Only the Injil v2 - Jesus' first followers

Recently I became a 30-something, which at first glance was quite depressing. There has been, however, one sweet consolation - I am now in my 'Jesus years'. These years in Jesus' life (between 30 and 33) were powerful, dynamic, miraculous and ultimately led to the greatest grass-roots revolution in human history.

Realizing this, I picked up my Reese Chronological Bible and each day, for the next 3 years, I will seek to read about exactly what Jesus was doing at my age!
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For this second installment of 'Only the Injil' I wanted to look at how Jesus built momentum and gathered his first followers, or disciples. What is the picture you get in your head as you think of Jesus gathering followers? I wonder if we think much past the scene of Jesus walking along the beach, stretching out his hand and saying 'Come follow me' and then by some mystical powers people would drop whatever they were doing and follow him. Is that all there was to it?

> Jesus @ 30 years 11 months - Let's start mapping this out. It would seem Jesus called his first followers after coming back from 40 days in the wilderness. He had already made a very public appearance by getting baptized at the height of John the Baptist's ministry, so Jesus would have been well known to the people he called to follow him.

First of all, imagine with me the hoopla surrounding John the Baptist around the time Jesus got baptized. Mark 1:5 states that "All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John". Everybody was there. This was like Superbowl Sunday and Jesus decides at this exact moment to get baptized! Think of the strategy as Jesus walks through the massive crowds and then the person they are there to see, John the Baptist, turns and says to everyone 'Look, it's the Messiah, he's the one you really want to talk to'.

The whispers would fly! Not only through the crowds gathered in the wilderness, but to almost everyone in the entire country as these spectators traveled back to their own towns. This 'publicity stunt' was the background for Jesus' return from the wilderness. Everybody knew who John said he was, and were waiting with anticipation to see what he'd do. This is an excellent lesson on momentum building. Jesus didn't just show up on a street corner and say 'Hey everyone, I am the Messiah", he was very strategic in how he used natural networks to spread his message and build curiosity and anticipation.

Now, if you look at the map of Jesus' travels it shows an interesting pattern. In John 1:35 John the Baptist is stationed in a town called Bethbara. On the map to the left this town is near the area simply called 'River Jordan'. John is walking around Bethbara with his disciples and Jesus shows up, fresh out of the wilderness, everyone wondering what he'll do. It's interesting to me that all Jesus really does here is piggy back off what is already going on with John. He leverages the momentum John has created. He shows up the first time where John is baptizing. He shows up a second time when John is teaching his disciples.

What is really amazing is what happens next! John is walking with two of his disciples, he sees Jesus and says to them 'Behold the lamb of God' (ie: hey, remember this guy I told you about?). John 1:37 then states 'the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus'. Did you catch that?? Jesus scoops John's disciples!! And John has no problem with this. Today's equivalent would be if a minister at one church encouraged their congregants to join another church with a better minister! We find out later in verse 40 that one of the disciples Jesus scoops is Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

Now we see Jesus really start to teach us about networking. What is Jesus' next step? Does he set up shop in Bethbara and tell his new disciple Andrew to bring people to him for a synagogue class each Sunday at 11? No, John 1:41 says that Andrew finds his brother Peter and says 'We have found the Messiah!!". Peter comes and follows as well - 2 disciples for Jesus. Next we see Jesus travelling up to the city where Andrew & Peter are from which is Bethsaida. If you look on the map you'll see that it is a considerable distance up the Jordan River to the sea of Galilee, where Bethsaida is located.

Why does Jesus travel all this distance? He is working Andrew and Peter's natural network. He visits the town where they are from (John 1:44). He finds Philip, probably someone Andrew & Peter knew from town and then Philip brings Nathaniel - his brother? relative? we're not sure, but it is someone in Philip's network, which resulted from someone in Andrew's network, who was from John the baptists network.

I want to pause here to contrast what we are used to in church with what Jesus is doing here. Usually we experience church leadership that does not spend a whole lot of time exploring someones natural network of friends. When someone comes to church they are given a list of meetings and groups to go to, which may actually extract people from their natural networks!! Jesus does the opposite. He natural flows through the contacts that his new disciples are most comfortable with. One person at a time he works Andrew's network to gather his disciples. It's all there in John 1:35-51.

To many of us discipleship is a mystery. Over the years I have heard many complaints by Christians who have longed for someone to 'take them under their wing' and teach them about Jesus in a deeper, personal way. I've also heard lots of people yearn to know how to reach out to their friends, neighbours and coworkers. Jesus has the answer for both. For me I am thankful to God that this did happened when I became a Christian. I came into the church via a natural relational network (girlfriend) and met with many people who were more interested in me and my network than how many meetings I attended. One person I am most indebted to asked me where the teenagers I knew hung out. We would visit these areas (where I used to go drinking) with Bibles to talk to the people in my natural network. The emphasis was me going to them, not them coming us. Quite the difference.

I feel this is a very significant lesson for the church. We need to be going where people are. We need to not be so concerned about our holy hymn singing times and instead seek to reach out to real people, get into their lives so much that they will open up their natural networks to us, and as leaders, with grace and humility introduce ourselves and our faith to them. We may find that if we take this approach entire communities will open up (like Bethsaida) for us to show the love of Jesus.

The sayings of Sylas v9 - Hot soup!

Today we were sitting at the supper table when Hayley brought out some hot soup:

Hayley: Don't touch this soup, it's burn-your-mouth-off hot!
Sylas: Don't eat it daddy...or you'll die...like that other time when you fell down the beanstalk!

The story of the Canadian 10 dollar bill

If you have a Canadian $10 bill, look at the back right side of the bill. You will see an old veteran standing at attention near the Ottawa war memorial. His name is Robert Metcalfe and he died last month at the age of 90.

That he managed to live to that age is rather remarkable, given what happened in the Second World War. Born in England, he was one of the 400,000 members of the British Expeditionary Force sent to the mainland where they found themselves facing the new German warfare technique - the Blitzkrieg.

He was treating a wounded comrade when he was hit in the legs by shrapnel. Enroute to hospital, his ambulance came under fire from a German tank, which then miraculously ceased fire. Evacuated from Dunkirk on HMS Grenade, two of the sister ships with them were sunk. Recovered, he was sent to allied campaigns in North Africa and Italy. Enroute his ship was chased by the German battleship Bismarck. In North Africa he served under General Montgomery against the Desert Fox, Rommel.

Sent into the Italian campaign, he met his future wife, a lieutenant and physiotherapist in a Canadian hospital. They were married in the morning by the mayor of the Italian town, and again in the afternoon by a British padre.

After the war they settled in Chatham where he went into politics and became the warden (chairman) of the county.

At the age of 80 he wrote a book about his experiences and on his retirement he and his wife moved to Ottawa.

One day out of the blue he received a call from a government official asking him to go downtown for a photo op. He wasn't told what the photo was for or why they chose him. "He had no idea he would be on the bill," his daughter said.

