Homeschooling

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New Contributor – Introduction

Dear Readers,

My name is Saige Potter. I am a recent addition to the Truth in Grace team and have been asked to share some things about myself.

I am a homeschooling mom of four boys (ages 6 to 1) with one on the way. I have been creatively writing for most of my life, and began working as a professional ghostwriter and editor at the age of fifteen.

With a tumultuous history of involvement with Wiccanism, Buddhism, and the Lutheran church, I came to know Jesus Christ as my Savior after being introduced to Him by my husband, shortly after we were married in 2013. We are passionate about Scripture and pursuing objective truth. We live in the wonderful, windy state of Wyoming.

I look forward to sharing and discussing God’s Word with you all!

Potter Family 2019

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Positive or Negative?

Proverbs 27:5-6 Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Proverbs 29:5 A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.

As I peruse the internet, listen to people chat, watch interaction between people with each other, as well as interaction within the church, I’ve noticed a pattern emerging in this age that seems to lend itself to credibility even from Scripture.

I’m sure we have all seen this to some extent or other and maybe even agreed with it to a certain extent.

It is the “Get rid of all those negative relationships that don’t build you up” meme or quote.

It’s interesting how this generation views negativity. When I was younger, quite a bit more than I am now, there was nothing wrong with negativity, to a certain extent. If we look in the Bible at Exodus 20, we will find that God was negative towards His people and demanded complete perfection. Seven of these commandments say, “You shall not,” and one says, “You will have no…” The other two were about the Sabbath and obedience to parents.

I used to think, every time I saw one of these, “Yeah! I can see what they’re saying. You don’t want someone pulling you down to sin and do things wrong before the Lord. Those are negative people and, as such, you need them out of your life.”

wisecounsel

As I’ve studied people’s responses towards things they want to do, my eyes have been opened, through the years, into what was really being said. Years ago, we lived in England and I became friends with someone through the internet. She homeschooled her children, just as we homeschooled ours. One day, out of the blue, she contacted me to tell me her child was looking to become an actress and had the availability to act in one of the newer style family movies which in the early days was not of the quality they are today.

She told me how much they were doing and then began complaining about other people who had been friends and, “…were so negative towards me about this that I had to cut them off.” I was troubled by the fact that people would give her a rough time over it so I started sympathizing with her. After a few days, she began giving me a detailed schedule of what would be happening and, it was at this point I realized the people who were supposedly negative may not necessarily have been.

I struggled to know what to say to her while wondering if what I was going to say would make her think I was being negative, as well. As I had very few friends, anyway, I didn’t want to lose her friendship and kept quiet for a time. The more I thought about her ‘predicament’ (my understanding) the more I became concerned over the situation and how it would affect them spiritually.

I eventually shared with her to be careful that she guard her time with her daughter and their time with the Lord so they didn’t fall by the wayside spiritually. She said she was was stunned and accused me of being negative. At that point she cut me out of her life and refused to talk with me for many years. Eventually, she did speak with me again but only for a short time. The evidence of her new life was painfully apparent in her dress, her speech, and her lifestyle.

As I think of other similar times that this has happened, I’m saddened by what is considered positive influences and what isn’t. I’m also very concerned when people try to use the Word of God to make all this seem as if it were credible.

The truth of the matter is, if you only want yes individuals within your life to give you the nod over whatever it is you want to do then you are headed down a dangerous path. You see, we are sinful creatures and we sin. When we only allow people to advise us who refuse the truth how can we expect they will give us godly advice?

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

We, as true believers and children of the Sovereign Lord, are expected to share the truth, in love, with each other. We cannot expect others to give us what we want to hear no matter how much we want it. The truth of the Scriptures is the only way we can know how to do what is right. If we choose the right way that means we have to keep our eyes on Scripture regularly and know what direction we must go. If we don’t follow the Lord, He will discipline us to bring forth the peaceable fruit of righteousness and to keep our feet on the right path. Heb 12:11.

If you find someone willing to share the truth with you, don’t cut them out of your life. Proverbs 9:8 makes it clear that if you rebuke a scorner, he will hate you but when you rebuke a wise man that person will love you. If every time someone seeks to give you godly advice and you cut them out of your life the question must be asked, “Are you a true believer?” If you are then why aren’t you listening to godly advice? If you aren’t then today is the day of salvation!

