Dreams Unlocked

Dr. Abe Ninan on the right. His wife, Leela is on the left. The sunglasses shield them from the sun and paparazzi. My dad is in town for some meetings at Vancouver Women's hospital. He is quite busy, but we managed to see him for 45 minutes this afternoon! He had a bunch of gifts for Adam, which Adam quite enjoyed. James Cameron has found Jesus - well, he claims to have found Jesus' tomb, along with his "family." It seems every 10-15 years or so, some kind of new theory comes up that claims to debunk the Christian faith. Ben Witherington has a good response here . It will be interesting to see where this discussion ends up.

The Departed Best Picture / Best Director - 2007 Academy Awards I selected 5/6 of the winners in the Oscars. Here is the list of the categories that anyone cares about: Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin - Sunshine Actress: Helen Mirren - Queen Actor - Forest Whitiker - Last King of Scotland Director - SCORSESE SCORSESE!!!! Picture - Departed (this is where i lost - i chose Sunshine) So Martin Scorsese is finally vindicated!!!! He should have been recognized for Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, the Last Waltz or Cape Fear. I was afraid he was going to go the Robert Altman route - a lifetime achievement oscar, but no recognition for a single individual work of excellence. I loved the long ovation he got. In my opinion I think Raging Bull is his finest film (although several may argue that nothing touches Goodfellas). Brent and I saw Breach this afternoon. It was pretty good - i thought the pace was a bit slow. In the trailer it looks like ...

first@night at our baptism service last summer at Sunset Beach. Well, it was a split week for Adam. I was away mon-wed on a retreat. Felicia worked Wed. and Thurs. nights. So today we decided to spend the bulk of the morning together as a family. We went to Sophie's for brunch. Sophies is sort of a Kitsilano institution, and also the place I first met Bono. Then I needed to get some books out of the Regent library. They have just built a new one and I have to admit - it is amazing. Lots and lots of room. Comfy chairs - it kicks on the old library where I spent many hours looking through old tomes. The total cost of the renovations was 10 million - money well spent, i think. Spent the afternoon reading several books on church planting - still hammering on the strategic plan and the vision / core values of the re-engineering of first@night. Last night our denomination held a "listening session". They are holding these through Western Canada. They gather together the church...

I owned a Blackberry Pearl phone for 5 days. Felicia wanted to get her own cel phone. We have had a totally crappy Siemens phone for years and years. So we decided that I would get an upgrade, and she would get a nice camera phone. I went with a Blackberry Pearl, which is a pretty sexy little machine. But.... I realized that I will probably never HAVE to send or recieve an e-mail via a telephone. I like to pretend that I carry on important work but.... I am pretty sure nobody absolutely NEEDS to send and recieve e-mails wherever they are. So today I returned the Pearl and got a really cool Motorola Motokrzr . I am still trying to figure out everything it does. I got my first call: me: hello other person: uhhhh ... this isn't sharon's cel phone # anymore, huh? me: no other person: ok I say no to the Blackberry. Read 3 books on my retreat at Rivendell. The same thing always happens - I get there on Monday night and intend to stay until Wed. morning. By Tuesday evening, I am feeli...

Dreams Unlocked goes black until Thursday. I will be at Rivendell Retreat Center until Thursday morning. They have wireless there, but I won't be taking my ibook. Excellent leadership meeting today - things are really starting to shape for some of the upcoming changes associated with first@night.

I am sitting on a comfy couch at the Loeppky's place in Calgary. We were at a sports bar called Melrose Cafe on 17th Ave. A Flames game was on - everytime they scored, the loudest siren I have ever heard in my life would go off. After 2 goals, it was time to go to preserve our hearing. Now we are chilling, watching Grey's Anatomy and drinking beers. I am in cow town for some church planting denominational meetings. The Baptist Union offices are really nice - very high tech. Short trip - 27 hrs. total.

Well, quite an eventful day yesterday. Had my horizons broadened by Judy and Tim. Today had a breakfast meeting. Then spent the bulk of the day plotting out first@night's next steps. Will unveil more when the time is right , but change is afoot. Had a meeting with a sr. leader at FBC, also along the lines of the future of first@night. Leave for Calgary early tomorrow. Will be back Friday afternoon. I have Church Health and Planting meetings. Will connect with Dr. L and nurse Carla. - RUSS!!!! REJECTION!!! Well, after over 2 dozen succesfully published articles in Relevant magazine I got my first rejection. I was kinda disappointed - I thought it was a pretty good article. You be the judge: The Vilest Offender Who Truly Believes…. I live in Vancouver Canada. If you’ve ever been here, you will know that this is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Stunning mountain landscapes, sandy beaches and a mild (though rainy) climate all add up to one amazing place to live. There ar...

