The Lord has blessed my life with 'little treasures' that I can cast my eyes upon each day. Along with this He, through His Spirit, provides 'little treasures' of wisdom and understanding all the way down to conviction and hard times. What a blessing for all of God's 'little treasures'. ~Isaiah 2:7~ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sun, 9 Mar 2008 18:45:00 -0500 Sun, 9 Mar 2008 18:45:00 -0500 The news about these judges attempting to make laws for the parents of California is frustrating.  I can’t say that I didn’t see it coming, because I think many of us have for awhile.  We have seen more and more power given to judges, which set the clocks for the time in which the state believes it has the power to take over guardianship of our own flesh and blood.   I pray that a miracle will happen and God will overturn the devastation that is falling upon parents in California.  I am not only talking to the parents who have chosen to educate their own children, but those who are against homeschooling too.  This infringement on all people’s freedoms hurts everyone.  What these judges are saying is that… ‘ It doesn’t matter how much good we are seeing from homeschooling, because you go against what I believe personally, I am going to stop it and conform you to the institution (government school)'.  I got to thinking about this issue and two things came to mind, as I pondered... what if it came to me having my children taken away. The first was, that if by law we had to send our children to the government institution i.e. school, then I would want a personal investigation on every single person that will come into contact with my child at these institutions.  If homeschoolers are looked at, investigated and brought to court, then I expect full disclosure on each teacher my child is taught by, each principal, each counselor and so on.  They must give a history of their beliefs, where they lived growing up, and their education – including transcripts from high school, college and so forth.  Any other job they are employed in or were employed in the past.  They must tell if they are divorced, how many children they have, what job their spouse has, etcetera.  Any crimes committed, even in college, must be disclosed.  Oh, if the table was turned on institution teachers, principals, counselors and so forth wouldn’t that be an outrage.  But when homeschoolers go through this kind of unconstitutional harassment, we see the NEA rooting them on (did you know this is what they were fighting for in their last conference?) and institution hierarchy silently smirking inside.  I’m tired of hearing teachers cheering on children, saying they are special and great and can be anything they want to be.  DOn't get me wrong that is all fine and good, if that is what they truely meant.   What they really mean is, ‘as long as you conform to what we believe is right’.  I was told by a grade school teacher that when a child in her class said that she wanted to be a mother and a homemaker, she discouraged her from that.  In fact the teacher said she thought it was so said that this was the ambition of the girl because she wrote so well.  See in our society, raising our children means you are nothing.  It means that you are not giving the world all that you could be.  It is devalued.  If you believe differently, well then the government must come in and take over!  I guess when the liberties are taken away from everyone (personally) then people might realize how wrong they were in advocating for the removal of another fellow Americans liberties! Chew on that awhile. The other interesting implication that this ruling says to all Americans is this… The high school diploma that you received means nothing!  The childhood you lost in a chair and desk, five days a week, for about 13 years (roughly that equates to over 16,000 hours)!  Of course we know that this amount (in future years) will go up with the number of children being shipped to preschool at the ripe old age of 2.  Our ‘holiday family’ newsletters say it the best… ‘We are so proud that little Bobby has begun to read at the age of 3’!   I’d like to see the ‘family newsletter’ – years later that will let us know if he’s still a reader at 33, and I don’t mean that he can read, but enjoys it and does it in his leisure time??  But, I digress… diploma, diploma, that’s where we were at.  Why such hostility, you say?  How absurd!  Yes, if you are looking at my statement through lenses of someone who needed it to further their education at the college level, then the diploma was very necessary.  But I am not speaking of that… colleges can make any stipulations and criteria required, just as a business can set up their own requirements to employ someone.  What I would like to reason through (let’s try to critically think- shall we) – is that if all those years spent and giving our lives to the institution called school, was suppose to give us an education at a senior grade level (hence receiving a diploma)… why is it that a parent who received that level of education, can not then in turn teach it to their own children???  Because we have set these stipulations in the institution, is not a good answer.  Come on America, if we are devoting all of our childhood years to education, should we not (if passing the stipulations set on us) be able enough to then in turn teach what we ourselves have learned????  If we can not, then that says volumes about the education that we receive.  