In this enlightening episode of Family Talk, Dr. James Dobson and co-host Roger Marsh welcome Reverend Dr. Daryl Jones to the discussion. Dr. Jones shares his journey from pastoring for 35 years to joining the Herzog Foundation, which is pioneering efforts in Christian education. Discover how the foundation is impacting Generation Z and Alpha by addressing gaps in the education system and promoting faith-based learning models. Our conversation covers how recent shifts in public education prompted many families to reconsider their schooling options. We delve into the innovative approaches that Christian schools are adopting, including hybrid learning models and
Welcome everyone to Family Talk. It’s a ministry of the James Dobson Family Institute supported by listeners just like you. I’m Dr. James Dobson and I’m thrilled that you’ve joined us. Well, welcome to another edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, the broadcast division of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. I’m Roger Marsh, sitting in the co-host chair for today’s program. And, you know, one of the more hotly contested areas of American life over the past few decades has been the education of our children and our grandchildren. It is no secret that public school curriculum has definitely veered more toward the left of the spectrum with regards to the morals and values presented, if they’re even venerable faith-based institutions have gone a bit more, I guess you’d call it woke, in hopes of keeping up with the times in which we live. Now, fortunately, there are plenty of people of faith who are poised and prepared to continue to sound the clarion call for teaching students about the true source of wisdom. the eternal word of God. And on today’s edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, we’re going to meet a man whose unwavering commitment to challenging young minds to achieve classroom excellence led him to leave more than a quarter century, actually 35 years of pastoral pulpit ministry, to help lead and guide this essential campaign. The Reverend Dr. Daryl Jones joins me today here on Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk. And we’re going to get into a powerful conversation about why the Stanley Herzog Foundation has become a major player in the battle for hearts and minds and ultimately the souls of Generation Z and Generation Alpha. and all the rest that are coming beyond. Now, from 1986 to 2021, Dr. Jones served in a variety of ministerial capacities at Grace Evangelical Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication from Missouri Western State University and then went on to earn his Masters of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City. Dr. Daryl Jones and his wife are the parents of three grown daughters, along with three incredible sons-in-law. I have it on good authority that they are. And also a growing number of grandchildren. Last count that we had, it’s 10, but we’ll get into that right now. Dr. Daryl Jones, welcome to Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, thank you so much, Roger, and thank you for having me on. It’s a pleasure to be with you. And yes, the count is 10, and we think it’s going to be 10, but you know, the Lord provides, and we’ll find out. But it’s exciting with 10 grandchildren. Nine granddaughters and one grandson. Oh, boy. And he is all boy, I’m telling you. He is all boy.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s good, and it looks even more all boy against that estrogen that’s coming his way.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, my gosh, yes, for sure. My wife and I had three daughters, and so, yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you understand it. You know the drill. You know, the Herzog Foundation is a name that might not be familiar to some of our listeners, but they have made quite an impact on the landscape of Christian education, really only in a few short years. To what do you, Daryl Jones, attribute such a meteoric success? I mean, the fact that Stanley Herzog passed away just a few years ago, the Herzog Foundation came a few years after that. Talk about why you think you’re growing so quickly.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, the Holy Spirit of God. What the devil meant for evil, God meant for good. And I will just tell you that Christ is still on the throne, and when it appears that there’s no plan, he’s not concerned about that, and his plan is real, and it involves us. for now and for eternity. And so the Lord has just really allowed us to, in four and a half short years, have just an amazing reach and an amazing footprint in the Christian education space. And I would just attribute it to the Lord as well as, you know, I will say that God has really given us an amazingly gifted staff. We’ve got a great team of really smart young people who that are, you know, taking advantage of a lot of social media and a lot of the things that are, you know, today’s reach. We’ve got a lot of gifted people in those roles. But, you know, even some of us older folks who have a little steady at the helm and God is really using it and allowed us to make amazing connections with the right people. I mean, my goodness, I’m sitting here talking with Roger Marsh with the James Dobson Family Institute. I mean, how exciting.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, that’s very kind of you. And I know, well, please know that our relationship with you, you know, it’s a two-way street. And that’s something that we don’t often talk about here on Family Talk, but here at the James Dobson Family Institute, we are very well aware that Dr. and Mrs. Dobson both got their starts in education and public education before he moved on to the ministry and the videos and things like that. But Mrs. Dobson had seven great years in the classroom before staying home to raise their kids. So public education is important to us, but at the same time, We’re looking at what’s happening in public education here at the JDFI, and it’s kind of horrifying. So let’s get kind of a running jump here. Stanley M. Herzog may not be a household name to a lot of people, but his legacy is just really incredible. Can you give us kind of a 35,000-foot view of that? Sure.
SPEAKER 01 :
Sure. Mr. Herzog made a whole lot of money in rail, so both cargo rail as well as light rail. I’ve said, in fact, if you live in a community that has a light rail system, Stan Herzog probably had something to do with it. Wow. He was conservative to the nines in every facet of his life. He loved the Lord. He loved Christian education. He loved the product of Christian education. His two children were both graduates of K-12 Christian education. And when he passed, he didn’t leave one red cent for politics or conservative politics. He left it all for K-12 Christ-centered education across the country. And so, you know, literally hundreds of millions of dollars for the purpose of being a catalyst for a movement in Christian education so that families and so that culture can flourish. That’s really the mission.
SPEAKER 02 :
And one of the quotes I read about Stan Herzog is the fact that he really did seek, and this is something that you continue at the Herzog Foundation, to identify the growth and the gaps in Christian education. Find the places where it’s really happening and taking off. and other areas where we need to kind of buffer a little bit. Now, there are some parents who are listening to our conversation right now, and they’re saying, look, my kids had a good public school experience. Why is Christian education so important? But there are other people who are saying, hey, wait a minute. We’re in California. We’re packing out of this like crazy. Talk about some of the ways that you at the Herzog Foundation identify those growth gaps areas.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, you know, first of all, I would just say that I was a product and my wife was a product of K-12 public education. Our daughters, who graduated high school now probably not quite 20 years ago, also K-12 public education. I will simply tell you, as of this recording, the public school system that I grew up in and that my daughters grew up in doesn’t exist anymore. Those buildings still exist, but what is happening internally has changed. The standard for education has changed. Really, an indoctrination on social issues that are hostile to Christianity, that has changed. And as a result of that, there really is a pretty major boom taking place in home education and in Christian schools across the country.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, it’s interesting talking with the Reverend Dr. Daryl Jones today here on Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, talking about the work of the Herzog Foundation and the resourcing, not just the financial resourcing, of course, but the resources that Herzog Foundation has available to those who are public school educators, Christian educators, parents who are considering homeschooling, more and more grandparents are getting involved in this as well. What you said really speaks volumes. And I not only… My brother, sister, and I are a product of public education. My three biological children are all public school grads. And two of them are actually teaching in public school, trying to be a light in the darkness, which I think is great. And that’s valid, right. Yeah. But at the same time, we understand. My parents, retired public school educators, they wouldn’t recognize what’s going on in public school right now. I mean, they’re both 92 years old. It’s been a while since they’ve been in the classroom. But what’s happened since they retired even in the last 30 years, it’s shocking. We see it happening in the media. We see it happening in the government. And we see it happening in public education, too. And so this is a clarion call for parents and the grandparents who are getting involved, too, to say, hey, we need resources because we’re not just going to say, okay, we’ll try to move to the right district. Really take the bull by the horns, if you will.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s true. Yeah, it’s really true. And so, you know, as we began looking at what are the gaps across the country where we felt like we could really make a difference, you know, you can’t be all things to all people. You can’t do everything that’s needed. But we felt like if we could identify where there were serious gaps in the landscape of Christian education, how could we infuse dollars and resources here? And over here and over here and see if we could raise the tide for all boats, right? And so one of the first things that we began to recognize, Roger, was what we’ve been talking about. The average Christian and conservative family will say, well, you know, I grew up in public education and I turned out okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 01 :
But that was 40 years ago. That was 30 years ago. That was 20 years ago. And the system has changed. And I think COVID, you know, if there was a silver lining, I go back to, you know, what the devil meant for evil, God meant for good. If there was any silver lining to COVID, it was that parents were really becoming exposed to what’s happening in the classroom. And that began to shock a number of conservative and Christian families across the country that, wait a minute, I mean, these are not even the values of our family, and this is taking up major time in the classroom curriculum where you’re teaching our kids things that we’re not embracing as a family. And so we created the first thing that we rolled out within – Gosh, nine months of operation. I started, I was the first hire in January, January 1 of 2021. By August, we rolled out our first major initiative, ReadLion.com, R-E-A-D-L-I-O-N, ReadLion.com. And the lion we created to be a news source to talk about K-12 education, what’s going on around the country and why does it matter? So we write a lot of stories about what’s going on in home education. Do you know in the last six years, home education has seen a 51% increase in the number of families that are homeschooling? That’s amazing. It really is. Christian schools have seen a 7% increase in the last six years, and public education has seen a 4% loss. in the last six years. And so there’s a lot that’s taking place in education where families are looking for new options. And The Lion was created to be a bold, courageous voice to talk about those topics that major legacy media is not talking about, but that Christians really need to understand the change in the education landscape since they graduated high school. So we write between 15 and 20 articles every day. about what’s going on in K-12 education across the country.
SPEAKER 02 :
And it’s so nice to have a publication that people can trust because one of the things that we have also seen over the past 5 to 10, 20 years is the fact that the legacy media, as they’re called, is not geared toward telling the truth. They’re geared toward having an influence on the culture in the way that they wanted to, and also, you know, who’s got the most money behind it. So the fact that you’re coming at this altruistically and saying we are Bible-believing Christians, this is a faith-based curriculum that we’re talking about, and the fact that you just began and said, hey, before we do any curriculum or some of the other things that we’ll get into, the Lion publication covering all these issues that American families are talking about right now.
SPEAKER 01 :
Absolutely. It was great. The board challenged me when I first started in January of 21. They said, listen, go— Take the next three to six months and talk to whomever in Christian education that you need to talk to and find out what is going on. Go survey the land and figure out where do we need to begin pouring resources. And as I was talking to literally hundreds of seasoned heads of school and Christian accrediting association heads, it became apparent. I would ask them, if you could make one difference, one change, if you could implement one thing that would help Christian education and advance it, what would it be? and repeatedly, I heard, convince Christian families that the public school that they grew up in doesn’t exist anymore. So Read Lion became an important strategic initiative, and God is giving us just an amazing reach. The number of people that are logging in and reading our articles is nothing short of just incredible for a publication that’s less than four years old. In fact, we now have credentialed White House press corps Really? Yeah, our staff was in the White House in the Oval Office for a press conference that the president gave. So just very exciting to see how God has enabled us to have great connections. And so that’s a major… initiative for the Herzog Foundation is to make the case that, frankly, most Christian schools can’t make. They can’t say, oh my gosh, look what’s happening in public education. They can’t say that. But we feel like we can, and we feel like we have a responsibility to, to call out, well, the lion is roaring 15 to 20 times every single day about what’s going on in education.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s very cool. Reverend Dr. Daryl Jones is the president of Herzog Foundation. He’s my guest today here on Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk. And as we’ve mentioned at the outset of the program, of course, what’s happening educationally in the country is so important to Dr. and Mrs. Dobson, especially from their years, many years ago as public school teachers. And of course, now what’s happening in the culture as more Christian families of faith are looking at not only public school curriculum and saying, okay, this is too wonky for me. We’ve got to go somewhere else. But then the question is, well, what about Christian education? What about homeschool education? And is that an option? And I’m sure that two of the biggest concerns people have is the Christian school near me is a nice place, but I’m not really sure about the quality of the education. And I’m not going to consider homeschooling because I don’t know what I’m doing. I mean, I’m not a teacher. How do you address those two issues? Start with the Christian schools first. What are you doing to help kind of bolster what they offer?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, well, one of the things that we’re doing through The Lion is really just educating families on what is taking place in Christian education, what is taking place in Christian schools across the country, and how they’re really—if it’s been 30 years since you’ve thought about Christian school— you should really take another look, because frankly, there are so many different models that are seeing amazing test score results. Obviously, there are five-day-a-week K-12 schools, as there have always been. But I’m telling you, in the day in which we’re living, homeschool co-ops are real. But this hybrid version, where it’s two or three days a week at the school with a certified state teacher in a Christian school, and the balance of the week is then home education where the parents are involved. It’s very economical. Everybody’s using the same curriculum. The certified teacher is teaching the new material, and oftentimes the parents are simply monitoring that the students, their kids, are actually doing the study work based on the lectures that they received when they were in the class. Test scores are going through the roof in part because parents are involved. in the process of the education of their kids. But that’s a different model that really wasn’t available, you know, certainly when I was going to K through 12. And then also a resurgent model of education, this intrigues me, is really, they call them micro schools, but they’re literally one-room schoolhouses. It is intentionally eight to 12 students, and you can do this in your basement. You can do this in your cul-de-sac. And it’s one teacher. It’s literally Laura Ingalls. I was going to say this is Little House on the Prairie time. Right, exactly. With a dozen students that are a variety of ages. Now, obviously, curriculum becomes important. How do we make that work? But frankly, it’s how America was built from the expansion of Western civilization across the plains of the continent. It was these one-room schoolhouses. But that’s a resurgent model that is exploding across the country, very economical. But once again, because the class size is so manageable, it’s exciting to see how students are really doing well. So all of that is new. from what the average family thinks about, well, what is Christian education? So we’re just continuing to try to make the case that, hey, Christian schooling is possible for you and for your family. And here are a number of different models, which one is right for you and for your kids.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, that micro-schooling, especially as more younger families are saying, hey, we want to have three, four, five kids. I mean, that could be a way to do that where maybe a couple of families get together just to say, you know, there’s nine, ten kids here. We’re going to meet in the garage or the basement or wherever we’re going to do this. And you have a resource that can help parents do this type of thing.
SPEAKER 01 :
Absolutely, we do. You know, the most recent initiative that we have rolled out is the school box, HF School Box. And HF School Box was built with families and, frankly, with churches and pastors in mind. How do we start a Christian school? Hmm. And so it’s an eight-step process. It is all free, an eight-step process where we’ll walk you through your mission, vision, values, a market analysis. Can your community support your Christian school? What kind of Christian school has God put on your heart that your community needs? Is it a homeschool co-op? Is it a five-day-a-week K-12 classical Christian school? Is it a hybrid? Do you need a micro school? What is it that you need, and how do you discern— the leading of the Lord in that. But then eight steps of both video as well as written content to walk you through. But here’s the secret sauce. Roger, if you and I decided that we, you know, God put on our heart that we want to start a three-day-a-week classical hybrid school in our church, once we tell HF Schoolbox that that’s what we want, The Herzog Foundation, through our growing network of educators, knows someone who’s currently running that kind of school. And the Herzog Foundation will pay someone currently running that model to coach us through the eight steps of Schoolbox. Wow. Yeah, so it is literally free to the church or to the community that wants to launch it. We pay the expense. I was talking with a room full of pastors and they say, well, no, wait a minute. What’s the catch and how do you pay it? Where’s your money come from? And I said, well, you know, brother, I said, it’s a lot like our salvation. Someone else has already paid it. That’s pretty much, thank you, Mr. Herzog, for the foresight to say, let’s go make a difference across the country.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, it’s interesting talking with Dr. Daryl Jones, who’s the president of Herzog Foundation, discussing these new initiatives, the Read Lion, reading the Lion publication from Herzog Foundation and the HF School Box. And I want to get into the HF Homeschool in just a moment. But when you think about these resources that are available, a lot of times when someone hears, OK, well, Stan Herzog did very, very well in business. had, you know, literally hundreds of millions of dollars, wanted to set up a foundation. The first thing people think of is, oh boy, here comes the political push, you know, in terms of, you know, they’re going to try to work with Congress people or whatever. The fact, though, that you have people who you’re educating through Herzog and are benefiting from that, and then are going on to do great things, like you mentioned earlier, kind of infiltrating the White House press corps and places like that. Right. Amazing. Yeah, and it’s nice to see it happen that way. Instead of saying, we’re going to go to Washington first and hope that it trickles down, you’re saying, no, we’re going to the church, local school, local community, and see how it kind of rises up. And that sounds like it’s very intentional, very purposeful.
SPEAKER 01 :
It absolutely, it absolutely has been. But again, I would just say a mission that Mr. Herzog had is his vision and that the Lord has really allowed us to make the right connection, certainly internally with our team, but also externally with a number of shakers and movers across the country who can really get the word out and let’s go change the country. Let’s go change the country.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, there’s a lot at stake surrounding the education of our children and our grandchildren these days. But one of the most encouraging things that we heard on today’s program here on Family Talk is how families are rediscovering the power of being directly involved in the education of their children and grandchildren. Parents aren’t just standing on the sidelines anymore. They’re really getting back in the game. And that’s exactly the kind of parental engagement that strengthens families and protects the next generation. you’ve been listening to a special edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, featuring an eye-opening conversation I had with the Reverend Dr. Daryl Jones about transforming Christian education across America. Now, if you missed any portion of today’s broadcast or if you’d like to share it with a friend or family member, we encourage you to go to drjamesdobson.org forward slash family talk. And when you go online, you’ll also find a link where you can learn more about the outstanding work that is taking place through the Herzog Foundation. Again, you’ll find all that information and more at drjamesdobson.org forward slash family talk. And if you’re looking for more wisdom on raising children, I want to tell you about a free resource from the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. It’s an email series drawing from Dr. Dobson’s decades of experience in helping families navigate the challenging waters of child rearing. The email series is called Raising Kids with Love and Limits. And over several days of receiving these emails, you will receive biblical insights and practical strategies for setting healthy boundaries, maintaining authority without being authoritarian, and creating a home environment where children can truly thrive. This is the kind of guidance that doesn’t just sound good in theory. It actually works in real life. Again, to start receiving the free email series called Raising Kids with Love and Limits, go to drjamesdobson.org. That’s drjamesdobson.org. And just search for Raising Kids with Love and Limits. You’ll be glad you did. From the many, many years, of course, that Dr. Dobson was involved in parent and family ministry through the media, but also from a couple of years where he was a classroom educator as well, and of course, having raised successfully his own two children, Danae and Ryan, we know that these practical resources and insights are definitely going to help you in a season where your kids are looking for guidance, they’re looking for boundaries, and the Raising Kids with Love and Limits email series will be a valuable resource for years to come for you and your family. Well, the battle for America’s families is not some distant fight. It is happening right here, right now. It’s happening in classrooms. It’s happening in courtrooms. It’s happening in living rooms all across the country. And especially with Thanksgiving coming up, it may even be taking place at your Thanksgiving dinner table. Well, the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute stands on the front lines, defending life, protecting religious freedom, and proclaiming biblical truth about marriage and family. And we are not backing down. We’re not staying quiet and we are not abandoning the next generation, but we can only keep fighting with partners like you standing alongside us. Your financial support fuels every broadcast, every resource, and every stand that we take for what is right. Will you join in that battle right now? You can make a secure donation online when you go to drjamesdobson.org. That’s drjamesdobson.org. You can also make a tax-deductible donation over the phone by When you call our Constituent Care Center, a member of our Constituent Care team will be happy to take your call at 877-732-6825. That’s 877-732-6825. And please know how much we appreciate hearing from you through the Postal Service. Dr. Dobson used to love to receive cards and letters that would come our way, and we still read each and every one and are so grateful for the thoughts that you express in handwritten form. you can send your letter as well as a donation through the U.S. Postal Service when you write to us at Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, P.O. Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, the zip code 80949. Once again, our ministry mailing address is Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, or you can just address your envelope to JDFI for short. P.O. Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80949. Well, I’m Roger Marsh, and from all of us here at Family Talk and the JDFI, thanks so much for listening today. Be sure to join us again next time when the Reverend Dr. Daryl Jones returns to share more about the exciting work happening at the Herzog Foundation. You’ll hear about their ambassador program. that’s training the next generation of leaders. Also, the Freedom Tour 250, celebrating America’s 250th birthday and why Dr. Jones believes your grandchildren were created for this very moment in history. It’s a conversation you will not want to miss. So be sure to join us again next time right here for the next edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, the voice you can still trust for the family you love. This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute
