Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Parenting 101 v3 - the upchuck

Does anyone remember those "garbage pail kids" cards from the 80's? They were a play on the "cabbage patch kid" phenomenon and had pictures of kids with disgusting names. One of them was called "Up-Chuck", as in Charles. Anyway, that's the mental picture I got as I woke at 3:50AM to hear my daughter completely emptying her stomach all over my wife, bed, pillow, blankets, etc.etc. What is a parent to do when a newborn so completely soils everything when they barf? It ensures that sleep time has ended for the night, as everything needs to be mopped up before going back to sleep. After changing sheets, I'm now completely awake at 4AM! Does anyone have any good newborn barfing stories or advice on how to deal with this night-altering event?

Monday, January 30, 2006

Monday's hot topics - Sunday best?

Ah yes, that timeless discussion, usually between parents and children, continues to this very day on the forum, namely - "Daddy, do I have to dress up for church?" Weigh in with your opinion, or thoughts on what the Queen would prefer - here. As one person wrote:
It is not our responsibility to take you through every verse in the Bible to prove that the LORD doesn't require us to dress up for meetings. The burden of proof lies on those who wish to impose this rule. If they expect us to seriously consider their claim they will have to show us its BIBLICAL basis.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Sean O'byrne & Eminem?

Saw this post from missionary homey Sean O'byrne and wondered if he had any connections to Eminem??

The prayer of Jabez - live

Hayley and I got to hear world-renowned Bible teacher and author Dr. Bruce Wilkinson. He was speaking at Unionville Alliance Church and it was without a doubt the most life changing church service I have ever been to. I wrote a bit about it
here, however in all honesty i am still digesting it all.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

"Scarborough Teens Speak Up about Gun Crime"



Here is another essay Cassie did about Toronto gun violence involving some of our youth, Clayon and Joel (left). If you remember there were 5 shootings in this area last year. Check out what these guys had to say - here

Friday, January 27, 2006

Random ministry pics v3 - Photo Essay



About a month ago a good friend of mine, Cassie Jeysman, asked if she could do a project for school....about me. Cassie is a journalism student at the University of Toronto, but more importantly lives 2 doors down from my parents :) Cassie took pictures and wrote about our ministry - here. Check it out! You can see pictures of some of the guys we've been working with, who have been coming out over the past few years to youth events, and on Sunday to church. Please pray, as we are now attending Leaside Bible Chapel's "Christinity Explored" course with them.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

The sayings of Lukas V16 - story time

Last night we were sitting at the dinner table reading a missionary letter from our friends the Kline's in Greece. Their letter was about a boat trip on HM's mission boat, the Morning Star. Lukas then took the letter and began telling imaginary stories about how this boat was stuck in a storm....

Lukas:
There was a big storm, and the boat was going to crash!!!
Daddy: Oh no, then what happened!!
Lukas: Then the boat turned into a helicopter and flew away. They flew and flew and flew until they couldn't see the storm any more. Then they lived in a place far away from any more storms forever
Daddy: Oh, like Chicken Run?
Lukas: Yes, like chicken run
Daddy: Great story Lukas. So did they live happily ever after?
Lukas: No they got old and died.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Wednesday prayer requests - The sign is up!!

"Prayer requests" are published every Wednesday and provide us with an opptunity to get up-to-the-minute requests and cry out to God on behalf of others
__________________

This weeks request is extra special!! If you've been following along, I've been documenting our attempts to attach a huge gospel sign to the corner of the building here. Yesterday the sign finally went up!! Praise God! It looks amazing! Please pray for the thousands who will see this sign every day and that some would be drawn to the beauty of Christ!! Here are a few pictures:

George, the chief architect.

Up up and away!

Onlookers

From the street

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

One year anniversary!!

Well folks, after staying up till 2AM watching the election, I didn't really get a jump on posting anything today....but today is a special day!! It's the one year anniversary of the discussion forum! That's right, one year ago today, Jan 24, 2005 at 10:35 am the forum began to live. Since then it's been amazing to see the way God has increased our little site. Here are the stats:
Board started: Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:35 am
Number of posts: 11913
Posts per day: 32.55
Number of topics: 1447
Topics per day: 3.95
Number of users: 262
Users per day: 0.72
So on this anniversary I was thinking of doing some special contest, however at press time I was too busy chasing around my 3 kids. Instead I'd just like to thank everyone who has participated in making the forum great! Thanks everyone.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Monday's Hot Topics - Election day

Since today is voting day across this glorious nation, it's quite appropriate that today's hot topic is -> Who are you voting for???

Are you like Prescott, and 15 others, who are voting for the Conservatives, or like Imran who's leaning towards the Green Party? Whatever the case, don't waste that ballot, read over our athensBLOG election coverage, which is todays hot topic, on the forum, and make your informed choice! Cast your vote in our online poll and at the end of election night we'll see how close we came to the real outcome!

**Also, post your voting day stories - here

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Need a title - V2 - Sylas


Remember Lukas and the toilet? Well here's Sylas and the finger! Let's see who's got the best title for this pic!

Harperescott

My good buddy and political pundit, Andrew Prescott got to meet Stephen Harper in Guelph today. Check out this shot of the skinny sensation shaking hands with the soon-to-be Prime Minister. Way to go Prescott

Watching a dream - Day 3 - Drilling

Well this morning it didn't look like things were going to work out! I woke up at 5AM when the power went out the first time and by 8:30 when I arrived at the chapel for the Men's meeting it was snowing and as you can see from the picture on the left, the power was still out all over Scarborough.




After the mens meeting George, Onez, Tony and myself were very pleased that the sun came out and we are now (it's 1PM) enjoying a beautiful sunny day!! Keep praying as this sign goes up over the next few days, that many would be warmed by thoughts of Jesus after looking at it. I'll keep you updated on how things are going from Gospel sign headquarters!

Friday, January 20, 2006

Watching a dream - Day 3 - The Sign

I'm not sure what all of us think of when I mention Gospel Signs, but the one we picked up is amazing! Soon I'll have a picture of the full sign, but for now here's a little glimpse. You'll notice a sunset behind the words "Jesus Christ". Plain and simple. For those who might want something similar for their chapel/church, contact Gospel text mission at 1-866-789-0230. I'll be posting pics tomorrow of the mounting! Thanks for your prayers!

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Watching a dream - Day 2 - Location

For this segment of the journey, I wanted to highlight Bridlegrove's strategic location, and why this new gospel sign will be an amazing testimony for the Lord! I'll talk about the sign in more detail a little later, but for now I want to post some pictures so we can pray for all the people who will see it!




Since erecting a building in 1976, Bridlegrove Bible Chapel has been located on the corner of Finch & Pharmacy Avenue's in Toronto. This is a major intersection in a very multicultural area. On Sunday, the visiting preacher stated that "this is the most strategically placed assembly in all of Canada". In these pictures, you'll notice the chapel's location and the big empty space where the sign will be located. Please pray with us that this sign will be successfully attached to the wall and that many people would feel the warmth and turn to Christ!

Smiley girl


Well we've finally reached that adorable stage where Olivia is beginning to smile and coo. Here are a few pictures and a video of the cuteness

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Watch as a dream becomes reality

I've been struck lately with a real streak of thankfulness. Thankful for my parents, my wife, thankful for my children, for democracy to vote. More specifically I've been very thankful for the ability God has given us to minister in this area of Toronto, thankful for the connections we have made with so many people, thankful for the progress that has been made, thankful for the supporters who read this site, donate, and pray for us. Over the past 3 years we have poured ourselves into this area, and something very special is about to happen on Saturday that I am very thankful for!

Over the next few days I will be posting a progression of pictures that will chronicle the mounting of the lovely sign you see on the left. Now this might not be a big deal to some of you, but for me, this is a DREAM COME TRUE!!!

You see Bridlegrove Bible Chapel is situated on the corner of a major intersection (Finch & Pharmacy) here in Toronto. Late last year I contacted the Gospel Text Mission about the possibility of placing a large gospel sign on our building. Right on the corner. So hundreds of people every day could see the gospel clearly portrayed! I'm pumped! Currently the sign is sitting in the main sanctuary at the chapel. I'll post more soon about the voyage from dream to reality.

CRUX rallies

CRUX youth rallies were born out of a desire to see Christ Raised Up (C.R.U.X) in the city. These rallies are organized by various youth leaders and groups across Ontario. The ethos of ministry is making Jesus the center, while explaining him in the language of the street. Friends are encouraged to bring friends to hear and experience (CRUX = Come Read Understand Xperience) what Jesus can do for them. The rallies are outreach oriented and city-based to encourage youth to move towards the kind of places where Jesus would have lived. The lonely places. The places with bad reputations, like Nazareth. CRUX ralies are held every few months so email me if you'd like to get on the mailing list.

Here are some pictures and videos of previous rallies:

CRUX 1 - September 2005 - held at Bridlegrove Bible Chapel - pics, videos

CRUX 2 - Decemer 2005 - Leaside Bible Chapel - pics, videos

CRUX 3 - February 2006 - Markham Bible Chapel - pics

CRUX 4 - June 2006 - Bridlegrove Bible Chapel - Gyasi Ferdinand, Videos, YouTube

CRUX VIDEOS on YouTube

Wednesday Prayer Requests - Suicide

"Prayer requests" are published every Wednesday and provide us with an opptunity to get up-to-the-minute requests and cry out to God on behalf of others
__________________

Thought I'd post an entry from the forum for us to pray for today:
Is there somthing wrong with me?!I'm a born again Christian....but i'm so confused....and stressed...and depressed...and lately i've been having thoughts of suicide! tell me im crazy please! i've broken down so many times in the last week....i feel so helpless....what can i do?!?!?
Perhaps we could take a minute to pray for this person, as well as others listed in the prayer section

Monday, January 16, 2006

Monday's hot topics - Women's Roles


Well this Monday highlights the plight of women in brethren assemblies. Some believe that "women, who find it difficult to put on a headcovering (in church), love themselves more than they love Christ", others say that there is no place for women in brethren assemblies and have left over this issue. That's why "The Role of women in brethren churches" is this week's hot topic! What would a brethren site be without a debate about headcoverings! :) Click here to uncover the glory!

Friday, January 13, 2006

Polygamy, eh?

I saw a story on the news last night, and CTV reports that Canada is considering legalizing polygamy. And what you might ask was the motivation for such a study? Surprise, surprise, the same-sex marriage issue. I seem to remember a number of Christians predicting this would be the case. Don't worry though, only 13% of people in this CTV online survey want it approved. 13%. Yuck.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Parenting 101 V2 - Eyeballs

As promised earlier, "when I am confronted with a difficult parenting situation, I'll put the issue out there to plumb the depths of the vast parenting knowledge of my beloved readers"....Here is our second edition of Parenting 101.

Recently Lukas has been noticing the difference between wood and metal. He will approach a door, or table and knock on it with his toy hammer. "Daddy is this wood, or metal" he will ask me, and I will usually explain the difference in sound between the two to help him distinguish which material he's found. Tonight was different. He started knocking on plastic, ceramic tile and finally his bed mattress, all the while asking "Daddy is this wood or metal". It gave me an opportunity to explain what many things are made of.

After tucking him in and leaving the room, I heard a familiar plea from his room..."Daaadddyyyyy". I opened the door to find him with his fingers pushing at his eyes, when he asked "Daddy, are eyeballs wood or metal?"
What response would you have given?

Eid Mubarak!



Just wanted to say Eid Mubarak to all my muslim friends celebrating Eid today!

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Election laughs

Found parody video of the recent Liberal attack ads. Absolutely hilarious. Hopefully we'll see a few more of these as people get more and more tired of the Liberals. The owner of this site has set up a contest and is asking for entries for his next ad parody, so click here and see if you can win!

Wednesday prayer requests - Good news from Good news!

Recently a supporter asked me to send them prayer requests so they could pray for our family and ministry daily. Wow! We seriously appreciate prayer. And daily prayer - oh baby! I thought the best way to get prayer requests out "real time" would be to post a new feature every Wednesday called.....Prayer Requests.

Ya, I know it doesn't have a flashy title, but it does get the idea across, and Wednesday is the universal day of mid-week prayer meeting (sorry for you tuesday nighters). We need to pray. Pray for each other, our world, those less fortunate. I will be posting my prayer requests for the prayer warriors that support us, and if you have a prayer request, post it in the comments, or in the forum prayer section! The prayer will get flowing, people will get connected, God will enjoy the dialogue and He will get to show more of his goodness to us little people. :) Sweet system I tell ya.

Now to break with tradition right out of the gate, the first edition of "prayer requests" isn't even about me. Talk about a hypocrite. But hey it's 1AM and I just got off the phone with a friend from the Good News On the Move team (GNOM for short) down in Louisiana! I'm pumped! I posted a bit of how our discussion went here

So pray for GNOM, Give to GNOM, keep updated on GNOM on the discussion forum - here. Good things are happening and these guys need our prayers! Click here for more prayer requests

Monday, January 09, 2006

Monday's Hot Topics - Divorce

Well it's Monday again. Back to work. Back to school. Need somethin to get your heart pumpin? Here are this weeks Hot Topics!

Now, seeing as I didn't even get to bed till 1:30AM and was up about 3 times before Sylas finally woke me up for good at 7, I'm keeping this edition of "hot topics" to just one. But don't worry, it's a good one! As promised I'm adding this to the list of "hot topics" on the left margin.

This past week, there was an interesting exchange on the the discussion forum involving an old topic about divorce and remarriage. The previous debate was about wether divorce is allowed for Christians. I had taken a fairly hard stance, stating that divorce is not an option and making reference to the biblical story of Hosea and the picture of Christ and his church (Bride) to back up my point, when Michelle entered the discussion and rocked our socks off! What makes this an even more interesting topic is that Hayley and I actually attended Michelle's wedding! Here's what she said:
I am divorced...I figured either I got out of this marriage or he would kill me or I would commit suicide. I feel no remorse for my decision to leave him. Any God who would want me to stay in that situation is no God for me. For those who believe divorce is not an option what would you tell someone like me who came to you for counsel?
Now that is a hot topic! What would you say to Michelle? What do you think about divorce?

Friday, January 06, 2006

Random Ministry pics V2 - Seed Sowers Map

I took this random ministry pic at Emmanuel Bible Camp in Prince Edward Island when we were there in August of last year. That feels wierd saying last year, but I guess it was the summer of 2005. A group of about 150 christians, including Hayley, myself, Veronica, Lukas, Sylas & Olivia gathered at camp, which served as "home base" for our mission...an amazing feat for Jesus...distributing 50,000 Seed Sowers packages, effectively getting HIS words out to cover the entire province...like the dew! Our assistant in the picture, Matt Cote, is showing us the map that was on the wall at the camp. The map shows Prince Edward Island and each town and village as it was completed. Props to Bob Magregor for the hours he spent working on the logistics and photocopying maps of PEI for each team. Matt is pointing to where the camp is located. It was quite the journey of faith for us, trudging mile after mile from mailbox to mailbox. Special thanks also to the assemblies in PEI who helped in so many ways, as well as Don Cox from Quebec for organizing the outreach. Please continue to pray for the people who received these texts, and for the churches in PEI to continue to reach out! May Jesus get the glory! If anyone from PEI has updates on the follow up, please post them here.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

The sayings of Lukas v15 - Bedtime stories

Tonight Hayley was tucking Lukas into bed when he asked:

Lukas: Mommy can you read me another bed time story?
Mommy: No Lukas we don't have time for any more stories tonight.
Lukas: Mommy, I don't mean read it, I just mean tell me what it says!

Nice day for a Wilks Wedding

Well I took a grand total of 5 pics and 4 videos at Matt & Starrs wedding. Some of you have asked for some pics, but Olivia prevented me from doing my usual paparazzi routine. Sadly, the pic on the left is by far the best of the night but I'm sure their wedding photographer will have better shots. The other pics and videos are located here.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Uprising of Love

Looby reports about the Rise Up & Love Conference in New Jersey:
wow.. rise up and love 2006.. was amazing.. i loved everything about it.
Did anyone else go? Care to give those of us who missed it the down-low on the discussion forum?

Monday, January 02, 2006

2005 - Hot year - Hot topics

Well Happy New Year! 2006 is here and you may have noticed I've been fiddling around with a few things on the left margin here on the athensBLOG. I've started an "athensBLOG features" list and consolidated alot of links so folks don't get lost in the long list. Most of the stuff from the athens2004 olympic missions trip has been archived and I'm still experimenting with other stuff, because basically I have no html or web skills and I'm not very good with a bow-staff. If it wasn't for Paul Roides and Matt Wilks, the ShawnCuthill.com experience would look a lot like Len Carolan's site.

One of the new features I've added is a "Hot forum topics" feature, which links to some of the discussions currently taking place on the forum. I'll update these every Monday, unless of course I'm overcome by a mountain of diapers.

Last weeks hot topics were: - Who are you voting for? ; - Evolution; - Brethren beliefs; - Are people born gay?; - Should I attend Catholic celebrations?; - Shower daily?

This week's hot topics: - Sexual abuse stats, - Early Church System?, - Meet Imran! , - "Brand name" game , - Who does Esther look like?

There must be something in there you'd like to argue about, so get to it! 2006 may be the year of Mozart, Museums, and Malicious Malware, but it's also the year of the athensBLOG!! In 2005 we went from a little blog about a little trip, to a discussion forum that reaches around the world, to now a wiki that attempts to do what no other website has done, document the history of every brethren assembly on earth. Bill Yeo may be right that we're biting off more than we can chew...but man it's fun chewing with all of you :) Thanks to all the 40,000 or so readers who browsed, clicked, commented and posted in 2005! All the best in 2006!

Sunday, January 01, 2006

January loggin in

01Jan06- Sun - FBH - (3)Clayons mom, dad, christoff. 6:30 movie at chapel
02Jan06- Mon - paperwork
03Jan06- Tues- Matt & Leah to airport, date with HP
04Jan06- Wed - office, lunch with roidzee, fix car
05Jan06- thurs-
06Jan06- fri -
07Jan06- sat -
08Jan06- sun - BofB, FBH
09Jan05- mon -
10Jan05- tues- zoo
11Jan05- wed - hayley's parents leave
12Jan06- thurs-office, 50 tracts@MAC
13Jan06- fri - 20@youth
14Jan06- sat - scott grieve farewell
15Jan06- sun - FBH with 9(Clayon, mom, dad, christoff, deshawn, malcolm, trayvon, tatiana, cookie), 5 over for lunch, 4 to CE @ Leadide
16Jan06- mon - paperwork, toronto mission planning for florida group
17Jan06- tues-
18Jan06- wed - office
19Jan06- thurs-read to daycare kids, 50 tracts @ MAC
20Jan06- fri - 50 tracts @ LAM, 25@youth
21Jan06- sat - Mens Fellowship, help george with sign
22Jan06- sun - BofB, FBH with 2 (Jamoy, cookie), CE@Leaside with 3 (Jamoy, Kevin, Cookie)
23Jan06- mon - paperwork catch up, election
24Jan06- tues-zoo, date w HP, chester le prayer
25Jan06- wed - prayer
26Jan06- thurs-read to daycare, meet norm K
27Jan06- fri - 28@youth
28Jan06- Sat - solemn assembly
29Jan06- Sun - UAC for Bruce Wilkinson, Fish's for lunch, CE Leaside with 5
30Jan06- Mon -
31Jan06- Tues- 3 over for lunch