No, I haven’t got my “mords wixed”.  Yes, I know that folks from Missouri (“Show Me” State) would say that I have erred in my thinking.  What I am sharing here in this Lenten message is a biblical perspective that does run contrary to the way our culture thinks.  We live in a scientific, empirical world in which everything needs to be proven, observed, or verified in order for it to be real.  Our emphasis on this has infiltrated our Christian faith so much so that seeing IS how we gauge faith.  We want answers, we want control, and we want them now.  While we say we have faith and that we “trust the Lord”, more often than not, we trust our eyes and ourselves to get things done or set things right.  Seeing things my way and pushing my point is, sadly, my first response rather than seeing how God will work things for the good or work together with those who love him.  I once had a poster on my office wall, which stated, “I always look at both sides . . . my side and the wrong side.”  It’s all about seeing & believing, but not necessarily in that order.

There is an interesting pre-Easter passage in Luke 18 that brings this idea home for me.  Jesus is speaking privately with his disciples and outlines for them what is about to happen to him when they go “up to Jerusalem”.  As the prophet Isaiah foretold, he would be mocked, insulted, spit upon, flogged, and killed . . . then, on the third day rise again.  The response of the twelve was, “What in the world are you talking about?”

The following story tells us that along the way to Jerusalem they pass through Jericho and come upon blind Bartimaeus begging along the roadside.  He wants to know what the ruckus is about and being told it is Jesus of Nazareth, yells out, “Jesus, have mercy on me . . . Lord I want to see!”  The Son of David responds, “Receive your sight, your faith has healed you.”

So let me get this straight . . . the disciples, who walked with Jesus day after day, saw the miracles he performed, watched him heal lepers, observed him cast out demons, and verified that he fed 5,000 folks with a picnic lunch . . . now could not understand what he was saying would happen to him.  Yet, a beggar who could not see these things, actually could not see anything, merely believed, and that faith brought him sight.

This is the message of the Passion of Christ.  His death and resurrection caused blind eyes to see, rescued us from the dominion of darkness, and called us into his wonderful light.  And what glorious vision it is for us to live in.  So why do we return (quite easily I might add) to living by what we think we see and then responding (reacting!) to it with only a glancing thought to what God might be doing?  I think you may concur with me that the reason is we are control freaks.  Oh, we may love hanging out with Jesus, but we may not truly understand what he is saying or where he’s going with our lives . . . hey, we have our own agenda or idea on how to do life.  It’s hard to let go of what we see and let God work his word and his will in our lives or in a given situation. The real world is not always as we see it, is it?

This happens to be an important aspect of HIGHER LEARNING in Christian education.  That biblical worldview we stress so often is actually providing special glasses with which students can see the world around them, gain a better perspective of that world, and then impact the culture for Christ.  In the world of Christian education, believing is seeing.  Maybe Bartimaeus should teach a seminar on what the world looked like to him after he received his sight . . .?

Probably the most referenced passage in the whole of Scripture is “Matthew 18″.  Oh, we can also cite John 3:16 and I Corinthians 13 as well.  Romans 8:28 has become popular, particularly in these difficult days.  Others like Philippians 4:7, Ephesians 6:12, and II Corinthians 5:17 have all been quoted as some of the Apostle Paul’s faves.  But, arguably, it’s Matthew 18 that we march out most often in our conversation with others regarding the proper process for communication, confrontation, and consultation in Christian matters.  “The Matthew 18 Principle”, while not often used, is used as  admonition, instruction or counsel when gossip, slander, or murmuring is prevalent.

Well, sorry to disappoint those that may be waiting to hear a sermonette on the passage, or give my two cents on the matter.  I have enough of my own dilemma in employing the principle.  Plus, my experience in Christian schooling has left me wondering either why Jesus bothered to address it (in my Bible the words are in RED!), or even “worse”, why he went to the cross for our forgiveness when we can’t seem to offer the same by a principle.

This article is about the “other” Matthew 18 . . . the first part of that chapter.  Here, Christ is addressing us as children.  Hmmmmmm . . . perhaps he knew where he was going in this sermon (agreeing, forgiving, and settling debts), so he starts with our true identity and lovingly challenges us to the kind of Kingdom living we’ve been called to?  For me, there is also the lesson of HIGHER LEARNING that springs to mind as I examine this whole concept of becoming child-like and what that means for us mature, adult types . . ..

“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”.

Change is not something we handle well.  First you must WANT to change . . . that’s half the battle as “they” say.  It’s easier for the other person to change.  It’s easier for me to expect that you are the one that has to come around, to make it right, to settle up.  What makes it even more interesting is that Jesus then adds that you must “become” like little children.  What?  Isn’t faith growing in the knowledge of God, putting off childish things, and going on to maturity?  So why the apparent contradiction?   I believe that it is not a contradiction.  It is all part of the natural growth and development of the Christian life.  Going on to maturity is what the whole Matthew 18 principle is all about.  But it starts with that childlike realization that Christ is at the center of it.

In Christian schooling I see it every day.  I see that faith of these “little ones”, so innocent, unassuming, and tender.  Of course, I see their little disputes, frustrations, and conflicts.  Hey, it’s life!  But what better place to learn this life and to learn of it in the context of daily becoming mature in their faith.

While speaking with a parent who was considering enrolling in our school, he expressed that he was struggling with the thought that a Christian school shelters kids, wanting his children “exposed to the real world”.  I responded, “Really?”  Do you truly believe that what is going on in secular education today is the real world?  If so, do you truly believe that you want your greatest treasure exposed to that reality?  With all that I’ve seen and read of the atmosphere, values, and politics existing in our state schools, I find it difficult to comprehend why anyone would desire that as the standard of excellence for our children’s academic foundation.

Having said that, I am not writing as an indictment on our public educational system, nationally or locally.  There are many fine teachers and administrators in our public schools.  There are many good things going on in them to prepare students for college & career.  I am both a product of public education and taught there for eight years.  Some of my best friends teach there because they have been called there, Christian-wise and otherwise.  But that is not the point.  To call it the real world does not make sense.  Most folks, given the choice, would vacate in an instant.  Why do you think that charter schools are so popular?  It’s a public school, with a private school feel.  It’s our attempt to improve our schools . . . by providing an alternative.  It makes us feel better.

My “indictment” (with all due respect!) is more upon a Christian community that should know better.   With all that I experience, on any given Sabbath, regarding our place and progress in the Kingdom of God, how can we not claim those things in the lives of our children?  We say “Amen” to sermons preached on “growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”, we lift holy hands to choruses sung about “surrendering it all to Jesus”, and we idolize TV evangelists who call us to “position ourselves for God’s blessing and prosperity”.  Yet, when it pertains to our young people, we are satisfied with a part-time, hit or miss spiritual, educational formation.  If the truth be told, Sunday School, youth group, and VBS are not sufficient in the view of this world for our children . . . but we continue to look the other way and pretend it is.  Unreal.

Theologically speaking, and this is where we must go first, Christian education is where children will receive a biblical view of the real, real world.  Since the Fall, the world God created has not been “real”.  Jesus’ death and resurrection redeemed the world and ushered in a new order.  Throughout the Scriptures, God has given us the mandate to pass on this view of “the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done” (Psalm 78:4).  Paul echoes this, encouraging Timothy to “continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know from whom you have learned it” (2 Timothy 3:14).  It is in this challenge, and our commitment to it as a people of God, that the future of our churches, our families, and our heritage of faith will be forged.

Secondly, it is that spiritual dynamic that actually enhances and completes the academic side.  If we honestly believe what Paul said to the Athenian intellectuals that, “For in Him (God) we live and move and have our being”,  then how can we deny what  that says about the education our kids should receive?  If we honestly agree with what Paul wrote to the Colossians that, “For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.  He is before all things, and in Christ all things hold together”, then how can we not desire that kind of academic preparation . . . in order for them to impact the culture of that real world?

The commitment to providing our youth with a real view of the real world will no doubt cost us.  I believe if we could offer a Christian school education for free our schools would be overflowing!  Yet part of the real world is that there is a cost to discipleship.  Perhaps, instead of paying for all the things we do to heighten our own spirituality, we should sacrifice all we can (I’m speaking to churches, not just parents) to see that kingdom kids get a kingdom education.  What greater place to place our economic resources than to invest in the spiritual growth, academic grounding, and social gathering that takes place in Christian education.  Oh sure, it’s not perfect, it’s not heaven . . . but it’s real.

Keeping it real,

Bill Stevens

This school year marks my thirty-first year in Christian education!  Over the summer I mentally and emotionally “retraced the steps” of my journey.  As I was meditating upon our school’s year verse in preparation for what I would share at orientation, I was struck by the fact that it was such an honor to be involved with this ministry. II Peter 3:18 states, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”.  My pilgrimage of Christian school administration has been just that ~ growing, in grace, in knowledge, and in Christ.

