Archive for category: LivingEd – Charlotte

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.

Thursday, Mr. Wyatt Ciesielka taught the students lessons he had learned from his professional work experience before being hired by the Church. He began with an overview of Richard Nelson Bolles’s book What Color is Your Parachute?, which Mr. Jonathan McNair had recently covered and asked Mr. Ciesielka to follow up. The first emphasis was the importance of the seven-petal flower diagram, which demands a person to complete a self-evaluation that assists one throughout their career. The petals are—compatibility with people, workplace conditions, skills, purpose, knowledge, money, and location. He explained that we should pray and meditate on these. Although it sounds simple, understanding oneself is essential as we begin our search for a job. A successful salesman needs to have a firm grasp on the product he is selling, and that is what we do when seeking a job. We “sell” who we are to potential employers. 

Continue Learning

Mr. Ciesielka reminded the Living Education students of the need to continue their education through college with certificates, licenses, or simply independent studies. A report from The US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, after several years in the workforce, individuals over the age of 25 without a high school degree make on average $38,000 per year, compared to those with a master’s degree or higher who average making $240,000 per year. The Bible discusses how both women and men can continue learning. Proverbs 24:27 especially exhorts men to prepare for their jobs or careers before beginning a family. Proverbs 31:16 and 26 discuss that the virtuous wife is also educated and capable. She is competent, and her husband trusts her to purchase a field and make a profit. When she opens her mouth, wisdom and kindness ensue. The model wife from the Bible showcases the importance of knowledge and gaining insight, not just for men to provide better.

Another part of learning is through failure. Mr. Ciesielka read a quote about failure from Mr. Bolles’s book, “After each rejection, just know that you are one no closer to a yes.” While failure is frightening and challenging, he shared how it meant one “no” while working in sales would allow his subsequent call to be one closer to a sale. It is like the old saying: it is not how many times one falls but how many times one gets back up.

Believe in the job

Mr. Ciesielka said that even though the students’ jobs shouldn’t define who they are, work would take up a large portion of the student’s life, so it is helpful to believe in their work. He gave an example from his professional life right after September 11th, 2001. The tech company he worked for chose to offer around-the-clock tech support to their customers who lost employees that day instead of seeing the opportunity to sell them new software or support. They put sales on hold to serve those struggling after the attack. While people must work to provide for themselves and others, the work should be rewarding. 

Final Thoughts

Mr. Ciesielka touched on other career advice from the book as well, such as using a networking strategy to create job referrals, the importance of “cleaning up your social media,” “preparing a couple of good elevator pitches,” and points about customizing your cover letter and resume.  He concluded by reminding everyone to seek professional counsel, but most importantly to seek Godly counsel, and to always remember Matthew 6:33. The students were grateful for the knowledge Mr. Ciesielka passed on from his years of experience in the corporate world. First as a software salesperson, then in sales manager roles, and eventually vice president roles. As the students approach the end of their time at Living Education, the lessons Mr. McNair covered from the book, “What Color is Your Parachute,” combined with some of what Mr. Ciesielka covered, will significantly assist them with their transition into the workforce.

On Thursday, Mr. Wallace Smith followed up on his previous forum on establishing pillars. He explained that after that forum, he received questions concerning why he placed Jesus Christ as the Son of God as his second pillar and the Bible as His Word as his third. 

Mr. Smith first clarified that he believes the Bible is the word of God. That is an unshakeable pillar he has established. Yet for him, personally, the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is His second pillar, second to his first, which is that God exists. He guided us to 1 Corinthians 15, which states, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty.” This is a simple statement that tells us that if Christ was not raised from the dead, then He is not the Son of God, and everything He taught is futile. 

How can we know Christ rose from the dead in addition to simply trusting the Bible? Mr. Smith felt it necessary to teach us to defend this question. He said that even if we treat the Bible as if it weren’t the word of God, as just a historical book, we can still come to the same conclusion. 

Mr. Smith read a quote that the New Testament qualifies as one of the finest historical documents ever written. He brought out aspects from the Bible that make this statement accurate:

• It’s not one book but many little accounts from several authors
• Many of the events were written extremely close to those described 
• Small, unimportant details corroborated by multiple sources inside and outside the collection
• It contains embarrassing elements 
• Passes even statistical tests that ancient writers could not have anticipated 

Mr. Smith said these points were not to prove that the Bible is the word of God but a reliable historical text. He explained that there are facts even many professional Bible skeptics do not deny. He dove into three significant facts that these skeptics are willing to admit, which prove Jesus rose from the dead.

1. His tomb was found empty. 

Testimony from the first-century Jewish leaders, enemies of Christ’s church, support this. If this claim were false, Jewish leaders would have produced the body.

2. His disciples believed He appeared to them alive after His death. 

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul states that over 500 people saw Christ. Even skeptics do not deny that he wrote this approximately 20 years after the event. Paul says that most of the 500 were still alive to his day. He says, “Don’t believe me; ask the multitude of eyewitnesses who saw Christ.” Historian Josephus wrote in 66 A.D. that the disciples believed Christ was alive again after His crucifixion. 

3. The disciples went out proclaiming His resurrection even in the face of martyrdom.

No serious person denies the fact that the disciples faced extreme persecution for their preaching because of the amount of evidence and writings backing this claim.

What is the reason that these men would be willing to face this type of suffering? Mr. Smith shared with us three of the more popular false explanations that try to explain… without admitting that Christ is the Son of God and was raised from the dead. 

1. He faked His death.

Aside from how crazy the statement is, using the above facts, it is easily disproven. The disciples believed He was there with them alive after His death; if He never really died, then His disciples wouldn’t believe he rose from the dead. Beyond that, if they understood that He didn’t rise from the dead versus a battered and bleeding individual who had simply barely escaped death, then they would not be convicted to stand in the face of martyrdom for holding onto that belief.

2. The disciples stole the body.

Again, if the disciples had known they had the body somewhere, they would not have honestly believed He had risen. They also would have eventually broken under the persecution they faced.

3. The disciples hallucinated that they saw Him.

If they hallucinated the entire thing, there would have been a body in the tomb that the Jewish leaders could have shown to disprove them.

Mr. Smith demonstrated to the LE students that even if you view the Bible as a historical text, there is ample evidence that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He rose from the dead, and everything Christ spoke and taught is valid.

We are grateful for the knowledge that can assist us in being better apologetics to our faith!