Church Goers More Likely To Support Torture

This is troubling:

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/30/churchgoers-more-likely-to-back-torture-survey-finds/

Evangelism in the Pub

Last night I went to my favorite dive bar in Vancouver - its called the pound. Its right across from BC PLace, and a block from our Yaletown apt. Despite the great location, the place is pretty dumpy inside.

Its special to me, because it is also across the street from the school that i took my ESL teacher training, and every Friday, me and 2 other students would go there for a beer. It became "our" bar.

Last night, I met up with one of those other students, who is now pursuing a career in journalism. I had witnessed to both of these guys when we were students with about average results, meaning they didn't hate me after, but neither did they become missionaries after.

Anyways, my buddy contacted me because he wanted to talk to me more about my faith. So, over a couple of lagers we discussed the incarnation, the atonement, wether there was a logical consistency in the doctrine of the trinity and the nature of faith. You know, basic seeker questions..... right?

Anyways, the combo of lager and John Donne references landed me w. a headache. As we went up to settle our bill, a girl at the bar who had had more lager than Donne, asked us how our night was going. Then, she saw the book I had given my friend, "The Case For Faith" by Lee Strobel. She said her mom had told her about that book. I smiled and nodded wondering if this was actually the worst pick-up line in the world.

But then, she said she was currently reading the shack. We had discussed that book tonight, and I asked her what she thought. She said hold on, and dug the shack out of her purse, and proceeded to read some of her favorite parts.

At this point, I knew that I had stumbled into a pre-arranged divine encounter and that someone somewhere was praying for this young woman. I gave her my card, told her I would pray for her - we ar enow in touch through facebook.

I pray that this was a small advancement for the Kingdom.

For the Active Muslim Woman

http://www.bodykini.com/

The Blogger vs. The Beauty Queen

Part of the national conversation right now is a feud between Perez Hilton and Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean.

The low-down is this - Perez asked Prejean a question as part of the competition. His question was:

Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit. Why or why not?”

Part of Prejean's answer:

I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage. I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.”

Now, notice - the question was do YOU think every state should follow suit. Hilton was soliciting her OWN PERSONAL OPINION, not what should be actual legislation. So Prejean  answered the question directly - she does not believe every state should legalize same-sex marriage. 

Hilton went on his blog that night and posted a video response which included the following:

”the worst answer in pageant history“. ”She lost not because she doesn’t believe in gay marriage, she lost because she’s a dumb b****!” The answer he suggested was “Perez, that’s a great question and that’s a very hot topic in our country right now. I think it’s a question that each state should answer for themselves because that’s our forefathers designed our government. The states rule themselves and then there are certain laws that are federal. If she had even half a brain, she would have said this."

Hilton later apologized, but then retracted apology and said he actually meant to call her a dumb c**t. 

So, do you see what has happened here? Hilton asks a direct question, Prejean answers. Hilton doesn't like her answer and verbally explodes. Apparently, voicing any opinion that does not tow the contemporary liberal platform is viewed as intolerant.

The fallout is Prejean didn't win, but was first runner-up. She went on to do a few talk shows and continued to defend her answer and said she had no regrets. When told that Hilton called her a dumb c**t. She winced and then said she would pray for him. She has received overwhelming support, with the typical liberal detractors.

It is obvious to me that Prejean comes from a home where the Christian worldview was taught and instilled - so much so, that when put to the test, she refused to compromise her beliefs, no matter how unpopular they are.

The other thing I noticed was the difference in the reactions between Hilton and Prejean. Hilton reacted with ugly bile, Prejean reacted with grace and composure - and remember - she's the one who LOST.

I didn't post this blog in order to wade into the gay marriage debate, but simply to show that actual "dialogue" is dead in the media - its either the social liberal platform, or nothing.

Twitter Explosion

My new celebrity twitter friend.

I had another 60 people start following me on twitter just today. When I looked at who they were - they almost all had some sort of on-line business they were promoting.  So I am not following them - I don't care if they follow me, don't know what they will get out of mundane posts of my life.

One interesting celebrity twitter encounter. Mike Scott is the lead singer of the waterboys, one of my favorite bands - they are a sort of celtic rock band. I bought their album "Fisherman's Blues" - 21 years ago (on cassette!) when I was a student in Bible College. They've always had very interesting lyrics, with some pseudo- Christian imagery thrown in there.

Anyways, I follow Mike Scott on Twitter - the lead singer of the band. He had a recent post that said his wife had never heard U2 - frankly I find that near impossible to believe - they live in Ireland and The Edge said that the waterboys was one of the 3 best concerts he had ever been to. So, I'm pretty sure he was kidding.

So, I sent him a message, telling him I didn't believe him and he actually replied to me directly! He said, its true, his wife rarely listens to any music, and had never heard U2's music, even though they are friend with Bono and Ali!!!! Weird, huh? I'm still pretty shocked that this guy wrote me.

Mike - The only Anne Rice I have read are her Jesus books - I'm not into vampires. Her Jesus books are really fantastic.

Twitter

This lake is 5 minutes from our house!

Oprah joined twitter, instantly escalating it into middle American mainstream reality. Over the past couple of years I had joined, quit and then re-joined twitter. I could never really figure out want the point of it was.

Now, I update probably 6-7 times a day and I enjoy seeing what other people are doing throughout the day.

On Twitter, people can "follow" you, that is, start getting your updates, and conversly you can follow others, and get their updates. For the past few weeks, I would get 2 or 3 notifications that someone was following me - I would then start following them.

