January 30, 2008 - Where it all started... McCreary's Irish Pub (Franklin, TN)
To be honest, this has been the most difficult blog entry to write. Thoughts have been stirring and an unsettled spirit continues to saturate these words... the men that we just spent time with champion a cause that contradicts so much of what is natrual. Honesty... brutal, raw, vulnerable honesty. It's rare, and extremly dangerous. What if these words reflected all that is going on behind the scenes right now? What if this blog entry was a glimpse into the messed mind of one screwed up man? Don't worry, it won't go there... but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't. It just means that this is not a safe place. And that is ok... as long as there IS a safe place somewhere. The Samson Society IS a safe place... and Nate Larkin and the Samson Soceity are blazing a trail of honesty and safety for the church. Men are being radically freed... (video)

(Nate Larkin - author of Samson And The Pirate Monks)

Please check out the Samson Society website - www.samsonsociety.org. Our schedule opened up at the last minute so we found Nate Larkin's contact information and asked him on Tuesday if there was any chance we could meet him on Wednesday. With only a day's notice Ray Ware and Nate Larkin rallied a group of six men to get together with us in the back corner of Merridee's Breadbasket in Chattanooga, TN. We heard their story, and there are questions that have since risen to the surface - When is the last time I admitted the FULL extent of my humanness to someone else? When is the last time I admitted the FULL extent of my humanness to myself? The deep splinters lodged in the darkest shadows of the soul continue to remain hidden because there is a lack of safety for confession... especially for pastors. This doesn't excuse the perpetuated secrecy that has quietly dominated the scene, but it does reveal insight to why vulnerable confession is so difficult. The guys from the Samson Society said, "the most isolated guys in the church are the pastors!" And a lack of safety is the reason. What does it mean to be a safe place? With language that reflects the brutal nature of their honesty these guys talked about how safety comes when men contain the explosive nature of confession. They didn't leave any room for imagination on what they share with eachother... and as one man admits the darkness of his own sin, other men are invited to admit theirs. "It is a place where men can say what they have never said... what they have desperately wanted to say but have been scared to do so." The Samson Society invites men "to be known, to be loved, and to be accepted." What is it like to be fully known?

Hear from Nate Larkin. We asked him what he would say to the Catalyst audience if he had a few moments to share his heart... you do not want to miss the next two minutes of insight from Nate Larkin:

Just wanted to send a quick thanks to Tim Shetter and Matt Benson for hosting us in Dayton, TN. Tim, the Residential Director for Bryan College, allowed us to have our own dorm room on Wednesday night and Matt gave us his car to use while we waited to get word about the vanagon (yeah, the embarassing word that our "engine trouble" was nothing more than an empty fuel tank.)

The silver lining here is that we were planning on sleeping in the vanagon Wednesday night and would have had to deal with heavy rain and wind - instead we got a good night sleep in a warm room, thanks guys!

After leaveing Dayton, TN we spent an afternoon in Franklin, TN with Nate Larkin and the guys from the Samson Society. There is so much more to say about this time... and it will be said, but processing all that we heard has taken more time than anticpated. We have a video with thoughts from Nate and a recap from our meeting with the guys that will be posted tomorrow morning.

Right now we are in Chattanooga, TN at the Conclave Event where we are promoting the Catalyst Conference. Dwayne Melton and Chad Johnson drove up from Atlanta and are helping us connect with the Conclave attendees.

More from our time with Nate Larkin and the Samson Society tomorrow morning...

Your Friendly Vanagon Vagabonds!

Ok, so there is really no way to decorate this - in a recent blog post it was communicated that our vanagon broke down, again. It's true that on Tuesay night we were leaving Bryan College headed toward Nashville in the pouring down rain after having engine trouble earlier in the day (do you like the decoration attempt here :)) when the vanagon's engine started to "putter" and, soon after, completely die. After turning the key multiple times and failing to get the vanagon started it became clearly obvious that there was something wrong with the engine, and we were innocently stranded. Of course we blamed the vanagon and were justified in our frustration, right?! Well... here is where we test your ability to refrain from laughing at us and forever labeling us as road trip idiots!

We ran out of gas. There it is! You have our confession... but we must remind you that it is your responsibility to compassionately hold our confession and commit to extending mockery-free grace. If you cannot commit to such a mature response (:)) feel free to post a comment with your favorite nickname for us - your self labeled road trip idiots.

Thank you, in advance, for making sure there will not be any comments added to this blog entry,

Your Friendly Vanagon Vagabond Road Trip Idiots!

3:00PM - Meeting with Matt Benson, Dr. Stephen Livesay, and Bryan College Student Leaders

We met Matt Benson in the Bryan College library and he was standing in the lobby with the President of Bryan College, Dr. Stephen Livesay. Before heading to meet with the team of student leaders that Matt had rallied together we had the opportunity to ask Dr. Livesay a question that we have been asking several leaders on this road trip, "If you could say one thing to young leaders in the church what would you say?" Dr. Livesay answered, "there is great temptation for a leader to make plans and then cut corners to manipulate them into reality when things don't go as planned." The goal is not to accomplish what you set out to do... it's to follow the Lord. Dr. Livesay's response was punctuated with his reference to Psalm 24:3-4, "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart... " Yesterday, Brian Bloye at West Ridge Church said something very similar, "stay holy." Dr. Livesay contined by adding insight that was extremely timely for us. He talked about how liberating it is for a leader to follow God one day at a time and allow His plan to unfold. It is the Lord who is at work on behalf of those who trust and follow Him. An unplanned opportunity to meet with the President of Bryan college set the stage for a great meeting with Matt and his student leaders... (video)

Tim Shetter, Residential Director for Bryan College, invited us into his apartment on campus where Matt introduced us to three student leaders who have been a part of Catalyst for the past several years - Paul, Paige, and Kim. All three students spoke about the power of shared experiences (most notably the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta) and how community is birthed out of the adventure of something greater. They have grown though the process of engaging leadership content just as much, if not more, than from the content itself.

Matt is the Dean of Spiritual Formation for Bryan College. What? Yeah - we came up with a much cooler title for him and after today's meeting Matt will now be knows as the Bryan College Student Sensei. It incorporates the image of a mentor with martial arts expertise - all three students talked about how Matt is known as the guy who will "kick" you out of your comfort zone! Here what Matt had to say when asked the question, "What are you learning right now that you can pass on to young leaders?"