New Websites Launched

This summer we (Word of Life) launched our new website and I am pumped about what I see.  Then last month our missionary pages have been launched and after some training on how to use them we are ready to hit the ground running with our new sites.  Calendar, leaders resources, articles, videos, podcasts and of course  a new blog.

If you click on the image from either Ray’s or my new site it will take you there.  Ray already has a couple of posts on his blog.  He is a couple of steps ahead of me.   Our goal is that these tools will be a help to you and your ministry.  One of the new additions to the Word of Life web page is a section where you can download some classic sermons including ones from AW Tozer, Charles Ryrie, Warren Wiersbe and many more.  Click on the logo and check out these oldies but goodies.

Please let us know things you would like to see on our sites that would help you in your endeavor to reach young people with the Gospel.  We look forward to being able to serve you even more through these great new online resources.

Perspective

This Labor Day Weekend, my family spent a day in New York City on our way to take our youngest son to the Word of Life Bible Institute in Schroon Lake, NY. I’ve been in NY a few times but I’m not a daily visitor to the city, so I definitely look like a tourist. I have to stop and look at my subway or city map and try to figure out where I am and what train goes  where I want to go. This is not an easy task amidst those huge buildings or underground in the subway tunnels. One thing that always strikes me, though, is how my perspective changes the way I think. From the vantage point of the Staten Island Ferry, all of the recognizable landmarks (Battery Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, or the Empire State Building) are  easily visible.  So why do I have so much trouble getting to those sites when I’m in the midst of the city? Perspective! Buildings, people, cars, and other objects  block my view. Perspective also changes how you think about something. All four of us talked about how small the Statue of Liberty looked from where we were. It was much bigger in our minds, and in a few days, as our memories fade, it will probably become much bigger again.

These things are true in our own daily lives as well. Perspective changes how we think about events, people, and problems in our lives, and it causes us confusion sometimes, as we try to figure out what our next step should be. One area in which most people struggle is the area of their own spirituality and sanctification. I wonder who has a better perspective on what we really are– us or the Lord?

Oswald Chambers says in My Utmost for His Highest:

” The way we continually talk about our own inability is an insult to the Creator. The deploring of our own incompetence is a slander against God for having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining in the sight of God the things that sound humble before men, and you will be amazed at how staggeringly impertinent they are. ‘Oh, I shouldn’t like to say I am sanctified; I’m not a saint.’ Say that before God; and it means—‘No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are chances I have not had; so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.’ That may sound wonderfully humble before men, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.
Again, the things that sound humble before God may sound the opposite before men. To say—‘Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,’ is in the sight of God the acme of humility, it means you have so completely abandoned yourself to God that you know He is true. Never bother your head as to whether what you say sounds humble before men or not, but always be humble before God, and let Him be all in all.”

It really is all about perspective! Have a great week serving the Lord.

Commitment to Discipleship

Well, this is the final entry in my four week series on how to get your ministry year started right.  I certainly have not covered everything, just a few things that God has place upon my heart.  We have talked about Joy in Ministry, Planning and Evangelism.  I want to conclude with a plea for your commitment.  That is a commitment to discipleship.

Our students and children have plenty of influences in their lives.  Television, internet, music, family and friends just to name a few.  A couple of these have the potential to be positive but potentially each of them can be negative.  You hope that a young persons family is a positive influence but the truth is, it many times is not.  We know what can happen with the influence of peer pressure and don’t even talk about TV and internet.  So, how do you have a positive influence on their lives?  How can you commit to the discipleship of a young person?

In Word of Life we use this phrase a lot:  “Discipleship is teaching young people to be what I already am”.  That is a powerful and very humbling statement.  One that has a tendency to scare some of us.  My first thought is to all of the areas of my life that I don’t want a young person imitating but that is not where our focus should be.  Our focus should be on all of the areas that we can be an influence in a positive way.

I want to challenge you to do something as a leader this year.  Look at the young people in your small group individually and ask yourself these simple questions.

• What is the biggest spiritual need they have in their life right now (possibly daily quiet time or negative peer pressure etc.)?
• How can my example help them to experience growth in this area?
• What tools or resources can I provide for them to help them grow in this area?
• What do I need to do to keep them accountable in this area so they might see progress in their life?

Right down the names of each of the students in your small group, ask these four questions about each of them and then put your plan into practice and see how God blesses your discipleship ministry this year.

I can’t wait to hear from you about what God does as a result of your faithfulness!

Evangelism: The Lifeblood of Your Ministry

As you begin the new ministry year there is one question that ought to be on the forefront of your mind:  “How are we going to reach the young people in our community with Jesus Christ?”  I promise you it won’t happen by accident.  The last time I checked, lost young people these days are not just wandering into our ministries to check it out.  If we want to reach our community we must be Intentional about it.  What are you doing to reach your community for Christ?  I just happen to have a few great ideas.

• STORM – Sending Teens Out to Reach the Masses.  Those of you using the Word of Life Student Ministry in your churches ought to be familiar with this.  If you have never had a STORM event at your church you don’t know what you are missing.  This is an inexpensive way to triple your attendance for one night and have an opportunity to share the Gospel with lost young people in your community.  Click on the STORM logo to check out a short video on how your students can go to their friends houses and invite them to a STORM at your church.

• Fascar - If you work specifically with Children, then a Fascar rally is definitely the event for your church.  Have a Word of Life Missionary come to your church, bring their Fascar track and watch the kids come in to race their Hotwheels cars.  Oh yeah, the Gospel is presented and an opportunity for Children to accept Christ is given.  Click on the Fascar logo to see a video about Fascar.

• Word of Life Superbowl - November 6th is the Word of Life Superbowl in Charlotte.  An all-night activity for teenagers including NBA Basketball, prizes, pizza, laser tag, bowling, arcade, inflatables, soccer, flag football and a whole lot more.  The best part is a clear Gospel message with invitation.  Plan now to bring your young people and their lost friends.

There are tons of other things you can do, these are just three opportunities that Word of Life offers to you.  Whether you use our ideas or not, the bottom line is there are simply too many young people lost and on their way to Hell if we don’t reach out to them.  I firmly believe that the message of Jesus Christ is so powerful that it will change lives, we just have to get the message out there.  So, be intentional about evangelism in your ministry this year and see what God does.  Click here to find out where the closest Word of Life Missionary is to you?

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

Last week I started a series focused on starting the new ministry year off with a bang.  This week we continue with talking about the importance of planning.

Nobody ever sets out on a journey to fail.  I have never spoken to a salesman who says “my goal is to not sell anything” nor have I met a person in ministry who says “I plan on having absolutely no impact on the lives of those I come in contact with”.  As ridiculous as those two things sound, the truth is that if you are not going to plan, you truly have set yourself up for failure.

I know from experience that when I fail to plan I never get the results I wanted and I am not satisfied with the effort I put into it.  You have certainly heard the term “work smarter not harder”; planning is working smarter.  Planning allows you to get others involved and delegation is working smarter.  Planning turns an unorganized leader into a confident leader.

As the leader of a ministry you should have two types of planning sessions.

1.  Yearly Planning – A time where you get together with your leadership team and plan out the year.  Put important dates on the calendar and lay out a teaching plan for the year.  This is also a time to plan out the first month of your ministry year in detail.

2.  Monthly Planning – A time each month where you plan the next month in detail and look at upcoming events and activities.  This is also a time to evaluate and discuss how things are going and ways to improve the ministry.  The only way to make this a consistent time each month is to plan it for the same day and time each month.  For example, the second Sunday night of every month.  This way it becomes a routine and part of your leaders monthly schedules.

So, what’s it going to be?  Planning, or failure?  Interested in taking your ministry to the next level?  Interested in getting your whole leadership team more involved?  Interested in reaching more young people and growing your ministry?  How about this one; Interested in sleeping better at night?  Being a better planner will do all of those things for you.

Starting the Ministry Year off Right

Over the next several weeks I would like to do a series that focuses on starting your ministry year with a bang.  A new ministry year offers a fresh start; opportunities to do things right from the beginning.  A new focus on what is important when it comes to ministering to people.  This week I want to talk about something that can’t be taught but it can be caught.  Without it you are defeated in ministry before you even begin.  I am talking about JOY!

I am reminded of Paul under house arrest as he wrote the book of Philippians.  He consistently experienced joy in-spite of his circumstances.  That is because his joy was not about his circumstances, rather his joy was in Christ.

Are you experiencing Joy in Christ?  Please don’t start a new year with your tank on empty.  Take time now before the new year even begins and spend some extra quiet time with the Lord.  Don’t rely on the energy of your young people to lift you up.  Make sure you are the one setting the pace and that your joy is overflowing because it is found in Christ.

Parenting Principles From Psalm 127 Part 5

This is our fifth and final look at Psalm 127 and specifically how it relates to parenting. The final comparison between arrows and children is that there is tension before an arrow is released and the moment of greatest tension is just before it is released but it must be released. This is a really hard one. Letting your child go out into the world is very hard on a parent. (And saying “it’s a jungle out there” is an understatement!) I believe if you weren’t at least a little bit squeamish about sending your child out on their own you might not have a good grip on reality. What has been the most comforting thought for me is that my sons all accepted Christ at an early age and therefore they have the same Holy Spirit indwelling them as I do. Probably what scares me about that the most is that I know how sinful I am and how many times I’ve ignored the Holy Spirit. I know my sons are made of the same stuff I am, but their Heavenly Father loves them more than I ever could, and He can protect them more than I ever could as well. When our children are toddlers we start allowing them to make their own decisions in some small areas. We will start allowing them to decide what clothes to wear and what to eat, but we are at the same time (I hope) allowing them to see the consequences of their actions. “No, you don’t have to eat everything on your plate, but if you don’t then you can’t have any ice cream later.” Of course we then have to follow through, but this process helps our children learn to make decisions and look ahead to the consequences of those decisions. You have been going through that process with your child for many years, and now they are ready for that test flight, or perhaps to launch out for good. Now, you pour on the prayer because they are just like you, and just like you, they will mess up in some way. You may never know about it, but it will happen.

So, when will they be ready to go? I can’t answer that. Every child is different, and even your own children are going to be different from each other. Some of our children are probably marking the days off on the calendar as they count down to launch date. Others may need a little pushing out of the nest. It doesn’t mean one loves you less than the other, it just means they are different from each other. You will still feel the tension. You’ve fashioned that arrow to the best of your ability, you’ve drawn the bow back to its limit and you stand there with a trembling hand fighting the tension. Now…release. You are entering a brand new season of your life. In many ways this new season is as scary as being a brand new parent—maybe even more so, but it can also be as exciting and wonderful as being a brand new parent. Enjoy it.

One final word from verse 4 but this is about the parent and not the child. I am told that all good archers have an anchor point. When an archer draws back his bow, he brings it back to the same point every time. We as parents need an anchor point as well and I am so thankful that the Lord has given us His Word so that we can continually go to that anchor point. There are a lot of things that I don’t know but an omniscient God gave me His Word. There are a lot of things I can’t do but an omnipotent God gave me His Word. There are a lot of places I can’t go but an omnipresent God gave me His Word. Several times in these posts I mentioned that our job as parents is to sharpen, straighten, and stabilize those sticks we have been entrusted with and turn them into arrows. The best way to do that is to constantly use God’s Word. You are probably familiar with 2 Timothy 3:16 which says:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” ^[1]

You may have heard that doctrine is teaching, reproof is showing us where we went wrong, correction is showing us how to get back right and instruction in righteousness is showing us how to stay right. I agree with that but I prefer looking at it this way as a parent. Doctrine is how we sharpen our sticks. Reproof and correction is how we straighten those sticks. And, instruction in righteousness is how we stabilize them so that they are wonderful arrows that fly straight and true to the target. There is only one problem with all this, though and that is, first of all, that straightening, sharpening, and stabilizing must be done to us first. Examine yourself and take an honest evaluation of the short-comings you have in your life. Then, go to that anchor point, and let God’s Word do its work in your life and then allow our Heavenly Father to work in your child’s life.

Once again I want to say thank you for reading these posts. I hope they have been helpful and encouraging to you. I know this hasn’t been an expository study of Psalm 127, nor has it been an all-encompassing parenting book. What it was meant to be was some words from someone on the same path you’re on who hopefully can point out a few of the pot holes he stepped in.

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^[1]The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.) (2 Ti 3:16). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Parenting Principles from Psalm 127 Part 4

In the previous posts we have seen that arrows (children) must be sharp, straight, and stable to accomplish their intended purpose and that the archer (parents) also must be stable for the arrow to hit the intended target. Our next similarity between children and arrows is that arrows only have one intended purpose, and although they can be used for other purposes, this could make them unusable for their intended purpose. An arrow really only has one purpose, to be shot from a bow towards a target. In the context of Psalm 127, that target could be an enemy soldier, but of course there are other reasonable targets such as an animal to put food on the table or a standing target for practice or sport. With its sharp edge, an arrow could be used to cut a steak or perhaps to cut a piece of wood, but would that be its intended purpose? Of course not, in fact either of those uses could bend or dull the arrow so that it couldn’t be used for its intended purpose. So what purpose do children have? The same purpose the rest of us have; according to Revelation 4:11, we have been created for God’s pleasure. In other words, we have been created to serve God and accomplish His purpose for us. The Prophet Isaiah understood this very well when he told us that God formed him in his mother’s womb. He also says in Isaiah 49:2 that God (obviously through his parents and others) formed him into a polished arrow to be used by God.

“And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;”

All of us are arrows in the hand of the mightiest warrior, Lord God Almighty. It’s a very sad thing when people decide they don’t want to be used by God, but would rather accomplish their own purposes for their life. They never become what they could be for the Lord. What’s even sadder is when a child is not allowed by his parents to accomplish God’s purposes for him. We are all to be, first of all, witnesses for our Savior. While we accomplish our first purpose for the Lord, we can also explore other avenues of service for the Lord. He may want us to be a Christian accountant, doctor, nurse, engineer or maybe even a Pastor or missionary. We can then accomplish His purpose for us in that arena but I would ask you a couple of questions: How much have you consulted with the Lord about what His purpose is for your child? And, how have you led your child to consult with the Lord about His purpose for them? Then, where the rubber meets the road, are you prioritizing your time, activities, and resources on a daily basis to accomplish GOD’s purpose for your child?…or are you putting undue emphasis on activities that just fill time (keep them busy) or make YOU feel good about your child excelling at some activity that doesn’t really prepare him or her for what God has called them to?

Our next comparison is that it is wise to test how your arrow flies before letting it go for real. Imagine with me, if you will, that you have one arrow in your quiver. You have never made an arrow until you made this one. You have spent a lot of time and energy on this arrow as you straightened the shaft, attached the fletching and honed the arrowhead. It certainly looks good and you are very, very proud of it. Now though, you are face to face with an enemy warrior or a magnificent buck. If you miss, the enemy will kill you or the buck will get away and your family will go hungry. How confident are you if you are placing that arrow onto the bow for the very first time? You don’t know if it will fly straight and true or not. You don’t know if it will stick in its target because you haven’t given it any test flights. I’ve seen some parents just like this, no test flights for their children. Little Susie or Billie (my apologies if that is your child’s name) have been kept under mother hen’s wing until they graduated from high school or, even worse, college. Now they get out into the world and they don’t know how to interact with an unsaved boss, manage money, or even go to bed on time so that they can get themselves out of bed the next morning! This process begins with the simplest choices that we allow them to make as pre-schoolers, while they are still in the safety of our home; like teaching them how to pick out appropriate clothing for the day, teaching them about healthy food choices, and teaching them how to make choices that prefer others above themselves….and letting them deal with the consequences of those choices. If we lived in an agricultural society, it would be expected that children would be out helping with the chores around the farm, but we don’t live in that type of society any longer. That isn’t a reason though, to prevent our children from making some “test flights” away from Mom and Dad. It’s a good thing for our children to have part time jobs. A paper route, or cutting some lawns in the summer, or stocking some shelves at the local store could possibly do as much for sharpening, straightening, or stabilizing our children as anything we personally could do. From having a job, they learn the importance of good communication skills, dressing appropriately, being on time, working hard, and many other intangible skills. Getting your child involved in a youth group that does Christian Service and mission’s trips and then encouraging your child to get involved with those events would be a good thing. You may be surprised with what takes place in your child’s life if they are faced with a tough question in a nursing home or rescue mission. When they are young may also be the best time to learn how to make that cell phone or insurance payment and what they may have to “do without” if they choose to have the cell phone or driving privileges. If your child reads this, I may have just made an enemy, but these posts are intended for parents, and as one parent to another, “test flights” and learning responsibility are definitely something that we as parents we need to help our children with.

Parenting Principles from Psalm 127 Part 3

As we continue our look at Psalm 127:4 and a comparison of children with “arrows” in the hand of a warrior, I want to discuss two more similarities.

First, arrows must be stable to fly true. I personally would not consider myself an archer although I have shot a bow and arrow a few times. One thing I have learned though is that the feather-like object on the back of an arrow is called “fletching” and its purpose is to stabilize the arrow during flight. Without fletching, an arrow would tend to tumble when released, flopping end- over-end with no real direction at all, and it wouldn’t fly very far, if at all. Does that sound familiar? Many children grow up physically but don’t seem to fly very far, and also seem to lead directionless lives. Evidently they don’t have a stabilizing influence in their lives. The Holy Spirit using the Word of God in their life is the only true stabilizing influence our children can have. In a previous post we mentioned schooling, and while that is an important decision that can affect the stabilization of our children, even before that decision is made we need to be teaching God’s Word to our children at home. It is a parent’s responsibility to teach their child how to “feed” themselves from God’s Word by spending time in God’s Word daily in personal devotions. A parent can only teach about a daily “Quiet Time” if they are themselves having a daily time in the Word. Parents need to make sure that their child is receiving good Spiritual instruction at church as well. I’m not saying that you have to be your child’s Sunday-School teacher and continually move with them from class to class as they grow; I’m suggesting just the opposite! I believe that it is good for our children to hear other voices saying the same thing we are saying (but we do need to be sure that those voices are saying the same things we are.) Visit your child’s class or youth group meeting. Listen to what is being taught. Ask your child questions about what they learned this week. If the Holy Spirit convicts you of something in your life through a conversation with your child or a visit to their class, let your child know what you learned. If the Lord leads you to become involved in a particular ministry, follow through and give it your all. Listen carefully for warning signs such as, “I don’t need to take my Bible, we never use it anyway.” If you hear something like that, don’t be afraid to do something about it. After all, God has given YOU the responsibility for the spiritual training of your child. While I believe that many times parents receive too much blame or credit for how their child turned out, I also believe that many parents are too casual about making sure their child is in a position where it is easy for them to listen to the Holy Spirit.

Our second area of similarity for this week is that the archer must be stable for the arrow to fly true. I know, now I’ve gone to meddling. Please read the following thoughts with an open mind and an honest self-evaluation. If you watch an old movie that includes battle scenes with armies facing each other that includes archers, how many of those archers are on horseback? I doubt that you have ever seen an archer on horseback. Rarely do you even see an archer running, and if they are, they stop before they release their arrow. In fact, you will usually see archers standing or even kneeling as they shoot their arrow. (And no, I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that they kneel sometimes. Kneeling in prayer should be a regular position for us as parents.) How does that play out in our society? Let me ask you a couple of questions: 1. What’s your schedule and how many evenings a week do you have at home with your children? 2. How many evenings do your children have at home with you? 3. What events have you said “no” to so that your family could spend more time together? I find it amazing that “energy drinks” are so popular among adults and young people alike. Whatever happened to planning your schedule to allow yourself and your children adequate rest? You may have to make some changes in your schedule so that you can be a stable archer. I realize that there may be temporary times of crazy work schedules, but what I’m talking about is a way of life in which you only get to talk to your kids when you are ferrying them to their next activity. Sometimes even then you have to ask them to take the earphones out of their ears so they can hear you!  As Dr. Alvin Reid wrote in a chapter of the book The Greenhouse Project, “We live in a culture that has made busyness a part of so-called success. That disposition has filtered to our children as well.” He goes on to say, “In the church, we have made busyness a mark of godliness, although Scripture would not necessarily concur.” I would remind you what the Lord Jesus said: “You shall be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8 NASB95 emphasis mine) What kind of a witness are we to our neighbors? Do our neighbors see a family with love, joy and peace, or do they see a family with hurry, grouch, and fatigue? So what can be done? Take control of your schedule. Don’t be afraid to say “no”, even to church activities if need be, in order to protect your time with your children. Our family certainly isn’t perfect, but we made a concerted effort to manage our calendar and not let the calendar manage us. We had a family policy that our boys could choose one sport per year to be involved in.  Thankfully, they all chose baseball instead of a sport I didn’t enjoy, because when a child commits to a sport, the family’s time and money are going to that sport, also. That may not be a decision you make for your family, but it is one we made and it allowed us to guard our time at home, as well as allowing our kids the time to discover their skills in other areas that the Lord has called them to serve. We have probably all heard a message about “redeeming the time” but I, for one, don’t believe that the Lord will commend a believer for redeeming time if he is investing very little time in his most precious commodity—his children.

Parenting Principles From Psalm 127…Part 2

Let me preface what I will be saying over the next few weeks with an acknowledgment that these statements may sound very odd to some people who read them. Our society has had a definite change over the last few decades and not necessarily a good change. There was a time in our history when children were reared, pointed toward the Lord and instructed that as our Creator, He was the only one worthy of our worship. Children were expected to contribute to the healthy atmosphere of the family and “pull their own weight.” There was a time when parents wanted their children to have a better life than they did but yet realized that some things only come with time and hard work. Now, in a large number of American homes, it seems that it is the children who are the object of worship. Some parents try to relive past successes through their children, either in academics or athletics. Spiritual upbringing is a nice addition if you can manage it. There is also a very real mindset in some homes that nothing (or very little) should be expected of children. I agree that children should have a childhood, but giving little or no responsibility or having no expectations of someone until they are into their 20’s is taking this concept more than a bit too far. May I be so bold as to ask you to take personal inventory of your beliefs and mindset about child-rearing? Then, compare that mindset to scripture since that is our only “always-true” resource about parenting.
Psalm 127:4 says “As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth”. So in what ways are children like arrows? Our first comparison between arrows and children is that an arrow must be straight to fly true. It is a very real fact that a crooked arrow will not and cannot follow a straight path to hit its target. Children are the same, but unfortunately, they are not naturally straight. When that nurse placed that newborn baby in your arms and you looked down into that beautiful face, you may have thought, “Oh, look at the face of an angel!” Unfortunately, the Bible tells us that all men are sinners and while that newborn is innocent at that moment, it’s not long before that wicked sin nature shows its ugly face. Many children’s first words are “MINE!” All children are born “crooked”, and we received the mission to straighten them as much as possible. The problem is, we too have a sin nature and must tackle the task with much prayer and dependence on God’s Word. Straightening a crooked stick isn’t easy and must be done while the stick is green, because if it is attempted when the stick has dried out too much it can just snap. I have a climbing rose bush in front of my house. I wish it would just naturally grow up the trestle and give me beautiful blossoms but it doesn’t work that way. Sometimes, when I’m out of town a while (or just lazy) a branch will get very long and grow in the opposite direction of where I would like it to be. So, I can either cut it off and throw it away or I can bend it, force it and tie it where I want it. I have heard parents of 3, 4, 5 , 6 , 7 year-olds say, “I don’t want to be too hard on them (speaking of discipline) because they don’t understand.” They may not understand they are doing wrong if their parent hasn’t told them they are doing wrong. But any parent who has told their child “No” and then watched their child look at them, grin, and then do whatever they were told “no” about knows that the child understands and is trying to manipulate the parent with that cute smile. Those sticks dry out quick. We had better be just as quick in our process of straightening. Look at scripture and read about “the rod.” It’s interesting that the Bible says that foolishness is driven out of the heart of a child with “the rod” and that a parent who doesn’t use “the rod” doesn’t love their child. I trust you know the difference between Biblical discipline of a misbehaving child and child abuse. That should be apparent when God’s Word tells us that we are showing love when we discipline.
The second comparison of arrows and children is that arrows must be sharp if they are going to stick into their target. Education is a very important factor to consider for your children. All three of my children are products of Christian education, while my wife and I are both products of public education. There has been a debate raging in our country for about 30 years or so about which type of education is best for Christian children. Parents of public school children are many times thought of by Christian school and Home school parents as negligent and perhaps even heathen, while sometimes the public school parents are urging their children to be witnesses in their local school. Christian school parents tend to get it from both sides. They may be thought of as fanatics by public school parents and compromisers by home school parents. Then homeschoolers have been given a stereotypical image of isolated, fanatical, and out of touch. It should be noted that these viewpoints are sometimes accurate and sometimes inaccurate. My point is that each and every set of parents need to be fully persuaded in their own hearts that they are doing God’s will for their own children. I will say this about education, though; it wouldn’t matter if my child were being public, Christian, or home school educated, if I believed that my son was lagging behind in his education and this would hinder his ability to do what God called him to do, I would make a change. I would also make a change if the school was trying to bend my “stick” contrary to God’s truth. Finances shouldn’t be an issue. We just finished over fifteen years of monthly Christian school payments on a missionary’s salary. If it is God’s will for your children to be in a school, He will provide the resources necessary to do His will. Sometimes that means re-prioritizing and doing without something that our society has defined as a “need”. You may decide that a tuition payment meets God’s goals for your family better than a second car payment or a mortgage on a house big enough that all the kids can have their own rooms.
Come back next week as we continue our look at Psalm 127:4.