When we started home education, we wanted to teach the various subjects from Biblical presuppositions and perspectives rather than from the state humanistic party line used in the public schools (the "Secular Clause", Section 77). For example, Maths became a study of God’s orderly and rational character: the mathematical systems are not human inventions, but are human discoveriesof a part of God’s revelation. He is proven to be the sovereign of all when it is found that maths can be used perfectly to describe every aspect of the creation, from the micro world to the macro world of interstellar space. That is why we describe the cosmos as a "universe" rather than a "multiverse"....there is a demonstrable unity throughout all the known cosmos, a unity that is predictabledown to centimetres and seconds, as in a satellite rendezvous with distant planets and moon landings. Now if maths is only a human invention, used to impose order on the chaos around us, there is no logical reason for this invention to so perfectly apply and predict events on other planets.
(Dr Remo J.Ruffini, physicist at Princeton University, reacted to the successful landing of men on the moon thusly: "How a mathematical structure can correspond to nature is a mystery. One way out is just to say that the language in which nature speaks is the language of mathematics. This begs the question. Often we are both shocked and surprised by the correspondence between mathematics and nature, especially when the experiment confirms that our mathematical model describes nature perfectly." Dr Ruffini openly admitted that the mystery could be solved by positing the Biblical God. But to him this explanation was unacceptable.)
Anyway, to know what Biblical presuppositions even are, we have to know the Bible fairly well. But then we found that different Bible study helps would approach the Bible differently....that is, they had different presuppositions about the Bible!! Aaarrrrgggghhh! We had already been frustrated by that kind of thing: I grew up in a Methodist church and went back to one for a few years after being converted. We attended several Baptist and Presbyterian churches. We were among the Open Brethren for 14 years. We are now with the Reformed Churches of NZ. These various churches approach the Scriptures in very different ways, I can assure you.
One day I heard someone say that most Christians had a "smorgasbord" theology, a bit of this, a bit of that, but nothing comprehensive, complete and cohesive. It immediately struck me how that perfectly described my own theology at the time, and certainly that of most Christians I knew. I began a search for whatever was the counterpart to "smorgasbord" theology and discovered "systematic" theology. In this view one does not toss out all the old teachings and doctrines of the past simply because they are old. Instead, one takes the view that surely the Church of God here on earth, the Body of Christ, has learned somethingover these last two thousand years. Surely there are some basic things that we Christians don’t have to re-invent with each new generation of believers.
This view led various Reformers in history to write out statements or "confessions" of what constitutes a proper doctrine or Biblical understanding of God, of man, of the Fall, of Sin, of the Trinity, of Christ, His humanity, His divinity, salvation, justification, sanctification, church government, church discipline, proper worship, etc, etc. That is, they produced "creeds" and "statements of faith" which are fairly comprehensive, fairly complete and fairly cohesive. One church we were with for a while refused to have written creeds, saying they were merely the words of men (which is true: creeds are not inspired as are the Scriptures). These good people would say things like, "No creed but Christ", and yet the congregation would be torn apart when some members would display gifts of the spirit or wander off into immorality or simply ask for an explanation as to why we baptise this way and not that way.....the leaders just didn’t know the answers nor apparently where to start looking!
Actually, it seems to me many churches these days shy away from that kind of thing a bit, that is, accepting a written creed or statement of faith: something containing a logically presented, categorised and systematic breakdown of what the Scripture teaches on any particular subject. The fear includes the idea that such statements might cause divisions, or one aspect or another might be offensive to someone who might then leave. I have to laugh at this! It is the same as saying, "Doctrine divides, but love unites." That in itself is a statement of doctrine! Doctrine is inescapable: we all believe something and should be able to "confess" what it is, that is, write it down in a clear, concise fashion.
As parents we must avoid presenting to our children a muddied, unclear or confusing picture of Who God is or what He requires of us as we take our children through the Bible. We need to study hard so that we will not be ashamed of our Bible knowledge and understanding before our children, and so that we may not be ashamed before God but instead rightlyhandle the Word of truth (II Timothy 2:15).
There is a lot of good material out there to help you come to grips with a consistent overview of what the Bible teaches. There are several Statements or Confessions of Faith by the Baptists, and buying one that has a commentary with it is very helpful. I think that the Anglicans, Presbyterians and Reformed all subscribe to one degree or another to documents such as the Canons of Dort, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. These lay out in very orderly and logical fashion the basic teachings of Scripture on the various items listed above. Again, getting a copy that has a good commentary with it is a great way to come to grips with these doctrines. There are also books on systematic theology from various theological perspectives. One I found exceptional for its clarity and brevity is "A Summary of Christian Doctrine" by Louis Berkhof (Banner of Truth, ISBN 085151 0558).
Brother Andrew (God’s Smuggler) of Open Doors was quoted in the Challenge Weekly of 3 April 2001, "Our big need as Christians, and evangelicals in particular, is that we don’t even know how to verbalise our faith in God when the Muslims challenge us with questions about who our God is. This is appalling. This is such an extreme poverty. Praise God for the Heidelberg Catechism! How many people know about this Confession of Faith today? In my view it is the most eloquent expression of the faith that we have had throughout the centuries." These confessions and statements of faith help us to see how the whole of the Bible hangs together, they help us to see the wider implications of the Scripture to the whole of life, to every area of our lives. These are not to replace the Bible, but only to help us more accurately understand the incredible breadth and depth of the Scripture’s application to every area of our private, social and national lives. They are excellent spiritual reference books.
Smorgasbord Theology: it just seems that the Scripture should not be viewed in that way, especially when the Lord Jesus Himself says, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by everyword that procedes out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4 see also Psalm 119:160). Anyway, I found that to have more than a smorgasbord theology meant doing a lot of work in reading and researching and comparing the various theological views around. Which one is the most accurate? Which seems most faithful to the whole of Scripture? These are difficult questions, but we must realise that we all, that is, each one of us, does have a theological point of view. It is inescapable. It can simply be one we picked up from tapes and sermons and our own Bible reading (a smorgasbord theology), or it can be one we have diligently sought out from all those on offer out there, conscientiously studied and now held as a personal view, one we can articulate to others, one we are ready to defend: and one we are explaining to our children, so that they will not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, but will know precisely whatthey believe and why they believe it. Such is our duty to our children: to train them up "in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4, RSV); to teach them God’s commandments diligently all day every day (Deuteronomy 6:6-7); to impart to them a systematic rather than a smorgasbord theology. For the Lord and His Word are not composed of many unrelated bits chosen by us, but are like His tunic gambled for at the Cross: a precious whole, without seam, woven from top to bottom. (John 19:23-24).
From Keystone Magazine
May 2001 , Vol. VII No. 3
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
email: craig@hef.org.nz
"There is confusion on the subject of divine guidance among Christians today. There is an expectation that when difficult decisions have to be made God will guide us by speaking to us through a still small voice or perhaps in a dream.
"Examples of such guidance in the Bible readily come to mind. Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, "Come over and help us." Elijah heard the still small voice of God on the mountain. Examples of such guidance are also common in modern Christian literature. Corrie Ten Boom, in Tramp for the Lord, tells of God speaking to her in a clear and unmistakable way. Today Christians who ask the Lord for such guidance are often disappointed when heaven remains silent. Even worse, they begin to question their relationship with the Lord when such guidance is not forthcoming. When well-meaning friends then tell them that there must be some sin barrier in their life that stops them hearing the voice of God the results can be rather devastating.
