Living A Life of Creativity 

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Are you creative? Mr. Jonathan McNair began the recent forum by posing this question to the students. He put forth a passion for this topic and how it relates to our Father in Heaven.

The Creative Process 

After presenting the question, Mr. McNair used a video to demonstrate the process of creativity. The video was of a man who sat down at the piano, and wrote a short piece of music for himself and an orchestra in 10 minutes. All he used for inspiration was a few lines of text from a program of the evenings musical performance. He asked the audience for a “key” in which to write, and began to create. The end product was a powerful mini-ballad, amazing the audience as they listened to his work brought musically to life. 

God Is Creative

Mr. McNair dug in and emphasized just how creative the Creator of this world is. God did not have to make such a variety of scenery or taste, yet he did.  Genesis 1:26 says:  “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  Mr. McNair pointed out mankind was created in the image of God, and he also instilled in us the desire to be creative.  

Biblical Craftsmanship 

He went on to show examples from the Bible of God’s guidance concerning creative projects.  The guidance that God gave to Noah in Genesis chapter 6, is very detailed. “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.” Exodus 31 shows God’s guidance to create works of art as well; “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, 5 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.”

Making it Personal 

To make the topic real in the student’s daily lives, Mr. McNair brought out a personal story of how remarkably man can use the creativity he was given.  He shared how he is reviewing the project for the new hymnal and that it is inspiring to witness just how much creativity God has provided within the church. He then went on to warn that creativity must be used, lest it be taken away.  

Keys To Creativity 

To wrap up his forum, Mr. McNair brought to light what he called three keys to achieving creativity.  The first was, “Use patterns for success.” He said that when you look at it, there are patterns everywhere; use these patterns to your advantage. The second key is, “Get the little things right.” Mr. McNair established that when a chance for a grand creative endeavor appears, if you do not have the fundamentals down then that chance will pass you by.  The final point is, “Work in harmony.”  He told the students that they shouldn’t view others as stepping stones to get them where they want to go and then leave, but instead care for the people and the connection during the creative process

 Mr. McNair left the students with a challenge.  “I challenge you to live a creative life!”

The 7 Laws of Success

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Recently, Mr. Hernandez gave a forum on the importance of following the seven laws of success. He started by explaining that success should not just be thought of in physical terms, but also spiritual terms. Spiritual and physical success are connected. Mr. Hernandez showed that by practicing the 7th law of success, seeking God first, all other laws can be achieved.

Seek God and Put Him First

Our relationship with God must be of the utmost importance to us. As students, Mr. Hernandez pointed out, it could be all too easy to think that we are right with God just because we are attending classes and learning about the Bible. He reminded us that we should continue in daily prayer and Bible study, in addition to our classes here at LE. If we put God first, starting and ending our day with prayer and Bible study, we will be successful. 

Jesus provides an example of this in Mark 1:35; “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed”.

If we are making the time to study and pray and develop that personal connection with God, then His word will fill our minds and guide us throughout the day. This personal relationship enabled Joseph to be successful even when he was a slave in Egypt (Genesis 39:2).

1. Set the right goal: Matthew 6:33 states our overall goal should be to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”. Mr. Hernandez emphasized that seeking His righteousness means we should be keeping His commandments. Staying loyal to Christ will lead to future success. Our focus should be on putting the knowledge we have about God’s way of life into action. 

2. Seek knowledge and the right education: As Living Education students, our primary source of knowledge is the Bible and Mr. Hernandez encouraged us to read the whole Bible. In Deuteronomy God stated that he wanted those appointed as kings to write a copy of the law for themselves and that they were to read it their whole lives (Deuteronomy 17:18-19).

3. Maintain good health: Mr. Hernandez emphasized watching what we eat. We should be mindful of the effects of different foods on our bodies and be careful to observe the examples of clean and unclean meats listed in the Bible. He mentioned the booklet, Biblical Principles of Health as a useful resource.

4. Drive: “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich” (Proverbs 13:4). Working hard leads to success and blessings from God.

5. Be resourceful: Resourcefulness involves wisdom, which “is the ability to solve problems by applying God’s law in the right way”. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:4). 

6. Have endurance: The only way we will get into the Kingdom of God is if we endure to the end. Start working towards your goals today, don’t wait for tomorrow. 

7. Seek God first:  These 6 laws of success would not be possible without the 7th law- Seeking God and putting Him first. If we fail to put God first, we won’t see the right goals to set and we will be seeking the wrong kind of knowledge. Without the Bible, where can we find health laws on what we should and shouldn’t eat? The proverbs instruct us on how to act and how to work. Without spending time in prayer and Bible study, how will we have access to God’s wisdom? Finally, how can we achieve success if we do not endure to the end? 

Remember to put God first in all things.

Katelyn Wissinger

Roles and Goals

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Mr. Rod McNair presented to us with an informative forum on the importance of schedules and goals.  After our first week of classes has come and gone, we were able to take this information in and absorb it more appreciatively thanks to our currently full schedules.  

What are your goals?

To start the discussion, Mr. McNair made it a point to interact with us by asking, and honestly wanting, the feedback we had to offer to questions he posed.  He cultivated a closer connection with us by caring for and feeding the goals that we hold for ourselves to achieve throughout the program.  He shared some of his own goals and reminded us that they should not be the same as the world’s.  A key example of this is being a homemaker.  With the feminist movement in the world today, being a homemaker, rearing children, and caring for the home is frowned upon, yet Scripture encourages the opposite.  (Titus 2:4-5)  “They admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.”

Make goals a reality

Everyone has goals, yet what sets the successful apart from those that never achieve their goals is scheduling.  Mr. McNair shared with us a schedule that he planned out for his life when he was a student at Ambassador College.  Seeing this was enlightening for us because we could see the way it worked out after being written in ink.  We are all thankful for the reminder he gave us, “Even if things seem overwhelming, you must make time for God!”  God should be first and foremost in our goals and lives.

Focus on the short-term

While we are excited about what the future can hold for us, Mr. McNair made the point that we must put action into the short-term, day-to-day workings, to achieve our further-off desires.  He provided us with one basic key to staying on track in the short term.  He said that if we only take one thing away from what he shared it was, “Take the time to write out a schedule with goals for the upcoming week.”  It may take a little time to become accustomed to this practice, but having the dedication will result in a more organized and productive week in which we can grow.  

It’s about growth!

Mr. McNair said, “It is not about perfection, it’s about growth!”  He made the point that we can write out our goals and create a schedule to achieve them, yet some situations may arise that affect our outcome. This is okay. To assist in making this point, Mr. McNair finished by playing a video on the Ernest Shackleton expedition from 1914. The goal of this expedition was to be the first to cross the continent of Antarctica, yet due to unforeseen circumstances, they narrowly made it back to civilization after two years of being shipwrecked. He said that looking at this story through the lens of goals, it was a massive failure because they didn’t attain their goal, and nearly died;  However, this is an incredible story of leadership as Shackleton brought all his men back safely. While we work to achieve the end goal, unseen events can drift us off course to a different outcome.  With our working to achieve goals, and God at the helm, nothing can drift us away from God’s plan for us.

We are excited to make our own goals and schedules to share with future generations.  As Mr. McNair said, “It’s not rocket science…”  

Living Education:  Foundation Elements from LCG and WCG

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Mr. Strain began his forum to the LivingEd students by introducing himself and his role in the church as a pastor of the Charlotte, NC congregation. He went on to share with us what we can expect from Living Education and being close to the work at headquarters. These values that guide the program and Church culture were passed down from Mr. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God.

Understanding Church History

Living Education and the cultures and values the Church espouses can be traced back to Mr. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God. Mr. Strain himself attended Ambassador College, part of the Worldwide Church of God. Several of the men involved in the work at Headquarters attended Ambassador College. This has also influenced how Living Education has been designed and how the Church acts. To understand more about the history of the church and its teachings, the speaker encouraged us to read: Mr. Armstrong’s Autobiography (Vol. 1), Mystery of the Ages, and to study the LCG Statement of Fundamental Beliefs. He went on to give several examples of the values that Mr. Armstrong helped introduce within the Worldwide Church of God that we still hold onto today.

Work

Mr. Strain described how students were expected to work at Ambassador College and to maintain the cleanliness of the dorms and facilities. Similarly, at Living Education, students have the opportunity to work at headquarters and these same standards of living are to be valued and upheld.

Attire

Proper dressing standards have also been passed on. Mr Strain described how women should dress modestly and pay attention to what they wear for Sabbath services. Men also should take care of their appearances and make sure to not dress casually when appearing before God on the Sabbath. The speaker commented that the LE students should strive to apply these same standards of dress to what is worn throughout the rest of the week.

Music

Special music for Sabbath services should not cave into the ‘nice sounding’ songs with a contemporary feel which are popular nowadays. Much popular ‘Christian’ music is shallow, emphasizing only grace, not the keeping of the law and the gift of grace. The Church should strive to hold itself to a higher standard of music that is played at services. Mr. Strain commented that performing special music for Sabbath services is not a display of skill, but a service to the congregation and to praise God.

Manners

Mr. Strain also emphasized how good manners never go out of style and should be valued by the students. Those who are older or in a higher office should be addressed properly, not by their first name, but by using ‘Mr’, ‘Mrs’, or ‘Miss. He mentioned Leviticus 19:32 where God says to “rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man.”

Final Thoughts

As the students began their nine-month journey, Mr. Strain provided valuable insight into the perspective that the Living Church of God holds and that is mirrored at Living Education. Mr. Strain shared the history of how the culture and standards upheld now are a result of God working with Mr. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God. 

Katelyn Wissinger

An effective SPS – what you’re missing!

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Be as effective as you can!

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Mr. Mike DeSimone provided us, newly arrived Living Education students, with an insightful lesson on how to become even more effective in our work, academics, and personal lives. He provided an interactive game that made his points stand out even more. This was a much-appreciated discussion, and it inspired us as we begin to kick off these exciting nine months here!

The Myth of Multitasking… 

Mr. DeSimone started by sharing a story of how shift-tasking can be falsely confused with multitasking.  Unlike how we think of multitasking being a good and productive way to manage our time, shift tasking, also known as switch tasking, takes the focus off the project at hand and distorts it elsewhere.  Instead of being able to do the work quicker, shift tasking takes longer to complete because of the time to “switch” back and forth between tasks.  It is better to do one task efficiently, then move on to a second, instead of a poor attempt at doing two things at once.  

The 5 S’s 

A large key to Mr. Desimone’s discussion was focused on the 5 S’s.  

  1. Sort:  Keep only what is necessary and discard everything else.
  2. Set in Order: Arrange and label only necessary items for easy use and return.
  3. Shine:  Keep everything swept clean, and tidy.
  4. Standardize:  The state that exists when the first three pillars of the 5 S’s are properly kept.
  5. Sustain:  Make a habit of properly maintaining correct procedures.

The 5 S’s, we have learned, are beneficial in ensuring that the precious resource of time is well cared for.  Mr. DeSimone provided a handout to assist our grasping of how the 5 S’s can play a drastic role in the effectiveness, efficiency, and accuracy in our lives.

Further Than Just the Physical

When posed with the question of whether the 5 S’s could be taken past the obvious physical principles they hold, Mr. DeSimone responded with, “These can be taken and used to assist the personal relationships we hold with others.”  If how we interact with others is not sorted, then we may be spending time as a group when it should be one-on-one.  Setting the time spent with others in order can aid in a stronger relationship with other people. Mr. DeSimone’s lessons were taken to heart by all of us as we strive to be the most efficient and effective students/workers we can!

“Good News!”

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Mr. Jonathan McNair began his forum to the LivingEd students by discussing how there is a constant stream of news, with much of it negative, as the world spirals further away from God. If we are not careful, we can be easily influenced bnews-868839_1280y it. We have a responsibility to watch world events and be aware of what is going on in the world but still analyze what we are taking in.

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man”, we read in Luke 21:36.

Mr. McNair went on to discuss how those in the Church can effectively evaluate the news sources to which we read and listen, to avoid being manipulated.

Factors that influence the news we consume

Several factors such as age and political leaning lead us to consume certain types of news. Younger people tend to favor getting their news online whereas older people are more likely to watch news stations. Those in the world who have political leanings tend to side with news outlets that agree with their opinions. Whether we are aware of it or not, we tend to get our news from sources to which we relate and sympathize.

“The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness” (Proverbs 15:4).

We must be aware of our tendencies to gravitate towards certain news sources and evaluate whether they have all the facts. We must seek out the truth and be aware that news media organizations may be feeding us exactly what we want to hear for their gain, not necessarily because it’s true. They are in the business of making money.

Challenge Yourself

What are the biases? How accurate is the news? Do you have all the information on the topic? All news sources will have bias; however, it is a matter of identifying what the bias is and the strength of it. Consider from where the author or news outlet is coming. Certain words may be used by a group of news outlets with the same biases. Is the information true, or is it somewhat fabricated? When we learn about a current event, we may not be getting the complete story. By choosing to relate or quote from certain news sources that are strongly biased or inaccurate we undermine your credibility.

Strategies to Evaluate Your News

System: Think about the bias of the news organization and realize their job is to grab your attention.

Source: News outlets that appear different may be using each other’s stories for their content.

Perspective: Be aware of the perspectives of the news source and your own. Younger people often view world events differently than older generations. Yourself: You will have a bias towards what you see and hear. It is crucial to realize and learn from those preconceived biases.

Final Thoughts

Even though we are commanded to watch for end-time events, this doesn’t mean we can switch off our brains when we watch, listen, or read the news. Our brains must be ready to analyze what we are consuming so that we are not led astray.

Bible Quiz: Pentecost

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Author: Lexi Mitchell | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2023-24

What do you know about Pentecost? Use the link below to take a quiz and find out!

Pentecost

Lexi Mitchell is a first-year student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. She is from Long Island, New York. At home, she worked as a lifeguard and a swim instructor. Currently, she assists in the Living Education department as a social media manager and as a producer of written content. She enjoys reading, cooking, exercising, and spending time with family.

Bible Quiz: The Days of Unleavened Bread

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Author: Lexi Mitchell | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2023-24

What do you know about the Days of Unleavened Bread? Use the link below to take a quiz and find out!

Days of Unleavened Bread

Lexi Mitchell is a first-year student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. She is from Long Island, New York. At home, she worked as a lifeguard and a swim instructor. Currently, she assists in the Living Education department as a social media manager and as a producer of written content. She enjoys reading, cooking, exercising, and spending time with family.

Bible Quiz: Passover

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Author: Lexi Mitchell | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2023-24

What do you know about Passover? Use the link below to take a quiz and find out!

Passover

Lexi Mitchell is a first-year student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. She is from Long Island, New York. At home, she worked as a lifeguard and a swim instructor. Currently, she assists in the Living Education department as a social media manager and as a producer of written content. She enjoys reading, cooking, exercising, and spending time with family.