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 the traveling to or from the Feast can be a great adventure with many lessons learned. My second year at college I joined a group of students, with varying levels of French fluency on a train trek across Europe to the idyllic mountain village of Praz sur Arly. I don’t know why we thought we needed to carry all of our meager wardrobe across the continent, but it seems that most of us showed up ready to go with a huge valise and flight bag that would have kept us clothed for months. We were either going to build major muscle groups in our arms or destroy our spines.
July 7th, 2011
Who’s Really Guilty? Adam or Eve?
Comments Off on Who’s Really Guilty? Adam or Eve?, Articles, Jean Jantzen, by CGP.Adam and Eve and the Forbidden Fruit Is Eve more guilty than Adam? By Jean Jantzen In our modern twentieth century perspective, most people within the Christian community suppose that Mother Eve was totally responsible for the fall of humanity and the dire consequences that followed her actions in the Garden of Eden. The origin of mankind’s trouble begins with the encounter between Eve and the beautiful serpent in the Garden. It is in this garden where Eve succumbs to the temptation to partake of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. Was only Eve then responsible? What was Adam’s role or accountability in this major historical event? If Adam and Eve were put on trial for their part in “the forbidden fruit episode”, what would be the outcome? It is the popular view that I would like to explore and see if there is any validity to the accusations… Read More on cognanaimo.org or Follow on Twitter @COGWebcast
July 7th, 2011
Feast Firsts: What Really Matters
Comments Off on Feast Firsts: What Really Matters, 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. It was the first day of the Feast and I was sitting wrapped in blankets and wheezing to the music over the web, instead of sharing in the joy of singing hymns with a ballroom full of brethren. So who wouldn’t feel a little sorry for themselves? But the minister’s admonition was to give and rejoice at the Feast, so how was I going to do that? Well, here I was shivering in my quilt, with my box of Puffs at the ready. Perhaps after observing 44 feasts I could share some of my experiences and lessons learned for the next few days. As Mom always said. “The best way to get out of yourself is to do something for someone else.” Remember your first feast? I sure do! I was 10 years old and in grade seven when my Dad surprised everyone, Mom included, by saying he would take us to the Feast in Jekyll Island Georgia, 1500 miles away, but the closest feast site at the time. It had only been a very few months that Dad had been driving Mom and us kids to church in Toronto – a good hour’s drive from our home in Burlington. This too was unusual for my Dad. He wasn’t interested in “Church” but I think he wanted to assure himself that Mom was not getting into some strange kind…
July 6th, 2011
Shine the Light: What Really Matters
Comments Off on Shine the Light: What Really Matters, 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. I awoke his morning to the squawks of our resident ravens, and the soft morning light filtering through the green canopy of alders that separates us from the wetlands. The pains are still there but I feel like I’ve had my first really restful sleep in the past 2 weeks. I let my mind wander back and the crisp autumn air and dance of sunlight and leaves reminds me of my 6 years of feasts in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. There are so many memories it is an effort to corral them into order, and I am left with a certain sense of loss when I contrast the present with the past. But each time in life has its own joys and challenges. I was a young teen who had bought early into “God’s way of Life.” I enjoyed the blessing of a Mom who really lived what she learned. Dad was a firm believer in the God of the bible and wanted his “kosher hams” to know God’s commandments and live them, but Dad had no use for organized religion, though he supported Mom in all her efforts to “civilize us” by teaching us the scripture. Dad attended the first couple of feasts with us, then perhaps having satisfied himself that we were safe and not under the sway of some weird fanatical…
July 6th, 2011
Compromise: Language of the Devil
Comments Off on Compromise: Language of the Devil, Blog, Jeff Patton, by CGP.When my youngest son wants to do something I’m not too excited about, we’ll talk together and come up with a compromise solution in which each of us gives a little so that the household can continue on in harmony. Compromise is a normal part of the give and take of any family or human relationship. We adapt our personal preferences and opinions for the greater good of getting along with another. That’s normal. But when it comes to the moral logic of the Universe and the demonstrable truth of the Judeo-Christian scriptures about what is right and what is wrong, it has always been required of Christians in every epoch of history to draw a line in the sand… Read More on WorldTomorrow.ca or Follow on Twitter @COGWebcast
July 5th, 2011
What are You Really Seeing?
Comments Off on What are You Really Seeing?, 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.
July 4th, 2011
Family Feast – What Really Matters
Comments Off on Family Feast – What Really Matters, 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.
July 4th, 2011
Rejoice at the Feast: What Really Matters
Comments Off on Rejoice at the Feast: What Really Matters, 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?”
June 20th, 2011
Joshua Patton Biography
Comments Off on Joshua Patton Biography, Josh Patton, by CGP.Joshua Patton Josh from the budding age of five declared that he wanted to be an electrical engineer and he recently achieved this long-time goal. Having graduated from the University of Victoria, he is now employed in the field of distribution power engineering. As an engineer, Josh has great respect for God as a designer, planner, and master of order and law in the universe. He likes to tie his studies of the scriptures into the principles he has learned as an engineer. Josh is an avid cyclist and runner and participated in his first triathlon last year. He is a good example for the rest of us in terms of cardio-vascular fitness, something we all must consider in this day of desk jobs. In his spare time Josh loves to garden, especially when there are the big dirty earth-moving tasks to be done. And if that’s not possible, you’ll often find him hiking with his wife along the Vancouver Island trails, and photographing the beauty of God’s creation: forests, mountains, and seashore. Josh is always eager to search the scriptures and make his defense for the gospel. In courting his wife, he had the opportunity to delve deeply into bible study in order to present the truth of God in a way she could appreciate, and this time of study and reflection was a turning point in his life.
June 19th, 2011
Jeremiah Patton Biography
Comments Off on Jeremiah Patton Biography, Jeremiah Patton, by CGP.Jeremiah Patton has had an artist’s eye from his earliest years. Before competing his studies at Vancouver Island University in Graphic design, he took a course in videography that led to the production of a host of videos for commercial clients and the creation of the EJ Hughes documentary, that vividly presents the life and accomplishments of one of Canada’s foremost landscape artists. Jeremiah has received awards for his artistic endeavours in videography and photography. You can see some of his work on Vimeo.