Why is a Biblical Worldview Important?
September 07, 2023
What is the long-term goal you have for your children? For my own daughters, it was for them to know and love the LORD and live their lives in obedience to His will. So how do we accomplish this? We must teach our children the Bible, have them read it through, and help them to build their lives through Christ-centered thinking and actions. If done correctly, it will take us all of the time we have with them to help them build a Biblical Worldview and to live it out in their daily lives.
As a Christ-centered school, GCS comes alongside parents to partner in teaching their child(ren), but God still holds us, as parents, primarily responsible for raising our children to know and love Him and to nurture in them a Biblical Worldview. Can we do this if we ourselves don’t have a Biblical Worldview? Christ must flow through us at all times: when we speak to our children, when we make mistakes, when we make decisions, when we interact with others, and when we go to work. We must teach through our words and our deeds.
George Barna has conducted a lot of research and written many books on Biblical Worldview. His latest research has shown that only 4% of adults in the US have a Biblical Worldview. Here are five key research insights* from his newest book, Raising Spiritual Champions:
- Key Insight #1 – A person’s worldview begins developing in the second year of life (from 15 to 18 months) and is largely in place by the age of 13. That’s the prime window of opportunity for discipleship.
- Key Insight #2 – Parents have the primary responsibility for the spiritual development and discipleship of their children. But very few parents have the spiritual development of their children on their radar screen.
- Key Insight #3 – The research identified “outsourcing” as a troubling new trend among today’s parenting, as parents are increasingly delegating key child-rearing tasks to others.
- Key Insight #4 – The approaches today’s parents are taking in their children’s spiritual development are not working.
- Key Insight #5 – The research identifies four key strategies that parents can use to successfully disciple their children. And the heartbeat for this process is the “Seven Cornerstones of a Biblical Worldview.”
How do we begin to change the landscape of our culture? It begins with each of us reading through the Bible. If we read 10-20 minutes a day, we can read through the Bible in a year. My daughter and wife like to “listen through” the Bible, while I prefer reading. As a community, we need to start reading through the Bible with our children. I have read through the Bible twenty-one times. This has changed my life more than anything else that I have ever done. Let’s join together in reading the Bible, building a Biblical Worldview, and making a difference in our culture.
*The five insights were taken from an email written by George Barna announcing his new book: Raising Spiritual Champions:Nurturing Your Child’s Heart, Mind, and Soul.
Biblical Worldview Emphasis
August 31, 2023
Starting something new can be an enjoyable opportunity. It brings about thoughts of what is possible and hopes of what is to come. As we embark on this new school year, one of the things that has become a hope in many of the leaders at GCS is to work more closely with parents on strengthening the Biblical worldview that is practiced in the home by equipping parents with helpful resources. In the introduction to his book, Kingdom Education, Glen Schultz describes how a stool with four legs can quickly become unstable. But, if a stool has three legs, it is sturdy even on a rough surface. He then relates this to how we raise our children with a Biblical worldview by stating, “It is essential that all three legs - home, church, and school - follow God’s prescription for training children and youth. If any one of the legs of the stool of education is not based on a biblical philosophy, the education system will have a greater tendency to fail” (12). As we at GCS “assist [you] Christian parents by providing a sound academic education in a Christ-centered environment” (GCS Mission Statement), we can only provide one leg of support for raising children to follow Christ. But, we can share with you resources we have found that could be helpful to you in providing the other two legs of church and home Biblical worldview.
Last spring, we offered you free access to Kingdom Education Ministries’s resources. We would like to again encourage you to create an account via this link. In the “Name of Church or School” field, enter Grace Christian School. Your account will automatically be linked with our school's prime account, and you will have access to all prime resources.
Once you have joined, you may want to check out this series of lessons by Glen Schultz regarding Kingdom Essentials.
We encourage you, along with our teachers and our students, to view the world through the lens of Biblical worldview: God, creation, humanity, moral order, and purpose. Over the course of this year, we hope to give you resources which pertain to each of these areas, beginning with resources focusing on God for the next couple of months. We hope and pray this is an encouragement to you.
Works Cited
Schultz, Glen. Kingdom Education. Lifeway Press, 1998.
Mission Statement. Grace Christian School
Forgiven
August 10, 2023
Our theme this year is Forgiven, and our verse for the year is Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” This is a powerful verse.
Forgiveness is at the core of the cross. It is why Jesus had to die for us. We need for Him to wash away our sins and be forgiven so that we can boldly come before the Throne of Grace! There are so many verses that tell us that we are forgiven, such as 1 John 2:12, Col 2:13, Eph 1:7, and Rom 4:7.
There is great guilt in our culture, which is one of the primary reasons for stress and depression, but we can take great comfort in knowing that our guilt is forgiven. Pilgrim in Pilgrim’s Progress dropped his burden that the world had placed upon his back, and so can we. Jesus tells us in Matt 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” This is what being forgiven means.
The Scriptures do add an often forgotten qualification to being forgiven, and that is we must forgive others to be forgiven. See Matt 6:12-15, Mark 11:25-26, Luke 6:37-38, and Col 3:12-13. When Peter asked Jesus how many times he must forgive, Jesus responded with “7 x 70,” which means there is no limit. Jesus goes on to tell the parable about a man who begged to be forgiven a lifetime’s worth of wages but then did not forgive a day’s wage. The parable ends with the man who failed to forgive being thrown in prison and Jesus stating, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matt 8:35).
We are not very good at forgiving others because we do not understand that it is a two-way transaction. We often tell someone that we are sorry, but this is not forgiveness. We must ask for forgiveness from the person whom we have sinned against, and that person must forgive us.
This is what we will be working on at school this year. Please join us in being kind and tenderhearted and forgiving one another.
Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Hiring Young Teachers
May 18, 2023
Next week we will be recognizing teachers who are retiring or moving on from GCS. This means that we have to hire teachers, which is becoming an increasingly more difficult task. Finding qualified teachers is a challenge for all schools, and states/educational institutions are being creative in the way they are addressing this issue. We have filled most of our positions, with a few exceptions, and are excited with the new talent joining the GCS family.
One of the challenges for young single hires is finding somewhere to live. Our salaries are not adequate for the local rental rates. If you have an apartment attached to your house or in the basement and would be willing to rent it to one of our new employees at a reduced rate, please let us know.
We have increased our teacher compensation by almost 30% in the last five years, but it is still not enough. We will continue to keep this a priority to ensure we have gifted teachers who will partner with us to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the LORD. If you can help us, please let us know: GCS@gcswarriors.org.
Thank you and God Bless.
This emphasis on biblical worldview integration must remain one of the primary characteristics of an authentic Christian education. I am so thankful that GCS continues to emphasize this. And nothing can be any more powerful than when parents, the local church, and the Christian school are all on the same page with this emphasis!
John Morrison