Satan's Schemes

As I was working on the studies for our Grace Groups, I was challenged and encouraged by a few thoughts which came from some Puritans. I want to share a few of those thoughts for your edification as well. I hope to share more in future posts. I am deeply thankful to Joel Beeke & Mark Jones for collating so much of this material in their volume, "A Puritan Theology." I encourage you to pick up the book.

The Puritans rightly warned of the need for watchfulness regarding Satan's temptations in the Christian life. The Puritans rightly emphasized the general vigilance we need to employ regarding the devices of Satan and the hope we have in the midst of them.

Puritan Thomas Brooks included Satan's devices in the following quote, "Christ, the Scripture, your own hearts, and Satan's devices, are the four prime things that should be first and most studied and searched." I often attend to the first 3 things which should be studied. I seldom attend to Satan's devices. 

Puritan William Gurnall said that no actress has, "so many dresses to come in upon the stage with as the devil has forms of temptation." In other words, Satan tempts us all in different ways. There are a myriad of people with a vast number of different experiences and varying weaknesses. Thus, there are a number of different and personal ways Satan tempts us to sin. It is imperative then that I attend to Satan's devices.

The problem with becoming aware of the active and varied nature of Satan's schemes is that I may become easily discouraged. I can't see how I am able to ever out fox the serpent. This is why it is so helpful to remember that Puritan Stephen Charnock said, "The goodness of God makes the devil a polisher, while he intends to be a destroyer." All the Devil can do to a child of God is be used of God to make me more like Christ. He may tempt me and attack me in painful and wicked ways. However, the Lord is sovereign over all and his loving discipline will bring about the peaceful fruit of righteousness in the lives of all his children. Satan can do nothing about that!

How should Christians respond to the Zimmerman Verdict?

I have served as an adjunct professor for Eternity Bible College. They have a blog to which I contributed my take on the George Zimmerman / Trayvon Martin case. You can read my take on the subject here: http://facultyblog.eternitybiblecollege.com/2013/07/a-christian-response-to-the-zimmerman-verdict/

Be Ordinary for God

While I was in Hume Lake last week I heard a young woman who oversaw one of the activities providing a "spiritual" lesson for the people who participated in her activity. She told them that while some of them were not necessarily the best at her particular activity they were all special in God's eyes. That was fine as far as it went. However, she took a turn from there to telling one young woman, "You aren't very good at this but you are special. You could be a model." 

I had to fight my gag reflex. What? Is that what you meant by special in God's eyes? She could put her beauty on display and be a model? Was her worth before God in her ability to potentially be a celebrity with regard to her beauty?

This caused me to reflect on the constant calls I hear in Christian (and secular) circles for young people to recognize they are special. In fact, I read a study recently (can't find it now) that argued a full 25% of young people believe they will be famous. Cue the production of mid-life crisis materials that will be needed in 10-15 years.

We hear the refrain often though. Christian young people ought to be extraordinary for God. They should be radical for the Lord. They need to do big things for God. We are all special.

I have a radical thought. What if we started telling people they ought to be ordinary for God? What if we encouraged them to be obedient? What if we challenged them to just redeem the small things for the Lord? What if we told them they are normal and not particularly special? 

Is it possible that we could stop bowing the knee to celebrity? Could we cease placing the weight of glory on personal achievement? Couldn't we just value being ordinary and obedient before God? 

Let's face it. If everyone is special, extraordinary, and radical, then no one is any of those things. Perhaps a long obedience in the same direction is just too ordinary and insignificant in the eyes of our culture but it is a better description of the Christian life than most of what I hear today. So I encourage you to "Go be ordinary for God."

What are some implications of God's all-encompassing sovereignty?

In the book "A Puritan Theology," there are several questions that emerge among the Puritans regarding the implications of the providential working of God. The authors of the book collate several implications of God's all-encompassing sovereignty and how the Puritans responded to them. Here are a list of those:

1. How does God's providence relate to the laws of nature?

God works through ordinary means, but He is always the one sustaining and upholding all things. Hebrews 1:1-3, Col. 1:15ff

In other words, God made things that operate in a particular manner and he actively keeps them doing so. The birds, trees, human body have ordinary ways they operate but God upholds those natural and ordinary ways of operation.

2. How does God's providence relate to the freedom and sins of men?

Some things we know from Scripture about God's activity regarding our sin:

a). God does not tempt anyone to sin. James 1:13

b). God does permit men to sin. Acts 14:16

c). God withholds grace that would prevent sin. Ps. 81:11-12

d). God powerfully limits sin. Job 1:12, 2:6

e). God sometimes overrules sin to fulfill his holy purposes. Gen. 50:20, Isa. 46:10

3. How can God's providence permit the prosperity of the wicked? 

a). God is gracious, patient, and generous even with the wicked. Matt. 5:45

b). His justice sometimes brings punishment in this life and always in the life to come.

c). The outward prosperity of the wicked teaches us that outward goods are not the highest blessing God bestows on humans.

4. Why do the righteous suffer and die alongside the wicked?

Because God never promised to save the righteous from calamity in this life. Eccl. 9:2, Matt. 5

5. How does God's providence help us know God's will?

It is dangerous to read providence, but at times God does give hints of his will thru his providence.

Knowing God's will:

a). Get the true fear of God and be truly afraid of offending him.

b). Study the Word more and the concerns of the world less.

c). Reduce what you know to practice.

d). Pray for illumination and direction. Beg the Lord to help you.

e). After all this, follow providence as far as it agrees with the Word, and no further.

6. How does God's providence relate to our efforts?

God determines the means as well as the ends. The means is our faith and repentance in justification, our faith and effort (Bible reading, prayer, mortification) in sanctification.

"Pride uses means without seeking God, and presumption depends on God while neglecting the means he provides."

7. Why does God allow for crooked providences in the life of a Christian?

Thomas Boston listed 7 reasons:

a). To prove your spiritual state as a hypocrite or genuine believer.

b). To stir you to obedience, wean you from this world, and set your eyes on heaven.

c). To convict you of sin.

d). To correct or punish you for sin.

e). To prevent you from committing sin.

f). To reveal latent sin deep within your heart.

g). To awaken you from laziness so that you exercise yourself in grace.

8. How do I meditate on God's providence?

Flavel's recommendations:

a). Work hard at remembering and exploring the providence of God toward you. (extensively and intensively trace God's blessings and ways thru your life. Note answered prayer. Give thanks)

b). Trace the connection between the providences of God in your life and the promises of God in his Word. 

c). Look beyond the events and circumstances of providence to God as author and provider. (think of God's attributes and his work in your life, both in good and difficult times)

d). Respond to each providence in an appropriate way. 

Be thankful in good providences and look to the Lord for comfort and joy even in difficult providences.

Flavel~"Consider all your losses are but as the loss of a farthing to a prince."

How do we handle difficult providences?

a). Learn how to resist discouragement by trusting God is working in his timing toward greater blessing.

b). Learn not to assume that we fully understand God's ways and purposes, but meditate on his goodness in the past and promises for the future. Trying to solve mysteries too great for us will only breed suspicion toward God.

William Cowper~

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea

And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never failing skill

He treasures up His bright designs

And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;

The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy and shall break

In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust Him for His grace;

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err

And scan His work in vain;

God is His own interpreter,

And He will make it plain.

The Sovereignty of God

After preaching a sermon on the sovereignty of God in Daniel 4, I was asked for some of the biblical argument I made for God's sovereignty. I have included here some of my notes on the topic for your use.

When considering the Sovereignty of God I tend to want to point people to 3 truths regarding God's sovereignty:

1.  The EXTENT of the Sovereignty of God.

2.  The RULE of the Sovereignty of God.

3.  The GOAL of the Sovereignty of God.

I find Ephesians 1:11 a helpful place to find an outline for the first 3 points:

At the beginning of his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul clearly lays out God’s eternal plan to save us, His sending forth of Jesus to accomplish it and of the Spirit to apply it. In the midst of teaching on our salvation in Christ, Paul is clearly writing of the inheritance we receive in Christ because we have been predestined to receive it. As he does so, he provides the ground for our predestination.

Everyone who believes in the Bible believes in predestination. The argument is over what is the ground of our predestination. Is the ground of it God’s foreknowledge of our future free will choices? Is God’s decree conditioned upon future free acts of his creatures? In other words, is the ground of his eternal decree found in us? Or is the ground found in God’s unconditioned, holy, and immutable will?

He grounds our predestination in something. What is it? Does he ground it in our will? No! He clearly states, “having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will." The ground of predestination is God’s sovereign, holy, and immutable will. 

Paul takes God's sovereignty even a step further. He claims that not only is our predestination to salvation grounded in God’s holy and immutable will, but everything that happens is grounded in God’s holy and immutable Will! Notice Paul says, "who works 'all things'.”

