Posts Tagged "Christian education"
Committing To Christian Education
October 09, 2017
Raising children is the hardest job that you’ll ever love. I think someone once said that to me, but I now freely use that adage as if it was my own. As parents, we wade through murky waters, wishing we had an instructional manual or at least a guidebook. We gain Biblical principals from God’s Word, we read Dare to Discipline or The Strong Willed Child or The Tech-Wise Family (or hundreds of other titles), but sometimes in the moment, we just want someone to tell us what to do!
Committing to Christian education is the best way to gain partners in your parenting journey. Together, we help children gain confidence. Together, we empower children to be self-motivated, self-advocates, wise decision makers. Together we are part of the process whereby students become independent and confident learners who are growing in the faith.
What is our goal as parents? What is our goal as teachers? To get to the point where “our” children can say, “I don’t need you to help me, I can do it.” As C.S. Lewis once wrote, “We teach them in order that they may soon not need our teaching.” Yikes. Did I just say that? God wants us to train up our children so they can be independent of us? Yes, together we are in the business of raising up responsible Christians, empowering them with a CAN DO mindset, and allowing them to think critically for themselves. Know that your children are covered in our prayers as we partner in the great endeavor to raise up the next generation for Kingdom purposes.
A Spiritual Foundation
March 20, 2017
In my recent opportunities to attend seminars and conferences, I have been inundated with statistics. Here are just two. The Barna Group reports that three out of every five young Christians (59%) disconnect either permanently or for an extended period of time from church life after age 15. However, they further report that 94% of professed Christians make a decision to follow Christ prior to age 18. As a Christian educator, these statistics both excite and alarm me. They also confirm the strong need for Christian education, one that looks particularly like the fully integrated Biblical education that SJCS students receive each day.
Christian education at SJCS is NOT simply a matter of building a transcript to make it into your next educational milestone. We are so much more than that, because we are not just filling our students heads with facts, we are building spiritual strength of mind and heart as well. Mastery of facts is not a complete education. We do not compartmentalize education; we fully integrate it into all aspects of a full life. Rod Dreher, author, recently said that, “If faith is going to survive within churches and communities, then Christians are going to have to become far more serious and intentional about education. It is important to learn how to translate the conversion experience with their intellectual knowledge of the faith into a Christian way of living.”
This is the mission of SJCS. We are advancing God’s kingdom through a fully integrated, Biblical education. Our students will engage and transform the world for Jesus Christ. We are serious about what God has called us to do, and it is with a true partnership that we can build a strong spiritual foundation in each student. Thank you for your commitment to this great Christian school!
Christian Education Can Change the World
March 06, 2017
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” ~Nelson Mandela
I read the quote above last week in an article, and at first I was a bit put o by the use of the word weapon. In today’s world, there are some trigger words, aren’t there? However, what a genius use of that word. Add in the word CHRISTIAN at the beginning of that quote, and then it becomes a summary of the SJCS mission statement. We are in the business of seeing our students engage and transform (change) the world for Jesus Christ.
We prepare our students to do this in so many ways.
- We value and develop the WHOLE CHILD as a unique work of God. This includes their character, their creativity, their academic abilities, and their spiritual, emotional and physical growth.
- We help them look at God’s world and His people through a BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW. We the many messages that are given in our culture, we take the time to answer the hard questions and help students be discerning in their decision making process.
- We are an INTENTIONAL, FAITH INFUSED community. This means that we walk in close partnership with our students, teachers and their families. We keep each other accountable. We sharpen each other.
San Jose Christian is about planting the seeds that will one day grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. It is this beginning step that gives an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
Christian education is the best gift you can give your children. It is the most important foundation that you can lay for them. Thank you for continuing to partner together with us for God’s glory and the growth of His Kingdom.