Augustine on God's fullness and nature

Do heaven and earth, then, contain the whole of you, since you fill them? Or, when once you have filled them, is some part of you left over because they are too small to hold you? If this is so, when you have filled heaven and earth, does that part of you which remains flow over into some other place? Or is it that you have no need to be contained in anything, because you contain all things in yourself and fill them by reason of the very fact that you contain them? for the things which you fill by containing them do not sustain and support you as a water-vessel supports the liquid which fills it. Even if they were broken to pieces, you would not flow out of them and away. And when you pour yourself out over us, you are not drawn down to us but draw us up to yourself; you are not scattered away, but you gather us together...What, then is the God I worship? He can be none but the Lord God himself, for who but the Lord is God? What refuge can there be, except our God? You, my God, are supreme, utmost in goodness, mightiest and all-powerful, most merciful and most just. YOu are the most hidden from us and yet the most present among us, the most beautiful and yet the most strong, ever enduring and yet we cannot comprehend you. You are unchangeable and yet you change all things... (Confessions, Book 1;3&4)

A Prayer for Christmas Morning

Father,

We come this morning in true humility and repentance, only as we look to you to grant us the gift of seeing ourselves as you see us. Give us true insight into the condition of our hearts; free us from the deceit of our sinfulness. We thank you Father, that in the fullness of time you sent your Only Son to come into this world of darkness and that by his perfect life and complete sacrifice on the Cross you displayed to the world the true wisdom that comes from You. We confess that like the world, we do not recognize your truth and your presence. We are quick to judge others and see ourselves as better. We are lost and undone, break us, and then remake us according to your mercies in Jesus Christ.

A prayer for Worship by Calvin

Almighty God, You do not dwell this day in a temple of wood and stones, but the fullness of your glory dwells in your only begotten Son and He by His power fills the whole world, and dwells in the midst of us, and even in us. Grant that we may not dishonor the Lord’s sanctuary by our habits and sins, but so strive to set ourselves apart for your service, and that through the Name of Jesus Christ You may continually receive glory, until that day when we receive that eternal inheritance, and we see openly, face to face, that glory which we now see in the truth found in your Gospel. Amen. (adapted prayer by John Calvin from studies on Jeremiah, pg. 337)

God's Unique Giving

JN 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3,14

In John’s Gospel, the story behind the story of Christmas is given to pull back the veil of history, as it were so we might catch a glimpse into the very eternal purposes of a Sovereign God, who planned to come into a world He created, so that He might save it. The Word became flesh is the truth of God’s giving Himself in the person of His Son, born of a Virgin, but from the beginning the God who made the Worlds. God gave us his Son - That is, God gave Himself – the very giving of God for a world that despised and rejected Him.
The British minister, J. Sidlow Baxter describes the indescribable nature of God’s gift.
“Was ever a gift like the Savior given? He leaves the bosom of the eternal Father, and comes to the bosom of an earthly mother. The Son of God becomes the son of Mary. The Infinite becomes an infant. He who holds the world in his arms is held in the arms of a frail woman. He whose garment is space, whose house is the universe, whose chariots are the clouds, and whose diadems are the stars, is wrapped in swaddling bands, and laid in a mangers…He leaves the throne of heaven, for the Cross outside the city wall. He who is the Prince of life bows his head in death. He who is without sin becomes the Sinbearer. The Christ of God becomes the Crucified. He who is the Father’s delight becomes the God-forsaken.”
We will do all we can this shopping season– stand in line, squeeze an already tight budget tighter, give up what we can – just to give gifts to people we love, this Christmas.
But, God‘s giving is beyond our comprehension. He gave the gift of his very being – the Son of His own Heart and Divine Essence - not to people who love him, but to a rebellious and ungrateful people - He gave to his enemies.
“This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins” 1 John 4:10

The Value of a Good Book

For the cost of a game of golf, I could buy a good book. Then with that book I could spend several nights in intimate fellowship as I hold it in my hands, touch and smell the pages as I turn each one in delight. It becomes a companion to new insights of knowledge or adventures of the imagination. A good book, one that is bound well, crafted under high standards and authored by a wise pen, is like being invited into a circle close friends in a gracious conversation. One can argue with a good book. Much as one would argue and debate a dear friend over issues that matter or truths worth sharpening, books require engagement. Bad literature and sloppy books can be easily closed, discarded or forgotten. But the ones that demand your attention and engage your thoughts toward higher and loftier ideas are like treasures discovered in a barren field. Is the book then a dead object once read? Not at all – it is to be shared with others and passed down to our children. It can find repose on the open shelves of the den or the room of one’s house where people dwell, talk, and laugh. There the book waits and silently beckons the next reader to take down and begin the fellowship again. Books do not live in the sense people do. They are not souls. But books have a way of living longer than people. They span generations. In this they possess great power.

