1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,240 Welcome to Students Incorporated. I'm your host, Mr. Jason. Join me weekly as my team 2 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:14,340 and I produce content that's informative, positive, fun, and uplifting. This podcast 3 00:00:14,340 --> 00:00:18,480 is created and produced with the help of students from the International Community School of 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:24,840 Bangkok. In today's episode, we have the privilege of hosting Dr. Jim and Sarah Drexler, both 5 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:31,000 experienced educators from the U.S. with connections to higher education and journalism. I'm joined 6 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:37,280 by co-host Mia and Premi today. This episode is sponsored by the InSpark Club of ICS. InSpark 7 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,420 aims to promote the spirit of culture and innovation among the youth. So thank you for 8 00:00:42,420 --> 00:00:47,020 sponsoring this episode. But before we get into our guest segments, let's hear our quote 9 00:00:47,020 --> 00:00:51,280 of the day and get some headline news. Our quote of the day comes from Thomas Hendrik 10 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,120 Ives, the former president of Estonia. He's quoted to have said, fake news is cheap to 11 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:01,280 produce. Genuine journalism is expensive. While fake news is cheap to produce and easy 12 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:07,320 to share, trustworthy news is harder to find. In a digital world flooded with misinformation, 13 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:11,660 we must be discerning about the content we consume. Fake news spreads quickly because 14 00:01:11,660 --> 00:01:16,640 it often triggers strong emotional reactions, making it more likely to be shared. By questioning 15 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:21,440 what we see and verifying information from trusted sources, we can reduce our vulnerability 16 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:26,440 to hoaxes and help promote a more informed society. And that's our quote of the day. 17 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,560 Now onto some headline news. For this episode's news segment, we thought we'd bring some 18 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,960 headlines from the World News Group since today we have the privilege of having the 19 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:38,480 founders' family members as guests on the show. You'll get to meet them shortly. But 20 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,880 first, here are several news headlines from the sound journalism, grounded in facts and 21 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:50,720 biblical truth from world that can be found at WNG.org. Our first headline reads, Church 22 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:57,680 bookkeeper sentenced to prison after $875,000 embezzlement. Florida church worker Derry 23 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:03,040 has been falsifying the church's financial records and writing herself fraudulent checks 24 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:10,440 from October 2023 through March 2024. The grand total estimate of $875,000 embezzled 25 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:16,200 was utilized to cover mortgage payments, credit card bills, vacations, and concert tickets. 26 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,240 Her attorneys state that Derry's scheme was a result of psychological stress from the 27 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,800 news of her daughter's necessary open-heart surgery. She is sentenced to more than two 28 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,760 years of prison for federal wiring fraud, but the church's spokesperson says that she 29 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:35,440 will be welcomed back at the church once she returns. Our next headline is, new study suggests 30 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:40,720 link between cancer and marijuana usage. The legalization of marijuana for its recreational 31 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:46,040 uses, given its risks and drawbacks, have long been debated and is seen as controversial. 32 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,200 Possible new studies and results reveal what could be important in reconsidering the framework 33 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:55,680 and perspective in which marijuana usage and legalization is viewed. The Diction Biology, 34 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:00,640 the research from the University of Western Australia published, suggested that cannabis 35 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:05,760 use could cause cellular damage, increasing the likelihood of the damage on genetics 36 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:11,840 in cells, including such impact on fetuses. However, other notable professionals have 37 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:17,320 questioned the validity of this research and deemed the source as speculative. And finally, 38 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:22,840 our last headline touches on speculation as well. Speculative fiction even. DLD report 39 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:29,440 says no evidence that UFOs are adversaries. Aliens. The Pentagon states that there were 40 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:38,440 over 750 reports of UFO sightings from May 2023 to June 2024, of which only 7% were closed, 41 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:45,000 34% waiting final review and 60% couldn't be analyzed effectively. This said, the report 42 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:51,280 begs the question of, if they weren't UFOs, what were the sightings? The AARO director 43 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:56,200 states that most of the objects sighted were birds, balloons, airplanes or drones, with 44 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:02,000 only few being genuinely anomalous. And that ends our headline news brought to you by the 45 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,680 World News Group at WNG.org. 46 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:20,680 Hello, and thank you so much for joining us today. Could you please introduce yourself 47 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,440 and tell us a little bit about what you do? 48 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:31,360 Sure. My name is Sarah Drexler. I am from Chattanooga, Tennessee. I have been a school 49 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:41,600 administrator for a high school administrator for more than 40 years. I am retired from 50 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:48,400 full-time administration and just helping out the school now, but that's been my career. 51 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:55,760 And hi, my name is Jim Drexler and originally from Florida in the US and with my wife have 52 00:04:55,760 --> 00:05:03,760 been working in education in a variety of places. 23 years in St. Louis at a middle 53 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:10,280 and secondary school teacher. I was the high school principal and now I'm a professor at 54 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:17,680 Covenant College in the education department, but also serving as a dean and visiting schools 55 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,240 and doing a lot of fun things in Thailand. 