Prestonwood Christian Academy

Kingdom Bread is a monthly e-Newsletter to PCA parents. Archived articles can be found on the Kingdom Bread Archive.

VOLUME 1 - NUMBER 8
May 14, 2007

From Generation to Generation: Leaving a Spiritual Legacy

PCA parent, board member and good friend Scott Hill once said to me that the days are long, but the years are short. With three children age four and under at the time, I found that statement not only to be true, but encouraging as well. Our family has grown since that time, adding another little one, and we still have those long days (or short nights!), but it is now the second half of that statement that is beginning to come into view as well…the years are quickly passing by!

In Larry Taylor’s Kingdom Parenting course offered as part of PCA’s Kingdom Parent Institute, he talks about the 6,570 opportunities we have to train our children in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord. Those 6,570 “practices” are the days that reflect the 18 years our children spend under our roof, under our care, under our guidance and instruction before they graduate and leave home. Larry encourages parents to be deliberate and intentional about impressing God’s Word into the minds and hearts of our children, especially when they are young…because while the days are long, the years are short.

For the past five years, I’ve had the privilege of working with a number of our Upper School students, seeing them graduate and staying in contact with them as they embrace the opportunities and avoid the obstacles of college life and beyond. As the PCA family collectively prepares for the end of another school year, parents of Seniors are preparing for graduation, the end of this incredible chapter in the lives of their children – these parents know all too well that the final of the 6,570 practices from birth to young adult are nearing an end.

Whether you are a parent of a Pre-K student or the parent of a graduating Senior, I would like to suggest that parenting never really ends – and while some of our children may be moving on to a new phase and location in their lives, even our adult children need the godly wisdom and encouragement that comes from God’s Word. Parents, the job description found in Psalm 78 stays the same regardless of the age of our children: “Tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done….so that the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands.” What a challenge for parents: to tell of the works of the Lord, to share what God is doing with our children so they will want to be a part of this incredible journey as well. And this spiritual legacy can be passed on from generation to generation, even to those yet unborn!

Regardless of where you are as parents, I want to encourage and equip you in your journey. First, I want to suggest some resources that will be useful in your parenting. Check out our Parent Resource List, which is part of the PCA Kingdom Family, and has suggestions segmented into five categories: Parenting & Family, Biblical Literacy, Cultural Apologetics, Spiritual Disciplines and Passion & Devotion. Also, make sure you check back soon to find out what dates the Kingdom Parent Institute will be offered coming up in the fall of 2007 – you won’t want to miss it!

Secondly, I’d like to share with you a video that Joe White from Kanakuk Kamps sent out of his good friend Michael W. Smith’s new song “How to Say Goodbye” from the record Stand inspired by dropping off his own daughter Whitney at college! Click here for the video – and make sure you have a box of Kleenex handy!

The days are long, but the years are short…make the most of the time!

VOLUME 1 - NUMBER 7
Apr. 20, 2007

Intelligent Debate: Why We Need to Prepare Our Children to Engage the Culture on the Issue of Origins and How to Do It
Several PCA students and faculty attended the Darwin vs. Design conference held at McFarlin Auditorium on the SMU campus this past weekend. The conference was presented by the Discovery Institute and included notable speakers such as Lee Strobel, Dr. Stephen Meyer, Dr. Michael Behe and Dr. Jay Richards. For many, the question of origins appears either to be an academic pursuit or a religious discussion, but in both cases the issue should be handled by experts in their respective fields for the waters seem far too deep for the average person to enter. But the question of origins is important and we as Christians need to be better prepared to give an answer for the hope we have (1 Peter 3:15), which includes an ability to answer questions about where we came from as well as where we are going!

But how do we educate ourselves on this critical and complex issue? The first place is by finding out what individuals, organizations and resources are out there to better equip you and your children. While many of these groups and authors agree on the fundamental issue of a supernatural Creator, there is still not complete unity on other matters related to the issues of the age of the earth or the best strategy to engage the culture on these matters of debate. So, while we are thrilled to point you in the direction of learning, we also give a message of caution to read and give credence to all opinions for exactly what they are – opinions. We must be wise, as the men of Issachar were, to be not only discerning of our times, but also to take captive every thought to Christ and use the Word of God as our plumb line for truth.

