by Dr. Paul A. Kienel
Christian schools have been a part of the fabric of American society since the Pilgrims and Puritans waded ashore in 1620 and 1630. Yet there are Americans, even Christian Americans, who are woefully uninformed about Christian schools. Here are seven common questions about Christian schools:
1. How can you mix Christian faith with an academic curriculum? How do you integrate the two?
The relationship between faith and learning is as old as the Bible itself. Second Corinthians 10:5 instructs us to “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ...” The Apostle Paul said that in Jesus are “all the treasures of wisdom and... knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). One Christian school educator aptly described Biblical integration as, “Bringing the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the truths of Scripture to bear on the formation of young minds seeking to know the world.”
He said his school, “Offers an environment where change can happen in the personal lives of young people. Here, a vision of God’s grace in Christ may be glimpsed, depths of character explored, love and integrity moved from principle into action and quality in one’s life. We provide the opportunity for real change by communicating the essentials of Christian character.”1
Biblical integration is spiritual in nature. It can only be done by educators who are true believers in Jesus Christ.
2. How can Christian school students adjust to the “real world” if they do not attend a school that teaches a non-Christian point of view?
It may surprise some people, but there is no Biblical support for training Christian children in a non-Biblical environment.
Decades ago Yale University’s President, Timothy Dwight, said, “Education ought everywhere to be religious education... parents are bound to employ no instructors who will not educate their children religiously. To commit our children to the care of irreligious persons is to commit lambs to the superintendency of wolves.”2
Christian psychologist Clyde Narramore said, “A tree that is planted in poor soil doesn’t have the advantages that one planted in good earth has. Contrary to some belief, we do not grow through resistance. Children do not develop because they resist food. Their growth comes as a result of good food and care.”3
The Bible describes life on this earth as warfare. Warriors are never trained in enemy territory. School is a training ground. A primary purpose of a Christian school is to prepare students to be non-conformists to the world. The Bible says, “And be not conformed to this world...” (Romans 12:2a), but at the same time we are to be prepared to live victoriously in the world. Note the words of the new Testament’s Dr. Luke who wrote, “...when a student is fully trained he will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). Simply put, if you want your children to live as Christians they must be taught by Christians.
3. Generally speaking, how does Christian school education compare academically with non-Christian schools?
Year after year, standardized achievement test scores affirm that students taught by Christian school educators achieve well above the national norm. In fact, in twenty-seven years of testing with the Stanford Achievement Test our students have never achieved less than one full year ahead of the national norm. It is, indeed, a commendable record.
4. Do Christian schools offer a wide range of student activities which broaden their educational experience?
Depending on the financial strength of the school, most Christian schools offer a wide range of student activities such as fine arts, speech meets, academic meets, spelling bee, student leadership conferences, cheerleading camps and all kinds of sporting activities. This past year, 56,807 students participated in student activities sponsored by the Association of Christian Schools International. This does not include of course, the wide range of student activities offered by individual schools.
5. Is the enrollment in Christian schools open to students of all races?
Each school that joins the Association of Christian Schools International must affirm annually on its school application form that students of all races are welcome. Since the message of Christ is available to all, so our schools are available to all provided student applications meet other minimum requirements of the school.
6. Are Christian schools growing in number?
Not only are new Christian schools being started, but established Christian schools are also experiencing solid growth. This past year has been the largest growth year in the history of the Association of Christian Schools International. The combined student enrollment of the 3,174 member schools of ACSI was 661,475 this year - an increase of 95,940 students. This year 35,228 teachers attended ACSI teacher conventions, an increase of over 3,367 over the previous year! These figures are remarkable indicators of the Lord’s rich blessing on Christian school education.
7. What about the future of Christian school education?
I am in my 28th year of service as President of ACSI. Never have I seen the momentum for growth, for spiritual commitment and for academic excellence as I see this year in our Christian schools around the world. I believe if we will stay true to our Christian purpose God will continue to smile with favor upon us.
1 Thad Gabelein, Stony Brook brochure, Stony Brook, New York.
2 Timothy Dwight, President of Yale University (1795-1817).
3 Dr. Clyde M. Narramore, Your Questions Answered About Christian Schools, 1983, ACSI, La Habra, California, p. 49.
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TRAINING YOUR CHILDREN TO TURN OUT RIGHT! Headline Animator
Friday 13 February 2009
Thursday 12 February 2009
A Few Things Christian Schools Cannot Do For Your Child
by Dr. Paul A. Kienel
There are 662,350 students attending ACSI member schools and colleges this year. A conservative estimate of the cost parents will pay in tuition this year adds up to a combined total of $1,854,580,000. If the taxpayers were paying for the expense of educating our Christian school students in the public school ($5,010 x 662,350) the grand total would be $3,318,373,500. Christian school parents clearly pay less for Christian school education than taxpayers pay for public education. We pay significantly less and we clearly receive significantly more in quality academics and in positive, Christ-centered training for our children. A problem arises, however, when parents expect more from the Christian school than they should. Permit me to list a few things Christian schools cannot do for your child.
1. Christian schools cannot be a substitute for a quality home environment.
The number one training influence in the life of a child is his or her home. A parent, more than teachers and pastors, is the primary model for children to follow. Parents are the “pattern makers” for Christian living, attitudes toward life, attitudes toward others, work ethics, basic manners, money management, health habits, manner of speech, goal setting and study habits. Pastor Chuck Swindoll says, “Home is where life makes up its mind.” Quite frankly, the impact of the Christian school is severely limited if the home is not what it ought to be. No teacher can compensate for an unstable home.
2. Christian schools cannot guarantee a perfect school environment.
Some parents are unrealistic about other students in their child’s Christian school. They expect a degree of perfection among mortals that simply is not attainable on earth. Perhaps you have heard it said that “If you find the perfect church - don’t join it - you will ruin it.” Christian schools are decidedly better than the secular public school alternative but they are not perfect. Students come to the Christian school with varying degrees of spiritual maturity. Some are not Christians. There is a wide variety of intellectual ability, emotional development, home training and personality patterns among the students in any school, including the Christian school. The typical Christian school setting is not the “sheltered environment” that critics make it out to be. As the father of three daughters who attended Christian schools, I advised my children to carefully select their close personal friends - even in the Christian school. Remember, any time two or more people get together in any kind of institution there is room for improvement in at least one of them! If this were not so, there would be no need for Christian schools.
3. Christian schools cannot increase the level of your child’s intelligence.
It simply is not true that we are all created equal. In the broadest sense, in a free society we are created with an equal opportunity. But God has fashioned each of us with varying degrees of intelligence, imagination and drive. Christian school educators cannot, nor should they, push a child beyond his or her ability to perform. Children need a reasonable level of intellectual stretching and academic challenge, but caring Christian school teachers cannot perform nor should they attempt to perform “academic miracles” to please parents who may have an unrealistic view of their children’s abilities. Parents and teachers alike should know that a child’s academic success in school is only part of the total composite of qualities that God can use to make a person worthy of our respect, love and admiration. Never judge a child’s future worth to the world on his current academic prowess in school.
4. Christian schools cannot duplicate parental love and support.
Most adults have forgotten the emotional stress we experienced as children at school. The very nature of a school requires that it maintain an orderly, disciplined environment if learning is to occur. The process of learning can be emotionally stressful and mentally stretching. Parents can greatly reduce the pressure our children may feel by encouraging them, inspiring them and loving them.
Children and young people need parental love and support when they experience disappointment in a youthful friendship or even a youthful romance which has “gone sour.” It happens. It’s part of the process of growing up and parents can help immeasurably with their understanding.
5. Christian schools cannot replace the spiritual influence of a parent.
Read the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 6:6-9, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Christian school education may be frustrating for your child if the Christian principles taught at school are not a continuation of the Christian principles taught in your home. If yours is not a Christian home, I urge you to respond to the invitation of Jesus Christ, the incomparable Savior of the world. Accept Him as your personal Savior and then in His strong name train your family in a manner that will please Him. You will not regret it.
Christian school education is a major force for good in the lives of our children. It can be enhanced if the church, the home and the school are all on the same spiritual and academic frequency.
Read More ..
There are 662,350 students attending ACSI member schools and colleges this year. A conservative estimate of the cost parents will pay in tuition this year adds up to a combined total of $1,854,580,000. If the taxpayers were paying for the expense of educating our Christian school students in the public school ($5,010 x 662,350) the grand total would be $3,318,373,500. Christian school parents clearly pay less for Christian school education than taxpayers pay for public education. We pay significantly less and we clearly receive significantly more in quality academics and in positive, Christ-centered training for our children. A problem arises, however, when parents expect more from the Christian school than they should. Permit me to list a few things Christian schools cannot do for your child.
1. Christian schools cannot be a substitute for a quality home environment.
The number one training influence in the life of a child is his or her home. A parent, more than teachers and pastors, is the primary model for children to follow. Parents are the “pattern makers” for Christian living, attitudes toward life, attitudes toward others, work ethics, basic manners, money management, health habits, manner of speech, goal setting and study habits. Pastor Chuck Swindoll says, “Home is where life makes up its mind.” Quite frankly, the impact of the Christian school is severely limited if the home is not what it ought to be. No teacher can compensate for an unstable home.
2. Christian schools cannot guarantee a perfect school environment.
Some parents are unrealistic about other students in their child’s Christian school. They expect a degree of perfection among mortals that simply is not attainable on earth. Perhaps you have heard it said that “If you find the perfect church - don’t join it - you will ruin it.” Christian schools are decidedly better than the secular public school alternative but they are not perfect. Students come to the Christian school with varying degrees of spiritual maturity. Some are not Christians. There is a wide variety of intellectual ability, emotional development, home training and personality patterns among the students in any school, including the Christian school. The typical Christian school setting is not the “sheltered environment” that critics make it out to be. As the father of three daughters who attended Christian schools, I advised my children to carefully select their close personal friends - even in the Christian school. Remember, any time two or more people get together in any kind of institution there is room for improvement in at least one of them! If this were not so, there would be no need for Christian schools.
3. Christian schools cannot increase the level of your child’s intelligence.
It simply is not true that we are all created equal. In the broadest sense, in a free society we are created with an equal opportunity. But God has fashioned each of us with varying degrees of intelligence, imagination and drive. Christian school educators cannot, nor should they, push a child beyond his or her ability to perform. Children need a reasonable level of intellectual stretching and academic challenge, but caring Christian school teachers cannot perform nor should they attempt to perform “academic miracles” to please parents who may have an unrealistic view of their children’s abilities. Parents and teachers alike should know that a child’s academic success in school is only part of the total composite of qualities that God can use to make a person worthy of our respect, love and admiration. Never judge a child’s future worth to the world on his current academic prowess in school.
4. Christian schools cannot duplicate parental love and support.
Most adults have forgotten the emotional stress we experienced as children at school. The very nature of a school requires that it maintain an orderly, disciplined environment if learning is to occur. The process of learning can be emotionally stressful and mentally stretching. Parents can greatly reduce the pressure our children may feel by encouraging them, inspiring them and loving them.
Children and young people need parental love and support when they experience disappointment in a youthful friendship or even a youthful romance which has “gone sour.” It happens. It’s part of the process of growing up and parents can help immeasurably with their understanding.
5. Christian schools cannot replace the spiritual influence of a parent.
Read the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 6:6-9, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Christian school education may be frustrating for your child if the Christian principles taught at school are not a continuation of the Christian principles taught in your home. If yours is not a Christian home, I urge you to respond to the invitation of Jesus Christ, the incomparable Savior of the world. Accept Him as your personal Savior and then in His strong name train your family in a manner that will please Him. You will not regret it.
Christian school education is a major force for good in the lives of our children. It can be enhanced if the church, the home and the school are all on the same spiritual and academic frequency.
Training Your Children to Manage Money
In the days of the Klondike gold rush, two miners struck a huge deposit. Feverishly excited, they unearthed more and more gold each day. Meanwhile they neglected to store up provisions for the winter. Then came the first blizzard. Nearly frozen, one scrawled a shaky note explaining their predicament. Months later a prospecting party discovered the note, along with two frozen bodies lying on top of a huge pile of gold.
Today countless children grow up begging and grabbing and clinging onto all the things money can buy. As adults, they rarely outgrow this shallow self-centeredness, but simply graduate to more money and bigger toys. Living their lives on earth as if this were all there is, they fail to prepare for their eternal future.
Christ told the story of a rich fool, to whom God said, "This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:20-21).
Five minutes after we die we'll know exactly how we should have lived. But then it will be too late. The good news is, God gave us his Word so we don't have to wait till we die to discover how we should have lived. And God gave our children Christian fathers, so we could show them what the world will not-how to live now in light of eternity.
1. Give your children something greater than money-your time. Our children won't remember what we did for them nearly as much as what we did with them. I've never heard anyone complain, "Dad was always around, but I never had enough material possessions." I've heard many lament, "I had lots of stuff, but Dad was never there for me."
The best thing you can do for your kids is put them on your appointment calendar. Cancel other things to make time with them. Work hard, but don't work such long hours that you miss your brief window of opportunity to shape your children for eternity. No man ever looks back and says "I wish I'd spent more time in the office, and less with my children."
2. Use life's teachable moments to train your children. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (Proverbs 22:6). Deuteronomy 6:6-9 tells fathers to impress God's commands on our children and "talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road." When we're alert, life brings countless opportunities to teach our children an eternal perspective on life, money, and possessions.
One night when they were six and eight, my daughters asked me to play the game of "LIFE," a popular board game I'd never played. One of my girls expressed disappointment when she landed on a space that made her a teacher rather than a doctor or lawyer-despite the fact that in real life she wanted to be a teacher! Why the disappointment? Because it meant she would receive a lower salary the rest of the game. And money, after all, is what LIFE (and for many people life) is all about.
