Friday, April 28, 2006

Another shooting

details soon. please pray. I was dropping off a few boys tonight after youth when ambulances, police and fire trucks surrounded the area. some of the boys are still at our house waiting till things settle down before going home. please pray. some of our guys were at the house where it happened and are quite shook up. more details soon.

**UPDATE** Things have settled down a bit, however some of the guys who have been coming to church were at the house where it happened. Here are some news articles:City Pulse, AM640, 680news.It was quite strange being right there when the ambulances, police and fire trucks arrived. Also there was a special police unit that came with SWAT-team like weapons and that really freaked me out seeing about 10 cops with M16s walking around the block. I guess that's the procedure, but it was freaky.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Need a title v10

Took this picture when the guys were over for lunch

Can anyone think of a good title?

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Wednesday prayer requests - Chester Le again

**UPDATE** The man turned himself in. Here is the Toronto Star article

Pray for another shooting in our area. Details as I get them:

640 news article

Police Investigate Scarborough Shooting
Apr, 26 2006 - 3:40 AM

TORONTO - A man believed to be in his early 20's is recovering in hospital, following a shooting in Scarborough Tuesday night. It happened on Chester Le Boulevard, in the Victoria Park and Finch area, just after 10 o'clock.

The victim reportedly suffered gunshot wounds to the leg and groin, and is expected to pull through. Police are now looking for the gunman.

Spring blog cleaning

A few wonderful guys from the chapel came and hacked up...i mean trimmed...the hedges out front at our place. Also, the chapel spring cleaning day is coming up May 6th so I thought it would be a good time to do some blog link-pruning. If these blogs below are yours please let me know if they are alive or not.

-Josh Cess Poole, Jen & Jordan's wedding, Diane Ynema, Kathleen MacFadyen, Chris MacDonald, Nick Jay, Alyson Hall, Caleb Klomp, Caleb Klomp2, Matt Cote, Blayre Canfield, Joel Dennis, Jill Harding, Josh Cess Poole, Gabrielle, Peter Mayo

Monday, April 24, 2006

Monday hot topics - Revival!

I've been encouraged lately with the ammount of discussion on the forum about Revival - here. Feel free to comment on wether you think the brethren movement needs a revival or not...but before you do that...and more importantly...let us each search our own hearts. Let us each spend some serious time in prayer. Let us repent. Let us cry out to God. Let us each focus our heart, soul & mind completely on Jesus. Let the revival being in me and you...for His glory....and after that feel free to comment on the forum :)

Friday, April 21, 2006

The sayings of Lukas v22 - God's eyes

Last night I was tucking Lukas into bed when he asked:

Lukas: Daddy, can God only look to one place at one time?
Daddy: No Lukas he can look at the whole world all at once.
Lukas: You mean at the same time?
Daddy: Yes, God can see everything all at the same time.
Lukas: He must have hundreds of eyes all over his whole body!!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Duh-Vinci code fooling many

Saw this article from the National Post:
Poll: 17% of Canadians, 13% of Americans accept premise
Monday, April 17, 2006 OTTAWA - Almost one in five Canadians believes Jesus Christ's death on the cross was faked and that he married and had a family, according to a new poll that challenges the cornerstone Christian belief in the resurrection.
How are you/your church dealing with this upcoming movie?

Wednesday prayer requests - Pray for Kellz & Cookie

"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
__________________

This past week we got quite a scare! Two of our main boyz - Kellz and Akeem, nicknamed "Cookie", went missing! They just vanished. Their house was empty. They were gone. Clayon and Jamoy told me that last Wednesday they just up and moved to Niagra Falls. This was quite a shock, as they had no warning. Obviously the thought of getting out of Scarborough is appealing however we didn't even get to say goodbye. We were sad and wondered if we'd ever see them again.

On Sunday, I made my usual rounds to see who needed a ride to church. After I made a few trips, and some guys walked, we had 20 kids out for church which was just amazing! For some reason I did an extra lap around the neighbourhood and walked behind the houses to see who else I could pick up, when I saw Kellz at his back door!! I couldn't believe my eyes. I hugged him tight and didn't want to let him go! He told me the whole story of how they had moved and that they had begged their mom all week to be able to come back to see everyone. Their mom agreed and now they are (hopefully) going to be sticking around till the end of the school year.