Because once isn't enough for this stellar pic. People have differing views about Vancouver. My friends from Alberta and Saskatchewan often marvel at what a big busy city it is. My other friends from Toronto or Montreal think of Vancouver as a small city with a bit of a complex - it wants to be seen as a global city - to be honest Vancouver is NOT a global city. My friends in Europe when I mention Canada - all they know is Toronto, or maybe Montreal - almost none of them have ever mentioned any other city (including Vancouver). I don't think the Olympics will change our image that much. Look at Calgary - even die hard Calgarians would be hard pressed to call Calgary cosmopolitan or international. Vancouver is a city that believes it is cooler then it actually is. We are not trend setters. There is no real Vancouver style - basically all we really have going for us is natural beauty and mild climes. Don't want to sound like I'm totally slagging the place - I love it he...

Team A&O ready for business. We have a house guest: Olivia Welch. Olivia is the daughter of Spencer and Renee. They went to L.A. to see some awards show called the Grammy's. I've never heard of them either. So we are taking care of little Olivia. Olivia is also the first child I ever dedicated as a pastor, so that's pretty cool. Olivia is quite well behaved - sleeps well, is polite, until she doesn't get her way! She is quite affectionate towards Adam, but it is a sort of unrequited love, as Adam tends to ignore her. I took quite a nice pic of them (above). Scott Kripps, who is planting a church in Calgary called "Awaken" spoke at first@night tonight. He was good - an easy guy to like. Also Michael gurule and Emily helped with worship which was cool. I shared about being "sent" and how we see a lot of movement in the Bible: Adam and eve left the Garden of Eden. Cain went to the land in the east Abraham left Ur (his home) and went, not knowing whe...

After many dangers, toils and snares, we finally have our car, licensed, insured and road ready! We are the proud owners of a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe . This car was made possible by the hard work of my good buddy Mark Loeppky of FFUN fame. Another key piece in the transaction was Mike Calpin of West Edmonton Hyundai. There were a few bumps in the process, but it's all worth it now. So we have gone from being a very environmentally conscious family that took public transit and walked - and did not own a car - to a very regular family with an SUV for the kid's soccer equipment. To celebrate this momentous occaison we went for japanese food, followed by gelato. Felicia has been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and so has to go pretty easy on the sugar. was a pretty busy day. Had a failed meeting with a friend at 9:00 - we both got the day mixed up, although we were at the same coffee shop at 9:00 on different days. Had sushi with a guy named John who found out about first@nigh...

"St. Michael defeats Satan" artist unknown (to me) I have been thinking a lot about suffering and enduring the cross. That is the crux of the Christian faith - it's not always happy clappy, things don't always work out the way you planned. Things fall apart. Marriages fall apart. careers crash. In the middle of all that chaos we are supossed to hang onto this tattered hope that God is still in control. And He is. I have to believe that, or else all is chaos and vanity. It's 12:45 in the morning. Adam can't sleep and neither can I. I have a full day tomorrow but I can't fool myself into sleeping, what with a headache, and a head so full that thoughts can not rest. I sense that one chapter of my life is coming to an end, and another is starting. I don't know what it looks like, but I know Who is writing it.

Ok, John , Kate and now Andrea have all tagged me - so I bite. I will list 6 things that are odd about me. But sorry, I am not going to tag another 6 people - call me grumpy. 1. I have seen every Woody Allen film. Even the recent ones that are not that great. (Scoop, Melinda and Melinda, etc.) 2. I think being a long-haul trucker would have been pretty cool. It's just a neat lifestyle - cb's, truck stops, etc. 3. I am a Johnny Cash fan. 4. I once used the women's washroom at the Earls in saskatoon, because someone told me that the washrooms were like the ones on Ally McBeal - unisex. They're not. 5. When I was 17, I spoke at our denomination's general assembly. A fire alarm went off just before I was supossed to speak - I thought God was burning the place down, so I wouldn't have to speak. 6. I lived in the 4 Seasons hotel in Vancouver for a week when I was 13. I was with my dad at a conference. He was in meetings all day. I became friends with the cleaning st...

Oldman asked me what I meant by a missional incarnation of the gospel. Here's my answer. Most of my life I have grown up in churches that I would label "attractional". By this I mean our goal in life would be to get someone to "come to church" - especially if there was a special speaker or event in which the gospel would be communicated. I would say that 80-90% of all churches operate on this principle. This means that all our energy will be directed to making the Sunday event as great as it can be - tight worship band, stellar preaching, killer power-point, etc. etc. When I use the term missional, I am referring to a church or christian community that sees itself as on a "mission". So we live lives where we are actively trying to bring Jesus to people through the way we talk and act. This concept of church sees church as people, not an event once a week, or a building in which we enter. Incarnation recalls the concept of jesus as God "incarnating...

I had sent out an e-mail to about 100 people asking for prayer. This is due to some stuff happening with our church First Baptist and decisions they have made around first@night. In the last 3 days I have been in 4 heavy heavy meetings. The last one was last night with the leadership team of first@night and some senior leadership from First Baptist. I can't really share yet what changes will be taking place with first@night - just know that I have been struggling with a lot of difficult emotions lately, and they've really been taking a toll on me personally. Church planting is hard - but it is almost impossible if you have no support. And that is close to the situation we are finding ourselves in. Felicia and I have both felt a distinct call to ministry in downtown Vancouver. But there just seems to be obstacle and obstacle again and again. When are you supossed to get the hint? Anyways - we do have a small community of people who say they are still committed to a missional in...