Wisejargon

In this episode, I want to talk about how Daniel, in his position of Chief Wiseman, would have been responsible for guiding the work of the Babylonian astronomers. We’ll begin to talk about how Scripture weaves the science of astronomy into the story of Jesus coming to save us from our sins.

Today, we’ll take a look at the movie, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, In Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Admiral James T. Kirk is on a two week training mission with a crew of cadets who are under the command of Captain Spock. His training exercise is interrupted when they learn that a rival of Kirk’s, Khan Noonien Singh has stolen a top-secret device called Project Genesis. The Genesis Device can either create life – or destroy it. A theme that is woven into the storyline is the bond of friendship that has been forged between Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy. In the end, Spock sacrifices himself to disable a nuclear bomb aboard the ship to save the Enterprise and his friends. We’ll use this movie to talk about how the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel may have joined together to form a “Brotherhood of the Scroll” to preserve their ancient sacred writings as the Jews were taken captive into Babylon. To listen to an audio version of this podcast, go to my rumble account at https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/davidlantz. To order Discovering Raising Daniels & Esthers At the Movies, go to www.payhip.com/davidlantz .

On October 6, 1973, multiple Arab countries invaded Israel. That invasion became known as the Yom Kippur War. I was a Junior in H.S. On October 7, 2023, fifty years and one day later, Hamas brutally attacked Israel. I’m now a 67-year old grandfather of 5 boys, with one granddaughter “in the oven.” I wanted to find a way to explain to my grandchildren – and perhaps you kids and grandkids also – what is going on. I’ve chosen to do this by using the movie, One Night with the King, about the story of how Esther saved the Jews from destruction centuries before. This video is ten minutes long. I hope you’ll find it useful in sharing about what is happening in our world today. To learn more about me, visit my website at www.wisejargon.com

Today, we’ll take a look at the movie, Hunger Games, in which the nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts, ruled from the Capitol. As punishment for a failed revolt, each district is forced to select two tributes, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18, to fight to the death in the annual Hunger Games until there is only one survivor. Realizing that she is likely to die, Katniss seeks to evade the others as they hunt and kill each other. While protecting a girl younger than herself from another district, she is forced to enter into mortal combat. We’ll use this movie to talk about the story of Daniel to encourage our children to respect others while not giving in to the temptations of our culture. To see a video version of this podcast, go to my podcasting account at https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/davidlantz. order Discovering Raising Daniels & Esthers At the Movies, go to www.payhip.com/davidlantz .

Today, we’ll take a look at the movie, The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin, is the story of a man with a violent past who has renounced war in order to raise his seven children. In one scene, Martin is challenged to behave according to his principles. The Colonial Commander, played by Chris Cooper, says: “If your principles dictate independence, then war is the only way. It has come to that.” In the end, even though he attempts to have peace with the British, his family is at risk. When the war becomes personal, and his son Thomas is killed, then and only then does he go to war. We’ll consider a question prompted from C.S. Lewis’ book, Mere Christianity by asking: When confronted with choosing between personal loss vs. following Jesus, will we quote Joshua and say: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord?" To see an audio version of this podcast, go to my podcast account at https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/davidlantz. Order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to www.payhip.com/davidlantz.

Today, we’ll take a look at the 1939 movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which Jefferson Smith, leader of the state's Boy Rangers, is an innocent, wide-eyed idealist who idolizes the senior senator of the state, Joseph Paine. But when Smith discovers that Sen. Paine has introduced a pork barrel bill to use the Boy Rangers camp’s land to make money for himself and his business partners, Mr. Smith attempts to expose the scam. Senator Paine uses his power with the news media to accuse Smith of stealing money from the Boy Rangers. Risking his own reputation, he exposes Senator Paine as a charlatan. We’ll consider this question from C.S. Lewis’ book, Mere Christianity by asking: To create a truly Christian society, wouldn’t we want to apply the Golden Rule – to love our neighbors as ourselves? To listen to an audio version of this video, go to my Discovering Truth at the Movies podcast at https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/davidlantz/episodes/2023-02-25T11_46_09-08_00. To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to www.payhip.com/davidlantz .

God, knowing the secret things of our lives, was forcing me to get out of my comfort zone. He led me to learn the art of selling in a high-pressure, high-tech business world, as well as the language upon which all interaction on the World Wide Web is based. My newfound skills helped me to land an adjunct teaching position with an Indiana school teaching Personal Selling and E-Commerce at a college called Indiana Tech. As I responded to moving beyond my comfort zone, God slowly revealed to me strengths and interests I didn’t realize I had that would allow me to succeed in my next career.

Today, we’ll take a look at the 1999 Disney carton, Tarzan, in which , a baby is orphaned when a leopard kills his shipwrecked parents. Raised by an ape named Kala, he is reluctantly adopted into the family of the Great Apes. Believing the apes are his family, he discovers that he’s actually human when he rescues a woman named Jane. As they fall in love, they come to see each other’s worlds with new eyes, and move from being “in love” to being committed to each other through love. We’ll consider this question from C.S. Lewis’ book, Mere Christianity by asking: If you truly love someone, why wouldn’t you want to also live in their world? To listen to the audio version of this episode, go to my Podcast account at www.podomatic.com/podcasts/davidlantz. Order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to www.payhip.com/davidlantz .

Here is a preview of my latest podcast episode in my series "Discovering Mere Christianity At the Movies." To subscribe to my podcast channel and listen to the whole episode, click here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/davidlantz/episodes/2022-12-01T05_51_02-08_00

In the movie, Forrest Gump, a man of low intelligence tells the story of his life to people waiting at a small-town bus stop. He founds Bubba Gump Shrimp Company after returning from Viet Nam in memory of his fallen friend. Forrest has a healthy measure of practical common sense. Based on his motto, "Stupid is as stupid does," Forrest Gump, while not a smart man, is far from stupid. We’ll consider this question from C.S. Lewis’ book, Mere Christianity by asking: What sort of quality are you stuck on – a Vice or a Virtue? To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to https://payhip.com/b/dpXL

In the movie, Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe - four children visit the mysterious country of Narnia and find themselves in enemy controlled territory. Edward, one of the children, commits a crime for which the punishment is death. Aslan, the Lion King, negotiates his release by offering to die in his place. We’ll consider this question from his book, Mere Christianity by asking: What does it take to be willing to stop doing things our way, and start doing things God’s way? To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to https://payhip.com/b/dpXL

Today, I talked about how I volunteered with the Hugh O’Brian Youth (HOBY) Foundation in the late 1980s, which organized a three-day Leadership Seminar about the American Free Enterprise system for high school sophomores. I applied my newfound computer and software skills to double the amount of money raised for the program here in Indiana. Without my new computer and brand-new word-processing software that had just been invented in the late 1980s, this would not have been impossible. I conclude by talking about how this led me to start my own business. For a course on business, visit this course: https://generationselfemployed.newzenler.com/courses/creating-your-business-strategy

In the movie, Wayne’s Way II, Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) strives to win the hand of the woman he loves, Cassandra (Tia Carrere). To do so, he even challengers her father to a martial arts fight. Endearingly hilarious, Wayne and his sidekick Garth (Dana Carvey) remind us that: “We Are Not Worthy!” C.S. Lewis considered the idea of how Jesus intercedes for us to make us Worthy in God’s eyes. We’ll consider this question from his book, Mere Christianity by asking: How does Jesus Make Us Righteous Before God When WE ARE NOT WORTHY? To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to https://payhip.com/b/dpXL

In the movie, Pay It Forward, a social studies teacher by the name of Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey) assigns a project to change the world in his 7th grade Social Studies class. In response, young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) develops a plan called "pay it forward." Pay It Forward is the story of repentance, forgiveness and restoration as a young boy sets out to change the world. C.S. Lewis tackled the issue of forgiveness in Mere Christianity by asking: Why is the Power of Forgiveness Truly the Power to Change the World? To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to https://payhip.com/b/dpXL

In the movie, The Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker has spent time with the Jedi master, Yoda, and is now able to use the power of the force to do his bidding. The young Jedi master has returned to free his friends from the clutches of the evil Jabba the Hut. Since the movie was made nearly a quarter century ago, a new religion called “Jedi” has arisen. Based on a 2001 census in England, “Jedi” has nearly 400,000 adherents in that country. C.S. Lewis tackled the question of why Evil exists in Mere Christianity by asking: Why Do We Experience Tragedy in Our Lives? To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to https://payhip.com/b/dpXL

Today, we’ll take a look at the cartoon series, Captain Planet, in which the Mother Earth Goddess, Gaia, gave five teenagers special power rings. She would tell them where bad things were about to happen to the planet, and just in time, the teens would put their rings together to call forth a Superhero named Captain Planet. What was Captain Planet’s job? Why, to save the planet, of course. The series preached a philosophy called Pantheism. C.S. Lewis tackled Pantheism in Mere Christianity by asking: Is God interested in the distinction between good and evil? To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to https://payhip.com/b/dpXL

