When You Pray – Remember David and Goliath

Abraham Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” That has certainly been true in America as we see socialism and secularization of our educational system now as it is played out in our government and courts. To reform our schools by addressing the roots of our misdirection in prayer will also create a reformation of our nation.
Those of us who desire to restore God’s place in our education system are the Davids and the school system is the Goliath. The statement David made to Goliath in the valley of Elah applies to us in a very real way.
“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the Name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’S and he will give all of you into our hands.” 1 Samuel 17:45–47
The anti-God forces in our educational system are overconfident, over secure, and under effective, making the timing of a spiritual battle of utmost importance. Just as Goliath, they dare people to try to change the system. Yet, everyone from the office of the President of the United States to the classroom teacher knows that our education is a dismal failure when 25 percent of our public school graduates are illiterate. It is time to seize the opportunity. Intercessors can take back education from the domination of Baal and consequently the children of our nation from his influence.
Actually, our chances of felling Goliath, even in the natural, get better the larger Goliath grows. Best-selling author and military historian Max Boot in his classic book, Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present, gives small insurgent groups a more than fighting chance of bringing down huge military operations. The smaller groups cost less money than larger armies to maintain. They can travel to a location undetected and make a strike, and quickly retreat.
A larger army relies on its reputation, technology, past victories, and often outdated styles to engage the enemy. Over the last one hundred years American education has promoted man-made doctrines and taunted Christians by daring them to attack their policies. With our band of prayer warriors, we can win, if we fight with nonconventional weapons, keep our ranks tightly knit around a common purpose, and engage the enemy on a level in which they are not accustomed.
The American educational system is huge with a budget of $591 billion annually. Its strength lies in the size of the institution. It cannot move quickly and is the epitome of the works of the flesh just as Goliath was. Daily the system promotes propaganda that is anti-God, anti-American, anti-Christian, and anti-moral. But it has been ineffective. Too long they have taunted those who believe in God. It is time we took our place with full knowledge of who our God is and what He can do.
Os Hillman, a well-known author and speaker on faith at work, states in his book Change Agent, “It takes less than 3–5 percent of those operating at the tops of a cultural mountain to actually shift the values represented on that mountain.”
This small percentage is the sum total of the true decision makers in education. That means that we as believers let the top 5 percent of the over 3 million people involved in education in this country make all the decisions. The rest of us watch on the sidelines as decisions are made that take our country down a path of socialism and ultimately destruction to the way of life our forefathers intended.
The church has lost its vision for stewarding the territory God given us. We has have allowed the voice of God to be muffled as Goliath taunted us day after day. Christian teachers in the classroom have their hands tied because of the lack of prayer by apostolic prayer teams who know how to release the power of God in worship, intercession, authority of the Name of Jesus, and strategic warfare.
We have a purpose: to manifest God’s Kingdom on the earth today. In the past we have lost ground, but we can regain it if we fight. In her book, Don’t Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid, Mary Beth Hicks wrote:
“In 2007, while still a member of the United States Senate, Barack Obama said, ‘I am absolutely convinced that culture wars are just so ‘90s. Their days are growing dark.’ Obama was right. The culture wars are over: We lost. We are no longer fighting to uphold traditional social values. Now we’re fighting a battle over the very definition of what it means to be an American, and what America means to the world. A losing battle.”
I would say that Hicks is right—except that God is calling His people to come together to pray in a strategic way as never before in the history of the world. Kingdom-minded people are being called into place. We must follow the instructions the prophet Joel gave his warriors, “Do not break ranks.” (Joel 2:8.)
Until we are called by someone with an apostolic jurisdiction we do not know how to stand together and not break ranks. The apostle puts prayer warriors in position and gives the orders and teaches them how to stand together without breaking ranks. With such a dynamic prayer team, we can take back our educational system as well as the other cultural influences in our nation.

Teacher Protests: The Vehicle for Humanistic Take Over in Education

The scheduled teacher walk-out on April 2 in Oklahoma is not only about the very real need to increase teacher salaries. It reveals how the leaders behind a humanistic global agenda use these types of crises to further their control in the field of education.
Raising the bar in education is a need and concern across our nation. We watch as test results have declined and mo re and more students graduate without the reading skills or life skills needed to succeed after graduation. However, at the heart of this issue, there is a hidden agenda that many of us miss. It is a behind the scenes take-over of the education of our children to indoctrinate them with humanistic ideology.
Crisis is the Vehicle They Use to Implement Change
In Oklahoma, there is very real need for teacher pay raises. In 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report that showed Oklahoma has the lowest average teacher wages in the nation. Those behind the push for a humanistic take over in education have used this crisis to push through their agenda. Here’s how it works.
On March 26, 2018, the Oklahoma Legislature voted to give public school teachers and support staff a raise. Beginning salaries would be increased by $6,000 per year. Yet, that wasn’t enough to avert a planned teacher “walk out” scheduled for April 2, 2018. Why? Because while the amount fell short of their unrealistic request of $10,000 over the next three years. The voices behind the humanistic agenda recognize that in order to completely implement their plan, they must use this imposed crisis to gain control. Their goal from the beginning of the teacher salary issue was not to achieve a raise for the teachers, but to create unrest, division and failure so that they could point blame which would position them for take-over in the mid-term elections.
Where is there a “crisis” in your state’s educational system? It is important to look at who continues to stoke the dissension to keep emotions running high and prevent reconciliation. In the case of the teacher salary issue, we only need to look at those behind the “walk out” —how it was handled and those who support it—which reveal the hidden impetuous behind the continued push for a teacher strike.
Ultimately, this is the battle for control over the sphere of education not only in Oklahoma, but we can see similar battles in almost every state. Crises are fertile ground to stir dissension and dissatisfaction to gain the upper hand. It is a Saul Alinsky tactic – never let a good crisis go to waste and if there is no crisis, create one. Once in position they can continue their goal to promote an ideology of humanism to the students in the classroom and curriculum. And they will do anything to achieve their goal.

This is how it works and what you need to look for:
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States with a branch organization in each state. For Oklahoma it is the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA). But if you believe the welfare and education of our students in the pursuit of “reading, writing and arithmetic” through these organizations is their primary goal, think again.
At the 72nd Annual Meeting of the NEA, held in Washington, D.C., in a report titled “Education for the New America,” Willard Givens (who went on to become executive secretary of the NEA in 1935 and served for 17 years) said:
“The major function of the school is the social orientation of the individual. It must seek to give him under-standing of the transition to a new social order.”

This is the mentality and ultimate goal behind the NEA and any of its state related offices in the United States.

Track What is Happening in your State
Always look deeper than your local organizations at who is assisting to promote your state’s educational agenda. Scrutinize mentioned associations like separate non-profits, law firms, and businesses. In Oklahoma, the OEA recently hired a Colorado consulting firm, Harstad Strategic Research, Inc., to work with them to achieve their goals. A closer look at Harstad reveals that their specialty is to get liberals elected to leadership positions as governors, senators, and congressmen as well as to get liberal state campaigns passed. They are a partisan group with a socialist globalist agenda. The OEA also uses the non-profit, Oklahoma Professional Educators, to make public statements that mirror OEA’s views. Often nonprofits are created to “help” by being the political mouthpiece or shield in order for an organization to distance itself from criticism when speaking out on an unpopular issue

What do they really want?
While the goals may sound good by title, after all – who doesn’t want their teachers to be well paid – those goals will be used to gain political support in order to continue to promote a humanistic, globalist, agenda.
In the late 1800s, John Dewey, known as the Father of Modern Education and a prolific writer on the theory of education, began proposing changes that would promote socialism and thereby produce a globalist child prepared for the 21st Century. In 1932, the National Education Association made John Dewey their honorary president adopting his progressive educational reform agenda. Since that time, the NEA has been successful in implementing their plan, but it is not complete. In order for the NEA to achieve a complete takeover of America’s educational system, they must continue to promote socialism. In order to do so, they must obtain control of governing bodies and insert leaders who will be favorable to their agenda. In Oklahoma, where the issue of teacher’s salary is not new, they have pushed hard for it to hit crisis level—a teacher strike—just before the upcoming mid-term elections. By fueling dissension and the argument that current leadership is “out of touch,” the teacher pay raise issue is a perfect vehicle to achieve their goals. The teachers are simply pawns in their playbook.
The goal is for children to be taught social curricula at the expense of their learning basic skills. Samuel Blumenfeld, one of America’s more prolific voices in defense of traditional education referred to Dewey as the man responsible for “dumbing down” America’s children and promoting socialism in our schools – mainly using the NEA. The process of socialism undermined the role of the parents in a child’s education. The perfect example of a program that bypassed parental and local voices is the Common Core curriculum, birthed and initiated as a federal curriculum, voted on by the governors of the states and implemented on the local level with no local or parental choice.

