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By Pastor Calvin, July 23, 2010 6:23 am

On August 5-7, Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality will be holding a three-day conference for high school and college students as well as adults. This is a rigorous, 3-day program featuring some of the leading pro-family experts on homosexuality in the Culture War.

This three day conference will be held a Christian Liberty Academy. The conference costs $99 for students. However, all interested and serious students can attend for free or for whatever they can afford to pay. Money is being raised to help those who cannot afford the normal price. The price for adults (non-students) is $149. Married couples can attend for $199. There is also a Daily Option - $50/day which includes evening presentations on Thursday and Friday

Speakers include:

Robert Knight, Coral Ridge Ministries

Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality

Ryan Sorba, Young Conservatives of California

Prof. Robert Gagnon, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Prof. Rena Lindevaldsen, Liberty University Law School

Matt Barber, Liberty Counsel

Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute

Greg Quinlan, Parents and Friends of Gays and Ex-Gays

The conference begins Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. and will conclude on Saturday evening. To register for this conference, visit aftah.org or send an e-mail to Peter LaBarbera - americansfortruth@gmail.com

If you can’t come to this conference, please pray for its success and safety. Both times that Peter LaBarbera has been at CLA has resulted in protests by homosexual activists. Thankfully the two previous protests were not violent. While many Christians don’t want to discuss this issue, we must not be afraid to learn about what is taking place in order to more effectively minister to the lost and expose what is taking place in our culture. Psalm 94:16 declares, “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?”

Please pray and be a part of this conference if you are able.

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By Sheila Brennan, June 16, 2010 9:20 am

Last night I finished re-reading Ralph Moody’s LITTLE BRITCHES: Father and I Were Ranchers. I say re-reading because this was a read-aloud we enjoyed when I was homeschooling my son, Jonathan – then 10. Having recently loaned it to a young friend interested in horses, I found myself cracking it open once again when it was returned – just a quick look. Well, you know how it goes with a truly good story – I was drawn into it immediately!

Continue reading 'A Thumping Good Read!'»

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By Mark Beuligmann, June 9, 2010 2:20 pm

Not infrequently, you will hear politicians chastise members of the opposing party for being ideologically motivated. They are implying that ideology is not a good starting point for creating laws or policy. Continue reading 'Ideology'»

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By Mark Beuligmann, May 24, 2010 11:34 am

Which is more important, giving the right answer—or working through the material? Before I answer that question, let’s work through it. Continue reading 'Answer or Process?'»

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By Mark Dove, May 19, 2010 12:58 pm

The 2010 Art and Essay Competition has ended. You can view results for the Art Competition here. The following essay was submitted by Grace Kudzma and was the $100 First Place Winner for grades seven and eight. This year’s theme was, “Writer’s Choice of Any Political, Economic, Theological, or Social Issue.”

Grace Kudzma
2010 Essay Competition
$100 First Place Winner
Category 3 – Grades 7 & 8

Peer Pressure

All teens experience peer pressure and no matter what if they succumb to it, it always affects them negatively. Teens are pressured to fit in with the crowd or be just like the popular kids. Peer pressure compromises individuals’ bodies. The Bible says, “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19). Teenagers do not always know this. Usually when they start making these bad choices they do not think of the repercussions; this pressure is particularly hard for girls.
Continue reading 'Peer Pressure'»

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By Mark Dove, May 19, 2010 12:50 pm

The 2010 Art and Essay Competition has ended. You can view results for the Art Competition here. The following essay was submitted by Melissa Rainer and was the $100 First Place Winner for grades nine and ten. This year’s theme was, “Writer’s Choice of Any Political, Economic, Theological, or Social Issue.”

Melissa Rainer
2010 Essay Competition
$100 First Place Winner
Category 2 – Grades 9 & 10

Is America Still Blessed?

“America, America! God shed His grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea”. Written in 1893, “America the Beautiful” claims that God has blessed America. Sadly, our nation has separated from God with repeated acts of sin. Crushed with this knowledge, I turn to my audience and ask: Is America still a blessed nation?

Continue reading 'Is America Still Blessed?'»