"Sydney Anglicans Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne in their new book Guidance and the Voice of God, open up some healthy Biblical correctives to the instructions Christians are often given for "finding God’s will" for their lives.
"First, they point out that even in Scripture ‘direct’ guidance is rare. Scripture nowhere leads us to believe that we have a right to expect it. Just because both Peter and Paul had visions from the Lord does not prove that all the apostles had such direct guidance from God. Even if all the apostles were privileged in this way that does not yet mean that all believers may expect such direct guidance.
"Second, they point out that God has not left us ignorant but ‘has given us all we need for life and godliness’ (II Pet.1:3). They remind us that God guides us through the bright light of His Word. They see this as liberating us from the tyranny of our fears of being ‘outside the will of God’. It also sets us free to listen to what God is actually saying. "Many Christians today are so busy trying to work out what God is supposedly saying to them through circumstances, visions, voices, impressions and the like, that they lack the time (and the interest) to listen to what He is really saying to them in His eternal and living Word." (p.80).
"That leaves the big question: if God’s basic way of guiding us is through His Word how does that work? Here the authors make a helpful distinction between three categories: 1) Matters of righteousness; 2) Matters of good judgment and 3) Matters of triviality.
"In the first of these three we are dealing with issues about which God has spoken with clarity – they are non-negotiable for Christians. In the second we need to weigh up our options in the light of Biblical principles. In the third category are those matters that we should not waste too much time thinking about." (John Westendorp)
Matters of Triviality We won’t spend much time here. If you are looking for God’s will as to what colour socks to put on in the mornings; whether you should cut your hair to a certain style or cut the lawn this weekend; to start the children on that science project or do their chores first; which phonics programme to buy; or hoping God will speak a word to you as to which activities of the local support group to attend, let me respectfully suggest that you need to spend some extended time reading and praying through the Bible to extend your horizons and lift up your heart and mind to the great and mighty calling He has for you to fulfill. Yes, of course the Lord is interested in the smaller details of our lives, but that means He is also interested, probably more interested, in the big picture. He has already told us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20) and to abound in the work of the Lord (I Corinthians 15:58) doing those good works which He has "prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). How are we going to do these things if we are so often occupied with minor everyday details the Scriptures rarely if ever bother to mention?
Matters of Righteousness As the Rev Westendorp says, these are the non-negotiables, i.e., the Ten Commandments and other Biblical directives. Historically much of the church has not only looked upon the Ten Commandments as negative prohibitions (do not murder, do not steal), but also as positive obligations (promote, protect, defend and preserve life in all ways; protect, defend and preserve public and private property as good stewards). If we take the view that God’s moral imperatives are simply a list of "don’t"s, then we may find many Muslims and Buddhists, who value self-discipline, to be far more godly and righteous than we. When the Lord Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16), it is clear that He was expecting us (in fact, is this not an imperative, a command, a non-negotiable?) to be doing things, good things, remarkably wonderful things and in such a Christlike manner that even the unbelieving onlookers and recipients of our good works would give the glory to God and not to us! Do we plan-in service to others as part of our home education programme? Baking a huge batch of decorated cookies and going to the local rest home to sing some choruses and pass out the cookies is at least an impressive list for the ERO (home economics, vocal music, art, socialisation, inter-generational communications, community service, planning and executing the logistics of a field trip) apart from the immeasurable joy and pleasure you would have brought to the shut-ins...and to yourselves, just quietly. Our Charmagne has done Highland dancing without either her costume or the music at rest homes and the old folks loved it!! She struck up a great conversation with one ancient who really appreciated it for she once did such dances 75 years ago! Christianity is a religion of positive action, not pietistic legalism.
Do we really need guidance as to whether we should duck away from work five minutes early to be a counselor at the evangelistic rally that evening? The Lord has already spoken His mind on the issue: it is theft from your boss. Should you tattoo a gospel verse tastefully on one shoulderblade as a subtle witness while down at the beach? Leviticus 19:28 makes it clear that it is forbidden. Should you, as a young man, accept that female part in the street drama scene your evangelism group is putting on? Deuteronomy 22:5 would indicate you had better not, especially if it entails wearing female clothing. Should you witness to your boss at work, or keep to your station? Why do you need to ask? The Scripture says be urgent in season and out of season (II Timothy 4:2), although there is such a thing as Christian diplomacy (II Timothy 2:23-25) and that at the end of the day you are a witness to the boss no matter what you do. Does the Lord want you to actually give 10% of your income? Well, come on, ask a hard one. Proverbs 3:9-10 says give from your possessions, your substance, what you already have (your capital) AND from your profit, your wages AS WELL. In Malachi 3:8, God says people rob Him when they neglect the tithe. (Barbara & I used to worry about whether we should give 10% of our income before or after tax. We decided to tithe our gross, not only to be on the safe side, but to put ourselves in the way of the blessings God promises in Malachi 3:10.) Would the Lord have your church launch into a programme of building homes for the homeless and providing food for the hungry, by borrowing against your good name alone but really having no idea how you will pay back the loan? But you are trusting God to bless the ministry, and He can certainly bring in the needed funds. Didn’t the devil say virtually the same thing to our Lord when testing Him in the desert: throw yourself off the tower, for the Lord God will protect you from the negative consequences of your silly actions. In response our Lord said we should NOT put Him to the test, and expect Him to bail us out. Should I let my son court that lovely hard-working, respectful girl who unfortunately isn’t a believer yet? But he would surely win her to Christ in due course. Why do you think the Lord caused II Corinthians 6:14 to be written? So that you would not have to agonise over the situation, but say simply, "No dice, son". Should we give our children a Christian education, either at home or in a Christian school, or send them to the temples of man-centred atheistic materialism (public schools)? Did the Lord save the people of Israel out of Pharaoh’s hand, through the Red Sea and the desert and the Jordan River for them to turn their children around and send them back down to Egypt to go to school? I think not.
Matters of Good Judgment All kinds of people have referred to the Bible as the handbook for human behaviour, the owner’s manual of life and similar such titles. And so it is. Not only does II Peter 1:3 say that all things that pertain to life and godliness are in the knowledge of Him (and He is the Word made flesh), but II Timothy 3:16-17 makes it clear that the Scriptures are for keeping us in the good way and getting us out of the bad ways. I don’t know how anyone could ask for anything more comprehensive and complete than what these two verses promise....unless you want to hear God’s very voice boom from the fiery mountain or see Him write a message in the sky.
Now it occurs to me that if we were fully occupied in doing all that the Lord has already commanded us to do in the written Word (just take Matthew 28:18-20 or II Corinthians 5:17-20 for starters), I doubt we would often be concerned about guidance for what we should do next, but rather where to start! The Apostle Paul himself was so busy pushing against the doors of opportunity he saw all around him, the Holy Spirit had to make it impossible in all directions and finally gave him a vision which indicated Macedonia was the place to be. Read about it in Acts 16:6-10. But never mind that. If you are simply waiting for guidance, basically just sitting around in the meantime like I did for three years once, you are probably wasting your life away. "A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). Nothing flash here about the guidance method, but you have to be moving, doing something, taking steps, in order for those steps to be guided.