Thanksgiving Day and After

This week our nation will observe two important days. One day will be a day when we remember what price the Pilgrims paid in coming to this country. The Pilgrims were the Puritan pioneers who came to America for religious liberty and barely survived those first years. Half of them died in the first several months. By the help of Indians, the tenacity of faith and God’s grace, some did survive and gathered around the new foods (corn, squash, and perhaps a turkey) of this great new land and gave thanks to God. In the same tradition of what our Pilgrim forefathers acknowledged as the providential blessings of God, we will gather with family, friends and neighbors around a splendid feast to give thanks. Some will volunteer at soup kitchens, work at homeless shelters and give out dinners to the lost and the lonely. On this day a nation will in some degree show its best side and recall a history of what once made us a “nation under God.”
Then the day after, in what has been called “Black Friday”, the retailers and shopping centers will be anticipating the busiest shopping day of the year. The hope of the economic future is in many ways measured by the “success” of this day. What a contrast from the day of thanks and remembrance of God’s provision. Yet isn’t that the way the human heart responds to God? We are so fickle and forgetful in our commitments. What we need is not another warm feeling of nostalgia – a fond memory about the days of old.

Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?"
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

Eccles. 7:10 (ESV) What we need is a transformation of our hearts in the present that will bear fruit of new obedience for the future. Like true repentance, true thanksgiving reveals a pattern of a new and different kind of life. What will you do on Friday, may in fact reflect what you did in your heart on Thursday. Just think about it.
Happy Thanksgiving Day in all light of God’s grace.
Pastor Todd Baucum

Read These Books

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies
This book is written by a Canadian blogger who has probably one of the best known blogs in Reformed circles. All the big names read him for his insightful comments and numerous book reviews. This is his first book. It is probably good that one acquainted with the vast diversity on the internet and the all the bad theology that is promoted therein, deal with the issue of spiritual discernment. This is a book every believer should read and soak in the wisdom of the lost art of discernment. Tim wisely sees the challenges and the pitfalls of discernment and avoiding needless judgmentalism. But the spiritual health of the Church and the local fellowship of the Body of Christ is dependent upon a proper use of discernment in dealing with problem doctrine and divisive people. His opening parable is dynamite.

Risking the Truth: Handling Error in the Church by Martin Downes
A Welsh pastor digs into the minds of a diverse (geographically) group of pastors and theologians about the problem of heresy in the church. This is a candid and personal look in the way false doctrine and bad influences get started in solid orthodox circles. It relates the beguiling and attractive appeal that heresy has had on people and its destructive power. This book is good medicine, but not always easy to swallow in our climate of tolerance and niceness among Evangelicals. Of, course the answer is not in being mean and combative, but “speaking the truth in love,” as Paul did. All recent movements besetting our churches are reflected upon and critiqued, but in a storytelling of personal encounters and struggles. There is great balance found in this book. It is important that we take this seriously.

Scotland Revival and Missions

Revival and Missions

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…” Acts 3:19


“Religious fervor is not a constant. When it flames most brightly, it transforms not only individuals but history; yet among the same people it may die down into smoldering ashes that give no heat to personal life nor any energy to national life.” This was a description of what historian James Leyburn made of the of the religious life of the Scottish people in book on the Scotch-Irish.

I wonder what was the mysterious work of God that emblazed hundreds of Scottish men and women to become missionaries? Why did so many from one small country go into uncivilized lands to suffer hardship and loss of life during the 19th Century? What was it about the land of thistles and heather that was different? How did Scotland from its pagan history come to be won by Christ through the preaching of St. Columba on the isle of Iona and send out missionaries that converted the Angles and perhaps much of Europe? In the ages of smoldering ashes when the gospel light was dim, once again God sent a revival through the preaching of John Knox and other preachers that resulted in a national transformation that still impacts our lives as Presbyterians.

Consider all the great missionary servants whose legacies now stand in the halls of Christian fame. In one decade alone from 1850’s to the 1870’s we find great missionaries like Mary Slessor go as a pioneer missionary in Africa and become known as the White Queen of Africa. She came from a poor working class family in Scotland, never married, but became a woman greatly loved by her converts and orphan children in what is now Nigeria.

We also read about James Gilmore, who in this same period left Scotland for Mongolia to preach the Gospel and never looked upon his homeland ever again. Also, John Paton sailed for the cannibal islands of New Hebrides, another Scot sailed for the Cook Islands. James Chalmers preached Christ to the islanders and eventually traveled to New Guinea and there he was killed by cannibal tribesman in 1901.

We cannot forget Alexander Mackay who like Moffat and Livingston before him, took the Gospel of our Lord into Africa with the watchword “Africa for Christ.” He never took his hands off the plow, nor looked back to his home. He spent his years in Uganda in a time of great persecution and killing of Christians. He would die of malaria in 1890, but the Church would live on.

What was it about these men and women that captured their souls and hearts with such unmitigated devotion? What do they possess that I do not have? Why cannot we experience that same visitation of holy devotion that rained upon Scotland in their days? Might the Spirit of God blow upon the smoldering ambers of our hearts for true revival? How I long for such a reality to happen in our day.

The Light of the Gospel @ Ft. Hood And the Darkness of Evil

PS 139:11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

PS 139:12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
We have a PCA church family serving the men and women of Ft. Hood, called Hill Country Church. Rev. Lou Best is the pastor (retired Col.) and some of our own are a part of that church. Thank God no one from that church was directly affected by the shootings.
Can we make sense of the rampage on our military within their home post? Can we understand the tragedy of these honored warriors who have fought for our country and sacrificed in foreign lands only to be gunned down at home? No we cannot. There are many questions and far few answers. Who can know the human heart where evil resides? Yet, we are people of faith and hope because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even as the Psalmist declares, the “darkness will not be dark to you” because while tragic and sinful events can enter our lives they do not destroy us. This is the hope we can share with the hurting world.
When I was in high school in Texas I attended a JROTC camp for a week at Fort Hood, the largest Army post in the world home of the 1st Calvary Division. This is a place where if you thought one would be safe, it would be there. There is great shock and pain. It is time we look to the Cross of Christ where sin and evil was destroyed and the only hope of the world can be found. This is our glorious Gospel shining its light in the dark places and the dark times.
Let us pray for the victims of the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas and for the people of Hill County Church as they share the Gospel in love and confidence to that community.

Book Review

The Other Preacher in Lynchburg: My Life Across Town from Jerry Falwell. John Killinger
I could not resist reading this book with a keen interest, since I was in Lynchburg as a student at Liberty University during part of the timeline the book covers. I was expecting a candid and yet objective reflection. Upon reading the book, anybody ready to jump in delight upon any insider scoop against Jerry the Fundamentalist would find more fodder for the cannon. If you are searching for truth, one would find this personal memoire sad and at times pedantic or in a word, just arrogant. Large gaps of knowledge are quickly filled up with innuendo and third party gossip.
John Killinger is a prolific author and well known preacher among mainline pulpits having criss-crossed denominational lines at ease at the call of tall steeples and academic professorships. It is surprising that one so educated and esteemed in his circles would write a book that is on the level of a cheap “kiss and tell” narrative of sour grapes.

The title itself gives one an inkling that this book is about ego- pure and simple. Lynchburg had more than two preachers, several who never were in the spot lights, but nonetheless faithful preachers of the gospel. While one was famous for a television ministry, the founder of a university and the major inspiration of the Christian Right’s political activism, Killinger was one who seems to sulk in the shadow of one greater.
I do not and cannot defend everything about Falwell or Liberty. It was a mixed bag of experiences for me. Some bad, but some really good – which is pretty much a commentary on most things in life. In fact, overall, coming up as a Fundamentalist is not the worst thing to experience in life. Liberals and progressives can be just as mean, deceptive and duplicitous as any fundamentalist ever thought about being. The book brings together a line-up of disgruntled professors and students ready to expose the dark interior of life at Falwell’s school. I laugh at some of the examples attributing a Nazi like atmosphere to the school with its strict rules, which is like saying West Point is too regimented and uptight about hairstyles. Some of its legalistic trappings are long gone and good riddance, too. One did not go to Liberty during those days expecting it to be like Berkeley or even Lynchburg College, for that matter. The metal buildings that looked “like chicken houses” as, Will Campbell called them, were embraced by forward looking students who believed in the kind of education they would receive at such a school fully committed to conservative Christian beliefs. While some may have relished the grounds and buildings at the University of Virginia, they did not covet the content of the classrooms. Of course there is always the disgruntled minority forced into the school by hook or by crook. There are parents who think Christian Colleges are the answer in a last ditch effort of redeeming a botched up job of parenting.
I became a Presbyterian while at Liberty, not in any way thanks to the likes of Killinger (his well known pointed jabs from the pulpit were part of campus discussion), but because of what historic Presbyterian theology stood for: a cogent, intelligent belief in the Bible as the Word of God. That was something of which a nondenominational liberal fashioned in the style of Emerson Fosdick would never be accused of. For him, Fundamentalism was the social ill on the fabric of an open-minded free society. From Lynchburg to Birmingham, John Killinger recounts the victimization of a “progressive thinker” by exploitive mean- spirited fundamentalists who made his life less than a dream. His days at Beeson Divinity School also come into play as another case where Falwell and cronies undermine and discredit his work and ministry. This is a sad tale of hubris offended. It will be especially sad that people will even believe it.

On Not Laughing with the World

1 Peter 2: 16
16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

“They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33“We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” Mark 10:32-34
A phrase oft repeated in Mark’s Gospel is “on their way.” There is an unmistakable movement in this Gospel. The geography and place names are not just window-dressing for the story. Jesus is really going somewhere and the destination is part of his vital mission. Here in this verse Jesus is going “up to Jerusalem.” This is the key essential destination for Christ. This trip to Jerusalem is the reason why Christ was born.
We also notice that the direction is going up. While we don’t notice the topography of Judea, the writers of Scriptures knew Jerusalem was on higher elevation.

Why were the disciples astonished and the followers of Jesus afraid?
Both responses may have been related to the previous encounter Jesus had with the rich young man, who sadly turned away from following Jesus, because of his wealth. Upon seeing the impossible task of pleasing God on our own, the disciples may have been astonished, and some even afraid.
Another explanation is that the astonishment came with the direction of the journey. In Mark 8:31, while they were in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus told them he would “suffer many things and be rejected by elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.”
Peter, remember, tried to talk Jesus out of this. Peter did not understand that this was the whole purpose of Jesus life. He was going to suffer and die.
The glory of Christ is the Cross. His inauguration and coronation of his kingly rule is his passion. His crown is not the jeweled crown of a monarch, but a crown of thorns. The Roman soldiers did mock Jesus as he foretold. Each aspect of his kingliness was mocked and ridiculed. His throne was to be the rough hewn timbers of a Roman execution. But the mockery of men is the wisdom of God. The way of suffering by the Servant, was the way of his triumph over all his enemies, so that even death was conquered- in three days he rose again.

In pagan lands, far and near, there are ancient customs of dealing with death. In Latin America, there is a festival of the dead, where people dress up in costumes to disguise themselves from the deceased spirits. They believe if they make fun of death, then death will not bother them. There is in these cultures a strong emphasis on death, because they do not have the hope we have in Christ’s Resurrection. As the light of the Gospel loses its grip on our culture, I see the same emphasis upon death. Just look at the amount of decoration and seemingly harmless fun people engage in around Halloween. We see more decorations than on any other holiday and it’s all about death, sorcery and evil. Are we are not moving towards a neo-paganism with the kind of things we see today? As believers in the risen Savior we are moving in a different direction than the rest of the world. The world tries to deal with death by making fun of it. Jesus conquered it and broke its power and those in Christ live in the freedom of that triumph. There is in the Eastern Orthodox Church a tradition known as the Easter laugh. Christians can laugh in joy about Christ’s redemptive victory over sin and death. But, we don’t laugh with the world that lies in the grip of the fear of death and the darkness of sin.

