If you are anything like me, you are becoming increasingly concerned about the rising cost of fuel. Predictions of a nationwide average of $4.00 per gallon may already be a reality in your community by the time this newsletter is released. Not only does it affect how often and how far we drive our vehicles, but its crude tentacles reach into practically every aspect of our everyday lives, such as the grocery store, the lawn and garden store, and the electronics store. If all of the economic prognosticators are correct, little hope for a decline in pricing is looming on the near horizon.

On May 10, 2008, MSN® Money featured an article titled "What if Gas Cost $10 a Gallon?" The subtitle read, "Forget pizza delivery. And cheap airfares. And bottled water. In fact, forget a way of life that looks much like today's." The editor's note made it clear the article was one of a series of "what if" articles. Nevertheless, its contents were definitely thought provoking....

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Voddie Bauchman and Bruce Shortt tried it again. Their initial efforts in 2004 were soundly defeated and highly criticized, but their tireless efforts have never waned due to their uncompromising convictions. Now, four years after their initial resolution, they tried it again—only this time, they targeted the state of California.

They attempted to introduce yet another resolution at the 2008 Southern Baptist Convention but were once again silenced. The resolution called for churches "to work vigorously as a mission effort to encourage and support the expansion in California of (1) Christian schools, (2) homeschooling and homeschool co-ops, and (3) alternative models for providing Christian education." It continued by asking churches to communicate repeatedly with California parents, pastors, and Christian California school employees about (1) what has been done to California's public schools by Senate Bill SB777 and its related legislation, (2) what that legislation means for California's children, families, churches and culture, and (3) what Christian educational alternatives are available." In essence, they were calling on the church to support the removal of Christian children from the California public school system and to provide viable Christ honoring options for their parents....

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The April issue of The Messenger revealed our plans for the development and release of new courses. We are pleased to announce some of those courses have already been completed and are now available in Switched-On Online! Listed below are course titles and release dates for these 15 new electives offered for both Switched-On curriculum options:

Switched-On Online™...

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Another school year has passed. Prayerfully, you can look back and see how God has used you to increase your students' knowledge of facts and figures, better their understanding of the times, and most importantly, draw them closer to Christ. And just as we say that graduation, whether from kindergarten or high school, is a commencement of what is to come, so it is for you. For some, summer vacation is a welcomed time of rest and relaxation. For others, it's simply a time to anticipate the day you get to see your students' faces again in September. Whatever the case may be, here are some helpful hints that may help you stay sharp over the summer months:

Stay Involved...

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At Alpha Omega Publications®, we are increasingly concerned about the effect the public school system is having upon Christian children throughout our nation. We also realize many churches want to offer a viable solution, but are lacking in funds, facility space, and adequate staffing. For this reason, we developed School in a Box to assist these ministries in offering an affordable, Christ-centered, academically-sound educational alternative to their communities.

The plan is very simple. We bring the school to the ministry facility via the services of our accredited online academy, known as Alpha Omega Academy® (AOA). Accredited through the Commission on International and Trans-regional Accreditation (CITA) and the North Central Association/Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA/CASI), AOA provides all curriculum, teacher assistance, and recordkeeping. The ministry provides the facility with an Internet connection and qualified adult supervision. Students in grades K-12 are enrolled in AOA and come to the facility to complete their daily work. Grade K-2 students use a combination of paper-based curriculum to build a solid foundation in reading and math skills, while grade 3-12 students complete daily assignments with our interactive computer-based curriculum, Switched-On Schoolhouse®....

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Josh McDowell said, "Public Education Against America exposes the truth about American public education. This book is a wake-up call to every concerned citizen. I pray that we all heed its call."

For a limited time, Alpha Omega Publications® is offering a free copy of this book to pastors, ministry leaders, or Christian school administrators who are interested in or who want to spread the word about School in a Box. To read more about this program and to discover how you can receive your free copy, visit the article in this month's Messenger on School in a Box.

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Cornerstone World Outreach in Sioux City, Iowa, is a church with a mission statement of "reaching the world one person at a time." With extensive outreach ministries, the staff at Cornerstone was already plenty busy without adding the extra work of starting a Christian school. For example, one of our more rewarding outreach ministries is our Club Genesis Program that has reached over 7,000 un-churched five- to twelve-year-old children with the gospel message during the last seven years.

Taking an in-depth and prayerful analysis of what our ministry was accomplishing, and how and why we were doing specific things, gave us a realization we had been working so hard to reach the unsaved that we were somewhat neglecting the stewardship of what God had already given us. Realizing what our own church children remaining in the public schools were being subjected to was a sobering thought. By keeping our children in public education for twelve years, we risked them adopting the world's view on the issues they would face in life, or worse yet, we risked our children becoming part of the 85% group who abandon their faith in God....

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