What is a Christian Education?

 

“Education is simply the soul of a society 
as it passes from one generation to another”  G.K. Chesterton

 

  School has started for another year. With the increased secularization of our culture and that too often schools focus on social agendas rather than education basics, (the 3 R’s – reading, writing, and arithmetic), parents struggle with the best options of schooling for their children. In spite of the rhetoric of some Christian leaders, God’s Word doesn’t designate one format of education as being the “right” one. 

 The three most common options in America are public, private (for Christians usually a Christian school,) or homeschooling. All three have both advantages and disadvantages. What God’s Word does clearly teach is parental responsibility for the spiritual education of their children.

  Understandably, Christian parents want to protect their children from evil worldviews and influence. It can’t be done. The first family had a son with an anger issue that devolved into cold-blooded murder.

  Some years ago M. Night Shyamalan produced a movie, The Village, with a powerful biblical message – you can’t isolate yourself or your family from depravity. And God doesn’t want us to live in a bubble or raise our children in one. We are to be in the world, yet not of the world. That’s where God’s power shines through. Parents then must evaluate their situation and their child’s needs to choose what will give their child the greatest potential for a Christ-honoring adulthood.

  A ubiquitous contaminant that has little to do with your child’s spiritual future is FOMO (fear of missing out or fear your kids will miss out). Your child does not need sports, music, or dance lessons, etc. Your child needs a biblical worldview. Your child needs you and lots of you consistently interacting with you. Please don’t cave to the parental peer pressure of over-involving your children.

  This may shock you, but no child is deprived because they never went to Disney. Many committed parents in seeking to provide for their child, pack their lives with activity “because everyone else is doing it,” when what their child needs is more parental love, influence, and interaction.

  One of the clearest passages about a biblical education is Deuteronomy 6:5-7: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” The most important educational decision you make for your children is to choose to love and obey God yourself. They learn more about having a heart for God from you than anywhere else. They learn more about what has true value, marriage, parenting, worldview from you. It begins with “these words that I command YOU…shall be on your heart.” If God’s commands aren’t first on your heart, it’s doubtful they’ll be on your child’s heart.

  Here are some simple suggestions. Pray for your child’s teacher and school. We do more on our knees than anywhere else. Let their teacher know that you appreciate them. Attend parent-teacher conferences and school events. Be supportive and encouraging.

  Determine to not undermine their teacher. Be slow in jumping to conclusions about a teacher or what happened at school. One wise teacher sent home this note, “If you promise to not believe everything that your child says happened at school, I promise to not believe everything that your child says happens at home.” On a very rare occasion, you may have to intervene. In the future, your child is going to have bad bosses, neighbors, and co-workers. They must learn to stand alone. It’s safer to learn that while you’re nearby to support and pick them up.

  Limit the biggest educator today’s child has. We have children who are media addicts. The average child spends between 50-75 hours a week in front of a screen. It’s easy to plop them in front of a screen but the long-term outcome is moral decay.

  Screens are amusement. A-muse means to “not think.” What’s lost by constant amusement are rational thinking skills and a biblical worldview.

  For example, if you’re children speak rudely or disrespectfully, listen to what their favorite media choices are modeling about communication. Most movies/TV shows get laugh lines for rude language. If your child is developing a potty mouth and didn’t learn it from you, it’s probable they’re learning it from the media. Pull the plug or at least limit it, just as you do sugar in their diet.

  Most earthly worldviews are very subtle. While most parents are on high alert for the boogeymen of socialism or sex education, they’re obtuse to subtle godless worldviews that are readily accepted. Most miss that we subtly teach our children the myth that success comes with the A’s.

  We value appearance. The Bible teaches that each of us is designed by the Creator. When we value appearance that fits our values of attractiveness yet disdain those who are “ugly ducklings,” we’re criticizing the Maker. Beauty is subjective, shallow, and temporary. While we need to care for what God has entrusted to us, a person with character pleases God whereas a “beautiful” one with little heart for God does not (Prov. 31:30).

  We value ability. Some have natural athletic gifts or other skills. We must remember that they’re all God-given. A lost world heroizes the athletic and talented. Scripture honors faithfulness, humility, and a heart for God.

  We value academics. Who gives us intelligence? God. Every child should be encouraged to do the best they can and develop what God has entrusted to them. But a sanitation worker who loves God and uses the I.Q. God entrusted to them is more pleasing to God than an M.D. who thinks he or she is self-made and worships at the altar of self.

  Appearance, ability, and academics are all gifts from God (James 1:17) and can easily be taken back by the Giver.

  Parents, you need God’s wisdom and guidance to choose the best options for your child. Remember though that the greatest teacher they have is You. As you’re a committed follower of your Heavenly Father, they’ll learn what they truly need to know for life and eternity.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Are You a Little Tipsy?