LIFE presents the choice of whether to have children. Because there's a minimum amount of money but no minimum amount of children required to win the game, my girls kept choosing money over children. When I chose children instead of money, it surprised them. Choosing children might mean losing the game, and who plays a game with the intention of losing?
The whole event turned out to be an excellent teaching opportunity. I shared with my daughters Scripture's infinitely higher regard for children than money, and how "winning" and "success" are very different in God's eyes than the world's. Next time they played the game I noticed they made decisions that would make them "losers" by the game's standards, and winners by God's.
3. Take a field trip to a junkyard. How can we teach our children the emptiness of materialism in a memorable way? Take them to a garage sale and show them how things that people spent great amounts of money on are now sold for pennies.
Or, take them to visit a dump or junkyard. Show them all the piles of "treasures" that were formerly Christmas and birthday presents. Point out things costing hundreds of dollars, that children quarreled about, friendships were lost over, honesty was sacrificed for, and marriages broke up over. Show them the remnants of battered dolls, rusted robots, and crashed cars. Let them look at the expensive furniture and electronic gadgets that now lie useless. Point out to them that nearly everything your family owns will one day end up in a junkyard like this.
Then read, or ask them to read, 2 Peter 3:10-14, which says when Christ returns the whole world "will be destroyed by fire" and "the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." Ask them the ultimate question: "when all that you owned lies abandoned, broken, burned and useless, what will you have done that will last for eternity?"
What will survive the coming holocaust of things? The answer is, only God, His Word and people. Explain to your children how life should be invested in the eternal. Read to them Matthew 6:19-25, where Jesus says, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." Tell them "you can't take it with you," but according to Jesus, you can send it on ahead!
4. Teach your children to link money with labor. Once I mentioned we couldn't go out for dinner because we didn't have enough money. My youngest daughter said, "Just go to the money machine and get all you want." She referred to the Automated Teller Machine. This was a great chance to teach her money doesn't just magically appear in a machine, but is earned through work-good, hard, and well-done work. Fathers can show our children how to work, to make things, to sell them. We can show how work can be meaningful and fun as well as financially profitable.
A common mistake we dads make is to indiscriminately dole out money to our children as life goes by. This teaches them to think money comes easily or automatically. As a result they disassociate money from work. Eventually they feel it's their right to have money available even when they haven't worked for it. This misguided thinking is what puts able-bodied people on welfare rolls. The government fosters the handout mentality, but often it's learned first in the home, where character is built and lifelong attitudes are forged.
5. Teach your children how to save. Children learn the value of money and the discipline of self-control through saving. We helped our daughters open savings accounts years ago. If your child wants a major item, say a telescope, help him make a plan to save for it over a period of six months. Help him think of jobs to accomplish his goal. If he sticks with it (he may not), buying that telescope won't be an impulsive decision. And once he gets it, he's likely to take good care of it.
The same applies to a college education. I know parents who save for their child's education, while he spends his money irresponsibly. Remember, the quality of anyone's college education improves dramatically when he has a substantial part in paying for it.
6. Get your children started on the lifetime adventure of giving. We taught our children to tithe from the very earliest age (Leviticus 27:30; Malachi 3:8-10). They often gave more, but that 10% was untouchable. If Grandpa gave them ten dollars for Christmas, the question wasn't "What can I do with ten dollars" but "What can I do with nine dollars?" The other dollar wasn't theirs-it belonged to God.
The holy habit of giving is like the holy habits of Bible study and prayer and witnessing and hospitality. These things need to be integrated into our lifestyle. Those not raised in a home where they learn this are at a great disadvantage later trying to develop new habits as adults. Children raised in giving families would no sooner stop giving than brushing their teeth.
When we make decisions to give sacrificially to God's kingdom, we need to include our children, so they can both learn and get in on the blessing. Once we received a large and unexpected amount of money from book royalties. We sat down with our children, and discussed what we could do with the money. I explained we could use it to feed hungry people and reach them with the gospel. I also pointed out the money would entirely pay for a two week Hawaiian vacation for our whole family. We asked our girls what they thought. They enthusiastically encouraged us to give it to help the poor and lost. (Five years later the Lord provided a wonderful place to stay free in Hawaii. But at the time our children weighed the options, exercised their convictions and joyfully gave.)
7. Provide your children with financial planning tools. When the girls were five and seven, I gave each three jars labeled "Giving," "Saving," and "Spending." I explained that every time they received money, they were to first put at least ten per cent into the giving jar, then distribute the rest between the other two jars as they wished. Once they put money in the giving jar, even beyond the tithe, it was dedicated to the Lord and they couldn't use it some other way. Every Sunday morning they'd empty their giving jar and bring it to the offering at church.
Similarly, when they put money in saving, they were not to take it out and spend it on anything spur of the moment, but reserve it for some upcoming special expenditure or "a rainy day." However, they were free to transfer money from saving and spending to giving, or from spending to saving. As the jars lined up, it went this way-you can transfer money to any jar on the left, but never to a jar to the right.
I'll never forget that night. The girls were so excited they immediately took the money they already had and distributed it in the jars. They arranged the jars just right on their dressers, and literally spent two hours talking and figuring things out. My seven - year - old asked me to show her how to figure percentages on our calculator. She broke down her then one dollar a week allowance, and wrote on the jar labels, completely on her own, "Giving: $.25 a week," "Saving: $.25 a week," and "Spending $.50 a week." For the next five years, this simple system resulted in more financial education than any single thing we did.
Remember, a child cannot learn money management unless he has money to manage, and unless he earned that money himself. (Otherwise he's giving or spending his parents' money, not his.)
8. Teach your children how to say "No." Few things we teach our children are important as the discipline of saying "no." We must model the principle of delayed gratification, and teach the value of avoiding an expenditure when the money could accomplish a higher purpose if given away or saved or used more wisely. God commands and commends self-control one of the highest Christian virtues (Galatians 5:22-23; Titus 2:1-12).
Children are by nature impulsive spenders, and need our help to develop sales resistance. Every time we say "no" to our child about ice cream, candy, a new doll or squirt gun, we can teach him there are higher values than immediate gratification. Self - control learned by children in one area often carries over into others. A child who learns to say "no" to unnecessary purchases is much more prone to say "no" to sexual immorality or drugs.
Of course, tight-fisted stinginess is as negative as careless self-indulgence. Our goal is not to be penny-pinchers fretting over every expenditure, but joyful, responsible and generous stewards.
9. Show your children how family finances work. Bring home an entire paycheck in one or ten dollar bills. Or, use play money in an amount corresponding to your paycheck. Put the money in piles to show exactly how much goes to what expenses each month. This way your children can visualize where the family's money goes.
Some things will surprise the children, and they'll ask you questions. You'll probably end up reevaluating and making some healthy changes yourself. (Comparing the amount you give away with the amount you spend on various items may be particularly convicting.) Your children may see things in perspective for the first time. A child who's told to turn off the lights when he leaves the room, or to shut the front door behind him in the winter, suddenly understands why when he sees the stack of money that goes to pay the electric bill.
10. Never underestimate the power of your example. Albert Schweitzer said, "There are only three ways to teach a child. The first is by example, the second is by example, the third is by example."
Whether consciously or not, we continuously train our children, engraving our values in them as if drawing with a stick in wet cement. Children learn most effectively not just from what we say, but from what we do. Our actions speak louder than our words. (Sometimes so loudly our children can't hear a word we're saying!)
When it comes to handling money and possessions in light of eternity, dads, the most important point is this: sometimes our children will fail to listen to us; rarely will they fail to imitate us.
by Randy Alcorn, Eternal Perspective Ministries, 2229 E. Burnside #23, Gresham, OR 97030, 503-663-6481, www.epm.org
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Today countless children grow up begging and grabbing and clinging onto all the things money can buy. As adults, they rarely outgrow this shallow self-centeredness, but simply graduate to more money and bigger toys. Living their lives on earth as if this were all there is, they fail to prepare for their eternal future.
Christ told the story of a rich fool, to whom God said, "This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:20-21).
Five minutes after we die we'll know exactly how we should have lived. But then it will be too late. The good news is, God gave us his Word so we don't have to wait till we die to discover how we should have lived. And God gave our children Christian fathers, so we could show them what the world will not-how to live now in light of eternity.
1. Give your children something greater than money-your time. Our children won't remember what we did for them nearly as much as what we did with them. I've never heard anyone complain, "Dad was always around, but I never had enough material possessions." I've heard many lament, "I had lots of stuff, but Dad was never there for me."
The best thing you can do for your kids is put them on your appointment calendar. Cancel other things to make time with them. Work hard, but don't work such long hours that you miss your brief window of opportunity to shape your children for eternity. No man ever looks back and says "I wish I'd spent more time in the office, and less with my children."
2. Use life's teachable moments to train your children. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (Proverbs 22:6). Deuteronomy 6:6-9 tells fathers to impress God's commands on our children and "talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road." When we're alert, life brings countless opportunities to teach our children an eternal perspective on life, money, and possessions.
One night when they were six and eight, my daughters asked me to play the game of "LIFE," a popular board game I'd never played. One of my girls expressed disappointment when she landed on a space that made her a teacher rather than a doctor or lawyer-despite the fact that in real life she wanted to be a teacher! Why the disappointment? Because it meant she would receive a lower salary the rest of the game. And money, after all, is what LIFE (and for many people life) is all about.
LIFE presents the choice of whether to have children. Because there's a minimum amount of money but no minimum amount of children required to win the game, my girls kept choosing money over children. When I chose children instead of money, it surprised them. Choosing children might mean losing the game, and who plays a game with the intention of losing?
The whole event turned out to be an excellent teaching opportunity. I shared with my daughters Scripture's infinitely higher regard for children than money, and how "winning" and "success" are very different in God's eyes than the world's. Next time they played the game I noticed they made decisions that would make them "losers" by the game's standards, and winners by God's.
3. Take a field trip to a junkyard. How can we teach our children the emptiness of materialism in a memorable way? Take them to a garage sale and show them how things that people spent great amounts of money on are now sold for pennies.
Or, take them to visit a dump or junkyard. Show them all the piles of "treasures" that were formerly Christmas and birthday presents. Point out things costing hundreds of dollars, that children quarreled about, friendships were lost over, honesty was sacrificed for, and marriages broke up over. Show them the remnants of battered dolls, rusted robots, and crashed cars. Let them look at the expensive furniture and electronic gadgets that now lie useless. Point out to them that nearly everything your family owns will one day end up in a junkyard like this.
Then read, or ask them to read, 2 Peter 3:10-14, which says when Christ returns the whole world "will be destroyed by fire" and "the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." Ask them the ultimate question: "when all that you owned lies abandoned, broken, burned and useless, what will you have done that will last for eternity?"
What will survive the coming holocaust of things? The answer is, only God, His Word and people. Explain to your children how life should be invested in the eternal. Read to them Matthew 6:19-25, where Jesus says, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." Tell them "you can't take it with you," but according to Jesus, you can send it on ahead!
4. Teach your children to link money with labor. Once I mentioned we couldn't go out for dinner because we didn't have enough money. My youngest daughter said, "Just go to the money machine and get all you want." She referred to the Automated Teller Machine. This was a great chance to teach her money doesn't just magically appear in a machine, but is earned through work-good, hard, and well-done work. Fathers can show our children how to work, to make things, to sell them. We can show how work can be meaningful and fun as well as financially profitable.
A common mistake we dads make is to indiscriminately dole out money to our children as life goes by. This teaches them to think money comes easily or automatically. As a result they disassociate money from work. Eventually they feel it's their right to have money available even when they haven't worked for it. This misguided thinking is what puts able-bodied people on welfare rolls. The government fosters the handout mentality, but often it's learned first in the home, where character is built and lifelong attitudes are forged.
5. Teach your children how to save. Children learn the value of money and the discipline of self-control through saving. We helped our daughters open savings accounts years ago. If your child wants a major item, say a telescope, help him make a plan to save for it over a period of six months. Help him think of jobs to accomplish his goal. If he sticks with it (he may not), buying that telescope won't be an impulsive decision. And once he gets it, he's likely to take good care of it.
The same applies to a college education. I know parents who save for their child's education, while he spends his money irresponsibly. Remember, the quality of anyone's college education improves dramatically when he has a substantial part in paying for it.
6. Get your children started on the lifetime adventure of giving. We taught our children to tithe from the very earliest age (Leviticus 27:30; Malachi 3:8-10). They often gave more, but that 10% was untouchable. If Grandpa gave them ten dollars for Christmas, the question wasn't "What can I do with ten dollars" but "What can I do with nine dollars?" The other dollar wasn't theirs-it belonged to God.
The holy habit of giving is like the holy habits of Bible study and prayer and witnessing and hospitality. These things need to be integrated into our lifestyle. Those not raised in a home where they learn this are at a great disadvantage later trying to develop new habits as adults. Children raised in giving families would no sooner stop giving than brushing their teeth.
When we make decisions to give sacrificially to God's kingdom, we need to include our children, so they can both learn and get in on the blessing. Once we received a large and unexpected amount of money from book royalties. We sat down with our children, and discussed what we could do with the money. I explained we could use it to feed hungry people and reach them with the gospel. I also pointed out the money would entirely pay for a two week Hawaiian vacation for our whole family. We asked our girls what they thought. They enthusiastically encouraged us to give it to help the poor and lost. (Five years later the Lord provided a wonderful place to stay free in Hawaii. But at the time our children weighed the options, exercised their convictions and joyfully gave.)
