Cece Winans: alabaster box

A reoccurring prophetic word that I have gotten from the Lord for numerous people has been the image of an alabaster jar inside people's hearts being broken open. Sometimes their hearts are literally shaped like an alabaster jar. Now inside these alabaster jars is always the fragrance of worship and devotion, inside is the freedom to worship and love Jesus without shame or restraint. Many times when I share this with the people I am praying for, they confirm that they feel stuck, dry, even constrained in their hearts. 

But, just as the very presence of Jesus undid the woman in Bethany setting her free to worship and adore Him without caring who was around (Matthew 26:6-12; Mark 14:1-11; Luke 7:36-50), so the Lord's desire for these people was to increase His presence in their lives, breaking open the alabaster jar within their hearts and setting them free to worship and adore Him without restraint. Allowing the fragrance of worship and devotion to flow freely from their hearts in greater and greater measure. 

So this is my prayer: Lord, there are so many people who feel locked down in their hearts, unable to offer You the worship and devotion that they know You deserve. So, I pray Lord that You would increase Your presence in their lives, breaking open the alabaster jar within their hearts and setting them free to worship and adore You with wild abandon. Where the fragrance of worship and devotion will continually surround them and even be released into the atmosphere wherever they go. In Your Name Jesus, Amen.  

Khan Academy: leveraging globalization for educational progress

 

Watching this video makes me happy, especially after watching the documentary "Waiting for Superman" which really painted a pretty abysmal and depressing picture of the current public school system in America. Though I don't see the Kahn Academy as an end all be all solution, it is a giant leap in the right direction. It will be interesting to see how this approach of customized learning for individual students will change the present educational models. In many ways, Kahn Academy is addressing the major issue of poor quality teachers by helping fill in the gaps by coming alongside students as a their own personal teaching assistant. I especially appreciate the global vision of peer-to-peer tutoring  (where students can help tutor students on the other side of the world) which leverages globalization in a positive way. 

When it comes to globalization, there are many pros and cons which people much more educated in the matter can explain far more articulate than me. But, from my perspective I feel the cons out weigh the pros. Now, hear me on this, I'm not saying that there aren't some good things happening through globalization, but there are some downsides: the greatest being monoculturalism. I see a lot of value and beauty in the diversity of peoples and cultures, I mean creation is about diversity which globalization seeks to homogenize. In order to preserve the unique beauty that the many cultures of the world hold, a higher value needs to be placed on celebrating cultural diversity by embracing a more multicultural perspective, rather than sinking into the monoculture that globalization (and postmodernism) seeks to create. The reason that this is so important is because at the end of the day, there is no stopping the globalization machine. So, embrace and celebrate the cultural diversity that surrounds you today!