Seven Mountains of Influence (Education)

Text: Matthew 18:5-6, Psalm 78:5-8, Proverbs 22:6, Daniel 1:3-4 
Matthew 18:5-6
William Butler Yeats said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. Education is not about the acquiring of information, facts, or even knowledge. Education is about igniting the soul with a passion to accomplish something yet undone.”
In November 1951, the Board of Regents of New York proposed that public schools start the day with a non-denominational prayer. School boards were authorized, but not required, to adopt the recommendation. It became known as The Regents' Prayer because it was written by the New York State Board of Regents. The prayer was twenty-two words that went as follows:
“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen.”
Each day would begin with this prayer by the students. Students could opt out with a written note form their parents.
In 1962, Steven Engel and a host of other parents from New Hyde Park, NY sued the school board president William J. Vitale Jr., challenging that the prayer was unconstitutional. 
Two of the plaintiffs were Jewish, one was an atheist, one was a Unitarian church member, and one was a member of the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Steven I. Engel, a Jewish man, became the lead plaintiff in the case of Engel v. Vitale. 
In 1963, Madalyn Murray O’haire, an American atheist, challenged the policy of mandatory prayers and Bible reading in Baltimore public schools, which was heard by the United States Supreme Court, and later ruled that officially sanctioned mandatory Bible-reading in American public schools was unconstitutional. After she founded the American Atheists and won Murray v. Curlett, she achieved attention to the extent that in 1964, Life magazine referred to her as "the most hated woman in America.
In 1963, soon after moving in a new Baltimore neighborhood, Madalyn accompanied William, her oldest son to their local school, Woodbourne Junior High School, to re-enroll William for freshman classes. 
She was unhappy to see students, after they recited the Pledge of Allegiance, engage in prayer. She instructed William to keep a log of all religious exercises and references to religion for the next two weeks, saying, "Well, if they'll keep us from going to Russia where there is some freedom, we'll just have to change America."
God never called the church to hide in the corner. 
As I said earlier in this series, scripture says that we “occupy until He comes.”  We stand and occupy. 
Occupy - to invest with the intent to increase. 
Proverbs 22:6 
It’s a mandate to raise them in the things of the Lord. 
We are fighting for our future. The church left the education of our children to the leftist liberals. 
We have failed to protect our children from the atheist agenda. 
We have swung the pendulum so far to left and it is leaving our children victims to the demon agenda of the enemy. 
The church was silent when prayer was removed form schools and it is silent now. 
I take issue with pastors and church leaders that say that the church should stay out of politics. 
37 of the 39 books in the Old Testament deal with the actions of political figure in some way. 
We are told to pray for our political leaders, but to also let God’s point of view on politics be heard. 
How did we get here? 
- genders. 
- perversion. 
After the civil war states held the decisions on school decisions. 
Schools have and will always have an agenda.
There is a socialist agenda in our culture to indoctrinate our children. 
Daniel 1:3-4
With the absence of mom or dad in many homes it makes its easier for the enemy to have his way.  
He wants to desensitize our children as early as possible.
- Worm Loves Worm
- American Psycho
- Let’s Talk About It
Ellen Hopkins - books have QR codes. 
So many churches have created their own god, the god of self. The church has lost the reverence of God Almighty. He is Holy, Holy, Holy!
The church needs to turn back to Jesus and the Finished Work of the Cross. 
Secret closets in schools. 
Kirk Cameron - book, As You Grow
We must regain what has been lost.
Psalm 78:5-6