Dreams Unlocked

Top Movies of 2011

2011-12-23T22:18:00.001-08:00

Well - Here it is. I spent a lot of time at home this year with the kids, feeding them, etc. - But, I still had time for my favorite past time (besides reading) - going to the movies.

Here's my list, starting with #1.

1. Tree of Life - I have a funny story about this film. I went to see it in the theater... and walked out after 20 minutes. It had the typical Terence Malick artsy heavy handedness that make his films hard to endure. And then I was at a conference in Colorado, and the host of the conference was raving about it. Brian Doerksen (the famed worship leader) was also there. He and I started chatting, and he also raved about it. So... I thought I need to give it another chance. I am so glad I did! This is a stunning piece of work - easily one of the best films I've ever seen. You do need to have patience to stay until the end. It's a good idea to watch it with a group that you can discuss it with after.

2. The Muppets - This was the second best movie of the year because rarely have I seen a movie that had the ability to exhibit pure joy, like this one did. The musical numbers harkened back to the glory days of Disney's old musicals. I loved this movie.

3. Moneyball - Could there be a more boring premise for a film? A baseball manager uses some whiz kids' system for selecting baseball players - based on math! And yet - this was an intriguing film - well acted by Brad Pitt.

4. Drive - Warning - explicit scenes of violence in this film. Ryan Gosling is ubercool in this stylish film. Has moments of darkness - but put together quite well by Nicholas Refn.

5. X Men: First Class - Wow! This is the best of the 3 X-Men films. A prequel which charted the genesis of the characters. Very intense and exciting.

6. The Guard - Small film out of Ireland. Hilarious. Brendan Gleason is pitch perfect in the starring role. Don Cheadle does well in a smaller role. Great story and lots of laughs.

7. 50/50 - Manages to do what cancer films rarely do - be serious and sad, but not fall over the edge into sappy. Extra bonus - shot in Vancouver!

8. Bridesmaids - I was nervous about this film. Nervous that it would be dipping the sewer in gross humour. It actually emerges as a pretty good relationship film with lots of funny parts.

9. Rango - An animated film, but I don't think kids will get many of the references. There is one scene that is easily one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen. I watched it like 5 times, and howled each time.

10. Midnight in Paris - It sure is nice to put a Woody Allen film on this list. The 00's haven't been kind to Allen, as he has been making flop after flop. This one returns to his high notes of earlier classic films. Don't let the casting throw you - Owen Wilson does a fine job.

Gleeful for Glee

2011-12-13T21:16:00.001-08:00

I let Adam stay up tonight to watch the Glee Christmas special. I had heard that they were going to be singing "Do The Know Its Christmas" - the charity single from 1984(!) that was recorded to raise finds for the famine in Ethiopia.

I have watched this show maybe 2 or 3 times in the past. Not really a huge fan. I was very impressed with the episode tonight, though.

I know the show has courted controversy before by having openly gay characters. I believe there was a same-sex kiss that riled up some conservatives.

In tonight's episode, one of the characters changes a scripted reading of Frosty the Snowman and instead reads the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke. I was very surprised and inspired that they would do that on one of the most popular shows on tv.

I also hope those former critics will be as vocal in their praise of the show and will commend the producers and Fox tv for having the scripture read on tonight's episode.

The episode continues with the cast showing up at a homeless shelter with food - this is where they sing the charity single. One cast member says - that the reading of the Christmas story inspired them to come and give to the homeless that evening.

It was quite an episode. When it was over, I showed Adam the original Band-Aid video of the Do They Know Its Christmas single. As we watched it together - I thought that the Glee singers are probably close to the ages of Bono, Sting and the others when they first recorded that song.

Compassion never dies - it just gets recycled and reincarnated in every generation. The Glee generation is picking up what started with Bob Geldof as he watched African kids dying on tv all those years ago.

I hope Adam gets similarly inspired when he grows up.

Welcome to the Occupation

2011-12-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

My article on Occupy Vancouver that appeared in a local paper:

Welcome to the Occupation

by Santosh Ninan

T he Occupy Wall Street movement began on September 17, 2011 in New York City. Since then, it has escalated to 95 cities, across 82 countries. At one point, there were 600 Occupy sites in the U.S. alone.

However, the spark for the movement’s fire actually began in Vancouver through the creative minds at the anti-consumerist magazine, Adbusters.

In mid-2011, the magazine proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street to protest the corporate greed and its influence on democracy, the growing disparity between the wealthy and the poor, and the absence of legal accountability behind the recent global financial crisis.

This theoretical proposal was enfleshed in what we have seen in Zuccotti Park in the financial district of New York City. The movement came back to the city of its origins in the Occupy Vancouver encampment at the Vancouver Art Gallery and, most recently, on the B.C. Court of Appeal steps.

There has been extensive local media coverage of the protest, much of it focused on the legality of the site itself, and even though the tent city is gone, local media have largely failed to cover the actual message of the protestors.

In a personal attempt to uncover the message, I recently made several visits to the Art Gallery encampment.

My first visit was at the same time that a young woman, Ashlie Gough, was discovered dead in her tent. There was a chaotic spasm of activity as several dozen police, firefighters and medics descended on the site. I stood off to the side and watched the scene unfold. At the same time, a local punk band with the unfortunate name DOA (Dead On Arrival) took the stage. The scene was loud and chaotic.

I wandered around the site. There was a full kitchen set up serving free meals, complete with a sink for washing up. There was a library filled with several hundred books, a ‘kidzone,’ a tent distributing free clothes, a first-aid centre, a media centre and an info booth.

I was stunned by the organization and resourcefulness of the site. It was a type of organized chaos. The majority of the people I spoke with indicated that they were concerned about poverty, homelessness and the lack of local government to address these issues. Everyone I spoke with was intelligent, articulate and passionate about the movement.

In London, the Occupy movement camped out in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Their presence blocked tourists from entering the cathedral. This led to a significant drop in donations to the church. In response, a number of church leaders contacted the city of London about evicting the protestors. This in turn led a number of ministers to resign in protest – citing the fact that the church leadership seems more concerned about money than listening to the voices of the marginalized.

In the U.S., progressive evangelical groups have reached out to the movement. Sojourners, led by Jim Wallis, has provided prayers and liturgies to be used by Christian groups who have joined in with the protests. They have also called for Christians to extend hospitality and practical support to Occupiers at local sites. Judson Memorial Church in New York has participated in protests and recently allowed Occupiers to stay in the church when they were evicted from Zuccotti Park.

There has been no parallel movement in Canada. In Occupy Vancouver there are no Christian groups represented, and there have been no public statements by any Christian body in support or condemnation of the movement.

However, there are Christians involved in Occupy Vancouver. Britta Fluevog is a young Christian woman who has joined the protestors, staying in a tent onsite with them. Fluevog is an artist who is actively involved in both her local church and the group Streams of Justice. I spoke with her on a cold, wet day at the site.

Fluevog feels that the church should be involved in supporting Occupy, but she doesn’t expect it to happen anytime soon.

“The Bible is all about the underdog,” said Fluevog. “The ‘overdog’ is usually the oppressor and the example of what not to be.”

She admits the irony that a movement that is about economic injustice at its heart lacks a strong Christian presence.

“Christians are scared of breaking the law or challenging power – which in my opinion is not very Christian,” said Fluevog.

As we were speaking, Fluevog pointed out Dave Diewert standing across from us. Diewert taught at Regent College for many years before leaving to devote his life to poverty and justice issues.

Diewert said the Occupy movement has created a “space” where issues such as homelessness and systematic poverty can be discussed. “The tents serve as a way of holding on to that space,” he told me.

However, he said the church in Vancouver is “not very politicized, except in terms of maintaining and supporting the status quo.”

At Occupy Vancouver there are homeless people who are relishing the gift of community that has sprung up around them. There are others who are using the encampment as a soapbox to voice their own views. And then there are those like Fluevog and Diewertwho are passionate about the poor, the homeless and marginalized.

How will the church to react to this movement? Will we support and embrace it? Or will we stay in our middle class bubble and condemn from a distance? The Bible contains over 2000 verses that advocate the cause of the poor. Jesus said he came to bring “good news to the poor.” Even a cursory reading of scripture shows this overriding concern for the alien, widow and orphan – the underdog, as Fluevog puts it.

Could the Occupy Movement be a movement of the Spirit to awaken the world to the cry emanating from the very heart of God? In my brief few hours at the site, I heard more about justice, economic equality and homelessness than I have in my decades in evangelical churches.

Why is the message of justice emanating out of scruffy tent dwellers, instead of our pulpits and seminaries? Have we been so embedded in middle class consumerist culture that these messages now only fall on deaf ears?

The Pharisees rebuked Jesus’ disciples for their worship of him. To this Jesus replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” The evangelical church in Vancouver has, for the most part, kept quiet when it comes to justice. This silence has awakened others in the Occupy movement to cry out for those whom we have shut out.

Let’s open our ears and listen.

I can’t imagine what it would look like if churches in Vancouver rose up and committed to provide food, warm clothing and other support to the Occupiers. We might see the most powerful and boldest advancement of the Kingdom in the history of our city.

Original article here.

The Church Where Nobody Lives

2011-11-30T23:56:00.000-08:00

I had a meeting a couple of days ago in a neighboring city in Metro Vancouver. As I drove to my meeting, I passed a church building - it was set off from the high-way, and quite isolated. There were no other buildings anywhere near this church, no houses, no offices, no schools... nothing.

I realized this isn't the first time I had seen this before. I have seen this same phenomenon in Saskatoon, Regina and another city in Metro Vancouver - and all of the same denomination.That is - church buildings built far far away from any visible civilization, some even built outside city boundaries!

Now - I understand the logic behind it - buying land is much cheaper the further you move out from a city center. Land that is not particularly desirable is cheaper. But - is this right?

I would argue that it is wrong. Why in the world would you locate your church where nobody lives? Jesus came to the people, he didn't expect the people to come to him. We have been sent out into the world: into.... the world.

That means we go to where people live, shop and work - we don't build buildings on cheap land in order to sustain our own exilic colonies. If you are part of a faith community, or you are a pastor - please consider what I am saying - go to the people. Embed yourself in the life and rhythm of the city you are in.

I have done this in the last 2 churches I pastored in. I have led churches that have met in night-clubs, coffee shops, downtown apartment lobbies, townhouse common rooms, community halls and a civic theater.

Don't plant your church where nobody lives. Its kind of dumb.

Welcome to the Occupation

2011-11-10T00:20:00.000-08:00

I have spent most of last week working on a story on Occupy Vancouver. The piece I wrote will come out in the light magazine the first week of December. (www.thelight.ca).

I have written an article every month for the past year for the light. One article I wrote generated a plethora of responses. It was called "the false mask of ministry" It was mainly about th epressure pastors feel in putting on a brave face, or a false mask in order to do their jobs. That is, Christian communities are environments where authenticity and honesty are not allowed.

Just this weekend I received an e-mail from a pastor in Norway thanking me for that article!

I feel that my piece on Occupy will generate a lot of comment as well.

Here's a teaser and preview:

Could the Occupy Movement be a movement of the Spirit to awaken the world to the cry emanating out of the very heart of God? Indeed, as I spoke to people at the site, the theme of injustice and inequality kept coming up over and over. I heard more talk about justice, economic equality and homelessness in the few brief hours at the site, then I have in all the decades I have spent in evangelical churches.

Why I Support Occupy Wall Street.... FIGHT THE POWER

2011-10-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

By now, most of you are aware of this growing movement in America called "Occupy Wall Street". Tomorrow it crosses the broder to the north with a demonstration in Vancouver. I have a day filled up with kids birthday parties and the mayors prayer breakfast, otherwise I would be there.

Here is why I support this movement:

We are at a time in human history when large corporations and mammoth financial institutions hold a disproportionate amount of power over the economic, social and culture development of civilization.

Most of the practices of large corporations are in direct destruction of our already fragile eco-system. Until responsibility and care are brought in, we are all living on borrowed time.

Unrestricted capitalism has led to the dehumanization and commodification of human life. We have denuded human beings of their souls and dignity. People are mere commodities in the current economic model. And when that happens, empires fall. When material goods and products are more valuable then human life, then civilization is in a free-fall.

Wall Street firms have been gambling with sub-prime mortgages since the Clinton Administration. They have disregarded the rule of law, with almost complete impunity. Here's the great Chris Hedges:

"The radicals have seized power and they have trashed all regulations and legal impediments to a corporate reconfiguration of American society into a form of neo-feudalism."

I support Occupy Wall Street because I believe that an institution like Goldman Sachs needs to be held accountable for the economic and social tsunami they have unleashed on the middle class, working class and the poor of America. You hand out sub-prime mortgages to people, and then use the assets from those mortgages as gambling chips then you have acted immorally and should be held accountable.
Listen to what Yahweh says in Jeremiah 5:

They have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek.

Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice.

They do not promote the case of the fatherless;

they do not defend the just cause of the poor.

Should I not punish them for this?, declares the Lord.

Chuck D says:

FIGHT THE POWER BROTHAS AND SISTAS!!!!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-10-08T22:14:00.001-07:00

3 that I'm thankful for.

It was a nice enough day for us to venture out to a local park. Adam has gotten into football, thank to Charlie Brown cartoons on his ipod. So, we tossed the old pig-skin around. Football on Thanksgiving weekend - felt very New Englandish. We just needed to have a boat we were going to lunch on after.

Felicia spent most of the day cooking a full Turkey meal. I kept the kids occupied. They're all hooked on this ipod game called "Monster Pet". They play it constantly. James just enjoys having books read to him - but now he has also started playing with some toy cars.

I wrote a tweet earlier today for people to pause and actually give thanks in between the turkey eating. I should follow my own advice.

I'm thankful for an abundance of food in our kitchen when for the first time in my life-time, people living in North America are using the term "food insecure" to describe lower middle-class Americans who now have to use food banks on a more regular basis.

I'm thankful for a comfortable house to live in, while 2000 of my fellow Vancouver citizens sleep rough tonight.

I'm thankful I can actually select what clothes I want to wear, instead of worrying about having to wear worn out clothes.

I'm thankful for 3 beautiful kids, that give me more joy than I thought possible.

I'm thankful for a who knows me ..... and still loves me.

I'm thankful for parents who supported me, when most others would have bailed.

I'm thankful that there is a God who reaches down into my broken and messy life with his hands of love, mending and repairing me.

For all these, I give thanks.

Stay-at-home-dad

2011-09-28T00:52:00.000-07:00

My brood sight-seeing somewhere near Whistler.

For the past month I have been a stay at home dad. I wake up early and get the kids breakfast, if they haven't already helped themselves. Then I take Adam to school.

I come back and read my Bible, while James and Sophia hang out, playing or reading. (Unless it is a Tuesday or Thursday, then I drop Sophia at pre-school in the AM). Sophia is pretty independent and can play on her own. James will usually pull some of his books off a shelf and drop it on my lap, indicating he wants me to read to him - or sometimes, he'll snuggle up w. me and read on his own.

Every so often, he'll grab onto the fridge door and yell, indicating he's hungry. So, I give him something to eat.

After awhile, I go downstairs, catch up on e-mail and other messages. James follows and again will usually sit on my lap and also try to bang on the keys.

At 11:00, James has a nap - then it is very quiet, and I can get some work done. I usually check out job databases, and scan if there's any ministry positions that might fit. If I find something that looks good, I compose a cover letter, and send off my resume. I have to confess, most of these come to nothing. Most churches never bother to respond. I did get a couple of e-mails and one actual letter. I've had a couple of interviews with some local churches - we'll see where they end up. But most churches, usually send no reply of any kind. What is really frustrating, is when a church actually calls, does an interview, or asks you to submit some papers of answer questions from them - and then NEVER call back!!! I even had one church interview me for a position. I waited a week, and then e-mailed and called them - and 3 weeks later, I still haven't heard from them!

At 12:00, Sophia and I have lunch. I have her eating healthy with me now - mostly salads. She's not a very fussy eater.

At 2:25, I leave to pick up Adam. I walk if its nice, drive if its not. We drive or walk back together as he recounts to me his day.

We're usually back by 3:00 - Felicia is usually awake by now, after working the night shift. And at 3, I go for a run, or to the gym, or to a local coffee shop, if I need to do some work away from the kiddies.

At 5:00, I start making dinner - again pretty healthy, lean meat or fish w. a side of veggies, and a salad.

At 6:00, I watch the news, and try to get the kids to play on another level of the house so I can hear what's going on.

By 7:00, things start winding down. I'll put James down. He goes down without a fuss, and sleeps through the night, which is awesome. I'll read a Bible story or a kids devotional with Adam and Sophia.

At 8, Sophia goes to be. Adam goes to bed by 9.

After Adam goes to bed, if I am still clear thinking, I'll go into my office and do some work until around 10. At 10, I'll watch tv, if something good is on, or maybe a video.

I watch the news again at 11, and then go to bed.

And that.... is my new glamorous life, until I find a new ministry position.

What I've learned is that a parent that stays at home, spends most of their time for their kids. There's very little time for yourself. If you look at my schedule from 7 AM to 3 PM, its pretty much revolving around the kids. There's a 2 hr. break from 3-5, and then again, 4 hrs. doing stuff w. and for the kids. So that's 12 hrs. of your day that is primarily orchestrated around the lives of your children.

