Please note: If you have come straight here via an internet browser - this is NOT the website of Te Atatu Baptist Church.

This is Ps Roger's private and personal website.

To go to Te Atatu Baptist's website - click here. www.TeAtatuBaptist.com  

                                          A little about me: since you asked...

                                                                                                                                                         Contact Email at bottom of page

Name: Rev. Roger Spackman Bmin (Bachelor of Ministries)

Age: Well, I was born in 1965, so that makes me 21 with a few years experience:-)

Family: I live with my girlfriend, and have six wonderful children & a gorgeous daughter-in-law. We have been  partners in marriage since 1985 (Just because we are married doesn't mean she is no longer my girlfriend! And - no, we never lived together before we were married) The photos above show my spiritual family at Te Atatu Baptist Church.

Occupation: Pastor of Te Atatu Baptist Church   www.TeAtatuBaptist.com  Often when people find out that I am a Pastor, they change. Sometimes they change their speech, their behavior, or else they project past experiences they have had with pastors or figures of authority (fathers) upon me. Here's what I usually say to people like that. "I will accept you for who you are, and in return you accept me for who I am. Now that's out of the way, let's just enjoy being friends." I've only had two jobs, pastoring (Since the year 2000) and engineering - tool-making (for 18 years).

Interests: Outdoors. Hunting. Shooting. Music (Guitar - as pictured - Ibanez AE Cutaway with super-light electric strings.). Family. Reading. God. Technology - like web-design. Engineering/tool-making. Learning. Self awareness and Emotional Growth. I love playing the trumpet, but get cysts on my lips - so don't do a lot of it! Pictured is my trumpet in the key of C so that I can read piano music.

Fears: I used to fear insanity. Honestly - but I'm not really too worried about this anymore, as I know I am fine. Anyway, normal is only a dial on your clothes dryer!

U.B.F.: This stands for Unbearable Feeling - and EVERYBODY has one. It is the 'dreaded' situation or feeling you try to avoid or compensate for - often without even knowing. My U.B.F. is upsetting people. This is (was) based in a false assumption that my worth was dependant upon what other people thought of me. I've grown past that now, but it still lingers at times. There are some easy ways to identify and overcome your U.B.F.

King Lie: Like your U.B.F., everyone has a King Lie, a deception or lie they have come to believe and base their existence around. For me, it was that my emotions are me - and therefore control who I am. Honestly, I would even dream in emotions and then add content to the dream! It resulted in a lot of second guessing - thinking I knew what other people were thinking about me, and usually bad things (swapping heads with other people!). What set me free was the reality that although my feelings might be real, they are not always true!

World View: My pre-existing world view was that the world is a dangerous place, and people are out to take advantage of me. However, I've also grown through that, and come to realize that the world is largely what I make it, that I can develop the skills to defend myself and not be threatened by other 'big' people! I am complete in who I am as a person created in the image of a Loving God.

Core Values - VERY IMPORTANT!!!: These are the values that I hold most dear in my life. The thing about Core Values, is that You are responsible to teach others how to treat you! These are my top 10 core values: Purpose, Spirituality, Acceptance, Family, Genuineness, Adventure, Authority, Creativity, Popularity and Forgiveness. Core Values guide our lives like an inner compass. If you want to know me - understand my core values. They are what motivates and drives me, keeps me honest and safe through life. Discovering our Core Values is usually one of the first workshops Debbie and I take clients through. (NOTE: It's easy to see what motivates me to produce this web-site - as you look at my Core Values! I need a lot of Purpose in my life, Authority, Adventure, Creativity and also Popularity.) I also need to know where my boundaries are in life - and usually push myself to the limit - of energy, resources and abilities - and then either retract to a safe distance, or continue to grow and develop.

Dislikes: I find it hard to accept people who are arrogant, or who lack self awareness. Because of the nature of my work, I meet some beautiful and some not so beautiful people. The not so beautiful ones are those who are very self opinionated and absolute in what they believe - letting me know without a doubt that others are wrong and they are right. The trouble with people who think they are right and others are wrong, is that they don't give other people the same right to hold to absolutes as they do. Basically, this is deceptive arrogance. Actually, arrogance is a very strong attempt to control a UBF.  Also, I don't like Wetas!

Challenges: Funny thing, that I'd finished this page and only days later remembered that I actually face a major obstacle in my life! I have a chronic illness, called Chronic Motility Disorder. Basically it means I don't digest food properly. Actually - it involves a lot of pain and discomfort, sometimes an inability to

 swallow or experience hunger. I had major surgery around 13 years ago, but it didn't go well and resulted in a worse situation than I had before surgery. Resulting from that reconstruction work to my stomach was the reduction of my stomach size by over 1/3, adding to my challenge to not loose weight! I guess that since I'd forgotten to mention this condition shows that I'm well on the way to achieving my goal - to never allow this illness to rule my life! Praise God!

Debbie (my beautiful girlfriend) and I work with a lot of people, helping them towards emotional and spiritual wholeness.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free!  Jesus.

This photo is of me after I installed a new ceiling light/fan in our house. They provided a suction-cup around 50mm diameter to enable the installer to easily place the small lights into the sockets - using the suction-cup. Well, as every grown man knows, suction-cups are very interesting items, and the temptation is to see how many places you can stick them on your body. I started with my ever increasing forehead, and you guessed it - when I pulled it off - it left a bright red circle blood-blister on my forehead! It gets worse, I had to preach on Sunday! I decided to announce from the pulpit if anyone else knew it was Indian Awareness Week.  Just to let you know, the eyebrows aren't natural. They were some sticky foam tape that also came in the box.

Now, does my wife have six or seven children???

Now, for some FAQ's

Question: Isn't it wrong to kill animals? Answer. No. What's worse than killing animals, is a person treating their spouse or children with disrespect or becoming over-familiar with them, and slowly killing their self worth or self respect - through over indulgence or neglect (the two areas have the same outcome).

Question: How can you be a Christian and kill things? Answer. Do you eat meat or wear leather shoes/belt etc? Come to think about it, are those K9's in your lovely mouth? (And don't try to tell me they are left over reminders of our evolution from our primeval ancestors :-)

Question: Do people criticize you for hunting? Answer: Not to my face. Sometimes I get hate-mail. Anyway, I'm fine about other people not liking what I do for recreation. Who said they had to like it in the first place :-)

Question: Don't you blame God for your illness? Answer: Actually, no. I give Him glory for it. The Bible clearly teaches that the only way God builds character, perseverance, refinement and patience in our lives is through 'fiery trials' and difficulties. That's why, as James 1:2 says, 'Consider it pure joy when you face trials and difficulties of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith produces endurance and godly character!'  (Okay, enough of the preaching!)

Quote: The only difference between people with tattoos and those without, is that those with tattoos don't criticize those who don't have them :-)

Question: Do you have tattoos? Answer: Yes - two. One of a gecko on my chest, and the name of my wife on my wrist.

Anything else? Well, actually there is. I like to smoke the occasional cigar, often when I am out in the bush with mates (not with our children around though).

Ahhhh, this has been so cathartic, bearing my soul to the universe. You should give it a try some time - heaps of fun!

Having said all that, I'd like to get to know you more too.

Drop me a line, and if you live in Auckland and want to come hunting with me, I'll see what I can arrange.

Roger

happyhunter@ihug.co.nz

(Just bear in mind that I have already recorded your computer IP address, and I don't appreciate abuse - or tolerate it, and if you ping my computer/server with spam or insults, you'll regret it :-)

Smile at your webcam!

Normal is only found on the dial of a clothes dryer!