Keeping the Faith when Transitioning from Christian High School to Secular College

Guest Author: Linda Forshaw

Linda Forshaw is a Business Information Systems graduate from Lancaster University in the UK. A frequent contributor to college review site Degree Jungle.com, she is a full time writer and blogger specializing in education, social media, and entrepreneurship. Contact her on Twitter @seelindaplay

Keeping the Faith when Transitioning from Christian High School to Secular College

With such a diverse range of college and university options available to high school seniors, choosing which institution to attend can be daunting at best. When the desire to maintain a faith in Christianity is added into the mix alongside such factors as cost, location, and career prospects, the choice can often become bewildering. 

Many faithful students will automatically believe that their most attractive option will be to attend a private Christian college or university, automatically discounting all other options as unrealistic or simply not for them. The importance of staying in the fold of a college where religion is at the core of teaching is a viewpoint that can be seen to be supported by the likes of Abby Nye, whose book “Fish Out of Water: Surviving and Thriving as a Christian on a Secular Campus” suggests that students for whom faith plays a major part in their lives will be under some sort of liberalist assault from day one. Still other surveys, and what is considered “conventional wisdom,” appear to prophesize that significant numbers of high school Christians have ceased active practice of their faith by the end of college. 

As with any opinion, there is always a counter argument; in this case it is perhaps best provided in an article entitled Finding Jesus at College (The Chronicle Review, March 7, 2010). As a result of his study of students of Christian faith in the Netherlands, author Edward Dutton believes that a college environment where everyone holds similar views such as at Bible college or other religious school is not necessarily conducive to keeping faith alive. Dutton also points to the work of Phillip Hammond and James Hunter whose own research led them to the conclusion that students of a Christian faith who attend a secular institution tend to leave those institutions with a stronger faith than when they started. 

It does seem that unless a student is particularly drawn to a religion-centric institution, their options pertaining to higher education are just as broad as their peers who choose not to walk a faithful path. It’s not as if Christian students head off to secular college and instantly dive headlong into a world where sexual promiscuity, alcohol and drugs are the only paths to take. On the contrary, support for students attempting the transition between a Christian high school and a secular education is widespread and easily accessible.

Resources for Christian students in secular education

 - Faith at State: A Handbook for Christians at Secular Universities (Rick Kennedy, 1995)
 - How to Stay Christian in College (J. Budziszewski, 2004)
 - Live Above (Online Christian community)
 - InterVarsity(Evangelical Campus Mission)
 - Emerging Scholars Blog (Program of the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship)
 - Youth Transition Network(Nonprofit organizations aimed at decreasing the loss of youth from the church)

Tests and temptations are a natural part of life for everyone; Christian or otherwise. How the faithful student addresses such challenges will make all the difference.

What Do We Tell Students About Tornadoes and God?

What do we tell our children and students when tragedy strikes?  What do we tell them when it appears so random; one person is taken, another is spared, one home is destroyed, another escapes?  Are some just luckier than others?  Are some people just in the wrong place at the wrong time?  Are some more sinful and thus more deserving of punishment than others?  Is tragedy the work of Satan with God watching on and grieving?

Who is in charge; chance, nature, Satan, or God?

Over the last several days I have listened as well meaning Christians and pastors have sought to answer these questions.  While I understand the good intentions and that media sound bits don’t lend themselves to deep theological explanations, I confess that I have been disappointed by the responses I’ve heard.

The majority of the explanations imply that tragedies such as the tornadoes that struck last week are the work of Satan and/or nature and that a loving God is grieved but ultimately an impotent bystander as Satan, nature, and/or chance work their will upon the earth, destroying lives and property.  God is there to love, console, and to pick up the pieces left behind by Satan and/or nature.

God is loving, he does care, and he does console.

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see.  Jesus wept. So the Jews said, See how he loved him! (John 11:35ff)

But God is also sovereign and omnipotent.  Nothing happens in this world—from the smallest event to the deepest tragedy—unless he ordains or permits it for his own purposes, his glory, and the good of his people.

God is in charge, not Satan and not nature—both must submit to God’s all wise, holy, and sovereign rule.

