Blog

Introduction

Food is not enough to keep people healthy and happy. Healthy human relationships are a necessary ingredient in human growth and development. God created each species of animals in pairs. They were not created only for procreation but that they might be with each other. It is important that humans maintain fellowship with each other. This Newsletter discusses the importance of social networks to humans.

Not Good to be Alone

The scripture says that Adam gave names to all God´s creation but for him, there was no one suitable for him (Gen 2:20). “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Gen 2:18). The creation of Eve was to give Adam companionship, a friendship, a confidante and a wife.

Every human being needs to have a person that s/he can relate to. Though fellow humans may put you into trouble, it is more dangerous to live without any social network. A friend may wound or offend you but “faithful are the wounds of a friend..” (Pro 27:6). You may succeed in keeping yourself away from everyone but that has a very limited advantage because that is not God´s plan for man.

Sharing Emotions

As humans, it is imperative that we have the opportunity to express our emotions and have them appropriately responded to by fellow humans. Emotional dryness eats up the flesh and isolates the soul. There should be someone to laugh and to cry with. Paul is absolutely right when he admonishes believers to rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn (Rom 12:15). A man may depend on God for His encouragement and companionship but He was there to give the same to Adam when He said: it is not good for the man to be alone.

James also writes:

“Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (Jas 5:13-14).

Here, in this Newsletter, the emphasis on the above scripture is neither on the anointing oil nor the prayer, but that there should be someone to call in times of need, or distress. The family and friends are there to help, so make use of them. Writing on social capital, the scripture advises that our father´s friend and the friends of our friends should not be forsaken. Also, in the day of trouble, it is not advisable to go far to your own family member’s house for help while a trusted friend is readily available to assist you (Pro 27:10).

The need for social interactions

In our social networks, people of all categories may be included so that we could lean on them when necessary. Apart from sharing of emotions, social interactions also open doors for better and greater opportunities. A person could receive good counsel from his/her social networks. According to the book of Proverbs, “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel” (Pro 27:9).

Friends could also encourage, strengthen or sharpen countenance by making one glad (Pro 27:17). A person´s social interactions could lead him/her to some important places or people, that s/he could not, under normal circumstances, have access to. This is something that the prophet wanted to do for the Shunammite woman. This woman brought Elisha into her social network and supported him with some basic needs. In return for her kind gesture, Elisha wanted to connect her “to the king, or to the captain of the host” but the woman had already secured herself with an important social capital so “she answered, I dwell among mine own people” (2Ki 4:12-13). However, she eventually received a child from her social network, something that for a long time, she had been looking for.

Conclusion

Food is a basic need in the life of every person but it is not all that we need in life. A man ought to have other people in his/her life. Social networks may have their own limitations but they are something that we cannot do without.  As it is written: it is not good for a man to be alone. We only need to be careful with the type of people we call friends or family members.

Prayer: May the Almighty God lead us in the formation of our social networks in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN!

Introduction

“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luk 4-4). There are some key things that humans need in life to be able to live a successful or happy life. Some of these include food, security, and quality education. It is this quality education that this newsletter intends to discuss.

Education and Training

Education and training should aim to ‘ASK’. That is, it should develop positive Attitudes, relevant Skills, and Knowledge in the learners. One of the important things that God keeps emphasizing in His Word is teaching and learning. As it is written, God asked Moses to come over to Him into the mount and be there with Him so that He would give him the table of stone, and law and commandments which He has written with His own hand. Moses was to receive it from the hand of God and teach them to the Israelites (Exo 24:12). The purpose of this teaching is that, that His people might understand the mind of God for them and their nation.

Jethrow advised Moses, his son-in-law, to teach and show the Israelites the laws and the ordinances of God so that they shall walk in them and do that which they are supposed to do (Exo 18:20, Deut 5:31, Deut 6:1). Here, the purpose of teaching and instruction is for them to know their responsibilities as a nation. This means that teaching and learning should aim at equipping learners on what they are expected to be doing after the end of the training or instruction period.

Education is for life. The people of God are to be instructed and taught to understand the ordinances of God and to do them so that they might live and move on to possess their inheritance (Deut 4:1).

Education for good judgment and discretion

In the mind of God, education and training should aim at equipping learners to develop and sharpen their power of judgment and discretion. Schools become useless if the graduates they produce think and reason like an ‘uneducated illiterate’. I refer to ‘uneducated illiterate’ as a person who is devoid of training and education but not the unschooled. It is against this background that the Psalmist asks God to teach him good judgment and knowledge because he has believed in His commandments (Psa 119:66). Isaiah is clear when he also writes that “His God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him” (Isa 28:26). The curriculum of God is to train His disciples for discretion and sound judgment to enable them to make important choices in life. It is also important that the people of God learn to discern good from evil (Eze 44:23).

 Train the Child

According to the word of God, children are not only supposed to be fed but they must be appropriately taught or guided. It is, therefore, written:

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Pro 22:6).

Teachers and parents need to introduce their learners and children to entrepreneurship and help them acquire entrepreneurial competence as early as possible in their developmental and career pathways. It is not possible to teach only theoretical concepts and expect development. If a nation wants its citizens to be productive and independent, the curriculum should be thoughtfully designed to do that. Children must be taught the entrepreneurial skills so that when they graduate, they would not depart from it and become unemployed. This is why continuous reforms in teacher education and educational curricula are relevant. This also explains why technical and vocational schools teachers and teachers in technical universities must be dominated by skillful entrepreneurs and craftsmen and craftswomen but not only Ph.D. holders as some governments demand.

Nebuchadnezzar knew the importance of education and training so he identified the potential in Daniel and his colleagues and invested in them to study to work in his kingdom  (Dan 1:4).

That they might be with Him

Jesus called His disciples and trained them to get them thoroughly prepared so that He could send them out on a mission. He ate and drank with His them many times (Mat 9:10-17. Mat 26:26, Mar 2:13-17) but that was not the main reason why He called them. It is read that:

“And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out devils” (Mar 3:14-15)

Though the disciples of Christ were limited in schooling, and obscure in identity, they had excellent riches of education and training that they needed to succeed in their vocation. This is so because Christ taught and mentored them for three good years while He was with them. There is no substance in the statement that the disciples of Christ did not school so schooling is irrelevant in Ministry. If you are not schooling, then you must subject yourself to mentorship and study to show yourself accredited by both God and your listeners, and you should be very competent in the delivery of your subject matter as a teacher or a preacher (2Ti 2:15).

Conclusion

Believers should not settle on food and drink. They should aspire to study to show themselves competent in judgment, attitude, skills, and knowledge. It is by these that they could live lives of purpose and meaningfulness.

Prayer: May God help us to commit to meaningful learning to develop ourselves and our nations. In the name of Christ Jesus. AMEN!