Drums in the assembly?

Take a read of Dave the Aussies blog - HERE - to hear how he effectively did what we are talking about on the forum, namely putting old hymns to moden music! Dave attends a plymouth brethren assembly in Australia (Sydney):

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

Good idea? Bad idea? Click & comment

Dream? Or nightmare?

Bill Yeo, former Bible college friend (now missionary friend), had a dream about another former Bible college friend thursday night:

I had a dream Wednesday night, another strange one. Jos Levesque, a fellow I went to Bible College, but have rarely seen since, in my dream, was the newest bass guitar player for Petra. Weird.

Hansen: We need to wake up and get out of our comfort zone.

P-unit day 4 - finale

Well it came and went all too quickly. Seems like just yesterday we were at the mosque and now it's all over....wait....it was yesterday that we were at the mosque....umm.....well you know what I mean. The posse of Peterborough prayer partners have pleasantly parted, particularly pleased by partaking in pertinent participation of plenary and profitable proclamation and publication.

I've posted the pictures so check out:

Day 1: no pics :( - does anyone from the trip have pics of day 1?

Day 2: - CLICK HERE -

Day 3: - CLICK HERE -

Day 4: - CLICK HERE -

Videos: - CLICK HERE -

Written reports: - CLICK HERE -

P-unit Day 3

Check the O.R., ya like it so far? 3 Days down, 1 to go. Check out day 3 of the missions trip at :
http://bbc.quist.ca/bb/viewtopic.php?t=310

P-unit Day 2

I posted a summary of how our day went in the Prayer request section of the forum.

P-unit in da house

Sitting here in the living room with the boys from Peterborough.
Caleb, Cory, Tristan, Sean, Dan and Hansen (who's blog is located at http://likelazarus.blogspot.com/)
LIz (http://discardation.blogspot.com) and Jo are at Jean Rogers and Veronica (http://veronicabaker.blogspot.com) is hosting Bobbie and Mel.

Hope to keep you all updated.

Pray for Peterborough posse please

Just wanted to ask for prayer for a "missions trip" I'm leading this week.
No it's not to Greece, or Africa or the Middle East.
It's a missions trip TO US!!!

A group of young people from Peterborough Ontario, on their march break, are coming down here to Toronto to stay with us and experience the big bad multicultural city!

Steve Yuille got the ball rolling, and the team of 10 young people will be accompanied by Jim Easton, and the fearless Doug Anderson (www.streethoops.ca) and his 12-seater van from Braidwood Bible Chapel. The van will be full to the brim with teenage zeal so pray for us as we visit many locations throughout the city doing evangelism and encountering many different cultures and religions! We'll be visiting a Mosque, a Hindu temple, touring MSC, Sanctuary, street preaching, handing out tracts, knocking on doors, meeting with ethnic believers and unbelievers, and dining on some of the hottest foods these kids have ever tasted!! Wow, what a way to spend your March Break!

It is bound to be something the kids will never forget. Perhaps this is something you too could do with your youth group. If you want to take your kids on a missions trip, but are concerned about how much it will cost to go overseas, why not come down to Toronto? Bring em down, we've got room!!

Michelle :: I hate hymns

In the forum discussion about "Rap music in worship" - HERE - there have been many opinions flying around about what is appropriate music:

Pucci said:

Rapping scripture? You are kidding me right? I can tell that to my husband who is a non-believer and he would laugh and even say something is wrong with thatIf you are going to be just like the world and do things just like the world then there is no distinction between a christian and a lost person. The lost person will see no difference between themselves and a Christian and they will think why do they need to be saved if these "saved people are just like me."

Well we asked Mark P, and Michelle - regular forum participants - who are not believers, to post their thoughts and test this theory.

Mark said:

There is nothing wrong with music being used to spread the word in my opinion. I am not "saved" as some of you might say, but I see no wrong in it.

Michelle flat out said:

I'm not a "christian", but i do attend services occassionally, and personally i hate hymns. They bore me.

So there you have it. Maybe more folks would come to our churches if we were a bit more accepting. Also, those of us who make such strong statements about what the "world" will like and not like, should try asking a few of them first to make sure. Or at least try to break out of our little christian "kumaya group" and reaching out in creative ways! :)

I'd be interested to hear what Pucci's husband actually thought of the idea. Any other unbelievers out there that think rapping in church is a bad idea? Watering down the message? Being like the world?

First day of daycare

Today was Luke's first day of daycare.

ShawnCuthill.com sweepstakes #2 - the 2000th post contest!!!!

Alright athensblog readers! During the last ShawnCuthill.com sweepstakes, you watched in anticipation to see who would be the first to crack the code and win the free MP3. You watched as Stevey Bourgeois walked off with the lute and claimed the title of first ever ShawnCuthill.com sweepstakes champion! Here's Stevey B jamming to his new download:



Still feeling bitterness and resentment over missing your chance! Don't risk another bout of depression, get on the ShawnCuthill.com forum right now and be the one to log the 2000th post! God has blessed our little brethren discussion forum and in just over a month we have registered 53 people and logged almost 2000 posts.

