The ice princess

Monday's hot topics - Christians in Politics

Our good man Andrew Prescott recently was voted to the board of directors of the Guelph Conservative party. While some are thrilled that a Christian is excelling in politics, others say that "More is accomplished in a prayer closet than a voting booth." Others say flat out that "voting is unbiblical" and don't even cast a ballot. Should Christians be involved in politics? Maybe I should have an online poll so you can vote for wether you think Christians should vote :) Or just join the discussion on the forum - here - to have your say.

God provides v4 - Dining Room Table

You may remember previous "God provides" posts. Our new van, the Athens2004 Olympic trip, and our new bed are all examples of how God answers prayer. While there are always day-to-day stories about how God provides, we put off posting about all of those until God does something really remarkable! Here is a story that happened last week, told by Hayley:

For a long time (6+ months) we have been praying for a nice dining room table that we could sit arround with our family and friends to share our lives and Lord with them. The table we have, on the left, was given to us and can seat about 6. That's fine for a regular family, but when you have 13 to 20 people over for meals each week it can get a bit squished. We asked the Lord for a new table big enough to seat 10-15 comfortably, but it had to be compact as well so that it wouldn't swallow up our dining room which doubles as a playroom through the week!

At Ikea on Monday we spotted the table for us - here. It seats at least 12 and folds down to a small two person table...it was amazing, and the best part it was on for 1/2 price!! We talked about for a few days and decided today I would go back and get one. When I called to see if there were any in stock they said they were sold out and that particular model was discontinued. I remembered that there was a display table on the floor that we had looked at, so I decided I would go over this morning (thursday) and see if I could get it. When I got there sure enough it was in the "As Is" section. Perfect! But just then a man came out of nowhere and started loading it onto his cart!!! I pleaded with him a bit and he just shrugged his shoulders unaffected by my groans and the three infants in my cart. My faith quivered. The kids and I just sat and watched. He moved towards the check out. I begged the clerk for another, but that was the LAST ONE!! Then a miracle happened. The man looked it over one final time, then he looked at us and said "You can have it". I think he saw that we needed it more :)

Victoriously I took my table to the cashier and found out that the price was now half of of the already 1/2 price table!!!! For all you mathematicians that's 75% off! (100 rather than 400) Great! It came to just over $100 with taxes. I went to pay with my debit card and read the message "insufficient funds" on the machine. I asked the cashier if I could try another account and got the same message. "Oh no" I thought, "I won't be able to get it after all"!! I tried splitting the cost in half and taking from each account...one worked and the other still was not enough. I got 30 out of that account but still owed $15. I rummaged through my wallet and found a 20 dollar bill that I forgoten I had. Yes! The table was mine. No thanks to me. Thanks to God! And thanks to all of you who pray for the people we have over. I'll take a picture of everyone over with the new table and post it some time.

PS. later that day we checked the bank situation and discovered that we had 0.68 cents in the account! The Lord calculated it perfectly!

pps. Our old table is out at the curb if anyone wants it :) Just swing by and nab it

Need a title v6

This morning Sylas woke up before all of us and went downstairs. I assumed he was just watching cartoons, when I came around the corner and found this. Can anyone think of a good title for this picture?

March loggin in

01March06 - Wed - elders meet, prayer, projector, tracts@MAC, Christian fellowship
02March06 -Thurs- Read to daycare, prayer
03March06 - Fri - Florida trip planning. 37 @ youth, 4 new
04March06 - Sat - Games @ Wilfreds with 14
05March06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 13 (Clayon, Kevin, Cookie, Kellz, Jamoy, Deshawn, Malcolm, Travon, Tatiana, Davian, Frank, Nathaniel, Tyrell), Lunch @Mary's with 6, CE @Leaside with 4 (Kevin, Jamoy, Cookie, Kadeem)
06March06 - Mon - Zoo, Basketball league with Dave B
07March06 - Tues- date with HP
08March06 - Wed - prayer, highschool shooting
09March06 -Thurs- read to daycare, lunch with GW, 50 tracts@MAC
10March06 - Fri - 34@youth
11March06 - Sat - CRUX meeting - 12 for lunch, Annual meeting
12March06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 12, 13 for lunch, CE grad at Leaside
13March06 - Mon - Cassie interview, Lukas dentist
14March06 - Tues- zoo, date with HP
15March06 - Wed - prayer
16March06 - Thurs-read to daycare, Visit Phil in Cambridge with Sebas, Kevin, Cookie. Dinner at parents
17March06 - Fri - 33@youth - 8 new
18March06 - Sat - Airport, Pothaar party
19March06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 10, 7 for lunch
20March06 - Mon - Admin clean up, paperwork, florida trip
21March06 - Tues- zoo, date with HP
22March06 - Wed - Lukas sick, taxes,
23March06 - Thurs-office
24March06 - Fri - youth 46 (8 new)
25March06 - Sat - Missionfest, 3 over
26March06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 11 (Kevin, Clayon, Jamoy, Travon, Nathaniel, Tyrell, Noah, Tatiana (+2 friends), Kelsey. Lunch at Manukians. Evening meeting. Members meeting.
27March06 - Mon
28March06 - Tues

<-- You'll notice I installed a sweet google search bar on the left. It allows you to search the web, or the athensblog, or the SimpleGathering Forum, or the BrethrenPedia. Give it a try! Search away!

