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As I was examining my life in preparation for turning to God with all my heart, I came across a quote that stopped me in my tracks.  Pastor and author Tim Keller wrote these words.

Whatever you live for actually owns you. You do not really control yourself. Whatever you live for and love the most controls you.

As I reflected on these three short sentences, I realized that every person is controlled by something or someone.  No one is in control of his/her life.  In a world that is consumed with setting goals and making plans, it is easy to think that one has everything under control and can accomplish anything through good planing, hard work and perseverance.  That person says in his/her mind, I am in control!

Keller brings us back to reality by stating that everyone is controlled by whatever or whoever he/she loves most.  That is because what I love most I end up living for.  As I was thinking about this, I came across an article about a basketball coach that I greatly admire.  This coach just led his team to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship.  If you follow college basketball, you know that this coach is Tony Bennet, head coach of the University of Virginia men’s basketball team.

Throughout the tournament Bennett’s team was under scrutiny because last year ended in such a terrible way.  Last year, the UVa team was a number one seed and lost its first game in the tournament to a number 16 seed.  In fact, it was the first time that a number 16 seed beat a number 1 seed.  They didn’t simply lose the game but they lost the game by a 20 point margin.  How would they respond this year as, once again, the team had a number 1 seed?  Because of this scenario, Coach Bennett was repeatedly asked how the team was going to perform?  What pressure did he and the team face?  How did he and the team cope with such pressure?

In one article, Bennett made a powerful statement that took the pressure off him and his team and guided them on an unbelievable path to the national championship.

If my life is just about winning championships—if it’s just about being the best—then I’m running the wrong race. That’s empty. But if it’s about trying to be excellent and do things the right way, to honor the university that’s hired you, the athletic director you work for and the young men you’re coaching—always in the process trying to bring glory to God—then that’s the right thing.

Bennett was saying that winning basketball games is not what controls his life.  He understood that coaching basketball was simply God’s gift and that he needs to do it as a good steward that will bring glory to his Lord.  Bennett’s own words proves this point.

I have great things in my life—my love for my wife, my love for my family, my love for coaching, my love for basketball. Those are wonderful things, but when you line them up in comparison to Christ and the relationship you have with Him, with what He’s done for you and with what He’s given you, they don’t compare. That’s the greatest truth I know.

After reading this, I asked myself what do I love and live for the most?  Is it being a husband, father or grandfather?  Is it directing Kingdom Education Ministries?  All of these things are very good things but do I love and live for them more than I love and live for God?

 

Over my years in education I have seen administrators that seemed to live for the schools they led.  I have seen teachers who lived for the subjects they teach and coaches and sponsors who lived for the sport or activity they led.  It is easy to have these things control us.  I have learned that I can identify what I am loving the most and living for by seeing what I promote the most.  The Psalmist explains that what we praise or promote is what we love the most.

I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. Psalm 9:1 (NKJV)

As we prepare to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior next Sunday, take time this week to ask yourself some questions.

1. What do I talk about (promote/praise) the most?
2. What works do I tell others about whenever I have the chance?
3. What am I living for — my family, my ministry, etc.?
4. What really controls my life and my ministry?

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.  Philippians 3:7-8 (NKJV)

The Old Testament provides us with powerful truths that we must understand and grasp.  Today, there are some who believe that the Old Testament is outdated and Christianity can simply focus on the New Testament.  However, Paul explains that we can learn a lot and avoid making serious mistakes by carefully studying the accounts found in the Old Testament.

 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. 1 Corinthians 10:6-7 (NKJV)

The account of the people of Israel desiring to have a “god” of their own is familiar to most Christians.  When Moses was up on the mountain getting the law from God, the people got anxious when he didn’t return right away.  Instead of waiting on the Lord, they decided to take matters in their own hands.  The people pressured Aaron into making something that they could worship.  Aaron took gold from the people and made a golden calf that they could worship.

I find it amazing how Aaron tried to avoid taking any responsibility in making this false idol.  When Moses questioned him about what he had done, Aaron came up with one of the most unbelievable tales.  He tried to say that this idol just appeared out of thin air.