True Worship

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.” Ecc.5:1
God centered worship is aimed at the satisfaction of God – the One to whom all worship is due. Man centered worship is aimed at the satisfaction of the worshipper.
In the Bible we find that Canaanite worship of Baal was extremely engaging of the passions and the emotions so that the individual would always come away with a satisfying experience. Today, our culture defines worship according to the old pattern of the Canaanites. Baal worship is making a comeback under the new guise of freedom.
What is true worship? Biblical worship engages the whole person, heart, mind and body in a God-mandated, God-directed form for the corporate display of praise and satisfaction of our Triune God who is revealed as the Father who loves us, the Son who died for us, and the Spirit who fills us.
Weekly corporate worship of the called out ones (the church) is not optional, but the mark and vital sign of true authentic faith. We can no more absent ourselves from worship than we can cut off the vital beating of our heart or refrain from breathing. “You are not our own, you have been bought at a price…” (1 Cor. 6:19). Daily communion with God is always the daily supplement to the weekly essential sustenance of our souls.

Young Calvin

John was just 24 years old when he wrote a preface to a French translation of the New Testament by his cousin Olivetan. Such work was illegal at the time and considered heresy by the Church of Rome and treason by the State. Calvin makes no apology about the necessity of the Bible - which for him is the message of the Gospel.

“Without the Gospel, we do not know what God requires of us or forbids us to do; we cannot distinguish good from evil, light from darkness, or the commandments of God from the institutions of men. Without the Gospel we are all helpless and ineffectual; without the Gospel we are not Christians.” From the second preface of the French Bible translated by Olivetan

Go young Calvin!

Samoan Tsunami

Isaiah 42:12 (KJV)
Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands.


The Samoan Islands were hit Tuesday by a large tsunami triggered by an earthquake centered between the islands of Samoa and Tonga. Apia is the main island of Samoa, an independent island nation, which is the burial place and former home of Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote the classic Treasure Island. The islands of American Samoa, a territory of the U.S., are a beautiful group of islands where the largest concentration of people lives on the main island. Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango) is on the main harbor overlooking beautiful Rainmaker Mountain and served as a naval port during the Second World War.

I have a special interest in this place, because I lived there for 6 weeks while on a short term mission back in my college days. The history of missions in this part of the world is inspiring and a testimony of the power of the gospel to transform lives and whole nations. Like most Polynesians, the Samoans were fierce, warring cannibals. Men like John Williams, John Paton and a host of other Presbyterian and Congregational missionaries brought the gospel to this region of the world. Many paid with their lives or the cost of their families. In one decade of missions in the 19th Century Samoa would bow to the Sovereign rights of Jesus Christ. It became one of the most Christianized nations ever in history. Every village had a church and Sabbath observance was strictly and joyfully enforced. Today, many Samoan men end up playing NFL football in this country, because of their legendary size. The sport of choice in the islands is Cricket; one of the influences still seen from British missions.

The city of Pago Pago which is the home of Starkist Tuna, was badly damaged, as well as many villages. The island is essentially the top of a mountain and so most villages surround the island along the coast. We still don’t know the numbers who have perished. Pray for these dear people. Pray for a renewal of the Christian church, which because of nominalism (Christian in name only) and the advancements of cults (Mormons have built a temple there) there is a great need for the Gospel to be proclaimed in power and in Biblical faithfulness. Pray for a Tsunami of God’s power and truth to claim this part of the world as in olden days.

Tearing down Pagan Altars

There is biblical precedent for allowing some pagan influences continue in the Church if they have been redeemed and given new meaning. Consider for example in Judges 6:25 where God tells Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal that was built by his fathers. It was on the very same spot where people worshipped Baal and Asherah that Gideon was commanded by the Lord to build a new altar to Him. Imagine the significance of the supremacy of Yahweh, declared in such an act.
Today, some folks in our tradition are struggling with some of the "pagan elements" still lurking around in our worship. Questions like, isn't just Easter a pagan holiday? and "what about Christmas wreaths and advent candles?" Every year when the holiday season comes closer, we start to scuttle around these concerns. This is not a cut and dry issue, by any means. Israel plundered the gold of Egypt and we must recognize that all truth is God's truth. The ancient church evangelized pagan lands not by wiping out everything about the indigenous cultures, but by tearing down the pagan altars and reconstituting the claim of the supremacy and Lordship of Jesus Christ. Augustine in his On Christian Teaching said the same could be done regarding good pagan music. Why should the devil have all the good music, was the question Luther asked.Calvin himself was no one to give admittance to pagan ideas, but he saw the value of the church celebrating the "dominical holidays", like Christmas and Easter.
When we study history and see a memory of a pagan past, it is a reminder of the victory of Christ and His kingdom over all idolatry and false religion. It is not an accommodation to paganism, but a triumph and defeat over it. Yet, Calvin reminds us of our own predilection towards idolatry. We are idol makers. Just as Gideon later made a religious relic from the gold of his victorious spoils, which then became a snare to his family and all of Israel (Judges 8:27). We too should remember than any tradition we celebrate should not bind us or inhibit our true worship of our Triune God. Only then do our past victories turn into present defeats.

