It isn’t easy to explain, but four words have been buzzing round in my head for weeks now: taken, blessed, broken, and given.   At first I figured I was just anticipating Easter, but then Pete Scott spoke to our church on the very same words.  And in church on two nights ago – Maundy Thursday, the night of the Last Supper – I thought about how those words are inseparable from Communion, from Peter, the Passion, and the life of every Christian. 

Many of our students have the broken part down all too well; they’ve been beaten down, discouraged, and criticized all through their lives.  And here is where it dawned on me: our job at Elijah School is to help them with the other three things.  We need to show them how God has blessed them, set them apart, and given them unique capabilities all their own.  They need to know how to use those talents and abilities to live out their own walk with Christ – in other words, how they are taken by God Himself and given to the world, how their very lives are gifts to the rest of us. 

Why us?  Why Elijah School?  Why do we have to do this work?  In case you haven’t guessed, it’s because God put the brokenness of these young people on us; He has taken us from where were in life and set a vision in our hearts; He has given us to the students and their families.  But what about the blessed part?

The simple truth is that we are blessed by God because we get to play a part in His vision, in His school.  We get to lift up the name of Christ daily by ministering to a group of His children who are so often left behind and forgotten.  Elijah is more than a school or a calling: it’s a movement.  A movement that insists we recognize that every life is of infinite value to Father God and we can do no better than to reflect that love to our students. 

And that is the core of what we do: we love these young people.

For such a “progressive” state, Maryland is postively backwards in these sort of forward-looking programs. Pennsylvania has had a similar program for years, and it has been a great success, helping schools, students, and easing a burden on local taxpayers.

This bill has voted on several times in Maryland but never made it through – insist that your delegate(s) support it this time! It could mean a world of difference to Elijah School and every other school in Maryland!

Beginning in middle school, we teach spelling…and vocabulary…and grammar…and writing…and good editing practices.  Why?  Because if students aren’t learning the fundamentals at an early age, they won’t ever catch up.  Here’s an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal on how poor the writing skills of many MBAs are.  Think of that – students have managed to get into some of the nation’s best graduate schools and they can’t express themselves lucidly in writing?  http://www.nationalreview.com/phi-beta-cons/261362/wsj-acknowledges-poor-mba-student-writing-skills-jason-fertig  I agree with the author that more writing-specific classes are not the answer, but a general emphasis on the fundamentals of education, most of which haven’t changed in decades.

As an insurance and banking executive, I can’t tell you how many time I received letters and resumes seeking employment that were riddled with misspellings, bad grammar, and a general failure to get the point of the document across in a concise and meaningful way.  If you can’t get my name right – or the name of the company – you’re not going to get the job. 

Elijah’s approach is different than many, to be sure.  But our students are continually improving and learning how to be better writers – those who haev been with us for a few years now are light years ahead of where they started.  And that’s going to bear fruit.

The question is, what are we offering as an alternative?  Where do students get work experience, social skills, and the life skills necessary to live in a confusing and (sometimes) toxic culture? 

Elijah School tries hard to give every student those skills, and to help them discover their strengths.  Some students find them in academics; many find them through artistic expression, and many through work.  One of our students has struggled in school all ofhis life – what makes him work harder (and succeed) at Elijah is the fact that every Tuesday his internship is with a local farmer.  He loves that work experience and it motivates him to work harder at the things he doesn’t like.

Our education system needs to recognize that one-size-fits-all does nothing of the sort.  It should be obvious to anyone that two of Harvard’s most successful alumni never graduated: Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.  Clearly the traditional path isn’t for everyone, and we thank God that He has created so many different people with such a diversity of gifts.

On Friday evening, February 4, Dr. Kreeft will be speaking at the Milburn Stone Theater at Cecil College on Jesus-Shock, the reception Jesus received both in His lifetime and continuously to the present time, not only from His enemies, but from His friends, a reception of shock, astonishment, even disgust. Imagine a storm has downed a telephone wire so that everyone who touches it is shocked in every cell of his body. Well, the storm of God’s crazy love has “downed” (incarnated) Jesus, and everyone who touches this “live wire” is shocked in every cell of his being.  The talk will be followed by Q&A.  Tickets are $15 and all proceeds benefit Elijah School, a 501(c)3 non-profit.

On saturday morning February 5 at 10:00am Dr. Kreeft will be speaking about a problem that plagues many Christians (and even agnostics): Discerning God’s Purpose and Plan for Your Life.  Dr. Kreeft believes strongly in the value and beauty of every life and mind and that our duty is to find what God wants us to do with the gifts He has given us.   Q&A will follow.   Tickets are $15 and all proceeds benefit Elijah School, a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Saturday afternoon at 2:00pm Dr. Kreeft will be speaking about common sense in the national abortion debate, specifically The Apple Argument (which has little to do with fruit!)  In the wake of the recent dreadful stories concerning abortion in Elkton, Christians should be prepared to talk about abortion in irrefutable common sense terms which is the point of this lecture (followed by Q&A).  Tickets are $15 and all proceeds benefit Elijah School, a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Please come and join us for all three talks!  Contact us if you have any questions -

Richard

Most people who have ADHD children or treat ADHD patients know that there is a strong link between certain foods or food ingredients and behavior; it doesn’t take a genius to know that high-sugar foods will trigger hyper behavior, but less well-known are triggers in food dyes, preservatives, etc.

This Scripps research suggests that we all have to be more careful about junk food.  As a passionate lover of Doritos and whatnot, I have a hard time with this, but I see every day in school the effect that some foods have on our ADHD students and the associated negative behaviors and poor class performance.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6451119/Junk-food-as-addictive-as-drugs.html

High-sugar, high-fat muffins or donuts may be an acceptable treat now and again, but probably not before school.  Why?  Because lots of students end up lethargic and and dull-witted until the effect wears off.  Protein in the morning is always a better option.   Part of our mission at Elijah School is to educate the whole student – understanding foods’ effects, both positive and negative – and that includes their bodies.  

The same goes for various high-energy drinks: a 16 oz. Monster has about almost more than two-and-a-half times as much caffeine as a Diet Coke.   It is a reasonable hypothesis that a young person who drinks said Monster will not be in a condition to do any serious learning.  Or focusing.  Or even thinking.  His brain will be in overdrive until the caffeine wears off, and even then there may be an even worse “crash”.

We strive to educate students with learning differences to make wise decisions in school and in life.  Go ahead and have that Monster – at a sleepover or a youth retreat, but not before geometry.  I firmly believe that when donuts are offered, it is our moral obligation to have one: but it shouldn’t be the only thing we eat for breakfast, and if you’re being offered them every day you need to move.  Or call me.

In recess (or PE), students learn actual physical skills, group dynamics, social skills, and even build neural pathways as they learn and repeat different physical actions. 

At Elijah School every student has PE for at least 45 minutes every day.  Middle schoolers have PE in the morning and a 30 minute recess after lunch.  With a population of non-traditional learners (many of whom have ADHD and the like), the time to burn off some excess energy is critical to their ability to focus on schoolwork.  It is also important in their social development. 

We think this survey is an important piece of information for our schools – homesschoolers, too.  What do you think?

http://www.rwjf.org/vulnerablepopulations/product.jsp?id=55249

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/02/04/critics-slam-disney-child-stars-clothing-line-racy/?test=faces

Pardon me, but am I crazy to think we should never have to even think about whether or not an 8 year old’s clothes are “too racy”?  The very thought is a wee bit nauseating, after all.  But if you check out the link, sure enough, the headline isn’t too far off. 

Right after that, I saw this : http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585108,00.html.  I’ll save you some trouble and tell you that it’s a call from the International Planned Parenthood Federation calling on America to rethink explicit sex education for all children age – wait for it – ten and up.  That we should think of these kids as “sexual beings”.  We need to show sexuality as a “positive force for change and development, as a source of pleasure, an embodiment of human rights and an expression of self.”

You read that right.  Kids who are still playing with dolls, forming elementary school friendships, learning to read and write, now require detailed sex ed. 

Now, I know that the IPPF has an agenda to push, but this is just plain indoctrination.  Read the above sentence carefully: sex isn’t a force for change, but sexuality is.  You mean, like homosexuality?  Or bisexuality?  This is, in my opinion, just evil.  Kids of that age simply aren’t capable of understanding sex as part of a healthy relationship according to God’s standards.  There are plenty of kids a lot older who have the same trouble.  Sex as an “expression of self” is what has led to half the problems of modern society: sex isn’t about self, it’s about a couple bound in marriage. 

Educate your children so that they understand the depth and breadth of God’s love for them as expressed by His son, Jesus Christ Our Lord.  His Word tells us the appropriate boundaries for sex, and they don’t include ten year olds.  Protect your young ones from a media who wants to sell them false idols of every description and lure them into growing up too fast.  Self-esteem does not come from wearing the right clothes or acting like adults.  It comes first and foremost from knowing they are precious and unique creations of Our Heavenly Father who loves them dearly.

Have we really sunk so low in our society that this is the best we can do?  How is it we expect so little of men today in terms of behavior, but see him almost exclusively as a provider of material wealth and sexual gratification?  Speaking as a man with two young daughters, I want better for them, and they have the right to expect better.  I want to see more young men who are willing to give up their obessions looking good and feeling good for actually doing good and being good. 

As a Christian school, it is our job to point students to appropriate male role models (e.g. Biblical ones), but also to give them examples to live by.  The Bible is full of them: open the pages and they leap out at you.  Work, love, the difference between the sexes, and God’s expectations of men (and women) are there for all too see.  If we don’t provide the teaching and coaching of character, we can be sure that our media-driven culture will fill the void. 

At Elijah School it is our objective to educate the entire student – body, mind, and soul.  Our classes extend beyond the core subjects to include social skills, critical thinking, and life skills.   We do so because we must.  The alternative is the vapid and self-centered men we see on TV – no thank you.

Lately, though, with events in Copenhagen, “Climategate” e-mails, and even movies like “Avatar”, we see a disturbing trend towards people worshiping creation rather than the Creator.  This is pantheism, the idea that God and nature are one, a spiritual movement that calls us into communion with the universe.  This has been a popular idea for years, especially the ‘pantheism lite’ of Hollywood in which spirituality is really nothing more than political correctness and leftist enviro-orthodoxy without any real commitments.  Personal obligations regarding holiness, morality, and ethics are set aside in favor of groupthink about our planet. 

I would like to argue that all Christians are responsible for the care and stewardship of our planet – with the understanding that reasonable people may differ on how best to carry them out – precisely because God loves us and His Creation.  But we must never confuse the object of our worhip – Christ the King and the Trinity – with earth.  We should be getting to work now on transforming the world and our culture with and through the power of the Holy Spirit before Christ comes again and ushers in His new creation.  “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from Heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” (Rev 21:1-2)

Ross Douthat has an excellent column on “Avatar” and Hollywood’s pantheism in the New York Times, of all places:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/opinion/21douthat1.html?_r=3