Lord we just....

Amazing post - here - about how many times Evangelicals use the word "just" in their prayers:

This is seriously one of my pet peeves in evangelical pseudo-cultural, pseudo-spirituality: The repetitive use of the word "just" in extemporaneous (is there any other kind?) prayers.

Lord Jesus, we just wanna just thank you for....and we just ask that...and just that you just would just...so just that we just could just...and just then just the pagans just would just...just because just we just love you just so much....

Lego Bible - David's Psalms of Victory

Some of these are hilarious - click here

Wednesday prayer requests - Hayley's eye

Just a quick prayer request from us. This morning (5AM) Sylas crawled in bed with us and in the process scratched Hayley directly in her eye. It hurt so much she couldn't open her eye and it freaked me out so we went to Sunnybook Emergency where they actually got us in to see a doctor in about 15 minutes (perhaps the writhing in pain helped get us ahead of the line). Now we're back home with drops, a patch and some tylenol 3. They say it will heal in 48 hours but she has to go back in tomorrow to get it checked. It's not just like a little scratch on the white part it's directly in the middle so the doctor wants to make sure it heals properly. So if you finish praying for the overwhelming needs of the world and have some spare time left we'd appreciate a quick prayer! Thanks everyone

Need a title v41

Hayley found this pictures the other day. Can anyone think of a good title?

Wiggle Wiggle

Video of the week - It's too late

Yes Alvin & the Chipmunks sing Timbaland, and yes my kids are awesome dancers!

Sad but true...

Monday's hot topics - Darby the Calvinist?

Matt Cook posted some interesting findings on Darby on the forum - here:

just happened upon a neat little letter written by everyone's hero, JND. Here are some neat quotes that grabbed my attention: "To leave him to his free choice, now that he is disposed to do evil, would be a cruelty. "

I've heard from a few sources that Darby was a Calvinist, so if he leaned that way why are the Brethren generally opposed to Calvinism?

Hmmm...why are the brethren generally opposed to Calvinism if one of the main founders of the movement was a Calvinist?

What's a bored kid to do in his room? Joe Cook shows us an exciting new way for a kid to entertain himself:

Improper use of quotation marks

An English teacher friend of mine sent me
this set of improperly used quotation marks - click here

Video of the week - We stand on God for babies

Here is the boys wonderful rendition of O Canada. Wish I would have got the dramatic crescendo on tape too:

Only 26 kindergarten classes

Previously I had reported that Sylas was in one of 32 kindergarten classes. A recent Toronto Star article - here - puts the number at 26:

Thorncliffe Park Elementary School, believed to be the largest in North America, has 26 kindergarten classes – 13 in the morning and 13 in the afternoon. Its teachers tend to work in groups of two or three planning lessons, with Dianne Hillier as a lead teacher for the entire group

A food tour of Thorncliffe

Thursday's edition of the Toronto Star has a great article on Thorncliffe's South Asian Food variety - here. The best line in the article is the first one:

Today's Thorncliffe Park is tomorrow's Canada...

It's a striking statement and one that Jehad Aliweiwi makes over a Pakistani meal of haleem, shish kebab curry and chicken tikka masala at Iqbal Kebab & Sweet Centre...Statistics Canada predicts visible minorities (mainly South Asian and Chinese) will be the majority by 2017.That's already true in this little-known Toronto neighbourhood."This is maybe the true global village of the city," says Aliweiwi. "It's not a random neighbourhood with troubles or a bad reputation that's to be avoided. It's a neighbourhood with something to offer."

"This neighbourhood is 90 per cent Muslim," explains co-owner Jenny Hsiung, who comes from Calcutta and is happy to see Hakka (Indian/Pakistani/Chinese hybrid) taking off in Toronto...

Thorncliffe Park, which housed a farm that bred racehorses in the 1800s and then a racetrack from the 1920s to 1950s, retains a unique, circular feel. Aliweiwi loves how the area's apartment dwellers have taken ownership of its public spaces and, especially in warm weather, head out to stroll, chat and gather...

"As a cultural experience, the food and the people are something to be really proud of in this diverse city."

One omission from the article was the recent closing of Thorncliffe's Burger King, which was unable to compete in this South Asian community. That's today's Thorncliffe Park, that's the future of Canada.

On vacation

Hey everybody, we're on vacation in a top secret location. Be back soon.
While we're gone, check out the latest update from the Lego Bible - here

Video of the week - Best Valentines present ever

Today Sylas came home with a Valentines present that he made at school:

Who was Valentine?

My good friend Josh Duffy has an amazing post on his blog -here- about the real hero of Valentines day:

St Valentine of Rome lived some 200 yrs after Christ. In that time the Roman Emperor Claudius II proclaimed a law that young men should not be married because single men made for better soldiers than married men. Valentine continued performing marriage ceremonies and was found out and was eventually brought before Emperor Claudius. Claudius had great respect for this man of God and tried to get Valentine to renounce Christ so that he could spare his life. Valentine refused and in turn, tried to convert Claudius from paganism to Christianity. Claudius refused and subsequently had Valentine imprisoned.