I can still remember (1979) receiving the call (both spiritually and by phone!) to accept the headmaster position at a small Christian school in upstate New York.  With fear and trepidation I assumed the leadership of this fledgling school of 85 students (K-6).  My oldest daughter and I began our first day of school together.  The fact that it was an honor to be granted this opportunity never crossed my mind . . . I was too nervous and inexperienced to know what I had gotten myself into!  Seventeen years and 450 students later (my youngest daughter being the last graduate to receive a diploma from me), I moved on to a different path.

In 1993, the phone rang again.  It was a good friend who invited me to participate in answering a call from the Russian Ministry of Education to come and share with their teachers how to teach the Bible in Russian schools.  WOW!  What an honor had been given me.  Here I was engaged with other Christian educators in an historical window of opportunity to share the gospel in a former atheistic country that was now starving for faith, hope and love.  It was out of this experience that my wife and I then moved to Budapest, Hungary to continue ministering to Christian schools in Eastern Europe that had been birthed out of the rubble of socialist totalitarianism.

The next phone call I made myself.  We had finished the work we came to Hungary to do and were being called home.  I heard of a school that was in need of a headmaster and contacted them.  Little did I know that they were trying to contact me!  The match seemed to fit and now, ten years later, I still serve the Lord here at Wilmington Christian School.  It has been an amazing journey, with too many stories to tell here, but certainly enough to last a lifetime.  Heaven alone will reveal the people that have affected my life and, hopefully, I have done the same . . .

As my mind traveled this road of Christian school education, it brought me to that verse from Peter’s letter.  Growing in grace and knowledge of Christ has been the one constant in all the changes, the one destination in all the traveling, and the one “friend” in so many encounters.  Sure I have learned much and, again hopefully, taught some folks along the way.  But through it all I have experienced, like Peter, the thrill, the blessing, and the honor of “participating” in the very work of the Kingdom of God.  Nurturing young hearts and minds in the nature and reality of God, the grace and knowledge of His beloved Son, and the wisdom and counsel of the Holy Spirit IS the greatest work before us in these days.  Little did I know that as I picked up the phone back in 1979.  It’s an honor to be here . . .

Our board of trustees recently returned from our second annual retreat.  To get right to the point, I would highly recommend that your Christian ministry board plan to retreat . . . in order to advance.  There’s just no getting away from it, you need to “get away” from it and get together for refreshment and renewal.  It will do wonders for your organization, relationships, planning, vision, energy, and unity.

The main agenda was strategic planning, but it ended up being so much more.  While the four major planning sessions were so necessary, vital, and the focus of our 24 hours together, the “supplemental elements” of the retreat were like blessings upon the blessing.

• The worship and devotional times were very inspirational.  We read a book in advance, Mark Batterson’s, “In A Pit With A Lion On a Snowy Day”, which was a SUPER read as it relates to seizing opportunities, taking risks, and fighting fears.  It created a transparency that then opened our discussion at a different level than can be experienced at a monthly board meeting.  I highly recommend this exercise.
• “Breaking bread” together always is a blessing.  Board meetings often seem like a rush to get business done so by getting apart and away from the school itself, and having the opportunity just to “hang out” with each other opened some special doors into each others’ being . . . hey, we ARE human after all and sharing meals together provides the chance to share life.
• Picking a “get-a-way” place is important.  We chose a Christian conference center on the Chesapeake Bay and it was just the right setting, allowing us to experience God’s creation ~ beautiful sunset and sunrise, nature at it’s finest, and in an atmosphere conducive to “hearing the voice of God”.
• Setting a focus and purpose is a big step in the success of the retreat . . . keeping it can be even a bigger challenge!  For our time, I experienced such a richness of conversation, challenges to set patterns of thinking,  wider range of perspectives, and expression of emotional issues, that I just do not encounter in the normal flow of school life, well, not to the depth.  Where we started, where we “journeyed”, and where we ended were not always clean and organized.  But God had ordained this special time together and we found that “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).

For us, the retreat hasn’t ended . . . it goes on and will continue for a number of months.  Rather than thinking of it as a “mountaintop experience”, to be enjoyed and then back to reality, it was a break in order to begin anew.  The work continues before us.  It was actually more like a commencement . . . ending one phase of  plans and strategies from the past, and beginning another phase, implementing those initiatives that will carry us to a  new place of ministry.  The 70′s group the Moody Blues said it well, “With our arms around the future, and our back up against the past”.    That is what “retreating” will do for you, give you that view of ow you got where you are and where do we want to go.   Since the retreat the e-mails have been flying!  Ideas are flowing, communication is focused, and energy abounds.  There’s a new spirit that I know has germinated from our time apart, together.  While there was challenging discussion, and comments that caused some defensiveness and anxiety, the Lord was in the midst.  We were aware of His Presence and walked together through the difficult topics and uncomfortable realities, seeing the Holy Spirit cause “the rough ground to become level & the rugged places plain”.

