The BET Honors is a awards television program produced by Black Entertainment Television. Each year since the awards program started individuals, usually from the African American and African communities are honored for their work in different areas. This year, as most, the honorees are celebrates, athletes, or other individuals who are famous. This year , 2013, Halle Berry, JD Jakes, Chaka Khan. and Lisa Leslie were among those honored for their outstanding work and contributions in the areas of their giving.
WNBA star Lisa Leslie said something in her remarks when she accepted her award that I have heard others say. It was, "We all can't be winners, someone has to lose." She is an honored winner, so it was easy for her to say that, but everyone experiences lose in their lives.
What is a winner? How do we define it? Is it being the strongest? If so, what does it mean to be strong? Is it the richest? What is rich? Is it money? Prestige? Influence? Is it power? What is power? Is it beauty? What is beauty? Is it being number one? What does that mean? In the eyes of human beings, we have define winners and losers. We do not have the capacity to comprehend anything but one being the best, so that is what we have. We have millions of contest and we compete to be number one. We spend time and money just on doing that, only to be beat out the next year, or the next by someone stronger, younger, smarter, or more beautiful. We talk about being number one, but it is not easy staying number one. Only number one is remembered.
God is so much bigger than we are. We can all be number one in Him. We do not have to compete with each other to gain is attention, his approval, his forgiveness, or his blessings, or his love. He has enough to give each one of us all that we need all of the time. No line, no waiting.
In the education legislation "No Child Left Behind" supported by both houses on Congress, the goal was to ensure that no child in an American public school got left behind in their academic pursuit, and no child would slip through the cracks, and get left behind, and not receive an excellent public education that would prepare them for a successful adult life. The intention of this legislation was admirable, it has been the implementation of it that has brought public education to its knees. After years of administration, training, and millions of dollars American students have improved, but there are still thousands of students that are left behind, and thousands of teachers who feel less affective and appreciated than ever before. The problem? Hmm. It is complicated at best, but to put it in a nut shell, success is not just shoving unrelated facts, down children's throats in a very short time period and then testing them on it, to see how much of it they can recall. There's no room for analysis, or original thought, just recalling facts, something the U.S. Department of Education and Congress decided to measure, because it's easy, well, for those who grade the tests and make money from doing so. It is horrible for everyone else.
To succeed at anything there are some key things that have to be in place. They are; knowledge, instruction, submission, time, hard work, resources, acceptance and relationship. These are not the only components, but the most important.
In the gospel of Matthew the first book of the New Testament in the Bible, in chapter 13 Jesus is teaching the multitudes that are following him. He is teaching through the use of parables. Each place he goes people are blessed by his teachings, and due to their faith many are healed of many things. He and his disciples come to Nazareth, the place where he grew up, and starts teaching. The people there have known him since he was a child. He speaks with wisdom and authority, and they cannot believe this is the boy they knew and they reject him and do not receive all the blessings he has for them.
The strange thing is, the people of Nazareth truly did not know Jesus, because if they had, they would have shared with the world what a humble and obedient child he was. How helpful he was, how kind, and how he never caused anyone any trouble. Instead it seems they totally ignored Jesus in his youth and did not recognize him for who he was and how he handled himself. They were blind when it came to Jesus. When he returned there during his ministry, their eyes were finally opened, but not their hearts, and instead of rejoicing in who he was, they resented him, and because of their resentment, they were left behind and did not receive what was meant for them.
Education has not changed since Jesus' ministry, many times due to the lack of the key components many students are left behind. If children cannot submit their wills to the instruction of the teacher, and accept what they are teaching, and refuse to be in good relationship with teachers, then they will not learn and be left behind. Of course, teachers have to do their part, and by far the vast majority are, but with so many students, with so many problems, with so many requirements, and so little time and resources, it is very hard for teachers to establish a meaningful relationship with all students, which is so critical for so many students. Unlike God, teachers have limits, and cannot fulfill the needs of all of the students that they have, which in many cases is well beyond academics.
The problem with "No Child Left Behind" and the new "Race to the Top" is God has been left behind. Without God we will always leave children behind, we will always have children that slip through the cracks. The US has systematically taken God out of public schools. God in schools is not forcing everyone to believe the same thing, the same way. It does not mean we all have to pray, or kneel in a certain direction at a certain time. It is simply acknowledging that God is a part of the process, and that teachers, students, and staff, have the appropriate avenues to exercise their faith in an appropriate way in the school setting.
Each do we live we have an opportunity to submit ourselves to our loving Savior and receive all he has for us, and when we do, we are so blessed and have positioned ourselves to be a blessing to others. We cannot do this within our own strength, but through his.
Bible Verse
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
WNBA star Lisa Leslie said something in her remarks when she accepted her award that I have heard others say. It was, "We all can't be winners, someone has to lose." She is an honored winner, so it was easy for her to say that, but everyone experiences lose in their lives.
What is a winner? How do we define it? Is it being the strongest? If so, what does it mean to be strong? Is it the richest? What is rich? Is it money? Prestige? Influence? Is it power? What is power? Is it beauty? What is beauty? Is it being number one? What does that mean? In the eyes of human beings, we have define winners and losers. We do not have the capacity to comprehend anything but one being the best, so that is what we have. We have millions of contest and we compete to be number one. We spend time and money just on doing that, only to be beat out the next year, or the next by someone stronger, younger, smarter, or more beautiful. We talk about being number one, but it is not easy staying number one. Only number one is remembered.
God is so much bigger than we are. We can all be number one in Him. We do not have to compete with each other to gain is attention, his approval, his forgiveness, or his blessings, or his love. He has enough to give each one of us all that we need all of the time. No line, no waiting.
In the education legislation "No Child Left Behind" supported by both houses on Congress, the goal was to ensure that no child in an American public school got left behind in their academic pursuit, and no child would slip through the cracks, and get left behind, and not receive an excellent public education that would prepare them for a successful adult life. The intention of this legislation was admirable, it has been the implementation of it that has brought public education to its knees. After years of administration, training, and millions of dollars American students have improved, but there are still thousands of students that are left behind, and thousands of teachers who feel less affective and appreciated than ever before. The problem? Hmm. It is complicated at best, but to put it in a nut shell, success is not just shoving unrelated facts, down children's throats in a very short time period and then testing them on it, to see how much of it they can recall. There's no room for analysis, or original thought, just recalling facts, something the U.S. Department of Education and Congress decided to measure, because it's easy, well, for those who grade the tests and make money from doing so. It is horrible for everyone else.
To succeed at anything there are some key things that have to be in place. They are; knowledge, instruction, submission, time, hard work, resources, acceptance and relationship. These are not the only components, but the most important.
In the gospel of Matthew the first book of the New Testament in the Bible, in chapter 13 Jesus is teaching the multitudes that are following him. He is teaching through the use of parables. Each place he goes people are blessed by his teachings, and due to their faith many are healed of many things. He and his disciples come to Nazareth, the place where he grew up, and starts teaching. The people there have known him since he was a child. He speaks with wisdom and authority, and they cannot believe this is the boy they knew and they reject him and do not receive all the blessings he has for them.
The strange thing is, the people of Nazareth truly did not know Jesus, because if they had, they would have shared with the world what a humble and obedient child he was. How helpful he was, how kind, and how he never caused anyone any trouble. Instead it seems they totally ignored Jesus in his youth and did not recognize him for who he was and how he handled himself. They were blind when it came to Jesus. When he returned there during his ministry, their eyes were finally opened, but not their hearts, and instead of rejoicing in who he was, they resented him, and because of their resentment, they were left behind and did not receive what was meant for them.
Education has not changed since Jesus' ministry, many times due to the lack of the key components many students are left behind. If children cannot submit their wills to the instruction of the teacher, and accept what they are teaching, and refuse to be in good relationship with teachers, then they will not learn and be left behind. Of course, teachers have to do their part, and by far the vast majority are, but with so many students, with so many problems, with so many requirements, and so little time and resources, it is very hard for teachers to establish a meaningful relationship with all students, which is so critical for so many students. Unlike God, teachers have limits, and cannot fulfill the needs of all of the students that they have, which in many cases is well beyond academics.
The problem with "No Child Left Behind" and the new "Race to the Top" is God has been left behind. Without God we will always leave children behind, we will always have children that slip through the cracks. The US has systematically taken God out of public schools. God in schools is not forcing everyone to believe the same thing, the same way. It does not mean we all have to pray, or kneel in a certain direction at a certain time. It is simply acknowledging that God is a part of the process, and that teachers, students, and staff, have the appropriate avenues to exercise their faith in an appropriate way in the school setting.
Each do we live we have an opportunity to submit ourselves to our loving Savior and receive all he has for us, and when we do, we are so blessed and have positioned ourselves to be a blessing to others. We cannot do this within our own strength, but through his.
Bible Verse
Matthew 13:53-58
New International Version (NIV)
A Prophet Without Honor
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed.“Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him.But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
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