A Net in Time

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Peter Stayed

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Today we are going to learn about how Peter stayed in John 18:15-18. The last time we met we discussed Jesus coming before Annas.

15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

Simon Peter, along with another disciples, stuck with Jesus.  They didn’t scatter like the rest.  The other disciple was known by the high priest so he went in with Jesus to the courtyard.   Peter stayed outside. 

This other disciple, spoke to the servant girl who minding the door, and Peter was brought in.  

This servant girl asked Peter “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?”   Peter’s response was one of denial. 

A charcoal fire was built in the courtyard because it was cold.  The soldiers and officers stood by it warming themselves.  Peter joined them there. 

This passage isn’t all that hard to understand. Peter wasn’t alone in coming after Jesus.  Because of that, he wasn’t left out in the dark wondering what was going on.  He brought into the courtyard as well.   He was able to stay warm and listen to everything going around him.

 

Peter Stayed

I wonder if he was scared being there? I wonder this due to the fact that when asked if he was one of Jesus’ disciples he denied it. Possibly being surrounded by the men who had brought Jesus in… If he was scared I could understand it. Everything was moving so fast you know?
Jesus praying in the garden, the soldiers rushing in, Judas’ betrayal, Jesus arrested and the rush to bring him before the high priest. A cold night. He wanted to know what was up, and yet … that fear would just sit there you know?

Despite that, and despite his denial.. Peter STAYED. Do you note that? He stayed. I don’t know if the other disciple stayed, but we do know that Peter did. Despite everything, he stayed there.

Pausing to Consider

Thinking through this, I have to ask myself…would I have followed? And then, would I have stayed once asked if I was one of Jesus’ own? Peter’s denial not-withstanding, he showed bravery in sticking by Jesus as close as he could. I don’t know that I would be that brave, that steadfast. To stand right in the midst of a bunch of soldiers when you are just a simple fisherman on a cold, scary night. Not an easy thing that.

It’s so easy to discount Peter because of his denials…but I so need to see that Peter also STAYED. Yes, his words were denial, but his presence wasn’t. His presence was steadfast. It’s like a kid whose words say one thing, but his actions speak different. Peter may have said no…. but his body said yes. He showed his love right in that moment.

It’s like how your boy child can look you right in the face, after you’ve asked him to do something, and say “NO, I’m not going to do that”. And then you turn around finding him doing just what he said he wasn’t going to do. And you’re stunned when he says “I thought about it mom, and I wanted to make you happy so I did it anyways.”. Fills my heart every single time. 🙂

Another Year is Dawning

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Looking at the New Year coming, just around the corner and I got to thinking about a hymn I could put up. This song popped into my head as I was watching McGyver and Maddy was learning her hubby from days past has a new family. The years passed as he had a new family. Anyways, I don’t know why it spawned the song “Another Year is Dawning” in my head but it did. Ergo… I’m sharing it with you.

Lyrics

  1. Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
    In working or in waiting, another year with Thee;
    Another year of progress, another year of praise,
    Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.
  2. Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,
    Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
    Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;
    Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.
  3. Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,
    Another year of training for holier work above;
    Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
    On earth, or else in Heaven, another year for Thee.

Frances Ridley Havergal is the author of this start of the year hymn.   I’ve written about her in these other hymn posts as well. 

The Maxwell Leadership Bible

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Today I am reviewing an interesting bible called The Maxwell Leadership Bible.    This bible presents lessons in leadership by John C. Maxwell.  Written in the NKJV, John C Maxwell says “If you want to learn leadership, go to the greatest Book on leadership ever written – the bible.”

About the Author

John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert.   He has written several books.  Mr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP and the John Maxwell Company. He mentors Fortune 500 companies, and Christian businesses/leaders worldwide. 

About the book

Every believer is a person of influence. In the Maxwell Leadership Bible, leadership expert John C. Maxwell shows you the principles of leadership taught in God’s Word and how to use them. Whether you are an employee, a boss, a parent, or a neighbor, you are a person of influence in your part of the world. Throughout the pages of Scripture, John Maxwell has assembled the time-tested and irrefutable biblical principles of leadership to equip and encourage leaders with his signature approach, including the 21 Laws of Leadership, the 21 Qualities of a Leader, biographical profiles, and hundreds of notes.

