Cougar Tracks
Information and Insights from Midwestern Christian Academy
Monday, March 31, 2025
A Core Curriculum Objective: God Exists, and Jesus, His Son, Sent as Our Savior, Died and Rose From the Dead
Sunday, March 2, 2025
Choosing Christian School is a Matter of Conviction
Every now and then, God has a way of reminding us that the mission and purpose of a Christian school is found in the revelation of God to his human creation by sending his son, Jesus. It's really pretty simple. Jesus came to reveal not only the existence and person of God, but also to bring salvation by grace, through faith in the sacrifice he would make on the cross. This is the way that humans are reconciled to God, and it is the only means by which the problems of human existence, caused by sin, can be resolved.
Public education exists because Americans realized, early in the history of the nation, that an education which provided basic skills leading to multiple ends, including the ability to function in a society that depends on a certain level of literacy and comprehension, to have a basis from which skills can be developed in order for individuals to be productive, support themselves financially, and contribute to the well being of the nation.
Compulsory education started in the United States as early as 1852, when the state of Massachusetts mandated primary schools for all students in every town. But it would not be until 1918, just after World War 1, that all states had compulsory attendance laws, and had established enough public schools to accommodate all students.
Oh, and here's a link to today's reminder: Midwest Bible Church, March 2, 2025
Basic Philosophy of Education
The need for Christian schools, which teach biblical truth as the means of viewing and living in the world, came about as a result of a philosophical shift in American culture that led to the control of public school curriculum coming under the control of a secular, humanist philosophy. The first amendment establishes religious liberty, a free conscience, and separates the church from state control, and the state from required church influence. A secular, humanist philosophy of education slipped in and filled a growing vacuum as specific sectarian teaching in schools was slowly eliminated from the curriculum.
This is a subject on which books have been written, and I would strongly suggest that parents get a copy of Kingdom Education: God's Plan for Educating Future Generations by Glenn Schultz. Dr. Schultz does an excellent job of distinguishing the difference in educational philosophy between a Christian school and a public school. It will provide you with a biblical foundation from your own faith and commitment to Jesus Christ as savior, for the reason you make a sacrifice to send your children to a Christian school.
The primary, basic difference between the educational philosophy of Christian school education and the public education system in the United States is theological. Jesus himself makes a statement of belief in revealing the person of God himself that is at the very core of our educational philosophy. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:37-40 ESV
The first point of our educational philosophy is that God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present. Therefore, God's revelation of himself to humans, and the salvation that is offered as a result, is the only resolution to all of the problems of humanity, which are rooted in sin.
In the humanist philosophy that governs public education curriculum and objectives, God's existence is not acknowledged. There's no specific declaration that he does not exist, but leaving out any mention of the power that created humanity, including human free will, from curriculum objectives, leaves out everything that comes with acknowledging the existence of God, including the moral principles that are part of the practice of the Christian faith. What that means, is that students are taught that human beings have the ability to save themselves from their problems, which we call by the old fashioned term, sin.
If there is no statement that acknowledges the existence of God, then that completely changes the way we teach children about human origins. And that's where teaching the theory of evolution as fact comes in. If there is no creator God, then the door is open to scientific theory when it comes to explaining human origins. When God's existence is not assured, then human origins are left up to chance.
This has become a standard objective in American public education because humanism, the educational philosophy that governs the education of students in the United States, and evolution, the scientific theory behind human origins, are not violations of the establishment clause of the first amendment because they are not considered or classified as "religious" in nature. So, in our secular public education system, students are taught that human wisdom and reason are the highest known power in the universe, and that whatever human problems exist, such as war and violence, poverty, economic inequality, can be resolved by human intellect, properly trained and educated.
For believers in the Christian gospel, only God has the power to save, and salvation comes by spiritual conviction, repentance from sin and restoration to God by confessing Jesus as the Christ. Therefore, human problems are only resolved by the power of God. That means that public education takes place in a spiritual vacuum.
We Teach That God Exists, He Created Us, He Redeems Us, He Empowers Us
We don't just "integrate" Biblical principles into the other subject areas we teach. Biblical truth forms the basis for our curriculum. When Christian faith is approached as a lifestyle and a philosophy of both education, and of life, and not simply the academic assertion to a list of doctrine or theological principles, it becomes something that transforms us, and to which we respond, first to being convicted of our sin, then of understanding that we must confess Jesus as the Christ to be forgiven, then to receive the Holy Spirit in order to live a transformed, redeemed life.
It would be impossible for me to count the number of times those things are taught to students in our classrooms, and how many times they will hear this, as it relates to everything they are learning, over the course of the time they spend at MCA. God has given us all a free will, so there are no guarantees. But what we do know is that it is far more likely your child will come to accept this truth, and respond to it, in our classrooms and in the environment that we provide, where all of our teachers are born-again believers in Christ, and where we openly worship God as a school, together.
Be careful about placing expectations on Christian schools that are unrealistic, or that are simply not consistent with the theology of the Christian gospel. Students do graduate from Christian schools without ever making a profession of faith in Christ. And there's no specific situation we can point to that explains why. If we look at the culture at large, what we are seeing transpire now, and which has pretty much been the case since the late 1980's, is that more than two thirds of the children and youth who are raised by families who are actively engaged in the ministry of their local church will not make a profession of faith, and will drop out of church before they are 25 years of age, earlier if they go to college.
Going to a Christian school changes those figures somewhat. From the research that has been done by one of several Christian school organizations, about 6 out of 10 children and youth who are active in their local church in high school, will remain active and engaged with a local body of Christ into adulthood. That's really a good track record, considering that 25% of the students in any given Christian school are not actively involved in a local, Bible-believing church. So Christian schools do indeed help undergird and support the work of the local church.
I've been working in Christian schools for over 35 years, and I've had literally hundreds of students. That also means I have had multiple conversations with parents who wound up disappointed because the school experience didn't change their child's spiritual condition. But, I've also seen students who, when they were in school, were hard hearted and resistant to any talk of conversion or living a godly, spiritual life, who did experience conviction, in some cases years later, and who have given their lives to serve the Lord. There is no question that the school was an influence, but sometimes, we don't get to know.
In order to experience Christian conversion, or salvation as we commonly call it, the first step is understanding and interpreting the spiritual conviction of sin that opens the door to repentance. This requires an acknowledgement that we are sinful, by nature, and being led to a point of repentance by the Holy Spirit where we understand that confessing Jesus as Christ [I John 1:9-10, I John 4:1-3] leads to our justification and sanctification as a Christian. In eight years of biblical studies at MCA, students are certainly exposed to this process. Of course, it is our of their own will that they must understand it, experience it, and respond to it. At MCA, that is an opportunity open every day, for ten years if they're here that long.
And that's why our school is here, and why it has been here for 69 years. It's an option, and a choice, that Christian parents should consider, as a means of providing them with spiritual support in an educational partnership as they raise their children, "In the nurture and admonition of the Lord." It is a gift you can give to them that far exceeds the monetary cost of providing it.
Thursday, February 13, 2025
When We Have to Close School
The state of Illinois requires all schools, public and private, to provide a minimum of 880 instructional hours to students. This can be done by scheduling the standard 8:30 to 2:50 p.m. school day for 180 days, or, as a private school, we are allowed to determine the length of our instructional day. Since we are in school for slightly longer than the standard school day, we have some "built in time" to take for emergencies, generally for weather-related closures, the well-appreciated "snow day", or for other emergencies, which can include shut-downs of utilities, water, or incidents such as we experienced this morning, a gas leak.
Circumstances Which Cause School Closure
The most common reason for closing school in our area is inclement weather. These conditions are not always easy or accurate to predict, but if driving conditions to and from school are considered risky or unsafe, we will close school. This would include in the event of an excessive amount of snowfall, preventing the street crews from keeping streets clear, or more likely ice and freezing rain, which makes streets slick and is difficult to melt with salt and clear with a plow.
Excessively frigid temperatures can also prompt closing school. The public schools do this to prevent having kids waiting at bus stops, but we do this as well, because there is a risk to transportation in weather like this. The risk would increase if snow or sleet is accompanying the low temperatures.
It is not possible for us to have school if utilities are not functioning. So if water is out, or gas, or electricity, we will cancel classes.