ORGANIZATIONS
Discovery Institute – the organization that presented the Darwin vs. Design conference. The Discovery Institute’s mission (taken directly from their website) is “to make a positive vision of the future practical. The Institute discovers and promotes ideas in the common sense tradition of representative government, the free market and individual liberty. Our mission is promoted through books, reports, legislative testimony, articles, public conferences and debates, plus media coverage and the Institute’s own publications and Internet website” which is located at www.discovery.org.

The Discovery Institute has produced some incredible material such as The Privileged Planet, Unlocking the Mystery of Life, and the Icons of Evolution, all DVDs that you’ll want for your own family library!

Answers in Genesis – “an apologetics (i.e., Christianity-defending) ministry, dedicated to enabling Christians to defend their faith, and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively.” This organization primarily concerns itself with the biblical narrative found in Genesis of God’s creation and creative order. Questions about dinosaur, radiometric dating, Noah’s Ark, or global warming – this is a great place to begin asking and answering those questions using the Bible as the ultimate authority on these issues. Their website is www.AnswersinGenesis.org

Institute for Creation Research – another Christian, Bible-based ministry that “equips believers with evidences of the Bible’s accuracy and authority through scientific research, educational programs, and media presentations.” Founded by the late Dr. Henry M. Morris, whose book The Genesis Flood was the seminal work that provided the scientific rationale for a young earth, ICR was founded in 1970 at the same time that the Supreme Court was ruling that evolution could not be prevented from being taught and that creation science was no longer allowed to be taught in the science textbooks or classrooms across the country.

ICR has established a presence in the Dallas area with the development of the Henry M. Morris Center for Christian Leadership whose goal is the expansion of ICR’s ministries through online distance education, leadership conferences and seminars, and the further development of ICR’s website located at www.icr.org

RESOURCES
The Case for a Creator – legal journalist and former atheist Lee Strobel has taken this original book and made it into quite a phenomenon. There is now a student edition of this popular book as well as an edition for “kids” appropriate for elementary-aged students! On his website, Strobel has some great material including hundreds of articles from some of the top names in the world today on these issues which can all be found at www.leestrobel.com

Did Man Just Happen? A Pointed Answer for Evolutionists by W.A. Criswell – this little 140 page booklet is the published sermons of the late Dr. Criswell, pastor at First Baptist Dallas and is simply a gem. The booklet is not only informative, it is interesting and even entertaining to read. Criswell dives into the issues of biology, embryology, geography, and anthropology – leaving no stone unturned in examining the evidence relating to the issues of creation. The book was recently republished and is rather difficult to find – if you’re interested in obtaining a copy and are having problems finding one, contact me at dpanetti@prestonwoodchristian.org and I’ll try to make them available here at PCA.

Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcey – one of the best books on the issue of the Christian worldview, Pearcey spends the middle four chapters of this epic addressing the issue of origins. While not an easy read, Total Truth is worth the time and energy invested – the return will be substantial to the reader!

Books addressing the Darwinian concept of evolution – Darwin on Trial by Phillip Johnson, Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds by Phillip Johnson, Reason in the Balance by Phillip Johnson, The Wedge of Truth by Phillip Johnson, Darwin’s Black Box by Michael Behe, The Design Revolution by William Dembski, and numerous other valuable works by these and other authors on this subject.

Good reading,

Dan Panetti
Worldview Director
Prestonwood Christian Academy

VOLUME 1 - NUMBER 6
Mar. 14, 2007

Grace Victorious - The Life and Ministry of William Wilberforce
Two weeks ago, I sat in a darkened theater with a very large bag of popcorn and sixteen PCA students to watch a movie. Not just any ordinary movie, mind you, but a tale of an extraordinary man that has long since been a hero of mine personally. When we use that word hero today, it seems that too many think of fantasy figures – Superman, Batman, Spiderman – but this hero was surprisingly ordinary save one fact: he was a follower of Jesus Christ. His name was William Wilberforce and the fact that so few know anything about him says much about our society today. Wilberforce was responsible, as a Member of the English Parliament, for the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and the outright ban of slavery later in 1833.

