Wednesday prayer requests

"Prayer requests" are published every Wednesday and provide us with up-to-the-minute requests to help us cry out to God on behalf of others
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As some of you know, blogger.com was down for some time today. Right before it went down it ate my post on prayer. Perhaps that's what kyboshed the system..who knows. So here are a few items for prayer.

First there is a huge outreach in Sioux Falls, South Dakota - detail here

Also, my friend Steve Bremner is going on a missions trip to Holland!

Pray for Cookie & Kellz who I mentioned previously, as well as the CRUX youth rally this Saturday!

That's it for today. The other post I had was much better :)

Parenting 101 v7 - Anatomy

Last night in the bath I was putting soap on Lukas' back when he asked me:

Daddy, why do we need a back?

Any good answers out there?

Monday's hot topics - Life changing confession

Have you ever had something happen to you that drastically changed your life? Something that made you "see the light" and change an area of your life you knew was keeping you down. How about kicking an old habit?

Mark P (moderator of the "hot topics" area on the forum) recently spilled the beans about an experience he had while he was a teenager, that helped him give up drugs for good:

Thinking it would be cool I decided to turn on the video camera and press record for the night to see what we all were up to. After the usual moment of fame that we all felt we began to act normal or at least as normal as you could given the amount of booze or weed you had. Any who, within a few minutes there I was, centre frame, just lying on the floor acting like a complete idiot. I was making no sense at all, just almost noises but not making any sensible words. It was soooo stupid to look at and something that I think was very beneficial for me to see. It was that experience that made me decided never to do a drug again.

How about you? Has anything happened in your life that caused a drastic change? Share it on the forum - here and maybe it could help others.

"Only by the grace of whatever..."

Today I read this article from the Toronto Star

Jun. 1, 2006 THESTAR.COM

A man has been charged with impaired driving after he and three passengers escaped unhurt this morning when their car turned under a tractor-trailer as it exited the Don Valley Parkway...

Staff Sgt. Keith Haines said he found the incident bizarre and shocking.

"Only by the grace of whatever, they walked away from this. I couldn't believe they went under the trailer," he said.

Ummm...Mr. Sargeant...the whatever part...that's God

June loggin in

01June06 - Thurs
02June06 - Fri - youth @ house
03June06 - Sat -
04June06 - Sun - BofB(share), FBH with 21, ladies lunch with youth
05June05 - Mon - admin, paperwork, correspondence
06June06 - Tues-
07June06 - Wed - 100 flyers at MAC
08June06 - Thur- Geoff Ryan, Alan Beattie, Nigel, 50 flyers @ Bethune with Michelle
09June06 - Fri - youth - 21
10June06 - Sat - CRUX
11June06 - Sun - BofB, FBH, pick up boys, picnic, lunch @SC with TW
12June06 - Mon - admin, paperwork, correspondence
13June06 - Tues-
14June06 - Wed -
15June06 - Thur-
16June06 - Fri - LAM christian fellowship, youth@house
17June06 - Sat - Fish's
18June06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with (Raphael, Clayon, Jamoy, Kevin, Cookie, Tatyana, Kelsey, BBQ@Daley's
19June06 - Mon - admin catch-up, St. Catherines
20June06 - Tues- St. Catherines, HP@ladies meeting
21June06 - Wed - no elders meeting, lunch with Jamoy, prayer meeting
22June06 - Thurs-office
23June06 - Fri - office
24June06 - Sat - MAP picnic, Florida group arrives
25June06 - Sun - BofB, FBH, 614, Daycamp sunday
27July06 - Tues - Kelsey Gittens graduation, Florida over for dinner
June 24-July 1st - Florida group

Stats:

14 avg for Sunday
200 tracts
21 avg @ youth
CRUX
spoke once
Florida trip - 13 over to eat

Need a title v14

Here's grampy MacLeod with Lukas. Can anyone think of a good title for this picture?