And now you know the rest of the story of the old veteran on the $10 bill.

October 16th - the greatest day in history

From a quick perusal of the Wikipedia article on October 16th it would seem this day is the best day of all. Some highlights:

1775 - Portland, Maine burned by the British
1905 - The Partition of Bengal (India) occurred
1914 - Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan born (d. 2007)
1923 - The Walt Disney Company is founded by Walt Disney and his brother, Roy Disney.
1931 - Charles Colson, American Watergate conspirator, born
1951 - The first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, is assassinated in Rawalpindi.
1962 - Flea, Australian musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers) born
1995 - The Million Man March is held in Washington, D.C. The event was conceived by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
2003 - Apple launches its iTunes Music Store, an online download music store, for the Microsoft Windows platform.

Today is also Boss' day, World food day and HM President Johnathan Macris' birthday

King of Afghanistan? Walt Disney founded!! Church Colson born? Itunes! This has to be the best day in the entire calendar! Happy October 16th everyone!!

Video of the week - kids today

A lot has changed since 1976. Here is a video by some University Students in Kansas.

a short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime.

Just imagine if this video was made in a church.

Ramadan over - Cookie time!

Imran is celebrating the end of Ramadan with Cookie Monster

In my Jesus years | Only the Injil v1 - The wilderness

As some of you know my 31st birthday is coming up soon. While I won't reveal the exact date here, I will say that the process of transitioning from a 20-something to a 30-something has been fairly traumatic to my youthful outlook!

While it's been difficult to think of myself as a 30 year old, there has been one sweet consolation - I am now in my 'Jesus years'. These years in Jesus' life (between 30 and 33) were powerful, dynamic, miraculous and ultimately led to the greatest grass-roots revolution in human history.

Realizing this has stirred something inside of me. Recently I picked up my Reese Chronological Bible and each day, for the next 3 years, I will seek to read about exactly what Jesus was doing at my age! The Chronological Bible actually goes so far as to put dates on the events in Jesus life, so I'll be able to follow along fairly well. These may not be exact dates, and I may use other sources but it should be a fun project retracing Jesus' steps each day when he was my age and posting my findings here. I may call this series 'Only the Injil' or 'My Jesus years', I haven't decided yet. Probably 'Only the Injil' as this title lends itself to a better understanding by my Muslim friends. The word 'Injil' is an Arabic word for the gospel, derived from the Greek word Evangel, or good news. So maybe that makes me an evinjilical :)

As an intro I thought I'd post a bit about what happened during Jesus' 30th year, seeing as my 30th year is almost over:

> 30 years 1 month - John the Baptist begins to preach, ferociously condemning the religious leaders. When people ask John 'What should we do' (Luke 3:10) he answers by saying in verse 11 'He that has two coats, let him give to him that has none, and he that has food, let him do likewise'. Do you have two coats? John the Baptist states you need to give one of them away. Perhaps now is a good time, before we in Canada have to face winter. Try to find someone this week that needs your coat and give it to them. I'm sad to say I've rarely done this, or witnessed Christians or churches that have done this. I wonder why we shy away from helping those in need. One Christian leader I know, upon being asked this question shamelessly stated 'Well, you know what they say...if you feed a stray cat" as if to lower the value of a human life in need to that of a garbage picking feline! Folks if we are believers in Jesus we are commanded to help those in need. It's not enough to simply study scripture until you can quote it from memory. If we are not doers of the word then what profit is our bible knowledge? Knowledge puffs up and perhaps this pride, which is often seen in evangelical bible memorization clubs is exactly what the Pharisees were suffering from.

> 30 years 9 months - Jesus baptized and 'full of the Spirit' is led into the wilderness to be tempted. It's very interesting to me that the Spirit is the one leading Jesus into temptation. The Spirit leads each of us into tests, to make sure that we can handle the power that is on the other side of the test. Each of us go through the 'wilderness' at times. As John Piper states in the 'video of the week', God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him in the midst of loss. This is what makes the health and wealth gospel preachers so hideous - they would not have allowed Jesus to go to the wilderness. But God does and will 'lead us' into wilderness situations. During these times may we follow Jesus' example of satisfaction and obedience to God in the midst of desolation, loneliness, temptation, isolation, sorrow, hunger and thirst.

Up next - Jesus' first disciples

Video of the week - Piper on the prosperity gospel

Need a title v35 - Wedding kiss

Here's a picture of our dear summer intern Dan Carlson attempting to kiss his new bride Pam Janzi on their wedding day, August 11th. Can anyone think of a good title?

Last day of Ramadan!

Imran gives us some insight into the last day of Ramadan:

Today could be the last day of Ramadan...My biggest problem is not thirst / hunger. Although the first day caffeine deficiency bothers me. Lack of sleep is my biggest problem. You wake up at 5:30 to eat before starting the fast. Then you try to sleep right after with full stomach. I woke up tired, stomach hurting and dry mouth. I shouldn’t try to go sleep but I’m so sleepy then.

Give peace a chance

Well I'm done crying about the Ontario election. It seems Dalton McGuinty and his catholic faith hid far enough under the radar to scare everyone away from John Tory. Perhaps now McGuinty will cancel funding for Catholic schools?

In other news it seems something extraordinary has happened in Muslim-Christian dialogue:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21248862/site/newsweek/from/ET/

Oct. 11, 2007 - Getting religious leaders to agree on anything is notoriously difficult. So this morning’s announcement—that 138 of the world’s most powerful Muslim clerics, scholars and intellectuals from all branches of Islam (Sunni and Shia, Salafi and Sufi, liberal and conservative) had come together to write a letter to the world’s Christian leaders—is being hailed as something of a miracle.

Wow, it will be interesting to see how the Christian leaders respond.

The sayings of Sylas v8 - Dentist

Today was a monumental day in the life of Sylas Cuthill. It was his very first dentist appointment. No cavities, his picture on the 'cavity free' wall and a new shrek toothbrush. Tonight, I sat down to talk so Sylas about how the dentist was:

Daddy: What did you think about your first dentist appointment?
Sylas: Well...it was a bad saditudety

Not sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing??

John Tory endorsed by the East York Mirror

Recently our local paper, The East York Mirror endorsed John Tory as their choice in our riding of Don Valley West:

Friday, October 5th. “Ontario needs a different type of leadership, and John Tory provides it.” “In Don Valley West, we are obviously endorsing Progressive Conservative candidate and party leader John Tory…we believe he is the best choice for Ontario and therefore must be elected in his own riding. Voters are reminded that Tory’s roots run deep in the Don Valley West riding and it took great courage on his part to run in this riding against Liberal incumbent and education minister Kathleen Wynne. Tory did not take the easy route and seek a safe seat, he chose to run in his own community and deserves to be elected by its voters..."Tory's Tories should form next Ontario government"

That endorsement is good news for Tory as it will be a tight race to beat out Kathleen Wynne. Personally, I've been accosted by way too many desperate Kathleen supporters here in Thorncliffe to take her seriously and Tory just has way too much experience to pass up voting for him. That's also how many others here in Thorncliffe feel.

