This transcript was taken from a Stand in the Gap Today radio program originally airing on 9/27/21. To listen to the program, please click HERE.
Sam Rohrer: It was Benjamin Franklin who said in 1750, “Nothing is of more importance for the public good than to form and train up youth in wisdom and virtue.” But nearly a hundred years before that, in 1682, William Penn of Pennsylvania, where Benjamin Franklin was from, he said this, “That therefore, which makes for a good constitution,” referring to societal fabric as a whole, not a written constitution, but, “that which makes for a good constitution must keep it.” He said, “That is, men of wisdom and virtue.” The same words that Franklin used. And Penn said, “Qualities, that because they descend not with worldly inheritance,” they don’t come from people. He said, “must be carefully propagated by a virtuous education of the youth.” And with that, I welcome you to Stand in the Gap Today. And this our 10th principle, in our series of 10 principles to national renewal, I’m Sam Rohrer, I’ll be joined today by Dr. Gary Dull and Dr. Keith Wiebe for this extraordinarily important principle, identified by our founders as both a foundation and an insurance policy, so to speak, necessary if freedom in a just society is to endure.
Our nation today, does it not reel and convulse, it seems, in the throws of lawlessness, corruption and bribery? Those in government sworn to protect the God-given rights of the people are rather assaulting and yeah insulting, not only the rights of the people, but God, the author of those rights. The importance of all of our people at all levels of society, to recalibrate our thinking and actions with the principles of what it was that truly made us great and blessed by the God of heaven, cannot be overstated. It’s for this reason that American Pastors Network, Stand in the Gap Today, and Stand in the Gap TV, we are in the midst of presenting both the historical, accurate record of our founders and identifying how a new nation could be farmed, and rise to greatness. And how these 10 principles came directly from the pages of scripture.
And with that, it’s been our hope and prayer that this series can be helpful in both educating and encouraging those who fear God, and understand the linkage between obeying God’s commands and national blessing. And to do what only the remnant, those who know the truth, fear God, and keep his commandments, are able to do. The title for today’s program is this, 10 Principles to National Renewal. Principle Number 10, A Virtuous Education of the Youth. And in the program, we’re going to identify the why, the what, the how, and the who in this very critical aspect of freedom, and God’s blessing on a nation, specifically talking about our nation. I want to welcome in Gary and Keith, both of you right now, and I want to get into it. I’m going to ask both of you questions here in just a second, but back on June 30 of this year, it was the three of us who kicked off this series with principle number one, that was the foundation of integrity. And I wanted the three of us to conclude this 10th principle dealing with a virtuous education of the youth.
Brief review, principle two, if you’re just joining us, was understanding the nature and the role of God. Number three was understanding the nature and the role of man. Number four, the purpose for government. Five, the purpose for law. Six, the tendency of government. Seven, the role of justice in government. Number eight, the citizen’s duty to government. And number nine, the need for safeguards in the system, and now today, for virtuous education. So Keith, let me go here right off to you. In the very first program in this series, the foundation of integrity and virtue, you defined integrity then. And I’d like for you to start with us again and tie this into the virtuous education of the youth. And I want to remind our listeners listening to me right now that the importance of virtue flowed throughout the writings of our founders. It’s on the seals of many of our states, the definition of virtue being this: nothing but voluntary obedience to truth. That’s virtue.
So if you could, Keith, tie together the concept of truth, integrity, virtue, and why that flows naturally into the central element of a virtuous education of our children, if a nation is to be free.
Keith Wiebe: Well, Sam virtue and truth are absolutely essential to education. I was struck as you read that definition by the two phrases right at the beginning. The entire unimpaired state, if anything, and then the second part you referred to the whole moral character. Obviously I think this relates first to the people who are doing the teaching. They must be people of virtue. They must be people of personal character. It goes then to the content of what they’re being taught. That content must be according to truth. It is so distressing today to find education used to advance some kind of a societal agenda, to be redefining history and rewriting it to conform to that.
And then those first two, a virtuous instructor added to a virtuous content, then we trust will produce virtuous students, who go out into the culture, carry out their role in our society, whatever that might be. And then that cycle starts all over again, both in the formal education context of a school, but also in the life education context of family, of business. And even in the more foundational arena of our churches. So it is the entire virtue, the whole moral character, that I think needs to be emphasized.
