As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Juan Willliams reports: “My main take-away from reporting for this documentary is that ‘Digital Learning’ shows tremendous promise as an immediate solution for helping American students to succeed immediately.”
A sermon delivered at Calvary Baptist Church, Derby, Kansas. Reprinted with permission from As I See It, which is available free by writing to the editor at dkutilek@juno.com.
Tonight, I want us to study a single word in the NT: proskartereo. It looks and sounds like a perfect candidate for use in a Jeopardy category: “twelve-letter Greek words that are difficult to pronounce”!
This word caught my attention as I ran across it at various times over the years in my studies of the NT in Greek, and I thought its various occurrences and uses rather interesting.
It is a compound word, composed of the preposition pros, which means, “to, toward, in the direction of” and kartereo, a verb with the root idea of “to be strong, firm.” So it literally means “to be strong toward something or someone.” As used in the NT, the word carries the sense and meaning “to be devoted to, to be dedicated to, to focus on, to be committed to, to persist in” some purpose, object or person.
This word is used ten times in the Greek NT, six of which occur in Acts. I want to briefly note each of these uses.
“Consider the following statistics: More than half of Americans under the age of 25 who have a bachelor’s degree are either unemployed or underemployed.”
“Nineteen states have passed various school choice laws during the 2011/2012 state legislative sessions, helping triple the available funding for vouchers and tax credit scholarships during the past five school years. In Indiana and elsewhere where such programs exist, enrollment in Christian private schools has seen a surge.”
Natalie Hawkins, the mother of Olympic Gymnast Gabby Douglas, found out quickly what it meant to let go… Gabby went on to place first in Olympic Trials, guaranteeing her the first spot on the USA women’s gymnastics team. After her powerful and stellar routines you will find Gabby and her affectionate smile giving glory to God.
Maureen Van Den Berg, legislative director for the American Association of Christian Schools, expressed concern over the potential that the CCSSI could develop into a national curriculum that even private schools would be pushed into adopting.
From SBC Baptist Press: “Today’s economic and cultural environment represents a sifting process for Christian schools,” said Ed Gamble, SBACS executive director of SBACS. “Schools that refocus their mission, think creatively, embrace innovation and employ new technologies to create new markets for their services will survive and thrive.”
Discussion