Second Thoughts: Editing in Love

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Author: Thomas White | Editorial Dept., Living Church of God

At the start of Living Education’s second academic year, Mr. Wallace Smith, the Living Church of God’s Executive Editor, spoke about… well, editing…

…and he probably could have spoken for far longer, because there’s a lot more to editing than most people think.

Only the good garbage

As he emphatically said, it’s more than fixing typos, just as getting ready for a formal event is more than slapping on deodorant. There’s copyediting, line editing, layout editing, editing for consistency, editing for style, editing for technical correctness—and all of this is done for written works that are already good. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be getting published in the first place.

Working in the Editorial department I’ve noticed an encouraging thing—all the good stuff, even the great stuff, needed changes before it could be published. Quite a few changes, actually. Any experienced writer will tell you something along the lines of “The first draft of anything is garbage,” and while that’s not literally true, it’s certainly true in comparison to the final draft.

And spiritually speaking, that’s us, when you think about it.

God’s people are being edited

As God’s people, we’re all—hopefully—undergoing some seriously extensive edits, because we are not even close to publishable at this point. Carrying the analogy perhaps a bit too far, our spiritual commas are everywhere they shouldn’t be, we can’t keep our moral tenses straight, we’re capitalizing priorities that should never be capitalized, and we keep using passive voice where God demands active voice. God’s Holy Spirit is our editor, and it has a lot of work to do, because by Editorial standards, every one of us is a hot mess.

But that doesn’t mean we’re worthless.

Mr. Smith brought out that it’s the editors’ job to serve the writers, because the content of a publishable article is going to be, at its core, good. The goal is to help the articles be the best versions of themselves, not make them completely different. In essence, if an article is good, it gets edited. Sort of like how “whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:12). If we’re genuinely trying to follow Him, God’s not trying to completely erase our every semblance of individuality or uniqueness; He’s just trying to revise us, because He knows that with some rewrites, with some tweaking and fact-checking and improved consistency, we’re going to eventually be publishable into His Family. He knows that the content is solid, the potential is there.

…there’s no shame in being edited, since every created work needs editing

Taking correction like an edit

Personally, I need to remember this in moments of both taking and giving correction. When someone points out something about me that should probably be altered—of which there are so many—do I take it as a personal attack, or as an edit?

“I think this could be worded more effectively.”

This sort of mindset removes pride from the equation; there’s no shame in being edited, since every created work needs editing. And when I give correction, do I give it in the form of an edit, or an insult? “This writing is bad and you should feel bad,” comes from a completely different source than “I think this could be worded more effectively,” and all too often, the correction we give one another can sound more like the former.

God thinks we’re publishable

In the end, God thinks you and I are publishable, and He thinks the people we really struggle to appreciate are publishable, too.  He’s editing us in love, not to remove all we currently are, but to improve it. Who are we to try to edit each other, or ourselves, in any other way?

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Rachel

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Thomas White was one of the onsite Living Education students for the 2018-2019 semesters. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Thomas currently works as an Editorial Assistant for the Living Church of God. According to his wife, he eats pizza in entirely the wrong way.

Orientation Week Video

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Orientation week may have come and passed us by, but luckily we’ve still got proof! We put together a short video so that you’re caught up on the exciting student life here in Charlotte, NC.

Orientation Week | 2019

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The second year of Living Education is now underway!

This week was filled with activity as our new Living Education students arrived and began to learn more about where the next nine months will take them. Their three-day orientation program began on Monday with a trip to the Smoky Mountains, where they braved the icy waters of the Watauga River in a whitewater rafting adventure. On Tuesday, they spent the morning learning about the importance of education in the history of the Church of God, how to navigate the academic challenges for the coming year, and the principles that will guide them for the months ahead, before returning to Charlotte. On Wednesday they were welcomed by Dr. Douglas Winnail, Mr. Richard Ames, and Mr. Weston in a special forum, where they challenged to make the most of the opportunity.

For lunch, the headquarters staff gathered to meet and greet them, welcoming them to their new home. The balance of the day was spent learning more about their work-study program, becoming more familiar with the library, and taking a complete tour of the Headquarters facility. We’re so pleased to have these young people here to learn and also contribute their efforts to the Work. With our first day of classes drawing to a close, we can safely say that Living Education Charlotte 2019 has begun!

Click to check out the pictures from our Orientation Week!

