I recently had the opportunity to write a letter to one of my nephews who was celebrating his 13th birthday. I share a portion of this letter as an encouragement for other families and specifically young men.
Dear “Samuel”
Congratulations on reaching an important milestone in your life. Though the world often associates the teenage years with rebellion, lack of responsibility, and other ills, our gracious God obviously has a much different view of this time of life you are entering. In OT culture, something carried over into modern Judaism, the age of 13 was an important transition point. A bar-miztvah (literally son of the law), is the celebration that marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. No longer are you a boy; you are now a young man. Though you are only one year older than your last birthday, you are now entering into a much more important and significant period of your life. For the next 5-10 years, you will be making decisions that will not only affect your life but will also affect the lives of many other people.
Continue reading 'A Letter to a Young Man'»
Did Columbus seek to prove that the world was round as he set out for the New World in 1492? The idea that there was a controversy over this is a hoax. Jeffrey Burton Russell explains the origin of this hoax in his fascinating book, Inventing the Flat Earth. The Flat-earth myth was propagated to seek to drive a wedge between ‘Science’ and the Bible.
There is no conflict between the Bible properly understood and Science properly understood.
Consider the following points:
1. Modern science developed out of a Christian view of the world. Modern science did not develop in the advance cultures and civilizations of the Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and others. Though those civilizations were culturally and sometimes politically sophisticated and advanced, because they worshipped nature, true science was never able to develop. As Stanley Jaki puts it, science suffered “still births” in those civilizations. It was only in an environment, influenced by Christianity, that science was able to begin and flourish.
Continue reading 'Creation, Part 2'»
We have been told, as the debate over health care reform unfolded, that health care is a right. Only one side in the debate was making this claim. I will leave it to you to guess which side.
Is health care a right?
Let’s begin by asking the deep philosophical question, “What is a right?”
Continue reading 'Is Health Care a Right?'»
“If we only invested more money into education,” is a common refrain, no doubt one that you have heard. I did some research recently about how much money is spent on government education. In Illinois, the average per pupil spent is $9,238. In a high school not far from CLA, the per student expenditure is $15,203. New Trier High School, located in one of the wealthiest areas of the state, spends $17,727 per student. Now some of these schools do produce impressive test results. But in comparison, the high school tuition for Christian Liberty Academy in 2010-2011 is $4,500, about 1/2 the state average. CLA students and CLASS students routinely score much higher than the state average on the ACT (American College Test). We don’t seek to boast in our accomplishments, but we do loudly want to say, money is not the answer.
Teaching Methods From Deuteronomy
One of the most frequently quoted portions of Holy Scripture among Christian home educators is Deuteronomy 6:4-9. In these verses, the Lord gives a clear command for parents to diligently teach their children the whole of God’s precepts and commandments throughout the course of each day. In particular, verses six and seven state: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
What is obvious from this passage, is that Almighty God desires for parents to diligently and regularly instruct their covenant children in the truth of God’s Word in order that they may be prepared to walk righteously as lights in a dark and fallen world. What is less obvious, however, is how God directs parents to accomplish the noble and vital task of biblical child training. The Lord simply directs parents to walk and talk with their children throughout the hours of each day in order that they may teach them how to apply the truth of God’s Word to the issues of life.
“Wait a minute!” you may say. “The greatest duty of parenting can’t be summed up that simply, … or can it?” Too often Christian parents, including those involved in home education, imagine that the process of imparting spiritual and moral truth must be accomplished in some sort of rigid manner, complete with plenty of formal classes and workbooks. Now, it is undoubtedly true that most parents will find that they can accomplish some aspects of their training more efficiently through the utilization of Bible study texts and supplemental resources such as maps, flashcards, charts, etc. The true issue or concern, however, is not about books or the value of formal class work. The point that parents need to grasp, regardless of whether they elect to use Bible study texts or classes, is that the most important aspect of biblical training was never designed by Almighty God to be limited to or governed by man-made books or study programs. The Lord, after all, gave children to parents, and it is His intention that they take an active and personal role in the spiritual development of their offspring.
