(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

Just letting anyone know who might be interested that I am changing my website domain name.  Homeschoolbiblestudies.com will still work after I make the changes, but my site is temporarily down until I can get it all working again. 

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

http://www.chalcedon.edu/articles/article.php?ArticleID=111

Read this and think about how important Christian families raising Christian kids to be Christian adults are.  Wow.

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

Well, the last two weeks have been a blur. I was at the Maranatha Bible Camp last week, leading worship, doing lots of video and photography, and generally having a great time with the 5th- 6th grade campers from our Church. Jenette and I have led worship many times with many kids, but these kids really were excited about worshipping God. We were both overwhelmed at just the sheer volume of the kids as we sang "I Belong to a Mighty God." I told Jenette that this camp had some of the most "singin'est" kids we had been around in a long time.

It was truly a blessing and a privilege to be involved with the camp. This week, I finished recording the music and my voice on a practice CD for our VBS program. I have also finished two DVD projects that I needed to finish, and have done many other things that I have already forgotten.

Being at the camp for two weeks in a row reminded me that perhaps one of the greatest enemies of pursuing a relationship with God is the busyness of our culture. At camp, with few distractions and the time to really think about the Lord and His Word, kids really are impacted by how wonderful God is and how powerful His Word is.

Since I have come back from camp and have been busy again doing everything I am supposed to be doing, it has left me with at least a small sense of grief. In my mind, I can see the faces of the kids at camp: worshipping, memorizing the Bible, and carefully listening to Bible teaching. I can also see the same kids coming home and watching incredibly stupid TV shows for hours on end on the Disney Channel. Someone once said that stuff like that was "chewing gum for the eyes." Alas.

I spent some time today talking to one of my dear Christian brothers about grieving over the things that grieve God. Sometimes, it takes time away from the cultural whirlwind to recognize that some mourning might be in order. I think many urban Christians don't want to slow down long enough to grieve.

Someone also said that when it comes to kids, "he who spends the most time wins." Whether its the TV or the friends or the parents, time is the key to teaching kids, training kids, loving kids, and raising them to be a Godly generation. Check out my next post to read an article about why generational Christianity is dying in our world.

Thinking about all this led me to play spades with the boys tonight, even though it was late. We had a great time. Tomorrow we will spend some more time together.

Along all the other stuff going on this week, I have started to remake my website from homeschoolbiblestudies.com to studentbiblestudies.com. Both addresses will still work, but I am trying to appeal to a church youth ministry crowd as well. Plus, I'm not sure that most home schoolers are looking for the type of booklets I am offering. I think that perhaps Churches or parents that are doing some kind of small groups for their teens will find my books most helpful. We'll see.

I did get an order for 8 booklets from Maryland! How exciting that God could use my feeble attempts to write Bible studies for teens to glorify Himself through His Word to kids in Maryland! I've never been to Maryland! This kind of stuff excites me and makes me want to keep this little business going.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

Well, the title seems sort of random, and it is, but that's kind of where I'm at tonight.  Poor little Chucky the (un)lucky Ducky died last night.  He didn't get pecked or anything, so I don't really know what happened.  One of the kids gave him a cherry last night - maybe that killed him.  Of course, my tender hearted 7 year old daughter cried when she heard of Chucky's demise.  I have to say, it made me sad as well, partly because we tried so hard to keep him alive. 

Camp for the kids was a great success this last week - it was truly a privilege to minister to over 200 kids and the adults that came with them.  I did a lesson about Daniel 1 - particularly Daniel 1:8: 

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. (Daniel 1:8 ESV)

It is amazing that Daniel and his friends resolved not to defile themselves with the king's food and wine.  It is amazing to me because in this day, we seem to go out of our way to blend in with the culture instead of going against it.  Most Christians today are "thermometers" - they measure the culture and they adjust themselves to it.  Daniel and his friends were "thermostats." They let the standard of God's Word establish their baseline and they challenged the culture to rise up to that standard. 

I wanted to explain to these kids (3rd & 4th graders) what it meant to "defile" yourself.  I really struggled with this because I knew that this was very important, yet needed to be handled in a way the kids could deal with it.  So I talked about how, when I was that age, I wanted to be "cool" and fit in with my friends.  I "defiled" myself by talking the way they did, and I knew it was wrong. As I starting telling the kids how I "dirtied" myself with "dirty" words, I smeared chocolate pudding  all over myself.  I put it all over my shirt, my face, and even dumped the rest of the bowl on my head.