This is excellent training to learn how to serve others. Being a stay at home parent, forces you into a situation, where the majority of your time is spent for other people, not yourself. This is one way in which God weans us from our self-centeredness, and helps us serve and focus on the needs of others.

So, until I get to serve in a church, I'll continue to serve my kids at home.

9/11 + 10

2011-09-10T23:53:00.000-07:00

September 11 2001 was supposed to be a day of firsts for my wife and I. It was her first shift as a neuro-intensive care nurse at Vancouver General Hospital, and it was my first day as a divinity student at Regent College. We had just gotten married a couple of months ago and were wide-eyed at our new lives together.

I dropped her at the hospital and drove down Broadway towards UBC. As I reached the campus I turned on the radio and this is what I heard:

"Yep, a lot of people are turning around and heading home on the roads out there. This is a day you want to be at home near loved ones. If you are just joining us ... 2 planes have flown into the World Trade Center in New York City."

I had passed through the "gates" of the campus, past Alma street and my whole body started to shake. I tried to focus on the road, and steer my car into an empty spot. I parked and ran into Regent. They were trying to figure out how to link up a tv, so we could watch history unfold. That didn't work.

The first chapel of the school year was scheduled that day. We wandered in shell-shocked, wondering what the faculty was going to do. Our president Rod Wilson spoke into the mike, indicating that what had been planned for that morning had been shelved. Mikes had been set up, for students to share their thoughts. Regent has a lot of American students, and it must have been so hard for them to be away from home on that day.

Being able to share with one another helped a little. Felicia and I had been at the World Trade Center 2 weeks ago on our honey-moon, so the day was touched by recent memories of those amazing buildings. I went to the mike and prayed for the pastors of New York City, who would be facing the challenge of shepherding their flocks through the valley of the shadow of death in the coming days.

After my school day ended, I went back and picked up Felicia. I remember walking through downtown Vancouver with her. It was an amazingly beautiful sunny day that day. And there was this odd sense of dis-ease about everything.

2001 was a year of firsts for Felicia and I.

First year of marriage.

First year of grad school.

First year at Vancouver General Hospital.

First year living in Vancouver.

And first year of the war on terror.

But terror need not have the final word.

I have been reading The One Year Bible this year as part of my daily Bible reading and prayer time. Here are some selections that fall on September 11:

We need not live in fear during this age of terror and war. There is a power at work stronger than anything evil men can do:

Do not call conspiracy

everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,

-Isaiah 8.

This inner peace comes through a child. He will usher in a new kingdom.

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.

-Isaiah 9

These words could have been spoken by many many people on this day 10 years ago. The passage ends with hope, The Lord sustains and keeps us safe when everything is shaking all around us.:

My heart is in anguish within me;

the terrors of death have fallen on me.
Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me.
I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.”

Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,

for I see violence and strife in the city.

Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.

-Psalm 55.

Jack Layton: the Best of the Bunch

2011-08-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Like most Canadians I was shocked and saddened by the passing of Jack Layton. Full disclosure: I'm pretty conservative politically and socially, but I do like the commitment to justice and the poor that marks the NDP.

Jack Layton seemed to be the best our country could offer in the political arena. He was a man of integrity and eloquence. He had a commitment to the poor, and those often overlooked by those in power.

Layton pulled off the incredible feat of being the leader of the Official Opposition - when only a few years ago the NDP were written off as being finished in federal politics.

He won in politics, but sadly lost in health. A keen intellect and passion for Canada were no match for the cancer cells that regrouped and returned in his body. His death shows us the fragility of life. Layton's followers went from jubilation to mourning in just a few short months.

There are Canadians who didn't like his policies, but they still liked him. His final words to Canadians are eloquent expressions that testify to the solidity of this man taken far too soon from us:

My friends, love is better than anger.

Hope is better than fear.

Optimism is better than despair.

So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.

And we'll change the world.

Amen

Bonhoeffer

2011-08-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

I've been reading the new biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. Its really well done and reads like a thriller. Bonhoeffer has long been a hero of mine, and have been greatly influenced by his writings on discipleship and community.

One new thing that I learned was the influence that the black church in America had on his faith. It basically transformed his faith from mere intellectual assent into a vibrant dynamism. When he returned to Germany from the U.S., everyone noticed this difference in him.

It is amazing to me, that the faith of a persecuted minority, would ignite someone like Bonhoeffer , who would go on to lead a powerful counter movement of resistance to the most tyrannical power of the 20th Century.

God used the plight of african americans to transform a privileged German clergyman, who in turn would not silence the cries of his jewish brothers and sisters. I pray and hope that this kind of transformation can continue on in our day - that we might hear the cries of the persecuted, and this in turn will ignite within us a fire to end all injustice everywhere.

Revelation

2011-08-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

I'm preaching at the end of the month at a local church.They are going through a series and I have to follow along. The series they are doing are the 7 churches found at the beginning of the book of Revelation. I have to do two of the churches.

Good gig.

I've been reading Richard Baukhams book on Revelation. Revelation is confusing - you need to read this book to help you figure it out.

Revelation is a poem, filled with amazing artistic imagery. It also contains a lot of literary skill. You could study it your whole life, and still discover new things.

It is an assault on empire. It's like a punk rock song, raging against all that is unjust.

But, the anger against injustice flows out of worship of the One who will bring all things to rights. I read through the whole book this afternoon at Starbucks. It is fantastic.

"Those who bear witness to the one true God, the only true absolute to whom all political power is subject, expose Rome's idolatrous self-deification for what it is. The power of resistance to Rome comes from Christian faith in the one true God." (Baukham)

There is a lot of talk in Revelation about the beast. The beast is power expressed through empire. It has taken on different forms throughout history. When Revelation was written, it was Rome. Rome was a system of violent oppression, founded by conquest.

Christians living in Rome were trapped in an empire that was anti-Christian. They needed to envision a new way of living. Revelation offers a dynamic and powerful prophetic imagination that replaces familiar imagery with new imagery.

More to come as I continue to study this amazing book.

John Stott

2011-08-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

Dr. John R.W. Stott passed away on July 27 2011. I know I'm a bit behind in posting my thoughts, but I was on holiday last week, and just couldn't get around to putting my thoughts down. I spent all day today writing a longer article which will appear in the Light magazine next month. I interviewed several people who knew him well, including Dr. J.I. Packer and Dr. James Houston.

When I got the news (via Facebook) of Stott's death, I was really sad. You see, I was friends with John Stott. Seriously. He knew my dad, and his affection for my father was passed on to me. I met Stott a total of 4 times in my life, and each time he greeted me with a warm hug and concern as to how I was doing.

The last time I heard from him was three years ago. I had written him about one of his older books and its impact on me. He said he was delighted to hear from me, and that I was to pass his love on to my father.

Stott was truly a great man. A fierce intellect coupled with a disarming humility. He will be dearly missed by the global church he served so faithfully.

Bob Dylan - Favorite Outtakes and Others

2011-05-23T00:30:00.000-07:00

Yeah - I've blogged about him before. But, he turns 70 this week. Here are 7 Dylan songs I love

1. Highway 61 Revisited - Title track of one of his best albums. It's a blow-up of a song - a cast of characters who find salvation in different ways - all on Highway 61.

2. If Not For You - Appeared on 1970 album "New Morning". Not very well known album. Song is a straight ahead love song. Biograph

3. Visions of Johanna - Wow. Stand-out song on stand-out Blonde on Blonde album. I prefer the live versions found on and the Live 1966 albums. A wealth of poetic imagery piles up one on another.

4. Up To Me - How this stayed off the Blood on the Tracks album is beyond me. Only available on the Biograph 3 CD set - this song is just such a moving gem. One line of many that are amazing: "If I’d lived my life by what others were thinkin’, the heart inside me would’ve died."

5. Percy's Song - Another outtake - this time off the Times They Are A'Changin' album. This is one of those delicate Dylan songs that display the early folk influences on Dylan. You could easily imagine Woody Guthrie singing this song. Powerful story telling from the point of a man guilty of the deaths of some people in a car crash.

6. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands - a very long song that wraps up Blonde on Blonde. Another rambling surreal narrative that keeps coming back to the mysterious woman. Dylan has never performed this song live.

7. Blind Willie McTell - Outtake from Infidels album. Many critic fans consider this as a Dylan masterpiece approaching his more famous classics. I would agree. A stunning overview of racism and slavery in America.

Spiritual Direction

2011-03-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

Sophia looking very smart.

Spiritual direction sounds weird. When I first heard the term, and the corresponding "spiritual director", I had images of dowsing rods and sanitized horoscope readers.

But, Eugene Peterson said that EVERY pastor needs a spiritual director if they expect to survive ministry. Considering the source, I decided to take him up on it.

I started to see a spiritual director in North Vancouver. I discovered him through the Henri Nouwen society of Canada. Our first visit was in a JJ Beans. We hit it off right away. He was cool and funny... and most importantly he wasn't weird.

So, we started to meet once a month - sometimes in his home and sometimes at the church he attends. Once we met in a cramped church library.

The first meeting in his home, I remember I was talking non-stop. I finally paused, and asked "Is this ok?" He nodded that all was well, and I was welcome to continue.

Now, this betrayed a truth to me, as I reflect back on it. The truth is - pastors are isolated.

What I mean by that is we are not cut off from others. It would be pretty hard to be a pastor and not relate to others. We are in the people business. What I mean is that most pastors have inner worlds that no one else gets to hear about, except their spouse.

Pastors struggle with a lot of secret things - and they usually work in churches or ministries where it is actually difficult to let down their guard and reveal their humanity. Believe me, I can testify from experience.

I have a friend who is pastoring at a large "succesful" mega-church in southern California. He called me last week. He related that he shared with a senior leader of the church that he had hit some kind of crisis in his faith. This leader proceeded to yell, lecture and bully him down into a whimpering mass of jelly.

Then my fried wryly told me that "authenticity" and "honesty" were core values of his church. Yeah, right.

So, we keep this stuff bottled up, and unless we can unload somewhere safe, these inner secrets start to do battle with our well-being.

Hence, the safety and therapy of a spiritual director - someone who can help you listen to your life as Parker Palmer would say. Someone to co-listen to what the Spirit is saying and doing in your life.

And it helps... a lot. I can't recommend this highly enough. It takes a special person to BE a spiritual director. I don't think I'm up for the task for someone else. Maybe in time.

So - if you are in ministry, get a spiritual director..... now.

Thanks Aslan (and Clive)

2011-03-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

I enjoy reading to my kids. Last year, I tried reading The Hobbit to Adam (age 6). We got about halfway through it, and I could tell he was losing interest. So Tolkien was shelved for C.S. Lewis.

We started with The Magician's Nephew, which was good - but didn't contain as much adventure to capture a young boy's attention. We still finished it. We have now been reading the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. Adam has engaged with this book so much, that he now claims it his favorite.

Last night we read the section where Aslan is killed, after negotiating his life with the White Witch, in order to spare the life of Edmund. Adam was stunned that Aslan would do that, especially since Edmund had been so bad earlier in the story.

He also couldn't figure out why Aslan just didn't kill the witch and all her followers, and make everything ok.

I spent the next 10 minutes explaining that this was his plan. For some reason Aslan chooses to sacrifice his life for the life of Edmund. This is what love us, to sacrifice for the well being of others. Adam sat in silence for a long time, and then said... so the lion has to die?

Yes - the lion has to die in order to save the life of someone who didn't deserve forgiveness or a second chance.

We didn't continue our conversation further into more technical theories of the atonement. I was just happy that the seed had been planted in my son's mind.

Also, we haven't finished the story - I can't wait to hear what Adam has to say at the resurrection of Aslan.

So, thanks Clive, for using your literary skills to write a grown up story for children. Your words connect the mind of a 6 yr. old boy in Metro Vancouver to the Grand Story that the Master Story Teller is still writing.

Additional note - every Monday and Wednesday morning, parents are allowed to come into the classroom and read to their kids. This morning Felicia went in. She was about to start reading, when Adam informed all the other boys sitting in a semi-circle, that "the lion dies". One boy said - yeah - in the lion king, the lion dies. Adam retorted -

"No, Aslan dies, so that others could live."

The kids sat and digested that in silence.

India

2011-01-25T23:10:00.001-08:00

In less than 2 weeks I leave for India. I haven't been back to India in 10 years, since I lived there in 2000 and 2001.

The main purpose of the trip is to visit an orphanage and school that Felicia and I have been financially supporting. I will also be visiting the hospital I was born in: the world famous Christian Medical College in Vellore.

After that I go even further back in my roots by visiting my home state of Kerala. Kerala has a high Christian population with legend saying that the apostle Thomas evangelized it in the first century.

I don't believe that I am going, despite picking up my visa form the Indian Consulate today and booking my tickets and everything. Our trip to Disneyland over Adam's spring break seems more real.

It will feel real enough once I'm over there. I will be traveling with a friend of mine, who is investigating various mission opportunities all over the world and has added India to his itinerary.

I am hoping to have my eyes opened and heart touched by observing the work there. The long term goal is to develop a partnership between our church and the work over there.

As It Is In Heaven

2011-01-19T11:41:00.000-08:00

Last night, I saw one of the best movies I have ever seen. If a film can be a conduit of grace, this one is it.

As It Is In Heaven is a Swedish film made in 2004. I had never heard of it, until Eugene Peterson recommended it to a group of pastors in Colorado this past fall. I came home from that retreat and I added it to my queue from my local videostore that has a mail delivery program like netflix.

It finally arrived this past week, and man, I wish I had discovered this film earlier. It is absolutely stunning. It is along the lines of Babette's Feast or Chocolat, but more powerful.

I am not going to reveal much about it - I knew nothing about it when I ordered it - only Eugene's endorsement. Even watching the trailer, it is hard to know what it is about.

But, I learned so much about the power of community, grace and love. I would love to show this to my elders board - but it has some nudity in it, so that might turn some folks off.

You will enjoy this movie - Felicia and I really loved it. (There is some nudity and violence - so gentler viewers be warned).

I will reveal one part. Part of the story involves a woman caught in a situation of domestic violence. Someone writes a song for her to sing. At first, she is terrified - but soon musters the courage to sing it at a recital. As you watch this woman sing in her beautiful voice who has been brutalized most of her life by cruel men,whose life has been stolen from her, it is hard not to be moved to tears.

Here are the English translation of Gabriella's Song

It is now that my life is mine

I’ve got this short time on earth

And my longing has brought me here
All I lacked and all I gained

And yet it’s the way that I chose
My trust was far beyond words
That has shown me a little bit
Of the heaven I’ve never found

I want to feel I’m alive
All my living days
I will live as I desire
I want to feel I’m alive
Knowing I was good enough

I have never lost who I was
I have only left it sleeping
Maybe I never had a choice
Just the will to stay alive

All I want is to be happy
Being who I am
To be strong and to be free
To see day arise from night

I am here and my life is only mine
And the heaven I thought was there
I’ll discover it there somewhere
I want to feel that I’ve lived my life!

Top 10 Movies of 2010

2010-12-27T15:45:00.000-08:00

Well here ya go. Again, as a pastor, husband and father of 3 kids, it's getting tougher and tougher to see as many movies as I like. But, these are the 10 best as I saw them:

1. Toy Story 3 - Pixar strikes gold once again. Last year my fave movie was Up. Some friends were surprised I put TS3 at #1. Maybe I am getting more sentimental in my old age, but this film is just so great. I almost teared up at one point as the toys grasp onto one another as they face what looks like certain doom.

2. Carlos - A leftover gem from the Vancouver Film Festival. This was originally a tv series - and you can tell why, as it clocks in at 5.5 hours! The VIFF, screened the entire film, with a 15 minute intermission to make it tolerable. It was edited down to 2 hours and 20 minutes, which is the version I saw. Traces the ascent of the most formidable terrorist of the 20th century - Carlos the Jackal. Spy thrillers are probably my fave genre of film - and this is one of the best I have ever seen. So much more, because it is based on a real man.

3. The Prophet - A foreign film. Won the grand jury prize at Cannes last year, release in North America this year. Well constructed, emotional with tight story telling power. Shows how a scared 19 yr. old prisoner quickly rises in the ranks to be the leader.

4. Social Network - On the surface this story appears quite dull. The birth of social networking juggernaut, facebook? Yippee. Yet, a lot like Frost/Nixon, in the hands of a talented director, the film moves very quickly chronicling the world changing technology that Mark Zuckerberg has brought into the world.

5. Winters Bone - There are very few films that leave me in a sense of awe afterward - this was one of them. This film makes the list almost entirely due to the poweful understated acting of Jennifer Lawrence. Not an easy film to see, but rewarding.

6. The Secret in their Eyes - Romance, suspense, comedy and political intrigue all make up this film from Argentina. Using an unsolved murder and rape, the film suggests that ever person has one "passion" that drives them on through life.

7. Inception - Director Chris Nolan (Memento, last 2 Batmans) continues to evolve into one of the most interesting directors around. This is a mind bending film that delves deep into what painful memories we keep hidden away in our psyches, and what wreckage they can cause, if left untended.