Wednesday Prayer requests - the unreached

Take a minute today and pray for those people who rarely get our prayer, or missions dollars - the most unreached. Here are some stats I got in an email:

According to missionfrontiers.org, Christians give about 1.7% ($213B) of their income to Christian causes (like their church).
Of that 1.7%, only 5.4% ($11.4B) is given to foreign missions. (Amazing: the *entire* annual global missions budget funding 250,000 missionaries is just 1/4 of Bill Gates' fortune!)
Of that 5.4%, 87% goes to missions among Christians, 12% goes for work among already evangelized non-Christians, and only 1% goes for work among the unreached or unevangelized people of the world.
That means that just 5.4% of 1.7% (0.0918%) of Christians' money goes to missions, and that just 1% of *that* (0.000918%) goes to missions among the unreached

KLBC alumni section

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

Monday's hot topics - Dispensationalism

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

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

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

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

The sayings of Sylas v5 - Stuart Little

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

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

Wednesday Prayer requests - Dave the Aussie!

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

Need a title v5

How come these are always Sylas? :)

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

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

Monday's hot topics - EXCOMMUNICATION!

And no, those capitals are not a mistake. Recently on the forum, Beth, brought up an example of someone who was kicked out of their church, ("excommunicated" or "read out of fellowship"), challenged the decision in court and won!

A lawyer friend of mine who was an elder in an Open Brethren meeting was telling us that their particular meeting was taken to court for excommunicating a member. The Judge in the case, in the Supreme Court of Ontario, ruled that as members are admitted by confession of faith and baptism, and the meeting had no Constitution in place, so therefore no mechanism existed by which they could legally and constitutionally excommunicate members. The plaintiff won a very generous settlement because of punitive damages suffered by being publicly excommunicated.

Wowzers.Hannah wondered aloud "What about 1 Corinthians 6?" which instructs us not to take a brother to court? Lots to discuss with this issue. First off where do we get the idea of "reading people out of fellowship"? What should be done if this is carried out unjustly (as in the case mentioned)? Should the church's decision be challenged in court? Lot's to discuss with today's hot topic, share your experiences and perspective - here

The sayings of Lukas v18 - Midianites

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

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

The sayings of Lukas v17 - Sleepover

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

Recently we have been singing a little song to Olivia. We noticed that she perked up and smiled when we sang it. It's a simple song that goes like this:

In to my heart
In to my heart
In to my heart Lord Jesus
come in today, come in to stay
come in to my heart Lord Jesus

Works every time. Now Lukas said to me, "stop singing mama I want to sing the song I wrote"

In to my heart
In to my heart
Lord Jesus come to my house for a visit
come for a sleepover

Wednesday prayer requests - Susan

"Prayer requests" are published every Wednesday and provide us with up-to-the-minute requests to help us cry out to God on behalf of others
__________________

My friend Susan Hawkins is asking for prayer - here:

1) She is looking for work.

"I need to find something soon as finances are running short."

2) She is flying to Uruguay to be her my parents for 2 weeks.

"i am scared to death of traveling in American Air Space. And My fear has been fueled by A&E's Flight 93 and the uprising anger of the Muslim world. I know G-d will protect me. But if you could cover me in prayer on Sunday I would greatly appreciate it!!"

Pray away!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

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

CRUX pics

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

Need a title v4

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

Monday's hot topics - BrethrenPedia

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

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

CRUX : LOVE Tonight

What a day

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Our officers are traumatized"

It's 12:30AM right now and i was on MSN with a few people when Clayon came online. You may remember Clayon, who's picture is below, as a man was shot and killed 2 doors down from him in November. He simply said:

shawn some people got killed in the hood today, three people

I rushed to google and searched for "chester le", the government housing area where Clayon and most of our youth come from, across from the chapel. I was not expecting this:

The bloody basement on Chester Le Blvd. has left seasoned officers so shaken, some of them had to leave the area.

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

When asked about the scene's appearance, one visibly shaken officer said "I can't tell you right now, I'll break down."

Please pray for this area we live in, the youth who come to the church who live one block away from this tragedy. I'm not sure what to say right now. Just pray.

Lukas Art V2

Remember Lukas' last snow drawing?

Here's his latest creation.

Any idea what he's drawing this time?

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

Any guesses?

Encouraged by discouragement

Here is a quote from CT Studd, missionary to China, India, and Africa:

Sometimes I feel ... that my cross is heavy beyond endurance ... My heart seems worn out and bruised beyond repair, and in my deep loneliness I often wish to be gone, but God knows best, and I want to do every ounce of work He wants me to do. -C.T. Studd, CAP, 216, CAP C.T. Studd: Cricketer and Pioneer, by Norman P Grubb. London: Religious Tract Society, 1933.

I find it encouraging that legends of the faith like him also felt the same discouragement we do, but pressed on trusting the Lord to heal their wounds. May the Lord himself encourage your heart today.