Yet I Sin - Confessing Sin

Eternal Father,
Thou art good beyond all thought, But I am vile, wretched, miserable, blind; My lips are ready to confess, but my heart is slow to feel, and my ways reluctant to amend. I bring my soul to thee; break it, wound it, bend it, mould it. Unmask to me sin’s deformity, that I may hate it, abhor it, flee from it.
Work in me more profound and abiding repentance; Give me the fullness of a godly grief that trembles and fears, yet ever trusts and loves. Grant that through the tears of repentance I may see more clearly the brightness and glories of the saving Cross of Jesus Christ. Amen. (from Valley of Vision*)

A Year in Mexico

My oldest daugher is raising support with MTW to be a missionary intern in Monterrey, Mexico where she will work with the team of missionaries in a new church plant and an orphanage. She will no doubt use her gifts in music and the guitar for the glory of God. Check out her support level and continue to pray for her. www.ayearinmexico.blogspot.com.

Why We Choose Christian Education

“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deut. 11:18-19 (NIV)

“The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright and out of that knowledge to love Him, to imitate Him, to be like Him, as we may the nearest by possessing our souls of true virtue, which being united to the heavenly grace of faith makes up the highest perfection.” – John Milton
“I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt…. I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth.” – Martin Luther

Several years ago, I wrote an article on why our family decided to home school our children. We have done so for eleven years now, having seen two daughters finish high school and one to finish a bachelor’s degree at a distinctively Christian college. Today I am even more convinced that pursuing an educational path that recognizes the centrality of Christian truth is never the more critical. When school started up this past month, we believed God led us to enroll our last two daughters in a Christian School. Every year in fact, we prayed and sought the Lord about the educational choices we made.
What I wrote about education years ago, still shapes my thinking. Here’s a part of what I said in the article:
“The three greatest intellectual forces of our day have been Darwin, Marx and Freud. All three started a revolution in the way we think about the world, and understanding of our world apart from the knowledge of God. Most educational systems of the secular world are influenced by these views to some degree. While there are very few outright atheists in our country, faith in general has been relegated to private opinion and to matters of personal taste. We believe faith and education, as Scripture teach us are inseparably linked.
We believe public education had an important role in serving our society. But, what was once a way to give education to all citizens regardless of class, race or ability, has turned to what John Dewey envisioned as a way to free the individual from the tyranny of the religious mind. Today, most education is little more than indoctrination into the secular world-views that undermine a Biblical world-view. ... We desire to reform our culture and to influence it, but as parents our first obligation before God, is to shape the hearts and the minds of our children and not let others shape the formative years of their lives. As Timothy Dwight put it, “To commit our children to the care of irreligious persons is to commit lambs to the superintendency of wolves.”
We are not reactionary isolationists, who seek to withdraw from the world. Like most home educators we are taking a proactive role in shaping the lives of our children to make a difference in the next generation of our society. We believe to follow the currents of popular society is to invite disaster upon our children and diminish our Christian influence in the world for decades to come.”
Now that we take our girls to a Christian school everyday does not change that commitment or abrogate our God-given responsibility to educate our children. What it means is it gives us greater cause to be ever diligent in watching over what they learn, engaging with teachers and administrators and connecting with our children in their studies and family worship. An article in World Magazine recently highlighted the choices Christian families have in education. It offers a balanced perspective on what parents choose, recognizing that not everybody is the same. See the article http://www.worldmag.com/articles/15835.
My hope is that many young parents today will make one of the most important decisions they will ever face with prayer and wisdom.