I went on to tell them how we all need the cleansing grace of God through Christ to clean up our dirtiness.  I used a red towel to wipe off my face to symbolize the blood of Christ.

I don't think those kids will ever eat pudding again without thinking about their lesson at camp.  Hopefully they will apply God's truth and follow the example of Daniel.

The kids and I shot off some fireworks tonight - what a great time with some great kids.  I truly pray that they will be Daniel-like "thermostats" in this wicked and decadent culture.

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

http://crosswalk.com/faith/pastors/1403903.html

I just did a lesson at Church a few weeks ago about the Trinity. I thought this posting was interesting and well written. I guess many Christians just don't see what all the fuss is about the Trinity. I think that is because many Christians don't really believe in taking God's Word for what it says. I'll post my lesson when I get back from camp.

I am in charge of our Church Camp for first grade through fourth grade this week. Great fun, but tiring. I am going to do a lesson for them about Daniel 1 - that Daniel and his friends resolved to not defile themselves with the king's food and wine.

Such a simple, yet profound example. They simply chose to honor God and keep themselves pure for His sake and His glory. If Christians today did that - if they applied that example, then surely the name of Christ would be more honored in this culture. I'll write more about the lesson after camp.

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

This morning was a rare morning at Church where I actually was able to hear the sermon.  Most Sundays I am teaching children's church during both services.  Occasionally I schedule others to take over so we can sit in the service. 

This morning BA was preaching about the 10 Commandments - kind of an introduction.  He really stuck to the first two verses of Exodus 20.

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Exodus 20:1-2 ESV

His basic point was that God's grace precedes God's Law.  God delivered the Israelites, then demanded obedience from them.  I thought this was an interesting idea, since many people think that the Old Testament shows the "God of Law" and the New Testament shows the "God of Love."

He also made the point that demanding obedience before offering deliverance is never God's way and only leads to failure.  God provided every possible want or need in the garden before Adam and Eve chose to rebel.  Romans 5 says while we were still God's enemies, Christ died for the ungodly.

This really made me think of so many Christians who want to force Christianity on a culture that really doesn't want to go that direction.  We can't begin with moralizing.  We have to begin with our own sinfulness and God's love for us through Christ. In fact, Jesus' most harsh and condemning words were reserved for the religious leaders of the day who practiced "God's Law" but did not want to be bothered with God's Love and Grace. 

I have been around some homeschoolers who wear their homeschooling like a Pharisaical mantle, demonstrating their great superiority over all the secular schmucks who send their kids to public school.  Oh, I wish they would go away!

As for me and my house, I want to obey and love God not to earn God's favor, but because He first loved me.  I think that there are many people who say they are "Christians" but have never acknowledged that they are sinners - the place to start in order to receive His grace.

BA also said that the 10 Commandments teach us how to love God and love others.  I really like that part.  The more we teach and preach the practical application of God's Truth, the better off we are!  I hope everyone was listening and thinking about ways to apply this great sermon.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14 ESV

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

Read the story in my last posting, or check out http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061410.html. Now this is profoundly disturbing, although not that surprising. I truly admire the pluck of Mr. Parker, who has taken a stand for righteous values (I don't know if he is a Christian or not, but there is something that is motivating him.) 

It is sad and disturbing that the vengeance was taken out on a 7 year old boy by other kids.  My stomach churned when I first heard about this.  I hope for his sake that the Parker family would consider homeschooling.  When I heard about this, I couldn't help but think about our little backyard barnyard and Chucky the Lucky Ducky.

Chucky was given to us by a good friend, a Godly public school science teacher who attempted to hatch some duck eggs in his classroom incubator.  During the time of the incubation, one of the ornery kids purposefully cranked up the heat on the machine, and all the eggs were "cooked" except for little Chucky's.

A little background here:  we already had two hens and one duck - the only survivors at our attempts to raise around thirty or so birds in the last two years.  Now the hens don't like anybody.  They have pecked some of the other chicks and ducks mercilessly when they are shut up at night in their little shed.

When we got Chucky, the girls were so happy because our other duck (the kids named her "Pipsqueak" for the funny noises she makes) was lonely and had no duck "friends."  In fact, the night after all of Pipsqueak's "friends" got eaten by some critter or other, the girls cried not for the lost of the many, but for the loneliness of the one.  (It was sweet, but pathetic!)