56 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:24,960 Oh, wow. That sounds so cool. It sounds like you both have been into so many different 57 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:29,840 places and educational fields. We were wondering if you could give us some insight into the 58 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:34,840 journey you both took to where you are now and what are some of those defining moments? 59 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:46,160 I was born into a family of teachers and writers and I just always assumed that I would teach 60 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:55,800 or write. And then when I went to college, I got, I would say distracted a little bit. 61 00:05:55,800 --> 00:06:00,400 I was trained to be a teacher in college, but towards the end, maybe I got a little 62 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:06,600 cocky and thought, oh, well, I don't just want to do what my family did, so I'll go 63 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:14,120 figure something else out. And that was a wrong idea, but it led me into some other 64 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:24,200 places. And one of those was in prison ministry. And I did some writing there and helped with 65 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:30,800 that. But it was during that time, interestingly, that I observed some teachers teaching in 66 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:37,520 prisons and thought, oh, I think I would be really good at that. And it was funny because 67 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:45,200 I was sort of detached from my original education and it was just a few years later. But I really 68 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:51,640 think that God used that in helping me get a calling. And also, when I got into education 69 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:57,380 and started teaching, the school that we were with in St. Louis really wanted a community 70 00:06:57,380 --> 00:07:05,840 service program, a whole, a full-fledged program. So they asked me, would you be the person 71 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:12,360 to organize that, to bring that into being? And I got to do that. But I look back on my 72 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:23,360 life and think it was interesting that I had this opportunity to do prison work before 73 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:31,280 and come back to education and then realize there really are broken, needy, difficult 74 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:39,200 situations that we need to meet, prison and many, many, many others. And I think my heart 75 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:46,920 was probably softened by that experience coming back into education. I did that for many years, 76 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:53,320 did community service projects and a capstone similar to what you have here. I think after 77 00:07:53,320 --> 00:08:00,600 all is said and done, that is the thing I cherish most in my career and that I actually 78 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:09,600 right now would love to write a curriculum for a school like this, K-12, so that from 79 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:17,640 their very tiniest kid to the oldest, there is a systematic development of teaching, care 80 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:24,320 for the community. So that's my dream. I've given you the whole thing, how it all came 81 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:31,280 about and the dream I have for kind of semi-retirement to do that kind of thing. 82 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:37,600 I have known people over the years who from the very earliest time of their life, they 83 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:43,760 knew exactly what they were going to do. Well, praise the Lord that God works sometimes in 84 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:51,000 people like that. That was not my story. I often say I did the next thing. But one of 85 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:58,080 the markers in my story is that humanly speaking, I never should have gone to Covenant College, 86 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:03,600 didn't have the church background, the educational background, but I ended up going to Covenant 87 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:12,800 College and decided at some point to pursue a double major in history and in biblical 88 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,400 studies and people at the time would ask me, why are you doing that? I said, well, I just 89 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:21,800 like the classes and I like the professors. I didn't have a plan. One of the Bible professors 90 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:27,320 once or twice, it wasn't a regular comment, he said, you ought to think about going to 91 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:33,160 seminary and that just scared me. I didn't think about working in that situation would 92 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:38,800 be for me. But eventually we got married, we spent our first year in the Washington, 93 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:46,360 DC area and then we went to seminary in St. Louis. Sarah got a job at a pretty new Christian 94 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:51,240 school as a teacher because she had trained for that. I also had a job there. I was a 95 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:56,380 janitor cleaning classrooms and bathrooms, paying my way through seminary. The last year 96 00:09:56,380 --> 00:10:01,520 of seminary, the principal of the school said, we're growing, enrollment is growing, we need 97 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:07,500 to hire some new people. We need somebody next year who can teach a few Bible classes 98 00:10:07,500 --> 00:10:12,320 and a few history classes. And I don't think I said it out loud at that point, but I thought 99 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:19,200 it very soon after. Oh, that's why I did that double major. And I've been doing that throughout 100 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:27,320 my career in education. I did not have a big plan, a big scheme to be a professor at Covenant 101 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:34,880 College. My goodness, that was the furthest thing from my mind. But the Lord through conversations 102 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:42,240 with people and circumstances introduced these things and by faith we followed through with 103 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:47,840 it and here we are recruiting for Covenant College in Bangkok, Thailand. So that's my 104 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,080 short story. All right. Thank you guys so much for your 105 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:56,700 answer. I think you all have really inspiring story and relating to what Ms. Sarah said 106 00:10:56,700 --> 00:11:01,840 actually about writing, I also am a writer. I'm finishing up my first rough draft for 107 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:07,000 my first book. So that's been coming along behind the scenes. That's wonderful. Thank 108 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:12,320 you. All right. Now moving on to higher education, could you explain to our listeners what the 109 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:17,880 terms liberal arts means when talking about a college or a university? 110 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:24,780 Yes, happy to. We have the privilege of traveling internationally. And I know from experience 111 00:11:24,780 --> 00:11:31,960 that sometimes when that phrase is used, people assume the word liberal means liberal in terms 112 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:38,440 of morality or politics and they sort of shy away and back away from it. But historically 113 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:46,740 it's a great phrase and for simplicity's sake, the idea behind it is a well-rounded education. 114 00:11:46,740 --> 00:11:53,400 So at a place like Covenant College, if someone comes to study to be an engineer or economics 115 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:59,320 or biology or whatever it might be, they don't spend four years just in that subject. We 116 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:06,840 have a pretty extensive core set of classes where every student will have some exposure 117 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:16,360 to history, the sciences, math, the social sciences, Bible and theology. The idea is 118 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:20,240 not that you're going to learn everything there is to know about everything, of course, 119 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:27,760 but it's rooted in the idea that all truth is God's truth, that Jesus created all things. 120 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:35,760 And the more we can know about the world that we live in, the better. And also as you study 121 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:43,200 those different subject areas, the liberal arts, languages and so forth, you begin to 122 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:49,860 see by God's grace the interconnectedness of the curriculum. It's not just these isolated 123 00:12:49,860 --> 00:12:56,000 topics and subjects out there that never have any connection with one another, but there 124 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:02,920 is an intention in that core to see the overlaps. And some people call it the integration or 125 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:10,680 the connection between content areas. And so the liberal arts historically were to provide 126 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:17,720 a well-rounded education for someone as they were pursuing college and university. 127 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:23,080 Yeah. Thank you so much. And I think it's also definitely important to kind of differentiate 128 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:28,560 the, as you said, historical meaning and maybe the meaning is taken on now. Personally, I 129 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:33,440 love the idea of a liberal arts colleges as well. I think it's really important no matter 130 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:37,640 what profession you go into to have that kind of connection, like you said, but also more 131 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:42,840 specifically the interdisciplinary kind of approach or the intersectionality of different 132 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:47,640 things. Because I think it might, regardless of what you do in your career, I think it's 133 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,980 important to have an understanding of different disciplines and how they connect. So definitely 134 00:13:51,980 --> 00:13:55,560 really important. Yeah. And there's a major at Covenant called 135 00:13:55,560 --> 00:14:02,640 interdisciplinary studies where students have the core set of classes, but then they select 136 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:08,760 two or three concentration areas. So they don't have a major in biology or a major in 137 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:14,680 math. They may have strong concentrations in two or three areas. And that people who 138 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:20,360 go into that major with the intent to have that interdisciplinary liberal arts, it's a 139 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:26,440 great pathway for students. Yeah. Yeah. I think also at a liberal arts college and 140 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:34,140 in particular, I suppose at a smaller liberal arts college like Covenant, it is a beautiful 141 00:14:34,140 --> 00:14:44,100 thing to watch roommates learn a little of each other's majors and to watch the respect 142 00:14:44,100 --> 00:14:53,160 and really affection grow for, I guess admiration is also in place for like our daughter was 143 00:14:53,160 --> 00:15:01,320 a music piano major, but one of her roommates was a biology major and one was an education 144 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:06,480 major and they just were all in different fields and they couldn't help but learn from 145 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:14,160 each other and at least respect one another. And I think that plays out in real life when 146 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:20,840 you live on the block and your neighbor is somebody, he's an engineer and I'm a musician, 147 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:31,480 I'm not an engineer, but you learn to respect and appreciate the world of career and life. 148 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:35,740 For sure. And I think it's also important like that learning that is in classroom and 149 00:15:35,740 --> 00:15:39,800 outside of classroom and I think you were talking about earlier about how you were saying 150 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:44,240 like Jesus connects like the different disciplines and it's really beautiful to see which connects 151 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:49,600 really well to our next question that has to do with the balance between faith and academia. 152 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:54,340 What sort of challenges do Christian colleges and universities face when trying to balance 153 00:15:54,340 --> 00:15:58,960 faith based education with the demands of a changing culture and modern academia? 154 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:06,760 Yeah, that's a good question and it is a challenge and I think in the most simple terms to say 155 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:13,820 it's a challenge if again I work in the field of education so if you have a math teacher, 156 00:16:13,820 --> 00:16:19,600 she has to know the content of math whether it's algebra, geometry, whatever and how to 157 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:26,360 teach that effectively, but at the same time to be a consistent and coherent Christian 158 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:34,400 educator she also has to be increasingly day by day, week by week, familiar with and learning 159 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:40,200 about what scripture says about truth and life and the purpose of life and so forth. 