Dreams Unlocked

I have been going hard for the past 2 weeks and it finally caught up with me. I have been fighting a growing sense of illness this past week. I still dutifully showed up for work everyday. And then last night I woke up at 3 AM, and was unable to get back to sleep. I called the school at like 7 AM and left a message, explaining my predicament. I still went in in the morning, to teach my first two classes and finish up some paper work that NEEDED to be done. At the end of my class, I went to see some students that were leaving the next day. It was pretty sad, w. two Japanese student bursting into tears and hugging me - which was weird because I didn't feel particularly close to these 2 girls. Some pics up top of me in a tie! So, I took most of today off, and will take tomorrow off - a forced sabbath. This is the concequence of not obeying the natural rythym of keeping the Sabbath - your body rebels and forces you to slow down. But... here's the thing, I still keep working. Did so...

Well, we have had an influx of Japanese students, and a reduction of our Saudi students, which is interesting. Feeling a lot more clarity about the future of Urban Sanctuary which is a good thing - with this independence from FBC, our future growth truly rests in God's hands. Feeling like I have less and less to say on the ol blog. Might see less posts in the coming days.....

Not since "Boom goes the dynamite" have I been so addicted to a video clip. I still cannot follow her train of thought. She goes from people not having maps, to the educational systems in South Africa and "the" Iraq. And then she advocates that America go and help the schools in those other countries!!! Man. Yesterday (Saturday) I had to do 2 things I didn't want to do. Both involved people and travel. I realized these are things I have to do as a Christian - so I had to shove personal wants behind me - is this what dying to self means? Doing stuff you don't want to do, so that you can do what God wants? I realize that in life sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. But, we shouldn't have lives that are completely made up of things we don't want to do - that is misery. It comes back to vocation, calling and passion. God's will for most of us involves doing things we love to do. If you are presently not doing something you love t...

Lives up to the stereotype of beauty pageant contestants.

CNN has had an excellent series the last 3 nights called "God's Warriors". Christiana Amanpour has done an amazing job researching the roots of fundamentalism in Judaism, Islam and Christianity. I found the Islamic and Jewish programs, especially interesting. The roots of contemporary Islamic terrorism can be traced back to a Muslim who came to America in the 1950's. He found America to be a moral wasteland, and left disgusted. He did a lot of writing which became formative for Bin Laden, and other similar terrorists. The Christian segment was well done - but I am quite familiar w. the religious right in the states, but it did have a segment with one of my heroes: Greg Boyd. I need to do a separate post on Boyd (actually I might have already, awhile back). I have added a couple of links to the right: James Wheeler and I went to Bible School together. Greg Boyd is the pastor of a church in Minneapolis and outspoke critic of the fusion of American nationalism and Chris...

In Seattle - Adam has conveniently blocked Sophia w. his balloon sword. I wrote a review for the fantastic movie "Lives of Others" which came out on DVD yesterday. I have a couple other writing assignments I'm working on - one even pays! Daryl and Valencie P. are in town, so we got to hang out w. them tonight which was really nice. Today is the hardest day of the month - I give a grammar test and a speaking test - and then have to spend a couple of hours marking and transcribing the marks - ugh. Finished now though.

Yesterday was a bit hairy. Preached at a church in Port Moody. I preached on Psalm 40:1-3, which U2 recorded as a song. The church was doing a summer series on the Psalms, so I chose that one. It went well. The couple that invited me are John and Andrea Rose - they used to go to First Baptist, and knew me from there. They are hands down the nicest couple that I know - so genuine and kind. Came back - had a nap, and then prepped for our service. Cam Roxburgh was speaking - he spoke very well - very encouraging of what we are trying to do. Also - Alpha may be popping up in my future, through what seems to be a divine turn of events. Will keep you posted. Rained again today - typical for the Summer of 2007. DO NOT SEE THE MOVIE DISTURBIA - it is horrible!!! It starts off as a bad teen romantic comedy and then morphs into an even worse horror thriller - it well may be one of the worst films I have ever seen. Other bad movies I have seen: Beloved Da Vinci Code

My uncle is a neurologist who is involved in pioneering church planting efforts in Northern India. They have encountered opposition in the past. That opposition escalated into physical persecution this past week. Here are the details: Dr. Raju Abraham is the chief surgeon of Kachhwa hospital; this Friday (Aug 17), during a school program for Dalit children and their parents, he was attacked by RSS and Bajrang Dal activists on the Kachhwa hospital grounds. Dr. Raju has a deep cut on his forehead that needed stitches. Other hospital workers were allegedly attacked as well. They seem to be out of danger, but there are damages to the hospital property and equipment. More details here http://christianpersecutionindia.blogspot.com/ Please pray for Dr. Abraham, his wife Catherine, the other staff that were injured, and for the attackers. Pray for protection of this hospital and its ministry. thanks, sn

The last 3 days have been really difficult. On Wednesday and Thursday I left the house really late - On Thursday I was actually late for work, which made me feel terrible. I had a Saudi a Saudi student that had been here for 2 months - both his attendance and attitude were terrible - so today I had to tell him that he would not be getting a certificate because he did not satisfactorily complete the course work. That really sucked. I have tomorrow to relax a bit, but I have to finish up my sermon too!