That’s what a retreat should do.  Renew, perhaps even change one’s perspective, both individually and corporately as a group that has been charged with the stewardship and welfare of a ministry of the Lord. Take the time, make the time, redeem the time, making the most of each opportunity.  In this venture of HIGHER LEARNING, we who have been given the ministry and entrusted with the message (2Cor 5) of Christian education are commissioned, even obligated, to “come apart”, to watch, and to pray.

And that’s the final, but most vital of all the components of an advancing retreat . . . PRAYER.  Without seeking the face of God, in order to listen for the voice of God, we cannot hope to experience the hand of God in establishing the work of our hands.

So RETREAT!  Don’t neglect this valuable part of ministry.  Don’t neglect this valuable part of your own spirituality.  While our retreat was corporate in nature, it was for me individual.  I came away a different, and hopefully better person.  I easily get caught up in the busyness (business?) of my life with no time for reflection.  If we are too busy to get apart, we are too busy.  What we will find is that we just spin, running around in smaller and smaller circles, losing sight of the forest for the trees.  So get away ~ as the leadership of a ministry, and as the leader of that leadership.  I guarantee that by retreating, you can only advance the cause of the Kingdom we’ve been called to advance.

You can’t stop Christmas!  It happened as an historical event and it continues to happen in our lives each Advent season.  We prepare . . . prepare our homes for visiting, prepare our meals for consuming, prepare our gifts for sharing, prepare our churches for worshiping, and (hopefully) prepare our hearts for reflecting upon “Emmanuel”, God with us.  It’s in the air . . . Christmas is here, you can’t stop it.

Oh, man has tried, for sure, and is still trying.  Herod tried . . . and failed.  We hear it more and more, year after year.  “Happy Holidays”, no manger scenes allowed, no references to the Christ child, winter concerts, not even Christmas trees or lights ~ and that’s in school!  HIGHER LEARNING calls us to be schools of Christmas.  Some would have all references to Christmas (Christ’s Mass) obliterated from our culture.  Thank God for all the consumerism that keeps that from happening!!!

With these thoughts in mind, I would like to share my favorite story of Christmas.  No, it’s not from the Bible, nor from legend or tradition.  It’s a modern day story that my wife and I heard while living and working in Romania.  As some may remember, it was 20 Christmases ago that two dramatic and historical events took place in our world.  In late November, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down.  Those of us that watched it on CNN were mesmerized by what we saw . . . people chiseling away at this monument to Communist isolation and socialism.  President Reagen’s words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”, became reality through a breach in the concrete and a flood of common folk longing for freedom and liberty.  From that time forward the world as we knew it began to change . . . and so did the life of yours truly.

The second event followed closely on the heels of the first, yet the seeds were planted the year before.  In December 1988, in the city of Timisoara, Romania, the air was changing and the people of that country began to stand up against the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceausescu and his co-dictator wife.  It started when a representative group went to the capital of Bucharest and requested of their leader that they be allowed to celebrate Christmas this year.  It had been well over 40 years since the last Christmas was recognized in this atheist nation, meaning that a whole generation had grown up not knowing of the traditions, excitement, family gatherings . . . let alone the little town of Bethlehem, the angels from the realms of glory, and the shepherds watching their flocks!  I’m not sure we can fathom that notion, but then again . . .

Well, of course, the answer they received was an emphatic “NO!”.  In fact it was not just a “no”, but Ceausescu followed it with a bold, arrogant, yet prophetic declaration, “You can celebrate Christmas in this country when pears grow in poplar trees!”.  With that the group of Romanians was dismissed (fortunately not jailed!).   The people went home to Timisoara and totalitarianism prevailed . . . for the time being.

One year later, almost to the day, that crumbling occurred in Berlin, symbolic of the crumbling of Communism and atheistic rule in the former Soviet Union and its satellites.  In Romania, the spark that began in Timisoara was now spreading across the nation to the capital in Bucharest.  The wave of protest and revolt throughout Eastern Europe became unstoppable.  The curtain had been thrown back and the “wizard of totalitarianism” was revealed for what he was.  The dictator of fear had no clothes!  Ceausescu and his wife tried to escape through secret tunnels in their palace, boarding a helicopter for escape to neighboring Russia for asylum.   Unfortunately for them, the pilot was one of those protesting.  He landed the craft and the “odd couple” were arrested, tried, convicted, and executed all in one night . . . Christmas Eve, 1989.

