Posted on 12/26/2009 1:06:10 PM PST by Colofornian
CHICO —
Changes in the curriculum at Crosspoint Academy have some parents, including prominent radio host Delilah Rene Luke, concerned the private Christian school in Chico is straying from its biblical focus.
But school leaders defend the changes, saying the new materials will grow the school’s 290 students into the next generation of Christian leaders.
“The idea that Crosspoint is still fundamentally rooted in strong Christian values and delivers a curriculum with a Christian perspective in mind has not changed and that has never changed in this process,” said Eric Rasmussen, superintendent of schools for Crista, the Christian ministry organization that owns Crosspoint.
The school, formerly known as King’s West, announced this fall that it had a new plan for a curriculum focused on leadership and on five pillars: critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, contemplation and cultural competency. Much of the work has been based on “The Leader In Me,” a program for students from Stephen Covey, author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”
The emphasis on Covey’s work is what most concerns Delilah. She recently disenrolled three of her children from Crosspoint.
“I would like to say that I am merely ‘deeply concerned’ about a recent addition to the school’s teaching philosophy, but instead, I am forced to admit I am actually HORRIFIED by the recent addition of a book by Mormon author Steven (sic) Covey,” she wrote in a Nov. 24 open letter to Crosspoint parents.
Further, she wrote that she believes in freedom of religion and does not object to Mormon beliefs or the yoga-type, Eastern religion activities Covey advocates. She said in a recent interview, however, that the materials don’t belong in a Christian school.
“It’s not about being intolerant. It’s about being true to my faith,” she said. “I don’t have a problem with Stephen Covey and businesses that use it. I don’t have any problem with people who want to sign up for yoga classes or attend the church of Satan if they want to. That’s their right. But I can’t imagine someone paying money to send their kids to Brigham Young University so they can get a good basis in Mormon faith and then having their kid come home and saying his new teacher was a Catholic priest teaching the Apocrypha.”
After her letter circulated, Delilah held an informational meeting in Port Orchard for Crosspoint parents. About 30 attended. She also received many supportive e-mails. But the parents contacted by e-mail by the Kitsap Sun about the controversy either declined to be interviewed or did not respond.
Covey has denied in recent years that his leadership materials are repackaged Mormonism. But Delilah is concerned that the leadership materials introduce Mormon tenets in a way that is palatable to non-Mormons.
“He intends to indoctrinate the world with his theology by wiring it in a way that people can accept,” she said.
Delilah questioned whether Crista and Crosspoint leaders were aware of Covey’s beliefs before they adopted the materials. But Rasmussen said the bigger question is whether Crista schools only take materials from Christian publishers. The schools draw from a wide variety of materials and “we will continue to seek and find the best resources and put them in the hands of outstanding Christian educators,” he added.
Additionally, Rasmussen said teaching at Crosspoint goes well beyond “The Leader In Me” to focus on the five pillars. For example, he said, the core value of contemplation means to be “people of reflection.”
“From a Christian standpoint, that means kids would meditate on their faith and the significance of biblical truth in their life, or they would read and think contemplatively about great literature.”
“We believe leaders do these core things, that kids should be contemplative in life and think about next step, about what God has in store and in place for them.”
Delilah said smaller issues have led her to believe Crosspoint is trying to rebrand itself to attract families familiar and comfortable with Covey, but not perhaps with Christianity. A plaque with the Ten Commandments was recently moved from a prominent spot in the school’s main hallway to a not-so-prominent classroom. A “Seven Habits” poster advocating meditation was put up at Crosspoint, with a Bible verse taped to it “as if to make Eastern religion acceptable to the Christian,” Delilah wrote in her Nov. 24 letter.
“They even changed the school’s name to take the Lord’s name out,” she said.
Further, school leaders did not properly inform parents of the changes until the beginning of this school year, giving them little time to understand or react, she said.
But Rasmussen said the school’s changes are not about rebranding, rather it’s trying to improve on past success in academics and extracurriculars.
“We’re thrilled in terms of where we’re going and moving forward to make this great school better to be really intentionally focused,” he said. “We see the need in terms of this world for good intentional Christian leaders who will lead in their churches and their communities and their homes.”
See link below.
From the article; Covey has denied in recent years that his leadership materials are repackaged Mormonism.
