Saturday, September 30, 2006

What do you do when????

Today I had a strange situation and I wanted to see what others thought would be the best course of action.

I was stopped at a stop light, which was red. In both lanes were police officers who where in front of me and talking to each other, completely blocking the road. The light turned green and they kept talking. I waited, hoping they would see, but they kept talking. I thought it would be awkward to honk so I tried to change lanes so they would get the hint, but they kept talking. The light started to turn yellow.

What would you have done?

Friday, September 29, 2006

The sayings of Lukas v28 - First Awana verse

Well last night was very special for us as Lukas started Awana! We had practised his sparks verse (John 3:16) in 5 compartments and rehearsed them a number of times on our 5 fingers, until he had it perfect:

1. For God so loved the world
2. he gave his only son
3. whoever believes in him
4. should not perish
5. but have everlasting life


We practised and practised and after he had it perfect he even called Grammy in PEI and told her too! After trying for a couple days he was getting bored and said to me:

Daddy, I want to try it backwards! (and proceeded to do the 5 segments in reverse order!)

5. but have everlasting life
4. should not perish
3. whoever believes in him
2. he gave his only son
1. For God so loved the world

Obviously every parent thinks that their child is the smartest in the world so we thank God for our Lukas and his overactive drive for perfection :) Please pray for him as he develops in his understanding of God.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Good old Toronto water

Our Scarborough water is the best!!!
Municipal inspectors have discovered that misconnected pipes are directing raw sewage from Toronto toilets directly into nearby creeks that stream into Lake Ontario. One of the worst-hit waterways is Taylor-Massey Creek, which runs through *Scarborough* before entering the Don River and then flows into the Toronto Harbour.

1994 Pulitzer Prize Winning Picture

Josh Duffy sent me this email a while ago. Click on the picture to enlarge:



This was found in his diary,

Dear God, I promise I will never waste my food no matter how bad it can taste and how full I may be. I pray that He will protect this little boy, guide and deliver him away from his misery. I pray that we will be more sensitive towards the world around us and not be blinded by our own selfish nature and interests. I hope this picture will always serve as a reminder to us that how fortunate we are and that we must never ever take things for granted.

Monday's hot topics - Over 20,000

On Saturday the forum went over 20,000 posts! Thanks to everyone who has posted!

Sunday, September 24, 2006

The sayings of Lukas v27 - Crying

Today as we were lazing around in typical rainy-Sunday-afternoon form we strapped Olivia into one of the upright carseats so she could watch a video with the boys. After we put the video on and left the room Oliva started screaming and Lukas said:

Mommy could you take Olivia somewhere else to cry?

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Need a title v18


Here's Lukas & Sylas at the top of the CN tower. Can anyone think of a good title?

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Wednesday prayer requests - McPray deluxe!

I've been holding out on the prayer requests recently because many of them have to do with personal issues we are facing. We've shared with many of you in private, but posting them here might not be the best idea, so if you think about it, remember to McPray for us! :)

Monday, September 18, 2006

Look who's got teeth!!

Olivia got 3 top teeth last week to go along with her two bottom teeth! Here she is nibbling on some corn.

In other news, congratulations to Hayley's grandpa, Daniel MacLeod who turned 99 today!!! Click here and send him an email...even if you don't know him... and wish him a happy birthday!! -> Click here to email

Monday's hot topics - Authority

How do we view authrority? Some would advocate following leadership regardless of their ineptitude. Some don't even vote because they think God will put his chosen people in power. Others however fight for better government.

While we are more familiar with this struggle in our government, how does this obedience to authority play out in church? Recently on the discussion forum our friend Sunshine started a topic to discuss this very thing. Here's a clip from a recent post from someone (TWP) who was kicked out of their church by bad leadership:
Here's what makes the whole "obedience" thing a bit tough to follow:

-Jesus felt free to disobey and dismay all of the men who were supposed to be the respected leaders of the jewish community he was part of. Not only did he not feel the need of obeying them, he judged them, and not as God, but as a person (a human being) coinhabiting this world with them. Essentially, he removed himself from being under their authority.

-the protestants felt free to disobey and walk away from the church authority at the time, judging it and removing themselves from its authority.

-the brethren felt free to disobey and walk away from their own (mostly) Anglican churches, including the men in authority there, judging them and removing themselves from its authority.

What we now seem to be talking about is the question of whether to be under the authority of brethren elders who seem to us to be false shepherds, scattering the flock and putting people under law, because the bible says we can't do otherwise, or whether we feel we are in a position to judge their rule of us as unscriptural and remove ourselves from their authority.
What are your thoughts on church leadership? Share your stories on the forum - here

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Wednesday prayer requests - Nothing

Don't let the title fool you, there is alot to pray about. However I found this post on Heather Barnes blog - here. You've probably heard about 40 days of purpose or 40 days of community, well Heather tells us about a program called 30 days of....nothing.
The goal of this month-long fast is to break the grip of materialism in our hearts and minds. We want to live in gratitude, not discontent; and we want to live with awareness of the great responsibility our affluence has laid on our shoulders.
Maybe we should give it a try.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Monday's hot topics - Where were you on September 11th?

An American member of the forum Ciela, posted this moving remembrance of September 11th
Today I look back to honor all those innocent people whose lives were taken September 11, 2001. Too often heard that date has been used and abused for political agendas, but this infamous date, September 11, is to be honored. It was a turning point for our nation--and not necessarily a good one.

I will not forget. For the sake of those who died, I must not forget. I am an American, and when those planes hit the towers, I felt--like many Americans--I felt personally violated, personally attacked.

The morning of September 11, I turned on the radio and entered a nightmare. I remember clutching at the dresser and weeping, "Oh God, no! Oh God, why would anyone do such a horrid thing? Oh God, help us all..." and, I must confess, I angrily thought, "those IDIOTS! What stupid ignoramuses would ever do such a thing? They have to be absolutely deranged!"

There is no word in the English language, let alone any language, to describe the abhorrance and disgust I felt. And then I thought, "wow, now I know how hard it is to 'bless your enemies', to 'bless and curse not'." And it has been a struggle ever since, let me tell you not to fall into the same cesspool of hate that those Islamic terrorists were in. I'm trying instead to be understanding, trying to ask God to help me to love people that want to destroy us. Because it is certainly not easy.

I remember and grieve for those who died, and hope fervently that they will not have died in vain. I hope with all my might and main that no one in the free world will capitulate to the destructive and hateful ideologies of terrorists and those who support them, that freedom will only stand up and be strengthened, not weakened.

In Remembrance,
Ciela
What are your memories of September 11th? Share them on the forum, with people from around the world

Friday, September 08, 2006

Good news on the move2

Some of you may remember last year about this time a group led by Jabe Nicholson headed off to do evangelism across the US. This was called "Good news on the move" and my prayers were with them. It was encouraging to hear of their travels and gospel efforts and even receive a few calls from Phil while he was on the road.

This year again the call has gone out to mount up two teams and again head off to evangelise! But what a different response this year. Here is a quote from a recent update from Jabe:
To my knowledge we have not had one enquiring email or call from any elders across the continent.
Please pray for this effort, and more importantly for our assemblies. May it not be said of us that we were the generation that dropped the ball.

Another letter to anonymous

To: anonymous
From: Shawn and Hayley Cuthill

Dear Anonymous

We were again amazed by your generosity in the month of June, by the money you sent to us via MSC . It's great to know that people we don't even know are supporting and praying for us! God is at work and we thank you for your obedience to him.

We have purchased the magnetic prayer cards and fixed our squeeky brakes on our van, as promised. Also we used some of the funds towards our Greece trip. Your sacrificial gift, Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous, is a great encouragement to us!

Yours in Christ,
Shawn & Hayley

Video of the week - Everyone go to heaven!!

Well it's back to school week here so I thought I'd show the last video I took at the end of the last school year. Listen for the exhortation by this girl at the very end of the video. This goes out to all the students heading back to school:

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Wednesday prayer requests - 42 division

Hayley and I live in Scarborough. For those who don't know, Scarborough has a reputation of being one of the worst areas in Canada. The police patrol here is 42 division. This division covers all of Scarborough, which is quite a task.

Recently I found online the 2005 Toronto Police Statistical Report (pdf file). It is a report of all crime by division. If you live in Toronto, take a minute to read over the stats in your division. Here is what it has to say about crimes reported in our very own 42 division:

First degree murder: 7 (7 times more than 41 division)
Attempted murder: 28 (4 times more than 41 division)
Sexual assault: 213
Other assault: 2,793
Robbery: 915 (twice as many as 41 division)
Break & enter: 1,974
Total non-traffic offenses: 21,468

Please pray for this area, the officers that serve and protect, as well as the messengers of the gospel that bring the light of Jesus!

**UPDATE** Some of you may remember a shooting that happened near us back in November - click here. There have been some recent updates in the news about this murder:

Toronto Star article - Sept 1:
On Nov. 1, 2005, McLean — who lived with his mother at 51 Morecambe Gate — answered the phone around 2 a.m. Twenty minutes later, his killers were at his back door.

"As soon as he opened the door, he was brutally and cowardly shot ... There was probably very little conversation between his attackers and himself," Taylor said.

The suspects ran from the scene.

"This is the last place we can trace them to," Taylor said, standing at a fence that divides a plaza from a housing complex at 260 Chester Le Blvd.

Taylor said he believes the suspects knew the area well — and possibly lived there at the time. A low-level marijuana dealer, McLean likely knew his killers. The officer said he does not have a clear motive and noted McLean was not affiliated with gangs. Although Taylor released composite sketches of two suspects, he believes more people were involved.

"Maybe one of those two guys is not comfortable with the shooting. I ask that they contact their lawyer and that they contact me and I'd be more than willing to speak with them."


There is also an article in the latest Inside Toronto.

The sayings of Sylas - Air Show

Here are some sweet pics from the rooftop labour day party/Air Show on Monday, hosted by our good friends Mark J and Ben. Notice Sylas is wearing his Superman jammies. Thankfully he didn't jump off the roof, but he did have this to say about his super-powers:

Daddy, I'm going to cut off my elbows and put wings on my arms!

Monday, September 04, 2006

Monday's hot topics - BrethrenPedia admin

A little late with the hot topics this week, but it's labour day so you're supposed to be lazy I guess. Along with regular postings about what's "hot" on the forum, I'll also post updates about what's "hot" on the BrethrenPedia.

For those who don't already know, BrethrenPedia is the "Home of all things Plymouth Brethren". The site was born out of a burden to document in detail the history of the brethren assemblies as a whole and as individual churches. Things have been rolling along at the BrethrenPedia and recently we have added 2 new admins to the mix. One is Dr. Philip from India and the other is Tom from Maryland. Tom even linked us to WikiBible so get in there and post your church info before somebody else does!

Friday, September 01, 2006

Video of the week + Wednesday prayer requests - Chester Le Kev

Today (Friday, not Wednesday) I was getting lunch at Dominoes Pizza. I had to wait for a few minutes and noticed their delivery map, blown up and pasted on the wall. The map was divided into different sections, but what caught my attention was a street that had been squiggled out by a marker. I looked closer, wondering what street this was and if it was an error on the map. It was no error, it was Chester Le - the government housing area across the street from the chapel.

I asked the Dominoes employee why it was crossed out and he told us that there had already been 2 robberies of Dominoes employees in this area since the store opened in June. Dominoes no longer deliveres in Chester Le.

This past Sunday 9 youth from Chester Le were at the Family Bible Hour. One of the youth who sat next to me is on house arrest. This area is troubled because there really isn't anything to do. No community center, one basketball court near a tiny park and lots of dark areas...one of which is even nicknamed "darkside". This past week I noticed that some of the corridors and walkways between the houses had new steel bars installed. One guy commented that it would ruin hide and seek games.

Please pray for this area. Pray that our assembly would continue to be a light to this community. Two of our key youth who have been coming out to church for over a year have moved. I had mentioned in a previous blog entry about "Cookie" who moved to St. Catherines and is attending Brockview Bible Chapel with his family. However another one of our guys, Kevin, moved away just 3 weeks ago.

This is very difficult for us. Kevin had been coming to church since he was about 10 and was the spiritual leader of the group. He was part of the "level 4" group, which we took to a number of events, including the airport with Gary Weeks. We had recently connected him with a "coach" who he really enjoyed. It's sad to even type this as I think that we may never see him again. Here's to you Kevin:

September loggin in

01Sept06 - Fri -
02Sept06 - Sat -
03Sept06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 5, visit Maggie & Derek
04Sept06 - Mon - labour day - roof top with Clayon
05Sept06 - Tues - first day of school!
06Sept06 - Wed - breakfast with TWi, prayer with elders (des only), Pumpkin hunt planning
07Sept06 - Thurs - chapel
08Sept06 - Fri - feast for youth ? 20?
09Sept06 - Sat - Day of prayer
10Sept06 - Sun - BofB (shared), FBH with 15 (Clayon, dad, Christoff, Jamoy, Tatiana, Travon, Mickey, Olivia, Dom, Kyleisha, Alpha, Jeff, Frank, Noah, Moses), evening service
11Sept06 - Mon - in office
12Sept06 - Tue - zoo
13Sept06 - Wed - prayer (no elders)
14Sept06 - Thur- read bible stories,
15Sept06 - Fri - youth - (Jordy, Rashad, Jason, Chris + 2 friend, Jamoy, Clayon, Alpha, Noah, Frank, Dominique, Tishauna, Omar,
16Sept06 - Sat - Olivia sick
17Sept06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 14 (Olivia, Dom, Kyleisha, Tatiana, Raphael, Jamoy, Clayon, Hansel, Christoff, Omar, Alpha, Moses, Mae, Maya),
18Sept06 - Mon - office catch up
19Sept06 - Tues- zoo, ladies fellowship
20Sept06 - Wed - prayer (no elders), M&Ju, Civic center with Ryan Hue, Pick up Amanda@airport
21Sept06 - thurs-Bible stories, speak at Awana
22Sept06 - fri - youth cancelled Josh Ramberan Birthday, Clayon, Jamoy, Katherine over
23Sept06 - Sat - PTBO wedding
24Sept06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 18 (Alpha, Noah, Moses, Mae, Maya (+ 2 neighbours), Trayvon, Tatiana, Dom, Kyleisha, Olivia, Infinity, brother, Clayon, Hansel, Christoff, Rafiki sis & bro, Evening service
25Sept06 - Mon - Offic catch up
26Sept06 - Tues - off, zoo, J&C, Amanda, Mark over for dinner
27Sept06 - Wed - Amanda to airport
28Sept06 - Thur - read to daycare, lunch with GR, read to Awana
29Sept06 - Fri - breakfast ABe, youth
30Sept06 - Sat - FFM meet

___________

13 avg per youth per Sunday morning
27 over to eat
3 stay overnight
preached twice (Awana)
2 youth events