The next morning, Christmas Day, the citizenry of Timisoara, Romania awoke to find the poplar trees in the city square decorated with pears!!!!  The prophecy was fulfilled . . . again.

Mans’ efforts to confound the plan and purpose of God will not stand.  We can take heart in that this Christmas.  What happened in Romania was not an old wives’ tale.  It happened, and happened in this generation.  May it never be said of us.  So in the midst of all the preparation for this holy day, let us pause to appreciate the freedom we have to do so.  While we prepare for the day, let us also prepare Him room . . . room in our lives.  It can get pretty crowded in there and Christmas can easily get pushed aside, “celebrating”, yet not.  Pretty soon we won’t recognize it anymore and we will wonder what happened.  The Romanians will tell you it can happen!

While it may not seem a Christmas verse, it certainly is fitting for this story ~ “The Lord  foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations”  ~Psalm 33:10

You just can’t stop Christmas.

My wife and I recently had a nostalgic moment while driving to upstate New York to visit our daughter and new granddaughter.  We are from that area and were traveling along the “highways & byways” we had known for over twenty years.  It fostered much discussion about all the memories we had made, traveling these roads.  We waxed philosophical about how these old highways were part of God’s way of preparing us, our family & friends, our ministry, and our own faith as a heritage of His work in our lives.  It was weird how journeying along those roads caused us to recall our personal journey . . .

It brought to mind the words of the prophet Isaiah, “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness . . . it will be for those who walk in that way”. While this speaks of a highway, it is not a literal road traveled.  In fact it may be the “road less traveled” these days!  This road is the way that God laid out before his people all throughout the Old Testament ~ “This is the way, walk in it”. It’s the same highway that John the Baptist had come to travel and prepare the way ahead.  It’s the same road that led to the advent of Christ . . . and leads us still.

Today, we do travel that same highway and, in the perspective of HIGHER LEARNING, are preparing the children of the next generation for Christ’s second advent.  This “Way of Holiness” is the avenue of discipleship which prepares young hearts for learning and living their faith into the next generation.  Fools and the unclean will not walk there, only the redeemed.

I’m convinced that a Christian school education is an integral stretch of that highway of preparation.  We can no longer think that the “rest stops” of youth activities alone is enough to guide our young people along life’s pathway.  They are at best, supplemental and should be.  We also seem preoccupied, even obsessed, with a certain emphasis that scholastic and interscholastic achievement are more important in the preparation for our children’s future(?).   This is not to say that these are not important, they are truly important, and, sad to say in some Christian schools, are found lacking!  But they can also become “voices” calling us to the right and to the left as distractions to God’s real purpose.  It’s the Voice behind us, the voice of the Lord, calling us to keep to the ancient path, the path that leads to understanding, peace, life, and true living (Prov 21:6, Luke 1:79, Psalm 16:11, I Timothy 6:19).

I believe this because I believe God’s Word is true.  I believe this because I’ve experienced it in my own life, and I believe this because I have seen it in my 30 years of walking this same highway.  I know, I know, it all sounds so metaphorical . . . “highway of God”, “walking the life”, “staying on the path”.  But just like Christ’s parables, these are heavenly descriptions of practical living.  I view Christian education is part of the same work as John the Baptist, one of preparation.  We in the Christian school movement are preparing the next generation of the Church and the Christian family to (and I emphasize like Aerosmith) “walk this way”.

So, during this Advent Season, even in our holiday travels, as we reflect upon the celebration of the Word made flesh, may we be reminded of the road we have been called to walk along, reminiscing of God’s direction and provision along the way, and recommitting our efforts and resources to prepare our young people to continue the journey after us.  In so doing, they prepare the next generation with that same biblical perspective that whatever we learn, it is for the Kingdom at the end of the highway . . .

Merry Christmas and Happy Trails,

OK, last weekend I had my annual bout with converting to atheism.  This consideration is brought on while putting up our Christmas decorations!  Between the tree in the house and the lights outside, I wondered what I really believed in and why?!?!?!  First the tree.  We have a family tradition of joining our oldest daughter and grandson in cutting down our trees.  That is always a delightful time.  That holiday feeling goes right down the drain in getting it in the stand, straight, and secure.  Being a “bit” obsessive compulsive, the slightest degree away from vertical will set me off.  So while I am attempting to screw those three bolts into the tree, I am convinced that my wife, who is holding the top STEADY, moved it off center, I just know it.  The three guide wires finally helped!