Despite the negative attention the Liberals have sought to cast on the issue of faith-based schools (hey wait, doesn't McGuinty's wife teach at a faith based (Catholic) school? Hypocrit!), I think if we look at what Tory has done in the past, the choice in Don Valley West is simple. Tory has run major corporations like Rogers, been the chairman of the United Way and CFL as well as being a long time volunteer here at the Salvation Army. He did all this *before* he was a politician. He's not getting into this for the money or the fame, he actually wants to make a difference and show Ontarians what can happen when Ontario is run properly, by someone who has proved himself in the real world. The East York Mirror is looking forward to a Tory win, and so am I.

Thorncliffe Park - "Canada's highest immigrant concentration"

While blasting the Liberals in a recent Toronto Star article, Immigration and Diversity reporter Nicholas Keung refers to the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, stating:

Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, serving an area with Canada's highest immigrant concentration.

So not only does Thorncliffe have the highest Muslim concentration in Canada, it also has the highest concentration of new immigrants to Canada. Just one more reason you should move in to the area :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish all my readers a happy thanksgiving by quoting the Canadian govenment decree that instituted this holiday:

From : http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/jfa-ha/graces_e.cfm

Monday, 14 Oct. 1957
For general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessings
with which the people of Canada have been favoured

May you all have a wonderful day off, reflecting on what the Almighty God has done for you!

Dawkins - Lennox 'God Delusion' audio

Just found the audio files of the debate on Richard Dawkins website - here. Very interesting intellectual, scientific stuff that is surprisingly easy to follow.

Video of the week - Shooting stars

My dad sent this to me recently:

Dawkins - Lennox 'God Delusion' debate

Well the debate is over and I've been trying to get the audio from this site but i guess it's pretty busy.

People are writing responses here and a few people blogged the debate. Hopefully I'll have a better update soon. The group that put the debate on is selling DVD's so I'm not sure if we'll see a video surface on YouTube any time soon.

There is a good video of John Lennox on YouTube that should tide you over:

You can check out more on Dr. Lennox on a website called gladyouasked.org, where he answers people's tough questions about God. Hopefully there will be some updates from the debate soon!

Leader of The Salvation Army in Pakistan murdered

Our condolences to the family of Colonel Brekke who was the Territorial commander of Pakistan. Here in Thorncliffe I work at THQ (Territorial Headquarters) for Canada and can't imagine the horror, sadness and loss that his family must be facing. Please remember them in your prayers:

Colonel Bo Brekke, Territorial Commander of the Pakistan Territory, was shot and killed yesterday, Thursday 27 September. The incident occurred in the THQ compound in Lahore in the early hours of the evening. Information to date points to an individual act of criminality. There is nothing to suggest that this is related in any way to terrorism. It is reported that a man has been arrested on possibly related charges.

More information on Commander Brekke at SalvationArmy.org as well as The Rubicon.

Early Wednesday prayer requests - Richard Dawkins debates John Lennox!!

Christian (and Brethren) legend Dr. John Lennox will debate atheist Richard Dawkins tomorrow (click here for details). I wanted to ask for prayer for John since Dawkins is a pretty fierce opponent!

For those who don't know Dawkins, he is a staunch athiest, recently wrote the book 'The God delusion' and has been described as 'Darwin's pitbull'. For those who don't know John Lennox I've heard him speak live and he's a serious genius, able to kindle the mind and spirit with his logic and enthusiasm for Jesus. This should be a good debate!! Go get em Johnny!

Karachi stock exchange - 'Worlds biggest mover'!?!?

Today there was a surprising leader among world stock markets - The Karachi stock exchange!

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan stocks surged the most in a year after the Supreme Court ruled that President Pervez Musharraf will be able to seek a second five-year term in an Oct. 6 election...The Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index rose 384.06, or 2.9 percent, to close at 13,737.74, its highest since Aug. 3. That's the biggest gain since August 2006 and the largest fluctuation among markets included in global benchmarks.

``The rally was to be expected after the court decision,'' said Abdul Azeem, an analyst at Invest Capital & Securities Ltd., in Karachi. ``There is a perception in the market that Musharraf's re-election will be good for the economy.''

Monday's hot topics - Christians and Environmentalism

Forum member Daoust posed a thought provoking question in the form of a hypothesis on the forum:

Hypothesis: Christians who have a general understanding of the 'big picture' of world events, ie. where the world came from and where it is going to are less likely to be concerned about or active in environmental issues, environmental policy, and environmentally friendliness...Agree or disagree with my hypothesis?

Do you agree that Christians should not be concerned about the environment? Do you disagree and think that Christians should be more active environmentally than others? Post your thoughts in the comments, or on the forum - here

Thorncliffe Park Public School - up to 1667

I've been telling people that Thorncliffe Park Public School has 1500 students from Kindergarten to Grade 5, 93% of which English is not their first language. These stats came from a Toronto Sun article. However, upon checking the school's newsletter (click here for PDF) it looks like that number is actually 1667 students (K-5) with 94% 'primary language other than English'. No wonder there are all those new portables up in the soccer field!

Lego Bible updates

The Lego Bible has some recent updates from the story of David & Saul, including David becoming King!!

Triple Letters - the triplet blog

My good friends Josh & Colleen MacFadyen found out recently that they are pregnant with TRIPLETS!!! As Hayley put it 'This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to someone I know!". These triplets are due some time in December and Josh has started a blog called Triple Letters to document the journey. His latest entry has some great ultrasound pics. Check it out!

More Driscoll

A friend of mine, Lon, just happened to post today about Driscoll and his emerging breakdown of 3 categories - here.

Lon also posted an audio clip - here - of Driscoll telling the story of how he became a Christian through the awesome ministry called 'missionary-dating' (which also produced yours truly). Three cheers for Driscoll! Three cheers for Christian girls who date non-christian guys!!

Video of the week - Emerging church breakdown

There's alot of discussion in Christian circles about a relatively new movement called the 'Emerging church'. The folks in this movement are mostly 30-something pastors & leaders trying to deal with life in a post-Christian society. Gone are the days of praying in school and reverence for scripture in public domain. These new young leaders engage with the culture and are rethinking the way we 'do church' to see if there are things that we can do better so we can make the important message about Jesus the most important thing we do.

Watch Pastor Mark Driscoll explain what it is:


Now, there has been some criticism about this movement from those who are often referred to as 'fundamentalists'. Folks who perhaps believe that the form of church is fine and doesn't need changing. I disagree with them because if the church was doing it's job it wouldn't be losing young people at such a staggering rate.

Driscoll also has a paper on the Emerging church that helps calm some fears about the changes that us young leaders are proposing to the way we do church. It's worth a read - click here:

First, the Emerging church is a broad category that encompasses a wide variety of churches and Christians who are seeking to be effective missionaries wherever they live. This includes Europeans and Australians who are having the same conversation as their American counterparts. The Emerging church includes three distinct types of Christians. In a conversation with Dr. Ed Stetzer, a noted missiologist, he classified them as the Relevants, Reconstructionists, and Revisionists...

Take a look and post your thoughts in the comments about what you think of this 'Emerging' trend. Are you a 'relevant'? A 'reconstructionist'? A 'revisionist'? Is this emerging conversation a good thing? Bad thing? Heresy? Blessings? What are your experiences with this 'emerging church' generation?

Wednesday prayer requests - Thorncliffe drug bust

While this 4.5 million dollar drug bust was not directly in Thorncliffe Park, there is some disturbing information arising from the news report:

Isa Dahri, 20, of Thorncliffe Park in Toronto, Eduart Dahri, 32, of Tremblay Drive in Vaughan and Endri Bejeri, 18 of Parkview Drive Toronto are jointly charged with possession for the purpose of marijuana, careless use of a firearm, possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized, possession of prohibited/restricted firearm with ammunition. Bejeri and Eduart Dahri are also facing one count of possession of a firearm and Isa Dahri is charged with possession contrary to order.

Possession/Careless use of a firearm, yikes! Please pray that nobody else in Thorncliffe carelessly uses any firearms! And pray that if there are other firearms in Thorncliffe that the people caught with them aren't named ISA (the Muslim name for Jesus) like this guy.

Incarnational ministry - Save money and the Environment!

A while ago I posted my thoughts on what we call Incarnational ministry. For those who haven't heard, Incarnational ministry is where you actually worship/serve/go to church as well as work, live, play and go to school all in the same geographic location. In our case that means Thorncliffe Park.

Incarnational is great for community building, meaningful relationships and loving you neighbours but there's something I hadn't considered - Icarnational is good for the environment and the pocket book!!

You see I have a speed pass with Esso. Handy little things they are. I just swipe and go, giving no thought for tomorrow, until the bill appears at the end of each month. The average month's worth of gas, since we got the speed pass, has been anywhere from 250-350 dollars depending on how much driving we've had to do. But think about all the driving you don't have to do when you're Incarnational! No driving to school, just walk to the school in your community. No driving to work, just walk to work/church in your community. No driving to friends houses, just walk down the hall in your apartment building.

So today when I got my gas bill I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised that it was a mere 92 dollars! That's all the gas I used. 3 fill ups. Not only am I saving money, I'm cutting down on harmful exhaust fumes. I wonder if being Incarnational is part of the election platform from the Green Party? Come on everybody, get your Incarnational on!

Grampy's 100th

Here are some pictures from the 100th birthday party of Daniel MacLeod
Grampy & Nanny all spiffed up


And yes that is Olivia on Nanny's knee. It's tough being the favorite great-grandchild, but somebody's gotta do it :)

What's the population of Pakistan Mr. McGuinty?

Last night Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was a guest on Global TV's 'Focus Ontario' program with Sean Mallen. Mallen asked McGuinty wether he should at least consider having the conversation about faith-based schools in the future. McGunity's response was a flat out no and to support his stand he said:

It's not going to happen on my watch and I'll tell you why, because we're up against 1.3 billion Chinese, 1.1 billion Indians, 280 million Pakistanis...

280 million Pakistanis?? This guy doesn't even know the population of Pakistan (currently 164 million). I wonder if anyone here in the 75% Pakistani riding of Thorncliffe Park noticed that.

Monday's hot topics - The Athiest's dilemma

Forum member Paul Blackmore recently posted about his experience with those who have turned away from Christ and are now atheists. Blackmore states:

Here then are my observations for what they are worth re: this modern-day trend away from the Christian faith by those who formerly professed it...The athiest is first sold a "christian bill of goods" that turns out in the end to be riddled with falsehood. Upon discovering such untruths within the bill of goods that he has been sold; he abandons and rejects the faith

Blackmore lists 4 or 5 reasons why he believes folks chose to turn away, laying much of the blame for this on Calvinistic teaching.

What is your experience with those who have turned away? Is Calvinism at the root of the problem? Post your thoughts in the comments below of on the forum

Need a title v34 - Church

Recently I moved all my online pictures from Yahoo to Flickr. Thankfully this was an easy process and Flickr's online photo storage is far superior. I was looking through some old pictures and found this picture which I took in Israel.


Can anyone think of a good title?

Thorncliffe Park - more Muslims than any other provincial riding

For the upcoming Ontario provincial election, Thorncliffe Park is stationed in the riding of Don Valley West. Liberal incumbent Kathleen Wynne is in the fight of her life against Ontario Conservative leader John Tory. Both candidates have had many events here, trying to sway undecided voters, but currently only John Tory signs are up on Thorncliffe Park Drive. One clue as to why Tory has such momentum in this area could be the faith based school concept.

An article from National Post gives some insight into the demographics of Thorncliffe Park:

Don Valley West is a diverse riding. Down the road from Leaside, where soccer moms raise children in spacious brick homes, is Thorncliffe Park, where recent immigrants crowd into high-rise apartments.

It is home to more Muslims than any other provincial riding — 13.6% of the population is Muslim, more than 15,500 people.

The article doesn't give a source for this data, but I'm guessing it's from the 6-year-old Canadian Census? We are still waiting for the 2006 census data which will probably show a much higher Muslim population. Or perhaps these stats are for the entire electoral district, which would include all of Don Valley West (Leaside, etc)? Whatever the case this Muslim demographic here in Thorncliffe will make the election topic of 'faith based schools' quite a hot local matter for both John and Kathleen.

Video of the week - "Be a man" with Mark Driscoll

In honour of a real Christian man like Daniel "century iron man" MacLeod, this week's video features Pastor Mark Driscoll talking about being a real Christian man, not just a chick-i-fied church boy in a sweater vest:

Driscoll's got it right though, you get the young men you win the war. He has other good thoughts - here on church planting and people in the Bible that were 'pretty rough dudes'.

'Most churches' Driscoll says 'don't know what to do with young entrepreneurial type leaders. Most of the time they think they're trouble makers...but I got a feeling if you got around Paul when he was a young guy or you got around John the Baptist or Elijah...these dudes seem pretty rough to me"

So come on guys, get on out there, be a man, plant a church, punch a heretic in the nose, win the war, be a dude!

The sayings of Sylas v7 - Outer space

In the spring Lukas brought home a morning glory shoot from school. We planted it on the balcony and every day when we wake up we look out to see if there are any blossoms. The other day when we looked out there were 11 in total! A new record! Sylas however wasn't so excited.

