We are officially back at it, and it was so wonderful to see everyone today – all ages.

Over break, I was asked, “What are you going to do to the students who don’t do the reading, math, and bible everyday?”

My response, “Nothing.” 

Reply in disbelief and a touch of unfairness, “What!? Nothing.”

My response, “They did it to themselves.” 

I’m sharing this here because I shared this story at BCS today, and I believe it with all my heart. When we, at any age, refuse to embrace opportunities, rooted in good, to grow and learn, it is our loss. It is not about a grade, it is not about getting away with something, but it is about choosing what is best over what is good – and fighting to do what is right. 

Currently, in high school graduates, there is a 20% Illiteracy rate. That means 1 out of 5 kids who graduate high school can’t read. It is so much easier to push a button than to pick up a book. I get it. But one destroys the brain and the other nurtures it. And despite what the culture says, shutting off screens will not leave you uncultured and an outcast; it will bring you a deeper understanding of life and how we are all connected and will in fact culture you more than you can imagine. Root down in what is good, God, and let Him guide us all through 2021 with peace, hope, and above all Love. 

When we talked about this at school today, the students agreed and wanted what is good – but the temptation is great out there… so we need to train our children in fighting for what is good and help them when they are weak… reassuring and comforting them and leading by example. Lord help us, give us the courage and strength to stay true to You, holding on to what is pure.

1 Corinthians 2 (The Message) 3-5 I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.

6-10 We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That’s why we have this Scripture text:

“No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—What God has arranged for those who love him.”

But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.