This is one of my favorite movie scenes ever. Jean-Pierre nails it with his comment on the warrior ethic and the masculine need to sacrificially serve a higher master. Michael Lonsdale plays Jean-Pierre, a solitary, sagacious retiree who spends his evenings painstakingly painting and assembling a model reconstruction of the legendary battle of the 47 … Continue reading “The Warrior Code” from Ronin
Chaplaincy Challenges: Early Thoughts
Last month I had my first full day of visitations at Vancouver General Hospital as part of a chaplaincy internship I am enrolled in. The program will last until the end of next April and requires one 8 hour day of rotations at the hospital along with an 8 hour teaching day each week. I've … Continue reading Chaplaincy Challenges: Early Thoughts
Back at It
Well, it's day two of the new semester here at Regent. I'm bustling around the college today making a few announcements, signing up for the neccesities, and rubbing shoulders with old friends. It's good to be back in a normal rhythm again. Lea has been in California for the last few days on a planning … Continue reading Back at It
A call to risk for Christian men
At the end of our summer, Lea and I were at the Alongside Ministries International Conference in France. While there, I had a great conversation with a fellow from California. We wrestled together through what it means for a man's passions for struggle, sacrifice and risk to be excercised in the context of the Christian … Continue reading A call to risk for Christian men
One of the things that troubles me most …
One of the things that troubles me most about ministry talk in the church is how often we elevate monetary and physical resources above human ones and how this juxtaposition of values can undermine our ultimate mission. It seems to me that Church history would indicate that some of our healthiest seasons have been when … Continue reading One of the things that troubles me most …
“Everything We Need for Revival”
Last summer, our congregation in Viimsi celebrated the completion of a seven year construction project. Church leaders from all over the area came to offer their blessings. Among the congratulations offered that day, the director of a local Bible School encouraged us that we now had “everything we need for a revival.”
While I’m sure he meant well, his comment left me puzzled. I sat in my seat wondering what things we had now that we didn’t have before that could possibly account for the presence or absence of revival.