In the past 2 days, I have had over 100 notices that people are following me. I feel obliged to follow them - it turns out the majority of these people are some kind of networking, marketting blogging types. So, I end up actually not following them.

Weird Stuff.

Another good Sunday. Preached on Sabbath - the lost practice of evangelicals - sure we go to church, but what do we actually do to mark the day as holy? Played the clip from Chariots of Fire, where Liddel refuses to run his Olympic heat, because it falls on the sabbath.

Oh - please pray for Sophia - she has a high fever and has been throwing up a lot - poor thing.

Easter 2009

We had our service at the Inlet Theatre - which is appearing to be our church's next venue - hopefully starting this summer.

The service - good worship, I also brought 3 "witnesses" on stage at different times. These witnesses gave testimonies of a variety of ministries in our church. We also watched a video of  a song ont he work of Christ - it was shot in black and white and went back and forth between a ballet dancer and an elderly priest serving communion - very powerful, simple piece.

I preached on the cross, the empty tomb and the difference it makes. I essentially answered 3 questions:

1. Why did Jesus have to die?

2. Was the tomb really empty?

3. Who cares? What difference does this make for contemporary life?

Got a good response from several people after. There were a number of new families there, who used to attend the church in the past, and are starting to drift back in.

After the service we had a pot-luck brunch in the foyer of the building. It was a great way to celebrate Easter. The whole day has been my high-light since starting at Heritage Mountain Church last year.

The week leading up to Easter and Easter itself were a huge confirmation for Felicia and I that we are in the right place for ministry. I had been struggling in the "slough of despond" for the past month - a combo of illness and certain inter-relationship stresses. But, I appear to have emerged on the other side.

So, today, being one on my beloved days off, I thought I would head downtown. I thought I would catch a movie in Coquitlam and then drive downtown to do some shopping. I settled on the movie "Adventureland" which had a respectable 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

My popcorn was gross - really salty. I sat through the first half hour of the movie, and was stunningly bored and was finding the dialogue kinda irritating - it was a bit too ironic a'la Juno. So, I left the movie. I also got a fresh bag of popcorn and got my money refunded for the movie.

Went home and flew kites with Soph and Adam which was fun.

Killer Apps. and Mr. Mom

Sophia slides down.

I read this article in the New York Times. And, I am on a quest now to create the next killer ap for my iphone. The article reminded me of something my brother told me. A girl who was studying philosophy at NYU, when my brother was docing doctoral work there, she developed an app. that downloads crossword puzzles from some of the larger newspapers. She sold the app to apple and started making several thousand dollars a day for a couple of months.

She quit studying Kant, and now works for Apple.

The article lists some of the most popular apps today. I think the key is to think of something that would appeal across the board to a broad spectrum of people, like a gas station finder or something like that.

Gotta keep my head down and think of something good.

This week I am Mr. Mom - Felicia is "orienting" for her new job at a hospital that is 5 minutes from our house. It is a small hospital in Port Moody, that I have visited several times to visit sick congregants. Felicia's old hospital is one of the largest in Canada, so it will be interesting how she makes the transition.

So - I have the kids from 7 - 4 everyday, which is kinda tough, seeing as this is the week before Easter - and that's a pretty big day, if you're a Christian, and even bigger if you're a pastor and have to preach that day.

I'm going to preach on ... wait for it - the cross and the resurrection. I was turning my office upside down for the book "The Cross of Christ" by John Stott - it is the best book ever written on the atoning work of Christ. I think its in my sisters basement in Regina - there are tons of boxes of my books there, including my prized U2 collection.

I found a few other books which should help. It should be a good service.

Eat More Food In Restaurants

I have been sick for 1 month - the longest and sickest I remember being in my adult life. I am feeling much better. Next week Felicia starts day long orienting at the local hospital in Port Moody.

These 2 facts (getting well and Felicia's busy week) led me to decide on the spur of the moment that we would go on a date tonight. Within 10 minutes I had secured a babysitter and dinner reservations.

We went to Fuel in Kitsilano. It's a great restaurant - winning all kinds of awards since opening a couple of years ago. I had pork belly rack! Basically - a big hunk of a pig's belly! From his belly to mine.

There were only 3 other tables seated when we arrived at 8:00, which is unusual in Vancouver. In our experience "hot" restaurants like these are usually pretty hopping most nights. We ended up being the last people to leave. At the door, we started chatting with the manager Tom, who is also a co-owner with the chef.

I asked him how the restaurant was doing. He said, "Not good". He said every high end restaurant in the city has been suffering since the economic down-turn. We were shocked at the stories he was telling us - restaurants closing, the top top restaurants in the city introducing half price tasting menus!!!! One of those restaurants actually closed down for the night at 7:30 PM on a Friday because there was no reservations - this is a restaurant that Felicia and I have been to - when we went, they were booked solid for 3 weeks in advance.

As he kept talking, our hearts just went out to him. He and the chef had been at another restaurant previously, and they went into business together pouring all their money into it. And now, they are watching their livelihood threatened by economic realities beyond their control.

He gave me his card, I gave home my card, saying I was a pastor and would pray for him. And I did tonight.

The current economic collapse has affected people in our church as well from lost jobs to lost contracts.

Its tough out there - but maybe we are learning to leave the culture of excess behind and starting living in the realm of necessity, instead of desire.