Walking in the Truth

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth’ (3 John 1:4).

One of the most important priorities that sets Covenant Christian School apart from other schools, and sometimes from other Christian schools, is our dedication to helping students discover and rely upon the truth revealed in God’s Word. While it sounds noble, some Christian schools boast that they integrate Biblical truth into every subject they teach. The problem with integrating truth is that it implies that truth is separate from the creation that we are studying in the classroom, and that we must “plug truth into” our lesson plans. The Bible refutes any such separation with a marvelous declaration that all of creation is a revelation of God’s glory, character, and truth… “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. (Psalm 19:1-2). In fact, cultivating a love of truth and learning about the indispensability of truth is a key characteristic of a great teacher that should be passed on to students.

The urgency of our mission is highlighted by the recent announcement of Oxford Dictionary’s word-of-the-year… post-truth: adjective, relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.¹ Can you begin to imagine living in a world where objective facts are irrelevant? What kind of culture might result if emotion and personal belief trumps reality? Considering the definition of insanity is, being out of touch with reality, such a world and culture would truly be insane!

Yet, just how sane is a world where Christian parents allow Godless schools to shape the hearts and minds of the children God has entrusted to their care and called them to raise as disciples of Jesus Christ? Just how sane is the disconnection between church, family, and schools that are supposed to be intimately linked together by the common mission of making disciples… “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Let’s face the truth, the world is just as relentless and aggressive as ever in its effort to deny, degrade, and redefine the definition of truth. But God’s definition will stand forever. All that He has created is for His glory and is meant to show us who He really is… “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

Let’s step up our engagement with His truth in our own lives and help our children discover and enjoy the special blessings of…

Walking in the Truth

¹ https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/press/news/2016/11/17/WOTY-16

Live to Atlanta on FaithTalk!

The Classical Christian Difference Goes Live in Atlanta!

“For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6).

I recently spoke with with Rick and Dan on FaithTalk Live Atlanta Radio about the classical Christian difference at Covenant Christian School. Listen here, and share with your friends!

https://soundcloud.com/faith-talk-live-highlight/121316-drrobert-barber

Run with the End in View

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Did you see much of the Olympics this Summer? Did you notice the determination and focus of the runners, particularly the sprinters as they approached and took their place at the starting line? What were they looking at? What was their chief preoccupation? It wasn’t the cheering crowd. They did not see the medals that were waiting for them. Their eyes were firmly fixed on the finish line. What a precious illustration of the Biblical truth revealed in today’s scripture that exhorts truth seekers to always run with the end in view.

When you consider the future of your Covenant Christian School student, what is your focus? What kind of future are you looking forward to for your precious child? As a life-long pastor and educator, and even more sincerely, as a seasoned grandpop, may I give you a glimpse of glory to seek after and to hold onto as you make the major life and future shaping decisions regarding the education of your children?

Strive for wisdom. Far greater that having the right classes, grades and scores to get into the right college or university that we believe will lead to the right career, is the goal of imparting Godly wisdom into the heart and mind of our students. Love and understanding of God’s truth is the best way to equip and exhort growing disciples to discern and follow God’s best plan for their lives… “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). And trust me, God’s plan is far better than yours or anything the world pressures our kids to conform to.

Strive for eloquence. The art of communicating well makes all the difference between a smart person and a culture-shaping person. It is the ability to work with wisdom to fashion good arguments and to recognize and refute poor ones that enable our young students to withstand the attack of our ungodly world culture… “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). Our goal is not simply to get our students to the place of God’s choosing, but to empower them to be more than conquerors there!

Wisdom and eloquence are the primary goals of future-shaping and disciple-making education here at CCS. We believe these are the results of the classical and Christ centered methods we use every day. We always start each lesson with the goal in mind of preparing your child to live according to their faith in a faithless world and to be a culture shaper and conqueror in their generation. I pray you’ll be as encouraged as we are to finish the race and each day…

Run with the End in View

Classical Christian Education and the Arts

The study of the Arts includes visual art (painting, sculpture, photography, film), aural arts (music), kinetic arts (dance, drama) and written arts (poetry, literature). Academic study in the Arts includes history and appreciation of the Art. Studio study in the Arts includes the specific elements of the Arts and the basic and advanced skills discovered and mastered through participation in the Arts.

Studying the Arts enhances the learning process of classical Christian education’s Trivium. The Trivium’s grammar, logic (dialectic), and rhetoric stages of learning form the basis of classical education. The Trivium is revealed in the study and production of visual art. Grammar is learning brush strokes and how to work in the mediums of oils or watercolors. Logic is using those basic skills to construct exercises in shape and perspective. Rhetoric is the ability to create a two-dimensional scene through color that can convey action and/or emotion. The grammar stage of learning to play a musical instrument is learning to read music and discovering basic finger skills. The logic stage is learning to play pieces of music as they are written on the page. The rhetoric exercise of playing the instrument is reached when the student can master what is written on the page and personally express the composer’s message through performance. Composing music shares the grammar phase of reading music, the logic stage of studying the forms and techniques of other composers, and the rhetoric stage of composition. In many ways, the Arts put flesh on the skeleton of classical Christian education and help our students to more fully enjoy the blessings of…

The Classical Christian Difference.

For more:

Excellence in the Arts at CCS