It's a historic day for the athensBLOG!! 10 years ago today I fired up this online journal to keep track of the Cuthills adventures as we started in full-time ministry, specifically taking a team to the Olympics in Athens. This explains the name athensBLOG and along the way someone showed me how to register a domain name and www.shawncuthill.com was also used as an easy to remember URL for those who prayed & supported us along the way.
It was a great way to fire off a blog post once a day or so, in the pre-facebook era, and have friends and family updated on everything that was going on.
After a while the athensBLOG got quite a following and comments on my posts piled up along with regular readers. After one contentious debate that went on and on and on, I asked the great people at Quist consulting (ie: Russ) about using server space to host an online forum as an outlet for these discussions. And so after about a year SimpleGathering.com was born. Many of you participated in the early discussions debates and diatribes as the pre-facebook internet lurched toward more social interaction.
The SimpleGathering discussion forum was fascinating and drew many from brethren churches around the world to discuss a myriad of topics. From this collaboration of brethren voices came BrethrenPedia.com, a wiki to help record the history of brethren assemblies. These sites still continue today although I was not able to spend as much time on them as transitioned from Bridlegrove to start our own ministry in Thorncliffe Park.
Other sites sprang up like YouTube, then eventually facebook and twitter and challenged blogs for relevance on the web. Posting on social media became the norm and while I bid farewell to regular daily blogging in 2008, I've continued to post on here every couple months. Hopefully some time in the near future all the different online pieces mentioned above can be woven together into one big ShawnCuthill.com experience.
But till then take a look at some of the features on this blog over the years:
So after 1500 odd posts and hundreds of thousands of visitors today I'm taking time to look back on that first blog post on July 21st, 2004 and thank each of you who have been with us along the way! Here's to another 10 years!
Hello everyone, my name is Shawn and I created this blog for myself and my team who are going to the Olympics in Athens from August 4th to September 2nd. I figured a blog would be the best way to tell everyone what we are doing, and keep everyone updated whilie we are overseas. Be sure to check in OFTEN to get up-to-the-minute prayer requests.
I've had a hankerin for Coldplay ever since I heard their latest song Viva La Vida on our vacation: I'm interested to hear your thoughts on what this song is about. One possible interpretation is that it's about George Bush and the USA, others say it's England or the Crusades or the Roman Empire. Any ideas?
This song came up as my MP3s were shuffling and as I listened I thought I'd blog it with a few comments. I really believe most Christians do barely anything for God because of fear. They are afraid to really let go and abandon themselves to God. Think about it. That's what kept the Israelites from taking the land, when Joshua & Caleb said God could do it. That's what kept the army paralyzed, when David stepped up to kill Goliath. That's what has probably kept you where you are right now instead of following your dreams and stepping out in faith and trusting God.
Fear - 2 Tim 1:7 - God has not given us a spirit of fear! Trust God! Stop being scared! Make up your mind! Get into the battle! Step out on faith! It's not easy. It's worth it.
I've had the song 'Living years' running through my head the past little while. Pardon the 'subtitulada' but it was the only version of the real video I could find. Somehow neither the Kids Incorporated, nor the Sims version seemed appropriate:
Lukas graduated from Bridlegrove's kindergarten on Thursday. I'll post some videos of the graduation soon. Friday was his very last day. He starts grade 1 at Thorncliffe Park school in September.
While I was driving to pick him up for the last time on Friday, this song came on the radio. I think it's about a relationship ending. I couldn't find the MP3 so here's the video. In many ways Friday was the end of our relationship with Bridlegrove. Sure there will be visits, but Friday felt like the end. Thinking over the time we spent there brought back many memories. So many people. So much time. Like any relationship, the end is sad even if there's something good to move on to. In many ways Luke's graduation felt like many other 'last days' I've experienced. Knowing it's time to move on. Not wanting to part with people and memories. Wishing it could last forever. Grieving the circumstances that brought it to an end. It's always hard to say goodbye. Why do all good things come to an end?
Well folks, I'm here typing this from Winnipeg! Land of the Blue Bombers and Winnie the Pooh! I'm here on a course and finding it a nice 'friendly' place (as the license plates say). I'll be processing alot of stuff over the next week on muslim history.
One question I recently has was about a little song kids sing in church - Peter & John went to pray...Question:
Why did Peter and John go to the temple to pray? Why didn't they meet with the other Christians to pray? Does it matter if someone coming from another religion still attends their place of worship, but simply accepts Jesus as the Messiah?
A while back I posted a music video from my awesome musician sister-in-law Cindy Davis!! Most of you thought Cindy rocked - and she does - but recently she got an amazing award to prove it! My awesome musician sister-in-law won best song of the year at the 2007 Vancouver Island Music Awards!!!
Tonight we move to Thorncliffe Park. As I reported last week Thorncliffe is a neighbourhood in Toronto that is inhabited mainly by new Canadians from Pakistan and Afghanistan. 30,000 people. 34 high rise buildings. The biggest elementary school in North America. It's a different kind of 'ghetto' than the Steeles-Lamarouex/Chester Le area we lived in for the past 3 years working at Bridlegrove, but it's still a ghetto. I wanted to post a video that you can watch until we arrive in Thorncliffe. It's about ghettos in Toronto and those who grow up in them. It's strange to think that my kids qualify for that category.
The video was sent to me by Geoff Ryan, my Salvation Army officer friend who is doing an awesome work in the legendary Toronto ghetto - Regent Park. I'm excited to be working with Geoff, who will be helping and coaching me in Thorncliffe.
I love the 'hook' for the song..."I was born and raised in the ghetttoooo". I'd challenge you to watch the video at least 5 times until that little hook penetrates your soul and mind with empathy. It gives me shivers listening to it and thinking of all my homeys that we worked with at Bridlegrove. I miss those kids a whole lot. I made a photo album on facebook. Lord, be gracious to them.
While we are driving the 18 hours from PEI I'll be praying that more and more people will be like Jesus and move into the ghettos. These 'bad areas'...like the one Jesus grew up in. Jesus was a kid 'born and raised' in a ghetto called Nazareth, where 'no good thing' could possibly happen. Maybe that's why he loves these kids so much. As you watch this video, say a prayer for all the kids in the ghettos in Toronto.
Jesus' mandate was to "bind the brokenhearted". Today someone sent me a poem that expresses some of the pain associated with a broken heart. As you read this, pray for someone you know that has a broken heart. Think about sending them this poem to show them that it's OK to mourn and hurt and heal.
When the heart Is cut or cracked or broken Do not clutch it Let the wound lie open
Let the wind From the good old sea blow in To bathe the wound with salt And let it sting
Let a stray dog lick it Let a bird lean in the hole and sing A simple song like a tiny bell And let it ring (by Leunig)
May our ears be attentive to the song of the broken hearts all around us.
Heard a very cool song recently by a group called My Chemical Romance titled The Black Parade. It's the first few minutes that really caught my attention. Here are the lyrics that I think all of us should take to heart:
When I was a young boy, My father took me into the city To see a marching band. He said, "Son when you grow up, will you be the saviour of the broken, The beaten and the damned?"
Again thank you all very much for your prayers! We really couldn't do it without you all. I want to share one story to show how God answered your prayers for us here, half way around the world! Upon arriving on our island it was clear that we needed to rent a car to travel between all the tiny villages. Villages like Merixax, Chora, Dryopida, Lefkes, Loutra and others with populations of 50-500 are scattered all over this Island of Kythnos. We got a great deal on a van and each day split up into our mini-teams of 4 (our team consists of 12 people plus Olivia - so 3 teams of 4). Each team would be dropped off in their respective village to hand out Bibles, and then we would meet up again at the end of the day to eat supper together at some location where we felt the Lord giving us the best opportunities. One such town was Dryopida. Noel, Deb, Danielle and Kelly had distributed bags there and got a good vibe, so the entire team went there Saturday night. That night there was a big Euro dance at the main ampi-theater so the place was packed with about 500 or 600 people from all over the island, some we recognized coming from other villages as this was the only thing going on on the entire island that night. We saw alot of people we had spoke to from other villages.
We weren't sure what the Euro dance was all about but we knew people would be there so we prayed, and asked you to pray, and God answered in a big way! We ate dinner there and prayed that we would get a chance to share. We had been practising singing some Greek songs and we asked the Lord to give us a chance to share, then headed to the ampitheater. We thought perhaps we would get a chance to sing our songs & talk to people after the show, hopefully if people would be mingling around after.
The ampitheater was packed and there were many performers. While we were waiting for the show to begin Hayley felt led to ask the people if we could actually perform during the show! We were very nervous and prayed as she asked the organizers. First she asked the sound guy who told her to ask the lady that was organizing it. Hayley asked the lady, who simply asked who we were and what we wanted to do and Hayley explained we were Christians from all over the world who had a few songs to sing. The lady wanted to see the songs and after she read the words she gave us the green light! Praise God, we were on the program, and not only that, we were the grand finale!! Now we were REALLY nervous...would we remember our Greek songs, would they boo and throw things at us?? We prayed more fervently now!
The program went on for about 2 hours and we were losing hope of actually getting to perform. There was Greek dancing, singing and lots of "Opa's" all around. After what appeared like the grand finale, the organizer lady went up to the microphone, motioned to Hayley and explained to the whole crowd that we were an international group of Christians that were visiting the Island and wanted to sing some Christian songs. Here is the video:
It was amazing!! We took the stage and sang praises to Jesus in front of people from the entire Island! Len played guitar, we had sheets in front of us with the Greek words and Olivia was sleeping the whole time! Looking at the crowd I figured there were over 600 people there, which was almost half the population of the entire island! Here is the video that Kelly took of us singing in Greek.
There is a video of us singing in English as well but I'll load it up some other time. First we sang "All in All" in English, then Greek, then we sang one other song only in Greek. The people loved it and were very appreciative. Debbie (our Greek speaking Irish superstar) took the microphone after we were finished and shared a bit in Greek about who we were and told everyone that we were the one who had been leaving the Bibles all over their Island!! Wow! And they all clapped!! Praise God
The best part though was after the performance. Hayley and i went up to thank the organizer lady and give her a Bible. We thanked her and asked her where she was from. She went on to tell us that she was the wife of the MAYOR!!!!! We weren't sure wether this meant the mayor of the town (I couldn't imagine a town of 500 having a mayor) so possibly it was the municipality of the entire Island!!! Wow! I've never experienced that before, where a government official has endorsed so openly the gospel or a group of Christians. It was like she had just given a "stamp of approval" to our work, and let all the people of the island know that they officially welcomed the bags!
So thanks for your prayers. We have lots more stories but I'll have to save them for another time. We leave Kythnos today on the ferry and spend the next three days at Porto Astro again, so I won't have internet access until we're back in Canada. Please pray for a safe trip home for everyone on the team! Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer through our time here!
"Prayer requests" are published every Wednesday and provide us with up-to-the-minute requests to help us cry out to God on behalf of others __________________
As Nigel mentioned some of us here in Toronto will be having an all-night-prayer meeting at Leaside Bible Chapel this Friday starting at 8PM. Here's the outline of the night:
8:30-9:00 Opening Welcome and Worship 9:00-9:30 God's desire to work in our hearts (discussion and the Word) 9:30-10:15 Pleading with God to do work in our hearts 10:15-10:30 Songs of dedication 10:30-11:15 What is God doing, and what does He want to do in our local churches 11:15-12:00 Interceding for the Holy Spirit to work in the churches 12:00-12:30 Worship and intercession through song 12:30-1:45 Interceding for the harvest of the nations 1:45-2:00 Open time of worship, prayer and closing thoughts
If anyone is interested in coming here are directions to Leaside Bible Chapel. However if you can't come, but want us to pray for something please let us know in the comments. We have lots of time allocated for prayer...so we need some prayer requests!! Write yours in the comments below :)
Recently we have been singing a little song to Olivia. We noticed that she perked up and smiled when we sang it. It's a simple song that goes like this:
In to my heart In to my heart In to my heart Lord Jesus come in today, come in to stay come in to my heart Lord Jesus
Works every time. Now Lukas said to me, "stop singing mama I want to sing the song I wrote"
In to my heart In to my heart Lord Jesus come to my house for a visit come for a sleepover
I don't need no one to tell me about heaven I look at my daughter, and I believe. I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth I can see the sunset and I perceive
Lots to think about in that song. I don't know how anyone could not believe in God, a loving heavenly father, after having a child.
