Joshua Christian Academy
KNIGHTS NEWS
AMBASSADORS
August 2010
FOR CHRIST
Volume 9, Issue 8
Everyone Involved
August
12th—Meet the Teacher
5th—12th Grade Students 6:30 p.m. @
Chapel
13th—Meet the Teacher
PK3—4th Grade Students 6:30 p.m. @
Chapel
16th—First Day of
School
16th—Boo Hoo Breakfast for Parents of Kindergarten & 12th Graders—8:00 a.m. @ CafeJuly
teria
•17th—Moms
16th—Book Fees
due
in Touch
• 29th—Sports Physi8:00
Conference
calsa.m.
at Gym
5:00 7:00 p.m. $25 each
Room
20th—
August
24th—Moms in Touch
• 12th—Meet the
8:00
a.m. Conference
Teacher
7th—12th
grade students & parRoom
ents 6:30 p.m.
Faith 7:30
•27th—Men
13th—Meetofthe
Teacher
PK3—6th
p.m.
Conference
Room
grade students & par31st—Moms
in Touch
ents 6:30 p.m.
•8:00
16th—First
Day of
a.m. Conference
School
Room
"There is one body, and one
Spirit, even as ye are called in
one hope of your calling; One
Lord, one faith, one baptism, One
God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in
you all. But unto every one of us
is given grace according to the
measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore he saith, When he
ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men. (Now that he ascended, what
is it but that he also descended
first into the lower parts of the
earth? He that descended is the
same also that ascended up far
above all heavens, that he might
fill all things.) And he gave some,
apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; For the
perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." Ephesians 4:4-12
Teamwork makes the dream work.
The story is told of a performer
who was asked to come to a program put on for soldiers coming
home from overseas. The performer wrestled with whether or
not he could make the program.
He wanted to attend, but his
schedule was so tight he'd only
have time for a brief appearance.
Deciding he could make it work,
he promised to come as long as
everyone was fine with the understanding he'd only perform one
monologue then leave. He'd be on
stage for ten minutes at the most.
The night of the benefit came and
soldiers and families came from
near and far. All wanted to see the
performer and enjoy the concert,
especially the soldiers who had
been through some of the toughest
fighting the war had seen. The
performer took the stage, and
went through his routine. After
his last joke, he planned to leave,
but as the applause grew louder,
he decided to stay just a few minutes longer. Soon ten minutes
turned into twenty minutes then
thirty minutes, until finally after
forty-five minutes he walked off
the stage to laughs and thunderous
applause.
Once backstage, his agent hastily
approached him, "What are you
doing? We have somewhere to
be! Why were you on stage for
that long?" The performer replied,
"I meant to come off, and planned
to after my last bit, but as everyone was clapping, I looked down
at the first row of soldiers." Pointing to the crowd the performer
continued, "That's why I stayed."
The manager followed the performer's point and saw two soldiers sitting in the front row clapping. The two had obviously been
in some sort of explosion, as both
were missing an arm-one a right
arm, the other a left arm. But by
sitting together, they were able to
use their remaining arms to clap
for the performer.
Someone once said, "Teamwork
makes the dream work." That was
true about the wounded soldiers,
and it also applies to churches
today. Many Christians approach
church as a service to attend each
week, but truth is, much more
goes into church than a simple
service. God desires for all His
children to be involved in church
in one way or another.
Your church needs your help to
minister to others. They need
someone to help in the nursery,
teach Sunday school, work a bus
route, greet guests, keep the bathrooms clean, minister to the widows and hurting, and perform a
variety of tasks. If you'll ask your
pastor, there are a number of ways
you can help around your church.
Paul tells the Ephesian church that
they are one body with one mind
and one goal. As a church, you
should have one goal in mindreaching unsaved people with the
Gospel and ministering to Christians. How can you help accomplish that goal in your church?
You may not be in a position to
work in certain areas of the
church, but perhaps by praying
for your pastor, sending encouraging notes to hurting church members, or visiting church members
in the hospital; you can be a blessing to others.
If you aren't involved in your
church, ask your pastor or a staff
member how you can get involved. Obey God's command to
work together for the furtherance
of His Gospel.
Knights News
Music
We believe that music is an important part of God’s Word. As
Christians, we should use our
talents to honor the Lord.
Therefore, we are thrilled to
announce that we will be starting a band and choir program
this year! Bro. Josh Mize will
be leading the music department
for students in 5th—12th grades.
“The Lord hath
done great things
for us; whereof we
are glad.”
Psalm 126:5
Bro. Mize graduated from Pensacola Christian College in May
2010 with a Master’s Degree in
Music Instruction and a Minor
in Christian Education. He has
been involved with the Pensacola Christian Academy giving
private lessons for several years.
