Dreams Unlocked

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 profess...

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), ...

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 Ru...

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 l...

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 th...

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

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...

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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.  Hil...

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 ...

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, b...

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 wa...

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 congr...

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, ...

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...

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 arden...

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 growt...

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 a...

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...

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