Dreams Unlocked

I passed this store on Hastings St., as I was driving back from Port Moody tonight - instant classic! "WE HAVE THOUSAND DIFFERENT KINDS OF MERCHANDISE AT THE LOWEST PRICE OF $1" . I especially like the SAVE SAVE SAVE at the bottom in orange. 2nd urban oddity - I was getting gas today. There was a police car, parked in the lot. The police man was inside drinking Tim Hortons. As I walked up closer, I noticed he was reading the Hobbit - It just seemed like such an odd context for that book to be found in! Pretty long day in Port Moody. I was writing my sermon in a Starbucks out there - this lady sitting next to me, asked if I was reading the Bible. I said, yeah. We started talking - she was part of a church that was actually shutting down in September. It was a 7 yr. old church plant, that never grew past 20 members. We had a great chat, as I related our own struggles in church planting. She and her husband might drop by Heritage Mountain in the fall.

Me and my bike crew! I turned 38 today. Wow. I'm not sure if that makes me middle aged, but I know I'm getting there. A couple of friends who work downtown bought me lunch, which was very nice of them. I spent most of the day working - I am writing a sermon on our churches purpose statement which is "Loving God, loving others and growing together in His Community." I am using a text from 1 john - we love because he first loved us. We need to experience and appropriate God's love in our own lives. From that, we are then empowered and filled up to love God back and then also love others. You could really go far in a lot of directions when preaching on the love of God. Sermon writing - Writing a sermon is quite a journey, literally. Often when I start off, I have a general idea of where I'm headed, and then the text and the Holy Spirit send me veering down different paths. For example, I wrote 3-4 pages last night, on how to experience God's love, in spite...

My parents were in town this weekend. My Dad had an "early years" reunion at Regent College. My Dad was in the 3rd graduating class from Regent - I was in the 35th graduating class. They had a great time meeting up with old friends and profs, including Dr. James Houston and J.I. Packer. We saw them a few times which was nice - they also came to Heritage Mountain for my first sermon there. The sermon went well, and I was glad they got to meet our great new church. I worked on Saturday, so I took today off - we drove through Stanley Park and hung out on 3rd beach in the afternoon. Then tonight my parents and Felicia and I went for dinner for me and my mom's b-day. I find as I get older and it comes to gifts like Christmas or my b-day, I am not so interested in material things. Instead I would rather have new experience. Like, for a grad present from Regent, I got a surfing lesson in Tofino. For this birthday, I went to Spamalot with Felicia - which is hands down the greate...

Adam and dental care - a perfect match! Adam went to his first dental appointment. It was with a pediatric dentist - Dr. Patton. Dr. Patton actually helped found the Christian Medical and Dental Society, which my Dad is currently the president of. I first met Dr. Patton at First Baptist and we became fast friends. He was always very supportive and encouraging to me. Adam did great - he is always quite well behaved in these situations - getting his hair cut or seeing the doctor. Today I had the kids as Felicia worked. Adam and I were taking turns playing doctor. He asked me what was wrong. I said I have headaches. So, Adam placed the stethoscope on my head, and asked "Is there anything in there?" The kid is golden - get him an HBO comedy special! I laughed for a solid minute and then confessed, "Not really". It was a great moment that I shall never forget. Also - working on my first sermon - "The purpose of the church, within the context of the Kingdom of God...

My $12.50 contributed to the 3 billion $ or so money the Dark Knight made this weekend. I have not been so eager to see a movie since the Departed. I went on Saturday afternoon with a buddy. The theater was packed with giddy people. And.... this is one dark flick. David Letterman said you should see the Dark Knight for 2 reasons: 1. Heath Ledger's performance. 2. Batman's motorcycyle. Ledger does dazzle as the psychotic Joker. I have never seen a more disturbing character on the screen. And dark is the best way to describe the film. The movie opens with a murderous bang and really doesn't stop from there. Everyone is excellent in their acting, yet Ledger still manages to tower above everyone else. Like Apocalypse Now, this is a film that it is hard to say you "liked". It is so dark, depressing and holds no ultimate redemption. I hate to say this, but I really wouldn't recommend kids under 10 see this movie - it'll mess you up man. A pretty full weekend: ba...

The Believer It was a good day for Canadian music on tv last night. Rush performed Tom Sawyer on the Colbert Report last night and Neil Young was on Letterman - but he didn't play music. Rush's performance marked their first appearance on American tv in 3 decades! I'm not really that into Rush, but they are certainly among one of the top rock bands of all time. I have recently started getting more into Neil Young. He's an interesting cat. Some have compared him to Dylan, in terms of lyrical potency and staying power. On Letterman he spoke about this new fuel system he is working on with a team he has assembled from around the world. It was kinda interesting, and also kinda weird - Young came across kind of like a mad scientist. He also talked about an upcoming film he directed "CSNY Deja Vu". It's a documentary on last year's tour. Performances are interspersed with crowd reactions and vignettes of American soldiers back from Iraq. Young was on Charlie...

Someone pointed this out to me today. This looks like the movie I wanted to make. I've sort of stood on the side-lines and watched people on both sides lob volleys back and forth in the culture war. Hot button issues like homosexuality and abortion quickly polarize us into our safe corners. And, I am often left wondering with questions like: Why do the Christians feel the compulsion to wage a "values" war? When did Jesus transform from a 1st Century Palestinian Jewish maverick Rabbi, into a White Anglo Saxon Protestant Republican? When did the gospel become pro-war and pro-rich? Why are Christians known more for what they are against, rather then what they are for? Why are some people afraid of Christians? Why aren't there more poor people in our churches? How did our churches become middle to upper-middle class enclaves? Why do we have Christian "celebrities"? How did Jesus' broad reaching teaching on the Kingdom become narrowed down to a few propositio...

Ninans at English Bay. I got the new Rolling Stone w. Barack on the cover. There is no print on the cover, just his smiling mug. I got sticker shock when I went to pay - 7 bucks!!! About 5 pages in, there is a HUGE 3 pg. ad for..... Greyhound. No joke. They are marketing it to people who go to rock concerts. It is right after a big article on the Bonnaroo music festival. The ad reads "FASTER ROUTES get you there in time for the OPENING BAND - whether that's good or bad is up to you". How cute. The next page reads, "TERMINALS SO NICE, it's almost a shame when it's time for YOUR BUS TO LEAVE. Almost" The accompanying picture of the "so nice" terminal shows people sitting on plastic benches smiling. Everyone in the picture is well dressed and smiling. This ad is so far from the reality of bus travel. I have taken a Greyhound between Saskatoon and Regina many times, and I took a Greyhound from Calgary to Saskatoon once. The terminals were not ...

Adam and his awesome fore-hand at last week's tennis camp. I've enjoyed Craig 's spirited comments on Rambo and religious and cultural perspectives on homosexuality. For those of who don't know, Craig is a fine fellow who runs an excellent video store in downtown Vancouver called the Screening Room. He is also a sometimes actor and scuba diver! He and Morgaine are long time friends that I enjoy bumping into from time to time - something I will certainly miss as we move East to Port Moody. Speaking of Port Moody, we had a nice service this morning. Numbers were quite low, due to summa time and all. But 22 people stayed after to pray for the church, which was quite encouraging. The week ahead looks like a lot of study time - I'm trying to outline my next 6 sermons and put together a study guide for the church to use. It'll be a lot of work, but I'm looking forward to it. Adam is in another day camp next week, so my mornings will be kinda quiet, except for Soph...

Rambo with a pulled shoulder after killing 100 bad guys with 30 bullets. I watched Rambo tonight. I wanted to see it, because Stallone has recently become a Christian. How do I know this? Well, when Rocky Balboa came out, I got a bunch of info. that was sent to like every pastor in North America. The marketing team had put together bible studies and other things to persuade us to get our churches to go see the movie. Stallone even did a satellite "press conference" with some mega-church pastors, discussing his conversion. Rocky Balboa did have some redemptive themes. Stallone made Rambo because he had been reading about the persecution of the Karen people of Burma. (The book is A Land without Evil, by eminent justice advocate Benedict Rogers - Rogers is also a former missionary.) This is probably the most under-reported atrocity of our time. The Karen people are basically simple peasants, who also happen to be Christians. They have been fighting for their independence from th...

So, the commute is driving me nuts. I liked it the first few times. Now, its just brutal. The only thing I like, is that I can listen to a good sermon by Rob Bell or Ravi Zacharias on my ipod. I listened to Anne Lamott on Tapestry. I think I've read two of her books before - but didn't really like them. I might give her another chance after listening to her today - I really liked most of what she had to say. She has a very unique way of expressing her faith. Adam and I have been taking parent and tot tennis lessons. They're actually tot lessons, and the parents kinds help out. It's really cute - the kids are all 3-5. They have little rackets, low pressure balls and low nets. Monday and Tuesday, Adam was getting really frustrated and angry and would just not do anything. Today was better - he actually was pretty good. I still think soccer might be his sport - he can kick the ball pretty good. There's one kid in the class who doesn't listen to anything the teacher...

Expelled is a documentary film, hosted by Ben Stein. It deals with the showdown between Intelligent Design proponents and Darwinian Evolutionists. The premise is that the evolutionists control the academy and are driving the I.D. folks out. The film opens with several case studies of academics who were fired because of their I.D. leanings. Stein then goes on to investigate why this is so. He interviews evolutionists and does research to try to figure out what is happening. Basically, the party line is to believe evolution and disallow any investigation into the I.D. hypothesis. The film is extremely well done, following in the documentary model pioneered by Michael Moore: a funny narrator guide, use of black and white archival footage, animated comic relief and an excellent use of music. The film opened in the States with quite a lot of media coverage. Stein made the usual late night rounds promoting the film. And... it opened to scathing reviews - a paltry 9% on Rotten Tomatoes. (Thi...

Andy Fantuz after scoring a TD. Spent the day in Port Moody. Started w. a run with John Rose - moderator of the leadership team. We went through a trail by Buntzen Lake. The scenery was stunning - reminded me of the North Shore. Then we headed back to his place, where his lovely wife made me toast and eggs and a delicious smoothie! This couple have almost a supernatural gift of generosity and hospitality. We did some admin. stuff, and then headed off to Newport Village - this high end shopping village type thing - sort of a small Whistler. John wanted to me to meet some of the locals. After that we went to City Hall and the new rec. center. I made a couple of good contacts. When we were at the rec. center, I noticed there was a physiotherapy clinic. I inquired as to wether there were any openings for a massage - Felicia has this amazing medical coverage which pretty much covers the full cost of most massages. They had an opening, so later on I came back for a massage. The therapist wa...

Dr. Henry Morgentaler - Order of Canada recipient and Canada's abortion doctor #1. In case you haven't heard, the foremost abortionist in Canada, Dr. Henry Morgentaler has been awarded the Order of Canada - the American equivalent would be the Congressional Medal of Honor - the highest honor a civilian can receive. As you can imagine, this honor has stoked the fires of controversy in our fair land. Personally, I am deeply saddened by the award. Morgentaler has given his life to making abortion as easily accessible to as many Canadian women as possible. According to the official web-site, the award "recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation." Let's see, Morgentaler performed illegal abortions for years, in open defiance of the law. He has openly ridiculed the catholic church, and conservative Christians for years. He has made Canada a nation where 3 million unborn babies have been killed in the past 20 ...

Yesterday we had a very interesting service at my new church - Heritage Mountain. Urban Sanctuary was part of the service. Brent prayed a prayer, blessing Felicia and I and releasing us from Urban Sanctuary and commissioning us into our new ministry at Heritage Mountain. And then the outgoing pastor, John Reimer, prayed a blessing on Felicia and I, and another prayer of blessing for Urban Sanctuary. Finally, the chairman of the board, prayed for John and Debbie Reimer also releasing them from Heritage Mountain, and blessing them in their new church in Alberta. I have never heard of this kind of service before, where the church that a pastor is leaving joins in worship with his new church and also blesses them in their new ministry. It was so awesome! After, we all went for a picnic at a local beach. Quite the day. The weather was awesome too - summer has come about 1 mth.late. It really felt like final closure on the Urban Sanctuary chapter of our lives, and the opening of the new mini...