The sayings of Sylas v17 - Cell phones

We were sitting around the lunch table and I was explaining to Lukas and Sylas about why kids can't have cell phones:

Me: Studies show that children under 16 who use a cell phone can get cancer in their brain
Lukas: What do you mean?
Me: Cell phones give off radiation and if a child is still growing that radiation can go into their brain and cause cancer
Sylas: And then you'd need to get a metal brain like Terry Fox!

Video of the week - Bible in a minute

Sucks that these guys are Mormons but their video "Bible in a minute" is awesome:

Parents 40th anniversary video

Facebook yanked this video off their site for copyright infringement on the background audio so off to youtube i go!

Who would have guessed the US economy would suck so bad??? Ron Paul did last year!!

Ron Paul should be President. That is all. Watch until 6:45 of this video:

Need a title v44

Here's Olivia!! Can anyone think of a good title for this pic?

Question: What happens when the largest elementary school in North America gets 20 new portables?

Answer: Your student population grows from 1600 students to 1900. Oh and don't forget that's just Kindergarten to Grade 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorncliffe_Park

"Thorncliffe Park Public School is the largest elementary school in North America with a staggering 1900 students. In the summer of 2008 the soccer field and baseball diamond were paved over and 20 new portables were erected in their place prompting fears of further over-crowding."

Announcing official charity number 843182197RR0001 !!!

That's right folks - 614 church is now an official registered charity with number 843182197RR0001

This is good news because we can now save some trees and process donations online!! Before we were only able to deal with cheques in the mail but now just click on the links below for one-time, monthly or automatic withdrawl:



Direct link: http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s96592

There's alot of work and responsibility that comes along with being a charity and we thank God for the way this country is set up to benefit those who give. Thanks to all who continue to donate to keep us going - we couldn't do it without you!

Hamas Leader's son converts to Christianity

Very interesting article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,402483,00.html

Mosab Hassan Yousef is an extraordinary young man with an extraordinary story. He was born the son of one of the most influential leaders of the militant Hamas organization in the West Bank and grew up in a strict Islamic family.

Now, at 30 years old, he attends an evangelical Christian church, Barabbas Road in San Diego, Calif. He renounced his Muslim faith, left his family behind in Ramallah and is seeking asylum in the United States.

The story of how his life unfolded is truly amazing, whether you agree or disagree with his views. Below is a transcript on an exclusive FOX News interview with Hassan as he tells firsthand how a West Bank Muslim became a West Coast Christian

Click here for the full article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,402483,00.html

Closing out 4 years of blogging

Today is a special day in my life and I'd like to take the last hour of it to share a few thoughts that have been brewing for many months. Last night I watched the mens swimming 4x100 relay and the excitement of the Olympics moved me to blogging. Now it might take a few posts to really lay out what I want to say but I wanted to make sure I at least started today. There is significance in todays date and therefore I make the following announcement.

This blog was started exactly 4 years ago during the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic games. In August 2004, we trekked across Europe with a group of friends to the summer Olympics to give out as many Bibles as we could to as many people as we could. That was an amazing trip and it's with fond memories I write this. We started this blog to update the many people donated money for the project and were praying that God would take those Bibles and impact peoples lives.

I'm very thankful for many of you who have trekked with us since then. Many of you continue to donate for our personal support and check in here to see how we're doing. The comments and prayers for us continued through the different stages of our life and ministry. You are the reason this blog exists. We made it to update you on what God was doing in our lives.

Now I feel the time has come to pay a little tribute to this blog before it ultimately fades into the past. The era of blogging I feel is coming to an end. The reality is blogs are a thing of the past. In 2008 information is shared quicker than it was back in 2004 when there was yet no YouTube or Facebook! In Cyber years this blog is a dinosaur! Factors in my own life have also changed dramatically since August of 04 and to continue a blog who's time had come just didn't seem right.

Don't worry though, I'm not going to shut this blog down completely. I'll let it die gracefully as I keep updating less frequently, but before I did let it die I just thought it was the right thing to do to mark this date and bid it farewell. It will still be here for a while, but slowly and surely it will fade into the past.

What will not fade into the past however are the many wonderful 'real-world' relationships that this blog has helped maintain. Our ability to update you on our lives will only improve with new technologies. We simply feel at this time that this blog is not the best way to keep in touch.

So, dear athensBLOG (and you the faithful readers) here's to you! It's been a great 4 years.

Thorncliffe - Toronto's goat consumption capital!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080802.INSATIABLE02/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Ontario/

Although thousands of people will devour curried goat rotis at the Caribana Parade later today, goat is not a big seller in Toronto, at least not outside meat counters catering to new Canadian palates, such as Iqbal Halal Foods in Thorncliffe Park (where at $7.99 a leg, it is one of the most expensive meats on offer) or Kabul Farm on Parliament Street, operated by an Afghan family who raise a flock of goats outside Milton.

My new favorite song - When I ruled the world!!

I've had a hankerin for Coldplay ever since I heard their latest song Viva La Vida on our vacation:
I'm interested to hear your thoughts on what this song is about. One possible interpretation is that it's about George Bush and the USA, others say it's England or the Crusades or the Roman Empire. Any ideas?

Video of the week - Slow motion monster!!!

As I mentioned in the facebook pictures of our Quebec trip - here - I dropped my digital camera down the stairs of the St. Joseph Oratory in Montreal. This rendered my camera pretty much useless and some of the pictures were lost.

Yesterday I managed to salvage a few of the goodies, including this never-before-seen-video of me as a slow motion monster:



10 bucks to anyone that can make out what I'm saying!!!

Oldie but goodie Thorncliffe article

I found this link - here - to a portion of the 2003 Globe & Mail article on Thorncliffe titled "Tales from the Towers":

Globe reporter JAN WONG immersed herself in a high-rise community in east central Toronto, a magnet for some of the most highly educated newcomers to Canada, so well known that in India, Pakistan and parts of the Middle East, people don't talk about moving to Toronto, they talk about moving to Thorncliffe Park...

In one tower, Gharzai Ranzooryar is dragging himself up after an overnight shift at Rabba Fine Foods. In Afghanistan, he was an ear, nose and throat specialist. In Toronto, he works two low-paying jobs to meet the monthly $1,300 rent for an apartment that houses three generations of his family...

Read more of this amazing article available online - here

World's Oldest Bible Now Online!!

Saw this pretty amazing article on Slashdot yesterday about the Worlds Oldest Bible (the Codex Sinaiticus) going online - click here for the site.

This is the oldest complete New Testament (Injil) and dates back to the 4th century AD. A great reference point for those who say that the Christian Bible has been 'changed' or 'corrupted' in translation. The fact that we have a copy of the Bible, now online, that is over 1600 years old shows the Bible is very reliable and can be trusted.

May all of us thoroughly read and act on the words contained in these ancient scriptures!!

Video of the week - Bush Tours Damage

Evacuate to Canada!

Forgot one little thing

Well folks, I'm back after a week in Quebec City! We had a great time and left yesterday just before the Paul McCartney hit the fan.

I realized when I got home that I had forgotten to renew my shawncuthill.com domain!! Quite a shock, but things are back up and running here on the athensBLOG.
More once I unpack a bit more!

Need a title v43

Here's Sylas! Can anyone think of a good title for this picture?

"More than 400 churches closed in downtown Toronto in the last half of the 20th century"

Salvation Army major Geoff Ryan wrote a great article recently for the Toronto Star about the problem of churches fleeing the inner-city:

TheStar.com | News | Exodus II a test for churches

More than 400 churches closed in downtown Toronto in the last half of the 20th century, Ryan said, resulting in a shift in identity for organized religion toward the source of its only growth: the suburban middle class...Organized religion also began to believe that caring for the poor was the government's job, and not a personal responsibility. "The church has largely abrogated its leadership role as a voice for the voiceless," he said.

The Salvation Army, he said, maintains a shelter downtown and continues to both feed and house the poor. But this work is widely regarded as a charitable service for others and remains largely disconnected from the daily lives of church members, Ryan said.

The challenge of the coming years, he said, will be to be the voice of the poor as the middle class moves back downtown.

Lego Bible update

In this update: God raises up Solomon's enemies

Video of the week - Matt is dancing again!

Some of you may remember the outrageously popular video titled Where the Hell is Matt? Well Matt has just produced another video of him dancing around the world! Check it out: