Tuesday, February 28, 2006

KLBC alumni section

This past weekend I had a wonderful time attending the "Carpenters toolbox" conference at KLBC. Half the fun was re-uniting with old friends. Bill Yeo. Doug Anderson. Luke. Courtney. Bev. The list goes on. It made me all the more thankful for my time at KLBC. However, I was sad to think about all the friends I haven't seen in ages. If you're one of those friends, or if you attended KLBC please visit the KLBC Alumni section of the forum and let us know what you're up to

Monday, February 27, 2006

Monday's hot topics - Dispensationalism

Are you an Acts 2 or Acts 9 dispensationalist? Have you ever heard of an Acts 9 dispensationalist? Neither had many of us until sunshine introduced us to it last month! Since then there has been some interesting discussions - here on the forum

Not sure what dispensationalism is? Want a hotter topic? Gravity boy introduced me to a site where Jesus is battling superheroes! Who do you think would win if Jesus fought Superman? How about Darth Vader? -> Click here <- to find out! (I've moved the cartoon to the forum)

***For those who might be offended by the cartoons I offer my apologies, and am interested in your reasons. Hopefully we can be reasonable. As stated in the comments, my reasons for posting them were:
1) Jesus is depicted as victorious in each fight, showing his power!!
2) Jesus is shown as having divine attributes, far superior to mere superheros
3) When Jesus returns he will bring vengeance upon his enemies - here, therefore I did not see it as being any more bloody than the book of Revelation - here. If anything it shows that no one real or fictional can defeat him, therefore it is a good idea to believe in him now, before he returns!!

The issue is open for further discussion on the forum or in the comments. I really would appreciate a follow up post from those who were offended so this can be resolved and we can show the world that cartoon depictions of our leader are not cause for strife.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

The sayings of Sylas v5 - Stuart Little

We've been trying Sylas in Daycare one day a week and he's doing pretty well. Yesterday when we dropped him off he had a dramatic entry.

Teachers
: Hi Sylas!!
Sylas: DO NOT CALL ME SYLAS. My name is Stuart Little!!!

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Wednesday Prayer requests - Dave the Aussie!

Sorry this is coming in late but I picked up Dave (Cheng) the Aussie from the airport Wednesday. He's staying for a week and we'll be pretty busy scurrying around the GTA. Pray for us as we are prone to stay up tooooo late chatting about eternal things :)

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Need a title v5

How come these are always Sylas? :)

Can you think of a good title/caption for this picture?

Monday, February 20, 2006

I accidentally did a google search tonight for "theology chat" and found some interesting results! Give it a try

Monday's hot topics - EXCOMMUNICATION!

And no, those capitals are not a mistake. Recently on the forum, Beth, brought up an example of someone who was kicked out of their church, ("excommunicated" or "read out of fellowship"), challenged the decision in court and won!
A lawyer friend of mine who was an elder in an Open Brethren meeting was telling us that their particular meeting was taken to court for excommunicating a member. The Judge in the case, in the Supreme Court of Ontario, ruled that as members are admitted by confession of faith and baptism, and the meeting had no Constitution in place, so therefore no mechanism existed by which they could legally and constitutionally excommunicate members. The plaintiff won a very generous settlement because of punitive damages suffered by being publicly excommunicated.
Wowzers.Hannah wondered aloud "What about 1 Corinthians 6?" which instructs us not to take a brother to court? Lots to discuss with this issue. First off where do we get the idea of "reading people out of fellowship"? What should be done if this is carried out unjustly (as in the case mentioned)? Should the church's decision be challenged in court? Lot's to discuss with today's hot topic, share your experiences and perspective - here

Friday, February 17, 2006

The sayings of Lukas v18 - Midianites

This morning Lukas found one of those Kazoo-type party whistles (like the ones used at Matt & Starrs wedding - here. Racing in to where Sylas was Lukas said:

"Sylas you be the midianites and I'll be Gideon and the Israelites, and when I blow this trumpet you run for your life!!"

Thursday, February 16, 2006

The sayings of Lukas v17 - Sleepover

**UPDATE** Here is a little video (7MB) of Hayley singing to Olivia**

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

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Wednesday prayer requests - Susan

"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
__________________

My friend Susan Hawkins is asking for prayer - here:

1) She is looking for work.
"I need to find something soon as finances are running short."
2) She is flying to Uruguay to be her my parents for 2 weeks.
"i am scared to death of traveling in American Air Space. And My fear has been fueled by A&E's Flight 93 and the uprising anger of the Muslim world. I know G-d will protect me. But if you could cover me in prayer on Sunday I would greatly appreciate it!!"
Pray away!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

7:32AM. I woke up before any of the kids. First time in months. Wow

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

CRUX pics


Thanks to Jason Kalmbach for these pics of CRUX -> click here. Also >here< is that awesome video (33MB) that Mark Jenkinson did for the rally, asking people on the streets "What is Love"? and "Does God love you"?. Thanks to everyone who put so much time into the rally! It was awesome baby!