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Christian Adoptive Homeschoolers

blessing

I would appreciate prayer over a serious matter. As many of our readers know, my wife and I were privileged to adopt two little ones into our home about 7 years ago. Since then, I have long lamented that there is little in the way of Biblical resources for how to handle many situations that arise due to adopting a child or two or more into the family.  I was encouraged by a friend to begin finding a forum that could be used to compile resources that would help Christian families.

We have begun with a Facebook group and one day hope to expand it into a regular blog and more as the Lord directs. Prayers are appreciated for this new endeavor. There will be opposition to some of the solutions we will strive to present, but our foremost goal is to glorify God in all things. There are also blessings as this is obviously something that seems to be needed and addressed. In less than 2 days, we already have over 60 people who have asked to join the group.

The group is being built as a means of support for Biblical families who have been blessed by God to be able to adopt a child or children or who are looking to do so. It is also for those families and friends who are actively supporting those who are or who have adopted.

Finally, while there are unique challenges to adopting children, a primary purpose of this group is to provide Biblical answers to those challenges in many different areas including special needs, discipline, and education.

Thank you for your prayers.

 

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Why this will be the last Starbucks I drink.

imageI don’t make a habit of photographing my food or drinks, and I certainly don’t post them for others to be subjected to, but the cup of Starbucks in this picture is significant because it will be my last.

I shrugged my shoulders as Starbucks bullied small coffee companies (e.g. here and here).

I looked the other way when Starbucks sued small coffee companies (e.g. here and here).

I ignored the fact that Starbucks uses GMO products.

And I rolled my eyes when Starbucks tried to ram race issues down my throat.

But now I discovered something about my favorite coffee chain that is too egregious to look past; too evil to ignore

Continue reading here.

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Encouragement in Parenting – Part 4

We begin with the words of Deuteronomy 6:5-9, and we will consider it in detail later in the article. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Parents, we have addressed some major concerns that are facing our homes and my prayer is that those who read will give serious and prayerful consideration to what was commanded of the children of Israel. It is in these words that we will find an answer to how we may correct what is missing in our own homes. As I share these thoughts, I address them from my own personal perspective as well as from the problems we have sought to deal with in our home in the raising of our children.

Reading these words it may seem that we have managed to figure out all the answers. You may wonder how we managed to raise five almost perfect children who obeyed us every single time the first time we asked them to do something. You may even be astounded that all five of our children always obeyed us with a heart full of gratitude for parents who loved them enough to raise them to joyfully accept responsibilities no matter how long it took for them to achieve those household chores.

Before you stop reading, let me hasten to assure you this was most definitely NOT a picture of our home. We are not and never were perfect parents. We do not and never have had a perfect home. Further, I can testify that we are the proud parents of five fallible and loveable children; however, they are also five children who were each born with a totally depraved sinful nature. What this means to us is that we are still a work in progress as we learn to depend more and more through the process known as progressive sanctification. What this means to you is that you can hopefully learn from our mistakes as we have had to learn from the lives of others who have gone before us.

My wife and I have been blessed with three boys since conception and two girls that were born in our hearts but that we were not able to add to our home until they were around 2½ years old. Our oldest is now almost 23, married and has a two year old son of his own. He is having to learn to be a parent and he is making mistakes just like his dad did, and his grandfather did before him, all the way back to Adam.

One of my biggest concerns as a young father was whether I would be a good dad to whatever children the Lord gave to our family. Over time that concern became much more than whether I had the ability to provide clothes, food, and whatever wants their little depraved hearts may have desired. My concern turned into something that only became a poignant reminder of the depravity of my own heart when our grandson was born a little over two years ago.

All of a sudden, my role as a parent became far more important than the biological implications. For years I had hoped and prayed that I would learn from my own mistakes and sins before God. I had changed in so many areas, and had learned even from the times of being made to humble myself to the Most High and toward my children when I had been wrong or had handled areas of discipline very wrongly.

Now that I was a grandparent to a very handsome grandson (must take after his grandpa!), I began to realize how much I had actually missed when raising my grandson’s dad – my son.

You see, while I was raising my son and making mistakes, I was also doing something else that I could not truly begin to comprehend until he got married, left home, and started his own family. I had spent almost 20 years training him to be both a husband and a father. It was impossible to go back in time and redo what I should have done from the time he first entered our lives as a cell that then split into two.

Today, I have to watch my son making his own set of mistakes as he raises our grandson. Through this time of watching from afar, due to the distance of where they have made their home as he proudly serves in the United States Air Force, I have learned more and suffered pain in my heart as I recognize over and over how much I let down my grown sons. You see, I had failed to wholeheartedly learn the truths found in the Deuteronomy 6 passage.

Now I am left to wonder if the results of my role as a father will come home to be a blessing in the life of my grandchildren. Or, will the results of the times of my selfishness be a burden to my son as he struggles to learn the things I failed to teach him? Yes, there are many things I taught him. I played ball, helped homeschool him, took him to church, made him sit still as I preached another message, helped instill discipline through the use of chores, but is that all I taught him?

While my son is responsible for his own actions, I also am responsible as his dad to continue to be a godly example and correct areas that are or were lacking my own life. Only when I have been brought to the point where I learn these truths am I now able to not only make things right with him, but also to help encourage him to be the kind of dad that God wants my son to be.

Fathers and husbands, it is at this point that we must rightly consider the words written by Moses through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who alone can guide us into all truth and the truths in this passage will help us to be what we should be. If we fail in our responsibility of being a godly husband and a godly father, then we will have failed most miserably in the most important task we have been given as a parent. If I have only taught my son how to be a man, but failed to teach him how to be a godly man, then I have sinned before God and against my child.

We have mentioned Acts 17:28 where the apostle Paul tells the people at the Aeropagus in Athens that “it is in God that we live, and move, and have our being.” This must be what drives each parent, and especially those of us who are blessed with the privilege and awesome responsibility of being a father. Paul was reiterating much what he had most definitely learned as a child growing up in a religious Jewish home and all that he had learned as a prelude to becoming a Pharisee of Pharisees.

With his forward progress arrested by Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, he learned the hard way that “in God we live, and move, and have our being” is much, much more than mere philosophical words. These words became a reality of great spiritual import. Jesus Christ was real and for Paul to be what God required of him, he would have to put these words into practice.

A little over one thousand years prior to Paul learning a valuable lesson and passing it on to his listeners, the wise king Solomon noted in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” If the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep his commandments, then we must spend the time necessary to learn how to obey this duty.

Moses knew that it would not be easy following and obeying God, but he also knew what it would take in the home in order for families to head in the right direction. First, it must be noted that he directs the attention of his words to the man, the husband, the father of the home. From the creation of Adam and Eve, God had instituted both marriage and the home. The man is to be the spiritual leader of each home, not because he is the brightest or smartest, but because this is what God has ordained.

The divine order is vitally important as we will see throughout our consideration of Deuteronomy 6. Woe to the husband who fails to live up to the expectations that God places on him to be a leader to the lady of the house, the woman God has entrusted to his care. Woe to the father who fails in the role and responsibility given to him by God to train and teach his children the ways of a holy, righteous God.

However, there is great joy that comes when we disregard the poor examples the world seeks to conjure up. Men, as husbands and fathers, we must learn to accept that God has made us to be men. We must learn to take a stand as true believers who are called to true manliness, a manliness that says, “God will be the ultimate head of this home, and I, as the husband and dad, will learn to be to my wife and children an example of Jesus Christ to you.”

Let’s break this passage down further to see how we can do this. But as we do, we must learn to accept that we will not do it perfectly because we are sinful creatures. We can only respond in a way that glorifies God when we are willing to take up this challenge.

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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.

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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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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Public school field trip to a mosque.

Shocking video. As if we needed one more reason to home educate our children.

HT: Revival & Reformation

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DefCon is now on FaceBook.

Defending Contending has finally joined the world of social networking. We are now on Facebook and you can ‘friend’ us here.

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Second-grader sent home and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation for drawing a crucifix.

After a class was instructed to sketch something that reminded them of the Christmas holiday, one student drew a crucifix. Apparently, however, according to the godless government-run public school, not only did Christ’s birth have nothing to do with His birth (like they know anything about theology anyway), but it also warranted this child’s removal from school and necessitated a psychological evaluation. Read more about this shocking story from Massachusetts.

Welcome to a brave new world.

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Quotes (638)

voddie-baucham

When I would yell at my children, I was teaching them that they didn’t have to do what I said whenever I said it, just when it was important enough (or I was mad enough) to raise my voice. What’s worse, I was undermining my wife’s authority in the home because she wasn’t as big and scary and didn’t have as deep a voice as me. Thus my word (thundered through the house) became the standard for eliciting obedience. We do not want our children to do what we say with conditions attached. We want them to obey, period. Learning not to repeat ourselves, not to yell, not to call the offending child by all three of his or her names, but to speak in clear, level tones and follow through with consequences for every act of disobedience has completely transformed our home.

– Voddie Baucham

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Quotes (627)

voddie-baucham Any mother who walks into the average American church with six or seven children will tell you, the pagan, secular humanist culture at large is not alone in its negative attitude toward children. Moreover, look at the divorce rates among Christians compared to those of non-Christians, and you will see that our attitudes about and commitment to marriage is anything but exemplary.

– Voddie Baucham

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Working moms.

Working Moms The U.K.’s Daily Mail has posted an interesting article entitled So Should Working Mums Feel Guilty?

Although the mother interviewed wasn’t as penitent as I expected her to be, she did reveal the dirty little secret feminists won’t tell you: Mother’s who work away from home end up feeling like they missed out on the most important thing about motherhood . . . raising their children.

It may seem strange to some, but it is only recently that I have felt able to acknowledge that mixing work and children comes with its downsides. Why did it take me so long? Part of me doggedly believed I had to stick to my ‘line’ – that work gave me independence, adventure and, of course, money. But I have to admit that another part didn’t want to examine what the effect of more than 20 years of working motherhood had had on my children.

The mother goes on to say:

It’s obvious, perhaps, but what I give them now, which I rarely could before, is my attention.

And:

But maybe my 20-plus years of working motherhood is not such a great thing to crow about after all. I wouldn’t deny any other woman the chance to step into my working-day stilettos, but I would whisper: ‘Are you sure that it’s the right thing to do for everyone – children and husband included – and not just you?’

But just when you thought this story would have a redemption-type ending, it’s evident that the cycle will continue with her daughter when her daughter says:

My mother’s parenting was, in some ways, unorthodox. She instilled in me an appreciation of my own independence from an unusually young age. I was never asked whether I had done my homework each night and that is the way I liked it. . . . In fostering a sense of autonomy, she also showed great respect for my privacy. I am never asked irritating questions about boyfriends, a plight suffered only too frequently by many of my friends. I knew girls at school whose mothers had only them on whom to focus, pressuring them to achieve the best grades, get into the most prestigious universities and even to acquire the most appropriate boyfriends.

The daughter continues:

I respect a woman’s choice to take on the role of mother full time. It is, of course, one that comes with many challenges and infinite rewards. However, while I expect to take more time off work than my mother was able to when my children are small, I plan to have a career, too. My mother has started to question her life choices, but I defend them wholeheartedly. A trip to Egypt last year and various spa visits over the past few years have been testament to the fact that our relationship is a good one.

You can read the whole article here.

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See also:

Voddie Baucham’s sermon Biblical Womanhood.

The Berean Wife’s article Feminism Has Made Women Unhappy.

Other articles from the Daily Mail feature on DefCon under the posts The Attack on Men and Fathers and Not Dying For the Sins of Her Father.





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Quotes (573)

voddie-baucham According to researchers, between 70 and 88 percent of Christian teens are leaving the church by their second year in college. That’s right, modern American Christianity has a failure rate somewhere around eight (almost nine) out of ten when it comes to raising children who continue in the faith. Imagine the alarm if nearly 90 percent of our children couldn’t read when they left high school. There wouldn’t be room enough at school board meetings to hold all of the irate parents.

– Voddie Baucham

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Sermon of the week: “Whoever Controls the Schools Controls the World” by Voddie Baucham.

voddie-bauchamHold onto your hats. Your sermon of the week is a scathing blow to the concept of government education by Voddie Baucham entitled Whoever Controls the Schools Controls the World.

Baucham clearly lays out the argument against Christian parents subjugating their parental responsibilities to the Godless, Marxist behavioral engineering centers known as public schools.

All Christians who have or are expecting to have children need to hear this message. And those who currently have their kids enrolled in government schools may squirm in their seats during Baucham’s message, but this is a message that you simply must hear.

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Cappuccino machines, light bulbs, and toilet paper.

esspresso-machineAs an elementary public school in Detroit, Michigan is lacking funds for even light bulbs and toilet paper, public schools in Chicago, Illinois just spent $67,000 on cappuccino machines of which most are “. . . going unused because the schools they were ordered for had not asked for them . . .”.

Yet another shining moment for government schools.