Oh, no? See:
A Closer Look at Stephen Covey and His 7 Habits - LDS
From the article: She said in a recent interview, however, that the materials don’t belong in a Christian school. “It’s not about being intolerant. It’s about being true to my faith,” she said. “I don’t have a problem with Stephen Covey and businesses that use it. I don’t have any problem with people who want to sign up for yoga classes or attend the church of Satan if they want to. That’s their right. But I can’t imagine someone paying money to send their kids to Brigham Young University so they can get a good basis in Mormon faith and then having their kid come home and saying his new teacher was a Catholic priest teaching the Apocrypha.”
The way the Lds columnist would have it, all Christian parents should have their kids subjected to veiled Mormonism in their so-called "Christian" schools...'cause if they won't, then Campbell pulls out the "B" label ("bigot) & hurls it at...
...Delilah...
...Focus on the Family (compared Delilah's actions to Focus on the Family withdrawing an article on Glenn Beck late last year)...
...and anybody objecting to any voter-citizen not wanting a "god-in-embryo" in the White House (Romney)...
...all the while having the gall to claim, Let's not go on the attack of Delilah"...
...If calling people "bigots" is not attacking -- showing his own lack of tolerance over parents' educational decisions-- then what is?
A Closer Look At The 7 Habits of a Highly Successful Mormon: Stephen R. Covey
Yet, 7 Habits contains many of the same principles, anecdotes, and illustrations found in one of Covey’s earlier books, The Divine Center. This book was written by Covey to promote Mormon beliefs and show that any spiritual model other than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is a false "map" that limits the personal development of its followers.
Covey explains in The Divine Center that he has discovered how to communicate Mormon truths to non-Mormons by simply changing his vocabulary. He writes, " I have found in speaking to various non-LDS groups in different cultures that we can teach and testify of many gospel principles if we are careful in selecting words which carry our meaning but come from their experience and frame of mind." [Divine Center, p. 240.]
Let's take a brief look at Covey's beliefs:
From the Southern Baptist article I linked to in post #1: Covey’s beliefs about salvation are also uniquely Mormon. He warns his readers against seeking “any kind of ‘special’ relationship” with Jesus Christ. [Divine Center, pp. 67-68.] He writes, “The Christ-only approach is inappropriate for Latter-day Saints and for this book.”
Well, on this, Covey "brothers" Lds apostle Bruce R. McConkie, who lectured BYU students in a devo there in the early 1980s NOT to seek a special relationship with Jesus Christ.
What's quite interesting is there's four verses in the Book of Mormon which talk about Book of Mormonites worshiping the Mormon jesus...I mean, some of them are all-out worship. Yet McConkie said, "No" not to worship Christ (directly).
There's also a whole chapter in the Book of Mormon about praying directly to Jesus (3 Nephi 19). Yet, once again, those behind the scenes of Mormon doctrine ensured that they cautioned their followers NOT to pray directly to Jesus.
Don't seek any kind of special relationship with JC?
Don't directly worship JC?
Don't directly pray to JC?
(Even though both the Bible AND Book of Mormon tells you to?)
Can you say "anti-Jesus" as in "anti-Christ?"
(Yeah, yeah, yeah...whenever we quote a Mormon "prophet" saying something embarrassing, we hear from somebody Lds claiming, "Well, that's not canon...That's not 'scripture' "scripture"...it's only verbal 'scripture' of the type Brother Brigham talked about ... saying he never sent out a corrected sermon that he couldn't call 'scripture'"...Boy, it sure becomes confusing on all the suddenly-inserted new standards that are introduced into conversations mid-sentence)
Hmmmm, which of these seven principle are unChristian:
The Seven Habits of Covey are:
1. Be proactive. This is the ability to control one’s environment, rather than have it control you, as is so often the case. Managers need to control their own environment, using self-determination and the power to respond to various circumstances.
2. Begin with the end in mind. This means that the manager needs to be able to see the desired outcome and concentrate on activities which help in achieving that end.
3. Put first things first. Managers need to personally manage themselves and implement activities which aim to achieve the second habit – looking to the desired outcome. Covey says that habit 2. is the first, or mental creation; habit 3 is the second, or physical creation.
4. Think win-win. This is the most important aspect of interpersonal leadership because most achievements are based on cooperative effort, therefore the aim needs to be win–win solutions for all.
5. Seek first to understand and then to be understood. By developing and maintaining positive relationships through good communications, the manager can be understood, and can understand the subordinates.
6. Synergize. This is the habit of creative cooperation - the principle that collaboration often achieves more than could be achieved by individuals working independently towards attaining a purpose.
7. Sharpen the saw. Learning from previous experience and encouraging others to do the same. Covey sees development as one of the most important aspects in being able to cope with challenges and aspire to higher levels of ability.
From what I can see of the many of the fine “true” Christians I have had the privilege to chat with on the forum, it must be number 5, but that is only what I can see from how they behave. I could be wrong.
So, which of those seven principles is unChristian?
What usually gets me are defenders of Mormonism who aren't Mormon but are either members of a church -- or their parents were. And yet they don't seem to comprehend that not only Covey, but every true believing Mormon sees every other church & their members as consisting of "apostates." Many somehow understand that Islam defines Christians as "infidels," but they don't quite comprehend that Lds label us in exactly the same way!
So, the "irony" here is that Crosspoint Academy, which I assume is "Christian" and trinitarian, uses an author who is anti-trinitarian (and therefore anti-Christian)! And it's called "Crosspoint" even though their curricula is based upon Mormons like Covey who militate vs. the cross??? (More irony)
And Mormon columnists like Joel Campbell -- who are paid by the LDS HQ -- call Delilah "irrational" just 'cause she "doesn't understand Mormons are Christians?". If Campbell hurls this at Delilah and others who refuse to call Romney a "Christian," then what does that equate to for the LDS Church HQ's view of all others who refuse to bow to their edicts that they be recognized as "Christians?"
(More labels like "irrational...bigots" await them, too)
Strange. Lds "prophets" like Hinckley fumed at the fLDS being labeled as "Mormon" and on the Larry King refused to even recognize their very existence. ("No such thing" was his summation) So Mormons from the top-down want to define Mormonism but get all huffy when any boundaries are set for Christianity.
Wasn’t that a Mormom who tried to blow up that airliner in Detroit? Oh no, wait, that was a Muslim wasn’t it. Never mind.
Wasn't the orginal 9/11 terrorist attack in our country (Sept. 11, 1857) committed by the hands of Muslims? Where about 120 children aged 8 & up along with their unarmed mothers & fathers were executed at point blank range? Oh no, wait, that was Mormons, Mormon leaders and Mormons-dressed-up-as-Native Americans wasn't it? Never mind...we all may want to watch the movie, "September Dawn" though during these holidays as a history refresher for us all.
Well's let's look at "another seven principles" of Stephen Covey which are indeed unChristian, courtesy of piecing together Bill Gordon of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board 9here is Bill's contact information: http://sub.namb.net/staff/StaffView.asp?CONTACTID_HMB=00000096)
(I guess we can call these "The Seven Principles of Highly Effective Heretics"...Note: "The Divine Center" sourced is Covey's earlier book)
1.[LDS Church is] “literally God’s church and the President of the Church is truly God’s prophet.” [Divine Center, p. 224] Bill Gordon's summation of Divine Center, p. 225: "Covey believes that those who oppose the LDS prophet are opposing the Lord and that they are guided by an evil spirit."
2.‘As man now is, God once was; As God now is, man may become.’ [couplet by Lds "prophet" Lorenzo Snow as cited in Divine Center, 81.] Bill Gordon's summation of Divine Center, pp. 164-166: "Covey’s belief that people have a limitless potential is derived from the Mormon doctrine that people are gods in embryo."
3. Gordon's summary of Divine Center, p. 246: "Following the correct map found in the LDS Church 'liberates man' and 'releases his divine potentialities.'"
4. Covey is anti-Christ in that he warns his readers against seeking “any kind of ‘special’ relationship” with Jesus Christ. [Divine Center, pp. 67-68.] “The Christ-only approach is inappropriate for Latter-day Saints and for this book.” [Divine Center, p. 83.]
5. Gordon's summation of Divine Center, p. 271: "He even claims that one of Satan’s lies to the world is that all God wants us to do is receive Christ Jesus through faith."
6. Gordon's summation of Divine Center, p. 15: "He also argues that the beliefs of traditional Christianity are 'false maps ... in the form of beliefs or doctrines or creeds.'" Covey refers to Mormon scripture (Joseph Smith — History 1:19) to prove that the beliefs of evangelical churches are 'an abomination in the sight of God.'
7. Gordon's summation of Divine Center, p. 68: "Covey labels the evangelical doctrine of salvation by grace alone a 'false concept' and an 'apostate doctrine.'"
I have been through the 7 habits, and found them to be very useful in the management of people. I found nothing theological about it, it is mostly philosophical. I will admit, though, several participants claimed to see veiled Mormonism— even in enlightened California. Delilah has every right to send her children to any school she likes, but I see nothing wrong with the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I was not familiar with a version aimed specifically at Mormons, although Covey has extended his concept to many different areas....
hh
I think you would find Delilah more willing to have Muslim principles taught to her children. I have heard enough of her program to believe she would not want to be viewed as anti-Muslim....
hh
Well, I happen to know some about Mountain Meadows, since the Fanchers are relations. Things were pretty nasty on the Kansas-Missouri border around that time too.
And you help make my point. I know many Mormons and have found them to be wonderful people who lead exemplary lives. They are welcome as my friends and neighbors anytime, anywhere. As for those who spew hatred and bigotry towards Mormons without respite on this site, stay away from me. I do not care to know you or have anything to do with you.
Well, nobody handcuffed you & forced you to come into this thread. But since you entered it, I'd be interested in your take of Covey's points 6 & 7 as found on post #10:
Gordon's summation of Divine Center, p. 15: "He also argues that the beliefs of traditional Christianity are 'false maps ... in the form of beliefs or doctrines or creeds.'" Covey refers to Mormon scripture (Joseph Smith — History 1:19) to prove that the beliefs of evangelical churches are 'an abomination in the sight of God.' 7. Gordon's summation of Divine Center, p. 68: "Covey labels the evangelical doctrine of salvation by grace alone a 'false concept' and an 'apostate doctrine.'"
So, tell us...since Covey calls Christians' beliefs to be "false maps" and references Mormon Scripture Joseph Smith -- History 1:19 which calls 100% of Christian creeds to "an abomination in the sight of God" and 100% of Christian professors to be "corrupt" -- does that by your religious book also equate to Covey & other Mormons who believe Joseph Smith's first vision recorded in 1:19 to be guilty of "hatred and bigotry"...or, are you always this inconsistent in your assessments?
And do not Christians have a right -- when a Muslim calls us an "infidel" or a Mormon calls us an "apostate" -- to defend and "contend for the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3)...or do you only read John 3:16 and passages that agree with that line and avoid passsages like Jude 3?
No thanks, I’ll stick to Muslim bashing and let you nutters have Mormon bashing all to yourselves.
Well, I grew up mormon, have lived amongst them in several areas and have found that they are no better or worse than any other group of people.
Some were wonderful honest people, but I personally knew mormon drunks, check-kiters, thieves and had a mormon pedophile teacher when I was 10-11. These all were mormon priesthood holders and showed up on the the front pew on Sunday.
As for those who spew hatred and bigotry towards ANTI-Mormons without respite on this site, stay away from me.
As Colofornian said, if you do not care to know us, just don't click on these threads.
More importantly, there is nothing there that IS Christian in princple.
Fact is God runs my life. I can do the foot work but I cannot guarantee the results. God’s ways are NOT my ways. I am to seek His guidance and direction in my life but the ‘end’ is not my goal. My goal on a daily basis is to be of maximum service to God and my fellows. Covey’s habits do not reflect that.
So, which of the seven principles are unchristian?
I once worked with a saved Christian who kept walking around the office saying that God was his co-pilot, but, while that could have been true, we also found out that even though he was married, he had a little dish off to the side. It seems that the devil was the stewardess.
I know several people who went to prison for violent crimes and, while in prison, they “found” Jesus. They told everybody they had found Jesus. They even went to a couple of local churches and claimed before one and all they had found Jesus. Within a short time, one or two years, they were back in prison for committing some pretty violent crimes.
So, when I hear people that I don’t know or trust say things like “God runs my life,” “I have found Jesus,” or “God is my co-pilot,” those things are meaningless to me.
Geeze, not a good week for Mormons.
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