There is, of course, a catch to this: we mortals have to do some work to get the Word of Life into our sinful selves so that the plans we make for our way are at least somewhat along Biblical lines. It doesn’t come naturally; sin comes naturally, because the world is fallen, but godliness takes work. Sure the Lord said to the Twelve in John 14:26 that the Spirit would teach them all things and bring to their remembrance all that He had said to them. It is hard to be dogmatic that this verse applies to us today since it was spoken to the future writers of Scripture, but even if it does (and I like to think it does!), for us to be able to remember all that He has said, to make available in our minds the raw material of His word so the Holy Spirit can bring it to our remembrance, we have to first at least READ all that He HAS said, i.e., the entire Bible. Have you ever read the whole of the Bible through even once? Do we have a system of daily Bible reading with our children that will ensure they hear all of God’s word at least once every two years? To attain to Christlike thought patterns which lead to Christlike actions one must flush out the humanist garbage that undoubtedly festoons most areas of our conscious and unconscious thought and allow His Holy Spirit ample opportunity to re-train our minds into His mold, not that of the world. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord" in Isaiah 55:8.
And here is where our responsibilities as home educating parents just about begin and end. We must train up our children in the ways of the Lord, according to His word. How on earth can we do that unless we know His ways ourselves, unless we know His word in which He TELLS us His ways???!!!!
Read the Bible morning, noon and night. Read it out loud to each other that you may listen to it as well. Study various passages, various books, various topics. Big topics such as what the Bible says about prayer; medium topics such as the kinds of things angels say; and small topics such as the words Jesus spoke from the cross or all the Bible has to say about that lovely couple Priscilla and Aquilla. The children can very profitably do small topical studies and actually exhaust all the Bible has to say about it. These are projects they can do all by themselves with only a Bible and a concordance.
If you really want to come to grips with Scripture and have it ready on your lips that you may know how to answer in most circumstances, start memorising! Your Christian bookshop will have Bible memory courses which prepare you for sharing the basics of the Gospel effectively and for answering the common objections straight from the Word of God. There is something powerful about being able to turn straight to a passage and get the person to whom you are talking to read it off the pages of Scripture for himself. Children from the time they can speak fluently can memorise vast tracts of Scripture, far more than we would normally credit to their ability. Make sure your 6-year-old has a spot at the next Sunday School presentation to recite, clearly and loudly, the whole of Psalm 1. Watch as the rest of the congregation practically swoon with a fantastic mixture of joy and delight and amazement and a burning in their hearts as they realise they and their children too should be doing exactly that. As a family project it can not only be loads of fun, but will set your children up with the words of eternal life indelibly engraved on their minds where NO ONE can take it away. In God’s grace and in His time He can cause that word to travel the 18 inches south from their minds to their hearts and claim them for His own. "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword...a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
But the most effective way to get the Scripture deep down into your soul and unconscious mind so that your reflex actions reflect Scripture is to meditate on the word. This is how one can learn to exercise good judgment. Sit down and outline the situation wherein you need guidance. Identify the issues, the options and the implications of the various options as much as you are able. Formulate some possible decisions. Then search the Scriptures, as did the Bereans of Acts 17:11, to see if the Biblical reasons you gave for your possible decisions are in fact truly Biblical. Now, again, if you have not read the Scriptures through and are not really familiar with most of it, you are really hamstrung. Psalm 119:160 is key here. It says that the SUM of God’s word is truth. You cannot pick out a favourite verse here or there and build a destiny on it. You must search and study and dig in the Bible as for hidden treasure to know God’s mind on an issue, to understand the principles on which you would make a decision.
Maybe this is why some people prefer to wait upon the Lord for some sign or vision or voice or dream .... there is an aversion to the mental and intellectual trauma of honest to goodness study, a reluctance to love God with all the mind. Whether this applies to you and me as parents or not, let us make sure it never applies to our children: by precept and example let us do what we can to cause them to "desire the pure milk of the word" that they may grow thereby (I Peter 2:2). Through personal experience I am convinced the Lord can cause us to hear voices and see visions....yet it seems arrogant to expect Him to so favour any of us if we neglect to faithfully and consistently consume His written word. Surely it is the least we can do to show we are serious about wanting to know Him and His will for our lives.
Or do we simply crave the spiritual experience of a voice or vision? Yes, that would be exciting and something to tell others about (oops, are we into pride here?). Well, at least it would help me to know that I was alive spiritually, and somewhat verify the spiritual reality of my faith in a Spiritual God. Yet, consider the following: Habakkuk 2:4 says the just shall live by faith. I Corinthians 5:7 says we are to walk by faith, not by sight. For who hopes for what he sees? (Romans 8:24). And our Lord Jesus didn’t seem too keen on the idea when He said in Matthew 12:39, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign." Didn’t He also tell the story of how the rich man who was suffering in the fires of hell begged Abraham to send Lazarus to his kin to warn them of such a place, for surely "if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent"? But Abraham said they already have the Scriptures, that such a sign would be wasted; for if they will not hear the Scriptures "neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead" (Luke 16:19:31).
Maybe we are afraid of becoming too familiar with the Scriptures and what God has already told us, for we perceive He is a demanding God, prone to sending people to the ends of the earth to suffer unspeakable hardships for His Name’s sake. Maybe some of us have more in common with Jonah than with Paul. A dream or vision can be a lot more subjective than words on a page, and there is some comfort in that, for then I can interpret it without others telling me what it means for they didn’t see it! Brothers and sisters, please be careful, as even the devil can disguise himself as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:13-15), which would be quite a lovely vision indeed.
My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:1-5).
From Keystone Magazine
March 1999 , Vol. V No.II
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
email: craig@hef.org.nz
I once asked some good Christian friends how they, as rational, intelligent people, could go along with this crazy idea some people have of baptising or sprinkling infants. They laughed in such a way as to indicate that I wasn’t the first person to ask such a question. They didn’t answer but simply gave me a slim book to read, William the Baptist, by James M. Chaney who wrote it back in 1877!
It was a great little human interest story, a bit of a romance really, describing the doctrinal worries of a Baptist gentleman as he courted his Presbyterian sweetheart. I couldn’t put it down.
When I did, I cannot say I understood the doctrine of infant baptism. But I could see that it wasn’t the obvious open-and-shut case I had thought it was. A fair bit of further study followed, and by borrowing some comparative diagrams from some authors and working them over myself, I came up with the table (ie. set of comparisons) below, which I trust is reasonably accurate as I tried to soften the dogmatism in the originals. This only barely begins to explain the difference between the two main positions within the Protestant camp. What seemed more important or significant was that this doctrine, like most others, cannot be considered in isolation, but is inextricably entwined within the wider range of doctrines, the whole of which makes up one’s theology.
In other words, we must be slow to speak ill of another’s theology unless we are familiar with the bigger picture. If we as home schooling parents disparage another denomination, we have already transgressed and set a bad example as well. I know how easy it is to do....I have had to make two public apologies for just such offences within the last five days. Ripping into others’ ideas on baptism, for example, mainly because they don’t match your own, breeds the ugly bigotry we Christians are always being accused of displaying. Note the two areas of total agreement below: #1 and #12. Symbolism is not an exact field of study but very subjective. And none of us can possibly know the state of a person’s heart. Therefore we must learn to show patience, long-suffering, mercy and compassion to others, just as our Lord has shown to us. Even though it may be obvious to us that the other guy doesn’t have it all together, remember ...neither do we.
Believer's Baptism (BB) -- Infant Baptism (IB)
1. BB is symbolic only and causes no change in the one being baptised.
IB is symbolic only and causes no change in the one being baptised.
