Doctrinal Goon-fest?

Saw this strange article on CBC about a hockey "goon" competition and it made me laugh.

Hockey goon competition given green light
Tue, 28 Jun 2005 15:31:30 EDT

Fearful of a legal reprisal, officials in a northern B.C. community have backed down and will allow a controversial hockey fight competition to take place after all.

On Monday, Prince George's city council gave the green light to the "Battle of the Hockey Enforcers." The competition will feature hockey "goons" fighting on ice in a series of one-minute bouts without any hockey being played.

What a strange event. I had to laugh at the last line "without any hockey being played". It made me think that sometimes we can be like this as Christians. We get so caught up fighting one another and seeing who is smartest, or quickest with a bible verse, or has the best doctrines that we miss the whole point and spend our time trying to win fights with each other instead of "playing the game" that God has for us. He has a comission for us, and it's been such a contrast this past week seeing Matt & Ruth Cook, and their team, actually getting on with "playing the game".

Let's get on with it, and not spend all our time on these petty doctrinal goon-fests. As Rey says:

Drop the name calling. Drop the charges against each other. Drop the mindless repeated proof-texting. In these conversations weve seen the same thing, over and over and over and over again. Its the same junk and it merely illustrates our vanity that we think we have it (or dont have it).

We have a world to reach, we have a life to live, let's put down our gloves, pick up our sticks and play like a team.

Ruth speaks

Ruth updated us on the situation at their blog: http://matthewcook.blogspot.com. Check it out, and keep praying.

July loggin in - Q3

25July05-Mon - Reformat laptop
24July05-Sun - BofB, FBH daycamp sunday, Pucci comes, Lunch, evening service
23July05-Sat - GTA crux youth leaders meeting
22July05-Fri - Daycamp
21July05-Thurs-Daycamp
20July05-Wed - Prayer, elders meet, Daycamp, prayer meeting
19July05-Tues- Daycamp
18July05-Mon
17July05-Sun - BofB, FBH,
16July05-Sat - MC for Eid at Multicultural music
15July05-Fri -
14July05-Thurs-home
13July05-Wed - daycamp, KW, stay at Josh & Colleens
12July05-Tues- elders meeting, pack for KW
11July05-Mon - Daycamp
10July05-Sun - BofB, FBH, Kimberly from China, pick up kids at parents
09July05-Sat - Jason & Joy's wedidng
08July05-Fri - Speak at daycamp, meet with Eid, Amy Sutherland
07July05-Thurs- Read to daycare kids. Bill Gothaard seminar
06July05-Wed-Bill Gothaar seminar
05July05-Tues- Jake & Catherines
04July05-Mon- Jake drops off van, paperwork
03July05-Sun-4AM drive Joe to Airport, 10AM Joan picked up, BofB, FBH, Lukas scarlet fever, to after-hours clinic
02July05-Sat- AA conference, dinner with Ruth
01July05-Fri- AA conference, fireworks with Kamran & Anila

Pray for Ruth

Got to have dinner tonight with Ruth Cook and hear about her adventure. If all goes well she is flying out Wednesday. Keep praying!

A good atti-todd

Todd Anderson is on the trip with Matt & Ruth Cook. On his blog, he has a pretty funny story about his first experience with a subway, while staying with us here in Toronto. Todd has a great attitude through it all, but let's pray for the folks who are going with Matt & Ruth on the trip, that everyone would keep this positive outlook no matter what crazy things happen along the way! :) I'm excited to hear all their stories of how they adjusted to strange situations. As Tim Rogers used to say: There's joy in the journey.

Pray for Matt & Ruth

*Update* Ruth will be in Toronto until Tuesday because of documentation. Thank you all for appreciating that there are no details that we can share. Keep checking Matt's blog for details. Pray for Matt as he will be arriving without Ruth and will have difficulty communicating. Ruth will still need to purchase a whole new ticket (at least a few thousand) so give that donation link a look over :)

Just got off the phone with Matt Cook's Aunt who asked us to pray for Matt & Ruth. Ruth was denied access to their flight because it went through the UK. Everyone else went on ahead without her, and so now she is stuck here in Toronto with the baby without a flight. She will have to pay for another flight so pray for them and if you would like to help them out you can donate online via MSC. More soon.

The 3rd installment of the Cuthill baby pool contest!!

Well folks, today was our ultrsound for Baby 3!!

Which means the onset of another legendary Cuthill baby pool!! The last winner, Melissa Cuthill successfully fended off 30 contenders by predicting Silas' stats.

Let's give her a run for her money this time! Here's how to play:

1. Click on the link below to go to the topic on the discussion forum

2. Post a reply, 1 post/entry per person

3. Type in your predictions for the 5 categories below:

a) Date of arrival (we have been given several different due date's ranging from November 13th - 23rd)
b) Weight in pounds (lbs)
c) Gender (only boy or girl)
d) Time of day of arrival of child
e) Suggest a name for the child

4. You will be allowed to edit your entry up until September 30th

What are you waiting for!?!?! Click here to place your entry today!!?!?! :) :)

What's your definition of adultery?

Well folks I apologize for my tardiness in the blogdom. It seems my first attempt at overhauling the laptop didn't cut it, so now I have to go back and do it all over again. At the same time the monitor on the desktop started flickering and smoking yesterday so we are PC-less. Those of you who are Mac users stop laughing! Also, Hayley's brother Matt, Leah and Josh Poole are staying over, Matt_the_cook will arrive with his crew of 8 on Monday and then the legendary Joan and Joe from Italy after that! Needless to say you can appreciate the joy and chaos in the Cuthill household.

Before I do reformat again, I wanted to post something on here that occured on the discussion forum. Drew Costen, the infamous instigator of innerancy, had some interesting thoughts on the meaning of adultery - here.

sarah_s wrote:
Drew, are you trying to say that you think that it may not be adultery for a married person to have sexual intercourse with someone other than their spouse, as long as the SPOUSE consents (obviously the sex would also have to be consensual between both parties involved)?

