Dreams Unlocked

SERIOUS sermon prep this morning. also some more things that need organizing. had a "leaving regent" seminar this afternoon. it was pretty good - went over transitional stuff and alumni benefits. its hard to think that i will soon be an alumni of this esteemed institution. there are only about 3300 of us in the world. i was reflecting that the whole time i had been at regent - 4 yrs. - i had never once had a serious relational conflict with any students, faculty or staff. there are not many places you can say that about. i have been on staff for 8 mths. at fbc and have several tiimes felt like punching people out - including after our very first service!!! god gimmee grace grace grace. i was supossed to go to a marriage seminar this weekend - but it is just impossible w. the various fires burning around me. stay strong brothers (and sisters.)

this is my 4th time to update - all the other times i have been interrupted by life. sitting in my home office - my glass box in the sky - looking over yaletown people walking in and out of clothing stores, hair salons, restaurants and coffee shops. and me? i sit here w. commentaries on the book of genesis - trying to write something from this ancient text that can connect w. my ipod/latte/rollerblade friends. the struggle continues. life and ministry continues on at a clip pace. one of my fave things right now is to listen to podcasts on my ipod - i listen to rick mckinley from imago dei inportland, erwin mcmanus from mosiac in los angeles, ravi zacharias and a series of interviews w. miroslov volf - who seems to be my new favourite thinker. vold says that the theology he does is theology for the people - it is applicable. if the emergent types want to dirch systematic theology for this, then i'm all for it. but if they want to ditch systematic theology for ..... nothing, then i...

had another fantastic run along the sea-wall - this time w. adam in the stroller. last night i spoke on spiritual war-fare. there was a guy there who was obviously quite disturbed. i was certain that he was on drugs and that there was also some demonic activity going on. he made no sense as he spoke and came close to punching me for no reason at one point. pray for him. beautiful spring day in vancouver. went to regent to renew a book - also had lunch w. mike - nice guy who is a part of first@night. bought a new journal which i am using to record my reflections on the scruptures i read - find it very helpful. also write my prayers in there. try.

adam ate some cheese with a fork all by himself today - real milestone for the young chap.

finished my sermon on the part in genesis when jacob wants to leave laban. laban tries to persuade him to stay - jacob asks to have his own flocks - laban agrees and jacob prospers. this whole jacob narrative is quite fascinating - i think we forget what great, rich literature the bible is - you can be an atheist and just enjoy the stories for being great stories. had a massage today. amy, my massage therapist is pregnant and quite excited. she said my back looked better - i've been doing all these crazy stretches that the chiropracter prescribed. feeling a little better today about staying on in vancouver - still not total peace yet. had erin and andrew over with their baby amelia who is very very cute - will post some pics later. adam was really acting up during dinner - i think he wanted attention. watched capote tonight - what a great show - interesting cat, that capote. "The true beloveds of this world are in their lover's eyes lilacs opening, ship lights, school bell...

i decided to fast today in order to gain some clarity about our future. the council approved our proposals for more funding from outside sources past may - our funding form first baptist dries up in may so i looked to other sources to keep the church going. but i have been battling a growing feeling of being unsettled - for the first time in 5 yrs. i am questioning if vancouver is the right place for us at this time. i have had grandiose dreams for a movement of the gospel in vancouver, but right now i am struggling w. what is the right thing for my family. vancouver is an expensive city to live in and i need $$$ to provide a decent life for my family. the fasting has not given me much direction (yet). i did write down 4 options for our future that i'd like to decide with felicia. hopefully this weekend we will have some time to talk and pray together about our future. had a great meeting w. a new artist attending first@night - dale. he is quite gifted and has a life story that sou...

got an interesting e-mail from a friend in victoria. he speculated about whether churches that intentionally practise lent face oppression. i resonated with that because as some of you know i have given up coffee for lent. and the past week has been the most difficult one for me and felicia. we are wondering if our future really is in vancouver, or whether we are supossed to be somewhere else. there are a lot of factors behind this unrest that i can't go into here. had the church council meeting last night, where they were going to go over our proposal to council. will find out today what they say. any of you out there who believe in prayer please pray for us - i am in a real season of despondency and am close to throwing in the towel. "if you can't change it, you're going to have to learn to stand it." - ennis from brokeback mountain.

6:50 AM - back home!!!! Last night was easily the most tired I have ever been in my life. My whole body and face felt weighted down by gravity. I did manage to drink 1 Guiness to celebrate St. Patricks Day. Also I can still say that I was in Dublin for St. Patrick's Day which is true - I was there from midnight to 8:00 AM. The trip back was rough: bus to Dublin airport fly from Dublin to London Gatwick bus from London Gatwick to Londond Heathrow fly from London to Vancouver taxi home from airport I was "just in time" during the whole ordeal of getting from Dublin to London Heathrow. Last night Felicia and Adam gave me a pleasant surprist by showing up at the airport. As soon as Adam saw me he gave a HUGE smile and literally jumped out of Felicia's arms into mine - one of the greatest moments of my life. side-story - some people are just grouchy. As I was putting my stuff up in the London-Vancouver flight the lady I was going to sit next to was just glaring at me from ...