8. The Town - What is with the continual use of South Boston for films about bad guys being bad? This follows the same genre with the inclusion of an unlikely romance. Nice action flick - but above average.

9. Shutter Island - Kudos to Dicaprio for making another interesting film. This one is one you need to see with a group of people and then discuss after. At the heart, it examines 2 primary ways of dealing with mental illness.

10. The Last Exorcism - An interesting film about an "exorcist" who uses smoke and mirrors to convince people he is dealing with the devil, when in reality he is just taking money from gullible people. Good gig, until it gets interrupted by what appears the real deal. (Note - some scary scenes may disturb some folks).

Gimme Shelter

2010-11-30T00:59:00.001-08:00

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 churches from across the tri-cities.

In that role, I have had many conversations with many pastors and other civic leaders concerning 3030 Gordon.

Not a single leader of any church has expressed opposition to the building of this Shelter. We might disagree on a lot of things, but on this issue the churches of the the tri-cites stand as one. We support 3030 Gordon.

3 years ago, 5 churches opened their doors to the homeless for temporary shelter, tonight, we ask the city of Coquitlam to open up more doors.

Doors of shelter

Doors of security

Doors of opportunity

Doors of hope

Some of you tonight who oppose this shelter, do so for a posture of fear – fear of what will happen to your neighborhood.

Instead of trying to win an argument w. you, allow me to share w. you part of my own story.

Several years ago, I would have been an opponent of this shelter.

I moved to the tri-cities from downtown Vancouver. When I first moved into the downtown core, I encountered a lot of homeless people – and I despised them

I wrote them off as losers who should simply get jobs. As part of my seminary training I was required to work at a church and I was given a job of serving homeless people a meal every Saturday night. For the first 2 months, I would slam the food down in front of them and walk away w.out saying a word. Eventually, I started talking with the men and women who came in – I listened to their stories.

I did not hear stories of people who were lazy,

Or were loving their care-free lives on the streets,

Or who loved shooting drugs whenever they wanted.

I heard stories of 13 yr. old boys getting kicked out of their homes

Stories of pre-teen girls who ran away from home, because they couldn’t stand being sexually abused anymore

Stories of men with severe brain injuries who had trouble remembering where they lived or what day it was

Stories of women who left the security of a warm home, because they couldn’t take another beating when he drank

I heard stories of pain, rejection, abuse and trauma.

I began to see that these human beings on their own were incapable of escaping their cycles of addiction and their feelings of shame, rejection and pain.

They needed help.

I am here to say to you tonight that there are 200 men, women and young people in the tri-cities who are not losers. They are men and women with stories of pain and rejection who come to us as a community and simply ask us for help.

Help in getting off the streets.

By rejecting this shelter, we are rejecting a sector of our city that is the most vulnerable and in the need of the most help.

I support 3030 Gordon because as a community, as a city and as a society it is immoral to allow 200 of our citizens live outside like animals.

It is immoral to not provide shelter for those who need help

It is immoral to turn our backs to 200 men and women – especially when we have the land, we have the commitment of capital – the only thing lacking is the collective will of the people.

You know, I’m a preacher, and I don’t talk for too long w.out talking about God - let me just say that no matter what you believe about God – jewish, Buddhist, muslim, Christian, sikh or if like most Canadians you mark none of the above – one thing we would agree on, is that if there is a god of love out there - he will be on the side of the poor.

In the Jewish Torah we read:

share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter

Jesus Christ said “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.”

The Quran says: Righteousness is this: that one should give away wealth out of love for Him to the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.

I support 3030 Gordon, because there come times in our lives when we simply must do the right thing.

Building a permanent shelter in this city – in this community that provides warmth, food, clothing and help to get off of the streets is the right thing.

As a community, let us do the right thing – and make a decision based on love and hospitality, instead of rhetoric and anger.

Thank you.

(End of message).

As someone who speaks for a living - I know when I am "on" and when I am not - I was "on" tonight. I really sensed the Holy Spirit took charge of my words tonight, and for that I am humbled and grateful.

Support 3030 Gordon. Provide the poor wanderers in our community with shelter.

The Cost of Preaching

2010-11-07T15:22:00.000-08:00

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 demonstrative person, but have had to hold back the tears at times.

The physical cost comes through the delivery (what I am dealing with right now). As you give out so much adrenaline, there is a natural corresponding decline following the message. Which is often why I don't do much on Mondays - sort of hang around at home taking it easy.

The spiritual cost of preaching is hard to tell at first. I find it accompanies throughout the week, as I try to silent voices of discouragement that tempt to throw me off track. Often Sunday mornings I wake up with an unidentified physical pain somewhere in my body - usually in my legs. The moments before taking the pulpit can be particularly painful as I fight feelings of irritation and fear.

Preaching is tough, but there is no other activity within which I sense a deep intimacy with God. It is for this I was created. It is this for which I was gifted.

If you attend a church, take time out to pray for whomever it is takes the pulpit week after week. They need it - I know.

Note - I didn't write this to elicit sympathy or revel in some kind of weird pity party - jut thought you might want to know what preaching looks like through the life of a preacher.

Eugene Peterson, Novels and Poetry

2010-10-18T15:25:00.001-07:00

Eugene Peterson in Colorado saying something good.

It's an overcast afternoon in Port Moody. I'm in my home office drinking Tazo Awake black tea. My office has sliding glass doors that open up to our small back patio. I usually have squirrels and cats roaming around back there - but no visitors today. just me, my tea and some Van Morrison to keep me company.

I have had 2 separate invitations from editors inviting me to submit articles to their respective publications in the last 2 months, which I am taking as some kind of sign to start writing again. I used to write quite regularly for Relevant magazine from 2001-2005. And then for some reason, I just stopped. Even this blog - I used to write a ton., but have not written in quite some time.

With the increase of demands from church and other areas, I simply found it was too much to keep the blog updated and to dream up interesting magazine articles.

But, here I am back at it. I also even have a book idea I've been toying with, that might actually come into some fruition in the near future - we'll see.

Last month I was privileged to be a part of a conference that took place in the Colorado Rockies. About 50 pastors from the U.S. and 2 pastors from Canada were invited to spend 3 days with Eugene Peterson discussing what it means to be a pastor in North America today.

It was fantastic, a definite high point of my life so far.

The 2 main things I got from the conference were the following:

1. Patience. Eugene said patience is lacking among pastors today. We need to be patient with our churches, with people and with our ministries. In a world of micro-waves, fast food and drive-thrus, it is hard to make this paradigm shift. As a pastor, one of the toughest things I face is being unsure if my work actually accomplishes anything.

Example - I walked by some construction workers working on a site. I thought - at the end of the day, these men get to actually SEE what they have accomplished - a window was put up, or a door frame. On a day where I am working on my sermon, I am alone in my office, surrounded with books, typing away - unsure if I am even on the right track. I finish the sermon, preach the sermon, and still wonder if it went anywhere. I need to have faith that these words I speak will actually "land" somewhere as the Spirit guides.

2. Novels and Poems. Eugene also said that there is a great need for pastors to read 2-3 good novels/yr. and to read really good poetry. I though this was quite interesting. His reason was that good literature and poetry awaken our imagination to new possibilities, that are beyond the scope of theology, church management or leadership books. I think he's right. The arts have a capability of reaching beyond the mere intellectual and emotional faculties of our minds and souls. And pastors, more than anyone else are in dire need of that kind of illumination.

Consequently I keep a book of poetry by Irish poet laureate, Seamus Heaney at close hand. And ever morning after reading my Bible and praying I am reading the brothers karamozov by fyodor doestoevesky.

3 days with Eugene - so grateful.

Burn Baby Burn

2010-09-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

Pastor Terry Jones pastors a church of 50 people in Gainesville Florida. It is unlikely many people would have ever heard of this guy who sells furniture on e-bay to make a few extra bucks.

But Jones' anonymity changed forever when he announced his churches' intention to burn 200 korans on September 11 of this year. The announcement was met with the expected outrage from Muslims. But, now the outrage has spread to virtually every sentient human being on the planet.

General Petraeus, Hillary Clinton and even Angelina Jolie have expressed their concern and disagreement with this guy. Petraeus' and other military leaders' concerns have been the most serious as they are saying that the burnings will ignite actions against US troops.

Jones' church is ironically called "Dove Outreach Center". The dove is normally a symbol of peace, yet it is the home of this loony tune.

I have no clue what Jones' is hoping to achieve by this stunt - he has certainly garnered international publicity - but all of it is negative.

There are a number of issues I have with this dude with the unappealing side chops. Here's a couple.

1. As Christians we are called into a ministry of reconciliation. This action is causing nothing but alienation. Jones' has alienated not only muslims, but anyone seeking positive dialogue with the Muslim community.

2. Perversion of the term "evangelical". In every media appearance that Jones has made, he is identified as an "evangelical pastor". Let me be clear here: THIS BUGS THE HECK OUT OF ME!!!!

The term "evangelical Christian" has been so co-opted by civil religion right wing tea partiers that it is quickly losing anything that has to do with biblical Christianity. And it drives me crazy that any nut job who claims Jesus Christ is his personal savior gets to claim to be a Christian.

A Christian is someone who obeys what Jesus taught. This lunatic said on ABC that without a doubt Jesus would be burning korans if he was here today. Pastor Jones seems to be reading the gospels through some sort of distorted ramboesque lens.

It truly saddens me that this guys' actions are being broadcast around the world - causing some to equate his distasteful bonfire with Christianity.

I want to challenge all my Christian brothers and sisters to contact their local mosque and imam and explain that this guy does not represent what we believe. I'm going to try it tomorrow.

Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS - not the book burners.

The Benefits of Solitude and SIlence

2010-08-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

The hermitage I stayed in.

I have said before that the mentors to my generation of Christian leaders would include the following:

Richard Foster, Leslie Newbign, Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson, Mirozlov Volf and Henri Nouwen.

The writing of these men have been hugely formative in my spiritual life and in the life of my ministry. I just finished WIllard's book "The Great Omission". It is a collection of past essays he has written on the lack of discipleship in contemporary Christianity. It is a great book.

He makes several references to the necessity for solitude and silence in the life of Christian, and in the life of leaders. Since, I fall into both categories - Christian and leader, I paid attention.

And I tried it out. Last Friday, I checked into a hermitage at a local Catholic retreat center. A hermitage is a small living space set aside for monastics who have chosen to live a life of solitude from the rest of society. Other terms include Poustina or Ashram.

The hermitage I went to was a small 1 room house with a bed, a desk, a comfortable chair for reading and a washroom. Basic, but comfortable.

I was booked in from 9-5. I found that I was quite tired when I got there, so after reading my Bible and praying for a bit, I went to sleep. I think I slept for almost 2 hours. I spoke with a spiritual director who conducts personal retreats for busy executives. These retreats are for 3 days at a time, and she said that on the first day, most people simply sleep! An accumulation of fatigue is released. She said this is entirely appropriate, and is a means of ministering to the needs of your physical body for rest.

So I didn't feel guilty about sleeping. After the nap, I went for a short walk on the grounds of the campus of the surrounding retreat center. I came back and read and prayed some more. I fasted over lunch.

In the afternoon I did some long term planning - planned out some goals - both personal and for the church. It was quite productive and fruitful.

I concluded the day with more prayer and meditation.

The benefits of solitude and silence are manifold. I live a life where I hear a lot of noise, and I hear a lot of voices. I hear the voices of my community, the church and of my family. I hear noise from the tv, itunes and the media. What happens is that the noise has the potential of drowning out the "still small voice" of the Spirit.

So, you need to get to a place where you can hear from God. And this place is most often found in solitude and silence. John Stott said the most beneficial thing that he did in his many years of fruitful, global ministry is to take a Quiet day once a month. This was a day where he drove to a church member's home on the other side of London. They provided a small room with a desk for him to work undisturbed. He would spend the day in prayer and planning for the coming month. He says he would recommend that every pastor follow his example in this particular practice.

I'm going to take him up on it. I might not go to the hermitage every month, but I am sure I can find a room in someone's home or office where I can work undisturbed for 1 day a month.

Incidentally, you are probably asking - why can't you just do this at home or in your own office. Why do you have to physically go somewhere else. That's a good question. The reason is that I believe something happens when we are physically dislocated from the usual routine and locale that we live and work in. This is why business go on corporate retreats - of course they could do many of the same things in their offices - but the leaders see the benefit of going away. It helps you focus on the matter at hand, rather than falling back into comfortable routines of work.

So, if you are a Christian, or a leader, or both - take one day out next week to live in solitude and silence and see what happens.

The Oppression of Busyness (1)

2010-08-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

This is an extension of a tweet I posted earlier today.

This is the original tweet:

Most "busyness" in today's world is based on pride, low self-esteem, fear and lack of faith. Most of it rarely produces anything of value.

This is a paraphrase and summary of some things I had been reading by Dallas Willard. It is also something I have been noticing been played out in my community.

We lived in downtown Vancouver for 7 years. The downtown of any major city tends to be busy and move fast. People's inner worlds tended to synchronize with this external reality.

We now live in the suburbs of Vancouver. We live on the edge of a forest. My old home office was on the 26th floor and overlooked the helter skelter movements of downtown Vancouver. My current office is in our town-home basement and I have a view of the forest - the only action I see is the occasional glare from the neighborhood cat.

Where we now live is quite peaceful, quiet and serene. But, strangely the lives of most of the people do not correspond with this reality. I find people are stretched in a million directions between family demands, work demands, social demands and the demands that spring from untended inner neuroses.

As a pastor, I see this most played out with how people treat the Sunday morning worship service. (I know - I am completely partial here - no pretense of objectivity on my part).

Basically, people are driven by things other than the pursuit of God.

This has been proven to me through the experience of someone who attends a church in another city, but is still in contact with me for pastoral counsel from time to time. This individual is extremely driven in their particular career. He owns his own business, and as a result makes his own hours. Yet - with this freedom - he has not attended a Sunday morning service in over 2 and a half months. (He has made a profession of faith, states his love for Jesus and respect for those in leadership at his church).

When I pushed him on this - he said he was busy with work - which in his line of work is true - a lot of his business does take place on Sunday.

Busy with work. But.... why? He is actually quite financially stable and I know missing 2-3 hours on a Sunday morning won't threaten his business. Why is he so driven? Why is he so "busy"?

I sense that there is something deeper that drives our business. I listed some of them in the tweet:

pride, fear, low self-esteem and lack of faith.

Instead of examining each of them, maybe I will spread this blog out over a few posts.

Pride - I pushed my friend on his lack of church attendance, although he still professes his Christian faith. At one point, I told him -

"So , basically, given the choice - you would rather be selling houses,

than worship God".

He back-tracked and tried to sputter out some defenses, but I held my ground, because I knew I was right. Finally, he revealed to me that he lived this life where he HAD to hit his sales targets and be #1.

A-ha - now we were getting somewhere. I suspect if we spend some more time talking, we would start to uproot some deep roots that have flowered up into this pride.

Note - I have changed details about my friend, so that it would be next to impossible to figure out who he is - all the details have been changed - maybe including "his" gender!

Next post will be on some possible resolutions to stepping off the busyness tread-mill, that has the power to threaten everything we value.

On Turning 40 and Joy

2010-07-26T23:10:00.001-07:00

On Friday July 30, I will turn 40 years old.

Yesterday, Felicia, my parents, sister and whole church surprised me with a birthday cake and catered lunch following the Sunday morning service. It was a special day already, because we dedicated our son James. My father actually performed the dedication for us.

I was quite surprised by the party, which was actually completely planned by Felicia. I really can't believe I didn't find out - as it took a month of planning.

Anyways, it was quite stunning. I got enough Starbucks cards to keep me caffeinated for quite some time. I also got over 20 birthday cards, which surely must be a record for me. I am so grateful to Felicia for all the work she did in planning this thing!

I can remember when my dad turned 40. Another man in the church also turned 40 around the same time, so they had a combined party and were given a lot of joke gifts high-lighting the fact that they were getting older.

Now, I'm the one getting older. It feels odd, but it is also natural. People ask me how I feel. I feel like myself. I guess I feel 40. Physically, I know I am no longer 25 years old. (This was made obvious after the pain I endured during a brief hike today!).

Mentally, emotionally, I feel grown up. I think the past 5 years I have done a lot of maturing because of some of the things I have gone through in ministry. The past 2 years especially, leading the church, I have learned and matured quite quickly.

Becoming a father sort of accelerates your maturity, once you realize the responsibility that baby places in your hands.

My current life is really quite good:

I enjoy my job.

I love my wife.

I have 3 awesome kids.

I feel I am where I am supposed to be. I probably have the same amount of regrets or unfulfilled goals, as any other man my age. These deficits don't keep me up at night. My life is full.

The most recent thing I have been learning is in terms of the emotional culture that should exist in places where the Kingdom of God has extended into. There were 2 larger events in the life of our church. We had a Hawaiian party for the kids of our church last Saturday, and then my party yesterday. At both of these events, there was a distinct moment, when I looked around and sensed real joy. I felt it and I saw it in the faces of the people around me.

I am convinced we will do well to evaluate our ministry efforts, more in terms of how much joy they generate, than in the numbers of bodies present.

Joy - hallmark of the kingdom.

Joy lives in my life.

Joy that flows out of the heart of a God who know a lot about joy.

Joy that is made possible by a wife who is an expert at creating an environment where it can be cultivated.

Joy from 3 kids who radiate joy, unbeknownst to themselves.

Joy an outflow from a mother and father who mothered and fathered me well.

How do I feel?

I feel joy full.

On Vacation(s)

2010-06-22T04:32:00.000-07:00

Hanging out w. Adam and Soph.

James at the start of his first vacation, ever.

We are at the Beach Club Resort in Parksville, on Vancouver Island. A brief holiday before I leave for an intense week of training with Living Waters Canada.

We take a vacation once (sometimes twice) a year. In the summer we usually stay somewhere local - usually BC, Washington or Oregon. And we almost always head for somewhere that has a beach - mainly for Adam's benefit. He has the most fun around a beach - any beach. This might be due to his being born and bred on the west coast, or it might be the seminal trip to Hawaii we took last year.

I find the role of vacations to be extremely healthy and therapeutic. There is something about physically traveling away from and being away from where you normally conduct life and business.

Since my office is in my home, a holiday at home is very challenging, since, as soon as I walk into the basement I feel like I am at work.

In my line of work, fatigue and stress usually accumulates quietly and undetected until it might be almost too late. I have a very clear indicator - I usually get sick - a cold with bad congestion - accompanied by excessive whining.

A vacation keeps me healthy. Vacations can be expensive, but not necessarily - we are hoping to start camping this summer. This is something we have done sparingly in the past, but something we really enjoy. I have found people in BC camp way more that people in Saskatchewan - probably the easy access to some of the most beautiful natural spots on Earth.

I am writing this while on Vacation. We have two fave spots on the west coast - Rathtrevor Beach (possibly the worst named beach in the world) in Parksville, and Cannon beach in Oregon. Both spots have great beach access - we usually stay at a hotel or resort located directly on the beach.

The resort we are in right now is unreal - the room is actually more like an apartment - full kitchen, even a washer/dryer - I've never heard of a w/d in a hotel room before - but here you go!

The room also has a stunning view of the ocean. We spent the day beach combing, and then jumped in the pool and hot tub. After a nice "BC meal" of BC wine and BC salmon, I took Adam and Sophia for a walk on the boardwalk and then for sundaes at Dairy Queen. The night ended with Toy Story 2 - we're working towards seeing # 3 on Friday.

Vacations are therapeutic. They give me a chance to bond closer with the 4 people most important to me. I also get a chance to do some reflecting on the recent period of life and ministry, which I find very helpful.

My recent reflections have been mainly around preaching and pastoral care, where I have been devoting the bulk of my time and energy. I sense I need to take a "week out" after 6-8 weeks of straight preaching, in order refocus and refresh - otherwise I just get tired and cranky.

The same thing around pastoral care. Pastoral care - meeting w. people in crisis is a high-stress part of my job. I can usually handle one at a time, but they usually tend to travel in fast moving herds! There have been significant areas of pastoral care in the past few months, leaving me tired and at times, frustrated. A vacation offers much needed breathing room.

On vacation, I almost always turn my phone off and do not correspond very much by e-mail - I keep updating on twitter and facebook - just because I enjoy it and it lets the rest of my family know what we are up to.

This vacation is a bit brief (we're going on a longer one in August), but so far so good.

Also - we sold our apt. downtown. We had been renting it out for the last couple of years, but sensed it was time to sell. We love that apt.! Both Adam and Sophia spent their first few years there. We led a home group there every year for the 7 yrs. we lived downtown - lots of memories, sad to let it go.

Tri-City Mayors' Prayer Breakfast

2010-05-15T19:38:00.001-07:00

Firefighter Steve O'Brien holding James.

Much less stressful, than the first time!

This past year, I have had the privilege of leading the Tri-City Ministerial. This is an organization that represents all the churches in the cities of Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam. We meet once a month for lunch to chat about ongoing ministry events and pray together. It is really a great bunch of men and women.

The biggest event that we do all year is the Tri-City Mayors' Prayer Breakfast - this is an event where we honor our elected officials at the local, provincial and federal levels. As the head of the ministerial, I did quite a bit of work - its not really hard work, just a LOT of work.

We had it this morning at a local golf and country club. And, in my humble, unbiased event - it was a smashing success!!! Things just went really really well today. The venue was beautiful - the food was great. We had a guest speaker, Dr. Dave Currie, whom I have known for over 25 years. He was unbelievable, speaking on integrity.

Another change we had was the presentation of an award to a local group or individual who has shown great service to the tri-cities. This year we gave it to the 5 fire fighters and the fire chief of Port Moody. You see, when you run things, you get to do cool things like that!

It was awesome to be able to present the award and re-tell the story to everyone gathered there.

I heard nothing but positive feed-back so far. There are a few tweaks we can make to make the event even better next year, but overall I was very very happy with how things went.

Now - I have a couple of days off to recover!!!

Grace and Karma

2010-04-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

In the book "The Prodigal God, Tim Keller writes that, "Elder brothers obey God to get things." As I reflected on that, I began to wonder how many of us operate out of the paradigm of karma instead of grace. Karma is a theory of divine equitable justice - you get what you deserve. Grace is a reality that God's love is so comprehensive that not only do we not get what we deserve - but in fact we get what we don't deserve.

Because of our natural inclination towards living for ourselves and fulfilling our needs over others, God is justified in removing us from His presence. Instead, through grace, God extends love, forgiveness and acceptance to anyone and everyone who even makes the smallest step towards Him. Grace is stronger than karma.

You might have been a Christian all your life, but might still believe that your good actions should result in God's blessings on you. This is a faulty paradigm and it sets you up for disappointment and cynicism when things do not go your way. Isaiah says that if we are trying to build up our own righteousness, then all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.

So, walk away from karma and into the arms of grace and praise God that he does not treat us as we deserve, but is the loving Father with arms open wide ready to receive all the prodigal daughters and sons.

Blindside and other thoughts

2010-03-25T23:42:00.000-07:00

Well, what have we here - a blog post - wow!!! Things are really picking up for old Dreams Unlocked.

I remember when I first started blogging - I was obsessed with being listed on as many fellow bloggers, "blog-rolls" as possible. Now - I barely check anyone else's. I guess I don't get as much ego boost from internet connectivity as I used to.

Saw the movie Blindside tonight. It's a movie of a wealthy white Christian family who adopt a poor homeless black boy - he goes on to play in the NFL. This movie has been raved about by many Christians - and some prominent Christian leaders. Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for her performance in this film. (Sadly her own blindside would come soon after winning the award, as reports of her husband's serial infidelity began to circulate).

The movie had a nice story, that I am sure will touch you. But, as an actual film, I found it quite weak - there are no break-out performances - even Bullock's didn't really blow me away. The dialogue is painful at times.

It seemed more like a hall-mark movie of the week, rather than the box office blockbuster that it turned out to be.

Family seems to be doing well. Little James is growing and growing, and giving us all much joy.

Ministry is also going well - along with the expected challenges that pop up from time to time.

Adam starts his spring-break tomorrow. We're not going anywhere, but have promised him some day-trips to the Aquarium, Granville island and the wave pool.

Anyways - short post.

The Article

2010-02-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

This is the full text of the article I wrote that appeared in our local paper. Enjoy.

Unexpected Delivery

On January 11, 2010, our 2 children were in bed, and I was waiting for my wife, Felicia to come downstairs so we could watch the movie I had rented. After waiting a few minutes I ambled up to our bedroom. It was dark and Felicia was doubled over in pain by the bed.

The day before, Felicia had complained of some contractions. Apparently, they passed (I never knew they could just like …. leave). So, she is doubled over, groaning and moans that we have to go to the hospital.

Now, I start a sort of manic running around and packing frenzy. We called a friend who was our back up to look after our kids if anything should happen. (Interestingly, we had only asked her the day before!)

We have managed to get Felicia to the door of our house and we waited for our friend Lorna to arrive. As we’re waiting, I heard 2 noises at the same time – a splash and a loud gasp from Felicia. I looked at her, and then looked down to what it looks like when a woman’s water breaks. At this exact moment Lorna’s SUV pulls up in our driveway. My heads on a swivel as I look from Felicia to Lorna and sort of silently try to communicate what is happening.

Felicia calmly told me to call 911. I was very non-calm as I fumbled with the phone to dial those precious 3 numbers. I got 911 operator Chris who told me to lay Felicia down somewhere comfortable and that help was on its way.

So, I found a nice piece of hardwood floor by the entry way and eased Felicia down onto it. 911 Chris now told me to get two shoelaces and a safety pin. As I obediently ran to get these objects, I started to wonder if I had some sort of McGyver 911 guy who was about to try some experimental childbirth method he had been concocting during the slow times of his job. I gathered said items.

By now, I could hear the alarms of the fire truck. I ran to the entry gate to our town-house complex to ensure the gates open (they had been kind of temperamental lately.) As I ran in the rain towards the sound of the sirens, I felt for a split second like I was in a movie, and some Coldplay or Snow Patrol music should be playing in the background.

I re-entered reality and guided the fire truck in. The firefighters organized themselves and made their way into the house. I asked if any of them had delivered a baby before. They all looked at each other and agreed that none of them had. This served to amplify my already anxious state.

So with these 5 hulking firefighters in the 4X6 space of our entry-way, we started on a very interesting journey of trying to bring a baby safely into the world. People ask me if I was nervous during all of this – to be honest, things happened so fast, it was impossible to be nervous – no time.

So, back to the entry-way. Here’s the picture:

· fffffFelicia is lying on her back, breathing and in obvious discomfort.

· IaI am kneeling by her head holding her hand saying inane things like everything’s going to be OK and I’m right here

· There are 2 firefighters standing to Felicia’s left – one of them is holding her cel-phone up, so we can hear 911 Chris’ words which are now infused with all kinds of gravity

· Firefighter Steve is in the key position with his hands ready for the snap

· Another firefighter is next to me – I can’t recall what he did – maybe he was monitoring me through the whole thing, making sure I didn’t pass out.

T There was a 5^th firefighter who I believe was in the garage and would peek in from time to time to make sure everything was ok – again things are happening so fast, it is hard to recall all the details.

· L Lorna (our life-saving friend) who came to take care of our 2 other kids is halfway up the stairs next to the entry way watching everything transpire with a mixture of disbelief, concern and awe-struck wonder

·Ao Sophia – our 2 yr. old is holding Lorna’s hand, wide-eyed and silent

· (Adam – our 5 yr. old was out cold in bed)

911 Chris is giving calm, measured instructions to all of us, especially firefighter Steve, who is in the prime position. Felicia is breathing and pushing. I am breathing and pushing down all the nervous anxiety fighting its way into my brain.

Things progress naturally, and all of a sudden a head pops out. There is a wave of concern when Felicia anxiously moans: “He’s not crying!!!!” We wait a few seconds that stretch out into an eternity.

Finally, the entire child comes sliding out into the fateful hands of firefighter Steve. He and another firefighter are juggling the baby as they try to wrap him in towels. At one point I distinctly hear someone say, “He’s slippery!” The baby is immediately named James.

James is moved up into Felicia’s anxious and impatient arms. He is wrapped in one of our hand towels. Oh – he is crying and screaming at this point, making up quite nicely for his initial reserved entry.

Now, we sort of stare at each other trying to process what just happened. A baby was just born. James was born, not in the sterile safety of a Hospital birthing room, but on the uncomfortable non-sterile cramped confines of the entryway of our town-home.

The paramedics check out mother and child, and confirm everything is ok. (I’m pretty sure they gave me a quick up and down, to make sure I was still holding it together). They loaded mother and child onto a stretcher and moved her into an ambulance for transport to the hospital.

As we’re coming out, our neighbors are all on their balconies trying to determine what drama had taken place so close to them. I got to tell them the good news (in a high-pitched manic voice, I might add).

A little while later, we are pulling into the emergency department of Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminister. All the emerg. nurses come running towards Felcia to see the “firefighter baby”. Their excitement was contagious, as even the sick people looked up and nodded at our good fortune.

We got into a room and a number of medical professionals came in and out, checking out Felicia and James. Finally, at 1 AM, I felt all the energy and adrenaline quickly evaporate from my body. I collapsed into a chair next to her bed. I was also extremely thirsty. After a bit of hydration and some time bonding with my impatient newborn son, we decided I should head back. I would come back in the morning with Adam and Sophia who can marvel at the new addition.

And thus concludes the story of how James Abraham Paul Ninan showed up. Born in Port Moody, aided by 5 courageous fire fighters and a faceless 911 operator. I share this story because it helps us see that we do live in a world of wonders. Many of us live lives of frantic business, and the wonder and mystery of life often gets suppressed in the rush. But, every once in awhile we have a moment where the miracle of life creeps in on us. It could be a sunset or an unexpected kindness from someone. The birth of James was one of those moments for Felicia and I.

I hope that all of you will experience many such moments of wonder and grace. They do happen. I know. It happened to me.

I also wrote this, so that there would be a public acknowledgment of the Port Moody Fire Department and the 911 staff member who made sure James made it home safe.

We were able to have a very special visit with all 5 fire fighters about 3 weeks after James was born. It was honestly one of the most special moments of our lives, to be able to meet and thank these brave men who did such a great thing that day.

So again, thank you Captain Arlen Gatzka, Lt. Rob Suzukovich, Firefighter Brad Robinson, Firefighter Steve O’Brien and Firefighter Brodie Jamieson. And also thank you 911 Chris – I hope James gets to meet you someday.

Oscar Picks

2010-02-03T00:01:00.001-08:00

Oscar Picks - I'll give it my best shot. We'll see how I do in March.

Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique in Precious. Unbelievable - there is one scene near the end that basically clinches the win for her.

Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz - Inglorious Basterds. Only because he's won just about every other award for this role so far.

Actress - Tough one. I would have to say either Carey Mulligan in "An Education", who shot into prominence out of nowhere. Same for Gabourey Sidibe in Precious - unbelievable performance. But, Sandra Bullock has been getting a lot of attention for "Blind-Side". My pick would be Sidibe.

Actor - I haven't seen it, but I hear Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart" is excellent - so I would go with him.

Director - Kathryn Bigelow - Hurt Locker. James Cameron's ex wife just might beat him out - this was an amazing film.

Picture - With 10 nominees, this is tough. I think the best movies in this category are Avatar, Hurt Locker, Precious, Up in the Air, District 9 and my fave film of last year - Up. I think Avatar or Hurt Locker will win. I am leaning towards Avatar because it is just such a big film - but if Bigelow wins for directing, then they need to give her best picture too.

James Ninan

2010-01-21T22:34:00.000-08:00

James Ninan - minutes old, born in the entryway of our townhouse

- he is wrapped up in one of our hand towels.

Felicia is leaning against the wall in our entryway

- you can see the paramedics bag in the background.

I have blogged November 21, December 21 and now January 21.

James Abraham Paul Ninan made quite the entrance into the world. Here's the full story:

On Sunday January 10 2010, Felicia was having contractions at church. She monitored them and ignored my insistence that we go to the hospital.

The next day the contractions got worse, to the point that she was doubled over next to our bed. (This is now Monday night at about 9:00).

At this point, she told me we should go to the hospital. I phoned our friend Lorna, who Felicia had asked just the day day before if she would be willing to come over if anything should happen. Lorna said she'd be right over.

I ran around collecting stuff, like most crazed husbands do at times like that. We were at the door of our house, waiting for Lorna when I heard a loud splash and Felicia said "OOOOOHHHH". Her water broke. I like to joke that at this point my water broke as well.

Felicia told me to call 911. I did. The operator told me to lay Felicia down. I found a comfortable piece of hardwood floor in the entryway and helped her down. The operator instructed me to get 2 shoelaces and a safety pin, prompting me to imagine that this was going to be a "McGyver" inspired birth.

I ran to get these things while Felicia moaned. Oh - Lorna arrived by now and was helping by keeping Sophia out of the way - Adam was long gone asleep at this point.

The operator assured me that help was on its way. The gate to our complex was not working properly, so when I heard the sirens I ran toward the gate in order to open it - it was pouring rain and at that moment I felt as if I was in a movie and expected to hear a Peter Gabriel or Damien Rice song in the background.

The fire fighters arrived and the 911 operator started to guide them. None of them had delivered a baby before, and they stared at each other as they assessed the situation. Firefighter "Steve" must have been the rookie, because he was the guy they stuck at the other end of Felicia.

James' head popped out first - we were a bit concerned that there was no sound of crying. We now realize this is more indicative of his generally passive content nature, than any kind of health concern.

With the next push he came sliding out into firefighter Steve's arms. At this point Steve commented that he was very slippery. Also, the paramedics had now arrived - about 35 minutes after the 911 call.

The paramedics assessed everything, and then wheeled Felicia and James out in a stretcher to the waiting ambulance. As we came out of our garage, all our neigbors were out watching with keen interest, since a fire truck had been in front of our place for over half an hour. I told them about James, and they were happy.

I followed the ambulance. At the hospital, all the emerg. nurses ran up to see the "firefighter" baby. After a couple of false turns we ended up at the delivery ward. James was bundled up inside the stretcher with Felicia, and the nurse who was guiding us in hadn't noticed him, and then jumped up when she saw him. She then proceeded to call him a little turkey for the rest of the evening.

