I'm Sam Freney. This is my site.

It's where I keep my stuff.

I'm married to Kristy; I'm the father of Elissa. I'm a Christian, holder of a Ph.D, an Anglican minister, and a Bible Translation Consultant. (Sometimes the latter vocations can happen without the first.)

I love great technology. Some Many people call me a nerd. I prefer that to geek.

I'm keen on learning languages, although I can't speak any of them very well. Yet. If really pressed I could probably have a pretty average conversation in Indonesian or German. I've mostly forgotten how to speak Swedish. I can read or understand at least something in Greek, Hebrew, French, Kriol, Pitjantjatjara, Djambarrpuyŋu, Gupapuyŋu, and Auslan. On the near-future list are Arrente, Kunwinjku, Noongar, Gamileraay. I'd like to learn some Chinese alongside my daughter who is learning it at high school. Down the track Arabic or Russian would be interesting.

I play jazz. Biblical studies is something I'm keen on, as are science fiction, literature in general, coffee, electronics, photography, frisbee, film, family, church, writing, playing piano and/or saxophone, and hats. I guess you could call my tastes eclectic.

“Go therefore
and make disciples
of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

—Jesus

First up, I'm a Christian. And a pretty convinced one at that. So this quote by Jesus is foundational to all the other things I do, whether it's study and academic work, writing, development, or family life. I'm committed to helping people get to know Jesus, and then to know him better from then on in.

The diagram below is an excellent overview of what that means. I'd be happy to explain it if you like.

Logo

I'm an academic.

I've got a Ph.D in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, in Deerfield IL. I concentrated in New Testament studies, looking particularly at verbal aspect in the New Testament and the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament).

I wrote it up into a book. You can buy it. It's got a very academic-looking cover, and a very academic-sounding title: "Aspectual Substitution: Verbal Change in New Testament Quotations of the Septuagint". Consider yourself warned.

I write things.

Some of it is as nerdy and academic as a Ph.D in New Testament Greek sounds, but other pieces are at a much more accessible level. I want my study to be of benefit for the church, after all, and it's difficult to do that if only 5 other academics in the world ever read your stuff.

The easiest thing to do at this point is to check out my Academia.edu profile as that has links to my more useful articles, with some of them having nice downloadable PDF files.

I'm a developer.

I am an Electrical Engineer, iOS and Mac developer, editor, and all-round computer geek with many years experience being the go-to person for computer help for my friends and family. Several years experience across multiple platforms and technologies have made me an expert in web development technologies, server administration, mobile apps, and user interfaces.

Web design and development.

As a Wordpress guy I've got a great background in all the relevant technologies for work on the web, plus a good knack for what looks good and works for navigation and discoverability. I can also help develop good content. Recently I've contracted with Gameflow Interactive to help build some pretty amazing websites for creative organizations.

I also edit, publish, and occasionally dabble in design work.

I worked for quite some time with Matthias Media, a Christian publisher in Australia and the USA.

A magazine called The Briefing was the major publication I was involved with for several years as senior editor: managing content, commissioning, editing, and production.

I was also on the editorial board (and a contributor) to Vine Journal, a publication aimed at those who want to keep thinking theologically about ministry, and bring a ministry mindset to theological discussions.

On occasion I've done some design work for event promotion.

Contact me for more details