Please pray for these guys! You may recognize them from the Christianity Explored graduation. They have grown so much since we first met them. Even today while I was out, Cookie called and asked Hayley "where in the Bible does it say that Satan got kicked out of heaven"? Please pray that we could stay in touch with them, and if they do move in the summer that they would get connected with a church where they live.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Monday's hot topics - What is worship?

Every Monday I'll post a "hot topic" from the discussion forum. This week it's Easter so I'm in "long weekend" mode. I'll start by posting a comment from a new user named Paul - here:
I love the positive flavour this board has. In my wildest dreams I could see such a board as being a principle engine for revival of the brethren view worldwide.
Sweet. Thanks Paul, glad to have you on board! We pray that the forum would accomplish just that.

Now the hot topics I'd like to mention this morning are quite different. I've given you two incase one is too hot for some. The first is something that Hannah raised, which sparked some discussion, called "What is worship"? She writes
I was taught that the Breaking of Bread is the worship service...But why on a Lord's Day morning do we always keep inside this devotional sphere, with our solemn heads bowed. And if a praise hymn is announced why do we still not break the mood but continue in the same way, as though to smile would somehow be out of keeping to the solemnity of the worship? Where does the praise part come in? Why is the joy not there on a Sunday morning? "Praise Him, praise Him cheerfully" is sung in the same vein as "Man of Sorrows." Can anyone else identify with this? Is this devotion all there is to worship? How about praise?
Those are some very good questions Hannah, and some folks have provided some good answers on that topic. Now this week the hottest topic was about Marijuana - here and what Christians would do if it was legalized. Would it then be OK "in moderation", like alcohol? Would it still be wrong? What if only for medicinal purposes? Lots of interesting twists in that topic - here. The question I usually get from teens is "
Why did God create Marijuana if he didn't want us to smoke it?"
Let us know your thoughts on these two topics on the discussion forum!

Friday, April 14, 2006

The way of the cross

"I simply argue that the cross be raised again
at the center of the marketplace as well as
the steeple of the church.
I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified
in a cathedral between two candles,
but on a cross between two thieves;
on the town garbage heap;
at a cross-road so cosmopolitan that
they had to write his title in Hebrew
and in Latin and in Greek...
at the kind of place where cynics talk smut,
and thieves curse,
and soldiers gamble.
Because that is where He died.
And that is what He died about.
And that is where churchmen ought to be,
and what churchmen should be about"


- Ian Thomas (taken from the poster in my office)

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Parenting 101 v6 - Love & Marriage

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 sixth edition of Parenting 101.
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Today we were in the car when Lukas turned to Grammy MacLeod and said:

"Grammy, when I get older can we be married?"

Anyone have an answer for that one ???

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Wednesday prayer requests - Masked gang attacks Scarborough student

"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
__________________

Please pray for this stabbing at a local highschool yesterday. Some of our guys (who just finished Christianity Explored) attend this school, but were not involved. It's frightening for them. Please pray.

Here is the Toronto Sun article, and the Toronto Star Article
A 16-year-old student was attacked by up to 10 males wearing bandanas and stabbed in the back at a Scarborough high school this afternoon, police say.

The victim, a student at Timothy Eaton Business and Technical Institute on Bridletowne Circle, near Warden and Finch Aves., was taken to hospital suffering from a serious wound.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Baby Einstein



Congratulations to Martin & Adina Crozier on the birth of their girl Emma! Pictures online - here

Monday, April 10, 2006

Another good reason to get your wedding ring tattooed on :)

*Man falls off cliff during wedding ring search*

Updated Sun. Apr. 9 2006 11:45 AM ET. Kristen Brown, CTV.ca News Staff
Montreal iron worker Francois Valotaire watched in shock as his wedding ring fell off his finger and over the suspension bridge that hangs 50 metres above Lynn Creek. "It's not really that tight (on his finger) and he doesn't wear it often," explained his friend Francois St. Laurent to CTV Vancouver, emphasizing with a shrug. "And it fell down." Not wanting to return home without the ring, the Quebec ironworker decided to climb down the steep slippery terrain to look for it -- despite signs and fences warning of the dangers of doing so.

...Valotaire lost his footing and fell about 30 metres to the canyon's floor.

Monday's hot topics - The Breaking of buns

On the forum, a member named Hawgsweat had an interesting experience one Sunday:
I went to an assembly one time as a visitor. I looked on the table and in the plate that held the bread was a hamburger bun. Seemed a little odd to me.
Actually it was more than odd for him:
The use of a hamburger bun seemed slack, careless....When the Lord said" This is my body", what kind of bread do you think he was holding? Can you see Him saying the same thing with a hamburger bun in His hand? I can't.
How would you feel if your church used a hamburger bun for communion? I think it would be fine, but others were borderline offended. What are your thoughts? Are hamburger buns careless? Does God care what kind of bread we use? Comment below, or on the discussion forum - here

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Need a title v9

Can anyone think of a title for this picture? (That's Roshad on the left, my arm in the middle and Kellz on the right)

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Wednesday prayer requests

"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
__________________

I pulled a blank on the prayer requests today. Hayley's parents are here right now so it's a full house. Perhaps if you have a prayer request you could post it in the comments.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Parenting 101 v5 - God's diet

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 fifth edition of Parenting 101.
__________________________



We'll catch up with the hot topics next Monday, but I thought today I'd put out another thought provoking question Lukas asked me:

Daddy, what does God eat up there in Heaven??

Anyone have an answer for this complicated question?

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Q1 report - online

Happy April 1st! I couldn't think of an April fools joke as good as last years - here, so instead I thought I'd post our 2006 first quarter report - click here. I publish reports every quarter (3 months) and this quarter has been the most action packed yet. So click away and don't forget to McPray! :)

April loggin in

01April06 - Sat -
02april06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 11 (Tatyana, Dom, Keliya, Kelsey, Noah, Clayon, Kevin, Jamoy, Cookie, Mickey, Omar*first) 1 new. MAP meeting @ bethany.
03April06 - Mon - catch-up - admin, correspondence
04April06 - Tue - DVBC prayer
05April06 - Wed
06April06 - Thu -
07April06 - Fri - youth vs. Bramalea (50)
08April06 - Sat - Feast with 3 (Clayon, Kevin, Omar)
09April06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 15 (Kellz, Mickey, Flex, Travon, Tatyana, Dom, Keliah, Kelsey, Clayon, Omar, Alpha, Cookie, Jamoy, Roshan, Deshawn) 4 over for lunch, 7 to Nigel's), evening service
11April06 - Mon/Tues- Visit McGraths
12April06 - Wed - Greek Gospel church, meet Nigel, Mark J
13April06 - Thurs- Hayley's parents leave
14April06 - Fri - 10:30 Good Friday service, 4-10PM Easter conference with 3 (Kevin, Clayon, Jamoy)
15April06 - Sat - Zoo, Veronica over
16April06 - Sun - BofB (shared Psalm 7), FBH with 20 (Jamoy, Nathaniel, Tatyana, Kelsey, Kellz, Travon, Clayon + dad + christoff + Jordan, Tyrell, Davian, Mickey, Cookie, Kevin, Deshawn, Alpha, Frank, Noah, *Orall (first time) - 8 for lunch at Evalines
17April06 - Mon - paperwork, admin, mail
18April06 - Tues- Zoo
19April06 - Wed - prayer, sermon prep
20April06 - Thurs-read to daycare, davinci, disciples, youth leaders meeting
21April06 - Fri - brampton ball (50)
22April06 - Sat - Speak at Hopedale with Gary
23April06 - Sun - Speak at Tavistock with Gary
24April06 - Mon - correspondence
25April06 - Tues- HP date, parents
26April06 - Wed - Pine Ridge high speaking, 50 tract @ MAC
27April06 - Thurs - read to daycare, office, correspondence, awana
28April06 - Fri - 30@youth (Chris Martin, Brit, Will, Nigel)
29April06 - Sat - Toronto Island
30April06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 13 (Clayon, Jordan, Alpha, Cookie, Moses, Cathy, Kevin, Britney, Brandon, Kelsey, Omar, Jamoy, Roshawn) Dom/Sab brought friend :) Lunch with 7.

Stats:

15 average Sunday morning
44 average Friday
10 over to eat
2 events with 6 (Feast, Easter conference)
10 over to eat
2 overnight
spoke 3 times
50 tracts