JCA students may choose band
or choir or both. They will meet
4—5 days a week during the
school day. Bro. Mize will also
be offering private lessons to the
younger students if you are interested.
Bro. Mize will
have
various
instruments at
the school during the first
week to help
students make a
selection. Band
students will be responsible for
renting or purchasing their own
instrument and books.
Bro.
Mize has information about the
rental of instruments from various locations in the Metroplex.
See Bro. Mize if you have any
other questions.
Fundraisers
We will be doing two major
fundraisers this year. One in the
fall and one in the spring. We
also have several non-selling
fundraising programs that you
may become involved in to help
support JCA. These are also
great ways to include your family and friends to support our
students.
1. Our paper recycling dumpster
is located in front of the Elementary/Chapel Building. We
accept newspapers, magazines,
catalogs, junk mail, envelopes
(including window envelopes),
fax paper, manila folders, office
paper, computer paper, posters,
etc.
2. Box Tops for Education offers easy ways to earn cash for
your school by clipping Box
Tops from hundreds of your
favorite General Mills, Betty
Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait
products and several other companies. Look for the Box Tops
for Education logo or visit
www.boxtops4education.com
for a complete list of products.
You may turn box tops into the
school office or your child’s
classroom teacher.
Fall Fundraiser
Page 2
The fall fundraiser will be the
Christian Collection with
Abundant Funds. It is a catalog of Christmas cards with
King James scriptures, wrapping paper, small gifts and
candy. We will begin the
fundraiser Monday, August
30th. The students will be
given their catalogs and order
forms in chapel as well as
learn about the fun prizes and
special fieldtrips they can earn
during the fundraiser. Family
and/or out of
town friends can
also shop online
to support your
students at abundantfunds.com.
The fundraiser
will last for 2
weeks ending Wednesday,
September 15th.
All PK3—4th
grades should turn
in their order forms
to their teachers and
grade or
Caption5th—12th
describing picture
graphic.
students may turn
them in to any
teacher or the office.
Volume 9, Issue 8
Booster Club
Knights Booster Club allows
you to be a part of all the fun
and excitement of Joshua
Christian Academy. We
believe God has gifted each
parent uniquely with gifts
and talents that can build up
our school and families. We
want you to serve in areas
that utilize those gifts.
This year we are expanding
the opportunities for more
people to be involved.
There is something for everyone and we need all families to help make this year’s
Knights Booster Club the
best ever. Funds raised
through the Booster Club
will be used for our Sports,
Music & Library Programs.
Some of the activities that
the Booster Club will sponsor this year are:
•
Moms in Touch—All
mothers and grandmothers of JCA students are
invited to join us as we
pray for the children &
staff of the school each
proper fit, etc. These
will generally be two
days a month, usually a
Friday. Exact dates will
be posted on each
monthly calendar. Cost:
$15.00 per student per
year
Tuesday morning @ 8
a.m. in the Conference
Room.
•
•
•
Men of Faith—A group
that will meet the lastFriday of each month @
7:30 a.m. in the Conference Room to pray &
challenge each other to
be the leaders God desires. All men are welcome.
W.W.W. (Weekend
Work Warriors) - A
group of JCA dads,
granddads who help
keep the campus beautiful, save us money, and
fellowship with other
JCA dads. They may
also have various facility improvements/
repairs and related jobs.
Dollar Days—Allows
students to wear any
JCA shirt with pants,
jeans, shorts or skirts of
their choice as long as
they meet the uniform
requirements of length,
•
Holiday Campus Decorations—A team of volunteers who will decorate the campus several
times a year to create a
warm and welcoming
environment for all who
enter the properties.
Box Tops—A simple
way to raise funds to
support JCA. Clip and
turn in Box Tops found
on many household and
food items you buy
which gives us ten cents
for every top. Collect
and spend all year long!
Turn in to your teacher
or classroom teacher.
•
Family Directory—You
are able to find contact
information for all JCA
families through our
online RenWeb Directory.
•
Spirit Yard Signs—
Support and share the
word about Joshua
Christian Academy with
a Knights yard sign!
You can proudly display
the sign in front of your
house to show your
school spirit. Contact
the office to order your
sign. Cost: $25.00 each
•
•
Uniform Shopping—
The Spirit Store is located in the front of the
Gymnasium Building.
The Store will be open
Please contact the office if
you are interested in participating in this exciting program.
“Iron sharpeneth iron;
Volleyball
2010 will be an exciting
year for the Lady Knight’s
Jr. High Volleyball team!
The Lady Knights are
McKenna Griesser, Tanna
Barnes, Molly Dorton,
Emmily Jennings, Hannah
Harper and Elizabeth
Jennings. All of the girls
are very friendly, work
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00—9:00
a.m. & 3:30—4:00 p.m.
Please contact Mrs.
Tatum in the office if
you have questions.
together, and have a great
team spirit.
Our volleyball coaches are
Mrs. Shannon Barnes and
Mrs. Cindy Dorton. Mrs.
Barnes and Mrs. Dorton
have been involved are
excited to
share their
knowledge and experience
with our team.
The Lady Knights will
have practice everyday
until 5:00 p.m.
so a man sharpeneth
the countenance of his
friend.”
Proverbs 27:17
Page 3
Knights News
Deep Parenting
by Cary Schmidt
Do you understand your children? Do you know how to
interpret their behavior? Do
you see and understand early
warning signs of future problems?
“And ye shall know
the truth, and the
truth shall make
you free.” John
8:32
In Hebrews 5:12–14 we read a
challenge to believers to be
skillful in the Word and discernment, “For when for the
time ye ought to be teachers,
ye have need that one teach
you again which be the first
principles of the oracles of
God; and are become such as
have need of milk, and not of
strong meat. For every one that
useth milk is unskilful in the
word of righteousness: for he
is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full
age, even those who by reason
of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and
evil.”
The word discern speaks of
judicial estimation—wisdom,
insight, and accurate perspective. This ability is something
we should desire in every area
of life, but especially with nurturing our children. Too many
parents never get beyond the
surface in parenting. They only
care if their kids are “staying
out of trouble.” But discerning
parents go deeper. They see
beneath the surface and
seek to understand
what’s going on in the
heart. Why is “deep parenting” so important?
The heart is where biblical values are formed.
This is the only way to
know if your child’s
faith is representative of an
authentic relationship with
Page 4
God or merely an outward,
temporary show.
The heart is where questions
are contemplated. Every child
has questions, and when parents are out of touch, Satan is
good at exploiting these questions and providing false answers. Parents who get into the
heart, unearth those questions
so they can provide biblical
answers. “And ye shall know
the truth and the truth shall
make you free” (John 8:32).
The heart is where real relationships are cultivated. Like
the root system of a tree or
healthy plant, the heart is beneath the surface. A strong
relationship and authentic
closeness is built face-to-face,
eye-to-eye, and heart-to-heart.
The heart is where the spiritual
battle is fought. The devil is
going after our kids’ hearts. He
wants their emotions, their
beliefs, and their attitudes. If
we’re going to win the spiritual battle, we must fight for
the heart.
A discerning parent is constantly on a sacred pursuit of
their child’s heart. Let’s examine ten keys to developing
parental discernment with our
children:
1. Understand God’s Word.
The primary way that any of
us grow in discernment is by
studying the Word of God.
First Peter 2:2 tells us, “As
newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye
may grow thereby.” The principles of God’s Word provide
a foundation for all parental
decision making. If you will
become a discerning parent,
you must become a student of
God’s Word and of good parenting books that expound
God’s Word.
2. Ask for God’s Wisdom.
One of God’s great promises is
given to us in James 1—He
will give wisdom to anyone
who will ask in faith. Wisdom
is the ability to see the real
needs and know how to respond. It is the ability to see
your children as God sees
them and to respond as He
would.
3. Pray with and for Your
Children. Nothing will help
you understand where the
heart is like prayer. Make it
your priority to pray with them
each night before bed. Sense
their heart toward you, toward
the Lord, and toward the challenges of life. This brief time
of prayer will accomplish
spiritually what weeks and
weeks of human effort could
never accomplish.
4. Accept and Obey the Holy
Spirit’s Promptings. God
gives every Christian parent an
internal warning system. We
can choose to accept or deny
those warnings. The times I
have neglected these warnings,
I have eventually come to regret it. The times I have
heeded them, I have always
discovered something that
needed parental intervention.
Wise parents accept God’s
internal promptings, even if
they don’t fully understand
them or can’t explain them.
5. Be a Team Player with
Volume 9, Issue 8
Deep Parenting continued
Your Spouse. Think and talk
about your children together
with your spouse. Pray for
them together. When talking
together, God will give you
collective insight and the wisdom to create a biblical approach to dealing with the
situations your children face.
When parents are a team, they
heed each other’s cautions,
listen to each other’s insight,
and respond with unified
hearts. This is a great gift to
any child!
6. Spend Quantity Time with
Your Children. Discernment
takes study, and study takes
time. Time with them will
help you be able to sort
through what is a normal part
of their personality, what is a
spiritual struggle, and what is
the expression of a heart need.
This time should be connected
time when you are communicating—not tv or movie time,
and not time shared with other
friends. Try to spend one-onone time with each child each
week. You may miss some
weeks, but if every week is
your goal, you stand a good
chance of staying on course.
7. Choose to Look Beyond
the Surface. Don’t focus
merely on behavior. Ask
where the behavior is coming
from. Consider the reasoning,
the logic, and the emotions
that produce the decisions and
behavior of your child. Behaviors come from the heart.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the
issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
8. Respond with Biblical
Principles. Target the heart
and pursue the transformation
of the heart. Teach and transfer biblical principles and constantly be sensitive to whether
the heart is open to those principles or whether there is
merely outward conformity.
Always point them to the
highest authority—the Heavenly Father. If you’re not sure
what to say or how to say it,
then get help and seek advice.
At all costs, point your child
to God’s truth as the answer
for every life problem. Always
show them how your discipline connects to God and His
ultimate authority in life.
9. Respond with Appropriate Authority. A variety of
behaviors requires a variety of
responses. As parents, we
can’t answer everything with a
heavy hammer. Strong discipline should be but one of
many tools in your parental
toolbox. It doesn’t make sense
to kill a mosquito with an
atomic bomb, but many parents use the atomic bomb for
everything. That’s unwise.
Ask the Lord to guide your
responses and to make them
appropriate to the need. Sometimes our children need reproof, other times rebuke, and
other times exhortation.
“...reprove, rebuke, exhort
with all longsuffering and
doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2).
10. Respond with Compassion. No matter how firmly
you deal with a situation, always rest your parenting on
the firm foundation of compassion. This is the compassionate parenting found in
Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them
up in the nurture and admoni-
“And, ye fathers,
tion of the Lord.”
Begin and end with compassionate nurture, even if firmness is needed in between. If
your child will hug you, pray
with you, or respond to you,
then the heart is open. If not,
then the heart is closed. Whatever you do, don’t rest until
your child’s heart is open to
you.
Other than the Holy Spirit, my
best teacher on becoming an
insightful parent has been my
wife. Dana is the most discerning parent I know. God
has given her a tremendous
sense for our children’s needs
and the direction of their
hearts. It has been our constant
commitment to stay united as
a parenting team.
provoke not your
children to wrath:
but bring them up
in the nurture and
admonition of the
Lord.”
Titus 2:7
We’re still in the middle of
our parenting journey, and
we’re loving every moment of
it. One thing is for sure—
every child is uniquely special
by God’s design. That uniqueness should compel us to constantly rely upon the leading
of the Holy Spirit in the moment-by-moment details of
parenting.
By God’s grace and power
seek to become an insightful
parent. Seek to get beneath the
surface and reach deep into
the heart. Constantly ask the
Lord for wisdom and guidance. He will answer, and
your kids will thank you one
day! I love parenting! What
life work could we do of any
greater value?
Page 5
RenWeb
Elementary Soccer
JCA Jr. Knights in grades 4th—6th have the opportunity to participate
in Elementary Soccer! Our athletes participate in CSAF (Christian
Schools Athletic Fellowship) which allows us to compete against
other schools or equal size
in the Fort Worth
Metroplex. Coach Jim
Dorton will be holding
practices once each week
on the field and games will
also be once each week.
Their first game will be
September 13th at Home.
If you student would like to play, please contact the office.
RenWeb is a wonderful tool. Parents can
view grades, attendance, teacher e-mails,
progress reports, and
report cards…all online
at home or at work. If
you are new to the
school or had a change
in your email address,
please contact the office to provide us your
current e-mail address.
Spirit Shirt Fridays
Every Friday is Spirit Shirt Day! The students are allowed to wear any JCA t-shirt from the Spirit Store to
show support for our student athletes. Please remember
that shirts are still to be tucked in with uniform pants/
shorts or skirts. If you have any questions, please contact the office.
See You At The Pole
will heal their
land.”
II
Chronicles
7:14
“If my people, which
are called by my name,
shall humble themselves, and pray, and
seek my face, and turn
from their wicked
ways; then will I hear
from heaven, and will
forgive their sin, and
God is continuing to call
His people to repentance and prayer. Join
the millions from
across our nation and
around the world as we
continue to pray that
God will bring revival.
On Wednesday, September 22nd at 7:30
a.m., we will meet at
the school flagpole to
pray—for our school,
friends, teachers, government, and nation.
Refreshments will be
provided following this
time
of
prayer.
Don’t
be
left out of
what God wants to do
with your school, your
city, and our world
through your prayers.
Decide now that you
will be a part of See
You at the Pole!