Chapter 1
Introduction
A Family
This book is about a family. This family is not a typical family.
This family is blessed. It is tremendously productive. Father and mother both work, but they work together in a common calling. So do their children. They are missionaries, but not in the typical way. They are also educators—in the truest Biblical sense.
Father and mother are not afraid to obey God’s commands in Genesis 1:28. They know that the bigger their family gets, the more (not less) productive they will be. Children in this family are taught a valuable trade; they will not be useless as adults, unable to earn a living; far from it. Wealth will multiply at their touch. The Ten Commandments are the law in this family, not just taught but lived. God comes first in everything they do.
The parents are free to teach the children as God leads them. No one dictates what can or cannot be taught, or tells them how many hours a day they must spend on their schoolwork. Responsibility for the children’s education is shared between both parents. There are no arbitrarily required subjects imposed by pedantic education “experts.” Father and mother are the king and queen, raising their subjects under God’s authority.
The family is able to save money. “The labourer is worthy of his reward” is not just a slogan, they are well-paid for doing the Lord’s work. The parents are determined to lay up an inheritance for their children and their children’s children. The inheritance is both spiritual and material. The family rests in the knowledge that they are doing God’s work, and are a blessing to those around them.
The children are happy, as are their mother and father. They labor along with their parents. All are engaged in a serious endeavor, together. They learn practical skills, and seem competent far beyond their ages. The older children help the younger. Everyone learns from each other. Each is educated far more than the average child, but it is not an abstract, foolishly academic education. Visitors who see the family are amazed at the maturity of the young family members, and the respect they show for each other and their elders. Words like “resourceful” and “self-reliant” are used to describe them.
They work at a school, a school unlike any other. While they do spend much of their time at their schoolhouse, it is a far cry from the schools familiar to most Americans. This schoolhouse exists to serve God, not the state or the institutional church or any other human organization.
They are not recluses; their family is not a hermitage. Other children come into this schoolhouse, from other families. The differences between their families and the family at the school are marked. For most of these outside children, this family will be the only example they will ever see of what God intended a family to be. The family teaches these other children how to read, and do math, all about God and His Commandments, and many other things. Their testimony is such a shining example that their services are sought out even by people who have no interest in God. Reprobate men and women pay the family to evangelize their children and teach them God’s Commandments.
Why are we here? It’s rightfully considered one of the “big questions.” This family already has an answer for this question. They are on a mission from God, taking part in a great adventure. Their bonds grow stronger as they fulfill their calling together.
This family could be your family. Let me tell you how.
The Way
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, said, “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:19). As Christians, it should be our desire to be great in God’s kingdom. Accordingly, God, in His Word, has revealed to us how to achieve this. God has called us to do and teach His law. He has promised that those who do this most faithfully will be greatest. In modern Christianity, however, if the law is mentioned at all, it is brought up merely to declare that it has been done away with, that it is no longer binding. Nothing could be further from the truth!
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:17–18). Jesus, the great law-giver, has spoken. We have our mission statement. What will our legacy be? Did we heed what we were told concerning the commandments, to “do and teach them”? Or did we deny the law, in effect doing our best to destroy it? What we do here on this earth is of vast importance. A reward is at stake, the prize Paul spoke of (1 Cor. 9:24), for us and our children’s children. The question is now, how do we best labor to win the prize?
It has been said that a foolish man lives paycheck to paycheck, planning only as far as needed to survive the day; the wise man prepares for the next hundred years. As Christians, we should strive to be the latter. Planning for the next hundred years requires influencing the people who will come after us, our children’s children. We cannot know the future, other than what God has revealed to us in His Word. One thing is certain, however, from Scripture passage after Scripture passage: the blessings or judgments in store for a generation—whether future or present—correlate to that generation’s obedience to God’s covenant. “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deut. 7:9). It then follows that the way to ensure the best possible future for our descendants is to make sure they are covenant-keepers. This means teaching, and setting a good example by keeping the covenant ourselves (“do and teach them”). God assures us He will remember His promises. “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations” (Psa. 105:8).
As important as future generations are, we are also commanded to provide for our dependents in the here and now. Neglecting our families to obtain a pie in the sky reward in the hereafter, or for the respect of men, is not what God commands us to do. The opposite is the case: “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Tim. 5:8). Too often Christians become in involved in political movements, charities, or church ministries, ostensibly doing “God’s work,” to the detriment of their families. This is not what I am talking about.
The Christian who “succeeds” in a ministry but fails to provide for his family, and/or raise up his own children in the covenant has failed. There is a limit to the sacrifices which should be made in the pursuit of “success.” God has not called you to sacrifice your family (violating God’s command to provide for them) for “His work,” particularly when most Christian ministries primarily advance a particular church, denomination, or organization rather than God’s kingdom. This is idolatry.
In addition, a Christian family should also be storing up capital and property to make possible the expansion of God’s kingdom and their own freedom. God desires liberty (under His law) for His faithful people. We are not called to renounce material possessions or money. Living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to make rent each month is not a sign of holiness. It may be a temporary challenge, but it is not to be the perpetual condition of God’s faithful servants. Owning and controlling private property should be a priority. Freedom requires property; the family which is not in control of its financial situation is in slavery—slavery to the landlord, slavery to the employer, slavery to the civil government. Becoming financially free requires productive, practical work and the blessing of God. “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it” (Psa. 127:1a). Many people believe that just because they work hard, have to be frugal with their money, and give to charity that God will bless them. Be sure that the work you are doing is what God wants you to be doing, or it is in vain. Doing volunteer charity work or protesting outside the abortion clinic may not be as worthy of reward as you think!
The Grace Community system makes it possible to do the Lord’s work in the form of a rewarding ministry without sacrificing your family. In fact, a decision to learn the Grace Community system could very well turn out to be the greatest thing that has ever “happened” to your family. By providing both monetary and educational benefits to your own children, you will be fulfilling your responsibilities to provide for them materially and spiritually. By reaching out to other families and children, evangelizing and catechizing, you will be taking dominion for Christ as never before. The Grace Community system just might be the tool God uses to bestow blessings on you beyond your wildest dreams.
The Most Rewarded Calling
It is my intent in this book to share with my readers some of what I know about the most rewarded calling I can think of, that of the Christian preschool/daycare owner and operator. For those faithful to follow Christ’s mandate to do and teach the commandments, the rewards possible in this calling are almost beyond belief. It is also the ideal calling for those parents who are determined to bring up their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. This calling is one that can and should be shared by the entire family. The rewards are both spiritual and material; God has not called His servants to be paupers. You can earn a fantastic living while at the same time saving up heavenly rewards as well. Even better, you can educate your own children and be able to pass a goodly inheritance on to them and their children. The call to educate the young is a great weapon in our fight against the Evil One—heed the call!
Those who have been entrusted with our society’s youth bear a tremendous responsibility—there exists a vast potentiality for either great reward or tremendous punishment. Despite claims to the contrary, this is little understood by the Christian community at large. Even those churches who have embraced the idea of Christian schools, balk at the thought of extending their ministries to the preschool age. Truly, they “forbid the little children to come.” Our enemies do not so neglect the very young. Secular humanist early childhood educators, as exemplified by the NAEYC and similar organizations, are ever pushing for access to our children at younger and younger ages. The existing programs, like Head Start, are compromises on their part due to limitations in both resources and political clout. Their true vision is for children to be taken from their parents practically at birth and raised to serve the humanist gods until the grave. Tragically, most parents are voluntary accomplices in this wickedness! The power inherent in childrearing is immense, but this is not understood by most.
In an age where the emphasis is on centralized power, it is too easy to forget that real change in a society comes at the grassroots level. The person responsible for the education of a group of young children is, in a real sense, more important than the president. If an educator is what God has called you to be, you wield a vast capacity for good or evil. The three- and four-year-olds in the classroom today will be tomorrow’s parents, workers, and leaders. We are commanded to teach them God’s precepts. Let me show you how to earn a great reward by doing so, and thereby wield your powers for the good of God’s kingdom and His glory.
Who I Am
I am a pastor living in Fort Myers, Florida. I am the successful manager of two Christian schools for Grace Community Schools of Naples, Florida. I am married to my wonderful wife, Amy, and a parent with her of five wonderful children. My wife and I labor together, in a common calling, along with our children. We have been managing prospering Christian schools together since 2002, and have literally hundreds of students under our influence daily.
In addition to these hundreds of students my wife and I are responsible for, we also homeschool our children with complete freedom. We are able to do this at our schools, where we both work together. It is a tremendous blessing to be able to work with my wife, and be able to keep our children with us as well. Along with running the Fort Myers and North Fort Myers schools, I am also the editor of the Grace Community School newspaper, The Whale’s Tale.
The Alternative
If you are reading this, you may already be going against the mainstream godless educational system, or at least are thinking about doing so. You may be convicted by the Holy Spirit, feeling led to do something other than just follow the crowd of people who are unconcerned about the consequences and implications of a state education. The responsibility God has placed on Christian parents may be weighing heavy. This book is for you. If you do decide to forsake “the world, the flesh, and the devil,” at least as far as educating your own children is concerned, your options may seem limited. I will be discussing a (better) alternative to what you might think are the only educational possibilities.
As Christian parents, we are mandated by God to raise our children in the covenant (Eph. 6:4). A truly Christian education is a prerogative for this. Many parents think the financial burden required to provide a Christian education is insurmountable. Even for those with more faith, it is not trivial. The Grace Community School system has the ideal solution to this difficulty: following our system, you will in effect be paid by others to provide a Christian education to your own children, while simultaneously ministering to many other children. You will have nearly total freedom, financially and pedagogically, to instruct your family as God leads you.
What is “Grace Community Schools”?
Grace Community Schools, founded in 1986, is a group of Christian private schools located in Southwest Florida. All together, more than two thousand students attend Grace Community Schools each day, receiving phonics-based reading instruction, general education, and Bible study. Children from infants on up through kindergarten are taught, and before and after school and summer camp for ages up through twelve are also offered.
The individual locations are family-run, mostly by married couples laboring harmoniously together in a common calling with their children. The students who attend are able to see on a daily basis a model of a godly Christian family, including both father and mother, something the majority of our students’ families do not have.
The schools are operated so that, “Whosoever will may come.” We are truly evangelistic. Many of our students are those who would be turned away from so-called Christian schools based upon their parents’ unwillingness to make a profession of faith. No stipulations are made regarding the parents’ character or faith. Nor do we restrict our schools to elementary or even kindergarten-age students, as so many church schools do. We are open year-round, without all the many and annoying closed days common to public and Christian schools. We are customer service-oriented; that means we operate in such a manner that even those customers not particularly interested in a Christian education find our ministry attractive!
The most revolutionary aspect of the Grace Community School system is a two-pronged emphasis on education to the very young: the teaching of the Ten Commandments (God’s law) with application of these commandments to the children’s lives; and a phonics-based system of reading instruction with a demonstrated ability to teach children as young as three years old to read independently. Reading and the commandments, consistently taught daily to all of our students is what separates Grace Community School from other “daycares,” which teach “reading readiness” and humanistic psychology and values.
We do not rely on church funding or fundraising. Income comes from tuition. Our product is one our customers consider worth purchasing. Heavy advertising and competitive prices (evangelism, remember?) ensure a steady supply of students eager to receive the Gospel message. Real education combined with games, art, and other interactive activities keep our students happy and well-adjusted. Children who come home from our program reading to their parents and talking about how much fun they had provide a high rate of customer satisfaction.
The Grace Community system is something that we are eager to share with others, via our apprenticeship program and manual (more details about that later). We welcome couples and single individuals to come work with us while being taught our trade. With the Grace Community system, you will be able to get paid (well) to do a calling that is already very spiritually rewarding. Following our system, you can set up and run a school/business that both glorifies God and takes care of your family.
Preparing the Next Generation
Some of the greatest blessings of the GCS system benefit the children who grow up in it. Combining early literacy, practical and business experience, and strong family bonds, our children grow up living lives richer and fuller than most people can imagine. Surrounded by Christian teachers and role models engaged in a serious endeavor, learning God’s law and how it applies to society, theirs is radically superior to the average childhood.
Children reared in the Grace Community system are better prepared to deal with the roles God has destined them to in life. Our emphasis is on what is practical and pleasing to God, not the abstract. If our society is to change for the better, we will need to raise up a generation of Christians obedient to God and ready to take dominion for His kingdom. This means Christians who will own and control private property, operate businesses, and above all keep and teach God’s law. The antinomian, material-eschewing Christians who dominate the churches today will not be heirs to the future.
To prepare for this future, the children who have grown up in Grace Community Schools are given business experience as soon as possible. Instead of wasting the high school years on irrelevant pseudo-intellectual academics, the children receive intensive business-training and gain actual on-the-job experience. If you are an immature fifteen year old, why wait until you are an immature twenty-one year old before learning to do something of value to yourself and others? At one time it was considered necessary for every family to give each child a trade, a method of surviving and thriving in the real world. To earn a living, save money, and prepare for eventual marriage while expanding God’s kingdom through a practical vocation were once the goals of every godly young person. We at Grace Community School are returning to this model, for the glory of God.
I am honestly baffled by most college attendees. The Scriptures tell us “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Eccles. 9:10a). It seems to me most of the people who go off to college, wasting thousands and thousands of dollars and years of their life, do so because they have delusions of grandeur about what they will do after they get out. “Running down a dream,” as it were. Most of the time their plans change, and after college they end up doing nothing even remotely like what they set out to do. It is as if a blind is over their eyes, preventing them from seeing the opportunities at hand. They cannot consider not going to college. I almost made the college mistake. Before embarking on such a detour, you should closely examine your circumstances to see if God may have a calling at your right hand requiring less of a dangerous and costly sacrifice on your part, or especially on your children’s part. In my case, God intervened; my destiny lay down a different path.
It is now part of the modern paradigm to go to college in preparation even for those vocations which could be easily trained for on the job. We need to escape from this paradigm and return to apprenticeship. The quest for respectability and the rewards of the world has led to even Christian parents encouraging their children to attend colleges, both secular and religious. Will college make your child a more faithful, godly believer? My experience with college graduates, and the testimony of others, says no. And beware of the “Christian” universities—they are full of church children convinced that they are going to heaven despite whatever sins they may commit!
One thing that strikes me when I compare the education the children growing up in the Grace Community system receive with what they would get attending a typical Christian school or being homeschooled is how practical our system is. A child doesn’t have to be very old before they can start learning how to do real things. Our children begin helping out around the school at a very young age, not to mention doing chores at home. We are “small businesses” (not small compared to most daycares, but as opposed to large corporations), so extreme specialization is not desirable. We are frequently called upon to be jacks-of-all-trades, doing whatever needs to be done. Managing and maintaining a successful Christian school is a lot of work and requires many different kinds of skills—the more experience using these skills, the better. This keeps costs down and creates very independent and self-reliant personnel. From IT work and accounting to basic construction and landscaping, we possess an extremely wide range of practical skills, many of which do not first come to mind when you think of a Christian school “teacher.” Doing God’s work is never boring!
Unless you are an engineer, or have some other technical occupation, when was the last time you used the trigonometry or physics you took in high school? In the real world, for most people, knowing how to fix a toilet or put up some drywall is a lot more useful (I say this with some disappointment, as I tend to gravitate towards the abstract and academic; unfortunately, the books on particle physics I read growing up haven’t helped me out a whole lot). Let me get even more basic: I have dealt with employees who had trouble performing simple tasks like operating a vacuum cleaner or mopping a floor. It wasn’t always laziness, sometimes these were things they just had never done before in their lives! Practical skills and common sense (gained through experience) are badly needed in our society and in the workplace.
Frequently by the time a child reared within the Grace Community School system is eighteen years old or so, they are ready to manage one of the school locations. A college-level degree is a desirable thing for those involved in a teaching or management position in a Christian school, due to state laws. The state values papers, despite whatever the free market may say. Our solution for this is to use a small Christian college in Colorado, Patriot Bible University. They offer correspondence courses making it possible for our manager trainees to obtain state-accepted bachelor and masters education degrees. No need for the student to leave home, quit working, or suffer the trials and temptations of traditional college. I believe it is a much more Christ-pleasing method of rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s. It also makes it possible for the trainee to continue job training while getting a degree.
It has been my experience that by the time people are about eighteen, they have largely grown into the people they will be for the rest of their life. This makes it even more important for them to spend the formative teen years maturing, building self-discipline, and learning skills they will use in adult life. The stereotype of the rebellious teenager is not one gleaned from Scripture. A child reared in a Christian family, taught carefully to honor father and mother, is fully capable of being respectful to parents and responsible towards others and their duties through their teen years. It is not outrageous to expect such a person to be able to more-or-less run a successful business by the time he or she is eighteen, provided they have been trained. Furthermore, a person rebellious during these teen years will remain rebellious in their adult life, unless God intervenes. If you are not responsible and productive at eighteen, you are not likely to be responsible and productive at thirty, assuming God allows you to live that long. Helping young people to realize this godly maturity is part of the Grace Community School system. Beyond our immediate staff families, we also seek to make a difference in the lives of the outside students who come through our doors.
The Literacy Difference
A goal of Grace Community Schools is the creation of literate Christian citizens. From the Reformation onwards, literacy and orthodox Christianity have traditionally been linked. We continue that tradition, despite the falling away of the modern church. By the time they are in their teens, Grace Community children have difficulty remembering not being able to read. “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matt. 5:24). Grace Community Schools is a beacon of light to the children in our community. We teach so that we may earn a full reward, and so that through us others might be blessed.
I can testify firsthand about the benefits of Grace Community School’s reading instruction. Although the core of our ministry is full-time preschool, we offer before and after school services for elementary students, most of whom regularly attend local public schools. We take advantage of this opportunity to proselytize these children who otherwise would likely never hear the gospel taught. Many of these spiritually-starved children respond very enthusiastically to our Bible teaching.
I love reading and books. Some of my earliest happy childhood memories are of my father bringing us home Bible story books from church conventions he attended. With my school background in phonics, I don’t remember it taking long to learn how to read well. Today, I can’t imagine what it is like to be illiterate or find reading difficult, nor indeed will my children.
But don’t let my personal experiences cloud your thinking. According to the public school and early childhood education experts, reading is supposed to be hard. It’s not something you can just learn willy-nilly from anyone with an A Beka textbook and some phonics readers. In fact, it’s best to start the child off with a few years of “reading readiness” first. After that, under the expert tutelage of a government-certified teacher (who is a union member, of course; that’s very important) in a public school classroom, the student may memorize enough sight words to be able to read in the second grade or so. We see the public school kids who attend Grace Community after school (and on the many days public schools are closed), so we get to see the results of state schooling firsthand. The results are not pretty.
My oldest (and homeschooled) son, Caleb, shares his father’s love for books. I was not surprised when he began to use some of the spending money he earned doing chores to buy books. He decided to buy the popular “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series. At the time, he was what the public school considers 1st grade age, doing 2nd grade A Beka coursework. He enjoyed reading the books immensely, doing so in a matter of a few days. He did not find the books challenging at all, more like light reading for him. Even his younger brother in kindergarten began reading them. One of our after school students, who was attending 4th grade at a local public school, observed him reading one of the books and commented, “That’s a 5th grade book.”
In case you did not know, most books marketed to school-age children are assigned a reading level by the publisher, supposedly to help parents and teachers match kids to books appropriate to their grade level. These grade levels sometimes even give the grade year and month at which the “average” student is expected to be able to read them (e.g., “5.4” means “5th grade, 4th month”). Many parents and public school “teachers” think these book levels are as incontrovertible as the sum of two and two. Many government education programs, like “Accelerated Reading,” make much use of them. (So much for reading a challenging book to better reading skills, eh?)
A quick internet search revealed a review by the publisher of the Wimpy Kid books in which the books were recommended for “5th or 6th graders.” I was somewhat stunned; if anything these books were suited for more immature readers than my 6 year old son. Being accustomed to teaching 3 and 4 year olds to read every day, apparently I was behind the times. I suppose the Chronicles of Narnia are now considered high school literature textbooks?
This is a typical example of “raising standards by lowering expectations.” How many parents have been duped by this method of camouflaging the substandard reading levels produced in the public school? Your child has difficulty reading? That’s OK, he’s right where he should be. There is nothing to worry about. The reading level will magically rise as time goes by, apparently.
As important as reading is, you might think that Christian schools would be eager to correct the public schools’ errors on this issue. I wish this were so. Most Christian schools do not even accept preschool-age children, let alone teach them reading. The “whole language” method of reading instruction has poisoned our schools, both secular and Christian. Educational experts would have you believe that teaching reading is a highly complex and technical subject—and they use a lot of big words when talking about the subject to drive that point home. It’s certainly nothing anyone without a teaching degree could hope to be able to do, it is implied. The modern consensus seems to be that reading (and writing) is something that can’t be helped along. It will come, but not quickly, and not by the preschool teacher or parent. Despite its distinguished history in America up until the twentieth century, true early literacy is controversial today, even amongst Christians. Not so at Grace Community.
We heavily advertise the slogan, “Our Preschoolers Can Read.” This is very much truth in advertising. Beginning at the age of two, phonetic instruction is given to our students. By the time children graduate our preschool program, they are reading fluently, multiple grade levels ahead of where they “should” be. Even those parents who do not care about our Bible teaching like our reading program. We also practice what I call “literacy evangelism.” Many parents are so daft they do not even realize that their children can now read, or if they do, they assume it is something all preschools teach. We aim to correct those misconceptions. Through a series of rewards and recognition methods I will detail later, we make it as obvious to our clientele as possible that their children are superior and, by implication, so are they. (After all, did not the parents choose Grace Community School? Of course they did! How clever of them!) Parent relations are extremely important, and sometimes the hardest thing for apprentices to learn.
Revolutionary Bible Time
The Reformers taught reading so that everyone would be able to read the Bible. The goal was for people to be able to read and understand God’s Word for themselves. Modern Christians are doing poorly on both the “reading” and “Bible” parts of that. Grace Community School neglects neither.
As vital as our early literacy program is, even more important is our Bible instruction. We call it “Bible Time.” It occurs twice a day, fifteen minutes at a time. This doesn’t seem very revolutionary at first glance. After all, there are lots of church schools that teach Bible stories and virtues, sing Bible songs, and show pictures of a long-haired smiling Jesus (perhaps wearing jeans) surrounded by a group of multicultural children. How different could Grace Community’s Bible Time be from their programs? Pretty different, as it turns out. We are not talking about a Veggie Tales Sunday school here.
Forswearing the methods of our vegetable brothers, during our Bible Time, real stories from the Bible are taught along with the Ten Commandments, the 23rd Psalm, the Lord’s Prayer, and pledges to the Bible, Christian flag, and American flag. It is especially the commandment teaching that sets us apart from other ministries. I refer you back to the Bible verses with which I started this chapter. If children are to do (keep) the commandments, they need to be taught them. More than mere memorization is called for, although that is important.
Few Christians can even tell you where the Ten Commandments are in the Bible (it’s Exodus 20 in case you were curious). Grace Community’s Bible Time teaches these commandments along with illustrations of how those commandments are to be applied to the children’s daily lives. God’s law must be taught as applicable, practical, and relevant to modern life. Furthermore, children are told to look for evidence that they are obeying these commandments better and better as proof of salvation. Law does not save, but it does tell you how to live. It has been my experience that children, once trained, are better able to make applications of the commandments to new situations than most adults, particularly adults who have been taught that the Ten Commandments (God’s law) no longer apply.
Contrast this with the average church daycare or school (I hesitate to call them “Christian”). They are like the garment of diverse threads mentioned in Deuteronomy—their message has been so compromised by humanist psychology and early childhood gobbledygook as to be rendered irrelevant. The commandments are not taught, having been exchanged for pseudo-biblical manmade “virtues” or “morals” like tolerance, integrity, respect, and cooperation. Nothing apart from God is either moral or virtuous. We do not want “family values,” we want God’s law. The Bible stories taught in these daycares and schools are spun and distorted so as to promote a meaning alien from the original Scripture. Is your church’s daycare really a Christian daycare?
To be fair, the Christians in the modern church, those who control the church schools and Sunday school programs, would not tolerate allowing their schools to teach an undiluted Gospel message (the Gospel divorced from the commandments is not the full Gospel). Teachers in these programs would not be able to teach the truth even if they wanted to. Modern church members typically do not see anything wrong with the humanistic psychology taught by education experts. Their pastors teach them the law has been removed, so they are not concerned with teaching the law. They certainly would not want themselves or their children to come under conviction due to something a teacher in the church daycare said! It doesn’t increase church attendance or put more money in the offering plate. Those new pews and state-of-the-art gymnasium aren’t going to pay for themselves. As Israel rejected the Savior, so modern Israel (the church) has rejected His teachings. God’s faithful remnant teachers are then faced with a conundrum—how to remain true to their calling when the institutional church refuses to allow them to proclaim the truth.
Providentially, this is where the Grace Community system shines. There is no school board full of punctilious hypocrites to complain about God’s law being taught. There is no need to worry about church members complaining that their children feel guilty about their sins thanks to your teaching. God’s interests, and those of the students, can come first rather than the church’s. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. You are faced with a school full of paying students willing and eager to hear God’s Word. You are free to earn a great reward for remaining faithful to what God has called you to do.
In all my years working in Grace Community Schools, I have had only a handful of people object to our Bible Time. The great majority either believe it is a good thing, or consider it of no consequence (still allowing us to teach their kids). Mostly the former. This includes a few professing Atheists and Jewish parents who have put their children in our schools! They will gladly pay you to evangelize their offspring.
It is an interesting thing that many people who do not keep God’s law themselves would like their children to be able to keep it. Even if they will not consciously admit it, they understand at some level that they have failed; they want to spare their children some of the pain they have experienced. They want their children to do better in life. We see this all the time, and do not judge the children for the parents’ sins. Most of our students come from homes broken in some way or another—broken because of sin. We are usually the one shining example of godliness in these students’ lives.
Sometimes we get to hear from the parents about the changes happening in their child after he or she has been exposed to our teaching. I recently had the single mother of a girl who had been attending our school for a couple of months take my wife and me aside to tell us about some incidents she had witnessed at home. She told us about how her little girl’s grandmother had been telling the family parrot to “shut up!” The girl looked very concernedly at her grandmother and said, “Grandma, God is watching you! You shouldn’t say ‘shut up!’” Her daughter now insists they say grace before eating, which is something we do at school but which was not part of their routines. Furthermore, the girl will not stop singing Bible songs. This mom said she was so very happy that in a society where God has been taken out of the public schools, there is still a place where God and the commandments are taught. She said she had been trying to instill more religion into the family, but the older siblings, educated in state schools since they were little, were resisting. When asked to say prayers before bedtime, her older brother said, “That’s retarded!” She said she is not surprised by the levels of crime, the depraved music on the radio, and the disrespect for authority children have now since God has been taken out of the children’s lives.
It strikes me again and again how eager our students are to receive the Gospel message and learn about the commandments. While a church pastor must be careful to temper the truth lest his congregation desert him, taking their tithe money with them, I am able to teach hundreds of children each and every day with the confidence that their tuition is paid, and they will be back tomorrow—a captive audience, so to speak. Not only that, but many children tell us that Bible Time is the best part of their day.
Children sometimes display a refreshing honesty. One boy told his mother that he keeps all the commandments pretty well, except one: the Fifth Commandment. He says he doesn’t keep that one all the time. His mother was amazed at his level of understanding. I could give many other examples. Our primary ministry is to the children, for whom there is much more hope, rather than to their parents. That being said, we frequently find that the children convict their parents using their knowledge of the Ten Commandments.
As I have mentioned before and will again, most of the children in our ministry are “off the street.” They come from predominantly unchurched and unchristian homes, rarely with both parents married and living together. Often the parents’ lifestyles are the very opposite of what is set forward in Scriptures. Sometimes we do have customers who attend local churches. In my experience, these parents involved in the evangelical church are no better than ones outside it. The churches have failed to teach God’s commandments, and as a consequence the divorce rate and common moral denominator of the modern “Christian” is roughly at the level of the world. Sometimes worse, as the Christian feels that all sins—past, present, and future—are forgiven, leaving them “free” to transgress more and more without compunction.
The seventh commandment is taught along with all the other commandments to the children in our care. We are careful to keep applications at a level appropriate for their ages. We discuss the importance of keeping the wedding vow and marrying someone within the covenant. We also talk about how we are to apply the commandments to ourselves primarily, and stress the importance of respecting parents. However, a five-year-old from a divorced family doesn’t have to be a genius to start thinking about whether mom and dad are keeping the seventh commandment. Occasionally we at Grace Community School have to field questions from parents asking what we have told their children! An unfaithful spouse doesn’t want their child going around the house quoting “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” A generation is growing up in Grace Community Schools which is cognizant of God’s law and how it is to be applied.
Conclusion
Starting and operating truly Christian schools is a project for the generations. What we are attempting to do at Grace Community Schools will take a long time. Success—the revitalization of an entire culture—will not come overnight, or even in our lifetimes. What we do is an act of faith, faith that victory will come. God’s kingdom will triumph no matter what we do. What is at stake is our share of the reward. He will not forget what we have done: “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations (Deut. 7:9).
I have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams to be involved with Grace Community Schools. Becoming involved with this ministry is the greatest thing that God ever led me to do. The Grace Community School system will give you the tools to create both a wonderful ministry and a great life for you and your family. I challenge you to find a system offering more opportunities for those willing to stick with it. “The labourer is worthy of his reward.” Are you ready to labor?