Then comes the outdoor lights.  After regretting that I didn’t pack them better last Christmas, I spend an hour untangling 500 yards of lights.  This was followed by several trips to WalMart to purchase new lights because the ones I purchased last year either don’t work or even worse, half work.  After that trek, I go back because the box I just bought doesn’t work!  Four hours later, I plop down in my chair and wonder why decking the halls with boughs of holly wasn’t enough. And all the while nice smooth jazz Christmas music is being played to soothe this savage beast.   Does Clark Griswold’s name ring a bell?  Bring on the wassail, and plenty of it!

All this to say that, through this adventure in decorating, I realized how quickly our circumstances rob us of our joy in Christ.  My sense of the season, my joy in the journey, and my delight in the details were quickly erased by the troubles with “things”.  My advent perspective had been spoiled by the little inconveniences and difficulties that are meant to be visual reminders and representations of that perspective . . . how sad a creature I am!

Thank God the next day was Sunday.  It “just so happened” that the sermon was about “HOPE” and the Old Testament reading was from Deuteronomy 11, where Moses reminds the people of Israel that, “The land you are entering is not like the land you came from . . . it is a land the Lord your God cares for; his eyes are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end”. It was then that it hit me ~ we worship a God of hope, The God Who has gone before us, in His sovereignty, in His purpose, in His eternal plan, and through His Son.  Where we are headed is not like where we came from, we are moving through a lot of “stuff” toward an eternal home that God’s eyes are continually on.  While we may wonder as we wander through this life, and wish for better and easier days,  we can rest assured that our God still has our best interest in His steady gaze upon what lies ahead.  For the joy set before him Christ endured the cross.  I guess I can certainly endure the decorating because of that same joy.   Interesting that Moses states that God’s gaze is “from the beginning of the year to its end”.   That includes all my days, all the days of 2009, and all the days of coming years.  WOW, I can’t think of anything else in this world that offers that kind of guarantee!  That sounds like hope to me.

So for all those reading this, that have identified with my travail in a morbidly humorous way, take heart!  All that time with all those !#*%^$! decorations actually means something far more than we realize in the doing.  Each Advent is a reminder that He once came, came to bring salvation to us through his life, death & resurrection.  The hope that Moses and the prophets foretold, came to pass.  That hope, FOR us, is Christ IN us, the hope of glory, and we live in that hope now.  So each Advent is also a looking forward, forward to the day when Christ comes the second time.  What a day of rejoicing that will be!  Makes all those decorations seem small in comparison, yet they are part of the perspective of hope in a world that desperately needs it, but is looking in the wrong places . . .

Well, I think I’ll go finish my Christmas decorating now that my Advent perspective is right . . . “Falalalala, lala, la, la”

Bill

It was November of 1979 that I entered the ministry of Christian education.  I can hardly believe it’s been 30 years!  It seems like “only yesterday”.  In that thirty years, God has taken me on such a wonderful adventure filled with experiences and opportunities not many others can claim.  There have been indescribable blessings and joys ~ working with teachers, sharing with parents, and discipling students.  Along with that, I have also encountered the burdens and sorrows ~ working with teachers, sharing with parents, discipling students!   It has certainly been a journey, and when weighed in the balance, there have been far more blessings than burdens and far greater joys than sorrows.  My life has been so enriched through my pilgrimage in this crucial work of the Kingdom in the hearts and minds of children.

. . . And that’s the point.  My experience being the head of a Christian school transcends salary, advanced degrees, statistical analysis, achievement, boards, policies, and development.  While those are all components of my career, it’s been about the mission, it’s been about the relationships, it’s been about the service to God, to parents, and to children.  It’s hard to explain.  One just has to experience it to experience it!  Yet over those thirty years, I have heard the same objections, arguments and rationalizations for not joining this crucial element of our childrens’ educational development in our time.   I’d like to cite these objections and (lovingly, yet deliberately) overrule each one . . .