Me: Look at the blossoms on the morning glory
Sy: Daddy, I'm sad
Me: Why?
Sy: Because my morning glory didn't grow
Me: Your morning glory?
Sy: Ya, I left it on the planet I came from
Me: Pardon?
Sy: You know the planet that I came from in outer space

Daniel MacLeod's 100th birthday!!! Sept 18, 1907-Sept 18, 2007

I'm at home with the kids while Hayley flies to PEI today. Her grandfather, Daniel MacLeod, turns 100 years old today!! It's quite an amazing feat to live to 100 and it takes someone like Grampy MacLeod to pull it off! When we got married 7 years ago he was a mere 93 years old, but was still walking about 5k each day. Can you imagine how much the world has changed since he was born?? This past Christmas we were talking about hangings (Saddam) and new fuel efficient cars when it came up in the conversation that hangings were still legal and cars hadn't been invented when Grampy was born!

The only good picture I have on me is this one, where he is holding baby Sylas in 2003. Hopefully Hayley will get some good shots of his century party tonight!

It's not everyday that someone turns 100 so to show Grampy how special he is please take a minute and LEAVE A BIRTHDAY GREETING in the comments below and we'll make sure Grampy gets to read them!! Have a great birthday Grampy!

Monday's hot topics - Running from God to sex, drugs and alcohol

Forum member Cole lamented recently that a friend of hers had turned to drugs and alcohol. She titled the topic "Running from God to sex, drugs and alcohol" and wants to know:

what happens when a Christian runs from God to sex drugs and alcohol to dim the pain of knowing they should be with God but think they aren't strong enough? how does that happen? any input at all would be appreciated...what do i do? what do i say? how does one deal with a Christian alcoholic and drug user?

A Christian alcoholic? Christian drug user? That's a tough one. Haven't heard a sermon at church on that one. Post your thoughts in the comments below, or on the forum - here

Nerds who shook the world v2 - Chester Donaldson

This is the second in a series I've called 'Nerds who shook the world'. Looking back on people who were very influential and how they got started. May this be an encouragement to all of us, wether young or nerdy, to trust God and do amazing things.
______________________________________

Ever heard of Bowsman, Manitoba? Neither had I until I saw the 1945 Emmaus Bible College Yearbook. That year a young man from Bowsman named Chester Donaldson was just a young fresh-faced student. As you can see from the picture he wasn't even...let's say the most proficient in the hair brushing department.

But don't write Chester off just yet. After graduating from Emmaus, this 19 year old went on to start many of the brethren assemblies up north as well as Northland Bible Camp in Timmins! I'm not sure exactly how many churches he planted, but I have read his autobiography titled 'A Kernel of Wheat' where he talks about driving up Yonge Street to Timmins, back when it was a dirt road! Fresh faced Chester, a pioneer church-planter? Zits and all!? If God can do amazing things through Chester, imagine what he can do through you!! Our history has not yet been written. What can we do if we simply trust God and go for it!? Here's to you Chester!

The 5 Support Steps

We are really thankful for the many people who are asking us 'How can we support you guys'. Seems God is at work and we're happy to simply be involved and watch Him do it! For those interested in helping out practically we've developed a little system to help:

1. Visit - See for yourself what God is doing! You are always welcome to visit the neighbourhood.

2. Pray - Please pray for us at 6:14AM and 6:14PM

3. Donate - if you'd like to support us financially there is information on the left margin of this blog. These arrangements are temporary until we have our own charitable number and can issue receipts. Furniture, clothes and other practical items are also helpful as we encounter many new Canadians that have just moved in.

4. Partner - at this step you've seen, tasted, prayed and given. Now consider partnering with us. Examples would be helping teaching english once a week, helping at outreaches, kids clubs, delivering welcome packs, bibles, knitting, etc. Also if you're part of an organization that you think would be interested in helping out please let us know.

5. Move in - The highest level of support would be to actually move into the neighbourhood and love the people all around us. Some have already done this. It's our 'incarnational imperative' that drives us to actually model the style of ministry Jesus used and 'dwell among us'. It's a big step but it's worth it.

We're really thankful to God for how everything is working out and how all of you amazing people are being moved with the same heart of compassion as we are! May God bless you!

Imposter!!

We've spotted another Hayley Cuthill out there!! Watch your back little lady, this Hayley is not impressed.

Wednesday prayer requests - Ramadan

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the Muslim month of fasting known as Ramadan - click here. During this month Muslims fast from sun up to sundown and food is given to the poor. It is a great month, one which will hopefully spark more prayer among Christians. Think about taking at least one day during this month to fast all day and pray. Jesus said 'when you fast', not 'if you fast'.

At the same time, a group of young Muslim 'apostates' has launched a campaign to make it easier to renounce Islam.

The provocative move reflects a growing rift between traditionalists and a younger generation raised on a diet of...tolerance.

The Committee for Ex-Muslims promises to campaign for freedom of religion but has already upset the Islamic and political Establishments...“Sharia schools say that they will kill the ones who leave Islam. In the West people get threatened, thrown out of their family, beaten up,” Mr Jami said. “In Islam you are born Muslim. You do not even choose to be Muslim. We want that to change, so that people are free to choose who they want to be and what they want to believe in.”

As Ramadan starts please pray for our Muslim friends as they sort out the complexities their religion is facing here in the West. Complexities like freedom of religion, secularism and conversion to Christianity. Pray specifically that Muslims would have dreams and visions of Jesus during this month of Ramadan. Salam alaikum.

Need a title v33

Here's Sylas all ready for his first day of school! Can you think of a good title for this picture?

Remembering 9/11

Today we remember those who lost their lives on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. One such person was Kevin Cosgrove.

"Thorncliffe Park - one of the most multicultural places pound for pound on the planet "

Considering the number of high rise apartments here in Thorncliffe Park, it's no wonder an upcoming movie about 'falling' was inspired by it's balconies. 'A short film about falling' is showing at the Toronto International Film Festival and a recent Globe & Mail article mentions the directors upbringing:

I grew up in high-rises," Lynch recalls, remembering the Thorncliffe Park tower where he spent his childhood. "I remember how seductive those high balconies were. The urge to jump."

Yikes, I hope nobody gets that urge any time soon. In another interview the director describes where he grew up:

PETER LYNCH & MAX DEAN, Directors,
A Short Film About Falling
1. Where do you come from?
Peter: Some where between Planet X and Bedrock- East York The son of British immigrants in Thorncliffe Park one of the most multicultural places pound for pound on the planet Mostly spent somewhere between hirise rooftops, TV-land and the mighty Don Valley

While I have not developed an urge to jump, I now have an urge to find out how Lynch got onto the 'hirise rooftops'

Monday's hot topics: Jabe/Uplook says - We need pastors??!!

GASP!! BIFF!! ACK!!BOOM!! ____ (insert other batman sounds)

I just finished reading the latest Uplook magazine. On page 13 Jabe Nicholson really shocked me with his article entitled We need more biblical pastors. MORE PASTORS in the assemblies? This is a first!! Wow.

Nicholson hits the nail on the head when he writes:

"So concerned that we not have the unbiblical version of pastors (which is what??), have we neglected training those obviously gifted to be the biblical kind? (absolutely!). Often in our minds we replace the 'pastors' in Ephesians 4 with assembly elders. But that is not the idea at all...Ephesians 4 pastors are men whose gift is to be utilized in extending the word of God beyond existing assemblies

Neglected? I'd say they've been down right chased out of town. Everywhere I go I meet people who 'grew up brethren' but ended up as pastors in denominational churches.

