Pottery Class

I prepared this lesson for my youth group but I knew that I had to share it with others. This month we're looking at 'Creative Passion'. This is understanding that God created us for a reason and has birthed in us talents and gifts for His glory. Once we understand that we live, move and have our very being in Him and we were created for His glory, it tends to shape our perspective and life.

So, I started the session with an object lesson (divinely inspired of course). There were a list of materials for them to choose from namely:

Paper towel rolls          Rubber bands       Markers and pencils
Old newspapers           Glue
Scraps of cloth             Scissors
Coconut shells             Paper

The scenario was a simple one, They were shipwrecked on a deserted island and had the choice of two or three of the above listed materials to construct something that will help them to either survive or get off the island. Two of them chose to build objects that would aid in them leaving in the island (noteworthy).

Anyways, they built boats, rafts and food container. I liked the food container because I was able to use it as an example. This was a vessel just like we are vessels of Honour. God has ingrained in us varying gifts and talents which we must unearth, we first have to tap into Him to discover what they are.

Imagine, God in his chamber in heaven while creating us took raw materials (dust) and created us. He said, I will equip ___________ with a beautiful voice and dance skills for MY GLORY. He sits waiting for __________ to ask what are those said gifts, but they never ask. Now, although God may choose to bring these talents to the fore even before we ask we still ought to use them for His glory, because He made us and not we ourselves for His GLORY.

I went on to share with them how God created something out of nothing (Ex Nihilo). He spoke into the abyss that was the unformed universe and it was- no big bang could ever be an apt theory for me. Yet God wants to do the same with us but in this regard we are our own worst enemy. God wants to use us for His ultimate Glory that is why He gave us our gifts and talents but we refuse to live for Him.

Just as they made various vessels and objects so to are God's people diverse. Made with different skillsets- a pot pourri of races, cultures, personalities and gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Romans 12:4-8).

We then looked at (Jeremiah 18:1-12) where God gives Jeremiah His Rhema word. God wants to mold us and reshape us. It doesn't matter if we are broken, lumps of clay, messy or messed up, God sees beauty, purpose, fine pottery and a masterpiece. Will you allow God to shape and mold your life? Will you allow Him into your heart to change it and to take up permanent residence there? Or will you continue like Israel in Jeremiah 8 and turn from God unto your own idols and gods? Will you use your God-given gifts to further His kingdom or will you continue selfishly profiting from God's investment?

Lastly, I reminded my charges that even though they were blessed with gifts they must not chastise or make fun of others who do not have the gifts (differently abled), especially, if they are doing it unto the Lord. For the same way it was given it can be taken away. Also, don't bury your talent like the man with the one talent (Matthew 25:14-20). Do it all to God's glory.

Selah.

P.S: Watch this amazing video from Our Daily Bread Ministries.

Grace and Peace.

"How to Kill A Spider".

Ok. First let me say that this blog post has nothing to do with killing spiders. Sorry for those who are disappointed but stick around to find out what this post is all about.

This post is in response to a sermon I heard last Sunday. The preacher told a joke that though humourous was very serious. His message was entitled 'Our greatest enemies'. We were reminded that as a Christian our three enemies are "The World, The Flesh and the devil" and of course the last is behind the first two.

This sermon was timely and sought to remind us that we are fighting a spiritual warfare (2 Corinthians 10:4). We are fighting against unseen enemies who are waging war for our souls (Cece Winans- Waging war; 1 Peter 5:8). Therefore, we ought to equip ourselves by putting on the armor of God, for this warfare. We must strip off the sin that so easily trip us up and run with endurance the race set before us (Hebrews 12:1).

In giving an example through humour, he told the tale of a man who at prayer meetings would always pray that "God remove the cobwebs out of his life". Apparently, the brother was struggling with some perpetual 'thorns in his flesh' that were causing him great discomfort. After noticing this, when the gentleman got up to pray the same prayer, another brother went over to him and shouted "Lord, kill the Spider!!", *Cymbal clap*.

WOW! This really got me thinking. How many of us are struggling with sins that we are praying for God to remove that seemingly resurface time after a time. Is it that God does not heal, or that he does not care? NO! It simply means that we're asking for the symptoms to be removed without touching the root of the problem. Sin is indwelling- it's in our nature, and unless we ask God to really uproot the 'mahogany-sized' trunks in our lives and replace it with His Spirit then of course the problem will resurface. If we are not actively pursuing God and keeping away from certain situations and sins, our 'spiritual acne' is bound to flare up.

