YALI West Africa Week 4

By this time we had begun to lose our fire. Prof. Dankwa was gone with our YALI time. People showed up for classes at 9am. We were split into our various classes: Entrepreneurship, Public Administration and Civic Leadership. My Entrepreneurship class was the most interesting. We had practicing entrepreneurs as guest speakers come to tell their stories about how they started small, the challenges they faced and how they've managed the glory. We had Philip Ayesu( Multiple Concepts, X-men), Christy Brown (fashion designer), Akila (beaded bags). The most exciting for me was Leymah Gbowee, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate who spoke with us as a mother would her children. 

She addressed the entire YALI participants advising us not to be in a hurry to make the headlines, not to run without brains just because we are called The Cheetah Generation, but to be consistent in what we do and wait for our own time. She also shared her family life with us, explaining how she has tried to cope with being a mother of six, traveling different continents every week for speeches and being a wife to her also traveling husband.

She ended her talk stating that she has been able to achieve all these because of the God she serves. She professed her Christian faith and advised us to have faith in God. She left with a standing ovation from all over the hall and people struggling to take pictures with her. I feared we would push her down in the struggle, so I decided to only snap with her when my group was called. It was a thought provoking moment for us.

Snapshots with the founder of Akila

The bag in front is one of her products. I bought it and it's really beautiful. You can order yours via www.akilashop.com

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Empire Review

So I finally saw Empire, after much recommendation by friends who thought I needed it for my music career. It's an interesting movie, great story line, beautiful acts, nice songs, great performances, great lessons to learn about the music industry and music business. However, I have many reasons to disapprove of this movie, especially for a practicing Christian. The devil is tricky. He hides his agenda behind interesting stories. You need to be spiritually dead to not see the works of the flesh that the Empire movie promotes. Here are some of them:

1. It trivializes fornication and adultery. Like most movies of the west anyway, it portrays adultery as if it's inbuilt in men. Like they can't help but cheat and so make us ladies think it's a battle between us and the other lady on who can have the man. It teaches women to get back at their men by also being promiscuous. 

2. It promotes homosexuality and other sexual perversions. By making the gay characters attractive and great in what they do, they want you to accept that lifestyle. The Bible is clear on its stand concerning this. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [g]homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God."

3. It treats Christianity with disrespect like it is a crutch for poor blacks. It even quotes some Bible verses twisting their meanings. 

4. It makes betrayal and backstabbing look acceptable and necessary for success. 

5. It promotes murder and revenge. 

I understand that they are trying to be real by showing us what obtains in the real world. But really, believe it or not media defines culture. The more bad stuff is promoted without showing consequences, the more people grow to believe it's alright and begin to practice what they see in the movies. And then the movies replicate those things as 'reality' and it becomes a vicious cycle.

It really got me thinking what we believers are doing to take over the entertainment kingdom for God. It's not really about making Christian films that only Christians will watch. It's about making quality movies and music that the toughest sinners can't even resist and there's nothing promoting the devil and his works in it. Righteousness can be promoted without throwing Jesus at people's faces. People will always buy excellence whether religious or not.

While we wait for the manifestation of the sons of God, be careful what you watch or listen to because some paradigms are passed into you without your knowing it. 

©Radiant~ September 2015

Sorry for the long silence

hi guys. I'm really sorry I have not posted new topics on this blog. I have been so busy at the Accra Regional Centre. Once I'm a little free, be sure that I'll post something interesting. Meanwhile do well to visit www.hulkshare.com/chidiogoradiant to enjoy my songs. Ciao