Although Nicholson puts 'quotations' around the word 'pastors' at times in the article, I couldn't agree more! Assemblies are dying from lack of leadership and vision and the best young people are heading out the door. I'm not completely sure if Jabe is advocating having pastors in 'existing' assemblies or simply having apostolic pastors who can start new ones? If the latter is the case I think the word 'apostole' is a better word, but I'll take pastor any day! I may be a bit biased, but I really feel that this is the biggest issue in assemblies today and I'm giving Jabe props for even bringing the topic up.

So what do you think about the big bad P word? I thought the P word was outlawed among the brethren because of one-man ministry and our anti-clergy stance. Maybe the tide is turning? Do you have a pastor at your assembly? What do you think about pastors? Post your thoughts below in the comments or on the forum - here

Race and poverty

A recent Toronto Star article gave details about the launching of a new project called 'Colour of Poverty'. The group chose Thorncliffe Park to kick off it's awareness campaign and a quote from a separate article, found in the East York Mirror, caught my attention:

The federally funded network, a coalition of grassroots agencies representing African, Chinese, South Asian, Southeast Asian and Spanish-speaking communities, deliberately selected the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office to launch its Colour of Poverty Campaign.

"We have chosen this neighbourhood because it is one of the most diverse neighbourhoods in Toronto," Go said. "The needs in this neighbourhood are great."

Later on in the article the group showed statistics on immigrant poverty

At the same time, the traditional pattern of new immigrants initially struggling before finding success is collapsing. Poverty among people of colour now extends for generations after they settle in Canada, Shakir said...
- Thirty-seven per cent of Toronto families come from non-European backgrounds, but make up 59 per cent of the city's poor families;
- In Toronto, the number of immigrants who are poor grew by 125 per cent between 1981 and 2001;
- Thirty-two per cent of children in "racialized" families and 47 per cent of children of recent immigrants live in poverty

I wondered as I read this what churches are doing to help those who are new to our country. How about your church? Are there visible minorities represented? Is your church making an effort to reach out, help with English, settlement and simple friendship. Does your church have programs to help new immigrants? Or has your church ignored these people? Are people in your church moving farther and farther away from areas where new immigrants live? I pray that more and more people would move down into areas like Thorncliffe Park, Flemingdon Park, Scarborough, etc. As the article states "The needs in this neighbourhood are great."

Lego Bible updates

Click here for new Lego Bible stories, uploaded August 31st. This time - David & Saul! Includes David acting insane!

Bomber watch

Still more, as people try to figure out who this bomber was - click here. It's an interesting article, but quite long.

First pics from the first day!!

Today was Lukas' first day of Grade 1 so I did the typical parent thing and took a million pictures of my cute little boy!! Here are a few pictures of the chaos!:

Ready to go out the door!



The walk (video):


The crowd at 8:30 (half hour early)



The crowd at 8:45 (eek!)


Lukas finds his teacher (video):



Where's Waldo:


Lukas with his class & the crowd by 9AM!! Wow, lots of kids!! (video):


Off to school (Lukas got to be the line leader, which he was sooo proud of):


Thankfully we didn't loose him in the crowd and he had a good first day. There were quite a number of kids and parents from the neighbourhood which we knew, and that helped alot. It should be interesting when Sylas goes for his first day of JK on Thursday. You read that right, kindergarten has it's own first day of school. All the kids in these pictures where only grades 1 to 3!!!

First day of school in Thorncliffe park

With the massive influx of new immigrants to the Thorncliffe Park area it's no wonder a program like 'Newcomer Orientation Week' has been set up to help students adjust to our school system. You may remember that the below-mentioned-proud-papa Dave teaches at the local highschool Marc Garneau. Here's a clip from the Toronto Star article about 'Newcomer Orientation Week' at Marc Garneau:

At Marc Garneau, about one in four students has come to Canada within the past five years. Diego, who will be in Grade 9, took his turn to share his hobbies, favourite subjects and the excitement of a new life in Canada.

After mingling, the group toured the nearby Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office to learn about available youth programs and settlement services for their families.

Mariam Spanos, 18, who arrived from Iraq in March with sister Alis, 16, said being greeted by an Arabic-speaking peer immediately put them at ease.

"Now, I know some people in the school, so it won't be a total shock when I come on my first day. Hopefully, I won't get lost," she said with a chuckle.

Tomorrow Lukas and Sylas start at Thorncliffe Park public school, which was mentioned in a February Toronto Sun article - here as the largest elementary school in North America. Sylas is in one of 32 kindergarten classes. 93% of the kids do not claim English as their first language. This summer the soccer field was paved over to make way for 10 new portables to accommodate the continuing growth. When we registered our kids back in spring, we commented on how well they are doing at handling the 1500 children. The lady looked at Hayley and said 'oh those are old statistics, it's 1700 kids now'! Should be a fun first day of school here in Thorncliffe Park!!

The sayings of Lukas v37 - First loose tooth

Check this out!! On Sunday Lukas lost his first tooth!! Sadly it got stuck in his lunch and was swallowed :( We asked him what he was going to do and how the tooth fairy was going to find the tooth. Without skipping a beat Lukas looked at us and said:

Guys, the tooth fairy is not real!! You're grown ups you should know that!

Sutherland son!

Just got the good news that Dave & Amy Sutherland welcomed a brand new baby boy into the world tonight!! We got a call around 5PM that they were going to the hospital and then at 7PM we got a short message from Dave saying 'it's a boy!'. More details to follow!

**UPDATE** The 7lb 8oz baby boy was given the name Caleb Jonathan Sutherland

**UPDATE2** Pictures now online - click here

Praying for a bomber

There's alot of discussion in the blogsphere about this Lebanese bomber that caused all the commotion Friday and wether or not he's a terrorist. I haven't really thought much about this because...well who cares. People are evil by nature and will do bad things. Is this somehow news? Or is it just news because it's one of 'those people' (read: Muslims)

On Friday we continued with church as usual here in Thorncliffe Park. Every Friday we meet at our apartment for church, a communal meal, prayer and visiting friends in the neighbourhood. Every week people come to visit, share, eat and start to love this area that is filled with 'those people'. We prayed on Friday night for the bomber. I hope that is our reaction when we see things like this happening. I hope we don't find ourselves whining and complaining about 'these people'.

Let's not see this as a curse, but a blessing! God is bringing these people here so we and our super-wonderful western christianity (we think that way don't we?) can help them...right? We're not running away to the suburbs to make sure 'these people' don't get near us...right? How can we say we are following Jesus' example if we remove ourselves from danger, suffering and anything that looks like 'taking up our cross'?

Let me encourage all of you who are following Jesus to move closer to danger. Closer to a terrorist. Closer to suffering. Closer to a place where people will hurt you. That's what Jesus did. He was motivated by love for his enemies and that's why he uttered 'Father forgive them' as they were brutally murdering him. Jesus did not mutter 'Father could you please strike 'these people' down!', as some are muttering under their breaths about 'these people' that are flooding our country.

Lots of news stories popping up today about Thorncliffe Park. Hopefully there are just as many prayers going up!

Thorncliffe bomb scare

The past few mornings we've been doing practice runs with our kids, getting them ready for school. They brush their teeth, put on their shoes, get their backpacks and we try to get to the school by the 8:50AM starting time. This worked wonderfully this morning and we arrived at least 10 minutes early. Lukas had to use the washroom so we found an open door and the teachers let us in.

While inside an announcement came over the PA system : "PLEASE EXIT THE BUILDING. EVERYONE MUST LEAVE THE BUILDING"

We thought this was strange and wondered what the commotion was, only to find out the police were at the local Esso station trying to contain a bomb.

Right now I'm sitting here in Dave's apartment looking at 3 helicopters circling the neighbourhood. More details soon. I've seen CTV, CBC and City so perhaps all of you know more than us.

So if you're planning on coming tonight to break bread with us you might have to get past some police tape. Thorncliffe Park Drive and Overlea blvd are currently blocked off. We'll keep you posted!


**UPDATE** 12:21PM

Looks like this is the lead story on every news station. CTV, 680news etc. The police have removed the bomb from the Esso here in our area and are taking it downtown to detonate or defuse it. All southbound lanes of the Don Valley Parkway are closed as the bomb is transported to an area on the shore of Lake Ontario.

**UPDATE 2** 12:31PM

I've uploaded a picture from the CTV website of the robot that was sent in to grab the bombs out of the car

**UPDATE 3** 1:21PM

I think this is all over now, they have re-opened our street and the bomb is on down the DVP. The Toronto Star has a report, as well as The Globe and Mail, The National Post as well as the Terrosim Research Center?? and a local Canadian blogger who claims the accused letter-bomber is a Lebanese immigrant

Thorncliffe Park - Canada's highest concentration of Muslims

Before the city of Toronto was a big huge mega-city it was divided up into various little 'boroughs' which all had their own mayor. East York is the 'borough' in which Thorncliffe Park is located. Recently I stumbled across this interview with the former Mayor of East York Michael Prue. His comments about Thorncliffe Park are very interesting:

We also talked about the Thorncliffe Park area, for which Michael was responsible when he was Mayor of East York. This area has Canadas largest concentration of Muslim immigrants

The largest concentration of Muslims in Canada - sweet!

Wednesday prayer requests - Greece fires

Seeing as the title of my blog is the "athensBLOG" it would be appropriate to encourage prayer for Greece! Most of you are aware of the deadly fires that have killed 64 people in Greece. Today I saw an article in the Scarborough Mirror about a meeting here in Thorncliffe Park to help the suffering:

The Greek Community of Toronto has opened an account that can receive donations through any Scotiabank branch. The group is meeting at the Thorncliffe Park Community Centre tonight at 6:30 p.m. to plan other forms of relief.

Please pray for these fires, which are still burning all over Greece and on the Island of Evia - the island where we distributed Bibles during the Olympics!!

Monday's hot topic - Eternal security

Forum member Adrian posted on the forum some thoughts on Psalm 103 recently. These thoughts have lead to a discussion on eternal security, since Psalm 103 states:

verse 12 - He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

The idea being that if God removes someone's sins, there's no way for them to bring those sins back. God has graciously removed all sin and guilt and an individual is free to live a life devoted to God.

Considering this thought I posed the question:

If we say 'once saved, always saved' then what happens in God's eyes when someone 'denies the Lord with cursing'? Are they still saved? Is there a clause in our eternal security doctrine that states that someone is eternally secure until they reject Christ? If so then it isn't eternal security...right?

What are your thoughts on 'eternal security'? Is it eternal? What does it depend on? If someone is a Christian and then turns back what happens to them? Are their sins still forgiven? Post your thoughts in the comments below, or on the forum - click here

Muslim Girl Magazine!!

Those of you who went out and purchased the Burqini, after my post last Thursday, might also want to consider subscribing to Muslim Girl Magazine!!.

The magazine offers modesty-centered fashion tips, profiles of interesting North American Muslim teens, moral and worldwide issues as well as featuring the Muslim girl of the month! I wonder if Hirsi Ali or Irshad Manji will be featured any time soon??

Thorncliffe Murderer turns himself in

A number of news stories are circulating this morning about yesterdays incident.

First City TV is reporting the name of the victim and that the suspect has turned himself in to police:

Relatives of the deceased declined to speak on camera but they said the victim came to Canada from Turkey four years ago and lived in the apartment building. His identity hasn't been confirmed, but neighbours claim the victim was 35-year-old Engin Yilmaz. Later Wednesday Hikmet Dasmedir, also 35, surrendered to police at 53 Division. He's been charged with second degree murder

The Toronto Star has some interesting interviews with residents in our neighbourhood:

""This is the only thing that's happened on our street," said Hannah, a 25-year resident of the Thorncliffe Park Dr.-Overlea Blvd. area"

Later in the article another resident states:

"There are a lot of people who are screaming here all the time – once, twice, three or four times a week," said another resident. "But we never think that something horrible happens. It's (usually) just kids screaming. ... Not grownups."

Please continue to pray for the family and the residents of the building, including our interns & friends who were questioned by police.

The sayings of Sylas v6 - Birds

Tonight I was tucking Sylas into bed when he asked me an interesting question:

Sylas: Daddy, why do turtles eat flies? (Franklin the Turtles favorite food is fly pie)
Daddy: Well everything has to eat something. Some animals eat plants, some animals eat bugs
Sylas: Birds eat bugs don't they dad?
Daddy: That's right Sylas, birds eat bugs...and plants...
Sylas: ..and scientists!!!

Wednesday prayer requests - Thorncliffe murder

This morning I was walking to Tim Hortons to meet Alan Beattie for breakfast around 7:30 when I noticed a large number of police vehicles down the street from our building. Sadly it turns out there was a murder just after 7AM this morning at the very building where our interns live.

More on this story from the City TV and 680 news websites. Please let this motivate you to pray more for this area!

Monday's hot topics - Public vs. Private church

Most of us in the West are used to public church meetings, buildings and freedom to gather as we like. There are big churches, little churches and even The church of elvis. So many churches that it's tough to remember a time when church wasn't public.

In early Christianity however public church was all but impossible without imprisonment, beatings and martyrdom. The Roman Empire tried to snuff out the light any way it could. Back then church had to be underground, secret and could cost you your life. There are modern day examples, like China, where the underground church is growing at tremendous cost.

Seeing this, how do we in the West who have the freedom balance public vs private church meetings? Should we go back to early Christianity and go underground? Or should we use our freedom and meet only in public?

On the forum pherwxristosposted his thoughts on the matter:

Having spent some years in the house church movement and appreciating the advantages of an intimate venue, I'm trying to figure out a way to balance out the emphasis on meeting "in public" (which here i mean at the chapel building) and "from house to house." I think the early church in Jerusalem met in public (various courts at the Temple) and also met to break bread in their homes. I think the earliest church(es) in Ephesus also clearly (from Acts) met in public (lecture hall of Tyranus?) and "from house to house."

So what do you think? How do we strike the balance? Should we go back to house church only? Should we go underground? Or use our freedom to have public meetings and buildings? Post your thoughts in the comments below or on the forum - here

Video of the week - Living without limbs

As if the Burqini wasn't crazy enough, check out this amazing guy Nick Vujicic:

Burqua + Bikini = The Burqini!!

Wikipedia definition: A burqini or burkini is a type of swimsuit designed by Lebanese Australian Aheda Zanetti. The suit covers enough to preserve Muslim modesty, whilst being light enough to enable swimming. It was described as the perfect solution for Muslim women who want to swim but are uncomfortable about "revealing" bathing suits. The name "burqini" is a portmanteau of burqa and bikini.


From the official Burqini website:

My name is Aheda Zanetti, the woman behind the Ahiida label, migrated to Australia from Lebanon at age of 2. Now 38, married with 4 children. I remember growing up in Australia , posted a lot of challenges for a young Muslim / Arab girl. As an active person who liked to participate in community activities and sport, I found myself restricted due to cultural and religious beliefs. As years went by, I noticed there are younger girls and women that are embracing Islam and obeying their Islamic belief in dressing modestly, in turn, having to miss out on opportunities, and taking part in any sporting activities that Australia has to offer. By facing this on a daily basis and seeing girls struggle with what is around presently, we at Ahiida have found a need to make specialized sportswear to suit the Muslim female.

Get yours today!

Wednesday prayer requests - Thorncliffe Park stats

We appreciate those of you who have been praying for our new neighbourhood. To help you pray more intelligently please take a minute to read the City of Toronto neighbourhood profile for Thorncliffe Park - click here. Keep in mind these are stats from 2001. The 2006 census data should be very interesting.

Happy Pakistani Independence day!!

Matt Cook reminds us all to have a Happy Pakistani Independence Day!!

"With Pakistan's Independence Day just around the corner I find myself thinking about this neat country I'm a part of and wondering which thing about Pakistan I appreciate or enjoy the most. As I was walking down the street to day I asked myself, "What is your favorite Pakistani thing?"

Find out what Matt's answer is on his blog - here

Monday's hot topics - How do you know??

On the discussion forum our friend cole has asked the age old question:

how did you know that the person you are married to is the person you were supposed to marry? and what if they took off from God for a while before you were married, would you have waited for them?

How did you know? What would you do? Help cole out by posting your answer in the comments below, or on the forum - here

Video of the Week - Christian and Christ-follower

This week's video is a parody of the PC/MAC commercials, replacing PC with 'Christian' and MAC with 'Christ-follower'. See what you think!:

Need a title v32

Can anyone think of a good title for this pic?

Wednesday prayer requests - Adam House, Toronto

Recently I've been in touch with an amazing little place called Adam House. It helps refugees get on their feet in Canada. I hope to visit them soon to see their work, but judging from all the good stuff I've heard this is a place that needs our prayers and support

Thorncliffe Park Beckham?

Musing about David Beckham's potential MLS debut appearance yesterday, writer Pat Walsh wondered what would have happened if Becks notched his first point in Toronto:

If Beckham scores a goal or notches an assist -- the latter scenario much more likely after he watched his teammates drop a six-spot on the Hoops -- ask if he plans to name his next child Thorncliffe Park to commemorate his first MLS point.

Sadly for all Thorncliffe Park fans, Beckham neither played nor scored a goal

Monday's hot topics - 'God's standards are actually quite low"

On the forum a good friend of mine posted a sermon he preached recently. At the very end he quotes Desmond Tutu as saying “You may be surprised who you find in heaven, God has a soft spot for sinners, his standards are actually quite low.” Post your thoughts on this statement in the comments below or on the forum - here

The athensBLOG :: fun family entertainment

Those who may have objected over the years to the edgy candor of the athensBLOG will be pleased to read the following public service announcement:



You can now return to your Canadian holiday weekend content in the knowledge that reading this blog is as safe and harmless as watching Bambi

John Tory loves Thorncliffe!

Can you smell it? It's in the air. Burgers and hot dogs in Thorncliffe Park! That means it's election time soon! Ontario Conservative Leader John Tory is running in *our* riding and I've been fairly impressed that he gives two hoots about Thorncliffe Park. On John's blog he states:

Saturday afternoon saw a huge picnic in Thorncliffe Park, perhaps one of the most multicultural, multilingual neighbourhoods in all of Ontario, at the very heart of my new riding of Don Valley West

Johnny not only made an appearance at the Neighbours Night out, he actually went to the back of one of the apartment buildings (#65) to put on this barbeque. Hopefully through this election Mr. Tory will be able to shine more light on this forgotten area of the city. Jerry Bolton was there and took some pics. :

Wednesday Prayer requests : Ron Bates, August 10th, 1939 - July 31st, 2007

7 years ago, in August of 2000, Hayley and I went on a trip to help at an orphanage in Romania. This orphanage was run by a missionary couple named Ron & Sue Bates. It was quite an eye-opening trip as we saw the terrible orphan epidemic in Romania. The Bates were an older couple, coming to Romania after their retirement. They where compelled by the great needs in Romania and began feeding street children and helping the blind. Eventually mothers would bring their babies to the Bates to take care of and they were moved with compassion to open up their home to these children. Eventually so many children where living with them that they decided to buy land and start a children's home called 'Inasmuch' - click here.

A vivid memory I have from our trip is feeding the street children soup downtown Bucharest, in the shadow of Nicolae Ceauşescu's palace. Orphans and street children invited Hayley down into the sewers to see where they slept. I was a bit nervous but Hayley climbed down to get a first hand look at the horrible conditions. It's something I will never forget. I'm very thankful for my time in Romania and for the Bates' ministry.

Yesterday I received word that Ron Bates had passed away. In the letter sent by Sue she mentions his work with the street children but also his work and love for the Gypsies of Romania:

His greatest ministry was with the gypsies. Ron’s gift was preaching the gospel and expounding God's word, he loved God's word and always appreciated the hungry, open heart of the gypsy Christians. He frequented the village of Goloshei and because of his great love for them and their common love for the Lord Jesus he wants to be buried in that village, so Thursday we will celebrate his home going.

Please pray for Sue, their ministry, the orphans and Romania

My new favorite song - "In the Living years"

I've had the song 'Living years' running through my head the past little while. Pardon the 'subtitulada' but it was the only version of the real video I could find. Somehow neither the Kids Incorporated, nor the Sims version seemed appropriate: