Category: Uncategorized

The Creation of a Perfect storm in Education

June 15, 2018

Prayer for Protection from DisastersOver the past 20 years, school shootings have almost become common place. Most of the shootings fade into the distant past as a new shooting takes place of the last as the worst in history. How did we get here? What happened in America that over the last two decades 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!

The School Alarm is Sounding!

June 11, 2018

In school, I never remember an emergency that triggered a school alarm. Today school is a different place. School shootings, fights, fires and lock downs are commonplace. The school alarm is going off in the natural, but there’s also a school alarm going off in the Spirit as well. The question is: will the intercessors heed the sound?

On April 20 1999, Eric Haris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. When it was over, the two boys had killed 24 students, one teacher and wounded numerous others. One month later, the community hosted a grief meeting that gave students, teachers, parents and local pastors a platform to express their feelings.

A friend of mine and I drove to Colorado to attend that meeting. As each person came to the microphone to speak, the underlying theme—almost without exception– was that each one had felt something was about to happen. No one had any clue what it was, but felt God told them there was some impending catastrophe on the horizon. One pastor related how he had se
en the boys dressed in their Gothic attire and knew God was telling him that the boys were planning some horrible deed.

Even though many people knew that danger was coming, not a one mentioned intercession as a means to avert a disaster. The deaths were laid at God’s feet but He was not given credit for possibly giving a way out by prompting those who knew Him to heed the alarm that was going off inside of them and pray that the calamity would not happen. We not only need prayer that will deal with education’s past and present, but we need preemptive prayer that will disengage the enemy in future events.

From that Columbine meeting, there were three ways God had given warning:

1. An inward alarm went off while in the presence of the perpetrators.
Many saw Haris and Klebold and sensed the evil. Both boys were avid fans of death centered video games and heavy metal music with lyrics of death and destruction. The boys carried the evil with them and those astute in the Spirit could sense danger.

2. An inward alarm sounded as they entered the school building. They “knew” danger was near.
Some of the speakers, on walking into the school building, knew that something was going to happen.

3. Alarming dreams were given—of being in a dangerous situation at school.
The signs were there but ignored. I don’t think the praying people in Columbine were oblivious to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but rather, they simply didn’t know how to intercede. Intercession is quickly becoming a lost art as not many are taught how to pray in situations where, without God’s intervention, disaster will happen. It’s time for the church to take up the mantle of Elijah and pray for our schools to not only avert danger, but change the entire structure of the Mountain of Education. We can see things change—if we pray. (Read more on this at takingthemountainofeducation.com)

Give it 10 minutes
I suggestion that you give the alarm you are sensing ten minutes of focused prayer as quickly as possible. See what the Holy Spirit speaks to you during that time. The burden may lift and that’s all that’s needed, but perhaps you’ll get direction on how and what to pray at a later time.

Often if we think something will require hours on hours of intense prayer, it will never get done. The task will look too overwhelming. It’s better to be instant in prayer. Hearing God’s voice takes time and practice and it is best not to let the task look too big in the beginning.

Intercession is an absolute act of faith – Faith in the ability of God to change the future is the driving force behind intercession. If anyone ever tells you that that kind of faith that changes circumstances, nations and hardened hearts is easy, they would be lying. It’s like a muscle that isn’t used very much and at first it’s extremely difficult but with continual use, it does get easier. That’s why it’s called “exercising your faith.”

“But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.” Jude 20

Do We Really Need More Money for Education?

May 25, 2018

This semester Oklahoma Educators gave themselves a two-week strike to protest low wages and the general lack of funds for public education in Oklahoma. Teachers in other states across America have already staged strikes or are in the process of planning one. Teachers and their labor union, the NEA, claim they need more money in order to hire and maintain good instructors as well as funds to enrich classroom instruction.

There are excellent instructors who do a great job and certainly deserve above average pay, but classroom problems are beyond the scope of what money can purchase. Our public schools are not servicing the children who come to their classroom, because the problem lies beyond what the schools can do. Will more money assure that our test scores improve? Why should we give more money to those who are unable to produce results that show our children are receiving a decent education? Is more money really the answer?

Recently a friend loaned me a volume of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. An article in the magazine piqued my interest: “Educating the Disadvantaged – Two Models” by Amy L. Wax. How do we best educate those who are marginal, which would include those students who sporadically attend class or who have no educational stimulus in their homes? Is the answer more money to pay the teachers who serve those students or more money to purchase materials to enhance classroom instruction? No, Ms. Wax gives the answer that educators have known for years: more money does not produce better education.

The answer is fundamental to our society and has been known for almost sixty years. The findings were first published in 1966, by educational researcher, Ms. Wax states, “…in light of James Coleman’s original findings in the 1960s, repeatedly confirmed in the decades since, that a child’s economic, social, and family background – and not school composition and quality – are the most important influences on students’ academic performance. As stated in the Coleman report, “the school appears unable to exert independent influences to make achievement levels less dependent on the child’s background – and this is true within each ethnic group…”

It’s the family! The breakdown in American families is at the heart of the failure of our children to learn. We look for better teachers and tax the working public for more money in order to fund a system that is destined for failure because the root cause has not been address. The root of the problem is the breakdown in the American family structure!

It is extremely important that when we pray for education, we include prayer for the families in this country because the family unit is the bedrock of all the cultural mountains that make up our society. As the family goes, so goes our nation.

Prayer for the Mountain of Education During the Month of Sivan

May 23, 2018

When settlers came to America in the early 1700s, they established schools with Judeo-Christian instruction that instilled in their children a strong Christian foundation. These schools taught individualism and personal responsibility, traits that prepared their children for the rigors of frontier life in the new world. It wasn’t until 1884 that the first public school was established as the fulfillment of a campaign promise to the Unitarians by Horace Mann, known as the Father of Public Education. As the newly elected Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, Mann promised he would start schools totally funded by tax payer money without religious instruction. Beginning in 1884, America had two school systems. In the beginning, there wasn’t a lot of difference between the two because the teachers were from the local communities and were strong Christians, but over time the two systems have diverged with totally different objectives.

The month of Sivan is the month of twins. As a result of Horace Mann’s actions we now have twin educations streams – one secular and one religious. During this month, we choose to nurture America’s Godly educational inheritance with our declarations, prayers, proclamations and decrees. This is also the month of Firstfruits, cause, alignment, strength and clear vision.

• We decree and declare that the Godly stream of America’s education flourishes. We speak life into that Godly stream and command it to live, grow and mature so it will feed the minds of our youth with God’s Word.
• We decree that the Mountain of Education to come into alignment with the intents and purposes of God.
• We speak to schools, teachers and administrators who serve God in America’s schools and we decree that you go from strength to strength.
• In this month of Firstfruits, we decree that new revelation will be given to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. She will share her revelation with those in her team who are new wineskins and who will receive the Firstfruits of her revelation, and align themselves with God’s mindset.
• We decree and declare as this is a month of giving, our students will be given an education second to none in the world.
• We decree that Secretary DeVos and each member of her team will find his/her place of strength during this time, and they will move from strength to strength. That strength will open doors for them to share new battle plans.
• We declare that those in leadership will see clearly what needs to be done to reform education in America.

Nancy Huff
HAPN Mountain of Education Leader

When You Pray – Remember David and Goliath

May 16, 2018

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.

The Perfect Storm in Education

April 19, 2018

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!

 

The Roar of Prayer!

April 11, 2018

 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

 

 

Now is the time for Intercessors to Arise!

April 9, 2018

Judges 4 tells the story of one of Israel’s unlikely delivers. The Israelites had done evil in the eyes of the Lord. As a result of their disobedience, the Lord sold them to a Canaanite king who cruelly oppressed them for twenty years. They cried to the Lord for help. Deborah, a prophetess, told Barak, a warrior, what to do to deliver the people, but he refused to go without Deborah. Together they pursued the enemy and won the victory. In chapter 5 after the victory, we have the Song of Deborah. The last verse says, “So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may they who love you be like the sun, when it rises in its strength.” Today, let us rise in strength to overthrow our oppressors!

 Recently I read an article by Luis Durani, “The Closing of the American Mind.” Mr. Durani credits America’s faulty educational system as the major reason for the downturn in American society. We have a 70% graduation rate for our high schools and of those who do graduate, only 80% of them are college ready (that means they can enter college without having to take any remedial classes).

California who has one of the poorest educational track records in our country has come up with a novel idea proposed by Governor Jerry Brown. Governor Brown wants to give failing schools back to their communities. Basically, he is saying that the government has run California’s poorer schools in the ground and now they doesn’t know what to do— so simply return it to an already poverty stricken neighborhood that has no resources or track record for improving education.

While our schools fail, the powers over education, spend time, money and resources on making sure that transgender students have the right to choose a bathroom of their chosen gender. This is a prime example of the actions by the infamous Emperor Nero, who was said to “fiddle while Rome burned.”

Today, America needs unlikely deliverers like Barak and Deborah to rise up and lead the way in prayer and intercession. We cannot wait. In a few days, schools will be open and children will pour through the doors with hope of obtaining an education that will prepare them for life. But 21% of the students will never learn to read beyond a fifth grade level. In the natural, we are on the brink of sheer hopelessness.

But God…. Those of us who trust in God have a different kind of hope for American education. No matter how dismal things may seem, we know that if we don’t quit and we stand strong in prayer, we can transform American education! Let us resolve to make things better. We are not hopeless.  Neither are we hopeful dreamers, we stand on the Word of God pray and believe that things can, and will, be different. God isn’t finished with America and His desire is for the Mountain of Education to be transformed.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Hebrews 11:1-2

Common Core is Dead!

March 19, 2018

Did you hear the news that Common Core is Dead? The obituary was rather short, a mere 250 words, not much for such a weighty historical effort, and for the most part, the media paid little, if no, attention. My guess is that they long suspected that Common Core would find its way into the graveyard of programs developed by past US Presidents that did nothing to improve this nation academic test scores. Every President since George H. W. Bush has had a national educational program implemented through the Department of Education: Bill Clinton—Expanding Educational Opportunities; George W. Bush—No Child Left Behind; Barak Obama—Race to the Top which included Common Core. The surprising thing is that none of the federal programs worked!

 

January 18th Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at a conference hosted by the American Enterprise Institute on “lessons learned”  about school reform specifically during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. Her conclusion was that the only thing the two Department of Education programs had in common was that they were federal programs. Secretary DeVos said, “Common Core is a disaster, and at the U.S. Department of Education, Common Core is dead.”

 

Many times we pray and we never see the answer to our prayers.  I dedicate this article to the many prayer warriors who have prayed in small home groups for years for America’s schools. Their prayers intensified when Common Core became the . Yes, some of the teaching methods of Common Core were questionable, but teachers know new methods of teaching come and go. It was the clandestine agenda that lingered in the background of Common Core that was more dangerous than teaching methods. The curriculum was produced by globalists who want a moralist society that is easily controlled. They followed the footsteps of Communists like John Dewey who began in the late 1800s and worked diligently (and successfully), in our public schools to produce global citizens for the 21st century.

 

Secretary DeVos’ new plan for education is for the states to exercise control over their individual educational programs, and for more “parental empowerment.” She stated, “Ideally, parent and teacher work together to help a child discover his or her potential and pursue his or her passions.” Her statements do not mention the federal government.

 

Secretary DeVos’ statement on Common Core is a brave move. In her declaration, she stood against the largest, most powerful, and most liberal labor union in the United States, as well as a lot of other liberal educators who will consider her demented. Let’s pray for Secretary DeVos—protection from verbal attacks as well as safety. Also, pray for her to complete her mission to reform American education. Pray for our schools to teach students to grow in the knowledge and the grace of God!

 

Prayer is Doing the Work

May 27, 2016

Praying for a school, isn’t for the faint of heart. No getting around it, prayer is work. That’s because prayer is believing in God who hears and answers us when we call on him. One of my favorite scriptures is John 6:29, “Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'” So what helps us do the “work of believing?” I’ve listed four things that it takes to at least get going in prayer.

  • Faith – it takes faith to believe God for change in our schools
  • Knowledge – we must know how to pray targeted, effective prayers
  • Energy – it takes a lot of effort and energy to pray, whether it’s making the effort to get together with a group to pray or to go walk around a school and pray
  • Perseverance – one time prayers, while nice, are not likely to produce the long-term results needed to produce the radical change we need in our educational system.

    Prayerwalkers
    Prayerwalkers

I remember when I first prayed at a local school. As an educator, I had some idea of the battles going on in the classrooms of the schools where we prayed, so thoughts prayer would be simple – but prayer often needs some “warm up” and sometimes requires a “jump-start” to get going. The four things I’ve listed above gives the “warm up” and the impetus to get going and keep going, until we see the results!

God bless you as you engage in His work!

PRAYER

Jesus, you said to pray for laborers to go into the field of harvest. I pray for multitudes of faith-filled believers to come to the forefront of the battles for the minds of our children. I pray they will believe You for transformation and reformation in American education.

CONFESSION

I have the faith, knowledge, energy and perseverance to pray until I see this school transformed from the inside out by the glory of God!