7. Provide your children with financial planning tools. When the girls were five and seven, I gave each three jars labeled "Giving," "Saving," and "Spending." I explained that every time they received money, they were to first put at least ten per cent into the giving jar, then distribute the rest between the other two jars as they wished. Once they put money in the giving jar, even beyond the tithe, it was dedicated to the Lord and they couldn't use it some other way. Every Sunday morning they'd empty their giving jar and bring it to the offering at church.
Similarly, when they put money in saving, they were not to take it out and spend it on anything spur of the moment, but reserve it for some upcoming special expenditure or "a rainy day." However, they were free to transfer money from saving and spending to giving, or from spending to saving. As the jars lined up, it went this way-you can transfer money to any jar on the left, but never to a jar to the right.
I'll never forget that night. The girls were so excited they immediately took the money they already had and distributed it in the jars. They arranged the jars just right on their dressers, and literally spent two hours talking and figuring things out. My seven - year - old asked me to show her how to figure percentages on our calculator. She broke down her then one dollar a week allowance, and wrote on the jar labels, completely on her own, "Giving: $.25 a week," "Saving: $.25 a week," and "Spending $.50 a week." For the next five years, this simple system resulted in more financial education than any single thing we did.
Remember, a child cannot learn money management unless he has money to manage, and unless he earned that money himself. (Otherwise he's giving or spending his parents' money, not his.)
8. Teach your children how to say "No." Few things we teach our children are important as the discipline of saying "no." We must model the principle of delayed gratification, and teach the value of avoiding an expenditure when the money could accomplish a higher purpose if given away or saved or used more wisely. God commands and commends self-control one of the highest Christian virtues (Galatians 5:22-23; Titus 2:1-12).
Children are by nature impulsive spenders, and need our help to develop sales resistance. Every time we say "no" to our child about ice cream, candy, a new doll or squirt gun, we can teach him there are higher values than immediate gratification. Self - control learned by children in one area often carries over into others. A child who learns to say "no" to unnecessary purchases is much more prone to say "no" to sexual immorality or drugs.
Of course, tight-fisted stinginess is as negative as careless self-indulgence. Our goal is not to be penny-pinchers fretting over every expenditure, but joyful, responsible and generous stewards.
9. Show your children how family finances work. Bring home an entire paycheck in one or ten dollar bills. Or, use play money in an amount corresponding to your paycheck. Put the money in piles to show exactly how much goes to what expenses each month. This way your children can visualize where the family's money goes.
Some things will surprise the children, and they'll ask you questions. You'll probably end up reevaluating and making some healthy changes yourself. (Comparing the amount you give away with the amount you spend on various items may be particularly convicting.) Your children may see things in perspective for the first time. A child who's told to turn off the lights when he leaves the room, or to shut the front door behind him in the winter, suddenly understands why when he sees the stack of money that goes to pay the electric bill.
10. Never underestimate the power of your example. Albert Schweitzer said, "There are only three ways to teach a child. The first is by example, the second is by example, the third is by example."
Whether consciously or not, we continuously train our children, engraving our values in them as if drawing with a stick in wet cement. Children learn most effectively not just from what we say, but from what we do. Our actions speak louder than our words. (Sometimes so loudly our children can't hear a word we're saying!)
When it comes to handling money and possessions in light of eternity, dads, the most important point is this: sometimes our children will fail to listen to us; rarely will they fail to imitate us.
by Randy Alcorn, Eternal Perspective Ministries, 2229 E. Burnside #23, Gresham, OR 97030, 503-663-6481, www.epm.org
Tuesday 27 January 2009
BEWARE OF THE TOY INDUSTRY
It is equally important for parents to beware of the toy industry. When our kids were growing up we never allowed Barbie Dolls or any other such thing in our house. Now there are Bratz (franchised by MGM) and a slew of other sexualized dolls.
The following timely warning is from a concerned grandmother:
“I attend a fundamental church but have noticed that some parents don’t seem to have any qualms about allowing their young daughters to play with Barbie dolls. And even Polly Pocket dolls are becoming more immodest in their clothing. Also the accessories for both Barbie and Polly Pocket dolls promote a worldly look and a worldly lifestyle. ... I believe that these kinds of dolls are too immodest for girls of any age to play with, much less little girls around the ages of 4 and 5. They definitely promote the wrong message and wrong focus in a young girl’s life, and I really don’t even want our granddaughters to bring their scantily dressed dolls into our home because I feel that by allowing them to bring their dolls into our home, we’re also condoning and promoting a wrong focus and mindset in the lives of our granddaughters.”
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
Read More ..
The following timely warning is from a concerned grandmother:
“I attend a fundamental church but have noticed that some parents don’t seem to have any qualms about allowing their young daughters to play with Barbie dolls. And even Polly Pocket dolls are becoming more immodest in their clothing. Also the accessories for both Barbie and Polly Pocket dolls promote a worldly look and a worldly lifestyle. ... I believe that these kinds of dolls are too immodest for girls of any age to play with, much less little girls around the ages of 4 and 5. They definitely promote the wrong message and wrong focus in a young girl’s life, and I really don’t even want our granddaughters to bring their scantily dressed dolls into our home because I feel that by allowing them to bring their dolls into our home, we’re also condoning and promoting a wrong focus and mindset in the lives of our granddaughters.”
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
BEWARE OF THE GIRLS’ FASHION INDUSTRY
The fashion industry today is morally perverted and is seeking to sexualize children from very early ages. The following warning is very timely:
“It was a hot summer’s day in 2002 when I decided to buy sandals for our 4- and 6-year-old daughters. I never anticipated our retail excursion would prove to be so educational. We’re talking sandals, now. Plain, ordinary sandals, the kind every one of us grew up in. But after going to eleven different stores I still couldn't find anything even remotely suitable. Why? Because every pair of sandals I found--every single pair--had high heels.
“High heels for a 4-year-old? How can a child run and jump and play wearing high heels? I'll tell you the answer: She can’t. Apparently, girls’ sandals aren’t meant for running and jumping and playing. They’re meant to make little girls look like tarts. ...
“It amazes me that 40 years after the sexual revolution that was supposed to ‘free’ women from the ‘oppression’ of men, we find ourselves teaching our daughters that their only worth is in looking slutty. Boys don’t respect girls anymore because girls don’t require and demand it. And it all starts by buying 4-year-olds high-heeled sandals and Bratz dolls.
“So, who is at fault for pre-sexualizing our kids? Sure, we can blame a lot of things. Society. The fashion industry. Hollywood. Public schools. Pick one.
“But what it boils down to is you, the parent, allowing it. Yes, allowing it. ...
“I’ve heard some parents say they can't ‘stop’ pre-sexualization because kids will learn it in school or from peers. Many parents feel victimized, swept helplessly along the tide of society and unable to do anything about it. Hogwash. It’s parents who are permitting inappropriate clothing, toys, posters and music into their homes” (“Sexy Six Year Olds,” WorldNetDaily, May 31, 2008).
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org] Read More ..
“It was a hot summer’s day in 2002 when I decided to buy sandals for our 4- and 6-year-old daughters. I never anticipated our retail excursion would prove to be so educational. We’re talking sandals, now. Plain, ordinary sandals, the kind every one of us grew up in. But after going to eleven different stores I still couldn't find anything even remotely suitable. Why? Because every pair of sandals I found--every single pair--had high heels.
“High heels for a 4-year-old? How can a child run and jump and play wearing high heels? I'll tell you the answer: She can’t. Apparently, girls’ sandals aren’t meant for running and jumping and playing. They’re meant to make little girls look like tarts. ...
“It amazes me that 40 years after the sexual revolution that was supposed to ‘free’ women from the ‘oppression’ of men, we find ourselves teaching our daughters that their only worth is in looking slutty. Boys don’t respect girls anymore because girls don’t require and demand it. And it all starts by buying 4-year-olds high-heeled sandals and Bratz dolls.
“So, who is at fault for pre-sexualizing our kids? Sure, we can blame a lot of things. Society. The fashion industry. Hollywood. Public schools. Pick one.
“But what it boils down to is you, the parent, allowing it. Yes, allowing it. ...
“I’ve heard some parents say they can't ‘stop’ pre-sexualization because kids will learn it in school or from peers. Many parents feel victimized, swept helplessly along the tide of society and unable to do anything about it. Hogwash. It’s parents who are permitting inappropriate clothing, toys, posters and music into their homes” (“Sexy Six Year Olds,” WorldNetDaily, May 31, 2008).
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org] Read More ..
GIRLS’ FASHIONS AND DOLLS
GIRLS’ FASHIONS AND DOLLS
July 17, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
This verse reminds us that training in modest attire best begins in childhood. Many married women in Bible-believing churches did not have an opportunity to grow up in a godly Christian home and were not taught how to be modest when they were young, but now they have the opportunity to provide such a home for the next generation. This is a great blessing as well as a large responsibility.
The best time to teach a girl how to dress modestly is when she is a toddler. When she reaches teenage years she will be habituated to dressing in a feminine and modest manner and will not feel strange wearing a nice dress. She will also know how to be decent wearing a dress, because she learned it from her mother (and hopefully grandmother, aunts, etc.) from childhood.
One of our granddaughters is three years old, and her mother dresses her in nice dresses all of the time except when she is bathing and sleeping or getting ready for bed and is in her pajamas. She is learning how to sit properly in a dress. She is learning that her brother wears pants but she wears dresses, because she is different. My earnest prayer is that she will never turn aside from this modest and lovely and scriptural way of dressing.
Of course, the key is not merely dressing a child properly but teaching her why she is dressed that way, and instilling in her the Bible principles of modesty throughout her childhood, and praying that she will be saved and take these principles into her heart because she wants to please the Lord. Female fashions change constantly, and the Christian woman must learn how to apply Bible principles to whatever comes along.
BEWARE OF THE GIRLS’ FASHION INDUSTRY
The fashion industry today is morally perverted and is seeking to sexualize children from very early ages. The following warning is very timely:
“It was a hot summer’s day in 2002 when I decided to buy sandals for our 4- and 6-year-old daughters. I never anticipated our retail excursion would prove to be so educational. We’re talking sandals, now. Plain, ordinary sandals, the kind every one of us grew up in. But after going to eleven different stores I still couldn't find anything even remotely suitable. Why? Because every pair of sandals I found--every single pair--had high heels.
“High heels for a 4-year-old? How can a child run and jump and play wearing high heels? I'll tell you the answer: She can’t. Apparently, girls’ sandals aren’t meant for running and jumping and playing. They’re meant to make little girls look like tarts. ...
“It amazes me that 40 years after the sexual revolution that was supposed to ‘free’ women from the ‘oppression’ of men, we find ourselves teaching our daughters that their only worth is in looking slutty. Boys don’t respect girls anymore because girls don’t require and demand it. And it all starts by buying 4-year-olds high-heeled sandals and Bratz dolls.
“So, who is at fault for pre-sexualizing our kids? Sure, we can blame a lot of things. Society. The fashion industry. Hollywood. Public schools. Pick one.
“But what it boils down to is you, the parent, allowing it. Yes, allowing it. ...
“I’ve heard some parents say they can't ‘stop’ pre-sexualization because kids will learn it in school or from peers. Many parents feel victimized, swept helplessly along the tide of society and unable to do anything about it. Hogwash. It’s parents who are permitting inappropriate clothing, toys, posters and music into their homes” (“Sexy Six Year Olds,” WorldNetDaily, May 31, 2008).
BEWARE OF THE TOY INDUSTRY
It is equally important for parents to beware of the toy industry. When our kids were growing up we never allowed Barbie Dolls or any other such thing in our house. Now there are Bratz (franchised by MGM) and a slew of other sexualized dolls.
The following timely warning is from a concerned grandmother:
“I attend a fundamental church but have noticed that some parents don’t seem to have any qualms about allowing their young daughters to play with Barbie dolls. And even Polly Pocket dolls are becoming more immodest in their clothing. Also the accessories for both Barbie and Polly Pocket dolls promote a worldly look and a worldly lifestyle. ... I believe that these kinds of dolls are too immodest for girls of any age to play with, much less little girls around the ages of 4 and 5. They definitely promote the wrong message and wrong focus in a young girl’s life, and I really don’t even want our granddaughters to bring their scantily dressed dolls into our home because I feel that by allowing them to bring their dolls into our home, we’re also condoning and promoting a wrong focus and mindset in the lives of our granddaughters.”
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
Read More ..
July 17, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
This verse reminds us that training in modest attire best begins in childhood. Many married women in Bible-believing churches did not have an opportunity to grow up in a godly Christian home and were not taught how to be modest when they were young, but now they have the opportunity to provide such a home for the next generation. This is a great blessing as well as a large responsibility.
The best time to teach a girl how to dress modestly is when she is a toddler. When she reaches teenage years she will be habituated to dressing in a feminine and modest manner and will not feel strange wearing a nice dress. She will also know how to be decent wearing a dress, because she learned it from her mother (and hopefully grandmother, aunts, etc.) from childhood.
One of our granddaughters is three years old, and her mother dresses her in nice dresses all of the time except when she is bathing and sleeping or getting ready for bed and is in her pajamas. She is learning how to sit properly in a dress. She is learning that her brother wears pants but she wears dresses, because she is different. My earnest prayer is that she will never turn aside from this modest and lovely and scriptural way of dressing.
Of course, the key is not merely dressing a child properly but teaching her why she is dressed that way, and instilling in her the Bible principles of modesty throughout her childhood, and praying that she will be saved and take these principles into her heart because she wants to please the Lord. Female fashions change constantly, and the Christian woman must learn how to apply Bible principles to whatever comes along.
BEWARE OF THE GIRLS’ FASHION INDUSTRY
The fashion industry today is morally perverted and is seeking to sexualize children from very early ages. The following warning is very timely:
“It was a hot summer’s day in 2002 when I decided to buy sandals for our 4- and 6-year-old daughters. I never anticipated our retail excursion would prove to be so educational. We’re talking sandals, now. Plain, ordinary sandals, the kind every one of us grew up in. But after going to eleven different stores I still couldn't find anything even remotely suitable. Why? Because every pair of sandals I found--every single pair--had high heels.
“High heels for a 4-year-old? How can a child run and jump and play wearing high heels? I'll tell you the answer: She can’t. Apparently, girls’ sandals aren’t meant for running and jumping and playing. They’re meant to make little girls look like tarts. ...
“It amazes me that 40 years after the sexual revolution that was supposed to ‘free’ women from the ‘oppression’ of men, we find ourselves teaching our daughters that their only worth is in looking slutty. Boys don’t respect girls anymore because girls don’t require and demand it. And it all starts by buying 4-year-olds high-heeled sandals and Bratz dolls.
“So, who is at fault for pre-sexualizing our kids? Sure, we can blame a lot of things. Society. The fashion industry. Hollywood. Public schools. Pick one.
“But what it boils down to is you, the parent, allowing it. Yes, allowing it. ...
“I’ve heard some parents say they can't ‘stop’ pre-sexualization because kids will learn it in school or from peers. Many parents feel victimized, swept helplessly along the tide of society and unable to do anything about it. Hogwash. It’s parents who are permitting inappropriate clothing, toys, posters and music into their homes” (“Sexy Six Year Olds,” WorldNetDaily, May 31, 2008).
BEWARE OF THE TOY INDUSTRY
It is equally important for parents to beware of the toy industry. When our kids were growing up we never allowed Barbie Dolls or any other such thing in our house. Now there are Bratz (franchised by MGM) and a slew of other sexualized dolls.
The following timely warning is from a concerned grandmother:
“I attend a fundamental church but have noticed that some parents don’t seem to have any qualms about allowing their young daughters to play with Barbie dolls. And even Polly Pocket dolls are becoming more immodest in their clothing. Also the accessories for both Barbie and Polly Pocket dolls promote a worldly look and a worldly lifestyle. ... I believe that these kinds of dolls are too immodest for girls of any age to play with, much less little girls around the ages of 4 and 5. They definitely promote the wrong message and wrong focus in a young girl’s life, and I really don’t even want our granddaughters to bring their scantily dressed dolls into our home because I feel that by allowing them to bring their dolls into our home, we’re also condoning and promoting a wrong focus and mindset in the lives of our granddaughters.”
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
Thursday 22 January 2009
HISTORY OF CHANGES IN AMERICAN EDUCATION and thus the changes in government
The law changed and forced changes in education. It was not the nation that changed the law so much as it was a panel of nine men on a run-away supreme court bench. This happened in the 1920's, and in 1947-48, and again in the early 1960's.
Once they changed the explanation of history ie the Constitution, the rest of the nation took it like sheep, until now few know how things used to be understood. It's been taught wrong for over 50 years, and now, by omission, the true old history is no longer existent in the hearts and minds of America's youth, most teachers, and even lawyers.
Understandings of men changed and thus the goals of education was allowed to be changed.
Originally in America, our law and our education was based on God and the Bible. The change is that now our law and our education are based on men's opinions that contradict God and the Bible.
From 1607 until 1807 there could not be found in America a school which did not teach Bible understandings on their subjects. For this theme and coverage of 200 years of early American history, see the Founding Fathers and original thirteen colony charters and the constitutions of those colonies. Also see the Constitutions of the newly formed states as they came into the Union. Strong reference to God is made over and over. Also the NorthWest Treaty referenced how schools should be teaching scripture understanding to the children.
Christians came to Plymouth Rock for freedom of their religion. They instituted schools to train up their children in their beliefs.
95% of the founding fathers believed in God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. See the materials, books, and videos from Wallbuilder Publishers for historical documents on the Founding Fathers.
1830- Horace Mann got the State of Pennsylvania to begin a new state school program that did not have the Bible .
1870- The teaching of law begins to change and have its effect on public schools. Harvard Law School Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell (1826-1906) applied Darwin's theory of evolution to law. Introduced the case-law method instead of the Constitution. Students studied the decisions of judges instead of the Constitution of the Founders. Students grew to become less and less aware of what the Founders said and more and more aware of what judges decided.
1870-1964, Roscoe Pound strengthened the ideas of Langdell, replacing him at Harvard Law School. Institutionalized "positivism", a kind of Darwinian theory of growing towards a goal by positive or forward steps of change and that positive change is necessary for society to evolve to its end form. So allowing changes in law. As the understanding of law was to change, so also would follow changes in the application of law to our school system.
1902- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. held that original intent and precedent held little value. Argued for thirty years that decisions should not be based upon natural law and its fixed standards but upon the felt necessities of the time and the prevalent political theories so that society could reach a social change to what men wanted.
1916- Louis Brandeis (1856-1941) urged the Court to be bold in leading society to change. He wanted the reason of men to be the ultimate rule, not the law of God nor the ideas of the Founders.
1930's - Blackstone's Commentaries on the Law widely discarded because it was absolute instead of relative. Relativism allowed for change. Relativism became a new term, more 'intellectual' for describing the positive changes needed for evolution of law and society. (the positivism of Roscoe Pound). Absolute values were discarded.
John Dewey1930's- John Dewey was an esteemed humanist. He was a prominent leader of new ideas in education. He wrote much on the effects of Darwin's theory of evolution on science, education, man and society. His premise can be summarized as saying that nothing is ultimately good in itself except positive change for the better. To this goal he rejected absolute values of God, the Bible, and men who believed in God.
Dewey's most positive value is positive change for the better. He was so recognized as a leader of new ideas concerning humanism ie synonym for socialism that he was invited to teach on establishing state schools for the betterment of the state. He taught in China at the University of Peking and in Turkey. Upon Dewey's return to California, he wrote an Americanized version of Karl Marx philosophies called "The Humanist Manifesto".
Dewey believed in the collective society like socialist of Russia and China being more important than any individualism. He views people as members of the larger society, to the exclusion of individual rights when the perceived needs of society would require the exclusion of personal rights. This thinking permeates the N.E.A today as a result of his works and others who followed in his footsteps. The state rights over individual rights is associated with the recent event in Pennsylvania where state authorities forced fifty young girls to be spread eagled on an examination table, for genital inspection, without parent's knowledge or consent. Such is the consequence of giving up individual rights to the state system.
1932- Benjamin Cardozo (1870-1938), said there is no law to bind the judge. He took judge-made law as a reality of life. Americans will remember our Constitution says Congress makes laws and judges apply those fixed laws to various situations. But Justice Cardozo wanted to make new laws from the bench of the Supreme Court by decisions unbound by tradition or precedent. He condoned the Court functioning as law-maker by overturning precedents of generations of Americans.
1930-1941, Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948) the Court's Chief Justice for eleven years said "We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is."
1945-1953 - radical social change achieved by wide spread "positivists" or secular humanists.
1947- The new lawyer system of education, "positivism" or "secular humanism", ruled that schools could no longer teach Bible at school, only off campus, somewhere else! Everson Case.
1953- Earl Warren (1891-1974) became Chief-Justice and ruled for sixteen years.
1958- Earl Warren wrote, "The Constitutional Amendment must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society."
1953-1968, Warren's court struck down many traditional practices and proudly admitted doing it without legal precedent. The Court had "evolved" into something different from what the Founders designed it. The Court had become no longer a only a judge, but now it was the new law-maker! The court was now doing what by Constitutional authority only the Congress could do.
1962- School prayer struck down, Engel vs Vitale
1963- School Bible reading struck down, School District of Abington Township v. Schempp
1980- School display of Ten Commandments disallowed, Stone v. Graham
1985- School moment of silent time for prayer struck down, Wallace v. Jaffree
1989- Display of birth of Christ not allowed on public property, Allegheny v Pittsburg ACLU
1992- School graduation prayer struck down, Lee v. Weisman
1988- Hillary Rodham Clinton attends U.N. conference on world education in Thailand
1989 - Hillary and Vera Katz on board in New York, National Committee on Education and Economics
1991- Vera Katz as Mayor in Portland helps entire state of Oregon change to Goals 2000 system
1996- Twenty six states have programs of Goals 2000, Humanistic, New World Order economics driven system
1996 ---National Standards for History advises retraining and screening of teachers to only accept those who can adapt their attitudes to fit the new standards. This means those who are for the traditional and true history would be systematically excluded.
1996 Dr. Meno, Commissioner of Education, Texas says teachers need to be requalified according to conditions of the new set of goals. ie, exclude those who disagree with the new standards.
Interpretation by the editor, Larry Rice: Those educrats in the government system are glad to see big government standards take over education. You should want to place people in power who are agreement with William Bennett and who disagree with the Texas Education Commissioner.
1996 Texas Eagle Forum goes on the World Wide Web. Take a look at it! It is great.
SOCIALISM INTRODUCED STEP BY STEP INTO AMERICAN CULTURE
Both Karl Marx and Joseph Stalin said it could not happen that America would accept communism all at once. They knew that was impossible, but they also knew it was not necessary for it to happen all at once. They realized that a steady diet of little bitty morsels of socialism introduced into American society would eventually transform the whole system. The socialist planners were content to climb their mountain one little step at a time. They knew eventually the top would be reached. They realize that socialism is only a tiny step away from full communism.
These ideas and goals are being implemented right now in local books
1. Teach children's rights over parents rights.
2. Teach children to judge their parents. Hitler and Stalin did that.
3. Teach children how to begin changing their parents values. Remove esteem of parents from the children.
4. Teach what changes, teach the changes of people and society, with no reference to permanent values.
5. Teach the value of the new world system for the good of all men everywhere, one world under the U.N., but not under God.
6. Teach things that encourage belief in the psychic, occult, witchcraft, anything else but God.
7. Teach chaos instead of ordered systems.
8. Teach subjective values instead of any absolutes, especially don't teach the Ten Commandments, but instead tell them each person makes his own decisions of what is right and what is wrong.
9. Remove their connections to the roots of their own history, and they will wither and die as a nation.
10. Give more examples for children to follow of delinquency instead of obedient children.
11. Bring the children down to a level of the lowest street urchin without love of mother or father
12. Teach that the state has control over the children instead of the God given parents.
13. Removal of good role model's. By excluding references and explanations of Christian motivation from those famous deeds of America's historical great men, children are robbed of those good role models. When those men are characterized as deists and profit seekers their motives are misrepresented to the children. Children learn what they see. What a shame that so many people teach or believe our founding fathers were deists and established this country for economic gain. What a shameful revision of history it is to call Patrick Henry a deist. He recorded for all history a denial of deism and his affirmation of Jesus Christ.
Joseph Stalin said he didn't have to defeat us in gun warfare. He could do it through our children. He would poison their minds against God and family. Through educational system and tv the forces of socialism would invade the youth of America and destroy it from its roots. Then socialism would rule the world. That was Joseph Stalin's dream. That was his goal. America, it is up to you whether you will mock or take heed. The atheistic goals were first made public by the threat of communism, but are now hiding under the mask of Humanism. See the article on Two Views of the World found on the page for Graduating Seniors in the topic list.
Join the battle which has been declared. It is a battle for your children. It is your battle to fight, to win. When Jonah preached to Ninevah he declared the soon coming destruction. Jonah didn't make any if's and's or but's. He plainly said because of your sins, destruction is coming. That's the way it is in America today. There are many who have written about the decline and fall of America. I'm just showing the details of how the children are being affected. It's happening.
The ax has been laid to the very roots of our Constitution. The Supreme Court now makes laws. Not only does it make laws, it overthrows those which have existed for generations upon generations of Americans and calls them unconstitutional. Why? Because of the new morality that says, the end justifies the means, and if it seems good do it. And no man stood strong enough to stop that encroachment when it happened.
The Founders would have denied what the Warren Court did on the grounds of Treason. Why Treason? Because the Founders believed that whosoever attacked the strength and education of Christianity attacked this great nation which was founded on the principles of Christianity. It's OK to exercise free speech on the streets if one wants to attack Christianity, but it is High Treason for a judge to throw down laws that were established to protect Christian education according to individual faith of Americans.
The Socialist minded judges took a bold stroke at our roots and they got away with it. No one impeached them for Treason. Under the power of Mass Media, the public was given opium of "it's all for the good of the nation", and they sat back in their false humility and failed to stand up for Right
Read More ..
Tuesday 20 January 2009
PROPER DISCIPLINE OF THE CHILD
By Terry Coomer
Proverbs 23:13-14 -- “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.”
We now move into a different section from where we have been, as we now move into the proper discipline of the child. I firmly believe that both parts are important, but I believe the first part is extremely important. The first part was our spiritual relationship and conveying our spiritual relationship with God to our children. Part of the training is the correct, godly, and Biblical discipline of our children.
The book of Proverbs mentions proper discipline five times. It is interesting to me that the book of Proverbs mentions communicating our spiritual relationship to the child twenty-five times. Many Christians have different ideas about the discipline of our children. We live in a very undisciplined society. The lack of discipline and spiritual communication is sending our society into major problems.
One of the areas that this lack of discipline shows up is in the peer influence of our children and allowing our children to make their own choices. What is happening today is the culture we are living in is rearing our children instead of the parents. The culture and peer influence rears our children because in many instances the parents are not there to rear them. Listen to me very carefully, if you desire to rear spiritual children, you have to make a decision in your life to be the main influence in your children's lives. Three of the most corrupting influences upon our children today are television, music, and friends. Do not be deceived folks; the devil wants the culture to rear our children. Do not underestimate the power of these influences. Many children will listen to their peers before they will listen to you, if you allow it to be that way. Again, you must make a decision to be the most important influence in the children's lives.