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Charlotte Graduation Ceremony

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Author: Thomas White | Editorial Dept./ LivingEd-Charlotte Alumni

On Friday, May 17, 2019, the first Living Education-Charlotte Graduation Ceremony commenced. The staff meeting room of the Living Church of God’s international headquarters building was filled to the brim with family and friends, and the excitement of the graduates and those present to support them was palpable as the students awaited their certificates in assigned seats at the front of the room. Dr. Scott Winnail, the Living Education Assistant Director and the instructor of three of its courses, presided over the ceremony.

Mr. Richard Ames

As the proceedings began, Mr. Roderick McNair, the Assistant Director of Church Administration, asked God’s blessing upon them. Dr. Winnail then introduced Mr. Jonathan McNair, Living Education’s Director, as the first to speak. Mr. McNair plainly stated the focus of the Living Education-Charlotte program—to support the leadership of God’s Church in its efforts to spiritually feed the flock of people that comprises the Bride of Jesus Christ, and to ensure that the next generation of the Church’s leaders are educated in biblical foundations. Following Mr. McNair’s address, Dr. Winnail introduced the esteemed evangelist Mr. Richard Ames, the Director of Media Operations for the Living Church of God. Mr. Ames detailed the history and legacy of education in God’s Church, from the Ambassador College institutions and Imperial Schools of the Worldwide Church of God, to Living Education’s direct predecessor, Living University.

As Mr. Ames returned to his seat, Dr. Scott Winnail had the pleasure of introducing his father, evangelist Dr. Douglas Winnail, the Church Administration Director. The elder Dr. Winnail also addressed the purpose of Living Education, in a manner of speaking, as he gave reflections and thoughts for the graduates and clarified the ultimate purpose of the education that is human physical life on Earth—to “Serve God and serve other people.” This inspiring message served to invigorate the assembled students and motivate them to apply their knowledge of the true God toward lives of heartfelt service.

The students listen to Mr. Gerald Weston’s commencement address

After Dr. Douglas Winnail’s address, Dr. Scott Winnail directed the students to form a line. One by one, their names and hometowns were read, and the students were each given a hard-earned Certificate in Biblical Foundations, framed and ready for proud display upon office walls and living room mantles. Each student was also gifted with an officially-marked Living Education binder, which was, by one student’s description, “swanky.”

Finally, Mr. Gerald Weston, Presiding Evangelist of the Living Church of God, spoke to the students with an empowering graduation address. Mr. Weston reminded everyone of this world’s increasing hostility toward God’s way of life, and assured the students that they have a “rendezvous with destiny” as the end of the age draws ever closer. Students were encouraged to move forward boldly in Christ’s name, and to strive to grow in His grace and knowledge not because such a task is easy, but because it is right.

As theology faculty member Mr. Kenneth Frank closed the ceremony with a prayer, the students digested the spiritual food they had been served not only throughout the morning’s proceedings, but over the course of their nine-month Living Education experience. Living Education-Charlotte’s inaugural year having come to a close, its students prepared to once again be back in the world, grateful for the training they’d received in becoming greater Ambassadors for Christ.

Commencement address given by Mr. Gerald Weston | More on Instagram

Second Thoughts: The Chair Legs of Our Lives

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Author: Thomas White | Student at LivingEd-Charlotte

“Things will happen that can shock you to your foundation, and depending on what your foundation is, [that] is going to determine how you come through that particular trial.”

Mr. Gerald Weston, Presiding Evangelist | Student Assembly: May 9, 2019

I never planned to be in the Living Church of God. I never planned to sever ties with the organization I was previously involved with, and never planned to be set adrift in a new Church culture, knowing just few enough people to feel lost at the beginning. I did plan to dance with my mom at my—planned—future wedding, and definitely planned to go to her for advice while raising my—planned—future children.

But as Mr. Weston reminded us in the final assembly of Living Education’s inaugural year, life doesn’t go as planned. Not for me, and not for anyone. We all lose things we thought or desperately hoped we would always have, and we are all, at every moment, just one loss away from what we perceive as the ultimate test of our faith.

“Those who are founded on Christ’s teachings are going to be as one who is on a rock foundation. Yes, the waves will come, the wind will blow, even the rock beneath your feet may shake, but if you are solidly attached to it, you’ll come through.”