God often does not provide an explanation for individual events, but he does provide overall guidance for how we are to understand events in this world and how we are to respond to him.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Ps. 119:105)

Although far from complete, the following verses may be of help to you as you grapple with God’s inscrutable will and help your children or students to do the same.

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? (Lam. 3:37ff)

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:1ff)

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you. Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.  (Job 1:18ff)

From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds. By the breath of God ice is given and the broad waters are frozen fast. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen. (Job 37:9)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (Prov. 3:5)

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isa. 55:8ff)

Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord. (Jer. 9:23)

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Ps. 139:16)

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deut. 29:29)

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matt. 6:25ff)

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (Rom. 12:15)

(Note: these verses apply only to Christians, not to non-Christians): And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Rom. 8:28ff)

God does not tell us why he ordains and permits certain things.  He does tell us that he is sovereign, all powerful, all wise, and loving.  We do not need to defend or apologize for God.  We do need to trust, submit, and worship—just as Job did.

Our response is one of honesty as we acknowledge our pain and the pain of others, of loving care for those hurting and in need, humility as we recognize the limitations of our understanding, and of trust in God and his word—even when we are surrounded by darkness, destruction, and death.

Biblical Integration Lite: Telling it Like It Isn’t

Guest Article by Mark Kennedy (ACSI Canada)

When someone tells me that his school’s Christian character “goes without saying” I can’t help thinking, ‘that school may be in trouble’. Too often what goes without saying gradually goes without being, until it is simply and completely gone. It’s so easy for an educational institution to drift from its foundations with hardly anyone noticing. Historically that happened to some of North America’s most prominent universities and independent schools. Although they were once fervently Christian many of them are now completely secular or just superficially religious. They may be wealthy and respected institutions - places like Upper Canada College and Harvard University- but the Christian distinctive that so strongly marked their early years have vanished. A classic example is the entire public school system for the Province of Ontario. Founder Egerton Ryerson once declared that instruction in his public schools would be “but a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal when not founded upon and sanctified by the undefiled and regenerating religion of Jesus Christ.”* How tragically prophetic.

These days the erosion of a school’s Christian character can start when it abandons the quest for authentic biblical integration and settles for ‘integration lite. On the surface ‘integration lite’ looks just fine. The word “Christian” is in the school’s name. The teachers are all born again and they believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. And when it comes to teaching a Christian worldview, well that’s covered by using Christian school textbooks. But there is a lot more to genuine biblical integration than that.

What’s in a name?” says Juliet in Shakespeare’s famous play “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Along the same lines (and with apologies to Shakespeare), giving a skunk cabbage a more complimentary name won’t improve its aroma.

So it can be when ‘Christian’ is spliced into a school’s name. In an ‘integration lite’ type school the word ‘Christian’ in its name doesn’t guarantee moral or educational quality or even ethical standards of operation. On the other hand ‘Christian’ in the name of a school that pursues genuine biblical integration means something. It says that the school is trying to follow scriptural principles in every aspect of its ministry, even if doing so drives away potential students or causes loss of income.

Just having Christian teachers doesn’t help either unless their character is exemplary as per Jesus’ assertion in Luke 6:40 “A student is not above his teacher but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” And Christian school educators need to have the spiritual gift of teaching. In 27 years as a principal I only had to fire 3 teachers in the middle of the academic year. They were all unquestionably believers and two of the three were among the most highly trained educators I’d ever met. But they didn’t have the gift of teaching and they weren’t particularly outstanding role models. I hired them because they were Christians with impressive academic credentials. I missed the things that matter the most.

When it comes to teaching a Christian worldview ‘born again’ teachers can be counter-productive if they have only been trained in secular educational philosophies and practices. Secular teacher training operates upon the assumption that God is irrelevant in learning about the “real world”. And that’s what some Christian teachers with secular worldviews may inadvertently communicate to their students. The regrettable part isn’t that they failed to meet some kind of subjective and artificial spiritual standard. Biblical integration isn’t about twisting reality to fit into a pseudo-religious mold. It is first and foremost about teaching the whole truth on the clear understanding that all truth is God’s truth. That means a teacher has to learn how to give God back his rightful place in the classroom, in the curriculum and in the overall learning process. ‘Integration lite’ educators don’t do that. They presents pretty well all aspects their program in exactly the same way that secular teachers do – with the occasional Bible class tossed in as a mild christianizer. ‘Integration lite’ doesn’t try to present the whole truth. It is satisfied to ‘tell it like it isn’t’.

In the early years of ACSI, co-founding President Dr. Paul Kienel estimated that it took about three years of in-service training for secularly prepared Christian teachers to develop distinctly Christian educational philosophies and practices. Because our society has drifted farther away from any sort of Christian consensus since then, it probably takes longer now. Ongoing in service teacher training is a key in developing authentic biblical integration in the classroom.

Teaching a Christian worldview through biblical integration used to be a hot topic 30 years ago when the Christian school movement in North America was young and vigorous. Back then we devoted significant time and effort to it. Sometimes we got it wrong, shoe horning Bible verses awkwardly into lesson plans where they really didn’t belong or inappropriately transforming simple science lesson into didactic morality tales. But at least we took a whack at it. And we discovered that the development of effective biblical integration was a major project requiring intentional planning, research and goal setting over significant periods of time. Both then and now, even well established schools that have thoroughly explored the topic and implemented specific integration initiatives re-evaluate their program annually. They ask themselves,

“How can our school become more His school in this upcoming year?”

The ‘integration lite’ approach of depending upon Christian school textbooks to provide a biblically integrated curriculum falls short of the mark too. Aside from the fact that the most effective kind of integration, with the greatest potential blessing for students is carried in the hearts and minds of their teachers, textbooks, even Christian ones, sometimes have flaws. They may occasionally have scientific and historical errors. Some Christian academic series may unwittingly promote the view of one specific denomination or political group as ‘the Christian perspective’ even where there is a divergence of opinion among believers. Good teachers challenge students to think critically about what they read both in secular and Christian publications because they want their students to seek truth and because total inerrancy belongs to the Bible alone. Textbooks can be useful tools but they hardly ever change lives. Good teachers do.

As one pundit put it “A little Christianity can be a dangerous thing, especially for Christian schools.”- and ‘integration lite’ is the epitome of a little Christianity. The problem is that Christianity is not a little faith. It’s not just a church thing, not limited to a system of moral regulations and behaviors or religious exercises or private personal beliefs. Jesus compares his kingdom to a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds that ultimately produces a tree in which birds can perch. His kingdom encompasses all aspects of truth – and it is sometimes much bigger than we present to our students. Consequently our mandate is clear. Paul says,

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor 10:5)

For Christian schools, that scripture highlights the importance of genuine biblical integration and repudiates the idea of ‘integration lite’. And that does not go without saying.

* “Egerton Ryerson and His Times” by Neil McDonald, MacMillan Canada, 1978

A Prayer for Japan

This prayer was posted on the website Desiring God. This prayer may be worth sharing with students and staff as a way to teach a biblical worldview in the midst of a horrific disaster.

A Prayer for Japan

Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We cover our faces and kiss your omnipotent hand. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.

O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment—in the twinkling of an eye—we too could be swept away. We are not more deserving of firm ground than our fellowmen in Japan. We too are flesh. We have bodies and homes and cars and family and precious places. We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand? All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you.

And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy.

Have you not encouraged us in this? Have we not heard a hundred times in your Word the riches of your kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not a thousand times withhold your judgments, leading your rebellious world toward repentance? Yes, Lord. For your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.

Grant, O God, that the wicked will forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved.

May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures' pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.

In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.

Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.

And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.

O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.

In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen.

You Have to Watch Out for the Pork on Thursdays!

By Mark Kennedy, ACSI Canada

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 when his initial shock wore off. Maybe 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 important 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 comes to think 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 silent message.

Robert Louis Stephenson expressed it plainly,

“The cruelest lies are often told in silence.”

So when important, even vital truths are kept from people who desperately need to hear 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 prime candidates to be “taken captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” 2Col 2:8. 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 when personal troubles for which secular minds have no real answers overwhelm students they turn to illicit drugs in an 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 honoring 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 students 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 the future of the church in North America.

Reflections: Revolution, Egypt, and Our Students

Have you been watching the news lately?  The Arab world is in an uproar, Egypt is in crisis, and journalist and pundits are wringing their hands with anxiety. How should we respond?  Remembering that at the heart of our mission is to teach students to use the Scriptures as the foundation and framework for interpreting events in this world; what should we communicate to our students about the events in the Middle East? 

This is not comprehensive but here are some thoughts for your prayerful consideration.

• NOTHING happens outside of God’s sovereign decrees and providential care. From the smallest detail of life to monumental events in human history, our Holy, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, loving God is in control. Consider:
• The smallest of animals are under his care

Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father ... Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  Mt 10:28–31 

• The smallest details of our lives are under his care

Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell … even the hairs of your head are all numbered.  Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  Mt 10:28–31

• The nations are under his sovereign control and care

So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.  Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.  Gen. 11:8-9

When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. Deuteronomy 32:8

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us ... Acts 17:26ff

• We are to pray for the Egyptian Christians being persecuted and killed

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith.  2 Th 3:1–2

• Pray for the persecutors

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  Mt 5:44–48).

• Use current events as teachable moments in appropriate classes. 

For example, the crisis in Egypt lends itself to teachable moments in history, geography, and Bible.  Discussions of biblical truth, geopolitical issues, implications for U.S. foreign policy, the role of believers in seeking peace, etc., are worthy topics to explore.

• We are to care

Our sinful natures and everything in our culture screams at us to be self-centered, self-focused, self-absorbed, and narcissistic.  If it doesn’t affect us, we ignore it.  But this is unbiblical.  Jesus said the second greatest commandment was to love our neighbors as ourselves.  He also told us “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”  Mt 5:9

Our students are being prepared to be leaders.  These means, among other things, that they are to care about what happens in this world, to believers and unbelievers alike and they are to actively work for peace and justice in this world.  They are to be salt and light as they bring the truths of God’s word to bear on contemporary issues, reflecting the character of Issachar:

Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.  1 Chron. 12:32a

How to Turn Thermometers into Thermostats

Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amo 5:23-24)

As we consider our mission as Christian school teachers and leaders, and reflecting on the BCS Mission “to… equip each student to glorify God by responsible action in contemporary society” the question arises, “are our students thermometers of culture or thermostats?”  I fear that too many of our students (a nd too many of us) are thermometers, merely reflecting the moral temperature of our culture rather than changing it.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.  (Mat 5:13-16)

Reflecting on the compelling need by God’s grace to help our students become thermometers rather than thermostats, I am reminded of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words in his Letter from Birmingham Jail:

There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators"' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests…

How do we help our students/children become thermostats rather than mere thermometers?

1) PRAY—only God can change minds and hearts: “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1Co 3:7)

2) Study God’s word as we cannot be holy vessels without it and we cannot give what we do not possess: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (Joh 17:17); “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2)

3) Be relevant—meet students where they are and then, in love, share the application of God’s word with them—but not always didactically.  Have your students wrestle with current and difficult political, scientific, moral issues—don’t spoon feed—teach them how to cook and how to eat, using God’s word as the recipe.

4) Be steadfast and patient—“ And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal 6:9-10)  “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.” (Jas 5:7)

It seems wholly appropriate on MLKJ Day to reread Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.  Setting aside any and all political considerations, there is much to commend this letter.  I recommend that you reread it in its entirety if you have not done so recently.

College: Are Parents Getting Their Money’s Worth? Are They Getting “More” Than They Bargained For?

By Jeff Myers

This fall about two million American students will leave for college for the first time to receive an education at a yearly cost of $12,000 a year for a public university and up to $50,000 for a private one. Scholarships and grants reduce the cost for most families, but still, the Wall Street Journal reports that the average student leaves college with $23,186 in debt.

The total cost for this transaction is somewhere between 25 and 40 billion dollars. Per year.

Oh well, at least families are getting their money's worth.

Or not.

A recent study confirms what many parents have long suspected, that going to most colleges can make kids forget the things that are important and embrace values that are counter to what they learned growing up.

Before I share this study's results, let me say this to parents: leftist professors don't feel sorry for you. As far as they’re concerned, you’ve been oppressing the masses to get that money anyway, so it’s deliciously ironic that you not only turn your children over to the indoctrinators, but that you fork over 50k to 200k for the privilege.

Don't take my word for it. Here's what the late Richard Rorty, one of the most prominent philosophers of the 20th century, said on the subject:

"... I, like most Americans who teach humanities or social science in colleges and universities ... try to arrange things so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic, religious fundamentalists will leave college with views more like our own ...  The fundamentalist parents of our fundamentalist students think that the entire ‘American liberal establishment’ is engaged in a conspiracy. The parents have a point...we are going to go right on trying to discredit you in the eyes of your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly rather than discussable. We are not so inclusivist as to tolerate intolerance such as yours ... I think those students are lucky to find themselves under the benevolent Herrschaft [domination] of people like me, and to have escaped the grip of their frightening, vicious, dangerous parents ..." [editor’s note: sorry for all the ellipses, but it's hard to summarize Rorty's windblown rhetoric].

When it comes to reshaping values, liberal universities know precisely what they’re doing. About four out of five students walk away from their Christian faith by the time they are in their twenties.

The Indoctrination Route: Citizenship--Bad; Leftist Politics--Good

In February the Intercollegiate Studies Institute released its annual report entitled, “The Shaping of the American Mind.” ISI researchers studied students' knowledge of basic citizenship questions, along with 39 issue-based propositions.

They found that college graduates are dangerously ignorant of basic civics. For example, fewer than one in two college graduates know that the phrase "We hold these truths to be self evident..." is from the Declaration of Independence (10% actually think it is from the Communist Manifesto).

When it comes to political radicalism, however, colleges pass with flying colors. Graduates are significantly MORE likely to believe in abortion on demand and same sex marriage, and significantly LESS likely to believe that the Bible is the word of God, that prayer should be allowed in schools, or that anyone can succeed in America with hard work and perseverance.

The Transformation Route: Being Caught Off Guard--Bad; Being Confidently Prepared--Good

Obviously not all colleges are destructive. There are even a handful of great ones (I would humbly suggest that the one I teach at--Bryan College--is one of the excellent few).

But most Christian parents feel hamstrung. They are concerned for their kids but also realize that with few exceptions (such as flat-out genius) most young people have no chance of attaining leadership positions without a college degree.

There is a solution and it is available now. Please, if you have a college-bound student, listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. This is important even if your child is going to a "safe" college (some so-called "Christian" colleges are actually better at convincing kids to walk away from their faith than some secular colleges).

A two-week Summit Ministries course is a must. This summer. Find out more [here].

At Summit students ages 16-21 invest 12 days gaining the confidence they need to understand and defend an intelligent biblical worldview. They join a vast network of mentors whose books, writings and personal encouragement help sharpen them for life-long leadership. They stand shoulder to shoulder with newfound friends who help them stand strong.

Now Is Not The Time for Shortcuts

There is much at stake. Having your child read an apologetics book or go to a weekend conference is great, but it’s not the same as a two-week Summit experience, and here’s why:

1. At Summit students can ask questions as they arise. Over the course of 12 days students are able to form questions and interact with top Christian professors, mentors, and classmates. As they become comfortable, they open up in small groups, around the meal tables and in open forums with speakers. This gives students confidence that everyday people really can defend what they believe.

2. At Summit students enjoy being given the responsibility to think through issues as adults. Summit asks students to forsake adolescence and step up into mature adulthood. Over the course of 12 days they come to believe that it can actually be done.

3. Summit breaks the stranglehold of negative peer pressure. Young adults will seldom attempt to become anything more than what their peers think they can be. Summit students learn how to reverse this pressure and support one another in successfully thinking and living Christianly.

4. Summit provides personal contact with expert mentors. At Summit students spend 12 days with experts who have the depth of experience needed to delve deeply into the complex challenges they will face. These experts are specially selected based on their ability to communicate effectively with students.

5. At Summit, parents find that their parental role and their Christian values are affirmed and supported. Kids are always asking, "Who else says so besides mom and dad?" At Summit students are encouraged to honor their parents and be reconciled to them. This helps moms and dads strengthen their relationship before their sons and daughters leave for college, which is crucial.

Where Christian Leaders Send Their Own Children for Training

Summit is not a miracle cure. But for 47 years it's been a trusted source when it comes to preparing students to be the kind of leaders who shape culture, rather than who are shaped by it. That's why evangelical leaders such as James Dobson and Josh McDowell endorse it so enthusiastically. It's also why they chose to send their children to Summit before college; there simply is no substitute for the excellent training and mentoring Dr. Noebel and his staff provide.

I believe in the Summit. In fact I am planning to speak at every Summit Ministries session in the U.S. this summer in Colorado, Virginia, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Summit enrollment is limited by space. Most sessions do fill up, but you can download an application [here]. Scholarships are available for those in financial need.

Remember: Before College, Summit. Please forward this to any parent who doesn’t yet understand this.

Dr. Jeff Myers is founder and president of Passing the Baton International. Jeff speaks to tens of thousands each year on worldview and leadership issues. This article was taken by permission from Jeff’s E-Newsletter “Get Ready to Lead.” To subscribe, please visit www.passingthebaton.org. For more information on Summit Ministries, please visit www.summit.org.

*Richard Rorty, "Universality and Truth," in Robert B. Brandom (ed.), Rorty and His Critics (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), pp. 21-22.

**George Barna, "Twentysomethings struggle to find their lace in Christian churches"; Ken Ham and Britt Beemer, Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church and What You Can Do to Stop It (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2009), p. 24.

What Do We Tell Our Students About God and the Death of 200,000+?

Dr. Barrett Mosbacker, PublisherSoon after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I sent the following email to my teachers.  Great events (good and bad) present great teaching opportunities.

To Faculty and Staff:

There are times when a teachable moment presents itself that requires setting aside our planned teaching schedule. I believe the devastating earthquake in Haiti, combined with our relief efforts on behalf of the Haitian people, presents such an opportunity.

I would like for you to consider how you could help your students work through the death of probably 200,000 people and the near destruction of an entire city and God’s character, promises, and providence. If you believe this has merit, I would encourage you to consider the following:

• Consider providing a means for students to share their questions, concerns, doubts, perspectives, etc., anonymously so that you have some idea of what your students are thinking and feeling. It is very important that your students feel the freedom to be honest without fear of reprisal or judgment.
• Consider having them read through the attached and then helping them spot the logical and/or theological errors in the article.
• Be careful not to provide an interpretation of God’s providence—it is very important to address this issue in general biblical terms with good biblical exegesis without definitively interpreting what God has or has not done in Haiti and why. For example, although we know that all pain in this world is ultimately the result of sin and the curse, we do not know that God specifically judged Haiti through the earthquake (per Pat Robertson’s comments).
• Focus should be placed on how Christians should respond to such death and destruction.
• It would be helpful to address God’s promised provisions for his people and the destitution of many Haitian Christians. For example, how does a faithful Haitian Christian who may have lost a child, a home, and all possessions respond to Matt. 6:25ff in light of the earthquake?
• Some discussion could focus on our own national sins.

This is not a mandate; I am merely passing on some thoughts for you to prayerfully consider as you minister to your students. I suspect many of them have many questions, concerns, doubts, assumptions, etc., that they are not expressing but that need addressed for their spiritual welfare.

Thank you,

Barrett Mosbacker

You Should Sign the Manhattan Declaration-But Be Careful!

If you have not read the Manhattan Declaration, I urge you to do so.  You can click this link The Manhattan Declaration to download a PDF version to read.  It is only nine pages long but well worth reading.  Click here to access the web site for more information and to sign the declaration.  Click here for a very informative FAQ document.

I urge you to sign the Declaration.  However, pray and think through this first.  It is very possible that by signing this Declaration you will increase the likelihood of personally, or the institution you represent, becoming the focus of verbal or legal harassment in the future.  Remember, what is posted on the Internet can ultimately become public.

Before you sign the Declaration, ask yourself this question, “Am I, by God’s grace, willing to pay a possible personal, family, or ministry price for publically supporting the principles outlined in the Declaration?” 

My prayer is that you will prayerfully sign the Declaration.  I also encourage you to pass this information on to others.

Finally, I believe you should consider having this document systematically discussed and analyzed in selected high school classes.  What a wonderful teaching opportunity—that deals with the Christian mind, heart, and will!