The person that registers the 2000th post will win their very own "room" on the forum. Call it the "basketball room", the "Toronto room", or just be selfish and name it after yourself! Whatever you name it, you better claim it first ;). Click - HERE - for more details.

Don't be left behind, time is running out!

*UPDATE - we have a winner - Blake Kennedy posted #2000 and has created the "Blake Kennedy house of sermon reviews" on the forum*

White Men CAN jump...

Doug Anderson, from Braidwood Bible Chapel, and his 12 seater van full of youth from Peterborough are coming down next week to hit the GTA on a "missions trip", over the March break. They will be stayin at our place and with others from Bridlegrove Bible Chapel. Now Doug is a bit of a missionary himself up in PTBO, with his basketball program "streethoops". Here is their website. Be sure to pray for them as they reach out to the community up there, and help us down here. Props to da P-unit!! (Peterborough)

http://www.streethoops.ca/
Also, here is Todd Anderson's blog - http://toddanderson90.blogspot.com/

Hip Hop church

Julie Kennedy posted on the forum about a church in Harlem called "Hip Hop church" where:

Two decades after releasing his breakout record, old school pioneer Kurtis Blow has instituted Hip-Hop church services at two Harlem parishes. "The kids need to learn about God, but even the ones who already know God don't like the church, because church is boring," Blow told the New York Post.

What we do isn't boring — it's energetic, it's uplifting, it's spiritual — and the kids can relate to it. We speak the word of God in a language they can understand — rap."

Blow rocks a DJ booth and commands the microphone at the weekly services held Fridays at Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church and Greater Hood Memorial AME Zion Church. During a recent service, Blow was supported by acts including Shades of Faith Introducing Prophecy, The Hip-Hop Church Band, guest rappers and break-dancers. In February 2005, Blow plans to enroll at New York School Ministry in his quest to become a minister.

My jealousy runneth over. I think this is a great idea. Why not use Hip Hop for good? The kids are already listening to it, and here is an example of one bad role model who is getting lots of publicity:

Jeffrey Atkins....aka JA RULE

U.S. rapper Ja Rule pleaded guilty to assault and was fined C$1,500 ($1,219) by a Canadian court for delivering "one punch to the eye" of a nightclub patron last year, his lawyer said on Monday.

The kids are listening to hip-hop anyway.What do you think of hip-hop in da house of da Lord? CLICK HERE to post your thoughts

Lego Bible updated!

Check out the latest updates from the Lego Bible

1. Massacre at Bezek
2. Jerusalem massacred
3. Four massacres and a wedding
4. Iron Charoits

Uplook "cult" of Nicholson?

Picked up a copy of the "Toronto Easter Bible conference" flyer at Bridlegrove today and noticed the speaker for the March 25 & 26th conference was none other than J.B. (Jabe) Nicholson. I always enjoy listening to Jabe, and I hear lately that he is planning to cut back on his preaching schedule so he can dedicate more time to evangelism and spreading the gospel! Good for him! Seems he is tired of the status quo of full-time workers just doing the preaching circuit, filling the pulpit sunday after sunday, and that is good to hear from someone who has a measure of "sway" with folks in conservative assemblies.

There has been, however, some controversy on the discussion forum about Jabe's stance on Calvinism and the sense of "hero worship" that follows him in our circles. In the Easter conference flyer it describes him as being "held in high regard as a Bible teacher", and rightly so. I don't think we put guys like him on a pedastal for no reason. The guy knows his Bible and it is nice to listen to him. Some, however, have issues with, what they call, his "cult/vatican" in grand rapids.

can you comment further on your comment; "I can say I get upset with the hardcore antagonism of the Grand Rapids cult (i.e. Nicholsonism)" !?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Russian wrote:
Yes. What I mean by, "hardcore antagonism", is that Jabe Nicholson has been steadily cramming his lower leg further and further down his throat on the issue of Calvinism every time he speaks on it, following in the dog crap-laden footprints of Dave Hunt on this issue, I suppose. I think he's just nearing his knee by now. He wants to make it an issue of contention, rather than build consensus...

As for the Cult itself, I'm sorry, the Nicholson "name brand" carries a value far outstripping its worth, I'm afraid. And I have heard many stories (which were communicated to me in confidence, I'm afraid), of the promotion done by that group of Nicholson-worshippers. They've created a minivatican in Grand Rapids for themselves, and I'm altogether underwhelmed by the quality of work they put out. I myself have been in a conference where it was like there should be some sort of hushed awe (like Mr. Burns got when he announced the worker of the week awards...lol) when he takes the stage. And then I listened to what he said, and while it wasn't horrible, it wasn't anything that I felt immediately compelled to jump up and call everybody I've ever known about.

Now myself personally I have not waded into the whole calvanism debate, but from my experience with some assemblies it is true they have made it a bigger issue than it needs to be. As for the "cult" idea, I think the issue there is that Jabe knows the scripture better than most of us, and, just like in any profession, you look to those more knowledgeable than yourself. I don't think Jabe is the "cult leader", but rather, over the years folks have looked to him as some spiritual overseer. People in the conservative assemblies have put him on that pedistal, not himself.