In 16 hours I will be on the first of 2 flights home. Dublin-London-Vancouver. Can't wait to get home to Cambie St. and Flea and little Adam. I arrive tomorrow afternoon so hopefully I will be able to play a lot w. Adam. Thoughts: -God is alive and well in the United Kingdom -U.K. is WAY more secular then Canada -we need fresh expressions of the church that will engage the post-modern culture we live in -the guys that I work with on Church Health and Planting are truly fantastic -2 weeks is a LONG time to be away from home (i think its my limit actually) -the Holy Spirit helps me to resist evil - actually transforms my desire and behaviour -Jesus is the main thing and all that matters Today I did all my shopping. Gifts for everyone back home. Tonight I'm hanging out with the son of someone I visited in London. He's taking me to a service at his church called CORE (picture above) which is supposed to be the "happening" church in Dublin. I'll be able to go out w...

It's 9 AM. I am in Dublin, staying with my sister-in-law's family - the Sinnotts. They are very nice and have made me feel right at home. I read my Bible in a room that has a large window that overlooks their beautiful garden. I also drank tea - I feel like I am living in some Victorian tale, like I should be writing this post on parchment with a quill pen. There is an old folkm song that was resurrected in the Coen brothers film O Brother Where Art Thou? The song is "I am a man of constant sorrow". I feel like I am a man of constant motion. Here is a saummary of my travels: London England Cork Ireland London Englad Sheffield England Birmingham England London England Dublin Ireland London England I was never in one town more then 3 days. Yesterday on the flight over to Dublin I fell asleep. When I woke up I knew I was on a plane but had forgoten where I was going. Not until they announced "Welcome to Dublin" did I figure it out. Today - hang around city cent...

had a tough time sleeping last night. i alternate good/bad sleep nights which means i wil sleep well tonight. went to the tate modern art gallery today which is probably the best gallery i have ever been in. so many great works. also went to the british portrait museum. it has portraits of a bunch of famous british people. the portrait of david beckham is a video of him sleeping for 60 minutes - that's art. saw a play in the west-end called "embers". it starred jeremy irons. he was amazing but the story got a bit boring in the middle. got home late - tried calling flea - she and the boy are probably sleeping. off to dublin tomorrow. yay!

the title of this post is a play on the great clash song: "london's burning!" london is freezing cold - glad i brought all my warm clothes. interesting day - drove into london from birmingham. the church we were going to in the morning was in sutton - the place i am staying at tonight is in sutton. we parked the car - i looked up - we were at the very street i was staying at! out of all the churches in greater london, we went to one right by where i am staying! that is so cool. the service was ok - nothing great. had lunch at pizza hut. after i said my good-byes to the guys. i was going to stay in sutton and they were going on to central london. i won't see them again till i am back in vancouver. came to suneel's and had a nap - then went to ram gidoomal's place. ram is this amazing christian businessman who ran for mayor a couple of times. he is one of these charismatic entrepreneurial types who is using ALL his gifts for the kingdom. i told him tonight that ...

it is 3:50 a.m. - i still got me some jet-lag. the conference is over and i am now in birmingham england with dr. martin robinson (togetherinmission.org). super nice couple - dylan fans too! the conference is over and i am decompressing. i believe god re-affirmed my calling to vancouver to be a part of His work there. i also believe that i need to challenge first@night to commit themselves to being missional in their approach to church and life. i also want a holy boldness for god to "go where no man (or woman) has gone before". sandy mller - nicky gumbel's pastor of alpha fame prayed for me when i went forward for prayer. he prayed that i would recieve a new mantle of authority and that i would know that god chose me because he loved me. god has chosen YOU because he loves YOU.

hi all, i am in sheffield england at a very large conference on church planting. i have 2 minutes left on my friend's 1 hr. internet time. it cost 10 bucks!!! having a great time - weather is warmer then vancouver - feel silly for packing scarf, toque and gloves. god is at work in the u.k. and it is exciting. blessings, sn

forgot to mention that relevant published my movie review of cache - go to relevantmagazine.com and look under movies. i leave in 15 hours for london! yippee!

3rd day w.out coffee. i am not off caffeine so i drink tea in the morning instead of coffee and can still drink coke. i actually went into a starbucks yestterday w. a friend who ordered a coffee. i am using this time away from coffee to realize that there are a lot of things i can live without in my life. life is more then just the physical and material that i see around me. there is a whole inner universe that we tend to overlook in our outer world of ipods, SUV's and cable television. i have a soul. you have a soul. take time to nurture your soul through silence and solitude. it is in silence and solitude that the voice of god can be most clearly heard. no matter how busy my day looks i do not skip my morning prayer and bible reading - w.out i can't face the day. i need to replug, recharge or else i will mis-fire. a day w.out prayer is a day that i am the most vulnerable to the temptations that surround me. soul change is the only way we can live the life we are called to liv...

today is the start of lent. i have chosen to give up coffee. if you know me this is a bit like giving up oxygen. i had a dull headache all day. since i got in so late last night (my flight was delayed by an hour), i stayed home in the morning. btw - when i check in by the machine, they allow you to choose your seat - i chose a seat that would be at a fire exit so that i would have leg room - but when i got on the plane i was 2 rows BEHIND the fire exit - what's up with that? the machine lied. today i returned phone calls and tried to clear stuff off my desk. tomorrow will be my last day in the office for 2 weeks so i really need to cram everything in. tonight - bible study. we are going to watch a nooma video, talk about it and then pray prayers of humility to signify that we are entering into the sufferings of christ. from ash to ash.