Well, Chucky started following Pipsqueak around like a baby duck follows her mama.  But when we would put them in the shed at night, poor Chucky kept on getting pecked.  I don't understand chicken sociology too much, but they are very much into a strict social order.  Meaning, the only ones in the club are the ones in the club; everyone else is subject to a pecking.  And so the barnyard "pecking order" is firmly established.

About two weeks ago, I went out one morning to find poor little Chucky on the floor of the shed, covered with blood and gasping for life.  I didn't pick him up, because I thought it wouldn't do any good.  He had violated the order and he paid for it with a pecking.  One way or the other, he wouldn't ever do it again. 

Well, Chucky is still alive, but he is scarred and ugly.  One eye is gone, and his whole head is just one ugly scar.  He is definitely not as cute as he used to be. 

I think the analogies between Chucky and that little boy are profound.  The only solution I had was to separate the poor little duck completely from his evil tormentors.  Think about it.

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

By John-Henry Westen and John Jalsevac

LEXINGTON, Massachusetts, June 14, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On May 17—the two-year anniversary of same-sex "marriage" in Massachusetts—the first-grade son of a prominent pro-family advocate was dragged and beaten behind the Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington during recess, receiving multiple blows to the chest, stomach, and genital area.

Jacob Parker, the 7-year-old who was attacked, is the son of David Parker.  LifeSiteNews.com readers will recall that David Parker objected to homosexual curriculum in his son's kindergarten class.  At a meeting with the principal of the school last year Parker requested that the school inform him of when homosexual discussions would take place, so he could exclude his son from the activity. The principal refused and Parker said he would not leave until his request was granted. School administration called the police and had Parker charged with trespassing. (see coverage: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/apr/05042910.html)

Brian Camenker the President of MassResistance, a pro-family group, that has worked with Parker to have the rights of parents in Massachusetts respected told LifeSitenews.com that the school system has since continued to refuse to notify parents of such material being presented in class. On April 27, 2006, Parker, his wife, and another family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the school system.

LifeSiteNews.com spoke with Mr. Parker about the incident. 

According to Mr. Parker, school authorities determined from an investigation into the assault that the beating was indeed planned and premeditated.

Mr. Parker described the incident at the school saying: "During the recess period, a group of 8-10 kids suddenly surrounded Jacob and grabbed him. He was taken around the corner of the school building out of sight of the patrolling aides, with the taunting and encouragement of other kids. Jacob was then positioned against the wall for what appeared to be a well planned and coordinated assault.”

Parker told LifeSiteNews.com, his son related that one student in particular performed the actual physical assault while, “many children stood, watched silently, and did nothing as the beating commenced.”

Parker added: "The group of kids surrounded Jacob and he was beaten and punched. Then, as he fell to the ground, another child was heard saying to the group of children, 'Now you all can finish him off,' and as he was down on his hands and knees, the beating continued on his back. Then, fortunately, one little girl ran to contact the oblivious playground aides to stop it.

"Four of the attackers were from Jacob's first-grade class; the others were from other classes at Estabrook.

"The teachers' aide apparently determined that since she could not see external bleeding, and since Jacob apparently was not hit in the face, she did not send him to she school nurse."

The family was immediately notified of the incident.

Speaking to LifeSiteNews.com, Parker speculated that the cause of the attack was most likely what he called “displaced aggression.” “If children hear venomous things from their parents, the children do internalize this,” he said.

“I certainly don’t want to vilify the children in this,” he said. “We understand that skirmishes happen on the playground. It’s taking the child around out of view of the aides, and the number of children that stood around watching that concerns us.”

Parker noted that his conflict with the school over homosexuality is well known among the students.  "We are aware that the school administration sent notices home with all the young children concerning the Parker arrest, the 'King and King' incident and the federal lawsuit," he said. “They must know that the children read them.”

He pointed out that the date of the attack--the two year aniversary of same-sex "marriage" in Massachusetts--cannot be a coincidence.

The topic of Parker's beliefs has become so widespread among the students that Jacob says he overheard his fellow classmates ruminating that perhaps their current principle—who has resigned her position to take up a job elsewhere—was leaving the job because of Jacob’s father. Members of the community itself have organized public demonstrations specifically against Parker, in which their children have taken part. One of these demonstrations is pictured on the right and below. (photos courtesy of MassResistance.com) While prominently displayed in the student library are the back issues of the Lexington Minuteman that specifically deal with Parker’s case, for the children to read.

“We’re trying to be patient and tolerant," said Parker when asked if he was considering pulling his son out of the school. "We’re trying to hang on to the notion that the schools are for every child and for everyone. I don’t feel that we should have to leave for an injustice.”