Not a Democrat vs. Republican Issue
This is not about Republicans vs. Democrats. There are both Republicans and Democrats, who are party to this one-world government agenda. There has been much contention in our government on a national level as well as within each state especially in this past year. With confusion and selfish ambition, the enemy has gained ground.
What Can be Done?
It is important to remember that our battle is not with flesh and blood. Our first response must always be in prayer. It is time that we speak up in prayer and speak forth what we want to see accomplished this year in the Mountain of Education. Here are some prayer points nationally. Look into the issues in your state and add them to this list:

• That teachers will not be used as political pawns in a humanistic battle for the minds of our children.
• That teachers will receive fair, just and equitable salaries. That our teachers will cry out to God and that He will deliver them from their oppression. Our teachers will not be a slave to Pharaoh.
• All ungodliness in our state legislatures will be revealed and those who need to go will be replaced by godly men and women who will judge righteously.
• Thank and praise God for the unmasking/revealing of all those who have ungodly agendas for our children and our state.
• That the restrictions that have been placed on our teachers to remove Christian values will revert back to the original intent of our forefathers in which the Bible and biblical principles were part of a child’s educational process not prohibited from their process.

May we be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” as this battle ensues. We can no longer afford to allow our educational system to be hijacked. We must look at who and what are behind the “solutions” offered. We can no longer sacrifice the well-being of our children and the educational process to those whose agenda is not to train up our children, but to dumb them down and turn them into “better global citizens.”

To Repair or Replace the Foundation?


America has had two educational systems in our past. One foundation can be restored, the second foundation is beyond repair. The one on which we put our emphasis will determine the future of our nation.

The foundation of our original schools—Our country began with schools that included religious instruction. As settlers came to America, one of their first community endeavors, after constructing a church, was to start a school. They often utilized church facilities and local teachers who held the religious beliefs of the community.

The foundation of public schools—Because some of our founding fathers were Unitarian and considered themselves more “enlightened” than their religious counterparts and wanted schools that embraced the new humanistic thoughts of the day that were being discussed in the public squares of Europe and Prussia. They wanted these schools funded with tax payer money. Eventually, they found a willing elected official to help them—Horace Mann, who later became known as the Father of Modern Education.

Horace Mann ran for Secretary of the Board of Education in Massachusetts and in 1837 fulfilled a campaign promise to the Unitarians to build the first public school funded with tax payer money and without religious instruction. At first, the schools didn’t appear to be any different from the religious schools of the day, as most of the teachers in the 1800s and 1900s held strong religious beliefs. But as time progressed, humanistic teaching trickled down through the generations until we are at the point that it is unlawful to have any religious instruction in public schools.

It has taken decades, but the second foundation has eroded to the point where we as a nation can no longer ignore the broken condition of our public schools. Students who fail, cause our nation to be at risk as our citizens become less educated and less moral. Humanists tell us, if they just had more money, public schools could be repaired, but there is never any mention of utilizing that money to repair the cracked foundation by putting God back in our classrooms.

The spiritual battle is evident—If you want to see a violent reaction to the suggestion of reorganizing public schools, just mention, Charter Schools, Vouchers, or even our Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. These reactions are indications of a spiritual battle that is waging in the heavens. Public school defenders emphatically state that tax payer money should go exclusively to support public schools with no tax payer money used to educate the children in any institution that has religious instruction. We must reframe our argument and say, “Tax money should be used to educate the children of this nation in any manner the parents see fit.”

Let us pray that those who embrace Jesus will walk in the truth of Isaiah 58:12, “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age old foundations…” It is not the time to despair because of resistance, it is the time to press forward in prayer. If we pray, in the not too distant future, we will shout in victory as foundations are restored!

