Posts Tagged ‘Christian Education’

The article/poem below spells out the essence of Christian Education in its purest form. The article/poem also clearly points out the flaw in government educational centers (public schools) that without God in the picture, all the time and money spent (not invested) is for naught. We only need to look about country to see evidence of the consequences of such a program.

To Be Educated

If I can learn my ABCs, can read 600 words per minute, and can write with perfect penmanship, but have not been shown how to communicate with the Designer of all language,
I have not been educated.

If I can deliver an eloquent speech and persuade you with my stunning logic, but have not been instructed in God’s wisdom,
I have not been educated.

If I have read Shakespeare and John Locke and can discuss their writings with keen insight, but have not read the greatest of all books—the Bible—and have no knowledge of its personal importance,
I have not been educated.

If I have memorized addition facts, multiplication tables, and chemical formulas, but have never been disciplined to hide God’s Word in my heart,
I have not been educated.

If I can explain the law of gravity and Einstein’s theory of relativity, but have never been instructed in the unchangeable laws of the One Who orders our universe,
I have not been educated.

If I can classify animals by their family, genus, and species and can write a lengthy scientific paper that wins an award, but have not been introduced to the Maker’s purpose for all creation,
I have not been educated.

If I can recite the Gettysburg Address and the Preamble to the Constitution, but have not been informed of the hand of God in the history of our country,
I have not been educated.

If I can play the piano, the violin, six other instruments and can write music that moves men to tears, but have not been taught to listen to the Director of the universe and worship Him,
I have not been educated.

If I can run cross-country races, star in basketball, and do 100 push-ups without stopping, but have never been shown how to bend my spirit to do God’s will,
I have not been educated.

If I can identify a Picasso, describe the style of da Vinci, and even paint a portrait that earns an A+, but have not learned that all harmony and beauty comes from a relationship with God,
I have not been educated.

If I graduate from high school with a perfect 4.0 and am accepted at the best university with a full scholarship, but have not been guided into a career of God’s choosing for me,
I have not been educated.

If I become a good citizen, voting at each election and fighting for what is moral and right, but have not been told of the sinfulness of man and his hopelessness without Christ,

I have not been educated.

However, if one day I see the world as God sees it and come to know Him, Whom to know is life eternal, and glorify God by fulfilling His purpose for me,
then I have been educated!

At their regularly scheduled meeting – June 10th, the VCS School Board voted to proceed with the K4 Program for the upcoming 2010-11 school year. In the past couple of weeks, additional parental interest from the community at large for such a program has encouraged the board to move in this direction.

At this point in time, the school’s administration is working to get the word out about the need for a qualified instructor for the K4 Program and the availability for student enrollments.

Valley Christian School is in the process of gathering information on the feasibility of a Kindergarten Readiness program to begin in the fall of 2010. If you are a parent of a child who would turn 4 by 9/1/2010 and desire to have a Christian preparatory environment for you child, please contact the school @ 651.465.3333. Valley Christian School is dedicated to serve God and the family in raising up Godly leaders for tomorrow.

Kids, students like to show and demonstrate what they have learned. It does not matter if the “kid” is 2 or 22 or 92, he or she likes to “show off” what they have been up to. On April 15, 2010, from 6:30-8pm, the students of VCS will be showing and demonstrating some of the things they have been learning in their various classes. There will be illustrations, pictures, 3-d projects, and even some live dissections during the the annual Educational Fair. Parents, friends, and members of the community are invited to the school that evening to hear and see what the student have been learning.

Please take some time to read the article entitled, “How Christian Were the Founders?” by Russel Shorto. You can find this article at this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/magazine/14texbooks-t.html?pagewanted=1 

Mr. Shorto though trying to come across as objective, his strategic use of some words definitely demonstrates his position on this issue.

