Dreams Unlocked

A policeman gives water to one of the youngest victims. Man, oh man - the scenes are horrible and the body count keeps growing. Mumbai was attacked by some unknown terrorist group. This hits close to home, because I lived in Mumbai 8 years ago for a year. I know all the places that were hit. I have been to the Taj hotel several times. It is the top hotel in Mumbai - rooms start at $300 American. Visiting dignitaries such as heads of state stay there, often locking the whole hotel down during their stay. I used to go there, because the book store used to fly in the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine from England. I have had dinner at the Leopold Cafe several times - it is THE place to meet up with other westerners. I would go there to meet others like me, trying to make sense of the kaleidiscope of images that is India. India always seems to be bordering on the edge of chaos, but this thing really tipped it over. To put it in local context - Imagine Hotel Vancouver, the 4 seasons,...

Kings of Leon One week since the last post - mainly because nothing has happened in my life - nothing, na da. Not a thing. I preach 5 weeks in a row, and then I take the 6th week off to concentrate on other aspects of running the church. Like this week, I charted out how our Advent services for go. We're pretty low key this year - there's a special children's service and a Christmas Eve service and that's it. I'm reading an excellent book right now called "Between Two Worlds" by John Stott. It is a book on preaching, and it is really incomparable. There is not a single book written on preaching that compares to the breadth and depth that Stott give the subject. If you are a preacher - READ THIS BOOK. If you attend a church, buy your pastor this book. The title of this post refers to the band "Kings of Leon." I first heard of this motley group of 3 brothers and one cousin on U2's last tour. They opened for them. I didn't pay them much atte...

It was Felicia's birthday on Saturday. I surprised her with an overnight trip to Whistler. We stayed at a nice hotel, went for a nice dinner (crab risotto - how classy of me!). Felicia had rabbit, like a little bunny rabbit. I couldn't bare to look at her plate. Poor little bunny. Then we went to the new Bond film, which was filled all kinds of crazy action. There were references to the last film which I had forgotten. The average age of the theater attendees was 19 - seasonal workers from around the world, working service or retail jobs to cover rent, food, pot and alcohol, and of course lift tickets. We slept in to 8:20! I woke up, and told Felicia it was 8:20. She couldn't believe it. In Port Moody, we are usually awake between 6 and 7 in order to navigate between Adam and Sophia's instant cries for attention. So, it was nice to sleep in and then stroll through Whistler for a nice breakfast. It was pretty rainy so we decided to pack it in. We were gone for only 24 ho...

Essay by Bono on Bob Dylan in the latest Rolling Stone's listing of the 100 greatest singers of all time. Dylan is #7, Bono #32 and Aretha Franklin was #1 (!). Bob Dylan did what very, very few singers ever do. He changed popular singing. And we have been living in a world shaped by Dylan's singing ever since. Almost no one sings like Elvis Presley anymore. Hundreds try to sing like Dylan. When Sam Cooke played Dylan for the young Bobby Womack, Womack said he didn't understand it. Cooke explained that from now on, it's not going to be about how pretty the voice is. It's going to be about believing that the voice is telling the truth. To understand Bob Dylan's impact as a singer, you have to imagine a world without Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, Kurt Cobain, Lucinda Williams or any other vocalist with a cracked voice, dirt-bowl yelp or bluesy street howl. It is a vast list, but so were the influences on Dylan, from the Talmudic chanting of Allen G...

We join people in your country and around the world in congratulating you on becoming the President-elect of the United States. Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place. We note and applaud your commitment to supporting the cause of peace and security around the world. We trust that you will also make it the mission of your presidency to combat the scourge of poverty and disease everywhere. We wish you strength and fortitude in the challenging days and years that lie ahead. We are sure you will ultimately achieve your dream, making the United States of America a full partner in a community of nations committed to peace and prosperity for all. - Full text of a message from Nelson Mandela , the first black president of South Africa, to Senator Barack Obama , the first black president-elect of the United States of America. So, the evangelical conservative fall-out has begun. I have receive...

Sophia turns the world upside down. rI czx bcm I zM AQW - Sophia's comments on Barack. She had control of the keyboard for a minute. The global consensus on Barack is he is the greatest thing ever, with the exception of the Prime Minister of Russia, who failed to mention Barack by name during a 45 minute state speech. Barack it seems has been elected president of the world divinely chosen to lift us out of the morass of 8 years of the failed Bush doctrine into the promised land of the ideal America that resides in the back of most people's minds when they think of the words "liberty and freedom". We want to leave behind the America of Gitmo and corporate greed and embrace a nation that cares for the poor and uses its incredible wealth and power to help others. I was chatting online with a relative who lives in the States who celebrated with champagne and tears last night. I mentioned that there were parties all over Vancouver last night to celebrate the mo...

Yes he did!!! Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States tonight. I honestly didn't think that I would see a black man elected president in my lifetime. I thought it would be another hundred years or so. I was at a Canucks game tonight, and watched the election results in between periods on the tv's in the hallways of GM Place. When they flashed the election results on the big screen during the game, the whole arena exploded in cheers! When I saw that he had won, I welled up with emotion. I hadn't felt like that since watching Nelson Mandela walk as a free man in South Africa almost 20 years ago. What a historical day. We can all say we were a part of watching history unfold. My day was also filled with sadness as well. My friend Andrew Temple died yesterday. Andrew had been battling cancer for the last several years. He finally succumbed. Andrew was a friend of mine from Bible school. Over the past year we had been corresponding over facebook. He kept...

The Dinosaur and the Hula Girl terrorize Port Moody. Pretty good service today. After church, I had a meeting with the finance meeting. After that, I curled up on the couch and fell asleep watching NFL games. I love Sunday afternoons. There are usually at least 3 different NFL games on, and sometimes a couple of CFL games. It's great just to zone out, while mulling over the sermon that is now history. We had a huge dinner last night - 15 adults and 10 kids. It was our home group and a couple of other people. It was fun, but the 10 kids were quite a handful. One of the blessings of being in a house as big as ours, is that we can accommodate such large groups. I'm really hoping and praying that we can buy a house like this one next year - it seems unlikely, as this house is really quite beyond our reach. But then, our Yaletown condo also seemed like an impossible purchase 6 years ago, and we still got it. This huge house we're in presently just dropped into our lap, without u...