Several doctors and nurses came in and out marveling at the fire fighter baby. Finally, at 1 AM, my adrenaline evaporated and I collapsed in a chair. All I remember is all of a sudden being extremely tired and thirsty.

We decided that I would head home, as there was not much for me to do, and there was nowhere really for me to sleep. So, after kissing baby and child good-bye I drove home in the rain.

I came home and chatted with Lorna for awhile at the miracle that had just transpired.

2 days later James and Felicia came home, both perfectly fine. Adam is crazy about his little brother. Sophia is still warming up to the idea that someone is stealing a bit of her thunder. Felicia has rebounded quite quickly and has even pondered returning for a couple of night shifts!

And me.... well, I'm pretty sure I will always be in a state of awe as I recount that night. The entire episode also reaffirmed the total sovereignty of God in our lives - there is not one atom of the universe that lies outside of his sovereign will. Indeed, I preached on that very topic the Sunday following Jame's birth. I used the verse from Daniel: " the most high God is sovereign over the kingdoms of earth, and sets over them whomever he will".

Earthquakes comes and go.

Babies are born in the most unlikely of situations.

People fall ill and die.

Yet in the midst of it all, the most high God rules in His sovereignty and nothing and no one can thwart that will.

Top 8 Movies of 2009

2009-12-21T13:14:00.000-08:00

As you can see from the title, I have a top 8 list, instead of a top 10 list - this is largely due to the fact that I simply had less time this year to go to movies due to an increased work load.

So here they are:

1. Up - The best movie of the year is yet another Pixar triumph. I think history will look back and see the Pixar team as the primary story tellers of our time. This film will motivate you to pursue your dreams, no matter your age, as the central protagonist does.

2. Precious - I just saw this film last week. The film centers around a teenage girl growing up in Harlem enduring a life of horrific abuse by both father and mother. She is transfered to a special school, and under a kind teacher and social worker, she starts to believe in herself again. This film never stoops to sappy hallmark movie of the week cliches. There are several difficult scenes to watch, but is an important film to open up those areas of our heart that we tend to cauterize through willful ignorance of the hurting around us.

3. District 9 - Perhaps the most original film on the list. This film is about how South Africa deals with the arrival of extra terrestrial beings. This is a film that is about how we treat the "other" in our midst. The choice of South Africa as the setting is particularly interesting.

4. Hurt Locker - A film about an Iraqi soldier who deactivates live bombs gives us a first hand look at the pressures that the men and women serving in Iraq and Afganistan are facing. The best recent depiction of how being in the extra-ordinary context of warfare affects the human psyche and soul.

5. Star Trek - The franchise is reborn! As an avid trekker, I was a bit nervous about this "prequel", giving us a young Kirk and Spock. But, my fears were laid to rest as J.J. Abrams brilliantly gives us the most entertaining Star Trek film ever. (Also - I was pleased to see Ben Cross, who portrayed runner Harold Abrams in Chariots of Fire, return to the big screen).

6. Anvil! The Story of Anvil - This unlikely entry is about the Canadian rock band Anvil, who for some reason didn't reach the heights of success as their peers, The Scorpion, Bon Jovi and Guns and Roses. Revered by other rock greats and their faithful fans, the band never seems to get a break. The movie covers their Spinal Tap like tour of Europe where they miss trains and play for crowds of 12 people at times, and the recording of their latest album. But its the bond between lead singer and guitarist that gives this film its heart. (Profanity and some sexual content may deter some viewers - like my parents).

7. The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band) -An amazing film by one of the most interesting directors around -Michael Haneke (Cache). Saw it at the Vancouver FIlm Festival, and it is a true film fest. type movie - black and white with subtitles! Strange events in a German Village lead to a truly troubling discovery.

8. A Serious Man - The latest offering from the Cown brothers is probably their least accessible film to date. A man searching for answers discovers that religion is of no use. A rather cheeky slap in the face of religion, but entertaining none-the-less.

Movies that would probably be on this list if I had seen them: Up in the Air, Avatar, Invictus.

Not Dead Yet

2009-11-21T23:20:00.000-08:00

Foolin' around

Ok - so I'm still blogging. I'm going to try to keep to at least a weekly entry. I used to be every other day, but I think those days are long gone.

I took Adam to a b-day party to this kids indoor playground called Koko's. There were about 6 birthday parties happening simultaneously. It was unreal. It also confirmed the fact that I could never run a day-care.

Had a nice time chatting with the parents of the birthday girl. They go to our church and are both RCMP officers which makes me feel quite secure - another job I am pretty sure I could not do.

I find it very fascinating how God creates people so differently - we are all created to pursue a vocation, and if we try to do something that is outside of the calling, we tend to feel frustrated and unfulfilled.

I think of what some of my friends do:

-pediatric dentist

-lawyer

-window glazer

-small business owner

-welder

And I realize that I simply could not do anything else with my life, apart from what I do right now. There is no dream job that I am waiting for - I already landed it. I love preaching, I love studying the Bible, I love visiting people at critical junctures of their life: births, weddings, funerals - what a privilege - what an honor.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that I am where I am supposed to be, and for that I am grateful

The End?

2009-11-10T21:58:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm sad to say but my blogging career might be winding down.

I'm finding I have less and less time to write on here - and with Twitter I can give fast updates and opinions throughout the day.

I feels kind of weird if I just let this thing go - I've been blogging since May 2005.

I'll wait a bit - maybe I'll have a change of heart and start typing again.

U2 and I (Part 2)

2009-11-02T00:25:00.000-08:00

Well, after that amazing encounter with Bono, the next time I would hear U2 would be in Mumbai India. I was living in India when their next album came out: All That You Can't Leave Behind.

I saw the video for Beautiful Day on tv in India. I think I ended up buying the album in Canada, though. This album marked a new era of creative excellence for the band. They toured that year and I saw them twice - once in Vancouver and once in Minneapolis.

I went to Vancouver with Felicia - our seats were behind the stage, which wasn't so hot - great show nonetheless.

Minneapolis was awesome - drove down with a bunch of guys from Saskatchewan. We lined up for rush seating on the floor. We had our sleeping bag and camped out at 8 in the morning - we were about 50th in line.

I have to say that staff at the arena were incredible. As the time got closer, they let the first 50 people into a small pub, and then into the arena - we ran and secured front row spots, right under where Adam Clayton would be. It was unbelievable to be that close to them! What a great show, and a great trip too.

After that album and tour, would come another incredible meeting with Bono. My brother was getting married to a girl from Dublin, so my whole family went there for the wedding. It was a dream come true! I had a whole U2 tour planned, but no one wanted to go except for Felicia who was almost 8 mths. pregnant at the time.

We first went to their offices - a security guard informed us that the band would be at their studio a little further away. We got to the studio - it was in an industrial part of Dublin with really nothing around it. There was no one there - we waited a bit and then a VW Jetta pulled up. A guy got out and we asked if the band would be by - he said come back at night. Turns out he is the manager of the studio and Larry Mullen Jr.'s drum tech. and has worked on every album U2 has put out.

So, after that we went and saw Bono's house which was cool. We went out for Chinese food with my folks - it was now quite late - about 10 PM and it was raining, and I thought of heading back - but Felicia insisted we go, as this would be my last chance at getting to meet them. So, we trekked back.

By now there were about 10-30 people from all over the world milling around. The entire band was inside and we were the first few people to hear the songs from their next album - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

After about an hour, the garage doors went up and a Mercedes came out - it was Adam Clayton - he slowed down and waved at everyone.

The next one out was Larry Mullen Jr. driving a very old Mercedes. He did not slow down, but sped past everyone.

I walked to the side of the studio, which overlooks a body of water and saw Bono come out the back with the guy we had made it earlier. I ran back to tell everyone he was coming.

A blue Maserati pulled out, scraping the curb. Bono drove up to us, got out and said "Howdy, folks". He spent almost an hour posing for pics and signing autographs for us!

Here's my conversation:

Me: Good day from Vancouver, Bono.

Bono - A good day in Vancouver it is! (He also wrote this on The Joshua Tree album that I got him to sign).

Me: Eugene Peterson says hi!

Bono: How do you know Eugene?

Me: He was my prof. at Regent College.

Bono: You're kidding me! You won't believe what that man's scholarship has meant in my life.

Later as he was leaving, I said "God bless you Bono - not just for your music, but all the good you are doing in the world!"

He said - Well if you know Eugene, then I'm sure you're doing some good as well!

At this point, Bono let a couple fans in his car and then announced he had room for 2 more. I turned to my friend from Dublin - it was his birthday that day! And I indicated for him to enjoy the greatest birthday gift he will ever get! And with that, I missed my chance to be driven by Bono!

It was pretty much one of the most amazing moments of my life - way more meaningful then the first time.

I ended up seeing them once on this tour - but I did get to be in a video shoot for the song "City of BLinding Lights" - that was pretty cool. This time, I again lined up early in the morning and Felicia and I were second row - I got some awesome pics from this show.

This past Wednesday I saw them once again with Felicia. It was at BC Place. We had floor tickets, but because I now have a job that keeps me pretty busy, I was unable to line up earlier - we got there just as the opening band was starting. I was surprised that we were actually quite close to the stage, and had a direct sight-line to the stage. It was the best U2 concert I had ever been to.

I already have tickets for the Edmonton concert, and plan on lining up early to secure front row seats again. I will most likely see them in Seattle as well.

So, as you can see, my life has really been formed by this amazing band from Ireland. U2 has opened up the world to me - without them, I doubt I would have heard or have even cared about a lot of the great social injustices of the day: drop the debt, Burma, fighting AIDS in Africa and so on.

Their music transcends a mere art form. They have soul. We all sat on the couch tonight and watched some of Rattle&Hum - it was so cool to explain to Adam who all the band members are. Adam has agreed that on the next tour he will be old enough to go. Sophia might still be a bit too you - she'll probably be about 6.

So, that's a summary of what U2 has meant to me over the years - from the War album to last Wednesday, they have been a pretty big part of my life, and will certainly continue to be.

U2 and I (Part 1)

2009-10-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

U2 circa. 1991.

I have never written an entire blog on U2 before so here goes.

I first heard of U2 when I was 13. An older kid in youth group told me about this Christian band that were really big. I bought the War album on vinyl and liked it - especially "40".

I started buying more of their music and in high-school I gained a quick reputation as being the "U2" guy.

By this time I was collecting a lot of boot-lef albums and buying every magazine or book about this band.

Side-note --> In high-school, was also the first time I used U2 songs for class assignements. I used Sunday Bloody Sunday in Grade 10 english - have no memory of what the assignment was. I would again use the Robbie Robertson song featuring U2, "Sweet Fire of Love", for a grade 12 assignment.

I have since used U2 songs in my undergrad and graduate schools for assignments, and also in sermons that I have since preached.

In grade 10, I remember borrowing 5$ from someone to buy the Rolling Stone magazine that first featured U2 on the cover, bolding calling them the band of the 80's.

When my Dad got a cd player, the first cd I got was Joshua Tree.

In grade 12, U2 came to Vancouver and there was a train going from Saskatoon to Vancouver called the "U2-choo-choo". I couldn't convince my parents to let me go.

Next year U2 released a feature film called "Rattle and Hum". I drove my little sister, little brother and another friend to go see it. It was awesome.

U2 didn't do much until they released Achtung Baby in 1991. This was a dramatic shift for the band with a new image and sound which was quite different from anything that had gone before.

Just like Joshua Tree, they once again played Vancouver - this time I was able to convince my parents to let me go. So, I jetted off to Vancouver with my friend Warren. Our original plan for tickets didn't work out, so I had my first experience with a scalper. Our seats were beside the stage. At one point I wandered down to the main floor. I reached the cat walk just as Bono was walking on it - I didn't realize this was the first of a handful of encounters where Bono and I would be sharing the same breathing space. I was soon bumped back to my seat by a security guard.

After Achtung Baby, U2 released a couple of weak albums: Zooropa and Pop. Both had one or two good songs, but their departure in image and message ended up with them losing a few long time plans.

I saw them twice on the PopMart tour, once in Vancouver and once in Edmonton. The Vancouver show was pretty good, but I was high in the upper level and the sound was horrible. You felt like there was something going on, but that you weren't a part of it. It was still a great thrill to see them live again, though.

The day after became a day I would never forget. I was having a late brunch with a friend from InterVarsity at Sophie's Cosmic Cafe in Kitsilano. As we were eating, we noticed a security guard walked through. I mentioned that someone famous must be around. My friend said, its probably for him. I looked back, there was a guy in a suit, sunglasses and an ear-piece - he didn't look like anyone famous, then I looked at the table in front of him and directly across from me and it was Bono!!!!

After regaining the ability to breathe, I tore off a piece of my paper table mat and boldly walked to his table and asked for an autograph. Here's the conversation:

Me: Excuse me Bono, could I have your autograph?

Bono: Uh, I normally don't sign while I'm sitting, but I'll make it fast.

Me: Thanks, That was a great show last night - I've been a fan since I was 13.

Bono: Well, you'd better stay 13, then!

Me: Thank you so much!

Bono also wrote "stay 13" on the paper - which is framed with a picture of him and sitting in my office.

My next post will continue my U2 odyssey, including the 2nd encounter with Bono where he offered to give me a ride into downtown Dublin, and why I declined!

How Twitter Killed My Blogging

2009-10-18T23:56:00.000-07:00

I've been on Twitter for awhile now. I have to confess, I really like it - I don't know why, but I like the ability to give a quick snap-shot of what I am up to.

And what I have realized is that my blogging has suffered dramatically. I think it is because I feel I don't need to give an extended analysis of stuff, I have given a brief update about earlier.

I've been feeling a little ambivalent about this blog lately.

When I got into blogging 5 years ago, I felt like I was entering this whole other universes, and that if you were a young emerging type leader you HAD to have a blog, and more importantly your blog needed to be linked up with this whole other network of emergent bloggers - alas my little blog never really scaled such heights.

But, the bloom is off the blogging rose for me now, and recently I feel as if my life has gotten a bit busier to keep it up.

But then again, I do enjoy opining on all matters from music to faith to coffee, so maybe the blog will live to see another day.

Its midnight and I'm in the basement office tidying up some stuff. Church was good today. Mike Todd spoke. Mike is an interesting fella and a much better blogger than I am! Mike spoke on Christianity and politics, and was very thoughtful and challenging - heard nothing but positives after.

We had a couple of friends from our old church plant over for lunch (they visited HMCC today). That was fun. After lunch I went to buy some component that our new wii needed. Yep, the Ninans have finally entered the 90's by buying a game console. We only have the game that it came with, but its all we need for now - I am coveting the beatles rock band or guitar hero 5. A trip to Seattle and a Canadian dollar at par should provide in the near future.

I visited a local sbux and tried a pumpkin spice latte which was quite tasty. Cracked open a new book - actually an old book - almost 1000 years old: Little Flowers of St. Francis - should be pretty good.

Came home and played wii with the boy for about an hour.

Felicia and I watched "Sunshine Cleaning" tonight which is a cute, touching little movie.

And that's it - that's all she wrote for October 18 2009.

How Thinking Changed How I Write Sermons

2009-09-22T23:58:00.000-07:00

What I do after thinking.

I am a preaching pastor. I preach almost every Sunday - I probably preach a 25-35 minute sermon 45 times a year.

To get a sermon to go that long, it is usually 8-12 pages long in 12 pt. font., plus any extra quotes that are photo-copied and reading the actual biblical text.

When I first started preaching I did A LOT of preliminary academic study, prior to just sitting down and writing the sermon.

What that means is I would read the actual text several times in about 5 different bible translations: ESV, NRSV, TNIV, NLT and The Message. I would also read it in the original language - I am better at Greek than Hebrew.

I have noticed something change in the last couple of months. I still do the preliminary study - consulting commentaries, etc. But, now, I find that I spend a lot of time just thinking.... and thinking and thinking.

That is, I just play around with ideas in my head, revisit them and think about them some more.

Thinking - sounds pretty simple, but it just might be the most under used tool for most people.

Obama says he spends up to an hour a day thinking. Some C.E.O's I have read say that the most important thing they do is taking time out to think.

Bill Gates takes 2 weeks a year and goes to a cabin and..... thinks.

I wonder if the rapid fire barrage of pop media and high tech life has robbed of the capability to think well? When most of us spend most of our waking hours in front of a screen of some sort, perhaps it has.

About a month ago, I found I was thinking about a sermon about the story in Mark 2 of the 4 guys who lower their paralyzed friend through a roof to get him to Jesus. I thought about it all week, read it several times and then sat down and wrote the entire sermon in 2 hours in one sitting. I revised it a couple of times the next day and practiced it once. And it was a pretty good sermon - one in which some of the concepts will form my ministry for quite some time.

It has been quite interesting to see this transition take place in my professional life. My sermons still take quite a long time to write, but the way I spend my time has shifted somewhat.

Perhaps - the time I take out to sit quietly and think and pray opens up more room for the Holy Spirit to interact with my mind. Whereas, before I spent a lot of time filling up my mind with academic insights into the text - maybe now the Holy Spirit can go a little deeper into my mind and soul, by-passing the mere intellect.