The Lord has blessed us with two wonderful daughters, Teresa and Jennifer, who have been trained by their parents to have a heart to serve God. They have been taught by their parents not to allow the influence of their peers to lead them into sin. Both daughters are preparing to serve the Lord on the mission field. At the time of this writing one has graduated from Bible College and married a godly young man. The other is in her second year of Bible College and will spend her summer on a foreign field because of her desire to see others come to know Christ as Savior. They are not interested in what the world has to offer. Why? Because they were taught and trained from the time they were small children that what God wants is more important than friends and peer influences.
My wife and I made a decision as young parents that my wife would stay home and become the most important influence in their lives (Titus 2:3-5). Their mother home schooled both of our daughters. They were not academic misfits. In fact, one of the girls scored in the top three percent in the country on the English portion of the ACT test. We heard all the talk about lack of socialization. Folks, those of you who know our daughters know they are not social morons. We made sure their socialization was godly. We made sure to guard their training and influences. Why did we do that? We know that the Bible tells us that Satan wants to destroy their lives.
1 Peter 5:8-9 -- "Be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."
As a Christian parent, you better understand these verses. I can hear someone say, "I bet their home was like a prison, they never had any fun." In fact, quite the contrary is true. Our children had a great time growing up. They learned to have the right kind of fun from their parents. Their mother taught them to enjoy proper music, not music that appeals to the flesh. She taught them to be godly young ladies as the Bible instructs in Titus 2. She taught them to dress as a godly young lady should. She taught them to cook, and we both taught them to be hard workers.
They were taught to do their best for God in whatever they did (1 Corinthians 10:31). My wife, Kim, was a huge godly influence in their lives because she committed herself to be there and to be the most important influence in their lives. Kim worked very hard and prayed much for their lives.
Parents today start out by allowing their children to make their own decisions. I have observed parents interacting with their children like this: The parent lays out the small child's clothes and the child says, "I do not want to wear that!" The parent says, "Honey, I am sorry I did not know you did not want to wear that. You do not have to wear that." The child and parent continue this dialogue throughout the child's life in almost every instance. Most parents do this today.
What happens is that the child grows up making his own choices, and when he gets to be eighteen he will not listen to a word you say because you have taught him from the time he was a little child not to listen to you. You have now opened his life up to be reared by his culture. His friends will be the most important influence in his life, fueled by television and music of the culture. He will become a spiritually undisciplined person who is lead by his emotions rather than by the Word of God. Unfortunately, most Christians fall into this category today and do not have a clue why their children have turned out the way they have. YOU MUST DETERMINE TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT INFLUENCE IN THEIR LIVES.
However, you have to be a spiritual person to see the truth in what I am talking about here. I can again hear someone say, "I bet his girls do not have any friends." On the contrary they both became spiritual leaders in Bible College and have like-minded friends who desire to live for God. You see folks; we trained them to have a spiritual disciplined life as a child and protected their influences for God as small children and teens so that as they matured they would be able to make godly choices. Why, because they saw their parents make godly, disciplined choices.
A fifteen-year old is not mature enough to make choices on a life's mate and does not need to be put in situations where he or she might be tempted to do so. Parents, do not be stupid.
We very seldom allowed our children to spend a night away from home unless we really knew the spiritual life of the family they were with. We certainly would not allow them to spend the night with the unsaved or carnal Christians, which included extended members of our family.
We also told our daughters as they were growing up that there was no reason for them to consider dating. They had plenty of time when they went to college to start considering young men. They were also instructed as to what they needed to be looking for in young men who could possibly be their life's mate. Teenagers are not mature enough to make decisions that are as serious as this. They also should not be put in relationships and situations that would encourage them to be involved in the lusts of the flesh at an age where they need to concentrate on their relationship with God not the opposite sex. Most parents make serious errors here and believe their children will lack in social skills if they are not allowed to date. In fact, what happens is the parents are allowing the culture to rear their children and heartbreak can come out of social peer pressure (Galatians 6:7).
We were not going to be bullied or begged to make stupid spiritual decisions in light of 1 Peter 5:8-9. Again, we are to live disciplined lives, not weak, emotional, feeling-lead lives. Our decisions are to be made based on the Word of God not on a whim of feelings.
We communicated to our children as they were growing up that Jesus wants to reproduce His character in their lives and the devil wants to reproduce his character in them. To a Christian who has a relationship with the Lord, living for Christ and walking with Him is more important than whether or not he is a good ballplayer. Folks, I know the influence that peers have on your lives in sports, as I was a former professional baseball pitcher. The Christian life is a disciplined spiritual life. If you do not understand this principle, you will fail in the task of rearing your children to love and serve the Lord. The culture will rear your child if you allow it to do so and bring heartbreak to you and your home.
So, why do I have to take this position on a disciplined Christian life?
Psalm 51:5 -- "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."
Psalm 58:3 -- "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."
A child is a sinner at birth. You never have to teach a child to do wrong. They will do so automatically. You have to teach them to do right. The will of the child must be dealt with while it is weak. The child must understand that he or she cannot live by their lusts alone.
Parents, discipline is a strong form of love that gives the child security. The child has to learn self-control.
Proverbs 13:24 -- "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chastenth him betimes."
The word here "betimes" means "early" in his life. Proper discipline of the child must start early. Babies have a will and they start to exercise it early. From the time they are babies we must let the children know they cannot have their own way. The Bible tells us to discipline early.
Proverbs 19:18 -- "Chasten thy son while there is hope and let not thy soul spare for his crying."
Did you notice the phrase "while there is still hope?" There will come a time for the spiritually ignorant or disobedient parent that there is no hope.
Proverbs 22:15 -- "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child: but the rod of correction shall drive it from him."
In these two verses there is a prominent word, "rod." My understanding is the Hebrew word for rod is a branch or a stick or a staff. It is like the rod of a shepherd. The rod was a symbol of authority in the hands of a ruler. Basically folks, this deals with spanking and using an object to spank. On this Biblical basis, I never used my hand to discipline our children. I used a paddle as a symbol of authority. Parents we are to discipline early and the Bible tells us to discipline consistently and correctly. Obviously, we do not spank for every infraction. Sometimes there is verbal correction.
Let me give you a very important rule: A child should never be told more than once. If you are not careful here the child will develop a pattern with you. How far can we go before the parent will get this done?
A child must understand that parental authority is God's authority. Someone says, "Pastor, are you saying I should spank my child?" They will think I do not love them."
Proverbs 3:12 -- "For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth: even as a father the son in whom he delighteth."
The proper correction shows you love your child.
Let me give you another pattern to look for. As soon as you say, "I am going to spank you," the child says, "I am sorry." The child is not really sorry; he is a con artist! You need to make sure he knows and understands what is expected of him.
Another important rule is never discipline a child for failure to understand. Again, here some children can be con artists in this area.
Something that is very important is that we should discipline for attitude. When a child says "No" to you or makes a face, etc., proper discipline is in order. In this battle of the wills you may have to spank more than once. Remember I said spank not hit, slap, yell, cuss, pull their hair, get them on the floor and beat them, chase them around the house with a belt, or scream at them. God has given us the perfect place to spank. It has no bones that will break and has been provided by the Lord for the "rod of correction."
Parents who yell and scream all the time are only building a rebel. The child will hear you yell and scream and ignore you, and when he grows up he will never listen to a thing you tell him. I have talked to many parents who have disciplined in this manner and they firmly believe they are a disciplinarian. "You know, Pastor, my kids got it when they back-talked me; I hit them right in the mouth. I yelled and they listened." Sure they did, right up until the day they got out of your house. Now they live the way they want which does not include living for God. You did not train them, you browbeat them! They longed to get away from you.
Listen carefully, proper discipline of the child requires not disciplining in anger. When our children disobeyed, we calmly went into the bedroom and talked with them about their disobedience and spanked them on the area God has provided. We always told our children that we were displeased with their behavior and God was displeased. We then told them we loved them and wanted them to grow up to have good character and to be obedient to the Lord. We also told them that Jesus loved them and wanted them to have good character. We always hugged them and made sure they knew we loved them and that the discipline was for their own good.
Quite frankly, we really never had to spank either child after the fourth grade. We broke their will early. I will talk about this matter of breaking the will further in the next message.
I have talked to many criminals in jail. I always ask them a question: “Did your parents spank you when you were growing up?" The answer is surprising in many instances, but it is something for us to think about. Almost always, they will answer, “Dad or mom (they usually do not call them that) beat me when I needed it," or something similar. They always seem to have a smile on their face when they talk about it. Then I ask, "How did they spank you?" I get something like, "He chased me with the belt or he got me down and whomped me," etc. They never talk about a Biblical, godly form of discipline. Most people do not understand what proper discipline is.
Parents, I can hear someone say, "I will never spank my child!" Then you may be affecting that child's salvation.
Proverbs 23:13-14 -- "Withold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell."
Parents, this is a will matter. Remember, I said parental authority is God's authority. If a child will not submit to his parents, he will never submit to God. When we did spank our children, we did not allow them to scream, yell, or excessively cry. If they did, we spanked them until their wills were submissive. This may take several times. Many people in our culture now say spanking is child abuse. I agree there are people out there who do abuse their children. The lie of the devil and the greatest form of child abuse that has ever been put upon a society is putting children on drugs for their behavior. Many public school children are now on drugs for what has been called Attention Deficit Disorder.
I would agree that there is a great Attention Deficit Disorder in our society and it is on the part of the parents, not the children. Many of the children in our society are being put on drugs because the parents are not home and when they are home, they are too tired to give the child any attention. The child is banished to the back of the house, put in front of a television, or a video game. When discipline is brought forth it is in the form of yelling, screaming, hitting etc. The parent does not have the time or the energy to do any real parenting as God has commanded. Therefore, we put drugs in our children because we do not have time to deal with them. This is one of the great sins of our society and many Christians have bought into it.
The sadness is we have multitudes of children who will grow up never learning to obey as God has intended them to and they will always have an excuse for their poor behavior. The culture has given them a reason to be a rebel and to be disobedient. Their parents are off the hook because they have a child with a problem. Do I believe there are children with real mental problems out there? Yes there are but the percentage is very few. What we are experiencing now is a society that is extremely undisciplined and is dependent upon drugs for behavior rather than the Word of God.
Parent's let me finish this message with this important thought. I believe proper discipline of the child is important. I really do not believe it is as important as the first section we looked at. Your relationship to God and developing Junior's relationship to God is your most important task in rearing spiritual children. Listen carefully, if you have a spiritual relationship with God you will understand the importance of proper discipline and will seek God's will in the matter.
Folks, I can tell a lot about a person's relationship with God by the godly discipline in their life or the lack of spiritual discipline in their life. I can tell a lot about the spirituality of a church by looking at the Pastor's children and family. As a Pastor it is my responsibility before God to have a godly family, or I cannot teach anyone else what God's word says on the matter. It is my responsibility to develop in my wife and children a passion for the Lord. My testimony before God is important in this matter. This is an area where we cannot fool anyone. The Bible makes it plain it will come back to get us if we are not obedient to God in this matter. Something I have learned is this takes hard work. We cannot be lazy and slothful in this matter of spiritual training, which I believe is the most important matter we have outside of our salvation and our children's salvation.
________________
This article is by Dr. Terry Coomer. God has given Brother Coomer some special wisdom about the building a godly Christian life and family. He is the Pastor of Elwood Bible Baptist Church and the Director of For the Love of the Family Ministries. He holds Family Conferences in local churches. He may be contacted at For Love of the Family Ministries, P.O. Box 535, Elwood, IN 46036, 765-552-1973, tlcoomer@juno.com.
Read More ..
Proverbs 23:13-14 -- “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.”
We now move into a different section from where we have been, as we now move into the proper discipline of the child. I firmly believe that both parts are important, but I believe the first part is extremely important. The first part was our spiritual relationship and conveying our spiritual relationship with God to our children. Part of the training is the correct, godly, and Biblical discipline of our children.
The book of Proverbs mentions proper discipline five times. It is interesting to me that the book of Proverbs mentions communicating our spiritual relationship to the child twenty-five times. Many Christians have different ideas about the discipline of our children. We live in a very undisciplined society. The lack of discipline and spiritual communication is sending our society into major problems.
One of the areas that this lack of discipline shows up is in the peer influence of our children and allowing our children to make their own choices. What is happening today is the culture we are living in is rearing our children instead of the parents. The culture and peer influence rears our children because in many instances the parents are not there to rear them. Listen to me very carefully, if you desire to rear spiritual children, you have to make a decision in your life to be the main influence in your children's lives. Three of the most corrupting influences upon our children today are television, music, and friends. Do not be deceived folks; the devil wants the culture to rear our children. Do not underestimate the power of these influences. Many children will listen to their peers before they will listen to you, if you allow it to be that way. Again, you must make a decision to be the most important influence in the children's lives.
The Lord has blessed us with two wonderful daughters, Teresa and Jennifer, who have been trained by their parents to have a heart to serve God. They have been taught by their parents not to allow the influence of their peers to lead them into sin. Both daughters are preparing to serve the Lord on the mission field. At the time of this writing one has graduated from Bible College and married a godly young man. The other is in her second year of Bible College and will spend her summer on a foreign field because of her desire to see others come to know Christ as Savior. They are not interested in what the world has to offer. Why? Because they were taught and trained from the time they were small children that what God wants is more important than friends and peer influences.
My wife and I made a decision as young parents that my wife would stay home and become the most important influence in their lives (Titus 2:3-5). Their mother home schooled both of our daughters. They were not academic misfits. In fact, one of the girls scored in the top three percent in the country on the English portion of the ACT test. We heard all the talk about lack of socialization. Folks, those of you who know our daughters know they are not social morons. We made sure their socialization was godly. We made sure to guard their training and influences. Why did we do that? We know that the Bible tells us that Satan wants to destroy their lives.
1 Peter 5:8-9 -- "Be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."
As a Christian parent, you better understand these verses. I can hear someone say, "I bet their home was like a prison, they never had any fun." In fact, quite the contrary is true. Our children had a great time growing up. They learned to have the right kind of fun from their parents. Their mother taught them to enjoy proper music, not music that appeals to the flesh. She taught them to be godly young ladies as the Bible instructs in Titus 2. She taught them to dress as a godly young lady should. She taught them to cook, and we both taught them to be hard workers.
They were taught to do their best for God in whatever they did (1 Corinthians 10:31). My wife, Kim, was a huge godly influence in their lives because she committed herself to be there and to be the most important influence in their lives. Kim worked very hard and prayed much for their lives.
Parents today start out by allowing their children to make their own decisions. I have observed parents interacting with their children like this: The parent lays out the small child's clothes and the child says, "I do not want to wear that!" The parent says, "Honey, I am sorry I did not know you did not want to wear that. You do not have to wear that." The child and parent continue this dialogue throughout the child's life in almost every instance. Most parents do this today.
What happens is that the child grows up making his own choices, and when he gets to be eighteen he will not listen to a word you say because you have taught him from the time he was a little child not to listen to you. You have now opened his life up to be reared by his culture. His friends will be the most important influence in his life, fueled by television and music of the culture. He will become a spiritually undisciplined person who is lead by his emotions rather than by the Word of God. Unfortunately, most Christians fall into this category today and do not have a clue why their children have turned out the way they have. YOU MUST DETERMINE TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT INFLUENCE IN THEIR LIVES.
However, you have to be a spiritual person to see the truth in what I am talking about here. I can again hear someone say, "I bet his girls do not have any friends." On the contrary they both became spiritual leaders in Bible College and have like-minded friends who desire to live for God. You see folks; we trained them to have a spiritual disciplined life as a child and protected their influences for God as small children and teens so that as they matured they would be able to make godly choices. Why, because they saw their parents make godly, disciplined choices.
A fifteen-year old is not mature enough to make choices on a life's mate and does not need to be put in situations where he or she might be tempted to do so. Parents, do not be stupid.
We very seldom allowed our children to spend a night away from home unless we really knew the spiritual life of the family they were with. We certainly would not allow them to spend the night with the unsaved or carnal Christians, which included extended members of our family.
We also told our daughters as they were growing up that there was no reason for them to consider dating. They had plenty of time when they went to college to start considering young men. They were also instructed as to what they needed to be looking for in young men who could possibly be their life's mate. Teenagers are not mature enough to make decisions that are as serious as this. They also should not be put in relationships and situations that would encourage them to be involved in the lusts of the flesh at an age where they need to concentrate on their relationship with God not the opposite sex. Most parents make serious errors here and believe their children will lack in social skills if they are not allowed to date. In fact, what happens is the parents are allowing the culture to rear their children and heartbreak can come out of social peer pressure (Galatians 6:7).
We were not going to be bullied or begged to make stupid spiritual decisions in light of 1 Peter 5:8-9. Again, we are to live disciplined lives, not weak, emotional, feeling-lead lives. Our decisions are to be made based on the Word of God not on a whim of feelings.
We communicated to our children as they were growing up that Jesus wants to reproduce His character in their lives and the devil wants to reproduce his character in them. To a Christian who has a relationship with the Lord, living for Christ and walking with Him is more important than whether or not he is a good ballplayer. Folks, I know the influence that peers have on your lives in sports, as I was a former professional baseball pitcher. The Christian life is a disciplined spiritual life. If you do not understand this principle, you will fail in the task of rearing your children to love and serve the Lord. The culture will rear your child if you allow it to do so and bring heartbreak to you and your home.
So, why do I have to take this position on a disciplined Christian life?
Psalm 51:5 -- "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."
Psalm 58:3 -- "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."
A child is a sinner at birth. You never have to teach a child to do wrong. They will do so automatically. You have to teach them to do right. The will of the child must be dealt with while it is weak. The child must understand that he or she cannot live by their lusts alone.
Parents, discipline is a strong form of love that gives the child security. The child has to learn self-control.
Proverbs 13:24 -- "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chastenth him betimes."
The word here "betimes" means "early" in his life. Proper discipline of the child must start early. Babies have a will and they start to exercise it early. From the time they are babies we must let the children know they cannot have their own way. The Bible tells us to discipline early.
Proverbs 19:18 -- "Chasten thy son while there is hope and let not thy soul spare for his crying."
Did you notice the phrase "while there is still hope?" There will come a time for the spiritually ignorant or disobedient parent that there is no hope.
Proverbs 22:15 -- "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child: but the rod of correction shall drive it from him."
In these two verses there is a prominent word, "rod." My understanding is the Hebrew word for rod is a branch or a stick or a staff. It is like the rod of a shepherd. The rod was a symbol of authority in the hands of a ruler. Basically folks, this deals with spanking and using an object to spank. On this Biblical basis, I never used my hand to discipline our children. I used a paddle as a symbol of authority. Parents we are to discipline early and the Bible tells us to discipline consistently and correctly. Obviously, we do not spank for every infraction. Sometimes there is verbal correction.
Let me give you a very important rule: A child should never be told more than once. If you are not careful here the child will develop a pattern with you. How far can we go before the parent will get this done?
A child must understand that parental authority is God's authority. Someone says, "Pastor, are you saying I should spank my child?" They will think I do not love them."
Proverbs 3:12 -- "For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth: even as a father the son in whom he delighteth."
The proper correction shows you love your child.
Let me give you another pattern to look for. As soon as you say, "I am going to spank you," the child says, "I am sorry." The child is not really sorry; he is a con artist! You need to make sure he knows and understands what is expected of him.
Another important rule is never discipline a child for failure to understand. Again, here some children can be con artists in this area.
Something that is very important is that we should discipline for attitude. When a child says "No" to you or makes a face, etc., proper discipline is in order. In this battle of the wills you may have to spank more than once. Remember I said spank not hit, slap, yell, cuss, pull their hair, get them on the floor and beat them, chase them around the house with a belt, or scream at them. God has given us the perfect place to spank. It has no bones that will break and has been provided by the Lord for the "rod of correction."
Parents who yell and scream all the time are only building a rebel. The child will hear you yell and scream and ignore you, and when he grows up he will never listen to a thing you tell him. I have talked to many parents who have disciplined in this manner and they firmly believe they are a disciplinarian. "You know, Pastor, my kids got it when they back-talked me; I hit them right in the mouth. I yelled and they listened." Sure they did, right up until the day they got out of your house. Now they live the way they want which does not include living for God. You did not train them, you browbeat them! They longed to get away from you.
Listen carefully, proper discipline of the child requires not disciplining in anger. When our children disobeyed, we calmly went into the bedroom and talked with them about their disobedience and spanked them on the area God has provided. We always told our children that we were displeased with their behavior and God was displeased. We then told them we loved them and wanted them to grow up to have good character and to be obedient to the Lord. We also told them that Jesus loved them and wanted them to have good character. We always hugged them and made sure they knew we loved them and that the discipline was for their own good.
Quite frankly, we really never had to spank either child after the fourth grade. We broke their will early. I will talk about this matter of breaking the will further in the next message.
I have talked to many criminals in jail. I always ask them a question: “Did your parents spank you when you were growing up?" The answer is surprising in many instances, but it is something for us to think about. Almost always, they will answer, “Dad or mom (they usually do not call them that) beat me when I needed it," or something similar. They always seem to have a smile on their face when they talk about it. Then I ask, "How did they spank you?" I get something like, "He chased me with the belt or he got me down and whomped me," etc. They never talk about a Biblical, godly form of discipline. Most people do not understand what proper discipline is.
Parents, I can hear someone say, "I will never spank my child!" Then you may be affecting that child's salvation.
Proverbs 23:13-14 -- "Withold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell."
Parents, this is a will matter. Remember, I said parental authority is God's authority. If a child will not submit to his parents, he will never submit to God. When we did spank our children, we did not allow them to scream, yell, or excessively cry. If they did, we spanked them until their wills were submissive. This may take several times. Many people in our culture now say spanking is child abuse. I agree there are people out there who do abuse their children. The lie of the devil and the greatest form of child abuse that has ever been put upon a society is putting children on drugs for their behavior. Many public school children are now on drugs for what has been called Attention Deficit Disorder.
I would agree that there is a great Attention Deficit Disorder in our society and it is on the part of the parents, not the children. Many of the children in our society are being put on drugs because the parents are not home and when they are home, they are too tired to give the child any attention. The child is banished to the back of the house, put in front of a television, or a video game. When discipline is brought forth it is in the form of yelling, screaming, hitting etc. The parent does not have the time or the energy to do any real parenting as God has commanded. Therefore, we put drugs in our children because we do not have time to deal with them. This is one of the great sins of our society and many Christians have bought into it.
The sadness is we have multitudes of children who will grow up never learning to obey as God has intended them to and they will always have an excuse for their poor behavior. The culture has given them a reason to be a rebel and to be disobedient. Their parents are off the hook because they have a child with a problem. Do I believe there are children with real mental problems out there? Yes there are but the percentage is very few. What we are experiencing now is a society that is extremely undisciplined and is dependent upon drugs for behavior rather than the Word of God.
Parent's let me finish this message with this important thought. I believe proper discipline of the child is important. I really do not believe it is as important as the first section we looked at. Your relationship to God and developing Junior's relationship to God is your most important task in rearing spiritual children. Listen carefully, if you have a spiritual relationship with God you will understand the importance of proper discipline and will seek God's will in the matter.
Folks, I can tell a lot about a person's relationship with God by the godly discipline in their life or the lack of spiritual discipline in their life. I can tell a lot about the spirituality of a church by looking at the Pastor's children and family. As a Pastor it is my responsibility before God to have a godly family, or I cannot teach anyone else what God's word says on the matter. It is my responsibility to develop in my wife and children a passion for the Lord. My testimony before God is important in this matter. This is an area where we cannot fool anyone. The Bible makes it plain it will come back to get us if we are not obedient to God in this matter. Something I have learned is this takes hard work. We cannot be lazy and slothful in this matter of spiritual training, which I believe is the most important matter we have outside of our salvation and our children's salvation.
________________
This article is by Dr. Terry Coomer. God has given Brother Coomer some special wisdom about the building a godly Christian life and family. He is the Pastor of Elwood Bible Baptist Church and the Director of For the Love of the Family Ministries. He holds Family Conferences in local churches. He may be contacted at For Love of the Family Ministries, P.O. Box 535, Elwood, IN 46036, 765-552-1973, tlcoomer@juno.com.
Discipline - Be Clear, Be Firm, Be Consistent
by: Helen Williams
Children learn best by being given clear, firm and consistent direction from parents who are clear, firm and consistent in their approach.
How to Discipline Children by Being Clear:
Firstly find and maintain clarity within yourself and then follow through on simple, clear instructions. Clarify for your self what being clear means.
It is about being plain, obvious, and understandable in a clear, short sentence that explains exactly what you mean.
It isn't about maybe this or maybe that.
Often parents have no idea that they chop and change their minds within minutes. To become clear about your own patterns of behavior, observe yourself and ask for your partner's help in this.
"We are going to tidy up your toys in five minutes", is clear and direct. Follow this with,
"Please help me tidy up your toys now" and it means just that.
Be firm with yourself about this. It doesn't mean soon, or later, but now.
I have seen parents give out this simple instruction, then become distracted themselves by a television program, conversation or magazine. What their children observe is parents saying one thing and doing another and this gives a much distorted message. Multiplied over many times each day, is it any wonder that children cease to follow simple instructions?
How to Discipline Children by Being Firm:
Firstly find and maintain firmness for yourself and then follow through with firm clear directions in a firm, clear tone.
Clarify for your self what being firm means.
To be firm is to be certain, definite, and determined. It is also being loving, kind and calm.
It means saying no and meaning no, or saying yes and meaning yes and sticking to it. It's about now being now. How often does your no become perhaps, later, maybe giving in, next time, soon, or alright then? This is a very common fault in how to discipline children and again it leads to numerous mixed messages for children.
Resolve within yourself and with your partner's help to ascertain how often you are both easily swayed into changing your decisions. Are you allowing your children to manipulate you? Imagine how simple your life will become when you are clear and firm within yourself.
It is every child's right to KNOW they can trust their parent's boundaries. So firstly, become firm with your own boundaries and then apply this to your parenting discipline.
"It is bedtime, (bath time, meal time) in five minutes" is a clear direction. Now follow through on this.
Giving the direction in a calm, clear, firm tone of voice helps your children to understand that you mean what you say. Being firm is about being in control of both yourself and the situation.
How to Discipline Children by Being Consistent:
Firstly find and maintain consistency for yourself and then follow through with a firm, clear, consistent approach.
Clarify for yourself what being consistent means.
To be consistent is to be reliable, dependable and constant.
These words immediately convey comfort don't they?
Let's look at the opposite of being consistent. Contradictory, unpredictable, changeable. That's definitely lacking in comfort and safety.
So how do you want to be seen by your children?
To begin with it can seem quite time consuming to concentrate on clear, firm, consistent guidelines. Be aware that this is very true. It takes concentrated effort and time to change old habits to new ones, but if you maintain consistency, you will be very surprised how quickly new patterns of behavior are formed.
Parenting Discipline In Summary: With parenting discipline we are teaching our children how to have self control, self discipline and to become self reliant, so they are able to make good choices for themselves.
The only way children can learn to do this is by being given the opportunities for this learning.
This means not over protecting them, or doing everything for them, but maximizing their opportunities to learn through personal experience and observation, even when this means making mistakes.