“My life is a Bible for some folks to see,  

I wonder just what they are reading in me.”

 

One of the Ad Council’s most effective public service commercials is the “Don’t Almost Give” campaign. One ad shows a man with crutches struggling to go up a flight of steps. The narrator says, “This man almost learned to walk at a rehab center that almost got built by people who almost gave money.” After a pause, the narrator continues, “Almost gave. How good is almost giving? About as good as almost walking.” 

  Another ad shows a homeless man curled up in a ball atop a pile of rags. He’s covered with a ratty bed sheet. The narrator begins, “This is Jack Thomas. Today someone almost bought Jack something to eat. Someone almost brought him to a shelter. Someone almost gave him a warm blanket.” Then after a pause the narrator drives his point home, “And Jack Thomas? Well, he almost made it through the night.”

  We know this yet far too easily forget it. It’s not enough to “almost” love for Jesus. As D.L. Moody said, “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.” Knowing without doing is worthless. Yet, before you can do, you must know.

  A term often thrown around in the Church is “Biblical Worldview.” But what does it mean to have a “Biblical Worldview?” A biblical worldview is essential for having a successful Christian life. A biblical worldview is essential if you want your life to count for eternity. A biblical worldview is essential if you want to truly make a difference.

  As we enter 2021, may we all determine to grow in a biblical worldview. A biblical worldview is like a three-legged stool. Each leg is vital.  

  The first leg is knowing. Knowledge is like med school for a doctor. It demands reading and studying. But in American culture we value doing, not knowing. Knowing must always precede doing or you won’t know what the right thing is to do. God gave us a mind and we’re to use it.

  Christians should be the most voracious readers. We must be committed to study (2 Timothy 2:15). God has given us a written revelation. We must faithfully read His Word. Study demands reading books about the Bible and about God. It means digging deeper. It takes time and discipline.

  Can you imagine having an appointment with your doctor, you describe your symptoms, and he says, “I think it might be…but I’m not sure. I’ve never been much of a reader. I just go with what feels right.” How fast would you run out of his office?

  Think of the top five areas of your life, those areas that consume most of your time and focus. God’s Word speaks to each of them. Yet, if you don’t know God’s Word, if you don’t know how to think through the grid of a biblical worldview, then you will stink at all of them because you’re using man’s wisdom. A biblical worldview means that you must read and study.

  The second leg is talking. Just for a moment stop and think about all that you talked about this past week. Was any of it significant? Yet why is that we’re so uncomfortable talking about matters, well, that really matter? That have true significance?

  A healthy conversation that helps us grow must be a dialogue, not a monologue. The emphasis in our culture is wrongly on sharing what we think, yet failing to listen. And too frequently, we only talk with those who agree with us. But to have a biblical worldview we need to have deep conversations. We must have our assumptions challenged. Reading, studying and thinking should precede talking. Talking then helps us to grow and stretch, especially when our assumptions are challenged.

  The third leg is doing. American culture skips ahead to doing and jumps over reading and talking. Doing is essential. Truth needs work clothes. Yet when we get the order wrong, we do the wrong thing because we simply don’t know what we’re doing. Successful Christians know it takes all three: reading, dialogue and then doing.

  Our culture wants to rush the cycles and shoot from the hip. The outcome is that we become frantic doers and not even sure why we’re doing what we’re doing. All three legs are necessary. Knowing without doing is empty and sterile. Many Christians know what’s right and what they should do. They just never get around to doing it.

  Then, talk by itself is cheap. It takes deeds to validate the talk. But deeds by themselves are ambiguous; it takes words to explain their meaning.

  God, throughout history, has been gracious to provide His people with all three—deeds powerful enough to show He’s not just someone who promises. He’s revealed Himself to us in His Word because He wants us to know Him. His words are clear enough to keep us from misunderstanding what His deeds are all about.

  Recently, I heard about a factory worker who longed to see one of his fellow laborers become a believer in Christ. His witness was to befriend this fellow, to treat him kindly, not just to see him as an object but very much as a person. Theirs became the epitome of a relational witness.

  Some time later, the unbeliever became a believer—but it happened through someone else. Coming back to the factory, he spoke of his new faith to the man who’d been a Christian for many years. “That’s wonderful,” said the first fellow. “I’m a believer too.”

  “You are?” the new Christian said, incredulously. “Did you know that I’ve put off becoming a Christian for months just because of you? To me, you were the very embodiment of someone who could be a good person without Christ. I thought maybe I too could become that good without becoming a Christian.” So much for works without words as a witness.