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By Mark Dove, May 19, 2010 10:59 am

The 2010 Art and Essay Competition has ended. You can view results for the Art Competition here.  The following essay was submitted by Andrew Rainer and was the $300 Grand Prize Winner. This year’s theme was, “Writer’s Choice of Any Political, Economic, Theological, or Social Issue.”

Andrew Rainer
2010 Essay Competition
$300 Grand Prize Winner
Category 1 – Grades 11 & 12

Hate Crime Laws: Extra Protection or an Infringement on our Liberties?

On October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepherd and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act, calling the Act a step to “help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray”.¹ The Hate Crime Prevention Act provides additional funding to our local authorities to help prosecute crimes that are “motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim”.² The wording of this law is dangerous to the American people, threatening our freedom to speak, our freedom to be equal, and our freedom to worship God. In this essay, you will hear some shocking information on how the Hate Crime Act disregards our Constitution, erodes our personal liberties, and creates an elite segment of the population. I will also show you examples from other countries that show the evolution and danger of these laws in action.

Continue reading 'Hate Crime Laws'»

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By Mark Dove, May 7, 2010 9:07 am

We periodically add a post that was originally  published elsewhere. We do this because we are hopeful they will be of interest or beneficial to many. The following article was a past CLASS Essay Competition winner.

Joel Morris
Grade 11
2002 Essay Competition
$300 Grand Prize Winner

Capital Punishment: What is Your Decision?

When each of us hears the words “capital punishment” or “death penalty,” we have an immediate reaction. Either we respond by not understanding how anyone could support such an inhumane, heinous act; or else we wish people would realize it is a method of punishment necessary for establishing justice in our society. There really is little gray area; most everyone has made their decision on this issue. I would simply like to present facts so that everyone might make a soundly based decision in light of God’s Word.

Continue reading 'Capital Punishment: What is Your Decision?'»

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By Pastor Calvin, April 28, 2010 9:38 am

Link to Audio

When Charles Darwin’s famous book On the Origin of Species was published 150 years ago on November 24, 1859, all 1,250 copies were purchased on the first day of publication. This suggests that the people of England were waiting very much for a theory that would mean that the Bible and the Christian God were no longer needed. “The world jumped at Darwin,” said George Bernard Shaw.[1]

What’s the big deal of not believing in the doctrine of creation and specifically a relatively recent creation in the space of six days?

Continue reading 'Creation, Part 3'»

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By Arnie Gentile, April 22, 2010 9:26 am

Natural law was once perceived as a body of objective moral truth infused into the world by the Creator. It held sway over all men and their rulers, requiring obedience of believer and unbeliever alike, and finding its Scriptural rationale in such passages as Romans 1:19-20 and 2:14-16. It is the law written on the heart of every human being that enables all of us to agree that such things as murder, rape, theft, and perjury are wrong. In principle, it was the goal of positive or written law to reflect accurately the spirit of the natural law. This view has changed in modern times. The emphasis has shifted from the idea of natural law to that of natural rights founded on the notion of our status as autonomous human beings. It is now up to the government to create obligatory laws, but only at the consent of the governed whose interest it is to have their autonomy preserved.

Therefore, it is no longer the government’s prerogative to create laws in concert with a preexisting natural law which all men must obey, but to create laws that protect autonomous individual freedom. As a result, the United States Constitution as positive law now stands above natural law. Natural law no longer dictates positive law, but instead is subordinate to it. Natural law serves only as a source of principles that guide us in interpreting positive law in terms of individual rights. Among these rights is the individual’s civil liberty to make his own moral choices free of governmental intrusion or coercion, save the restriction that one’s exercise of this right must not infringe upon another’s equal right to so choose.

Such a view of natural law leaves it quite malleable to changing times and circumstances. Since the notion of natural law no longer suggests the existence of a changeless body of objective moral truth, we are able to adjust natural law such that it remains in tune with man’s alleged “progress” in knowledge and understanding. Therefore, notions of “morality” become hopelessly relativistic, and the positive law becomes little more than an instrument by means of which litigants gain public affirmation for their personal lifestyles as autonomous individuals rather than an application of eternal and transcendent moral truths.

Continue reading 'Exposing the Roots of Educational Secularism'»