• “Our children should be salt & light in the real world” ~ this may be the 2nd biggest objection of all time (the 1st is coming).  It may also be the toughest to overrule since it sounds so theological or biblical.  Yet, I argue (respectfully) that I do not believe Christ was speaking of young children when he made that statement during his Sermon on the Mount.  He was addressing us.  Well, actually he was drawing an analogy to the way we should live as believers no matter where we go or are, not that we seek to expose our children to the “real world” so, what, they’ll be able to stand up against the forces of darkness at age 7?   Another thought . . . what is this real world?  What does it look like?  Is being in a Christian school unreal?  Can one be salt & light here as well?  I would argue that what is experienced in a Christian school is more “real” than you might think, certainly real in terms of the education and environment that God desires for His children.  As I observe the world around me, responding to the culture, I can hardly say it’s real.  This objection takes shape from one verse of one sermon of Jesus taken out of context, while both Old and New Testaments are filled with instruction, admonition, and challenge to “BE CAREFUL” to instruct, teach, pass on, and disciple our children and our children’s children “to fear the Lord, put their trust in Him and remember all His praiseworthy deed, His power, and the wonders He has done”. That’s the image of the educational and environmental setting in which our children develop that saltiness as children of light!
• “Public school was good enough for me . . .” ~ Sadly, it wasn’t!  I too grew up (some say I haven’t!) in the state system.  I received a good education and was accepted into college.  I had friends.  Following college, I taught history and coached in a state school for seven years . . . can’t really say it was “bad”.  For me, the two points I want to make are, knowing what I know now:  1) that I wish I HAD attended a Christian school, and 2) “good enough” isn’t good enough.  My high school was huge, graduating with 650 other seniors.  It was not a godly place and most of my “real world” associations were at church and neighborhood.  Most of my good friends attended a Catholic school.  My participation in high school was limited due to it’s size and politics.  It wasn’t good enough for me in a practical sense, nor good enough in a spiritual/philosophical sense.  Jim Collins, in his classic work, Good To Great, states that “good is the enemy of great”!   Christian education is great because of its focus, its mission, its process, and its product.  Jesus also said in his Sermon on the Mount, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”. Establishing a biblical mindset, belief and behavior in our children is most definitely a facet of the kingdom, one that is woefully overlooked, showing in our culture and society.  Settling for “good enough” is unsettling to the glory of the kingdom God has set before us.
• “Kids from a Christian school are no different” ~ I beg to differ.  They are different.  In thirty years of unofficial, observable research I can conclude that young men and women who have been raised with that cord of three strands ARE different.  100% of them, 100% of the time?  No, certainly not.  Are students attending the state schools inferior?  Of course not.  The point being that my students in my school are different . . . different in their perspective on life, different in their responses to situations, and different in the manner they conduct themselves in the “real world”.  The whole matter for Christian education is that it is OUR responsibility as citizens of the kingdom of God is to see that they get it.  What they do with it is THEIR responsibility.  It may take longer with some, and for some others it  may bear fruit in another season.  Our sacred duty as parents and as a Church is to supply the means, the resources, and the vehicle for it to happen.  When we unite in our effort to establish God’s kingdom in the hearts and minds of the next generation . . . WOW, I can only imagine the impact, the voice, and the influence we will have on the culture for this kingdom!  The hair on my neck is standing up just thinking about it!  They ARE different.
• “Hey, my children go to Sunday School and youth activities” ~ Great.  So did I, and so did mine . . . but it wasn’t enough.  My youth pastor was a big influence on my teen years and it was my Sunday School teacher who “led me to the Lord”.  But I knew nothing of how God related or applied to my learning.  Knowing God’s perspective on Science, History, literature, and Math was foreign to me.  Speaking of foreign, I didn’t learn Bible verses in Spanish either!  There was no Christian aspect to my educational life until I went away to a CHRISTIAN college.    As fun and engaging as it was, SS and youth group was not enough.  As much as I appreciate and respect the work of youth ministries, I wish we could partner more effectively for our teens . . . for their benefit.
• “Many Christian schools are inferior” ~ Sad to say, this can be true.  Because we are a work of the kingdom, we should work to honor the King!  That means doing whatever is right, true, noble, pure, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.  There are those that fall short of that and perhaps do more harm than good.  The Christian school movement needs to “step up” and meet the challenge of moving from good to great.  My frustration is that we need the support of the Church and the Christian community to make it so.  Without the Church, I am afraid this movement will fade away and we will be left with children being educated in the “real world” that is “good enough”.   Our schools should be the biggest and best.  Our programs should be attracting others to “come and see”.  Our staff should be the best around . . . and paid as “worthy of their hire”.  We should be the model, setting the standard for others to follow.
• “I can’t afford it” ~ This is numero uno objection for me.  I understand that it is true and real.  I wish that it were not so.  My heart’s desire is that Christian school tuition were affordable for all, because I believe it is essential for all.  Politically, I believe that parents should not have to pay taxes to support a failing educational system they do not support.  Our tax money should be able to be used for the education we desire for our children.  But that’s politics, and until “the pain of no change becomes greater than the pain of change, there will be no change”.   So where does that leave us?  I believe we do not rely on the government to support or assist us in Kingdom work.  It’s the pearl of great price, it’s the talents given by the boss, it’s what we are to seek first.  I believe that the Church is the voice, the means, and the catalyst for changing the culture and the future for the Kingdom.  If we were truly tithing folks, I believe that churches would be calling me with money they had left over to support us, I believe we would have people lined-up at the door for enrollment, and I believe we’d create that cord of three strands not easily broken!  THAT is what I believe.  Money cannot overrule the Kingdom.  But it can distract us from it.  Jesus was emphatic in his comparison . . . “hating the one and loving the other, or devoted to one and despise the other . . . for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. For me, and what God emphasizes throughout His Word is, it is children and the next generation that is our greatest resource, greatest legacy, and greatest gift for projecting the kingdom forward.  Where folks have sacrificed as much as they can and still need assistance, then the Christian community should rise up to bring that assistance so that “no child is left behind” from establishing their heart and mind in this kingdom perspective.  Talk about endowment!  Our Christian schools should have their barns full and able to supply . . ..

