http://gnscabletv.com/blog Encouragement from the Good News Station, channel 19 on Comcast Cable in Lansing, MI Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:41:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In a sense, life is all about paradise.  I think each person has a built in desire for the perfect life, although not everyone has the same idea of what that would be like.  Many Muslims, and not necessarily the best examples, perceive paradise as a place of sexual delights; ... http://gnscabletv.com/blog/?p=307 Perhaps Not Happy, But Joyful In many hearts, the burdens weigh the soul down in despair; No glad refrain, no happy words will take their pain away. Except the very love of God has come that weight to bear; X-static voices sing their joy to Babe on bed of hay. Problems steal vitality, leave emptiness ... http://gnscabletv.com/blog/?p=305 It's Christmas! Should I Be Happy? Ordinary shepherds watched their flocks on Judah's hill; Hard-working men with mouths to feed, they toiled like you and me. With struggles, doubts, and fears they lived, with little hope until... Hark! The herald angels came with peace to set them free. Every little girl, it seems, dreams ... http://gnscabletv.com/blog/?p=295 As someone who has lived through numerous Christmases, I ponder every year two different things. One is how to make the celebration appropriately meaningful, and the other is to wonder at how the increasingly hostile world will try to steal and secularize our holy day. I don't know ... http://gnscabletv.com/blog/?p=291 Why do we pray? Many of us pray when there are tragedies, serious illness, sometimes pending death, and other matters beyond our direct ability to fix. Do we pray in hope or hopelessness? Is prayer our way of asking for help when we are forced to admit ... http://gnscabletv.com/blog/?p=285 Remember that glass with exactly half of the amount it would hold? Depending on temperament, a person might say either half full or half empty; one sees what he has, but another sees what is lacking. It would be interesting to survey people living in a more prosperous ... http://gnscabletv.com/blog/?p=282 “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.”—I Thessalonians 5:15 This world is filled with incompetence and injustice; some people fail to do their work well, and some people freely mistreat others through bias and favoritism. ... http://gnscabletv.com/blog/?p=278 I heard someone suggest that this simple question is one of the most important. I'd like to ask it in relation to Peter's record of God's command, “Be holy because I am holy.” Of course, we must also ask what it means to “be holy,” However, ... http://gnscabletv.com/blog/?p=273 Do you find yourself pulled one way and then in nearly the opposite direction? When I was younger, I remember my first exposure to extreme political ideologies. Someone on campus would promote a basically Marxist position, which I found totally unattractive; but then I’d read a publication they’d ... http://gnscabletv.com/blog/?p=266 "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." To be honest, when I pray, I tend to think in terms of faith like a mustard seed.  That verse is a great promise for when our faith is small and tentative.  However, Jesus also made this promise.  Together ... http://gnscabletv.com/blog/?p=264