Using Paul's statement in Ephesians 1:11 as an outline, we find at least 3 truths regarding divine sovereignty:

1.  The EXTENT of God’s Sovereignty.

God works all things according to the counsel of His will! How many things? Some things? All things! There is nothing that happens that is outside God’s will. Someone will say, “certainly we can violate God’s will. What about when we sin?” Yes, you are violating God’s will of precept, or His Law, but you are not violating His will of decree. The text clearly says God “works” all things (that is active) according to the counsel of His will!

Let me give you specific categories that God sovereignly decreed (I don't remember where I originally got this list. I believe it was from Berkof. It is not originally mine):

a.  Good and evil events (Isa. 45:7, Job 1:21, Jer. 15:2)

Is. 45:7 I form light and create darkness,

I make well-being and create calamity,

I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Job 1:21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

b.  Sinful acts (Gen. 50:20, 2 Sam. 16:10-11, Luke 22:22, Acts 2:23, 4:27-28)

Gen. 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people* should be kept alive, as they are today.

Acts 2:23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

c.  Free acts of men (Prov. 16:1, 9, 21:1, Rom. 8:28, 35-39)

Prov. 16:9  The heart of man plans his way,

but the LORD establishes his steps.

Prov. 21:1  The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:41 ¶ So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 

John 6:42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 

John 6:43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves.

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

d.  “chance” occurrences (1 Kings 22:28-34, Job 5:6, Prov. 16:33, Jonah 1:7)

Prov. 16:33  The lot is cast into the lap,

but its every decision is from the LORD.

e.  Details of our lives (Job 14:5, Psa. 139:16, Matt. 10:29-30, James 4:15)

Psa. 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there were none of them.

Matt. 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?* And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

Matt. 10:30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

f.  Affairs of nations (2 Kings 5:1, Ps. 75:1-7, Prov. 21:31, Dan. 2:21)

Dan. 2:21 He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding;

g.  Final salvation of the saints and destruction of the wicked (1 Sam. 2:25, Prov. 16:4, Rom. 9:14-18; Eph. 1:3-14; 1 Pet. 2:8, Jude 4)

Prov. 16:4  The LORD has made everything for its purpose,

even the wicked for the day of trouble.

Rom. 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Jude 1:4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Understanding that the EXTENT of God’s Sovereignty is “all things,” what is the RULE of God’s Sovereign Decree? Or, rather, what is the GOVERNING PRINCIPLE of God’s Sovereign Decree?

2.  The RULE of God’s Sovereign Decree.

Another way of asking this question is, “Is there anything outside of God that determines or constrains what He sovereignly decrees or wills to happen, or is His sovereign will completely free of any external constraints?”

“Did God in eternity past look down the corridors of time, and make decisions based on what He saw men would do, or did He decree everything according to His own Sovereign will?”

Look again at Eph. 1:11 "having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will..."

What does it say? He works all things according to the counsel of His will! He does not work all things according to our will or the will of some other. He is God! He is completely sovereign and utterly free in His sovereignty. He is not constrained by His creature. His will is immutable (unchanging) and holy. The pot does not look at the potter and say, "why did you make me this way?"

3.  The GOAL of God’s Sovereignty is His own glory!  Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14

What is God's goal in his sovereign decree? What is he after? He is after his own glory. Paul makes his goal clear in repeating that goal 3 times in Ephesians 1:3-14.

In fact, think about the God-centeredness of the whole Bible story:

God created. God graciously provided for us. God was sinned against. God promised to send a redeemer. God called out a people for Himself. God provided the Word for His people. God provided the Law to show us our sin. God provided prophets to speak the truth. God provided priests. God provided kings. God sent His Son. God, in the person of Christ, perfectly fulfilled the requirements of the Law, God provided the ultimate sacrifice for sins. God sent His Son to the Cross. God resurrected Jesus from the dead. God sent His Spirit. God elects you. God regenerates you. God justifies you. God sanctifies you. God resurrects and glorifies you. God gifts you for service. God gets the glory!

This is why Paul concludes the first 11 chapters of Romans by saying, "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."

As the Father sent me...

I am privileged to deliver the charge to the graduates of Radius International this year. I have been given a brief window to preach on John 20:21, "Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." I decided to put the text of my message in my blog to help me stay concise and hopefully to encourage you as well. This is written to be preached and not read, so bear with the grammatical errors etc. I also want to indicate that this text will likely change as I clean it up, make cuts to shorten it etc. This is really my first draft. In fact, I will cut out the whole beginning section between the lines I have placed below due to lack of time, except for the first paragraph. However, I have included it for your reading.
___________________

I want to begin by congratulating you all on working so hard this year to prepare to fulfill the Great Commission. I am thankful for the privilege of being part of encouraging you in your obedience to go and preach the gospel among people who have never heard of Jesus. Radius was started as a dream, and eventually became seen as a necessity, for many of us here and it is deeply satisfying to be graduating our first class of students. 

Joseph asked me to give you a charge as you leave here and hopefully transition to long-term cross cultural church planting. I admit I feel personally unworthy for such a task. I am always mindful that is only Jesus and His Spirit in me as I proclaim his Word that makes me qualified to stand before you, or anyone else, and proclaim his Word.

Let me start by saying that I consider you all far more obedient than myself to our Lord’s command. It is easy to excuse away my unfaithfulness to a clear command of Jesus to go and make disciples among all peoples. It is easy to say I believed I was called to something else in America. It is easy to say I was ignorant of God’s heart for the nations. But the fact remains that I did not lack the ability to obey our Lord’s command and our Lord’s command lacks no clarity!

Yet, I chose my path and I do not regret where it has led me. However, I recognize at the same time that I can be quite thankful for where I am and still realize I should have been more obedient in the past. 

Why do I bring up my own disobedience to the Lord’s command? I bring up my disobedience because I believe it was driven by fear. I was afraid of losing my own life for the gospel. I was afraid Jesus was not worth the loss of all things. I was afraid I could spend my life on making Jesus known among other peoples and lose out on all that the good life in America has to offer me. 

And, I bring up my fear because Jesus understood that fear and even addressed it as he commissioned his disciples.

Look with me at John 20:19-20.

Notice that the disciples have locked the door out of fear. Jesus has died. He was captured, tried, and put to death by the Jewish religious leaders. The disciples were afraid of what would happen to them as well. 

How did Jesus resolve this fear?

He came and stood among them and said to them “Peace be with you.”

Jesus resolved their fear by showing himself to them as their resurrected Lord and spoke to them “Peace.”

I want to elaborate on that more, but look with me first at John 20:21.

Notice, this begins with the statement, “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.’”

What an incredible scene! Don’t miss what Jesus is doing here.

His last word on the Cross was “It is finished.” He has paid the debt for your sin in full. He has accomplished what the Father gave him to do in dying for sins.

His first word to his disciples in his resurrection is “Peace be with you.” He actually says this to his fearful disciples twice. Why?

John Stott answers this well, “We learn then that the Church’s very first need, before it can begin to engage in evangelism, is an experience and an assurance of Christ’s peace—peace of conscience through his death that banishes sin, peace of mind through his resurrection that banishes doubt. … Once we are glad that we have seen the Lord, and once we have clearly recognized him as our crucified and risen Savior, then nothing and no one will be able to silence us.”

As those who will go to suffer for the gospel among a people group you have never lived among, and who will sacrifice so much of what you came to enjoy in the US, and who will possibly suffer diseases, hardship, and pain you would not have suffered in the US, is it not good to hear from our resurrected Lord that we have peace with God and thus we really can be at peace in life because Jesus is making all things new?

When you are in the field suffering for the gospel, you will likely reach the point where your only assurance is that you have a Lord who resurrected from the dead and that he is worth it. You may be left with nothing but the promise that you are at peace with God and his eternal peace is yours when you are faced with major unrest in your circumstances. And, you need to know and trust that God’s peace is enough.

This is the ever important setting for what Jesus says next.

Look again at John 20:21.

____________________

“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

This is John’s version of the Great Commission. This command from Jesus to reach the nations with the gospel is repeated at least 4 times in some form in the Gospels and Acts.

When God gives a command it is important. When he repeats it numerous times it only increases the importance and centrality of the command.

So, what does this command mean? How has the Father sent Jesus? 

Well, we need to look first at the immediate context and then consider what else the gospel of John says about how the Father sent Jesus.

As we look at these two contexts, we will learn at least 5 aspects of Christ’s having been sent that apply to our being sent (I will go thru these rather quickly):

1. Jesus hasn’t finished his mission. He is still working it through his church. 

One of the aspects of John 20:21 you don’t readily pick up in English is that verb “has sent” is in the perfect tense.

