Are you ready for some football?

I'm sure that by now you have all heard the buzz about the introduction of a brand new football program at our school beginning in 2012. Amid the excitement and opportunity that a program like this will mean for our school, you may be wondering 'why football?' Football is important for our school because in the South there is no other sport which attracts so much community. This in no way means that football trumps all other sports, but I do believe that the community culture fostered by football can be a unifying and exciting element of the school experience. So as a school approaching its 43rd year, why are we adding football now? It's simple really: Levon Kirkland. When the Lord provides opportunity, He doesn't mess around. Levon's vision for football at Shannon Forest aligns well with our philosophies here at the school; Levon wants to build more than a program--he wants to build young men. Yes, there are challenges; that's how opportunity works. And this is a great opportunity for us to show the very qualities we want to teach all of our students: diligence, teamwork, and perseverance to accomplish one's goals.

 In order to create this great culture of football, it's going to require passion, love, 

commitment and hard work from the entire Shannon Forest Nation!

Levon Kirkland

SFCS Football Headlines:

Fox Carolina 

WYFF 4 

 News Channel 7

Greenville News
 

To Equip and Challenge

I recently visited Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia where I had the chance to catch up with several of our alumni. One evening in the dining hall, a group of students that were at my table began discussing Christ and Culture, a required seminar at Covenant. I was encouraged to hear these young men and women talk about this topic, and during the course of the conversation it became clear that some of these young people had been trained to actively engage in the world as salt and light. On the other hand, it was also evident that some at the table had been trained to avoid the world. 

Covenant College atop Lookout Mountain, GA

This dichotomy made me ask myself 'what are we trying to do at Shannon Forest?' Our mission statement calls us to "equip and challenge our students to influence culture and society for Jesus Christ." Thus given our mission, it seems to me that we must train our students to engage the world, not hide from it. Let me offer some ideas on what this means:

1. Transform not Conform. I have always told my daughter Lyndsay that in life you are either a thermostat or a thermometer: you either set the temperature or you merely measure it. Romans 12:1-2 states this plainly:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this if your true and perfect worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will."

 2. Filter. One of the primary values of Christian education is that it allows students to be exposed to Truth, primarily the Truth as presented in Scripture. Rather than simply give students a list of dos and don'ts, we must teach them to filter all of life through a filter of Truth. Paul tells us to "take every thought captive." In the conversation at Covenant, and in many other conversations with students, I find an underdeveloped discernment regarding the contrast between a Biblical worldview and the message of the world. 

3. Love. Jesus came to save the world, not condemn it. All too frequently Christians are simply known for what they are against. Our interaction with the world is to be part of the mission of God: to save that which was lost. 

I believe that if we can equip our students in these ways, we will indeed influence culture and society for Jesus.

Salt and Light