Monday's hot topics - The depravity of man

De-prav-i-ty? Yes I said depravity, that non-bible word which calvinists use along with the first letter of their TULIP (T=Total Depravity). In two weeks this topic has generated 17 pages of intense discussion on the forum. To jump in to the miry clay of the depravity discussion click here!!

How much is your site worth?

Do you have a website? Ever wondered how much it's worth? Give Leapfish.com a try:

ShawnCuthill.com = 7,142.00
SimpleGathering.com = 10,584.00
Athensblog.ca = 11,094.00
bbc.quist.ca/bb = 32,414.00

How much is yours worth? Click here to find out

Need a title v13

Phew, it's late. We just got in from Shania-Twain-ville (aka Timmins, Ontario). Sorry we missed the hot topics and prayer requests this week, they will resume as normal next week. For now, here's a picture we took up north. Can anyone think of a good title?

Random ministry pics V6 - Leaving on a jet plane

Friday I took the boyz to Buttonville airport where we got a private lesson from our instructor GW. GW (not JW, that's his son) is a flight instructor at Senecca college and was gracious enough to give a few of us from Scarborough an inside look at the aviation course! Since the boyz are still in highschool they are still deciding what they are going to be when they grow up (aren't we all) so we wanted to whet their appetite for flight.

Unfortunately Jamoy (right) was a bit scared of the planes so instead he tried to flap his arms in order to gain altitude and avoid having to learn what those pesky dials and buttons did ->


GW took us through a number of areas of the flight training. From how to read the weather, to sitting in a number of plains (above), to even taking us in to do a real flight simulation on a massive flight simulator!

It was an amazing experience, and as you can see in the video below, Kevin and the boyz really enjoyed it! Thanks GW!

oh dear

Do a google search for "theology chat". If you're too lazy, just click here. Whodathunkit?

Is Jesus hiding something?

No I'm not talking about the DaVinci Code here, rather I had a thought this morning about why Jesus told parables.

Matthew 13:9-11:

9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

The reason I thought of this was that yesterday I found myself giving someone advice in parable form. Afterwards I was reflecting on this and my immediate reaction was to think "Oh no, I didn't explicitly give them any advice, I didn't spell things out for them, I didn't tell them what to do". The next thought I had was that Jesus told stories so maybe it's ok to not give people advice. Maybe Jesus was hoping people would clue in without him having to spell things out? If people asked him to tell them the meaning of the parable he would but rarely does he treat people like we do and blurt out advice. Was he trying to hide things from people? Was he playing a spiritual game of cat and mouse? Why wouldn't he just tell them things plainly?

Wednesday prayer requests - New picture!

Last wednesday I posted a picture that a friend had designed for us. As some of you have mentioned, it is time for a new "prayer picture". Well thanks to Colleen MacFadyen here it is!!

We'll be printing up some prayer cards/magnets and sending them out soon to our wonderful supporters! If you'd like one just leave a comment below. Thanks for your prayers!

Monday's hot topics - Money

Well folks, this past week has been so hectic I haven't really checked in to see what's hot on the discussion forum. The BrethrenPedia continues to be hot though, gaining contributors worldwide who are adding bits of information about their local churches. Today instead of focusing on those two sites I wanted to touch on a pretty hot personal topic - money. Yikes, talk about a taboo! If you don't talk about it everyone thinks you're fine, but if you talk about it too much everyone thinks you're begging.

To avoid both of these extremes I've managed to load a few donation buttons on the left side of the blog under the "To support our ministry" section. Lots of ministries and ministers put little donations buttons like this on their sites, actually it was from one of those sites that I learned how to set it up! Naturally the first way you can support us is through prayer, but for those of you who just keep bugging us about how to send money here are the new shiny buttons:

Or if you don't have paypal, just send a donation our way via credit card and we'll make sure our 3 kids are full of food:

Hot stuff! Thanks for enduring that everyone. For the record, this post has absolutely no connection to the fact that I was watching The Apprentice when I posted it :)

A very special mothers day

I spent a lovely day with my mommy today. She's had a tough week. Just got out of hospital. Say a prayer for her. Here is a picture of her and my dad just a few years ago :) I love you mom! Happy Mothers Day!

