by Adam Kronberger / Superintendent

The past month I have been coaching the Crosshill Christian School girl’s middle school basketball team. It has been a very fun and rewarding experience. My only regret is that I wish there were more practice time – there is so much to cover! As skills are introduced or reinforced, it is a coach’s responsibility to continue to remind and reteach the correct technique. I often find myself fulfilling this coaching duty with a large degree of passion and sometimes increased volume. I have made a deliberate effort to remind the girls how much I love them, the purpose of my words of correction, and the larger importance of life itself. In fact, this very process of learning the game of basketball is necessary for growth in one’s mental, emotional, and spiritual maturity.

As I walk the hallways and classrooms of CCS each day, I observe this process occurring on a regular basis. Teachers work hard to train students effectively. We want to not merely respond to misbehavior, and not just attempt to simply manage each situation.  But rather we choose to consider the purpose of the leadership we provide to students.  Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. True disciples possess a degree of maturity that eventually is not dependent on external controls. When one of my basketball girls travels while pivoting, I insert my encouraging instruction to not only bring to her attention the infraction, but to train her to perform it correctly in the future. As a basketball coach, my desire is to develop a mature basketball player that will consistently pivot in competition without traveling.

When our students demonstrative behavior that is inconsistent with being a disciple of Jesus Christ, we must insert ourselves into the situation. Correction is certainly necessary, but more important is training the student for future success. We read in Hebrews 12:11 “No discipline [or correction] seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11

As correction is provided, the process can be painful for both the deliverer and the recipient. So much so that there is a temptation to tone down the correction so much as to deem it ineffective. The result of watered-down correction is the absence of righteousness and peace in the lives of our students. A soft heart that pursues both righteousness and peace are components of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Each one of us can consider moments in our own lives where correction was present, either through natural consequences or the direct intervention of a leader in our lives. But we don’t focus on the pain, but on the fruit. When a pair of my basketball girls executes a screen-and-roll perfectly on the court this week, I will not be thinking of the multiple moments of painful correction, but rather will focus on their success. As parents, may we keep the purpose of training in focus, and demonstrate courage and consistency with our children. Both in our homes, and on the basketball court! 

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– Adam Kronberger / Superintendent

by Molly Dillon / Keizer Campus Principal

When my son was a toddler everything went into his mouth. To my frustration, and many times, disgust, if it fit, it went in. I was constantly telling him, “Yuck, don’t put that in your mouth, that’s not for eating”, or “Take that out of your mouth it’s yucky!” Yuck was my word, and as many times as I repeated it, I questioned if he truly understood. One evening at dinner, after only eating one tiny bite of his food, my sweet boy proclaimed “Tastes like yuck!” I retorted “What do you mean it tastes like yuck?” Then it dawned on me that of all the objects he placed in his mouth, my dinner was yuck. His truthfulness, although comical, stung a little. 

We are called to speak truth into the lives of our children, and one another. That has always been uncomfortable and challenging for me. I have either been afraid of speaking the truth, or my awkward dispensing of it left me with the unfortunate taste of foot in my mouth. The other person was usually left confused, or frustrated. Over the years God has provided me with ample opportunities as a spouse, friend and parent to practice. I would love to share that continued practice has made “perfect”, but in all reality, a growing relationship with a perfect God has increased my understanding of truth. 

Scripture teaches that speaking truth is speaking love. 1 Timothy 1:5 beautifully reveals that  "The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (AMP). God himself is truth, as is His written word, which forms protective boundaries, and exist for our benefit. Sharing God’s truth as He intended inspires us to change. Smacking someone upside the head with the truth may result in outward conformity, but will have no lasting effect. Our motivation must be to lead others closer to Christ, only then will we blessed with witnessing the transforming power of the truth. Ephesians 4:15 encourages us to “Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).” (AMP) 

Without the key ingredients of truth and love, our recipe for discipleship will “Taste like yuck!”


– Molly Dillon / Keizer Campus Principal

by Adam Kronberger / Superintendent

There is a story that often gets retold at certain Kronberger gatherings. I was very young when my parents owned a dairy farm.  Each summer, they would put up their own hay for the cows to eat during the winter. It was hot, dusty, and dirty work. To this day, I disdain harvesting hay, especially stacking bales in an overheated oxygen-deprived barn. For some of the dirtiest work, farmhands might cover their mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and sometimes cover their itchy eyes with large goggles. One afternoon, the goggles were missing on our farm and they had last been in the possession of me and my older brother. The way the story goes, my dad stood me and my older brother in front of him and asked us which of us had taken the goggles. I would respond that I had no idea where they were, as did my brother. Then my dad would proceed to “discipline” my older brother who was usual suspect #1 in most cases, while I stood there untouched. Each time my brother would try to persuade me to remember how I had taken them, and each time it was he who received some “persuasion” from my dad. At some point, recognition dawned on my face as I exclaimed, “Now I remember! I took the goggles. I know right where they are!”

This month we are focusing on the character trait of truthfulness. Being truthful allows a person to earn future trust by accurately reporting past facts. Students’ relationships with others is based upon trust. The degree of trust often correlates to how truthful they have been in the past. Our relationship with God is quite similar. Jesus taught that “whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” He was revealing a principle showing that how we conduct ourselves in the small areas of our lives impacts the biggest areas of our lives. Nothing is more important than God’s calling for each of our lives. How our character develops directly impacts how God can trust us with the plans he has for us  (read Luke 16 to learn more about this interesting parable).

In all truthfulness, I do not remember the time I misplaced the hay goggles. Perhaps my limited long-term memory explains my limited short-term memory as a 5-year old. Still, I learned from that experience how truthfulness can affect how others trust you. I don’t know if my brother has ever gotten over it; he sure is eager to tell the story as often as he can! But I do believe I have learned how to consistently be truthful, and appreciate the trust placed in the school to disciple your children. May we be successful in teaching them the value of truthfulness this month. 

– Adam Kronberger / Superintendent