Making my point at it being pointless!!! Well, the fact of the matter is that for some twenty years homeschoolers have done a marvelous job at giving an education to their children. Where the children are involved in the world around them (not just their own peer group), they are given the allowance to follow the leading or bend in which they were made, specially and specifically.  What I mean by that, is if a specific child learns audibly that is how they are taught, if it is kinesthetically then that is how those children are taught.  Yet, teaching does not stop there.  If a child is constantly daydreaming and coming up with inventions in his mind, they are not told they are lazy and a daydreamer, stay after school.  But are encouraged to draw this invention in their mind and then design it.  They then, can explore reasons for its usefulness and how it could be developed better.  This only comes from tutorial teaching.  No institution teacher has the time to devote personal time to each individual student or would want to for that matter.  Parents do.  The results have been breath taking.  Just ask college recruiters.  So, why the hostility… why the bad press… why the constant harping on something that is beginning to do something that the institution can not – which is to give a worthy education to the children??  Could it be that anything going against the huge governmental machine, will not be liked and will be stopped?  Could it be that these homeschooling parents are actually teaching their children how to think critically and logically and are not conforming to being spoon fed what they are to teach and how to teach it?  Could it be that these parents are looking to primary resources in teaching American history and realizing how Christianity really is how our nations founding began; while the institution is stripping anything Christian from the textbooks in their tenth edition of revising the revisions from five years ago and two years before that and three years before that and so forth (how much can American history change~ we are not that old of a nation)?  Could it be that people are jealous when they hear the accomplishments of homeschoolers?  Could it be they believe that anything Christian needs to be stopped? Well, again we see the masses not even outraged that judges would begin making their own laws!!  Because not many know that this is not the job of a judge, again we have lost the ability to reason and think critically.  Or maybe the reason is that, since it could become a law that they are happy about, then giving up this liberty doesn’t seem worth the fight!  Long gone are the days that Americans are free.  We are told when to come, when to go, where to go, what to do and we march in a hypnotized state of not being able to do one thing on our own, without the government telling us how to do it, or giving us a hand out because we can’t do it by our own sweat of our brow.  Heaven forbid we work and work hard.  Give me the hand out is what we scream.  While the great machine says, ‘It’ll cost you.’  We don’t care, we only care about instant gratification, we don’t care about the future, what does the future have to look forward to anyway?  Oh yeah that’s right, a life lived in an institution. Yippee. So, again I say… your diploma means nothing if the education you were supposed to have received, can not, in turn be taught to the coming generations.  If we are so stupid that we cannot, without the government telling us, teach what we were taught ~ then we are in a sad state of affairs!   Think this through, if it was something that you learned ~ then you learned it!  If you have learned it, you should be able to teach it!  I admit sometimes we need a refresher, but if you can read and process or comprehend what it was you read, then you can teach!  Again, homeschoolers are proving that.  These California judges have some gall.  This is an absolute outrage that we have let them have this kind of power!  We live in America for goodness sakes – or so we thought.  America, land of the free and home of the brave… is a false statement.  We are a land of the cowards who bow and do what we are told.  We were supposed to have the government doing what we have asked of them.  Not them telling us how we are to live our lives.  That is not freedom – there is no liberty in that.  We have got to strip from the minds of everyday people, that they are nothing if they don’t have a piece of paper telling them who they are!  Because how many people can attest to that piece of paper not being enough anyway?   What do you think? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/495577/ Sun, 9 Mar 2008 18:45:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/495577/ Work while you work, play while you play. That is the way to be cheerful all day. All that you do, do with your might. Things done in halves are never done right. One thing each time and that done well      is a very good rule as many can tell. Moments are useless trifled away; so      work while you work and play while you play.                                     ~M.A. Stodart And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord.  Colossians 3:23 The last few weeks it has become apparent the need to raise men.  Being that I am not one, I run into a problem.  And being that I was blessed with three boys, the problem remains.  So, do I throw up my hands and say, 'Let there Father deal with this issue!'  In some ways yes, in others no.  