To sum it all up, I recently was sent information concerning the Manhattan Declaration.  A group of Christian leaders from every denomination, persuasion, and organization, met in NYC and drafted a declaration that proclaimed a “call to arms” around three significant issues facing the country and our culture ~ abortion, alternate life-styles, and religious liberty.  After reading this, I shouted, “THANKS BE TO GOD!”  My only thought in addition to this courageous and much needed proclamation was adding the issue of education.  Without the body of Christ seeking first the kingdom in the succeeding generations, I do not see these matters changing.  I apologize for sounding like a prophet of doom for I am not.  I apologize if I have offended any with my overruling (overbearing?) thoughts on the matter.  It’s just that our children are much too important to ignore.  For many we have certainly not ignored them in giving them all their heart’s desire.  But I want to stress that, for me, it’s coming to grips with these objections, overruling them, and focusing on what is the desire of God’s heart.  While I have been at this for thirty years, I do not think I have thirty more.  My heart’s desire is to see this revival of Christian education as an integral part of God’s kingdom in the land of the living . . . in my living.

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” ~ III John 4

. . . for His indescribable gift!”  This tight little phrase is one of my favorites because, while it is only eight words, there are literally thousands of words that I can add to it within invisible parentheses.  I always bring it out for display and meditation at this time of year.  It seems like an appropriate reminder of what God has done for us, for me, through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.  I’d like to describe just how appropriate God’s gift of Jesus is . . . but I can’t.  It’s indescribable.  And this phrase is coming from a man (Paul) who wrote a good number of letters to a good number of churches, using a good number of words to do just that, describe this gift from God.

I guess that’s the mystery of it all.  We can theologically explain Jesus, his birth, his life, his atonement, his resurrection, and his redemptive work for those of us who believe.  But when we try to explain it personally, “giving our testimony”, we are left with the wonder of it all and it becomes indescribable.  You just have to experience it to experience it!  Oh, I can tell you my own story,  how I came to a time and place in my life when I was drawn to  Jesus personally, asking him into my life, and forgiving me of my sins.  I can give you a chronology of events and the who, what and where.  But to tell you what all that means (if you don’t know) is difficult.  It’s an experiential thing  . . . you know it but you also “know it” . . . you know?  Well,  you know if you have experienced a similar encounter.  What is indescribable is shared through the Holy Spirit of God, heart-to-heart, life-to-life, and soul-to-soul.  This is what makes being brothers and sisters in the Lord so very mystical, that what I cannot express or explain to you, you know and agree!  How weird and wonderful is that?

So this is why I return to this special verse each Thanksgiving and Advent season.  It brings to the forefront that I am to be thankful.  Yes, thankful for all the many blessings (health, family, home, friends [one!], experiences of life, eternal perspective now and eternity later) that God has bestowed upon me in my sixty trips around the sun.  But it also reminds me to be thankful to God for Jesus. And to thank Jesus for being willing to be the atoning sacrifice for me.  “Thank you God for the gift of Jesus to Bill Stevens”.

This is HIGHER LEARNING at it’s fullest and finest.  With all else that a Christian education does in the heart and mind of a child, it is the appreciation that it brings to these little ones that “in Christ all things hold together” and that “he has rescued us (me) from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son”.  Have fun describing that!

One final thought . . . This verse ends with an exclamation point (!).  It would be an interesting study of how many verses in the Scriptures end this way. I don’t think there are many.   Must mean that for the apostle Paul, it was a point of real emphasis, emotion, and embracing!

May this Thanksgiving time, and our upcoming season of Advent be for you a special realization, return, or reinforcement of this truth of Scripture in your own life, along with the wonder of it as just indescribable.

THANKS BE TO GOD!!!!!!!