The Dr. Jeff Show Ep. 52 – Terry Moffitt

Episode 52: Summary & Transcript

Disclaimer: Please note that this is an automatically generated transcript. Although the transcription is largely accurate, it may be incomplete or inaccurate in some cases due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Dr. Jeff interviews Dr. Terry Moffitt, who leads Hayward Christian School in North Carolina and has been a longtime instructor at Summit Ministries. The conversation covers Moffitt’s extensive experience teaching the Understanding the Times worldview course, which his school became the first to require for graduation. He describes his classroom approach as discussion-based, encouraging students to think critically about current issues from different worldview perspectives while maintaining respectful discourse.

The conversation also explores changes in student generations, including shorter attention spans and decreased biblical knowledge, though Moffitt notes students desire churches to address controversial issues without pulling punches. Throughout, Moffitt expresses confidence in the rising generation, believing they are hungry for authentic biblical teaching and uncompromising churches.

Episode Transcript

Dr. Jeff Myers (00:02):
Hey everyone. Welcome to the Dr. Jeff Show. This show’s available on Apple, Google, Spotify, Edifi, Liftable, and you know what I’m going to say next? Tell your friends about the show, give it reviews, help us get more and more people to have it on the radar. This is the show where I interview major thought leaders from many fields of influence to show how our worldview changes everything.

Today, I’m welcoming a guest who’s close to my heart. He leads Hayward Christian School in North Carolina, which aims to form students in a biblical worldview to discover and live with excellence the calling of God. We are going to have a wide ranging conversation. I know because every conversation with Terry Moffitt is wide ranging from politics to worldview, to sports, everything else. I think you’re going to find it fascinating to see what one guy is doing on the ground to help prepare a generation of leaders. Let’s welcome Terry Moffitt to the show. Dr. Terry Moffitt, welcome to the Dr. Jeff Show.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (01:02):
It’s great to be here, Jeff. It’s wonderful to see you.

Dr. Jeff Myers (01:05):
Well, it’s great to see you. We’ve been friends for a long time. And when the opportunity arose to have you on the show, I thought there are so many different directions that we could go with this show because you have started schools. You have been ahead of lots of different schools. You’ve helped rescue struggling schools. You started a sports academy.

But you’ve also had several different businesses where you focus on security, helping schools address security concerns, global consulting. You’ve had more adventures doing more things than just about anybody I know. So I thought, how are we ever going to make a 30 minute show out of this?

Dr. Terry Moffitt (01:47):
I’ll tell you, the Lord’s been so good, Jeff. Life has never been dull for me. And I have enjoyed most of the moments. There have been a few that I wish I could have raised from the memory banks, but I’ll tell you, none of those involve Summit. Some of the most rewarding experiences I have had in my life have been with Summit.

Dr. Jeff Myers (02:09):
Yeah. So you have spoken dozens of times at Summit Ministries events over the years, especially at the events that we have in the Southeastern United States. We were at Bryan College for a while, then Union University for a while, and now we’ve found a new home at Covenant College up on Lookout Mountain in Georgia. And you’ve said a lot of students our way as well, so thank you for doing that.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (02:36):
My pleasure. Listen, my grandchildren are starting to get to the age now where they’ll be coming. And I have already told their parents who took the Understanding the Times course, both of them, that I can’t wait, can’t wait for them to actually experience Summit.

Dr. Jeff Myers (02:56):
Yeah. It’s one of the more fun things. Well, there are lots of fun things about being with the Summit Ministry students. It just brings you to life. But lately, I’ve had more and more students come up and say, “You know my dad,” or, “My dad went to school with you,” or “My mom went to school with you.” And then recently, it’s actually changed a little bit. So this is a full confession here. A student came up and said, “My great grandmother came to Summit.” And I thought, “Great grandmother? Is she like, a great person or seriously?” I’ve been at this for a long time.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (03:41):
I think that was finally what put my wife, Cindy, into retirement. She was starting to have the great grands. She had a great grandchild of a student that she had in third grade. And after 42 years of teaching in a Christian school, she said, “I think that’s it.”

Dr. Jeff Myers (03:59):
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. Well, when Terry, when you and I first met, I think you were still a member of the City Council of High Point, North Carolina. And this is why you started speaking at Summit because something happened there when you were in the city council that really put you into a very dangerous position. And I’d love for you, because I know a lot of people are thinking, “I want to run for office, but I’m a little scared.” I don’t want to scare them away, but I’d love for you to tell a little bit about your story, what happened when you decided, “I want to make a difference as an elected official.”

Dr. Terry Moffitt (04:45):
Yeah. It was interesting because my wife had heard me complain about what was happening on the local, state, and national level for so long. And finally she said, “Well, when are you going to do something about it?” And so the next day, I went down to the elections office and paid $25 and got into the city council race. Now, I had no idea where all that was going to take me, particularly when I ended up being the one vote and the eight to one votes that the council continually had.

But the thing that had happened when you and I first met was that I had been working with one of the Christian legal organizations to write the first zoning and licensing provision for adult entertainment establishments in the state of North Carolina. And we wrote it specifically for High Point, but it had an impact on the whole state.

(05:50):
And so at the time that I decided this was something I needed to do, I was not aware that the mob owned 80% of the adult entertainment establishments in the United States, and they owned three of the four places in High Point. Now people say, “Well, why worry about it in Highpoint?” Well, High Point has the international furniture market. We are the furniture capital of the world and twice a year at that time, our population was doubling. High Point has grown since then, but you’d have a hundred thousand people come in for the furniture market.

And so this was big business and it was owned by the Gotti organization. And so as soon as I started working against those places, the mafia wasn’t happy with me because at that time they were making a million dollars a day off of old entertainment establishments in the state of North Carolina alone.

(06:58):
And what followed was a year and a half when I was under death threat from the mafia. I had to check my car for bombs before I started it every morning. I had to, my mail had to go through the FBI before I could use it. And it was a tough year and a half, but we finally got the ordinance passed and the ironic thing is it passed, it withstood all the court challenges it got, but it took years before they actually enforced it. The good news was it kept any new establishments from locating within the city.

Meanwhile, the two large cities right here at us, Winston-Salem and Greensboro, both saw an explosion in those places. And we came to them and said, “Look, we’re about to essentially shut them out of High Point. We recommend you do the same.” And we couldn’t find anybody on those two cities to go along with us. But now even a couple of the ones that were in High Point have closed despite the growth of High Point University.

Dr. Jeff Myers (08:16):
Wow. Terry, I know there were a lot of points of terror in there, and I can only imagine, and discouragement at the unwillingness of public officials to take a stand to protect women and children. What did you see happen nationally in the wake of that? Because I think the legislation you wrote essentially became a model legislation that other people could use. Did they use it? Did it have any effect?

Dr. Terry Moffitt (08:49):
The last time, I quit checking, it had been used in 88 different cities across the United States. And the strong part of it, there were already zoning ordinances that existed, but the other part of it, the licensing ordinance, basically required background checks that would eliminate people who had a history of selling drugs. It would be a history of prostitution. Everything goes along with the adult entertainment establishments. And so people have been able to use that as a model and adapt them to their own state laws. And last I heard, they were still being effective. It’s still on the books here.

Dr. Jeff Myers (09:43):
Yeah.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (09:44):
It’s just the sexually oriented business ordinance. It’s never been repealed, but it hadn’t been enforced with a lot of vigor either.

Dr. Jeff Myers (09:57):
Right. Yeah. Well, I know the founders would say that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, that you not only have to get things going, you have to keep your finger on the pulse and make sure that they keep on going. Well, I know the students, as you’ve told that story at Summit Ministries, it’s been very inspirational to them. And what would you say to somebody who is thinking, “I might like to run for public office,” or, “I think I could make a difference on the city council or the school board or the state legislature or at the national level.” Would you do it all over again?

Dr. Terry Moffitt (10:39):
Oh, I would. Yeah, I would. Why? Well, because I saw so many people that saw me as their voice. They would come to me and say, “Look, we can’t get anybody else to listen to us. Will you bring this before the council? We know you’re not the most popular person on the council, but if you’ll bring it to the council, we would appreciate it.” And it was refreshing to see that I could bring a Christian perspective to politics without really ever telling them it was a Christian perspective.

Dr. Jeff Myers (11:25):
How would you describe a Christian perspective on politics? I didn’t intend to go this direction, but it’s been something I’ve been thinking a lot about as I’m writing a new book. I’m editing the book right now. The editing process is really challenging because the editors say, “Well, what about this or what about that?” And all of a sudden you feel like you’re defending something.

And one of them really challenged my point that I was making that a lot of Christians don’t care about politics and they said, “No, all Christians do care about politics.” But I’m just curious what you’re thinking is at the present time. Is there a biblical view of politics and how would you describe it?

Dr. Terry Moffitt (12:06):
Oh, most definitely. I think we see that begin to form in the Old Testament and then we see it through the New Testament where Christians are called to get involved. I loved your introductory remarks to Michael Sherrard’s new book where you say that many Christians today don’t know it, but they’re living like atheists, and that’s because they’re just going along with whatever the world tells them is right, and they aren’t stopping to say, “Well, is this biblical or not?”

I’ve run races for people and worked on races for people, not just in the United States, but in different countries. And if I have a candidate who’s a Christian, that’s one thing we come back to on a regular basis. And that is, is this a biblical perspective on this issue? And if so, can you show it to me? When I ran for city council, some of my most ardent opponents were people in the church because they said, “Politics is a dirty business and a Christian won’t get involved in the dirty business.” And I just said, “Well, do you want non-Christians making your decisions for you?”

(13:40):
And I’ll tell you, when I went to the educators conference that some wonderful soul paid for many years ago, that was kind of the final piece of the puzzle for me because here I had been in politics and I had a basis for what I was doing. I wasn’t just making it up as I went along, but when I went to Summit, I just went, “Man, why didn’t I hear about this three or four years ago?”

Dr. Jeff Myers (14:14):
Yeah. Well, because we are talking openly about all the things that you were having to deal with and saying, “Yes, there is a biblical worldview.” At Summit Ministries, I tell our staff now, we do make a careful distinction here. We are political in the sense that we believe politics is one of the areas where Christians should have an influence.

And we, as you know, very well, because you’ve taught understand the times for years, theology, philosophy, ethics, biology, psychology, sociology, law, economics and history are the other nine, but we are not partisan in the sense that we don’t endorse candidates, we don’t campaign on behalf of any particular candidate or different laws that are being passed, but we do expect that our students will be involved citizens.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (15:07):
Oh, yeah. And I think that’s something that the church needs right now, not only involved citizens, but citizens who aren’t necessarily partisan. I don’t know if you heard Dr. Tony Evans’ speech at NRB.

Dr. Jeff Myers (15:24):
I have, yes. And this is the speech we need to give the name of the speech if we can think of it because people can Google this and it’s really worth your time.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (15:34):
Oh yeah, it really is. And you see, as someone who was brought up in the black church, I was the only white in a black church growing up. And so I have the unique experience of being very involved in predominantly white churches and in multi-ethnic churches and in all black churches. And when he made the statement, he thought that evangelical churches have become too Republican and too many of the black churches have been bought off.

I could see that. I could see that because it was interesting when I was growing up, I learned conservatism from the people in this church I was in and they were great level. It was great lessons and to see how much has changed, I thought he highlighted that perfectly.

Dr. Jeff Myers (16:32):
Yeah. Well, let’s talk about education a little bit because you have, probably, the distinction of being the longest serving instructor of a Summit Ministries Understanding the Times course in Christian schools that I’m aware of. There may be one or two other people out there in this Hall of Fame for as far as I could tell, it’s the Dr. Terry Moffitt Hall of Fame right now. How many years have you taught the Summit Ministries curriculum? And then for the course of those who are new to the ministry may say curriculum, I didn’t even know there was a curriculum. So we got to cover that as well.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (17:12):
Well, yeah. When I came back from that conference, and I’m trying to think when that was, Jeff.

Dr. Jeff Myers (17:20):
It would have been in the 1990s.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (17:21):
Sometime early. Around that time, I was so sold that I came back in the very next board meeting. I told my school board, I said, “We have got to teach this course.” I said, “This is what our kids are missing.” Because I would talk to them when they’d come back from college and I could tell there was something that just wasn’t sinking in with them. And so to my knowledge, we became the first school in the United States to require it for graduation.

And very quickly, I had students coming back and saying, “I refer to my Understanding the Times notes and books all the time during this professor’s lecture or during this professor’s lecture.” And so I have never stopped. Every school where I have been, unless they already had an established Understanding the Times teacher, I have taught the course because I just truly love it. And to me, it is the most applicable course of any course I teach.

Dr. Jeff Myers (18:29):
Well, and you teach in a lot of different subjects. You’ve taught all the way from graduate students all the way down to elementary students.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (18:37):
Yes.

Dr. Jeff Myers (18:38):
Tell us what happens in one of these understanding the Times courses, because for those who aren’t in a Christian school on a daily basis, it’s kind of hard to imagine. I know what I would do in a trigonometry class. I would freak out, that’s what I would do, but I know that I know what the curriculum is, but you say you’re going to have a worldview class. What does that even look like?

Dr. Terry Moffitt (19:01):
Well, I’m going to come in on a daily basis and I’m going to ask them a lot of questions. This is a very discussion based course. I have been known to come in and maybe I’m asking questions from the standpoint of an atheist, or maybe I’m asking from the standpoint of a Muslim, and they’ll have to figure out what worldview I’m coming from. But the big thing is I want to talk to them about the issues that they are dealing with and look at how the different worldviews are interpreting those.

So it’s a class that the students would tell you is certainly not an easy class, but it’s one that does something that I think we need to get our students to do more and it makes them think. My rule in my classroom has always been, “You don’t have to agree with me. You can disagree with me on any point, but all I ask is you do so respectfully and that you do so with facts, not feelings.” And that’s the rule of thumb, and that just kind of opens up the whole environment for discussion.

Dr. Jeff Myers (20:24):
Tell us, as you look back over your career from teaching those students back in the 1990s until now, that’s a full generational shift. What are some of the changes that you’ve seen in young adults, the way they’re being raised, what they believe, and so forth in your experience in the United States?

Dr. Terry Moffitt (20:51):
Yeah. I would say probably one of the first things that comes to mind, and I get this from some of the folks I taught graduate school with, and they are seeing it too, and that is a shorter attention span. So over the course of a normal class period, you have to vary what you’re doing a little bit more, 15, 20 minutes before you move on. And I mean, I’m talking about, for college bound students, and I’ve had graduate level professors say that their online courses are geared to that length.

The other thing I would point to is their knowledge of the Bible itself. Too many students I have seen in recent years are in churches that don’t teach the word. They’re more interested in bringing in warm bodies than they are in teaching the truth. And the most interesting thing about that, when I talk to my students about what they would like to see, if they could change anything in the church in America, what would they change? And it has been consistent for some time now, and that is, we wish they would teach and preach on the issues that we’re facing and do so without pulling any punches.

Dr. Jeff Myers (22:27):
Wow. Wow. That’s not at all what you would expect to hear based on some of the news about churches going woke and things like that. These students are not wanting to avoid the controversy. They want to engage it.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (22:43):
Yeah. They want to, at least, to be made to think biblically about it and they’re afraid to. Until they get into understanding the times for the most part, unless they’ve just had a Bible teacher that also invited that, they have been afraid to bring up some of these issues because there’s issues that adults just don’t want to talk about. That’s a real disservice to these kids.

Dr. Jeff Myers (23:16):
Yeah. Tell us, what are some of the issues that students really are focused on right now? Because as an adult, I want to be sure I’m always prepared to help them.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (23:27):
Yeah. Well, they’re having so much thrown at them right now. It seems like it’s almost on a daily basis. I bring in a lot of articles that I get from the publications I read, and particularly from the daily publications I read. We’ve had several discussions on the whole transgender issue that they said that’s one of those issues. They say, “We never talk about anywhere else.”

(23:56):
And then, of course, there’s everything, it’s kind of the political issue du jour, depending on where they stand on that. They’re either completely ignorant of politics or they’re on fire when it comes to politics. So there doesn’t seem to be much in between there. Of course, along with the transgender issue, you have all the homosexual issues and there’s so much pressure on them to at least become bi, that they have questions about that. And so that and the old questions that I’ve dealt with since the first day I became a teacher, the Bible says, “Don’t steal.” Well, what if your family’s starving and you need a loaf of bread, that type of thing.

Dr. Jeff Myers (24:52):
Yeah.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (24:53):
Those still are around, they’re just in slightly different forms. Surprisingly enough, I haven’t had that much talk about racism and that type of thing, because I think these kids are very accepting of each other. We’re going to look at a history of Black Lives Matter and that sort of thing, and that’s always a wake up call for them because they don’t understand that to understand what these organizations are for and what they’re promoting, you really have to go back to their roots and see how true they are to their beginnings. And once they see that, everything seems to come into place for them.

Dr. Jeff Myers (25:39):
That’s so interesting. So North Carolina’s a very diverse state and what you’re seeing in your school and in that area is a different conversation than the national media seems to be having.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (25:54):
And it would be a different conversation. If you were to go down to the Research Triangle, which is Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, all those areas. Or I ran a school in Charlotte for four years. It was a little bit different conversation down there, but that was before so many of these issues were just talked about all the time. And then having been brought up in the Western part of North Carolina, I guarantee you, it’s a different conversation up there.

Dr. Jeff Myers (26:30):
I would love to. This just popped into my mind. I’d love to talk about a biblical worldview of sports a little bit. One of my guests in one of the shows was Dr. Roger Erdvig, who you know, he wrote that book called Beyond Biblical Integration. And I threw that question at him. Is there a biblical worldview of sports?

But I’d love to ask the question of you because this is the environment you grew up in. You were a basketball player. I know we can’t really tell it from the video, but you’re a very tall guy. You played basketball, you played at a very famous school for a legendary coach. And then you’ve had the opportunity to coach sports along the way and even start a sports academy. And I’d love to just talk about the intersection of biblical worldview and sports, especially as a Christian.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (27:19):
Well, I think that there’s a tremendous intersection there. When I was brought up, there was no question. In the locker room, our coaches were going to pray with us. They talked to us about everything. They were in church. Now, whether they were very devout Christians or not, left to remain to be seen sometimes, but they at least were schooled in that.

(27:50):
When I went to the University of North Carolina, Dean Smith still had a rule that you were expected to be worshiping somewhere on Sundays, unless you had a written note from your mother. It couldn’t be from your father. It had to be from your mother. And you were assured that he was going to pick up the phone and call your mother to make sure she did write it and you didn’t get some girl in the dorm to write it.

And even though he was from a very liberal congregation, and he and I didn’t agree on much when it came to politics, it was that idea that you are representing something much bigger than yourself. And I think that’s one thing that grieves me about so much of professional athletics today. You have some great people in there that could not represent themselves, their teams, their families, and the Lord any better.

(28:56):
But for the most part it’s, look at me, and you can tell that philosophy has changed. Now, when we started the Sports Academy, this was a Christian Sports Academy. It was for elite athletes that were going to go to college and we were working with them academically, taught understanding the times with them.

And all they did was go to class and play whatever sport they were in and through it all, we had Christian coaches, we worked on biblical worldview with them day in and day out because so many of these kids had never really been exposed to it before. They had been exposed to the Bible, but they didn’t know how to apply it in all these areas. And that just confirmed to me that sports is a tremendous mission field, and because you can get the attention of some kids in sports that you’re never going to get in science, unfortunately, or English, but when it comes into the athletic endeavor they have chosen, it’s a big deal.

Dr. Jeff Myers (30:14):
Well, student athletes, when I was a college professor, this was a big issue that we continually had to work through. Student athletes essentially have two full-time jobs. They have to be a full-time student and they have to be a full-time athlete. It’s an impossible situation for, especially the sport of basketball, which covers both of the semesters.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (30:36):
Yeah. I tell aspiring athletes all the time. I said, “Now, listen, let me tell you what it’s going to be like. From the time you step on that campus until the time you graduate, as long as you are playing your sport, they’re going to determine your schedule. And you aren’t going to have as much free time as you think you’re going to have. And a lot of that free time is going to be spent with your teammates. And some of them are going to be designated to make sure they keep you out of trouble.”

And that’s one thing that has really changed in college athletics. I remember I was coming from an FCA camp with Bobby Bowden, who was the longtime championship football coach at Florida State University. And I happened to be, he and his son, Tommy, who at the time was the head coach at Clemson, and I were riding along.

(31:35):
And that’s back when I had started the Sports Academy. And I said, “Coach Bowden, what has changed the most since you became a coach?” And he said, “Well, I can look at a film and I can tell you in 15 minutes if this boy can play college football.” He said, “I can tell whether he has the talent.” He said, “Where we spend all our time is doing background checks and hiring detectives to go in and see if there’s anything this student has done that is going to embarrass the university.” And he said, “Even then, we miss things because wrongs are covered up so well.”

And that really had an impact on me because I came out of clean programs, I came out of programs where we were expected to be gentlemen and to act in a proper fashion. And just looking at some of the environments some of these high school kids are coming into, and suddenly this idolatry, if you will, is thrown on them when they get to college.

(32:44):
I mean, if you were playing in a big time college program and you are actually playing, sometimes that’s about as close as a human’s going to experience becoming like the Greek gods at any time in their life.

Dr. Jeff Myers (32:58):
Yeah. Wow. So the character is essential. Well, let me ask you, because I know you’ve also, you’ve done a lot of other things too. You taught Sunday school classes, biblical worldview’s been a big part of your learning and your teaching. Of course, we continue to develop materials that can be used in churches and personal Bible studies, but I think you would say that you don’t wait around for somebody to develop the curriculum for you, that somehow you’ve got to be able to incorporate a biblical worldview, teach a biblical worldview, wherever you happen to be. What are some of the core principles for you?

Dr. Terry Moffitt (33:36):
Well, for me, I want to make it pertinent to them. I always add extra reading because I want them to be a reader. I know that’s something that Summit reinforces that I have always loved, and that is, if you’re going to be a leader, you’ve got to be a reader. And my grandfather, who was the most intelligent man I ever met, and all he had was a high school education. And he told me, he said, “Boy,” he said, “When you take your last real class, that’s when your education starts.”

Dr. Jeff Myers (34:14):
Wow.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (34:15):
And so he taught me how to start reading even before the schools taught me how to read. And so I try to impress that and I want them to read things that are going to have meaning because a lot of times when they do read, they’re just reading what I call beach trash, something you can read, you don’t really have to think about. So that was one thing that, I thought I was an avid reader until I met Doc Noble.

And I remember that first time I met him and I asked him how much he read. And at the time, I believe he was reading a book a day and indexing it in the back of the book himself. And I remember walking away from that and thinking, “Man, I have got to pick it up.” So that’s something I try to get across to them.

(35:12):
And I try to get them to read some things that are going to challenge them. And then just bringing in the current events of the day so that they see that the Bible is not just isolated, that a biblical worldview and something they’re just tested on this week and forget next week, but they are seeing the practical applications of it and they’re learning to be asked tough questions. And if they don’t know the answer, don’t fake your way, because that’s when I’ll go after you. Instead, say, “I don’t know the answer to that, but if you give me 24 hours, I’ll find it.”

Dr. Jeff Myers (35:55):
Right. Yeah. Great principle for life. Yeah. Well, I traveled with Doc Noble for several years. When I was in graduate school, I came to help develop curriculum at Summit Ministries. So I was going to school and doing that and then we’d occasionally go on trips and he really did read. He would read like five or six books at a time. He would read a few chapters of one. Then when he got tired of that topic, he would just, instead of stopping reading, he would just switch to a different book. And then over the course of a week, all of those books would be read. It really was true. It’s remarkable.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (36:36):
Yeah, it blew me away.

Dr. Jeff Myers (36:38):
It is. It’s incredible. And there are a handful of people I’ve met who do that regularly. Dr. Al Mohler from Southern Seminary is another one. Most people don’t either have the capacity or the appetite to do that, but you can still read. You can still understand. And if I could get anything across to this rising generation, surely one of the key teaching points would be, your mind works.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (37:08):
Yes.

Dr. Jeff Myers (37:09):
You may have been told that it doesn’t. You may have been told that your thoughts don’t really matter. You may be in an environment where you don’t feel safe to say what you think, but your mind works. I can’t tell you how many students have come and said, “I realized I’m not dumb. I can think. I can process through these issues and I can have good conversations. I can continually learn and grow.” That’s the point, not how many books are in the stack.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (37:42):
Yes. Well, that being said, my wife is very happy that I’ve now switched to a lot of digital books because we’ve run out of places to put them.

Dr. Jeff Myers (37:56):
Well, I’ve taken over a second room in my office recently because I don’t have room for the books anymore, but I may have actually reached that tipping point on our recent vacation. I took six books along and I had to haul them all over Mexico. So I’m a little tired of doing that now.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (38:15):
That’s what did it for me. I think I had taken several books with me to Africa. They weren’t small books and I decided, when I get back, I got back. I said, “Well, I’m going to make the switch.”

Dr. Jeff Myers (38:31):
Yeah, yeah. I was just reading the Homo Deus book by Harari, I believe it is. And the only thing I could think as I was reading it is, this is written on such heavy paper. Why did I bother bringing this along on vacation? I’m not kidding. That book had to have weighed four or five pounds of my entire luggage. Absolutely.

But yeah, this is great. This has been such an affirmation and it’s fun to learn from your life experiences. It’s fun to hear about the students that you’re working with, changes in them through time. But you know what I’m hearing in everything that you say, Terry, is a confidence in this rising generation that you really believe in them. You really believe that they can rise up and become leaders.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (39:19):
Well, I believe they can rise up. I think they just have to learn that when they rise up, somebody’s probably going to film them.

Dr. Jeff Myers (39:29):
Right.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (39:30):
I have great confidence in this generation. I really do because I see them as being hungry. They’re really hungry for the word. I think one of the reasons why so many studies by people like Barna are showing they’re leaving the church is because they are going into these lukewarm churches and that’s not what they’re looking for. They’re looking for something on fire.

I know in our area that the churches that are preaching an uncompromising, the word of God with no compromising are the ones that are growing. And after the pandemic, a lot of people just didn’t go back to the other churches. Even though they are much bigger churches, they’re seeing them leave in record numbers if they are not teaching the word of God. And so that gives me great hope. One of the great things about teaching this course is every year you have a different class.

(40:31):
You can’t necessarily use last year’s lesson plan because you got new students with new interests. They’re facing some new issues that are being emphasized. Last year we spent a lot of time talking about how to handle wokeness and the cancel culture and that sort of thing. And that just hadn’t come up as much this year. So it keeps me young to be able to teach it, even though my desk would tell you I probably need to avoid teaching it and do more paperwork.

Dr. Jeff Myers (41:06):
This has been delightful, Terry. It’s great to reconnect with you. So great to hear these stories and thank you for your faithfulness to those students.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (41:14):
Oh, it’s my pleasure, Jeff. Thank you for all you do. You lit a fire under me all those years ago, and I am forever grateful to you for it.

Dr. Jeff Myers (41:28):
Well, we are together in helping to prepare a generation to equip them, to support them, to embrace God’s truth, and to champion a biblical worldview. So Terry, thanks for being on the show.

Dr. Terry Moffitt (41:38):
My pleasure, buddy.

Dr. Jeff Myers (41:39):
Special thank you to my guest today, Dr. Terry Moffitt, for joining me on the program. You can read more about the school that is currently being led by Dr. Moffitt at hayworthchristianschool.com. The scripture reminds us to bring children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. When we have healthy families that work together on education, with the teachers, with the school, we can be better witnesses to God in the world. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next week.

Hey, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Dr. Jeff Show. It’s a podcast from Summit Ministries, summit.org. Summit is a nonprofit ministry that exists to equip and support the rising generation to embrace God’s truth and champion a biblical worldview. For nearly 60 years, Summit Ministries has been training students and those who work with students to develop, deepen, and defend a biblical worldview through life-changing conferences, thoughtful church, homeschool, and Christian school, curriculum books, free online resources and more.

(42:40):
If you want to live out a biblical worldview in today’s world and you desire to instill a lifelong faith in the rising generation, visit summit.org/thedrJeffshow for more information. Listeners, I want you to know that our podcast is on Edifi, which is a truly powerful app that brings together thousands of the best Christian podcasts in one place for your listening enjoyment. You can download it at edifi.app. Be sure to share this show if you have enjoyed listening to it, and leave a review, if you would, on the site where you download the show, that helps more people know about the Dr. Jeff Show, and I’ll look forward to seeing you next week.