Excessive absences due to illness is also a factor in determining whether the school will be open or not. School, by the nature of the activity, is an easy place to spread germs, and when there are multiple cases of contagious virus going around, the number of students who get sick is high. When that number reaches 20% of our currently enrolled students, we consider closing down to give everyone an opportunity to stay home and get better, and not spread germs while they are contagious.
How Many Days Can We Miss?
We have not reached the maximum at any point during the seven years I've been here. The number of days we've taken for illness hasn't been more than one in the past seven years, except for the closure that occurred for COVID during the last nine weeks of the 2020 school term.
E-Learning, while a possibility, is also a last resort. It is not as effective when it comes to instruction of students, as the test results and research clearly showed following the last pandemic. But if we know or anticipate in advance that it might be several days, it does help make some progress while we are waiting to return to school.
We recognize closures as an inconvenience, to students because it interrupts their learning experience, to teachers because they have a set of specific objectives their students are scheduled to learn during a limited amount of time, and parents, because they have to find child care and make arrangements for their children to be at home when they weren't planning for it. We take all of that into consideration when we look at the possibility of an unscheduled day away from school.
Friday, February 7, 2025
Did Jesus Really Say That?!
Saturday, January 4, 2025
As You Consider Re-Enrollment, MCA Has Considered It's Commitment to Ministry
Saturday, December 28, 2024
MCA is Entering Its 69th Year of Service
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Praying for the Peace and Comfort of Abundant Life Christian School
Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield. Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Psalm 33:20-22, NRSV
We are praying for comfort and peace today, for the students, families and school community of Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. It's the peace and comfort of the Lord upon which we rely when unexplainable tragedy invades our lives. And while those who are in position to do so are seeking answers and trying to figure things out, peace and comfort will be ministers to the souls of those who are hurting and grieving right now.
As school shootings have become epidemic in our culture, Christian schools cannot think that we are immune to such occurrences. We have been fortunate in that we haven't seen very many, but one of the reasons for this is that we represent only 3% of the total enrollment of the school aged population in the United States. And I also believe that what we offer to our students in the way of discipleship and spiritual ministry is one way that helps resolve many of the emotional and social problems experienced by students which can be triggers for such behavior.
In fact, what we know and have learned from each of these tragedies, which now occur by the hundreds in schools across the country, is that they are mostly internal in nature. That is, they are committed by a student in the school where they occur, not because there's been some kind of a security breach, but because circumstances enabled the elements of a shooting, which includes an emotionally disturbed or abused student or former student, and a lethal weapon, usually a gun, to come together inside the school.
We take preventative action, in the form of safety drills and precautions, locked doors, camera surveillance, a heightened police presence. But the real weapon against the emotional disturbances that cause 95% of school shootings is spiritual transformation. If this does nothing else, it reminds us of the critical importance of the ministry that takes place inside a Christian school. The world in which we live is fallen, the record of the fall is in Genesis 3. Our best weapon against the evil that distorts minds and hearts is the word, and the exposure to it every day that helps students discern when they are sensing conviction of sin. There is a path to redemption, and there are some people who have a very difficult time following it. We're here every day to help our students do just that.
This was something intended to disrupt the ministry of a Christian school, even to the point of robbing students, parents and staff of their security and replacing it with fear. Christian schools not only provide an education for students, but they also provide discipleship, and they help lead students to the Lord, encourage them, strengthen them and help them realize and fulfill their calling in the will of God. So there is an enemy prowling around, who's interest is to disrupt and destroy. So pray that this school, as well as ours, will be strengthened, and will unite around their faith in Christ, as a result of this incident.
And pray for the families of both the shooter and the victims.
A Core Curriculum Objective: God Exists, and Jesus, His Son, Sent as Our Savior, Died and Rose From the Dead
Belief in the existence of God, as he is revealed to us in all of the scripture, is the basis of our school's educational philosophy. T...
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In Christian school education in the United States, schools that have been operating for 68 years are not all that common. In 1956, when MC...
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Midwestern Christian Academy has been blessed over the past few years. God has been faithful to this ministry, which has been serving famil...
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Early childhood education in the United States is the result of an increased number of households of younger families with children in which...