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By Pastor Calvin, August 18, 2010 9:32 am

Dear CLASS Families and Friends,

Thank you for your prayers for the Americans for Truth Conference that was held at CLA earlier in the month of August. On the first evening of the conference there were around 75-100 protestors organized by the Gay Liberation Network. Though some of the protestors were quite vulgar, rude, and even smelly, there was thankfully no violence. Some of the protestors were even willing to engage in serious conversation with some of the speakers and attendees of the conference. While the protestors were shouting about how the conference was inspired by hate, a former homosexual was sharing his story of God’s grace in his life.

I would strongly encourage you to order either CD’s or DVD’s from the conference. To learn more visit –  www.aftah.org

To learn more about the protest, note the Facebook page here: GLN Protest

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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 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 Pastor Calvin, April 22, 2010 5:34 am

I recently had the opportunity to write a letter to one of my nephews who was celebrating his 13th birthday. I share a portion of this letter as an encouragement for other families and specifically young men.

Dear “Samuel”

Congratulations on reaching an important milestone in your life. Though the world often associates the teenage years with rebellion, lack of responsibility, and other ills, our gracious God obviously has a much different view of this time of life you are entering. In OT culture, something carried over into modern Judaism, the age of 13 was an important transition point. A bar-miztvah (literally son of the law), is the celebration that marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. No longer are you a boy; you are now a young man. Though you are only one year older than your last birthday, you are now entering into a much more important and significant period of your life. For the next 5-10 years, you will be making decisions that will not only affect your life but will also affect the lives of many other people.

Continue reading 'A Letter to a Young Man'»

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By Pastor Calvin, March 24, 2010 12:09 pm

Did Columbus seek to prove that the world was round as he set out for the New World in 1492? The idea that there was a controversy over this is a hoax. Jeffrey Burton Russell explains the origin of this hoax in his fascinating book, Inventing the Flat Earth. The Flat-earth myth was propagated to seek to drive a wedge between ‘Science’ and the Bible.

There is no conflict between the Bible properly understood and Science properly understood.

Consider the following points:

1. Modern science developed out of a Christian view of the world. Modern science did not develop in the advance cultures and civilizations of the Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and others.  Though those civilizations were culturally and sometimes politically sophisticated and advanced, because they worshipped nature, true science was never able to develop.  As Stanley Jaki puts it, science suffered “still births” in those civilizations.  It was only in an environment, influenced by Christianity, that science was able to begin and flourish.

Continue reading 'Creation, Part 2'»

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By Pastor Calvin, March 18, 2010 4:25 pm

“If we only invested more money into education,” is a common refrain, no doubt one that you have heard. I did some research recently about how much money is spent on government education. In Illinois, the average per pupil spent is $9,238. In a high school not far from CLA, the per student expenditure is $15,203. New Trier High School, located in one of the wealthiest areas of the state, spends $17,727 per student. Now some of these schools do produce impressive test results. But in comparison, the high school tuition for Christian Liberty Academy in 2010-2011 is $4,500, about 1/2 the state average. CLA students and CLASS students routinely score much higher than the state average on the ACT (American College Test). We don’t seek to boast in our accomplishments, but we do loudly want to say, money is not the answer.

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By Pastor Calvin, March 8, 2010 10:56 am

There are few subjects more important for younger Christian men and women to seek to master than the debate between creation vs. evolution. Our faith will certainly come under attack. We must stand humbly but confidently on the foundation of God’s Word as we seek to understand the issues and work through some of the very difficult questions that arise. This first post deals with the biblical evidence for a literal six-day creation.

In Gen. 1:5 we have the first use of the word day. The Hebrew word is yom. The word yom appears 2,304 times in the Old Testament and is the 5th most common noun. The majority of times that it is used is in reference to a normal day-night cycle.  It can though at times be used to represent an extended period of time, but that is not its most common usage. How can we tell when it is not referring to a literal day? The context of the passage would indicate otherwise. When day is used to refer to something other than a 24-hour day it is always used with special linguistic and contextual connections. When these are absent as in Genesis 1, the normal meaning is always assumed. And we know this just from our own communication.  When we ask other people, “How are you doing today?”, we are generally not asking them for their entire life story. The meaning is determined by the context, which in the case of Genesis 1 is quite obvious and clear.

Continue reading 'Creation, Part 1'»

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By Pastor Calvin, February 15, 2010 1:49 pm

Ehud ben Levi! You better get going, the school bus is about to come!

But, Mom, why do I have to keep going to the Philistine school?

Ehud, you know that they have the best Spear and Sword team.

But Mom, they only teach us about Dagon and that our God is nothing special.

Ehud, don’t listen to that stuff. You only need to pay attention when they teach you about math and science. You can also ignore most of their history stuff. You can learn about Torah when you go to Synagogue on Saturday.

Now quick, otherwise you’ll miss the bus. We love you, Ehud. See you tonight around 6.

Continue reading 'Ehud ben Levi'»

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By Pastor Calvin, February 11, 2010 9:49 pm

In response to the earthquake and suffering in Haiti, we are seeking to help a pastor in the Chicagoland area who will be leading a team that will be traveling to Haiti. Bob Allums and his wife Helen, a nurse, will be leaving for Haiti on February 19. It is difficult to assess the level of suffering and need in Haiti. Doug Phillips of Vision Forum ministries who also has been working in Haiti has noted that much of the American attention given to Haiti ended with distractions over the Super Bowl. We must not be so distracted. I would ask you to seek to help faithful ministries still working in Haiti. Please also pray for Bob and Helen Allums and those traveling with him. There may be opportunity to partner with them later in 2010.

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By Pastor Calvin, January 18, 2010 3:51 pm

Throughout this year I will be addressing important theological topics that junior high and high school students need to know as they prepare for the calling that God has for them as men and women. The first topic is the foundation of God’s Word.

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) first deals with Scripture and then second deals with God the Trinity. This is not to make Scripture of more importance than God. But very wisely the writers of the confession realized that before we can speak of God we must know how it is that we can even know God. On the firm foundation of God’s Word we can then speak with confidence and assurance about the God who can be known and has revealed himself.

One of the classic passages on the authority of Scripture is found in 2 Timothy 3:10-17. Paul and Timothy had known each other for about 20 years by the time Paul wrote 2 Timothy. Timothy was not a novice and yet there were important things that Timothy still needed to learn. And so it is most interesting that Paul in giving encouragement to Timothy again reminds him of the sure foundation that is found in God’s Word. Continue reading 'The Foundation of God’s Word'»