Home School

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Helping One of Our Contributors

Twenty years ago, I had the privilege of having my first article published in The Homeschool Digest. I was referred to them and it was suggested that I contact the company.  Submitting my article, I was not sure whether it would meet the criteria for what they were looking to publish in their monthly magazine. However, I received a gracious response and with a few edits, my article made me a published author.

A contributor and one of the editors of the magazine was none other than one of our contributors, Sony Elise. About a year after the article was published, our family moved to Michigan and we learned that we only lived about three miles from Sony and her family. Connections were made and our families were able to spend time together enjoying meals and Christian fellowship.

Twenty years later, Sony has been an encouragement to many and continues to do so with her words of encouragement on Truth in Grace. While her health does not permit her to do a great deal away from her home, she has about 25 years of professional editing experience behind her. She has her own editing business which has benefitted myself and J.L. Pattison, who is another contributor here.

Over the last 2 months, we have been working together on a collaboration that would help incorporate her editing and her love of good Christian material. With that, it is my privilege to introduce her new online bookstore, Sony Elise Christian Books.

Sony’s intentions are not to compete with Amazon or other major bookstores, but to offer a small selection of good reading material. Supporting her new business helps her to support herself and also helps to support Christian Indie authors who are self-published. Many large name companies will not publish many Christian authors because the author is unknown or because the message in their book is not acceptable in mainstream evangelicalism.

More books will be coming to the current selection, but I also encourage you to visit, like, and share her Facebook page. You will be helping a friend, a prayer warrior, and an encouraging sister.

Every blessing in Christian love and grace,

Mark Anthony

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Family Renewal – An Introduction

It is my privilege to introduce a fairly new ministry to the faithful readers here at Defending Contending. In 1999, our family first met Sis. Skeet Savage and her family which includes her daughter, Sony Elise and her son, Israel Wayne. Sis. Skeet is responsible for the writing ministries under the umbrella of Wisdom’s Gate Ministries. Down through the years, the ministry of Wisdom’s Gate has been a personal blessing to our family in so many ways.

In late 2013, the Lord graciously allowed the combined years of experience of writing, editing, and speaking to flourish into a new outreach entitled Family Renewal. Family Renewal is a ministry co-founded by Israel Wayne, his wife Brook, and Israel’s oldest sister, Sony Elise. The ministry is dedicated to family discipleship, teaching others how to defend their faith, and teaching the importance of a Biblical worldview.

Israel, Brook, and Sony Elise are all prolific writers and have been been a blessing to many down through their years of writing. In addition, Israel speaks throughout the year at various evangelical churches, homeschool conferences, and apologetics seminars.

questions-god-asks-promo
Recently, Israel had the privilege of seeing a new book published. This book, Questions God Asks: Unlocking The Wisdom of Eternity, would be a welcome addition to the library of every Christian home.

If you or anyone you know might be interested in having Israel speak at your church, men’s retreat, family camp, or for a Biblical Worldview or Apologetics conference, please contact Sis. Sony at (269) 282-6058 for further details or you may email them at Family Renewal Ministries.

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A Catechism for Babes, or, Little Ones

“There never was a man in the world without a creed. What is a creed? A creed is what you believe. What is a confession? It is a declaration of what you believe. That declaration may be oral or it may be committed to writing, but the creed is there either expressed or implied.”—B.H. Carrol

A Catechism for Babes, or, Little Ones, Suitable to their Capacity more than others have been Formerly,

1652 by H. Jessey, a servany of Jesus Christ

Prov. 22.6 Catechise or begin the child in his way, according to his 1capacitie: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

 2 Tim. 3.15. From 2infancy thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation.
 1Heb. mouth 2Gr. an infant

Q. Who made you?
A. God made me. (Psal. 100.3. Know that the Lord is God, he made us, and not we.)

Q. When did God make you?
A. God made me before I was born. (Psal. 139.13,16, next proof.)

Q. Where did God make you?
A. God made me in my Mother’s womb. (Job 31.15. Did not he that made me in the womb, make him?)

Q. Wherefore did God make you?
A. God made me that I should serve him. (Psal. 100.3. Serve the Lord, —he made us. Luke 1.74.)

Q. Must you not then learn to know God, that so you may rightly serve him?
A. Yea I must learn to know God. (See the first proof 1 Chro. 28.9: Know the God of thy Fathers.)

Q. When must you learn to know God?
A. I must learn to know God now, when I am but a child. (2 Tim. 3,14,15. Eccles. 12.1,2. Prov. 22.6. Remember now thy Creator. See the Title page.)

Q. How may you learn to know God?
A. I may learn to know God by his word, and by his workes. (Deut. 17.19. Psai. 91.7. 11.1 John 39.40. Rom. 1.19,20. He shall read it all the dayes of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God. The Heavens declare the glory of God. Psa. 19.1.

You are encouraged to read the complete catechism – and find many other excellent resources to build up your faith in Christ – right here.

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Once More – with Feeling! “Government Education is Evil!”

I know – our (unregenerate) children are to be sent into the world’s system of “education” to be salt and light; ignoring the context which tells us it is Christians – not unsaved children of Christians – who are to be godly influences in the culture.

EDIT – for clarification: I think that if children are converted and have a credible witness of saving faith, AND a desire to contend for the faith in a government school, that’s a fine decision for parents and the child to make. At some point, every Christian will enter into the world and must know how to live for the glory of God while participating in a worldly system that is hateful toward God. The MAIN point of this article and book and video is to warn parents that the government school system IS evil and not to be deceived nor ignorant about that. Our children are more valuable than saving money and their spiritual welfare is our highest priority in their lives.

I know – we all pay taxes for the government school and it would be dumb to not get any return on that money; ignoring the fact that government schools are moral agents that indoctrinate all children into a worldly, humanistic worldview that is hateful towards God.

All the while, we sit in silent defiance of God’s commands that we who are His train up our children in godliness, in the fear and admonition of our Lord – praying that they might be saved and that, regardless of anything else, He would be glorified by and in our service.

To help Christians understand what it as stake, here’s an 8 minute video and free 600 page ebook. May God have mercy on us!

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The noose tightens a little more.

While we’re all wrapped up in so many distractions, the noose around our necks has just tightened again.

Whether it’s the government raiding an Amish farm for selling raw milk, or the government inspecting lunches brought from the home of public school children to determine if the food is nutritional enough (and again), the government is slowly but consistently encroaching on how we live our lives.

But what about those who don’t drink raw milk or send their kids to government schools? Well, if you think the government’s desire to completely control its subjects (for our best interest of course) is limited to monitoring milk distribution and ensuring your children are eating nutritional lunches, then you are grossly ignorant of not only history, but what’s happening right now.

In Canada, the government is attempting to step inside the homes of its citizens who wish to educate their own children:

“Under Alberta’s new Education Act, homeschoolers and faith-based schools will not be permitted to teach that homosexual acts are sinful as part of their academic program, says the spokesperson for Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk.”

Read the sobering news article here.

One of the many reasons people choose to homeschool their children is to avoid the indoctrination of the Godless, socialist, behavioral engineering centers run by the government, but now the government has decided to take their forced indoctrination to the homeschoolers!

Little by little, step by step, the ominous dark clouds are forming. Anyone with even a cursory understanding of history recognizes where we’re headed. Are you prepared for the coming storm?

HT: Saved by Grace

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The Balance of Marriage and Ministry

Below is a link to an article I read that, along with the counsel of godly brethren, I have found very helpful at this stage in my Christian walk. For weeks, I have struggled with how to balance the various ministries I am part of with my duties as a husband and father. The author of this article really strikes to the heart of the matter. I pray that you find this as helpful as I have.

The Balance of Marriage and Ministry

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IndoctriNation

I just finished watching this movie. A gentle but forceful examination of the government school system in our country, revealing why it can not be reconciled with a Christian worldview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5s1xq-oxu0&feature=youtu.be

WACO, Texas, Oct. 12, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ — As the 2012 presidential race begins to draw public attention, a new film seeks to bring education to the forefront of public debate. ‘IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America,’ a documentary that explores the origins and social impact of America’s public school system, will be released on DVD October 18, followed by public screenings in select cities across the US. The controversial film has sparked debate among Christians and atheists over the roles of faith, and government in education.