160 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:46,680 So to pursue that is really a lifelong work. I don't know that any brand new teachers going 161 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:52,560 to be able to do that and even a teacher who's five or ten years and if they haven't again 162 00:16:52,560 --> 00:17:01,120 intentionally and consciously pursued looking at their content area through the lens of 163 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:08,280 scripture it doesn't mean that what the math that she's teaching is neutral. It just means 164 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:16,480 that other narratives, other stories are guiding the decision she makes in the classroom about 165 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:23,640 content and assessments and relationships and classroom management and discipline and 166 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:27,560 even how you arrange the furniture in the classroom. There's a reason those decisions 167 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:36,800 are made and to do so that connection between faith and content and practice is a lifelong 168 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:43,480 pursuit to do that again I use the phrase consistently and coherently if that makes 169 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:44,620 sense. 170 00:17:44,620 --> 00:17:56,480 I have a friend in education who says he does not believe that we integrate faith and learning. 171 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:04,640 We're not the ones that put that together. He's a Christian educator and he says he believes 172 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:10,080 since we believe all things belong to God, education belongs to God and so faith and 173 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:19,160 learning are already integrated. It's us that kind of have mucked it up and I remember him 174 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:25,760 saying to us you kind of have to we are scraping off the trouble and the brokenness to get 175 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:32,240 to the beauty of faith and learning being already integrated and together. 176 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:38,160 And I'll say that ties in with the story of scripture that God created all things, created 177 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:46,800 all things well and good. The fall has distorted and corrupted. It can't destroy the good creation 178 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:52,960 but it tries to pull us in other directions but Christ came to redeem all things to himself 179 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:58,760 and in Colossians 1 it says he came to reconcile all things. He doesn't say all people, all 180 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:05,480 things to himself. In other words to restore and renew and that's the coming completion 181 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:12,600 or consummation of things and so as she just said it's already won in Christ. The realities 182 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:20,480 of the fall have had a real negative effect. Sometimes people sort of in a joking way will 183 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:28,880 say you know if the fall had not happened would Abraham have flown in an airplane? Would 184 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:33,440 Moses have been using the internet? In other words the development of creation that we're 185 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:40,160 called to do is always slowed down. The pull and the tug of the fall has slowed things 186 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:45,360 down so that we have those things now but anyway I'm getting a little off a feel but 187 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:49,080 yeah. For sure I think that achieving two things 188 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:55,780 at once such as focusing on faith but also being academia focused is at times it can 189 00:19:55,780 --> 00:20:00,000 be very hard but I think that here at Guys's College such as you know Covenant College 190 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:07,200 I think that executes it tremendously well and at sometimes it may be hard and challenging 191 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:12,200 but I think it is also very rewarding when you see you know when when you see your students 192 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:18,040 come out and graduate and you know become more than their major so as to speak. Now 193 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:23,760 moving on to impact and outcomes and just generally speaking what are some unique ways 194 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:28,960 a liberal arts Christian college or university prepares young people for the challenges of 195 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:35,520 a modern world as compared to a state school or a non-Christian institution? 196 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:41,120 Another really good question. You guys are great interviewers. It's interesting in recent 197 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:49,280 years there have been some articles in business type of publication Forbes magazine and others 198 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:56,620 that have talked about this and have talked about the desirability of hiring college university 199 00:20:56,620 --> 00:21:01,320 graduates who have a liberal arts education and part of what they have been getting at 200 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:08,560 as to why that's important is that liberal arts institutions like Covenant and there 201 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:17,120 are others around as well. They have encouraged students to learn how to think, to learn how 202 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:25,520 to write, to learn how to articulate truth and what they believe and information about 203 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:31,380 their content and these magazines, the articles I've seen have talked about what an advantage 204 00:21:31,380 --> 00:21:38,160 that is in hiring somebody in a variety of settings could be management, could be in 205 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:46,240 other levels because of that reality of being able to think and write and communicate clearly 206 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:52,680 about whatever field that they're in and that's one of the benefits that came to mind when 207 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,180 you said that. 208 00:21:54,180 --> 00:22:03,720 I would also say virtues that are associated with faith commitments make a big difference 209 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:15,640 and even in sitting here your courtesies to us as visitors make a difference. Not just 210 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:22,520 to commend you but it facilitates the whole thing. It makes everything better when we 211 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:35,220 practice good virtue and kindness and respect and I think also in Christian faith and that 212 00:22:35,220 --> 00:22:44,540 when we believe as Dr. Jim said earlier, when we believe that God made the world it's really 213 00:22:44,540 --> 00:22:56,200 good and so the study of it needs to be really good and really excellent and it's not diminished 214 00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:05,580 by having faith influence but made greater and more wonderful by believing that the God 215 00:23:05,580 --> 00:23:09,020 of all creation is in this. 216 00:23:09,020 --> 00:23:14,320 That is absolutely beautiful and I think to touch on both your points, you were saying 217 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:20,780 different virtues or different skills of communication. I guess more advantageous to a liberal arts 218 00:23:20,780 --> 00:23:26,860 college would be the soft skills that I learned because I think in different professions all 219 00:23:26,860 --> 00:23:31,940 graduates will have the knowledge, the hard skills that is necessary but then what differentiates 220 00:23:31,940 --> 00:23:36,380 each person from the workforce? It's the virtues, it's the soft skills, it's the ability to 221 00:23:36,380 --> 00:23:38,300 communicate and to do it well. 222 00:23:38,300 --> 00:23:44,140 Our final question for this segment is and to give us some hope for future generations. 223 00:23:44,140 --> 00:23:49,940 In what ways does the integration of faith and academics impact students personal development 224 00:23:49,940 --> 00:23:51,740 and future career paths? 225 00:23:51,740 --> 00:23:58,980 Well I was thinking a minute ago of an example that I remember is actually a professor that 226 00:23:58,980 --> 00:24:06,540 Sarah had in her education training, Geraldine Steensma and she was advising in working with 227 00:24:06,540 --> 00:24:13,740 teachers in training that going back to the example of a math educator that and she used 228 00:24:13,740 --> 00:24:21,100 the two eyeballs as an example that the one eye is on whatever the lesson is for the day, 229 00:24:21,100 --> 00:24:28,060 factoring or the Pythagorean theorem or whatever that here's the particular topic in our class 230 00:24:28,060 --> 00:24:33,060 but always again by God's grace you can't do this completely or perfectly but also have 231 00:24:33,060 --> 00:24:40,220 an eye on the other disciplines where factoring or the Pythagorean theorem might come into 232 00:24:40,220 --> 00:24:48,780 play and you can begin to think of connections in construction or in engineering or in the 233 00:24:48,780 --> 00:24:55,980 medical field or in just a variety of ways where math knowledge is key to success in 234 00:24:55,980 --> 00:25:02,700 the work and she wrote about that working on the two eyes it's hard to do. 235 00:25:02,700 --> 00:25:07,700 It's hard to do just talk to a math teacher. It's hard enough to plan a lesson where you're 236 00:25:07,700 --> 00:25:14,700 going to get through that material but at the same time to have the rest of knowledge 237 00:25:14,700 --> 00:25:22,640 in mind that I'm trying to weave this together in but that is a gift that I think the Christian 238 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:28,820 liberal arts approach to education and related to that the Christian school like ICS, like 239 00:25:28,820 --> 00:25:36,300 covenant should be the best of schools academically because we know the source of all truths and 240 00:25:36,300 --> 00:25:41,040 have a connection with the creator of all things and the one who is going to redeem 241 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:48,820 all things and never an excuse for half-hearted efforts educationally but the very best because 242 00:25:48,820 --> 00:25:49,820 of that knowledge. 243 00:25:49,820 --> 00:25:55,580 Yeah I think that's a beautiful beautiful metaphor and that ends us on with a great 244 00:25:55,580 --> 00:26:00,180 note for this first segment and we'll be right back after the PSA. 245 00:26:00,180 --> 00:26:09,780 For today's PSA we will be introducing the InSpark club to you all. The club's aim is 246 00:26:09,780 --> 00:26:15,100 to promote the spirit and culture of innovation among the youth. InSpark advocates for youths 247 00:26:15,100 --> 00:26:20,740 exploring the field of innovation and creative thinking specifically by providing informative 248 00:26:20,740 --> 00:26:26,420 resources in those areas in an engaging way. Furthermore InSpark is also providing different 249 00:26:26,420 --> 00:26:31,820 innovative company visits as well as competitions to see innovation and technology applied in 250 00:26:31,820 --> 00:26:37,660 real life. The club tries to create a space to promote innovation out of the box thinking, 251 00:26:37,660 --> 00:26:42,780 technology and creativity at ICS and possibly spread the connection to other international 252 00:26:42,780 --> 00:26:47,140 schools in Bangkok. For any further questions please don't hesitate to contact them through 253 00:26:47,140 --> 00:26:55,980 their Instagram at InSpark club and remember keep thinking creating and learning. 254 00:26:55,980 --> 00:27:01,500 Hi Sarah we understand that your family the Belles family started the World News Group 255 00:27:01,500 --> 00:27:07,220 and also the World Magazine so you must have some experience with news and journaling. 256 00:27:07,220 --> 00:27:12,820 So could you give us a quick history lesson on how that all started and where it is today? 257 00:27:12,820 --> 00:27:23,780 Sure I have to confess that writing and journalism are my dream not my reality but watching my 258 00:27:23,780 --> 00:27:32,460 brothers and my sister-in-law in particular work has been really fun over the years. Our 259 00:27:32,460 --> 00:27:45,940 dad my Belles father Max Belles was a farm guy well yeah he was a grain dealer out in 260 00:27:45,940 --> 00:27:53,740 the countryside of Iowa and he became a Christian and one of the things that he did as a 261 00:27:53,740 --> 00:28:00,060 very young man was go to work for a small newspaper in southern Minnesota and he just 262 00:28:00,060 --> 00:28:07,060 kind of got the printing bug and so later not too many years later when he was married 263 00:28:07,060 --> 00:28:12,300 and he was a pastor one of the ways that they earned money was to have a print shop in our 264 00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:18,860 basement so we had printing presses we had a thing called a linotype and my older brothers 265 00:28:18,860 --> 00:28:25,700 were the worker bees down there really on the printing and so my brother Joel really 266 00:28:25,700 --> 00:28:31,860 loved the whole printing business my dad was a great writer my mom was a good writer and 267 00:28:31,860 --> 00:28:39,660 they just became you know increasingly in publishing for our church denomination and 268 00:28:39,660 --> 00:28:50,860 for people who hired them so Joel after college after journalism school worked for a magazine 269 00:28:50,860 --> 00:28:56,300 called the Presbyterian Journal which was a good magazine but very what do you call 270 00:28:56,300 --> 00:29:09,540 it not narrow but narrow audience and he always thought a better idea would be to have news 271 00:29:09,540 --> 00:29:16,220 that was written from a biblical perspective a little bit along the lines of what we talked 272 00:29:16,220 --> 00:29:21,680 about in the first segment that and that's one reason that the news group and the magazine 273 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:28,940 have been called world because it's based on I believe Psalm 24 that says the world 274 00:29:28,940 --> 00:29:38,500 the earth is the Lord's and everything in it what a verse so his goal was to have a 275 00:29:38,500 --> 00:29:49,540 magazine that told the news from a Christian perspective told the truth wasn't afraid of 276 00:29:49,540 --> 00:29:58,980 topics or of whatever the news story was because the objective was tell the truth about what 277 00:29:58,980 --> 00:30:06,460 happened tell the truth about what's going on in the world and at first I think the magazine 278 00:30:06,460 --> 00:30:16,780 was not a success you know started and failed a time or two but then they started children's 279 00:30:16,780 --> 00:30:26,100 news magazines weekly that went to kids schools and they were world kids magazines I think 280 00:30:26,100 --> 00:30:33,100 they had I don't know what they were called exactly but that became very popular in schools 281 00:30:33,100 --> 00:30:43,300 and then shortly after that the adult version which was world news magazine took hold and 282 00:30:43,300 --> 00:30:54,700 it's still in existence and now has a podcast and news I think most people who would talk 283 00:30:54,700 --> 00:31:02,460 to you about world probably have heard the news arm that is the world and everything 284 00:31:02,460 --> 00:31:08,980 in it and the magazine is still there an online version of the main I mean they have a full 285 00:31:08,980 --> 00:31:20,060 fledged very thorough presentation my brother who started it passed away in February of 286 00:31:20,060 --> 00:31:27,420 this year so this has been kind of a big year of kind of looking back on world and and how 287 00:31:27,420 --> 00:31:34,060 it has developed and become quite a strong magazine thank you so much that's super super 288 00:31:34,060 --> 00:31:39,260 inspiring and I think it's like you said it's great to see and reflect like how far it's 289 00:31:39,260 --> 00:31:43,540 come right especially despite like so many setbacks and challenges and how big it's grown 290 00:31:43,540 --> 00:31:49,220 and how much impact it's made on people's lives I'm sure and on the topic of that news 291 00:31:49,220 --> 00:31:53,500 the world magazine and you mentioned like it was found on like with the mission of like 292 00:31:53,500 --> 00:31:58,740 having the biblical perspective being integrated into the news so we'd like to hear your thoughts 293 00:31:58,740 --> 00:32:04,180 on the role of news organizations especially faith-based ones like world news group in 294 00:32:04,180 --> 00:32:10,420 combating misinformation and how journalists today can distinguish truth from propaganda 295 00:32:10,420 --> 00:32:20,640 wow it's kind of a loaded question with the current political situation in the US both 296 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:30,860 sides claiming misinformation disinformation hacking foreign influence you know where can 297 00:32:30,860 --> 00:32:38,940 you find the truth and kind of from my perspective almost any news outlet or media outlet is 298 00:32:38,940 --> 00:32:46,100 subject to propagating things that we would call misinformation even sometimes I think 299 00:32:46,100 --> 00:32:52,860 by accident passing on stories or information that has not been vetted and and so I say 300 00:32:52,860 --> 00:33:01,660 that because I think even Christian publications like world magazine another famous magazine 301 00:33:01,660 --> 00:33:06,660 Christianity Today I don't know is that a weekly magazine I think or monthly I don't 302 00:33:06,660 --> 00:33:12,940 even know now but they have to be careful because those reporters might be Christians 303 00:33:12,940 --> 00:33:20,100 but they're also human beings and human beings make mistakes and errors so I'm kind of getting 304 00:33:20,100 --> 00:33:27,620 at saying this that I think I don't think that Christian publications are immune to 305 00:33:27,620 --> 00:33:37,980 making mistakes or in putting out an agenda that they believe is the right one that objectively 306 00:33:37,980 --> 00:33:46,220 speaking might not be the truth am I being too vague I think no I think I think that 307 00:33:46,220 --> 00:33:50,300 was a great answer and I think like when it comes to like more heavy I guess topics where 308 00:33:50,300 --> 00:33:55,900 there's many differing perspectives at hand it's hard to define what is misinformation 309 00:33:55,900 --> 00:34:00,340 in the first place or what is what are the lines or what are the boundaries that are 310 00:34:00,340 --> 00:34:05,220 drawn and I think especially like you were saying like there's definitely a lot of work 311 00:34:05,220 --> 00:34:09,260 like the word agenda I think is being used a lot in today's political climate or like 312 00:34:09,260 --> 00:34:13,980 the word indoctrination I'm also seeing a lot from both sides I think that was a great 313 00:34:13,980 --> 00:34:17,660 approach to like seeing it because I think there are many many differing perspectives 314 00:34:17,660 --> 00:34:22,300 and especially in something that seems to be objective as like a new source it's also 315 00:34:22,300 --> 00:34:27,980 important to remember that some aspects of it are still subjective to many people's different 316 00:34:27,980 --> 00:34:33,540 beliefs so yeah thank you so much you're welcome I think we can speak individually right yeah 317 00:34:33,540 --> 00:34:39,100 of course speak the truth in love sometimes the truth is hard but right there's always 318 00:34:39,100 --> 00:34:48,140 that potential potential for in a fallen world with right beings mm-hmm there's also a wonderful 319 00:34:48,140 --> 00:34:54,500 statement in scripture from Jesus himself that says the truth will set you free and 320 00:34:54,500 --> 00:35:01,260 I think of that a lot that you I think I said at the outset that I had been a school administrator 321 00:35:01,260 --> 00:35:07,340 and oftentimes if a student chooses not to speak truth which happens sometimes I did 322 00:35:07,340 --> 00:35:13,300 that too when I was a kid but when you choose not to speak truth you get in deeper and deeper 323 00:35:13,300 --> 00:35:19,540 and deeper and the cover has to be more and more thorough but the truth sets you free 324 00:35:19,540 --> 00:35:25,980 even if it's painful at the outset and I think I I know when I think about my brother Joel 325 00:35:25,980 --> 00:35:35,020 that that was one of his driving inner messages was it will set a lot of people free if we're 326 00:35:35,020 --> 00:35:41,220 if we give as much truth as we possibly can all right thank you for both of your answers 327 00:35:41,220 --> 00:35:45,880 now on the topic of perspectives what are some of the unique perspectives Christian 328 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:51,580 journalists bring to the media landscape I would like to use my sister-in-law Mindy Bells 329 00:35:51,580 --> 00:36:02,340 as an example she has faithfully told the news of the church in the Middle East the 330 00:36:02,340 --> 00:36:11,860 church at large for 30 years at least and gone there and walked with people there walked 331 00:36:11,860 --> 00:36:23,820 with churches there just spent time deferring to them being with them letting them show 332 00:36:23,820 --> 00:36:31,380 her what was happening like letting them tell her and then telling their story back to us 333 00:36:31,380 --> 00:36:39,060 through actually through World magazine for a long time and now she's independent but 334 00:36:39,060 --> 00:36:48,420 my point in that is I appreciate that she has allowed the story to be before her not 335 00:36:48,420 --> 00:36:53,740 going with an agenda of I bet the church is doing that or I bet they're not doing that 336 00:36:53,740 --> 00:37:04,140 but rather letting it be its own story and I just feel like she her writing has been 337 00:37:04,140 --> 00:37:10,540 blessed and been I don't know what you would call it just underscored in its truth because 338 00:37:10,540 --> 00:37:18,740 she has faithfully delivered it that way and hasn't wavered and it's really easy and to 339 00:37:18,740 --> 00:37:28,420 go in with an agenda like you said or a perspective that you want to prove and I appreciate her 340 00:37:28,420 --> 00:37:33,780 for doing that because describing anything about the Middle East to us being on the ground 341 00:37:33,780 --> 00:37:40,500 is so so valuable to us but if she doesn't speak truth we haven't gotten a picture at 342 00:37:40,500 --> 00:37:48,140 all and your your question used the word perspective and I thought of a silly example that I've 343 00:37:48,140 --> 00:37:54,180 been doing lately so we're traveling on behalf of our college and I have told a number of 344 