What you Get

The bible I received was a heavy, hard-back bible.  Contained within it’s page you will find these lessons:

  • the 17 laws of teamwork in action
  • 25 ways to win with people
  • 6 strategies for extraordinary leadership
  • three laws of growth
  • 21 qualities of discernment
  • as well as many other lessons

Leadership profiles, both good and poor leadership examples.  There were more examples of Good leadership than poor.

Each book opens up with an introduction to the book including an overview of the leadership lessons contained within. 

Occasionally images would scatter the pages, all with a point of highlighting a leadership principle. 

Frequently, gold highlighted boxes would appear.  These would be smaller lessons that fit well with the text on the pages. 

The NKJV is a good translation of the bible.  Comfort font  is used for the biblical text which is quite easy to read.  The font used to introduce bible books was larger, the font in the explanation boxes smaller, but all of it was easy to read. 

My Thoughts

To be honest, I had never heard of John C Maxwell before I chose to review this bible.   I haven’t read every note or article found within this large study bible, but nothing that I did read set off alarm bells.  🙂  

Just as every focused study bible does, this bible focuses solely on it’s message.  Leadership.  You won’t find behind the scenes stories, settings, or time period maps.  What you will find are copious amounts of leadership examples.  Showing us, for the most part, excellent examples of leadership so that we, the reader, can take heart and learn to be leaders in our spheres of influence. 

I appreciated that Mr. Maxwell, not only showed good examples of leadership, but bad ones too.  Showing us how to work around opposition, what to expect, and what bad leadership looks like.   Being forewarned is good yes?  🙂

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The Secrets of Tutankhamun

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King Tut, boy king of Ancient Egypt.  Who was he?   Where was he buried?  Why did it take so long to discover his tomb?  What secrets did it hide and what did we learn from it?   These questions and more, answered in The Secrets of Tutankhamun by Patricia Cleveland-Peck. 

From the Cover

When a series of family deaths led to the nine-year-old Tutankhamun’s unlikely ascension to the throne of Egypt, the young Pharoah inherited a land in the midst of conflict and change.   His rule was short and tumultuous, and at around age nineteen, Tut died.    Three thousand years later, Howard Carter, a British archaeologist …. made a discovery that shocked the world. …. Featuring the story of Tut’s life, the archaeological advances made through the discovery of his tomb, and guides to hieroglyphics and the mummification process. …..

What you Get

The life of Tutankhamun is brought to us in this oversized paperback tome.  A meaty book filled with his life and the life of the men searching for answers, and then discovering them!   

Divided into three parts, this 64 page book talks about how Tut lived and died, the discovery by Howard Carter and how the mysteries were solved around the discoveries made at his burial site. 

Now, what I received was the advanced readers’ copy, so most of the book I received was done in grayscale images.   There were numerous images scattered throughout the entire book that really brought the well-written text to life.

A few pages were included so we could see what the final book will look like. All seven pages of colour were filled with shades of blacks, blues, yellows and whites.  

Highly informative history spills out of the pages.  There is so much to be learned as well as life lessons.  For instance, the persistence of Howard Carter in his quest to find the tomb.  Questions to be asked at the time of discovery that weren’t answered until much later.  The excitement the discovery brought.  The uniqueness of his tomb, and all the questions it raised, along with the discovery of two infant tombs.  Just a treasure trove of information.

My Thoughts:

People have long been fascinated with Tutankhamun and this book delves deep into the mystery of who he was and how he lived.  There is much speculation of course, based on archaeological finds.  Overall though, it’s a great look into the lives of two men….one young, living with health problems and dying young.  The other older, determined to solve a mystery, persisting even when it seemed he’d never do it.

I found it a well-written book that gave a great amount of information, I learned so much.  Meaty picture books are just the best, you know?