  As we celebrate our Lord’s incarnation, it’s what He’s called us to be as well…we’re to be incarnational. We’re to be Jesus in our world. You can’t be Jesus without knowledge. Study His ministry. It included talking and doing. A biblical worldview has all three. Determine to make 2021 your year to commit to balancing them out in your life. Read, talk and do!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

 

The Happiest Place on earth...it's not Disneyland

“They say the happiest place on earth is Disneyland. They’re wrong, it’s camp.”

  As difficult as it is to believe, summer is a few weeks away. Summer break will be here soon. So what are your children doing this summer?

  Hopefully, you have some vacation time planned with the whole family. As the nice weather arrives, I hope you’re trimming the schedule to the essentials, making room and planning quality and quantity family time.

  If you’re a grandparent, I hope you use this time while school is out to spend chunks of time with your grandchildren. It’s an excuse to give their parents a break and a great opportunity for you to invest in their lives. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are of staying with my grandparents in South Georgia. So have you considered Christian camp this coming summer? A week at a Christian camp can be life changing for a young person. I hope you’ll seriously consider sending your child off to a good one for a week or two.

  After graduating from high school, I worked at a Christian camp as a counselor and lifeguard in upstate New York. It was a great opportunity to invest in the lives of young people, most of them from the sin-saturated world around New York City. Some of them made decisions for Christ that week, whether for salvation or committing their life to Him. When I get Home, I hope to meet a few of those campers and learn that the summer of 1977 at Camp Robin Hood was when they came to know Jesus.

  For most parents, there are more options than funds. Yet, investing in a week of Christian camp can help set the trajectory of your child’s life for a godly outcome which can carry them through adulthood. It can be one of the best investments you’ll ever make in the lives of your children. Why?

  Long time friendships. Your children are going to have friends. The key question is: What kind of friends? Will they be Christian friends with a biblical worldview? Christian camps are staffed by college age young people committed to Christ who love the Lord. Your child is going to have someone besides you sharing a biblical worldview. Your child will potentially ask questions, share fears and hopes with these godly leaders they might never share with you. They’re going to be given responses which line up with what Scripture teaches. With technology they potentially will remain friends with these leaders and other campers for years to come. They’ll hear Bible teaching from someone who knows how to relate to them. They’re going to have the same biblical truth we teach at Grace affirmed. It will give it more credibility in their skeptical world.  

  They are going to experience God’s glorious creation. A week at camp will give them a much needed break from technology so they can experience God’s handiwork and really listen to the Lord. Camp will keep them so busy having fun and building relationships, that after a few hours they’ll forget they don’t have their phone, aren’t watching TV or playing video games. They won’t care about texting because they’re talking to real people. A technology fast helps them learn technology isn’t crucial and they can actually survive without it. They’ll learn how to build relationships and how much fun, not to mention, how fulfilling life is without it. Most importantly, they have an easier time focusing on what really matters – eternal matters, because they’re not so distracted.

  Quality spiritual nourishment. For a week, they have the opportunity to saturate their minds and hearts with God’s Word. Many young people come back from camp on a “spiritual high” because they’ve actually tasted the greatness of God and His Word. Spending time each day studying God’s word, hearing Bible lessons, praying together and singing praises to God will do that to you! Afterwards, it’s an opportunity for your home to take some new spiritual directions because your child is on your team, rather than opposing what you want to do as a family spiritually.

  But Christian camp isn’t only for kids. All of us, even sophisticated adults, need times like this too. Most of us would do well to take a page from the Christian camp handbook. We can make our homes a place where our kids hang out with Christian friends, have limited technological distractions, spend time studying the Bible, singing praises to God and enjoying His creation. This summer why not determine to make your home a place where your kids are spiritually charged up all year long?

  At Grace Church we are a family…and family takes care of family! A constant theme of Scripture is of those in the family with more financial resources helping those who don’t have them. With our commitment to a new building, we rarely challenge you with other financial needs. Our new building is merely a tool to help us see lives changed. We are committed to investing generationally! Young people are our greatest hope to impact our world in the years to come.

  We have some families at Grace who can’t afford to send their child to camp. Or, they have several children and can’t afford to send all of them. We have families where going out to eat is big treat. For a few, they may need help with all of the costs. For most, they just need a little help.

  Because we believe this is so important, we’re asking those who can to please give to a Christian camp scholarship fund, along with their regular giving. We’ll then use this fund to assist families who wouldn’t be able to send their child to camp. Please understand, too, we’ll only be collecting these funds for scholarships this week and next Sunday. 

  Perhaps your own children are grown or you just feel passionate about investing in the next generation. Please pray about it and if the Lord lays it on your heart to help a child go to a Christian camp, then give accordingly. 

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500.