In one of today's classes, I did a listening exercise, using the Bob Dylan song "If you see her, say hello", off of Blood on the Tracks. As most of you know, Dylan has a very nasaly unique voice. I started playing the song, and one of my favourite students, Ahmed, looked up and asked "What language is this?" It was soooo funny!!! So it rained tonight - this is hands down the worst summer in the 6 years we have been living here. I am excited about my sermon for this Sunday - it is coming along together quite well - I have done all my research and notes, and am now writing it. The commentaries were not much help, as I am only preaching on 3 verses - not much they can add, to what I've already uncovered.

I am a pastor, because when I was 17 I was at a conference in Chicago and I felt God call me into full-time vocational Christian ministry. Initially I thought I was going to be an apologist/evangelist type. But life took some different terms - instead I am currently a churchplanter/pastor who does some writing on the side. What do I love about what I do? Walking alongside people on their spiritual journey, pointing Jesus out along the way. But most of all I love preaching - I love everything about it. Because Urban Sanctuary has been on "summer mode" I have not been preaching that much lately. This Sunday I am preaching at a church out in Port Moody - totally random connection that got me invited there. So I am in full sermon prep. mode, which is the best!!! It is so awesome - I have 5 different version sof the text spread out - slowly poring over each word - checking the Hebrew and Greek - watching the meaning unfold slowly. Then I turn to the commentaries and see what other...

This title is a play on a Johnny Cash song - which may have been written by Kris Kristoferson - "Sunday Morning Coming down". Had a really good service - tine turn out, but I was really blessed by the worship and discussion. Joel Milne-Epp was in town, and dropped by - Joel has blessed our community silently by doing our old first@night web-site for 2 years free of charge! Joel has been my friend since Grade 9, so it was great to catch up. Also my uncle Chandy was in town also - we went to St. John's in the morning, and then he and I and Joel headed out for a bite after Urban Sanctuary tonight. It was really good - I gave an update about where our church was at, which was sobering in some respects. We need to seriously grapple with the idea of sustainability. I sort of painted a realistic picture of some growth targets that we need to hit in the coming year - if we don't hit them it is unlikely we will continue in the same way as we are now. There has to be some sort ...

Why am I wearing a sweater in August? This has been the coldest, most miserable summer in Vancouver that I can remember. One of my Saudi students Ahmed, has got the coolest shoes ever - he has running shoes, but check out the brands : Prada, Louis Vuiton and Dolce and Gabanna - the cat is a fashion plate! One of them was complaining to me at how pathetic the shopping in Vancouver is - there is only one place to buy Prada, Gucci, etc. But in Riyadh, there are exclusive boutique shops everywhere. Actually the Saudi students get bugged quite a bit for having lots of money. Everyone keeps telling them they have all the oil money. Which is true, they have shown me pictures of the palaces that they live in. Must be a far cry from the bedrooms they know have in some suburban family's home in North Vancouver or east Van. Well, at least they are getting a nice experience out of it. One of my students asked to come to my church - so I might invite a whole bunch of them this Sunday.

Here's a link to my review of Sicko on Relevant. I spent 2 hours tonight doing web-site stuff!!! Sheesh. Felicia and I watched the final disc of "Extras" today - Man - it was hilarious - highly recommend the best I have ever seen of Ricky Gervais. Gervais is pretty much my favourite comic actor right now - in my books he can do no wrong.

If this doesn't get you dancing, I don't know what will.

The picture you have been waiting for. The bride is my 2nd cousin, whom I have never met before. Never met the groom before. But I love the fact that we are in this picture on their wedding day together. Today is B.C. Day. I celebrated by lazing around the house and then escaping long enough to see "The Bourne Ultimatum", which was excellent - maybe the best of the 3, although I forget most of the second one, except that he was in Goa India at the beginning and his girlfriend gets shot. Official soundtrack of Summer 2007: Icky Thump - White Stripes Neon Bible - Arcade Fire Wave of Mutilation - Pixies (bit dated, but still amazing) Also I have been enjoying Great Lake Swimmers, especially at night - so relaxing.

I am in a tiny hotel room with the fam., in Auburn Washington - about a half hour south of Seattle. We came here for a "family" wedding - my second cousin, that I have never met, from Kerala married a guy from the Seattle area. An uncle from India, and another from New York were there - since we are not too far, we decide to attend as representatives of the Canadian Ninan clan. So.... in typical Malayali fashion it was very very long. At the end, they asked all family to stay behind for some pictures. My uncle from India insisted we stay for the pictures - remember this is a couple I have never met before, and did not even know what they looked like. So we get herded on to the stage, and pose for several pictures with the newlyweds - we do not know this couple, and they have no idea who we are - but there we are smiling away, and just as quickly we are herded off, never to be seen again! It was sooo funny!!! Then we headed over to the zoo, which was pretty good. I have t...

I really cranked out some serious work tonight - made some good headway on some big admin. stuff that was looming over me. We are re-negotiating our mortgage - we are switching from TD to RBC. They actually have mortgage brokers that will come to your house and do the sales pitch. We are going w. a 5 yr. variable closed mortgage - whatever that means. At one point, I actually said, "I don't understand anything about anything." This was one of the first days in long time where I didn't have something in the afternoon or evening - which was cool. Got to focus on some work.