Wednesday prayer requests

Sorry no prayer requests today. Pray for us if you feel led.

Monday hot topics - Islamic art?

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

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

Need a title v3

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

Feb2006 loggin in

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

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

Wednesday prayer requests - OG 2 - the sequel

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

Parenting 101 v3 - the upchuck

Does anyone remember those "garbage pail kids" cards from the 80's? They were a play on the "cabbage patch kid" phenomenon and had pictures of kids with disgusting names. One of them was called "Up-Chuck", as in Charles. Anyway, that's the mental picture I got as I woke at 3:50AM to hear my daughter completely emptying her stomach all over my wife, bed, pillow, blankets, etc.etc. What is a parent to do when a newborn so completely soils everything when they barf? It ensures that sleep time has ended for the night, as everything needs to be mopped up before going back to sleep. After changing sheets, I'm now completely awake at 4AM! Does anyone have any good newborn barfing stories or advice on how to deal with this night-altering event?

Monday's hot topics - Sunday best?

Ah yes, that timeless discussion, usually between parents and children, continues to this very day on the forum, namely - "Daddy, do I have to dress up for church?" Weigh in with your opinion, or thoughts on what the Queen would prefer - here. As one person wrote:

It is not our responsibility to take you through every verse in the Bible to prove that the LORD doesn't require us to dress up for meetings. The burden of proof lies on those who wish to impose this rule. If they expect us to seriously consider their claim they will have to show us its BIBLICAL basis.

Sean O'byrne & Eminem?

Saw this post from missionary homey Sean O'byrne and wondered if he had any connections to Eminem??

The prayer of Jabez - live

Hayley and I got to hear world-renowned Bible teacher and author Dr. Bruce Wilkinson. He was speaking at Unionville Alliance Church and it was without a doubt the most life changing church service I have ever been to. I wrote a bit about it
here, however in all honesty i am still digesting it all.

"Scarborough Teens Speak Up about Gun Crime"

Here is another essay Cassie did about Toronto gun violence involving some of our youth, Clayon and Joel (left). If you remember there were 5 shootings in this area last year. Check out what these guys had to say - here

Random ministry pics v3 - Photo Essay

About a month ago a good friend of mine, Cassie Jeysman, asked if she could do a project for school....about me. Cassie is a journalism student at the University of Toronto, but more importantly lives 2 doors down from my parents :) Cassie took pictures and wrote about our ministry - here. Check it out! You can see pictures of some of the guys we've been working with, who have been coming out over the past few years to youth events, and on Sunday to church. Please pray, as we are now attending Leaside Bible Chapel's "Christinity Explored" course with them.

The sayings of Lukas V16 - story time

Last night we were sitting at the dinner table reading a missionary letter from our friends the Kline's in Greece. Their letter was about a boat trip on HM's mission boat, the Morning Star. Lukas then took the letter and began telling imaginary stories about how this boat was stuck in a storm....

Lukas: There was a big storm, and the boat was going to crash!!!
Daddy: Oh no, then what happened!!
Lukas: Then the boat turned into a helicopter and flew away. They flew and flew and flew until they couldn't see the storm any more. Then they lived in a place far away from any more storms forever
Daddy: Oh, like Chicken Run?
Lukas: Yes, like chicken run
Daddy: Great story Lukas. So did they live happily ever after?
Lukas: No they got old and died.

Wednesday prayer requests - The sign is up!!

"Prayer requests" are published every Wednesday and provide us with an opptunity to get up-to-the-minute requests and cry out to God on behalf of others
__________________

This weeks request is extra special!! If you've been following along, I've been documenting our attempts to attach a huge gospel sign to the corner of the building here. Yesterday the sign finally went up!! Praise God! It looks amazing! Please pray for the thousands who will see this sign every day and that some would be drawn to the beauty of Christ!! Here are a few pictures:

George, the chief architect.

Up up and away!

Onlookers

From the street

One year anniversary!!

Well folks, after staying up till 2AM watching the election, I didn't really get a jump on posting anything today....but today is a special day!! It's the one year anniversary of the discussion forum! That's right, one year ago today, Jan 24, 2005 at 10:35 am the forum began to live. Since then it's been amazing to see the way God has increased our little site. Here are the stats:

Board started: Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:35 am
Number of posts: 11913
Posts per day: 32.55
Number of topics: 1447
Topics per day: 3.95
Number of users: 262
Users per day: 0.72

So on this anniversary I was thinking of doing some special contest, however at press time I was too busy chasing around my 3 kids. Instead I'd just like to thank everyone who has participated in making the forum great! Thanks everyone.

Monday's Hot Topics - Election day

Since today is voting day across this glorious nation, it's quite appropriate that today's hot topic is -> Who are you voting for???

Are you like Prescott, and 15 others, who are voting for the Conservatives, or like Imran who's leaning towards the Green Party? Whatever the case, don't waste that ballot, read over our athensBLOG election coverage, which is todays hot topic, on the forum, and make your informed choice! Cast your vote in our online poll and at the end of election night we'll see how close we came to the real outcome!

