Alan Bennett's play. An amazing story and really well made.

Then BBC3 running all 6 episodes of the brilliant 'Gavin & Stacey'. James co-wrote this with Ruth Jones and it's a brilliant series. A really great love story without any cynicism a real treat (and one of the best church scenes I've ever seen!!). Anyway we watched the whole series with Matt & Chell when it was first on but missed the first half of episode 5. Well tonight we rectified that and watched the whole lot. However the start of episode 5 has a scene in which Gavin's mum Pam is singing and in walks Gavin's dad and joins in. The song......"I know him so well" from the musical 'Chess'. And suddenly y mind went back in time to this blog post (go have a read then come back......go on......I'll wait.....go on.....I'll give you a few minutes)

WELCOME BACK!!!!

Anyway it can only mean one of three things;

1. James read my blog and I inspired a scene from one of the best new comedies of the last decade (that's a big statement but it's up there with the best of them)

2. I have the same kind of comic mind as one of the co-writers of one of the best new comedies of the last decade (this is a good sign as Glyn and I are currently writing a comedy pilot.....I'll keep you posted!!)

3. This is a common occurrence for married couples in Essex (where G&S is set)

Whatever the case.....check out Gavin & Stacey it's being repeated loads on BBC3 but a BBC2 run cannot be far away.

Oh dear......I feel a restraining order coming my way......I wonder if he'll sign it for me!!

From a great height

2007-06-21T02:38:00.000-07:00

Last night myself and the boys from electralyte headed to Brighton and when we got there they decided to go and pop in on Paul Oakley. Paul's a worship leader and songwriter and we had a great time with him and his family and got fed and looked after very well. A highlight of this particular visit was looking into Paul's office and seeing on the wall some gold and platinum discs including one for 'I could sing of your love forever vol.1' The reason the disc stood out to me was that it was the first CD of Christian worship music I ever bought. I had gone out to buy some stuff and found myself in the local Christian bookshop and saw this disc, picked it up and bought it. I wasn't really a massive fan of contemporary Chrstian music but thought I'd give it a go and I relly enjoyed it, music had a lways been a massive part of my life but now I was opened up to a whole new aspect f music in worship. Quite cool to see it hanging there as a gold disc and knowing that it had been a real turning point in my Christian experience.

Anyway back to Brighton, Jon had got us onto the guest list for MuteMath and we headed to the venue to see the band (just missing the support) it was a bit of Christian music Who's who in there, 3 of the original members of the band Steve, 4 of the 5 delirious? boys Paul and Cathy Burton and lots of new bands all hanging out to see MuteMath.....and they delivered!!

It was incredible!!

Great sounds, great show, great atmosphere and great band. It's likely they'll not do many more little pub gigs as there's a real feeling this year's going to be the start of something big in the UK for them.

Well worth checking out.

Here's their video for 'Typical' it's a great tune and a very clever video (they had to learn the whole song in reverse....singing and playing!!)

Enjoy

What follows

2007-06-19T09:41:00.000-07:00

The next few posts are a catch-up of the last couple of weeks!!

It's safe to say the next few days are gonna be really exciting not least of all seeing Mutemath tomorrow night!!!!

I will blog all about it - they're awesome!!

Join the club

2007-06-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

I had a meeting at London's commonwealth club last Friday, it's very nice in there. Great food and some exciting conversation!!

Back of the......

2007-06-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to attend the Churches Media Council Conference as part of the Media-Net academy. This was a great 3 days and I met some amazing people including;

Jeremy - Director/producer of loads of great TV stuff
Simon - Former MTV now freelance filmmaker
Debs - Independent filmmaker and ace editor

These were my tutors for the course

Then there was;

Andy Duncan - Head of channel 4
Mark Browning - Head of Dream 106.2 London
Tony Miles - Radio chaplain

And loads of other top people!!

Some highlights;

1. Interviewing Andy Duncan in the midst of the whole Big Brother/Princess Diana thing (I didn't quite realise this when i started following him to his car asking questions - he was really nice)

2. Sharing our finished video with the conference;

They laughed at all the right moments!!

3. Staying up to 2am editing, finsihing and uploading the video.

4. Armado Ianucci giving a very funny presentation - the guy wrote 'I'm Alan Partridge' I really shouldn't have been surprised!!

5. Meeting some great delegates who were really up for some hard work and a good laugh!!

An awesome 3 days!!

Have congas will travel

2007-06-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Our Gospel choir travelled to London to sing at the Albert Hall.

I was playing percussion for some of the songs you can watch the whole thing here;

My favourite moment is in Part 2 where I'm giving it some of the congas!!