God's shouting...Pursue ME!!! Why aren't you listening? If you spend time pursuing God you will be too busy to entertain distractions. If you find your joy and your completion in Him, then you would not need other broken cisterns or 'functional saviours'. Why? Because Jesus is the END ALL. He is not the means to an end. He is the beginning, the middle and the end. He is EVERYTHING.

He will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him (Isaiah 26:3).

This week I was reminded of Jesus the tradition breaker. He saw the Samaritan woman at the well and He pursued her. He broke rules to get to her, because He know her life was a mess and that at the rate she was going she was looking for happiness in all the wrong places; relationships, sex, and pleasure. He offered her water from a fountain that never dried up, a fountain that will spring up inside you as rivers of joy- an overflow. She need only drink from His fountain of eternal life and she will never spiritually thirst again (John 4).

He was plugging the hole in her life and giving her what she truly needed. She was created to give God glory, to live in that glory, she was a sinner, she deserved death, but God in His great wisdom and mercy sent a redeemer through His Son to offer her eternal life (Five-Point Summary of the Gospel). Awesome and indeed amazing!! See yourself through the eyes of the woman of Samaria and encounter Jesus at the well, He's waiting for you to offer you Himself and you will not be disappointed.

So, let's not just ask God to remove the cobwebs but to kill the spider(s) wreaking havoc in our lives. Resist the devil saints and He will flee from us. Go in freedom and grow in grace.

Love you all saints.

Mind your own Beeswax

In my recent quest to find 'raw, organic beeswax', I came across a problem that I'd like to share some light on. Now I am no expert in natural hair care but I've returned to natural for over four years, I've done my big chop twice and I am involved in a Natural Hair team that seeks to promote natural hair care and health Beautiful Crown SVG.

So, I went around the length and breadth of Kingstown and I could not find this beeswax. How frustrating! I went into a couple stores and was directed to a certain brand of Beeswax for hair, with one lady telling me 'I'm just going by what's on the front, and it says '100% Pure beeswax'. Upon further observation, I turned the jar around to discover that what was labelled as 'Pure' on the front, actually contained petrolatum and fragrance. At first, it wasn't an issue but after a few stores, I realised that 'ignorance is one crazy thing'.

When I first became natural back in 2011, one of the things that other naturals cautioned about was about reading labels. There are a lot of products that are advertised as 'natural'. The higher up on the ingredient list a product is, the higher the concentration. Many of these 100% products really only contain a small amount. Thus, if it says 'Argan Oil' or 'Shea Butter', if it's not on the top list of ingredients after 'Aqua/Water' then chances are it's not what it says it is.

Research has shown that ingredients like Petrolatum, Mineral Oil and a list of ingredients that you cannot pronounce often do more harm than good. Not all of these unpronounceable ingredients are bad for you but it would be wise to research the ingredients list of a product that you use or are thinking of using. Knowledge is power and one of the best uses of the internet is research!

Rehabbing Rahab

I saw that title somewhere else and decided that it would be perfect for my blog post. So undulated credit goes to the original conceptualiser. So I am trying to plan a study on Joshua for my youth group and suddenly a question pops into my head. Little did I know that that question would lead me here! Alright!!!

Rahab much like Ruth were gentile women. Rahab however was a prostitute who earned an honourable mention in the Bible for housing two Isreali spies.

Such a dishonourable woman for such an honourable task, some may have thought, but God tends to call the pure in heart, despite their outward appearance and shortcomings  (1 Samuel 16:7).  It reminds us of Jesus' ministry of calling the sick and not the healthy because He is the Great Physician. His mission of reconciling sinful man to God, He often used the most unlikely candidates- the underdogs so to speak (Acts 4:13).

So here is a woman who defied all odds by being a working woman in a culture that was hostile towards women, but at the same time she was not in a noble profession. But this was secondary to the task at hand.

Nevertheless, she faced an ultimatum- 'life' or death. If she chose to hide the spies and the officials found out she risked death- not just her death but that of her family. On the other hand, if she chose not to house the spies she would have missed out on the greatest honour and blessing of her life, but she would have her life- for a time

Thanks be to God, that Rahab chose the former. She risked death because she had heard about the God of the Israelites and all that He had done and how He had destroyed all of their enemies and delivered them from Egypt  (Joshua 2:9). In a holy fear of God (which was amazing because her people were not God worshippers), Rahab submitted to the will of God. Her willingness had only one condition that when they came in to possess the land that they would remember her and her family.

They agreed, they made a promise to her and they kept it. She need only tie a scarlet ribbon from her window (scarlet- like the red on the doorpost in Egypt and the blood of Jesus). Not only did they honour that request but God honoured it in a MAJOR way.

What a brave and amazing woman. When the officials came knocking, Rahab said she had not seen them and sent them on a wild goose chase, then she let them down her window (which was near the city gates) and sent them on their way safely. Though, the issue to some here may be the fact that she lied, God is holy and does not condone lying, but one must remember that Rahab had still been of the flesh and thus operated in that- human kind based on our Adamic nature are prone and programmed to sin- that we must not forget. But, thank God for the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7).

Anyway, God used this experience to transform Rahab and to show us an example of faith in action- Faith without works is indeed dead. This action of Rahab not only saved her life but God set her in the lineage of the Messiah (Matthew 1:5)! There is another example of a faithful woman from pagan heritage who also made it in the line of the Messiah (Ruth).

All in all, God rehabbed Rahab. He took an unlikely, imperfect candidate and used her in His will. God also does the same with us. He takes us imperfect and unlikely candidates and transforms us and uses us to move mountains and to do His will on earth. He ordained us for extraordinary works before the foundation of the world or before we were conceived (Ephesians 2:10, Jeremiah 1:1-5). Rahab was born for such a time as that! It is when we think of our lives as engineered for God's glory and we seek His will in finding our true purpose we realise that we were born for such a time as this.

God rehab us and let us seek your will instead of ours. Let us seek you and find you and may we seek to know you and power of your resurrection (Philippians 3:10).

Is it time to check into spiritual rehab?

Flexible Learning simplified

As a teacher, I daily try to find ways to inspire my students and make learning interesting. There a lot of flexible and blending learning approaches or pathways to take but as of late, I have been really thinking about ways to inspire my students.

Let's face it! We live in a modern age and our students have shorter attention spans and fifteen minutes into a lecture hour or double period they're already fidgeting on their devices, thinking about what's happening on Facebook/Twitter, putting together their weekend outfit or thinking about their children or significant other.

So, the question is. How do we capture and captivate the attention of these teenagers?

Well, I am Indiana Jonesing- I am digging for lost treasure, digging for gold! I have not quite found it but I'm making head-way. My treasure map and Guide are trustworthy and it looks promising. In light of this, I have conducted some experiments.

DISCLAIMER: These are my suggestions and are not the result of professional research and experiments. Therefore, choosing to follow any of the advice below does not ensure guaranteed success.

1) Let them do research and teach!

After, a session on 'Flipping the classroom', I decided to let my students venture to the good ole library and use the archaic tools of their ancestors- you know- 'books'- (hyperbole alert). Trust me, you'd be amazed at my students reactions to books and anything more than 140 characters, so, it's safe to say that many won't be reading this.

Onward they went to research a topic with the intention of presenting to their peers. When a recap was done at the end of the class and at the beginning of the next, my students were spewing answers at me like water from a water gun (pew pew pewsh- OK maybe this sounds like video game noise but you get my point).

They really enjoyed the research and the information stayed with them as opposed to listening to a lecture where half of it they don't remember.

2) Recording recap videos

So, I must admit I've only done one but I want to test the waters before I dive in. So far, students liked the video and being able to hear my voice and view the content was a plus. There are several apps to help you achieve this (Lensoo create, Explain everything etc).

3) Get creative with your lessons

So, if anybody knows me I am artistic to the marrow. I absolutely love the performing, visual and creative arts. Therefore, my students have to display creativity in their presentations and projects. I have asked my students to dramatise, or sing (a cappella or accompanied) what they have learnt as a way of testing their understanding of concepts or pronunciation (foreign language). At some point, in collaboration with another lecturer, our students presented their marketing strategies and product prototypes. We had a range of items- from cosmetics to sports drinks and even some weird ones in the mix.

The bottom line is to find out what your students' passions and seek to unearth them. Chances are if they use their skills and talents in learning, the lesson may be more memorable and enjoyable.

4) Use resource personnel

This one is another favourite. I have had resource personnel within a specific field address my students. Of course, they must be able to capture their attention and not bore them with rhetoric. They were privy to young entrepreneurs and they even got to sample some products and got good advice (this was their favourite). Some of the entrepreneurs even gave them special discounts. All in all, they loved the diversity and it helped them to remember certain topics based on these.

5) Get out of the classroom

Let's plan to embark on more field trips! While, these field trips can be time consuming and costly, they are a great way of engaging your students. While, travel (local, regional or international) may be a delight, field trips may not be solely seeing but doing. They can take the form of a skills-training exercise or simple research around your school campus (Market research)..

Now, I know that your subject area may not lend itself to merry making and doing many activities but it does not mean that you cannot get creative with your lessons. The key is to get students to look forward to coming to your classes because as they say variety is the spice of life. Of course this is not an exhaustive list and if you have other ideas or suggestions- feel free to leave a message or shoot me an email.

Let's not just teach, let's engage!!!