Ron Brace

Recently I came across an article entitled “Successful education has many components.” The title seemed very intriguing enough in itself, but when you take into account the magazine I was reading then, you begin to realize why the title was all the more intriguing. The magazine I was reading at the time was the Midwest Ag Journal right alongside advertisements for farm equipment auctions. I would like to quote the six points that the author, Greg Wolf, makes:

• Successful education at any level involves both inspiration and instruction. This speaks of touching the heart as well as the head. Effective teaching and effective learning really requires a good blend of the two.
• Successful education involves appropriation and application. Appropriation simply means to take ownership, or to transfer that which is universal to a personal level. Appropriation might be better described as “make it mine,” while application might be better described as “make it real.” It is the “lab” component – learning how to take things that have been learned academically and apply them. It is one of the great challenges of formal education, no matter what venue, to make quality instruction both personal and relevant for students.
• Successful education involves patience and practice. By patience I mean not as much moment by moment patience, but more endurance, or sticking to something over time. Twelve years stretches out a long way in front of a Kindergartner and it involves patience to make it. Sometimes those with college degrees are accused of not having practical “common sense.” While that may or may not be true, the reality is that employers often value a college degree nearly as much for what it means in this area of patience as any other. Practice I would describe as just the development of capability over time in an area – probably a combination of all the preceding factors combined and the fulfillment of education.

At Valley Christian School, we must credit a vast majority of our success on the fact that our foundational text book, the Bible, is completely inspired by Almighty God who knows and understands all things, and it is profitable for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16 KJV). From the Bible, the rest of our curriculum is derived. We take great care that the curriculum presents material that is aligned with the Bible. In doing so, we can have meaningful and insightful discussions on a wide array of topics that are pertinent for our times.

While reading these first couple of points, I was reminded of the verse that states that “we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, with all of our soul and with all of our mind (Matt. 22:37 KJV). The joy of Christian education is the freedom to instruct the heart and the mind in the ways of our LORD.

Our curriculum and methodology works to make appropriation and application a reality for each of our students. Our faculty is continually evaluating the material that he or she is presenting and the presentation of the material so that it reaches each student where he or she is at. When the teacher senses that he or she has not made that connection, he or she strives to understand where the breakdown has occurred. One powerful tool that we have access to is the Holy Spirit. When presented with such as situation, we can go to the throne of God to seek wisdom and understanding to bridge that disconnect between the student and the subject matter. There have been countless times when the God, through the Holy Spirit, instructs, demonstrates the steps needed to be taken to generate success in the student.

In our present culture, patience and practice have almost become bywords, words that are detestable. We live in and with such instantaneousness at every turn that we want what we want, and we want it now. The sound, successful education of an individual does not happen instantaneously. Such education takes time and work on the part of all that are involved – student, parent, and teacher. When any one of those three components is not fully devoted to the mission, to the long haul; the final product has the potential of being less than what was anticipated. At Valley Christian School, the school board has mapped out what they would like our students to “look like” when he or she graduates. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can have the patience and the practice to instill, inculcate, and cultivate the qualities and skills that match that ideal.

Ron Brace

Wolf, Greg, “Successful education has many components”, Midwest Ag Journal,     September 28, 2009

On the Valley Christian School homepage, the question is posed boldly in the middle of the page, “Why Christian Education?” Why should a parent expend precious dollars in tuition monies to pay for the education of their child when they could receive free schooling at the local government school? The answer to these questions can be found in God’s Word. There are many more verses that are appliciable than the verse discussed here, but in Ps. 1, God gives a pretty clear mandate.

In Ps. 1:1-2 it states, “Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mocker, but who delight in the law of the LORD  and meditate on his law day and night.” (TNIV)  There is a clear dichotomy – clear separation – of what we are not to be doing and what we are to be doing.  Along those lines, anything that is not for God is against God (Lk 11:23) including the area of education.

In the area of education, any institution that willfully and purposefully seeks to obscure the truth about many the aspects of history, science, morality, and life in general is anti-God. Teaching evolutionary philosophy as though it is truth, which it is not, teaching homosexuality as though it is normal and even a genetic trait, which it is not, and teaching history without acknowledging God’s presence and involvment in it, is anti-truth, anti-God. Any Christian parent should question the subjection of their child’s mind to anti-truth at a school that does this when at the same time working to establish truth in the child’s mind at home and at their church.

The answer to the initial question, “Why Christian Education?” in reference to the Ps. 1:1-2 passage above is clear.  The purveyors of anti-truth are “the wicked and the mockers” that God clearly states have nothing to do with them, but instead we are to associate and commune with people who delight the Lord and in His law day and night – all the time. It is a God-given mandate that the Christ-follower is to ensure that the education received by their children “delights the Lord and in His law day and night.”  Where is this going to happen except with Christian education? When the Christian parent fully understands this mandate, they will make the sacrifice in dollars and creature comforts to see that they are obedient to God’s Word and that their children receive a Christian education.

At Valley Christian School, we work at have the truth, God’s Word, fully incorporated into all of our subject matter. The mind is a precious thing, and the faculty seeks to use every opportunity to have the truth firmly cemented into the mind. The parent’s efforts at home are complemented by the truth-filled education that their child receives at Valley Christian School.

Ron Brace

In the January 2010 edition of Focus on the Family’s Citizen, there is a portion of the magazine dedicated to the “Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience.” This declaration is the work of Chuck Colson and others, including Focus on the Family, to formally declare what Christ followers believe about the hot-button issues of the day – the sanctity of life, abortion, euthanasia, religious freedom, and marriage. It is essentially drawing the proverbial “line in the sand” on these issues.

As I read this declaration that calls to task the actions of our government, I could not help remember that the actions of the government are “down stream” from the actions of the culture and society. The government only reacts to the activities of the culture and society at large. In some cases those activities are connived by those in power to attain the desired ends. Needless to say, the government that is over us is a reflection of what is happening at the grassroots level. So, if we truly desire a change in our government, it needs to begin with you and me and how we conduct ourselves.

The philosophy and mission of Valley Christian School completely espouses the positions and mandates of the Manhattan Declaration. Valley Christian School believes in the sanctity of life – the life of the unborn and the life of those individuals that are not “perfect” at whatever age. Valley Christian School believes in religious freedom. Our shear existence is testimony to that. Valley Christian School believes that God ordained marriage is between one man and one woman.

With these foundational premises, Valley Christian School seeks to educate our students and model for our community these Godly values. It is through the clear and thorough Godly education put forth at Valley Christian School that these premises are instilled and solidified in the hearts and minds of the students. As these student graduate and move out into their respective communities, the efforts put forth at Valley Christian School begin to multiply and have greater impact on the culture and the society at large.

I would encourage you to read the entire Manhattan Declaration. Go to manhattandeclaration.org to read and to add your signature to the declaration.

Ron Brace

During and after the Christmas celebrations, many people take some time to look back at year soon to pass recalling the events that have occurred. This recollection can happen on a personal level or it can happen on a corporate level. As the Administrator of Valley Christian School looking back over this past year, it was a year with some major changes and challenges.

Steve Suther, in an article entitled, “Mixed Blessings”, notes that these changes “could be considered blessings in disguise.” Many times, he goes on to state, “challenges… can force you to make decisions you resist in better times.” These decisions, as with any decision, have a risk factor, an unknown component that up until that moment has prevented the decision to be made. On the flip side though, Mr. Suther points out through some examples that there may be some hidden benefits, blessings that may outweigh the perceived and apparent risks involved in making the tough decision.

One of the challenges that Valley Christian School faced this past year was securing a site to operate from for the 2009-10 school year. The facility committee worked for some months looking at a number of potential sites resulting in a dead end. Apprehension and frustration mounted as time pressed on. Resolution finally came when the committee returned to the first site considered for a second look.

The challenges facing the committee in the site selection boiled down to usable space, the price to obtain and get the space to point where it could be used for educational purposes, and the location of the site. Many of the sites that committee looked at had adequate space, but to make the space usable for educational purposes was beyond the available budget, thus eliminating the site from further consideration. Location played in the committee’s actions when it was understood that shifting the location of the school in any one direction too much would place a significant additional travel burden to one or more of the families currently attending Valley Christian School. Our current location has its own set of challenges that day by day we work through.

The benefits and blessings of the challenge of moving Valley Christian School continue to be realized. The first benefit of this challenge was the coming together of the parent body to call upon God Almighty for direction and wisdom. This unity of purpose and dependence upon God continues to be evident in the parent body, students, and staff. The material accumulated for the past 30 years was sorted and organized. Having essentially a thorough “house-cleaning” has been refreshing – like a new start. The new location has forced a re-thinking of the teaching methodology due to the differences in space allocation. This re-thinking called into question those practices that were “sacred cows,” but not necessarily the best for ensuring student educational growth – our ultimate goal. The new site has better curb appeal than the old site. The move also involved moving across a state boundary. This added twist has caused the updating of many of the legal documents for the school which without the move would have not seen much attention.

As Mr. Suther notes, the challenges, the trials that one faces personally or corporately could hold a host of benefits that up to that point were unknown. We know as believers in Christ, God in His infinite wisdom knows what is best for us and what is needed for our timely growth.

Suther, Steve, “Mixed Blessing”, Midwest Ag Journal, December 21, 09