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Jump into the Bible with articles on spirituality, the application of Christian living principles, and other topics that are relevant to your daily life.
Comments Off on What are You Really Seeing?, Filed in Articles, Jean Jantzen, by CGP.
WHAT ARE YOU REALLY SEEING?
By Jean Jantzen
To a Dear Friend,
I had a stroke this past week. What a surprise! And it shouldn’t have been; my mother had one and her mother had had one. During the ambulance ride, I told God that this was not a good time because my husband still needed me. Nevertheless, I also told God I knew I was in good hands. An indescribable peace descended upon me and wrapped me in a warm blanket. And I knew everything would be okay.
Later, I wondered what I could learn from this experience. More
Comments Off on Family Feast – What Really Matters, Filed in Articles, Carolanne Patton, by CGP.
What Really Matters
Feast Blog 2009
As we look forward to the Feast of Tabernacles let’s remember the lessons of previous festival seasons, and prepare for our best Feast yet.
Before the feast, the young students in Sabbath class asked me if there was a story in the Bible about the Feast that they could act out as a play. So, we looked into the scripture and read about the Feast in the book of Nehemiah. The story we read started with Nehemiah, a eunuch in the palace and cup-bearer to the Persian King, getting word of the state of affairs in Jerusalem from his brother. It distressed Nehemiah greatly, to the point that even the king noticed that his cupbearer and trusted servant, was troubled about something. Nehemiah opened up his heart to the King telling him about the turmoil in Jerusalem. The King then sent Nehemiah back to Jerusalem as Governor with all the authority to rebuild the walls of the city, and restore temple worship. Then we skipped ahead in the narrative and omitted a few chapters of names and finished with the chronicle of one of the greatest feasts of God’s people Israel. More
Comments Off on Rejoice at the Feast: What Really Matters, Filed in Articles, Carolanne Patton, by CGP.
Feast Blog 2009
As we look forward to the Feast of Tabernacles let’s remember the lessons of previous festival seasons, and prepare for our best Feast yet.
Sometimes keeping the spirit of joy during the feast can be a hard thing. As a young person with few responsibilities, the only real damper on the feast was perhaps a head cold, stomach upset, or loss (theft?) of the gifts I’d taken such care in buying. However, as an adult, wife, and mother of 4 sons, there were a few feasts that I struggled through feeling overwhelmed, overworked, and under appreciated. And I wasn’t even having to do it all while tenting.
Along with the excitement sometimes the Feast was just plain hard work with little thanks. Can’t you just picture our ancestors as they prepared to leave Egypt and packed for that big “feast” experience in the wilderness. It all had to fit on the donkey cart and a lot of things just would not fit. Decisions had to be made; there was packing and repacking to make the best use of space. You can imagine that in the week after the initial excitement had waned, perhaps there were some grumblings along the line of, “I don’t see why on earth you packed this pot and forgot my shears,” or perhaps, “Mommy, that was my favourite toy, how could you forget it?” More
RECKLESS WORDS PIERCE LIKE A SWORD – Proverbs 12:18
By Jean Jantzen
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless – James 1:26
A tear ran silently down her cheek. She wanted to curl up in a little ball and disappear. “How could they say those things about me?” She knew in her heart they were not true. Still the accusations wounded her deeply. The words made her stomach bitter; they tumbled round and round in her head devastating, discouraging, and depressing her. Why wouldn’t the negative words go away and leave her alone? Why did the words trouble her, festering in her brain like a boil ready to blow? It was like a black cloud had engulfed her.
As brethren, the Apostle Paul shows us how our thought processes should work if we are tuned into God. Philippians 4:8: More
Comments Off on Moment of Truth, Filed in Articles, Jean Jantzen, by COG Webcast.
A building without integrity may receive structural damage, or even collapse, in a storm. Similarly, people without integrity are blown about by the winds of misfortune and destroyed by catastrophes, for they lack the firmness, solidity, and strength of character to weather any storm. Dr. William Menninger (1899 ~ 1966) called integrity one of the six essential qualities that are the key to success.
Have you ever tuned into Moment of Truth? I accidentally did the other night. Contestants answer a series of 21 increasingly personal and embarrassing questions to receive cash prizes. One contestant, a mother of three and a volunteer firefighter was asked: “Have you ever shoplifted from a store and given it to your kids?” The woman laughed and said “yes, all the time.” I was so astonished by her response I listened to more. The next question was: “Have you ever set fire to a neighbours’ property and the answer was again “Yes.” “Do you want attention from men other than your husband?” “Yes!” “Have you ever stolen anything from a relative’s house?” “Yes!” “Did you ever cheat on your Red Cross First Aid exam?” “Yes!” “As a volunteer firefighter have you ever ignored a call to come when you were called?” And again the answer was an astonishing yes! Hopefully not too many people would shoot themselves in the foot as that contestant was doing. More
The Original Hypertext: “In The Beginning Was The Word”
Written by Jean Jantzen
The Bible is known as the ‘Greatest Book’ ever written. Yet scholars, theologians and philosophers have never come to any sort of agreement on one circumscribed way to read or understand this intriguing book. In fact, trying to find some middle ground has led to hot debate, division and confusion; nonetheless, the Bible continues to be a bestseller. In his book Hypertext, George Landow describes the many features of hypertext: it has many “networks” that “interact . . .it has no beginning, it is reversible; we gain access to it by several entrances, none of which can be authoritatively declared to be the main one”(3). In other words, hypertext is a “vast assemblage” which suggests “the structure of an interlacing, a weaving, or a web which would allow the different threads and different lines of sense or force to separate again, as well as being ready to bind others together”(9). In a development of these principles, Professor Ben Shneiderman has three golden rules for hypertext: 1) there is a large body of information organized into numerous fragments; 2 ) the fragments relate to each other; 3) the reader needs only a small fraction at a time. (http://www.aber.ac.uk/~jjw90/work/misc/hyprguid.htm# Getting Started: Shneiderman’s Golden Rules of Hypertext).
I will demonstrate how the Bible is a living, dynamic force and fulfills all the aforementioned characteristics of hypertext. More
A tear ran silently down her cheek. She wanted to curl up in a little ball and disappear. “How could they say those things about me?” She knew in her heart they were not true. Still the accusations wounded her deeply. The words made her stomach bitter; they tumbled round and round in her head devastating, discouraging, and depressing her. Why wouldn’t the negative words go away and leave her alone? Why did the words trouble her, festering in her brain like a boil ready to blow? It was like a black cloud had engulfed her.