Why a movie about Wilberforce and why take sixteen young men and women to see his story – let me tell you a little about this man and you’ll begin to see why I took sixteen students to see if maybe the next Wilberforce was among them.

The story of William Wilberforce is actually quite similar to the tale of another William that fought for freedom – William Wallace. His story, portrayed by actor Mel Gibson in the epic movie Braveheart, was full of battle scenes as two civilizations clashed for power and control. In the case of Wilberforce, however, his battles were fought with words and ideas by introducing a bill that would end the slave trade in England at a time when his country was the most powerful nation on the planet and, some say, that eighty percent of the English economy was dependent on that very slave trade.

Born in 1744, Wilberforce rose to power quickly and was the best friend of another rising star – William Pitt, who was soon to be at a young age, the Prime Minister of England. Wilberforce was a rather sickly young man, plagued by colitis resulting in severe abdominal pain and continuous discomfort. At the advice of his friend Pitt, Wilberforce took a vacation to France for some much deserved rest and relaxation and, as providence would have it, ended up running into an old school mate named Isaac Milner. Wilberforce enjoyed the company and discussion with Milner so much that he insisted that his old friend join him for his journey – and it was on this journey, when the subject turned to the claims of Christ, that Wilberforce was challenged by his old friend to examine these claims personally. Using a book titled the Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul by Philip Doddridge as their text for conversation, Wilberforce surrendered his life to Christ. As he says in the movie: “God found him.”

Wilberforce’s conversion to Christ also restored a relationship from his youth with a slave-trader turned preacher named John Newton, author of the classic hymn Amazing Grace. In fact it was a letter from Newton which strongly encouraged Wilberforce to stay in politics writing, “It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of His church and for the good of the nation.” Wilberforce did stay and did much good for his country and the world in the face of incredible opposition!

God’s calling on Wilberforce’s life was clear and profound. He wrote in his diary on October 28, 1787, “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners [morals/society].” Yet, while he is highly regarded for his political acumen, his unyielding persistence and his incredible victory over slavery, it is his unwavering devotion to God and His glory that Wilberforce himself called “the grand governing maxim” of his life.

As a student and active participant of the political process myself, I am always thrilled by the stories of men and women who have been used greatly by God to battle against injustice and to bring glory to God in this arena. Wilberforce is a great example of God’s providence to use a man to stand strong and contend for truth even when this position is unpopular – and to say that standing against slavery was “unpopular” at that time is a dramatic understatement! But Wilberforce did more than just pass a statute; he worked to change public sentiment by changing the heart of a nation. Wilberforce wrote:

Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce by John Piper. 76 pages, easy to read, wonderful exposition of the life, ministry and personality of this great man. This same text is also part of Piper’s outstanding book The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce, which is Book Three of Piper’s The Swans Are Not Silent series that introduces the reader to the lives of some of the great saints of the faith.

William Wilberforce: A Man Who Changed his Times by John Pollock. This is a special Trinity Forum Reading selection available only on The Trinity Forum website at www.ttf.org and is a very short, inexpensive, and easy-to-read selection at 22 pages.

There are numerous books on the life of Wilberforce as well as several excellent adaptations of Wilberforce’s own book A Practical View of Christianity, which was recently published in a handsome hardcover edition from Hendrickson Christian Classics. I’ve recently purchased and listened to an outstanding 5 CD set audio drama from Focus on the Family Radio Theatre entitled Amazing Grace: The Inspirational Stories of William Wilberforce, John Newton and Olaudah Equiano. This is an outstanding production – very educational and entertaining, I highly recommend this set to everyone!

The movie Amazing Grace is currently in theaters. I strongly encourage you to see the movie as well as visit the web site at http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/ to find out more about the movie and the Amazing Change Campaign.

