Thursday, November 30, 2006

I can't wait till Sunday morning

There is a song by a Toronto musician named K-OS - here - called "Sunday Morning" that will always remind me of our time here at Bridlegrove. Specifically, the fond memories of driving around picking up kids on a Sunday morning. Sometimes I would even sing this to them to help them get up for church :)
Everyday is Saturday night, but I can't wait for Sunday morning, Sunday morning

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Where did you get that sweet headcovering? The Mantilla Superstore of course!!

Ever wonder where all those ladies in our assemblies get their headcoverings? No it's not from that little basket at the back, it's from Sue Crowe! Now just cause she's the mom of one of my old Sunday School students doesn't mean I'm biased, but come on, these are some of the sweetest headcoverings in the GTA. Check out her website at http://mantillas.tripod.com/ (you might even recognize one of our forum members modeling them). Now don't ask me what the word mantilla means, but don't wait until the easter conference, just click on over and pick some up today!!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Happy First Birthday Olivia!


Wow! Our little girl is one year old today! Looking over some of her baby pictures it's hard to believe it's been a full year. Happy birthday!

Monday, November 20, 2006

Monday's hot topics - Cult avoidance

While few of us will likely get caught in cults that would drink poison Kool-aid, many of us could fall victim to cult-like tactics if we're not careful. Aussie forum member Johno recently raised the issue in his Cult avoidance topic on the discussion forum:
it is important that we are constantly aware of the possibility that any group can go crazy and become cult-like...
Three features in common:

1) Pyramidal structure: In a cult, one person or group of people has total and unquestioning authority over all members.

On the surface, Brethren assemblies should be unlikely to fall prey to this one; we're precious about plural leadership. But if we dig deeper, would we find in some assemblies that there are people who have more authority than they should, and a reluctance to lose this power?
Click here to find out what the other 2 are. If you were at the Toronto Easter Bible Conference this year, you may remember that Mike Attwood said something similar. On the conference DVD he states:

"There should be no CEO among the elders - no Chief Elder Operating"

Later on he states this leadership issue is a problem he sees as he travels and ministers throughout the assemblies in North America:
"You know one of the biggest problems in assemblies today? The bible is very clear. Proverbs 13:10 says 'Only by pride cometh contention'. It's pride. It's the kind of attitude that says "if it's not my way, it's the highway". That's the kind of attitude destroying assemblies. We have too many Diotropheses'."
Many assemblies I've been in preach against a one-man-ministry, but how has your assembly ensured it won't spiral into cult-tactics? How do we gaurd against this individually and corporately? For that matter, has anyone ever been in a real cult before? Share your experiences on the forum - here

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Random ministry pics - Tribute to Cookie



A little while ago I posted a tribute of sorts to Kevin, one of our youth group guys who moved away. Now it's Cookie's turn (or as his birth certificate reads "Akeem"). You've heard about him in the past, and how he moved to St. Catherines. Now he's getting his 15 minutes of fame in the local Toronto Observer via my friend and reporter Cassie.

Cassie recently did a report on us and even interviewed some of our youth group guys. Here's some clips from the article, along with the picture above (of Cookie, me, Jamoy and Davian):
Every Friday night the teens are welcome to come to the church to participate in a game of basketball and discuss passages from the Bible. Cuthills goal is to communicate with them at their own level and become involved in their everyday lives...Two Sundays ago we had 13 kids in church, where it used to be three' he said. 'And that is a snowball effect. These guys will be looked to by their siblings as leaders, and hopefully that will impact a whole other generation.'
You can read the entire article - here. Keep praying that as these guys grow in Christ they would continue to impact their peers!

Friday, November 17, 2006

Video of the week - Guns in Pants

Here is a video I've had in my collection for some time now. It's advocating dress codes in schools and makes an interesting point.

Will you be the savior of the broken?

Heard a very cool song recently by a group called My Chemical Romance titled The Black Parade. It's the first few minutes that really caught my attention. Here are the lyrics that I think all of us should take to heart:
When I was
a young boy,
My father
took me into the city
To see a marching band.
He said,
"Son when you grow up,
will you be the saviour of the broken,
The beaten and the damned?"
Will you?

