Tag Archive for: Forum Summaries

Author: Ryan Price | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2021-22

Estimated Reading Time: 2 min., 34 sec.

Mr. Richard Ames used this week’s LivingEd forum to share Unlocking the Mystery of Life,

an insightful documentary in which scientists showcase the undeniable evidence of intelligent design in nature. Mr. Ames only had time to showcase a portion of the documentary, but encouraged the students to watch the rest when they could.

Irreducible Complexity

Charles Darwin, the most renowned mind behind evolution, said that even complex organs such as eyes and hearts can develop through small, gradual steps through a process called natural selection. But consider the tail-like organ of a bacteria cell, called a flagellum, which bacteria use to move around. Every part of the flagellum—the propeller, driveshaft, and others—must be there for the flagellum to work; but how could all the parts of this organ develop at once? The problem with natural selection, then, is that it only selects features that serve the organism in a functional, advantageous way. Without having fully developed its parts, a flagellum would just be a tail. That would serve no advantage—and, as such, be rejected by natural selection in the evolutionary process of the bacteria. This concept is known as irreducible complexity; the organ cannot be simplified without ceasing to function at all.

Where does information come from?

Another factor is that all these parts are not only essential to a working flagellum, but also must develop at the right time and in the right place. All the information required to build the flagellum is stored in a bacterium’s DNA and RNA; but how did that information come to be there in the first place? Observation tells us that information only comes from intelligence. Consider the improbability of coherent information being constructed by accident. The documentary uses an example of dropping Scrabble letters on a tabletop and expecting two lines of Shakespeare’s Hamlet to form from them. Clearly, this is impossible! Now consider that the specific instructions required to build a single protein in even the simplest one-celled organism would fill hundreds of pages of printed text. 

Of course, biologists who are genuinely interested in the origin of life do not believe that life has come about by chance alone; instead, they theorize that natural selection used random variations among chemicals to produce the first life. The problem with this is that, by definition, natural selection could not have operated before the existence of the first living cell. It can only operate on organisms that can replicate themselves—cells that pass on their DNA to future generations.Along with these, the documentary highlighted many more examples to prove that the concept of intelligent design should play a vital part in scientific research. One can’t reasonably deny the evidence for the intelligent design of life, and Unlocking the Mystery of Life powerfully showcases this fact.

Author: Ryan Price | Student, Living Education – Charlotte 2021

Estimated reading time: 2 min. 31 sec.

A few days before this year’s Feast of Tabernacles, Mr. Rod McNair, the Assistant Director of Church Administration who has worked in the Festival Office at Headquarters for around sixteen years, gave the LivingEd students an in-depth overview of the details that go into planning for a Feast site,  encouraging them to keep the right priorities when going to the Feast.

Festival planning takes place years before the Feast. 

Before the Feast of 2021 even began, the Festival Office had been setting things into motion for 2022, and many of the sites had been selected. For some, contracts had been signed for rooms and venues, which is important, because a lot of venues are booking two to three years in advance. Many things need to be considered when picking a venue itself: Is it affordable? Does it have places in which to fellowship and opportunities for activities? Is it set in a Millennial atmosphere? It can be challenging to find places that meet all these criteria, but God always causes it to work out. Right after the Feast, once Mr. McNair gets home and files his reports for the year, he and other planners in the Festival Office begin assigning coordinators and having write-ups created for next year’s sites.

Registration is a very complex and detailed process. 

This year, a tentative cap was set to keep the number of people per Feast site at around 400. However, keeping track of that can be difficult, especially when you have 90 different Feast sites in 50 different countries. To simplify the process, they use an administration system to know where everyone is going, who is transferring where, each site’s demographics, and who will not be attending. This is why it is so important to register for the Feast—it’s nearly impossible for the coordinators to plan if they don’t know who’s coming to their site.

Remember why you’re going. 

After explaining the Festival planning process, Mr. McNair took the remaining time he had to ask the students a question: “What’s important at the Feast?” It’s not about the location, accommodations, or whether our friends are there; it’s about worshiping God and growing together. He asked the students to think about this as they got ready to go to the Feast, and left us with a challenge. “So often, we tend to socialize with those that we know, and other people can be left out…. When you go to the Feast, get to know new people. Include others in your group; maybe reach out beyond your age group. Think about the widows, and look for people who might be alone this Feast, or for people for whom it might be their first Feast. What will their impression be?”