Our lives are built on a lot more than we might realize, unless we’ve really stopped to think about it. They’re built on the relationships we have with the people with whom we are the closest, on what we do every day to earn an income, on how our bodies continue to function, even on what we spend our leisure time doing.

It is almost like we’re each standing on a chair, occasionally jumping up and down, and all the while hoping that the many, many legs of the chair won’t break. But a lot of them will. As we lose jobs, friends, family members, self-perceptions, our health, places where we felt safe, the chair legs of our lives break.

So we can thank God for the fact that, as Mr. Weston reminded us, we only need three.

“You need to build that strong foundation on a personal basis: Does God exist, is the Bible His word, and where is He working? And if you know the answers to those three questions, and you can prove them to yourself… when the storms come, you will be able to stand.”

As it turns out, our chairs are more like three-leg stools. Even as we lose more, and more, and more parts of ourselves—pieces of our foundation—if as there are three specific legs that always remain in place, the chair won’t fall, and we will remain upright. If we know beyond doubt that God exists, know that the Bible is His inspired and infallible word, and know where He is working through His Church, we can put all of life’s weight on those three legs, and know that we won’t fall.

Our adversary will try to break those three legs, and he’ll usually do so by breaking other legs near them. As Mr. Weston said, we have to constantly guard them with our lives, because they are the true support for our lives. We may be only one loss away from the ultimate test of our faith, but if those three pillars remain strong, it’s not a test we have to fear. It’s just another one we will pass.

Thomas White headshot

Thomas White was one of the onsite Living Education students for the 2018-2019 semesters. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Thomas currently works as an Editorial Assistant for the Living Church of God. According to his wife, he eats pizza in entirely the wrong way.

Second Thoughts: Be Creative, Not Original

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By Thomas White | Student at LivingEd-Charlotte

“How small is your life? How narrow is your experience? How far have you exercised your creativity?”

Mr. Jonathan McNair | Student Assembly May 2, 2019
Photo by Jonathan Francisca on Unsplash

Some of the most creative people I know don’t think they’re creative at all, and this has always baffled me. “How can you think you’re not creative?” I say. “You just drew a gorgeous beach scene on this white pair of shoes.” As Mr. McNair brought out in his assembly this week, we as human beings, having been made in God’s image, are naturally creative. Creating is literally the first thing we read about God doing, right there in Genesis 1.

There are different levels and types of creativity, sure, but to call any human being – including yourself – “uncreative” is to utter a total falsehood, because if you’re made in God’s image, you’re creative. As far as I can see, the main reason why some people consider themselves “uncreative” is that they confuse creativity with originality, and these are two hugely different things.

“God is a God of Creativity … He used man, and built man, to have within us the passion and the desire to create, just like God.”

Mistaking originality for creativity, my friend who drew the beach scene on the pair of shoes can think she’s uncreative because, “Well, beaches weren’t my idea. Shoes weren’t my idea. I just took a thing that existed and put it on another thing that existed.” I’m affected by this, too, and I’m sure an immense number of creative people are. Every time I sit down to write creatively, I’m almost paralyzed by the selfish desire to write something totally new, something like nothing anyone has ever read.  It’s crazy, isn’t it?

Even King Solomon, who wrote something like one bazillion songs and sayings, also wrote, “what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). No one could ever accuse Solomon of being uncreative, but even he admitted that originality was out of his reach. That didn’t stop him from writing those songs and sayings though. He didn’t let the elusiveness of originality keep him from pursuing a passion to create, a passion that, as Mr. McNair said, comes directly from God, the Master Creator.

“If you’re willing to put out the effort to learn the rules, to learn the principles, to gain the experience, you’ll be able to exercise creativity in your life.”

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

The problem with wanting to be “original” is that, as Solomon said, it’s practically impossible, and this fact discourages us from pursuing our creative passions to the extent that we could. If we can, we should forget all that, and just create. Don’t worry about being original, because as Mr. McNair concluded, the best way to be creative is to use previously established patterns to achieve success. We should start small and allow ourselves to be empowered and inspired by others, whether they are on our team, or are those that came before us.

Creativity can be exercised in any area in which we may have skillsets—music, writing, artwork, scientific inquiry, structural design, culinary arts, interior design, clothing design—you name it. Whatever our roles, whatever we like doing, chances are, we can use the opportunities we are given to fuel our imaginations and get creative. We might not create something totally unlike anything that’s been created before, but lest we forget, the creation in Genesis was actually a recreation. It had already been done, and God did it again with a new spin. And He saw that it was good.

Thomas White headshot

Thomas White was one of the onsite Living Education students for the 2018-2019 semesters. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Thomas currently works as an Editorial Assistant for the Living Church of God. According to his wife, he eats pizza in entirely the wrong way.

Second Thoughts: It’s for the Kids

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Author: Thomas White | Student at LivingEd-Charlotte

“…the Father’s throne is ultimately going to be here on this earth. We look that far out in the future…but for that to be possible, we know that billions of human beings must come up and be taught His way of life, and for them to have the opportunity to become our younger brothers and sisters.” ~ Mr. Ron Poole

Student Assembly | April 11, 2019

Why do teachers work so hard? Almost all of them will be honest about the fact that they generally don’t get paid much. Whatever level of education they may be involved in, ask any of your best teachers why they put forth so much effort, and I’m willing to bet that most of them would answer with something like, “It’s for the kids. It’s all for the kids.”

This week, Mr. Ron Poole’s assembly reminded me that the future Kingdom we’re striving to reach as unborn children of God, that’s also “for the kids.” It’s our reward, but it’s not only our reward, and I can often undersell it by thinking of it as such. We’re not just running to finish a race, we’re also educating ourselves to try to get a job, the job of a teacher. And one of the bests reasons to be a teacher is to do it for the kids.

“We can see that God has work for us to do. God has a job that He wants us to be able to take care of. He is going to put us to work…but only if we’re ready. It’s only if we’re ready that He will be able to use us.”

As fully born members of the God Family, we’re going to be responsible for the education of untold billions of people, as Mr. Poole poignantly illustrated. How do we make that real to us? How do we motivate ourselves to strive toward that job? “Billions of people” sounds like something out of a statistics class, and I have a very complicated relationship with math, so when I think of being a teacher in the Millennium and Great White Throne Judgment, I focus on three people. One of them is a close family member outside God’s Church, a member I love deeply. Another is someone I knew in college, whose life had been irrevocably damaged by a terrible upbringing. The third is my best childhood friend, a principled and noble individual, who nevertheless was always missing the Truth that would bring his life to a new level.  When I think of those people, I am exceedingly motivated to become a teacher, the kind of teacher who heals and enriches his students. Those are my “kids” I want to do it for. Who are yours?  

“Would our resumes, starting in chronological order, show that we are growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?”

Whoever your “kids” are, keep them in mind as this life gets hard, because as Mr. Poole said, we’re building our applications for the ultimate teaching position with every decision we make, every opportunity from God that we take advantage of. When we desire something with every ounce of our being, we make sacrifices for it, sometimes painful ones, but the result is always worth the striving. Applying to become one of God’s Teachers is long and arduous, but in our most paralyzing moments of weakness, it might be most helpful to remember that we’re doing it for the kids.

Thomas White headshot

Thomas White was one of the onsite Living Education students for the 2018-2019 semesters. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Thomas currently works as an Editorial Assistant for the Living Church of God. According to his wife, he eats pizza in entirely the wrong way.

Second Thoughts: Blaming Gravity for the Ground

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Author: Thomas White | Student at LivingEd-Charlotte

“Gravity operates the same way, all the time. … Sometimes, when we’re falling, we wish it didn’t work that way, but we pay the consequence when we hit the ground. …and there are others laws that are absolutely just as sure as gravity. …and those laws are found right here, in the Bible.” ~ Mr. Sheldon Monson

April 4, 2019 | Student Assembly: LivingEd-Charlotte

I’m pretty sure that at some point or another, we’ve all wished that we, personally, could fly. It’s a natural, human thing to fantasize over. Even King David envied the birds at least once (Psalm 55:6). That fantasy, though, always seems to include the ability to stop flying when you’re so inclined, because otherwise the flight becomes a lot less awesome, and also a lot more terrifying. As Mr. Sheldon Monson made the point in this week’s assembly, gravity is a great thing to have around, and we all recognize that. Even after a particularly nasty fall, no one is all that tempted to sincerely say, “Ugh, gravity. I wish it would go away.” We know that would be ridiculous…but when we, in our heart of hearts, wish that certain parts of God’s law weren’t there, aren’t we being just as foolish?

“The world around us is filled with strife, it’s filled with poverty, ignorance, suffering, pain…those are all results of living a way of life that’s opposite to what God says we ought to live.”