Monday, February 13, 2006

Need a title v4


I found this picture on my parents computer and wanted to see what kind of title we could give it :)

Monday's hot topics - BrethrenPedia

Over the past 3 months my good friend Noel Bondt, and others have been chipping away at a little project called the "BrethrenPedia". We first introduced it to the public on the forum and on the blog here at the end of December. For those who haven't visited the site, BrethrenPedia is a collaborative website project (called a "wiki" - see "Wikipedia") with the goal of "documenting the history of the Plymouth Brethren movement, one assembly at a time". While this may seem like a huge task, it really is not because of the collaborative nature of the "wiki" software used for the site. Anyone is free to edit or add info. Anyone. Because of this the BrethrenPedia is open to anyone from any assembly editing or adding any info. I know what you're thinking and yes this leaves the door open for "spam" and inappropriate edits called "vandalism", which wasn't a problem when the site was virtually unknown. But since rolling it out in December other have been trying their hand at adding info and BrethrenPedia is now in the top 20 in a search for Plymouth Brethren. This means the site is getting "hot" and we are now being vandalised consistently! This is why todays "hot topic" is the BrethrenPedia! To be vandalised means we are on the map! :) Thanks especially to Noel who recently finished all of the Canadian assemblies and is pressing on to dig up as much as he can about our brethren neighbours to the south.

You can help us in this task! If you attend a brethren assembly, or have any info on anything related in any way to the plymouth brethren, then go to the BrethrenPedia - here and start editing. If you're a bit shy at first, it's OK you can go to the sandbox and play around with your editing skills in a test environment before trying to add anything important. We look forward to more "heat" as people begin to add and edit info frequently! Get Wikified!!

Friday, February 10, 2006

What a day

As you can imagine today was quite hectic. We started off visiting families in the Chester Le area. I gathered a sense of sadness like no other killing in the area. Since last summer there have been 7 shootings or murders but there was a different tone to this one. There wasn't fear, like the shooting in November produced. There was just sadness. Even the most hardened gang-banger would never kill a kid. Everyone seemed to be dealing with it well, unfortunately because not many people knew the family.

At one point I stepped out of the van to chat with Clayon and a media frenzy ensued. Global National, CityTV, CBC and a few local papers surrounded us for comments. Later on that night I heard that Clayon and I were on Global for the 6 oclock news.

One of the saddest things about the incident is that it took place right across the street from the new "Chester Le Community Center". Even though the center was so close, it couldn't reach the family. The message I took from this was simple - "Love your neighbour". If we all actually made an effort to get to know the people in our community, get involved in their lives to the point that they trust us and open up when they need help, maybe things like this might not happen. Maybe I'm naive. Obviously I think the community center is doing a great job. They are helping many people. But just like many churches that have great programs, unless there is contact with the people outside of the program you will remain out of touch and ineffective in "reaching out".

I was saddened that I had never come in contact with this family over the year and a half they lived at this house. The murders made me realize how much more reaching out I have to do. Hopefully everyone in this community, and others like it, will make that effort to "love your neighbour".

Also, in the hustle and bustle I forgot that yesterday marks one year since I added a counter to the blog. Since last February there have been over 44,000 hits to the site. That does not include the number who logged on to check out our Olympic trip. We praise God that this site has been blessed, and thank all of you for the prayers and donations that have come in as a result.

Finally, last night was another "session" with our boys. Every Friday night the "Level 2 & Level 3" guys come over to our place after youth for some serious discussion. Please continue to pray for these guys, who come from Chester Le, as they are growing so much. Tomorrow is CRUX at Markham so please pray that I would have boldness as I preach to the youth and that lives would be changed.

"Our officers are traumatized"


It's 12:30AM right now and i was on MSN with a few people when Clayon came online. You may remember Clayon, who's picture is below, as a man was shot and killed 2 doors down from him in November. He simply said:
shawn some people got killed in the hood today, three people
I rushed to google and searched for "chester le", the government housing area where Clayon and most of our youth come from, across from the chapel. I was not expecting this:
The bloody basement on Chester Le Blvd. has left seasoned officers so shaken, some of them had to leave the area.

"We're dealing with a horrific scene. Our officers are traumatized by what they've run into here," said 42 Division Superintendent Gary Ellis.

When asked about the scene's appearance, one visibly shaken officer said "I can't tell you right now, I'll break down."
Please pray for this area we live in, the youth who come to the church who live one block away from this tragedy. I'm not sure what to say right now. Just pray.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Lukas Art V2




Remember Lukas' last snow drawing?

Here's his latest creation.

Any idea what he's drawing this time?

"Look daddy it's......"

Any guesses?

Encouraged by discouragement

Here is a quote from CT Studd, missionary to China, India, and Africa:
Sometimes I feel ... that my cross is heavy beyond endurance ... My heart seems worn out and bruised beyond repair, and in my deep loneliness I often wish to be gone, but God knows best, and I want to do every ounce of work He wants me to do. -C.T. Studd, CAP, 216, CAP C.T. Studd: Cricketer and Pioneer, by Norman P Grubb. London: Religious Tract Society, 1933.
I find it encouraging that legends of the faith like him also felt the same discouragement we do, but pressed on trusting the Lord to heal their wounds. May the Lord himself encourage your heart today.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Monday, February 06, 2006

Monday hot topics - Islamic art?

It was the year 2000, I was on route to Romania and had a stop-over in Amsterdam. Instead of waiting at the airport, I took a train to the center of town and went exploring! If anyone has been to Amsterdam you'll know what it's like there. Immorality is rampant, drugs are legal, there are no taboos. I stopped at a typical tourist shop and what did I see? A t-shirt showing Jesus crucified on two marijuana joints, with the title "I'm a beleafer". I was deeply offended by this. However, I didn't round up an angry mob and torch the shop or any Dutch flags.

This weeks hot topic features the muslim cartoons - click here, that have cause so much fury in the muslim world. How do you feel about these protests? Do they unveil the real face of Islam or are these cartoons really death-worthy? Is there more to the story? Hopefully our resident Islamic expert Imran can shed some light on the situation. Should Christians go on similar rampages when we see things like The Jesus Dress-Up? What are your thoughts on this wave of violent protest?

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Need a title v3

Chatting about Greece with Len has made me think about Greece...alot. Thinking about Greece made me look at pictures of Greece. So many memories. One that stuck out to me was this picture on the left. It's a picture of Sylas riding on a toy car. It was taken while camping on our island Evia. During the Olympic outreach each team chose a different Greek Island, our Island was Evia. On that Island we got a call from a wonderful Christian family who offered for us to come up the coast and stay with them. They provided tents, mattresses and blankets and we camped out in their backyard. Each day we covered the countryside with Bible's, and at night we would retire to their wonderful home. It was an amazing experience and display of hospitality. The couple had a little boy, and one day the wife (Christina - in the picture) thought she'd give Sylas a ride on his toy jeep. And man did he love that. He went crazy, shrieking for joy so we grabbed the camera and snapped this picture. Can you think of a good title?

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Feb2006 loggin in

01Feb06 - Wed - chapel, prayer
02Feb06 - Thurs-read to daycare, mitchells, sermon prep, 2 over for dinner,
03Feb06 - Fri - 24 at youth, gyasi DVD, 4 over after
04Feb06 - Sat - kitchener
05Feb06 - Sun - stuck in kitchener, called rudy, ken, richard
06Feb06 - Mon -
07Feb06 - Tues- Zoo, date with HP
08Feb06 - Wed - elders meeting
09Feb06 - Thurs - read to daycare, sermon
10Feb06 - Fri - Chester Le, prayer, sermon, Markham practise, youth
11Feb06 - Sat - CRUX Markham with 2 (Cookie, Jamoy)
12Feb06 - Sun - BoB, FBH with 2 (Clayon, Kevin)
13Feb06 - Mon - T & L Sab over
14Feb06 - Tues- SIM stress seminar, pick up J&E furniture
15Feb06 - Wed - Prayer, MAC Christian fellowship, Prayer meeting
16Feb06 - Thurs-Meet with Matt Craig, Read to daycare kids
17Feb06 - Fri - Table 21
18Feb06 - Sat - MIC all day at Bethany (9AM-9PM)
19Feb06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 8 (Kevin, Clayon, Jamoy, Cookie, Kellz, Malcolm, Trayvon, Tatiana), lunch with 13 (8 + Campbell 5), CE @ Leaside
20Feb06 - Mon - admin, catch-up, correspondence
21Feb06 - Tues- Dave the aussie arrives
23Feb06 - Thurs- read to daycare kids, 100 tracts@MAC, Downtown with Mark J
24Feb06 - Fri - Visit Phil in Cambridge (33@youth 5 new)
25Feb06 - Sat - KLBC conference
26Feb06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 4 (Nathaniel, Frank, Trayvon, Tatiana)
27Feb06 - Mon - Dave to airport
28Feb06 - Tues - Zoo, Jake & Catherines

Monthly stats:
- Preached 4 times
- 30 over to eat
- 4 avg sunday morning (1 new)
- 29 avg @ youth (5 new)
- 150 tracts
- Dave the Aussie here for a week
- Avg 4 boys to Leaside CE
- Cookie to CE retreat

Wednesday prayer requests - OG 2 - the sequel


Well folks, just had a great chat with my great friend Len Carolan in Ireland. We chatted about the good times in the summer of 2004, on our Olympic missions trip. We also chatted about the upcoming follow-up missions trip in Greece, July 28-Aug 9. Please pray with us about this trip and wether the Lord would want us to lead another team. We realize with 3 children the price will be alot higher, as well as the time restraints.
For more details on the trip see the Hellenic Ministries site, and the forum missions section. Also pray about wether you would like to go on the trip :)