Dreams Unlocked

Tonight, I (along with 40(!) other people) spoke at a Public Hearing concerning a proposed permanent shelter to be built in the city of Coquitlam. The place was packed with tons of overflow seating. I got there an hour early and nabbed a front row seat with several other supporters. I was on the official speakers list and spoke a little after 8 PM - the hearing started at 7, so there were several other speakers ahead of me. Most were people representing homeless agencies supporting the initiative. There were a few nearby residents who expressed thier anger that this thing was going to be built so close to their homes - fear and insecurity rang out from these voices. This is the complete text of my message: Message to City Council Mr. Mayor, Council members and fellow citizens, thank you for this opportunity to speak tonight. I come here tonight as a resident of the tri-city community and the chair of the tri-city ministerial – an umbrella group made up of a variety of different

I preached this morning on "the church". Pretty broad, I know - I used 4 images found in scripture to describe the church: 1. People of God 2. Family of God 3. Living Stones 4. Holy Priesthood. After preaching, I was exhausted - I mean I usually am a bit tired after a sermon - but this was something else. I could barely stand - and in fact sought out the help of a nearby chair. Preaching is an activity that is taxing mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I find there are not many activities like it. It is mentally grueling, not necessarily during the act of preaching itself, but more in the preparation of it. I love writing and delivering sermon, but that doesn't mean that it is easy. In fact, most times I struggle to complete a sermon that I think will achieve its purpose. The emotional toll comes about through the use of personal illustrations or the sheer passion that sometimes emerges when making a particularly salient point. I'm not a very demonstrat