2. BB signifies a believer has turned to the Lord.
IB signifies a child has been set apart to the Lord.
3. BB is done on a profession of faith by the one being baptised.
IB is done on a declaration by the parents of the one being baptised that they will rear that one in the Christian faith.
4. BB demonstrates a sharp discontinuity between the OT and the NT: believer’s baptism is unlike anything which had gone before in the same way that being born again as a Christian is unlike anything which had gone before.
IB demonstrates a close continuity from the OT into the NT: bringing infants of believing families into the covenant community of God’s people is continued, although the accompanying rite of circumcision is changed to the bloodless rite of water baptism.
5. BB portrays the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
IB portrays a setting apart, being sanctified, made holy.
6.BB - the believer is identifying self with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, promising to live hereafter for Him.
IB - the parents acknowledge that God has total claim to the child's life but also claim God’s promise to bless the children of faithful believers.
7. BB - water symbolises cleansing from sin.
IB - water symbolises cleansing from sin via the Holy Spirit coming down upon (pouring or sprinkling).
8. BB indicates that God works with individuals.
IB indicates that God works with individuals through the context of families.
9. BB is a badge of membership in the Body of Christ.
IB is a mark of ownership by God.
10. BB confirms that the believer has accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour.
IB confirms that God has accepted the child into His covenant family by virtue of confessing parents.
11. BB centres upon man's believing.
IB centres upon God's fulfilling His promise.
12. BB - sometimes the one baptised appears to be unregenerate after all.
IB - sometimes the one baptised appears to be unregenerate after all.
From Keystone Magazine
March 1998 , Vol. IV No.1
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
email: craig@hef.org.nz
The inescapable conclusion we draw from the gospels is that Jesus' call to discipleship is a call to a total rethink. Everything is affected: relationships, values, attitudes, motivations, priorities, goals, activities, decisions --you name it. The disciple's entire life -- past, present and future, is to be given over to Jesus Christ!
Following Jesus is not an "add-on", it is a total remake. It is not only a call to personal change, but a call to be a change-agent, for Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:l9) Because of this the call to discipleship presents both a wonderful opportunity and a daunting challenge. On the one hand it offers a new life, a new beginning -- "I have come that (you) might have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:l0). On the other it demands death -- "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains alone" (John 12:24-25). At one mornent Jesus says, "Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28), and at another He says, "If anyone will come after Me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me (Luke 9:23). It will be tough. There will be times of real discomfort. We will find some in the world around us reacting strongly to us. Jesus says. "If they persecuted Me they will persecute you also" (John l5:20). To some we will be the smell of death", to others, "the fragrance of life" (II Corinthians 2: 16). Being a true disciple of Jesus is to be ready for this.
(Lynton Brocklehurst, exerpts from "True Discipleship", People to People-- the Navigator Vision in Focus, Spring 1996, Vo1 4, No 3. The Navigators, PO Box 1951, Christchurch.)
My wife Barbara & I were discipled in Christchurch by the Navigators just after we became Christians. There were a good number of single people: students, nurses,businessmen. We were, for all intents and purposes, fanatics. We had a good 1/2 hour or more quiet time every morning, constantly memorized new passages of Scripture, attended Christian conferences all the time, spent hours in preparation time for our weekly Bible study meetings, wrote out and practised our conversion testimonies so that we could dump it on some unsuspecting unbeliever in three minutes flat, learned to share the gospel from several angles using several sets of salvation verses (all memorized), spent our spare time in thinking up ways to initiate conversations on spiritual topics or engineer conversations so they would go that way, and regularly patrolled Hagley Park or Cathedral Square or New Brighton beach for lonely looking souls to whom we would "witness". We flatted together in order to discipline one another more effectively and keep the skills sharp. By the way, I do not mean mixed-flatting. Such a thing was only for sinners in those days. (I'm talking mid-1970s. These days the Navigator reps in university towns get phone calls from mums wanting them to organise mixed flats for their student daughters since that would be a more safe situation than an all-girl flat which would be far too easy a target. Have times changed or what? Maybe only standards have changed.)
Anyway, I digress. Fired with the vision of II Timothy 2:2, we became faithful disciples of Christ and looked for other faithful people into whom we could pour our lives as instructed in Isaiah 58:l0-12 (this passage is well worth a read and some good meditation time). The Navigators told us and we constantly reminded each other that if we trained up faithful disciples of Christ and then all went out, with these new disciples, and did the same next year, and all the same again next year, and so on, the entire population of the world, nearly six billion people, would be Christian disciples in a mere 35 years .... we'd all see the day with our own earthly eyes!!! Now, come on all you raving evangelicals out there, doesn't that kind of vision just make you drool? Of course it does ..... me too. But the Navigators have been around for well over 35 years already .... more like 50. So how come they haven't already discipled the whole world yet?
Faithfulness. It is a rare commodity. The II Timothy 2:2 principle requires faithful men and faithful women. Otherwise you cannot make disciples, for disciples have to be disciplined people, and disciplined people have to be faithful in practising the disciplines or else the "disciplines" are simply interesting Christian things they do now and again.
Take Queen Elizabeth II. She is a really good monarch. She personally NEVER puts a foot or a word out of place. She is incredibly faithful to her calling. She was groomed for that calling. No public schooling for her, no sir. She was tutored by the best with the constant objective before her of one day becoming Queen of the entire British Empire. None of her children were so tutored, but were all schooled .... in the best schools around, too. Look what it has done for them.
We Christian home schoolers have an unequalled opportunity to totally groom our children to be Ambassadors for Christ, official representatives on earth of the One and Only Almighty Sovereign of the entire Universe, the Lawmaker and Judge to Whom each and every one shall one day give account. With this objective in mind, I think we can afford to be one-eyed about things: in fact, woe to us if we are not. The vision and the disciplines need first of all to be in US, brothers and sisters. For if not, they will never, apart from God's intervention, be found in our children.
From Keystone Magazine
March 1997 , Vol. III No.2
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
email: craig@hef.org.nz
If God had not revealed Himself to us, we could not possibly have had any knowledge of Him. Left to ourselves, we would never have discovered God, for such a discovery is beyond our natural abilities. God has taken the initiative and in His mercy and grace has revealed Himself to us for His glory and our benefit.
General Revelation comes to us in the forces and laws of nature, in the constitution and operation of the human mind, and in the facts of experience and history. The Bible refers to it in such passages as Ps 19:l; Rom 1:19-20, 2:14-15. Roman Catholics and Protestants agree that what is revealed of God through His beautiful creation is not sufficient, being obscured by the blight of sin as a result of the Fall of Adam and Eve. This general revelation of God as seen in His creation does not now convey any fully reliable knowledge of God and spiritual things, and therefore does not furnish us with a trustworthy foundation on which we can build our home educational tasks or, more importantly, our eternal futures. And it utterly fails to meet the spiritual needs of us sinners, which are found only in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Special Revelation is God's direct revealing of Himself to us, as is now embodied in the Holy Scriptures. It is needed because our sin has rendered us spiritually blind and mentally and intellectually perverse so that we fail to read aright even the remaining traces of the original revelation.
In giving His special or supernatural revelation God used different means. He revealed His presence in fire and clouds of smoke, in stormy winds, in an audible voice, through His prophets by an internal operation of the Holy Spirit, in dreams and visions, by means of Urim and Thummim, in miracles and most fully and intimately in His Son Jesus Christ.