I am important because I can (even though a girl) still guide them to understand what kind of husbands they need to be, what kind of workers they need to be and even tips on being a good fathers and most of all devoted to the Lord.  This pressing on my heart started with the research I was doing on William Tyndale last month.  I used the book, 'Ten Boys Who Make A Difference' by Irene Howat.  As I looked at the title ~ I thought, 'That's what is important.'  Living life for Christ and learning the things that He would want us to learn.  So, here again comes many character studies and digging into God's Word for this guidance.  I also had purchased some books and have begun to dig into them.  Here is my list: Future Men  ~  by Douglas Wilson Created for Work  ~ by Bob Schultz  (the poem up above came from this book~ it is a fun one for boys or girls to memorize) Life Skills for Kids  ~ Christine Field I also have an audio series called... Building a Family that will Stand from Vision Forum     which includes lessons such as  Back to Patriarchy: returning to Responsibility Shepherding your child's heart Preparing sons for Marriage and Life Purpose Biblical Manhood: Revival or Revivalism? As I learn key lessons that the Spirit makes known, I will teach them to the boys.  Lately, we have been focusing on work and play.  I expect work to get done first (chores/lessons) and then when that is correctly completed, play is fine.  What I had been running into was work that was done poorly.  The mentality was to get it done as fast as possible, so play could begin.  I talked to them about when they have their own jobs and do it poorly, could result in loosing a job and not being able to provide for their family.  That is real life, and real lessons.  It was a beginning of preparing them for what they could become one day.  My two-fold question lately has been and probably will continue to be... "What kind of man do you want to become - what man does God want you to become?"  It will be exciting to watch them continue to mature and grow. What a blessing to have the opportunity to share such vital teachings to them.  This is something that will continue and continue, even when they are married and have a family of their own.  Our lessons and work we do each day (as teaching mama's) is important, but helping these precious boys to become biblical men is exciting when looking at the big picture.  God is going to use each one of these boys to make a difference, for God's glory!!  We may not know how yet, but they were created for God's own glory.  That is exciting ~ don't you think?  I pray that God continues to keep this fire burning in me and that He would help me to be a godly example of a mother and wife before my boys (oh, that is a mighty prayer!!!).  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/487006/ Sun, 24 Feb 2008 17:45:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/487006/ My youngest son (3) and I were making chocolate chip cookies together the other day.  I said to him, "Just think, if you help me all these years to make cookies, you will be able to make cookies for your wife and kids when you grow up."  He said, "I'm not gonna have a wife."  I asked, "Why not?"  He said with all sincerity, "Because I have you." Oh, how sweet!  I grabbed him and smothered him with kisses while he giggled. I'll have to remind him of his comment in about 20 years. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/472097/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:56:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/472097/ Hi everyone~ it has been too long since I last blogged.... but.... as my friend, Mandi over at Under His Construction was moving from Idaho to Washington our own family was moving from Washington to Idaho.  I guess our families decided to do a switcher-roo.  Anyway, we are moved out to my husbands farm and loving every blustery minute of it!!  We have been getting back into the swing of lessons again and are enjoying the space and freedom that the country brings!!!  I am looking forward to hearing from all of you again and have missed seeing all that is going on in your own homeschool lives.  I look forward to dropping by and seeing all that I have missed these last few months on your blog spots! ~Jen~ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/472089/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:39:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/472089/ “There are television sets in every home, every restaurant, every hotel room, every shopping mall—now they’re even small enough to carry in your pocket like electronic rosaries. It is an unquestioned part of everyday life. Kneeling before the cathode ray God, with our TV Guide concordance in hand, we maintain the illusion of choice by flipping channels (chapters and verses). It doesn’t matter what is flashing on the screen—all that’s important is that the TV stays on.” Anton Szandor LaVey, “The Satanic Bible”, p. 84 “Many of you have already read my writings identifying TV as the new God. There is a little thing I neglected to mention up until now—television is the major mainstream infiltration of the New Satanic religion.” “The TV set, or Satanic family altar, has grown more elaborate since the early 50s, from the tiny, fuzzy screen to huge ‘entertainment centers’ covering entire walls with several TV monitors. What started as an innocent respite from everyday life has become in itself a replacement for real life for millions, a major religion of the masses.” Anton Szandor LaVey, “The Devil’s Notebook”, p. 86 “Instead of obeying the holy bible, right or wrong, TV advertising now instructs what to buy and what not to buy. Atheism wasn’t tolerated when scriptural dictates were in fashion and accepted as the Word. Now, thanks to Satanic infiltration, it’s safe to say, ‘I don’t believe in God.’ But modern heresy—not conforming to a television lifestyle, not accepting television truths—is liable to be punished with as much righteous enthusiasm as ever.” Anton Szandor LaVey, “The Devil’s Notebook”, p. 86 I find this very interesting and so true.  It is unfortunate that he would feel the need to worship satan, but he is very truthful in what he has said.  Scary.  We are a country that does what we are told without question (giving up~little by little~ our liberty).  And, yes, Satan has used it as a major tool in so many negative ways. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/455489/ Fri, 4 Jan 2008 14:58:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/455489/ My final on this LOOONG topic.  So, let’s get into the heart of the question.  Remember when we dug into John 16:7-11 it told us that the Counselor will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.  Upon further study we need to ask ourselves a question.  Why should the ‘Spirit’ go all over the world working to give the good news of the gospel if we don’t need to make a decision before we die?  Why, waste time and energy when it could be done all at once in heaven? More importantly, why the need for Jesus to even come? Jesus spoke many times on hell.  Why?  There is a very interesting statement that Jesus spoke on the ‘Sermon on the Mount’.  He spoke that few would get to heaven and many would go to hell.  In Matthew 7:13-14 he said, ‘Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.’ If ‘good people’ make it to heaven and not hell, why didn’t Jesus say that?  If we all go to a ‘learning ground’ as Mormons believe or to ‘purgatory’ as Catholics believe; once we die and ‘many’ eventually get to heaven and not hell, then why did Jesus say it backwards?  Or in other words, LIE.  Why did he specifically say that ‘few’ were going to life and ‘many’ were going to destruction?  The Greek word for ‘destruction’ is apoleia which means: destruction, ruin, waste or perish.  Another scripture which uses the word apoleia  is used in Revelation 17:8 which says, ‘The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction.’ Could it be that Jesus was speaking exactly what he meant and that many would go to hell and few would go to heaven?  This is not God being unfair, but man distorting scripture and turning it into something they can achieve.  Like I said, every world religion (even some ‘Christian’ denominations) believes that ‘works’ is involved to gain salvation.  That would be a majority or ‘many’.  While on the other hand, born again Christians who know they could never do anything good enough and rely completely on Christ for their salvation, are a definite minority, ‘few’. This is hard for many to hear.  Before I was a Christian, I did not want to hear any type of ‘truth’ that interfered with what I believed, but bringing out scripture and asking many questions in a loving way will hopefully get them thinking (maybe not right then, but later) or start a nice dialog of explaining why Jesus is our only hope.  The finality and narrowness of Scripture offends many, but Jesus did say to enter through the ‘narrow’ gate.  Jesus did not mince words when it came to the finality of death.  Jesus said in Luke 11:23 ‘He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.’  We have many religions that differ with Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14, so according to Luke 11:23 they are against Him.  Unfortunately many in false religions or teachings do not realize that they are against Jesus.  We need to lovingly show them this.  Truth is always narrow.  But, anything besides the truth is always… false. It is interesting because right after Jesus tells the people that finding ‘life’ is narrow and going to ‘destruction’ is broad or wide; He immediately tells them and us as we read Matthew 7:15-27 to ‘watch out for false prophets’. The next question would be for those who do not believe that we need to make our eternal decisions before we die… ‘why would he warn us about false prophets if we will learn the ‘truth’ once we die’?  And further more, why didn’t He reassure us, that even if we follow false teachings, we will hear the truth when we die?  Jesus says, in Matthew 7:22-23, Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Those are hefty words for those who say they know Jesus.  What we see here is that ‘many’ may say that they know the ‘true’ Jesus, but they really did not.  This proving once again that ‘truth’ is very important no matter what.  Another thing I notice, that I might ask is, ‘why did Jesus say away from me?’  Why did He not say… ‘Away from me, until you learn the truth’?  We see a defining point for MANY.  In fact we see confusion from the ‘MANY’.  They thought they knew the true Jesus.  We have many teachings on Jesus.  We have the new age version of ‘Christ consciousness’.  We have the Jesus of Mormon’s ~ which is not only a created being but also Lucifer’s half brother.  Many believe that Jesus was a good teacher, Islam believes He was a good prophet, but only Christians believe that He is the Creator; God with us – Emmanuel; the Glorious Savior of all mankind, in other words God!  