One of my absolute favorite non-biblical quotes comes from Cecil B. DeMille, who said, “We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We can only break ourselves against them…” We all recognize that sin will always have consequences, but if we’re not careful, we can start thinking that God put those consequences there. In reality, He created His law to keep us from sin’s consequences, not consequences to keep us out of sin. If I hop the fence at the edge of the Grand Canyon and perform a swan dive, the inevitable splat isn’t the fence’s fault, or the Grand Canyon’s fault, or gravity’s fault, rather it is every bit my own fault. And as Mr. Monson brought out, the vast majority of our world is taking Satan’s advice and swan-diving off the edge of the Grand Canyon, deceived into believing that God’s Church is foolish for not doing the same.

“The main thing is to remember to keep ‘The Main Thing’ the main thing.”

So I have to make sure that I don’t do the same, because Satan whispers in my ear, too, telling me that there is no splat at the end of the dive into sin, that I can level out and levitate away right before I hit the ground. That fits right into my flying fantasy, so how do I keep from believing him? As Mr. Monson reminded us, “The Main Thing”, what keeps us safe from our own gullibility, is to “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). To cut through life’s distractions and maintain that primary focus, we need to remind ourselves that those commandments are a shield, not a cage.

Thomas White headshot

Thomas White was one of the onsite Living Education students for the 2018-2019 semesters. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Thomas currently works as an Editorial Assistant for the Living Church of God. According to his wife, he eats pizza in entirely the wrong way.

Second Thoughts: The Setup, Not the Game

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Author: Thomas White | Student at LivingEd-Charlotte

“Life is tough, and as life gets tough, with bills, and health problems, and problems with children, and neighbors, and bosses, [some] get distracted.” ~ Mr. Kenneth Frank

LivingEd-Charlotte: Student Assembly | March 28, 2019

Mr. Ken Frank packed a lot into his assembly, this week. We heard of how we’ll be leading God’s Church before we know it (no pressure or anything), how crucial it is that we don’t divide our lives into the sacred and the secular, how we might retain a biblical worldview in an era fundamentally opposed to it, and each of those points had something like a half-dozen equally profound sub-points. All of that insight is available in the assembly recording (no cost, no obligation), but one sub-point in particular struck me harder than the others. Mr. Frank alluded to the fact that it can be really tempting to give up sometimes, because living a godly life is hard. It’s hard for everyone, and knowing that suffering is a prerequisite for righteous character can feel like a mean joke. When we know we’ll never be perfect as humans, and that this physical life is never going to get any easier, but is in fact probably only going to get worse as the Great Tribulation creeps closer…yeah, it’s tempting to just go, “You know what, all is vanity,” and stay in bed indefinitely.

“People who start off with a biblical worldview can lose it if they get their eyes off Christ. They’ve got to stay focused on Him.”

As Mr. Frank implied, it’s the temporary nature of this physical life that we need to focus on, and that’s pretty difficult, because this life is all we know. Of course, for those with God’s Spirit, this life is only a womb as we wait to be born into His eternal family. But that metaphor can be a tough sell when you think about how a baby in a womb is warm, comfortable, and completely peaceful, and this life is…not those things. So though it sounds childish, I like to think of this life as the setup process to an incredibly amazing board game. No one likes setting up a board game. You have to find the pieces, you have to shuffle the cards, you have to root around in the box for all the fake money you have to organize… It’s not fun, and it feels like it takes forever. But you need to do it, and you need to do it right, in order to actually play the game. Once you start playing, you’re glad you put in the time and effort to set everything up, because the game is great, and a lot longer than the set up.

“We have to think of the bigger question: Where are we going eternally?”

That’s what I tend to forget, and what Mr. Frank reminded me – that this physical life is the setup, not the game. Suffering might very well feel endless, but the amazing reward for it will literally be endless. Even eternal life can sound like an iffy reward when you’re used to life being something you wouldn’t actually want going on eternally, but what about eternal peace? Eternal joy? Eternally giving others peace and joy? Those are in the reward, too. God promises everlasting happiness and fulfillment at the end of this ever-so-tiny period of setup. If we can keep our focus on what we’re setting up for, nothing will be able to keep us from it.

Thomas White headshot

Thomas White was one of the onsite Living Education students for the 2018-2019 semesters. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Thomas currently works as an Editorial Assistant for the Living Church of God. According to his wife, he eats pizza in entirely the wrong way.