Today, we’ll take a look at the movie Planet of the Apes, in which an astronaut lands on a planet ruled by apes. There are people on this planet, but they are hunted and enslaved by the apes. At first, he thinks he’s on a different planet. But, finally, through a series of events, he comes to realize that this is earth sometime in his far-distant future. We’ll consider both the 1968 original and 2001 remake to help us set up a question that C.S. Lewis tackled in Chapter 4 of Mere Christianity: Where do we get the idea “It’s Not Fair?” We’ll tackle this question: Who Is the Law Giver? To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to https://payhip.com/b/dpXL

Today, we’ll consider another classic movie, Schindler’s List. In that movie, there’s a scene near the end of the movie when the Nazi Soldiers are ordered to kill all the Jews Schindler has rescued. Schindler presents them with a choice: Kill them, and become murderers, or return home to their families and let the Jews live. We’ll ask: “What Does it Take to Change Our Mindset? To experience “Metanoia?” To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to https://payhip.com/b/dpXL

Today, we’ll consider two more classic movies, Star Wars – A New Hope and Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back. In the Empire Strikes Back, there’s scene near the end of the movie in which Darth Vader reveals to Luke Skywalker that he is Luke’s father. In A New Hope, Hans Solo returns to help his friend Luke after first taking off with the reward money to save his own skin. We’ll use these scenes to help us set up a question that C.S. Lewis tackled in Chapter 2 of Mere Christianity: If not from God, then where do we get our idea of good vs. evil? To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to https://payhip.com/b/dpXL

Today, we’ll consider two movies about Moses, the Ten Commandments staring Charlton Heston, and Exodus Gods & Kings staring Christian Bale. We’ll use both movies to help us set up a question that C.S. Lewis tackled in Chapter 1 of Mere Christianity: Does God Exist? We’ll tackle this question by learning about The Law of Human Nature. We’ll also consider some events happening around the world that raises this question: Who is God? The Lord, or the Government? To order Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies, go to https://payhip.com/b/dpXL

In this, the final episode of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Auntie Dr. Sarah picks the children up to take them home. Isaiah and his siblings tell her all about the story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den. And then, she gives Isaiah some advice about “girl psychology” and a possible reason why Mary took his bible in the first place. Using a scene from The Princess Bride, we conclude with a thought about “True Love.” To order The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, go to https://www.amazon.com/Chronicles.../dp/1737611430

In Chapter One of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Isaiah has his bible taken from him by another student at school. This leads to a conversation about school prayer with Auntie Dr. Sarah. I hope you’ll join me in the journey of telling the story as I read Chapter 1 titled “Auntie Dr. Sarah”! To learn how to order the book, visit Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/Chronicles.../dp/1737611430

In this episode of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Grandpa concludes the story of Daniel and his battles with the evil Haman. Daniel convenes a meeting of his closest friends to reveal to them the plan of his teacher, Jeremiah, to preserve the Jewish Scrolls of God’s Word. Daniel also reveals a hidden prophecy from the prophet, Isaiah, about a man named Cyrus. He proposes that “The Brotherhood of the Scroll” search for this man whom Isaiah spoke of. Using the story from the movie, Dune, I’ll Ask this Question: What do you think God is calling you to do as your “Mission from God”? To order The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, go to https://www.amazon.com/Chronicles.../dp/1737611430

Today, I unveiled something I’m calling “Your High Tech Journey to a Linked In World.” Along the way, I will talk about my struggles to learn and apply a myriad of technology tools that didn’t even exist when I was going to school. But I don’t want this to be a series of disjointed “tech tips” that you can get anywhere. Instead, I want to take a step back, look at the story of my life, and see how I came to learn the things I’ve learned, how I’ve set goals for myself, and then applied the things I learned to help me achieve my goals. Learn more about what I have to offer by visiting me at https://wisejargon.com/success-unleashed/the-iron-of-the-culture/traveling-your-high-tech-journey/

Today, in my High Tech Journey to a Linked In World Episode 4 video, I talked about how I bought my first computer in 1987. Trying new technologies expanded my horizon. It’s like climbing a mountain and seeing for miles in all directions. Have you had those moments in your life that give you new insights into “The Big Picture” and how God might be shaping the path of your journey to help you discover your “mission from God?” And, if this idea of identifying your mission from God is of interest to you, then check out the course, Pursuing Your Mission from God. https://www.simplivlearning.com/happiness/pursuing-your-mission-from-god/?couponcode=wisejargon