Author: Yolanda Watt | Student, Living Education – Charlotte 2021

In his forum addressed to the Living Education students,

Mr. Greer opened by giving a brief description about his initial contact with the church, and that he would like to share with us what he wished he knew earlier in life. He then reminds us of the first two laws of success from Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong’s booklet “The Seven Laws of Success”; namely set the right goals and education for preparation.

Set the right goals

Mr. Greer mentioned from Mr. Armstrong’s booklet that most people never plan their career goals and “allow themselves to drift. They make no effort to master or control their circumstances”. He mentioned that there are things we can do to control our success.

God has goals– The Bible mentioned that Jesus Christ was slain before the foundation of the world, and therefore God has plans. Even in the physical creation, God did not create everything all at once, but He did it in sequence. Christ planned to complete the work of His Father as seen in John 4:34” My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work”.

Education for preparation

“We did not come equipped with instinct. We need to learn, that we need to learn” Mr. Greer mentioned.  When we set goals, we need to follow through. Preparation provides a path as it gives a step to take. We must also realize that our goals can change. Mr. Greer stated that based on surveys taken by university students, that paths to being successful lies in four steps:

1. Write down your goal.
2. Plan how to achieve your goal (and write it down as well).
3. Share your goals with family or friends.
4. Update your family or friends on your goals.

Goal setting has no real boundaries. We may not always get the goal right, but the process will help us succeed. We must always involve God in our goals as seen in Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” The process of achieving our goals is a blessing.

Author: Juliette McNair | Student, Living Education Charlotte 2021

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 17 seconds.

Mr. Gerald Weston began the final Assembly of the year, “People tend to fall into one of several categories.” Some individuals map out their futures early on and single-mindedly dedicate themselves to their goals. For example, he noted Deion Sanders—a first-round draft pick for the National Football League in 1989. Sanders won two Super Bowls, was elected for eight NFL Pro Bowls, and was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 2011. Achievers know what they want in life and pursue it relentlessly. But another category Mr. Weston gave was the under-achievers. “These expect others, including God, to be responsible for their success—to do it all for them.” Rather than taking initiative, they make excuses, develop a “victim” complex, blaming others, or wait for a lucky break.

What Do You Want to Do in Your Life?

“Most of us fall into a third category—those who are willing to work hard but struggle to figure out what they want to do.” As a young man, Mr. Weston wanted to be a forest ranger and a “smoke jumper”—a wildland firefighter who jumps out of planes to fight forest fires. Then, at Ventura College, he switched his major from geology to social work to English. “I confess, I didn’t have a clue what to do with my life. And how can a young person be expected to know what to do—at age eighteen, for example—when the whole world is out there?” He asked, “So what do you do to figure that out if you’re in this category?”

What is Your Primary Goal?

“Let’s begin with our primary goal.” Deion Sanders’ goal was to be the absolute best at football, and arguably, he was. But later, he admitted his aim had been flawed—he titled his autobiography, Power, Money, and Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life. Mr. Weston said, “Sometimes, we think we know what we want, but it’s not always what God shows us we should want.” Matthew 6:33 contains what a Christian’s main goal should be. Ultimately, every decision and action should have this end in mind. Mr. Weston said, “But does that mean God will do everything for us?” He held up his Bible, “Not according to this instruction book here.”

What Are You Doing to Prepare?

Young people may wish to be independent or to get married and raise a family. “But when you look at these goals,” Mr. Weston emphasized, “the question is what are you doing to prepare for that?” He told a story about a high school friend who would talk about his dreams and plans for life. The friend wanted to move to northern California, living off the land while training to become a baseball star—yet he never played on any kind of organized team. This friend went to Ambassador College for a year and then dropped out. He had told Mr. Weston he wanted to be a city planner, yet he threw away the opportunity to build and design cities under Christ in the Millennium. He told Mr. Weston once, “You know what I’m really afraid of? I’m afraid that I will wake up and be forty years of age and not know what I want to do.” Mr. Weston said, “And that happened. The door was open to his dream, but he never prepared himself for that open door.”

Open Doors

People open or close doors by the decisions we make. Mr. Weston commented, “My father always said, If you can read, write, and do arithmetic, you could have a job.” Without basic education, fewer opportunities come. But if a young person educates himself, perhaps developing his public speaking skills or learning a second language, opportunities arise. In Daniel 1, four young men were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon to work in the king’s palace (v. 4). They were “young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand….” Mr. Weston pointed out that while they couldn’t have controlled their lack of blemishes or good looks, they certainly had developed their knowledge and understanding and as a result, doors (opportunities) opened to them. “As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all wisdom and literature” (v.17). Mr. Weston explained God didn’t pour knowledge into their minds using a funnel—they had to read literature and learn wisdom. “These were young men who had certain native ability, but they developed it with hard work.”

“The harder you work at a young age, the more the doors are opened for other opportunities. But if you spend all your time goofing off, you close doors.” Even if a young person is struggling to figure out what they want to do in life, by having the right primary goal and preparing for their future, with God’s help, opportunities for success will open to them. Mr. Weston encouraged the students as they move forward after Living Ed, “Keep the doors open. Only if you have prepared yourself, will you be able to walk through those doors when opportunity knocks.”

This post is part of our new series of student-written content for LivingEd-Charlotte. These summaries cover topics originally presented by our faculty and guest speakers in our weekly Forum and Assembly. For more Assembly-related content check out our Second Thoughts posts.

Author: Juliette McNair | Student, Living Education Charlotte 2021

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 48 seconds.

In the staff meeting room at Headquarters, Mr. Frank introduced Mr. Mario Hernandez as the Forum speaker. Mr. Hernandez asked, “Do you remember the laws of success?” The students nodded and recited them. The seventh law of success, Mr. Hernandez explained, is to acknowledge God in all your ways. “I’m going to give you an indispensable key to being successful. Without it,” he said, “even if you have all the others, you won’t succeed before God or man… What is the fifth commandment?”

For those who obey and honor their parents, God gives a two-fold promise: a long life and a successful life. Mr. Hernandez turned to Exodus 21:15-17 to show God takes the fifth commandment seriously. Children who struck or cursed their parents were to be put to death. Yet, Mr. Hernandez noted that disrespect towards parents parallels this sin. In Leviticus 19:3, God commanded Israel to revere their parents. Mr. Hernandez said, “Treat them with great respect no matter what. They represent God.”

Respect as a Facet of the Culture of God

“We’re living in a generation where children are oppressors of their parents. They’re not taught to respect.” He read Leviticus 19:32, “You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man….” The custom to rise and acknowledge an older person when they enter a room may seem outdated or not culturally practiced. But, Mr. Hernandez said, “That’s a lack of culture, my friends. We are here to learn the culture of God and not to say, Oh, in my country we don’t do that.” Young people should acknowledge the presence of an older person rather than ignoring them and turning to their peers. “In this country, which I love and respect, there is a tendency for there to be different cultures for the youth and for the elderly. Each [group] lives in their own world, and there is not much communication.” This phenomenon, which Mr. Hernandez termed “the teenage syndrome,” is nurtured in the modern education system. In tomorrow’s world, a family-oriented learning system will encourage young people to respect and interact appropriately with the older generation.

In Mark 7:1-13, Christ rebuked the Pharisees for disobeying God’s command to honor one’s parents. In 1 Timothy 5:4-8, Paul commands, “if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents….” Mr. Hernandez explained that adult children—who are at the productive stage of life—are still obligated to honor their parents.

Joseph

“Now we’re going to see the story of a man who honored his father and was greatly blessed. That is the story of Joseph.” Out of all the sons of Jacob, only Joseph truly honored his parents. The “bad report” Joseph brought to Jacob in Genesis 37:2 indicates the brothers had a poor reputation in the community. When Jacob called to Joseph to send him to his brothers in the field, Joseph replied, “Here I am.” Abraham had this same response when God tested him by commanding him to kill Isaac (Genesis 22:1). Mr. Hernandez compared it to saying, “Whatever You say, here I am to obey you.”

“Here I am.”

Reuben committed adultery with one of his father’s wives (Genesis 35:22), in contrast to Joseph, who refused to lie with Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:10). At the end of Jacob’s life, in a final act of respect, Joseph bowed down to the ground as Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:12). Joseph was 110 years old when he died, and he had become the second most powerful man in Egypt. “God was fulfilling His promise because Joseph obeyed and respected his father.”

Honor the Hoary Head

Mr. Hernandez concluded, “Don’t just stay among the youth, having your different culture apart. Open your heart and talk to the older person… They feel dishonored—although they don’t complain—when a youth passes by and ignores them or rarely comes to greet them. The hoary-head are becoming weak because of age, and they need respect.” Mr. Hernandez explained that respect to one’s parents and older people is respect towards God. He challenged the students to honor older people, revere their parents, and fear God by keeping the fifth commandment—so they may live a long and successful life as God promises.

This post is part of our new series of student-written content for LivingEd-Charlotte. These summaries cover topics originally presented by our faculty and guest speakers in our weekly Forum and Assembly. For more Assembly-related content check out our Second Thoughts posts.