Yearly haircut

Well folks it's that time again. The sun is out. The temperature is in the 20's. The long-johns are put away for another year (yes I wear long-johns well into May) and Hayley gives me my yearly haircut. Here's the evidence:

BEFORE:


AFTER:

Need a title v12

Can anyone think of a good title for this picture?

Wednesday prayer requests - McPray deluxe

Here's a sweet pic that a secret friend designed for us :)

Monday's hot topics - Why did God create men with nipples?

Well well well, seems nothing is sacred these days on the forum. As if discussing the creation of the world was not stimulating enough, recently there has been some pretty intersting discussion about "Why God created men with nipples?" Seriously. Have you ever wondered that? Why did He? Doesn't seem like they do much. Does it seem odd to anyone else? Really...what are your thoughts...if you've ever thought of it before. I'm not joking here! I want to know. And did God put nipples on Adam before he created Eve? If so, then they must have had a purpose? Right? Am I crazy here? Why Why Why? What are they for? Please...somebody...tell me!! Please...just click here and post your answer on the forum!!

Need a title - v11

This is a recent picture of our butter dish.

Can anyone think of a good title?

Wednesday prayer requests - 3 months till Greece!

Got this prayer update for the summer outreach in Greece. Lord willing we will be going and if anyone is interested in going, there is still room on the team :) The dates are July 28th to August 9th and it's about half the price of the OG1 Olympic trip. Sweet. We have about 10 on the team so far, but the more the merrier!! Join us for a Greek Island gospel adventure! Email me for more info or check the website at www.operationgideon.org Opa!!

PRAYING FOR GREECE - OPERATION GIDEON II - 12 weeks (3 MONTHS - 86 days) until OG II - Dates ~ July 28 - August 9, 2006

PRAY WITH US FOR:

1…$50,000 USD needed by the end of this month for the first payment towards the 30,000 Bibles (hardbound New Testaments) ordered for this summers island outreach. Our faith is once again challenged. Pray with us concerning this wonderful opportunity and need!

2…the protection of our team members. Lahela tore the ligament in her knee at the Athletic Conference in Leptokaria a few weeks ago, requiring surgery and weeks of bed rest.

3…Roy and Rosemary from South Africa who will be ministering on the Greek islands for three months. They will be praying and preparing the way spiritually for OG2 and sharing their faith on a personal one-on-one basis.

4…the OG2 team from Pittsburgh who have adopted the island of Kalymnos, as one of their team members is battling potentially serious health concerns.

5…Greece as it celebrates its 25-year membership in the European Union this year. Most Greeks view their membership in the EU as positive with benefits both political and economical. Pray that this year many more will put their trust in the Lord rather than in a growing materialistic reality that the EU status makes possible.

Monday's hot topics -Creation-7 days?168 hours?

Monday's hot topics -Creation-7 days?168 hours?
A new forum user named Shasta recently raised some questions about how God created the world.

The 7 days of creation in Genesis, when God created the earth, and everything on it, were those actual days as we know them (i.e. 0:00h-23:59h)? Or merely days in the sense of a greater period of time (i.e. era etc...)?

After a few responses she states her wonder with this "hot topic"

Some people don't believe Dinosaurs existed, some do.
Some people believe that if you don't take the Genesis account litterally, you are doubting God.
Some people believe that if you DO take Genesis 1 literally you are doubting God.
Some people are willing to just say "I don't know, but God does", and leave it at that.
Some people believe there is an answer that lies in the middle between both sides. Fascinating.

How about you? Where do you stand on these issues of origin? Post your thought on the discussion forum - here

May loggin in

May Stats:

Preached 3 times (Awana, Highschool, Youth)
11 average at Family Bible Hour (8+13+12)
33 average on Fridays (32+34)
12 youth help at chapel cleanup
4 youth to airport for tour/flight training
11 over to eat
3 stayed overnight

01May06 - Mon - Video with Mark J, Costa & Jenny over
02May06 - Tues-
03May06 - Wed -
04May06 - Thur-
05May06 - Fri - speak at Awana closing
06May06 - Sat - Chapel clean up (12 youth)
07May06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 8 (Kevin, Jamoy, cookie, Kellz, Nathan, Kelsey, Dom, Keliah)
08May06 - Mon - office, catch-up
09May06 - Tues->Thurs-Workers & elders conference
12May06 - Fri - youth (32), jesse weeks (7 over after)
14May06 - Sun - at parents
17May06 - Wed - Melissa at airport (Shug overnight)
18May06 - Thurs - read to daycare
19May06 - Fri - flight practise, youth with Nigel (34) 2 over
20May06 - Sat - CRUX video with Mark J, Feast
21May06 - FBH with 13, Timmins till Wednesday 24th
25May06 - Thurs -
26May06 - Fri - Davinci code movie & talk
27May06 - Sat
28May06 - Sun - BofB, FBH with 12
29May06 - Mon -
30May06 - Tues- Josh & Colleen here
31May06 - Wed - elders meet, CRUX meet, prayer meeting

Another shooting

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

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

Need a title v10

Took this picture when the guys were over for lunch

Can anyone think of a good title?

Wednesday prayer requests - Chester Le again

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

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

640 news article

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

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

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

Spring blog cleaning

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

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

Monday hot topics - Revival!

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

The sayings of Lukas v22 - God's eyes

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

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

Duh-Vinci code fooling many

Saw this article from the National Post:

Poll: 17% of Canadians, 13% of Americans accept premise
Monday, April 17, 2006 OTTAWA - Almost one in five Canadians believes Jesus Christ's death on the cross was faked and that he married and had a family, according to a new poll that challenges the cornerstone Christian belief in the resurrection.

How are you/your church dealing with this upcoming movie?

Wednesday prayer requests - Pray for Kellz & Cookie

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

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

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

Monday's hot topics - What is worship?

Every Monday I'll post a "hot topic" from the discussion forum. This week it's Easter so I'm in "long weekend" mode. I'll start by posting a comment from a new user named Paul - here:

I love the positive flavour this board has. In my wildest dreams I could see such a board as being a principle engine for revival of the brethren view worldwide.

Sweet. Thanks Paul, glad to have you on board! We pray that the forum would accomplish just that.

Now the hot topics I'd like to mention this morning are quite different. I've given you two incase one is too hot for some. The first is something that Hannah raised, which sparked some discussion, called "What is worship"? She writes

I was taught that the Breaking of Bread is the worship service...But why on a Lord's Day morning do we always keep inside this devotional sphere, with our solemn heads bowed. And if a praise hymn is announced why do we still not break the mood but continue in the same way, as though to smile would somehow be out of keeping to the solemnity of the worship? Where does the praise part come in? Why is the joy not there on a Sunday morning? "Praise Him, praise Him cheerfully" is sung in the same vein as "Man of Sorrows." Can anyone else identify with this? Is this devotion all there is to worship? How about praise?

Those are some very good questions Hannah, and some folks have provided some good answers on that topic. Now this week the hottest topic was about Marijuana - here and what Christians would do if it was legalized. Would it then be OK "in moderation", like alcohol? Would it still be wrong? What if only for medicinal purposes? Lots of interesting twists in that topic - here. The question I usually get from teens is "
Why did God create Marijuana if he didn't want us to smoke it?" Let us know your thoughts on these two topics on the discussion forum!

