A Note from "Mom"

The following was sent to me by a mom with permission to share on the blog.  The name of the school has been changed, and the children are identified by their first initial only.  This is not only for privacy reasons, but because this mom's story is the story of many moms and dads who have their children in Christian schools.  It's stories like this that remind that "this is why we do what we do."  To God be the Glory!



It is very important for us to provide our children with a Christian education, with godly teachers and fellow students. We love Jesus and want our children to know that our love for Him transcends material possessions and worldly comforts.

We desire for our children to grow to love Him deeply and to serve and glorify Him with their lives.

We want our children to grow up knowing that although we may not have been able to give them many of the things their friends may have, like American Girl dolls and video games, that we cared enough about their souls to do everything possible to surround them with Jesus, even if it requires sacrifice on our parts.

We have been pleased with “Hometown” Christian's roll in our lives thus far.

My oldest son, C, has given at least three neighbors Bibles and even has asks them if they read them. He thinks he may be a preacher one day (or a tree house designer). Either way, we know that whatever He does He will glorify God. We also know that his love for Jesus is nurtured by “H”CS. Our second child, A, has a real heart for orphans and missions. She even asked me if we could adopt some orphans for Christmas, and again wants some from Japan now. She prays faithfully for Haiti and Japan. Again, I know that her zeal is furthered by “H”CS.

We have five children and hope to give them a Christian education throughout high school. We pray faithfully for the school, Mrs. “Elementary Principal”, our teachers and classes. We love them.

A Great Parenting Resource ~ A Terrific Price

Westminster Bookstore is offering the "Getting to the Heart of Parenting" DVD teaching series (includes DVD, Discussion Guide and Leader's Guide) at a reduced rate for ONE WEEK only.  


The sale ($15 instead of the usual $60) ends on Tuesday, January 18.


About the DVD ~ from the Westminster Bookstore website:

"Parenting is more than using your power to get children to behave in certain ways. Parenting is all about the exposure and change of the child's heart. When the heart of a child changes the behavioral change that is needed will last. This is a great conference for parents raising children from age toddler through teen.

Learn how to be an instrument of heart changing grace in the little moments of life that God will give you with your children. Paul Tripp will begin with giving you a picture for God's design for the family. Because if you don't understand the family; you will never understand parenting. Then, Paul will help you to understand the life transforming and agenda setting things that the Bible says about the heart. Then, he will apply the principles about the family and the heart to the three primary stages of parenting.

In each stage Paul will give you the key issue of focus and practical steps for achieving what is important, at that particular stage of the child's growth and spiritual development. Paul will also help you to identify those places where you are in the way of what God is calling you to do rather than being part of it by helping you to locate your own heart issues."

Click on this link to take advantage of this special offer!

Is Teacher 'Belief' Important for Educational Transformation?

Trevor Cairney
Just in CASE
Centre for Apologetic Scholarship and EducationSydney, NSW, Australia

Introduction:
"I’ve been working on a book over the past year with a group of theologians and educators that is exploring what is distinctive about Christian education. We see a strong connection between faith and educational priorities and decision-making. But we live in an age where teaching is seen as a secular activity and where the teacher is meant to dispassionately separate or even suppress their personal beliefs as they teach the children of other parents. This of course wasn’t how teaching was always seen. In fact, for much of human history, teaching was seen as a deeply religious activity, that is, something guided by beliefs shaped by an understanding of an ‘Ultimate Reality’ concerning the cause, purpose and nature of life and the universe. I am of the view that it is virtually impossible for the act of teaching to be free of religious belief."


Conclusion:
"While not all readers of this blog will accept the message of the Bible, my challenge to all would be to consider the ultimate goals of an education system that seeks to strip away any basis of belief or faith. From what will it draw its priorities and what will be the marks of the graduate of the system of education that is created? My comments above will raise many questions. Am I saying that you have to be a Christian to be a good teacher, or is the only good school a Christian school? The short answer to both is no. But what I am saying is that what teachers believe matters, and that their beliefs have an impact on the type of education that is offered. "

Click HERE to read the full post!

The Dangerous Worlds of Analog Parents with Digital Teens

Parents cannot be spectators in the lives of their children, but should set rules, establish expectations, enforce limitations, and constantly monitor their teenagers’ digital lives. Anything less is a form of parental negligence.