These are some major differences.  We can not all be right. So what and who we believe in is vitally important!  Universal truth comes from God and cannot be subjective truth, or opinion by experience.  We can’t go by feelings when it comes to eternal matters, we must go by what God has said!  The Bible becomes vital in your witnessing.  It is the lifeline! In Matthew 7:22-23 when Jesus says he never knew them; that means all those prayers sent to ‘their Jesus’ was not going to the ‘true Jesus’.  Jesus already came and declared the truth, there are no new teachings that are needed.  We have the complete truth in the Bible.  We are warned by Paul in  2 Corinthians 11:4 to watch out for another Jesus, a different spirit and another gospel.  In fact all the way down to verse 15 Paul warns us about false Apostles.  Verses 14 and 15 also tells us of Satan masquerading as an angel of light.  In other words, Paul does not say that what someone (Joseph Smith)saw was not true, but that the message sent, if contradictory or different from what the original apostles (eye witnesses to Jesus) were proclaiming and teaching or what Jesus himself spoke, then to not follow them.  In fact in verse 3 Paul says that he is ‘afraid’ that just as Eve was deceived, so will others be deceived by the cunning serpent and be led astray from the pure Jesus.   Aren’t these great things to get an unbeliever to ponder.  And because we believe the whole Bible, nothing it says can go against what we believe.  What we are finding is that this ‘hard’ question posed to us… is something we can explain with Scripture and then pose other questions to the unbeliever, encouraging them to reason through scripture and praying that the Holy Spirit would open their heart to this truth!!  How exciting, but I’m not finished. What we find is that people do not want to talk or think about hell.  In fact many don’t even believe there is a hell and others wave their hand of it, saying that not many will go there.  In light of Scripture we have been pouring through, they should begin to question.  The next scripture is powerful.  I remember showing it to my sister once and I could see her get uncomfortable and read through it as though she had never seen it before. The verse is Luke 16:19-31.  We have heard some speak that Jesus was speaking a parable.  In fact that might be an excuse that the unbeliever brings to you.  I disagree.  Jesus was very specific as far as naming the name of Lazarus and also naming true people from history.  We don’t see this in other parables… it was always a ‘man, women, father’ and so forth.  We see ‘common nouns’ being used in all other parables and not ‘Proper nouns’ like in Luke 16: 19-3.  There are many things we learn about hell from this description, that Jesus gave us. First, the ‘crime’ that sent the ‘rich man’ to hell was being rich, greedy, and maybe mean.  Wow, does that fit today’s standard of who’s going to heaven or hell?  Today many tout the ‘good’ go to heaven and only evil murderers will go to hell.  In fact, many work and spend their lives trying to acquire wealth!  In, I would imagine, the same way that the ‘rich man’ did.  We see that God’s view of good and our view are polar opposites.  Jesus said, ‘No one is good – except God alone’ Luke 18:19.  It is also interesting that when the rich man died and was buried, the next words are… ‘in hell (or hades)’ verse 23.  This man sees, talks, remembers, can taste and feel the agony and terrible reality of hell.  He is not crying to God to save him, does not say ‘can’t wait until I do a million ‘hail Mary’s’ to get out of here’ – or – even ‘Boy, am I ready for my missionary to come and tell me the ‘real’ truth so I can get out of here’ -or- ‘can’t wait to be reincarnated into a butterfly.’  No, he knows this is final.  Abraham even explains that no one can cross back and forth through a chasm that is placed there. Sorry, no missionaries or anything else~ this is final!  The rich man does know that he doesn’t want his family to come to hell.  He asks that someone from the dead should warn his family.  Abraham explains that it won’t help.  God has already sent the truth.  Through the gospel being proclaimed, but more importantly the Holy Spirit opening the heart of the individual and impressing upon them the truth of the real Jesus and what He has done for them. Death does not bring about ones chance to change – it only solidifies what they have already chosen to believe. So, if you ever get asked this question, we know that God is a God of love and He is just and fair.  We know that He knows the hearts of all people and will know exactly what to do.  And if the person is using it to trap you, you have those answers and then scripture and questions to pose to them.  I know that what I’ve brought up only scratched the surface, but hopefully this will help for any of you who have run across this same question.    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/451569/ Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:23:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/451569/ “I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being. These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of the educational level—preschool day care or large state university. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new—the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism.”   John Dunphy, A Religion for a New Age, Humanist, Jan.