Drew: Yes. Ultimately, adultery is just a word that can be defined any way you want, and has been defined in different ways throughout the ages.

Do you have a definition of adultery that you would like to share? - click here to reply

Backup, Format, Re-install, Repeat

OK, how many of us have seen that little video of the guy in his cubicle at work, who gets up and starts smashing his computer until it's right off the desk? Most of us have felt like that from time to time and so now this is my moment of PC rage! However God taught me an important lesson through it all, one I wasn't expecting.

The wireless has been acting up, there's been difficulty connecting, I've been suspicious of a virus, rundll32.exe has been running at 100% in task manager. Too many problems, time to start over. I figured it was time for a good old formatting and re-installing.

As I was going through the recovery process a few thoughts dawned on me in relation to how God works, similar to the way I interact with my laptop.

First I back up important data. Any important documents, programs, files, etc. I burn them on CD and keep them safe, saving them for future use.

When God wants to start over, he chooses a remnant from his people: Examples from the Bible are many. God saved Noah and his family from the flood so he could start over again. God called Abraham out of idolatry to start the nation of Israel. God saved Joshua & Caleb from dying in the wilderness so they could help lead the people into the promised land. God takes a remnant from within his people and "saves them". Similar to Israel's baking techniques. When making bread, Israelites would take a little piece of the dough to get the yeast and save it, wait till the next day, then nead (sp?) that little piece of the dough with the yeast in it to make the new loaf, and so on and so on. That's where the biblical phrase comes from: "A little leaven leavens the whole lump". We've seen God do it in the past, but let's think about how he is doing that today.

Second: I format. Wipe everything out. Start all over with a blank slate.
After God has saved his remnant he wipes out a generation : He wiped out the world with a flood, everyone died in the wilderness except Joshua & Caleb, Israel was destroyed by Babylon, except for Daniel. Jesus was the first-born from among the dead. etc. How is God doing this today? What old thing is he "wiping out" in order to establish the new thing?

Third - I re-install.
God's next step is to repopulate with people from this remnant: Noah and his family, Joshua/Caleb, Nehemiah/Ezra, Jesus & his disciples, etc. New things spring to life.

Fourth - Repeat - after a while, the data gets corrupt again and I start all over.

God has been following this pattern for centuries: Therefore it should come as no surprise to us. Those of us who have ears to hear, listen to what God is doing. Jesus scolded the people in his day because they couldn't understand the times. God may be doing something new in our day, and that is absolutely biblical and historically inevitable. Our choice then is simply wether we will stick with the old wineskin/lump and be wiped out, or be counted with the remnant and be part of God starting over. The question I have is how do we know when God is finished with a work/movement and ready to move on? Is there a level of corruption? Stagnation? Any hints in Revelation in the address to the churches?

The sayings of Lukas v4

Lukas: Daddy, can we make a list of vegetables?
Daddy: OK, which ones.
Lukas: Tomatoes...carrotts....
Daddy: What about apples?
Lukas: No they are fruits :)
Daddy (proud of his son's ability to tell the difference between fruits & vegetables): Good Lukas, what's another vegetable?!?
Lukas: Chicken nuggets

Roy Hill's prophecy....death by 2025

Let me just ask a simple question. How is your assembly doing? Honestly. Let's forget about all the silly arguments about wether or not your assembly is doing things the "right" way (and by who's standard?). Wouldn't you agree that growth is a New Testament principle? If so, then what in the world is going on? I have just recently finished reading one of the most hard-hitting evaluations of the brethren assemblies by one of it's biggest proponents, Roy Hill!

The full text of the report is on the discussion forum - here - , but let me just quote the most startling prediction of Hill's:

in the last few years assemblies have been 'closing' at the rate of about one per week, and the numbers in some of those remaining are very few indeed...

..should this current trend continue unchecked assembly testimony in some parts of the British Isles could disappear altogether by 2025 about 200 years after it begun!

Let us now face this problem head on, and not be naive in thinking that we are in a better situation in Canada. What are we going to do? Let us also not recoil into smugness by thinking that we are doing things "God's way". Can we at least begin to revisit our convictions, simply to see if they have real biblical backing? Will we stubbornly take the assebmlies to their death because we were unwilling to be flexible and biblical? If this report by Roy Hill will not shake us, then what will? Perhaps the lampstand has already been taken away in many places.

I will finish with Hill's closing remarks:

Let us not stand accused that in our day and generation we lost, through carelessness, that which was passed on to us through our refusal to recognize and address a problem that is now staring us in the face...There is yet time, but perhaps not much for the recovery and progress of assembly work

Do you think it's too late? Is there still hope? The discussion forum is open

Sanhed-rerun?

Check this article from the Temple Institute - a place I visited while in Israel. Any insight from you prophecy junkies out there?:

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz new head of 'Sanhedrin'

reprinted from The Jerusalem Post
21:55 Jun 06, '05 / 28 Iyar 5765
by Mati Wagner

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz was elected the temporary president of a rabbinical body Monday that aspires to renew the Sanhedrin, Judaism's highest-ranking legal-religious tribunal.

The group of rabbis involved with reestablishing the Sanhedrin, a 71-man assembly of rabbis that convened adjacent to the Holy Temple before its destruction in 70 CE and outside Jerusalem until about 400 CE, also decided to take steps toward the rebuilding of the Holy Temple.

Historically, the Sanhedrin was the final arbiter on all halachic matters. Reestablishing the tribunal is aimed at ending religious in-fighting and facilitating unity.

