Why Christian Education?

Why are you starting a Christian school in Weakley County?

I was asked this question by someone I respect greatly back in 1998.  We talked on the phone for about thirty minutes, and I appreciated the concerns that were raised.  But, the major reason that I shared with this person was the simple fact that I sensed God was calling me back to my home county to start a Christian school.

I’m starting this blog to have an open discussion about the importance of Christian education.  My name is Larry Reagan, and I am currently serving as the headmaster of Central Christian Academy, a ministry of Central Baptist Church in Martin, TN.  God has also called me to serve as senior pastor of Moore’s Chapel Baptist Church near Greenfield, TN.

I graduated from Dresden High School in Dresden, TN in 1976.  I attended Murray State University in Murray, KY from 1976-1979, where I played on the Racer football team and majored in math and physical education.  On August 23, 1978, I placed my faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Needless to say, my third year of college was quite different from the first two years.  The Baptist Student Union became my favorite place to hang out.  There were several strong Christian students who helped me to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ.  This football player who did not like to read fell in love with the Holy Bible.  God spoke plainly to me in a Thursday night meeting and called me to missions involvement.

I volunteered through the Kentucky Baptist Convention BSU to serve as a summer missionary.  They sent me to West Virginia.  From the time the plane landed in Charleston, WV, on June 7, 1979, until the end of the summer, I experienced the joys and struggles of serving Christ in a pioneer missions field.  God was clearly calling me to stay in WV.  I met my future wife, Sonya, in January of 1980.  God opened the door for us to serve in Mt. Top Baptist Church in Welch, WV in February of 1981.

While serving in this church, God planted in me a vision of the importance of Christian education.  In the spring of 1983, I remember preaching in that church and on the local radio station, “Why McDowell County Needs a Christian School.”  God had blessed Sonya and I with a precious baby girl, and we named her Amber Lynne.  As I prayed with her every night before bedtime, God kept reminding me that she was my most important homework assignment.  From the Holy Bible, He showed me the importance of training up a child in the way of the Lord (Deut. 6:4-9; Proverbs 22:6).  He also warned me with His Spirit and His Word about the extreme danger of any kind of false teaching (2 John 1:9-11).

The answer to the question in this blog title is still, “God called me to do it!”

Keep following this blog and help promote Christian education.
Contact me at pastorldr32@gmail.com.

 

Some of the students at Mt. Top Christian Academy in Welch, West Virginia.

 

Chapel service at Mt. Top Christian Academy in Welch, WV.

 

Cross Country students at Central Christian Academy in Martin, TN.

 

Phase One of Central Baptist Church in Martin, TN.

Comments

  • Tori Cole January 25, 2019

    We are so thankful that God has called you full circle back to this area and leading a Christian school. What was the initial desire you had-did you have an experience somewhere either with a Christian school or a public school that God you can see where God planted that seed? I would love to hear more about that!

  • John Cole January 25, 2019

    Good, concise explanation. Interesting to read about your background and calling. This is a good social media quote: “God kept reminding me that she was my most important homework assignment. ” I agree 100%!

  • Keith Zheng January 25, 2019

    1st comment!
    LR is a great man.

  • Larry Reagan January 25, 2019

    Thank you very much, Keith. I’m so glad to have you as a student at CCA. You amaze me with your wise comments in our Biblical Worldview class and in our one-on-one conversations. I look forward to watching you develop into a strong follower of Jesus Christ.

  • Larry Reagan January 25, 2019

    Thank you, John. We definitely need for Christian parents to prioritize training their children to serve God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. The last verse in the Old Testament says that the earth is smitten with a curse when children are not trained properly. Real revival can happen when the hearts of Fathers are turned to their children, to make ready a people prepared to meet the Lord. (Malachi 4:6; Luke 1:17)

  • Larry Reagan January 25, 2019

    Tori, I was hoping someone would ask that question. There were two major things that happened. 1] a middle school girl was raped by two students at school. I could not send my little girl into that unsafe environment. There is more to this story that I will not share in this blog, but I’d be glad to share privately. 2] Sonya and I were invited to attend a pastor and wives retreat in Titusville, FL, that was sponsored by Park Avenue Baptist Church where Peter Lord served as pastor. They had a great Christian school, and we were allowed to tour that school. It was while I was touring those classrooms and seeing happy students in a safe environment with Godly teachers that I felt the clear call to go back to WV and start a Christian school. I was young and inexperienced, but Pastor Wallace Smith, from Maranatha Baptist Church in Princeton, WV assured me that they would help us launch a Christian academy. We opened the school in the fall of 1983, in a double-wide trailer that was built to be a church. We had 41 students enroll the first year. We used the A.C.E. curriculum.

  • Alan Johnston January 25, 2019

    If there ever was a time we need Christian education it’s now. I have never seen Godly values under attack as they presently are. God bless you for the work you are doing in this important outreach of the church. God help our young people to be armed and ready.

  • Larry Reagan January 26, 2019

    Alan,
    I thank God for the many precious memories that we have from those days at Mt. Top Baptist Church & Mt. Top Christian Academy. I remember how alarmed I was about Godly values being under attack back in 1983. President Ronald Reagan was providing much needed leadership to move America back to being “One Nation Under God.” He supported “educational choice” and “returning the power to educate the next generation to states and local communities.”
    http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Ronald_Reagan_Education.htm
    Mt. Top Christian Academy was launched one year before “A Nation at Risk” was published.
    Here is a brief summary of that publication:
    “Our nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. This report is concerned with only one of the many causes and dimensions of the problem, but it is the one that undergirds American prosperity, security, and civility. We report to the American people that while we can take justifiable pride in what our schools and colleges have historically accomplished and contributed to the United States and the well-being of its people, the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people. What was unimaginable a generation ago has begun to occur — others are matching and surpassing our educational attainments.”
    Our nation is facing a much greater risk today. Christian leaders must sound the trumpet and “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children” (Luke 1:17). We must prepared our children and grandchildren by arming them with a Biblical worldview so they will not be deceived by the “great deception” of the last days (2 Thessalonians 2).
    Reference
    A nation at risk : the full account. (1984). Cambridge, Mass. : USA Research, 1984. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04680a&AN=bju.b1125136&site=eds-live

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