Are you worried about events that may happen in the coming year? Some lyrics of an old tune may give you comfort and assurance that God knows, controls, and causes everything to work out for the good of those he loves and has called. Ponder:

Many things about tomorrow, I don’t seem to understand,

But I know who holds the future and I know he holds my hand.

So, confidently, we can say “Happy and blessed New Year in Christ.”

The Grace Staff

I’m referring to the Middle States accreditation evaluation team visit. Although SCC has been professionally accredited since 2002, in 2006 the college began a candidacy period for regional accreditation. Thousands of hours of research, writing, editing and formatting have resulted in a comprehensive examination of the Fourteen Standards of Excellence in Higher Education,which is the name of the Middle States notebook that describes hundreds of “fundamental elements” and “optional analysis and evidence.”

So, as we entered September – the week before the visit – we had “game-face” on; facilities tidied up; trustees, faculty and staff prepped; and adrenaline pumping. What’s at stake? If we are approved, SCC will be the only Christ-centered regionally accredited college in New Jersey. Why is that important? Thousands of Christian young and middle-aged people prefer not to leave NJ to attend a Christian college elsewhere, and they want to learn Truth from a biblical worldview.

Unlike a football game, when you know the winner as soon as the game is over, we will not know the results until late November or early December when the Commission will vote on the recommendation of the Site Visit team. We did receive a preliminary exit report on September 10, which said that we satisfactorily met all fourteen standards. No doubt, there will be recommendations for improvement, but at this point, all the signs are positive. In the December issue of Upfront, we will report the results.

Meanwhile, we have some exciting new information that has gone into the report. Rejoice with us about these developments:

• Third successive record enrollment year with over 300 students this fall (up from 122 in 2007)
• Forgiveness by POF of $1,450,000 debt incurred prior to 2007
• Transition from donor dependency (81% of revenue in 2007) to tuition support (60% in 2009)
• Student evaluations of full-time faculty over the past five years have ranged from 4.5 – 4.8 on a scale of 1-5
• The draft of the financial audit for 2009-2010 shows a budget surplus, despite economic slump
• SCCN (Newark) is an instructional site having over 70 students, and we expect within a few months to have our own leased facility near NJPAC (Performing Arts Center)

So, please keep SCC high on your prayer list, and when possible, your financial help is so appreciated and such a good investment in the things that matter and last.

With this current effort of elevating our accreditation, and now that I am also serving as a pastor, I have been wondering what it would be like if each local church had to endure a formal evaluation every decade. By outsiders! What if a group of experts came to evaluate the ministry, finances, curriculum, personnel, facilities and results of the work of your church and mine? Of course, these categories would be the easy ones. They are “Normal Stuff .” We would show them our up-to-date mission statement, our adequate personnel and resources, and convince them that our church is doing what it says it is doing. But we could still be falling short. The work of the Church is not Normal Stuff.

What are the marks by which a church should be evaluated? Shouldn’t they include some “Super Stuff “? If we were to assess a local church for heavenly accreditation, here are questions I think the Lord would want us to explore:
• Who is the real CEO? Is it Jesus, or is there another head of the church?
• Is there evidence of actions and attitudes which only God can bring about? Is there a touch of His presence? Of His power?
• Do we His people come to church ready for God to speak to us and act through us? Are there any God-carriers in our congregation?
• Will visitors and especially unbelievers be confused by anything they don’t understand and can’t explain, is everything “normal”?
• Can group dynamics, psychological conditioning, or other social factors adequately explain our meeting? Does money float the program?
• Do the worshippers seem to be isolated and individual, or are they aware of the rest of the Church militant and triumphant? Are the departed saints and angels singing with us?
• Are congregants having life-changing experiences with God in our midst?

This kind of thinking can be a bit threatening, especially if you are a church leader. If none of the Super Stuff is there, what can we do about it? We can only invite God and create a welcoming ambiance; if He chooses not to show up, maybe something’s wrong, because God delights to be with His people. In my opinion, the issue starts with expectation. We must expect that God wants to be present and experienced. If we expect nothing, that is what we will get.

If we do expect to meet with God, that will change our entire outlook on how we prepare. We will cleanse our inner sanctuaries. We will put no rules or limitations upon Him. We will not insist on a worship style that suits my fancies. We will make sure He has plenty of time to talk, not just listen. And we will make sure He has plenty of time to act, not just talk. Often we don’t know whether God showed up because we don’t give Him a chance to do or say anything. We jam our programs with so much horizontal stuff that the vertical can’t get through.

Well, these are just some of my musings about assessing the local church. Of the seven potential outcomes by an accrediting visit, we surely would not want the last two: Show Cause (why you should stay in business) or Close up.

Pastor David Schroeder

Christmas caught the shepherds and everyone else by surprise. Herod surely wasn’t ready for it, nor was the innkeeper in Bethlehem. But you can be sure that no politicians or business owners will be caught by surprise this year! No Siree – all eyes are on the commercial / consumer potential to help pull America out of its economic deep freeze. Isn’t that what Christmas is for, after all? ‘Tis the season to spend freely, fa-la-la-la-la, la, la, la, la.

So, how much will Christmas cost you this year? Are Christians ready to be good Americans and splurge for the good of the economy? Christmas is always expensive. But no matter how much we spend, it won’t cost more than the first Christmas.

Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears.

This class would NOT pray during the commencements—not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it.

The principal and several students were careful to stay within guidelines allowed by the ruling.  They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.

The speeches were nice, but they were routine…..until the final speech received a standing ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone.  He stood still and silent for just a moment, and the, it happened.

All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!!!!

The student on stage…simply looked at the audience and said, “GOD BLESS YOU, each and every one of you.” and walked off stage…

The audience exploded into applause.  This graduating class had found a unique way to invoke God’s blessing on their future with or without the court’s approval.

This is a true story; it happened at the University of Maryland.

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food. John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store at once. Visualizing the family needs, she said: ‘Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can.’  John told her he could not give her credit, since she did not have a charge account at his store.

Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two. The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family.  The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, ‘Do you have a grocery list?’ Louise replied, ‘Yes sir.’ ‘O.K’ he said, ‘put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries.’

Louise, hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed.  The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed down.  The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, ‘I can’t believe it.’  The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more.

The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement.  It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer, which said:  ‘Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands.’  The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in stunned silence.  Louise thanked him and left the store.

The other customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said;‘It was worth every penny of it . Only God Knows how much a prayer weighs.’

• Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
How did life begin? Did God create the heavens, the earth and humankind? Or is our existence the result of a random, undirected process? Regardless of your answer, as Americans, we know that the freedom to wrestle with such foundational questions about our existence is of utmost importance. And, yet, that is what is happening.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, starring Ben Stein, reveals the suppression of many who attempt to be part of the debate over the origins of life. Supporters of Neo-Darwinism refuse to allow opposing viewpoints to be heard, leaving students and the American public with a one-sided (and severely lacking) argument.

“Ben Stein’s film, Expelled, makes a powerful case for Intelligent Design in explaining the origins of life and the creation of the universe,” observed Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family. “It also exposes an entrenched and aggressive Darwinist establishment in academia that suffocates all competing points of view. Highly qualified professors and scientists who dare to question evolutionary orthodoxy are systematically excluded or summarily dismissed. It is political correctness run amuck on university campuses. Stein sets out on a mission to find out why I.D. is most often expelled from the public square, and what he discovers in this riveting documentary is incredibly enlightening. I recommend the film enthusiastically.”