This is all pretty speculative, but maybe I'm on to something. I would love to hear others thoughts on what I have written.

Ricky Gervais' Philosophy of Life

2009-09-14T21:21:00.001-07:00

I really hope everyone enjoys the film and keeps an open mind. I believe in peace on Earth, and good will to all men. I do as I would be done by, and believe that forgiveness is one of the greatest virtues. I just don't believe I will be rewarded for it in heaven. That's all.

Note - Gervais is an atheist.

What I Have Learned

2009-09-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

Adam watching cotton candy at the PNE.

This Sunday I am preaching a sermon called "What I have Learned" - based on what I have learned in the first year as pastor of this church. Basically, I have learned that people are needy, you will get hurt and that God is sovereign.

I am using 2 Cor. 1:3-11 as the lens for looking at these themes.

The passage explicates the comfort God gives, the suffering we will endure as his disciples and the hope that contextualizes our experiences.

My Dad is in town, which is cool - Adam and Sophia are having a great time!

Other news - Zondervan will no longer be publishing their updated version of the New International Version bible, the "Todays New International Version". This is disappointing - I have used the TNIV since its publication for both personal devotions and for public preaching since its publication.

This particular translation uses gender neutral terms when referring to people. Example - God created humankind in his image - instead of - God created man in his image.

As you might expect, this generated all kinds of controversy by conservative types - I had thought the furor had died down, so I was quite surprised when the publisher announced this week they are going to stop publishing it.

Which leaves me in a quandry - I would like to keep preaching from it, but also want to preach from a translation that I can encourage others in my church to get if they like. I like the English Standard Version which one of my former profs spear headed. It has more archaic language, but is a more literal translation.

Or maybe I will just preach in Greek and Hebrew from now on.

More Work

2009-08-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

I have to confess - I am getting way more work done in the new office - it is far away from the life of the house, that I actually feel like I am away - except for when Adam and Sophia come running in here to attack me.

I worked all day prepping for a leadership retreat for our elders this Saturday.

I am presenting a lot of the ideas found in Jim Collin's book: Good to Great. This is a book that I have known about for a long time, and finally got around to reading recently. I wish I had read it earlier - it is excellent.

Collins is very popular among pastors for the practical wisdom he has in leading organizations well.

Felicia has set up a baby monitor in my office, so that I can hear either Sophia or Adam from the downstairs office. Half the time it sounds like the aliens from Signs are trying to talk to me. I usually have it turned off - but don't tell her that.

New Office

2009-08-25T23:41:00.000-07:00

Working in my office at First Baptist - about 3-4 yrs. ago.

Slowly moving in - I have a new desk and chair, both IKEA. 2 book shelves are up - we need to build one more. And then I need to move all the books in.

Offices I have had:

First Alliance Church in Calgary: a desk and chair in a sort of open area, next to the children's pastors office. I also used empty offices of pastors who were on vacations - including the senior pastor's office - which was huge and had a fire place.

First Baptist Church Vancouver - had a office in the "youth house" behind the church.

-had another office inside the actual church building - it was pretty nice.

1250 Granville - our first apt. in Vancouver - had a tiny little office that overlooked busy granville street.

950 Cambie St. - beautiful office with floor to ceiling glass windows on the 26th floor overlooking yaletown

2 Spruce Court - nice office near the front door of the first house we lived in in Port Moody

Right now - I work at a small desk in our rather large bedroom - its ok, but the inability to grab a book when I need it kind of sucks.

Eventually, I'm sure our church will rent some sort of office space in Port Moody, and I can set up an off-site office.

My Dad had a really small cramped office at University Hospital in Saskatoon. In Regina, he had a bigger office, but it had no name on it - nobody would know it was an office, walking by.

Back

2009-08-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Finally slowly getting back in the swing of things, after the time away. A couple of guys and myself moved a bunch of stuff out of the school that our church has met in for the past 9 years. It was kind of weird. I'm really looking forward to the move to the theatre.

It is centrally located in Port Moody - in the same building as City Hall, in fact.

My health issue - I have touched briefly in past tweets and facebook status' and maybe even on here about a health issue I have been dealing with - Since February I have been having very bad sinus pain - I've gone on 3 rounds of antibiotics and an x-ray.

Today I saw an ENT specialist and his over eager resident. The diagnosis is.... nothing. There is nothing medically wrong with me. He said it's just stress. I guess that's good news - but I'm not sure how to treat it - green tea while listening to Enya?

He said good diet, exercise, plenty of rest should all help, and Advil. So basically that's it - stress.

I don't feel I have an excess of stress compared to other people - I have a stable job, a nice family, lots of friends, great extended family.

The only stress I could think of is the occasional blurt of stress happening in someone else's life that spills over into mu life, virtue of my job as a pastor. I always thought I worked out a lot of this stress by running and taking regular time off - guess that's not enough. Maybe I've been stuffing some stress down and now its popping up in a physical form.

Anyways, I'm going to pray about it and try to relax.

Other stuff - finished a lengthy N.T. Wright book on the New Testament which was very good. Also finally finished Good to Great which is more great than good.

Saw the Kings of Leon in concert - rocking good show.

Adam's b-day party coming up this Saturday - it has a pirate theme. I'm going to dress up like Keith Richards and stumble around mumbling. Should be fun.

Vacation Post

2009-08-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

It's late at night - I'm listening to Bat For Lashes. We left last Thursday on our summer vacation. 1 week of holidays so far.

1st day - Travelled to Kelowna and stayed with some friends who were renting a lake front house. It was very beautiful there, and we met there 7mth. old twins who were very cute.

Then a long long drive from Kelowna to Calgary. Stayed at a nice hotel in downtown Calgary right next to the Bow River.

I interned at a large church in Calgary in 1993 - that short time was one of the most positive ministry experiences of my life - made many great friends through that time. Went back to that church - First Alliance. It has now supersized to about 3000 in weekly attendance in a beautiful new facility in the south of Calgary. It was truly one of the most unbelievable church buildings I had ever seen. I didn't see many of my older friends as many were away.

We made a day trip to the Tyrell Museum of Paleontlogy - which actually planned our trip to Calgary for the sole purpose of going to this dinosaur museum. It is really quite something, and Adam really loved it.

After Calgary, we drove to Canmore and met up with my brother and his wife, my sister and her family and my parents. We try to pull off one of these reunions every couple of years. Our last one was Christmas 2007 in San Diego.

So far, we have hiked, wandrwed around the town of Banff and dipped in the Banff Hot Springs. Today is Felicia and I's anniversery so we had dinner out.

Other events include canoeing in Lake Lousie, high tea at the Chateau Lake Louise, hiking Sulphur Mountain and maybe going to a local church on Sunday.

The whole dream wraps up Monday morning. We are staying in a large vacation home that we rented - it is really big with a lot of nice amenities, hot tub, sauna, etc.

I was hoping to get more reading done (I brought 9 books!), but we've been playing too much to crack open a book. Vacation is going well.

In The Line Of Fire

2009-07-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

Ready, Aim......

When you are a preaching pastor, you are in the public eye. Every week you stand up in front of a group of people - it could be 10 or it could be 10 000.

Because of who you are and what you stand for, your life is scrutinized and analyzed. People watch how you treat them, they watch what movies you go to, and what places you go to.

And people are needy - some people are very very needy - like needy for professional help. These types of people have unprocessed hurt, frustration and anger in their lives. And, these types of people tend to take out their hurt on pastors.

I think this is because people know pastors won't return in kind - because we are supposed to be imitators of Christ who never struck back. And that is true - not just pastors, but all Christians are not supposed to strike back at those who hurt us.

We want to. We want to throw the hurt right back at the person who hurt us. But, Jesus guides us and shows us that just like Him, it is possible to actually absorb the hurt of the other person.

In time, we gain the wisdom and insight to see that the person who is trying to hurt us, is actually tied up in all kinds of pain themselves. And that fact should help dull their jousts at us.

I write this, because in the past year, I have encountered rabid attacks from some people. Hurtful words, and people who end up leaving because I didn't do or say something the way they would have liked.

I would be lying if I said these words and actions of others didn't hurt. Of course they hurt - sometimes deeply, sometimes to the point where I can't sleep at night, or even worse I lash out at Felicia over something minor.

I remember what my former professor and friend, Stan Grenz told me: "Every time you encounter criticism, analyze it, see if there is any truth in it, take the truth out and learn from it. Also, always always - look at the source."

Wise words. And words that everyone needs to take to heart, because we live in a fallen world full of men and women whose particular wounding makes them lash out at innocent bystanders.

So, when you face criticism, the best response is usually no response - look at Jesus. He just stood before his accusers and let the accusations fly.

Focus on the Core

2009-07-20T00:33:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest hurts a pastor can experience is when someone leaves their church. It is hard to not take it personally.

Over the past year we have had people come and go from our church. A couple that was involved in ministry at our church, have just recently left and are attending another church.

I was a little bummed about this, until I talked to another leader. He told me to not worry about it - this will happen - people will leave and people will be inconsistent.

But - in every church there will be a core of believers who will be heavily involved, who will give of their talents, time and resources towards the missions of the church. These are the people that pastors need to focus on.

There are a lot of people in our church that are sort of on the fringes - they are not very consistent in their attendance, they are not in home groups, they are not very involved and they probably don't tithe.

Now - these are good people, and are most likely followers of Christ, and would call our church their home church.

For a long time I was stressed about how to get these people more involved and more committed - what could I do to make church more desirable for them? I finally realized that I don't need to worry about that - I simply need to be consistent in my work, provide opportunities for people to plug in - but it will ultimately be up to them, wether they make any moves towards commitment and consistency.

In the mean time, I have an incredible core of believers in our church - many of whom are becoming very close friends to Felicia and I. It is towards this group, I need to devote as much time as I can, encouraging them, praying for them, helping them develop their gifts for the expansion of the Kingdom.

This discovery has been very liberating for me.

I should add that the other group pastors should be devoting a lot of time to are those friends that they have that are outside of the faith - this is a bit harder, as it is very difficult to develop friendships outside of the church. And it is here that pastors need to be very intentional. Things I have done are volunteering at the Vancouver Film Festival, joining a running club, and right now I volunteer at a local thrift store that raises money for programs for the poor in Port Moody.

So, that's another thing I have learned in this past year of ministry out here.

On Leadership

2009-07-11T00:45:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday and this Sunday, I am not preaching. This is the first 2 Sundays in a row that I have not preached at church. I asked our elders board if I could have the first 2 weeks of July to do some thinking, praying and reading about the church. Primarily I had 2 goals:

1. Plan out all my sermons from Sept. 2009 - August 2010 - I have a good start on that, although there might still be a couple of changes to the preaching schedule.

2. Do some studying and thinking around the whole area of leadership and management, in regards to leading the church.

I have been reading books on leadership and management, and solicited some friends recommendations for leadership books. The 2 books that seemed to lead everyone's lists were:

In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen and

Good to Great by Jim Collins

Incidentally you couldn't find 2 more different books! Nouwen is one of the authors I have read the most of, and I have read this particular book twice already - it is quite short and can easily be read in a few hours.

Good to Great is one of those books that have been on my radar for several years, but I never got around to reading. Last month I was at a friends house admiring their newborn son. I glanced over their book-shelf and noticed 2 copies of Good to Great. I asked, why they had 2, they said both had been gifts.

I then bluntly asked if I could have one! They said sure. So, I finally cracked it this week - man, I wish I had read this book much much earlier! The book is the compilation of a 15 yr. study of companies that had really taken off, while other companies in their same field stayed stagnant or actually declined. Collins and his team of researchers wanted to find out what the difference was.

This book is very easy to read - I started it yesterday, and will probably finish it tomorrow. His discoveries are very insightful, wise and practical. I am toying whether or not I will have the elders board read through it this year. I think instead, I might just present some of the findings over a leadership weekend away.

One thing I have discovered this past year is that leadership and management are both delicate art forms. Leadership can be learned, but a lot of it is inherent - you either have certain gifts in this area or you don't.

I have always felt I have had a gift of leadership - I have held student gov't postions from elementary school through to grad. school. But, I am finding that the art of management is basically having above par people skills, in navigating the intricacies of managing people.

Leadership is casting vision, and gathering a strong core who will rally around that vision, and then discipline themselves to get the job done. Managing is the daily grind of working towards the vision.

Anyways, its been a productive 2 weeks, and I am looking forward to preaching again next Sunday.

The Baby

2009-07-04T23:11:00.000-07:00

Hats that Adam and Sophia made at Golden Spike Days at Rocky Point Park today.

Adam loves his.

Listening to the new Coldplay son, "Glass of Water" - It's awesome. I'm still pretty buzzed by that concert last week.

Felicia is having a baby. Unplanned, but not unwanted. I was pretty shocked when she told me, but have now warmed up to the idea of having a third little one running around, and running my life. I come from a family of 3, and it is fun having more than one sibling. I'm pretty sure Adam and Sophia will prove to be good older brother and sister. Adam will keep Sophia from poking the baby's eyes out or trying to break his or her arm.

I have a couple of weeks where I am not preaching - I have planned out all my sermons from Sept. 2009 - Aug. 2010 which is pretty cool. Now I am going to re-format oops - Sophie is crying.

Ok - changed her diaper, and her shirt - it was soaked with sweat, put some cream on her exczema, had a brief talk on the greco-roman hellenized world of first century judaism wherein the early church was formed in..... and now she's asleep.

Now I am going to re-format our leadership team - any books or resources on how to have an efficient eldership structure in churches, please send them my way.

Been really hot around here lately. Looking forward to buying a bike (mine got stolen). I think I am going to buy a used bike on craigslist, for the same reason I will always buy a used car - chepaer, and apart from the smell, I can't really tell the dif. from a new one.

Still Listening to Snow Patrol

2009-06-30T23:22:00.000-07:00

Sophie leads the way.

I had this super long post about this church in Kentucky that hosted a "bring your guns to church day". But, the post got too long and convoluted and sorted of imploded in on itself.

Thus, you have this post instead.

I spoke at Trinity Western this past weekend to a Mar Thoma Youth Conference. It went really well - really enjoyed my time with them.

Preached on the Holy Spirit this Sunday - I said most Christians treat the Holy Spirit like the weird uncle you try to avoid at family reunions - he's family and all, you just don't really want him to do anything weird.

Someone mentioned to me at how rare sermons on the Spirit are in evangelical churches. That struck me as quite odd. Maybe we are over reacting to charismatic excesses. Personally, I hope our church has more manifestations of the Spirits presence in our congregation: healing, words of knowledge, etc.

I have seen first hand the destruction of the excesses. But, still the dry intellectualism isn't really getting the world attracted about our faith.

I am on a 2 week study leave, which basically means, I have 2 Sundays where I am not preaching. I haven't had 2 Sundays off in a row since starting last year. (By the way - tomorrow will be one full year as pastor of this church).

I plan on doing some strategic planning around our leadership structure, and also try to map out all my sermons for the coming Sept - August time line. Right now, I am thinking the following:

UnChristian series: a 6 week series in the fall focusing on 6 of the biggest objections that 20somethings have towards Christianity.

Old Testament Series: Leviticus

Advent Series

6 week whole church series in January - home groups will all do the same curriculum and I will preach on it on Sundays

Gospel Focus - maybe Matthew - life of Jesus

Lent Series

I suspect that the series on Leviticus might be 1-2 months, and the series on Matthew could go on for a long period of time.

I'm really looking forward to charting these all out, and doing some preliminary work on each series, and possibly even each sermon as well.

Prayer Request

2009-06-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

I am speaking at this conference tomorrow:

http://www.bornagainidentity2009.com/

I finished writing my message on Tuesday, and am going over it one last time. There will be a few hundred south asian young adults there from up and down the west coast - from California to BC.

I am excited about the opportunity to speak to this group.

Please pray that the Spirit empowers my words.

My friend on the plane

2009-06-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

Walking Together.

My post today is part of a larger initiative of more than 50 bloggers all sharing their thoughts on how to ‘bridge the gap’. You can check out the other links at: http://www.btgproject.blogspot.com/

Ten years ago I was flying back to Vancouver from Saskatoon. I started chatting with my seat mate. I was reading a book on spirituality by M. Scott Peck, so we also started to discuss spirituality.

I asked him if he had a religious background. He said "Yes, I was raised fundamentalist." I was quite taken aback by his response. As we kept talking we discovered that we had attended the same evangelical churches at different times in Saskatoon. He said in college, he abandoned his faith and the church and has never looked back..... until now. He said in the past few months he had felt like he was missing out on something due to the lack of any kind of faith in his life.

As the plane began to land, we exchanged contact information and promised to be in touch. A week later I went for coffee with him in the westend part of downtown Vancouver. He was an artist, so he invited me to first meet him in his home studio to see some of his work. His art was very good.

We headed to a local Starbucks and kept talking. I explained to him my own faith journey and where I was at in terms of my beliefs in Christ and the church. He shared a bit more of his story, and the abruptly blurted out, "But.... I'm gay!"

I said "Ok. But your sexuality is only a part of who you are. I don't think it defines you completely, does it." He said, "No." At this point he related his journey towards the acceptance of his homosexuality. He was currently single and feeling lonely.

It was time to wrap up, and we promised to meet again, and he even expressed interest in attending a worship service sometime. As we were leaving, he stopped me and asked me, : "Why are you so open to keep talking to me? Most Christians I know would have ended our conversation when I brought up my sexuality, but you have just sat here and listened to my story."

I responded that Jesus never had any criteria for who he would meet with, so why should I have pre-requisites for the people I will have coffee with. He was quiet as we left the shop together.

What my encounter with my friend taught me is that people on both sides of this dialogue are not really engaging other human beings. Instead we are engaging with media caricatures of each other. Evangelicals think the gay rights lobby are a bunch of rabid promiscuous people who want to recruit our kids. The gay rights lobby thinks all evangelicals are a bunch of narrow minded bigots who want to sweep them back into the closet.

But, it is not until we actually engage one another IN PERSON, will true dialogue and understanding be possible. My hope by my post today is that people on both sides will seek out a friend on the other side of the debate. And have no prior "conversion" agenda - simply enter into a relationship with the hope of understanding one another's perspective.

Who know? Maybe you will make a friend among a group of people you had written off a long time ago as the "enemy."

(Note - I lost touch with my buddy after a few months of meeting together. But I trust he is staying true to his own spiritual journey, and moving closer to discovering his place as the beloved of God.)

New friend

2009-06-19T23:09:00.001-07:00

Check out Jason Boyle. He's another blogger that I have started reading on a regular basis. I think most of you will like him. He is a thoughtful young Christian thinker and writer.

http://blog.jasonboyett.com/

Also Beth Malena wrote an awesome post on dealing with our confusing relationship to money:

http://bethblogever.blogspot.com/

"Father"

2009-06-17T00:20:00.001-07:00

Sermon notes and Starbucks.

Fathers day is this Sunday. I've recently been thinking about why Catholic priests are called "father". I think it is because pastoring is a lot like parenting. From my vantage point, I see a lot of mini squabbles taking place between people, and sometimes I have to try to keep the big happy dysfunctional family from either imploding or exploding.

Most "fights" I am not directly involved in - I just observe, and offer counsel if asked. It is the toughest part of my job, trying to be empathetic and sympathetic to people who are processing their own hurts, by attacking or hurting others.

But then, I also get the joy of baptizing people and walking alongside them as they wrestle with their faith. I also have the awesome privilege of opening up the Word of God on a regular basis, and helping a community journey through what its implications are. And for those things I am grateful.

Good day today overall - had a meeting with a couple of other pastors about some minstry opportunities during the coming olympics. Then I did some admin. and then took Sophia for a walk to a nearby playground.

Adam and I

2009-06-16T01:49:00.000-07:00

Possibly my favorite pic of Adam and I. We are playing some game on the internet at a resort while on holiday. I look grumpy, but I wasn't. I really like Adam's expression and the way he is so relaxed.

Aaaah - that funny little kid - always makes my day!

The book I'm reading

2009-06-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

A fragment of the gospel of John.

I read a lot - like all the time, all kinds of books. Every once in awhile, I like to tackle a book that is difficult - like academically hard. Well, I've found one: "Scripture's Doctrine and Theology's Bible" is a collection of academic papers that came out of a conference held at St. Andrews College in St. Andrews Scotland (the school my brother presently teaches at).

So, they collected a bunch of New Testament heavy weights to chat about how the church formed their current doctrine by what is written in the New Testament. Karl Barth and Albert Schweitzer get dissected, along w. a bunch of other major dudes. The book is quite a challenge, but I am enjoying it as it reminds me of many times at Regent College, when I would be in the library battling it out with some book that made no sense at all, but then clarity comes, and I feel happy.

We are still at the resort - we head back tomorrow (told you it was a short trip). It was really a perfect day today, spent time on the beach, napped, Adam and I played mini-golf and then Felicia and I had a nice meal at the restaurant in the resort.

I guess everyone is buzzing about the new iphone. With the new iphone, I guess my current iphone is now old. Now, the new iphone's biggest draws are 3 meg. video camera, faster operating system and ...... a compass.

Hey, apple - I don't need a compass on my phone. I have my own compass which I carry around w. my protractor and epi-pen. And I carry these items in my fanny pack, along w. my lunch sometimes.

I love Pixar (and I can see the ocean from wher I'm sitting)

2009-06-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

Adam and I went to see Up! last weekend. I started to think back to all the Pixar films I have loved over the years. Here they are in chronological order:

Toy Story

Toy Story 2

Finding Nemo

Incredibles

Ratatouille

Wall-E

Up until Up!, Nemo was my favorite. It was Adam's favorite movie for a long time, and is currently Sophia's favorite. So, I have seen/heard it in the background of my life quite a few times, as it has been played over and over in our home.

I liked Nemo because there were several grand themes that were part of the story:

the quest of a father to be reconciled to his son, sending him on a Ulyssian journey

the wounded hero (Nemo has a small fin)

the gift of companionship to meet life's battles (Dory helps Marlin find Nemo)

There are many more grand life themes in this film. But Up! seems to go a bit further, in its challenge to carve out an adventure in the life we have been given, and that nothing in life need be wasted. The characters are great, the animation is great and the story is great. I have really not been so moved by a film in a long time.

I don't know how Pixar keeps doing it - they just keep churning out, not good, but GREAT films. They haven't made a lot of films, but the ones they do make are of the highest quality - pure entertainment without the need to be vulgar or violent.

In other news, the fam and I are currently staying at a resort on a beach in Parksville, on Vancouver Island. I think I mentioned that we have been in a vice of pressure for about the past 2 months, and just needed a break - this is a mini holiday in a beautiful spot. We walked on the beach and the kids discovered crabs, clams and shells. Tomorrow, Felicia and I are going for dinner at the resort - this place supplies baby-sitters which is pretty awesome.

Time to de-compress.

Moved

2009-06-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

Finally moved in to our new place. I have a temporary office set up in our over-sized bed-room. We had some contractors come in and look at our basement. They are going to start next week, and said it should take them a couple of weeks to get it done - so thats pretty cool. We are going to put in a large office, kids play area, storage area and bathroom down there.

Until then, I have to work up here, which is fine.

Started a new sermon series today on the book of Galatians - looks pretty promising. Already had 2 e-mails of people excited about the series, including one woman who said she was "jumping out of her seat" that we are studying Galatians. Never really had that kind of reaction before.

We are taking a mini holiday this week to a resort on Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. We have been going through some pretty intense times for the past 6 weeks, and just felt we need a respite.

Going for a much longer break in August to Banff in August to meet up with the rest of my family in some big chalet in the mountains, so that should be fun.

The Murphy's Law Day

2009-06-02T11:08:00.001-07:00

Why did you go to Winnipeg?

I have this inner practice of gratitude that I try to carry on throughout the day. What I do, is I silently try to thank God for everything that goes RIGHT during the day. I find this helps prevent me from being side-lined from everything that can go wrong.

So, today, I am thankful that the coffee maker worked, that the shower worked, that my lap-top and wireless connection work.... you get the idea.

Today's problems: My current iphone has something wrong w. it - it drops pretty much every call that I make or receive. Rogers has tried countless times to fix it, and have finally decided to simply send me a new one.

They sent the new phone on May 25, from Delta to Port Moody. Should've taken a day, right? On May 27th the phone was scanned in Winnipeg Manitoba, and was labelled as "out for delivery". And that is the last anyone has heard or seen of the phone - it is out for delivery in Winnipeg Manitoba.

I spent yesterday and today on the phone w. both UPS and Rogers to try to find this prodigal phone. Today, Rogers finally put a trace on it, which they informed me would take 7-10 days to resolve. So, I asked, what do I do in the mean time? My only phone, which is also the church phone doesn't work. I get a loaner phone for the time being.

And then the movers called saying they are going to be an hour late - so everything is pretty much working out.

But, I am grateful for the sun outside, a new home to live in, friends.... This gratitude thing is basically the only thing that is staying my tongue and blood pressure from going through the roof.

Amen

Moving

2009-06-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

Good-bye 2 Spruce Court.

My office and the rest of the house is packed up in boxes.

We move into our new town-house tomorrow. We're all pretty excited about moving into our OWN home. I will miss certain aspects of this house - it is certainly the largest house we will ever live in at almost 4000 sq. feet! - 4 X larger then our yaletown apt. and twice the size of the town-home we move into.

The Froeses had a nice flat-screen tv and bose sound system which made watching movies really great. Back to our old non-flat-screen tv w. no sound system. There was also a very nice deck off of the master bedroom w. commanding views of Mt. Baker and the rest of Port Moody. It was very nice and peaceful to sit there and read and pray - will miss that.

The new place will present some significant challenges at first - namely the fact that my office is not yet built! I will have to work in an unfinished basement for the first couple of weeks - a long way down from my 26th floor office overlooking false creek in downtown Vancouver! At least, its only temporary.

Another chapter in the Ninan family begins tomorrow - will keep you posted.

Also - some new music to check out: Silversun pick-ups, Phoenix and Bat For Lashes.

Finally, a Mennonite!

2009-05-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

Santosh and Sophia - Mennonites.

I had my credentialling interview with the Mennonite Brethren denomination today. Felicia, the chairman of our church's leadership board and I sat before a council of 8 pastors and denominational leaders. We were peppered with a variety of doctrinal and personal questions.

The interview lasted an hour and a half, and the questions were varied in their scope from my views on divorce and remarriage to how I would help a church escape the idol of consumerism. I was pretty drained after.

After the questioning, they confer with the chairman from our church for a few minutes, while Felicia and I sweat it out in another room. After about 10 minutes, they all came out and affirmed that I am credited and licensed with the denomination.

A lot of people have asked what this actually means. Being accredited with a denomination, is akin to passing the bar exam or being admitted into the royal college of physicians - it is basically being recognized by a professional academy of your peers. It also gives you a little bit of accountability.

So, that's it - I am a Mennonite. goodbye Christian and Missionary Alliance and goodbye Baptists. It feels good to be tied in with a denomination like this - next year I will be ordained, so then I will be Rev. Ninan!

In other news, I am still juggling a variety of potential explosives, which I guess is par for the course for a pastor.

24's Post-Modern Confessional

2009-05-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

2 weeks since my last post. The lapse testifies to the sort of craziness brewing in my life. Dead-lines, and people to meet.

Last week was the season finale of 24, which is normally one of my favorite shows, but found this years season to be rather dull.

There was an interesting scene in the finale, which I believe is a good reflection of the state of religion in the west. Jack Bauer is laying in a hospital bed dying. He is told that he has a visitor. The visitor turns out to be a Muslim cleric, who had helped Jack find some bad guys in a previous episode.

The cleric is quite nice and sensitive. Bauer becomes emotional and the scene transforms into a bed-side confessional. Bauer talks about all the bad he has done. Finally, the scene concludes with the cleric saying theses words, Let us both forgive ourselves for all the wrongs we have done,

Brilliant! Here we have a non-believer (as far as we can tell, there has never been any allusions to Bauer having any kind of religious faith), "confessing" to a Muslim cleric. And the cleric implores that THEY each forgive themselves.

In this post-modern confessional, human beings forgive themselves, in order to die in peace. I though this was a fascinating commentary on the state of belief in America today. The classic forgiveness of sins recited by a priest is now replaced with an anthropocentric general confession, that apparently we can all do ourselves.

I'm really not sure what it means to "forgive ourselves". This speaks as if there is some sort of bifurcation in the human person, where one part can do wrong, and another part has the power to forgive. Maybe there is some truth to that. I guess forgiving oneself really means being at peace with oneself, after examining our erroneous behavior, words or thoughts. But, I don't believe we can have peace within ourselves if we do not have peace with others, and ultimately peace with God.

I hope that when I find myself near the end of my life, I will have someone beside me who can assure me that I am forgiven, and that I have also made peace with others that I have had conflict with. i sense that will give me much more peace, than simply forgiving myself.

Wine and Fruit

2009-05-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

Beauty.

I am enjoying a bowl of Fruit Loops with a glass of Chilean Chardonnay, cuz that's just the way I roll.

Been enjoying the weather lately: tennis, hiking, etc.

I am nearing the end of our series through Exodus. I think I started preaching on Exodus in September - so we have been studying it as a community for almost 9 months. Still unsure on what series we will do next.

After the Regent Pastors Conference, I am thinking I should do a series on the life of Christ. Summer is always tricky for a church - you have a lot of people away, and attendance is pretty sketchy. I myself will most likely not be preaching for at least 4 sundays between June and August.

I am taking a 2 week study break in July, where I will chart out all my sermons from September - May of the coming year. And then in August, we are taking 2 weeks vacation to Alberta - my family will be in Banff celebrating my parents' 40th anniversary.

The Pastors Conference was really good - Earl Palmer and Fleming Rutledge were the plenary speakers. I have heard Palmer a lot - he is fantastic. I had never heard of Rutledge before - I thought she was sort of just ok - good content, but delivery was about average. There were quite a few old Baptist and Regent friends that were fun to see.

The big take away is that our preaching needs to be centered on Christ. Sounds simple enough, but it is easy to get distracted in our preaching.

River of Love

2009-05-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

There's a river of love that runs through all time
But there's a river of grief that floods through our lives
It starts when a heart is broken into
By the thief of belief in anything that's true
But there's a river of love that runs through all time

There's a river of love that runs through all time
But there's a river of tears that flows through our eyes
We fight through the night for freedom as it fades
Into a jail where we fail everytime we make a break
But there's a river of love that runs through all time

I had to run before I knew how to crawl
The first step was hard
But I have had trouble with them all
But now the night grows darker
And the day grows dim
Cause I know I never will see you again
And I almost made you happy

There's a river of love that runs through all time
But there's a river of fire that burns with no light
The flame is the pain of dreams gone up in smoke
From the lies we deny and breathe until we choke
There's a river of love that runs through all time

-T-Bone Burnett

Top Dylan Albums

2009-05-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

Here are the top 10 according to Rolling Stone readers (followed by my commentary)

1. Highway 61 Revisited - Lauded for several reasons: marked Dylan's full transition from folk to rock. Like A Rolling stone becomes one of the greatest songs of all time.

2. Blood on the Tracks - one of my favorite albums of all time by any artist. This album and The Joshua Tree are albums that I can listen to straight through form beginning to end. Dylan's post divorce ruminations are startling in their honesty.

3. Blonde on Blonde - Not a huge fan of this album, although it is part of the trilogy of Bringing it home and Highway 61.

4. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan - One of my fave albums - pure folk. Contains Mr. Tambourine Man. His second studio album, and the songs are way more polished than his first album.

5. Bringing It All Back Home - Probably my favorite Dylan album. Great lyrics - hard rains a'gonna fall is some of the best poetry ever written.

6. Love & Theft - Part of the second great trilogy in Dylan's career. This album seems like further exploration from the Time out of Mind sessions.

7. Desire - I don't know this album at all. Contains the song Hurricane, about the boxer.

8. Modern Times - Love this album. Cutting lyrics for the twilight of the Bush administration.

9. Time Out of Mind - This album made me a Bob Dylan fan. I don't know how I got a hold of it. I think I read an interview w. Elvis Costello - there was a picture of him holding this album to the camera, saying it was one of the greatest thing he has ever heard. The album opens with the line "I'm walking through streets that are dead", which sets the mood for what follows. I was in the front row when Dylan played Saskatoon on this tour. Will never forget the way he looked straight at me during one of the last songs.

10. Oh Mercy - Don't like this album very much either. Curious it was on the list.

Other albums I like by Mr. zimmerman:

Another Side of Bob Dylan

The Times They Are A'Changin'

John wesley Harding

Basement Tapes

Slow Train Coming - This should have really been on the list.

Church Goers More Likely To Support Torture

2009-04-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

This is troubling:

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

Evangelism in the Pub

2009-04-27T23:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-24T17:45:00.001-07:00

http://www.bodykini.com/

The Blogger vs. The Beauty Queen

2009-04-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-21T00:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-03T05:19:00.000-07:00

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.

Today's News

2009-03-31T23:28:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, shootings in Vancouver have become as common as Latte orders. There is some kind of gang turf war going on, and gangsters have been shooting each other up all across Metro Vancouver. 2 well known gangsters moved to Port Moody, which made all us gentle suburbanites a little extra nervous.

Today, a woman who was being evicted from her care home shot a worker there with a rifle. A shooting in a care home - you can't make that kind of stuff up.

Our church has been doing a series called "When God's People Pray". It is starting to wrap up, which means we will be going back to the book of Exodus again. It has taken us almost a full year to get through that book - I'm sure some people feel like we've been wandering in our own desert through the series.

U2 tickets are going on sale for Vancouver soon. Felicia and I were debating about wether we should get floor tickets. I told her I think I'm too old to be on the floor - she said that if we don't get floor tickets, when we get there, I'll be complaining the whole time about how we should be on the floor.

Played hockey outside with some of the neighborhood kids this afternoon. I like the way Adam always thinks he's winning, even when it is painfully obvious that he's not. Optimism in spite of reality.

In The Name of Jesus

2009-03-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

Day off today - I read "In the Name of Jesus" by Henri Nouwen. I read this small book on leadership 5 years ago.

Nouwen is an always refreshing voice amidst the hectic congestion of contemporary ministry life. He goes so much deeper than the average Christian book on the bestseller lists. In this book he charts out what is necessary for Christian leadership.

He says that the temptations pastors face are the temptation to be relevant, spectacular and powerful. The most powerful thing that I got out of this time's reading is the simple fact that nothing matters if I do not love Jesus.

"It is not enough for priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well trained, eager to help their fellow humans, and able to respond creatively to the burning issues of their time. All of that is very valuable and important, but it is not the heart of Christian leadership. The central question is, Are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God's presence, to listen to God's voice, to look at God's beauty, to touch God's incarnate Word, and to taste fully God's infinite goodness?"

He makes the point that Christ did not commission Peter out into ministry until he was assured that Peter loved Him. We dare not embark out in ministry unless, we similarily ddo everything out of a heart that has been infused and renewed by God's love. And God's love has to be central. We too easily get tempted by second loves or causes. Feeding the poor is good, but even if this act of social justice replaces our love for God, it can become an idol in our lives.

Peace.

The Robot in Adam's Heart

2009-03-22T23:29:00.000-07:00

Sunday night - 11:30 PM. Listening to Radiohead and chilling in my office. Watched too much tv tonight - Amazing Race and Celebrity Apprentice.

Felicia is at work, so its just me and the 2 little Ninans - both sleeping peacefully. Sophia got up and played for a bit, but then went back to bed, when I told her it was time to sleep. Earlier, Adam sat on bar-stools at the kitchen island, eating mint-chip ice-cream. He turned to me and asked how my day was with Soph.

Later on we were talking about what it meant for Jesus to live in his heart. Adam then informed me that something else lives in his heart - a robot with octopus arms made of steel. I began to wonder what theology people in our church are learning, if my own son believes that!

Church was good today. Our little church has four worship bands, which I find quite amazing. We don't need to hire a worship pastor, because there would simply nothing for him to do.

A number of new people again today. I am discovering that our growth is coming primarily from people who live near the church, but attend other churches in other cities. They get sick of driving 30 minutes (or more) to get to their other church, and they come check us out. The ironic thing is that we similarly have people who live in other cities that drive in for our church.

I also ran my first membership class today - we use the material from Saddleback Church. We simply re-fashion it for our context. It is very simple and basic, which is good.

On Easter Sunday we are going to welcome all the new members.

Day off tomorrow!

The Path of the Lonely

2009-03-16T16:41:00.000-07:00

As a pastor, I listen to a lot of other sermons, I read a lot of books and articles and I listen to a lot of people at various points of crisis in their lives. Every once in awhile I come across something which touches a deep part of me. Today I read something like that.

I was skyping my brother who lives trans-continentally in New York City and St. Andrews Scotland. Today He was in New York. On Wednesday he'll be in Scotland.

He directed me to this article:

http://www.notesfromtoadhall.com/articledetail.asp?AID=506&B=Wesley%20Hill&TID=7

It is written by Wesley Hill - a homosexual Christian man who has chosen to be abstinent, rather than fulfill his sexuality by being in a relationship with another man. Hill shows the incredible context of loneliness and secrecy that many homosexuals in our churches have to live within. This hiddenness is no doubt borne out of a number of factors - including the church's own reputation of intolerance, fear and sometimes even hatred.

I am deeply saddened that the church, which in theory should be an outpost of love, grace and acceptance is instead viewed as the LAST place you could admit the truth about yourself, if you are gay.

Hill is currently writing a book about what it means for him to be a homosexual Christian who chooses abstinence. I can't wait to read it - in fact I think every pastor should read both this article, and his book when it comes out. It will help us to be more empathetic and compassionate to these men and women who carry this tremendous secret around with them.

"God, help us to love and accept our gay sisters and brothers. These are men and women created in your image, who you love with an infinite love. Help our churches be "safe" places where they can process their sexuality within a context of love and acceptance."

I Can't Hear You

2009-03-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

I am at about 70% capacity. My head is pretty congested, so everything sounds sort of muffled. At one point, I actually heard my heart beating in my head, which was pretty weird.

Its midnight, and I can't sleep, so I'm killing time on here.

Genius picked out these songs based on Silver and Gold by U2

1. Murder Inc. - Springsteen

2. Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.

3. Sweetheart Like You - Dylan

4. In the Evening - Zeppelin

5. Clampdown - Clash

6. Monkey Man - Rolling Stones

7. Love Removal Machine - The Cult

8. 300 MPH Torrential Down Pour BLues - White Stripes

9. Helter Skelter - U2

10. Dirty Blvd. - Lou Reed

The R.E.M. song is very old - off of the Murmur album.

Everything else I can see fitting - maybe nor White Stripes or Lou Reed. White Stripes seem too new for a B-side U2 song that is over 20 years old.

Church was good this morning. I was happy with my sermon. Quite a few people away due to Spring Break.

Spring Break - Adam will be home from pre-school, making my mornings a little less peaceful. Working from home is not too bad most of the time. If things get too loud, I just put my headphones on - just like I would in a loud Starbucks.

Craigslist Ad of the Day

2009-03-14T05:25:00.001-07:00

How to Play Table Tennis Well, 4 CDs, voice in Mandarin - $33 (Surrey - Langley)

On the Other Side

2009-03-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah

Finally feeling a little better. Not 100%, but enough that I can actually work once again.

Upcoming concerts:

April - Leonard Cohen

June - Coldplay

October - U2

First, Leonard Cohen. I like Cohen a lot. I hadn't considered going to see him live until Bono said that the best concert he had ever been to was Leonard Cohen earlier this year in Dublin. Best concert ever? Sheesh. Only problem is I know absolutely no one who would want to go see him. So, if you live in the Vancouver and want to go, drop me a line and we'll go.

Coldplay - seen them once before and they were fantastic. I really like the new album. Felicia will go to this one with me.

The biggie - U2 - can't wait. This will be my 8th U2 concert. I am toying with the idea of flying out east to see them as well. But, I think if they go to San Diego, I'll go there instead, as I have family there.

Other than that, things seem to be going well. We are about to undertake a major overhaul of our web-site which I'm pretty excited about. I need to raise the money for it, above our current budget, so I have a couple of people to talk to about that, but the new site will be pretty sweet.

I talked to a couple of designers about it - we are going with a pretty large company with offices around North America. I spent 40 minutes on the phone with the lead designer - he gave me an excellent overview of what they can do for us.

After, talking to him, I talked to a smaller local company made up of 20 somethings. Truthfully, this is the company I would prefer to work with, simply because they are local. But, this guy (the C.E.O) sounded like he was eating a sandwich the whole time we were talking. His price was going to be way higher than this other company.

But, the thing that totally turned me off, was at one one point he told me, "Well, we're not Christians. Is that ok? I don't know, you might want to keep your business with your own type of people."

I was so shocked at this inane comment, that I was speechless for a couple of seconds. I finally said, "I could care less, if you were Christian or not - I don't go to my dentist because of his spiritual beliefs - I go because he does a good job of fixing my teeth. "

I would go to a satanist if he could make us a good web-site - ok, maybe not a satanist, but you get the picture.

I really couldn't figure out why this guy had to tell me he wasn't a Christian. Did he think my ears would start burning and I would start screaming "HEATHEN!!!" into the phone?

Needless to say, I won't be considering this company for any of our work.

No Cure on the Horizon

2009-03-06T23:18:00.000-08:00

Adam enjoying ice cream.

Day 3 of the lockdown continues as parasitic invaders continue to wreak havoc on my life. I actually felt pretty good this morning and sat down and wrote 2 pages of my sermon. Side-note - I have calculated that I need about 8-11 printed sheets of paper to make up a 30 minute sermon - slightly more or less, depending on how much scripture I also read w. that.

And then at 12:00 I felt as sick as I did the last 2 days which is really really sick. I decided to go to a medical clinic and see if there is a magic elixir that I'm missing. Now, I have never complained about the Canadian health system before - my father is a physician and my wife is a nurse so I'm pretty tied into things. But, today, I started to see the potential benefit of pay for service, because when you don't pay (at least directly), then you don't get much service.

The first clinic I went to, had a sign that said the doctor had met his regulated quota for the day and couldn't see any more patients. So, Adam and I ambled down to the mall - we were told it would be an hour wait, so we got ice cream and waited. After an hour I came back to the clinc - they said it would be at least another 45 minutes. I was trying to figure out wether I had stumbled into the one clinic that performed major surgeries that take several hours.

I decide to drop the boy at home, seeing as sitting in the waiting room wasn't going to hold his interest much more. Drop him off, come back - wait another 20 minutes and then go in the little room and wait about another 10 minutes. - In total it was almost a 2 and a half hour wait for a 5 minute consult. I could be tempted to pay for service, just to save the time.

Dr, Lazlow comes in, looking very harried. I tell him what's going on and ask if there is anything else I can do for a faster recovery. He checks me over, and says,

"Avoid exhaustion. You have a virus - it will screw around in your body for 7-10 days. Drink water and sleep."

Swell - no marathons in my immediate future, and don't stray from what has now become my regular routine of sipping water, poking at food, passing out in my bed and watching movies.

So basically, I have a few more days left of this funk. The hardest thing is the inability to concentrate on reading. Reading is basically the major thing I do in sermon preparation, besides praying and writing. Reading is also one of my top 3 leisure activities - so it is really frustrating to have books piled up that I can't enjoy. I sort of feel like an illiterate unemployed guy. I'm so weak I can't even do stuff w. Adam and Soph.

Ugh.

On a brighter note, I am thoroughly enjoying the new U2 album - NLOTH. It is fantastic, despite the horrible "boots" single - which does sound good live.

I have to say, I think U2 was quite savvy in playing letterman all week, and also doing some comedy bits. I'm sure it didn't cost them very much to do, yet what amazing publicity and marketing!

Tour plans are going to be released soon. I had hoped this would be the tour I could take my kids to - I have a feeling Adam will get fed up pretty fast and want to bolt out of there. (I mean Adam N., not Adam C.)

Viral

2009-03-05T22:38:00.000-08:00

Was sick most of today again. My life has degenerated into sips of cold water, poking at food, sleeping and trying to concentrate on a video on my laptop (BBC's Office and Lord of the Rings so far).

I went into the home office to try to work on my sermon. I was planning to preach on the Holy Spirit's role in prayer and ministry. But then I tried reading the following:

Acts depicts Pentecost as the basis of the church's existence, yet it is not so merely as an act of collective enthusiasm but as the starting point of proclamation of the resurrection of the Crucified and of his installation to a position of eschatological power as the Son of God and Kyrios. Corresponding to the eschatological character of this event on the side of believers is the assurance that in them the outpouring of the Spirit that is promised for eschatological consummation has occurred already.

This fine paragraph by theologian extraordinaire Wolfhart Pannenberg, teamed up with my already fragile state and proceeded to give me the most wicked headache ever.

So, goodbye Pannenberg, hello survivor!!!

I think I am at the tail end of things, and hope to be back to normal tomorrow.

Worlds Collide and I am Sicker Than You

2009-03-04T22:28:00.000-08:00

I have a bad case of the flu - really bad. I can't remember being this sick in years. Every winter I usually get a mild cold - but this thing this year has really way-laid me. I spent most of the day in bed, the rest of the time whining to whoever is within ear-shot.

I am so sick, that for the first time ever I am trying to come up with a contingency plan for Sunday. I have never missed a preaching/speaking opportunity due to illness before. Some ideas are to have people share testimonies of answered prayer, or have my message video-taped on Friday, and then played on Sunday.

The Worlds Colliding reference is about the fact that U2 is playing on Letterman all this week. I have a deep love for both Dave, and U2, so it has been fascinating seeing them there every night. Tonight, they even did the top 10 list which was pretty funny.

I think the new album is fantastic - I think I am going to take Adam to the concert this year, which will be very very cool.

Adam's Career Plans

2009-03-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

Future missionary to Uganda rocking it with Guitar Hero.

Actual conversation between Adam and I yesterday:

Do you want to be a tv star when you grow up?

Do you want to be a movie star?

No.

Do you want to be a missionary to Uganda?

Yes.

A Prayer to Prepare You For Lent

2009-02-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930)

Slumdog Wins! And Even More Big News!

2009-02-22T22:09:00.000-08:00

Ninan Manor

I hadn't blogged about this before, but we have been in the market for house/townhouse here in Port Moody. We still own our condo in Yaletown which we rent out. We vacillated between the two ideas of either selling and buying, or continuing to rent out the condo and buying out here, using a loan from the equity in the downtown condo as the down-payment.

It was very hard to make the decision, but in the end decided to hold on to the condo downtown and buy out here as well, placing us in the pseudo-precarious position of owning 2 properties. With that in mind, we started house hunting last week. The second home we saw was a townhome/duplex. It was an end unit, opening up to a forested green-belt. It was very beautiful - the location and the interior, but priced a bit out of our reach. We presented a low offer, was rejected, they dropped their price a fraction, we returned with a hefty increase in our prevously low offer, they returned with an even smaller decrease! At that point I pulled back, deciding they were never going to meet us at a price we could afford.

We ventured on in our search, but our minds kept circling back to this particular property. So, today, after we returned with a slight increase in our previous price. Our realtor played some hard-ball, demanding a response by 11:00 tonight (usually the turn-around on offers is 24 hours).

We were watching the Oscars, and were a bit teary eyed and elated at SlumDog's victorious night. Just as the Oscars ended we got the call from our realtor that the sellers accepted the offer. We are completely shocked that we got it!!!!

Our move-in date is June 1. We have decided that this is going to be our home for at least the next 20 years, unless God directs us elsewhere. This is the home our kids will grow up in. Purchasing this home really solidifies our ties with Port Moody.

Listen To Me

2009-02-19T22:47:00.001-08:00

Listening to Soph.

I don't know if I've said this before, but I have learned more about what it means to be a pastor in the past 4 months than I have in 7 years of theological training, the stacks of books I have read and in all the sermons I have heard.

I have dealt (in only 4 months!) with a whole spectrum of human break-down, illness and suffering. And then this week I learned another new thing and it is this:

Most people simply need to talk,

and most people don't have anyone to talk to.

I met with 4 people so far this week, with 2 more to go tomorrow. The 4 people I spoke with couldn't be more different form each other in terms of gender, age, economic back-ground, etc, etc. But.... they all simply needed someone to talk to. One person drove all the way from North Vancouver to talk to me - that's over an hour of driving each way, for a 30 minute meeting with me.

I came to the realization that in the majority of these types of meeting I probably spend 80% of the time just listening. I am hesitant at any kind of advice and counsel, so that is usually kept to a minimum. What I can do is offer things from my own experience, the reading of a scripture passage that might have something to do with what's going on, and pray. And, that's it.

Pastoral Care boils down to the gift of presence and the gift of empathy and the gift of authentic care.

When someone feels they have been listened to, it validates their experience and their emotion. It communicates to them that they are not alone. And isn't that our biggest fear - that we are all alone? (Refrain from a Nirvana song just enters my head - "All alone is all we are"). Sorry Kurt, its just not true.

But, the breakdown of family and community in our society leads to these feelings of alienation. The result is that people like me, end up just listening a lot.

And then the burden become - who is listening to me? Do I have friends to turn me, who will have similar empathetic ears? I have Felicia and a few others.

If You Want Me....

2009-02-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

This past week a very large well known Christian pare-church organization hosted a brekfast for pastors in Metro Vancouver. Never one to turn down a free breakfast, I headed to a large church in East Van.

The breakfast was great. I ran into some old friends. The speakers were..... pretty weak. I hate to say it, but if you are going to put on an event for people who spend most of their lives communicating publicly, then you need to have communicators that can speak above the level of the average pastor. These speakers were well intentioned and sincere but were simply so average.

At these things you usually get a lot of free stuff, which was nice. I also got a free pen.

Got better this week, and then just today started to feel ill again. Don't know why. Also, Adam and I went for haircuts. His looks nice - I, well, let's just say my hair is so short, you can make out the exact shape of my scalp. I hope I don't scare too many people at church tomorrow.

Sneezing

2009-02-08T20:54:00.000-08:00

Spent most of the week sick. Still went to work, but was definitely not accomplishing as much. It was made even harder by the fact that I had meetings every day and every night, and had to conduct my first memorial service... and write a sermon.

All in all, I think it was ok - but this morning, I felt really out of it when I went up to preach, and for the first time in a long time missed some points, and lost my place on the text. I thought I was going to pass out after.

Came home, ate some soup and really did pass out on my bed.

Got up, and played with the kids for a bit. Then watched the grammys. Ok - after seeing U2 tonight, I actually like the new single "Get on your boots", which I really didn't like before. It's the first single by them that didn't grab me by the neck the first time I heard it.

But, they were cool live. I also really liked the strange Chris Martin / Jay Z pairing. Radiohead also didn't disappoint.

The biggest surprise was the album of the year. Both Coldplay and Lil Wayne were nominated. I thought for sure Lil Wayne would win, due to all the media hype build-up for him prior to the awards. But, in the end - Alison Kraus and Robert Plant!!!! What?

Has anyone actually heard of this album? Beside the grammy judges? Sheesh.

At this rate - Benjamin Gump might actually beat Slumdog for best picture.

I hope I start feeling better soon - being sick really slows me down.