My prayer is that many of our students – your sons and daughters – will be moved by the life and work of William Wilberforce and will ask God the same question that Wilberforce did two hundred years ago – “Lord, what would You have me do for Your glory?”

Daniel E. Panetti, Esq.
Worldview Director

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VOLUME 1 - NUMBER 5
Feb. 06, 2007

Abortion – Perspective and Purpose for the Next Generation
A couple weeks ago, PCA Campus Pastor Mark Lichty addressed a very difficult issue with a very compelling and heart-wrenching presentation on the importance of life as he discussed the devastation and destruction of abortion. Each year in the month of January, people from all over the country set aside a time to remember the infamous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision handed down in 1973 that legalized abortion across the nation. For the past 34 years, innocent lives have been legally murdered while legislative and legal battles have been fought as one side seeks to protect the rights of the mother, the other side seeks to protect the life of the unborn.

As I sat and listened to the presentation to our Middle School and Upper School students, I was struck with the fact that these students have grown up with legalized abortion as their only reality. At a young 37-years-old myself, I was only 4-years-old when Roe v. Wade was decided. I don’t remember a time when the unborn child was protected under the law at their most vulnerable phase. How, I wondered, can this generation understand the magnitude of abortion when it’s the norm for them?

But just because it has always been for this generation, doesn’t mean that it always has to be! Many young people are beginning to wake up to the realities of abortion thanks, in part, to the tireless efforts of so many individuals and organizations who have continued to move this issue off the proverbial back burner on to the headlines that it deserves. For many the issue of abortion doesn’t capture our attention because we just can’t seem to get our minds around the enormity of the situation.

Take, for instance, one statistic that Mark Lichty shared that really seemed to resonate with the students. On September 11, a date etched deeply into our minds, over 3,000 people were killed when two high jacked planes flew into the World Trade Center. Most of us watched as the buildings burned, then collapsed taking with them thousands of innocent men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. While most of us didn’t know anyone personally that died that day, the terror of the attack and its magnitude will forever haunt our minds. The innocent destruction of unborn lives and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center attack may not parallel at all levels, but in sheer numbers the comparison is frightening. Mark Lichty shared the fact that each day over 4,000 babies are aborted in the United States. Everyday more children are killed in clinics across the country than were killed in the 9/11 attack. Now the students have something with which to compare abortion, something with which they could identify with and understand its magnitude. And to multiply this daily number by the 34 years of legalized abortion leaves one with a staggering number to consider – 46 million children aborted since 1973.

Maybe you’ve never thought about the magnitude of abortion on our country or its devastating effects on the individual’s lives and families that abortion has touched. As a nation, this issue is debated frequently in legislative halls across the land, but rarely mentioned in classrooms or living rooms. But the past efforts have taught us one lesson clearly – abortion won’t go away until the reality and enormity of the issue is discussed around the dinner table so that a generation of young people combine knowledge of this issue with the zeal and passion to combat it.

And abortion isn’t the only “life” issue currently in the news or being debated in legislatures across the country. Euthanasia is now legal in one state in the U.S., embryonic stem cell research continues to vie for government dollars, cloning continues to make headlines and advancements – and lost in the moray are the overwhelming statistics that demonstrate that those in greatest need of our protection – our children, elderly and handicapped – are receiving less attention and care. Instead of the strong protecting the weak, we are becoming a nation where only the strongest survive.

As a parent, I know you want to better understand these cultural issues and I know that many of you want to make a difference – but you feel paralyzed and overwhelmed not knowing where to begin or what to do. Let me give you a three-step action plan that every parent can employ in their own homes to begin to change the course of our country.

Finally, take to heart the words of one of the greatest Americans, the Reverend John Witherspoon, the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence, who wrote, “If to the justice of your cause, and the purity of your principles, you add prudence in your conduct, there will be the greatest reason to hope, by the blessing of God, for prosperity and success.” Solomon wrote something similar in Proverbs 12:18 – “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Our nation needs healing; it needs the wisdom of God’s Word lived out boldly by followers of Jesus Christ and spoken in a manner to glorify Him.

