Why Christian Education?
Celebrating forty-three years of excellence in Christian education!
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NHCS faculty and staff members believe that Christian schools exist to prepare students to engage and transform culture more than they do to protect students from it. We hope families will choose our school not as a strong academic alternative to public and other private schools, but because they sense the overwhelming need for a biblically integrated education for their children. This page, a "continuous work in progress," contains articles highlighting the purpose of and need for Christian education.
Our Head of School, Mr. Mitchell on "Thinking Biblically"
I used to start a high school Bible course by setting a glass of water on my desk and asking students to “think biblically” about the water. At first, my request was met with puzzled stares. “What do you mean?” the students would ask. I could count on the answers I would eventually hear: baptism, the crossing of the Jordan, and the parting of the Red Sea. Within a few moments, the thinking would deepen. The students would go on to recognize that the water reminds us of Christ’s cleansing sacrifice, God’s power and His sovereignty. I was so pleased that student responses were filled with such rich biblical imagery and symbolism.
But there was more. I explained that—while these responses were correct—“thinking biblically” about what we study in school also means thinking about the things of this world as Christ would have us think about them. “Thinking biblically” about water—something so simple—means considering that there are millions of people around the world who don’t have a clean source for it. It means asking, “What am I going to do about that?” and “How am I going to apply what I learn—in science and maybe even math, history, and language arts—to become God’s hands and feet?”
This glimpse into Christian education gets to the heart of what we try to do at North Hills Christian School. Chances are that our students may never solve such “grand scale” problems as the one I’ve described (Let’s hope they do!). However, we can rest assured that this school is training and equipping students to consider the questions “What?”(Knowledge) “So what?” (Application) and “Now what?” (Service). I’m thankful that North Hills is a school that does not guide students through the acquisition of knowledge in a vacuum. Instead, we faithfully help our students “think biblically.”
Carolyn Caines: "To Be Educated"
If I can read 600 words per minute and can write with perfect penmanship, but have not been shown how to communicate with the Designer of all language, I have not been educated.
If I can deliver an eloquent speech and persuade you with my stunning logic, but have not been instructed in God’s wisdom, I have not been educated.
If I have read Shakespeare and John Locke and can discuss their writings with keen insight but have not read the greatest of all books—the Bible—and have no knowledge of its personal importance, I have not been educated.
If I have memorized addition facts, multiplication tables, and chemical formulas, but have never been disciplined to hide God’s Word in my heart, I have not been educated.
If I can explain the law of gravity and Einstein’s theory of relativity, but have never been instructed in the unchangeable laws of the One Who orders our universe, I have not been educated.
If I can classify animals by their family, genus and species, and can write a lengthy scientific paper that wins an award, but have not been introduced to the Maker’s purpose for all creation, I have not been educated.
If I can recite the Gettysburg Address and the Preamble to the Constitution, but have not been informed of the hand of God in the history of our country, I have not been educated.
If I can play the piano, the violin, six other instruments, and can write music that moves men to tears, but have never been taught to listen to the Director of the universe and worship Him,I have not been educated.
If I can run cross-country races, star in basketball and do 100 push-ups without stopping, but have never been shown how to bend my spirit to do God’s will, I have not been educated.
If I can identity a Picasso, describe the style of da Vinci, and even paint a portrait that earns an A+, but have not learned that all harmony and beauty comes from a relationship with God,I have not been educated.
If I become a good citizen, voting at each election and fighting for what is moral and right, but have not been told of the sinfulness of man and his hopelessness without Christ, I have not been educated.
However, if on day I see the world as God sees it, and comes to know Him, Whom to know is life eternal, and glorify God by fulfilling His purpose for me, then, I have been educated.
Jonathan Ekeland: "Effective Christian Schooling - A Mission to Forge a New Mind" (www.discoverchristianschools.com)
Effective Christian schooling is not simply a process of adding chapel and Bible class to a traditional academic curriculum, but rather, its mission is to forge a new mind – a transformation that begins through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and is then nurtured and developed by deliberate and strategic integration of biblical truth into every curricular area. Christian schooling, then, confronts and challenges the fragmented secular worldview.
But what does that really mean? Many people, adults and teenagers alike, don’t know what “worldview” means, even though they hear about it or see it in print. It’s easy and difficult at the same time. For instance, you may hear the name Cape Cod dozens of times, but have you ever stopped to think that a cape is a point of land that projects into the sea and a cod is a North Atlantic fish. But we usually don’t dissect things like that all the time. Well, worldview maybe that simple; it’s a set of presuppositions (which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold about the basic make-up of our world. A Christian worldview would be to look at everything through the eyeglasses of Scripture.
So getting back to the main premise – a Christian education does include Bible classes, chapels, Christian faculty, and a host of other “Christian things,” but if students are not learning how to assimilate and putting into practice what they are learning then they are as James describes in chapter 1, verse 22. “But prove to yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
When a student studies Shakespeare they should ask themselves, “What worldview does he speak from?” Then the student should compare their own worldview and Shakespeare’s to see the differences and maybe some similarities. What about in Science class, what worldview is given? Or in World History and American Literature, what views are impressed upon the student? If the student has not begun to formulate in their own mind what worldview they hold to, then most everything they absorb and consider will be acceptable (tolerable).
All Christian schools cannot certainly be lumped together, but I would be willing to assume that most value the opportunity to provide their students to develop a Christ-centered worldview. From as early as kindergarten, Christian schools are teaching and modeling a Godly perspective regarding every aspect of their education; from math all the way down to PE class. By the way, if Christ is not the center of PE class, what does competition look like? If Christ is not the center of history, where does God fit into the history of mankind? Does He, or doesn’t He? These are just two of dozens of perspectives that children are taught every day for 30 hours a week. Do the math! 30 hours a week times 36 weeks of school equals 1,080 hours in the class. Now multiply that by 13 years. It equals 14,040 hours that children are absorbing worldviews. The question raised to parents is, “What kind of worldview do you want your child to have when they graduate high school?”
A catechism question that some kindergarten students respond to is “Why did God make all things?” The little ones answer correctly, “God made all things for His own glory (Rom 11:36).” Our worldview, even at the age of five, should start with God at the center of our lives with everything revolving around Him. As the initial premise mentions, our society’s secular worldview is fragmented. In other words, it’s broken and sinful. We as parents and educators need to have a plan -- a plan to instruct our children to compare everything to God’s Word. His Word is our lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. That path that our children tread upon is full of rocks and holes and other obstacles. They need God’s Word and its perspective to keep from falling. They need a bright and true light.
Where Christian Education is Priceless (Reprinted from November 1, 2008: World Magazine)
If you want a classic example of how fast a whole culture can be turned on a dime, redirected by 180 degrees, try this: Just when it seemed, through the 1980s, 1990s, and even well into the past decade, that a socialist mindset had been successfully put down in the United States, back it comes—with a vengeance.
"Free markets are better for everybody," Ronald Reagan had taught us. So we deregulated. We reformed welfare. We defeated Hillary's nationalized health care. We popularized tax cuts. We watched the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics collapse, and we applauded the market economy in Europe. Talk radio exploded.
And, as fallen humans are wont to do, we also abused our freedom.
Which always provides an excuse to those with socialist inclinations to argue that we need to be regulated again, that we need stacks of new rules to curb our excesses, and that government needs to be called in to make everyone behave. And that's why you find a newly muscled Uncle Sam these days shutting down big investment brokers, buying huge equity clout in traditional banks, and rumored to be ready to buy similar shares of Ford, Chrysler, and GM.
All that under a supposed pro-free market Republican administration! So nobody's going to be very surprised if under an Obama presidency there will be a redoubling of Sarbanes-Oxley, re-regulation of the airlines (and just about everyone else), universal health care, a new budget line for carbon and energy, restrictions on talk radio, and increased taxes to pay the staggeringly higher bills.
Much of that has happened, may I suggest, because we also long ago conceded the most critical territory of all. While strenuously wrestling over business and banking and health care and energy and a dozen other issues, we cavalierly handed over to the state a perpetual 90 percent share of the nation's educational interests. America regularly has about 50 million children enrolled in K-12 schools, and about 20 million more in colleges and universities—and while the pattern fluctuates a little, 90 percent of those 70 million young people regularly get a state-flavored view of reality.
Socialized medicine? Most of us recoil at the idea. Socialized airlines? Reminds us of Aeroflot. Socialized banks? When it happened last month, it terrified us.
But socialized schools? Nine out of ten of us patronize them regularly.
And we do so with na'ry a thought or concern about how such an arrangement affects next week's election, or the election after that, or the lifetime of elections to come.
I am blessed to have had parents who did look ahead. Half a century ago, my father said often: "If I fail to feed my children, the government will step in. If I don't house them, the government has programs to help. Of course, I don't intend to turn those duties over to the government. But I would much rather have the government feed and house my children than to have the government shape their minds."
That's why, if I were ever forced to become a one-issue person on the political front, my single issue would be freedom of choice in education. With a nine-to-one edge in value-shaping influence, why shouldn't the government be producing products who think government-sponsored-everything is best?
When I enthusiastically endorse the Christian school and home school alternatives, I don't do so primarily because of their effect on the electoral process. Christian education isn't about filling the registration rolls of the Republican party.
But it is about producing thoughtful and earnest citizens. The bells of freedom on every front traditionally ring more clearly where a biblical value system has been inculcated. No one should expect anything resembling such a result from secularist state-sponsored schools, which will naturally glorify the state. No one should be surprised when that's what happens.
So I say: Go get educated about what Christians are doing these days in education. Go online to discoverchristianschools.com, a notable effort to help parents discover the good things happening on the school front. Go to hslda.org to learn about the growing impact of home schooling families throughout the nation.
It's too late, to be sure, to have much impact on next week's election. But so long as there are more kids and future generations, and so long as they have minds and hearts to shape with God's great truth, it's not too late at all to make a difference for elections yet to come.
Nancy Huckaby: Christian Education: An Investment in the Future (Reprinted The Star - Telegram; Fort Worth, TX)
Christian parents understand well the responsibility they have to not only love their children, but to educate them in an environment that embraces Christ’s fundamental truths.
Many find the answer in home schooling, but for countless others, Christian schools provide the perfect answer. Christian education facilities – both elementary, secondary and higher learning – can help parents make sure their children receive a quality education, taught by dedicated and knowledgeable teachers.
Christian education is not without its critics. Some say it insulates children from the real world, or shelters them from many of the negative influences they’ll have to face in the future. On its Web site, cornerstonekingman.ca, Cornerstone Christian Academy in Kingman, Alberta, Canada, offers this view:
"The Christian school works somewhat like a greenhouse which is designed to provide optimum conditions for growth while a plant is young. Young children are protected and carefully nurtured to help them mature properly. When the time comes for them to be 'transplanted’ into a more hostile environment, they are more likely to endure difficulties and continue to thrive because they have been trained well and have developed a discerning heart."
Christian educators want to help students recognize the hostility and injustice in today’s world while giving them the tools – critical thinking skills, a core value system and a strong foundation of faith – to apply Christ’s truth to solving those problems.
Administrators know that the academic standards at a Christian school must be strong if parents are asked to make what, for many, is a significant sacrifice for the cost of attending a private school. College bound students face their own brand of challenges and for many (and their parents) knowing that the college or university they select is based on Christian principles is paramount.
Gary Ledbetter, communications director for the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention in Grapevine, offered this advice on the CollegeView Web site:
"A final benefit of Christian higher education is perhaps the most significant. The quality of a Christian college experience is higher than any other. Christian educators have an additional motivation to do their work with excellence – the call of Christ on their lives to do just that (I Cor. 10:31). Quality may also be enhanced by the emphasis on subjects and teaching deemed by God to be the first importance. A biblical focus will inform the manner, content, and even the scope of an educational experience, and Christian schools may be less influenced by cultural (or educational) fads."
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. – Proverbs 22.6
John Fedele: The Ultimate Reason for a Christian School Education (www.discoverchristianschool.com)
In these ever changing times I find it interesting to read the variety of “reasons” given to parents in considering a Christian School education. The fact that Christian schools have weekly chapels, memorize Scripture, study the Bible, or that our schools are safe places for kids, or that there is a positive learning atmosphere, those things are all important, but they are not the essence of a Christian school education. They are good, things, but they do not fully represent in my opinion what a Christian school education is really about.
The first and most important thing that you’re going to find in a Christian school is an education that is presented from an eternal perspective, meaning, students are taught about the reality that there is a God, and His will for each young person is to know him personally as Savior and then, to begin learning how they can become totally devoted disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
•It’s an education about having children understand the need for a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe, and how that Creator can profoundly impact and interact with their lives right here, right now as well as for the rest of their lives.
•It’s not just about the sweet bye and bye or punching a ticket for heaven, but it’s coming to a deep awareness and a knowledge that a student’s life can make a difference right here, right now and that they are being equipped to impact God’s kingdom and ultimately, to influence the world in which they live.
•It’s not about students learning to adjust or adapt to the culture, but rather having students learn how they can change the culture and ultimately the world wherever they go.
•It is not about getting an education that prepares students to get into the best college, to get the best job, to make lots of money, so they can buy “stuff” and be happy. Getting a good education is important, don’t get me wrong, but if that is the end goal and the only goal, and our children are not equipped or prepared to live lives of meaning and service, to live lives that make a difference in the lives of others, then we have failed in our mission to truly educate them.
James Braley, noted Christian educator said it best, “It’s changed lives, changing lives!” It’s the impact of a teacher’s changed life, changing the individual lives of his or her students. And those students going out and doing the same.
Christian parents, isn’t that what you really want for your son or daughter? To have them grow in relationship with their Creator and live a life of purpose and meaning, having them being able to discern and discover God’s will for their lives and to have access to His blessings, goodness and favor, and not just simply “grab the gusto?” That’s what students will receive at a Christian school, an education that is from an eternal perspective based on a personal relationship with God that will be lived out in some kind of service to the kingdom of God and to others. It is an education not only of the mind, but of the heart as well, to love God, and to love and serve others.
An education for an eternity! The ultimate reason to consider a Christian school education!
Reflections on Character Education
Deb Gahman, Hamilton Strategies
Deb recently joined Hamilton Strategies after 23 years as a Christian School educator.
There’s a lot of talk these days about Character Education and the teaching of Ethics in school and in the workplace. In fact, many public schools have not only opted to cover these topics, but have now officially included them in the school district curriculum.
In her article, “What Happened to Ethics?”, Vicki Salemi quotes a business school professional, a co-founder of a training and consulting firm, and an MBA student at a major university. The common thread in their comments is that the core of ethics is being a good citizen by being truthful and choosing right over wrong which leads to the creation of good corporate citizens.
In addition to teaching young adults the importance of honesty in the business world and in all of life’s avenues, these sources were quoted as saying the following:
on servant leadership -“the decision to serve rather than to be served is key to effective leadership…We teach students that sometimes when the numbers look right, the decision is still wrong. A lot of ethics are instilled by operating on a set of values.” Kenneth Blanchard, co-founder of The Ken Blanchard Companies
on ethics -“We teach it as a hard right instead of the easy wrong…We teach them to frequently flex the ethical muscle so when they graduate and enter the work force it becomes second nature.” Paul Fiorelli, Xavier University
on doing the right thing -“Ethics shape how we ought to behave as an employee, a friend, a co-worker, a citizen [and as] a person.” Casey Field, M.B.A. student, Villanova University
While I agree that we need to teach and train young people how to exhibit ethical behavior in all of life, and I applaud those who have devoted their time and talents to doing just that, I have to wonder about the values on which they base the training.
Years ago, most people agreed upon right and wrong in our society, and on the consequences that went along with making wrong choices. Today, however, it is increasingly difficult to find those who will stand up for truth that is based on God’s Word. In an effort to promote equality in our society, the black and white of lies and truth has been watered down to a muddled gray, leaving the door of ethics wide open for interpretation. Whose ethics are we teaching?
This is where the importance of an education based on God’s Truth is invaluable. Not only do we want to train our children in the truth at home, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that our children are in need of training in character development and ethics at school.
Now, the question is, do you know the central driving force in the values system of your child’s educators? Is it the one true God to whom you have entrusted your life? When your child is faced with a dilemma about right and wrong at school, is there someone he can go to who will base their advice and guidance on the teachings of the God of the universe? Do you have the assurance that your child is in the presence of teachers who will lead them in godly ways throughout their interactions with peers? If you answered yes to all of these questions, you must be the parent of a child who attends a Christian school.
I define optimism in one word…Faith
Speech written by North Hills Christian School 8th grade student, Michael Jones—Winner of the Salisbury Optimist Club’s Oratorical Contest; his speech reflects the product of Christian education.
The dictionary definition of optimism according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary is “the doctrine that the world is the best possible world, reality is essentially good, and the good of life overbalances the good and evil in it and the inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and happenings or anticipate the best possible out come. That is the dictionary definition, but not mine. I define optimism in one word…Faith.
My definition of optimism is the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Through his salvation, we will have eternal life with him. I go to different youth conferences and a speaker I once heard said, “If you are a Christian, this is the worst hell you will ever experience.” There is hardly a time when you don’t see something bad on the news or in the newspaper. I won’t even try to mention today’s economy, as it would take too long. My youth pastor told me “ We need more optimism in the world today…the economy should not direct our general optimism or pessimism.” I whole-heartedly agree. We don’t need to get upset despite the bad things that are going on in the world. The Bible tells us “do not be afraid” 365 times. That is no mere coincidence. God sends us a clear message, but we choose to ignore it. For every day of the year, God tells us “Do not be afraid”, not because we will get through it, but because God will get us through it. God will not abandon us, but sometimes it takes time for us to reach rock bottom so that we realize that we need to reach up so that He can pull us up.
Sometimes we are tested like Job and Paul, two of my role models. Everything was going wrong for Job. He had lost everything, yet he was still loyal to God. Paul was just as amazing. He was converted on the road to Damascus and was filled with the Holy Spirit. That fire was a torch leading the way to Christ. His fire could not be quenched not even in the deepest, darkest, dampest, most odor filled prison cell. While in prison he wrote 13 letters to the early churches. He told them to stand strong in their faith and to give thanks in all circumstances. Not for all circumstances, but in every circumstance there is something to be grateful for. This year we all faced an unimaginable situation… the death of one of our own--NHCS student Jonny Richardson, who was killed in a car accident this year. Without the faith that we have which was started by our parents and reinforced through Christian education we would have been lost. There was no way to be thankful for that, but in that we grew closer to one another, and to his family. One of my favorite Bible passages is Isaiah 40:30-31 “Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will rise up on wings like Eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” This passage gives hope. This passage tells us that God has plans. They may not line up with our plans, but his plans are perfect. Jeremiah 29: 10-15 says “…” He is the shepherd and we are the sheep. Hope, Salvation, Grace, Optimism in, with, and through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior has written our past, planned the present and knows our future. For me, optimism is a mountainous past, which merges into the fires of the present leading to God’s brilliant vision for the future.
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