00:37:54,180 --> 00:38:01,300 people that we visited a school last year for the first time and half of their grade 345 00:38:01,300 --> 00:38:08,380 12 students enrolled at Covenant and people like your faces they think wow that you're 346 00:38:08,380 --> 00:38:15,780 really good but then I always go on to say there were two seniors so we you know but 347 00:38:15,780 --> 00:38:20,220 this is the perspective you know you could say something in this in this silly example 348 00:38:20,220 --> 00:38:29,300 that's true but the way I chose to say it sounded like wow you are really good at attracting 349 00:38:29,300 --> 00:38:37,420 students well there was one and so and I think that can happen in journalism as well and 350 00:38:37,420 --> 00:38:43,900 getting back to a comment I made in there in the first segment that if if a journalist 351 00:38:43,900 --> 00:38:50,720 is a Christian if a journalist says I belong to Jesus it's incumbent on her or him to by 352 00:38:50,720 --> 00:39:01,380 God's grace be informed by truth and guided by truth and praying and asking for the wisdom 353 00:39:01,380 --> 00:39:08,180 to say things accurately not just two plus two is four but even the words to give a perspective 354 00:39:08,180 --> 00:39:15,660 you can give an angle on something as my silly example gave that is misleading and so I do 355 00:39:15,660 --> 00:39:19,820 it for the laugh line but I know it's misleading yeah. 356 00:39:19,820 --> 00:39:26,300 My mom used to tell me when I was young and learning to speak truth she said she would 357 00:39:26,300 --> 00:39:33,740 say truth is what you hope the other person hears not just your words you don't have 358 00:39:33,740 --> 00:39:38,820 permission to just put words out there you have to think what what do I hope they're 359 00:39:38,820 --> 00:39:44,340 hearing and you know that's what you're saying actually. 360 00:39:44,340 --> 00:39:50,020 I love that I think that's a beautiful quote and I think it really like underscores and 361 00:39:50,020 --> 00:39:54,100 emphasizes the importance of communication too like what you think is the truth and what 362 00:39:54,100 --> 00:39:57,880 you're trying to convey is the truth might not be what the person on the receiving end 363 00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:03,140 hears and interprets and I loved your example as well I think that that is funny for sure 364 00:40:03,140 --> 00:40:09,660 and I think it does prove a point that like truly so many times both accidentally and 365 00:40:09,660 --> 00:40:15,500 intentionally the words you say every single word could be meaning something or implying 366 00:40:15,500 --> 00:40:20,660 something so I think it's definitely important to like acknowledge that defect so I think 367 00:40:20,660 --> 00:40:25,380 it's really important that yeah that acknowledgement is there and I think that's I love those 368 00:40:25,380 --> 00:40:30,620 examples in those quotes they're wonderful and our next question helps us sort of transition 369 00:40:30,620 --> 00:40:36,980 and guides us into this area in what ways can colleges and universities prepare students 370 00:40:36,980 --> 00:40:41,980 to critically assess the media they consume other strategies or methods that can help 371 00:40:41,980 --> 00:40:44,940 young people navigate in this area. 372 00:40:44,940 --> 00:40:51,320 This is just right off the top of my head but in answer to that I really believe that 373 00:40:51,320 --> 00:41:01,740 every one of us needs to read more think more discuss more in a in an environment that is 374 00:41:01,740 --> 00:41:09,860 listening and that is constructive and unfortunately I think in America at least and this is probably 375 00:41:09,860 --> 00:41:18,740 true a lot of places your algorithm is what's really directing what you are reading and 376 00:41:18,740 --> 00:41:25,180 thinking and reflecting on because you know the very nature of an algorithm I believe 377 00:41:25,180 --> 00:41:31,100 and you can correct me is that it continues to tighten the focus into what you like and 378 00:41:31,100 --> 00:41:36,900 so you start agreeing deeply with yourself and you're not getting a perspective at all 379 00:41:36,900 --> 00:41:43,940 so I think that is one of the most important things choosing a broad reading discussing 380 00:41:43,940 --> 00:41:51,900 with people who are wise discussing with people of like mind yes but also getting a perspective 381 00:41:51,900 --> 00:41:57,780 so that you contribute something to the conversation after you've been feeding yourself you've 382 00:41:57,780 --> 00:41:59,580 got to spend it on others. 383 00:41:59,580 --> 00:42:05,140 I was thinking one of the things that Jesus said he was actually at being asked being 384 00:42:05,140 --> 00:42:12,740 quizzed by the religious leaders in his day you know how do you summarize the Old Testament 385 00:42:12,740 --> 00:42:17,700 law well the Old Testament law is huge you know that's a task and you probably recall 386 00:42:17,700 --> 00:42:24,340 he said two things love the Lord your God with all your heart soul strength and mind 387 00:42:24,340 --> 00:42:30,220 love your neighbor as yourself and I thought in response to your question about trying 388 00:42:30,220 --> 00:42:39,380 to be truthful and guard your perspective remembering to love your neighbor as yourself 389 00:42:39,380 --> 00:42:45,100 is a it's a good guardrail for a lot of well for all of life but if you're wanting to be 390 00:42:45,100 --> 00:42:52,260 a truthful honest journalist or writer or you write novels you want to speak the truth 391 00:42:52,260 --> 00:42:57,980 and one of the big motivators is to love the Lord and to love your neighbors yourself and 392 00:42:57,980 --> 00:43:05,140 I'll just mention very briefly we have one of our favorite singer and songwriters is 393 00:43:05,140 --> 00:43:11,560 a Canadian named Bruce Coburn and he's pretty old now I think he's close to 80 but on his 394 00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:19,700 newest album he has a song called orders and the verses describe in brief phrases people 395 00:43:19,700 --> 00:43:24,660 that you encounter every day and sometimes you hear a description you think oh man he'd 396 00:43:24,660 --> 00:43:29,500 be a really great guy to get to know a lot of times the descriptions are you're just 397 00:43:29,500 --> 00:43:34,140 you have this visceral that kind of thing but then the chorus he keeps coming back to 398 00:43:34,140 --> 00:43:42,160 but he says he sings but as I recall our orders are to love them all not to be selective in 399 00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:51,100 who your neighbor is going to be but you know and if that by God's grace is really embedded 400 00:43:51,100 --> 00:43:57,060 in deep ways I think that you know back to my silly example keep you from intentionally 401 00:43:57,060 --> 00:44:03,780 misleading people with the words that you use or the phrases that you pick words are 402 00:44:03,780 --> 00:44:10,400 powerful things and how you say things could be you know we live in this cancel culture 403 00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:16,180 and we want to we want to call out everybody who disagrees with me and put them down and 404 00:44:16,180 --> 00:44:23,700 but as I recall our orders are to love them all you can look them up Bruce Coburn C-O-C-K-B-U-R-N 405 00:44:23,700 --> 00:44:28,500 all right I will and Miss Sarah like one thing that stood out with what you said I think 406 00:44:28,500 --> 00:44:34,060 the qualities that you mentioned you know being a listener being a reader and also thinking 407 00:44:34,060 --> 00:44:39,140 deeply I think it's all very critical and I think it's what ICS practices a lot and 408 00:44:39,140 --> 00:44:44,420 like I'm recognizing a lot of that in my classes and also just kind of like opening up your 409 00:44:44,420 --> 00:44:49,900 horizon and being in an environment that respects all perspectives because what happens is that 410 00:44:49,900 --> 00:44:55,180 it helps you feel safe when you have different perspectives from others so I think that was 411 00:44:55,180 --> 00:45:00,260 you know a really nice highlight that you said all right now back to some advice and 412 00:45:00,260 --> 00:45:05,660 assuming the news source is both truthful and transparent why is it good for a young 413 00:45:05,660 --> 00:45:11,300 person to stay knowledgeable about current events and world news and not just live in 414 00:45:11,300 --> 00:45:19,380 this bubble what I'm thinking of people who do that and why do I see it as virtuous and 415 00:45:19,380 --> 00:45:26,020 I guess on the surface of things it just makes you more interesting you bring more to the 416 00:45:26,020 --> 00:45:31,740 table you bring more to the conversation but also I think we've learned this in our travels 417 00:45:31,740 --> 00:45:39,700 and it's a little bit along the same line of reading makes you so much more tender-hearted 418 00:45:39,700 --> 00:45:47,660 towards the brokenness of things when you take a good look a good fair look in the US 419 00:45:47,660 --> 00:45:54,820 immigration is a huge issue and people are upset about it for very good reasons and people 420 00:45:54,820 --> 00:46:02,140 are upset at those who are upset about it for very good reasons and listening to both 421 00:46:02,140 --> 00:46:12,220 and bringing a heart of justice and kindness to that discussion is essential and so the 422 00:46:12,220 --> 00:46:18,500 first reading of course as a Christian that I would recommend is God's Word because it's 423 00:46:18,500 --> 00:46:25,980 going to teach those things but then moving on out from that people who represent are 424 00:46:25,980 --> 00:46:33,180 consistent with those principles of justice and mercy and what Micah 6.8 says about you 425 00:46:33,180 --> 00:46:41,500 know this is what the Lord requires of you those things and so I just think it makes 426 00:46:41,500 --> 00:46:49,340 you a wiser person makes you a more interesting person it turns your face towards other people 427 00:46:49,340 --> 00:46:55,420 and that's it gets you out of your navel gazing and I think that's good for every one of us 428 00:46:55,420 --> 00:47:00,200 I definitely agree and I think yeah all your points I love that I think you use some really 429 00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:06,160 beautiful words there too like saying for instance like people being able to just contribute 430 00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:10,760 more to the conversation be more interesting be more wise or like as you said giving hearts 431 00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:15,220 to the brokenness I think that's a really beautiful way to phrase it and I think reading 432 00:47:15,220 --> 00:47:21,220 being more aware being more open to perspectives in general just really increases your empathy 433 00:47:21,220 --> 00:47:26,460 and I think that's also real important so I love that and definitely virtuous or pursuing 434 00:47:26,460 --> 00:47:31,460 virtues is a great thing to keep in mind as well as biblical perspective and worldview 435 00:47:31,460 --> 00:47:37,820 however that might be for each person and we would like to end all our guest segments 436 00:47:37,820 --> 00:47:44,420 with advice so here's our final question what advice would you give to young people today 437 00:47:44,420 --> 00:47:50,180 particularly those entering college or starting their careers about navigating a world filled 438 00:47:50,180 --> 00:47:56,820 with misinformation and saying grounded in both truth and faith that is a great question 439 00:47:56,820 --> 00:48:03,300 I think that the number one thing I would say is obviously you're saying this in the 440 00:48:03,300 --> 00:48:11,860 question itself to consider the source and then choose the source right and you all of 441 00:48:11,860 --> 00:48:19,860 us must look at what we're listening to the algorithm back to that are we paying attention 442 00:48:19,860 --> 00:48:25,020 to the ever tightening picture that's just reflecting back at ourselves and telling us 443 00:48:25,020 --> 00:48:31,980 that our our own opinion is so worthy you know it's not that but my guess is that you 444 00:48:31,980 --> 00:48:41,260 would recommend Dr. Jim you would talk also just about objective truth and and having 445 00:48:41,260 --> 00:48:49,460 having a source outside your own broken heart to speak and give you a framework yes I was 446 00:48:49,460 --> 00:49:00,260 thinking you know the Sunday School answer that prayer and daily learning from the word 447 00:49:00,260 --> 00:49:09,580 and counting in that sense not on your own wisdom or I am the ultimate authority on truth 448 00:49:09,580 --> 00:49:16,460 but there is someone who is and being plugged in to him and his word and guided by the Holy 449 00:49:16,460 --> 00:49:24,420 Spirit it's the Sunday School answer and it's familiar because it's a true answer and and 450 00:49:24,420 --> 00:49:30,460 I think that would along with what you said help guide put some guardrails keep people 451 00:49:30,460 --> 00:49:34,820 in check I think remembering that you're if you have 452 00:49:34,820 --> 00:49:41,820 a worldview that says everybody's right then someone who thinks you're wrong is right because 453 00:49:41,820 --> 00:49:49,580 they're right that's I mean that's a little bit of a goofy answer but it's it's very interesting 454 00:49:49,580 --> 00:49:54,940 to think if we all have rightness complete rightness within us and my rightness begins 455 00:49:54,940 --> 00:50:01,340 to develop into a murderous feeling towards everybody named Mia right you know what that's 456 00:50:01,340 --> 00:50:07,940 terrible it can't be right and so something there's right and wrong somewhere yeah I would 457 00:50:07,940 --> 00:50:13,420 encourage that checking yourself thank you and this concludes our second segment such 458 00:50:13,420 --> 00:50:18,700 good advice about how to seek out truth are we living in echo chambers only consuming 459 00:50:18,700 --> 00:50:24,280 things we agree with and fit our own personal preference as what is true or not true let's 460 00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:29,500 all be truth seekers seeking truth not only involves engaging with people we may not totally 461 00:50:29,500 --> 00:50:36,500 agree with but also it involves the understanding that we are not holders of the ultimate truth 462 00:50:36,500 --> 00:50:37,500 as dr. 463 00:50:37,500 --> 00:50:40,260 Jim and Sarah have pointed out I'll end with what mrs. 464 00:50:40,260 --> 00:50:56,220 Sarah said she encouraged all of us to check ourselves stay tuned for our next episode 465 00:50:56,220 --> 00:51:02,220 as we focus on the topic of design covering the principles and elements of design as well 466 00:51:02,220 --> 00:51:08,540 as having a discussion about design no-nos and a list of design best practices thanks 467 00:51:08,540 --> 00:51:14,260 again to our sponsor the in spark club of ICS this club seeks to promote innovation 468 00:51:14,260 --> 00:51:19,820 out of the box thinking and creativity among its members and the greater local community 469 00:51:19,820 --> 00:51:25,140 and as always this podcast will not be possible without the hard work and support of our international 470 00:51:25,140 --> 00:51:30,020 student production team all music and sound effects are courtesy of pixabay.com a vibrant 471 00:51:30,020 --> 00:51:35,220 community of creatives sharing copyright free images videos and music and we are signing 472 00:51:35,220 --> 00:51:39,980 off until next time we are students incorporated because your voice matters