Sam Rohrer: And in fact, that’s what Penn was talking about, and Franklin as well. Gary, I want to go to you, because I gave a little bit of a quote, but I want you to identify this. Why was it essentially, based on what Penn was saying, a virtuous education of the youth was so essential? Build that out.
Gary Dull: Well, Sam, I think that even in light of what Keith just said, virtuous education is very, very significant, and it is something that needs to be worked at. And the only way that it can be worked at is through the foundation of biblical truth. You quoted Penn there, and I will quote it again. He says that, “Therefore, which makes a good constitution must keep it. That is, men of wisdom and virtue, qualities that because they descend not with worldly inheritances, must be carefully propagated by a virtuous education of youth.”
And I think that what Penn had in mind there is the concept that even though we might have a good constitution, for instance, let’s use that as an example. If it is going to be kept, it’s got to be kept by those who are virtuous. That is, those who are biblically based, simply because of the fact that humanity is totally depraved. Humanity is sinful by way of nature. And therefore, if we are going to teach our children and teach them virtuously, it needs to be taught by men and women who have a virtuous understanding of biblical truth.
Sam Rohrer: Excellent, Gary. And ladies and gentlemen, what Gary was talking about was principle number three, understand the nature and the role of man. We talked about it. Man is depraved and sinful, and he’s naturally bent to doing that which is evil, which leads to bondage, not freedom. If you don’t alter that with a virtuous education, you will lose freedom. That’s the heart of the matter. When we come back, we’ll get into the what of a virtuous education. What is actually the content of virtuous education?
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Sam Rohrer: This is our 10th principle in our 10 principles to national renewal. We started this back at the end of June, and we are about to finish here today on the 10th principle. And I will say that there will be another, actually going to be an 11th, next Monday. You don’t want to miss that, because that’s going to be an emphasis on prayer. Because it undergirds every one of these principles that we have laid out. And for those of you who have been following along, I just want to remind you again that you can go to our website, standinthegapradio.com. And on the radio tab, you can identify that, and you can have access, download for free, all of the transcripts. We’ve had every one of these programs transcribed.
So you can actually read through them, and that’s very handy. So I encourage you to do that. And then ultimately here, very shortly, we will have a booklet that we will offer that will contain all of this in a very attractive booklet. Something that will be easy to take all of these and hand them out to other people. And so just a heads up on that. This is both a diagnostic tool for helping people to understand how in the world it is we got to this place in this country, and also, well, the prescription for how we could get back to God’s blessing. It’s all there. So that’s what all this is there for. I just wanted to lay that out to you at this moment. We’re talking today about the why of a virtuous education. Gave just a couple of that in the last segment. We’ll give some more as we work through the program.
But there’s also the what. When it comes to what it is that makes up a virtuous education of the youth, the right definition does become very pivotal. In the book of Proverbs 22:6, the writer says, “Train up a child in the way he should go.” And I know some would say, “I’m not quite sure what that phrase means.” Some would say the way a child should go means seeking out the natural bent of that child’s giftedness, for example, and there could be other applications. But one thing for sure it does mean without question, is that fundamental teaching of the child in the ways of God, and the sum and substance of really what’s in the book of Proverbs, which of course includes as it talks about in the beginning of that book, the pursuing of truth. The seeking of wisdom in the fear of God, and the keeping of the commands of God.
It certainly does mean that. So in the words of our own founders, here’s what they said that clearly makes a virtuous education. I’m going to take and say, they didn’t say this, but I’m going to connect it. That a virtuous education is equivalent to a Christian education. It really is. Let me recite for you the purpose for education defined, it’s at Harvard University. I’ve said it before, but it’s good to hear it again. Hung on the walls there in 1636, Harvard University, and this was what they said were the basic construct. They call it the rules and the precepts of education. They said this: “Let every student be plainly instructed,” part of education, right? “And earnestly pressed, pushed to consider well that the main end of his life and studies, the goal, the purpose of education, get this, is to know God and Jesus Christ, who is eternal life.”
And on that plaque there in that university still today, probably covered with moss or ivy, I don’t know, is the verse John 17:3, right there written as a part of it because the phrase goes on to say, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3. And therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. That’s why I think I can say with no doubt at all that a virtuous education, as called out by Penn and others, was in fact exactly what I’m saying here. It is a Christian education, because the purpose of education is to know God and Jesus Christ, who is eternal life.
Wow, it’s pretty dynamic. Gary, let me start with you in this section, because since our founders clearly connected biblical truth, integrity, and virtue with what Keith talked about in the last segment, and connected that with a virtuous or a Christian education of the youth, let’s go to scripture and build this out a bit. Deuteronomy six, another passage is, “Speak to fathers teaching their children in the ways of God.” It calls out the commands of God, the statutes of God, the precepts of God. Could you explain what those are? They’re all truth, but what’s the differences? And why didn’t it perhaps say, “Just teach your children truth,” and be done with it?
Gary Dull: Sam don’t you wish that the professors and the administration of Harvard University would go back and read their purpose for education?
Sam Rohrer: Oh, boy Gary, would it ever make a difference. But it couldn’t get clearer than what they wrote up there.
Gary Dull: No. And we need to remember that some of those Ivy League schools were started to teach people how to be preachers of the word of God. And it’s amazing how we’ve gotten away from that. But as it relates to your particular question, when you talk about the statutes of God, the precepts of God, the commands of God, all of these put together really, in my understanding of scripture, reflects all of who God is, what God expects, and how God operates. And we need to put all of those together. As a matter of fact, just allow me to read the word of God and see how the word of God deals with this itself. For instance, go to Psalm 19, where it says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
What do we see in those descriptions? We see the fullness of who God is, what God expects, and how God operates. That’s why there’s a distinction between these. And when you continue to read down through that Psalm, you go to verse 11, where it says, “Moreover, by them,” talking about the law of the Lord, the testimony of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord and so forth, “by them is thy servant warned. And in keeping of them, there is great reward.” So Sam, when we are talking about virtuous education and teaching our children virtually, we’re talking about giving them a teaching that’s based on the whole word of God, reflecting everything that God expects, how God operates, so that young people might be able to order their lives accordingly. That’s so important. And it goes back to Harvard University and others back in the 1600s, of the early days of our country.
Sam Rohrer: Gary, we could pursue that. Because that goes to the command of the pulpits to preach the whole counsel of God, which is exactly what you’re saying. And ladies and gentlemen, it goes to what we talk about on the program often. The recent results in surveys by, like Georgia Barn as an example, that says 70% of the pulpits are not preaching the whole counsel, just bits pieces of it. Or people believing bits and pieces. The point of a virtuous education is that you take all of who God is, just exactly what Gary said. Preach it, teach it, and live it.
Now Keith, let’s go to you, because you’ve had a Christian school as a part of your church for a long time. Your son has now been called by your church congregation to lead that church. They still have a Christian school, it’s growing, and you’ve also been president of the American Association of Christian Schools for over 10 years. In a succinct way, could you explain a little bit the what of Christian education, and what is built in to the hearts of students who are getting a true Christian education?
Keith Wiebe: Well, Sam, I think Gary’s summed it up very nicely out of that 19th Psalm. I think when we talk about the result of a successfully integrated virtuous… and you’re right, it’s a Christian education… it comes out to a life leaving that education in which truth is evident in every aspect. That truth should be seen in every part of a student’s life, from their individual character, to their family life, to how they operate in their professional and vocational life. It should be a life of integrity. It should ultimately be reflected in government at the local level, the state level, the national level, with people who come out of their lives in individual church life, family life, vocational life, and that same integrity and character is seen in how they govern. It’s not from some preconceived political agenda. It’s not from some identity that perhaps even postures one identity off against another, it seems to me to perpetuate conflict within that culture. But it is rather people, who are educated with truth and integrity, and that truth and integrity permeates every aspect of their lives.
Sam Rohrer: Keith, I mean, you’ve summed it up. Gary, you did a great job of laying that out. It’s all of everything. It’s all about the character and the nature of God, not a piece of it, a slice of it, but ladies and gentlemen, it is what we’ve been talking about in these 10 principles. That’s what our founders laid out. You have to start with integrity, the pursuing of truth. You have to understand who God is, principle number one, creator, sovereign, the judge of the world. But the nature of man is that he sinned, and men naturally don’t do that which is right, which is why when the evil get into power, if they’re not controlled by the spirit of God, they will lead to tyranny and bondage, and the people mourn. But then you learn the purpose of government as God has established it out, to help be a constraint in society.
And the purpose of law, which is to control the law breakers who break the law of God and all the way through the principles. And then you anchor it all by saying, if you don’t teach those children in the ways of the God, who he is and how all these elements work, if you do get off the ground as Penn talked about, a whole experiment, you will lose it. And that’s what Franklin said. Can you keep it? You can’t keep it without a virtuous education of the youth. That’s the practicality of what we’re talking about today. When we come back, we’re going to talk about the how. All right now, how do you take this content and actually relate?
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Sam Rohrer: We’ve talked so far here about the virtuous education of the youth, William Penn, Benjamin Franklin, about 70 years later or so. And so many of our founders said basically the same thing. You have to have a virtuous education of the youth and they use the same words. They talked about wisdom and virtue, and they’re tied directly together with God’s word, the Bible, God, and Jesus Christ, as we talked about, was written there at Harvard university. He started to teach men how to preach the gospel. It was very, very clear what they understood, and they weren’t writing the definition of truth and virtue. It was self existent. They just said we got to do it. All right, so we’ve talked a little bit about the why, a little bit about the what, the content. Now let’s talk about how. In Deuteronomy six, God told the parents with a primary responsibility on the father, to train up the children in the ways of God. Talked also in other places about the fear and the admonition of the Lord. Not only was the content, the what, specified, but so was the how.
Verses seven to nine of that chapter, it says this: “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children. Thou shalt talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” It says, “You shall bind them for a sign upon thine hand, as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them on the post of the house, and on thy gates.” Then in verse two it goes on and it says, “Do this also to your children, and don’t stop there, but go to your grandchildren.”
So Gary, in that passage I just quoted, there are five elements that I identified here of the how aspect of giving us a virtuous education, or a God fearing education to children. I’ll just repeat them. One of them was teach diligently, two was talk of them consistently. Third was bind to them prominently, fourth, write them conspicuously, and number five, communicate them generationally. You’re a father, a grandfather, a pastor. You’ve been a promoter of virtuous education, Christian education, I think your whole life. Share from your experience about one or more of these strategies that are come out of that passage for successful imparting of a virtuous education. I’m sure something probably jumps to your mind as being really important, or what you’ve been involved in. I’m just giving you an open pathway, talk about it.
Gary Dull: Well, thank you. Sam, as far as I’m concerned, you could not find a better foundation for the philosophy of Christian education than what’s found there in that Deuteronomy chapter six passage. It’s tremendous. And I could remember, at least as far as I remember, the first time that this passage of scripture really stood out to me was even before I was married, and I was a college student, and I attended the Bill Gothard Institute of Basic Youth Conflicts. Do you remember that particular movement back in those days?
Sam Rohrer: Gary, I sure do. I sure do. Yes.
Gary Dull: And he drove that home to us in those days, how important it was for parents to be able to know the word of God, and to live the word of God before their children. And even before I was married and had three children, and now 11 grandchildren, it was always my goal, by the grace of God, to attempt to live by all of those principles that you find in that passage of scripture. I’m not saying that I was always successful at it, but the effort has always been there, and still is. And just look at those, again, when you put them together. It talks about teaching, talking, binding, writing, communicating. What’s it talking about? As I look at that, Sam, I see there a total lifestyle of understanding God’s truth, living God’s truth, exemplifying God’s truth, and communicating God’s truth to our young people, to our children, and our children’s children, and so forth.
In other words, what are we talking about? We are talking about a biblical worldview. The word biblical worldview is not written in that passage, but that’s what we’re talking about. And I think that as we look at those descriptions, what we as fathers and parents are to be doing, we need to understand that the center of all virtuous education is biblical truth, and living out that biblical truth before our children, our grandchildren, and others around us. Unfortunately, we’re not seeing that done today, even within our Christian homes and families, as we should. That is a tremendous text for all of us to personalize day-by-day.
Sam Rohrer: It sure is, Gary. And Keith, I want to go to you with another aspect of this, but one thing you said, Gary, really resounds in my mind and I’m thinking about it. Because I’m tying it together with other information that we’ve shared. You talked about it being an entire lifestyle, a worldview. The whole idea from the time you get up to the time you go to bed, and you’re both talking about it and you’re posting it, you’re thinking about it. You’re discussing it. All of that. I think Gary, that again, the survey information that we know, with such a departure of our young people from biblical truth, with a number upwards of 80% who leave our churches, leave the church. When they graduate, they’re gone. The reasons that they cite, well, it was because I never saw it consistently lived in my parents. What a challenge to all of us, and none of us are perfect.
No parent is perfect, but if we don’t try to both live it in private and live it in public, it is seen. Oh, great point. Keith, to you now, because as an educator, you can see parallels to these five elements we just talked about of instruction, that are actually incorporated into successful Christian education. So I’m going to ask you that. Do you mind sharing just a few of those things that are actually a part of strategic, excellent, or good, effective education that is involved in true Christian education, that comes right off of this section here in Deuteronomy six?
Keith Wiebe: Just keying off of what Gary said, Sam, it absolutely begins with a biblical worldview. There is the foundational difference right there between Christian education and all other forms of education. Is the worldview have the answers beginning with man, or does it have them beginning with God, a biblical worldview? And then it’s the principles of God’s word that are integrated into every academic discipline. They’re integrated. It’s not just the Bible class that makes a Christian school. It’s biblical principles integrated into the mathematics class, English class, science class, civics class, even into the extracurricular activities, such as sports and music.
And then within that, come the techniques of teaching that become repetition, that aids learning. Some of those principles repeated not only multiple times throughout the school year, but also repeated every year of that child’s education. Our children are visual, auditory learners, and so a good teacher uses techniques in teaching that appeal to both of those. It is teachers who by their very lives are practical mentors of those students, who give the students chance for interaction within the class. Questions and answers, discussions. Teachers have qualities within their lives that they are exemplifying to the students. Sam, let me turn this microphone around for a moment. We’ve uncovered a bit of the why in segment one, that’s identified in Deuteronomy chapter six. But can you share some additional ways in which these things are shared?
Sam Rohrer: Keith, I can. And I, again, as Gary said, this passage and we all go here often to Deuteronomy six, because it gives us the content. It gives us the what. It gives us how. It gives us the why, which you talked about a little bit more now. And I think of this, Keith. When we started the program, we talked about this quote from Ben Franklin and William Penn. And both of them effectively were saying, without a virtuous, which we said equated to absolutely a Christian education of the youth, without that, you could not keep, as what Penn said, this holy experiment in freedom, which he prayed at that point would get off the ground and God would bless it. He said you couldn’t keep it. When Franklin walked out on the square out of Philadelphia and said, “All right, we’ve now given you a Republic, if you can keep it.”
And he said you had to give a virtuous education of the youth, wisdom and virtue being the part of what we’re talking about. You had to do that. They were looking and saying you could not keep this nation. So that was a benefit. They want to keep the nation. But it comes again off of this passage in Deuteronomy chapter six, here’s a purpose. God says know the commandments, statutes, judgements. Gary talked about that. God commands you to teach them to your children. Here, “That thou mightest fear the Lord your God,” it’s all got to be in the fear of God. Keep all of his statutes and commandments. We’ve talked about that. And here it is, you teach them to your son and your grandson. So it’s got to be generational. We’re not done with our children. It continues into our grandchildren.
Here’s the why: “That it may be well with you, and that ye may increase mightily as the Lord thy God of thy fathers have promised you.” It says that, “Thy days may be prolonged.” Long life, security, and physical prosperity. Those are the whys, ladies and gentlemen. So if we want those things, that’s really what made America great, those things, because people did these things. Well, if we want prosperity, security from our enemies, long life, that’s the why. That’s some of the benefits of a virtuous education. When you live in the fear of God, God said you do that, I’ll prolong your life and I’ll give you more blessings than you can imagine. Wow. Be back in just a minute.
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Sam Rohrer: When it comes to the education of our youth, God and the devil, the righteous and the evil, both understand the high stakes of this process of education. God identifies the right content, the right process, and the right reasons for educating a child in the ways of God, in the fear of God and the obedience to God. But the devil and all of those who reject our God, the God of the Bible, they have always tried to subvert the content, the process, and the reason.
A virtuous education always leads to freedom, leads to a knowledge of God, and a spiritual life through faith in Jesus Christ. A virtuous education leads to national prosperity, civil freedom, respect, blessings, blessings abundant, matter of fact, as Deuteronomy 28:1-2 says. You do what I say, I’ll pour out so many blessings on you, God says, they will literally overtake you. You will not be able to handle them. Such was our country at one time. But then the rejection of these things, that subversion of the process that causes a person to say, “I don’t need God,” or, “I’ll redefine truth into the way I want it to be,” the result of not fearing God and not keeping his commandments.
God says, “When that happens in you, then begin to embrace the ways of evil, driven by the depraved heart of man.” That was principle number three we’ve talked about, our founders understood it. They knew, God says, will lead to bondage and death. Self-delusion. And as Deuteronomy 28:15 says, I’m going to turn these blessings to cursings. And those cursings, judgment of God, would come so great, that no man or nation can outrun them. It was Vladimir Lennon who said this, quote, “Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” Profound, isn’t it? So who is to teach the children? Gary connecting this last principle of education to the previous 10 we’ve identified, who specifically is given the greatest responsibility to train children, and why is that so important?
Gary Dull: Well, in my understanding of the scripture, Sam, the one who was given the greatest responsibility is the father. And of course, there’s got to be a concert between him and his wife in teaching the children, but it’s the father’s responsibility to see that the word of God is delivered to his children. I think of Ephesians 6:4, where it says, “And ye fathers bring your children up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.” That is a direct biblical principle that must be fulfilled. And I like to tie that in, Sam, to Psalm 78, where we find there was teaching on the importance of fathers teaching their children what God did for them. That is, what God did for the nation of Israel in the past, that the children might come to understand the praises of the Lord, the strength of the Lord, and his wonderful works.
In fact, in the seventh verse of Psalm 78, we see that the fathers were to relate to their children the great workings of God, so that, it says, “They might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” And so there’s a tremendous responsibility given to the father to see that his children are taught the word of God, and again, in concert with the wife, but that’s where the responsibility lies. I remember years ago I was pastoring a church and a fellow came in to me and he said, “Pastor, if my children go wrong, I’m going to blame the church.” And my response was, “Well, I know the church has a responsibility to teach the biblical truth. The biblical truth goes back to the home and the family, that’s where it starts. And it starts with the heart of the father.”
Sam Rohrer: So clear, Gary. Keith, to you here. Just a week ago, you and I and two other guests, we talked about Christian education, both brick and mortar, and homeschooling. And it wasn’t on the principal that we’re talking about here, but it was really a demonstration of what was happening out there. But both of these, brick and mortar Christian school, homeschooling, parents at home, they have at least two things in common, maybe more. Can you emphasize why that’s so important as we look at the who of providing a virtuous education?
Keith Wiebe: Certainly can, Sam. One of the things that is in common with both forms of education, and they are both very viable forms of Christian education, but the primary component in both is parents. Parents have the ultimate responsibility for their children. They are the ones accountable to God. Government is minimal at best, in both. Government is not ultimately responsible to educate the children. One of the reasons that education in general is in the mess that it’s in today is because too much of the responsibility has been shouldered by government.
It is parents that are responsible to educate their children in a way that reinforces the principles of God, that as Gary so well said in his answer, the principle of God that are so well held up in that home. Education must reinforce those principles. So it’s parents primarily responsible, and government responsibility that is very minimal. Now, Sam, you’ve been involved in education. You served for many years in the general assembly of Pennsylvania, where William Penn, whom we’ve discussed, from whom so much began. Share with us the proper role of civil government in education, as envisioned by Penn and Franklin, and then relate that to what’s happening today.
Sam Rohrer: Keith, I can. Here’s at the heart of it. We’ve already covered it. Penn, Franklin, both involved in education, both promoting education, both, by their own words, promoting Christian education, a virtuous education of the youth. Okay. Did they say there was a role for government? The answer is yes. Even in the Pennsylvania law, and this is what is generally referred to, is that civil government has an interest in… that’s the legal language… has the interest in education. But government has no authority to take over the education as we have seen in this country. But it all comes back, Keith and Gary, to again, a biblical worldview. It was Penn and Franklin who said, “You can’t cut God out of a virtuous education. You can’t cut out the 10 commandments,” but what has government who says we don’t need God anymore do? We cut the 10 commandments out? We cut prayer out. We remove prayer from…
And now what do we see happening across the country? Government telling parents what they can or not can’t do with their children in the schools. Rewriting history, redefining truth. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s all worldview, which is why we talk so clearly here on the program. A worldview that is biblical, that starts with God, starts with God creating and then sin entering into the world. And then God, in his love for the world, promising the plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. All of what we’ve talked about on this program, all of which our founders have talked about, all it’s in the writings of our founding history.
Now you take and cut God out, the blessings then turned to cursings, and you see what is happening today. So what’s the remedy? Return to the God of heaven in repentance and prayer. Those of you who have fear of God, we’re here for such a purpose. Let’s lead the way back. That is the only solution to the needs of the day, but it is the solution and it will work. Thanks for being with us here today on this program, and Lord willing, hope that you all will join us here tomorrow for another edition of Stand in the Gap Today.
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