Several years ago, I met with a pastor interested in starting a Christian school. The longer we conversed, the more passionate he became about the need to reach children in his community. He explained that the source of his new found passion was discovered in reading a book written by George Barna titled Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions.

Though written in 2003, Barna's book contains truths that are even more relevant today. This was evident as George Barna delivered the keynote address to the 2009 Switched-On® User Group in San Antonio, Texas.

Titled "Intentional Development of Biblical Worldview," Barna's speech was replete with statistical data indicative of the spiritual ignorance of today's youth. One such sobering fact was that less than one in 25 teens currently possesses a biblical worldview.

He cited the media as one of the main resources from which young people are easily seduced by other worldviews. He labeled the media as "cheap, accessible, convenient, and acceptable" and went beyond merely suggesting a solution.

"We have to help students think like Jesus," Barna demanded. "We have to sow something different!"

At first, sowing something different seemed to be an unnecessary comment considering the audience. As dedicated Christian educators, many thought they had been sowing something different for years. Barna then elaborated that building a Christian worldview into students must be an intentional choice with specific goals, and he exhorted schools to make worldview development their highest classroom achievement.

At Alpha Omega Publications®, we are committed to working with you to make worldview development your highest classroom achievement. While we consistently improve our curriculum to meet the highest academic standards, we do so without compromising our commitment to a biblical worldview.

When it comes to setting specific goals, our Switched-On Bible curriculum provides an easy solution for intentional development of a Christian worldview. Deliberate age-appropriate content is built into our 3rd-12th grade Bible courses. Consider these unit titles:

3rd Grade Bible: "Archeology and the Bible"
4th Grade Bible: "How Can I Know God Exists?"
5th Grade Bible: "Proving What We Believe"
7th Grade Bible: "Christian Evidences"
8th Grade Bible: "Attributes of God"
Bible Doctrine: "Apologetics"
Christian Faith and Living: "Comparative Religions"

Like all our courses, our Bible curriculum is written with critical thinking skills that require more of students than rote memory and re-telling of Bible stories. Rather, the main point throughout each course is to encourage students to develop reasoning skills that build students' faith in the stability of God in an ever-changing world.

At the same time, we acknowledge teachers are a living curriculum and encourage them to be deliberate in their use of our Bible courses. Though Switched-On provides the majority of the content our teachers use, our custom curriculum feature offers an excellent way for teachers to further inculcate worldview principles into each course.

As we were honored to have George Barna as our keynote speaker, we are also honored to work with you in the effective worldview training of your students. Together, we can continue to sow something different and reap the results of a new generation of Christian leaders equipped with a solid biblical foundation.

Roy Faletti
Vice President of Educational Services