Archive for year: 2025

Author: Katelyn Wissinger| Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2024-25

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Young people have a lot of decisions ahead, big and small, all of which can significantly affect us. When Mr. Michael Elliott was our age, he was also trying to figure out what to do with his life, what kind of education to get, and what job to pursue. In his recent forum, Mr. Elliott went through one book, Ecclesiastes, which gives advice on finding happiness and the secret to life. 

The twenty-first book of the Bible, Ecclesiastes, was written by King Solomon as “He was trying to find things that made him happy, and he thought that this would give him happiness and give him meaning in his life.” As Solomon did, we wrestle with questions such as “What am I spending my time on? What have I achieved in my life? What’s the value in life?” This thought comes naturally once we realize life is fleeting. Life is more than material wealth, which never fulfills us, as Ecclesiastes 2:1 and 5:13 both point out. Life can be fulfilling and enjoyable if we look to God and have the proper perspective. 

King Solomon realized that life is short. We must make the most of it now because every day is a gift from God. We need to live our lives enjoying it in the present and obeying God because our eternal salvation, our future, depends on it. The day of our death will be better than the day of our birth because our next waking moment will be in the kingdom of God if we have been faithful (Ecc 7:1). We want to be remembered as a person who walked according to His ways and stayed strong even amid trials that He might allow us to go through.

God intended for our short time on earth to be enjoyable, and He provided the Bible to help us avoid the pitfalls that hinder this. We need to learn the Bible and live by what it says.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

This past Thursday, Mr. Alex Pomicter shared aspects of life he researched and tried himself. In this forum, he presented the importance and value of hobbies and the ideology of living a “T-shaped” life. 

Mr. Pomicter informed us of the benefits of having a wide array of hobbies. Taking the time to do things we like can help reduce stress, foster social connections, boost self-esteem, enhance creativity, and lead a healthier lifestyle. Hobbies can drastically impact our lives by allowing us to learn more skills, bringing us in contact with new people, and keeping us physically active.

Mr. Pomicter introduced the idea of living in the shape of a T by showing us inspirational people from history and how they can fit this lifestyle. The “T-shape” is based upon “Breadth of Knowledge,” making up the cross-section, and “Depth of Mastery,” making up for the post. It is essential to have a wide range from which to gather knowledge to live this way of life, not simply to be a jack of all trades and master of none but master of one. He used Ernest Hemingway, Leonardo da Vinci, and Thomas Jefferson to help us better understand the importance of having an extensive collection of interests. Hemingway was an author, outdoorsman, and war reporter. Da Vinci was an artist, architect, and engineer. Jefferson was the third president, botanist, and scholar.  We need to be rooted in one specific area; we should become a master in one particular thing while branching out and gaining experience to better ourselves. 

Certain benefits can come from living this way, such as being ready for future jobs, gaining new insight into your area of expertise, and making life more interesting. There are also perks regarding hiring, which include flexibility, better communication and collaboration skills, and hard and soft skills. This may seem like a new ideology, but the principles and effects have been tried and tested, as he brought out with examples of Thomas Jefferson. 

Mr. Pomicter listed some helpful keys to developing a “T-shaped” life. Start with mastering one skill, always remaining curious, reading broadly, actively dabbling in what we see and learn, and finally, increasing empathy. Empathy allows us to see a problem from a different point of view and find new ways to solve it. We must adapt and overcome difficulties, whether in academics, work, or even everyday life. As we end our time here at Living-Ed, we will be putting in the effort to expand our breadth of knowledge while continuing to grow our depth of mastery. 

Living a way of life opposite to this world is challenging, yet this is precisely what the Living Education students have decided to do. They have chosen to buy into the way of life—the Truth from the Bible—that the Church is selling them.  

At Living Education, the students experience many opportunities that help them internalize and promote the values and way of life the Church teaches. The students learn to serve during Friday-night dinners, cooperate as they live in dorms, and have opportunities to volunteer at youth camps during the summer as well. As the students buy into and internalize God’s truth, they become a mechanism for spreading these values back in their home congregations. Mr. Weston encouraged them to live God’s way of life for their whole life, not just while in the Living Education program. The students are not just to learn the Truth for themselves but to be ambassadors for Christ wherever they go.  

Mr. Weston gave several examples of how students living the way of life the Church promotes always matters. Students develop a strong work ethic, show outgoing concern by taking others on dates, and build trust by consistently acting according to their values. Even female-male relationships and how we behave towards those of the opposite sex matter—the students’ conduct determines their reputation and the Living Education program’s reputation.   

Living Education is a tool the Church uses to promote the biblical way of life to young adults. The students participating in the program can immerse themselves in true values and the responsibility to promote them through how they live the rest of their lives. The students have decided to buy into the Truth—what about you?  

This past Thursday, Mr. Michael Brown, a minister serving eight congregations in Canada and North Dakota, presented the Living Education forum. He warned of the dangers in our world today, especially regarding media and entertainment.

Mr. Brown shared how the ideology of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, the third best-selling textbook in the Western world, has infiltrated our society. He showed how Marxist beliefs are the basis for why we should examine the present dangers in our world. He quoted Mr. Armstrong, who said the Soviet Union first started World War III by attacking our minds and spirit. We were questioned, if that was the case many years ago, how would it affect us decades later? Mr. Brown quoted Mr. Weston from a recent article that shows us how insidious these beliefs are in our current culture, “It is from Hollywood that the love of communism and the seed of hatred for good came.”

Mr. Brown encouraged us to push back on what is constantly forced down our throats and instead focus on what is good and true. Always be on guard because Satan is the god of this world and is said to come as the angel of light. He makes what is evil seem good and what is holy seem bad. We can see in Proverbs fourteen that the simple believe every word, but the prudent consider all. Mr. Brown said we need to be highly cautious of two main things in the world today: the media and Hollywood.

Media

Mr. Brown asked us how many had heard Google saying China had rigid censoring. But this is only one side of the argument. A quote from a Chinese journal explained that Google left China because of censorship. But what China censored was pornography and pro-LGBT propaganda; Google report left out this information. He asked, “Are we any better here in the West?” Tomorrow’s World Programs get censored because they are considered offensive to Western ideology. Censoring to impose cultural ideology is just a systemic issue, and we need not have an emotional reaction to it. 

Hollywood

Mr. Brown encouraged us to avoid exposing ourselves to entertainment that overly normalizes sinful behaviors. When looking at Hollywood productions, our sympathy is intentionally directed toward individuals who commit sinful behavior. Movies and shows attempt to challenge any good Christian values. Even the original Star Wars trilogy gave good values, such as order and discipline, to the “evil” Empire and negative values, such as disheveledness and poor leadership, to the “good” Rebels. Intentionally flipping right and wrong puts us in moral predicaments, demanding us to bend our beliefs. 

Mr. Brown concluded his forum by challenging us to fill our minds with real things about this world instead of the virtual. He encouraged us to learn physical skills from real people. Real people have their own interesting stories. It takes time to extract these fascinating stories, but it is well worth it. We left the forum better aware of Satan’s presence trying to pull us away and more appreciative of the situation we are in at Living Education to learn from so many people here.