In prison Valentine befriended his jailor's daughter, who was blind. He prayed for her and she was miraculously cured which resulted in the jailor's conversion to Christ. The night before Valentine died he wrote a note to her and signed it "from your Valentine". On February 14, 269 AD, Valentine of Rome was beaten with clubs and beheaded for his faith.

This story is much different than the one we think of on Feb 14. Let's get back to the root of some of these holidays we ignorantly celebrate.

Amen Josh. Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Monday's hot topics: Rediscovering the early church

Over the past few years on this blog and on the forum - here - I've been digging in to the "early church". It seems I'm not alone. New forum member Elisa tipped us off to the cover story of this month's Christianty Today. The article focuses on this trend, a new generation looks for much deeper roots than their denominations offer. Here is an excerpt from the CT Feb08 cover story:

In Massachusetts, Campbell spoke with Sharon Carlson, a young woman raised in the Plymouth Brethren movement, a free-church tradition that eschews liturgy, tradition, and hierarchy. Carlson described the Communion experience as "tearing up bread and passing around cups of grape juice after men in the assembly spontaneously stood and repeated the words that they felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to say," and she felt that was no longer enough. As Campbell reports, " 'I want to be more connected to history, the history of the Christian church,' said Carlson, who relishes the knowledge that she is worshiping the way Christians have for centuries. 'There have been generations of people before me saying the same prayers.'

How do you feel about this trend to discover the ancient? As Protestants do we get frightened by reading about the ancient (Catholic) church? Or is it helpful to rediscover how people did church in the first century? Isn't that what the brethren movement was all about? Post your thoughts in the comments below or on the forum - here

Best candidate for the economy - "Unquestionably Ron Paul"

Money Matters reports which candidate "unquestionably" would be best for investors

On the Republican side, the picture is pretty clear. Ron Paul was unquestionably the most investor-friendly candidate based on the fact that his plans to downsize the government and end the United States’ Middle East involvement would both increase the resources available for the private sector and reduce the burden on taxpayers.

Again, if you're in the US please take another look at Ron Paul and consider voting for him.

Rate it!

I just added a little widget to my blog so you can all rate my posts. At the bottom of each post will be a starry scale from 1-5 measuring the level of awesome contained in my writings. 1 is really bad, 5 is really good. Give it a try!!

The sayings of Lukas v43 - Three wishes

Today's sayings come in picture form. For homework Lukas had to write down what he would wish for if he had three wishes. Here they are:
(click for larger image)

Careful everybody...

Interesting article from Al Jazeera:

Then I had a life-changing incident in 2006, when I was stopped at an airport in New York and prevented from boarding to my airplane because my T-shirt had the words "we will not be silent" in both Arabic and English printed on it.

A TSA [transportation security officer] told me that coming to a US airport with Arabic words on my T-shirt was equivalent to visiting a bank while wearing a shirt that read "I'm a robber".

After making me cover my shirt, the officers changed my seat from the front to the back of the airplane.

Making high-rises green?

I found this article called "Concrete City" about how architects are talking through making high-rises green. It features a great picture of Thorncliffe.

Christian & Muslim numbers

Very interesting article from The Economist - click here.

...over 100m copies of the Bible are sold or given away every year...available all or in part in 2,426 languages, covering 95% of the world's population...

Islam had a better 20th century than Christianity. The world's Muslim population grew from 200m in 1900 to its current levels...Islam's expansion has mostly come about through population growth and migration, rather than conversion...Many Christian scholars predict that Islam will overtake Christianity as the world's largest religion by 2050

Last look at Ron Paul before Super Tuesday

Well who would have guessed that Ron Paul would still be in the Republican race after Rudy, Fred and many others have dropped out. Today marks another in a long line or Ron Paul money bombs - here that have helped him shatter single-day fundraising records.

Please, if you live in the US and haven't done so already, take another look at Ron Paul before Super Tuesday. As a Canadian I am quite concerned about what will happen to the US if they don't get their house in order and Ron Paul is the only candidate who can make that happen...or at least that's what the latest endorsement from the National Taxpayers Union states - here:

According to a report released Tuesday by the National Taxpayers Union, Texas Congressman Ron Paul is the only remaining presidential candidate who proposes net spending cuts. According to the report, Congressman Paul’s proposals would cut government spending by over $150 billion, a conservative estimate of the spending reductions Dr. Paul has proposed. The report concludes that the other remaining Republican candidates, Romney, McCain and Huckabee, have proposed spending increases of $19.5 billion, $6.9 billion and $54 billion respectively(eek!!) . In ten terms in Congress, Ron Paul has never voted for a tax increase or for an unbalanced budget

Here's the video from the latest Republican debate:


Ron Paul is a medical doctor who has delivered 4,000 babies before entering politics and he is endorsed by Roe (of Roe v Wade) as the best pro-life candidate. He's been a congressman for 10 terms and never voted for a tax hike or unbalanced budget.

But if you're still not sure who to vote for take this Survey - here and find out who's policies you most align with. Happy Super Tuesday everyone! :)

First woman horse racer got her start in...Thorncliffe Park!!

Found this interesting article the other day about a horse racing story that began in ...Thorncliffe Park

..the fight Williams put up on behalf of all women in the sport began long before that, defying even her husband's wishes against her being permitted to race to embark on a 21-year career, beginning with her first win in 1951 at Thorncliffe Park in Toronto and running through 1973, retiring as the winningest driver in North America.

If you didn't already know, Thorncliffe Park used to be a racetrack - one it seems that has historic significance!

Shenk & Shabir

One of the neat things about being in BC last week was that I got a chance to hear and meet Dr. David Shenk, one of the most respectful and thoughtful Christian scholars when it comes to Muslim/Christian dialogue. His book "A Muslim and a Christian in dialogue is used as a textbook in many places in the world as a platform for understanding between these two faiths. I saw him speak in Abbotsford and he spoke about his recent trip to Iran -click here- where he was an invited guest, asked to share the message of peace through Jesus with 1500 Mullahs as well as the President. I appreciate Shenk's respectful discussions with Muslims and his emphasis on the peace and forgiveness through Jesus.

I looked up his videos -here- when he had a dialogue with Shabir Ali. Check em out and see what I mean. I would encourage all Christians to clothe themselves with this attitude of peace when engaged in dialogue with Muslim friends.

The sayings of Lukas v42

Gotta log in to read this one. It's definitely the best one yet.

Parenting 101 v16 - Days of our lives

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 sixteenth edition of Parenting 101.
__________________________



Today we were driving in the car when Lukas said:

Dad...how many days have there been? Including today?

Any ideas for a good response?

Video of the week: Chillawicka-wicka-wack

My entire neighbourhood would fit into this campground:

Attention Christian conservatives - Roe (yes that Roe) endorses Ron Paul

Yesterday Ron Paul got his biggest endorsement yet - Norma McCorvey aka Jane Roe - click here. This is a huge endorsement from the pro-life movement and hopefully will make alot of Christians in the US take notice

Thorncliffe "Running & Reading" Club starts Jan 23rd

For a while now we've been hoping to help get a kids club going in Thorncliffe. Lots of kids need help with English since, for 93% of the kids at the school, English is not their first language. Last summer we started discussions with an amazing organization called Kidsfest Canada and so starting January 23rd Thorncliffe Park Public School will have their own Running & Reading program!!

We need loads of volunteers so if you'd like to run around and read to kids from all over the world one day a week, just email me!

Video of the week - best video ever!!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have just viewed the greatest video ever posted on the internet. Behold:

Ron Paul 4th in Michigan

I was excited to see Ron Paul coming in a solid 4th in Michigan, well ahead of both Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson - here. This is the second time Paul has defeated both Giuliani and Thompson and solidifies him as the 4th place candidate in the race, officially part of the "top tier" candidates. It will be interesting to see how the media handles this.

Halal meat thief sells to drug dealer

I found this article interesting:

In less than an hour of watching the location on Wednesday night, detectives allegedly caught the store’s 46-year-old owner selling pot to a patron and buying cheese and halal meats from a customer who had stolen the food from a store in Thorncliffe Park.

So first of all the guy is selling pot, but then he is buying stolen Halal meat? It seems funny to me that he would keep halal even though he's breaking other basic laws like drug dealing :)

Videos of the week - More reasons to love Ron Paul

During the South Carolina Republican debate Ron Paul spoke the best one-liner of the entire campaign so far (5:30-5:58)

Paul: Let me see if I get this right. We need to borrow 10 Billion dollars from China and then we give it to Musharaff who's a military dictator who overthrew an elected government, then we go to war we lose all these lives promoting democracy in Iraq? I mean, what's going on here

:


Another great quote was when he smacked John McCain about the middle east - here - for McCain's quip about foreign policy (7:57-9:41):

Paul: So why don't we trade with everybody and talk with them (instead of endless wars), and then there's a greater incentive to work these (Middle East) problems out...

McCain (smiling like an idiot): I'm not interested in trading with Al Qaeda all they want to trade is Burqas. I don't want to travel with them they like one way tickets"

Paul: Can I answer that...that's what I've been talking about, we USED to support Saddam Husein and we USED to be allies with Osama Bin Laden!! What I want to do is stop that. Who's our friend one day turn out to be our enemies the next...the senator says we need to be in Iraq for 100 years if necessary...I say BRING EM HOME!

As a Christian I whole heartedly agree with Ron Paul. War is never right and the war in Iraq especially needs to end immediately. The troops need to return home and bases in the middle east closed so that the US can salvage what's left of their international reputation. That is the only way to reduce terrorism.

This post is rated MH-17

All I have to say is - I love Mark Driscoll. If he's not offensive enough for you there's also a Lego Bible update

Move over Toronto FC

Make way for Thorncliffe FC!!!

Monday's hot topics - An Agnostic Follows The Bible For A Year...

Yes I know it's not Monday but forum member Michelle posted a very interesting link today on the forum - here. The article details an agnostic who "follows the Bible literally for one year". Michelle writes:

I thought this was a pretty interesting article to pass along. I know that for myself, even though I don't consider myself Christian I have adopted a lot of the Christian morals and practices. Even prayer. It's not that I don't believe God exists or even that Christ exists. I just don't believe the bible is the full story. Maybe it was divinely inspired, maybe it wasn't.