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

More prayer requests - Pakistan

Pakistan approves reforms to Islamic rape law
The amendments disappointed human rights activists who wanted the law, known as the Hudood Ordinance, to be scrapped altogether. The law has made prosecuting rape cases almost impossible, while women who press charges risk being charged with adultery.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Need a title v21

This is a picture I took at Adam Harding & Leah Collins wedding. Can anyone think of a good title?

Monday, November 13, 2006

The sayings of Lukas v30 - Bed time

Last night the kids were in their room after bath. I came up to see them and Lukas greeted me with this problem.

Lukas: Umm...daddy....mommy says it's time for a story...but we want to watch a movie now...so....could you do something about fixing that for me?

Monday's hot topics - Forum Philosophy

In the past week I've had at least 3 people say to me "What is the purpose of your forum?". One email summed up the question this way
I feel confused about my presence in this forum. The bottom line is the question of the purpose of the web site. If the purpose includes fellowship, then "what concord has Christ with Belial." I signed no doctrinal statement to post here. I can come on this channel and be gathered unto the name of Satan and still post. Yet, the name "simplegathering" bothers me. The name of the channel reflects fellowship. There is little doubt in my mind that there are heretics and apostates on this web site. I recognize that the owner of the forum has crossed lines. He has fellowship issues mixed in with evangelistic issues. He has a section on assemblies, and prayer, and insider talk for pBrethren, but has Imran moderating his own section of the web site. He allows apostates and heretics to post. I prefer to see it as little more then a method of communicating with others. I view this channel as the same as a chance meeting of someone on the street. Yet, there is confusion. There is a lack of clarity of the purpose of this website. If the purpose of this forum is to discuss spiritual things. Why would I discuss spiritual things with many believers and a few apostates and heretics, and one outright unbeliever?
Well just to be clear, at the very top of the forum there is a section titled READ THIS FIRST. There is an explanation about the purpose of each individual section of the forum. So incase anyone didn't read the "READ THIS FIRST" first, now's your chance - here. I did want to pick apart the email a bit and ask what everyone thinks about this statement. Are we not supposed to mix with people in this world and talk about Jesus and our faith? Are we supposed to only keep to ourselves? Sounds to me like the jews that had no dealings with the samaritans? Compare this attitude of "us & them" to Jesus' attitude as he mixed with sinner & tax collectors in order to reach them. Did he cross lines? Did he confuse fellowship with evangelism? Have I? As you read over the forum, what do you think? Have I crossed the line?

Thursday, November 09, 2006

R.O.C.K.in myspace

For those who don't know R.O.C.K. he's the homegrown Toronto christian rapper that we've had at Bridlegrove/CRUX 3 times now. We were hoping to have another CRUX next Saturday but things didn't work out. Luckily he's doin another youth rally on the Friday night if you want to check him out. You can get details on that youth rally and also sample some of his flava on his myspace page at :

http://www.myspace.com/rockmc

The sayings of Sylas v2 - Stinky!

Last night Lukas was sitting on the couch next to Olivia. She started to crawl away and he grabbed her around the waist to bring her back. In the process Lukas got a wiff of her dirty diaper:

Lukas: Yuck, this diaper is stinky!
Sylas: Can I smell? Can I smell??.....Yuck

Monday, November 06, 2006

From bad to worse

As if the Ted Haggard thing wasn't enough bad news, Kent Hovind is about to go to jail for 288 years!!
Kent Hovind, founder of Creation Science Evangelism, was accused of failing to pay $845,000 in employee taxes at the dinosaur theme park, an amusement park that exposed visitors to the view of Hovind and his followers that humans and dinosaurs coexisted and that evolution did not occur.

Hovind, who faces a maximum of 288 years in prison, was taken into custody Thursday evening after the jury read its verdict.

Monday's hot topics - Sex, Masturbation, Internet Porn, and Gays

Forum member Daoust raised an interesting question on the forum recently:
I was wondering if anyone who attends a brethen assembly has ever heard a sermon in their assemblies where a speaker either mentioned or openly discussed sex, masturbation, pornography and it's addictiveness or homosexuality and how all of these things are affecting/will effect our youth/children in the years to come?
Can't say I ever have. Have you? Should we be discussing these things in church? Post your thoughts on the forum - here

Sunday, November 05, 2006

What we can all learn from the Haggard scanal

Below is a portion of the apology letter from Pastor Ted Haggard. For those who don't know him, Pastor Haggard lead a 14,000 member church and was President of the National Evangelical Association in the US until this past week when he was caught in serious immorality. How did this mighty leader fall?
When I stopped communicating about my problems, the darkness increased and finally dominated me.
The core lesson that each of us can learn from this whole thing is this:

-> Hide temptations and sins = disaster.

-> Confess sins = healing

As James 5:16 says:
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Random ministry pics v7 - 3 on 3 tournament

Recently I came across the website for Nicey's food mart, the premiere Carribean grocery store in Toronto, located at the corner of Chester Le and Morecambe (where some of our youth come from). On the site is a "community events" page click here which featured some pictures of the Nicey's 3 on 3 basketball tournament last summer. While I was not directly involved with planning this tournament our boyz won it and I got to see a bit of the event, so I wanted to post this sweet picture of Nabil in action! Last Friday we had a fun time as these youth played the men of the church in a game of basketball. Nabil was the MVP, sinking 3 pointers like he was Larry Bird!! Thankfully none of the mature participants had to be hospitalized :) Praise God for the fun last Friday and also for the times of sharing that took place after the game. Please keep praying for these guys!

Remember Remember the 5th of November

Not sure why I posted that title. I guess because it's November and it's starting to get cold. October was such a monumental month but such a blah month all at the same time. In October we had a bunch of events at church and also saw a dramatic increase (again) in the number of kids coming out to church as friends tell friends. We had up to 23 one week but the average was about 15 or so. Tough to know what ways to help these kids. Thankfully many have stepped up to be mentors to them.

Anyhow the reason I'm writing this late is because I found a cool little charity called the Canadian Council of Christian Charities (www.cccc.org). They are basically like a big helpful "certification" agent that offers membership to those churches and charities that want to keep up to date. Basically it's like the ISO9000 craze where businesses get all "certified" to show that they actually do what they say they do. With Christian charities it should be a no brainer right...well not exactly. Laws change all the time and these guys are really good at helping keep you up to speed with them. I went to a seminar they held on the 19th of October and it was absolutely packed with info. 3 hours and a 50-page binder later I am much more knowledgeable about things churches & charities need to do to keep up.

I've been combing their site and found this neat little page (click here) titled "Evaluating a ministry". I've been having some fun looking over some of the info on some of the charities I donate to...give it a try. It has a link to a Canada Revenue agency page - here - that lets you search for all the info on your charity of choice.

There's alot to keep up with these days. Please pray for us who are in ministry as we face a myriad of legal implications involved in our work. For example someone sent me this link about one of the most respected evangelicals in the US who was forced to step down over unproven allegations. May God help us to rightly divide the word and rightly avoid these pitfalls.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

November loggin in

01Nov06 - Wed - Prayer with elders (Des), Gordon over for supper
02Nov06 - Thu - sick
03Nov06 - Fri - youth, Pothaar over
04Nov06 - Sat -
05Nov06 - Sun - BofB, FBH, evening MBC
06Nov06 - Mon - office
07Nov06 - Tues- zoo
08Nov06 - Wed - TW for dinner
09Nov06 - Thur- speak at Awana
10Nov06 - Fri - youth to Don Valley, set up for missionary breakfast
11Nov06 - Sat - Missionary breakfast
12Nov06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 16 - (Mickey, Travon, Kellz, Omar, Clayon, Jamoy, Hansel, Christoff, Olivia, Kyleisha, Dominique, Infinity + bro, Moses, Maya, Mae,) 9 over for lunch, evening service
13Nov06 - Mon - office
14Nov06 - Tues-