Real Talk

"When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, 'My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.'So Jesus went with him."

"A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, 'If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.' Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering."

"At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who touched my clothes?'"

"'You see the people crowding against you,' his disciples answered, 'and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'"

"But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.'"

"While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. 'Your daughter is dead,' they said. 'Why bother the teacher any more?'"

"Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, 'Don't be afraid; just believe.'"

"He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, 'Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.' 40But they laughed at him."

"After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, 'Talitha koum!' (which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, get up!' ).

"Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat."

-Mark 5: 21-43 (NIV)



Peace and blessings,

As someone who is studying to be a developmentalist by trade, I've had considerable exposure to different developmental theorists. Of the many theorists that I have come across (Piaget, Kohlberg), the theorist that is the focus of this post is Lev Vygotsky. While reading a scholar's analysis of his theory and its application to education, I was struck by Vygotsky's notion of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD, Miller, 2002), which is the difference between what one can learn or achieve on their own and what they can learn or achieve with the help of others who are (slightly) more advanced. I was well familiar with the notion before reading this analysis, but this I read with sort of a different lens (who knows, I may just be "coming up" with things just to say I posted something on my blog, lol). This around around, viewing youth in terms of ZPD sounded to me a lot like how Jesus viewed those he interacted with, and how he currently views us. Further, it was a sermon today I heard at an event at a friend's church (Harmony Missionary Baptist Church in Oakland, CA) that clarified what I was originally thinking when this topic came to mind months ago.

The speaker spoke from the above passage and focused on Jairus' interactions with Jesus. In a nutshell, Jairus approaches JC, worships him, and asks for Him to heal his daughter who is near death. As JC was going to his house, a woman who had been bleeding for seven years had touched JC's clothes and through her faith, was healed. Noticing that someone touched Him ("power had gone out from Him"), he turned around and asked who touched Him. By the time JC makes it to the house, Jairus' daughter dies. JC tells those at the house not to fear, but to have faith, and then He brings the girl back to life.

What stuck out to me when I heard the message is that I could have only imagined what was going on in Jairus' mind during this whole ordeal. What I found interesting is that Jairus sought JC out and worshiped Him before he asked Him to heal his daughter. This tells me that Jairus' faith in and knowledge of JC was such that he knew that Jesus had the power to heal his daughter. When describing the events immediately following his daughter's death, however, I didn't sense the same kind of certainty on Jairus' part. Not to say that I blame him, because after all, his daughter just died. I know in my life there are times when even small feats that have caused me to doubt Jesus' power (thank God for grace, lol).

I think Jairus' experiences are important to our understanding of Christ's love for us because Jesus' love for Jairus is an example of how, like Vygotsky's notion of ZPD, I think that we all have a zone for proximal spiritual development. Just as Vygotsky believed that children could learn and achieve more with the assistance of more advanced others, we can learn and achieve more with the assistance of JC and the Holy Spirit than we can on our own. Similar to this notion is James Gee's (2003) argument that to be a good educator is to educate students in a way where the demands (e. g. assignments, activities, tests) are on the edge of their students' "regime of competence," which is the students' level of knowledge. This way, the tasks students' face are difficult (i. e. on the edge of their regime of competence), but not too difficult that they cannot complete them successfully (i. e. it is still within their regime of competence). I think that Jesus understood both of these notions, which is why 1) He was and is so patient with His disciples and followers 2) He stresses practicing humility and relying on God and the Holy Spirit and 3) He tells us that through prayer, fasting, and communing with God, we can resist temptation, overcome the devil, and "shake some things up" in this world for the building up of God's kingdom.


Jairus shows us how our knowledge of and faith in Jesus is a progressive thing, such that insofar as we are connected with and following God, we will learn more about Him, and increase our relationship with and faith in Him. While initially Jairus knew Jesus as (and believed Him to be) one who prolongs life (healer), it appeared that he did not know Jesus as (or believed Him to be) a one who restores life once it is seemingly "lost" (life-giver). Once JC restored his daughter's life, this increased his knowledge and faith in JC so that it not only includes healing, but also restoring life. It was as if JC knew of Jairus' regime of competence regarding his knowledge of Him, and knew that just with some assistance ('Don't be afraid, just believe'), that Jairus could expand his regime of competence. I think for many of us, our spiritual development may follow a similar trajectory. If I have learned anything since seriously deciding to walk with JC, it is that my knowledge of and faith in Him was not "complete" once I made the decision. However, I have to continually learn about Him (through reading the word, fellowshipping with other believers, and looking at His track-record as evidenced in my life) and work on increasing my faith in Him. After all, this walk is a marathon, not a sprint. As a developmentalist-in-training, I really like the idea of constant growth and progression, and there is no better way to grow and progress than in knowledge of and faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What do you think? Until next time, stay blessed, encouraged, and speekonit...


Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy: NY: Palgrave Macmillan.


Miller, P. H. (2002). Vygotsky and the sociocultural approach. In Theories of developmental psychology (pp. 367-419). NY: Worth Publishers.

Labels: development, faith, Jesus Christ, Mark, spiritual, Vygotsky

Peace and blessings,

The following scripture speaks to the power and necessity of prayer. Given the events that transpired in Peter's life after this conversation with Jesus (i.e. his betrayal of Jesus three times and Jesus returning to redeem Peter three times), Jesus' prayer for Peter speaks volumes. The pic is courtesy of

Suite 101

"31Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has asked excessively that [all of] you be given up to him [out of the power and keeping of God], that he might sift [all of] you like grain, 32But I have prayed especially for you [Peter], that your [own] faith may not fail; and when you yourself have turned again, strengthen and establish your brethren."

Luke 22:31-32 (NKJ Amplified)

This scripture reminds me of the importance of praying for myself as well as others, because the devil stays on his grind. Since we already the victory through Christ, prayer to me is simply verbal confirmation between Jesus, God, and myself that the devil has no hold over us. Stay blessed and speekonit...

Labels: Christ, faith, Jesus, Luke, Peter, scriptures

Peace and Blessings,

I've been meaning to post this story for a few weeks now, but i'm just now getting to it. It is a story about Emmanuel, a man who, while going through Seminary training to work in ministry, found out that he had HIV. It's a compelling story. The link is below, and it is also in the "Christianity" news section. Take care and speekonit...


http://www.urbana.org/_articles.cfm?RecordId=1025

Labels: Christianity, faith, HIV, ministry, news, redemption, seminary

Peace and blessings,





While attending a graduate student seminar at Atlanta '05 (an African American Christian student leadership conference put on by InterVasity Christian Fellowship), one of the speakers said the following with regards to the perceived distinction between Academics and faith,

"To the Christian, there is no such thing as sacred and secular...everything is sacred."

That phrase stuck with me throughout the whole conference and continues to resonate with me today, especially seeing that I am currently and will be in academia for a while. I took that phrase to mean that as Christians, our entire lives are dedicated to glorifying God. Therefore, regardless of what we "specialize" in (e.g. medicine, science, education, law, etc...), our approach to and usage of those skills must first and foremost be a reflection of our relationship with God. During this and other graduate student seminars, we discussed how many (if not all) of the subjects we study in school (i.e. physics, chemistry, psychology, philosophy, biology, etc...) are simply attempts to further identify, analyze, and explain God's creations. One of my favorite disciplines besides education is psychology, and the more I learn about social and developmental psych (my particular interests within psych), the more I realize that the principles discussed and researched are the same as those emphasized in the bible (i.e. leadership, decision-making, inter-personal relationships, persuasion and influence, etc...). Although I think there are tons of examples in the bible, i'm not going to discuss them here, as that is not the focus of this piece.


I mentioned that quote from Atlanta '05, and the context in which it was discussed because I think it is relevant to the current debate that exists between those who are for Christian hip-hop, and those who are against it. I'm not going to get into the whole debate, but just a brief summary. For those on the "con" side, one of the criticisms of Christian hip-hop is that some artists' use the beats of "worldly" artists, and many of these beats are associated with negative behaviors. Further, it has been noted that before satan was cast down from heaven, he specialized in music, therefore the negative messages and images that are often associated with hip-hip culture(and in other genres as well) are indicative of Satan's influence(via manipulation of one's emotions and attitudes through music). The "Pro" side on the other hand, argues that hip-hop as a culture and artform in itself is not of satan, but it (as with anything) can be used to acheive destructive or constructive ends. Further, people contend that artistic expression is a gift from God, and thus another tool for ministry and spreading the Gospel. For more information on both sides of the debate, you can check out exministries.com (con) and theambassadoronline.com (pro).

What got me thinking about this debate was a song I heard on Lecrae's Album, "After the Music Stops (2006)." His album is one of the best Christain rap albums i've ever heard, and I advise you to cop it (album info will be on the site soon). The name of the song is called "Jesus Muzik" and it sounded to me like the hook sampled the voice of a secular rap artist. I called "the music expert(my sister, lol)" and she told me that when songs are "chopped and screwed," they slow the voice down so that anyone's voice can be transformed into that slow, "draggy" sound. Despite this information, I still wondered if people would view the song and its impact differently if the song did contain a sample of a secular artist? My answer is no, or atleast they shouldn't for a couple of reasons. For one, I can atleast say for me that I listen to the music I listen to not just because of the quality of the music itself, but also because of my perceived quality of the artist as well. I believe that the artists that I listen to ( both "secular" and "sacred") are generally "good" people in a sense that I believe they make music for the betterment as opposed to the detriment of their listeners. Therefore, because I own both of Lecrae's albums and I'm aware of his sincerity and fervor in spreading the Gospel, I know that whether or not the sampled voice on the track is from a secular artist is an irrelevant issue. Further, being preoccupied with whose voice was sampled will cause me to miss the purpose of the song and the album, which is to show Christ to the lost and to strengthen us as believers to do the same.

The second point I wanted to make before I sign off (Honestly, I never intend on being this long-winded when I write, lol), is that I think there is a need to distinguish between the culture and art-form of hip-hop itself, and how artists within that culture and art-form choose to use their gifts. With regards to the debate mentioned earlier, I am for using hip-hop as a tool to reach the lost because when it's all said and done, what matters is what words are spoke, not whose voice was sampled or what beats were knockin'. The bible talks about how the power of life and death is in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Christian hip-hop artists are first and foremost Christians, therefore we as listeners should be more concerned with the Gospel they are spreading, and not which samples or beats they use, how they are dressed, etc... After all, as long as the music is inspired by Jesus, we need to forever rep and support that Jesus Muzik...

Here is another scripture that I thought was relevant to this issue, as well as Lecrae's music video for "Jesus Muzik." Peace, blessings, and I want to know your thoughts on this issue, so definately speekonit...



"21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

1 Corinthians 9:21-23 (New International Version)




Link to the "Jesus Muzik" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaTXRaSvq-M

Labels: academic, ATL, Bible, Christian, faith, God, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Lecrae, social psychology

Peace and Blessings,

Recently, many people who are close to me have been experiencing the lost of life-long friends to cancer. Before I get into the purpose of this piece, I want to emphasize the importance of living and eating healthy, as cancer is constantly taking lives irrespective of age, race, gender, etc... So make sure you get regular check-ups and take care of your body, as it is a temple for God. While driving to campus yesterday morning, I was listening to the album "Crossroads" by Deitrick Haddon. I was thinking about the recent lost that my loved ones have recently experienced and I started to think about how I still struggle with the idea of people dying, especially when I feel like it was "before their time." God quickly reminded me, however, of something that as a believer I often forget...


Regardless of what ethnicity and culture you represent, I'm pretty sure that within every family there is that older cousin who often serves as the "nucleus" holding all the younger cousins together. For me, it was my oldest cousin on my father's side of the family. As a child I remember going over his house playing football, staying up all night playing video games, and so forth. On top of being one of the coolest people to spend time with, he was also one of the most gifted. He ran track, played football, and was an exceptional honor student. During his senior year of high school he got a scholarship (I think a full ride) to go to UCLA. So as you can see, it was not difficult to view him as a mentor and strive to be like him. After all. as young men we are always looking for guidance from an older male figure.


One day, however, everything changed in a blink of an eye. A few days before his graduation, he was walking home and was approached by a couple of people who tried to take his cd player. Realizing they were outmatched (like I said, my cousin was a football player so he was considerable bigger than them), they left. However, they shortly returned in a car and shot and killed him. I was in the third grade when this happened, and ever since then, I have always felt that my educational pursuits are not just for me, but they are for him and his parents as well. Actually, his passing was the reason why I wanted to go to UCLA as a youth. Not because I knew anything about the school, but because that's where he was going.


Fastforward about fourteen years and now i'm at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. While having a long conversation with with a young woman who went to the same undergrad as I did and it now at MIT, we found out that we were both from california and had plenty of similarities. When she asked me about what motivated my educational pursuits and I told her that the loss of my cousin plays a significant part, she told me that she remembered hearing about my cousin's passing on the news, and was talking to her friends about it when it happened. Now I figure by now that I had "dealed" with the loss of my cousin, but that conversation reminded me that I hadn't. There was still this weight that I carried around because I still could not understand why God allowed for my cousin, whose future and spirit was about as bright as can be, to go be with Him at such a young age. Till this day, I still think about where my cousin would be and what he would be doing right now if he were still alive.

These thoughts continued to resonate within me until one day, I was listening to a track called "After While" off of Deitrick Haddon's album "Lost and Found," and it is about dealing with the loss of a loved one. In short, the song basically says that although I cannot understand why you are no longer here, I know that I will see you again. It was at that point that I felt God ministering to my spirit, and finally giving me some "piece" about the situation. While I'm still living, I will never know why got took my cousin at 17, but what I do know is that I will see him again when God calls me home. When I think about the afterlife, I tend to view it like this. Just as we (belivers or not) are unable to fully explain where we come from (meaning we know how babies are made, but we don't know the full extent of God's reasoning behind it, or behind creation for that matter), the same goes for the afterlife. We cannot fully explain what happens to us when we die, therefore we are in no position to assume that once we die, that's it. As believers, however, that's where our faith comes in. As scripture says it is the "evidence of things not seen," thus we must trust that God has everthing in control, especially those things that surpass human reason and understanding, like what happens to us once we die. I pray that this is able to bless whoever reads it, but it sure does a number on me, lol. Also, although it doesn't include the song "afterwhile," below is a clip of D. Haddon performing live. Until next time, speekonit...

Labels: After While, cancer, Crossroads, culture, death, Deitrick Haddon, education, ethnicity, faith, God, Lost and Found, scriputre, UCLA