To check out the article and interact with Michelle on the forum click here

The sayings of Lukas v41

Today Hayley and I were talking about the possibility of taking a vacation in Egypt (if anyone has connections let us know). When Lukas heard this he was concerned:

Lukas: Daddy, if you go to Egypt won't that bad King make you work hard??

Thorncliffe Community center construction finally begins!!

Well, it's been quite a while since Jane Pitfield dug her shovel in the ground in 2006 but construction on the Thorncliffe "Jenner" community center has finally begun! Construction was supposed to start in the fall of 2006, and while there were many delays I'm happy to report the area is now fenced off. Even though the center will be closed for an entire year and a half to double it's size - here - it is good news for residents like myself.

The sayings of Lukas v40

Lukas is reading a bit now and is asking interesting questions about words. The other day he asked me:

Lukas: Dad, why does the word Library have 'lie' in it?

Video of the week & Need a title v40 - Christmas tree disposal

Charlie Chaplin eat your heart out! This video was supposed to have detailed commentary on how to dispose of a Christmas tree in Thorncliffe Park, but now I just have to let the picture speak for itself. Can anyone think of a good title for this video?:

Happy New Year!!!

Wow, you could say I've been a bit busy recently - log in for our latest news.

Here's hoping everyone has a great 2008!!

Best intersection ever!

What do you get when you mix the biggest school with the busiest intersection?? click here to find out

Video of the week - Iowans, don't vote for Huckabee

This video of the week is from the infamous "Talking to Americans" program. I hadn't noticed before but watch carefully to see Rick Mercer interview Republican Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee. Someone this stupid does not deserve to be President (specifically 0:29-1:50):

Bill MacDonald : January 7, 1917 - December 25, 2007

It's a sad day for those of us in brethren assemblies here in North America. One of the great men of God we have come to know and love over the past century has left us:

At 5PM on Christmas day Bill MacDonald went home to be with Jesus. A group of us gathered early in the morning just to hold his hand, to read the Christmas story and to softly sing and pray...At 3 p.m. I spoke with him to let him know some guests had arrived. There was no longer any facial response, but he squeezed my hand for the last time.

Please sign the guestbook - here - with your memories of this great man.

Bill chose to not marry so he could serve God with more of his time. He served as President of Emmaus Bible College for many years and I still have the copy of the book he sent me called "Singleness". While I didn't follow his life choice on the subject, I have always cherished his personal note to me and the email exchanges we've had over the years. He was always an encourager and many of us felt enthused to have known him. May his example encourage many of us to be sold out for God! We'll miss you Bill.

Happy Birthday Hayley!!

Each December 25th it's my yearly duty to make sure Hayley's birthday is not forgotten in all the busyness of Christmas. So again I'm posting up a sweet pic of my sweetheart so she knows that at least one person remembered. We recently learned that the founder of Pakistan was also born on December 25th so it's quite a special day. If you're reading this, please leave a comment below, or leave a message on Hayley's facebook - here wishing here a great big Happy Birthday!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Need a title v39 - Away with the manger

Lukas has had some interesting experiences at school this Christmas season. Tonight he wanted to make a little manger scene to take to school for show and tell. Here is the finished product. Can anyone think of a good title for this creation?

Video of the week - Merry Christmas!!

Like many of you we have found that this week before Christmas is turning out to be quite hectic! So instead of my regular blogging schedule I simply wanted to post this video from all of us to wish you all a Merry Christmas:

Watching a rEVOLution - Ron Paul for President

A while ago I posted a video and proclaimed my new found love for US Presidential Candidate Ron Paul. Today I love him even more and hope to watch him make political history.

A group of Ron Paul supporters have organized a fundraising drive called "Tea Party 07" to commemorate the Boston Tea Party on December 16th, 1773. Their goal is to raise 10 million dollars for Ron Paul in one day. It's amazing to watch this grass-roots revolution. Click here to watch history and find out why Ron Paul is the phenomenon of the 2008 US election. He has more YouTube subscribers and video views than Barack Obama, more donations from war veterans than any other candidate and more donations in a single day than any other candidate. He is the only Republican that has consistently opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, he voluntarily opted out of a government pension and would completely eliminate income tax. If you're in the US I'd highly recommend voting for him.

Video of the week - Christmas party!

Justin comments on the Christmas party:

Check out the triplets - here

The greatest moment ever...

Today was the greatest moment in the history of 614. Log in to find out what happened

And you thought my blog got offensive at times......

Turns out that the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has a blog! - click here

"It's fine for Christ to be the star of the show"

LONDON (Reuters) - Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims joined Britain's equality watchdog Monday in urging Britons to enjoy Christmas without worrying about offending non-Christians.

"It's time to stop being daft about Christmas. It's fine to celebrate and it's fine for Christ to be star of the show," said Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

A child, child, child is born!

Yesterday our friends Josh & Colleen MacFadyen - here - welcomed triplet girls into the world!! Josh writes:

Christmas came a little early this year! Colleen gave birth to three beautiful and healthy girls at 1:16 PM.

