September 2022 issue

September Issue 31 2022

Social Media pros & Cons

LEPANG FERGUSON

CONTENTS 05 EDITOR'S NOTE

06 REAL TALK:COVERED IN!

09 THE MINDFULNESS: SOCIAL MEDIA

11 ARTICLE:CLEAR MIND

16 COVER STORY: LEPANG FERGUSON

21 SERMON:IN THE POTTER'S HANDS

28 HEAVENLY SOUND

30 LAST SUPPER: DELI BITES SOFT BREAD TORTILLA

32 BOOK REVIEW:GIRLS WITHS WORDS

35&36 WHERE TO GO & JUST 4 LAUGHS

Mission To share the Gospel truth, inspire, motivate and cultivate faith in our everyday lives

Vision To provide a platform and safe room for growth in the Christian lifestyle and exposure to local talent in the Christian community.

Editor's Note “The power to design and pilot your life is in your hands.” These words remain true through my journey with this publication. When I started with this magazine, I said I wanted to learn and grow my relationship with God. I can assure you that I am getting all that and more.

As I read the feature articles, I am in awe all the time, I have “uh hu” moments with every issue and I am yearning for even better understanding. I really hope that we are making it an incredible experience for our readers too. I wouldn’t want to experience this alone, its for us all to share.

In this month’s issue we have a piece on the pressures of social media and another on looking good in the flesh and spiritually. My “uh hu” article is one on reading the same scripture at different times in our lives and how it can be different every time.

I hope you are all enjoying our issues.

Happy reading

Bosa

Real Talk

COVERED IN!

BY LEBO

Most people have this narrative that Christians should not look good. It’s a sin for them to look beautiful, clean or elegant on a daily. They need to focus on showing the pain that God went through in his life on earth is all we need to do. It’s as if Christians should look at their problems or what they have been through. We think Christians should be miserable because they need to show Jesus’s suffering on the cross and how they live their lives.

Looking good has nothing to do with being a Christian but more with how you take yourself. We should dress how we want people to treat or address us. You want to take yourself seriously and you want people to respect you by how you look. Looking good does not mean wearing luxury brands that you can’t afford (if you can afford them why not!), it is cleaning up and looking your best with what you have.

COVERED IN! There is something peculiar about a woman or man who tries before getting out of the

house.

person

When

passes

such

by,

a

heads

turn with the wonder of the beauty

that,

that

person

presents or shows. It’s even more that

mind-blowing person

has

all

when their

trust in God. As Christians, we must always be presentable. We need to take Christianity seriously as a lifestyle and not be limited to people believing that we don’t look like Christians. When you look good you feel good. When you feel good, you do good and that’s what God wants from us, to do good to ourselves and others. This has nothing to do with the denomination of the church you go to or the kind of religion you follow.

People mistake these confident-looking people for being pompous or being too much. I appreciate such people because they want to make first impressions count but because people are always thinking of the negative first, they miss a learning opportunity. Why don’t we think that they take themselves seriously?

Let’s make an effort every day.

Until next month! LOVE YOU BUT GOD IS CRAZY ABOUT YOU

www.reallygreatsite.com

THE MINDFULNESS (MENTAL CORNER)

BY NKHENSANI MALULEKE

Mental health & Social Media We are living in a very fast-paced world, with many things going digital following the recent outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. We see business booming online and it has come to having church services online. As an individual, if you do not take care of your mental health everything around you will be in a direct proposition of the state of your mental well-being. One cannot fully function if their mental well-being is dysfunctional as it is the nucleus of our daily functioning. Our behavior is influenced

Photo by Merakist

‘And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise’ – Philippians 4:8

by what we think and to emerge positive

The above scripture reminds us of

behavior we need positive thinking.

the importance of always having

Photo by Jeremy Bezanger

our minds fixed on the positive, difficult to do so but possible.

Going back to social media it is such a great platform for connecting with each other, the downfall comes when the same social media platform meant to make communication easier now making it difficult as individuals are led to anxiety and depression from

THE MINDFULNESS (MENTAL CORNER) the smallest things such as blue ticks, individuals taking time to respond to their loved ones etc. One comes to ask themselves if it is the social media platform or if these individuals are just going through something. Well to answer that, the issue is triggered because once you have a mental health issue it is vital knowing how to deal with it as it is a lifetime condition. Seek help.

Most people care so much about the number of likes and followers they receive from a specific social media platform that they used to judge their importance related to others. We see celebrities just saying/tweeting “hi” and getting more than one thousand likes and retweets and finding someone also making it a goal to reach that standard and if not they get depressed about it.