-Feb. 1983, p. 26 (bold faced type added by me) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/448187/ Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:47:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/448187/ I wanted to take a moment and personally say a 'thank you' to all missionaries who do go out into the unknown and witness for Christ!!!  What a great calling you have.  So many martyr's have lost there lives throughout history because of their willingness to do what God has called them to do.  My children and I read through the 'Jesus Freak II' book last year.  It was an absolute blessing to be able to hear these stories and discuss the act of selflessness with my children.  I do pray that God will call at least one to be a missionary.  If not, I pray that they would realize what a great witness that they can be where ever God takes or places them. But again, I want to say that you missionaries that do 'go out' are thought of and prayed for!  Great is yor faithfullness and sacrifice!   May we (as a body of believers) learn and take these extraordinary virtues with us as we watch you! John 15:13-17 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last.  Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  This is my command: Love each other. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/443558/ Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:57:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/443558/ I thought I would post a quick overview of the last three blogs dealing with the topic of witnessing to those who pose the question, ‘what about those who have never even heard of Jesus before they die?’  I guess that I should first say, that some people may genuinely ask this question and some may be trying to trap you (which was the case my husband and I experienced).  Either way, here is a brief overview as to soem key points you should dig the Scriptures for, when you witness. (or read over my previous blogs dealing with this and note Scripture, cross reference and find additional scripture) 1.       God is fair and does no wrong 2.       God is loving and cares for us 3.       God knows what he is doing  (He has figured out when you would be born in HIS story and where you would be born, along with every other person in history) 4.       He shows NO favoritism 5.       He wants no one to perish 6.       If anyone seeks Him they WILL find Him 7.       Holy Spirit convicts the WORLD of sin, righteousness and judgment 8.       There is testimony of those ‘far off tribes’ who already were taught of a tri-une God, or were told of a white man (missionary) who would come and tell the gospel,  and many other interesting stories (proving God was not forgetting these precious people in isolated tribes!!)   My next blog will finish this question up.  I will be showing scripture that we need to put our faith in Jesus before we die.  Like I said before, this is the heart of the question, for some of the people you may talk to.  (Like it was with my sister and brother-in-law, who are Mormons.)  They believe that there is a ‘learning area’ for all of us who are not Mormons – to learn the truth.  This way we won’t go to hell.  They believe that not many will be in hell.  When my husband or I show great narrowness, with Christianity, it offends them and they have tried over and over to show, in a way, how unfair or narrow our belief is and how much better their belief is, because in a way it leaves an ‘out’ for those who have never heard of Jesus. The conversation my husband had went something like this:                 B-I-L: So, you believe that Jesus is the only way for people to go to heaven?                 HUSBAND: yes                 B-I-L: Well, what about those who have never heard of Jesus and die? My husband gave a response trying to explain that we need Christ, and vaguely said something like, ‘I believe that God is fair and makes the gospel known to those who will accept Him’.  My husbands response was never good enough and he did not have Scripture off the top of his head.  So, this question was asked over and over and over again.  While my husband answered in the same way, over and over and over again. It was evident that the response was not making sense to my b-i-l and he believed that he had trapped my husband.  My husband finally said, look you believe what you do and I believe what I do, we are only going to keep going in a circle, so let’s just end this conversation. It may never come up again.  But, I wanted to be prepared if God brings about the conversation again.  Also, I know that God brought about the truth to my sister and brother-in-law.  The Holy Spirit will reveal truth to them, when their hearts are ready. For those who wanted more of a ‘list’ on what to say when we witness to someone posing these types of questions; I hope the ‘above’ list helped.  I do have one more blog to bring a conclusion to this so, you’re list is not complete yet.  Join me for the next blog… Again, anyone who has a question or comment, I‘d love to hear from you!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/443532/ Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:50:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/443532/ OK we've established that God is compassionate and full of wisdom. How about the gospel being solely on man's shoulder's.  Is this true?  Not from what I read in scripture.  Is man a prominent instrument that God uses... you bet, but not the only way of bringing about salvation!  Do I think we should stop spreading the 'good news' and sending missionaries out?  No way, in fact our family has made the choice to be personally responsible for some missionaries and have been for a few years now! My family and I feel it is very important and scriptural to help send out those who have been called by God.  Was it a commission that Jesus said for us to continue to do? Yes, yes and yes again!  Does that mean that every single person is called to go to the far reaches of the world? No.  Once the twelve apostles told the good news and thousands of people were saved, did each saved individual leave their home and occupation to further the spread of the gospel?  No.  Some did, but not all.  The apostles did not give guilt trips saying that each young believer needed to serve for a certain number of years as a missionary.  The apostles did not teach this type of doctrine because they were not God and did not know each man's personal walk with the Lord and what the Lord called each individual to do.  There are times when someone will get a prophetic word from God to send someone out~ like we saw with Saul's conversion and the message God gave Ananias to give to Saul.  Please remember that it was not just Ananius coming to Saul, but the Lord had already spoke to Saul, personally also.(Saul was not simply taking the word of a man!) God is personally involved in each person and has placed each person in the exact spot they are to be!  So that is why I live in America right now.  That is why another person was born in Tibet.  Did he do this because He shows favortism?  No (See Acts 10:34 & Ephesians6:9)  Along with Romans 2:11 which states, 'For God does not show favortism.'   God did not say, ’I like Jennifer better than I like this person in Tibet; I know she will hear the gospel and ‘so and so’ born in Tibet won’t know how to reach me... yeah.’  In fact, He loves us all so much that He does not want anyone to be in hell.  He loves all His children, but He won't force them to believe and love Him or follow what He has said is 'truth'!  2 Peter 3:9... 'He is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.'  He wants us all to find salvation. How can that be if He places people in far off places that never hear of Jesus?  Isn't that God sentencing people to hell?  Well, we come across a few places in Scripture that sheds light on this very idea.  'For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men' Titus 2:11.  The word 'all' in Greek is pas, which means (this might shock some, but): all, any, every, the whole.  In other words, salvation has appeared to ALL!  How has the 'grace' of God appeared to all men?  Well, any way that He wants the message to be sent.  Remember that He is not willing that any would perish.  So He is going to make salvation or the 'need' for grace evident.    Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, 'He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.' Romans 1:20 says, 'For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.' Acts 17:26-27 says, 'From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them, and the exact places where they should live.  God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.'   This scripture is so powerful in many ways.  We see that God is very, very personally involved in our lives and has taken great care to place us in a specific time and place so that we will seek him!!!  Jesus said, 'Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.' Matthew 7:7  He did not say, may find, but WILL find. We see that the asker of this question only sees man as being the way to bring about salvation.  Yes, I'm not disagreeing that God does use man, but it is in every single instance that the Holy Spirit brings the understanding of eternal life.  The Counselor comes to each of us, the whole world, and helps us to realize that we need a Redeemer. Jesus said, in John 16:7-8, 'But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away.  Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:...'  Not only does Jesus tell us that it will be the Holy Spirit, the Counselor that convicts the world of sin, but also in regard to righteousness and judgment.  That sounds like the whole gospel message to me.  That we are sinful, we need to be righteous in order to stand before a holy God, otherwise we will face the same judgment that the 'prince of this world is already condemned to face' [see verses 9-11 of John 16] Also, in order for the Spirit to declare victory over judgment and the second death, Jesus had to die and defeat death, that is why Jesus said it was for our good that He was going away!!  So, when the great Counselor convicts the world, this would include the far reaches of India and the wild jungles of South America.  So here we see that the Holy Spirit makes known the FULL gospel of Jesus Christ. Like a friend said,"God wants to bless us by using us to bring others to Him but He does not rely on us. I am so thankful that He doesn't because I know myself and how unfaithful and unreliable I can be. I am glad He loves me more than to leave my eternity in the hands of another fallible individual with the same sin nature as my own." That is the whole point of grace, we have to humble ourselves to realize we can do nothing by way of salvation.  We may be the instrument He uses to help reach others with the gospel message, but the Spirit is the only one making what is being said, warm upon the heart and mind to gain 'eternal or holy' understanding.  