The term "special revelation" may be used to denote the Bible as a whole as it has the divine guarantee of its truth in the fact that it is infallibly inspired by the Holy Spirit. It may therefore be said that the whole Bible, and the Bible alone, is the special revelation of God Almighty, the infallible rule of faith and practice for all mankind, not just those who believe, although there is not full agreement among Christians today on these issues.
Under the influence of Rationalism it has become quite common to deny the inspiration of the Bible altogether, or to hold that only parts of it are inspired. Some deny the inspiration of the Old Testament, while admitting that of the New. Others affirm that the moral and religious teachings of Scripture are inspired, but that its historical parts contain several chronological, archaeological, and scientific mistakes. Still others will assume that the thoughts were inspired, while the choice of the words was left entirely to the wisdom of the human authors.
The inspiration of the Bible extends to the very words employed. The doctrine of verbal inspiration is fully warranted by Scripture. In many cases we are explicitly told that the Lord told Moses and Joshua exactly what to write, Lev 3 & 4; 6:1, 24; 7:22, 28; Josh 1:l; 4:1; 6:2, and so on. The prophets speak of Jehovah as putting His words into their mouths, Jer 1:9, and as directing them to speak His words to the people, Ezek 3:4, 10, 11. Paul designates his words as Spirit-taught words, I Cor 2: 13; and both he and Jesus base an argument on a single word, Matt22:43-45; John 10:35; Gal 3:16.
Today we see three common views of the sufficiency of Scripture or the degree to which the Bible may be said to be the perfect and complete revelation of God for all people in all places for all time. One is the idea that the Bible owes much of its authority to the Church or to learned people within the Church who can interpret the revelation of God in the Bible correctly to the common people. Another idea is that believers may have an "inner light", or a direct revelation from God via the Holy Spirit in their hearts in addition to and/or separate from the Bible. The third view is that the Bible is in itself the authoritative, complete and final revelation of God (until Christ returns); and that it is clear enough to the mind regenerated by the Holy Spirit that he does not need to depend on the interpretation of the church or some "inner light".
As Christian Home Schoolers we need to think through and understand some of the implications of each of these views regarding the sufficiency of Scripture, for the one in which our children are raised will be the one they live by for most if not all of their lives.
In the first view, they could simply go along with whatever they are told by the church or the person at the top of the church organisation. In the second, people can become careless with ascribing to God things He did not say, but more in line with what they personally were hoping for; like the lady I know who recently said to her third - time - pregnant daughter that God had told her that this one would be a boy. It was another girl, the third. According to Deuteronomy 18:20-22, this lady is by definition a false prophet, and liable to the death penalty. In the third view, people can claim various passages and remain true to them, while ignoring others, treating the Scriptures like a smorgasbord. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceed s from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4). And II Timothy 3: 16-17 makes such an unqualified statement of the total sufficiency of Scripture, there seems to be no need to look elsewhere:
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work ."
Let us become clear in our own minds as to what constitutes revelation today, and be careful to accurately inculcate this, our most accurate understanding, to our children.
From Keystone Magazine
January 1997 , Vol. III No.1
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
email: craig@hef.org.nz
(The articles in this category are offered to expand our appreciation and that of our children for our Christian faith. Its history is incredibly rich. Its foundational contributions to the best of our Western culture are immeasurable. Searching out its implications for every area of our lives will occupy every day of our lives. Use these contributions as they are, as springboards to further family study, or as a catalyst for debate through the pages of this Blog.)
Worship
The word itself comes from an old English word meaning "Worth". We attribute worth to God in worship. We worship Him because He is worthy of this. He, and He alone, deserves all glory and praise. In worship we are seeking to give Him the honour which is His due. "How pleasant and fitting to praise Him!" exclaims Psalm 147:1.
Just as the chief end of man is "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever" so too the worship of God is the highest calling of the church. We can, of course, worship God on our own. Yet there is something special, something unique about the gathering of God's people for His praise. Many times over the Psalms call God's people together for the corporate adoration of the Lord. "We can never know the full richness of worship unless we unite in common worship with other members of the body of Christ ...God has so created man that there are deeper delights and more intense inspiration in the worshipping congregation than in individual devotion. "1
This is not to deny that the worship services of the church also have some benefit for us as individuals. But the primary goal of worship is not that we might feel a glow, but that God may be given glory.
It is one of the paradoxes of the Christian life that a sharp focus on God enables us to get ourselves in better focus. Concentration on God in worship has the effect of lifting us out of our depression and difficulties. A proper view of God helps us to view ourselves and our problems in a clearer light. Coming to worship enables us to put our lives in perspective.
Another paradox is that we feel better for having felt worse. This is contrary to a current popular emphasis on making people feel good about themselves. Some suggest that in worship we should not discourage people with depressing talk about sin, we not should not burden them with feelings of guilt. Instead we should be making them feel happy.
But true happiness comes from a proper recognition of who we are before an Almighty and Holy God. Real blessedness arises out of a sincere acknowledgment of wrong, a heartfelt confession of sin and the assurance that our forgiving God has "tread our sins underfoot and hurl(ed) all our iniquities into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19).
The minister is not to be a cheerleader whipping up enthusiasm, nor a psychologist aiming to improve the self esteem of those present. Rather he is a minister of God seeking to lead the congregation into the very presence of the Lord. This in itself has a special effect on us. Martin Luther knew this, for he said, "At home in my own house there is no warmth or vigour in me, but in the church when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart and it breaks its way through. "
One difficulty we face in corporate worship is the varying expectations people have concerning the style and format of the service, especially in regard to music. Many churches hardly sing an old hymn, and could thereby lose their sense of continuity with the past. And yet in our singing we can draw from the best of the entire history of the church : Psalms, ancient and modern hymns, modern choruses. Such singing gives us an identity with the church of Christ of all ages and places. Unfortunately there is a tendency for the musical "conservatives" to gather in one church while the musically "innovative" meet in another.
Is this a good thing? I doubt it. Wouldn't it be better if we could consider one another? Let the conservative (and often older) members allow for some change while the modern (and often younger) members be prepared to take things more slowly. If we stayed together we would learn a lot from each other as well as tempering the extremes. "...in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others" (Phil. 2:2-3) .2
When we come together to worship the God who seeks worshippers we come together to worship the triune God, the God of the universe, the God of our salvation and the God who will return to judge the living and the dead. Realising this should determine the very tone and quality of our music and our words.
This casts doubt on the suitability of many popular expressions of "worship": the sentimental type of subjective evangelical songs with highly questionable theology; the full-blast pipe organ sound with the tremulant shaking the very building; the exuberant guitar-strumming of something akin to a catchy advertising jingle; the jolly repetitive sound of a chorus round. All these do not form part of the mature worship of God; indeed all these forms of music-making are contrary to worship.
I want to also deal with the often heard argument that music cannot be divided into good or bad music; after all, some say, music is only a sequence of notes, (you better check that up in your dictionary), music is neutral, not intrinsically good or bad, and so it does not matter what sort of music we use.
Unfortunately, and sadly, this attitude tends to result in the use of all conceivable musical instruments playing all conceivable sorts of music, from the so-called Christian rock to the murdering of traditional Christian hymns and songs, yea, even the psalms.
We need to be reminded here that music is not only a tune or melody -- i.e. a sequence of notes -- it also has harmony and rhythm. That is why I want to make a plea for church music to be music of excellence; excellence in tune, in harmony and in execution (not a haphazard, mediocre combination of all three), music of joy and seriousness, cheerful solemnity, stateliness and majesty to convey worshipful texts.
The church has always been on pilgrimage. At this point in our journey we have available to us 20 centuries of praise and prayer. We can and should select the best out of this treasure trove. Of course the church has been selecting the best throughout the ages and we would be silly -- yes, it would be at our peril -- to ignore that treasure.
Talking about that treasure trove, there is much to learn from the fascinating story of the music of worship: the original Songs of Praise, i.e. the Hebrew "Sefer Tehillim" or Psalmoi (the Book of Psalms); the Jewish synagogue chant (based on the temple songs of the Levites); the development of the early church music; the hymns written by the very early church fathers; the development of Gregorian and other chants; the stunningly beautiful cathedral choral anthems of Byrd, Wesley, Lassus, Bruckner; fascinating also to read about the different directions taken at the Reformation by Luther, Calvin and Zwingli; to learn of the various early psalm translations in the languages of the people; and to study the history of the Genevan Psalter. This Psalter is one of the best books of psalm settings, composed (albeit to the French text) by Christian composers at the behest of Calvin, yet now sadly neglected.
In his book "O Come Let Us Worship" Robert Rayburn says: "The hymnbook is not only the repository of the devotion of the saints of the ages, but it also provides materials, gathered from the church universal, for the offering up of the sacrifice of praises and thanksgiving. It is a prayer book as well as a song book. It also provides a popular commentary on the creeds of Christendom. A good hymnbook gives a more balanced view of the Christian faith than do many theological volumes ... We are faithful to the highest motivations for corporate worship when we are careful to sing those great expressions of praise and devotion which have stood the test of time in the worship of multitudes of believers."3
For worship is not only that which takes place on Sunday morning, but throughout the week as we live in the presence of God, for the glory of God. Every believer is a priest called to serve and worship God in all he does. To live the Christian life in obedience to God IS worship. When the Apostle Paul urges us to offer our bodies as "living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God", he informs us that this is "spiritual worship".
On the first day of the week the people of God gather to give God what is due to Him. In the rest of the week we scatter into the world as members of Christ's church. We must go to the worship service so that we are then ready to go from it renewed in faith, hope and love, committed to worshipping God in all we do.4
Notes:
1. Robert Rayburn, "0 Come Let Us Worship", p.29-30.
2. John Haverland, 'Reflections on Worship", from Faith in Focus, Nov. 1994, pp. 3-4.
3. Art Snoek, "Music in Worship", from Faith in Focus, Nov. 1994, pp. 7-9.
4. John Haverland, p.4.
From Keystone Magazine
November 1996 , Vol. II No. 6
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
email: craig@hef.org.nz
The early Puritan colonists in America of the 1600's when formulating the types of government each colony should take, came up against what has been called the Puritan Dilemma. The "dilemma" question arose in the Puritan mind out of two fundamental tenets of theology.
First, the Biblical teaching that man was created in the "image of God," and has been given a mandate from his Creator to advance God's Kingdom and righteousness in every area of life (Gen 1:27-28; Matt 6:33). Thus liberty, peace, and security were seen as highly-prized preconditions for productive social and political life. (cf. II Tim 2:2-3).
Second, the equally important doctrine that man is a fallen creature, and as a sinner must be restrained from working out his evil intentions in society. This restraint is accomplished through several forms of Biblical "government"- -family, church, state but ultimately SELF-government. Yet (and here is the dilemma) these governments (and in particular the state) may, in the hands of sinful men, become dangerous enemies of righteousness and freedom.
John Winthrop, the Puritan governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, sought to devise a political system that would adequately take account of both of these human realities--a political structure which would maximize freedom to admittedly sinful men while at the same time holding their evil tendencies in check. Winthrop uuderstood that the "Puritan dilemma" could not be solved in political terms alone. Two other items, a flourishing ministry on the part of the church a strong family structure would also be required to produce the desired social results. In many ways these latter two elements were the most important.
A century-and-a-half later, in a far less explicitly Puritan fashion, the U.S. Constitution sought to achieve the same balance between liberty for good purposes and the restraint of evildoing.
The Puritan "experiment" in North America succeeded for a time because it was supported by a cultural consensus which was rooted in the Bible. Despite many differences among the puritans on points of doctrine and church practice, they shared a common understanding of the Bible's teaching about God, His providential dealings in history, the nature of man, and the role (and limitations) of humna institutions ordained by God to provide order in the affairs of society. Civil order was the fruit of this fundamental theological consensus.
Sadly, the "Puritan experiment" did not last. It was not overthrown by a foreign invader, or by domestic crises. It was by means of theological defection -- a loss of Biblical faith.
Our social and political crisis is fundamentally a theological crisis. It will not admit of a quick fix. Our Puritan forefathers understood well that political liberty and social peace were fruit which grew on the tree of Biblical faith. To turn our nation back will require a restoration of a Biblical theological consensus which will support social and political reformation. As in Josiah's day, the "Book of God's Law" must be rediscovered, read, believed and obeyed.
A recovery of Biblical preaching, teaching and discipling is absolutely necessary. This includes Christian day- and home- school educationtion and Christian publications which are true to the word of God. Those who profess Christ must become serious about radical and comprehensive obedience to the Word of God. Piety divorced from obedience plays into hands of the Enemy (cf. Col 2:20-23). Given the lack of self-government ("self-control," Gal 5:23; "training in godliness," I Tim 4:7) on the part of so many who claim to be Christians, it is small wonder that our civil rulers do not govern well. Lawless people cannot create and sustain a lawful political order.1
So where do we home schoolers go from here? What are we to do? We are already providing education and training far more thorough and consistently Biblical than we ourselves have seen. But this is no reason to relax. We can improve. For His sake we MUST improve. We parents must NOT ONLY continually seek a closer walk with the Lord, BUT ALSO a more conscious conformity to His Word in order to set the example for our children . We must NOT ONLY strive to see Christian politicians and Christian Political Parties in Parliament, we must ALSO encourage them to be ever more Biblical in their policies and public statements. We must NOT ONLY become serious about comprehensive obedience to the Word, we must ALSO know the Word intimately.
Now here I take my life in my hands and ask readers as sincerely and earnestly as I can: what do we perceive, what concepts came to our minds, when we say, "obey the Word"? I trust we will automatically answer, "The Bible, of course!" Amen! Now let me ask, "Do we mean ALL of the Bible?" Are we like some hyper-dispensationalists I have met who dispense with the Old Testament because it is, well ....you know.....it is OLD! OurLord said that man is to live by EVERY word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. (Matt 4:4). We must never treat the Bible like a smorgasbord.
Now, let me ask, for this is important, and what we believe in these areas we will pass on to our children and set the course for much of their lives, so we had better have it right. Do we believe the Bible ALONE to be the word Of God? Or do we allow for modern-day additions and alterations? What do I mean? Well, Jesus upheld and defended the Torah, God's Word as delivered by Moses and the prophets. He constantly ridiculed and condemned the Pharisees because they taught as doctrine the traditions of men, that is, their book of additions and alterations often referred to as the Talmud. Do our prayer groups ever wait in silence for a "word" from God? Do the visions and bits of choruses that then come out get woven together as "a word from the Lord for us today"? Do such "words" or "prophesies" from the pulpit stand in our minds on an equal level with the eternal, life-giving Words of the Lord God Almighty? Are we moving toward the position of the Quakers who have dispensed with the Bible altogether because they have this "inner light", claiming John 14:26 as their authority for doing so? Do not allow for additions or alterations to the Word of God! Read Revelation 22:18-19. "Sola Scriptura!" was the cry of the Reformation: "The Bible alone!"
The Westminster Assembly of Puritans (called by the English Long Parliament of 1643 to 1652 to reform the Church of England) consisted of 20 laymen from the House of Commons, 10 laymen from the House of Lords , 121 English clergymen plus a delegation of Scottish Presbyterians. They met in 1,163 sessions to produce comprehensive and definitive answers to questions such as we have raised.... to avoid as many future dilemmas as they could. They wrote:
The supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined , and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures.
Notice Who we are to heed: the Holy Spirit of God, not the spirit or voice of mere men. Therefore are we told to test the spirits (I John 4:1). And also notice the medium through which we hear the Holy Spirit of God: the Scriptures. So let us make the Scriptures, the Written Word, first and last in our home education, just as our Saviour, the Living Word, is to be first and last, the Alpha and the Omega, in every area of our lives.
Note:
(1) Excerpted from article by Rev Roger Wagner in Penpoint, Southern California Center for Christian Studies, PO Box 328, Placentia, CA 92871, USA.
From Keystone Magazine
July 1996 , Vol. II No. 4
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
email: craig@hef.org.nz
There are two things to remember about this term, "Religion", that will help us home educators train our children in Godly wisdom. First, that everybody has a religion of one kind or another. Second, that there are ultimately only two religions.
Even unbelieving sociologists confirm that all cultures of all times have had a religion of one sort or another. But what exactly is "religion"? My Oxford Dictionary, Bible Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Theology all found the word very hard to handle. However, it is usually defined as the human practice stemming from some sort of belief in the divine.
Non-theistic evolutionists have tried to say that it is some sort of development to meet some sort of need, or something clever con men thought up to exercise power over people and secure an easy income. But these explanations assume, without actually saying so, that mankind does have that "God-shaped vacuum" within. Otherwise the need would never arise and the con man would not be able to con anyone. So even the unbelieving evolutionist does acknowledge, although begrudgingly, that human nature is inescapably religious. After all, that is the way the Creator created us.
There is another understanding of "religion" that is very helpful to us home educators as we endeavour to pass on to our children a concept of why other people we meet do what they do. One definition in my Oxford is, "Devotion to some principle; strict fidelity or faithfulness; conscientiousness." Notice there is no reference to the divine. Self-conscious atheists and agnostics I have met have been fairly articulate about what they believe ... .that is, they could explain why they believed as they did with a lot of confidence and clarity. These people are religious because they are devoted to some set of principles, and are conscientious about it, even if those principles can be summarised as "Me". Ultimately even the common man in the street is as religious as a priest (no disrespect intended) since he will and does operate according to SOME set of beliefs or concepts about the nature of reality and the way things work. Whatever that set of beliefs is, even if they are contradictory (and they probably are), that set of beliefs is that person's "statement of faith", his "creed", his religion, even if it supposedly does not acknowledge the existence of God or any kind of supernatural.
Now although some would have us believe life is terribly complex, it is really fairly simple at the foundations. All the worId's philosophies, religions, belief systems, creeds or whatever can be divided into two simple groups. One is Biblical Christianity, wherein man trusts in the only true God, the Creator. The other group is everything else, all of which by definition trust in some thing which is created: man or some man-made idea or institution. This is known as the religion of humanism. Even atheistic, secular humanists refer to their belief system as a religion.
The Bible itself says there are only two kinds of people, and you will find that concept all through Scripture, even in John 3:16 (those who perish and those who have eternal life). Knowing there are only two, really makes life easy: you answer all the others in roughly the same way, that is, either focusing upon their misunderstanding of Christ, His finished work, His Divinity, etc.; or focusing upon the fact that they ultimately trust in man or some human agent for salvation. The Muslim, the Hindu and all the rest practise a religion of salvation by human works; the atheist and agnostic are trusting that their own human speculations regarding the non-existence or unknowability of God are correct. In either case, they are ultimately trusting in man or some other created thing. Biblical Christianity is on the opposite end of the scale, as true Christians trust in God the Creator.
Now this idea of religion, that everybody is religious and that there are really only two religions, Biblical Christianity and humanism; this idea of religion is useful to us home educators as it helps us to easily evaluate ideas that are presented to us in books, on TV, on radio talk-back, in lectures, in conversation. It is easy to recognise where other ideas are coming from as there are really only two possibilities: from the Creator God or from some thing which He created. When we can evaluate ideas in this way, no matter how they are wrapped up, we will be less likely to be deceived. Also, we can more easily evaluate OUR OWN thinking as to whether it is Biblical or too tainted with humanism to be compatible with a life of faithful obedience to God.
We must watch our own thinking very carefully since most of us parents have been trained to think like humanists in our public school classrooms. This is why we must strive all the more to re-train our minds to think God's thoughts after Him, allowing His Word to continually flush out the garbage as we read, study, memorize and meditate on the Scriptures. The objective is to take every thought captive to obey Christ (II Corinthians 10:5). Not only do we parents need to be able to think this way, we must train our children to think this way, and show them how to easily distinguish between right thinking and wrong.
The issue we must face today in our pluralist society in the areas of education, literature, entertainment, medicine, justice and all things else is not whether it is right for us Christians to force our religious values on others. The issue is whose religious values will we accept being forced upon us.
From Keystone Magazine
March 1996 , Vol. II No. 2
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
email: craig@hef.org.nz
What we believe about the future, about the meaning of the word, "millennium", will affect how we organise and direct our home schooling time and how we perceive what we are trying to accomplish.
The term "millennium" comes from one place in the Scriptures, Revelation 20:2-7. Among evangelical or born again Christians, it is probably safe to say that the most popular belief is that there will be a literal 1,000-year reign of Christ which He will institute upon His physical return to earth. He needs to return because the Gospel message will ultimately face defeat, save only a few and the world will continue its downward spiral without supernatural intervention. This view is known as Premillennialism, because Jesus comes before (or pre) His millennial reign.
There are actually two other views of the millennium. Amillennialism does not go along with the idea of a future literal 1,000-year reign of Christ on the throne. These "a-mils" (or no-1,000) see the 1,000 as a symbolic figure meaning a long time, that Christ reigns and has reigned and will always reign. His reign has become progressively stronger since the resurrection, but will only reach its zenith once Christ returns to judge the world and create the new heavens and the new earth.
Postmillennialists may believe that we are in the millennium now, again an indefinite long period of time which can be said to have begun in power with the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit at Pentecost, or that the Gospel rnessage will ultimately usher in a 1,000 year period of peace and prosperity, after which (post) Christ will return.
Premillennialists are eagerly awaiting the Lord's return which most of the popularists tell us could happen at any moment, maybe this afternoon. Therefore we must be focusing our attention on evangelising the unreached millions and not get too involved in the more mundane chores and responsibilities of everyday life. With this time constraint, some Christian groups have been tempted to take short cuts with the Gospel and do all they can to attract people in while downplaying the sin bit which tends to put people off. We've all seen those churches which seem to be into the entertainment business these days. It comes fsom this desire to get people in at all costs, because the time is short. With the year 2,000 right around the corner, it is almost irresistable not to lean heavily toward the idea that a week of 1,000's, from 4,000 BC when many believe God created the world, to AD 2,000 (6,000 years) is to be capped by the final Sabbath 1,000 years, or the Millennium of Christ' s reign on earth.
But if this is the case, many of us will be right in the middle of our home schooling years when the year 2,000 arrives, with our children still living in our homes. So why are we slogging our guts out to give them the best academic, social, spiritual and character training we can if they will hardly ever get to use any of it if at all? We should get them saved and then pack up and get ourselves off to the mission field to save a few more souls from the coming fire.
Both the Amillennialist and the Postmillennialist see a lot of work to be done to bring the Gospel to bear on this sin-cursed world, not only to bring sinners into the Kingdom, but also to bring every thought and authority and power captive to obey tbe Lordship of Christ on the earth now before His physical return. They are not under the same time constraint as are most Premills. They see more to a life of service to Christ than just evangelism.
Now I would love to go into a deep comparison of Biblical passages and theological histories concerning the millennia1 views. I would love to show how our sinful natures exploit each of the views to our own selfish ends, bringing disrepute to Christ's Name . Maybe another time. But let us look at how this affects our home schooling. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, let us look at our home schooling and see what is revealed about what we really truly believe regarding the millennium.
Most of us believe there is quite a future before us. We are training our children up to be men and women of God, who know the Scriptures and are not afraid to wield the sword of the Spirit, when faced with the enemy's lies. In fact, we get quite excited when we think about the careers they are likely to have, the pioneering Christian work they are likely to do in so many areas of endeavour since they have been reared with a more consistent Biblical worldview than we have ourselves, the spouses they are likely to marry, the even more Godly and Christlike grandchildren they are likely to rear for us since their home schooling programme will be so much more advanced than ours. We are training them up to not just cope with this evil world, but to take a hold of it with both hands and with God's help to change it round the way it should be, to turn the world upside down as did the early apostles. Isn't this what the early church fathers did? The Reformers? ThePuritans? The many revivalists of the 1700's and 1800's?
Hasn't revival been our prayer for NZ and the world for many seasons now? Don't we in fact see home schooling and Christian schools as a foundational step in this direction ? Don't we envision our children being able to articulate the Faith and demonstrating to a crooked and perverse generation how the Word of God has the only right principles for individual, family, church, community, and civil behaviour? Maybe the home schooling movement is the revival we have been praying for.
We are actually people of victory, not defeat, are we not? We filled in the Certificate of Exemption form confident that we would win the Exemption. We took on home schooling confident that we could overcome all the hurdles and do a really good job. We stick at home schooling confident that it will provide spiritual and academic and social and character building benefits far superior to those represented by a School Certificate or Bursury. We write to MP's confident that we will not allow them to intimidate us nor force unwanted restrictions upon us. We are willing, for the sake of our children's futures, to do things we never would have dreamed ourselves doing a few years ago. We forget what lies behind and we strain forward to what lies ahead. In short, we too are concerned about serving God in more ways than just evangelism.
Brothers and Sisters, people of God: I get the sneaking suspicion that if an outsider were to study our lifestyles and then to categorize our views on the millennium according to what has been observed, none of us would qualify as Premillennialists!! Well, as for me, if the Lord comes this afternoon, I want to be found doing His will. If He doesn't come for another 700 years, I want to do all I can to ensure my descendants then are found doing His will and living in a world that reflects His standards more than does the present one.
From Keystone Magazine
May 1995 , Vol. 1 No. 2
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
email: craig@hef.org.nz
Here is a word that has taken a beating over the years, so much so that serious Christians are not sure they want to be tagged with this label. It began as a conservative theological movement among American Protestants early this century in opposition to "modernism" and other schools of thought, such as evolutionism, higher Biblical criticism and studies in comparative religions.The original idea was to protect the essential doctrines (the fundamentals) of the Christian faith from the eroding effects of modern thought. Such doctrines include the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection and deity of Christ, His substitutionary atonement, the Second Coming, and the authority and inerrancy of the Bible. The Fundamentals , a series of 12 small books published from 1910 to 1915, and financed by Lyman Stewart, a wealthy oilman of Southern California, were sent to some three million theological students and Christian workers. In 1920 Curtis Lee Laws and associates within the Northern (USA) Baptist Convention called themselves "The Fundamentalist Fellowship" partly in response to the rnessage of the books, and partly because they, as moderates, also felt the modernists were surrendering the "fundamentals" of the Gospel, namely, the sinful nature of man, his inability to be saved apart from God's grace, etc.
A more militant conservative voice was raised in 1923 with the formation of the Baptist Bible Union. They broadened their cause to fight against evolutionary teaching.
Among Presbyterians, the conservative position was championed by J. Gresham Machen of Princeton Theological Seminary. But the mainstream Presbyterian Church tried him for rebellion against superiors, and thus evolved the Orthodox Presbyterian and Bible Presbyterian denominations. At this time fundamentalism was known as a conservative theological movement made up of militants, moderates such as Laws and scholarly types such as Machen. Unfortunately, due to the tactics of certain leaders, the fundamentalist image eventually became stereotyped as closeminded, belligerent and separatistic.
In the 1950's a growing number of conservatives moved to dump the fundamentalist label for "new evangelical". Their hope was to preserve and defend the Biblical Gospel while maintaining intellectual respectability, social concern and a cooperative spirit. This movement, evangelicalism, has been largely successful and is considered the heir of the spirit and purpose of the original fundamentalists.
Today the media enjoy branding anyone who sticks to their convictions and refuses to indulge in the modern politically correct art of compromise as a "right-wing, militant, free market, fundamentalist, ignorant, religious bigot". So although our Christian roots may go deep into fundamentalism and our religious convictions closely parallel those of the original fundamentalists, we may choose to shun that label because of the way some unwise Christians, the media and the secular population at large have hijacked the term and twisted its original meaning. Since fundamentalism has also been attached to muslim and other religious terrorists, most of us are quite happy to be known as evangelicals.
As always, we need to be constantly endeavouring to conform ourselves and our children to the expectations of God's Word (which never changes) rather than to the expectations of men or of some man-made label (which does change). The term"fundamentalist" today tends to evoke a picture of someone ready to smash opposition and unilaterally set up his idea of the way things should be in order to save what is left of our society and culture. This is the same as a revolutionary. We will want our children to clearly know and understand that salvation is not by the revolution of men, but by the regeneration of God's Holy Spirit. Just like the leaders of the Reformation, we must be reformers rather than revolutionaries. We should reform ourselves first and then our families and then others as we have opportunity until we all conform to Christ.
Sadly, for all its history, the term "fundamentalist" today seems to convey more of the idea of a revolutionary than that of a reformer.
From Keystone Magazine
March 1995 , Vol. 1 No. 1
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
email: craig@hef.org.nz
Craig and Barbara Smith and their 8 home educated children and 3 Grandchildren: Genevieve (born 1980) and Pete (married 2008 with Natalie 2008 and...); Zachariah (1981) and Megan (married 2005 with Cheyenh 2007 and Dusti 2009); Alanson (1984); Charmagne (1987); Jeremiah (born Mitchell 1992 and now adopted); Jedediah (born 1997 and now adopted); Kaitlyn (born 2000 and now adopted); Grace (born 2005 guardianship).
We use a Biblical/Hebrew/Classical approach to our home education.
Stumble It!
