The Heart of the Matter: The God-Focused School

by Frank Hamrick

What do you really want to see happen in the lives of the young people in your school? Are you teaching to modify their behavior or to transform their hearts? The purpose of a Christian school is not to teach youth how to live—but to magnify the majesty of God.

Christian school teachers are not behaviorists, but cardiologists. They teach, not only so students will achieve academic excellence, but also so students will have a heart for God and zeal to exalt His name.

The Heart of the Matter offers . . .
--A contrast of what God-Focused ministry is and is not
--The four-fold emphasis of a God-Focus
--The effects of a God-Focus
--Ideas on how to implement a God-Focus in your school

Genres: Christian, Education

54 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Seth Woodley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book offers a shallow and oversimplified look at Christian education. It spends very little time on school-related matters; it is more of a guide to God-focused youth ministry. At the expense of detailed and thoughtful tips detailing what a Christian school could and should be like, it provides platitudinal phrases that make it sound as though every class should be a Bible class every day. In so doing, it undervalues the goodness, truth, and beauty that could be revealed in the classroom through the learning experience. It does not provide ample guidance on how each subject could be used for the glory of God by being taught from a biblical worldview (only a paragraph is devoted to that idea). Unfortunately, it is this kind of oversimplification that prevents this work from being meaningful or helpful.

[Chad Delhotal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Quick read, but much to give serious meditation to. Hamrick gets right to the heart of what is wrong in many Christan schools, but the applications extend far beyond the school. Highly recommended!

[Christine Meunier · Rating 4 out of 5]

An aptly named book. When our heart is in line with God and on fire for Him, all else will fall into place. An interesting read and exploration of scriptures for Christian teachers.

[Kayla · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were certainly some good points in this book, but I found the author’s writing style to be annoying, cliche, oversimplified, accusatory, and a little abrasive. This being said, he made a very good point throughout the book about the importance of being focused on God and motivated by a love for Him as opposed to teaching moralistic behaviors.

[Edy Gies · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book! It is extrmemtly short, but very poinient and necessary to parents and those involved in Christian ministry. I know if our youth group/classes had had a different focus it would have been very helpful for my spiritual development. My favorite quote is, "Godly parent are really God-focused parents. Some define "godly parents" as those who go to church, have high standards for their children, and strive to teach them to know and obey the Bible. If this is true godliness, then if falls short of what youth need and what God desires. Children need parents who are dimensionally deeper than the "godliness" described above. They need parents who have an abiding love for the Lord and who know how to magnify His name to their children in such a way that their children do not simply conform to their parents lifestyle, but they fall in love with their parents' God." Good stuff, but oh, so challenging because it is way easier to deal with the outside than the inside!

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read! While intended for teachers and administrators of institutional Christian schools and youth group leaders, there is much that applied to me as a homeschool program administrator too. A great reminder that we don't want to present our Lord to our students as only someone who must be obeyed, but as awesome, majestic, and glorious. We must be so in love with Him and so passionate about Him that our students WANT to know Him.

[Ryan Mcguire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Our staff did this book for a devotional. while it did create some good discussions, the book was incoherent at times.

Hamrick presupposes that all of God's attributes carry equal weight. The problem with this is that you end up with a God who is not love. You can't marry the idea that all of God's attributes carrying equal weight with ".... because god is love" (1 John 4:8). Or at least, if you do it will be with some incredible leaps of logic.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our staff used this book as the basis for staff devotions two years ago. It puts the focus of Christian school ministry into perspective. It reminds us that our purpose is to glorify God and teach a Biblical world-view rather than to get side-tracked by creating programs for students, although those are important too.

[Huntley Cooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was assigned reading for teachers for this coming school year. I thought his points were valid and necessary but the application for teachers of any subject other than Bible was underdeveloped.