Seminar description
The seminars include something for elementary students, teens, and parents. Our goal is to encourage everyone to be challenged to know what they believe, why they believe it, and to be able to defend their beliefs. Students need to be warned not to be taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy (Col 2:8), but rather to be like the sons of Issachar (1 Chron. 12;32) who understood the times and knew what to do.
We start off the day all together in one room. We make (what seems like) outrageous statements that the audience is to either applaud or “boo.” Then we question the responses, asking if the person responding can defend, explain, or debate his position. We do that to help students realize that oftentimes they have strong beliefs and they don’t really know why they believe what they believe. We are not trying to undermine parental teaching — on the contrary we hope that the students leave the seminar with a strong desire to discuss these issues further with their parents. We will talk about the importance of being like the Berean’s who were more noble than the Thessaolonians because after they heard Paul preach they searched the scriptures to see if what he said was true. Our children need to learn how to ask the right questions and, more importantly, they need to be equipped to find the Biblical answers to their questions. After a basic introduction to “What is a worldview and why is important that I have a Biblical worldview?” we divide the group, separating the younger students from the teens.
The younger students will be given a basic explanation of the 3 worldviews (naturalism, pantheism and theism). We use movie clips to explain the origin, identity, meaning, morality, and destiny of each worldview. Let me explain the use of movies. For one thing, they are entertaining. For another thing, all movies have worldview messages — some subtle, some not so subtle. For instance, in “Horton Hears a Who” the Kangaroo mom says (several times), “If you can’t feel it, see it, or touch it, it does not exist.” That’s naturalism, pure and simple. We show short clips of G rated movies. We explain that some of the children may not have been allowed to see some of these movies, and for good reason. We are careful to explain why we are showing the clips we show. Before showing the clips we talk about obey and honoring and why it is so important that a child trust his parent’s decisions and authority. We explain the difference between obedience and honor. In order for a child to embrace and live out a Biblical worldview, he needs to be dedicated to a life of obedience and honor. Because worldview is such an deep issue we include a session on public speaking, understanding and identifying false logic, and defining and understanding truth. These are basic foundations for embracing a Biblical worldview. The seminars will include skits, power point, and games.
The teens will also have the 3 worldviews explained, but at a deeper level. They will be taught by 2 or 3 teen boys (depending on the city of the seminar). Two of the teachers have completed the Impact 360 program and attended Summit numerous times before staffing for Summit. In addition to movies, they will discuss music and other forms of entertainment as well as issues dealing with technology. We live in a depraved culture that is taking captive our Christian youth in huge (and scary) numbers. The entire day is spent on worldview issues with the teens. The students will be challenged to examine their lives, discover purpose and meaning, give serious thought to vocation and calling, and, probably the most important issue, realize how little they really know. They will learn to ask great questions, be encouraged to listen well, and be challenged to find mentors and accountability partners. At the end of the day the teens are challenged to take what they’ve heard and apply it to their lives in such a way that they can better impact the world for Christ.
The parents have a session (for their ears only) on today’s culture. Do you know what the #1 hit is on the radio these days? You’ll be shocked and saddened to know it’s a song by a young lady who used to sing for a Christian label. She’s changed her name to Katy Perry and the song title of the #1 hit today is “I Kissed a Girl.” (The rest of the line is, “and I liked it.”) What’s a parent to do? We’ll discuss responses as well as make recommendations for additional resources to help parents understand and teach worldview issues to their children. The parents will also have an opportunity to watch a DVD of John Stonestreet (he’s an executive director of Summit Ministries). In addition the parents will get to hear from the teen teachers on how their lives have been impacted by worldview teaching. There will be a question and answer session too. During the seminar the parents will have an opportunity to join the students if they so choose.
At the end of the day we’ll come back together for a “What Now” session. This will include stories of Christians who have made an impact on others, recommended resources for further study, and a challenge to keep on learning, growing, and becoming more and more Christlike — for God’s glory.