Prayer for the Mountain of Education During the Month of Iyar

Nancy's Picture of Magnolia Blossom

Prayer for the Mountain of Education During the month of Iyar In 1985, Then President Ronald Reagan appointed William Bennett as the Secretary of Education. While in office, Secretary Bennett actively sought to reform American education. He supported classical education, school vouchers and curriculum reform. He openly criticized schools for their low standards, once referring to the Chicago public school system as “the worst in the nation.” His time at the Department of Education was a window of opportunity to truly reform education. Since Secretary Bennett left office in 1988 we have not had another open window – until now.

Thirty years later we have another opportunity to transform American education with President Trumps’ appointment of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. She is a strong supporter of public school reform, charter schools, school vouchers, and curriculum reform. In order to succeed, Secretary DeVos and her team of educators at the Department of Education need a dynamic prayer force behind them. If they succeed, we succeed, our nation will produce better educated children with Godly character and have a knowledge of God.

The month of Iyar (April 16 – May 16) is the second month of the Jewish calendar and is the month of light, healing, transition, and revelation. This is the appropriate time for us to combine our faith decrees with our prayers to see change in the whole culture of the Mountain of Education.

• We decree God’s light will shine on the Department of Education and every school in America. All that is good will be recognized and will grow. Evil will be exposed and extracted.
• Iyar is the month of transition. Our schools in this nation will be transitioned to a new level of increased performance. Ideas that were once impossible will transition to the possible.
• We decree that all people with the intent to advance an agenda separate from God’s education agenda will transition out at every level from the Department of Education in Washington, DC to the local school.
• We decree this is a time for love, forgiving and healing of relationships. Love and forgiving will flow at every level as teachers and administrators work together for the good of America’s children.
• We decree that Secretary DeVos and each member of her team will find his/her place of strength during this time. That strength will silence her enemies.
• We decree healing to America’s children who have suffered for lack of educational opportunities.
• We decree there will be increased revelation in America’s schools and especially at the Department of Education. Secretary DeVos and her team will see clearly how to proceed to make America the best place in the world to educate a child.

 

The Perfect Storm in Education

Over the past two weeks, we have been inundated with the news of school shootings. The most deadly in recent weeks was the shooting on the campus at Ompaqua Community College in Oregon, where 10 people were killed and nine were injured. The US has had an average of one school shooting per week since January 2012 when 20 children were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary. How did we get here? What happened in America that over the last 16 years school shootings have become common place? Who broke that dam of evil? And more importantly, how do we stop the killings? 

 

Below I’ve listed three historical events that led us to this place:

  1. The Theory of Evolution Introduced in Education—In the mid 1850s Herbert Spencer proposed that education should draw on new scientific principles to make teaching more efficient as well as pleasant for the child. He proposed that learning was subject to the same laws that shaped the evolution of human beings from simple organisms could be used to shape the development of each child from the earliest moments in life to adults. Out of these concepts, came a new branch of science called child psychology. New discoveries in child learning techniques should give helpful information on how to be a more discerning and caring parent or teacher. The problem with this new branch of science was that it was founded in Darwinism/evolution. Learning disabilities in children began to take names. Eventually, the medical community came up with a myriad of diagnoses for those disabilities, which leads us to the next issue—that of drugs.
  2. Drugs—What came in the 1960s and onwards were a plethora of new drugs on the streets of our cities as well as through the pharmaceutical industries. The street drugs appealed to those who desired to check out of a materialistic culture. The pharmaceutical drugs treated children’s psychological issues as well as learning disabilities. We became a nation that medicated her children.
  3. We Lost our Moral compass Meanwhile the school curricula was steadily undergoing a major shift with the removal of the God of the Christians from the classrooms. With no concept of a creator and therefore no accountability to a higher power, no value is placed on life. When life is cheap, killing the innocent becomes prevalent. When children who grow up deprived of knowing God as a creator are legally drugged there is a recipe for disaster.

These “winds” are some of the strongest influencers that created a “perfect storm” in our educational system.

The answer lies in prayer, but not just a blanket prayer that says, “our thoughts and prayers are with you.” The answer lies with those who know God and the power of the Name of Jesus. Now is the time for believers to come together in unity, in order to pray targeted, strategic prayers that will turn our educational system and consequently our children back to God. Jesus said, “If you believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”  Let’s come together in agreement to take the Mountain of Education!