The perfect tense stresses that this sending was a past act that has ongoing implications.

In other words, Jesus was sent in the past, but his mission continues. He is at work saving people and we are his body sent out to continue his mission.

This is what Luke means when he begins Acts 1 by saying that in his gospel he “dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” His birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection were only the beginning of his doing and teaching.

Jesus’s work continues through his body, the church. This is what Paul is referring to when he says in Colossians 1:24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church...”

Paul doesn’t mean that Jesus’s affliction lacked anything necessary for our justification. He means that the suffering of Christ is not complete until his ministers suffer with him as we gather his church.

This is why Radius focuses on reaching the unreached people groups no matter the cost to us. We want to see Jesus’s message carried to those He wants to save in every tribe, tongue, and nation. 

This leads quickly to the second point.

2. Jesus was sent in the power of the Holy Spirit and so are we.

Look at John 20:22.

Jesus was empowered by God’s Spirit to speak God’s word and do God’s will. He promises numerous times to give the disciples the same Holy Spirit.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus says “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit come’s upon you and you will be my witnesses...”

No man is saved apart from the work of the Holy Spirit and no man contains in himself the power or skills necessary to be effective in ministry.

The Holy Spirit qualifies you and Jesus promises he will be with you and empower you for the task.

And, the Holy Spirit works through the Word, which is why Radius has focused on equipping you to teach people the Bible story from Genesis through Revelation. The Spirit blesses and empowers his Word to the salvation of people.

For faith comes through hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.~Romans 10:17

3. Jesus was sent to proclaim the good news of salvation and so are we.

Look with me at John 20:23.

Jesus went and preached the gospel and cared for those in need. As he did he had authority to offer forgiveness of sins.

As those who are sent, we have authority to offer forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ as well. I don’t mean we can forgive sins, nor does Jesus.

His point is that when we bring the gospel to people and they believe, they will be forgiven. When we do not bring the gospel to them, they will not be forgiven as Jesus is the only name under Heaven by which men must be saved.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That is what the Father has sent him to do.

Now, Jesus has sent us to do the same. This is why Radius stresses church planting and not other good endeavors.

Does Jesus care about the whole person?

Absolutely! However, our ultimate concern is the salvation of their souls for eternity and thus this is why you see the apostles fulfilling the Great Commission by planting churches throughout the book of Acts.

4. Jesus was sent humbly into the world and so are we. 

In the High Priestly prayer of John 17, Jesus says the following, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”

Jesus did not proclaim the gospel from the heavens.

Jesus was sent to live among us as one of us. He took on flesh and dwelt among us. He humbled himself and took on the nature of a man.

He suffered with us. He grew with us. He felt what we felt. He knew us.

He is sending us in the same way. We are sent to humbly live among people and know them and suffer with them as we bring the gospel to them.

I want you to hear how John Stott reflects on this:

“I personally believe that our failure to obey the implications of this command is the greatest weakness of evangelical Christians in the field of evangelism today. We do not identify. We believe so strongly (and rightly) in proclamation, that we tend to proclaim our message from a distance. We sometimes appear like people who shout advice to drowning men from the safety of the seashore. We do not dive in to rescue them. We are afraid of getting wet, and indeed of greater perils than this. But Jesus Christ did not broadcast salvation from the sky. He visited us in great humility. … We cannot give up preaching, for proclamation is of the essence of salvation. Yet true evangelism, evangelism that is modeled on the ministry of Jesus, is not proclamation without identification any more than it is identification without proclamation. Evangelism involves both together.”

This is why Radius in committed to long-term, incarnational church planting.

5. Jesus was sent to be about the Father’s will for the Father’s glory, and we are sent likewise.

Finally, you can’t read the Gospel of John and not notice that numerous times Jesus says he was sent to obey the Father’s will. He is all about the will of his Father.

He is all about the will of his Father because his ultimate end is the glory of his Father.

In John 17:4, Jesus says, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”

Our aim is the glory of God and that aim is hit through obedience to the will of our Lord.

We are sent to do the will of our Lord! We are sent to teach others to do everything the Lord has commanded!

This is ultimately why Radius exists at all. We exist because we believe we are sent to do the will of our Lord...and we believe he has been emphatic and clear that we are “to make disciples among all peoples.” It is our prayer you will remain committed to the same.

Making an Educational Decision (Part 5)

I have promised to deliver on strengths and weaknesses of homeschooling, public school, and private schools as we have experienced them. It has taken me a while to get around to that list. The reason it has taken so long is because I have had to reflect so much. My slowness in reflection is driven by two considerations:

1. I not only have my own children who have been through all 3 educational platforms, but I have seen and worked with thousands of kids who have gone through these various systems.

2. I want to be careful how I approach this as the academic platform you are using is what Protestants call "adiaphora," or "indifferent matters," or "matters Scripture does not directly address or drive you to by good and necessary consequence." By saying an academic platform is "adiaphora," I don't mean that you don't have a clear command to disciple your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. I also don't mean you needn't exercise wisdom in how that is best accomplished. I mean that the Bible does not prescribe a particular academic platform, and your wisdom as to what is best does not constitute a law for everyone else.

So what follows is my best attempt to summarize what I have seen as strengths and weaknesses in short form. I am not claiming these strengths and weaknesses are researched facts of social science. I am merely commenting on my own observation, so take it with a grain of salt. I hope this will be mildly helpful to you.

Important note: I have not been comprehensive. This is a short list. Further, some of the strengths and weaknesses that are shared by public / private schools in contrast to homeschool have been left out and assumed in my list of strengths and weaknesses in homeschooling.

Public School Strengths

1. It's already paid for by your taxes. Let's face it, some people have financial struggles.
2. In our local area there are some fantastic teachers and administrators who will bless you and your children.
3. There are many opportunities and activities that are not afforded by other options due to the sheer wealth of money going into the public schools.
4. It can be very good for your children to be exposed to unbelievers and have to trust in Jesus in a more hostile context.

Public School Weaknesses

1. Your children can, and likely will, be overwhelmed by the sheer force of secularism in the classroom and worldliness on the playground. This secular and worldly encroachment is growing daily through the laws being passed by our state legislature.
2. The worldview of the curriculum (and sometimes the teachers) is something you will have to spend time counteracting on a daily basis.
3. The public school system is compulsory and thus they tend to believe your children are on loan to you and belong to them.
4. There are several poor teachers who have gained tenure. You will likely run into some.

Private Christian School Strengths

1. The curriculum is generally well-aligned with a Christian worldview.
2. The teachers are free to pray and discuss the faith with your children during class time.
3. The playground environment is often better controlled than at a public school.
4. Private schools understand that your children belong to you and thus are less likely to infringe on your parental rights.

Private Christian School Weaknesses

1. They can be quite expensive.
2. They tend to overwork students with homework because they believe this is tied to superior academic achievement.
3. There are often less opportunities than the public school (except in large private schools).
4. The schools are often so ecumenical in approach that one wonders if the theology your child is learning is really better than what is offered in public schools. At least your kids are abundantly aware that the public school curriculum is hostile to their worldview.

Home School Strengths

1. You have control over curricular and schedule decisions for your children.
2. It is far less expensive than private Christian school options.
3. You are able to flex your educational decisions around the unique needs of your individual children.
4. There is more time to establish a family rhythm of worship and play.
5. Your children are less exposed to worldliness and secularism at young ages.
6. You can expose your children to some of the best classics of western literature that they will sadly never read in private or public school due to the tragic decision in those circles to predominantly use textbooks in the humanities.

Home School Weaknesses

1. It is a lot of work. It should not be taken on by those who won't follow through.
2. It is naturally more isolated from other people. This can take a toll on both mom and the children.
3. It can lead to not engaging with unbelievers which is never good discipleship.
4. The pressure of the responsibility of leading all day in the home can overwhelm some moms. They are not faulty women because they can't do this well. They are not less committed to the Lord or their children.
5. Young boys, particularly those approaching or in their teen aged years, can be stifled by being under the thumb of their mom all day.
6. There are less abundant activities and opportunities for your children, unless you are in a more wealthy family or attached to a homeschool cooperative program with a local private or public school.

One Last Matter

If you are against homeschooling, you might point out that I left out the fact that homeschool children are more likely to be socially weird. I am not convinced that is a problem with homeschooling. I think that is likely because they are being homeschooled by socially weird parents. Let's be honest, we have seen weird kids in all kinds of settings and they are usually the product of weird parents.

A Final Note about the Holy Spirit and Parental Responsibility

Won't sending my kid to public school damn them to a secular worldview and a life of ungodliness? Won't putting my child in Christian school make them into a snob and a natural Pharisee? Won't homeschooling my child make them into a person who is unable to cope with the real world? Doesn't one choice insure a better product in the end?