The way of the cross

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

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

Parenting 101 v6 - Love & Marriage

When I am confronted with a difficult parenting situation, I'll put the issue out there to plumb the depths of the vast parenting knowledge of my beloved readers....Here is our sixth edition of Parenting 101.
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Today we were in the car when Lukas turned to Grammy MacLeod and said:

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

Anyone have an answer for that one ???

Wednesday prayer requests - Masked gang attacks Scarborough student

"Prayer requests" are published every Wednesday and provide us with up-to-the-minute requests to help us cry out to God on behalf of others
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Please pray for this stabbing at a local highschool yesterday. Some of our guys (who just finished Christianity Explored) attend this school, but were not involved. It's frightening for them. Please pray.

Here is the Toronto Sun article, and the Toronto Star Article

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

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

Baby Einstein

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

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

*Man falls off cliff during wedding ring search*

Updated Sun. Apr. 9 2006 11:45 AM ET. Kristen Brown, CTV.ca News Staff

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

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

Monday's hot topics - The Breaking of buns

On the forum, a member named Hawgsweat had an interesting experience one Sunday:

I went to an assembly one time as a visitor. I looked on the table and in the plate that held the bread was a hamburger bun. Seemed a little odd to me.

Actually it was more than odd for him:

The use of a hamburger bun seemed slack, careless....When the Lord said" This is my body", what kind of bread do you think he was holding? Can you see Him saying the same thing with a hamburger bun in His hand? I can't.

How would you feel if your church used a hamburger bun for communion? I think it would be fine, but others were borderline offended. What are your thoughts? Are hamburger buns careless? Does God care what kind of bread we use? Comment below, or on the discussion forum - here

Need a title v9

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

Wednesday prayer requests

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

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

Parenting 101 v5 - God's diet

When I am confronted with a difficult parenting situation, I'll put the issue out there to plumb the depths of the vast parenting knowledge of my beloved readers....Here is our fifth edition of Parenting 101.
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We'll catch up with the hot topics next Monday, but I thought today I'd put out another thought provoking question Lukas asked me:

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

Anyone have an answer for this complicated question?

Q1 report - online

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

April loggin in

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

Stats:

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

Need a title v8

This is Kevin just after graduating from the Christianity Explored course.
Can anyone think of a good title?

GospelHall.org?

Seems that something has happened to the GospelHall.org website? A user on the discussion forum - here said

They seem to have shut down public access. Member login procedure doesn't seem to gain access either. Maybe they went exclusive!?!

Anyone have any info?

Wednesday prayer requests - McPray

"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
__________________



Last week I mentioned an all-night prayer meeting at Leaside Bible Chapel. I was pleasantly surprised that 15 people were there! 4 times as many as last time. This outpouring of prayer got me thinking back to 2004 when we went to the Olympic outreach in Greece. During that outreach we knew we needed lots of prayer so we asked folks to pray for us each time they saw, heard or ate McDonalds! We figured (well Paul did it was his idea) that McDonalds is such a big sponsor that it would be plastered all over the world and folks would be praying for us non-stop. A good idea it was! Since then I'm not sure how many people have kept that up, that little picture has been on the left margin of the blog ever since and hey if you have been "McPraying"...bada ba ba ba...we're lovin it! Thanks for the prayer :)

But we're not naive to think some of you have forgotten about it over the past 2 years. So to get you back in the habit, today for the prayer requests I thought I'd ask you to get into the habit of McPraying for us. Give it a try!

Monday's hot topics - Brethren converts to Catholic priest?

Recently, I ran into an interesting fellow on the world wide web. A man by the name of Vaughn Treco. He's from the Bahamas and grew up in the Plymouth Brethren. No big deal i thought, there are loads of people like that. Seems normal so far. The thing that makes Vaugn stick out is the header on his blog (below) :

The story of Vaughn Treco's journey from the intimate spirituality of the Plymouth Brethren Movement and Evangelical Christianity through the Anglican/Episcopal tradition into the heart of the Catholic Church and the priesthood.

Brethren? Converting to Catholic Priest? Huh? How is this possible? I'm sure a number of thoughts went through your mind when you read that but knowing the immenent barrage of questions, Vaughn has graciously shared some of his jouney on the discussion forum!! - here. As you can guess the reactions have been shocking. Click on over to read and dig into the discussion for today's hot topic!

Parenting 101 v4 - God

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 fourth edition of Parenting 101.
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Walking to daycare today Lukas turned to me and said:

Daddy, what does God look like???

Quite the question, anyone know how to explain this to a 4 year old??

The sayings of Lukas v21 - electricity

Lukas made an important discovery today - electricity is "ouchy"!

Lukas: Daddy, this is ouchy when I put it on my tongue
Daddy: Lukas!! That's the plug for daddy's laptop! Do not put it in your mouth again, it's plugged in!!
Lukas: Yes but Daddy, just don't plug it in any more!

Wednesday prayer requests - gimme some!!

"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
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As Nigel mentioned some of us here in Toronto will be having an all-night-prayer meeting at Leaside Bible Chapel this Friday starting at 8PM. Here's the outline of the night:

8:30-9:00 Opening Welcome and Worship
9:00-9:30 God's desire to work in our hearts (discussion and the Word)
9:30-10:15 Pleading with God to do work in our hearts
10:15-10:30 Songs of dedication
10:30-11:15 What is God doing, and what does He want to do in our local churches
11:15-12:00 Interceding for the Holy Spirit to work in the churches
12:00-12:30 Worship and intercession through song
12:30-1:45 Interceding for the harvest of the nations
1:45-2:00 Open time of worship, prayer and closing thoughts

If anyone is interested in coming here are directions to Leaside Bible Chapel. However if you can't come, but want us to pray for something please let us know in the comments. We have lots of time allocated for prayer...so we need some prayer requests!! Write yours in the comments below :)

Monday's hot topics - Unite and divide

Well instead of just one "hot topic", this week I thought 2 would be good!! The reason for 2 is...well...one of them is so ridiculous that i figured I needed an alternative.

So the first hot topic, and in my opinion one of the silliest, is the King James only debate - here . That's right, click on over to read all 14 pages of sillyness...or maybe don't....nah instead of reading that, why not spend the time praying or doing something profitable.

Or if you don't want to dive into that diabolical debate but still are thirsty for a "hot topic" why not check out a very thoughtful post from our friend "Hawgsweat" in Virginia. He posted his "Cow analogy" - here which i find very insightful. Here's a taste:

Yesterday I was driving home through the Virginia countryside. Now here in southwestern Virginia there are a lot of cows. I see them every day and never thought much about it. This day though something happened that was unexpected. I looked at a herd of cows grazing in a field....
As I looked at this scene it suddenly occured to me that this was a picture of the church... All were feeding off of one field, they were one herd and they belonged to one person. The field could be seen as Christ, upon whom we all feed spiritually. The herd as the Body of Christ and the owner as God. Not all feed in the same part of the field in the same way. Not all do what the owner wants all the time. They don't see themselves as one herd.

Quite the analogy. Lots to "chew" on (get it...chew...cud...cows...ha). This analogy is strikingly similar to that of another open brethren writer Ernie Tatham, in his book "Let the Tide Come in" - here. Ernie said that each denomination is like a little puddle in the sand on the beach and when the tide comes in all Christians will be united. I haven't actually read the book but somebody told me that's what it was about. Happy hot topics!

Scott free

Not Acts 16 style, but Scott is out of jail. I am just chatting with him on MSN. More details soon. Keep praying as he's not "out of the woods" yet. They say the process for clearing his name will take at least a year, maybe 2, during which he cant leave brazil. Keep praying!

**UPDATE**Scott may be out of jail, but his name has not been cleared. Please continue praying. For those who didn't receive the email from him this morning (Monday) here is an excerp:

My passport was taken so I can't leave Brazil until the process is finished (I was told this would take at least a year), but I can travel within Brazil as long as I report with my lawyer. The lawyer's fees are very large, but I know the God will provide for these needs at the appropriate time. All in all it was certainly not an enjoyable experience, but I have never felt the Lord's presence with me as I did in those cells. I was weak, He showed Himself strong, and that was an amazing experience. My name has not been cleared. I'm awaiting trial, but I have absolute peace about it. Nothing can happen to me that God does not allow. Every time I am weak or scared or financially stressed it will be another opportunity for Him to show His power. I know that many people were praying for me. I felt those prayers and would like to thank you for them. Please continue to pray that the Lord would work everything out in His time and continue to give me peace and provide for all my needs. Among the many passages of scripture I had time to read during the last week Psalm 145:13b-20 stands out in my mind. Thanks again for everything and God bless.

Wednesday prayer requests - Scott Grieve in jail in Brazil!!!

"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
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**UPDATE**Scott will be standing before the judge at 10am EST, Thursday, March 16th. Please pray that Scott will be vindicated, also that the Lord will soften the heart of the judge and open his eyes to see the truth.

My good friend Scott Grieve (left) recently stepped out on faith and went to Brazil to reach out to street kids! Scott helped me alot last winter, as we met every Thursday to hand out tracts in front of John A. MacDonald Collegiate, L'amoreaux Collegiate, and Timothy Eaton high schools. Earlier today I got a phone call from Scott's family about a serious situation that has arisen in Brazil. Please pray for Scott. Below is an email I received about his circumstances:

Our son Scotts exercise was to work with street kids in Brazil for six months, paid by his own savings. He was in touch with a Christian group in Belo Horizonte and decided the Lord would have him work with them.

He met two young men ( 29 years old) who were twin brothers, Brazilians who had been "adopted"from about the age of 9 by American Missionaries who had been living and working in that area since 1974.

Since the parents were going home on furlough for a year (to Grand Rapids, Michigan) and their sons and Scott both were looking for a place to live, THEY suggested that they move in together and share expenses.

Scott was having two sessions per day - morning and afternoon- working with street kids, playing/supervising soccer games and then having a time of spiritual focus. He was sharing with up to 50 kids per day. His plan was to start teaching English classes on Tuesday evenings ( was supposed to start last night) to adults using the bible as a text book.

While living in the apartment with Scott, they all had separate rooms. Unknown to Scott these fellows were living double lives. The two spent most of their time together, going out at night.

The police came to the door with a search warrant, looking for the twin brothers by name. They had been up early, before Scott got up, and left. Police were surprised at Scott’s courteous invitation to come. Scott was shocked when the police found a gun in one of the young men’s rooms, in a plastic bag in a bureau. The guys must have been tipped off that something was going to happen, hence the leaving very early in the morning.

Scott, being alone in the apartment was arrested and taken to prison.

We were informed by Foreign Affairs in Ottawa about this sad happening.

Scott is in prison in Belo Horizonte. He was shattered with the whole affair and broken. He is in a private cell.

Marilyn’s sister Kathryn got the name of a good criminal lawyer from a friend who works with a politician. Kathryn, her daughter and Marilyn’s brother Joe McClelland were in to see Scott this morning.

We believe that God will shortly vindicate Scott and he will be released very soon.

Please pray for Scott. It has been hard on him and on all of us. Pray too for the parents of these adopted twins. It is very hard on them as well.

Now unto HIM who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Ephesians 3:20

Sincerely
D&M Grieve

Please pray for him, that he would be freed and be able to continue reaching out! Stay tuned to see how God works this out for good! Please leave a comment below to let Scott know you're praying for him!

Monday's hot topics - Ray Comfort

How many people out there use gospel tracts? You know those little things you leave for waiters, gas station attendants and put in christmas cards? Yes those tracts. Well if you use them, which ones do you use? There are so many to choose from. Personally, I've found that the tracts from Ray Comfort, published by Living Waters have been quite helpful, especially at the local highschools. Each week I load up with "IQ tests", optical illusions, and specialized tracts designed to catch, and keep people's attention. Sound sweet, huh? The kids at the highschools love them, and I seldom find one on the ground. I love Ray Comforts tracts. Go buy some. Buy some now!!!

While Ray's tracts are filling up my tract bag, recently on the forum there has been some controversy about Ray Comforts doctrine - here. Some say that he preaches the "false gospel of Lordship salvation". His stance on repentance sounds to some like "works salvation". Others simply think he's trying to avoid "easy believism" and the gospel of "sign-this-piece-of-paper" or "say this prayer". Are there issues with Ray's doctine? Do you just like Ray's tracts? Have your say in the comments section, or on the forum

Random Ministry pics v4 - CE grads!

"Tonight was a special night" Jamoy said to me as we drove home in the car. Since January we have been taking some of our key guys to the Christianity Explored course being held at Leaside Bible Chapel. The course ran for 10 weeks and tonight was the graduation!! Jamoy, Clayon, Kevin, and Cookie (akeem) all recieved certificates and CE plaques for completing the course. Please pray for these young lives as they have made decisions to follow Christ!! Pray for us that we would be good examples to them and that they would continue to grow in their faith.

Our new table in action!

We had 12 people over for lunch on Saturday and 13 on Sunday! The table is great! Thank you Lord!

Mnason sensation!

Our good friends Isaiah & Isabelle Bondt caught up to us in the baby department recently with the birth of their third child Mnason Mark Bondt!! Since the Bondts live in New Liskerd and haven't figured out how to work their blog I'll post a link here to Noel the Uncle who posted the details! Congratulations Bondts! Say goodbye to sleep forever!

Need a title v7

My dad sent me this pic of Sylas. Anyone think of a good title?

Wednesday prayer requests - High School shooting

"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
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**UPDATE2**
Here are the videos I took of the police helicopter:
1. From the window of the chapel (2MB)
2. From the parking lot(4MB)

**UPDATE1** Here are some news articles on the story: Globe & Mail, Toronto Sun: "I heard three bangs and I saw a guy lying in the park and another guy was holding him".

Every Wednesday around 3:15PM I usually walk over to the local highschool, Sir John A MacDonald (MAC) to hand out gospel literature and speak to students about Jesus. Also, every Wednesday there is Christian Fellowship group from 3:30-4:30. I was there last week.

This week I was in a meeting at Bridlegrove until 3:20 and the closing prayer didn't end on time. I figured I'd wait and go to the highschool tomorrow to hand out tracts instead of today. A short while later I saw a police helicopter flying overhead (I even took a video I might post later) and heard sirens. I chatted with a number of MAC students on MSN who told me that there was a shooting. A shooting when I would have been there. Ayeen was the guys name. Please pray. More soon.

The sayings of Lukas v20 - the phone call

Ladies and gentleman, behold Lukas' first phone call to a girl! Click here to see the video (14MB). Wait through the awkward pauses to hear Lukas and Katie chat it up.

Warning - I'm going to talk about money!!

Disclaimer - we're not trying to solicit funds here, just providing info incase the Lord leads you to support our ministry. If the Lord is not leading you to support us, send your money to Matt Cook :)

Today I was chatting with an elder from an assembly in Ontario, who I assumed knew we were commended through MSC, and they said:

"Can we support you and Haley via MSC at present... in a financial way? We have been burdened about this."

The answer is yes. If you look on the left margin of the blog you'll see a link to MSC's online donation - here. Mail donations can be sent to MSC Canada, 509 - 3950 14th Avenue, Markham, Ontario, Canada, L3R 0A9 and designated for "Shawn & Hayley Cuthill". We praise the Lord for everyone who is touched to support us in any way, and provide detailed reports ->here<- of how we use the Lord's resources. Financial posting over!

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 :)