Can you see the opportunities here to change some of your own patterns of behavior into superior ones?
Clear, firm, consistent parenting is quality parenting. You learn to trust your own responses and your children are surrounded by your loving constancy.
This is the recipe for creating a happy, well adjusted family.
Read More ..
Children learn best by being given clear, firm and consistent direction from parents who are clear, firm and consistent in their approach.
How to Discipline Children by Being Clear:
Firstly find and maintain clarity within yourself and then follow through on simple, clear instructions. Clarify for your self what being clear means.
It is about being plain, obvious, and understandable in a clear, short sentence that explains exactly what you mean.
It isn't about maybe this or maybe that.
Often parents have no idea that they chop and change their minds within minutes. To become clear about your own patterns of behavior, observe yourself and ask for your partner's help in this.
"We are going to tidy up your toys in five minutes", is clear and direct. Follow this with,
"Please help me tidy up your toys now" and it means just that.
Be firm with yourself about this. It doesn't mean soon, or later, but now.
I have seen parents give out this simple instruction, then become distracted themselves by a television program, conversation or magazine. What their children observe is parents saying one thing and doing another and this gives a much distorted message. Multiplied over many times each day, is it any wonder that children cease to follow simple instructions?
How to Discipline Children by Being Firm:
Firstly find and maintain firmness for yourself and then follow through with firm clear directions in a firm, clear tone.
Clarify for your self what being firm means.
To be firm is to be certain, definite, and determined. It is also being loving, kind and calm.
It means saying no and meaning no, or saying yes and meaning yes and sticking to it. It's about now being now. How often does your no become perhaps, later, maybe giving in, next time, soon, or alright then? This is a very common fault in how to discipline children and again it leads to numerous mixed messages for children.
Resolve within yourself and with your partner's help to ascertain how often you are both easily swayed into changing your decisions. Are you allowing your children to manipulate you? Imagine how simple your life will become when you are clear and firm within yourself.
It is every child's right to KNOW they can trust their parent's boundaries. So firstly, become firm with your own boundaries and then apply this to your parenting discipline.
"It is bedtime, (bath time, meal time) in five minutes" is a clear direction. Now follow through on this.
Giving the direction in a calm, clear, firm tone of voice helps your children to understand that you mean what you say. Being firm is about being in control of both yourself and the situation.
How to Discipline Children by Being Consistent:
Firstly find and maintain consistency for yourself and then follow through with a firm, clear, consistent approach.
Clarify for yourself what being consistent means.
To be consistent is to be reliable, dependable and constant.
These words immediately convey comfort don't they?
Let's look at the opposite of being consistent. Contradictory, unpredictable, changeable. That's definitely lacking in comfort and safety.
So how do you want to be seen by your children?
To begin with it can seem quite time consuming to concentrate on clear, firm, consistent guidelines. Be aware that this is very true. It takes concentrated effort and time to change old habits to new ones, but if you maintain consistency, you will be very surprised how quickly new patterns of behavior are formed.
Parenting Discipline In Summary: With parenting discipline we are teaching our children how to have self control, self discipline and to become self reliant, so they are able to make good choices for themselves.
The only way children can learn to do this is by being given the opportunities for this learning.
This means not over protecting them, or doing everything for them, but maximizing their opportunities to learn through personal experience and observation, even when this means making mistakes.
Can you see the opportunities here to change some of your own patterns of behavior into superior ones?
Clear, firm, consistent parenting is quality parenting. You learn to trust your own responses and your children are surrounded by your loving constancy.
This is the recipe for creating a happy, well adjusted family.
PURPOSE OF EDUCATION
Encyclopedia Britannica of 1952 says the purpose of education is to raise up children to follow in their parents traditions with good success.
Parents in all societies want their children to have the same values as themselves.
What happens when people with different beliefs teach the children?
If the king of England could control the teaching in Russia, wouldn't he try to have subtle teachings to change the children?
The Russians clearly stated they wanted to change the way children in America were taught, even before World War II.
Clearly, each power wants to teach children according to their ways of thinking.
The great question is who will be in control of teaching children, the parents or the central government ?
Notice in all changes of power, the new conqueror tends to purge (murder or imprison) the previous leading thinkers of the conquered society.
Consider the man who saw his child grow up to have totally different values than his own. It alienates members of the family.
By 1998 The World Book encyclopedia said some of the main purpose of schools today was to replace what parents were no longer doing for their children, to give them guidance and values. The new system of federal government schools did not begin until 1948 when the foolish Supreme Court removed Bible classes from school campus. Centralized control of our schools was further strengthened when LBJ established the U.S. Dept. of Education. Remember, from 1620 till 1960, there was no provision for centralized control over schools. The federal government was not originally intended to teach our children.
If the king of England could have controlled what schools taught, the Magna Charter would never have been gained by the people of England.
Instead, the king would have taught all the children to be totally submissive to the king and all his wishes.
Early American settlers well knew the importance of training up their children, and the effects of outside influences contrary to their own beliefs.
That's why they left England for Holland, and Holland for America.
TRADITIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF A GOOD SCHOOL
Whatever the ways of living are, each society wants its children to fit into the society of the parents. The children are expected to carry on the values and ideas of their parents.
Schools are expected to give children the tools they need to earn a living.
That has been the traditional understanding of a good education.
The American Indians wanted their children to learn to hunt and ride a horse and worship the great spirit. They failed in their raising of children according to their culture and their culture is evaporated away. The Moslems want their children to believe like they do, so they teach them their way. The atheists want their children to believe like they do, so they teach them their way; not only their own children, but they try to teach everyone else's children too!
Atheists are effectually doing a more active job of evangelism to their way of thinking than are the Christians.
Consider the schools and what is taught and what is omitted.
Scripture says, It is an abomination for the righteous to fall down before those who do not believe, but that is what has happened in the public schools of this land. Proverbs 25:26
Prov 29:2 ...when the unbelievers rule the schools, the people mourn for the fruit in their off-spring
HUMANISM is just another word for atheism. It began in the garden of Eden when the serpent deceived Eve into ignoring God and believing that her own knowledge of good and evil would make her like her own god.
The humanists have a written agenda, nationally published, for many years, to destroy the traditional Christian faith from children in school. They claim to be winning the battle in the classrooms. The humanists have gained so much control over what is being taught and how it is being taught that the children are being won over to their philosophies at a greater and greater rate. That rate is rapidly accelerating.
The people in political and economic power who are willing to invest their time and efforts and resources to raising up a generation of children to fit their own society are mostly the humanists. Look at how the local Lutheran school had to close its doors because of lack of support. Look at how the children of Christian parents don't know even the Ten Commandments, but they do know many tenets of Humanism as a way of belief. Then ask who is working harder to mold the minds of children?
Remember the purpose of education is to train up children in the way that you want them to be. Training is a process over time. What training is your child getting five days a week that fit with the way God has commanded all who believe in Him to raise up their children?
I'll name a few omissions:
The child is not being taught to keep God in all his thoughts, but what makes him happy..
The child is not being taught to base his decisions on the word of God, but on how he feels.
The child is not being taught right and wrong so much as he is being taught to choose what he likes.
The child is not being taught that his parents respect the commandments of God enough to have them posted in the child's school, but he is being taught that Sunday is a time for going to church and the rest of the week is for doing what makes you feel good about yourself.
He is not being taught to make any comparisons or references to the Bible for his essays in school.
He is being taught to depend entirely upon the world, himself, and the like for all his choices.
He is being taught that even though the Bible says one thing, his parents and most other parents, and even the preachers are content to let the schools do something else with their children.
How can the child take scripture seriously when the libraries paid for by his parents are filled with Goosebump books of horror, occult books, humanism books, and philosophies of men take priority over the Bible?
The child is being trained to think for himself, without reference to God, in all he does at school.
I desire that the children be trained to look to God for wisdom in understanding all things.
I believe early Christians understood that. May we return to our first love.
I want a school for my kids, that teaches them the way I believe. That's exactly the same definition that the atheists give. They too want a school for their kids that teaches them the way they believe.
How do you want your child trained five days a week? To consider God and the truth of God, or to ignore the TRUTH except on Sunday? Do not think that one day a week for one hour on that day can make up for ignoring the truth on the other six days.
Reading, writing, arithmetic, and history are the tools we give our children to carry on the values we have established for them.
Please notice that I did say, the values we have established for them! Some background scripture refers to the blind leading the blind with inference that it is not good. And another says, a child left to his own devices will come to no good. So I say, it is good for the parents to teach the children and not leave the children to derive their own values. My child has some liberty to choose his own desire in some things, but not in the foundational truths which are recorded in holy scripture. My child is not free to decide for himself whether or not he wants to obey me. He will learn to obey me or he will be punished. That is how I teach him to obey me. Punishment has a broad latitude for being light or severe, depending on the disobedience. My point is, the child learns the basics from me. The father and mother are the root of what the child learns.
A good school system for Christian parents is one that does nothing contrary to the Christian values of those parents. In 1997 it is evident that too often schools are giving the children ideas that are contrary to traditional Christian values. Such brain washing begins as early as Kindergarten.
Where the school has gone astray from traditional values, the school must be returned to the values of the parents, or else the parents and the children will suffer the consequences.
Early American schools taught values of the parents in the local neighborhood. In 1997 we have schools teaching the values of ivory tower psychologists thousands of miles away. Many Christian parents have pulled their children out of public schools for these reasons of incompatibility. How can two walk together unless they be agreed. The schools are not acting in agreement with the values of Christian parents.
Wake up to the impact that five days a week presentations of information void of God has on your children. Five days a week of godless references to humanistic ideas that are contrary to the Truth.
WHAT PARENTS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EDUCATION SYSTEMS
1. "Education" is a work that molds a child. They are being molded to rely on 'higher critical thinking' instead of any hope in God. The help of His Spirit is being ignored consistently five days a week in the school training given to your children. His divine Providence as referred to in the Declaration of Independence is omitted. Your children are being conditioned to trust in the world system. Can you ignore this?
2. The goal of education is usually to produce results that are friendly to those doing the teaching. A system that denies God is shaping the teaching of your child. Guess what the goals of that system are!
3. The first essential for successful education is that the whole community have a true understanding of the nature and goal of education.
4. Plato said the aim of education is "to develop in body and soul all the beauty and perfection of which they are capable.
Individual beauty and perfection are shown in living in your circumstances of time, place, culture, religion, national or community aspirations, and MASTERY OVER MATERIAL CONDITIONS. Or as the Bible puts it, Faith without works is dead. Let ours who have believed also learn to maintain good works that they be not unfruitful.
The beliefs and outlooks of a community will affect the character of the education it gives to its children. Our children are learning by example that the Bible and what it says is very insignificant, only to be mentioned sometimes on Sunday or carried to Sunday school for extra credits.
Spencer said, that if we give children the knowledge which is "of most worth" ---that is the knowledge which has indispensable practical value in regulating the affairs of life--- we shall at the same time be giving them the best possible mental training; for it is incredible that the pursuit of the best kind of knowledge should not also afford the best mental discipline
Read More ..
Parents in all societies want their children to have the same values as themselves.
What happens when people with different beliefs teach the children?
If the king of England could control the teaching in Russia, wouldn't he try to have subtle teachings to change the children?
The Russians clearly stated they wanted to change the way children in America were taught, even before World War II.
Clearly, each power wants to teach children according to their ways of thinking.
The great question is who will be in control of teaching children, the parents or the central government ?
Notice in all changes of power, the new conqueror tends to purge (murder or imprison) the previous leading thinkers of the conquered society.
Consider the man who saw his child grow up to have totally different values than his own. It alienates members of the family.
By 1998 The World Book encyclopedia said some of the main purpose of schools today was to replace what parents were no longer doing for their children, to give them guidance and values. The new system of federal government schools did not begin until 1948 when the foolish Supreme Court removed Bible classes from school campus. Centralized control of our schools was further strengthened when LBJ established the U.S. Dept. of Education. Remember, from 1620 till 1960, there was no provision for centralized control over schools. The federal government was not originally intended to teach our children.
If the king of England could have controlled what schools taught, the Magna Charter would never have been gained by the people of England.
Instead, the king would have taught all the children to be totally submissive to the king and all his wishes.
Early American settlers well knew the importance of training up their children, and the effects of outside influences contrary to their own beliefs.
That's why they left England for Holland, and Holland for America.
TRADITIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF A GOOD SCHOOL
Whatever the ways of living are, each society wants its children to fit into the society of the parents. The children are expected to carry on the values and ideas of their parents.
Schools are expected to give children the tools they need to earn a living.
That has been the traditional understanding of a good education.
The American Indians wanted their children to learn to hunt and ride a horse and worship the great spirit. They failed in their raising of children according to their culture and their culture is evaporated away. The Moslems want their children to believe like they do, so they teach them their way. The atheists want their children to believe like they do, so they teach them their way; not only their own children, but they try to teach everyone else's children too!
Atheists are effectually doing a more active job of evangelism to their way of thinking than are the Christians.
Consider the schools and what is taught and what is omitted.
Scripture says, It is an abomination for the righteous to fall down before those who do not believe, but that is what has happened in the public schools of this land. Proverbs 25:26
Prov 29:2 ...when the unbelievers rule the schools, the people mourn for the fruit in their off-spring
HUMANISM is just another word for atheism. It began in the garden of Eden when the serpent deceived Eve into ignoring God and believing that her own knowledge of good and evil would make her like her own god.
The humanists have a written agenda, nationally published, for many years, to destroy the traditional Christian faith from children in school. They claim to be winning the battle in the classrooms. The humanists have gained so much control over what is being taught and how it is being taught that the children are being won over to their philosophies at a greater and greater rate. That rate is rapidly accelerating.