Dr. Albert Mohler
Originally posted on AlbertMohler.com
December 8, 2010

Sunday’s edition of The New York Timesgave front-page attention to the problem of adolescent bullying on the Internet. There can be no question that the Internet and the explosion of social media have facilitated the arrival of a new and deeply sinister form of bullying, and the consequences for many teenagers are severe. For some, life becomes a horror story of insults, rumors, slanders, and worse.

Meanwhile, many parents are baffled about how to help — if they are not completely out to lunch.  

How are you doing?  Click here to read the full post on AlbertMohler.com.

You Have to Watch Out for the Pork on Thursdays

The Trouble with Being Sheltered from Reality

Mark Kennedy (ACSI Canada, Eastern Region)

My childhood friend Bill grew up to be a respected and successful bank executive- a man who occasionally helps financial institutions beyond our borders. A few years ago while consulting for a bank in Dublin he made his temporary GHQ in a small hotel that boasted a dining room for its guests. On a Thursday evening he ambled down to this quaint eatery for a taste of Celtic cuisine not suspecting the violent conflict that would arise later in his stomach.

“I was sick all last night after eating in your restaurant!” He told the manager the next morning.  “Well what did you have for dinner?”  “Roast pork!” said Bill.  “Ah yes,” replied the manager philosophically in a lilting Irish brogue, “You have to watch out for the pork on Thursdays.”

You can imagine the questions in my friend’s mind after his initial shock wore off. Perhaps foremost was “Why didn’t someone tell me?!?”  Sheltering someone from reality can be dangerous. And sometimes the consequences can be much more serious than a minor case of food poisoning.

Consider the effects of an education that intentionally shelters students from the most essential realities about life and living- a secular education where the daily presence of the living God is ignored and the authority and guidance of scripture is dismissed- an education that edits out the creator and sustainer of the real world.

Paul warns about a day when “men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn away from truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Tim 4: 3 & 4. That time sounds uncomfortably familiar.

It’s not that a secular education necessarily speaks out against the God of the Bible or openly denies the authority of the scriptures. It simply remains silent about them. And that’s the problem. If a student from a Christian family receives a consistently secular education how surprising can it be if he concludes that God can’t be very important? ‘After all they never talk about Him at school’ he might reasonably say to himself- and his logic would be pretty hard to refute. He got the message that silence implies.

Robert Louis Stephenson expressed it plainly, “The cruellest lies are often told in silence.” So when important, even vital truths are withheld from people who desperately need to hear and experience them, Stephenson says it is a cruel deception.

The silence in secular education has implications for the way children learn, believe, think and face life’s challenges. When students are sheltered from God’s reality they are vulnerable to the deceptions Paul warns about in Col 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”  Philosophies produce actions, and actions produce consequences. 

So it should be no surprise that sex education that ignores biblical standards produces ever growing rates of sexually transmitted diseases, abortions and accompanying psychological problems; that a purely mechanistic and evolutionary view of humanity convinces some students they are worthless genetic  accidents so that suicide becomes a reasonable option; and that personal troubles for which secular minds have no real answers cause some  students to turn to illicit drugs in a hopeless attempt to escape. The world of drug and alcohol abuse and promiscuous or perverse sexuality is so often a false refuge for people who have not been equipped to deal with the real world.

In Christian schooling we don’t shelter students from reality. We prepare students by telling them the whole truth about the real world and by honouring the presence of the source of all truth and by teaching future generations about his standards for living. As the Psalmist says, “We will not hide them from their children; We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power and the wonders he has done.” Psalm 78:4

In the early 1990s after Russian Communism collapsed I found myself on a team of North Americans instructing hundreds of Russian educators about how to teach the Bible to Russian public school students. Evgenity Kurkin of the Russian Ministry of Education explained why we had been invited to do that, “Seventy years ago we closed Him (God) out of our country and it has caused so many problems in our society we cannot count them…..We must put God back into our country and we must begin with our children.”

One evening as I walked with some of our Russian hosts down a snowy street in St. Petersburg, a translator told me about his life in Chernobyl after the nuclear accident – the one that killed and crippled thousands. “For three years after the accident nobody told us what had happened, all we knew was that our children were getting sick. We finally learned about it through BBC radio.” Those people in Chernobyl knew the cost of being sheltered from reality – and it was far too high.

And what about the future cost for North American students, especially those from Christian homes, who have been sheltered from the realities that matter most for living now and for the life yet to come?

We shy away from sounding a warning to families in our churches. ‘Try to focus on the positive aspects of Christian schooling and don’t offend anyone’ we tell ourselves. But maybe the time has come to tell the whole story to Christian families for the sake of their children and for the future of the church in North America.

Christian Music for Children

From Tim Challies

There is a vast amount of Christian music targeted at children. The problem is that there is a lot of junk as well—stuff like this. (Click on the back button to return to this post if the video doesn't open in a new window.)

My kids are not particularly drawn to music so we have probably overlooked a lot of the great resources out there. Nevertheless, there are a few that we’ve come across that they continue to enjoy. So here are some of our favorite kids’ albums. 

I’d love you to read through and add your own suggestions in the comments.

Already on "the list"

• Seeds Family Worship
• Sovereign Grace Music
• Getty Music
• Judy Rogers
• Songs for Saplings
• The Rizers

Click here to read the entire blog post - including additional resources in the comments section.

Have any others to add?

Long Story Short ~ Ten Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God

Came across this wonderful resource (available for $6.99 from Westminster Bookstore). Check it out and let us know what you think!


Long Story Short ~ Ten Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God

Click here to order from Westminster Bookstore

(Publisher's Description) ~ Christian parents know the importance of passing the gospel story on to their children, yet we live in a busy world filled with distractions. Schedules collide, there is homework and yard work and dishes and laundry, the car’s oil should be changed, there are phone calls to make...and before you know it, everyone is getting to bed late again.

The Bible can seem like a long story for an active family to read, but when you break it down into short sections, as Marty Machowski does, family devotions are easy to do. Long Story Short will help busy parents share with their children how every story in the Old Testament points forward to God’s story of salvation through Jesus Christ. You won’t find a more important focus for a family devotional than a daily highlighting of the gospel of grace. Clever stories and good moral lessons may entertain and even help children, but the gospel will transform children. The gospel is deep enough to keep the oldest and wisest parents learning and growing all their lives, yet simple enough to transform the heart of the first grader who has just begun to read.

Ten minutes a day, five days a week is enough time to pass on the most valuable treasure the world has ever known. Long Story Short is a family devotional program designed to explain God’s plan of salvation through the Old Testament and is suitable for children from preschool through high school.

Enlightened and Encouraged

Dan Berens

Christian Schools International

Originally posted on Nurturing Faith

We are living in instant times. We are fixated on the newest and latest. Sometimes we forget how we have gotten to where we are. Since CSI just celebrated 90 years, I thought it might be a good time to consider some of the rich history that is ours to see what can be gained from the past for living in today’s times.

A book that I recently read was 22 Landmark Years, Christian Schools International, 1943 – 1965written by John VanderArk, who served as Director of CSI from 1953-1977. The comments below are reflections and quotes from that source, published by Baker Books.

VanderArk begins his preface with a quote: “Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well (that) the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning…”.  Would you be shocked if I told you that this was a September 26, 1642 letter explaining the reason for establishing Harvard College? He goes on to say that “the purposes of life and learning are essentially theological issues, and one’s theology is important. Consequently people who take their faith seriously wish to entrust the education of children to those of a similar faith.”

While there were schools started by various denominations, VanderArk states that many of them closed as civil education gained ascendancy and can’t truly be considered the forerunners of today’s Protestant Christian schools. He points out that the rise of secular education that focused students on national citizenship to the exclusion of the consciousness of the kingdom of God was a primary cause for the establishment of Christian schools. While many in the late nineteenth century were enamored by Enlightenment thinking that promoted the concept that “knowledge is power” and that man is the measure of all things, the Netherlands immigrants who began many of the schools in CSI thought otherwise. While they taught their children to appreciate their heritage and to embrace citizenship in their new country (whether Canada or the U.S.A) their focus for their children was on preparation to live and worship God above all in this world and the world to come.