In order of birth:

Kenya Elizabeth, 3 lbs 12 oz, 1:16
Siena Dawn, 3 lbs 13 oz , 1:16
Tori Kathleen, , 3 lbs 6 oz, 1:17

It’s been a wild day and I’ve got to get back to the hospital to run milk, bath another baby or two, and sleep, oh sweet sleep. Everyone is doing very well. I’ll post more soon and put up some pictures of these little angels.

Congratulations guys!

The sayings of Lukas v39 - Rudolph

Once again you'll have to log in to hear what Lukas said to Mommy this week!

Video of the week - Helpdesk

Someone sent this to me with the title "First Mennonite Helpdesk" :)

The sayings of Lukas v38

Lukas had an interesting time at school yesterday, but you have to log in to read what he said - click here

A Mennonite Vision Salvation Brethren Army Ministries Church??!! (Wednesday prayer requests)

This Sunday I was taking in the Lord's supper at Leaside Bible Chapel when the words of sweet old hymn #169 from the black book caught my attention:

We would remember we are one
with every saint that loves thy name
United to thee on the throne
our life, our hope, our Lord the same

What a great reminder of the unity we have with all Christians! I'm glad the founders of the brethren movement made one of their cornerstone doctrines unity. They would welcome anyone that was a Christian to simply break bread with them. Their attitude was that if Christ had received someone, so should they.

Recently I wrote an article for the Vision Ministries newsletter about our little church that's getting started. You'll notice by the title that our church is a blend of many flavours of Christian denominations. And I think that's a wonderful expression of the early brethren.

We really pray that our little church will be an amazing display of what can be accomplished when Christians come together in unity to help those in need. This is why we are partnering with various groups and denominations. Please pray for us, and consider how you could be part of what God is doing here!

The future of Canada: Immigration 4 times birth rate

Today Statisctics Canada released their data on Immigration, citizenship and language from the 2006 Census. As I've been saying for some time now, the future of Canada will be found in immigrant communities like Thorncliffe Park. Therefore I was not surprised to read the report, but I think if the church doesn't wake up fast we'll be in some serious danger of being lost in the multicultural shuffle. As CTV reports:

The latest census figures show that 19.8 per cent of the population in 2006 was foreign born, the highest proportion since 1931 and up 13.6 per cent from five years earlier. By contrast, the entire Canadian population grew only 3.3 per cent in the same period.

Did you catch that? The entire population grew 3%, immigration grew 13%. Immigration is 4 times the birth rate. And where are people coming from?

For the first time, the proportion of foreign-born immigrants from Asian and Middle Eastern countries (41 per cent) outstripped those of European heritage (37)...between 2001 and 2006, language groups from Asia and the Middle East recorded the largest gains

As a final note CTV makes a prediction we should all take to heart:

An aging population and the declining birth rate has Canada on track to becoming fully dependent on immigration for population growth by around 2030, Statistics Canada data suggests.

How will you process this data? What is the immigrant population of your church? If it's low, will your church make any adjustments to prepare for this? What will your church look like in 2030?

HV F8TH

**UPDATE** The Globe & Mail reportsMr. Henry will get his plates after all

Are you offended by this title? Seems the Ministry of Transportation thinks it's pretty offensive:

Russell Henry has had the (license) plate HV F8TH - have faith - for 20 years, and when he applied to replace his old, rusting plates, the Ministry of Transportation denied his request. "It does not meet the ministry's current criteria since this configuration could be considered by some members of the public to connotate religion," the ministry's letter indicated

Minister of Transportation = Jim Bradley - click here. Members of all faith groups (Christian/Jewish/Muslim/Hindu) should write and express their thoughts on this matter to the Minister.

Monday's hot topics - "The Golden Compass"

Not sure about you, but I've been getting alot of requests from Christians to *not* see a movie called the Golden Compass. This movie barely registered on my radar when I saw the previews. My only thought was "This looks like a cheap LOTR/Narnia knock off". I didn't actually want to see the movie until there was all the controversy. Now I'm quite interested!

On the forum, WikkidPerson raises a valuable question about this very issue - wether Christians should watch things that are produced by people who don't hold Christian values - click here

How do you feel about the Golden Compass? Should Christians avoid entertainment created by people whose religious views and world outlook we feel to be incorrect? Post your thoughts in the comments below or on the forum - here

The sayings of Sylas v13 - Cookie

This edition of "The sayings of Sylas" features another one of our Bridlegrove 'homeys'. "Cookie", as he is known to all of us, dropped in on Friday and stayed with us this weekend. You may remember he lived with us for a while last year and so it was lots of fun catching up, reminiscing and hearing about what he's been up to. Cookie is a favorite with our kids so when it was time for him to go tonight we figured our kids would be sad:

Daddy: Sylas, come say bye to Cookie, he's leaving
Sylas: No thank you
Daddy: Sylas, Cookie's going away don't you want to say goodbye?
Sylas: No, i don't have to say goodbye...he's still right here in my brain!!

Video of the week

This is an amazing video from Georgia. Police storm in and shut down a TV station while still on air. Thank God for freedom of the press here in Canada, let's never take it for granted.

The sayings of Sylas v12 - Grammy

Last night sitting at the supper table Sylas had a thought:

Daddy, what would happen if Grammy exploded?

Only the Injil v3 - Making a splash

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!
____________________________________________________________________

This edition of "Only the Injil" focuses on Jesus continuing to build momentum with his new movement. Last time we saw him 'making a splash' so to speak, getting baptised by John the Baptist so everyone could see. This time he uses the biggest celebration that the country has to make his public debut

Everything Jesus does is so fascinating and instructive. There's so much that could be said about each of these 'editions' that it's hard to really decide what to include. I've put this edition off for far too long for just that reason.

For example, last time I was simply writing about how Jesus gathered his disciples but there are some really comical interchanges (I think) as Jesus first meets his future disciples through their friends. Take John 1:42. Andrew brings Peter to Jesus and the first thing Jesus says to Peter is 'hey buddy, I'm gonna call you 'The ROCK'! Or when Jesus meets Nathaniel (John 1:46) his first words are 'hey, here comes an honest man!'. You can almost see a smile on Jesus' face as he establishes himself as a guy with something about him that they would want to follow.

Jesus had personality and people skills. To me, it's almost comical to read how he interacts and make these new followers feel comfortable with him, and at the same time makes them want to follow him. This is interesting, especially as we think of making contact with people. So many times I've brought people to church and the leaders that are supposed to be experts on this stuff completely drop the ball. One time a friend of mine brought their mom to church and when I introduced her to the key leader in the church his first words to her were 'Hello, it's great to see you, but where have you been for so long'. Total idiot. In contrast, Jesus puts people at ease, makes them feel like he's interested in them, points out good things and even gives them little pet nicknames :)

> Jesus @ 31 years & 2 weeks old - So after gathering his first followers, Jesus hangs out with them in Capernaum for a while (John 2:12). Lots can be said here about discipleship. Spending time with people. Deepening relationships. Having no agenda. Too often I see Christians that hustle their contacts/disciples from this event to that event and rarely just hang out with them. Think about it. If you had someone that was interested in following Jesus what would you do with them? Bring them to a program/church/event? Jesus' strategy is totally different, he seems to me to be anti-programatic in his discipleship. He takes them home to meet his mom. Is that something you've ever done? Bring your friends to meet your family? Let them spend time in your home. Ask yourself, how often do the people in your church programs come to your home? Would people that are in your church programs be able to 'just drop in' and stay with you for a few days? It doesn't sound like something that could make the church bulletin but it's exactly what Jesus does.

Then they go to a wedding in Cana of Gallillee (2:2) and He does a simple miracle there. I won't comment on this, other than to wonder what Jesus meant when he said 'woman, my time hasn't come (John 2:4)'. As you read through what Jesus did in the next few weeks, was he saying he didn't want to be revealed until the time was right in Jerusalem at the passover? I'd be interested to hear thoughts on that.

What happens next is phenomenal. How did Jesus go from being a poor carpenters son from Nazareth to national phenomenon in such a short time? Was it simply his magic Jesus skills that helped him, or was he more strategic? John 2:13 mentions Jesus taking his disciples down to Jerusalem for the passover. It's what every good Jew would do. Take a pilgrimage. Sacrifice. Once again everyone would be there. Jesus once again decides to crash the biggest party in the country. This time though there's nobody to introduce him so he makes his own introduction. Cue Super Bowl Sunday part 2.

Jesus has already developed grass-roots word-of-mouth interest throughout the country, reminiscent of William Wallace lore in Braveheart ("William Wallace killed 50 men"), about who he was. So what is Jesus' next move? He takes it to the next level by going to Jerusalem with his new disciples and making a massive spectacle! There are so many applications here I don't know where to start. Think about this, there is already a buzz in the country about who this guy is that John baptized, but now he goes to the capital city Jerusalem right at Passover time and intentionally picks a fight with the religious leaders!! If being baptised by John the Baptist was Superbowl Sunday then this stunt is the World Cup of Soccer in comparison.

Everyone that was there to see John the Baptist would be there in Jerusalem. Also, all those people who weren't there, but heard reports about 'this one' would also be there. All the whispers are now escalated. He did what? In the temple? Did you see him? Who is this guy? This is what would be heard at supper tables across the land. The strategy Jesus uses is amazing to watch. Literally everyone in the entire country is talking about him, as well as other pilgrims who had come from other places just for the passover. I liken it to the scene when V takes over Jordan tower in the movie V for Vendetta and gets his message to the entire country.

With these 2 huge publicity stunts Jesus ensures that he is the talk of the town and all eyes are on him. He sets the stage for eveyone to be interested in everything he's doing. Every move will create more whispers. Every sentence will be analyzed. The stage is set. While I can barely contain the excitement of this, next time I will look at the content of what Jesus does in the temple and what statement he's making with all this publicity.

Up next - Temple tantrum

The sayings of Lukas v37 - Christmas

Last night we set up some of our Christmas decorations. After putting up the nativity scene Olivia started pointing and saying "Baby Jesus".

Hayley: Yes, Olivia there's baby Jesus up there
Lukas: Where's baby Jesus? Oh there he is...and the wise men...and shepherds....but where's King Herod??

World Clock

*UPDATE* Here is a link to the World Clock - it was too big to keep on the blog for too long


...Reminds me of the title of a sermon I read once: Time is passing, death is coming, are you prepared to meet God?

