Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed, to consider well that the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3), and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.

And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion ; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
– Isaiah 35:10

for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again,
but the wicked are brought down by calamity.
-Provers 24:16

The early church was able to grow and have influence because it was decentralized. When the Christians were persecuted in Jerusalem, they moved on to Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1-6). Even Rome, the center of apostate political power, was populated with Christians. Spain was next in Paul’s missionary plans (Romans 15:28). The decentralized church was the growing and elusive church. No political power on earth could curtail its efforts. Christians, because ultimately they serve God, take their religion with them wherever they go. Families no longer look to the state for care. Education is seen as a parental responsibility. Statist education is opposed. Alternative educational establishments are constructed. Care for the needy is seen as a Christian responsibility and not the obligation or right of the state. There was little need for “fair” business laws because Christian employers treated their employees with dignity, as individuals created in the image of God. These early Christians were persecuted for their “individualistic” beliefs, but with the Roman Empire crumbling around them, in time, Christians found themselves in positions of power and authority.

Gary DeMar – God and Government Vol II, page 70

The created order is to be studied and cultivated to bring forth its God-ordained potentialities, all for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom. This includes agriculture, astronomy, engineering, architecture, navigation, medicine, biology, science, aviation, physics, music, industry, education, horticulture, athletics, economics, politics, health, law, and every conceivable creational endeavor.

-Gary DeMar – God and Government Vol. II, p. 63-64

“Capitalism and Communism stand at opposite poles. Their essential difference is this: The Communist, seeing the rich man and his fine home, says: ‘No Man should have so much.’ the capitalist, seeing the same thing, says: ‘All men should have as much.'”

-Phelps Adams

“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.”

-Abraham Lincoln

“The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidze it.”

-Ronald Reagan

As we labor in our various callings and businesses, we have to remember that there is no such thing as luck. Neither good luck nor bad luck exists. The fortune that one man experiences and another man misses are not the result of a giant lottery in the sky. This is just another way of saying that the universe, all of it, is personal. We live and move and have our being in the triune God of Scripture, who governs everything, and He does this on a personal basis. He does not operate through the impersonal machinery of “natural law.”

Not all those who believe in chance are willing to say that they believe in chance. It is easy to pay lip service to the catechism truth that the personal and triune God governs all things. But a very carnal desire lies deep within many hearts, and this is the desire to have blessings come to us in a way that is detached from personal obedience or disobedience. If the world is governed by chance, then it is “just possible” that the ball might bounce my way even if I am being disobedient. This is why men and women who will not let go of certain sins are such tenacious believers in luck. It is their only shot.

That this demeanor is thriving very well in modern America can be seen in the growth industry of casinos. These institutionalized houses of worship are dedicated to obtaining the favor of Fortuna, a goddess who really doesn’t care how you have been behaving lately. And this is why gambling is not a sin of excess (like drinking or eating too much). In its sinful form, it is actually a species of false worship.

But in the biblical worldview, God either blesses the work of our hands, or He does not, and whichever He does, He is always personal with it. For those who love Him, blessings and setbacks are alike long-term blessings. For those who do not, And nothing about it is governed in the slightest degree by chance.

-Douglas Wilson

“Recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose yours.”

-Harry S. Truman

“Money is a good servant but a bad master.”

-Francis Bacon

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure.”

-Colin Powell

“National progress is the sum of individual industry, energy, and uprightness, as national decay is of individual idleness, selfishness, and vice.”

-Samuel Smiles

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”

-Winston Churchill

“Some see private enterprise as a predatory target to be shot, others as a cow to be milked, but few are those who see it as a sturdy horse pulling the wagon.”

-Winston Churchill

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that know not victory nor defeat.’

Theodore Roosevelt”

They tell us, Sir, that we are weak — unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power.

Three millions of People, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Beside, Sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of Nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone. It is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, Sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable. and let it come! I repeat, Sir, let it come!

It is in vain, Sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace! — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that Gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery! Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

-Patrick Henry

We just got back from Idaho. Idaho is a beautiful state, with rolling hills and a lot of open space! Our ten days were very filled, but GREAT!

“If men were angels, government would not be necessary.”

-James Madison

TASOL Graduation
May 28th, 2004

The French man, Alexis De Tocqueville.( 1805-1859), was very impressed by America. Here is what he said:

” I sought for the greatness and genious of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers– and it was not there…in her fertile fields and boundless forests–and it was not there…in her rich mines and her vast world commerce–and it was not there…in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution–and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genious and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

What Alexis De Tocqueville discovered about America is what The American School Of Lyon has been all about. We came to do good to the city of Lyon. As a Presbyterian minister, I came back to Lyon to serve my native city in Christ’s name. We wanted to meet a need of the city. We discovered that there was indeed a great need for an American School. ADERLY told us that many businesses had turned down offers to come to the Lyon region because there was not an American School here to meet the needs of their children.

For our project of an American school to succeed, we needed three things:

1. A building: The Mayor of Lyon, Raymond Barre, and the COURLY gave us this beautiful facility free of charge for the first three years.
2. Support from ADERLY, and by extension, support from the major foreign corporations of Lyon. We had that for the first three years.
3. Financial support from outside France. The Presbyterian Church in America invested an average of 500,000 euros a year in The American School Of Lyon for you.
In return, we guaranteed a quality American education, with the understanding that it would be given from a historical Christian world-and-life view. We did exactly what we promised to do.

We took great risks and sacrificed much as an outpouring of Jesus-Christ’s love for you and your children. There was no self-interest in this, but only a desire to do good to the city of Lyon in Christ’s name.

Today, we want to celebrate the goodness of God through American Christians who brought good to the city of Lyon,
and by extension, brought good to you and your children.
As we did good to you, we were blessed in returned.
Just to name a few things:

• Over and over, parents have thanked us for what TASOL did for their children. Their letters and kind words blessed us.
• Many students came to TASOL not speaking any English at all, but they succeeded, catching up with their class and, sometimes, they passed the others. It blessed us.
• Others came with a terrible French school experience, and these kids blossomed in our school. This blessed us.
• I heard many teachers saying that their students were upset because vacation was coming; they preferred to be in school at TASOL. This blessed us.
• Some parents could not afford to pay the tuition, and we took them anyway, giving them scholarships. It blessed us.
• A few of our students had learning disabilities. We loved them, trained them, and patiently brought them to the point were they found hope again. This blessed us.
• Many students came as sceptics with a very pesimistic world- and-life view, and they found a new hope in life because of Christ. This blessed us.

  As we look back , we realize that our staff was also blessed in different ways.

• Ten out of the 65 people who came to serve in TASOL over the past five years found their life partner in the school.
• Our staff will never be the same, having grown from being with people from 22 different nations. What a learning experience !

  TASOL was doing very well.

• We were just about to receive full accreditation from ACSI, ECIS and ACCS.
• Student enrollment was going up.
• TASOL was about to start the process for the International Baccalaureat program .
• Our building needed repairs, and the COURLY was going to take care of those.
• We were just starting to have exchanges with the Sainte-Foy community, to build bridges between countries to foster better understanding and appreciation for each other.
• Because the Christian curriculum was an issue for a few parents, we even changed to a public school curriculum, although keeping our Christian standards. We were satisfying an increasing number of parents.

  So why is TASOL closing ?

  It boils down to one reason —
  The opening of the International School of Lyon, supported by Renault V.I. , Bridon/Bayer Cropscience and Monsanto, and the fact that the students from these companies represent about half of our student body. There is not room for two similar schools in Lyon.
  Why did these Companies, supported by our former partner ADERLY, want to start their own school ?

  For one reason: It’s because we were a Christian school, though we carefully respected each person from other religions and beliefs. We changed our Christian curriculum to a public school curriculum, but this was not enough, and these companies decided to start their school, one that is without any religious connotation.
  I won’t get into the recent debate about ” La laicite ” in France and how neutrality is a myth — but I will say one thing: TASOL offered the best education you can get. Our aim was a complete education, training the mind, the body, and the soul. If you remove the spiritual dimension from education, you create narrow-minded thinking that can lead to all kinds of political, religious or ethnic fanaticism. The education that we gave at TASOL presented our Judeo-Christian heritage as the foundation of Western civilisation, but also taught other religious beliefs, thereby broadening the minds of our students,– and giving them the possibility of a TRUE choice.

  I know most of you went to battle to stop the closing of our school, and I want to thank you for your support.
  Some of you reported that you heard lies about us, and I pray that you know in your heart that they were lies.
  Some of you are leaving Lyon because of the closing of TASOL, and I’m very sorry for that.

  We are sad that the school is closing. However, we are not depressed. We are grateful for what God has done — for the good education that your children have received, and for how they have been loved as they probably will never be loved by teachers again. We are grateful for our teachers, our director, our principal and our administrators. We have all been blessed to serve you in Christ’s name for five years, and I hope that you have been as blessed as we were.

  For those of you who studied Latin, remember these words:

  ” SCRIBITUR AD NARRANDUM,
  NON AD PROBANDUM.”

  ” We write history to tell what happened, and not to prove anything”

  I hope that history will tell that TASOL did good to the city of Lyon in Christ’s name. If the history books don’t, our God will !

  In all the injust things that happened with the closing of the school, please know that we did not seek revenge, although it would have been easy to do so.

  We returned good for evil.

When we knew we had to close TASOL, we helped the process for the new school. A special thanks to Mark Guthrie for that.

Our lawyer is a specialist in ” Le droit du travail.” We could have used the law ( article L 122-12 alinea 2 du code du travail), to impose on the new school to hire our staff. We chose not to do this because the Bible says: ” Do unto others what you would have them do to you.” Therefore, we assumed the financial responsibility for our staff.

We will continue to help the best we can the new International School of Lyon as they take possession of our facilities July 1st.
We have already sent new student applications for TASOL to
them.

Alexis De Trocqueville discovered that America was great because it was good. And it was good because of what Christ can do in an individual life.

The good of TASOL is not in us.
It is in Christ, the only perfectly Good One.
As Man, He died for our sins.
As God, He rose from the dead to give us a new life,
the life that made TASOL a blessing to the city of Lyon,

May God bless TASOL’s staff and teachers as they move on to continue to serve Christ in other parts of the World,
and may God bless you and your children.

Rev. Francis Foucachon
Founder and President of the
American School Of Lyon