The people in political and economic power who are willing to invest their time and efforts and resources to raising up a generation of children to fit their own society are mostly the humanists. Look at how the local Lutheran school had to close its doors because of lack of support. Look at how the children of Christian parents don't know even the Ten Commandments, but they do know many tenets of Humanism as a way of belief. Then ask who is working harder to mold the minds of children?
Remember the purpose of education is to train up children in the way that you want them to be. Training is a process over time. What training is your child getting five days a week that fit with the way God has commanded all who believe in Him to raise up their children?
I'll name a few omissions:
The child is not being taught to keep God in all his thoughts, but what makes him happy..
The child is not being taught to base his decisions on the word of God, but on how he feels.
The child is not being taught right and wrong so much as he is being taught to choose what he likes.
The child is not being taught that his parents respect the commandments of God enough to have them posted in the child's school, but he is being taught that Sunday is a time for going to church and the rest of the week is for doing what makes you feel good about yourself.
He is not being taught to make any comparisons or references to the Bible for his essays in school.
He is being taught to depend entirely upon the world, himself, and the like for all his choices.
He is being taught that even though the Bible says one thing, his parents and most other parents, and even the preachers are content to let the schools do something else with their children.
How can the child take scripture seriously when the libraries paid for by his parents are filled with Goosebump books of horror, occult books, humanism books, and philosophies of men take priority over the Bible?
The child is being trained to think for himself, without reference to God, in all he does at school.
I desire that the children be trained to look to God for wisdom in understanding all things.
I believe early Christians understood that. May we return to our first love.
I want a school for my kids, that teaches them the way I believe. That's exactly the same definition that the atheists give. They too want a school for their kids that teaches them the way they believe.
How do you want your child trained five days a week? To consider God and the truth of God, or to ignore the TRUTH except on Sunday? Do not think that one day a week for one hour on that day can make up for ignoring the truth on the other six days.
Reading, writing, arithmetic, and history are the tools we give our children to carry on the values we have established for them.
Please notice that I did say, the values we have established for them! Some background scripture refers to the blind leading the blind with inference that it is not good. And another says, a child left to his own devices will come to no good. So I say, it is good for the parents to teach the children and not leave the children to derive their own values. My child has some liberty to choose his own desire in some things, but not in the foundational truths which are recorded in holy scripture. My child is not free to decide for himself whether or not he wants to obey me. He will learn to obey me or he will be punished. That is how I teach him to obey me. Punishment has a broad latitude for being light or severe, depending on the disobedience. My point is, the child learns the basics from me. The father and mother are the root of what the child learns.
A good school system for Christian parents is one that does nothing contrary to the Christian values of those parents. In 1997 it is evident that too often schools are giving the children ideas that are contrary to traditional Christian values. Such brain washing begins as early as Kindergarten.
Where the school has gone astray from traditional values, the school must be returned to the values of the parents, or else the parents and the children will suffer the consequences.
Early American schools taught values of the parents in the local neighborhood. In 1997 we have schools teaching the values of ivory tower psychologists thousands of miles away. Many Christian parents have pulled their children out of public schools for these reasons of incompatibility. How can two walk together unless they be agreed. The schools are not acting in agreement with the values of Christian parents.
Wake up to the impact that five days a week presentations of information void of God has on your children. Five days a week of godless references to humanistic ideas that are contrary to the Truth.
WHAT PARENTS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EDUCATION SYSTEMS
1. "Education" is a work that molds a child. They are being molded to rely on 'higher critical thinking' instead of any hope in God. The help of His Spirit is being ignored consistently five days a week in the school training given to your children. His divine Providence as referred to in the Declaration of Independence is omitted. Your children are being conditioned to trust in the world system. Can you ignore this?
2. The goal of education is usually to produce results that are friendly to those doing the teaching. A system that denies God is shaping the teaching of your child. Guess what the goals of that system are!
3. The first essential for successful education is that the whole community have a true understanding of the nature and goal of education.
4. Plato said the aim of education is "to develop in body and soul all the beauty and perfection of which they are capable.
Individual beauty and perfection are shown in living in your circumstances of time, place, culture, religion, national or community aspirations, and MASTERY OVER MATERIAL CONDITIONS. Or as the Bible puts it, Faith without works is dead. Let ours who have believed also learn to maintain good works that they be not unfruitful.
The beliefs and outlooks of a community will affect the character of the education it gives to its children. Our children are learning by example that the Bible and what it says is very insignificant, only to be mentioned sometimes on Sunday or carried to Sunday school for extra credits.
Spencer said, that if we give children the knowledge which is "of most worth" ---that is the knowledge which has indispensable practical value in regulating the affairs of life--- we shall at the same time be giving them the best possible mental training; for it is incredible that the pursuit of the best kind of knowledge should not also afford the best mental discipline
WORST ENEMY OF CHRISTIAN CHILDREN Is not dope or pornography
The worst enemy of Christian parents is the one that is fighting against the faith of their children and they don't even know how it is happening. It is happening through the schools and the mass media. It's not the schools, they're just government entities. It's what's being taught through and in the schools by experience every day. The lack of Christian parent awareness makes it easy for the enemy of our soul to bite children in public places. Places such as McDonnalds put demonic eyed dragons to look at children while they eat breakfast, lunch, and supper. This conditions children to acceptance of evil eyed looks and even associates it with good feelings of food and family togetherness. And which pastor spoke up against this to warn his flock? From pre-school through graduation, children are bombarded with pictures of ape-men teaching against God's creation. Compromise is taught as the great democratic value for Americans to hold instead of faith toward God and standing for His truth. We are not fighting a battle for worldly things, but we are fighting a battle for the eternal soul of our children and the rise or continued decline of America.
Who will teach your children's children? Will you give the training of your children over to a teacher who reads MURDER IN THE DOLLHOUSE to third graders instead of something that gives life? You, dear parent, are responsible for what you allow to be fed to your child's mind and heart. A single seed planted can become a rotten harvest a few years later. Guard the garden of your child's heart and mind. Guard it well for God has promoted you, the father and mother, to protect and nurture your child. You are responsible for whom you give authority to train your child.
Children of Christian parents know how to reject the enticements of dope and vice. But children don't know enough to reject ideas taught to them in public school when those ideas sound good on the surface but are founded on ideas contrary to Christian faith.
You, dear parent, give your authority to the school to train up your child. That child knows the school has been approved by most parents. Therefore what ever the school says is the way things are. The school takes on an authority bigger than the parent to some children. And when school feeds ideas contrary to parent's values, that family is in for conflicts.
The worst enemy of Christian children is not dope or pornography. Christian parents have taught their children to reject those things which are obvious. Their worst enemy is attacking them with subtle poisons of humanism. Like the serpent in the garden telling Eve she didn't need God because she could do it herself.
Subtle deceptions are even sneakier today. Library books, short one day courses, assignments outside of the text book, special projects and many more ways are used to teach things other than reading writing and arithmetic. Massive support is given by colorful posters on school hallways and classroom walls to many values contrary to godliness. Teachings that are not listed in the curriculum guides, but teachings that are increasingly happening in schools because of the increasing disregard for Truth.
The school is being used to feed poisonous ideas contrary to Christianity. The Bible was not just taken out of school, it was replaced with another religion called Humanism. Why don't more parents know this?
School is being used to condition them to shallow thinking instead of deep thinking.
School is teaching the answers instead of leading them to understand.
School is being used to train them that all kinds of evil can be acceptable.
Schools are teaching philosophies of men and ignoring the scripture of life. and teaches them that evil is good.that which they can't see as attacking them. Their worst enemy is the one who feeds them daily with a meal of information authorized by their own parents but the cook has put some arsenic in the meal. And the parents don't know it, and the children think its great stuff. Public schools are now training up children in the religion of humanism. Approved by the silence of parents and pastors alike, the school system is winning the battle for the minds of children being indoctrinated with philosophies of men contrary to God's word.
If any man sees a sin and bewrays it not, he is partaker thereof. All those people who have kept their silence must repent. All those who see the evil and will not tell others for fear of their job or their pension must now tell it like it is. It is a sin not to warn Christian parents how children are being fed contrary values through public schools.
Christian training of children is part of the purpose of this site. Understanding for parents and pastors can be found here. This site also opens many doors to similar places around the country.
Atheists are laughing at Christian parents behind a mask of humanism, as the atheists train up children the way they want them in public schools. Christianity has not just been taken out of school, but it was also replaced with the values called Humanism. Differences between humanist values and Christian training of children are listed here.
Parents and pastors must study to know the problem, to recognize the serpent that is biting their children. John 3:14.Then steps can be taken to remove the poison and heal the children. There is help in Christ for those who will know the truth. Otherwise, the children will continue getting stronger doses of philosophies of men contrary to Godly teaching, that can cost their eternal soul.
Scripture says God's own people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge, and the war colleges agree by teaching that your worst enemy is the one you don't recognize, the one who fakes you out.
Dopers and gangs are not the worst enemy of your children because children can see them coming. The worst enemy of children today is in the public school where lifestyles contrary to Christianity are trained into the children. Parents give their authority to schools when they send children to school. So the children accept everything taught to them at school as from an authority even higher than their own parents! There is a clear contrast between Humanist values trained in our schools and the values of Christian parents, but few pastors have taught the people about those differences. Even fewer parents know enough to recognize those differences. Yet those differences are the downfall of America, and the increase of crime. Special short courses taught by visiting people, unlisted on the curriculum guide, have been terribly offensive to Christian values.
When parents send children to school, a transfer and approval of authority happens. Christian parents don't realize that atheists are laughing behind a mask of humanistic teaching. Atheists, also called humanists, say the battle for hearts of children is being won in the public school classroom over the rotting corpse of Christianity.
Read More ..
Who will teach your children's children? Will you give the training of your children over to a teacher who reads MURDER IN THE DOLLHOUSE to third graders instead of something that gives life? You, dear parent, are responsible for what you allow to be fed to your child's mind and heart. A single seed planted can become a rotten harvest a few years later. Guard the garden of your child's heart and mind. Guard it well for God has promoted you, the father and mother, to protect and nurture your child. You are responsible for whom you give authority to train your child.
Children of Christian parents know how to reject the enticements of dope and vice. But children don't know enough to reject ideas taught to them in public school when those ideas sound good on the surface but are founded on ideas contrary to Christian faith.
You, dear parent, give your authority to the school to train up your child. That child knows the school has been approved by most parents. Therefore what ever the school says is the way things are. The school takes on an authority bigger than the parent to some children. And when school feeds ideas contrary to parent's values, that family is in for conflicts.
The worst enemy of Christian children is not dope or pornography. Christian parents have taught their children to reject those things which are obvious. Their worst enemy is attacking them with subtle poisons of humanism. Like the serpent in the garden telling Eve she didn't need God because she could do it herself.
Subtle deceptions are even sneakier today. Library books, short one day courses, assignments outside of the text book, special projects and many more ways are used to teach things other than reading writing and arithmetic. Massive support is given by colorful posters on school hallways and classroom walls to many values contrary to godliness. Teachings that are not listed in the curriculum guides, but teachings that are increasingly happening in schools because of the increasing disregard for Truth.
The school is being used to feed poisonous ideas contrary to Christianity. The Bible was not just taken out of school, it was replaced with another religion called Humanism. Why don't more parents know this?
School is being used to condition them to shallow thinking instead of deep thinking.
School is teaching the answers instead of leading them to understand.
School is being used to train them that all kinds of evil can be acceptable.
Schools are teaching philosophies of men and ignoring the scripture of life. and teaches them that evil is good.that which they can't see as attacking them. Their worst enemy is the one who feeds them daily with a meal of information authorized by their own parents but the cook has put some arsenic in the meal. And the parents don't know it, and the children think its great stuff. Public schools are now training up children in the religion of humanism. Approved by the silence of parents and pastors alike, the school system is winning the battle for the minds of children being indoctrinated with philosophies of men contrary to God's word.
If any man sees a sin and bewrays it not, he is partaker thereof. All those people who have kept their silence must repent. All those who see the evil and will not tell others for fear of their job or their pension must now tell it like it is. It is a sin not to warn Christian parents how children are being fed contrary values through public schools.
Christian training of children is part of the purpose of this site. Understanding for parents and pastors can be found here. This site also opens many doors to similar places around the country.
Atheists are laughing at Christian parents behind a mask of humanism, as the atheists train up children the way they want them in public schools. Christianity has not just been taken out of school, but it was also replaced with the values called Humanism. Differences between humanist values and Christian training of children are listed here.
Parents and pastors must study to know the problem, to recognize the serpent that is biting their children. John 3:14.Then steps can be taken to remove the poison and heal the children. There is help in Christ for those who will know the truth. Otherwise, the children will continue getting stronger doses of philosophies of men contrary to Godly teaching, that can cost their eternal soul.
Scripture says God's own people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge, and the war colleges agree by teaching that your worst enemy is the one you don't recognize, the one who fakes you out.
Dopers and gangs are not the worst enemy of your children because children can see them coming. The worst enemy of children today is in the public school where lifestyles contrary to Christianity are trained into the children. Parents give their authority to schools when they send children to school. So the children accept everything taught to them at school as from an authority even higher than their own parents! There is a clear contrast between Humanist values trained in our schools and the values of Christian parents, but few pastors have taught the people about those differences. Even fewer parents know enough to recognize those differences. Yet those differences are the downfall of America, and the increase of crime. Special short courses taught by visiting people, unlisted on the curriculum guide, have been terribly offensive to Christian values.
When parents send children to school, a transfer and approval of authority happens. Christian parents don't realize that atheists are laughing behind a mask of humanistic teaching. Atheists, also called humanists, say the battle for hearts of children is being won in the public school classroom over the rotting corpse of Christianity.
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