Dreams Unlocked

Adam enduring the rain. Well, this is it. After calling downtown Vancouver home for 7(!) years, we are moving away. We first lived on Granville st. on the 3rd floor of a brand new tiny 1 bedroom apartment. We lived near a lot of clubs, and it was always noisy on week-ends. After a year there, we knew we had to move - too small and noisy. At the time, we felt God was calling us to plant a church in Yaletown. So, we explored the possibility of buying an apartment in Yaletown. God miraculously led us to the beautiful apartment that we have enjoyed for the past 6 years. Our apartment is large for downtown - 1100 sq. feet. It's on the 26th floor w. floor to ceiling windows in every room. The building has a gym, pool and hot tub. We are walking distance from everything downtown. In fact, for 3 years we didn't own a car, because we rarely needed one. It's an amazing apartment, and a great investment as well. We plan to continue to rent it out over the next 2-3 years, including ov...

Sophia and her beloved Appacha. Today was a special service. The area minister of B.C. for the Mennonite Brethren preached. Following the sermon, he performed an "installation" ceremony, where Felicia and I were formally installed as the pastors of Heritage Mountain Community Church. It was a very cool ceremony. He asked me a series of questions and then he asked the congregation a series of questions. Then he asked the congregation to gather around and lay hands on us as he prayed for us. His message was on leaders and followers. He gave excellent advice to both me as the leader and the church as the congregation. It was a cold, wet miserable day today. Both Felicia and I kind of moped around the house in a low energy daze. This is our last week downtown! We move on Saturday. Wow. Goodbye traffic, noise, energy and convenience. Hello cul-de-sacs, quiet, trees and an upper middle class enclave. Oh - I really appreciated the comments on the last post. Helped change my perspect...

Adam giving thanks for Jello. Adam turns 4 on the 26th. We are having his party tomorrow at a wave pool in Coquitlam. About 10 kids and their parents are expected to come. Should be fun. We bought him a hot wheels car track thingy. I got an update from Urban Sanctuary - they're packing it in. They simply did not have the numbers or finance to remain sustainable. They think they are probably going to merge into another church downtown, and become a home group of that church. It's sort of sad for me. I poured my life into trying to get that church plant going and now it's dead on the vine. One of the enduring mysteries is why some ministries take off, and others flounder around. On a more positive note, Heritage Mountain Church continues to flourish in incremental stages. Had some more positive meetings out there today. Can't wait to move, though.

Every Sunday after church we invite people to come to the front to pray about any concerns they have - personal or corporate. Last Sunday, I shared about how I was starting to feel pressure, because we had not yet found renters for our home. Later that afternoon, I ran into a friend who used to be in a Bible Study in our apartment. He is a realtor. I told him anout our situation - he said, no problem, I'll get you a renter. I said, uh, ok. Between Mon. and Tuesday he showed the apt. 5 times and secured us a renter today - signed lease and damage deposit!!!! I am so grateful!!! I still can't believe it - we had hired this big name property management company - they got us one showing in 10 days. We were very disappointed with them - terrible service as well. We canceled our contract w. them (and lost a little money, as well). But, at least now we are guaranteed renters for the next 12 months!

Radiohead - August 19 2008 Thunderbird Stadium - Vancouver Me in my garbage bag rain jacket. Last night Felicia and I went to see Radiohead. Radiohead are in a special class of band in my books. Up there with U2 and Coldplay in terms of innovative and artistic excellence. I saw them 4 years ago at the same outdoor stadium at UBC. That concert 4 years ago was amazing - beautiful warm weather, the sun setting behind the stage. We were close to the stage. And last night... also amazing but it was pouring rain!!! We had an umbrella and some garbage bags to sit on, but the weather was really really miserable. And as a sign of our age, we left before the first of two encores, meaning we probably missed at least another hour of music. But, I just couldn't take the wet and the cold anymore. They are awesome in concert - great sound and very cool video back-drop. We were right at the back, so we couldn't really see them very well, but it was still pretty fun. Tried to do some work tonig...

The view from my office that I have enjoyed for the past 6 years. Bye-bye. Sniff. Thanks for all the condolences on the death of my last macbook. 2 weeks and we leave beloved city life for the serenity of the 'burbs. I am trying to savor every last minute of urban life. For those of you who don't know, our apt. is on the 26th floor w. a SW view. We overlook Yaletown and have views of the water and UBC. Through our bedroom we have great city views and the North Shore Mountains as well. The view is definitely one thing we will miss. At night time, the city is all alit w. lights in the apartments - it is really quite amazing. We also have floor to ceiling windows which just magnify the stellar views. The house we are moving to is basically a dream house - we are renting it for 9 months, while the owners go to Cambridge for schooling. The house is brand new, 4000 sq. feet w. 2 decks and a view of Mt. Baker. The house is also basically at the top of Heritage Mountain. This is a hous...

R.I.P. old friend. You served me well. I want to respond to Craig's comment on the last post on Osteen, because he makes some good points. But first - big drama in the Ninan home! Here's how it went down. About 4 in the afternoon yesterday, Adam, Sophia and I are happily skyping with my parents. Adam was playing his ukulele and singing these stream of conscious songs. There was a tall glass of water on my desk. Adam accidentally knocked the water onto the keyboard and.... effectively killed my Macbook. I sprinted to the local Apple store. I related my dilemma - the guy gave me a look like I had just been shot in the stomach and was dying painfully. He said - its dead, but..... I think I can save the hard drive. That was sort of good news, as the hard drive contains pretty much all my work. I asked if he could transfer all the data onto another computer. He said, yeah. On the spot, I bought the exact computer that now lay dead in my arms. I talked it over with Felicia - she agre...

I previously blogged about my admiration for Joel Osteen here . Well, well, well, how fickle we all can be. I have since changed my feeling about my toothy brother. Osteen preached a sermon called "Broaden Your Life", where he encouraged people to try new types of food or go to the Opera if they never have before. My personal favorite admonition was to drive a new way to work. I'm serious - this was the whole sermon - try new things. And then he had a sermon called, "Encourage Yourself". In this message he actually told us to write letters of encouragement to ourselves. I now see that Osteen's entire ministry is anthro-centered, rather then theo-centered. His gospel is centered on man, not God. It's easy to build the biggest church in America, if you keep telling people how awesome they are - who doesn't want to hear that? I am a preacher. This is my job. A large part of my work is crafting a sermon during the week, and then presenting it on Sunday m...

Today, we kicked off our church's day camp. We have 50 kids registered, which is by far the biggest day camp of the 5 that Adam is attending this year. I am speaking today and Wed. The kids are aged 3-12, which is a pretty broad range of ages to try to keep focused. But, it went ok. I was actually surprised w. how smoothly everything went. I go back Wed. and Friday -giving me Tuesday and Thursday to work on other church business. Beautiful weather lately. So, I have been so desperate to play tennis, that I actually posted on Craigs List under "activity partners". I got 4 people reply, and I sort of felt like I was internet dating. It was 3 guys and one married woman, which I thought was kinda wierd. Felicia and I agreed I could play her, w. the whole family present. I have my first game tomorrow afternoon with a guy named Michael. We even exchanged cel numbers and physical descriptions! Hilarious. Will tell you how the "date" goes tomorrow.

My son - no comment. I am still alive. My problem is that posting on here is the last thing I do every-day. And this past week, I've been too tired to come into my office and write something witty, interesting and life changing. This coming week looks no better, as Adam and I have to leave every morning at 7:30-8:00 to be in Port Moody for his day camp at 9:00. I am teaching Mon- Wed. I'm kinda intimidated, as I've never really taught little kids before. We'll see. Speaking of "we'll see", Adam's birthday is coming up. Instead of getting gifts, we are asking the kids to bring toys that we are sending to an orphanage in India that my parents set up. I was explaining how the kids won't give him presents, but Mom and Dad would. When Adam heard that the kids wouldn't be bringing him gifts, he looked very serious, and said, "We'll see."

The Pride Parade was on today. An estimated half a million spectators invaded downtown Vancouver to watch the moving spectacle. I was considering going to see part of it, but a friend called me up and asked if I wanted to hang out, so I headed to another part of downtown instead. I find the Pride parade quite an interesting phenomenon. I believe the Pride parades are birthed out of the Stonewall resisters (a group of gay and lesbians in a gay club in New York City who were being arrested, and resisted - the year was 1970). Their actions essentially birthed the modern gay rights movement, and we began to see a concentrated effort to remove the stigma of homosexuality. Gays were coming out of the closet and moving next door. As more and more rights were won, and mainstream acceptance was gaining ground, the Pride parades also went under a cultural shift. No longer seen as venues of protest, they are now sort of a celebration of the gay community. They are often accompanied by incredible ...

Ok - I got an iphone. I got it because my calender is on ical on my mac. I could never make any plans w. anyone, until I got home, looked at it on my computer and then e-mail them. Now, I can make plans right away in person, instead of over the internet. I have to say I'm quite impressed w. the little gadget - lots of neat features. On another note - can anyone believe that MASH is still on tv?