VOLUME 1 - NUMBER 4
Jan. 10, 2007

Train Yourself to be Godly
Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
— 1 Timothy 4:7

The beginning of each year is such a fascinating time – for many this is a time to peer into the future with great anticipation and set goals for ourselves we hope to accomplish in the coming 365 days. Many goals relate to our physical well-being; in fact, at the gym where I work out, January is usually the most overcrowded month of the year as everyone is committed to eating right and working out…at least for the first couple of weeks!

At the gym, there are personal trainers – individuals who assist you in the development of achievable goals as well as encourage and motivate you along your journey. One of the questions that these personal trainers might ask you relates to the telos of your workout – your desired results of this goal-oriented process. If you want to lose weight, there are particular exercises for specific problem areas and appropriate dietary concerns for your particular body type and activity level. If you’re looking to put on weight or get stronger or increase your endurance – well, each of these individual desired results will alter the workout that a trainer would design to achieve your desired results.

Have you ever wondered why we don’t have personal trainers for our spiritual lives? Of course, the same question would have to be answered – what would be the telos of your spiritual training, what would be your desired results? This was actually an issue that we addressed when Larry Taylor taught his Kingdom Parenting course to our Bible fellowship class – there was so much great material and so many great ideas to incorporate; people struggled with knowing how to begin and what practical steps to take to deepen their spiritual walks. To make the concept tangible, we broke down the idea of spiritual development into five primary categories:

Biblical Literacy – our depth and knowledge of God’s Word and its practical relation to our daily walk
Cultural Apologetics – the application of God’s truth to the issues of the day
Spiritual Disciplines – the integral components of the Christian walk such as worship, study, memorization, prayer and fasting
Parenting and Family – how God’s Word instructs us in our relationships in our homes including the discipleship of our children
Passion and Devotion – our zeal for the work and calling of the Lord in our lives

We then took a number of outstanding resources and placed them into these five key areas for spiritual development – the idea being that you can then identify a specific area that you’d like to work on, select an appropriate resource to aid and encourage you in that process and the end result will hopefully be a more well-rounded, deeper walk with the Lord. For instance, if you desire to disciple your child in God’s Word and give them a greater understanding of Scripture, you may wish to select a resource under Biblical Literacy. If you’re struggling with discipline issues or wanting to resolve areas of conflict in your marriage, you might select a resource from the Parenting and Family category. If you want to better prepare your teens to enter the world with a better understanding of how God’s Word applies to cultural issues such as euthanasia or genetic engineering, you will want to select a resource from Cultural Apologetics.

Just like physical training, spiritual training is going to take time, energy and effort this year. I have a set time, location and workout plan for my physical well-being and I have two workout partners to encourage, motivate and hold me accountable along the way. We need to be even more diligent about our spiritual health than we are about our physical condition – we need to develop a plan to study God’s Word, to memorize critical passages, to put ourselves and our family in the proper places for worship and discipleship – and this won’t happen by accident!

We hope that you can incorporate these outstanding resources into your spiritual training in the coming year and that the categories assist you in selecting appropriate resources for your particular desired results. The suggested resource list is located on the PCA web site and will be continually update with additional resources, so check back often. If you have any questions about a particular resource, you can email me directly at dpanetti@prestonwoodchristian.org. My personal reviews of many of these resources will also be available on the PCA web site for additional assistance in helping you select an appropriate resource.

Here’s to your spiritual health in 2007,

Dan Panetti
Worldview Director

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Spiritual Vitality in the Land of Plenty
Everyone has their favorite Christmas traditions. One of mine is watching the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life. You remember Jimmy Stewart starring as the hard-working, self-sacrificing older brother George Bailey who comes to a point in his life when he’s just had enough. Life is crowding in at every corner, he can’t ever seem to “get ahead” – the discouraging darts are taking their toll and he snaps. Maybe a little too close to home for some this year.

But, if you’ll recall, George Bailey has an opportunity to see what life would be like if he was never born. His angel-friend Clarence takes him on a journey to see the lives that George would have changed and made better and George begins to understand the impact that one life can have on others. But there are two other important lessons from this movie that were recently brought to mind as I finished reading a book titled The Suburban Christian: Finding Spiritual Vitality in the Land of Plenty by Albert Y. Hsu.

Hsu’s premise in this book addresses the shift from rural and urban life to what is known as “suburban” life and he has some pretty weighty concerns about this cultural change. Hsu notes that in “1950 less than a quarter of America’s population lived in suburbia. By 2000, over half did. …[S]uburbia has emerged as the dominate cultural context of North America.”1 A product of the Minneapolis and Chicago suburbs, Hsu goes to great lengths to identify the common characteristics of suburban living and notes how these present various challenges to the profound and growing Christian life.

One of the hurdles to spiritual vitality that Hsu notes is the loss of community. He quotes from Dolores Hayden and her book Building Surburia, “Unlike every other affluent civilization, Americans have idealized the house and yard rather than the model neighborhood or ideal town.”2 That statement reminded me of It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey lived, worked and helped secure a wonderful little community known as Bedford Falls. Without his influence, we get to see that this little community becomes Pottersville, a dark and depressing town that robs the individual of self-worth and dignity. And at the end of the movie, we are again reminded of the importance and power of community as people from all walks of life come together to help George Bailey in his time of need.

Another hurdle that Hsu addresses is the suburbanized consumer culture that is so prevalent today. Today shopping malls outnumber high schools, upscale coffee shops are on every corner, restaurants and boutiques dot the landscape appealing to any and every whim a person might have for food, clothing and accessories. Hsu notes that this consumer culture works against spiritual vitality by constantly pandering to our wants making us unaware or unconcerned about our true needs. He quotes from Aaron Freeman who said, “Consumer culture makes us constantly aware of what we do not have.”3 Again I was reminded of George Bailey – who constantly focused on the material things that he didn’t have, unable to appreciate all the wonderful and far more important things that he did have.

Hsu goes on to address several other real concerns that he identifies for the suburban Christian as well as the church in general. His goal is to raise our awareness of the hurdles that might be preventing us from truly living the victorious Christian life that Christ intended and to challenge us to proactively counter our consumer culture that far too often blunts our spiritual alertness with the false sense of ease and comfort. Hsu is echoing the words of the late Francis Schaeffer, who wrote about this years ago in How Should We Then Live? when he talked about two great obstacles of Christian living – personal peace and affluence.

George Bailey lost his perspective on the essentials of life – family, community, integrity, hard-work, self-sacrifice – and was duped into believing the world’s lie that self is all that matters. George had Clarence to remind him of what really matters; we have one who is greater than the angels, Jesus Christ himself! As we celebrate this Christmas season, I hope and pray that you will have a similar eye-opening experience that will remind you of what is truly important in life. Don’t get swept up in our crazy consumer culture intent on getting more of what we really don’t need. But refocus this Christmas on what is important – family, community, integrity, hard-work, self-sacrifice – all characteristics of a life lived to the glory of God.

Ultimately George Bailey learned that he was loved, not just appreciated or liked, but he was loved by those whose lives he touched. The essential message of Christmas is the same – we are loved. The Creator of the universe desires to be not only God, but our Father; so He sent His only Son to demonstrate His love for us and to provide the payment for our sin offering the free gift of salvation through Jesus by grace through faith. Now that truly is the greatest gift we can receive; and once received, it should open our eyes, like those of George Bailey, to the truths of life so that we can see and understand what is really important.

Merry Christmas.

There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less. —G.K. Chesterton

Riches are the pettiest and least worthy gifts which God can give a man. What are they to God's Word, to bodily gifts, such as beauty and health; or to the gifts of the mind, such as understanding, skill, and wisdom! Yet men toil for them day and night, and take no rest. Therefore God commonly gives riches to foolish people to whom he gives nothing else. —Martin Luther

We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.
—D. L. Moody

Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has.
—Billy Graham

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1 Hsu, Albert Y., The Suburban Christian: Finding Spiritual Vitality in the Land of Plenty
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.

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Let Your Voice Be Heard
It seems like the world is as complicated as it has ever been – from an international war on terrorism to the domestic issues of same-sex marriage and partial birth abortion. For many it is simply too much – too much corruption (the latest Rep. Foley sex scandal in Florida or Senator Reid’s financial withholdings for example), too much information, and too much else happening in our lives. How can a person make sense of all that is going on and how can one person really make a difference?

While it may seem overwhelming, the challenge to live out our faith in the marketplace of ideas is nothing new for believers. Daniel lived a profoundly Christian life in Babylonian captivity, Paul preached the good news in the hedonistic Roman Empire and countless other believers have walked in a manner worthy of their calling in a variety of circumstances from prisoners to presidents. The responsibility is the same – to let our voice be heard proclaiming and defending the gospel of Christ. Presently, we have an opportunity to voice our positions with our vote and the selection of those who will represent us in a variety of elected positions.

The Bible is clear that we are to respect the authority of government for it is given by God to punish the wrongdoer and uphold the righteous (Romans 13:1-7). In making our determinations, it would be prudent to consider the wisdom of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, who shared with Moses some criteria for selecting qualified individuals to serve in leadership positions that can be found in Exodus 18:20, 21 – they should be individuals who are capable, who fear God, who are trustworthy and who hate dishonest gain; in other words, individuals who are competent and have character.

In our representative democracy, we have an incredible opportunity to voice our concerns in a thousand different ways – all protected by our Constitution. We can protest (protected by our right to assemble) or we can voice our concerns through the written or spoken word (protected by the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech). But one of the most important freedoms we have, but often neglect, is our freedom to vote.

For those who are registered to vote, there is a general election on Tuesday, Nov. 7 and several very important positions in the national, state and local governments are on the ballot. In Texas, one United States Senator position is being voted on as is every member of the House of Representatives (32 in Texas). The position of governor, lieutenant governor and the attorney general for Texas are all on the ballot. More than half (5 out of 9, including the position of chief justice) of the Texas Supreme Court will be decided in this election as well as seemingly countless positions in the state and county governments.

Tuesday, Nov. 7 is also the date of PCA’s State of School Address so we are strongly encouraging you to VOTE EARLY. Early voting is the easiest way to make sure you don’t forget to vote…plus the lines and the wait are considerably shorter if you vote early. Early voting begins today Monday, Oct. 23 and ends on Friday, Nov. 3. The general election day, again, is Tuesday, Nov. 7. For more information about the times and polling locations as well as a sample ballot, please visit the appropriate web site of the county of your residence below:

To assist you further, PCA is making available the Free Market Foundation Voters’ Guide, a comprehensive and non-partisan look at the election that you can examine before voting and even take to the polling location with you as you vote. Copies of the voters’ guide will be available at the PCA Upper School main desk.

Also, since the issues today are so varied and demand such critical analysis, you may wish to enlist the assistance of one or more solid Christian organizations who can provide additional resources and direction as you seek to engage the culture for Christ in the public policy arena. May we suggest two of the best – The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (dedicated to addressing social, moral, and ethical concerns, with particular attention to their impact on American families and their faith) as well as the Family Research Council (a champion of marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society and promoting the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society).

If you have any questions about this topic in particular, please feel free to contact me at dpanetti@prestonwoodchristian.org.

Thank you,
Daniel E. Panetti, Esq.
Worldview Director
Prestonwood Christian Academy

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. —Plato

We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and true religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. — John Adams

And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. — George Washington’s Farewell Address

Most of us spend at least an hour or more in our cars every day – that literally adds up to hundreds of hours each year! I want to encourage and challenge each of you, as Mr. Taylor reminded each of us at All School Worship, to keep the main thing the main thing this year – to keep as our top priorities our personal walk with the Lord and the spiritual development of our family. May I suggest that you “redeem” your time in your car by worshipping while you wait, and here are several suggestions and resources to assist you: