Matthew 19 | itsawonderfilledlife

Posts Tagged ‘Matthew 19’

What a Christian School is … What it is Not

Posted in WONDER, tagged christian education, ignorance, Matthew 19, misconceptions, what a christian school is, what a christian school is not on October 2, 2013| 7 Comments »

Why-Christian-Education

When I heard that an individual wanted to ‘shake up’ a handful of kids from the Christian school I work at, I have to say I started to feel rather like a mother hen.

Was this individual one connected to a local group of Satanists?

No … this individual was/is connected (and has held positions of leadership) at a local Christian church … a good group of believers.

After months of fuming about this, and asking myself (and God) what causes someone, who professes to follow God, to desire to mess with kids … any kids. I keep coming back to one word … ignorance.

I know ignorance is the key, because when I think back to my own misconceptions of what Christian schooling was all about, it is far from what I now know it to be.

Here is what I know to NOT be true about Christian Education Schools
(although I can only speak for the schools that I know well) :

– it is not a glorified ‘Sunday School’

– it is not a school full of Christians

– it is not a place parents put their kids to protect them from the ‘real world’

– it is not a place where Creationism is forced down the student’s throats, and Evolutionism ignored and scoffed at. I have always been thrilled with the grade 9 science teacher who, when introducing a chapter on evolutionism said, “I will not tell you what to believe, but I will give you the tools to discover for yourselves how our world began.” Hum, equal time for differing points of view …

– it is not ‘easy’ education.

– it is not always, for all children, in every circumstance.

– it is not perfect.

Here is what I know to BE true about Christian Education Schools:

– all students who attend, have someone in their lives who loves God, and who wants their kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, to learn all academic subjects appreciating how intricately God created everything, and how His truths seep through everything from literature, to sciences, to automotive, to art, to history.

– there are probably not many more students, who are Christians, in a Christian school, than in a public school.

– the students who I have seen graduate from our Christian High School, do not have a big adjustment to the academic expectations of post secondary universities … Christian and public.

– Christian educators need to be licensed.

– Christian schools need to be evaluated (in this province, by the Ministry of Education).

– each day starts with teachers, Educational Assistants, and other students praying for the day ahead, in a time set aside for devotions.

I have often heard people refer to different public schools as ‘like’ a Christian school, because many of the staff and students are followers of Christ, but it is not the population that makes it a Christian school. To be a Christian School is to have built everything … from curriculum, to mission statement, to service, to daily schedule, to hiring of staff … on the foundation that all that we have comes from God, and it is our knowledge of that which gives us purpose in all that we do.

And so, that Christ-follower who wanted to ‘shake up’ the kids who attend a Christian School …

“One day
children were brought to Jesus
in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them.
The disciples shooed them off.
But Jesus intervened:
“Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me.
God’s kingdom is made up of people like these.””
Matthew 19:13-15

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A Second Kingdom Story

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged Children, Innocent, Jesus, kingdom, Matthew 18, Matthew 19, Matthew 25:34, sermon on the mount, sheep, shepherd on June 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Back to once upon a time land, and castles, and roads paved with gold, and pearly gates, and a king who rules justly and loves mercy. Ah …. I almost can dream myself right into the middle of it all!

Throughout the ‘kingdom’ verses in Matthew, Jesus uses children over and over again in his description of the kingdom of heaven. As with every teaching of Jesus, he did not use children as illustration by chance, but because of what they are, and because of what they are not.

Children are innocent, pure, powerless, uneducated. They are the least of society, because they contribute so little to society, from the perspective of power. In their state of powerlessness, they exemplify that the best (heaven) was created and intended for those who are the least deserving, the least powerful the least able to give anything back.

Last week I wrote about the kingdom when Jesus was asked who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus replied that “whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me” (Matthew 18:4-5).

But Jesus child talk didn’t end there.

In the next verse (v. 6) he says, of children, “if anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Wow! I think he meant business. His statement strongly says that he is serious about the value of children.

Jesus then goes on (v. 10-14) to compare a wandering sheep to “one of these little ones.” He compares God to a shepherd who, if one sheep was lost, would leave the others to go in search for the lost one. This would have been unbelievable to the people listening, because a sheep was valuable to a shepherd’s livelihood, a child was … just a child.

With all of this kid talk, people started to bring their children to Jesus, so that he could place his hands on their head, to pray for and bless them (Matthew 19:13-15). This was really getting on the nerves of the disciples, who wanted the kids to head to the nursery so that the important people … like them, could be close to, and hear Jesus as he taught. But Jesus was quick and decisive in his response, “let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

There it was. Jesus wanted so badly for them, and for us, to understand, that power in the kingdom of heaven came from a different source than it did/does on Earth. In the kingdom of heaven, the Father provides membership to those who, like children, have no knowledge of, and no desire to seek power.

Later on in Matthew 25:34, Jesus speaks of the King, “come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Those who he is speaking to are those who, like children, the kingdom of heaven was created for. That is my kind of kingdom!

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The Piano

Posted in FAMILY, life, The Kids, WONDER, tagged A Most Desired Child, All Things are Possible, Desired, Gift, God Whispering, Matthew 19, Prayer Request, The Piano, With God All Things Are Possible on October 27, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Sometimes God speaks in whispers, and sometimes His voice yells into my being. I like it better when He yells (it is easy for me to become distracted when trying to hear whispers), but He seems to prefer whispering.

There was a time, a few years back, when He yelled … loudly. I am not sure, looking back, why He was so intent on my hearing His voice. Maybe what He wanted most was simply that it was undeniable that He was pursuing me.

It all started on a bright and sunny fall Sunday afternoon. I was walking with our oldest daughter (about eight years old, at the time). As we walked we talked about various things. The only thing I remember talking about was when I asked her if she would be interested in learning a how to play a musical instrument. I had asked if she might like to learn to play the violin, the guitar, or maybe take voice lessons (notice the smaller size of these suggested instruments … money was tight, and as much as we wanted to provide this opportunity, it also had to fit with our budget).

My daughter’s response was that she would like to learn to play piano (not in our budget). I did not want to discourage her, but I did want her to recognize the enormity of her desire. So, I told her it was an expensive instrument, and that if that was what she desired most, then she should pray and ask God to either make a way for us to get a piano, or that He would take her desire to learn to play piano away. I also quoted (something I do not do ofter or well, because memorizing is a struggle for me), Matthew 19:26, ” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.””

When we returned home that afternoon, I shared with hubby our conversation. The next morning, hubby got a phone call from his mother. She called him (not a regular occurrence) to ask if she could purchase a piano for her granddaughter to learn to play on. He immediately called me, to share in his sense of shock. We decided that we would not share this with our daughter.

Over the next number of weeks we looked high and low for a good, used piano (we did have a conservative budget). It was not an easy task. I cannot remember what the budget was, exactly, I just remember that there was nothing available in any store I visited. Through the hunt we would check in on our daughter, and ask if she was still praying. Every time her response was the same, “everyday, Mom.”

Finally, just weeks before Christmas, a store that I had left our budget with called to say that a piano that met our needs and budget had just arrived. Arrangements were made for it’s delivery. We still chose to not tell our daughter … but I think we told every other living soul around us. I am not sure if it was possible for our daughter to ever realize the excitement and anticipation that this event created for all around her.

Then, on the Friday before Christmas break, it was delivered. She walked into the house, and we put her on the phone with her gift-providing Gramma (so that she could live through the excitement with us). She was led to the piano, blindfolded, and then it was revealed. She was ecstatic! She played, she sang, she played. And we all smiled brightly.

The whole story was shared with her, and we reminded her of the verse from Matthew that was the central point of this adventure. That verse has become her life’s verse (as each of our children have one), but, really it has more meaning to us than even to her.

That season is one I look back on as our ‘with God all things are possible’ season. It is a time that God spoke, loudly, and reminded me of how He is in control of our lives, and how with Him, the impossible for us, happens.