Pastor John Van Sloten

Shot while trying to hold a living room lamp up to the window…  I really need to invest in a few ‘slave’ flashes.

-30 degrees the last couple of days here in Calgary… great time to have a nice warm fire…

I don’t think I’ve felt this relaxed in months.  Slept in and then went for a 60km bike ride west of the city this afternoon.  40km headwinds heading out (2-1/2 hours),  40 km tailwind heading back (45 minutes).  For once I didn’t rush.  Stopped to take a few pics, and smiled a lot.  God really is good on the complimentary colour thing.

Last night I had these repeating nightmares of everything falling apart at church.  Woke up all stressed out and realized that I have no idea how good things are at New Hope right now.  There is an often unseen and uncited goodness that’s keeping things in order. 

I took this picture of an ant the other day.  I love the diffused feel of it.   For months now I’ve been thinking about preaching on ants.   The idea of their collective mind doing more than any individual ant can do is intriguing.  Scientists and church communities operate the same way.

I just got back from a cohort gathering with Regent Seminary on Galiano Island (I suffer so).  It was probably the most intellectually stimulating experience I’ve had in years (maybe ever).   They talked a lot about a God who speaks through two books.  Needless to say I was into it.  The speakers were brilliant, and those who formed the group possesed some pretty dense grey matter.  At times I felt out of my element, but for the most part it was a blast.   The theological affirmation I felt throughout the event was quite moving.  I found myself trembling a lot.  When I got home I told my wife that, while I’m not an academic, I do love dabbling in that world.  Got a few great ideas for a sermon series on science this fall… and took a few nice photos!

Every month or so vandals demolish the safety glass cladding the 51st street bus stop near our place.   The senselessness of it all usually ticks me off.  But today I made the best of it by capturing the beauty there. 

This morning I headed out on a walk, intent on getting a good photo of a snowflake.  It’s never worked before – too elusive, hard to focus on, meltage – but I wanted to try.   Little did I know how much a feather and a few spider webs would help.   I also met countless buds who were pretending they were birds.  Great fun. (just click on the images to enlarge them)

Well, it took me 19 days to rewrite/edit the book. I have never worked more intensely than I have over these two and a half weeks. Not physically – I barely moved – but mentally I pushed myself hard. It’s been both exhausting and exhilarating…

And now this phase is done. I had to call home just to share the news with someone I loved. Now the tougher part. I have to try and read my own book. How do you do that when you’re so close to the text? I don’t even know if it’s possible. I’m going away with Fran for the weekend. Maybe that will help.