After Jesus was raised physically from the dead, He was lifted by God through the atmosphere, taken into the dimension of heaven, and brought before God’s throne. As a reward for His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus Christ was made Lord (Acts 2:30-36) and given rulership over the nations.
“And behold, One like the Son of Man...came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” (DANIEL 7:13-14)
Although the nations don’t believe that Jesus Christ is their King, nevertheless Christ is exercising His authority and calling the nations into accountability (Psalm 2). As the Son of Man, the Head of the nations, Christ is raising up what He calls “sons of the Kingdom” (Matthew 13:38) and sowing them into different spheres of culture in the world (Matthew 13:37) to bring about Kingdom transformation. Just as Paul was sent on missions by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is sending sons into the world to make disciples of Jesus Christ -- to form men and women who live by the power source of the cross, who encounter the living God and hearing His voice in the Scriptures, who obey everything Jesus commands, and who are sent into every domain of culture with power over the demonic realm and with authority to establish the Kingdom of God.
To raise up young men and women who are authentically bringing the Kingdom of God into various spheres of culture, the church must embrace educational reform. A secular, humanistic system can’t form sons of the Kingdom. Traditional, religious, and principled systems of schooling can’t infuse a young man or woman with the fire of reformation. Only Christ Himself through His revolutionary Body on earth can form a generation of Kingdom leaders who will be like the apostles of the first century and the reformers of Kingdom awakenings throughout history.
MDCC has a vision and a calling to create a Kingdom education environment. This environment would seek to:
Integrate the authority of the father and mother and the authority of Christ in His Body in the education of children
Form children in Christ -- a person who lives by the power source of Christ’s death and resurrection
Frame a biblical worldview into a child’s thinking
Fashion a child by the invading power of the Kingdom of heaven
Fully educate a child in history, arts, music, literature, writing, mathematics and science
Equip children to function by the voice of the Lord
Send students into the world as Kingdom reformers equipped to establish righteousness in society
.A young man in the first century church named Stephen was a son of the Kingdom. A description of Stephen’s life and character is found in Acts 6-7 and serves as a model for the kind of person that Jesus' Kingdom education environment will produce. From the earliest stages of a child’s life at home to the more advanced stages of the educational process in the teen years, the pastors, teachers, parents and volunteers at MDCC are committed to building these Kingdom structures into the lives of our sons and daughters.
Stephen was a man of character. He is described as: a man of good reputation; full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom; able to be appointed over a business; full of faith and power; one who did great wonders and signs among the people; one who spoke in such a way that religious people were not able to resist. True educational reform must develop these same kind of character qualities in today’s youth.
Stephen was a man rooted in the Word. He had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures evidenced by his knowledge of the history of Israel and expressed in his spontaneous presentation before the religious leaders of the high council. True educational reform must build a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures in children and teach them how to live by the Word of God.
Stephen had a prophetic view of history. Stephen understood that Israel’s development as a nation occurred as a response to the voice of God. (See Acts 7:2,3,5,6,17,30-32,35,38.) True educational reform must frame a child’s understanding of the history of nations as well as all other aspects of knowledge from a prophetic framework.
Stephen was a man of personal encounter who lived in Kingdom revelation. ”But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" (Acts 7:55-56) True educational reform must build ongoing revelatory encounters and Kingdom understanding into a child’s way of living.
Stephen would not compromise and allow political/religious spirits to remain unchallenged. When Stephen was challenged by the prevailing religious and political agenda that was contrary to the gospel, he did not capitulate but boldly confronted. (See Acts 7:51-54.) True education reform creates bold reformers who are not intimidated by the principals or personalities of the ruling culture.
Stephen held onto the Word of the Kingdom despite persecution. Stephen was stoned to death for his Kingdom stand, but through his martyrdom the apostle Paul was converted and the most powerful reform movement was released into the world. (See Acts 7:57-60.) True education reform brings forth young men and women who are willing to sacrifice to see God’s Kingdom agenda prevail in culture.