I remember talking to Jabe's dad, Boyd Sr., when he was speaking in PEI at a conference on the high-priest's garments. He had this huge picture of the high-priest with all the urrim & thummin and stuff. Boyd Sr. told me how he had been able to learn the Bible so well. From his youth, an older man had taken Boyd Sr. under his wing. Every Sunday this older man would have him over for lunch and "disciple" him. Hours and hours of Bible teaching. The man would challenge and test, give Boyd homework. "Granted" he said "most of it went over my head, but alot of it stuck". So Nicholson Sr. was discipled something that is terribly lacking in our assemblies today.

The other thing that helped Boyd Sr. to become such a good Bible teacher was that he became the editor of some christian publication back way before uplook (can't remember), and he was required to write in this publication daily comments on every verse in the entire Bible. So he learned a systematic, complete overview of scripture, something which also is lacking in our assemblies. No wonder people flocked to him with googley eyes as he expounded the scripture better than anyone else out there.

Click here to post what you think about Uplook

Aussie's "raise" the bar!

Check this out - from Dave's youth group in Australia - CLICK HERE:

Sunday, February 6
Gospel For Asia
Just wanted to say I am really really proud of you guys and your donations to GFA!!! It's really good to see that people at Blaze are willing to support people o'seas sharing the gospel. For those of you who were not there the amount came to $281.70!!!!!! so thats really good. Keep praying for the work of the gospel, (and for people you know who are o'seas sharing the gospel) and keep supporting these people

Loggin in

March stats:

8 stay overnight
23 people for dinner
650 tracts
30 doors
x preach (1 funeral, 1 youth, 1 PTBO group)
- 37 kids @ youth (2 new)
- 2 major events - Ebenji & PTBO trip

26March05-Sun
25March05-Sat - Easter conference
24March05-Fri - Good friday service @ BBC, Easter conference
23March05-Thurs- Hayley speaking at Markham Bible Chapel ladies time apart
22March05-Wed - Prayer meeting
22March05-Tues- Josh, Colleen, Don, Carolyn, Aaron, Dawn over (+ dinner)
21March05-Mon - Catch up on paperwork
20March05-Sun - BofB, FBH, Hayley's parents arrive (2 stay over)
19March05-Sat - 9AM pick up Benji. 10AMBenji @ Leaside. 7:30PM, meeting at Yuilles
17March05-Thurs-Read to daycare kids, MSC tour, Crew heads home
16March05-Wed - Hand out 200 tracts @ highschools, knock on 30 doors
15March05-Tues- 9AM at chapel, GFA video, 10:30 Slavik Church (woodbine), 11AM Hindu Temple, Indian restaurant, Stop at CN Tower, Tour of Sanctuary, Dinner at Eaton Center, Street preaching with Jeff Lockwood (200 tracts at least), kids meet Edward & Anna at our place for tea (17), to billets.
14March05-Mon - PTBO crew arrives 12 total (6 stay over at our place), settle, dinner at patti's, to billets
13March05-Sun - BofB, FBH, Markham Bible Chapel evening service
12March05-Sat - Benji @ Leaside, Bridlegrove Annual meeting 8-9:30
11March05-Fri - meet with Benji, 100 tracts @ MAC
10March05-Thurs - 100 tracts @ henry,
09March05-Wed - plan march break, prayer meeting
07March05-Mon - Plan march break, call Benji, Sanctuary, Josh Harding over
06March05-Sun- BofB, FBH, Hayley to evening service
05March05-Sat- at Jason & Eder Tremblay's
04March -Fri - 100 tracts @ MAC, phil tremblay rap performance, 37 kids @ youth (2 new)
03March05-Thurs-plan march break missions trip, Ebenji, Matthan over
02March05-Wed - prayer with ladies, elders, hand out 150 flyers at highschool,
01March05-Tues - Grandmas funeral

February report

Sorry these are a bit late. My grandma's funeral took priority.
Month end stats:

5 - stayed overnight (michelle for a week)
18 - over to house to eat
2 - home bible studies
100 tracts
40 kids at youth (20/week avg, 3 new)
Preached 3 times
1 event - superbowl with clayon/kevin

Before Israel - click here
Israel - details- click here

While in Israel:
-michelle here all week
-joy peat stays overnight
-Jason & Eder over
-shauna over
-babysat lisa & samantha
-Mona's funeral
-Lukas at sick kids

After Israel:

23Feb05-Wed - arrive 6PM Pearson
24Feb05-Thurs - recovery day
25Feb05-Fri - Evaline does youth, Shawn gets news of grandma's passing - meet family
26Feb05-Sat - Colleen over
27Feb05-Sun - BofB, FBH, lunch with aunts, plan funeral
28Feb05-Mon - visit funeral home, prepare eulogy
01March05 - Funeral

Best Christian artist?

Derek Webb, or the Cross Movement - YOU decide - click here to vote

Phil Tremblay (Versatile) live at Bridlegrove

Well all you hip-hop fans, the one and only "Versatile" is live this Friday at 7PM. He will bring his flava of christian hip-hop straight to the B-unit.

Check the concert fyler - HERE - B-there!