Education has always been important to me, at least as a student. After my salvation, I began to realize the importance of a Biblically-based education, having been through the public school system through my ninth grade year and finishing in the Christian school in the church I attended, Madison Baptist Church. It was in this Christian school that I was saved and surrendered to full-time Christian service.
As I attended Bible College, I surrendered to the call to preach. My focus was not on Christian education throughout college, but I did realize that it was the best option for schooling. After college, I moved with my wife to Illinois to be the Assistant Pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Machesney Park. One of my several responsibilities was working in the Christian school. This is when God began to work in my heart grow my desire in the area of Christian education. I began to study and work at learning and helping the students.
It was not until September of 2006 that my desire was narrowed further. I had met James Beller and heard his presentation on Baptist History. I had never heard the things he spoke of, and it drove me to study out what he taught. I began by reading two of his books: “America in Crimson Red” and “The Coming Destruction of the Baptist People.” I then began looking into some other resources, and I began to see the plight of our Baptist heritage and or educational system. Among all of the good attributes in the available Christian school and home school curriculum and resources, the misrepresentations and ignorance of the persecution and influence of our Baptist forefathers threw up red flags. The desire I had in this area grew into a burden.
I began to study further in the educational field, reading several books and articles, various statements of “Christian” philosophies of education, and conversing with several men of God that I respected. The “Christian” philosophies I looked through were either very shallow, neglected some area, and/or contained reformed doctrine. There were no major Baptist works that I found, and God laid it on my heart to start a truly Baptist philosophy of education.
I began my work by taking the different things I had learned and began compiling them and making notes. Through the study of our Baptist heritage and its absence from both the content and influence behind Christian education, I realized that I needed to start with a clean slate. I went back to the very foundation and was reminded of the man that built his house upon a rock: “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” I then knew what my direction was and that the title would be “Founded Upon a Rock: The Philosophy of Baptist Christian Education.”
Throughout this book, strong language is used while discussing several groups and men regarding their theology and deceitfulness. I will not, and cannot, retract these statements because the severity of the offences demands such harshness. Although, I do realize that not all that are involved in or associated with these movements have the wrong motive – they may simply be ignorant of the truth behind it. I also acknowledge that, while much of the theology and methodology is wrong, there are still some good things that we can glean from them – carefully.
I am writing this book primarily to Baptists, emphasizing the importance of having a solid, Bible-based philosophy of education and promoting the richness of our Baptist heritage. I do believe all Christians could benefit from the information in this book, as well as society in general, but I appeal to Baptists first.
My purpose for this book is to bring the deception to the light and proclaim the truth. This book is written to persuade – to persuade those that are unaware of the deceit behind the modern Christian school and home school movement. It is written to help us to “beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit.” (Colossians 2:8a) I have written this also to encourage and exhort us all to hold fast to the faithful Word and get back to the true foundation of education.
I have written this as a Baptist philosophy of education – a truly Biblical theology of education. This is not intended to be a “how-to” book with methods and procedures. There are several methods and procedures that can be applied to any school, but the focus of this writing is the foundational philosophy behind education.
“But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” These words in Jeremiah 20:9 express what God has done in my heart regarding Baptist Christian Education, and I pray that the fire spreads like wild fire throughout the churches and families in our land.
I would like to give thanks, above all, to my God that saved my soul, called me into the ministry, and provides all things for me. My wife has been gracious in her support and help to me throughout the years, and I owe much to her. I am thankful for the great Baptist heritage that has been left for me, and the example our forefathers gave in standing up for truth in the midst of controversy, persecution, and death. There are many pastors and teachers that have helped to contribute to my life, education, and spiritual growth.
