Thursday, September 29, 2005

Crux videos online

On Saturday night, the CRUX rally was half over when Sebastian asked me "Yo why aren't we taping this". Honestly, I hadn't thought of it before, and Sebastian hadn't asked me earlier (perhaps because he came in late, which won him a "CP time award") so I grabbed the video camera, gave it to Sebastian and he started recording. As you watch the videos just keep in mind that Sebastian is doing his best, and keep focused on the Christ-exalting lyrics! Praise God! Praise God! I've chopped the entire video down into little pieces. Jason's talk is 133MB so I'm going to chop it into segments soon.

For now, click here, then choose a video!

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Random Ministry pics V1

To help keep everyone updated on our ministry here in Toronto we've developed a new section of the blog called "Random Ministry pics". This will be a regular feature from time to time as new pics become available. These may be informative, humorous, serious or just random pictures. These pictures provide a quick visual reminder for those who pray for us.

This week you've already seen the CRUX pics, but today I saw this picture of Hayley and just had to post it. I'm not sure what she's doing with those chopsticks, perhaps trying to figure out the best way to attack the chinese dishes in front of her? Perhaps planning a way to impale herself so she doesn't have to consume the unkown chinese delicacies? What do you think she's doing with her chopsticks? This picture was taken when we went for dinner at our neighbours house, Sherri and Feng who are new Chinese immigrants to Canada. We have talked to them many times about the Lord, but they remain Buddhist, as was evidenced by the statues around their home. We have given them books like John Piper's "The Passion of Jesus Christ" to read. Please pray for them that they would understand the gospel!

Which childhood hero are you?

I saw these on Hansens blog and just had to do them myself. Give em a try!:

1. Which Transformer are you? - click here

2. Which Ninja Turtle are you? - click here

Monday, September 26, 2005

CrossMovement concert this Friday



For the first time ever (well at least the first time I can remember) the CrossMovement is in Toronto!!! If you don't know, CrossMovement is the finest in Christian hip-hop. Just check out their lyrics - here. Especially their hit "Lord you are". The concert is this Friday, 6PM @ Canada Christian College! 15.00 at the door. Be there. More details - click here

Lego Bible updated

Just updated yesterday! Click the link ->here<- to see what Samson would look like if he was a lego figure :)

Sunday, September 25, 2005

CRUX began

So, how did you like it Kevin?

Check out the pictures of the first CRUX rally -> here <-


If you have a few minutes you can download a copy of the CRUX video we showed - here. This clip is the first copy that Mark Jenkinson put together for us. It's 66MB and will probably take about 5 minutes to download, but shows Nigel and I randomly asking Bible questions to teens in front of local higshcools. Their answers are priceless! My favorite line from the video...

Shawn: If you heard the word Calvary, what would you think of?
Ali: I would think of...uhhh....cows?

Also, comment on how you feel about Christian rap in church -> here <- Some are quite opposed to it, others are using it to advance the kingdom. What's your take? Is it evil? Compromise? Or is it cutting edge ministry? Many have posted their opinions on the discussion forum....

"This whole modern movement about using entertainment and gimmicks to bring people into church to hear the gospel is disturbing. Just give me good old fashion gospel preaching."

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

CRUX - Saturday - 6:45PM - Be there!

This Saturday we're hosting our first CRUX youth rally at Bridlegrove. CRUX stands for C.hrist R.aised U.p X is the cross. We've got the Markham band, me & Nigel hosting with some videos, Jesse Weeks will be talking about his recent missions trip to Mexico, Mark Jenkinson's got games with prizes, Crux Productions will bring some sweet beats (including R.O.C.K. who performed last summer at the Bridlegrove concert- here), Jason V will be telling his testimony of how he found new life in Christ (the theme of the night is "New Beginnings") and of course food, fun and fellowship in the gym after. This is a seriously packed evening. There is something for absolutely everyone, so make sure you load up your car with as many youth/College kids as you can and come out to Bridlegrove Saturday at 6:45PM. Be there! Directions at www.bridlegrove.com

Monday, September 19, 2005

What's goin on in there?


I have to admit I was much more fascinated with the whole baby process with my first 2 children. Terrible dad that I am, I have hardly payed attention to the 3rd little life growing in Hayley's belly. Last night Hayley and I were up talking and I think God gave us a name for this baby!
So today, as a way to get more acquainted with my 3rd, I pulled out my copy of "As your baby grows". It shows in depth pictures of the baby's development. Very interesting stuff.

Here's what's going on during the 7th month of pregnancy:

- baby can flex muscles (perhaps arnold would be a good name?)
- baby's eyelids slowly open, can regonize light and darkness
- baby can make grasping motions (Jacob & Esau)
- baby's taste buds are developed
- baby weighs about 3 pounds and is about 11 inches long
- mother may be able to sense the baby's personality

Saturday, September 17, 2005

PlymouthBrethren.org issue cleared up

Previously, I had posted a concern about a site which left a comment - here. I have since removed that post, and I'm happy to report contact with one of the webmasters of PlymouthBrethren.org, who ran that blog. He was quite gracious in helping me understand their situation. For those who saw that post, here is an explanation.

First off, CMML was well aware that the pb.org folks owned the CMML.ORG site, and were redirecting it to their own page. That puts to rest any fears I had about them doing it without CMML's knowledge. I was mostly confused about this point and seeing that it is clear an all sides I'll apologize here publicly for jumping to conclusions.

Next, the pb/katrina blog expired because it was a typepad 30 day trial. The blog in question has expired and a new blog has taken it's place. The plymouthbrethren.org crew has a new blog - http://biblicalresourcedatabase.blogspot.com - here about the Katrina relief effort. On that new blog they will link to the official CMML page. I'm amazed at how easily things got worked out really. Thanks to the bro's at PlymouthBrethren.org for working things out with me! Shalom!

Friday, September 16, 2005

It's on!

The pumpkin hunt is on boys and girls and Bridlegrove will defend it's championship mightily!! Here's the poster:


The invite:

Where: Sanctuary : Yonge & Bloor : Toronto
When: October 29th, 6PM - 10PM
Who: You, bring your youth/C&C group
What: The event is a race through the Toronto Subway system to find "The Great Pumpkin". Participants from all over Ontario start at Sanctuary where they get into groups of 5, recieve clues, and then head out to find more clues in the subway. The final clue rests with an individual who holds "the Great Pumpkin". When that pumpkin is retreived the victorious team is rewarded with prizes. Last year we won 25 dollar gift certificates - sweet!

Here are the details of last years triumphant victory. Bring your youth group and prepare to be humiliated!! Muwahhahahahah.

Mel's teaching in Timmins

athensBlog team member Melanie Gibbons recently updated her blog - here to let us know how she's doing up in Timmins.

She writes:
I have a week of teaching under my belt. I have met with parents..so nervous, but no throwing up, (from myself or parents) so there's a plus.
I have managed to make a student cry....I wasn't even using my mean voice..but I got hugged after, so it's all good.
Way to go Mel! Keep us posted.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

The sayings of Sylas v3

Tonight I was reading bedtime bible stories to the boys. I asked which story the boys would like and Sylas was the quickest to blurt out "NOAH". We started to read the first page, then i pointed to the picture of Noah and said:

Daddy: Sylas, who's this
Sylas: noah...people go in...
Lukas: That's Noah and the ark
Sylas: awk daddy....awk...animals go in...

The sayings of Lukas v10

This morning I was describing to Hayley what Lukas had said yesterday. At the breakfast table I asked Lukas the ways that he could help with the new baby, and we talked about his previous answers.

Daddy: Lukas are there any other ways you can help when the new baby comes?
Lukas: weeeeeelll....I could help keep the baby quiet in chapel-church

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

The sayings of Lukas v9

Walking to daycare today Lukas and I were chatting.

Daddy: When the new baby comes we'll need lots of help from you. What are some ways that you can help me and mommy with the new baby?
Lukas: weeeeeelllllll.....i can rock the baby
(pause)
Lukas: I can...sing to the baby
(pause)
Lukas: I have boob-boobs
Daddy: ? Do you want to help mommy by feeding the baby milk? (smiling)
Lukas: No...they're not that big

Monday, September 12, 2005

Rachel and Hayley




While I was posting the belly pic I rememberd that we have been told many times that Hayley looks like the lead actress from the movie "The Notebook" Rachel McAdamas. We hadn't seen the movie until we went to PEI where Joel & Amanda had a copy so I got to see for myself. Here's the comparison, notice especially the cheeks, nose, mouth and even similar moles. Click on the pictures to make them larger. Keep in mind that McAdams has had hours in makeup for the movie, and Hayley has had hours of hassles from our 2 boys :)
While I was posting pics, I just had to post a pic I took in PEI of my super boys:

Well we are now into the last 3 months of pregnancy so it's time for the belly pictures:

Hayley at 7 months.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

September 11th revisited...

Today we bow our heads to remember the tragedy on September 11th. Since this is the first time September 11th has fallen on a Sunday since the incident I thought I would simply repost the article from last year:

Why did God allow Sept 11th to happen?


Here's the way I look at September 11th:

1. God looked down and saw a mighty and rebellious nation (U.S.A.) and wondered if there was a way to humble it and bring it back to Him.
2. God also saw a little country called Afghanistan, which was ruled by the Taliban and had restricted His gospel. He needed a way to get rid of the Taliban and open up that country to the gospel.
3. With that in mind, God looked down and saw a guy named Osama Bin Laden who was scheming to blow up the trade center.
4. God "allowed" Bin Laden's plans to prosper, so that both of His objectives could be accomplished and people in both countries would repent, and cry out to Him........

More here

The streak has ended

Well folks it is with sorrow in my heart that I am reporting the end of the Sylas toilet streak. Last night we were out with Jason & Joy. I was talking with Jason when he got a concerned look on his face and said "Is something wrong with Sylas"? Turning to the young lad I noticed a familiar scene. Face Red. Grunting sounds. Distressed complexion. Jason thought he was choking. I knew better. One whiff of the child told me that this was the end of the potty training for now. He had soiled his drawers for the first time in 5 days!

So there you have it folks, Sylas' toilet streak has ended at 5. We'll see what the future has in store. Let's see if we can potty train this child by 2 year old!

Brethren helping

Shawn Abigail, who runs www.saved.com and writes for Uplook occasionally has set up a website to update folks on how brethren assemblies in the Gulf Coast area are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The site is located at http://brethrenhelping.blogspot.com/

Saturday, September 10, 2005

The boyz are back

Well it was with a bit of uncertainty that Hayley and I went to the chapel last night to kick off our weekly friday night basketball outreach. I had sent out emails to the guys, seen them at their highschools, told them on MSN and called them, but I wasn't sure if they would show up this week, seeing as it was the first week of school.

I'm very happy to report that we had a good turnout and more importantly a good response to the message. Over 20 guys that we know showed up, which means the Lord has helped us to maintain contact with these guys. Last year at this time an entire "wave" of kids disappeared because their "leader" had run away from home and so they just stopped showing up. Over the past year we had put alot of time and effort into the new "wave" and I was afraid that we might have the scenario of a complete turnover this year. Thankfully God has answered our prayers and continues to work in the lives of these teens! Thank you Lord for drawing people to yourself!

It was just like old times as Clayon, Kevin, Deshawn, Jamoy, Kellz, Cookie, Jordie, Sebastian and others poured through the doors. Katherine after that with her Ipod shuffle. Kyle, Dominique and Sabrina after that. A few other late stragglers got to hear the message.

I preached through Revelation 8,9 & 10 talking comparing this warning from scripture with the warning the folks in New Orleans had. I challenged the guys to not ignore the warning but to repent, trust Jesus, start coming to church and reading the Bible. 3 of the guys immediately wanted Bibles, or said that they would bring their own Bible from home next week. This was very encouraging as we had talked about increasing the Bible study, but weren't sure how that would go over with the guys. The community kids were keen to not only study with us on the Friday, but come to our home to study with us, and hopefully we'll see them on Sunday.

It just goes to show you that prayer and love works. We pray for these guys, love them despite their challenges and God continues to bring them out. I'm looking forward to big things this year. Please pray with us, as I can see a breakthrough coming! The soil is good. The teens are interested and keep coming back. The Word is the focus. Christ is lifted up. Please pray for our first youth rally Saturday, September 24th that it would be a turning point for some of these guys and that we would be able to hook them up in discipleship relationships with older believers.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

The sayings of Sylas v2

Today at the dinner table I was reading bible stories to Lukas. Turning to the picture of Moses and the red sea I asked Lukas "Do you remember the story of Moses? What did he do". From the corner of the room Sylas answered
...let people go...no
. It's encouraging to know that a 1.7 year old can understand and enjoy the Bible stories too!

Saturday, September 03, 2005

The sayings of Sylas V1

Well folks, you've enjoyed the first 7 installments of "The sayings of Lukas", but today we present to you a new feature on the blog "The sayings of Sylas"!! That's right, our second little boy is having so much fun learning to speak that we had to share the joy with all of you! Here's the first installment:

Today we were going out the door to take the kids to the zoo. I buckled Sylas in his car seat and he gave me his award-winning smile. I gave him a kiss and started a brief conversation:
Daddy: Sylas, where are we going?
Sylas: ...Poop
Daddy: (thinking uh-oh dirty diaper) Oh no, Sylas did you poop?
Sylas: No, animal poop

Friday, September 02, 2005

And the winner is...


On the discussion forum, Rob Jones of South Africa registered post # 10,000 recently - here!! Rob runs a site called "South African Bible Believers" - here which has a similar discussion forum for brethren in Africa! Great to see how God is working all over the world! Congratulations Rob!

Thursday, September 01, 2005

September loggin in

30Sept05 - fri - cross movement concert (with 12 & Dave Burridge) Jesse, Josh, Sebastian, Clayon, Kyle, Jamoy, Kellz, Cookie, Kevin, Frank, Noah, Davian
29Sept05 - thurs - read to daycare kids, tracts @ MAC, speak at Awana
28Sept05 - wed - prayer
27Sept05 - tues - Zoo with bondts, 7PM Hayley@hospital for course
26Sept05 - mon, tues, wed - bondts stay over
25Sept05 - sun - BofB, FBH with Clayon, Kevin, Jamoy, Akeem, Kellz, Lunch at Evalines
24Sept05 - sat - Open House, Hayley at McMaster conference 9-3, CRUX -> 200 kids from 16 churches
23Sept05 - fri - youth
22Sept05 - thurs - read to daycare, lunch steve vance, highschools, awana,
21Sept05 - wed - prayer with elders, hayley at doctor, lunch with BY, tracts @ highschools, Takish install wires, prayer meeting
20Sept05 - tues - office, Hayley speaks at Ladies fellowship meeting
18Sept05 - sun - BofB, FBH (9 youth - 4 below plus josh, quentin, novella, kelisha), 8 over for lunch (kellz, cookie, clayon, josh, quentin, alpha, jordan, nabil), dinner at Derek & Maggies in Mississaugua.
17Sept05 - sat - Leaside Feast with 4 youth (kellz, jamoy, kevin, cookie)
16Sept05 - fri - office, 32 @ youth, tony hamilton speaker
15Sept05- thurs - office, videos@highschools with Nigel, awana
14Sept05- Wed - Pumpkin hunt planning meeting
11Sept05- sun - BofB, FBH,
10Sept05- sat - Prayer n share, Day of Prayer! Jason & Joy's
09Sept05- fri - First B-unit basketball (over 20), ESL teachers meet upstairs
08Sept05 - thurs - Lukas sick
07Sept05- wed - prayer meeting
06Sept05- tues - first day of school, tracts @ HS
05Sept05- mon - Mark Jenkinson rooftop labour day party
04Sept05- sun - BofB, FBH (2 new families, Lukas' friend Kelsie comes to church with her mom)
03Sept05- Sat - zoo
02Sept05- fri -
01Sept05- thurs- read to daycare kids, filming downtown with Nigel, dinner at Jason & Eders