It has been a trend for most Christian teachers/administrators in the public school system to "pretend" to be atheists because they are fearful of loosing their job. It's a sketchy subject, which we need to know more about. That is why I'm so glad that today we had an awesome guest speaker who spoke on how to be an effective Christian and a public school teacher in the same time.
I appreciate how he placed everything in perspective of what will bring the most impact to the students regarding Christianity. He mentions there is a balance that can be found within the American culture that can help Christian teachers live out their faith. Now, he is not promoting to be a total evangelist to your students through explicit teaching, as in like a church service. The point is within the content standards, especially in History-Social Science Curri
culum Framework, there are many opportunities to teach students on the Judeo-Christian heritage that our nation is founded on which is PERFECTLY LEGAL and ACADEMICALLY EXPECTED.
He gave several examples on integrating faith into our lessons, without "crossing the lines" of preaching to the students. One is national holidays. One in particular that I was surprised about was Thanksgiving. He mentions that though Thanksgiving is mainly taught in schools as a time to remember what the pilgrims and the indians did, he actually says that the president of the United States always issues a proclamation that it is a time to give thanks to God for all the blessings he has given us in the past year...every time!!! Wow! It's an actual document that each president has to write each year. Also, national day of prayer is also another presidential proclamation. I mean, there's ton of things out there!
Now, I can really go crazy on these things, but one thing I have to say is that this nation is so blessed to have a heritage so rich and so ROOTED in God and in His Word. The key thing now is that we, as culture-bearers, need to pass on this legacy to the next generation, otherwise, we will have no future to look forward to. I pray that God will give each Christian teacher the passion, the wisdom, the resources and the anointing to be the best teacher of their specific content area so that on the divine, opportune moments where the gospel can be LEGALLY talked about, students will be ready, willing and receptive to the message. All we gotta do as teachers is to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit: he has given us hearts to honor God and love the students, and minds to be meek as doves and wise as serpents, especially when integrating faith and learning.
God bless America!...especially the public schools...the cutting edge of society and the beacon of the future...
p.s. For more info go to the following websites:
www.gtbe.org
www.religiousfreedomday.com
www.gatewayspartner.org
I appreciate how he placed everything in perspective of what will bring the most impact to the students regarding Christianity. He mentions there is a balance that can be found within the American culture that can help Christian teachers live out their faith. Now, he is not promoting to be a total evangelist to your students through explicit teaching, as in like a church service. The point is within the content standards, especially in History-Social Science Curri
culum Framework, there are many opportunities to teach students on the Judeo-Christian heritage that our nation is founded on which is PERFECTLY LEGAL and ACADEMICALLY EXPECTED.He gave several examples on integrating faith into our lessons, without "crossing the lines" of preaching to the students. One is national holidays. One in particular that I was surprised about was Thanksgiving. He mentions that though Thanksgiving is mainly taught in schools as a time to remember what the pilgrims and the indians did, he actually says that the president of the United States always issues a proclamation that it is a time to give thanks to God for all the blessings he has given us in the past year...every time!!! Wow! It's an actual document that each president has to write each year. Also, national day of prayer is also another presidential proclamation. I mean, there's ton of things out there!
Now, I can really go crazy on these things, but one thing I have to say is that this nation is so blessed to have a heritage so rich and so ROOTED in God and in His Word. The key thing now is that we, as culture-bearers, need to pass on this legacy to the next generation, otherwise, we will have no future to look forward to. I pray that God will give each Christian teacher the passion, the wisdom, the resources and the anointing to be the best teacher of their specific content area so that on the divine, opportune moments where the gospel can be LEGALLY talked about, students will be ready, willing and receptive to the message. All we gotta do as teachers is to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit: he has given us hearts to honor God and love the students, and minds to be meek as doves and wise as serpents, especially when integrating faith and learning.
God bless America!...especially the public schools...the cutting edge of society and the beacon of the future...
p.s. For more info go to the following websites:
www.gtbe.org
www.religiousfreedomday.com
www.gatewayspartner.org
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