But he added that “There are limits to how much patience we can have. I certainly understand why more and more parents are pulling their children out of public schools.”

Ironically, the school prides itself on its long-time involvement in various "Safe School" programs, which are geared to creating school environments "safe" for students who are homosexual.

Parker asked, "Isn't the school supposed to be addressing safety and preventing bullying and violence? Or are such programs only focused on children with homosexual parents? You can be certain that if this happened to a child with homosexual parents more would be made of this and that 'lessons' teaching tolerance and diversity of homosexual behavior normalization would be forced upon the young children."

The school and larger community are deeply divided over the Parker's stand against pro-homosexual indoctrination.  A group has been formed in Lexington to counter Parker's efforts.  The 'Lexington Cares' group maintains an anti-Parker website and has conducted anti-Parker letter writing campaigns and demonstrations. 

Calls to Estabrook school were not returned by press time.

To express your concern to Estabrook school contact:

Estabrook School
117 Grove Street
Lexington, MA
02420 USA

Email Principal Joni Jay: jjay@sch.ci.lexington.ma.us

Phone: (781)861-2520 
Fax: (781)862-5610 

Story URL:  http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061410.html

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

I am distressed at the recent number of Christian writers and popular speakers who are convinced that they need to compel us to "love ourselves" before we can love others.  One popular author wrote:

Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself. That last part about loving yourself is commonly overlooked. It's generally thought that self-love is a given, but this is not the case at all, especially for Christians. Most Christians I know, myself included, are so steeped in guilt that it is impossible for them to love themselves.  http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/devarchive.aspx?ARCHIVEID=1656

 

I think I understand what he was trying to get at, but the bottom line is that Scripture must be interpreted with Scripture.  Although many love to use Jesus words (out of context) in Matthew 22 as in the example above, Jesus also said this:

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?  (Matthew 16:24-26 ESV)

I could blog all night long and not say it any better than Jesus.  He said clearly that in order to come after him (to love him with all our heart...) we have to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him.  If we don't quite understand, we need only to look at the Lord Himself, who willingly gave up the glories of heaven in exchange for the muck and filth of sinful people. 

The reason why "it's generally thought that self-love is a given" is because...it is a given!  Jesus said we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  We are to care for them, help them, and meet their needs just like we would do for ourselves without even thinking too much about it.

I would turn the last statement in the quote above totally around.  Most Christians I know, myself included, are so steeped in self-love that it is impossible for them to acknowledge their guilt before God.  Get me to love myself and look to my own needs first?  That's easy.  Get me to deny myself and follow God's plan for my life instead of my own?  That's much, much harder.

I tell my boys almost every single day (and my girls too, as they are now getting old enough to understand), "it's not about you."  I have to tell myself every day, "it's not about you."

I think that you cannot qualify to be a God honoring dad if you put your own selfish desires over the needs of others, including your own family.  I know several so called "Christian" dads who skipped out on their wives and kids because, they said, "God wants me to be happy."  There's not too many people on this planet that I would just love to kick really hard, but those guys are on the short list. 

Maybe we should spend more time reading and applying God's truth in our families instead of listening to all the feel-good psychobabble.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:4-8 ESV)

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17 ESV

Last night I was completely drained from doing video editing all day long for some missionaries who are doing video presentations at our church camp.  My head was still swimming with everything about Laos. The boys and I have kind of a tradition of doing "guy stuff" on Monday nights.  It was a beautiful night, so we all stayed outside and the girls caught fireflies while the boys were whacking them out of the air with their lightsabers.  It made a really impressive "sparkling" effect.  It gave me my second wind.  I greatly enjoyed watching the kids (girls catching, boys killing) interact with the fireflies. 

Anyway, after we came inside and I put the girls to bed, (Jenette was out with her lady friends!) the boys and I played a game of spades.  At about 12:30 AM or so, I had a sudden realization and shared it with the boys. I said, "you know, we wouldn't be able to do this every Monday night if you guys went to public school."  Jason looked at me with his funny look as he pondered my statement.  Jon went on gloating about his and Joel's imminent victory in the card game, and Joel, the oldest and most analytical, said, "that's right, we wouldn't." 

Joel continued (he is the source of most information for the other boys): "if we went to school, we would have to get up very early to catch the bus on Tuesday, so we wouldn't ever stay up late on Monday night."

Perspective comes to kids in the most interesting times and ways. Mine came in realizing that I wouldn't be able to share these times with the boys without the blessing of homeschooling. 

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,  making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. - Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV