Reaching The Public School Systems

Most people would first think that we need to figure out a way to talk to the kids in these school systems. However, most students that are turning agnostic and some even atheist because they have been raised in Christian homes that never gave them a reason to believe what they believe. It's passed on from parents to children.

So where do we need to make the highest impact? Well, churches need to start educating their church members as to why they believe what they believe. We're not talking about heavy theology here. We're talking about the observable facts of Christianity. Which points? I believe that this is a good list of areas to cover:
1) Creation
2) Noah's Ark
3) Archealogical Discoveries supporting the Bible
4) The precision taken to copy the Old Testament
5) The copying techniques of the New Testament
6) The support of Divine Inspiration
7) The canonization of the Scriptures -believe it or not, this is very important to a lot of people!
8) Archealogical evidence surrounding Jesus' life
9) Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus
10) Jesus: Liar, Lunatic, or Lord? - I'll expand on this later and provide a resource list
11) Evidence for the ressurection - what is Christianity without the ressurection?!

That's a basic list. Many would ask why I seperated Creation and Noah's Ark into seperate categories and even left out the Fall from this list. The Fall, along with the account of Adam and Eve, should be included within the Creation study. It is too closely linked to seperate. Noah's ark is a very debated subject that submits several evidences to archealogy.

With the church informing the home, the home can inform the children.

Now, back to the actual issue of reaching the public school systems. We need to be giving resources to Christian students to be able to stand against the "hollow and deceptive philosophies" that are evident in the public school system. If they can stand up for what they believe, they become a source of interest to other students. From personal experience, I know that evidence gives a person much more will to promote what they believe. This will make our students much more bolder.

How do we need to give out this information? In booklets, I believe. Very short, as straight-to-the-point as possible. They don't have the time (and most don't have the motivation) to read hours upon end. They need to be like reference guides.

That's all for the moment until I hear some feedback and sort out more thoughts.

Thanks and God-bless!
In Christ,
-David

 

Hmm...I think that they may have some influence, but you are right. Direct peer support is the best way. I'll do a search now. But I do know that Creation booklets would work. I don't know about everything else though. Maybe one on the ressurection, but those already exist.

-David

 

First Priority looks great to tell you the truth, but from reading and thinking, the main source of all of this is the people.

I think that I will prayerfully consider this outreach ministry. But this all starts with a modivation from God's people. The children, the youth, the adults - they all have a vital part in the spreading of the gospel.

Some would say that children do not, but I disagree. When I was in the 2nd grade, I gave a small Gideon bible to a boy on my bus. my 10th grade year, my dad attended a church service in a place 1 hour away from where we live, but he worked. He came home that night with a Bible. That same Bible that I gave away a little less than 9 years before! I don't know if that boy went to church because of it or what. But it went from a bus to a church building. The innocence of children can save more than we could ever imagine.

-David

 

I agree. There is still great power in the Scriptures. That's how I came to this conclusion. Surprisingly, it was through the book of Deut. and not even the New Testament!

-David

 

That it is, that it is.

-David

 

If the Christian teens truely believed in their faith and talked about it, then I would deffinately agree that they should not be removed. However, I am torn on this issue because I have done both and it is very hard to stand in a public school and so I would say that they should be removed. But, I don't think that's the only way to handle the issue:

If the school brings up an issue like homosexual teachings (for example), inform the local and state government that you do not believe that it is in the best interest of your children and that you are fully opposed to the idea. Then, let them know that the next time they propose a new tax law, that you will not agree with it. It has worked at one school. I was going to post the link, but it's gone now. It was on afa.net . Remember, MONEY TALKS!!! Hit 'em where it hurts them the most -- the wallet!

-David

 

Here's an interesting quote for everyone on the board:

“I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being. These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of the educational level—preschool day care or large state university. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new—the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism.”

– John Dunphy, A Religion for a New Age, The Humanist, January–February 1983, p. 26.


Stirring, huh?
-David