 

Prayer for Oklahoma Education

This is the Hebrew month of Nissan, the month of Passover! Nissan is the time for redemption, miracles and a time for us to evaluate every political structure with which we are aligned.

With this in mind, I’ve put together some thoughts on the upcoming proposed Oklahoma teacher “walk out” scheduled to take place on April 2, 2018. I ask that you read the overview with discernment and determine to enter into praise so God can reveal His plans for the teachers of Oklahoma.

Teachers across Oklahoma have organized a classroom “walk out” on April 2, 2018, in order to bring pressure on the Oklahoma State Legislature to pass legislation that would give teachers a salary increase of $10,000 per teacher over the next three years. State employees also want higher base salaries and have plans to join the teachers on April 2.

As many of you have already recognized in the Spirit that the “walk out” has more to do with what is happening spiritually in Oklahoma and less to do with actual pay raises. While teachers certainly deserve a pay raise, there are people and organizations that are using this need for a pay increase to promote their globalist, humanistic mindset. They will do anything they can to continue to feed humanism to the students in our classrooms.

Two Organizations to observe and pray about are:

1. The Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) – The OEA is the state office for the National Education Association (NEA – the largest labor union in the US). Recently the OEA hired a Colorado consulting firm, Harstad Strategic Research, Inc. that specializes in getting liberals elected for positions as Governors, Senators, House Representatives, and getting liberal state campaigns passed. There is also a non-profit that is helping OEA to accomplish their goals – The Professional Oklahoma Educators.
2. The Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce – Two newly created Chamber of Commerce backed non-profits that are helping to push the legislature to pass a pay raise are: Step Up Oklahoma and One Voice. The Chamber of Commerce is a humanistic organization that repeatedly pushes its liberal agenda in education. The use the education platform to blame the current OK state legislature for everything going wrong in this state.

What do they really want?
The OEA and the Chamber of Commerce want two things:
1. These two organizations are humanistic and therefore globalists. In order to achieve their purposes, the Oklahoma Legislature must become governing body that aligns with their agenda.
2. They want the children in our state to be taught social curricula at the expense of their learning basic skills. This was John Dewey’s plan that Samuel Blumfiel called “dumbing down” America in order to make them better global citizens.

Unrealistic Request
The OEA and the Chamber of Commerce are both asking for $10,000 per year salary increase implemented over the next three years. With Oklahoma’s budget short-fall, this is unrealistic and will set our governing body up for failure, which is what the enemy wants.

The result will be:
1. The Oklahoma Legislature will fail
2. The OEA and the Chamber of Commerce will be able to point to the Legislature during an election cycle and cite lack of teacher pay raise, voting records, public statements, and the budget shortfall as reasons why they should not be re-elected.

The people of Oklahoma have voted down past initiatives that would increase taxes for the purpose of increasing teacher pay, because the increased revenue brought in from taxes would not be specified for teacher salaries – they were tied into additional administrative and higher education expenses.

What’s going on in the legislature that would help the enemy?
There are some in the OK legislature who are party to the one-world government agenda, and do not belong in our governing body. Some, both Republican and Democrat, are hirelings. There has been much contention within our government during this legislative session. With confusion and selfish ambition, the enemy has gained ground. Those who are not interested in furthering God’s agenda for our state are unaware that the enemy is crouched at the door poised for an attack.

Prayer and Praise Assignment!
As Nissan is also the time to enter into violent praise and speak forth what we want to see accomplished over this year in the Mountain of Education.

• The teachers in Oklahoma will not be used as political pawns in a humanistic battle for the minds of our children.
• The teachers will receive a fair, just and equitable pay raise!
• All ungodliness in our state legislature will be revealed and those who need to go will be replaced by Godly men and women who will judge righteously for the good of Oklahoma.
• Thank and Praise God for the unmasking/revealing of all those who have ungodly agendas for our children and our state.
• Our teachers will cry out to God and He will deliver them from their oppression. They will not be a slave to Pharaoh.
• Teaching in our state will revert back to the original intent our forefathers had in education – that they will be able to read God’s Word for themselves.

The Roar of Prayer!

 Many of us, when asked where God is, without missing a beat would reply, “He’s everywhere!” And of course that would be absolutely a correct answer. He IS everywhere. But I can tell you, that most of my prayer life has not reflected God was everywhere, because I had a predominate mindset that God was “out there” somewhere in heaven. I knew better, but wasn’t able to truly translate that into my prayer life.

I knew the scripture in Romans 10:6-8 where Paul said, “Do not say not in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? ‘The word is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming…’ ” (Romans 10:6-8). Somehow, I manage to ignored that scripture and continue to pray to a God in out there someplace. I continually asking Him to come down and hear my prayer.

I knew that I wasn’t the only one who felt the need to cry out to God in heaven. So many of the songs I hear Christians sing in worship, are directed to a God in Heaven. We are all probably familiar with the words of one familiar song, “God, hear us from heaven. Come down and heal our land.” Even when I Googled the word “Intercession” to find a suitable picture to share with you about prayer, most ALL of the pictures showed someone lifting up her hands to the heavens with a colorful cloud burst in the background. Do we have another picture of intercession that comes to our minds more than someone crying out to heaven? Maybe a picture of a lion?

One day as I was praying, and of course, I was crying out to God to come and help whatever situation I was facing. Tears were flowing. I heard the Holy Spirit say a phrase my mother used to say when I would cry without a reason. Simply put: she would say, “Dry up!” And around my house, when my mother issued a direct order. I obeyed immediately! But this was the Lord speaking to me, so I thought, “How does He know I’m sincere if I don’t cry and somewhat beg Him (I couldn’t admit that it was outright begging). I sensed His saying, “I will hear you when you pray out of your inner man with power and conviction.”

So that got me to thinking, Where is God? I mean, where is the God we pray to and go to in time of trouble and in time of worship? I’ve been a believer for a lot of years and this should have been settled a long time ago. As well as being “out there” He is equally “in there.” He is everywhere and as a believer I am connected to Him by His divine matrix.

We have the power and ability of God living inside of us. So next time I’m tempted to cry and beg God, like I have done so often, I will think of the Lion of Judah who lives on the inside of me. He wants me to pray with boldness that comes from the inside out. Let’s begin to roar like the Lion of Judah and believe God for miracles in America and in particular in America’s education. We can make a difference and we will when we come before Him in a Holy Boldness!!

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

 

 

Why Can’t the System Change?

Twice a year, I take prayer teams to Washington, DC to pray at strategic landmarks for this nation. One year the group I took participated in “The Call, ” a gathering of over 100,000 people in the area located between the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument, known as The Mall. People stood in the hot sun for hours as one person after another called the group to repentance then prayer. At one time, some women took the microphone to tell their stories of a past abortion and how that decision to abort their baby had drastically altered their lives. Each one related how her life had spiraled out of control after the abortion. The effects were a long list of destructive behaviors that ranged from having multiple partners, inability to keep a job, rocky family relationships, restlessness, drugs, prostitution, illnesses and compulsive lying. Their lives were out of control and they didn’t know why. What they had done was legal so what was going on? They were unable to get a grip on life until they realized the root cause of their issues and repented for the abortion.

Intercessors join in prayer at "The Call" in Washington, DC
Prayer at the Mall in Washington, DC – The Call

The life stories of these women were compelling. They were not overly emotional but shared with a frank honesty that compelled the listeners to look for root causes within our own lives.  Two days later I met this group of women at the airport while they waited on their plane to take them back home to San Antonio. I talked with them and learned more about their lives. Their testimonies had impacted me and gave me a lot to ponder. I thought of the women whom I knew who had abortions. Many of them were like the Cry Out America women, their lives out of control and they had no clue as to why.

The same is true of our educational system. In the past godless decisions were made that led us on a downward spiral and there has been no repentance offered for those decisions. Our education system is out of control and no one knows what to do or how to make changes to counteract those decisions. The innocent children in our classrooms are the ones who suffer and ultimately our nation. Classroom discipline in many schools in almost nonexistent, children who cannot perform at grade level are often passed to the next grade level, and many graduate from high school who cannot read, write or do simple math problems. We have set ourselves on a self-destructive course and no one knows what to do about it. What if the simple act of repentance could turn things around? What if we could look at our history and realize where those decisions were made that turned us against a loving God? Wouldn’t it be a simple thing?