Movie And Dinner

Wow .. I had a great day today.

In the morning I had my regular church internship meeting at school. Then, late afternoon, I went to the bus station to pick up Ralph. He's here for the next day. We went home and drank mate until about 6:30, at which time we got into my car and drove to the movie theatre.

At the theatre, we met up with my dear friends Clau and Carla, and Connie and Alberto. We saw Amazing Grace, a great movie about the abolition of slave trade in England. It was very interesting to see how William Wilberforce was portrayed in the film. I know a little of him from my History of Christianity course at school, and from what I can tell, his portrayal in the film was quite accurate. So often nowadays, movies that have an inkling of spiritual content are deconstructed to a point beyond recognition (wouldn't want to challenge relativism now, would we), but overall I felt they did his faith justice.

Anyways, after the movie Clau pulled out a $50 gift certificate for the Spaghetti Factory. Nice..!! So we went there and wined and dined. Clau's Mexican friend, Karla, also joined us there. Man she's a blast. Great fun..... Ralph had a good time too.

I'm blessed.

Sick .. But Getting Better

Unfortunately I was unable to go to visit mom and dad yesterday. I think I got some kind of food poisoning, because I've been in bed most of today with a wicked (that is .. EVIL and PAINFUL) stomach ache throughout the day.

It would've been so good to go to Abbotsford to visit with family. Not only was it dad's birthday yesterday, it was also my parents' ??? wedding anniversary. Shame on me .. I don't even know how many years they've been married.....

I hope to visit them two weeks from now, on Easter Sunday.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is dad's 66th birthday, I trust you'll have a happy day, dad! Thank you for the many ways in which you minister to us.

God bless you abundantly!

Family Business Meeting: Take 2

Today we had our second business meeting, and as expected, the outcome wasn't all that good. Given my concerns about the purpose, continuity concerns, etc...., it just didn't make sense to go ahead with it.

Having said that, it's not all negative. Ted will put together a proposal with more concrete numbers (expected revenues, costs), and we'll re-evaluate again after looking at it.

Ted didn't seem pleased about the outcome. But I think it's better to ask hard questions now.

A New Preacher

We've got a new pastor in our Evening Service. He's actually a classmate of mine from school. He preached tonight (yes, I went). I'm glad I went. I didn't really want to go, but I forced myself to go. And I'm glad I did, because God blessed the effort. I'm (mildly) encouraged.

A Passion And A Paradox

Tonight I went to a fundraising dinner at a church (not my own) that I volunteer at once a month. The fundraiser was for a feed-the-homeless service this church operates every Thursday night.

I enjoyed the evening (Paul came also). Had a good meal, a few good speeches/testimonies, a silent auction, and an offering. The best part of the evening was a conversation that I had with Andrew, the man in charge of the program.

I'm realizing that I have a passion for the poor. There's a paradox in this passion though. The more I come in contact with issues of poverty (said differently, the more I encounter the helplessness of the poor), the more I'm convinced that there's very little I can do about it, yet at the same time the more convinced I become that I should do something about it.

I think it was Mother Teresa who said something along the lines of "Prayer drives us to the world, and the world drives us back to prayer." Simple yet profound. I like it.

Family Business Meeting: Take 1

So a few days ago my brother Ted sent me an email suggesting that we - that is, he, our brother in law, and me - open a family business. His idea is to open a house-building company: buy property, build a house, and sell it, buy another property, build a house, sell it, etc...

Tonight was our first "business meeting."

I went there in good spirits, thinking that in principle, he had a good idea. But our meeting didn't go so well, at least according to my thoughts. Now I feel quite sour about it.

The core issues are the following questions:
* why open a business? Ted has a job; Heinz has a job (he just got one earlier this week); and I, well, what the heck do I know about building and selling homes! Then again, I've been thinking about setting up some kind of an "urban Chrsitian community" in the city. Maybe our company could build and donate the house. Ha!

* continuity? Ted and family are only planning to stay in Canada for another 1.5 years at which time they will return to South America. In light of Ted's absence, who would run the business?

* given the above two issues, is it ethical to use dad's "goodwill" (money) as a guarantee? Aren't we taking a rather big risk with his money? Is this pride setting in?

* and finally (we didn't even tackle this issue at the meeting .. but it will be an issue before too long .. I know it!), what about familial conflicts regarding money? Based on past experiences, I know the greed that sets in with regards to money. It's not a pretty sight...

Skipped Church .. Again

I've skipped 2 of the last 3 Sunday evening services .. and 4 of the last 8 I think. I lack motivation. I lack energy. I lack joy. I don't want to render God the praise he is due for some reason.

Darkness looms ..

Studying With Claudia

I'm so blessed to have a friend like Claudia. She came over in the morning, around 9, and I made breakfast for her. Afterwards, we studied the day away, until about 6pm. Then she went away to a party I think, or perhaps Latin-dancing .. she does that a lot.

I spent the rest of the evening studying contently, but a part of me was very sad she left. Strange: on the one hand, I am quite content - in fact, I insist on - spending a lot of time alone; but on the other hand, there's an incredible yearning for an "Other".

I can't decide whether this "Other" is an intense search for deeper communion with God, or a desire to be in a relationship with a woman.

The good thing, or perhaps, the challenging, confusing thing, is that both of those desires are perfectly legitimate and godly.

I Don't Care

I skipped Pastoral Care today, because I'm tired of listening to my prof swearing in class. He's very good in his field (counselling), but it seems to me he's a little depressed.

Of course, it's "contextualized" swearing, meaning that the swearword is "in line" with the context he's describing, but I just don't buy that. That's such a poor excuse! As someone in a position of power and influence, a professor ought to have enough spiritual self-discipline/control to have "reign" over his tongue.

An Evening With Family And Friends

I'm writing this under today's date, even though what I'm about to describe took place last night.

Yesterday evening, around 4:30pm, 4 of my bestest friends, James, Petro, Carla, and Claudia went to Abbotsford for dinner with my family. It was a superb evening .. one of the best evenings I've had this year.

We arrived at my parent's place shortly before 6, and drank some mate before dinner. My bro, sis, and their families (including my 5 nephews and 3 nieces) came too, and it was delightful introducing them to my friends. It was equally delightful introducing friends to family.

After a few minutes of introductions and snacks, we gathered 'round the livingroom dinner table and ate a fantastic meal: baked potatoes, broccoli salad, chipa, rice, and feijoada (Carla loved this!) were only a few of the many goodies mom had prepared. Of course, dad did his part too, preparing a massively delicious bbq: steak and chicken (no vegetarians around our dinner table that's for sure!!!). My bro brought a bottle of red wine, and I brought a bottle of Portuguese rose also, which went very well with everything.

And dessert .. my gosh .. that's a whole 'nother story again. Karin made a cheesecake, and mom made a chocolate cake (sort of like a black forest cake). Of course, it didn't help that I'm lenting from coffee and chocolate .. but oh well, the cheesecake was up for grabs ... and grab I did. :D

After dinner we all sat around the table and enjoyed good conversation. In retrospect, it was more like a question-answer period: family-members asking the questions, friends answering them. Unfortunately, my friends didn't get to return the favour, and consequently the "conversation" was a bit one-sided. Oh well, next time...

Another highlight for me was when my nephew Ralph played a beautiful piece by Chopin on the piano. He is very good. It seems to me he loves to serve others with his musical gifts. Tanis, on the other hand, disappeared for much of the evening. Not sure where she went to ...

Around 10:30pm we made our way back home to Vancouver. I had so much fun. I didn't take any pictures - forgot my camera - my bad. Still, a great evening. God has blessed me with amazing family and friends!

Preparing Bible Studies

Morning/Afternoon: I went to a conference at my church on how to prepare small group Bible Studies. It was very helpful, as we went through the gospel of John (by far my favourite gospel!) and looked at 7 steps of study preparation (essentially, 7 steps of exegesis). Here are the steps:

1- write / type out the text.
2- What kind of literature is it?
3- Underline unclear, repeated, or very important words.
4- Determine context
5- Establish structure / shape of passage
6- Main idea
7- Prepare teaching outline.

Extension Granted!

Pheeeeew! I'm so relieved. This afternoon I sent off an email to my professor, asking for an extension in my Systematic B course .. and tonight I got a response in the affirmative.

So, rather than having to write a 4,000 word paper and final exam in the next 14 days, I have an additional 2 months! This is just awesome!

Now I can devote the next 5 weeks to researching my paper: "The implications of Christ's bodily resurrection on our own bodily resurrection."

Then, I have an additinoal 3 weeks to study for my final exam.

Arghhh

I had a piece of humble pie today. It didn't taste very good. I got my mark on a paper that defended moralism in the early church, and I only got a B+. Ughhhhh.....

I thought this was a good paper, and B+ is not a "bad" mark, but I was really hoping for .. well .. an A. My professor agreed with the conclusions I came to in the paper, but his feedback indicated that I didn't answer all the questions pertaining to the issue. Apparently my argument wasn't watertight (although he didn't use those words).

Well, anyways, ya can't win them all .. still, humble pie doesn't taste very good.

New Library

The new library at school opened a few weeks ago, and I have to say that studying in it is a whole lot more enjoyable than that old dungeon they called "libary" beforehand.

I heard someone refer to humans as "Luxus Tiere" (animals of luxure) once, and I think that's true. We're drawn to anything that's new, sleek, cool, and slick, and .. well .. luxurious. Now, the new library is by no means luxurious, but it's definitely new and cool.

All this to say that in the coming weeks I'll be spending more time studying at school than at home. The library has wireless too, which is nice. Wouldn't want to work without a connection to the cyberworld now, would we....

Rend Your Heart

An appropriate Scripture passage as we begin the Lenten season today, Ash Wednesday:

Joel 2:12-18 (ESV)

12 "Even now," declares the LORD,
"return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning."
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.

14 Who knows? He may turn and have pity
and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the LORD your God.

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.

16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.

17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD,
weep between the temple porch and the altar.
Let them say, "Spare your people, O LORD.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?' "

The LORD's Answer

18 Then the LORD will be jealous for his land
and take pity on his people.

Sunday School

I've been teaching Sunday School now for the past month. It's been challenging, but good. I admit, I don't consider myself to be very good around kids .. except my nephews and nieces, but somehow that's different. They're family....

I get a little self-conscious and nervous around kids, because they're always so honest: they say what they think. It's a good thing to be honest, of course, but there's an element of fear that someone else's honesty can bring out in me: fear of being exposed and made vulnerable.

What if they don't like the shoes I wear? What if my socks don't match (that's never happened before). What if a piece of lettuce is stuck on my teeth and I'm completely oblivious to it? What if they see I'm nervous? What if my fly's open? What if I accidentally fart? What if they don't like the way I told the story of Joseph? The possibilities of being rejected by the kids are endless....

Of course, if I didn't take myself so serious I'd be ok with someone or other poking fun at me every now and then. Like they say .. you gotta be able to laugh at yourself. That's a skill I haven't attained yet .. but one I'm in desperate need of.

Who knows, maybe this experience of teaching kids (grades 3 and 4) will help me get over myself. That at least, is my prayer.

Break-In

Got home from school today at around 6pm, and as soon as I put my key in the front door, I knew something was wrong. It didn't fit right. It didn't feel right. I turned the key, and was shocked to find out that the door was unlocked. I opened the door, and lo and behold, someone'd been in my place.

Clothes were lying all over the floor, drawers taken out of the desk and emptied, its contents spread throughout the apartment. My balcony sliding-door was open also.

I immediately noticed that they didn't take the "big" stuff: stereo, dvd player, and printer were all intact, untouched. Even smaller electronics were still there: webcam, phone, even my external hard drive (thank goodness - all my schoolwork's on it!!).

So what did they want? What did they take? My ipod, two backpacks, and cash, about $300.

Interestingly, no, amazingly(!), my old laptop which I'd left at home (after all, I'm a a Mac user now and I'd taken my new laptop to school with me) was left untouched. I'd promised to give it to my friend Carla, who badly needs a laptop, last week, and it would've been so frustrating for it to be stolen now. I called the police, and after the policewoman arrived she was stunned when I told her that the laptop was not stolen. She said it's a miracle. I agreed. Thank you Lord!

Anyways, now it's cleanup time. It'll probably take me all weekend to clean up. I feel violated.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the thief, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on a sinful world.

I Converted

Bye-bye PC. Hello Mac.

Coffee on 8th Ave

I dropped by a coffee shop that's supposedly quite good, 3 blocks from my place. My friend Dan told me that they are friendly there, and they make good coffee, so I wanted to go and check it out. He was right!

The hostess, Eden (beautiful name, no?), made me a coffee .. on the house. She knew immediately that it was my first visit (impressive), she was very friendly and started talking to me.

The coffee was excellent too. It was some kind of a special (espresso) shot.

Maybe I'll go back next week with a few books and spend an afternoon there studying/reading. Only drawback is they don't have any wireless internet access, so it's no use taking my laptop there.