This Page on our website is designated for folks who want to join others for study on zoom; or who may want to peruse the offerings and study on their own. If you have suggestions for this Study Page, please contact Jim with your ideas and suggestions. james@nenningers.net
Bishop Lewis has been encouraging the clergy and laity of the Virginia Conference to read the Bible in a year since 2017. Each year has featured a different way of reading.
Tips on reading the Bible daily:
• Start reading the Bible today.
• Set aside a specific time and place each day. Set your schedule and then stick to it. Mornings are great; but feel free to use any time that works consistently with your schedule.
• Get a good study Bible to help to illuminate the meaning of the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek text.
• Choose a translation to use during your reading.
• Say a short prayer to God before you begin, asking the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and understanding.
• Dive in and enjoy the richness of God’s Word! Apply God’s Word to your life. Bible study should be practical and applicable. These seven steps will help you begin a journey in becoming a “lifelong learner” of God’s Word.
In the process of writing the novel, Wonder Clearing, a number of readers reviewed the draft. One of those readers was the Reverend James Nenninger. Jim is a retired Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor. He saw the possibility of using Wonder Clearing for discussion groups in churches. After I moved to Chelsea, Michigan, my wife and I started to attend a fabulous church called Chelsea First United Methodist Church. The pastors there, Joy Barrett and Rodney Gasaway, encouraged me to facilitate a group. This group’s charge was not only to discuss the book but also to help me develop a discussion guide for other churches. That guide has now been published.
Attached is a publicity flyer for Wonder Clearing, Discussion Guide. Please feel free to share the flyer with people who may be interested.
Roger K. Peters writing as Taylor Penfield
Roger and I have been pastoral and professional colleagues through out our Christian ministry. We were "appointed beyond the local parish" as we both entered institutional chaplaincies.
I am very pleased to have been a part of Roger's writing of this book Wonder Clearing. I highly recommend Roger's book for your reading enjoyment and reflective thinking.
Small group discussion, will make this book a spiritually formative one for spiritual growth and contemplative practice. The Discussion Guide is a plus.
JD Nenninger
Over this last year, I have been participating in various community small groups . These are truly amazing groups with folks who are very serious about improving themselves, staying informed, growing spiritually, and searching for truths that support meaning, purpose,and service.
These groups have folks who belong to various denominations and religions, as reading, study, reflection, discussion lead us into meaningful and powerful dialogue. With the fluidity of today's news, politics, pandemic, civility, global warming, and on and on; what becomes more necessary than ever is being connected, balanced, and in touch with our inner selves.
Let me know if you are interested in becoming part of new zoom "start-up" group for study. With today's challenging and demanding issues it is imperative to care for one's self.
Zoom frees us to meet with folks across state lines. Let me know if you are interested.
Jim Nenninger
The most important lesson from "The Social Dilemma" is that we should question everything we read online, especially if it is presented to us in a way that reflects a detailed understanding of our inclinations and preferences. And we should resist the "attention extraction model" that makes social media seem friendly and reinforcing.
(from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-social-dilemma-movie-review-2020)
The Social Dilemma is a 2020 American docudramafilm directed by Jeff Orlowski and written by Orlowski, Davis Coombe, and Vickie Curtis. It explores the rise of social media and the damage it has caused to society, focusing on its exploitation and manipulation of its users for financial gain through surveillance capitalism and data mining. It goes into depth on how social media's design is meant to nurture an addiction, manipulate its use in politics, and spread conspiracy theories such as Pizzagateand aiding groups such as flat-earthers. The film also examines the serious issue of social media's effect on mental health (including the mental health of adolescents and rising teen suicide rates).
The film features interviews with many former employees, executives, and other professionals from top tech companies and social media platforms such as Facebook, Google, and Apple. These interviewees provide their first-hand experiences of working in and around the tech industry. They state that social media platforms and big tech companies have been instrumental in providing positive change for society; they also note that such platforms have also caused problematic social, political, and cultural consequences. These interviews are presented alongside scripted dramatizations of a teenager’s social media addiction and a primer on how a social media
algorithm powered by artificial intelligence may work.
(from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Dilemma)
If it doesn’t sound right, it probably isn’t right. Check multiple “news” sources to make up your own mind.
I have recently watched the film “The Social Dilemma.” I highly recommend this “documentary” on how we are being used by the social media through our internet devices (cell phones and internet). The following statements describe it better. I watched the film on Netflix and plan to watch it several more times. I need to learn more about how I have been “duped” in this new addictive medium AND what I need to do to break that addiction.
Let me know what you think about this film.
- JimN
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