And if that's just too depressing, here's a countdown to Christmas

Christian response to Muslim letter

A while back I mentioned that 138 Muslim leaders had signed a letter titled "A Common Word Between Us and You" - click here for full text.

Just last week Rick Warren, Bill Hybels and other Christian leaders wrote a response which I thought was good in that it explicitly asked for forgiveness for the Crusades and other wrongs that Christians of the past have done to Muslims (click here for full text.)

Log in to our new blog for more observations...

Free rice!!

Want to help the poor? Think you know English? Play 'Free Rice' now - click here!!

One more reason why I love facebook

Those of you who have added me on facebook know I have some pictures up of my "Bridlegrove Homeys" - click here.

One such 'homey' is a young lad (at left) I met in 2004 named Orlando Franklin. Remember that name. When I met Orlando he was just 16 years old but already stood 6 foot 7 and weighed around 280 pounds.

Like most of the 'homeys' that live in Scarborough, Orlando moved away and I completely lost contact with him. That is until someone tagged him in one of my pictures on facebook and we got reacquainted. Much to my delight I discovered that Orlando is now the starting offensive lineman for the Miami Hurricanes and making headlines across the football world!! Way to go Orlando!! I believe he could go quite far in football, so say a prayer for this little 'homey' whenever you hear about the Miami Hurricanes.

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Today my little girl turns 2! Happy Birthday Olivia

Need a title v38 - Justin

Justin's pretty excited. Can anyone think of a good title?

Video of the week - Ottawa

Here's a quick video I took in Ottawa. It was amazing to see the verses from the Bible that are inscribed in stone right on the Parliament buildings:

Wikkid tales

Well I'm back from Ottawa with loads of goodies and ideas. The best part of a conference is always the people that you meet whom you haven't seen in a while. One such person is the infamous Wikkid Person himself!!

It was great to see him again and yak it up over fish n chips at an Ottawa pub. We talked about everything from our experiences with various branches of the brethren to church culture to music. He reminded me that I still needed to listen to his 'Tales of the Prodigals Elder brother' collection of MP3's on his website. I decided to check them out and they are a brilliant masterpiece of the confusion that is growing up Christian. Since I was not raised Christian these 'tales' are instructive to me as I raise my own kids. So I wanted to share these 'tales' with all of you. If you go to Wikkid's website you can find these MP3's ready for download on the right side of the page.

Lego Bible update!

Click here to see Lego David become King and Uzzah punished for touching the Ark

Blogging from Ottawa

Hi everybody, it's 11PM here in Ottawa and I just got in my hotel room. Had lots of fun at a number of pre-conference events, the awesomest of which is getting to spend some time with Alan Hirsch! I'll try to post some video I took but my batteries ran out. I first heard of Hirsch from one of our interns Dan Carlson and he truly has some awesome ideas. Unfortunately for some, it seems to me that these ideas involve completely deconstructing church as we know it.

And not just in ways like having services on Saturdays or something like that. His 'Finding Nemo' analogy about aquariums vs. the ocean was key. He went so far as to say that the aquariums we set up (safe, clean church environments where only 'good people' swim) are not only artificial, they are actually detrimental to the fish, as they are unable to survive in the ocean. If I'm understanding this right, he's saying that church is actually detrimental to people's ability to do amazing things for God. That's something I've been saying for a long time, but usually have been told I'm crazy. To show up at a conference and hear the main speaker saying what I'm thinking in my deepest thoughts is something I'm really excited about.

But what do you think, is church in the west actually detrimental to people's ability to do great things for God?

The sayings of Sylas v11 - Microwave

Today Hayley & Sylas were making applesauce when Sylas heard a beeping sound:

Sylas: Mom, it's finished waving!!
Mommy: What's waving?
Sylas: The Micro-wave

Diamonds

I found this on a friends blog:

Imagine

Tomorrow I leave for Ottawa to attend the Imagine conference. Should be a really good time and I'll try to blog a few times about what I'm learning. I'm really looking forward to hearing Alan Hirsch, Sam Owusu and Ed Stetzer, as well as getting to chat with friends from all over Canada.

Video of the Week - I think I love Ron Paul

I'm not an American, but if I was I'd vote for Ron Paul.

100,000 reasons to read

Today the little counter at the bottom will click over 100,000!! So I thought I'd take a minute to thank all of you who check up on us, pray for us, support us financially and read up on what we're doing here on the athensBLOG!

If you do the math....

100,000 divided by 3 years = 33,333/year
33,333 divided by 52 weeks = 640/week
640 divided by 7 days = 91/day

We started this blog way back in 2004 as a way to keep folks updated on our trip to the Olympics in Athens. Since then it's blossomed into a discussion forum, as well as a wiki, we've been able to post ministry updates, thoughts, pictures, videos, stories of our kids and prayer requests. We hope you've enjoyed the last 3 years!

'No church Sunday'?

Over at Lon's blog he's got an idea for shaking things up in the peu's. An idea he calls - No Church Sunday.

the idea of intentionally not gathering as a church on sunday...Really, we’re not even suppose to be going to church, we are the church.

So how about it, would your congregation be willing to take a 'sabbath' from church?

Letter bomber in court today

You may remember a bomb scare here in Thorncliffe back in August. Today the bomber appeared in court and faced 8 new charges related to a seperate incident.

CityTV reports:

The man accused in all those other crimes is now facing eight new charges of attempted murder. His alleged weapon: tampered water bottles. Cops aren't saying much yet about their latest case against 37-year-old Adel Arnaout. He was arrested last August 31st at a gas station in the Thorncliffe Park area

Parenting 101 v15 - Girls

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 fifteenth edition of Parenting 101.
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Lukas' understanding of the world is increasing by the minute. He's learning to read and discovering many wonderful things. His questions are much different than before. Some things still don't make sense to him. For example, the other day at the supper table Lukas asked:

Why do girls have long finger nails?

I couldn't think of a good answer. Any ideas?

Monday's hot topics - The Word of God

Recently on the forum a fellow named jpurssey stated that he believed Jesus was the Word of God, not the Bible:

I also believe that Jesus, not the Bible, is the Word. The Bible is a very useful collection of texts

Many people reacted to this statement, and a poll was started. So far it seems most people believe Jesus AND the Bible are the Word of God.

What do you think? Is Jesus the Word of God and the Bible simply a record of him. Or are the actual pages in the Bible the Word of God? Or both? Or neither? Post your thoughts in the comments below, or on the forum - here

Bible fight!!

Tired of sword drills? Wish there was more than just doctrinal debates? You need a new video game called 'Bible fight!!'

It is a straightforward Streetfighter-style game, in which you and your opponent punch and kick each other until one or the other achieves victory. As with other games of this style, there are a variety of characters, each of whom has his own combo moves that do extra damage, if you can hit the right key combination quickly enough. Except that--the characters are Mary, Eve, Jesus, Moses, Noah, and Satan. And the special moves are things like Mary's Halo Toss, and Jesus's Loaves and Fishes.

Imposter!!

Not only is there another Hayley Cuthill out there, turns out there's another Shawn Cuthill on the loose:

http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/sport/Hockey-Sam-hits-five-for.3440582.jp

Pelicans gave Walsham Kent, Heatrick and Sweeney for the second half, but the goals kept coming through Shaun Cuthill

Go Pelicans!

Video of the week - Welcome to Toronto!

In this week's video Justin & Aaron document their first few months here in Toronto and Thorncliffe Park. It's a sweet little video of the city, with cameo appearances from our little prayer group, Hayley, and our apartment:

Parenting 101 v14 - Burn in hell!

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 fourteenth edition of Parenting 101.
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Today at the supper table Lukas was telling us about his day at school.
He mentioned that some of the kids at school asked him if he was a Muslim or a Christian. Now, this happens all the time and the kids are usually nice about it. But this time when he said he was a Christian the kids gasped and said:

Oh no - you're a Christian! God only loves Muslims. You'll be put in a fiery place

Now I've never had somebody tell my child he's going to hell before. Wasn't really sure how to respond. Any advice?

Sayings of Sylas v10 - Overflow

Last night the kids were getting ready for the bath.
Lukas peed in the toilet and jumped in the bath
Sylas peed in the toilet and jumped in the bath
Olivia peed, but when she flushed the toilet overflowed!

Grammy put Olivia quickly in the tub and tried to deal with the overflow.
Sylas, looking over at all of the water said:

Wow, Olivia sure had alot of pee!!

Monday's hot topics - Why can't I own a Canadian?

I posted an article on the forum, which raises some questions about applying Old Testament laws.

When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

Interesting. How do we know which laws to apply and which not to? If we are under grace then are these laws abolished? If so, how can we argue against homosexuality. If not, then how do we know which laws apply to us today?? Post your thoughts in the comments below, or on the forum - here

Video of the week & Need a title v37

Hayley and I laughed so much at this video we couldn't decide wether it should be in 'video of the week' or 'need a title' so it's both. Can anyone think of a good title:

Willow Creek got it wrong...

...and they have the humility to admit it. This article details Willow Creek's round of research called "Reveal".

I would encourage all of you to watch this video, and also Bill Hybels response to it.

My favorite quote: "Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church"

Need a title v36

Here's Olivia climbing on top Ger Carolan while he's sleeping. Can anyone think of a good title?

Anything?

Pastor Mark Driscoll is asking anyone to ask him anything and he will preach on it:


Click here and get askin and votin!

Engagement story

My friend Melissa Bothwell posted the story of how her man Ben proposed to her. It's a good one. Check it out - here. Coincidentally it happened on my birthday, so that makes it extra special :)

Parenting 101 v13 - Birthdays and Monsters

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 thirteenth edition of Parenting 101.
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Today is a special day! Well actually tomorrow is, but today is Lukas and Sylas' birthday party!! Woohoo! As posted in the Markham Economist & Sun tomorrow is Lukas' 6th birthday and Sylas' 4th. It's fun having boys that share the same birthday cause we just have one big fun party.

Aside from the birthday excitement Sylas asked me a question today that I needed a little help with. We were walking back from the park when Sylas said:

Daddy, why don't Monsters have hearts?

I couldn't think of a real good answer. Any ideas?