**Also, post your voting day stories - here

Need a title - V2 - Sylas

Remember Lukas and the toilet? Well here's Sylas and the finger! Let's see who's got the best title for this pic!

Harperescott

My good buddy and political pundit, Andrew Prescott got to meet Stephen Harper in Guelph today. Check out this shot of the skinny sensation shaking hands with the soon-to-be Prime Minister. Way to go Prescott

Watching a dream - Day 3 - Drilling

Well this morning it didn't look like things were going to work out! I woke up at 5AM when the power went out the first time and by 8:30 when I arrived at the chapel for the Men's meeting it was snowing and as you can see from the picture on the left, the power was still out all over Scarborough.




After the mens meeting George, Onez, Tony and myself were very pleased that the sun came out and we are now (it's 1PM) enjoying a beautiful sunny day!! Keep praying as this sign goes up over the next few days, that many would be warmed by thoughts of Jesus after looking at it. I'll keep you updated on how things are going from Gospel sign headquarters!

Watching a dream - Day 3 - The Sign

I'm not sure what all of us think of when I mention Gospel Signs, but the one we picked up is amazing! Soon I'll have a picture of the full sign, but for now here's a little glimpse. You'll notice a sunset behind the words "Jesus Christ". Plain and simple. For those who might want something similar for their chapel/church, contact Gospel text mission at 1-866-789-0230. I'll be posting pics tomorrow of the mounting! Thanks for your prayers!

Watching a dream - Day 2 - Location

For this segment of the journey, I wanted to highlight Bridlegrove's strategic location, and why this new gospel sign will be an amazing testimony for the Lord! I'll talk about the sign in more detail a little later, but for now I want to post some pictures so we can pray for all the people who will see it!




Since erecting a building in 1976, Bridlegrove Bible Chapel has been located on the corner of Finch & Pharmacy Avenue's in Toronto. This is a major intersection in a very multicultural area. On Sunday, the visiting preacher stated that "this is the most strategically placed assembly in all of Canada". In these pictures, you'll notice the chapel's location and the big empty space where the sign will be located. Please pray with us that this sign will be successfully attached to the wall and that many people would feel the warmth and turn to Christ!

Smiley girl

Well we've finally reached that adorable stage where Olivia is beginning to smile and coo. Here are a few pictures and a video of the cuteness

Watch as a dream becomes reality

I've been struck lately with a real streak of thankfulness. Thankful for my parents, my wife, thankful for my children, for democracy to vote. More specifically I've been very thankful for the ability God has given us to minister in this area of Toronto, thankful for the connections we have made with so many people, thankful for the progress that has been made, thankful for the supporters who read this site, donate, and pray for us. Over the past 3 years we have poured ourselves into this area, and something very special is about to happen on Saturday that I am very thankful for!

Over the next few days I will be posting a progression of pictures that will chronicle the mounting of the lovely sign you see on the left. Now this might not be a big deal to some of you, but for me, this is a DREAM COME TRUE!!!

You see Bridlegrove Bible Chapel is situated on the corner of a major intersection (Finch & Pharmacy) here in Toronto. Late last year I contacted the Gospel Text Mission about the possibility of placing a large gospel sign on our building. Right on the corner. So hundreds of people every day could see the gospel clearly portrayed! I'm pumped! Currently the sign is sitting in the main sanctuary at the chapel. I'll post more soon about the voyage from dream to reality.

CRUX rallies

CRUX youth rallies were born out of a desire to see Christ Raised Up (C.R.U.X) in the city. These rallies are organized by various youth leaders and groups across Ontario. The ethos of ministry is making Jesus the center, while explaining him in the language of the street. Friends are encouraged to bring friends to hear and experience (CRUX = Come Read Understand Xperience) what Jesus can do for them. The rallies are outreach oriented and city-based to encourage youth to move towards the kind of places where Jesus would have lived. The lonely places. The places with bad reputations, like Nazareth. CRUX ralies are held every few months so email me if you'd like to get on the mailing list.

Here are some pictures and videos of previous rallies:

CRUX 1 - September 2005 - held at Bridlegrove Bible Chapel - pics, videos

CRUX 2 - Decemer 2005 - Leaside Bible Chapel - pics, videos

CRUX 3 - February 2006 - Markham Bible Chapel - pics

CRUX 4 - June 2006 - Bridlegrove Bible Chapel - Gyasi Ferdinand, Videos, YouTube

CRUX VIDEOS on YouTube

Wednesday Prayer Requests - Suicide

"Prayer requests" are published every Wednesday and provide us with an opptunity to get up-to-the-minute requests and cry out to God on behalf of others
__________________

Thought I'd post an entry from the forum for us to pray for today:

Is there somthing wrong with me?!I'm a born again Christian....but i'm so confused....and stressed...and depressed...and lately i've been having thoughts of suicide! tell me im crazy please! i've broken down so many times in the last week....i feel so helpless....what can i do?!?!?

Perhaps we could take a minute to pray for this person, as well as others listed in the prayer section

Monday's hot topics - Women's Roles

Well this Monday highlights the plight of women in brethren assemblies. Some believe that "women, who find it difficult to put on a headcovering (in church), love themselves more than they love Christ", others say that there is no place for women in brethren assemblies and have left over this issue. That's why "The Role of women in brethren churches" is this week's hot topic! What would a brethren site be without a debate about headcoverings! :) Click here to uncover the glory!

Polygamy, eh?

I saw a story on the news last night, and CTV reports that Canada is considering legalizing polygamy. And what you might ask was the motivation for such a study? Surprise, surprise, the same-sex marriage issue. I seem to remember a number of Christians predicting this would be the case. Don't worry though, only 13% of people in this CTV online survey want it approved. 13%. Yuck.

Parenting 101 V2 - Eyeballs

As promised earlier, "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 second edition of Parenting 101.

Recently Lukas has been noticing the difference between wood and metal. He will approach a door, or table and knock on it with his toy hammer. "Daddy is this wood, or metal" he will ask me, and I will usually explain the difference in sound between the two to help him distinguish which material he's found. Tonight was different. He started knocking on plastic, ceramic tile and finally his bed mattress, all the while asking "Daddy is this wood or metal". It gave me an opportunity to explain what many things are made of.

After tucking him in and leaving the room, I heard a familiar plea from his room..."Daaadddyyyyy". I opened the door to find him with his fingers pushing at his eyes, when he asked "Daddy, are eyeballs wood or metal?"
What response would you have given?

Eid Mubarak!

Just wanted to say Eid Mubarak to all my muslim friends celebrating Eid today!

Election laughs

Found parody video of the recent Liberal attack ads. Absolutely hilarious. Hopefully we'll see a few more of these as people get more and more tired of the Liberals. The owner of this site has set up a contest and is asking for entries for his next ad parody, so click here and see if you can win!

Wednesday prayer requests - Good news from Good news!

Recently a supporter asked me to send them prayer requests so they could pray for our family and ministry daily. Wow! We seriously appreciate prayer. And daily prayer - oh baby! I thought the best way to get prayer requests out "real time" would be to post a new feature every Wednesday called.....Prayer Requests.

Ya, I know it doesn't have a flashy title, but it does get the idea across, and Wednesday is the universal day of mid-week prayer meeting (sorry for you tuesday nighters). We need to pray. Pray for each other, our world, those less fortunate. I will be posting my prayer requests for the prayer warriors that support us, and if you have a prayer request, post it in the comments, or in the forum prayer section! The prayer will get flowing, people will get connected, God will enjoy the dialogue and He will get to show more of his goodness to us little people. :) Sweet system I tell ya.

Now to break with tradition right out of the gate, the first edition of "prayer requests" isn't even about me. Talk about a hypocrite. But hey it's 1AM and I just got off the phone with a friend from the Good News On the Move team (GNOM for short) down in Louisiana! I'm pumped! I posted a bit of how our discussion went here

So pray for GNOM, Give to GNOM, keep updated on GNOM on the discussion forum - here. Good things are happening and these guys need our prayers! Click here for more prayer requests

Monday's Hot Topics - Divorce

Well it's Monday again. Back to work. Back to school. Need somethin to get your heart pumpin? Here are this weeks Hot Topics!

Now, seeing as I didn't even get to bed till 1:30AM and was up about 3 times before Sylas finally woke me up for good at 7, I'm keeping this edition of "hot topics" to just one. But don't worry, it's a good one! As promised I'm adding this to the list of "hot topics" on the left margin.

This past week, there was an interesting exchange on the the discussion forum involving an old topic about divorce and remarriage. The previous debate was about wether divorce is allowed for Christians. I had taken a fairly hard stance, stating that divorce is not an option and making reference to the biblical story of Hosea and the picture of Christ and his church (Bride) to back up my point, when Michelle entered the discussion and rocked our socks off! What makes this an even more interesting topic is that Hayley and I actually attended Michelle's wedding! Here's what she said:

I am divorced...I figured either I got out of this marriage or he would kill me or I would commit suicide. I feel no remorse for my decision to leave him. Any God who would want me to stay in that situation is no God for me. For those who believe divorce is not an option what would you tell someone like me who came to you for counsel?

Now that is a hot topic! What would you say to Michelle? What do you think about divorce?

Random Ministry pics V2 - Seed Sowers Map

I took this random ministry pic at Emmanuel Bible Camp in Prince Edward Island when we were there in August of last year. That feels wierd saying last year, but I guess it was the summer of 2005. A group of about 150 christians, including Hayley, myself, Veronica, Lukas, Sylas & Olivia gathered at camp, which served as "home base" for our mission...an amazing feat for Jesus...distributing 50,000 Seed Sowers packages, effectively getting HIS words out to cover the entire province...like the dew! Our assistant in the picture, Matt Cote, is showing us the map that was on the wall at the camp. The map shows Prince Edward Island and each town and village as it was completed. Props to Bob Magregor for the hours he spent working on the logistics and photocopying maps of PEI for each team. Matt is pointing to where the camp is located. It was quite the journey of faith for us, trudging mile after mile from mailbox to mailbox. Special thanks also to the assemblies in PEI who helped in so many ways, as well as Don Cox from Quebec for organizing the outreach. Please continue to pray for the people who received these texts, and for the churches in PEI to continue to reach out! May Jesus get the glory! If anyone from PEI has updates on the follow up, please post them here.

The sayings of Lukas v15 - Bedtime stories

Tonight Hayley was tucking Lukas into bed when he asked:

Lukas: Mommy can you read me another bed time story?
Mommy: No Lukas we don't have time for any more stories tonight.
Lukas: Mommy, I don't mean read it, I just mean tell me what it says!

Nice day for a Wilks Wedding

Well I took a grand total of 5 pics and 4 videos at Matt & Starrs wedding. Some of you have asked for some pics, but Olivia prevented me from doing my usual paparazzi routine. Sadly, the pic on the left is by far the best of the night but I'm sure their wedding photographer will have better shots. The other pics and videos are located here.

Uprising of Love

Looby reports about the Rise Up & Love Conference in New Jersey:

wow.. rise up and love 2006.. was amazing.. i loved everything about it.

Did anyone else go? Care to give those of us who missed it the down-low on the discussion forum?

2005 - Hot year - Hot topics

Well Happy New Year! 2006 is here and you may have noticed I've been fiddling around with a few things on the left margin here on the athensBLOG. I've started an "athensBLOG features" list and consolidated alot of links so folks don't get lost in the long list. Most of the stuff from the athens2004 olympic missions trip has been archived and I'm still experimenting with other stuff, because basically I have no html or web skills and I'm not very good with a bow-staff. If it wasn't for Paul Roides and Matt Wilks, the ShawnCuthill.com experience would look a lot like Len Carolan's site.

One of the new features I've added is a "Hot forum topics" feature, which links to some of the discussions currently taking place on the forum. I'll update these every Monday, unless of course I'm overcome by a mountain of diapers.

Last weeks hot topics were: - Who are you voting for? ; - Evolution; - Brethren beliefs; - Are people born gay?; - Should I attend Catholic celebrations?; - Shower daily?

This week's hot topics: - Sexual abuse stats, - Early Church System?, - Meet Imran! , - "Brand name" game , - Who does Esther look like?

There must be something in there you'd like to argue about, so get to it! 2006 may be the year of Mozart, Museums, and Malicious Malware, but it's also the year of the athensBLOG!! In 2005 we went from a little blog about a little trip, to a discussion forum that reaches around the world, to now a wiki that attempts to do what no other website has done, document the history of every brethren assembly on earth. Bill Yeo may be right that we're biting off more than we can chew...but man it's fun chewing with all of you :) Thanks to all the 40,000 or so readers who browsed, clicked, commented and posted in 2005! All the best in 2006!

January loggin in

01Jan06- Sun - FBH - (3)Clayons mom, dad, christoff. 6:30 movie at chapel
02Jan06- Mon - paperwork
03Jan06- Tues- Matt & Leah to airport, date with HP
04Jan06- Wed - office, lunch with roidzee, fix car
05Jan06- thurs-
06Jan06- fri -
07Jan06- sat -
08Jan06- sun - BofB, FBH
09Jan05- mon -
10Jan05- tues- zoo
11Jan05- wed - hayley's parents leave
12Jan06- thurs-office, 50 tracts@MAC
13Jan06- fri - 20@youth
14Jan06- sat - scott grieve farewell
15Jan06- sun - FBH with 9(Clayon, mom, dad, christoff, deshawn, malcolm, trayvon, tatiana, cookie), 5 over for lunch, 4 to CE @ Leadide
16Jan06- mon - paperwork, toronto mission planning for florida group
17Jan06- tues-
18Jan06- wed - office
19Jan06- thurs-read to daycare kids, 50 tracts @ MAC
20Jan06- fri - 50 tracts @ LAM, 25@youth
21Jan06- sat - Mens Fellowship, help george with sign
22Jan06- sun - BofB, FBH with 2 (Jamoy, cookie), CE@Leaside with 3 (Jamoy, Kevin, Cookie)
23Jan06- mon - paperwork catch up, election
24Jan06- tues-zoo, date w HP, chester le prayer
25Jan06- wed - prayer
26Jan06- thurs-read to daycare, meet norm K
27Jan06- fri - 28@youth
28Jan06- Sat - solemn assembly
29Jan06- Sun - UAC for Bruce Wilkinson, Fish's for lunch, CE Leaside with 5
30Jan06- Mon -
31Jan06- Tues- 3 over for lunch

Happy New Wierd!

So.....I spent New Years eve with a bunch of skinned humans down at the Science Center! They called it Body Worlds, and it was quite fascinating. Upon entering the exhibit there was a wall sized banner with Psalm 8 written on it:

4What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

Although there was controversy surrounding the exhibit I found it was pretty amazing stuff. Matt & Hayley enjoyed it the most, with their medical backgrounds, but God's creation is definitely fascinating! Again, I can't understand how someone can look at the amazing way the human body works and not believe it was designed by an intelligent designer. My favorite part of the exhibit was the fat man vs. skinny man, the embryos, pregnant lady and the javelin thrower. My parenting skills were stretched when Lukas asked "why does that man have three legs" pointing to a plastinated corpse who's leg was disected three ways.
Interstingly somebody told us that they thought it was unethical to be displaying dead humans that way. I hadn't thought of it, but is there any ethical or religious reason why displaying dead bodies is wrong?

Congratulations to Matt & Starr

The gentle giant, Matt Wilks, and Starr Lane got married yesterday at Leaside Bible Chapel! It was a wonderful night because of the wedding, but also because Hayley and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on the same day! Now we will be forever united with this wonderful couple in the date of our marriage as well as our love for the colour orange! Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Parenting 101 - Grinches

Over this past year I've developed a few regular features here on the athensBLOG. The saysings of Lukas (& Sylas), God provides and Random ministry pics are some of the favorites, along with numerous contests throughout the year. Parenting 101 will be a new feature here on the athensBLOG. 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! Come on you've all wanted to say something to that mother in the grocery store with the screaming child...now's your chance to be a back-! Tell the world how you would instruct the youngsters! Here's the first segment:

Parenting 101: Grinches:

Hayley's family is here and tonight we were watching How the Grinch stole Christmas, when Lukas asked me:

"Daddy, why did God make grinches"?

What response would you have given?

What would you do for Love?

Mark McGowan...is pulling 18 boxes of chocolates on strings attached to his arms and legs and a sign saying: "Could you love me?" "You get by being on your own the rest of the year but at this time it is devastation, utter misery," he said. "I am spending Christmas alone this year but I am looking for love because I have had enough - I don't want to be alone any more."

This is one of the saddest things I've ever seen. Obviously it's a publicity stunt, however it does show how important human relationships are. Reminds me of Cindy Lou Who in the Grinch when she said "No one should be alone on Christmas". Find a lonely person today and say hi, give them a hug or do something to show them that they are loved. Tell them that God loves them and spend some time with them. If anyone can find a video of this online please leave a comment because I want to use it for a sermon.

Happy Birthday Hayley!!

That's right folks, my wife Hayley is celebrating her 24th birthday today - Dec 25! Special props to Isabelle, Cookie and Olivia Campbell for remembering! Hayley's family are the champs when it comes to strange birthdays. Her birthday is Christmas, her dad's birthday is Valentines day, and she has 2 boys born on the same day. So have a Merry Christmas and leave a comment for Hayley because usually everybody forgets :)

How long is one month?

One month ago today Olivia was born! Actually Hayley and I couldn't decide whether Olivia was one month old on Tuesday, which was 4 Tuesdays since her birth, or today, one calendar month from her birth date. Whatever the case, here are some new pictures, and videos of the one-month-old :) Watch and see Lukas' first attempt at carrying his sister! Merry Christmas everyone!

Cuthills 2005 year-end report online

Click here for our 2005 Christmas newsletter/year-end report (MS Word). Special thanks to everyone for your prayers, gifts and support over the past year. Merry Christmas!

Testing the "BrethrenPedia"

Just getting started on a little project called BrethrenPedia. I'll be writing more about this project in the new year, but basically we're attempting to document the entire history of the brethren movement, one assembly at a time. Using the same wiki software as Wikipedia.org we'll try to dig up and document the history of every assembly all the way back to the original boys in Dublin! I'll explain more about it soon, but for now just go to http://brethrenpedia.quist.ca and try your hand at editing! Once you get hooked it's lots of fun!

Barbara Walters goes to Heaven

No she didn't die, she's hosting a show tonight on CTV titled "Heaven: Where is it". She interviewd Catholic, Jewish, Baptist, Buddhist, Evangelical, Athiest, Muslim, Terrorist and Scientific leaders. Should be interesting.

Prime Minister's puzzling proposition

Can somebody explain this to me? I was reading on the CTV website that Paul Martin said:

"In a nation of minorities, the Charter is the guarantor that minorities will be protected, that they will not be subjected to the whim of the minority," Martin said Sunday

Dave & Amy & Camille & friends

Finally, we have pictures of Camille Frances Sutherland! Rejoice with the Quist nation!

Boys O Boys!

Well, as I was finishing up my last post about all the newborn girls, Josh & Colleen MacFadyen were at the hospital awaiting the arrival of their little BOY Cameron Thomas MacFadyen!! Cameron (happens to be my middle name) was born at 2:20AM this morning (Saturday) via C-section! Here is a little picture Josh sent of the little fella! Congratulations to the MacFadyens!!

Modern day good samaritan

Well it's currently 4:54AM and I doubt that I'll get too much more sleep tonight. The insomnia all of us new parents are feeling cannot be matched by the sadness this mother must have felt when her innocent son was shot and killed by soldiers. Her response is an example to all of us. Here is the article I found a little while ago, detailing how this mother reacted:

Israelis receive organs of slain Palestinian boy

In a gesture they hope will foster peace, the parents of a young Palestinian boy killed by Israeli soldiers have donated his organs for transplants in Israel.

Ahmed Khatib, 12, was shot by Israeli soldiers last Thursday, during a military raid in Jenin.

Like so many children across the West Bank, Khatib was playing with a toy gun when Israeli soldiers were hunting militants. Mistaking his toy for a real gun, they shot him in the head and chest.

He died of his wounds in an Israeli hospital on Saturday.

Ahmed's mother says the decision to donate her son's organs was made Sunday as a tribute to his brother, who died at 24 while waiting for a liver transplant. But the desire to help others -- regardless of nationality or political beliefs -- is also directed at sustaining Ahmed's spirit.

"We made the decision to show we want peace -- even if they're Jewish," she said in Arabic. "This way I feel he is still alive."

A chronic shortage of donor organs in Israel is typically explained by Jewish religious taboos against the practice.

Girls, Girls, Girls

Well since we (or should I say Hayley and Theresa) had our girls on November 22nd, Keith & Beth Sparrow also had a girl, Rebecca Faith and Dave & Amy had a girl, Camille Frances. The only exception to the rule is Marko & Laura who had a boy, Sean. Congratulations to all the happy sleepless parents! So far we still haven't heard from Josh & Colleen MacFadyen. Stay tuned :)

I swear to God

Found this from the french political debate last night, CBC leaders debate

Interesting. The moderator would not let the leaders off without actually answering the question: Would they swear on a Bible to keep their promises? Layton, Martin and Harper all replied with the same word: "Absolument. (Absolutely)." Then they went on to pound home their messages again, not willing to lose a chance to say more. But for a second time, Duceppe did not answer with a "yes" or "no."

Welcome to Nanavut

Taking Lukas to daycare is always an adventure! As you've seen, there are always new things to discover...like toilets and kitchen sinks on neighbours lawns! You can never guess what is just around the corner. Walking those 3 blocks from our house to the chapel has so many twists and turns, and today was no exception. Lukas found a stick and started drawing in the snow. Any idea what Lukas is drawing? He said to me "Look daddy it's......"
Any guesses?

Gosh

Considering that my brain is complete mush from so many sleepless baby nights, I had a great laugh at this link. Just click on the flippin link.....dang

Need a title

For this picture. Any ideas?

The sick olympics

With a newborn, sick kids and a sick wife this week (and sick myself), I got to wondering if there's some kind of world record for the most throw ups, phlegm, poops and boogers in one home in a week. If nobody's keeping track here on earth, then I'm sure we'll find out who won when we get to heaven. The condition of my family also made me wonder when it would end! So what are we to do when everyone is down for the count? Grab the banjo, call the in-laws and have a concert! Yeehaw! Here are some videos of Lukas singing some favorites, and here are more pictures of Olivia! :)

Indoor gas stations

Pulling up to get gas tonight in the freeeeezing -17 windchill cold, when the thought hit me....why hasn't anyone invented INDOOR gas stations??? I'm standing there freezing to death looking over at the "Mr. Lube" attached to the Esso wondering how come they can't have a drive-in gas station to keep everybody warm, check your fluids, sell you Tim Hortons, etc. I mean so many things would be easier. No line-up issues. Nobody backing up in front of somebody else, no honking, no jockeying for position. Just a straight line in and straight line out. Has anyone thought of this before? Would you go to an indoor gas station? I know I would. I'd probably choose to drive an extra block or two just to get there. Maybe I should give Esso a call...hmmm...don't go stealing my idea on me now, OK! Has anyone else thought of this before or am I crazy?

More Babies!

Congratulations to Marko & Laura Peric on the birth of their son! He was 9lbs 5oz and they're naming him Sean or Shawn or Shaun, but hopefully not Shone. Hopefully they'll have some pictures up soon on their site - here. Congratulations!

So Roman, how did you like CRUX2 @ Leaside?

Roman is demonstrating the featured game from the second CRUX event, the spit-the-banana-through- the-panty-hose-over-your-head game. Quite fun to watch...not sure how much fun it was to play but I'll put some videos and pics up soon so you can see for yourself! Thankfully there were no permanent injuries, except perhaps some bruised egos.



It was a great night, with over 150 teens (and yes we allowed parents) from at least 7 assemblies represented! Sadly none of those assemblies brought anyone with freestyle rapping skills so we were subjected to a rendition of Wierd-Al Yankovics "amish paradise" by Wilks & Brewster during the rap competition. The Leaside praise band was rockin, Matt Wilks spoke powerfully about how Jesus had changed him from a life of drugs, to a life of serving God. As you can see from this picture, the objective was accomplished - Christ Raised Up! Markham Bible Chapel will host the next rally in February, so stay tuned for details!

December logging in

16Dec05- Fri - youth
15Dec05- Thur
14Dec05- Wed
13Dec05- Tues
12Dec05- Mon
11Dec05- Sun - BofB, FBH with 2 (Cookie, Jamoy)
10Dec05- Sat - Christmas banquet (4) Kevin, Jamoy, Cookie, Katherine
09Dec05- Fri - @Chapel - sermon prep, youth prep, admin. Youth, set up for banquet
08Dec05- Thurs - sick
07Dec05- Wed - sick
06Dec05- Tues - off
05Dec05- Mon - @chapel - Lukas home sick
04Dec05- Sun - Sylas sick
03Dec05- Sat - CRUX leaside
02Dec05- Fri - 25@youth
01Dec05- Thur- @chapel