We are linked to those who have gone before us and their story can both enlighten and encourage us. Their struggles are our struggles, just in different clothes. We seek to show students that all of life belongs to God, that no part of it can be understood apart its Creator. It is our turn to share the story. As VanderArk warns: “The distance between a goodly heritage and its extinction is but one short generation.” Let us be faithful!

Young minds full of promise ~ Teachers assume role as models

Sunday, October 24, 2010Originally published in The Walton TribuneBy Pam Krumpach

Watching the leaves change provokes the dreamer in me. It reminds me of the swift passage of time and how, with each passing day, my students grow and change, developing into the men and women of quality and dignity that God intends for each to become.

In scripture, Jeremiah tells us God has a plan for each of these young people and these plans give all of us hope and a future.

Isn’t that what life is about? Think about it. What a gift life is, freely given with plans designed by the Creator and full of hope. What a privilege it is to be surrounded by the promise of optimism which springs from our students as they discover their own futures. It makes even more poignant the events of this past week.

Our family here at Covenant Christian Academy suffered the loss of an amazing man and a wonderful friend. He left a huge impact on everyone who knew him because of his loyalty and compassion. He was a role model for students — a man not afraid to visibly demonstrate his faith through words and actions. And even though he was not a teacher nor an administrator, he was an educator. As I think of this man, I am reminded of the priority of Christian education and our role as parents and educators in the lives of our children.

While the three Rs retain an important role in education, Christian education offers so much more. Christian education takes place in a community setting. Parents, teachers, administrators, staff and even the young people themselves bear the responsibility and privilege of creating an atmosphere in which each child can freely partake in the opportunities of learning and developing as students and as caring members of the “family.” Students have that chance to grow surrounded by love and support.

The Christian school setting provides a fertile ground for that change. Keep in mind that societal pressures have encouraged the disintegration of traditional families, and children now spend far more time in a school atmosphere where teachers assume a primary role as models for their students. David L. Roth said recently, “Christian school teachers must serve as role models. [Therefore] it is important that a teacher model the Christ-centered and Bible-centered mission of the Christian school.”

As members of our Christian family at Covenant Christian Academy, we are particularly mindful of how important that Christian family is and how we need to support, love, uphold and lead our young people, certainly through instruction, but more importantly through deed.

So as we find ourselves grieved, disappointed, angry, hurt or any of the other responses we have to the many stresses in our changing lives, we need only be reminded that even in the midst of the storm,Jesus lived what He taught, that there is a future which God has destined for each us and that no matter what, there is hope. We must strive to live our lives as Christ did. After all, He is our ultimate role model.

Click here for the original post.

Why is Christian Education so important?

The Lion's Tale

A Message from the Dean

April 22, 2010 10:46 AM

Originally published in The Star (click here to see the original post).

Why is Christian Education so important? Is church training enough? Can I teach my children the values and morals they need at home? As familes look at all of the education alternatives today, these are questions that arise quite frequently. I have researched all of these questions from a Christian perspective and would like to offer my view.

Sunday School is a great opportunity for children to learn the mind of God on their own age level and to make friends their own age. Sunday Service is a great place to learn the disciplines of the church. Some churches offer other activities such as Children's Church or Youth Group. This is an ideal social setting for most Christian kids and offers Godly instruction on appropriate levels.

Home is one of the best places to teach morals and values.  Teaching by example gives a very strong message because young children want to follow in their parents’ footsteps, and family devotion time is a great time to discuss spiritual and moral topics.

So the question remains… Are these times enough to keep children spiritually strong?   How many times are we as adults bombarded by secular opinions and pressured to conform?  How many days do we go home from the work place spiritually exhausted and cry out to God because we feel weak and alone?   If we as adults feel the strain of the constant pressure of society in our spiritual lives, how much do our children, whom God has given to us to protect and nurture, feel as they fight against the currents of society all day, every day?

Is it possible that education can be neutral?  No, every idea spurs an action and every action has a consequence.  The great reformer Martin Luther penned, "I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth."

Christian education reinforces church and home training and offers families an alternative to secular instruction.  As our society’s moral compass continually veers off course, as Christians we must take every opportunity to fill the young minds and hearts of our children with God’s precepts. 

 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2:8