By Leah J. Simmons
Lifestyles Editor, Ardmorite
Web posted January 31, 2007

Ardmore, OK–”All of Scripture points to one grand promise: Heaven. So glorious are its rewards, all the treasure of this world pales in comparison. Yet most of our lives are driven by what our eyes can see and our hands can hold. That needn’t be! God knows what we need to live our lives with hope and purpose. We need Heaven in our sights.”

So begins the introduction to Karen Chaffin’s brand new Bible study book, “Heavenly Minded for Earthly Good.” For three years, Chaffin explored the concept of heaven to use in teaching her Sunday school class at First United Methodist Church. A national crisis and much spiritual encouragement turned that curriculum into Chaffin’s first published work that she hopes to share with her church and community. 

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma’s College of Architecture, Chaffin operated her own custom home design firm in Ardmore for nearly 30 years. She is presently in full-time ministry, teaching in her home church and speaking to a wide variety of audiences in church, retreat and conference settings. This new Bible study is hopefully the first of many good things to come.

“I started writing the Bible study three years ago at my church,” Chaffin said. “I taught Bible study for four more years and the word of God just really became special to me. That’s how I met God was through a Bible study. And it was important to me to continue to get to know Him.”

The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, prompted Chaffin to investigate the idea of heaven after imagining the last moments on Earth for those who lost their lives that day. She began visualizing the possibilities of what heaven is like and later that year wrote a Sunday school curriculum on the subject.

“The more I taught it, God inspired me to continue the work and build on it,” Chaffin said. “It’s been a great adventure. I had no idea if it would be published, or if I would just make copies to use as a curriculum for a study. But God opened a door through my daughter, of all people, who had a job at a publishing company.”

Chaffin’s daughter, Taylor Rauschkolb, works for Tate Publishing and Enterprises and encouraged her mother to submit her materials for publication. She soon found out the company wanted to publish her book. Rauschkolb also designed the cover for Chaffin’s book.

“Heavenly Minded for Earthly Good” is a in-depth Bible study designed to answer questions concerning eternal life. The information found in the book covers virtually every aspect of heaven, based on its descriptions and references found in the Bible. Chaffin said the information was already there for her, she simply had to organize what the Bible said into a comprehensive package.

“Heaven is all over the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation and it’s hard to pull everything out for yourself,” she said. “So many books that are written about heaven have so much opinion in it. What I tried to do is not have an opinion and tell you what God says about it.”

The eight-week Bible study course even includes a chapter on Hell, which Chaffin calls “Hell Week.” Her study guide is not an exhaustive collection of information about heaven, but hopefully gives enough information for those taking the course to solidify their view of what heaven is like. Those who have lost loved ones are especially curious about heaven because they want to be assured that their loved ones are in a good place, Chaffin said.

“If we can paint in the picture of heaven, what they’re doing, what they’re seeing, what they’re thinking, it gives us comfort in our lives,” she said. “If we know what awaits us after death, it gives us hope and changes how we think.”

Chaffin offers two sessions for her Bible study. The first will be conducted from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays from Feb. 5 to April 16 and another will be offered from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Thursdays from Feb. 8 to April 19 at Covert Ministry Center, 503 W. Broadway (just north of First United Methodist Church). The first hour will be dedicated to a discussion of the homework and what participants learned that week. The next hour will include video clips from movies about heaven and visits from speakers on the subject “to help drive home the idea of heaven,” Chaffin said.

“I’m really hopeful that a lot of people will be attracted to a Bible study on heaven,” she said.

Those interested in participating in the study can call the church office at (580) 223-5390. Books are $20 each and will be available for the class. Child care also will be provided.

For others, the book can be purchased nationwide from any bookstore, or online through several Internet Web sites, including amazon.com and walmart.com, or through e-mail orders at tatepublishing.com.

Learn more about “Heavenly Minded for Earthly Good.”

By Jenna Buzzacco

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

For one former Marco Island resident, a visit back to his high school during graduation weekend was more than just a walk down memory lane.

Instead of sitting in the stands, Roy Eaton, a 1965 graduate of the New York Military Academy, spent the commencement ceremony on the stage with school officials congratulating the students as they got their diplomas.

Eaton was asked to give this year’s commencement address June 2. During the speech Eaton said he never thought school administrators would ask him to give a commencement speech.

“If someone told me 42 years ago that I would be asked to stand before you today to deliver your commencement address, and that I would accept such an invitation, I would have thought that person was totally insane,” Eaton said, according to a copy of the speech provided to the Marco Eagle.

“For like many of you today, in 1965 all I wanted to do was shed my uniform, flee the campus and get home as soon as possible, where I could thoroughly enjoy my new found freedom and rejoin the ranks of the civilian world.”

Eaton said he was thrilled to be asked to give the commencement address, during which he asked the graduates to take time reflect on their time at the academy before venturing into the world.

“I felt really at ease,” Eaton said during a phone interview Monday.

Ron Merletti, a former NYMA student and Eaton’s friend, said he drove from Massachusetts to be by Eaton’s side during the speech.

“Roy was an inspiration to me,” Merletti said.

 
The two met while they were attending the academy and kept in touch over the years. Merletti said nothing would’ve stopped him from attending the graduation ceremony.

“It was just outstanding, the only thing he didn’t do was walk on water,” Merletti said. “I don’t think any other (commencement) speaker spoke to them on that level before.”

New York Military Academy, located in Cornwall on Hudson, was founded nearly 120 years ago. The school accepts students from across the country into a six year program, that incorporates military training into the educational curriculum.

While attending the academy, Eaton served as a cadet captain during his senior year and received an award for his leadership skills.

Eaton told students it could take some time before they realize the lessons they learned at the academy. Eaton also challenged students to show passion in whatever path they may choose.

“I simply challenge each of you to be passionate in your every endeavor. Show passion toward those you love. Show passion toward your fellow man, especially toward those less fortunate than yourselves,” he said. “Show passion in your relationships with others; show passion in your work. And show passion in your love for your country, so that others will on day say of you: ‘you lived your life with great passion.’ “

© 2007 Marco Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Marco Island, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.

Learn more about “Soldier Boy“

 Date Published: January 21, 2007 in Kingsport Times/Tennessee News

Book recounts nurses’ harrowing ordeal in days following hurricane

Author: SUE GUINN LEGG

For former New Orleans nurses Belinda Thompson and Cheryl Ory, the news that a major hurricane was bearing down on the city and an evacuation was under way was not particularly alarming.

Ory’s plans for a Saturday night birthday bash for her mother and a crowd of about 200 well wishers in fact went on as scheduled – minus about 120 guests who had already left town in advance of the storm’s anticipated arrival Monday.

The women’s call to duty at downtown University Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, where both were a part of the “activation team” that responded to the hospital in weather emergencies, was expected and almost routine. And even as the category 4 hurricane passed over the hospital on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, their confidence and their sense of adventure remained intact, enough so that the two friends stepped outside in the midst of the storm only to see the cover of the hospital patio disappear above their heads.

It wasn’t until the day after the storm, when flood waters finally covered the street signs below the third-floor NICU, breached the storm wall that protected the hospital’s loading dock and began filling the basement where the building’s backup generators were located that the women began to fear for the safety of 550 trapped in the hospital and for the survival of all those outside.

Over the next four days, as they listened to news reports of how the flood had swallowed the city, taking lives, homes, neighborhoods and all semblance of social order with it, the women came to realize Katrina had indeed been “a monster” that had forever altered life in their beloved city.

Their hospital closed by the flood, their jobs lost and their community in shambles, Thompson and Ory relocated to Northeast Tennessee soon after Katrina. And, next month, nearly a year and a half after the storm that uprooted their lives, the story of six harrowing days spent trapped at the hospital with 18 premature babies and very few resources to care for them will be available in area bookstores.

“Disconnected: A True Hurricane Katrina Story,” ($12.99 Tate Publishing) is Ory and Thompson’s account of what America’s most devastating natural disaster looked like from the inside – a story they began writing as therapy almost immediately after their escape.

