Wrong Advice: Wrong Side of the War – 2 Samuel 10 (RBHW)

Although you do not know everything, sometimes you must allow your own judgement to guide you, because the wrong advice could lead you into the wrong side of a war.  This was the fate of Hanun, new king of Ammon.  His late father, whom he succeeded to the throne, and king David were civil.  In a clear bid to maintain good relations David sent a delegation to convey his condolences.  But following the advice of the princes of the people Hanun had David’s servants humiliated.  Realizing what they had done, and suddenly realizing they were no match for the Israelites, the Ammonites hired the Syrians and prepared for war.  The rest is history (as recorded in 2 Samuel 10). 

One clear lesson from this experience is: be careful about the advice you take.  "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1

Another thought that came to me as I read the chapter is the reminder that God is truly with His people, especially as we do battle with the devil.

"Woe unto the inhabitants of the earth."  The battle lines are drawn, and Satan is out to do us in.  But the word is that we should, "Be sober, be vigilant; resist the devil and he will flee from you."  Victory is assured, as we've seen it happen in this chapter.

As I read the account of the first attempted battle, whereas the Israelites approached the Syrians they fled from before them, I thought of the ratio of good angels to evil angels - 2:1.  God can always swell an army - as Elisha's servant discovered (2 Kings 6: 17).  This also reminds me of a late brother-in-law who was a police officer, who was asked by a criminal element, "If you're such a 'clean' policeman how can you afford to have soldiers guarding your house?"  When Jesus says, "and lo, I will be with you always," He means it.

Lord, thank you this morning that we're not facing the enemy alone, but You are with us all the way.  May we always behave with that understanding, so we would never drive Your presence away with our sinful indulgences, or embarrass You by being fearful.  Indeed, it is a mighty God that we serve, and with you we need no one else.  Thank you for being our personal God; our Father, in Jesus' name, amen.

To read the Bible passage and other blogs visit http://revivedbyhisword.org/en/bible/2sa/10/.

Naïve wives and patient husbands

SO it’s a new year and many persons are making or have made their new year’s resolutions. While I am not into making new year’s resolutions because I think they only last a couple weeks for most persons, including myself, I think I want to encourage the sisters who may be guilty of what I am about to write, to make themselves a new year’s resolution to better treat their husbands. 

Sometime ago my colleague Jacqueline Champier wrote an article about women who ‘lock shop’, a practice which continues. Now I want to write about naïve wives.

Ladies, is it that you are just overconfident about your husband’s patience, or are you just straight out naïve?

Why do I ask the question? Many women take their men for granted, not only do they lock shop or unlock occasionally and make the men feel they are doing them a favour, but they do not romance their men in any way, form or shape. The men have to do their own laundry, prepare their own meals, and conversation is just mere formality. The most these men hear from their wives is ‘no.’

And what I’ve found is that these ladies feel very secure in their relationships. They are of the notion that their men can’t do without them and the men will never look ‘out there.’ So because their men don’t cuss them out, they don’t physically abuse them and they go home at nights and do their part in covering the expenses, these ladies think they can treat the men any old way because they got it locked, no pun intended.

Ladies, can I tell you, if you are in this category, you are naïve. A man is a man, whether he be Christian or ‘worlian'. How long do you think he is going to put up with your attitude? Do you think it’s only women who have a boiling point? Men have their boiling point too. They are going to either step, or as Shebada said, “mek you celebrate Easter every day.” For those who many not be so street smart, it means he is going to give you bun, bun, bun.

What I find interesting is that when the man decides to take romance where it’s freely offered, or packs up and leave, the woman now becomes the victim. When she tells her story, it’s only the man who was plain ‘wicked’; she totally leaves out the part where for years she had been ignoring the needs of her man and taking him for granted.

What am I saying, ladies, is that if you have been treating your man like a second class citizen for years, make 2013 the year you treat him like a king, as otherwise one day you will wake and think it’s all a dream, because, either the man will be gone or you inherited his baby mama.

So for all you women who have become ice queens with your men, please get a warm bath and do some melting for 2013.

Venese Madden, MSc, is an instructor in the Behavioural Sciences Department at the Northern Caribbean University in Manchester.

Professor Marilyn Anderson's plant therapy

FOR years, Professor Marilyn Anderson has used music for self-fulfilment, entertainment and to inspire others, but of late she has ventured into fairly uncharted waters by using music to grow foods in an effort to ensure that in the near future, no Jamaican will ever have to go to bed hungry.

"This may seem a bit odd, but I believe that sound can also feed the Jamaican nation, and I am saying this in the context that this can happen within a short period of time," said the musician and educator who pointed out that the increasing rate of global warming could severely affect food production in the coming years.

ANDERSON... my greatest love is the teaching of music (Photo: Gregory Bennett)

"Instead of having a lot of dialogue, we need to think outside of the box; what it is that we can do? This will actually give the government and the farmers some alternatives and some hope," she said.

Three years ago, Professor Anderson reaped tremendous benefit after setting up a greenhouse at the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) in Manchester, and experimented with playing music to help grow crops such as corn, tomatoes and pumpkin. The corn grew over 12 feet tall, the tomato vines were crowded with produce, and she had to eventually go in and remove some of the pumpkins because they were growing too quickly.

The professor tended to her greenhouse while diligently carrying out her duties as dean of the College of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences, where among other things, she introduced a PhD in counselling psychology in response to the widespread trauma being experienced by victims of crime and violence.

Professor Anderson was appointed vice-president of Academic Administration at NCU in August of last year, but even such a lofty post could not take her away from her two passions which are gardening and music. Her love affair with both started from a tender age, and not even the gentle prodding of her grandparents or their offers to finance her studies if she pursued medicine, were able to quell her spirit to become a music teacher.

"Even though I am an administrator now, my greatest love is the teaching of music," she said.

"Deep down in my heart, teaching is what drives me, teaching in terms of music has been my life and I have really got fulfilment from that," she said with strong conviction.

As a little girl, Professor Anderson took classes with London-born pianist Lillian Trench, under whose tutelage she blossomed into a skilled musician. Shortly after graduating from West Indies College in Manchester, the educator moved to the US and enrolled at the Eastern Michigan University where she obtained her degree in business administration.

With no financial support, Professor Anderson was able to fund her studies by doing odd jobs as a secretary. From these jobs, she was also able to save up enough to pursue her graduate degree in music education and take private lessons with concert pianist Dada Mehta, who is the cousin of world renowned conductor Zubin Mehta. For anyone else, this would have been the ideal platform to launch a successful music career, but not for Professor Anderson who bypassed the glitz and the glamour of a concert musician to go into the classroom. She has been a music teacher for over 30 years now.

Professor Anderson first became a music teacher at the Peterson Warren Academy in Michigan where she taught students of all ages. At one point, she even found herself teaching band in a Seventh-day Adventist academy in the Detroit inner-city school system, and much like her teachers had done for her, she was able to inspire her students to love music.

"I have had the results of many having gone on to pursue music as their career and some have also gone on to become excellent teachers," she said.

After years in the US, Professor Anderson decided to return to her roots at West Indies College, now NCU, to become the head of the music department and minister of music at the college's church. She also forged a strong bond with the New England orchestra group, which resulted in the conceptualisation of the Feasts of Lights classical concerts, which are broadcast on radio and television locally and was even broadcast in the US in 2010.

Dr Anderson is currently the director of the National Adventist Choir and is a member of several music organisations including the Jamaica Music Teachers' Association.

Her book, Readings in Music Education: Philosophical and Educational Perspectives was published in 2008.

The professor hopes to explore how different types of music, including dancehall, can help with food production and security. Her next experiment, she said, will be on a grander scale and is necessary at this time, given the fact that people are becoming more health conscious and are in need of organic crops. She hopes the Ministry of Agriculture and the managers of agro-processing companies will assist her in exploring this new venture.

"My take is that I would not want to have something like this that I have experimented with and my country at this point doesn't benefit," she said.