Recent news coverage has highlighted the controversy of several presidential candidates who will seek to dismantle the US Department of Education if elected, a goal shared by Ronald Reagan but abandoned by the Republican Party in recent years.

“People are starting to wake up to the damaging effects of a government controlled education monopoly,” says ‘IndoctriNation‘ co-director, Colin Gunn, a Scotland-born filmmaker living in Texas. He continues, “We now are facing all these problems in America – high taxation, welfare dependency, government debt – and as Christians and conservatives we have to see we can’t solve those problems until we solve the public schooling problem.”

Gunn, a homeschool father of eight, asserts that school problems go much deeper than Federal involvement in education. Last summer, he took a road trip across the USA in a yellow school bus, along with co-director Joaquin Fernandez and the Gunn family, recording interviews for ‘IndoctriNation.’ He spoke with teachers, administrators, parents, evangelical leaders, and other whistleblowers who gave insight into the complex political, economic, and moral problems with America’s educational system.

‘IndoctriNation‘ has garnered support from Christian ministries and influential leaders. MOVIEGUIDE® founder, Dr. Ted Baehr, gives his endorsement, saying, “‘IndoctriNation‘ is an extremely important movie. Every church in America should show [it].”

“Every Christian parent with a child in a government school should see this,” says Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist and FOX News contributor.

John Taylor Gatto, former New York City and New York State Teacher of the Year, has long been an outspoken critic of government schools and is featured in the film. Gatto asks candidly, “Is there an idea more radical in the history of the human race than turning your children over to total strangers who you know nothing about, and having those strangers work on your child’s mind?”

Since a large majority of Christian children attend a public school, Gunn will seek to reach their families when the film is shown at screenings sponsored by churches and individuals who are concerned about the effects of public education on today’s youth.

Colin Gunn is an award-winning producer, director, and accomplished animator. Originally from Hamilton, Scotland, Gunn is now a US citizen and lives in Waco, Texas with his wife and eight children.

More information about the ‘IndoctriNation‘ film and public screenings can be found at www.indoctrinationmovie.com.

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Sermon of the week: “The Sufficiency of Scripture and the Gospel” by Paul Washer.

We who home educate, oppose youth ministries, believe Christians should dress modestly, etc. are often accused of believing this way of life makes one a Christian and makes one holy. And of course, we deny those baseless charges of “legalism” but nevertheless, the accusations are still hurled at us.

This is why I’m pleased to present this Thursday’s sermon of the week entitled The Sufficiency of Scripture and the Gospel. Paul Washer (a home education proponent and youth ministry abolitionist himself) proves that not everyone in this camp is a legalist, and to those in this camp who may tend to lean that way, he does for them in this sermon as he did for the lukewarm in his famous Shocking Sermon from 2003 (found here).

Paul Washer addresses the notion that these wonderful family oriented ideals (along with manners, modesty, etc.), albeit beautiful and virtuous and good, they in and of themselves do nothing to save a man’s soul. And he did this at a conference sponsored by the National Center for Family Integrated Churches.

This is classic Paul Washer.

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College conspiracy.

Many have lamented the perils of sending kids to liberal, anti-theist colleges (and rightly so), but the following video opposes sending kids to college for entirely different reasons (the same reasons John Stossel discusses in his article The College Scam). Even though these reasons are secular in nature, they’re still very eye-opening.

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Public Schools are criminal operations

From the Gunn Brothers – http://www.colingunn.com/ – comes a new film, Indoctrination.

Samuel Blumenfeld, former fan of public schools, is featured in this new film from Colin Gunn. I first became aware of Blumenfeld decades ago through this book. He is a firm advocate of God’s plan for children and is bold about sin.  In the film, Blumenfeld makes concise points of public school policy that clearly and explicitly classifies them as criminal operations. Watch the trailer and then support the film so more people will hear the Christian response to what started as an experiment. Something has gone horribly wrong.

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My thoughts on youth ministry and Vacation Bible School.

Summertime means BBQ, swimming pools, fireworks, and lemonade. But it also means sweltering heat, mosquitoes, and Vacation Bible School.

For many Christians this is the time of the year when they’re all abuzz about the wildly popular week-long evangelical event known as Vacation Bible School (commonly referred to by its acronym, VBS).

In terms of the high level of anticipation, collective excitement, Madison-Avenue-style marketing, and pulpit-driven hype, this event has vaulted in importance within Christendom to rival that of Christmas and Easter. If there are only three events on the Christian calendar that get highlighted every year, VBS is certainly one of them.

Because of Vacation Bible School’s prominence in the church, I wanted to take this opportunity to make some observations about this annual cultural Christian phenomenon and (by extension) youth ministry as a whole.

Before we begin, allow me to be brutally honest.

First let me say that it is no secret to the readers of this blog (and those who know me personally) that I am a youth ministry abolitionist. I am passionate about this subject and I’ve pulled no punches in my conversations and my treatises about it, but at the same time I do recognize that many involved in these types of ministries are well-meaning and have the best of intentions. Unfortunately, pure motives and best intentions do not excuse or justify the wholly destructive nature of the extra-biblical model of youth ministry (and VBS).

I also want to make it abundantly clear that I do not believe those engaging in various forms of youth ministry are in danger of Hell-fire because of their involvement or participation (for salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone). I also have dear Christian brothers who are involved in youth ministry (in fact one of them leads such a God honoring and holy life that I feel like a heathen next to him and despair that I will never reach his level of love, grace, and sanctification) and although I adamantly disagree with them on this subject, I can still have meaningful fellowship with them.

But I would appreciate the reciprocal consideration from youth ministry proponents regarding their misrepresenting and making a caricature out of those who oppose youth ministry (and those who encourage others to return to the biblical and traditional church model of raising and teaching children) as is so often done.

In their efforts to preserve youth ministry, critics of family integrated worship and family integrated churches (FICs) often defend their position by warning that proponents of family integration run the risk of becoming overbearingly patriarchal, Pharisaical, legalists who erroneously believe that worshiping together as a family ensures their children’s salvation, who refuse to evangelize anyone outside of their immediate family, and who place their family in higher regard than the Bride of Christ.

These are unfair depictions that I keep hearing levied against those who reject youth ministry for family based worship, yet these critics have failed to cite one example of these extreme wayward families they keep warning about (or claimed to have even met one).

Ironically, even though they reject the FIC model because they believe it has potential to be taken to extremes, youth ministry proponents overlook, make excuses for, or simply dismiss the problems inherent with youth ministry. These are not rare exceptions, they are very common and almost the standard. The mountain of dysfunctionality seen in so many youth groups can be cited (and many have been featured on this very blog) as well as the mind-numbing statistics that have proven the utter failure of youth ministry.

I have yet to become or meet even one of these types of families that youth ministry proponents keep warning that we have a great potential to become. Is it likely that there are some families out there who do fit that caricature? I’m sure there are, but these are the exception, whereas it seems to be the norm to see utter foolishness exhibited in youth ministries; so many of which resemble a scene out of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.

I sincerely do not write this missive (some would call it a tome) with the intention to cause division or create animosity among my brothers and sisters in the Lord. I pray that this is not received as derision, but as a thoughtful critique; prompting us to examine why we do what we do. It is meant to shed light on a practice that many promulgate without ever examining or even considering what the results (or ramifications) are. I also hope that this will serve as a clarion call for readers to eventually abandon this practice and return to the biblical model of raising and teaching our children in the Lord. But to those who do not, I will still love you, still fellowship with you, and still consider you my brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Continue reading →

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The Invention of Adolescence.

An interesting article on the invention of adolescence by Otto Scott.

Adolescence is now accepted by most Americans as a strange and difficult period marked by wild swings of mood, outbursts of temper, rudeness, rebelliousness, and personality changes — all involuntary. They would be surprised to learn that this period was unknown, unrecognized, and unseen in every previous civilization, culture, and society throughout the immensely long history of humanity. It is, even today, unknown in large areas of the inhabited world.

Read the entire article here.

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How “socialized” government school kids “interact” on the bus.

It’s pretty bad when a local news station has to get involved in a matter like this because the school won’t help to put a stop to the violence perpetrated against a four-year-old girl.

You can see the video and read the article here.

If this is the Lord of the Flies socialization I keep hearing that my home educated kids are missing out on, then I think they’ll be just fine.

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Pay no attention the the government education professionals behind the curatin.

Here is a quote from a great article by Bruce Shortt writing for WorldNet Daily:

“Of course, evidence of catastrophic educational failure is always dismissed by highly trained education professionals by alternately screeching ‘socio-economic status’ and ‘demographics.’ These phrases are the education establishment’s equivalent of squid’s ink: When cornered by inconvenient facts, shouts of ‘socio-economic status’ and ‘demographics’ usually allow highly trained education professionals to create confusion and slip away quietly from embarrassing revelations about what they have done to the children entrusted to them.”

Read the entire article here.

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Sermon of the week: “What is a family integrated church?” by Scott Brown.

Tired of hearing what critics say family integrated churches believe? Dissuaded by the mischaracterization of what others claim family integrated churches teach? Want to hear what those in family integrated churches actually believe?

Then you will want to listen to what Scott Brown of The National Center for Family Integrated Churches (NCFIC) has to say in his message entitled What is a family-integrated Church?

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Parents – Pay Heed!

Many parents who give their children to the government to train up fail to comprehend a doctrine that most government schools operate under – that of in loco parentis: [Latin, in the place of a parent.] The legal doctrine under which an individual assumes parental rights, duties, and obligations without going through the formalities of legal Adoption.

You can read more of the background, use, and implication of this doctrine here: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/In+loco+parentis

Do not neglect the Word of God, as our Lord holds parents (especially fathers) personally responsible for the training up of children – NOT the church (which has a biblical role of support) NOR the unbiblical “public school”.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

And for some practical understanding of this, read the following story, reported by OneNewsNow.com and note the issue: while your children are in the custody of the government school, who has parental rights? Pray for the Supreme Court to have wisdom.

High court to decide if parents ‘forfeit’ rights

According to John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, the case before the high court will determine whether a state human services caseworker and deputy sheriff violated the rights of a nine-year-old Oregon girl in 2003 when they removed the child from her classroom, without parental consent or a court order, to question her about allegations of parental abuse.

John Whitehead (Rutherford)“She was left alone with the sheriff for two hours, and he interrogated her, trying to get her to say that her father had sexually molested her. She became visibly sick…that night… [and] the mother later filed a lawsuit,” Whitehead accounts. “This has wiggled its way up through the court of appeals. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the parents, saying this is an unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment. And now, the U.S. Supreme Court is going to hear this case.”

So The Rutherford Institute, a non-profit conservative legal organization, has gotten involved and has filed a friend-of-the-court brief.

“What the case really stands for is whether you forfeit your rights as parents if you send your children to public schools,” the conservative attorney reasons. “In other words, do they really have any constitutional rights? Do you have any constitutional rights? Can government officials show up [and] take your children out of school without probable cause [or] without a search warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment? That’s what this case is all about.”
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday, March 1.

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A family of families.

Here’s an excellent article from Voddie Baucham in response to those who inaccurately and unfairly misrepresent Family Integrated Churches.

Is the Church a Family of Families?

Part One:

Any church that does not look like the ‘norm’ is always trying to explain itself.   This is a fact we know all too well at Grace Family Baptist Church.  We explain ourselves to those who visit us, those who call us trying to determine if it is a good idea to visit, those who are interested in finding or starting a church like ours, and those who are sure that we are some kind of “Patriarchy” cult.  Sometimes we explain ourselves in painstaking detail.  At other times we use shorthand.  One example of that ‘shorthand’ is our ubiquitous and somewhat enigmatic statement, “The church is a family of families.”

For some people, this captures the essence of the distinction between the FIC, and the neo-traditional church.1  For others, their presuppositions, and/or misconceptions about the FIC (along with the lack of clarity inherent in the phrase) get in the way.  This last group ranges from people who simply wish we were clearer in our statement, to those who find in the ‘family of families’ terminology the theological ‘smoking gun’ for which they have searched in an effort to discredit this “extreme overreaction” to the current crisis in contemporary youth ministry.2

We recognize that this may be an unnecessary stumbling block for those with a genuine interest in the Family Integrated Church concept, as well as those attempting to explain it to others.  Therefore, allow me to offer a bit of clarity as to what we mean when we use the term ‘family of families’ to describe the church.

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