Taking the Gloves Off

I received a call the other day from a homeschooling mom who is raising her "second" family. After her natural-born children were almost grown, she adopted four children from overseas and has been rearing and homeschooling them for the past four years. They are flourishing and are grateful for the new family the Lord has provided for them. Naturally, this woman gravitates toward other families who have adopted children. One in particular was the reason for her call to me.

One of the children of this family is having difficulty in public school. That's no surprise. Bruce Shortt in The Harsh Truth about Public Schools does a thorough job of outlining the kinds of "difficulties" one might have in such an environment. My friend has been ever-so-gently trying to persuade this woman that homeschooling would be a good choice for her. The problem seems to be that the mother just wants particular disturbing behaviors to go away, rather than confront the underlying causes of the behavior. What makes the situation difficult for my friend is that the people she's trying to help are professing Christians who don't understand that the setting and circumstances of their children's education are vital components to their faith.

The counsel I gave my friend is informed by years and years of experience. Rather than try to solve the problem of this one particular child, the more important issue is to "evangelize" the parents to the point that they realize there is a much more deep-rooted issue than bad behavior. Evangelize, you might ask? Didn't you say they were Christians? This is where we need to move away from the smoke and mirrors definition of what it means to be a Christian. Rather than define a believer in Jesus Christ as one who says he is one, we need to embrace Jesus’s definition: "He who loves me will keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

Instead of trying to figure out how persons with the Holy Spirit living inside of them can continue to think, live and act as though there were areas of neutrality where God's Word doesn't reign supreme, we need to identify them as folks who are not yet converted. They may be on the road to conversion, but it denigrates the power and work of the Holy Spirit to say that one is born again but acts carnally in thought, word and deed. People who live in ways that habitually manifest a humanistic mindset are carnally minded (Romans 8:6). An unpopular and unloving view? That is like saying it is unloving to tell someone who has cancer that he is quite ill. Is it loving to let him continue to think he is healthy when he is not?

As our age becomes more epistemologically self-conscious, we need to be bold and loving in our interactions with those who identify themselves as our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Being honest and open with them is not unloving. Quite the contrary. As my Mom used to say, "It is the person who will tell you that you have a bugger hanging out of your nose who truly cares about you. The person who doesn't tell you because she is reluctant to offend you is more concerned about herself than she is about you.”

It's time we showed those skipping toward destruction that we love them by helping them discover God's way to family-based education.

West Coast Worldview Conference

It’s springtime and homeschooling parents’ thoughts are focused on what course of study and which subjects will be in place for the next school year. Homeschooling conventions help with curriculum vendors on hand to guide and mentor this very important decision. For those families with older children, the concerns focus on preparing them to maintain their faith and commitment to Jesus Christ when they venture into a university setting or the job market. Good books and DVDs aid in this endeavor, but additional help is available in the form of worldview conferences. One of the many great resources that facilitate parents in this regard is the West Coast Worldview Conference taking place this July in Santa Cruz, Ca.

I personally know most of the speakers and many previous attendees of this conference and encourage you to consider how valuable this week could be in preparing your 10th grade and older children for the calling God has placed on their lives. Visit their website for more details.

Tearing Down the Wall

In a previous blog I included the trailer of an upcoming documentary release entitled Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Well, today I saw the movie with my daughter (as part of our homeschool science class), and I strongly urge you to take your families and watch this film together. In fact, churches would do well to call this movie to the attention of members who have their children enrolled in public school. This will be an eye-opener for parents and students alike as to what philosophy lurks behind our national science standards and the ideology behind the “high priests” of evolutionary thought and what they hope to accomplish.

Rather than espouse the validity of one explanation of origins over another (creation is right / evolution is right) the documentary chronicles the current silencing of any scientist who dares to give Intelligent Design Theory a public hearing, let alone espouse its merits over Darwinian evolution. The comparison made between this harassment and censorship and the construction of the Berlin Wall is striking.

The film opened today (April 18th) around the country. God only knows how long it will be available to watch in theaters before you’ll have to wait until the DVD release. The movie website gives links to locate a theater in your area.

So, why not wait until the DVD comes out? Well, while I was in the theater, I had a very pronounced sense that those who have participated in abortion, infanticide, and/or euthanasia fueled by evolutionary justifications, who actually make it through the entire 90 minutes might well be shaken to their core after digesting Expelled's thesis. What a great opportunity for Christians to be on-hand in a very informal way to spot such people and engage them in conversation with the purpose of sharing the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You Heard It First Right Here

Many years ago, I spoke with another homeschooling mom who explained to me that she wanted to keep her children innocent and not have them grow up too quickly. To that end, she hadn't told them about abortion or the bomb. Now this seemed quite weird. She actually believed that she was going to be able to keep the reality of nuclear weapons and abortion on demand from her children and, consequently, they would enjoy their childhood more. It didn't dawn on her that, since she didn't restrict them from interacting with other children and families at homeschool gatherings or church settings, they would learn about these issues first-hand from someone else. It has been my experience that much trauma can be avoided if parents ensure that the controversial issues of our secular society are addressed first and foremost by them with a distinctively biblical perspective.

For me, this most recently has meant attending some secular plays, films, and other performances with my daughter in order to "share the experience" and then take time to discuss these events thoroughly. This has acted as an inoculation against the humanistic propaganda that is all around us. Yes, some offensive scenes and material have been experienced. But I'm convinced that being able to identify the sinful nature of such things in light of biblical law serves the greater purpose of encouraging a solidly biblical approach and apologetic to important issues.

So, don't veer away from media that promote evolution, same-sex marriage, abortion on demand, or socialist remedies to problems that arise from sinful people. But, be sure that you are ready as the parent/teacher to evaluate and instruct from a solidly biblical base. Not sure how to apply this to your particular circumstance? Email me at lessons.learned@yahoo.com and we can discuss it.