| Seeking His Kingdom
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Beginning January 11, 2007, our chaplain,
Ray Leatherman's weekly Bible study for parents will resume on Friday afternoons at 2:30 p.m. Come early for afternoon car goup and join us in the library.
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| Cub Scouts teach fellow students how to conserve water.
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The Wolf Den of Heiskell's Cub Scout Pack 226 is leading the school's water conservation efforts during our historic draught.
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Hundreds of
Shoeboxes
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filled with gifts for children around the world were sent to Samaritan's Purse. Junior high students packed Mr. L's truck and trailer as part of our service to dedicate the gifts and pray for their recipients.
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| Vintage Jeeps
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visit school on Veteran's Day.
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Christmas
Wish List
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While making out your Christmas List, consider adding some of our favorite things. We think they will be yours, too.The Listener's BibleParenting by the BookShepherdinga Child's Heart We are also encourage you to purchase gifts for your children which do not require batteries or involve them in electronics. Books and puzzles, blocks and baby dolls...items which require imagination and hold their attention are the ones that they will return to over and over again.For a site with unique historically inspired toys,check out Vision Forum.Other suggestions for young children can be found on The Heiskell School's website. |
| Hugs for Christmas
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Heiskell students shared Jesus' love through songs and hugs with residents in several elder care homes as well as Atlanta Hospice.
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| Boy Scout Pack 226
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was recently honored by the North Atlanta District of the Boy
Scouts of America, when our cubs were asked to lead the flag ceremony
at the annual Golden Eagle Breakfast. |
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Prefirst and first graders kicked off our season of
Great Performances with their Christmas production of
"A Shepherd's Story" on December 7, 2007.
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Greetings!
 As Christmas celebratons begin in homes and churches this December, we at the Heiskell School hope that you will join us for our celebrations as well. Tuesday and Wednesday, December 18 and 19 at 9:00 a.m. our preschoolers will share the Christmas story through joyful music. (In order to accomodate our large crowds, we ask that parents, family and friends attend only one performance.) Thursday, December 20 at 8:30 a.m. join elementary and junior high students to worship Jesus, the newborn King, at our annual Festival of Lessons and Carols. This is my favorite service of the school year!  Please come worship with us. Invite your family and friends, too. This Christmas I am particularly grateful that God has raised up cultural warriors who are helping us understand the attacks on our faith and giving us valuable tools to help us rebuild the walls of our city, beginning in our own homes. This online newsletter contains reference  s and links to articles which
I have mentioned in our weekly newsletters as well as some I have not. My prayer is that you will benefit from these and pass them on to your family and friends. Enjoy! Cyndie Heiskell |
Discover God
 In a day when challenges for our children's hearts and minds abound, God has given Kathy Bright, daughter-in-law of Campus Crusade for Christ's founder Bill Bright, a vision for teaching our children about the true nature of God through animated stories.
The Owl in My Window is a series of animated films which will teach children God's attributes in a winsome manner. They have been in production for a couple of years and will be available as a free download from the Discover God website in February.
A website well worth checking out, Discover God offers a daily devotion which helps adults know God and delight in his attributes. Mighty, gracious, merciful, righteous....we have a God worthy of praise and worth knowing.
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Parenting by the Book
Be sure to add John Rosemond's latest book, to th e top of your Christmas list. We have long enjoyed John Rosemond's weekly columns in the Atlanta Journal Constitution as well as his books and talks. With his latest book John Rosemond brings parents back to the uncomplicated basics, offering biblically based principles that help parents be the parents they want to be with children who grow up to be a delight.
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The Golden Compass...the new Narnia?
In the past few weeks I have received scores of emails about The Golden Compass, a movie which opened in theaters on Friday, December 7, 2007.
The Golden Compass is based on a triology of children's books written by atheist Phillip Pullman, who is reputed to be a
master storyteller. Sadly, he is a storyteller with a purpose - an
overtly
stated purpose of not simply ra ising doubts in God but of destroying
all belief in God. Apparently, Pullman's trilogy was written as a counterpoint to
C. S. Lewis' ever popular Narnia tales, which inspire faith and have been loved by generations of children. Pullman's
stated goal was to "kill God" in the mind's of children.
As the movie's target audience is children, thoughtful Christians who are on the front lines of the "culture wars" are warning parents of the true nature of this heavily promoted film. The banners at shopping malls and ads are most appealing. As so often happens when the underlying message is one which kills and destroys, that which is evil can often look fascinating, beautiful and even harmless on the surface, enticing us into a trap.
Reviews indicate that the message of the movie is much more toned down than the overt message of the books. The concern then becomes one of parents thinking that the movie is "not all that bad", allowing the children to be exposed and the consequent likelihood that the movie will entice their children to read the books, poisoning their hearts and minds.
Why is this issue so important?
Stories engage the heart as well as the mind, having a much more deeply rooted impact on our values than truths presented as dry facts. When our hearts hear the messages conveyed in stories, especially well told ones, our minds often follow.
Pullman's rebellion against authority is an age old one. Each of us must choose between two kingdoms. We either choose to continue in the rebellion into which we were born or turn to Jesus and accept God's gracious gift of true Life. Protecting our children's hearts and minds while they are young is a responsibility with eternal weight.
The Word gives us guidelines of how to lead our children to the One who is the Truth. Exposing them to overtly anti-religious messages is not one of them. Ideas do have consequences, both in this world and the world to come. Let us then proclaim the Truth to the ones we love.
(The above photo shows a fourth grader sharing his depiction of Narnia with a grandparent during our recent Grandparents Day celebration.)
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A valuable resource in the
"Culture Wars"
With the constant flow of entertainment choices, how do we make wise decisions to protect our children from
"entertainment" which would pollute their hearts and minds?
Movieguide provides an answer. The founder and president of the Christian Film and Television Commission, Ted Baehr, edits
Movieguide, which is published on the web and in print form (by Heiskell School parents). Both versions offer indepth movie reviews and thoughtful articles from a distinctly biblical perspective.
Current reviews are free for one week online. To read older reviews or reviews of videos, one must join, paying a small fee, which is used to help fund their noble mission.
A review
of The Golden Compass is currently offered free on this website. Be sure to bookmark it and return regularly to read current reviews from a distinctly
Christian perspective.
Ted Baehr
is a trusted source for sound advice. He is a good friend and an enthusiastic supporter of our ministry. When he and his
wife Lili lived in Atlanta, their children attended the Heiskell
School, where they were active parents for twelve years. (Their oldest
two graduated before Ted's work necessitated a move to California.)
I highly recommend his book The Media Wise Family. Like it or not our children will become media consumers one day. Let's teach them to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" and rear a generation of savy consumers. |
Kindergarten sharing God's love with new friends.
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Mars Hill Audio
In addition to the Movieguide review of The Golden Compass, check out another online resource. Mars Hill Audio has released a free podcast of an interview of literary critic, Alan Jacobs by Ken Myers. The interview is long but rewarding. Do listen to the entire
interview, as it only really gets meaty several minutes into the
discussion. One can search the iTunes store for a free podcast
(keywords: Ken Myers, Mars Hill Audio), or go directly to an audio link
entitled Audition 10.
The advantage of the podcast is that the interview can be saved and
enjoyed at a later time - either on your computer or with a MP3 player.
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Podcasting with iTunes
iTunes is compatible with both Macs and PCs. It comes installed on Macs and can be downloaded for free from Apple's website.
Once installed, open iTunes, click on "iTunes Store" and then "Podcasts". Type "Ken Myers Mars Hill Audio" for a podcast of the interview mentioned in the above article.
It will be downloaded to your computer and will be available to transfer to an iPod or other MP3 player.
I love podcasting. It has provided a rich resource of free Bible teaching, sermons, and even university lectures. Every morning I am able to listen to my favorite teacher, Derek Prince because the teaching is so easy to obtain. For more complete instructions on adding iTunes to your computer, click on the Derek Prince link.
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Eighth graders experience the "comforts" of a jeep ambulance.
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A Jeep's View
 The generation which fought World War II and the Korean War, Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation" is aging quickly. This fall Heiskell students were asked to interview veterans, engaging them in conversations which would encourage them to tell their stories.
One creative lass decided to interview the vintage jeeps which her dad collects. To share the story her dad brought jeeps from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom to school. The oldest were grey and a bit rusty and creaky, having aged - not unlike the young men who drove them many years ago. All are being preserved in their original condition.
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The Heiskell School family enjoyed Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel during a recent night at the opera.
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If you have enjoyed the information in this newsletter and would like to share it with friends and family, click the "Forward email" link below.
We wish you a Merry Christmas, dear friends!
Cyndie Heiskell
The Heiskell School |
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