Negative effects of Social Media

How to positively use social

on Mental Health

media

1.

2.

3.

It isolates one from their close friends and family It is addictive

1.

2.

It leads to feelings of inferiority

5.

It leads to low self-esteem

6. It can lead to anxiety Photo by camilo jimenez

to

connect

and

follow

accounts that are inspirational Unsubscribe or delete social media platforms affecting your peace of mind

It may lead to depression

4.

Seek

3.

Use it as a way of seeking enriching personal,

information career

or

for

academic

growth 4. Use it to keep updated about what is going on around you and do not spend too much time on it 5.

Use it to make connections with people whom you would like to make

partnerships

business/academics/ passion

with

e.g your

Pursuing purityBy K.M. Ntebang This may seem like an unachievable goal, an impossible

and

very

difficult

task

to

attain

especially for the young people. It can be partly true depending on the ankle you are coming from, but if we allow God to be part of every aspect of our lives, if we allow Him to take the lead in our lives, if we allow Him to direct our steps and live

by His word, which is food for our spiritual beings, we will be able to achieve everything that we put our hearts and minds to.

The English Dictionary defines

The world we live in today is full of

purity

or

temptations which can easily distract us

quality of being pure; freedom

from discerning the difference between

from

right and wrong. It is important to note that

as,

“the

anything

contaminates,

condition that

debases, etc”,

we are living in the last, dangerous and

while pursue means “to follow in

more challenging days, for this reason we

order to overtake, capture, kill,

need God more than ever before. In order

defeat someone or something”.

to defeat the devil and all his evil ways, we

We can then deduce that, as

must

Christians,

purity

frequently come together in the sharing of

means the everyday journey and

the word and denounce the devil and all

struggles in search of freedom

his

from all the things that defame

Philippians 4:8-9 (NKJV), says, “Finally,

us or make us look or feel less

brethren,

whatever

worthy of what God has made us

whatever

things

to be, getting away or breaking

things are just, whatever things are

all

pure,

ties

pollutes,

pursuing

with

connections,

sin

defeating

and

its

all

the

pray

dirty

without

tricks.

whatever

ceasing,

The

word

we

of

things

are

God

are

noble,

things

must

are

in

true,

whatever lovely,

whatever things are of good report, if

temptations that we face on a

there

is

any

virtue

and

if

there

daily basis, and once attained,

anything

holding on to the good that we

these

have encountered.

learned and received and heard and saw

praiseworthy-meditate

things.

The

things

which

is on you

in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you”.

Pursuing purity A word of encouragement for us to live good and pure lives and a promise that if we do all these good things our God will be with us. Let us strive for perfection like St Paul in Philippians 3:12-14. Every day as we fall into temptations, let us bow before the Lord and humbly seek forgiveness then reach forward to new things, new opportunities, and a renewed start at a better life, putting behind us the things of the past which may hold us back from experiencing the goodness of the Lord.

Finally, we close this talk with the Photo by Jovica Ilievski

word of God from Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)

which

reads

thus,

“therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance

the

race

that

is

set

before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”.

Let us draw our life lessons from Jesus Himself, be obedient and diligently do the job for which we have

been

called

to

do.

Let’s

ensure that everything we do is done with the purest of hearts, hoping to receive nothing in return since

our

heaven.

rewards

await

us

in

CLEAR MIND ALL THE TIME Photo by R K

A few things in life I have learned is, that when you go to church, have your little notebook, such that when the sermon is being delivered you write down some of your thoughts and highlights. Ensure that when you get home during the week, go back to the sermon, read the scripture again with a fresh mind and go over your notes so that you re-affirm your understanding.

The second thing is, never say you have heard that verse before and therefore lose your focus on the sermon delivery. I know there are times when you hear the pastor saying we are going to read from Psalm 23 and you think, I already know that one and start scrolling on your phone. The difference is that the Spirit of the Lord works differently in people, at that point the maybe a divine interpretation of that script that you know and it may have interpreted it in a completely different way.

I say this because this past Sunday, I

Photo by Ben White

got to hear a sermon, based on Matthew 6:33 which reads “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” At first, I thought this is something I know, so I actually didn’t bother to open my bible, (bad move)! But as it was being broken down, I got to connect to it in rather a different way. You see Christ was addressing people and the masses obviously had a lot of things they requested from Him, because of what they had heard. The followers were people who like you and me probably had many a complaint about things in their midst. Things that in their view were crucial to their livelihoods but they were simply not getting them. They probably were good at quoting the laws of Moses and the books of the Prophets and what they expect from God.

The question that now remains was did you seek the Kingdom of God first?

Did you actually seek His righteousness? When all the things we ask for are not added to us, have we actually gone and reflected on ourselves, if we are really on the right track? Seemingly, we notice that even after seeking the Kingdom and His righteousness, these things will be added to us, not by us asking for them, but by the Lord pouring out His blessing onto us. For if you seek, as now directed, the kingdom of God, first and principally, all things relating to this life shall, in the course of the heavenly wisdom, be conferred on you as far as they can contribute to your welfare.

It really got me thinking, that we are always asking from the Lord, is that how it is supposed to be? What is this scripture telling us and what should we be learning from it! Are my actions showing that I am one to be considered to be a servant of the Lord? Is there a reason why now in my life, my “good luck stream” is running out?! What have I done differently from the time I was born again?! Those were some of the thoughts that were coming down to me.

So as today you sit and write your life plans, your wishlists and goals for the year; your requests to God, put yourself on a pedestal, assess yourself, I want you to ask yourself one thing, have you Sought the Kingdom of God? Have you sought the righteousness of the Lord?

I remain, the Deacon in Christ. TEDB.

Your Biograph

Lepang Ferguson is a Christian, mother of two teenage daughters, Author, Designer, Artist and Speaker.

She's worked in the communications industry for 20 years in various capacities over the years. She started her business, Lepang Ferguson International in 2009 and has since developed it into a group of companies which specialises in Corporate and Creative Branding and Communications, Interior Design and Interior Industrial Design, Art Collections and Publishing.

Your Passion & Talents I'm passionate about God. I love the Lord with all my heart. I believe He is my purpose and it influences everything else I do now[BS1] . My work is just a vehicle I use to connect with people, to make the world around me a better place, especially for young people. So, the arts are what I have found love and joy in since my early childhood, and I've used it to influence, communicate and connect with people wherever I go.

You wear colourful hats,tell us about those Being an author is connected to everything else I do. I'm just able to communicate using words in the same way I would communicate using visuals as I do with Brands and Art. The more people have felt connected to what I do, the more I've been engaged with speaking about what I do. It all works hand in hand for me.

How do you balance your life I always find a way. I think I've always had to consider what's more important, and for me it's been God and my children, my family and my work, in that order. Somehow God has found a way to help me navigate.

Who is God to you?

God is everything. He is my reason for being and the purpose that fulfils my life.

Are walking in your purpose I am definitely walking in my purpose. My life is about fulfilling God's purpose and I've tried everything to do that. At times I have failed, but God always picks me up and keeps me moving forward, so I know for a fact that I could not do anything without him.

What future plans do you have?

I'm happy taking one step at a time in what God reveals. I'm continually focused on what I have at hand and I trust God with the process. The aim is to stay connected to his will for my life.

What message do you have for us(public) You have nobody but God. Without God, you have nothing and nobody. You have to place all your trust in Him, put him first, allow him to lead you and you have to trust in his plan and not your own. No matter how much we think we have control, we really don't. There's nothing more liberating than placing all your trust in him and watching him move mountains on your behalf. If we want his glory, we have to live in Him.

SERMON

God

sent

Jeremiah

to

the

potter's house. Jeremiah went

in and watched the potter at his work. That potter took a

lump of clay in his hands, then

placed it upon the wheel. Then

as he turned the wheel his skillful

hands

molded

vessel into shape.

the

finished and Jeremiah must

have said, ''What a beautiful But

the

potter

frowned and said, ''No, there is a flaw in it.'' So, he crushed

the vessel in his hands, put the clay back on the wheel and

made

satisfied him.

a

takes his eyes off the clay; he has a purpose

that

he

seeks

to

accomplish with the clay, and he is giving his full interest and attention

to that clay as he works with it. It speaks to us That God has got interest

in

our

lives,

His

intense

interest in us as shared by the

In a moment, the vessel was

vessel!''

Working with that clay he never

vessel

that

Psalmist who said, “how precious

are God’s thoughts towards us”. The very fact that God even thought

about us amazed the psalmist but then in another song he said and “if I

should

number

your

thoughts

concerning me, they are more than the sands of the sea.” God is not only interested in you, but he’s also thinking about you all the time.

SERMON

I have had a chance to watch a Potter busy with his clay on the potter’s wheel.

I

intense

could

see

his

interest

in

the

clay, and I realized the intense interest that God has in my life. I watched as

with

great

skill

the

Potter formed the vessel, a little pressure here, a little pressure there and the clay almost as magic responded to the touch of the Potter. I could see the complete power that the Potter had over that clay.

As the Potter is working with that clay he has in his mind a plan for that clay,

in

what

type

of

vessel it is to be, what uses can be made of that vessel and I realized that as God is working on me, He has a plan in His mind, a thought concerning me.

Now I'm certain that it is true in your life as it is in photo by Anne Nygård

mine, we often have no idea mind.

what

God

has

Sometimes

in we

question Him, “Lord what are you doing, Lord why did you do that, why was this pressure applied in this area Lord?”

For us to know what is in the Potter’s mind, we need to continually be in touch with His hand, make time to be in the Potter’s presence. In that

way you will always live a life full of understanding, accepting all circumstances that you find yourself in. This will lead you to be a good vessel of honor, that has gone through the Potter’s wheel and the hardening fire in the kiln.

Regardless of where you find yourself right now, you are still in the Potter’s hands, God still has a purpose with the clay that you are. You may have made mistakes and lost track of your purpose in life, but the

good news is that Your Creator will never lose interest in you, He desires for you to come back to the Potter’s wheel, so that he re-shapes your life again.

A story is told of some man who had a car breakdown along some busy

road, no one was stopping to help this man, but suddenly out of nowhere some big luxurious car stopped, out of it came a well-dressed

gentleman in his seemingly expensive suit. He asked the poor man what

had happened, without wasting any time he asked the man to open the bonnet of the car, attending to it in no time. As he closed the bonnet

directing the driver that he can now safely continue with his journey, the

driver asked him to say, “who are you and why would you have interest in helping me with ease, when everybody was just passing me by?” The well-dressed gentleman answered, “I am Henry Ford, the inventor of this

car model you are driving, and I don’t take pleasure in seeing one of my inventions not being able to perform to its standards.”

Same as Henry Ford, God our Creator, does not want to see the big

machines (humans) that he has created, stuck along the road, He desires to have them perform to His standards. He will not just pass you by, when He sees that you are struggling, He will come to your rescue.

Just call unto Him, who is The Potter.

In conclusion, remember that you are a work in progress, God is

molding you, He is perfecting you. He has you in His thoughts and hands, whatever He has set you for, you will eventually succeed. He has good plans for you, stick with Him. Amen

LEARN TO SPEAK WISELY PART 2

In James 3:5-6 the Bible describes the tongue as a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

In our text above we see that the tongue is just a tiny part of the body but it is fire and can cause one to go to hell. Why? Because of its usage.

Proverbs 18:21 says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Romans 10:10 teaches us that for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. In other words, you can believe in your heart but until you confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and Savior you are likely to go to hell.

As a child of God know from today onwards that you can have the life you want to have by speaking positive words.

Anytime you speak positive words you create an atmosphere of possibility and success around you. God used positive words to bring about all the nice things we see around us according to Genesis 1:1-31. If you read the Word of God you will see that God was able to bring order to the chaos in the world at that time by speaking.

When was the last time you lay hands on your head and bless yourself? When was the last time you spoke order and a turnaround in that situation you find yourself? Stop saying negative words to your children if you want them to have a bright future. If you continue to call them foolish, stupid and the like so shall they

Photo by Kyle Glenn

be for you according to your

Jesus speaking in the synagogue

words.

according to John 6:63 says that the

Stop saying negative words if you

Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for

want to go far in life. Understand

nothing. The words I have spoken to you

that in this life only those with

—they are full of the Spirit[a] and life. We

strong mental capacity who will

see in our scripture that Jesus never

not give up on themselves by

spoke negative words, but words that

throwing negative words around

quickened the spirit and bring life. May

despite what they are faced with

you receive life, in the name of Jesus!

survive.

In conclusion, I will encourage you not to speak about your fears but the opposite of your fears because it is what the devil uses to destroy individuals. Job kept on speaking his fears until they materialized according to Job 3:25. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of comes unto me.

Many of us do not think about what we say before we speak but the time has come for you to do so.

Speak Life! Shalom.

ARTICLE BY: HARRY TAWIAH USSHER

Heavenly Sounds

KINGDOM ARTS ACADEMY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BOTSWANA SOCIETY FOR JAZZ EDUCATION HOST THE FIRST ANNUAL CAMPHER WORKSHOPSS AND GLOBAL JAZZ WOMEN FESTIVAL 2022 By Teacher Akhu To celebrate women s month this year Kingdom Arts Academy in partnership with the Botswana Society for Jazz Education embarked on a project called CampHER which is a safe space for girls to learn a musical instrument. The all girls’ music camp s main aim is to bridge the inequality gap that is there in the music industry when it comes to male and female musicians. The music workshops were held at Regent Hill school on Saturday the 20th of August and more than 50 girls from both private and public schools attended free of charge. The CampHER facilitators were consisting of women teachers from Kingdom Arts Academy, members of the JCFI band from Mamelodi in South Africa, members of the Fleek bank from Botswana and Jessica Jones from The United States of America.

On Sunday the 21st of August the ladies wrapped it up in a splendid concert called Global Jazz Women Festival which was staged at Sky View Rooftop here in Gaborone. The Global Jazz Women Festival came as an idea from the Global Jazz women hangs which is an online organization that was founded by Jessica Jones of Reva Inc. from USA, Sibongile Buda of JCFI from RSA and Akhutleleng Kekwaletswe of Kingdom Arts Academy in 2020 during the lockdowns.

HeavenlySounds

The hang hosted female musician from all over the world who play jazz to discuss and share ideas on their different music industries and projects they are engaging in in their different communities. The festival was staged for the first time here in Botswana and the lineup had all female bands including The Fleek band BW, JCFI RSA and Jessica Jones USA.

What an awesome way to wrap up the women's month in music. For more information about CampHer activities, visit the Kingdom Arts Academy and Botswana Society for Jazz Education pages.

y b r e p p u S t Las e l e s e i s o g k u g n Cha

Ingredients for mayo: Greek yogurt Mayonnaise Olive oil Salt and pepper Smoked paprika Ingredients for chicken: Spices of choice to fry it Ingredients for filling: Mayo Chicken pieces Lettuce Tomatoes

COOKING TIME Use the ready-made tortilla bread, the frozen one, so you microwave it first then you put the fillings.

On the filling, first cooked the chicken diced chicken.

Fried it a bit.

Then on the tortilla bread, apply the mayo paste, (mixed Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, olive oil, salt and black pepper, smoked paprika for the mayo).

Applied the mayo in the middle of the bread, then leaves of lettuce for bedding, then those small diced chicken pieces and diced tomatoes.

Then squeezed the remaining mayo sauce on top and folded the tortilla into a wrap shape and lightly fried it in a buttered pan so that It becomes that lightly crispy..

ENJOY EATING

BOOK

REVIEW

Title Girls with Swords: How to Carry Your Cross Like a Hero Author: Lisa Bevere Contents: 240 pages Publication date: February 18, 2014

A passionate call for Christian women to effectively "wield the sword" of their God-given feminine strength against any evil that threatens them and those they love.

What if you discovered you have been entrusted with an invisible, invincible, and incorruptible weapon? Would you use it?

In a day of worldwide trafficking, gendercide, discrimination, and other hostility against women, Lisa Bevere points to a biblical foundation to present a model of feminine strength that will empower women to live confidently. Drawing on the many references to swords throughout Scripture, the author constructs a revealing and compelling female paradigm that will impact every area of a woman's self-identity, spiritual awareness, relationships, and life vision and mission. Long known for her passionate and articulate expression of biblical womanhood, Bevere presents fresh imagery--as enticing and strong as polished steel--to prepare women boldly for the challenges they face in today's world. It's not enough to just be wise and strong: Now a woman must know how to wield her sword.

Creatively forging the imagery of swords, the Word of God, and the Cross, Girls with Swords will teach you: • How to speak the language of heaven on earth • What it means to intercede • What it means to carry your cross • What it means to be discerning • How to disarm the enemy • Why women are the enemy’s target—and why God needs them to be heroes It’s time to take up your sword and be a hero.

Books give you the opportunity to imagine and wonder. This should be

About the Author Lisa Bevere believes in women and empowers them by weaving the practical with the profound truth of God's Word in awardwinning curriculums and best-selling books--Lioness Arising, Fight Like a Girl, Nurture, Kissed the Girls and Made Them Cry, and more. Her heart breaks over social injustice. As an advocate for change, Lisa rallies others to be an answer to desperate problems near and far. She and her husband John Bevere co-founded Messenger International, an organization established to teach, reach, and rescue. Lisa is the mother of four sons and grandmother of two.

Books give you the opportunity to imagine and wonder. This should be helpful when developing your well-being.

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