No more sick bowl

Today was a bit of a milestone for us. Hayley was changing Lukas' bed and putting on the summer sheets when she realized that Lukas hadn't used his sick bowl, which he keeps next to his pillow, for at least 3 months! Thanks to everyone who prayed for this situation. We still don't know what is wrong, but today we put the sick bowl away. Hopefully for good :)

Catch the Catechumen!

Ever heard of a Catechumen? Neither had I until last night:



I've been reading over Augustine's "Confessions" lately and came across some interesting details about how the early church functioned:

Originally from the discussion forum

"At birth, Augustine was excercised against demons by his Christian mother. At age 5 he was extremely ill with a stomach ache and begged his mother to be baptised. It was not in fact unusual to vow a sick child to virginity for life before God in return for the childs restoration to health...

Augustine's mother instead made him a catechumens, or "christian hearer".

Catechumens were a well recognized group that would attend church services although they had to leave before the Eucharist. They could call themselves "Christians", not "seekers" or "the faithful". It was expected in due course they would put their names down for further instruction to become "seekers" and be baptised. Baptised Christians were then called "the faithful".

Upon reading this I looked up the term "Catechumen" and found this entry:

New Advent Encyclopedia

By the end of the second century we find the catechumenate in force in all its main lines. Tertullian reproaches the heretics with disregarding it; among them, he says "one does not know which is the catechumen and which the faithful, all alike come [to the mysteries], all hear the same discourses and say the same prayers" (quis catechumenus, quis fidelis incertum est; pariter adeunt, pariter audiunt, pariter orant),

I'll be reading more on this, but it seems there was a "layered" approach to discipleship. First someone became a "hearer" (catechumen), then they became a "seeker", then a "faithful". Perhaps we could learn from this and implement a similar system in our churches? Anyone have any further insight into this early church "system"? Post comments below, or on the discussion forum

Best Ringbearer ever!

Here's Lukas walking down the aisle, with flowergirl Daniella, at Uncle Ryan's wedding...and yes he did have his eyes closed the entire way 

36 @ 1:36!

Ok, I know my blog is not the place for whining and complaining about every little problem in my life, but tonight is a different story. It's 1:40AM and it is 36 degrees (97F)!!! Come on!!!
<--Click for temp
How is a person supposed to sleep! I'd love to crawl into the basement, but at the moment it is rented out! I know the Lord is laughing right now saying "This is good preperation son. How hot do you think it will be in the middle east? What is that verse in Jeremiah again...if you can't run with horses...." Grrrrr me

Hymns vs. praise

Quick do a google search for "Hymns vs. Praise songs" and see what is #1......

Ok if you're too lazy, you can just - click here -

Thanks to Andrew Lawson, a newbie on the - discussion forum - , for the tip.

God's apple pie...

My man Robbie Steves from PEI posted a big question on the discussion forum - click here -

Can god make an apple pie so big not even he could carry it?" He kept going on saying "well if he made one so big that not even he could carry it then he would fail at carrying it but if he could always carry this apple pie no matter how big he would fail at making it so big not even he could carry it.

Click here to post your best answer!

Best pic from BC trip 

Mark P --> bear tracker by day, youth speaker by night!

It was quite the eventful weekend for our man Mark P!

1. Friday - 7:30PM - He spoke to the B-unit youth group, showing a police video about drugs. Hopefully he'll give us his take on how the evening went on the discussion forum
2. Saturday - 7:30AM - Woke up to a bear on his street!

Here are some links from CTV & Toronto Sun

If you would have gone to a Markham, Ont. park today (Mark P's backyard), you would have been in for a big surprise. A two-year-old, 150-pound black bear showed up, leading to an entertaining afternoon for spectators and a stressful one for officials.

Livin on a prayer

A yes, Bon Jovi! The epitome of the 80's rock band! They dominated my musical tastes, along with Van Halen, during my elementary school years in the mid 80's. Back then in my unbelieving days I was more interested in figuring out crude new ways to twist the lyrics to their songs ("shot to the heart" anyone?) than meditating on the message therein. When "Livin on a prayer" came out, I didn't give the idea of prayer a second thought.

Now that I have been a Christian long enough to be perhaps an "elementary school believer" (about 10 years) I'd say I'm in the same "Bon Jovi" years spiritually. I'm only "half-way there", if that.

Bon Jovi's wa-wa pedal-pushin song now brings a new reality to my ears as I consider it again. Am I livin on prayer? Is prayer my life-line? Do I think I have arrived, or do I want to "Take HIS hand and we'll make it I swear". Where does my dependence lie for daily power, for ministry, for life.

This is all coming into focus because at the end of June there is an all-night prayer meeting that I have been invited to. It got me thinking...Why haven't I done this before? How come I have met with Christians for "fellowship" about a million times more than I have met with believers for prayer?

Hopefully this oldy-but-goody by Bon Jovi will take on new meaning in my life and yours. Hopefully this time around the words of the song will finally sink in. "We've got to hold on to what we've got, it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We've got each other and that's a lot for love - We'll give it a shot". Perhaps we should all give an all night prayer meeting a shot! Has anyone out there been to one before? What's the longest prayer meeting you've been to? Any experiences or answers to prayer you'd like to share? Any tips for staying awake :)

June loggin in....

30June05-Thurs-Speak at daycamp chapel. Matt,Ruth & gang fly out. Joan & Joe arrive, AA conference
29June05-Wed - Daycamp, Team to prayer meeting
28June05-Tues - Team to D.S. in Thorncliffe
27June05-Mon - Hayley ultrasound; Matt, Ruth (joseph), Ben, Todd, Melissa, Bethany, Hilary stay over
26June05-Sun - BofB, FBH, Matt, Leah, Josh, Bethany stay over
25June05-Sat - Prayer meeting at leaside
24June05-Fri - Dave & Gail wedding, dinner with Day's
23June05-Thurs-Matt, Leah, Josh to PTBO. Jamoy grade 8 grad
22June05-Wed - Prayer day, prayer meeting, stop in to see Anila & Kamran
21June05-Tues- Matt, Leah, Josh Poole arrive, CN tower, jays game
20June05-Mon - paperwork, format & reinstall windows
19June05-Sun - BofB, FBH, Dave & Gail party in Markham
18June05-Sat - BBC picnic with Katherine, Clayon, Jamoy. Andrew Masuello bachelor party
17June05-Fri - office, clayon over, judy, joanna, rachel, josh over
16June05-Thurs-Lunch with Clayon, Kevin, Novella, youth rally planning, gym show
15June05-Wed - prayer with elders, prayer, study, prayer meeting
14June05-Tues- air conditioner fixed
13June06-Mon- phone, paperwork,
12June05-Sun - BofB, FBH (Josh & Quentin over for lunch)
11June05-Sat - GTA youth leaders meeting at house (7 over - Quist, Nigel, Phil, Dave, Jason, Joy, Ted)
10June05-Fri - 30 @ youth (+ 9 from Greenwood)
09June05-Thurs-Read to daycare, lunch with Sabbah
08June05-Wed - prayer
07June05-Tues-
06June05-Mon- paperwork, phone, Ron hughes, KLBC
05June05-Sun - BofB, FBH (Katherine)
04June05-Sat-
03June05-Fri-34 @ youth (8 new) Mark shows video/speaks
02June05-Thurs-2 over (Mag & Der) 1 home bible study
01June05-Wed- 2 over (Tien & mom)

The sayings of Lukas v3

We were out for lunch the other day and after praying our daycare prayer (God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food) Lukas just yelled out "Jesus is alive"! in the restaurant.

Also we were at the park trying to fly a kite and when asked why the kite flying didn't go too well Lukas said "God must have turned off the wind".

Holy moly!

Quist sent me this link to BiblePlaces.com. It's a website with sweet free pics of the Holy Land! Sweet.

Praying alone or in groups?

Had an interesting email from Dave Sutherland, the feast priest, recently that talked about a youth prayer movement called A whole night for the world.

It got me thinking, is there more value in praying as a group than in praying alone? Something inside me says there is.

What's your church address?

Here is Fairview Gospel Hall in Vancouver. The Gospel Hall is right next door to the building where my sister lives so I snapped a few shots of the place:



Then I noticed their address:

How much would it suck if your church had 666 in it's address? 

The sayings of Lukas volume2

Well folks, this is becoming a regular feature on the athensblog..."The sayings of Lukas". Each time Lukas comes up with a dandy we'll post it here for your parenting pleasure.

Today's installment - Rock throwing

We had a great time at church today. It was our first Sunday back at Bridlegrove after Ryan's wedding and so alot of people were chatting and asking us how things went on the trip. The sermon this morning was great too. David Yhap preached on David & Goliath and did an excellent job. The Sunday School kids were upstairs for the service and my youth group kids (Clayon, Kevin & Catherine for the first time with her mom)showed up too. Just a real good day.

Since the sermon was on David & Goliath this morning I didn't think anything of it when Lukas began talking about throwing rocks. Here's how the conversation went:

Lukas: I'm going to throw rocks at you
Me: That's not nice Lukas. Are you thinking about David & Goliath and how you want to throw rocks at Giants?
Lukas: No, we throw rocks at Panda bears! I'm throwing a rock at you panda bear - hiiyaaa!!

West Coast pics online

Just uploading my pics & videos from our West Coast trip. Check the left margin, under Discussion Forum.

Here is a picture I took at the Vancouver Acquarium. Notice the seeming admission that someone designed Sharks. The scientist states "Even a thousand engineers working together for an entire lifetime could not have designed a better ocean-going survival machine". Hmm...if a thousand engineers couldn't have designed it, perhaps there is an all-powerful, all-knowing designer that created sharks and all other life forms. 

Creation vs. Evolution

There's a pretty good debate on the discussion forum about creation & evolution. I'll post a picture with my thoughts soon, but for now, here is the link to the topic:

Evolution topic - click here

Visiting Melissa in Vancouver 

New Videos!!

Just uploading some videos of our time in BC. We haven't organized them yet, but you can - CLICK HERE - to check em out!!

God has a sense of humor!!

Just here at my sister Melissa's place in Vancouver on 10th Ave. When I pulled up I realized that Melissa lives right next to Fairview Gospel Hall and her window faces the church!! Hilarious! I'm wondering if Titus has any connections here?

I did a google search and found a site by a guy named John that attends the church

I'll hunt around for more details soon! Now we're off to do the Vancouver tourist thing.

On a congratulatory note Matt & Ruth Cook - HERE - and Jason & Eder Tremblay both had wonderful baby boys! Congratulations!

The knot is tied!

Just back in Vancouver from Ryan & Cindy's wedding! It's 5 to midnight here so I won't be long. Hopefully more tomorrow. We are staying with my Aunt Sandra and meeting up with my sister tomorrow for some Vancouver adventures.

Comox Rox

Just here at an internet cafe in Comox, getting ready for the wedding tomorrow. Hopefully I'll write more later but just need to catch up a bit.

Be sure to check out the wedding website

Greetings from the Rockies

Just here at Tara Williams place on a wireless signal! Tonight we'll be staying here in Kamloops with a beautiful view and some wonderful guests! More stories & pics soon.

Two scoops of Kamloops

We're off this morning to drive from Calgary to Kamloops to stay with our good friend Tara Williams! Hopefully we will get alot of pics of the scenery :)

Greetings from Banff 
Hi everyone, here are some pictures of Calgary:

Calgary pictures

Videos of Calgary

Wild West - Part 1 Calgary

Well here we are in Stampede city on a wireless connection from who-knows-where. Hopefully I'll be able to write a few things before I loose the signal.

First we arrived at Pearson Airport in Toronto to find a backlog of cars because of some stupid limousine protest. I couldn't believe that they were allowed to block traffic at a major airport, but the cops were there and letting them do it- perhaps Mark P could give some insight.

I wasn't sure what to expect of Calgary, but on our flight I couldn't help noticing 2 people with cowboy hats!!

For our rental car we got a brand new Dodge Grand Caravan - I waived the insurance because I thought that I was covered by either my insurance company or the credit card, however the lady at the desk gave me a hard time so I'm not 100% sure - anyone know if I'm covered?

More soon, we're just going exploring!

On your marks, get set - GO!!

The Route 

Ryan & Cindy here we come!

We're off to BC for the wedding of Ryan MacLeod (Hayley's brother) & Cindy Davis. Details at http://www.cindyandryan.myevent.com Stay tuned as we blog our way from Calgary to Kamloops to Vancouver to the wedding in Comox (north of Victoria).

Has anyone done a West Coast trip like this before? What stops would you recommend?

Loggin in...

3 over to eat
preach 5 (1 youth, 2 Northside, 1 Oakwood, 1 Hayley)
1 wedding
2 provinces driven through
1 funeral

31May05-Tues- date with HP
30May05-Mon - office at chapel all day
29May05-Sun - BofB, FBH (Catherine and mom come for the first time), Markham evening service
28May05-Sat
27May05-Fri - Nigel for dinner. Youth group 30 kids 8 new
26May05-Thurs-recover
25May05-Wed - Fly home
24May05-Tues-Vancouver - Acquarium, Stanley Park, Melissas apartment
23May05-Mon-(Victoria Day) Day with Melissa, Golf Course, University, English Bay, Granville Island, supper @ Sandra & Mike's
22May05-Sun-Drive to Victoria, see Lambrick Park Church, ferry back to Sandra & Mike's
21May05-Sat-Wedding
20May05-Fri-wedding rehearsal
19May05-Thurs-wedding prep
18May05-Wed-Ferry from Nanaimo, arrive in Comox
17May05-Tues-Visit Trevor Eby (HM) in Chilliwack, overnight at Sandra & Mike's in New Westminster
16May05-Mon-Driving through Rockies, stop in Kamloops @ Tara Williams
15May05-Sun-Preach at 11AM @ Northside, Lunch @ Styles, Campbells to wrap up
14May05-Sat-Banff,Campbells,X-stream,Ajele
13May05-Fri - Dinner @ Campbells, Speak @ Search
12May05-Thurs-Travel
11May05-Wed - Prayer with elders, sermon prep
10May05-Tues- Sermon prep, fix daycare computer, date with HP
09May05-Mon - admin catch up, Sermon prep
08May05-Sun - OakwoodBC Windsor, BofB, Preach 11AM, Lunch @ Letkemans, Martin & Adina
07May05-Sat - Hayley speaks at Turener Road Ladies Missionary Conference
06May05-Fri - @ Rotulos
05May05-Thurs-Workers & Elders wrap up
04May05-Wed - Workers & Elders
03May05-Tues- Shawn takes Grandpas funeral, drive to Windsor
02May05-Mon - Funeral prep @ Actons
01May05-Sun - BBC BofB, FBH, Funeral prep

Cutest kid award contest!!

Currently on the Discussion Forum we are having a contest to see who's kid is the cutest. A number of entries have been made, but obviously everyone who reads this will know that my boy Sylas is the cutest and will want to click here to cast your vote!!

Now that's a belly....

2 words - Ruth Cook --> WOW...

Forum milestones

Just back from Windsor and wanted to post a couple milestones from the Discussion forum!


1. Recently we registered our 100th user!!!

2. If you do a google search for Plymouth Brethren, you'll see that we are #7 !!!

3. If you do a search on MSN.ca for Plymouth Brethren, you will see that we are #3 !!!!

Thanks to everyone for participating. If you haven't been to the forum yet - - CLICK HERE - and enjoy :)

Chinese say it's a boy...

The Chinese Conception Calendar says we are having a boy!

To find the gender prediction, find the mother's age at conception (across the top of the table) and then the month in which conception occurred. Follow the column and row to the intersecting point. The color of the box tells you what the prediction is. Blue = Boy and Pink = Girl

Check it out!

Soon we will be starting the legendary baby pool! Stay tuned.

Blogging from the Workers & Elders conference....

**UPDATE**Greetings from Windsor. It's now Saturday and we're now at the Rotulos. Fun Fun Fun! Hayley is speaking at the Ladies Missionary Conference as I type this. Tomorrow I speak at Oakwood at 11 and then lunch with Letkemans (Sam & Stephanie) before heading home.

Just on here for a minute. I'll update everyone on how the conference is going soon :)

Out of commission

As you can all appreciate I'll be out of commission for a while.

Here are our April stats:

4 over to eat
8 people stay overnight
200 tracts
40 teens @ youth (10 new) away for one friday
Preached 5 times
1 event (KLBC choir & ball after)

<--Visit the discussion forum while we're gone :) BRB

I'll try to get a clearer image of Grandpas sweet hat soon. 

Grandpa and me 
My only goal in life now is to get a Motherwell hat just like the one he is wearing in this pic.

4 Generations of Cuthill men 

Grandpa and me 

Motherweeeeeeeeelllll

The angel closes her eyes...

Alexander Cuthill - May 20th,1920 > April 29th, 2005 
Just got the news that my Grandpa passed away this afternoon. Almost exactly 2 months after Grandma passed (Febraury 28). I'm just sitting thinking about it all. Life. Death. So many emotions. At the same time we are just starting to tell people about Baby3. What is so special about life that it rips you apart inside when it is gone and fills you with such joy and hope when it is created? And why have I been granted this gift, this wonder, this existence?

The comfort for me at this time is knowing that Grandpa was the first one to know about Baby3. When we visited him in the hospital everyone was leaving the room and I went to give him a hug and a kiss, and I wispered in his ear "We're having another baby, and you're the first one to know". I loved him alot. I think I'll go put on my Motherwell hat and cry for a while.

And why have we been praying for a van you ask?

Baby #3 due November 22, 2005 

God provides

Just had to publicly thank God here on the athensblog for providing again for us. I can't tell you the full details right now (ask later) and it might not be a big deal to some, but since we "live on faith", it makes us extra thankful when God provides for us. Here's a brief summary:

1. We've been praying about a van. About 2 weeks ago we found out that our friends the Jeysmans were selling their van. We asked about it, but didn't expect the van to be in our price range. Commended workers don't exactly have thousands of dollars sitting around, but we kept in touch with them as they decided what new car they were going to get, and what they were selling their van for. It's a 2000 Dodge Caravan, serviced by the dealer since it was purchased brand new. Quite the ride. We prayed and waited to see what would happen.

2. Friday, April 15th we went to pick up our taxes and found out we were getting a certain amount of money back.

3. That same night we were at Jason & Joy's Jack'n'Jill in Brampton and our car dies. Transmission fluid everywhere. We limp it home by stopping on the 401 for fill ups of transmission fluid, when the car slips out of gear. Transmission problems = our car is toast.

4. Monday, April 18th, Jeysmans take the Caravan in to find out how much they could get for a trade in for their new car.

5. The ammount the dealership was offering them (half the retail blue book value) was exactly the same amount as we are getting back from our taxes!! They decide to sell it to us instead of trade it in, so ....

6. Today, picked up the van:


7. A wonderful young police officer was miraculously on hand to install our car seats into the van, licence plates and personally vacuuming out the whole thing. Wow, what a guy :)

More details soon!!!

Not quite the response I had anticipated

After my post about Friday night I got an unexpected comment from an unexpected (but welcome) visitor:

God is a crutch for the weak. You are just looking for something to believe in because it gives you comfort and purpose in life. If there is a god, he's one lazy guy. If you were all powerful, would you allow all the hate and violence that occurs to go on? Wake up buddy and start living your life and stop wasting your time believing in fairy tales.

Hopefully Black Domina and Gravity boy will continue the discussion on the Forum. Great to see some differing opinions.

Me of little faith....

It's really amazing to see how God does great things with us even when we are completely unwilling, stubborn and full of doubt. It shouldn't really be much of a surprise though, just look at the people God used in the Bible. Moses who doubted, Sarah who laughed, Jonah who ran. Tonight was a great example of that. God's faithfulness to work with us in spite of us.

Today is Friday so there was youth group tonight. Every Friday there is. I know that, I prepare for that, I promote that. All week long I'm thinking about it. This week however was a bit different. The gym at Bridlegrove was being used to pile the junk from a big clean up. 1/4 of the gym was taken up with old chairs, wood, broken tables and loads of other items. We knew this was the case so we had made arrangements for the kids to come to our house instead, play basketball outisde on our net, then watch a video in our living room. We weren't planning on using the gym tonight.

Then, around dinner time, it rained. It rained on the net out front of our house. It rained on our plans. What would we do? Since our car is leaking transmission fluid like Saline from an IV we suited up our double stroller with rain gear and headed to the chapel. Nobody was there. Did this mean that everyone decided to stay home because of the rain? Should we just put a sign on the door to tell everyone things were cancelled? Maybe if a few kids showed up we could play half-court in the gym for a few minutes. We decided that we would just tell the kids who show up that we don't anticipate anyone coming, say goobye and then walk home. Maybe no one will even show up. Our hope for a good night with the youth was dropping like the precipitation from the clouds. But God wasn't through with the night yet.

In the gym we were playing with our kids, waiting to see who would arrive. I had given up on the night. Nobody was there. It was raining. No other leaders were there. How could we possibly look after both our children, make snack, referee basketball and preach a message? All these thoughts went through my mind as I started to look for a paper and pen. I was about to write the words "No ball tonight" when the bell rang alerting me to the fact that someone was at the door. I froze. I figured I just wouldn't answer it. It was probably just one kid and he'd leave soon after he found out no one else was there. Forget it. Time to write that sign. Then it rang again.

I stalled. Ask Hayley. I hoped they'd go away. My faith was so small that I didn't even want to answer. They rang again and again. Hayley said "I can't just sit down here" and went and answered the door while I watched the kids. I felt like King Saul hiding in the bags.

It was Jordy, Omar and Rashad at the door. Omar has been out twice now, and I see him and Jordy when I'm at MAC highschool handing out tracts. They came in and I thought "ok, they'll just play half court untill 8 and then we'll all go home". God had other plans.

Next came Kevin, Jamoy, Jamari, Novella, Nabil, Frank and a few new guys. I was so unprepared (mainly from trying to watch our kids) that I didn't have the sign-in sheet and missed some of their names. I was unprepared for what God had prepared.

I thought I could handle the 10 or so kids that we had by this point. OK a little 4 on 4 with subs and we'll be outta here. I'll sit down and chat with them about the gospel, remind them about next Friday/Saturday and then jet home to tuck the kids in bed by 8:30. It's always a struggle to know what to do with our kids on youth group nights.

After that however, Josh and Quentin show up, then Alpha, Noah, Moses, Enoch, and about 4 or 5 other kids I have never seen before! This was getting out of control. Then Kyle, Kaylah. Catherine (a new girl who just moved onto our street) after that and others! God had brought out these kids in the rain. I thought I'd better get the video ready upstairs because God wants this night to happen.

Here's a video of the guys from a few weeks ago

I set up the TV while the guys played basketball. Jamoy was on the sidelines and said to me "Yo, that evidence bible you gave me is nice. I've been reading it and it's really good. What a rebuke. I had given Jamoy that Bible over a month ago, just before Easter. God is speaking to these kids and for some reason he chooses to use my little faith.

After ball, about 8:30, we stopped for snack and Hayley had some issues with trying to divide one cake up into 25 pieces (and keep Lukas and Sylas under control). She managed Ok and after everyone had something we headed upstairs for the "devotion" (where exactly did that word come from)?

When the kids were seated upstairs I mentioned next Saturdays clean-up and that they have a chance to get some community service hours. I wasn't sure how the video would go over considering the number of new kids who hadn't seen these videos before. It had been a few months since I showed one, but I put it on and then began the ministry of recon-shush-iation. The kids that we get are not the most well behaved kids on earth lets just say. The Hovind video was good. The kids were shushing each other. They laughed at his jokes. They all exclaimed "woah" when Hovind compared the brain of a bee to the most powerful computer in the world. It clearly demonstrated God's design and the need to repent and have our sins forgiven. It was video number 4, very good information for the kids.

After the video Kevin came up to me and said "yo shawn, can you make me a copy of that video". Wow. They are really getting it. God took my feeble little faith, just enought to go and see if anyone was going to show up, and turned it into a great night.

It was a good lesson for me. God can resurrect any situation. When things look bleak and hopeless then he can step in and show his power. Thank you Lord!

Lots new at the Lego Bible

Gideon and Midian - CLICK HERE

Just add a little more facial hair and Mark P is Jay McGraw (Dr. Phil's son) 


***Update***

Check out this pic of Mark - WOW!!

Keith's back

That fun loving, foul-mouthed master of online insults Keith Peffer has returned with avengance. This time he's on the discussion forum and taking no prisoners. Be there to watch live as Keith rips it up -->HERE

**Viewer discretion is advised** :) :)

Toronto health care...

Alot happened today. My grandpa is in the hospital so you can pray for him. I visited him with my dad. Met my Aunt Heather there. Had a good chat with them. Hayley took the car in to get checked, they told her it was going to be over 500. Lukas was complaining alot about his ear so we took him to the walk in clinic. Sylas also has a cold. I noticed a sign at the clinic that said "Only 2 questions per visit". Since we have 2 kids, that means 1 question each. The doctor looked at Lukas, told us he had a bad ear infection, then checked Sylas and said he didn't. Since our 2 questions were up the doctor promptly turned and walked out of the room to the next patient. What would I do if I had 3 kids?
I guess we'll have to come back tomorrow for our next 2 questions. Until then I'll just rest assured that Sylas is not up screaming because of an ear infection.

Feeding the 5000

The discussion forum hit the 5000 post mark today. Quite fascinating to see the Lord moving online. We've got participants who are athiests, agnostics, drug addicts, elders, full-time workers, youth group leaders and folks from other denominations posting from Canada, US, UK, Ireland, Australia and other countries, on a regular basis about their experiences with Christianity and "the assemblies". If you haven't tried it out yet - CLICK HERE - to get in on the comments, community and communion (that's right, we have "The Lord's supper online" :)

HTML anyone?

Ok I have a question. On the left side you see the words "Discussion forum". They have been wonderfully tagged by my man, Paul Roides. Here is his "code":

< p>< div class="date">< b >< a href="http://bbc.quist.ca/bb"> DISCUSSION FORUM< br>
CLICK< br> HERE< /a>< /b>< /div>

Now I would like to modify this so it sticks out a little more.

1. What is < p>?
2. What is < div class>
3. Why does < div class-"date">
4. I know that < b> is for bold, but what other options do I have for colour?
5. Any other tips?

Please post replies on the HTML topic in the discussion forum

Ya....what she said...

Ruth says it best:

Matthew and I went to Toronto for the Missionfest (this weekend). The best part was to hang out with the Cuthills in Scarborough...Hayley and I went to Value Village there and bought ourselves very cool and cheap Pakistani clothes which we wore on Sunday at their church. Not only that, we had samosas (pakistani snack food) and chai as well. Since Hayley and I looked so good and Pakistani we got tons of pictures taken.

Lego Bible update

Massacre of the Canaanites

Forum reader speaks...

Seems like this little experiment is exceeding all our expectations! A frequent forum reader (Mary) recently commented on how much she appreciates what she reads here:

"I always read the discussion forum! But, as the only computer I have is at work, I'm a little hesitant to start posting. As soon as I invest in an actual computer I'll definitely jump in on the conversations. I appreciate that everyone's really fair despite the differing opinions."
- Mary

Congratulations to all of you who participate and have made this site great!

Googlebot?

Found this "guest" surfing the forum:

66.249.71.67 crawl-66-249-71-67.googlebot.com

What is this? I tried googlebot.com, but it just takes me back to google.ca! Does Google like me or am I in trouble? What is the googlebot!?

Laura Bush is now brethren - click here

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but...

I have the cutest kid on earth 
Contenders ? Please submit pictures here

Logging in

24April05-Sun - BofB, FBH,
23April05-Sat -
22April05-Fri - LAM christian fellowship, youth (25 kids, 5 new)
21April05-Thurs Read to daycare, 100 tracts @ MAC,
20April05-Wed - Prayer
19April05-Tues- Lukas doctor appointment, date with HP
18April05-Mon - Visit Grandpa, meet with dad, aunt, car in, doctor walk-in clinic
17April05-Sun - BofB, FBH,
16April05-Sat - car dead, phone, sermon prep
15April05-Fri - Taxes with Laurie, Everson, Jason & Joy shower (Jack & Jill)
14April05-Thur- [2 preach] Read to daycare, speak at Awana
13April05-Wed - prayer, sermon prep, mail, office, prayer meeting
12April05-Tues- Admin, catch-up, plan, correspondence, dinner with HP
11April05-Mon - Dad's birthday
10April05-Sun - BofB, FBH, Lunch with Anila family, MIC meeting
09April05-Sat - Taxes, Ron Hurlburt farewell
08April05-Fri - [2 stay over] Missionfest, youth group [15 kids, 5 new]
07April05-Thurs-[2 preach]Read to Daycare kids, speak to Awana kids, Matt & Ruth arrive!
06April05-Wed - Prayer
05April05-Tues- All day meeting
04April05-Mon - correspondence,
03April05-Sun- [1 event](set clocks ahead) 8AM at chapel to prepare and open up for KLBC, 8:30AM KLBC arrives, 9:30 BofB, 11AM KLBC choir, 12 KLBC/youth lunch, 1-3 basketball with KLBC/youth. 6:30 evening service
02April05-Sat - [2 stay over]snow/rain, hayley's parents stay, gideons banquet
01April05-Fri - [1 preach] Lukas sick, to doctor, home from daycare. Youth with greenwood (32 ppl - 2 new)

Prescott's Brethren Manifesto!

Our brother in Christ, Andrew Prescott posted his "brethren manifesto" yesterday on the forum:

Okay... I sat down on my laptop and started something. Please reply with comment, rewording, addition, deletion, etc. Perhaps this is junk, needs a lot of work...

Outline for a Brethren Manifesto 1st Draft - April 2005

* Purpose

We have traditionally had two movements, the Open, consisting of the Chapels, and the Closed. What we need is our own reformation; a re-birth, a renewal, an awakening, or as someone has said, a Third Way. Not an emotionally driven alteration as many liberals would advocate, nor an unemotional rejection of change for the misdirected sake of maintaining the status-quo as many conservatives would support... but a true and sincere changing of the hearts of all. What we need is a true and earnest desire to seek the face of God, to conform to the image of His Son, and to do one of two things; for those who lean toward conservatism, who view change as bad, to implement a heart transplant from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh; or for those who advocate more liberal views, to tame the wild ambitions of the flesh and to seek a whole-hearted submission to Him and His Word, no matter what that might cost. Only by so doing with the brethren movement, which we feel was initiated by the Holy Spirit so many years ago in an effort to preserve the Church, survive....

Not sure I agree with everything he says, but it's worth a read and it's good for future leaders to think through some of these things. I think Andrew is addressing the "open" assemblies (Chapels & Halls) only and not talking about the "exclusives".

KLBC @ Bridlegrove

Alright everyone don't forget to put your clocks ahead one hour tonight.
Tomorrow the KLBC (Kawartha Lakes Bible College) choir is at Bridlegrove for the morning service!

How to cook a heretic...

Thanks to my aunt sandra for the picture. She says I look like the guy on the right?

April foolish

Yesterday's April fools joke went over better than I expected. I think I got most of you through the course of the day. Some remarked "I really believed you", or "OH MAN". Many thought it was humourous, however as the Pope's condition worsened some turned sour and rebuked me for my sick sense of humour. My apologies to all who were upset. I thought what I'd do today is a quick google serach of the news to see what people are saying as they reflect on the legacy of this Pope:

Paul Martin: MacLeans
Prime Minister Paul Martin, who was touring Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., and is Catholic, said prayers are needed for the pope."For over a quarter of a century, the Pope has prayed for all of us and the time has come for us to pray for him," Martin said. "Whether you're a Catholic or whether you're of any faith, what the Pope really stood for was a bringing of all faiths and all people together."

The Archbishop of Goa, Reverend Filipe Neri Ferrao, today issued an appeal to communities of all faiths to pray for ailing Pope John Paul-II

people joined together to remember the pope as a man who moved the Catholic church forward and made a distinct effort to reach across denominations to embrace people of all faiths.

Pope ascends to heaven - CBC

In a dramatic turn of events for Pope John Paul II, CBC is reporting that the dying pontiff was taken up into heaven moments before death.

Pope John Paul raised to heaven
Last Updated Fri, 01 Apr 2005 08:23:46 EST
CBC News

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II rose into the clouds above the Vatican in a miraculous turn of events. After suffering heart failure, during treatment for a urinary tract infection, Vatican officials say that the Pope was raised to heaven in a manner similar to Jesus before him. Stunned onlookers took pictures and videos and sang hymns as the Pontiff rose into the clouds.

Pictures at CBC,CNN,Reuters,and the BBC

Peter

I met a new athiest friend online recently. On the ShawnCuthill.com discussion forum, Peter is a poster who picks people's perceptions poignantly. Please peruse Peter's packed publication:

What was the event that lead you to make the "Leap of Faith" to Christianity (in whatever form/denomination you believe)?

I'm hoping this isn't an improper question to ask... but I'm hoping someone will share this information. Before you continue, remember I am an Atheist.Because I am very confused.Ok let me tell you a bit about myself. My first memory was of my father carrying me on his shoulders on a camping trip. Unfortunately, this memory had a rather unfortunate ending. My dad had a heart attack and died...

My girlfriend wanted to go to a dance at her school... I don't dance or do public events! I was scheduled to work anyways so I said go and have fun. The last words I ever said to her. She was killed that night in a car crash by some drunk kids who smashed into the car she was in. What made matters worse to me was the knowledge that if I was there, I would have been the person in the passenger seat (due to my size) and not her. No one else was badly hurt in the car. The injustice of it all offended me to the core. Why did these drunk and stoned kids in the other car not even suffer a scratch? Why my girlfriend die? Of all people?... She (like me) was totally against drugs and alcohol. Why God? Why? Why? God has never answered me.Now I don't know if God had a hand in this, so I can't say I blame him. But she was NOT a Christian, and if what I had read in the Bible was true, she was going to be tortured for eternity. Yet those scum that killed her might be saved? What kind of God would allow that?

Perhaps you could take a minute and respond to Peter with some insight into how Christ changed your life.