The answer to this question is emphatically, "NO!!" Your child is born a sinner. They don't catch the sin disease from other people. The enemy of sin is not only outside your home. Further, there is NOTHING you can do to guarantee your children will be born again and walk with the Lord. The faith of your children is in the hands of the Lord. I have watched public school kids with ungodly parents become some of the strongest Christians I know. I have watched homeschool kids with godly parents become atheists. There is no educational system you can choose with guaranteed spiritual outcomes.

This does not, however, absolve you from the responsibility of making the wisest possible decisions for your children. You must pray fervently for them. You must teach the Word to them. You must model love for God and others to them. As you fulfill your responsibility, you must point them relentlessly to Jesus as their only hope. You must also insure that you never lead them to believe you, or they, are the hero of their story. Jesus is the only One who can save your kids. Without him rescuing them there is no hope. Please remember this when choosing an educational setting for your kids.

What we Decided

For those who care and who have bothered to read this far, we decided to return to homeschooling this year. We look forward to the coming years of discipling our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Making an Educational Decision (Part 4)

I am going to tell a short version of our story for the benefit of helping you see how we have experienced three different academic settings. I also hope this helps you have context for why we have made the decisions we made.

We began our children's education in a homeschool setting. Our reasons for this were several. We wanted to disciple our children well. We wanted to have maximal time available to shape their thinking and their hearts in a Christ-centered direction. We also believed my son was a bit immature for his age and would not do well in a traditional school setting. Finally, we just plain wanted to spend more time with them.

We homeschooled our children for 2.5 years. We had a love / hate relationship with homeschooling. We loved the time with our children. We enjoyed the freedom of the pace of study, the curricular decisions, and space it provided our family to establish a good rhythm. We hated the additional stress and guilt it provided to my wife as she constantly felt like she was failing. We hated that our children failed to understand that in a room full of children they could not just blurt out whenever they wanted (which is nearly impossible to teach in a home with 2 children). We hated the homeschooling subculture that pretends their wisdom call makes them superior to those who fail to attain their particular level of righteousness (read self-righteousness). However, on the whole we wanted to keep homeschooling. 

Why did we stop? Well, my wife became very ill. She could no longer homeschool the children. Thus, we had to move them into a traditional school setting. By God's grace we were blessed tremendously by Country Christian School. Our children entered Country Christian School and remained in that school for 4 years. I cannot stress enough what a blessing this school was. They were incredibly kind to our family. Our children benefited from a good curriculum, good teachers, and made sweet friends. My wife loved helping out at Country Christian and received many of the benefits of homeschooling without the guilt of being the lead person in trying to educate our children academically. Frankly, my wife is really built to fill a support role. Her relationship with our son became incredibly close where it was strained when we homeschooled. The only downsides to the school were that the upper grades tend to over burden the children with homework and in the last year we saw our children's love for reading begin to dissipate.

It was only this year that we made the decision to place our children in the local public school. We did so because we were not pleased with the 6th-8th grade program at our previous school. We loved the school through the 5th grade. But the program was not a good fit for us past the 5th grade. Our local public school, Centennial Elementary, turned out to be a blessing for our family as well. We have only been in the program one year. With that said, the principal and teachers we had at Centennial Elementary were incredibly kind, gracious, hard-working Christian people. They loved our children well. Our children thrived there academically. Further, their love for reading was incredibly well-nurtured at Centennial! The primary downsides for our family at Centennial were that the curriculum is godless (though the teachers were not), my children hated the math book, and my son struggled with the conversations that were to be had on the playground. 

Now we are left to make a decision regarding our next school year. The two options before us are to keep our children in the public schools or to homeschool again. We are strongly leaning toward homeschooling again. My wife has been well for more than 3 years and we believe her health will be good for years to come. This removes a big obstacle for us. Our son really wants to be homeschooled as he has tired of hearing about all the middle school antics. He has loads of friends and social outlets. He just hates the zoo effect that occurs at middle schools. Further, he really enjoyed a more Christ-centered curriculum and wants to return to Saxon math. My daughter is happy either way. She is younger and has a sweet group of girlfriends at her school she will miss. However, she would prefer a Christian education and Saxon math as well. Further, she doesn't want to be at the public school if her older brother isn't. I keep reminding her they would be at different schools if they both stayed in public school, but she doesn't seem to care about that.

Our concerns in returning to homeschooling primarily boil down to one big issue. Will our children be self-directed enough that my wife won't feel the need to be constantly hounding them? This concern is largely born out of our realization that my wife does not serve well in the role of a leader. She is an incredible support. When my children can look to her to help them and encourage them all is well. When she must be the taskmaster their relationship goes awry. My hope is that I can bridge that some. But, my best efforts to do so when they were younger did not pan out. My guess is that they will be far more self-directed at this age. They have proven to be so in school. 

This concern for my children manifests itself differently for each. Our daughter has the tendency to want to slack off and she pushes back against my wife and not against her teachers. We don't want to provide an atmosphere for her where she is constantly at war with my wife to do her work. Our son is on the verge of being a teenage boy. I do not believe it is healthy for a young man of that age to be under the thumb of his mom all day. In fact, I have seen multiple young men grow up in that scenario and it has not benefited them as adults. Thus, my goal is to take the lead in homeschooling both of them through planning their curriculum, making a calendar, and checking each day to see how their progress is going. I am hoping this will allow my wife to remain in a support role and help them with their studies. This is our planned approach if we homeschool this year. But we won't make that decision for another month or so. 

I will post a list of benefits and weaknesses to each form of education (as we have experienced them) in my next post.

Making and Educational Decision (Part 3)

Part 1 and 2 of this series can be found here and here.

I was sitting at my son's basketball practice talking to a young mom about our kids and school. I was telling her that my son and daughter really want to be homeschooled, as they once were. She responded to me that she was opposed to homeschooling. The reason for her opposition was that she was shaped as a person by her teachers. She said to me, "my school teachers were a huge influence on me as a person. I don't want my children to miss out on this kind of influence in their lives." I was stopped in my tracks by that comment. I was stunned. My mouth was closed and that isn't easy to do!

What this mom reflected to me is actually something we intuitively know about education. We know that our teachers do influence who we are. In fact, Jesus said this very thing when talking about discipleship, "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40)." Influence is an inescapable aspect of education. People will increasingly reflect the attributes of those who disciple them. Pastors actually lament this reality when they discuss the fact that their churches will often reflect much about themselves. Parents lament this when they see their children running around as little mirrors of their own shortcomings. The principle is really quite simple. We become like those who teach us.

Thus, we would be incredibly naive not to account for "who" is teaching our children. The kind of people we want as the primary teachers of our children are those who love the Lord. We want them to be taught by those who demonstrate the character of Christ. We particularly want them to be taught by those who trust the Lord, apart from whom there is no salvation. We want them trained by those who demonstrate the "fear of the Lord," without which true knowledge is not possible. We want them to be discipled by those who "love the Lord and others," which is the sum of the Law. We want our sons and daughters to be developed as disciples of Jesus. This is the goal of Christian education. This is the responsibility inherent in the stewardship of children God has given to us.

The question is then begged whether everything my child is taught must be taught by a Christian. The answer to that question is "not necessarily." To use a non-academic example, my son has been taught how to shoot a basketball by someone who is not a Christian. Does this make my son's love of shooting a basketball an improper ordering of his affections (false worship), so that he is necessarily an idolater with regard to basketball? Of course not. However, is my son influenced by his coach and could the coach's wrong ordering of his affections influence my son in a manner that my son would love basketball too much? Yes! Further, could this same falsely directed form of worship be taught to my son by another Christian also? Yes! Frankly, my worship is often misdirected and I am certain my children's loves are shaped by me as well. 

We must be careful to avoid concluding that there is nothing good our children can learn from other fallen people, even unbelieving people. We believe in God's common grace working in unbelievers so that they often think true thoughts. Their problem is those truths are not placed in a proper worldview nor enjoyed in the context of the worship of God. With that said, we also must avoid falling into the mistaken notion that our children are not being influenced by those who teach them. 

It is our burden to make sure our children are being shaped into Christians in thinking and in the ordering of their affections (worship). This is difficult work which requires we engage with all those who are influencing our children. We must come alongside our children and help them put everything they are learning in the context of a proper worldview and worship. It will not do to fall into the error that our children have nothing good to learn from other adults (even unbelievers), nor to pretend that other teachers have no influence over what they think and love. 

Navigating the various influences you introduce into the lives of your children is difficult work and requires wisdom. In the next post, I will discuss our story and advantages / disadvantages we have found in choices we have made for our children.