Fall Festival Pics No comments yet
I’ve put up some pics from our school’s Fall Festival and Staff Retreat on my website.
Enjoy!
New VCS Video No comments yet
Our school recently commissioned a professional video that does a great job of capturing the vision and focus of Vienna Christian School. In it are some moving testimonies from parents, students, and staff. I am including a link at the bottom of this post.
For some reason the school chose not to include me in the video. The concern, I’m sure, is that our administration feared a sudden influx of teaching applications from many eager single women. Or something like that…
Men in the Church No comments yet
I remember reading the book Wild at Heat by John Eldridge a few years back, and while I have quite a few problems with some of his conclusions I think the premise of his book is very good. Defining the male role in society and the church is a very good discussion to have.
I remember reading his assertion that men in general feel out of place or bored with the contemporary church in America. And in reference to my last post, I wonder how much of that has to do with the evangelical church putting so much emphasis on feelings and emotions. I don’t think I’m over-generalizing when I say that most men aren’t very much in touch with their feelings. Can it be that many evangelical churches have pushed men out of the church by preaching sermons that address mainly felt needs and emotional issues?
Any thoughts?
Professional Development No comments yet
Our staff is currently working on our ACSI accreditation and as part of that we are required to read a number of books dealing with Christian education. The first book my group read is Love Your God With All Your Mind by J.P. Moreland.
This book spends a great deal of time addressing evangelicalism as an anti-intellectual movement. This certainly isn’t a new idea, but is definitely something that I, as a Christian educator need to be wary of.
Moreland pegs the anti-intellectual trend in American Christianity to revivals including the Great Awakening. These revivals focused on making people feel their need for God, but spent very little effort educating new converts in the essential tenants of their faith. This led to a generation of Christians who, instead of responding to intellectual criticism with an educated response, retreated into the safety of faith. There was no explanation for faith, you simply had to trust that what the Bible says is true.
This line of thinking led to a false dichotomy between faith and reason and an unhealthy skepticism of anything intellectual. Philosophy became a bad word in Christian circles and it didn’t take long for Christians to become a laughing stock amongst any sort of thinking people. The extent of the anti-intellectual movement in American Christianity was perhaps best exhibited during the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925.
Even today evangelicals are very much affected by this non-thinking approach to Christianity. Many sermons in the church address only felt needs and are often emotionally manipulating. Congregations are made to feel guilty instead of being reasoned with. Pastors rely more on rhetoric than sound Biblical teaching. Christianity is put in a box of personal experience, and beyond being a travesty, this is unbiblical. The truth of Christianity is not limited to the experiences of the individual believers.
Jesus often challenges his listeners and disciples with parables that engage the intellect and Paul is often charged to make a philosophical or intellectual case for the truth of Christianity. Unfortunately there are fewer and fewer Christians who are able to intellectually engage their culture because they are not taught how to do so.
The church does a great disservice to Christ and His message to neglect the intellectual development of its congregants. We are told by Jesus himself to love the Lord with all our mind, so why is the church so hesitant to educate those whom it is responsible to equip?
This is not meant to say that emotion has no role in Christianity, but to more to point out that it has been elevated too highly in many evangelical circles. For instance, how should one witness to those who do not “feel” like they need God? If Christianity is truth, then we should be able to reason with people about it.
There is a bumper sticker that sums up the anti-intellectualism rampant in evangelical churches today: God said it, I believe it, that settles it. If Christians wish to have a meaningful impact on the world they must do better than this. We must be able to reason with those whom we wish to evangelize to. The Truth is not true merely because I believe it.
Sibling Rivalry No comments yet
So as a reward for finishing all the lessons in my typing program early, I let a few of my 7th graders play a game called TyperShark. It’s a great game, and somewhat addictive.
So I introduce this game to a student of mine and she is appalled by the game.
“You mean I have to kill these poor sharks?”
“Well, yes, but they’re trying to eat you. They’re very mean and scary sharks.”
She wasn’t convinced, but she played it anyway. So today I ask her if she wants to play TyperShark again.
“Yes, of course”
“But I thought you didn’t like killing the sharks?”
“Well I decided that I could just pretend that the sharks are my brothers. That makes it a lot more fun!”
The first Mac No comments yet
A group of students did a project for my class on the first Apple Macintosh. During their presentation they informed the class that it was first introduced with a “non-famous” commercial during the 1984 Super Bowl.
“A non-famous commercial,” I interjected, “what does that mean?”
Surprised by the question, one of my students shrugged, “well…um…it wasn’t famous, I guess.”
I was still puzzled. I mean, they showed it during the Super Bowl. How could it not be famous? So another student tried to explain it a different way.
A light bulb came on, and I grinned. “Wait. Did your source say the commercial was ‘infamous‘?”
Heads nodded and I chuckled, then went on to explain what the word infamous actually means.
For those of you curious as to what that “infamous” commercial actually looked like, here it is in all its glory.
Trust No comments yet
Trust in God
Let nothing disturb you,
Nothing alarm you.
While all things fade away
God is unchanging.
Be patient
And you will gain everything.
For with God in your heart
Nothing is lacking,
God meets your every need.
-St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
A Scientific Discussion No comments yet
As I was walking up the stairs at school I encountered one of my 8th grade students heading up to ESL class. What followed was a very unexpected discussion:
Han: “Are you a heterotroph?”
Me: Not understanding, “Am I a what?”
H: “A heterotroph. Are you a heterotroph?”
M: “I’m sorry, I still didn’t understand you.”
H: “Mr. Elwell says you are a heterotroph because you can’t make your own food.”
It appears Mr. Elwell knows me all too well.
Fall Festival No comments yet
Every October VCS has an event called Fall Festival which is something like an indoor carnival. It’s a time to enjoy playing silly games with kids, meet parents, and sample some good food.
This year some kids set up a heart exhibit for science class. Upon entering the room, I was offered a platter filled with small brownish chunks poked through with toothpicks like hors dourves.
“Hi, Mr. Klein, would you like some heart?”
“Ummmmm….”
“It’s really good, I promise.”
“Uhhhhhhh….”
“Come on, it’s just chicken heart. You’ll like it.”
“Ummmmm….O-K.”
I picked a piece off the platter and chewed. Is it too cliche to say it tasted like chicken? It really did, though, and it made me wonder what Chicken McNuggets are really made of.
The night was topped off by great performances from the Beginning Band class and the Elementary and Middle School Choirs.
As always, it was a fun night, and a good time was had by all.