CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

For the Christian family Christian education is not an option. Nor does Christian education take place in a certain place or at a specific time. The Christian, child or adult, must see that in every area of life we are practicing disciples, building upon the Word of God our moral character. Home Schooling, Christian Schools, and even state schools, are in process of teaching one of two world views; either the Biblical Worldview or the Atheistic Worldview. We are either obedient to God or obedient to man. We cannot have two masters; we will love the one or love the other.
Education bears either Christian character or humanistic characteristics. Though the humanist may develop some moral characteristics in their teaching corresponding to the moral teaching of the Bible, they do so as they have no moral foundation of their own to build upon. Like in the movie, the “Borrowers” must borrow from the “Big” people in order to have some substance to their teachings and, therefore, to their lives. Except in the movie the Borrowers had a measure of moral character in their recognition of who they were. The humanists write books and then use the books as their foundation of what truth is. The Christian, hopefully, endeavor to put self behind and rely upon the objective truth of the Word of God.
The Christian, whether they are teaching good manners at the table, or respect for elders, or loving obedience in the home, or prayer, or math, or reading of stories, learning grammar, etc., do so upon the teaching of Scripture. It is the Word of God which nourishes the soul and develops a true Christian character and spirit in each of us.
Take for example the giving and teaching of the Ten Commandments. Moses, moved by the Spirit, speaks of the moral fiber of the Commandments in the life of God’s people: “Hear, O Israel; the Lord thy God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deut. 6:4-9).
Among others, there are two strong admonitions from this Word. First there is the truth that the Lord God Almighty is our Lord, and by implication, that our hearts are being made ready for instruction because of our love for God. The second truth is that the foundation of the teaching of the Word is to be found in the home. These passages, I believe, also teach that Christian teaching effect all areas of our lives, especially strengthening the home, and therefore the greater family, the Church, of which Christ is King and Head. Every teaching of Scripture is practical, affecting the whole person, in every relationship. Dr. Chuck Baynard, in his book, When the Mountain Thundered, introducing his teaching of the Ten Commandments, reminding us of its practical applications: “I believe we can then see that it is the utmost importance for us to understand and apply as a very minimum this summary of the Moral Law as a most consistent basis in our daily lives. Once more, what man is ignorant of, he also is indifferent towards. There have been many commentaries written and sermons preached on the Ten Commandments. I will attempt here not to plow another’s field so to speak, but Lord willing bring to us how this works out in the practical application to life of these ten rules of life. It was and is my desire that wherever possible show how these ten core rules as disclosed by the Westminster Divines apply to the classic points of Calvinism. If the Calvinist is right, then his precepts must latterly roll from the pages of God’s Word, even in this summary we find in the Moral Law.”
Christian Education does not begin in the home; it is part and parcel of the home. Whether we teach objectively, subjectively, or place our children under another teacher, we must know and understand that we are responsible for what is being taught. The teaching of lies is not a part of our agenda as Christian families under the tutelage of the Spirit and his wonderful Word, written. For the “scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man” (S.C. 3), in ALL areas of life.
Grandpa
Robert L. La May
http://www.disciple107.com/
http://www.lulu.com/observer/ for books of helpful teaching in Christ

TAKE BACK OUR CHILDREN

There is a voice that shouts, “Mr. Christian, tear down that wall!” What wall is that? It is the pseudo wall that the humanist has built, which bears the words, “separation of church and state.” It is not the wall that our Constitution has built, which states clearly that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (Am. I). It is the world view of the humanist which has built the wall that claims their venue of operation, their instrument of authority whereby the Christian is placed on one side and the State on the other. They have claimed the State as their world, and thus under their jurisdiction. It works like this: Education is the responsibility of the State, which is secular in nature, and thus belongs to them and not to us on the other side of the wall.
This is the wall we must tear down. We have a constitutional right to tear it down. The Declaration of Independence speaks clearly: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deserving their just Powers from the consent of the Governed, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to altar or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
A wall has been built where no wall had existed in our constituted Republic. Amendment One cautions the Congress to limit their authority, not to make Christians into second-class citizen; they are not to exercise laws to prohibit its exercise. The atheist has developed a pseudo law of separation of church and state, placing, among other things, the education systems, from kindergarten to graduate, on their side of the wall (the State); ipso facto, the education of our children belong to the State, their side, and the Christian parents have little or nothing to say about curriculum, etc. Thus they can define evolution as true science, and Creation as a religious practice to remain in the pew. Celebrating Darwinism the evolutionist is becoming more and more active in claiming their territory. For example, even today, the Florida State Board of Education considers evolution to be the “fundamental concept underlying all biology.” Therefore the curriculum should teach that evolution is scientific truth. Those who call for the teaching of Creationism to be taught next to Evolution theory must realize that will never come about. For the atheistic evolutionist states clearly that is not an option, for their ‘truth’ will not be placed against our ‘lies.’ We cannot win this war by joining their army.
We need, therefore, to “Take Back our Children.” The Humanist has claimed the schools. We must first claim our children, which it is our responsibility as parents to see that they are taught the truth and grow in moral and spiritual strength. We must also think in terms of generations and not what is expedient at the moment; “That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged” (Deut. 6:2). As to those who claim they are our children’s teachers, Wisdom speaks, “walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path” (Pro. 1:15); for the covenant promise is ours, “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (Isa. 54:13).
We were created in the image of our Creator, who gave us the mandate to be a blessing to all people in all areas of life. There is no sphere of life that is out of the jurisdiction of the Creator, and so we must be willing to give what is best in all fields of life. We are enabled to do well by virtue of our relationship with our Creator. Quoting Philippians 4:19—“my God shall supply al your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”—Loraine Boettner wrote “Being truly untied with Christ and depending on the power of His Spirit, we shall not doubt but that we shall be finally victorious over the Devil and every kind of evil that he can bring against us. We look upon science, education, invention, art, music, commerce, statesmanship, sociology, etc., each in its own field so far as it is based on truth, as a revelation of the wisdom and glory of Christ, who is the Light of the world and the Ruler of nations. Each of these represents an accomplishment in man’s conquest of the forces of nature, which was the task assigned to him when immediately after his creation he was commanded to ‘subdue’ the earth; and each of these is a prophecy of the complete establishment of Christ’s kingdom” (Studies in Theology).
Let us take back our children. We can do so by establishing Christian Schools or by Home Schooling. Both are needed. Both are to remember that they are the salt of the earth within their communities. And we need one another in such an endeavor. We cannot wait until the next generation. We must find strength in our Lord and his Word to take back our children. As we move in this direction there will be those who remain in the secular school system. We must encourage them, not to look down on them, but to support them as fellow believers. And we must not forget other families that are being led down the path of false teaching, to be kind and caring, loving them with the love we have received from our Lord. The nations belong to the King of kings. We must act with the knowledge that the atheist is on foreign ground, not us.
Grandpa La May

Paising God for the generations we see now and for the generations to come

Grace & Works

After listening to the human race and their desire to solve the problems of America through their promises (accomplished through Government intervention; i.e., raise taxes); it is good to be reminded that it is by grace that we live, firmly standing on the Sovereign Lord and His kept promises. Grandpa therefore shares with you the following words of a brother servant on Grace:

"Against this compromising solution of the problem, the Apostle insists upon a sharp alternative: a man may be saved by works (if he keeps the law perfectly), or he may be saved by faith; but he cannot possibly be saved by faith and works together. Christ, according to Paul, will do everything or nothing; if righteousness is in slightest measure obtained by our obedience to the law, then Christ died in vain; if we trust in slightest measure in our own good works, then we have turned away from grace and Christ profiteth us nothing... Everywhere the basis of the New Testament is the same—the mysterious, incalculable, wondrous grace of God. 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.'
The salvation of the Christian is certain because it depends altogether upon God; if it depended in the slightest measure upon us, the certainty of it would be gone. Hence it appears the vital importance of the great Reformation doctrine of justification by faith alone; that doctrine is at the very center of Christianity... All that is clear from what has already been said. But it is quite inconceivable that a man should be given this faith in Christ, that he should accept this gift which Christ offers, and still go on contentedly in sin. For the very thing which Christ offers us is salvation from sin—not only salvation from the guilt of sin, but also salvation from the power of sin.
The very first thing that the Christian does, therefore, is to keep the law of God: he keeps it no longer as a way of earning his salvation—for salvation has been given him freely of God--but he keeps it joyously as a central part of salvation itself. The faith of which Paul speaks is, as Paul himself says, a faith that works through love; and love is the fulfilling of the whole law. The faith that Paul means when he speaks of justification by faith alone is a faith that works.
'A Christian, according to Paul (as also really according to James), is saved not by himself but by God; but he is saved by God not in order that he may continue in sin, but in order that he may conquer sin and attain unto holines.' -- J. Gresham Machen
The biblical question regarding faith and works is not whether we should have this one or that, because we should have both. The question is whether we think we can keep the law of God apart from the life-giving regeneration of the Holy Ghost. Paul's answer to that question is found clearly in Titus: "not by works of righteousness we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us: by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Justification is the free gift of God. But all those who are justified are also glorified; the Holy Spirit does not begin a work in us and then ignore us until the last day. He who began a good work in us will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ. We are indeed saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves (Eph. 2:8). We are truly God's own workmanship. But because we are his workmanship, we have been created unto good works which God previously ordained."
Dr. Richard Bacon, Pastor
Faith Presbyterian Church Reformed, Mesquite, TX
http://fbpminister.wordpress.com