Told in the alternating voices of Ory, a 45-year-old grandmother whose maternal instincts ran to her fellow nurses as readily as her 2-pound patients, and Thompson, the 35-year-old, no-nonsense supervisor whose thoughts rarely strayed from the needs of the NICU nursing staff and their tiny charges, the story reads like a work of fiction even to its authors.

“Writing was good therapy but it was always with the intent of putting it all in a book,” Ory said in a recent interview.

Traversing dark corridors in groups for fear of encountering looters who were targeting hospitals for drugs; living and working in 110-degree heat without running water to wash their hands or flush their toilets; caring for premature infants without life-sustaining equipment or refrigeration for drugs and blood; bickering for seats in evacuation boats that never came; and one failed escape attempt with the babies turned back by men with handguns and baseball bats were all a part of the nightmare.

“The boat trip was really scary,” Ory said. “There were people walking in the water up to their chests; they were walking out of the flood. There were young men in the water with baseball bats who were approaching us to take our boat. There were men on the roofs of buildings with guns with scopes on them pointing at us. … Everything was so chaotic, it reads like fiction but all of this was real.”

“When we came to Tennessee everything was so normal here, we felt bad for the people down there just by being here. But it was our way of coping,” Thompson said.

Currently available on line at www.tatepublishing.com, the books will hit book stores nationwide Feb. 22.

For those who would like to meet the authors, a book signing at Holston Valley Medical Center, where both are now back at work – Ory in the neonatal unit and Thompson in pediatrics – is set for Feb. 5, at noon at the hospital’s gift shop.

Learn more about “Disconnected: A True Hurricane Katrina Story.”

By Emily Battaglia, LifeScript Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 6, 2007

In the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Kate Hudson’s character baits her boyfriend (Matthew McConaughey) into breaking up with her by being fussy, selfish, needy, aggressive, and moody. After all, what man could tolerate such high-maintenance behavior? Are you pushing people away with the same act? Clinton Bland, author of American Epidemic: High Maintenance Women (Tate Publishing, 2006), discusses what he calls a virus sweeping across our culture. And we may all be susceptible to it …

High-maintenance women don’t necessarily spend long hours getting ready in the morning or have a designer-only clause for their wardrobe. Being high-maintenance is more than an obsession with appearance – it’s a state of mind.

Sure, being strong and self-sufficient should be a point of pride. But having a hard-to-please, have-it-all attitude often makes romantic relationships and personal happiness a challenge. Is your I-get-what-I-want attitude getting in your way?

“Most women with high-maintenance tendencies are oblivious to it but are the first to be defensive,” says Bland. While it’s no crime to be exacting at times and on issues that really matter to you, problems arise when the high-maintenance label defines you.

Sure you’re not that girl? Here are five characteristics of the high-maintenance woman:
Hard to please: She’s never satisfied. Even the best isn’t good enough for her, and she is highly vocal about her unhappiness.

Center of attention: She has to have the spotlight at all times. Her penchant for drama helps cement her place at the top.

Can’t distinguish between needs and wants: She’s irrationally demanding and confuses what she wants with what she actually needs.

Won’t take responsibility: She never admits to being at fault but is quick to blame. She also depends on others to meet her needs.

Plays hard to get: She prides herself on being a challenge, because it puts her in control. She takes more than she gives.

Bland claims he can spot a high-maintenance woman before she opens her mouth. “It’s a certain presence when she walks into a room,” he explains. She wears her emotions on her sleeve, talks loudly, has exaggerated body language, and is highly selective about whom she’ll interact with in social situations.

Today’s Cliche?

Blame Bland’s so-called epidemic on a combo of factors, starting with the media’s celebration of materialism and selfishness. Parenting plays a role, too, though being a daddy’s girl, an only child or the baby of the family doesn’t doom you to a life of high-maintenance attitudes; being catered to does.

Bland also believes that changing female roles in and attitudes toward marriage have contributed. While independence is a good thing, there’s a fine line between being a strong woman who knows what she wants and stepping on others to achieve it. High-maintenance women think other people, especially men, should cater to their every whim.