A yes, Bon Jovi! The epitome of the 80's rock band! They dominated my musical tastes, along with Van Halen, during my elementary school years in the mid 80's. Back then in my unbelieving days I was more interested in figuring out crude new ways to twist the lyrics to their songs ("shot to the heart" anyone?) than meditating on the message therein. When "Livin on a prayer" came out, I didn't give the idea of prayer a second thought.
Now that I have been a Christian long enough to be perhaps an "elementary school believer" (about 10 years) I'd say I'm in the same "Bon Jovi" years spiritually. I'm only "half-way there", if that.
Bon Jovi's wa-wa pedal-pushin song now brings a new reality to my ears as I consider it again. Am I livin on prayer? Is prayer my life-line? Do I think I have arrived, or do I want to "Take HIS hand and we'll make it I swear". Where does my dependence lie for daily power, for ministry, for life.
This is all coming into focus because at the end of June there is an all-night prayer meeting that I have been invited to. It got me thinking...Why haven't I done this before? How come I have met with Christians for "fellowship" about a million times more than I have met with believers for prayer?
Hopefully this oldy-but-goody by Bon Jovi will take on new meaning in my life and yours. Hopefully this time around the words of the song will finally sink in. "We've got to hold on to what we've got, it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We've got each other and that's a lot for love - We'll give it a shot". Perhaps we should all give an all night prayer meeting a shot! Has anyone out there been to one before? What's the longest prayer meeting you've been to? Any experiences or answers to prayer you'd like to share? Any tips for staying awake :)
I think the highlight of my weekend would have been today... As a Christian Assembly (generically Plymouth Bretheren) music at our church is very conservative. Usually old songs, written before I was born. Recently the older people in our church have been working hard and we have been getting music around the 1980's at church. We've always only had a single piano with a violin being added in the last six months or so...today...Jesse played Drums in front of 200 people..."Grace of God" that the general reaction was good. As in most conservative churches there are people who don't think too highly of the drums and we were really worried that we would offend. So far no comment, actually one more conservative brother approached Ranen and gave him positive feedback Smile ..In some respects it is a reason why we picked a song with such good lyrics ( The old "solid rock hymn" we played with a modern tune)...I think by the end of it most people were comfortable with it and I think it opens the door for the future where we can play praise God through music in a modern way without distracting or compromising true worship Smile
As a way to thank my readers for their dedication to checking in regularly here at ShawnCuthill.com, I wanted to give away a FREE MP3. That's right a free MP3. Some of you may be thinking "whoopie, I can download a free MP3 any day", but this my friends is a LEGAL download. :)
Now you won't download it from my site, so pay attention to the instructions and act fast, I have only 1 free download to give away:
Step 1: Go to www.puretracks.com Step 2: Choose an MP3 - click "add track to cart" and then "checkout"
Step 3: HURRY - others may be checking out at the same time as you!
Step 4: In "additional payment method" box, insert the PIN # 66710 and the Serial # 5976418534 Step 5: If you are the first to download the song jump for joy. If not, weep bitterly and beat your chest for not checking in to the athensblog sooner!
Step 6: Check back here at ShawnCuthill.com and post a comment below so I know which lucky person got the prize.
So what are you waiting for? On your mark...get set....GO!!
*UPDATE* The winner is....Mr. Steve Bourgeois!! Click here - Congratulations to everyone that participated. Stay tuned for our next giveaway.