Continue reading 'Teaching Methods From Deuteronomy'»
There are few subjects more important for younger Christian men and women to seek to master than the debate between creation vs. evolution. Our faith will certainly come under attack. We must stand humbly but confidently on the foundation of God’s Word as we seek to understand the issues and work through some of the very difficult questions that arise. This first post deals with the biblical evidence for a literal six-day creation.
In Gen. 1:5 we have the first use of the word day. The Hebrew word is yom. The word yom appears 2,304 times in the Old Testament and is the 5th most common noun. The majority of times that it is used is in reference to a normal day-night cycle. It can though at times be used to represent an extended period of time, but that is not its most common usage. How can we tell when it is not referring to a literal day? The context of the passage would indicate otherwise. When day is used to refer to something other than a 24-hour day it is always used with special linguistic and contextual connections. When these are absent as in Genesis 1, the normal meaning is always assumed. And we know this just from our own communication. When we ask other people, “How are you doing today?”, we are generally not asking them for their entire life story. The meaning is determined by the context, which in the case of Genesis 1 is quite obvious and clear.
Continue reading 'Creation, Part 1'»
“What about socialization?” It seems strange to me that we still hear this question regarding homeschooling. After decades of success and exponential growth, you would think some of the more remedial and uninformed questions would wither and die. I have several answers for the question when it is posited, each falling somewhere on the politeness scale, depending on my mood.
“Your right! How could anyone want their kids to miss out on group pressure for sex, drugs, violence and rebellion?” Ok, I never really said it out loud, but I have to admit it lurks in my mind somewhere.
I think the real reason people raise this question is that they remember their friends and times of fun when they were in school. Continue reading 'What About Socialization…Again?'»
Every time the Olympics come around again, I am struck by the unique spirit and drive of the Olympic athletes. They come from around the world, having spent the previous four years in rigorous training. That training often includes rising before the sun most every morning, and doing a great deal of preparation and work before most folks roll out of bed. It takes serious and sustained desire, ambition, self-denial, and just raw work, to maintain the peak of physical and mental fitness. Whole families, and even towns sometimes, become involved in the athlete’s training and support. All of this is done so that the athlete can travel to some distant corner of the globe to get one shot at gold—and perhaps miss it by a few hundredths of a second. Any little thing that goes wrong can throw the first place contender completely out of the medal running. Everyone knows that if you are out of the medals, you virtually cease to exist in terms of the glory of the Olympics. The journalists stop talking about you very quickly, and no one remembers your name. Continue reading 'Obtaining the Prize'»
Ehud ben Levi! You better get going, the school bus is about to come!
But, Mom, why do I have to keep going to the Philistine school?
Ehud, you know that they have the best Spear and Sword team.
But Mom, they only teach us about Dagon and that our God is nothing special.
Ehud, don’t listen to that stuff. You only need to pay attention when they teach you about math and science. You can also ignore most of their history stuff. You can learn about Torah when you go to Synagogue on Saturday.
Now quick, otherwise you’ll miss the bus. We love you, Ehud. See you tonight around 6.
Continue reading 'Ehud ben Levi'»
In response to the earthquake and suffering in Haiti, we are seeking to help a pastor in the Chicagoland area who will be leading a team that will be traveling to Haiti. Bob Allums and his wife Helen, a nurse, will be leaving for Haiti on February 19. It is difficult to assess the level of suffering and need in Haiti. Doug Phillips of Vision Forum ministries who also has been working in Haiti has noted that much of the American attention given to Haiti ended with distractions over the Super Bowl. We must not be so distracted. I would ask you to seek to help faithful ministries still working in Haiti. Please also pray for Bob and Helen Allums and those traveling with him. There may be opportunity to partner with them later in 2010.
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