Me, Me, Me

The high-maintenance virus stems partly from the modern “Me era”; we’re living in a time when “What can you do for me?” is more common than “What can I do for you?” The ideal, Bland notes, should be “What can we achieve together?”

Bland admits that men are often intrigued by the challenge a high-maintenance woman poses at first. But it gets old fast. While looking impeccable or being demanding may reel him in, it won’t last long. Your true colors will wear him down – especially if he’s trying to find a deep, meaningful relationship.

As many men know, it�s hard to find real romance with a high-maintenance woman. In fact, most have a high failure rate when it comes to relationships. No one – male or female – wants a mate who’s never satisfied, can�t give, complains nonstop, and whose motto is “my way or the highway.”

Calling a Halt

Bland thinks high-maintenance habits stem from a need to fill a void or soothe insecurities. “But [they're] trying to fill that void with the wrong things,” like material possessions or social ranking, he warns.

To change your behavior, start with your heart, Bland suggests. Your first step should be to focus on finding something good in every person you meet and every situation you encounter. One of Bland’s definitions of a low-maintenance woman is that “she can be content in any circumstance.”

Ask yourself what makes you happy. Take some time to prioritize your values. You might surprise yourself by realizing that designer handbags and popular friends don’t top the list.

Now, the good news:

A high-maintenance attitude is easy to overcome. Once you inventory your values and goals, you will start changing the way you view yourself and treat others. Even better: You’ll see immediate changes in the way people treat you.

For more information on Clinton Bland and his book, American Epidemic: High Maintenance Women, visit americanepidemic.net.

Learn more about “American Epidemic: High Maintenance Women.”

Charleston.net Article: Book explores 2nd Commandment

THE TRUTH ABOUT IMAGES OF JESUS AND THE 2ND COMMANDMENT By Justin Griffin

CHARLESTON, South Carolina– Justin Griffin raises a question many have never asked: “Do images of Christ violate the Second Commandment?” His book seeks to find biblical clarity, scriptural evidence and correction of misunderstandings that surround images of Jesus and the Second Commandment. He addresses questions of who approved the images we see today and on what biblical authority Christians rely for having images of Jesus.

The Second Commandment makes clear what God feels about images and what God’s chosen should believe about images. The Second Commandment says: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20: 4-5).

According to John Calvin’s interpretation, “There are two parts in the commandment – the first forbids the erection of a graven image, or any likeness: the second prohibits the transferring of the worship which God claims for Himself alone to any of these phantoms or delusive shows.”

Griffin shares several translations of the Second Commandment and takes it apart, defining each word to ensure exact meaning.

He clearly finds that the first clause prohibits us from setting up anything to depict or represent God. Any visible image of Christ, therefore, should not be worshipped. Nothing is acceptable – pictures, paintings, sculpture, etc. The second clause of this commandment prohibits giving honor or reverence to any image of Christ.

Many faithful Christians have assumed that this commandment referred to graven images made by pagans that represented false gods. Griffin’s book challenges that, saying it is the very images that Christians have created of Christ that should not be worshipped. To have pictures, sculpture and other images around causes one to focus on the images and not really on God himself. One cannot begin to embody God in an image that only mortal man can make. God is invisible, eternal, incorruptible and unchangeable. Therefore, no image that man can create can represent him. Griffin cites passages of Scripture that support this understanding of the Second Commandment.

Through a summary of church history and images of Christ, Griffin takes the reader from early Christian art, through the Middle Ages and Renaissance. He reminds us that there is no physical description of Jesus in the Bible, and, therefore, all of the images throughout time have been the artist’s interpretation, not true images of God the Son.

The book concludes with questions and answers about how images are used in teaching and worship. The appendices and bibliography document the extensive research Griffin has completed in the writing of this book. He has thoroughly explored the issue of whether Christians have invited God’s pleasure or wrath with their artistic interpretation of Christ. He also presents the matter of why it is important to God’s children and how it could affect a believer’s life.

Learn more about “THE TRUTH ABOUT IMAGES OF JESUS AND THE 2ND COMMANDMENT.”