So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ and I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”  Exodus 32:22-24 (NKJV)

Aaron simply took the gold that the people gave him and threw it into the fire and miraculously out popped a golden calf.  Most of us are familiar with all of this but it is what took place after this that I want to focus on in this week’s post.  God was angry with the people and He told Moses what he needed to do.

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people. Exodus 33:3 (NKJV)

God told Moses to go ahead and enter the Promised Land.  However, I am not going to go with you because if I do, I might destroy the people because of their idolatry.  It is at this point that Moses shows amazing wisdom.  Listen to what Moses said to the Lord.

Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.  Exodus 33:15 (NKJV)

Moses was actually saying to God that he would rather stay in the wilderness with God than be in the land of milk and honey without God.  Wow!  I wonder how many of us would have taken the stand that Moses took.  How many of us would have looked at the options and maybe made a list of pros and cons and decided let’s get out of this forsaken place and head to the Promised Land?

I believe that just about everyone reading this blog has a vision for the future.  Most of us have some goals we want to accomplish in the immediate and distant future.  We want to be successful in both our lives and our ministries.

• Parents want their children to be successful and enjoy life.
• Teachers want their lessons to be effective and bring about transformation in the lives of their students.
• Administrators want to see their schools grow and accomplish more than what they are right now.
• Coaches want to experience success and may even win a state championship.
• Pastors want to see their churches grow and impact the community for Christ.

I could go on and list many more things you and I want to accomplish.  Maybe it would be good if you would make a list of your dreams for your life, your family, your ministry and your church.  Once you did this, what would you do if God were to say to you, “Go after your dreams and accomplish all your goals?  However, I won’t go with you so that I won’t consume you because of your idolatries.

Would you and I rather stay right where we are, even if it is in the wilderness, if it meant that God’s presence would not be with us?  Would you say to God,

• don’t have one more student enroll in your school
• don’t allow us to win one more game
• don’t give us one more donor and/or gift to help fund the ministry
• don’t let us grow in our ministry efforts to reach our community for Christ
• don’t bless our family in any way

if you do not go with us?  This is difficult to try and comprehend but that is exactly what Moses said to God.  Moses knew that God’s presence was the most meaningful thing that one can experience in life.  Any other advances, victories and blessings that might come our way here on earth are completely meaningless if God is with us.  As we prepare to turn to God with our whole heart on April 23rd, let’s have the conviction shown by Moses.  God, don’t move us one step forward if You don’t go with us!

I am a fan of the old TV program, Perry Mason.  I enjoy watching this defense attorney cleverly outwitting Mr. Burger, the DA, and Lt. Tragg and identifying the real people who were guilty in each case.  There was one theme that occurred regularly on Perry Mason.  The general story line went something like this.  A well-to-do person would be disappointed in how one of his own children behaved.  Because of this disappointment, the parent, usually the father, would take stern action toward his wayward child.  The form of discipline that the father would take toward his child would include either giving the family business to another person, or taking the son or daughter out of his will, or even banishing the child from his home and presence.  The father believed he had to take this type of action because of the recklessness by which his child was behaving.  The child had brought dishonor to the family name and this wasn’t going to be tolerated.

Recently, I was watching one of Mason’s cases that involved this type of story line.  As I tried to figure out who was the guilty party in the episode, the thought hit me about how God must feel as He watches His children live their lives today here on earth.  I started wondering if God was broken-hearted by how one of His children or a local church or Christian school was behaving.  Would He have to take serious action toward a wayward child or organization because His name was being maligned?

Over the past couple of weeks, I have pointed out some of the horrendous things that are taking place in the culture today.  I have explained how we must recognize the fact that much of the fault for the condition of society must be laid at the feet of people and organizations who carry the name Christian.  It is easy for a person or an organization to call itself Christian.  It is far more difficult to live up to what God expects from a person or group that calls itself Christian.

God will not tolerate anything that might bring dishonor to His name.  This is evident throughout the Scriptures, especially in the book of Ezekiel.  God took severe action toward His children because of how they mistreated His name.  It started in their homes.

Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds;  Ezekiel 36:17 (NKJV)

It didn’t take long before what they were practicing in their homes carried over into the culture.

When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His land.’  But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.  Ezekiel 36:20-21 (NKJV)

When this happened, God took action.  However, the reason behind His action is important to understand.  He didn’t act on behalf of His children.  There was something of greater importance that caused God to act.

Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.  And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God  Ezekiel 36:22-23 (NKJV)

As we prepare to turn to God on April 23rd, I believe that individuals, families, churches and Christian schools need to examine themselves.

1. Have I, as an individual Christian, dishonored God’s name in any way?  If so, what ways have I done this?
2. Have we as parents brought disgrace to God’s name in some way?  If so, how have we done this?
3. In what ways has our church profaned the name of God in our community?
4. Has our Christian school caused God’s name to be dishonored?  If so, what ways has this been done?

These are difficult questions that must be asked and honestly answered.  If we don’t do this, will God have to take severe action, not for our sakes, but for the sake of His great name?

If you are a KEM Prime Member, I want to encourage you to watch a couple of videos that can be applied to today’s post.  These have just been uploaded and you can find them under the heading, Kingdom Essentials.  They are lessons # 31&32.  Again, if you are not a KEM Prime Member, this would be a good day to become one.  When a school or church becomes a KEM Prime Member, the entire staff and board members have access to all of the resources available.  Join with more than 150 individuals and/or schools that are now KEM Prime Members.   Click here to learn more!

Have you observed that when an individual, family, church or school drifts, it is never in the right direction?  When there is drifting in a relationship, it is said that the people involved are drifting apart.  We constantly hear of an organization experiencing mission drift.  Drifting will always happen when there is a loss or slide away from one’s purpose for his/her existence.  This is true for a family, church, school or community.  If life simply goes on according to what comes naturally, there will always be a drifting away from its ultimate purpose.

A common definition of drifting is a gradual shift in attitude, opinion, or position.  Drifting is gradual and, most times, people do not even know it is occurring.  The longer that a person or organization drifts, the farther off course they will end up.  This is especially true for Christians and Christian organizations.  Consider what Dr. Ed Stetzer recently said.

Nobody drifts toward theological orthodoxy.

It is interesting that we never hear of a Christian school drifting toward God.  Instead, the educational landscape is littered with schools that were once strong, God-honoring and biblically-grounded institutions and now have no semblance to the truth of Scripture.  Unfortunately, we have the tendency to only see drifting that takes place in another person’s life or another church or Christian school.  We seldom see that we are drifting or our church or school is drifting away from its moorings.  The reality is that Western Christianity has been adrift for several decades.  If we are going to turn to God with our whole heart, we must first admit that we are not where God wants us to be.

Once we recognize that we have drifted away from the Lord, we must try to pinpoint when and where the drifting began.  This is true for our individual lives, families and churches and schools.  Whenever I have gotten off course, I have to back track to the point where I started to drift.  Then I have to intentionally get back on the right course and be disciplined to stay on the correct path.

I have heard from many readers that they are committed to turning to God with their whole heart.  I challenged readers in recent weeks to determine in their hearts to turn to God on April 23rd.  As we prepare to turn back to God, it is important we understand God’s main purpose for our existence.  Again, this is true for an individual, family, church or school.  In the hectic rush of everyday life it is easy to forget why God created this world and then made man in His image.  It is critical that we know that God’s purpose behind all of creation was to express Himself for His glory (Romans 1:20; Psalm 19:1-3).  My life, family and ministry should be committed to glorifying God in all that I think, say and do.

I encourage you to examine your life and see if you have drifted from God’s purpose for creating you.  Then, we need to examine our home life and try to identify any drifting from God’s purpose that has taken place.  Church leaders and Christian school staffs should sit down and look at all of their programs and see if there has been any mission drift that has taken place.  As God shows us areas of our lives and ministries where mission drift has taken place, we need to return to where the drifting started and get back on the correct path.

If you or your school is a KEM Prime Member, I want to recommend that you watch four videos over the next couple of weeks.  These 30-minute videos will help you remember what is God’s ultimate purpose for our lives and ministries.  You will find these videos under the Kingdom Essentials heading.  They are Lessons 3-6.  If you are not a KEM Prime Member, I encourage you to consider membership by clicking here.

If we haven’t been intentional in being all that God intends us to be, we probably have drifted off course.  Let’s go back to where the drift started and be determined to get on the correct path!  It is critical that we start today!

I want to thank several readers who shared passages of Scripture in response to last week’s blog.  Keep the comments coming.  Also, there have been several new subscribers to these weekly blogs.  If you are one of these people, thank you for signing up.  I encourage you to read the last 4-5 posts in order to better understand the purpose behind this week’s blog.

Last week I shared how we must obey Joel 2:12 and return to God with our whole heart.  I challenged readers to set the date of April 23, 2019 as a day for us to do exactly that — turn to God with our whole heart.

Between now and then I believe it is important that Christians individually and corporately prepare themselves for this day of turning.  To begin this effort, it is important to understand that with God it must be all or nothing!  God does not want a half-hearted effort to turn to Him.  He demands our whole heart.

Here are some verses that we can meditate on as we prepare to turn to Him with our whole heart.

Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! Psalm 119:2 (NKJV)

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NKJV)

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.  Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV)

Here are some suggestions that might help us examine and prepare our hearts to turn to Him.

• Ask yourself some questions like:
  • How does keeping God’s testimonies relate to seeking Him with my whole heart?
  • Do I love God like He tells me to in Deuteronomy 6?  What might I love more than God at times?
  • How do I search for God with my whole heart?
  • When I don’t search for Him with my whole heart, what things am I searching for?
• Discuss these verses and questions with other Christians.
  • Church staff members can discuss how this relates to their church.
  • Christian school educators can ask themselves these questions from their school’s perspective.
  • An example of doing these two points above could be something like “is our school/church seeking God with our whole heart?”  Do we as a school/church love God more than anything else?  If not, what other things may be competing for our school’s love?

Finally, I want to encourage everyone to share other verses that can help us understand that it is all or nothing!  You can do this my leaving Scripture references as a comment below or simply email them to me at [email protected].

Have a great week seeking and loving Him with your whole heart.

This week I have shared a series of posts about our need to follow God’s instructions that He gave His people through the prophet Joel.  God wants each of us to turn or return to Him with all of his/her heart. It must be done now and it must be a total turn to Him with our entire lives.

The question I wrestled with during this time of examination was this.

How do I know that I am turning to God?

Since I have never seen God and we know that the Father is Spirit, how can we know that we are “turning to Him?”  This is where a very familiar verse of Scripture comes in.  When John began the writing of his gospel, he begins by stating,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 (NKJV)

Here it is made clear that the Word was and is God!  This means that if I want to turn to God, I must turn to the Word.  I know God by studying His Word.  When one realizes this, it means that we must turn our entire heart or life to the Word.  We must search the Scriptures to find out what it says about every area of our lives.  Then, when we do this, the determining factor of whether or not we are turning to God with our whole heart is our willingness to obey what the Word tells us.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing some of what God’s Word has been teaching me about what I need to do in order to turn to God with my whole heart.  At times I will be suggesting that those who are KEM Prime Members review specific articles and/or videos to help with this effort to turn to God with our whole heart.

There are people who receive these blogs from all walks of life — pastors, parents, administrators, business men and women, school teachers, coaches, etc.  I am praying that these different groups of people will get together with others in their homes, churches or schools and discuss what God begins teaching them as we search His Word.

Here are some questions that I believe we have to answer if we truly want to turn to God with our whole heart.

1. What does His Word tell me that I must change in my personal life in order to turn to God?
2. What does His Word tell me that I must change in my home life in order to turn to God?
3. What does His Word tell me that has to change in my church in order to turn to God?
4. What does His Word tell me has to change in my stewardship of my time, treasure and talent if I want to turn to God with my whole heart?
5. What does the Word tell me has to change in my relationships if I am determined to turn to God with my whole heart?
6. What does the Word tell us that need to change in our school if we, as Christian educators, are going to turn to God with whole heart?  The same thing can be asked by church leaders related to their ministries in their churches.

Throughout the Old Testament when God was going to do a great work in the lives of His people, He required them to take certain amounts of time to consecrate or prepare themselves so that He could do His will.  I believe that if we are really serious about turning to God with our whole heart, we must also take time to consecrate ourselves.

Most of the people who subscribe to these blogs are from the United States (even though 8 other countries are represented).  Over the next few weeks, schools will be taking their spring breaks and everyone will be looking forward and preparing for Resurrection Sunday on April 21st.

God has impressed it on my heart to suggest that April 23rd be set as a day of turning. What would happen if the 1,200+ subscribers to these blogs would share this week’s posts with everyone in their circle of influence?  Then, what would take place in our homes, churches and schools if all of us would take the next several weeks and prepare their hearts and minds so that we could all turn to God with our whole hearts beginning on April 23rd.

During this time of preparation, God may lead you to observe some times of fasting over various areas of your heart.  Other times may be times of weeping and/or mourning.  Changes will probably take place in our lives before April 23rd but that date could be a target date when we corporately go to God and surrender our whole hearts totally to Him.  I am not going to try and develop a process or certain steps that everyone has to follow.  I believe that God will show each person what is required of him/her to turn their whole heart to Him.

I have become convicted that it must start with me and hopefully spread to others.  It is absolutely necessary that we each turn to God with our whole heart.  If for nothing else, we must do it for the sake of our children!

It is clear that we, as Christians, have, in many ways, ignored God’s Word.  As a result, He is ignoring our children (Hosea 4:6).  To see the reality of this condition, all we have to consider is the fact that:

• today’s Christians are the most biblically illiterate generation in many years.
• 65-80% of teens in the church today will walk away from the faith within two years of high school graduation.

  Western Christianity has become compartmentalized into the sacred and secular. Because of this dangerous condition, we find it hard to turn to God with our whole hearts.

The only hope for seeing our current condition change is what God said through the prophet Joel.

“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.  Joel 2:12-13 (NKJV)

In these two verses, God tells us that we must turn and/or return to Him with our whole heart.  If a person turns, it means that he/she has to change direction.  The need to change direction implies that the person is going in the wrong direction.  The direction of our lives must change — either by a turn or a complete u-turn.

When I am driving to an unknown destination, I use a GPS system.  This technology is fantastic.  All I have to do is enter my final destination and the GPS will map out the best route to take to get there.

Now I can get the route that I need to take and I can study the details of the route.  I can see every turn that I have to make and the distances between each turn.  I can start driving and hear the voice programmed into my system tell me to make a right turn in 500 feet.  When I get to the turn, it will say, “turn right now.”  I can even look in the direction I am supposed to turn and see where that road goes.  However, I will never get to my destination by just studying the route or looking at the turn.  I must turn the wheel of the vehicle and make it turn at the right place.

Sometimes we do the same thing with God’s directions.  We can study all the directions that God is telling us we need to follow in Joel 2 in order to get to where God wants us to be.  We can actually get to an area of our lives where God says turn now.  But until we actually turn and change the direction of our lives, we will never get to the right destination.

These verses tell us that we must turn to God now.  We can’t just know what the verses say; we must actually change direction.  God also says that we must make the turn to Him with our whole hearts.  God wants our entire life to change direction — not just one area of our lives.  To change course requires a whole heart change.  When we turn to God with our whole heart, it will impact everyone we influence.

I do a lot of travel by air.  When I lived in Nashville, TN, I usually flew to my destination on Delta airlines.  At the time, Delta had flights from Nashville to Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York City or Orlando.  When the boarding of the plane was complete, a flight attendant always made an announcement that went something like this.

Welcome to flight number ___ to (one of the four cities Delta flew to).  If (that city) is not your destination, please deplane now.

It was important that every passenger paid careful attention to that announcement.  There were a couple of times that a person would realize that he/she was on the wrong plane.  Once the boarding door was closed, the plane pushed away from the gate, and taxied down the runway to take off, everyone on the plane was going wherever that plane would go.  If that plane was going to Atlanta, everyone on board had to go to Atlanta.  When the pilot banked the plane to the left, all the passengers would go to the left.  The entire plane went in the direction that the pilot took the plane.

So it is when you and I turn our whole heart to God.  Every part of our lives will go with us.  My life has a lot of passengers.  I have family passengers.  I also have work passengers.  When I teach, I have student passengers.  I have financial passengers, etc.  If I turn to God with my whole heart, it means that I need to turn all of my passengers to God.

Western Christianity has become compartmentalized into the sacred and secular.  Because of this dangerous condition, we find it hard to turn to God with our whole heart.  We will turn to God with our Sunday heart.  However, our work, finances, recreation, education etc. are considered secular aspects of our lives and we don’t see a need to change where we are going in those areas — especially if we think we are “successful” in these areas.

It is not enough just to turn part of my heart to God.  He demands I turn my whole heart to Him.  This is why this type of course correction will include fasting, prayer and mourning.  It is hard and it is costly.  It requires brokenness and complete surrender to God.  But it is what must be done.  There are some questions that I have been asking myself regarding what God expects of me if I want to turn to Him with my whole heart.

1. Do I need to turn my personal, private life to Him?  Does that mean more time with Him studying His Word and in prayer?
2. Are there areas of my family life that I need to turn to Him?  What are they and what will it take?
3. Do I need to make a course correction with my finances?  Have I been faithful in giving God His tithe — the first 10% of all my increase?
4. Are there areas of my work that I need to turn to Him?  (For you, this might include those you lead or teach)
5. Do I need to make a course correction in how I educate my children?  Is the education they are receiving turning them to or away from God?

There might be other areas such as relationships, church involvement etc. that God may be telling you must turn to Him.  God wants us to turn to Him with our whole hearts.  Could God be getting ready to close the boarding door?  Is He making the final announcement?

If God is not your final destination, please deplane now!

Tomorrow I want to suggest some things that you and I can do to TURN NOW!

Yesterday I shared with you how God convicted me through His charge against His people, Israel, in the book of Hosea.  God saw that the people had forsaken His law.  Because of this, God could say that there was no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.  I explained that the “land” was not a geographical area but referred to the nation of Israel — God’s people.  When one looks at the condition of the church in many places around the world, he/she would have to agree that God’s people have, once again, intermarried with the culture.  The reality is that God can charge us with the same thing He charged Israel with in the days of Hosea.

The consequences that we will face, if we continue to forsake or ignore God’s Word, are devastating.  We saw that the most catastrophic result of God’s people forsaking His law was that God would forsake their children.  As I was wrestling with the condition of the body of Christ today in my country, I read a verse that deeply convicted me.  Each morning I open my Bible app and read the Verse of the Day.  Last Wednesday in the midst of this wrestling match with God the verse was,

“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”  Joel 2:12 (NKJV)

Since reading this verse, I have meditated on it and the rest of the book of Joel each day.  The prophet went on to write,

So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Joel 2:13 (NKJV)

Joel was predicting that the Day of the Lord will one day come when God will judge the world.  Of course, if Joel was warning the people back then that this day of judgement is near, it means it is even closer now.  I am reminded of what  Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome.

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Romans 13:11 (NKJV)

In both of these verses there is one word that hit me hard.  That word was the word NOW!  God didn’t say some day or when you have time; He said in both cases His people were to do something NOW.  God has impressed on my heart that He demands that His people do something NOW for the sake of the children.  We are to turn to Him with all our hearts.  When we see the condition of the world and the church today, turning to God with our whole hearts will be accompanied by fasting, weeping and mourning.

 I must admit that I have had a lot of reactions to the terrible conditions I see in my country, my community, our schools at all grade levels, and our families.  I have been sad.  I have been angry.  I have been discouraged.  I have even been passive at times.  But have these conditions broken my heart and led me to fast, weep and mourn?  The answer is NO.

I thought that I would end this week’s posting of blogs today.  However, God has burdened my mind and heart so much about the seriousness of the situation and what He expects from His people I can’t stop with this post.  So, I will be posting again tomorrow.  In the meantime, here are some questions that I have had to answer about Joel 2:12-13.

1. What does it mean to turn to God with my whole heart?
2. How do I rend my heart and not just my garments?
3. If my whole heart is my entire life, what makes up my life?  Does it include my family? my work? my church? my friends? my writing and speaking?

I encourage you to take some time and answer these questions for yourself.  Tomorrow I will share about my take on an announcement I always heard flight make just before closing the boarding door.  Tune in tomorrow for the announcement!

It is early Saturday morning, March 9, 2019.  I have been up most of the night talking with God about what I needed to share with you in this week’s blog.  God brought to my mind a verse that has haunted me for almost 18 years.  The first time that this verse impacted my life was in 2001, shortly after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and US Pentagon.  The picture to the left is an ad that ran in Time magazine right after the 911 attacks.  At the bottom of the ad were the words, America’s diversity is united under one ideal .  The meaning of those words can be understood by the caption under the picture that read,

God, Allah, Krishna, Waheguru, Jehovah bless America [emphasis mine]

I realized that whenever I heard someone say, “God bless America”, they might be saying that any god can bless us because all gods are equal.  It was at that time I came across this verse.

When I first started teaching in 1968, I had a dualistic belief system.  My life was compartmentalized into the sacred and secular.  I took my faith seriously but it didn’t really influence how I taught chemistry or coached my teams.  I saw my subject area as basic facts that were devoid of any spiritual meaning.  Chemistry was something that they had to learn in order to get into college and get a good job.

This started changing when I entered Christian education in 1973.  Since that time, I have been engaged in a spiritual battle as I have fought to bring every one of my thoughts into captivity of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).  God has been so good to me as I have seen a transformation of my life through the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:2).

I have tried to share with you how my understanding of education has developed over the past 50 years in the last several blog posts.  I encourage you to go back and read last week’s post to understand what led me to writing my book, Kingdom Education: God’s Plan for Educating Future Generations.  By the time the second edition of the book was released, I understood that education:

• was a multi-faceted process
• took place in the home, church and school
• was and is never neutral
• resulted in every person forming a worldview that would drive a person’s attitudes and actions in every aspect of one’s life

By the year 2005, I had formulated a biblical philosophy of education that I believed should be the foundation of every educational effort that took place in the home, church and school.  I had the conviction that the home, school and church had to be unified under the philosophy of kingdom education if future generations were going to become true disciples of Jesus Christ.  I thought the last piece to the puzzle was understanding the role that the church needed to play in the education of our children and youth.  I also was convinced that God was to reign supreme in the entire educational process of future generations.

However, I was still struggling with one question.  Will this work in real life?  God answered that question in 2005 when He led me to leave LifeWay Christian Resources and join the pastoral staff of Sherwood Baptist Church.  It is one thing to write a book on kingdom education but it was something else to actually practice kingdom education in the real world of education.

I had been consulting with Sherwood Christian Academy for a couple of years.  During that time, the school had developed a strong operating constitution that included:

• a mission statement that reflected the 10 biblical principles of kingdom education
• six core values that had to be maintained in order to achieve the mission
• a series of operating principles for each of its core values

Before accepting the position at Sherwood, I spent two days meeting with the pastor to share my convictions about how the church and school could not be separate entities but had to be a unified whole.  We also discussed that the parents had to enter into a partnership with the church in providing their children and youth with a biblical worldview education.  As a member of the pastoral team of the church, my main responsibility was serving as the head of the Academy.  One of the major responsibilities that I was tasked with was uniting the church and school together.

The first few years at Sherwood were challenging to say the least.  Satan did not want the church and school to be united.  He also didn’t want the home to understand the biblical principles that needed to be followed by everyone in the effort to raise disciples of Jesus.  For kingdom education to be a reality in the home, church and school there had to be an intentional, ongoing plan to drive the philosophy of kingdom education into the hearts and minds of parents, church staff and school staff.

It was exciting to be part of a training process that included:

• annual staff training on kingdom education that involved the staff members from the church and the school
• a consistent effort by the administration and staff of the Academy to help parents understand their God-given responsibility related to the education of their children and youth
• a continual staff development process at the Academy so that each and every person knew, understood and were committed to a biblical philosophy of education

Of course, we still gave careful attention to helping the faculty improve their instructional strategies, understand and implement technology in the classroom and improve other aspects of the teaching and learning process.  Like other Christian schools, we required all the teachers to be certified and the Academy achieved accreditation through regional, national and international accrediting agencies.  However, the first priority was to make sure that everything was done in line with a kingdom education philosophy.  We knew that if we didn’t keep the main thing the main thing, we would eventually fall into the trap of becoming a quality academic institution that was Christian in name only.

Everything was going great.  Kingdom education really worked.  We were seeing the reality of what could happen if the words that Josh McDowell wrote in the forward of Kingdom Education became our everyday practice.

The ideal way to help our kids not only to reject the postmodern worldview but also embrace deepened Christian convictions is to align church, home and school into a unified whole that arms our children with the truth and protects from distortions.

In 2010 God, once again, took me through a refining process in regard to my understanding of education.  I was sitting in my home office one day and several challenging questions came to my mind.  I couldn’t get them out of my mind no matter how hard I tried.  Here are those questions that were troubling me that day.

Is kingdom education true?  Have I used Scripture to prove my opinions when it comes to understanding education?  What would happen if I found out that I was just spinning my wheels and not really doing what God wants me to do when it comes to educating children and youth?

These questions took me on a 6-7 month deep dive into God’s Word.  I also read and re-read several books.  I begged God to crystallize in my mind what the purpose of education was from God’s perspective.  Even though this time in my ministry was very challenging, it took me into a more intimate relationship with the Lord and clarified the message of kingdom education in my heart and mind like never before.

What God has done in my life over these past 8-9 years has been absolutely amazing.  My conviction of the need for the home, church and school to be united under a biblical philosophy of education has deepened well beyond what I ever imagined.  It has resulted in partnering with Sherwood Baptist Church’s media ministry in developing 6-7 hour video series, Kingdom Education for the 21st Century, that was approved for ACSI philosophy training.

During the 2013-14 school year, God started burdening my heart to step out in faith and use my remaining years to train others on a biblical philosophy of education through Kingdom Education Ministries.  It has now been 5 years in following God’s leading in the effort to help parents, church leaders and Christian educators to know and embrace kingdom education in their efforts to raise a generation of young people who are equipped to engage the culture by thinking and acting from a biblical worldview.

One of the amazing things that God has done over the past couple of years came about through what I thought was a typical training opportunity.  I received an email request to do a faculty inservice on kingdom education at a small school in Shreveport, LA.  I didn’t realize what God had in store for Kingdom Education Ministries when I accepted the invitation.

God used that assignment to form a strong partnership with Pastor James McMenis and his church, Word of God Ministries.  It would take several more blogs to share all that has and is continuing to take place through this amazing partnership.  The accomplishments that have been realized over the past 1.5 years are mind boggling and include:

• a total redesign and launch of a new website, www.kingdomeducationministries.com
• a subscription side of the website that is providing parent, church leader and educator training on kingdom education to over 150 individuals and/or organizations in 4 different countries
• the filming of thirty two 30-minute videos that can be used by the home, church and school to fully understand kingdom education and a biblical worldview
• a growing number of articles, booklets and other resources to strengthen the home, church and school.  A brand new booklet with a challenging study guide called, Contaminated Waters: The Poisoning of Our Children and Youth, is in final production and will soon be added to the subscription website

Over the next several months we will be filming several more video sessions.  These and other resources are being developed as God takes me deeper into an understanding of His plan for educating future generations.  I am more excited about what God can do as we equip the home, church and school to educate their children and youth by providing them with a biblical worldview education than ever before in my years in ministry.

Several schools and/or individuals that receive these blogs each week are already KEM Prime Members.  More schools are joining this effort each day.  Because of the amazing partnership with WOGM, I am able to offer this membership to schools and individuals at an extremely low, affordable annual rate.  If your school is not a KEM Prime Member, I encourage you to become one today.  If you’re not with a school, you can get access to all of these resources as an individual for just a $25 annual fee.  You can email me for more information or simply click the Become a Member tab at the top of this post.

This world is spinning out of control like never before in my 72 years here on earth.  The home, church and school must be united by a biblical philosophy of education before it is too late.  God wants every Christian to address the issue of education biblically!  It is the only hope our children and grandchildren have to survive today’s culture.

God has done so much in my life to shape my understanding of education from a biblical perspective.  It has been an amazing journey and I am excited for what God has in store for me in the days, months and years ahead.  I want to thank each of you for joining me on this exciting journey.  All I can say is to God be the glory for the great things He has done!