I thoroughly enjoyed all the add-ons… learning the hieroglyphic alphabet, how they read the paintings in the tomb, the mummification process and more.  It would be a great addition to studies on Ancient Egypt. 

Links to other books on Egypt to help round out your studies.

Egyptomania. 

Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt. 

 

click image for amazon link
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Merry Christmas!

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Merry Christmas 2018
Photo by Simon Zachrisson on Unsplash

From my house to yours, I just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas.   Enjoy this season.  Enjoy the time with family and friends.

Take a break from your regular routine and remember what truly is most important.

Remembering the saviour, Son of God, born to a woman.

Fully divine, fully human.  Leaving glory to come to earth so that we might be made right with God.  OH.. what a reason to celebrate!

You may have noticed I’m not on the blog as much.   It’s a good time to be away and play board games with my lad or make cookies to munch on.   Let’s enjoy the season eh?   (we’ll lose the weight later)

Luke 2:11-14 English Standard Version (ESV)
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Stille Nacht (Silent Night)

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Originally I wanted to find a Christmas song from Austria/Hungary.  Or Bulgaria… and then I sussed out Great Britain.   I had no success in my first two searches, and Great Britain only provided me with more modern songs which I didn’t really want.  I got to thinking about other European countries affected by the war and thought… The Netherlands!  My mom, being of Dutch origin was a natural for me to call, she suggested I do Stille Nacht.

I’ve already done Germany, Italy, Poland and Russia. 

Stille Nacht (Silent Night)

Here it is in Dutch

And now in English. 

 

Lyrics in English

Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
Christ the Savior is born!
Christ the Savior is born

Silent night, holy night!
Son of God love’s pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth

Lyrics in Dutch. 

I’m including these because as I was looking for information I learned there are two versions in Dutch.  This one and the Roman Catholic version.

Stille nacht, Heilige nacht,
David’s zoon lang verwacht.
Die miljoenen eens zaligen zal,
Wordt geboren in Bethlehems stal.
Hij, der schepselen heer,
Hij, der schepselen heer.

Hulp’loos kind, Heilig kind,
Dat zo trouw zondaars mint.
Ook voor mij hebt G’U rijkdom ontzegd,
Werd G’in stro en in doeken gelegd.
Leer m’U danken daarvoor,
Leer m’U danken daarvoor.

Stille nacht, Heilige nacht,
Heil en vree wordt gebracht.
Aan een wereld, verloren in schuld,
God’s belofte wordt heerlijk vervuld.
Amen, Gode zij d’eer,
Amen, Gode zij d’eer.

Science Comics Rockets Defying Gravity

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Do you have a love of rockets?   Do you have any idea of the history behind rocketry?  Science Comics Rockets Defying Gravity uses a graphic novel format along with humour and a well-told story to bring the reader the history of rocketry. 

From the Cover:

In Rockets we explore the 2,000 years that rockets have been in existence. We dive into Newton’s Laws of Motion – learning all about gravity, force, acceleration, and the history of rockets made in the past and rockets to be made in the future!

What You Get:

Rockets – Defying Gravity uses excellent graphics to walk you through the history of rocketry.   You will meet visionary physicist, chemists, engineers and entertainers.  Animals played their roles as well from sheep, to monkeys, to spiders and to mice.   Many more animals than I would have thought.  Honestly I thought they really only used dogs and chimpanzees. 

The author used an excellent sense of humour to portray the facts of history.   The end result is a forward-moving book that imparts more information than you expect.  It’s an easy going read that keeps you interested the whole while.

My Thoughts

I have to admit, at first I wasn’t sure what I thought of this graphic novel.   A bunch of critters yapping about rockets.  As I read the book though, I realized that through humour and animal characters, they were giving the history of rocketry and showing how animals were part of the process.  By the time I was 1/3 of the way through I was hooked. I eagerly read the rest of the book, being surprised frequently.. I never knew that sheep were a part of rocketry history! Did you? 

The graphics were well done, the font easy to read.   Over all I found it to be a well done introduction to rocketry for middle school students.

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