God is so very beautiful and very literally in honor of ALL praise! This very thing is true of my conversion and loving realization of the need for a Redeemer!  As I look back I can see about six months of time that the Holy Spirit was bringing about 'heavenly minded' instances and using individuals to plant seeds in my heart to the gospel.  It was the summer of 2002 and my friend invited me and my oldest son to a 'Bible Man' show (which is an action hero for Christian children).  My son and I enjoyed ourselves, but I couldn't remember any 'message' being said, except one thing.  We left, and I remember in the car asking her, "What did they mean about receiving Jesus?"  I can just imagine now, my friend gasping inside, but she coolly and calmly explained the gospel message. I said something like, 'oh' and didn't mention another word about it.  Do I remember what she said? Nope!  At that moment did I even understand that I really needed Jesus? No, I did not.  Yet here, she gave the message to me and I had no clue what she was talking about.  I was 25 years old and lived in America where 80%+ claim to be Christians.  Looking back now, I see the Holy Spirit was there and bringing a beginning in understanding heavenly things, although I was by no means there.  It was different things like that which got me thinking and the Holy Spirit continued to work on me until I stood up one morning in a church I had never gone to before and gave my life to Christ.  This is interesting too.  The pastor gave the gospel message and then an invitation to receive Jesus.  I don't remember the message, I don't remember the prayer.  The only thing I understood was I had a desire to find truth and accept it.  When I got done praying I felt different inside, but honestly I was still very confused.  I understood only that I needed God, not fully understanding why~ yet.  Many would wonder if this was a conversion then?  I do too.  I was realizing the need to seek and ask for truth and I trusted that God would give it to me (Matt. 7:7).  In the few weeks that followed I devoured and went head long into the Bible and listening to pastors on the radio and prayed and went to a Bible teaching church.  I must have prayed 10 or more times for God to save me that first month.  It was finally becoming clear and I was understanding my need for a Savior.  Was my conversion at that church with that prayer?  I don't think so... I did not fully understand, although I did have the faith that Christ was helping me realize ‘eternal things’ that I never even knew before, specifically my failings (sin) and standing before a Holy God one day, who expected this perfection.  I wanted to understand and God knew that I was honestly seeking Him.  He helped bring about understanding in His own time. So when I read John 16:7-11 where Jesus tells us that the Counselor will come and 'convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment', I know that this scripture is true, because that is exactly what He did for me. Can we expect any less for anyone in another town or another part of the country, or a different continent and so forth?  Remember God does not show favoritism and He wants all to come to repentence. In Don Richardson's book 'Eternity in Their Hearts', comes from the scripture Ecclesiastes 3:11.  I do not have this book yet, but have heard many wonderful things.  Including this review from cristdot.org : Eternity in their Hearts: Startling Evidence of Belief in the One True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the World (non-fiction), by Don Richardson, examines various cultures and their histories as well as the amazing testimonies of missionaries to show that God has not been inactive amongst unreached peoples: to the contrary, God has left many of these peoples with aspects of their culture pointing to the need for redemption. Christ knows the hearts of all men.  When we witness to people who ask this question to us, we must realize that we can only speak truth to them.  I, in the last few blogs, have gone over questions to pose to them and Scripture that will help bring about truth, to any false teachings they are assuming or have been taught.  Ultimately, though, we have learned that it is the holy Spirit that is declaring and proclaming the truth to the hearts of ALL the World!!!  He will use us, but if they are not seeking the truth here in America, then it will not be any different speaking to someone in another country who is not seeking the truth either! Next, we will look at the question: ‘Do we need to know Christ before we die, in order to go to heaven?’  The reason for this next topic, is that the person who is doubting and asking the question, what about the person who never hears the name of Jesus?’ most likely is under the assumption that salvation is not needed before we die~ hence the point to ask the question and trying to prove Christianity wrong.  This is really the heart answering the question.  Especially since the mindset and teachings of so many different religions is that ‘we have time to decide for or against Christ after we die.’  How many times have we heard, ‘God would not send a ‘good’ person to hell!’ ?   I hope this all made sense!  Any comments, thoughts or questions feel free to comment!  This is definately a tough topic and one that can not be given a 5 minute answer.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/441715/ Sun, 9 Dec 2007 20:44:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/littletreasures/441715/