Family Freedom
“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33Archive for October, 2008
Real Christians Homeschool! vol. 6
Transcript of an encounter between a NASA scientist, attempting to explain “sublimation”, to a 9 year old homeschool student.
NASA Scientist: Do you think this comet is real?
Scientist points to a pile of junk on the table, which looks like a salt lick that the cattle have been working on too long.
Homeschool Student: No, ma’am.
NS: Very good! If we had the ability to actually capture a comet, we wouldn’t have to do so much fund raising! (Chuckles)
HS: (Silence)
NS: Well, a comet is made of carbon dioxide, dust, water, ammonia, dirt, and-
HS: Excuse me, ma’am.
NS: Yes?
HS: How do you know what it’s made of?
NS: Well, it’s made of carbon dioxide, dust, water-
HS: But how do you know what it’s made of?
NS: Well, (sniff) we use a spectrometer. It uses light to look at a cross-section of a comet as it’s millions of miles away in space, and the different light spectrums tell us what the different substances in a comet are. Anyway, through a process called “sublimation”-
HS: You don’t really know what it’s made of, do you, ma’am?
NS: Well, we could be wrong. (Grimacing) But that’s what we think it’s made of. Where do you go to school?
HS: I’m homeschooled, ma’am.
NS: Interesting. And how old are you?
HS: I’m 9, ma’am.
NS: Well, you have very nice manners. Let’s keep the line moving along. There are some other children here who want to learn.
The “Marriage” Folder
My computer conked out the other day, and I’ve been putting off fixing it for a while. Finances are a little tight, so yada yada, etc., etc. Anyway, it’s still conked out, so I’ve been using my wife’s computer for all my writing, blogging, and other work. It’s slow and it’s older, but no big deal.
At any rate, it’s been a great excuse to see some of the things that she’s been working on. One of the things I admire about her so much, is her diligence in studying Scriptures. As the priest and leader in my household, she always lovingly submits to my will and my teachings. Yet she is also like the noble Bereans, and always checks up on what I teach, and wrestles with the Scriptures as she strives to be a wife who is pleasing in the sight of God. Long story short, she always has multiple links and websites bookmarked, and multiple pages of notes saved on the desktop of her computer. Topics can range from debates on futurism vs. historicism to different interpretations of a particularly tricky verse, to kitchen and sewing advice from other Christian ladies.
She has dozens upon dozens of bookmarks on her computer, storing these things up until later, so she never loses anything. There are literally hundreds of bookmarks stored on the machine, ranging from the writings of early church fathers to the Puritans, to Sermon Audio and other multitudes of things. Alphabetical folders. It’s a pillar of organized thought like nothing I could ever approach. This is all fine and dandy, until I found the “Marriage” folder.
She has folders in her bookmarks for things like sewing. Cooking. Proverbs. Housekeeping. Homeschooling. Finances. Tithing. Hymns. On and on and on. Some of these links are to things that she’s struggled with throughout her walk with Christ, resources that she has used to help mortify her flesh and help her to come to a greater understanding of God and His Law and His holiness. But a “Marriage” folder?
I have to admit that my heart skipped a beat when I saw the title of that folder. It’s the type of folder that she would create when she’s struggling with something, some deep inner problem that she’s been wrestling. I thought to myself, “What could be wrong?” Our marriage seems to be going well. We haven’t had an argument about… well, about anything in close to a year now. We have another baby on the way, and everything is great. So what could this “Marriage” folder be?
With no small amount of trepidation and fear, I clicked on it to see what sort of advice she had been seeking from the blogosphere or the “internets”, and…
The folder was empty. I love my wife’s sense of humor.
Real Christians Homeschool! vol. 5
The current financial judgment that God is sending on the United States presents a great teaching opportunity. Debt-free living is the Biblical standard that the Lord wishes us to pursue. Indeed, He commands it in His Law Word, and every must strive to choose the blessing of a debt-free life, rather than the curse-filled life that a credit card and mortgage affords.
What better example than the current display of fiscal greed, death, and financial judgment that God is sending America could we ask for? The root for the word “mortgage” is “mort-”, by the way, meaning “death”. For an example of how much God hates mortgages, see Nehemiah 5:1-5, where the Israelites are selling their children into bondage to pay for their mortgages.
Proverbs has a number of verses that deal with the clearly-defined, God-hating sin of financial debt. For example, Proverbs 22:7 states that the borrower is a slave to the lender. If you owe money to a bank or credit card company for your house, car, or groceries, you’re enslaved to that lender. Now’s the perfect chance to start teaching your children about the blessing of a debt-free, Christian life, by getting out from under the curse of the loans that you chose to put yourself under.
With the recent passage of a $700,000,000,000 mortgage bailout, every adult in America over the age of 18 now owes the federal government about $542,000, if my math is correct. (Homeschoolers, check my answer for extra credit with your mom!) That’s $1.8 million dollars that you and your spouse owe! What a perfect example of enslaving a people, without giving them the opportunity to vote on it (or even debate it). And all they can talk about is “freeing up more credit,” and “We have to get more credit moving!” Talk about financial judgment! God will tear this whole system down until we are humbled as a nation. Don’t be surprised if those dollars in your bank account are more like pesos by next summer. Time to tighten up your belts!
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Update: Daniel gets extra credit:
“You’ve got a few more zeros to cancel out. I received that email, too. With about 200,000,000 adults in the USA, $700 Billion divides into $3,500 per person. Still a lot of money, but let’s make homeschoolers look good by practicing good math skills.”
Yes, my math skills are pretty poor. Should’ve let our 9y.o. figure that one out! However, I shudder to think about the Biblical/ethical implications of “making homeschoolers look good.”
Isn’t That Enough?
There is no other name by which men can be saved. When was the last time you wept over your sin?
(HT: Slice of Laodicea)
Biblical Ethics Sermon Series
Pastor Paul Raymond at the Reformed Bible Church of Central Virginia has a fantastic sermon series he’s been doing on the subject of Biblical Ethics:
“The denial and even blatant rejection of God’s Law Word as the absolute and final authoritative standard of ethical truth has been not only evident in the secular non-Christian society but in the postmodern liberalized church which is progressively exhibiting a catastrophic disregard for Biblical ethical diligence in matters of the individual and of culture itself.
More than ever, in light of this cultural and ecclesiastic degradation, the true saint must not only understand what is Biblically acceptable and what is not, but he must boldly reassert that the Holy Scripture is the only reliable authority in matters of faith and all of life.”
Here is a faithful pastor who does not idolize the sinful conscience of man, who does not pretend that the Holy Spirit will ignore a so-called believer’s willful disobedience of the Law.
