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To You and Your Children: Part 2 PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Mr. Trev McCallum   
Thursday, 02 July 2009
 
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Your children’s education is of utmost importance. This should be stating the obvious. However, many Christian parents are not aware of the many agendas lurking behind our education system. The government recognises the importance of school. It knows that you win a generation through discipling them. I demonstrated this in my first article. You must understand why. In doing so you will recognise the battle line and thus know how to fight. The false religion of secular humanism is taught in our schools for a reason. This is no mistake. Governments that do not pay reverence to the Son of God (Ps 2) grope for sovereignty. Thomas Paine (1739 – 1809 A.D.) stated it this way; “The Nation is essentially the source of all Sovereignty; nor can any individual, or any body of men, be entitled to any authority which is not expressly derived from it.”[1] In other words, secular governments take counsel and deride (Ps 2:2) the “ruler of the kings of the earth” ( Rev 1:5). All imposter sovereigns seek to influence their disciples. The common method of discipleship is education. Through education every religion/philosophy trains its adherents in a world and life view. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) knew the importance of discipling children via government controlled education. He stated it like this; “[n]o one will doubt that the legislator should direct his attention above all to the education of youth; for the neglect of education does harm to the constitution. The citizen should be moulded to suit the form of government under which he lives….Neither must we suppose that any one of the citizens belongs to himself, for they all belong to the state.”[2] There is a goal behind every curriculum. It either glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ or not. Our educational aims must be to lay claim of Christ, not the government, over the child’s acquisition of knowledge and wisdom. Secular humanist government schools seek to mould our youth according to the philosophy of the government. Why? Those seeking to usurp God’s sovereignty assume possession of their subjects and their children. God, as the sovereign Creator, owns you and your children. Secular humanist governments seek to assert their ownership over you and your children. They are the imposter trying to usurp your inheritance and God’s sovereignty. No one denies the power of education in the area of ownership and discipleship. This is an old battle line. It has been a major battle since the beginning of creation. There is a sharp antithesis. The usurper wants to take power and control his subjects. Christ is working to disciple the nations through the work of His bride ( Matt 28). Much of this work is accomplished through parents discipling/educating their children ( Deut 6, Mal 2:15).

by Trev McCallum | 2 July 2009

 Government schools are simply not capable of teaching our children the things God commands. They preach a different gospel. The hallowed halls of government schools instruct children in the anti-Christ philosophy of human sovereignty. Now, this drives the question “is the Bible silent on the whole education issue?” Are we left up to conscience to determine the educational choices for our children? Is what is good for me not necessarily good for you? Must Christian parents simply pray about their educational choices and then, without any reference to the Scriptures, wait to be zapped by the Spirit telling them to send Johnny to Kingston High? For many years the Christian community has believed that the text of the Bible is silent. Modern Christendom believes we are simply to do what we feel led to do. Whatever that may mean. What mysticism, we are to do what the Bible commands us to do. The Bible has spoken on the education issue. For too long we have bought the lie of mysticism. When the Bible speaks to a subject we are to obey. Yes we must pray. And yes, the Holy Spirit directs us in and through the Scriptures. And yes God is sovereign over our choices. He uses means (i.e. us) to accomplish His plan (i.e. will).

So what does the Bible say about school? Well, firstly the passages I will quote do not mention the word “school,” Why? Because the Bible knows nothing of the modern school concept. The Scriptures speak of the training of the mind through discipleship, with the objective to reach the heart of the student. As parents we must pursue the hearts and minds of our children with the Christian worldview. Our aim is to win their hearts over to Christ and ourselves. The Bible does not confine the discipleship or the training of our children to the heart or the mind. It encompasses both. This means “academics” and “character building” are both important. They cannot and must not be held in isolation. Paul could argue with the philosophers of the day (e.g. Acts 17), he could quote Greek poetry ( Acts 17:28) and he had been trained in good character. He knew each area of life must be informed by the Scriptures. There is no neutrality ( 1 Cor. 10:31). Maths, History, Grammar, Geography (etc) are all important. And so is character training. No area of life is isolated from others.

Let me define what the Bible means when it refers to the heart. Deuteronomy 6:5instructs; “[y]ou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Jesus tells us that this is the greatest commandment in Matthew but adds we must love God with all of our minds to. Why the seemingly subtle change? Well, is there a change? No! Jesus was speaking to an audience that were heavily influenced by the prevailing Greco-Roman culture. That culture is alive and well today. As Dr. Vodie Baucham Jr informs; “[this, Greco-Roman] idea of love as a random, overwhelming, and uncontrollable force has tremendous consequences.”[3] Do not confuse loving God with all of your heart to the Greco-Roman concept of Cupid and his little arrows! Love is not a Hallmark moment. This view of love and the heart is devastating to us and our children. If love is random, overwhelming and uncontrollable; how can we love our children consistently and how can we love our wife all of the time? What stops me from falling out of love with my children or wife? But this idea of love is rampant in society and the Church. It is one of the greatest factors in the divorce rates, increase of teenage pregnancies, pregnancies before marriage and so on. So what do we mean by loving God with all of our heart? “The Hebrew word for heart is lebab…[t]he word means ‘inner man, mind, or will.’”[4] The physical heart is an organ in the middle of our chests that pumps blood around the body. We are not expected to love God with that organ. It is incapable of doing anything other than pump blood. The Bible is speaking allegorically. We are to love God with all of our will. We must choose to love God. Love is a choice. Every day I must choose with my will to love my children and wife. Again Dr. Baucham states; “love [is] an act of the will accompanied by emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object.”[5] It is not some mushy feeling that arises after watching a romantic comedy, for it is an act of the will. But it is not dry, it is followed by emotion. And it is not simply a theory; for it leads to action on behalf of that which it proclaims to care about. We can only truly love God because He first loved us ( 1 Jn. 4:19).

Now let us look at some passages that teach the training of the minds and winning of the hearts of our children.

 Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says; “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” We are to teach our children all the time. This text cannot mean non-school hours. Why, firstly, where does Moses mention school? He does not. Secondly, how can we obey this command by sending our children to school and mum and dad going to work for the day? How do you teach your children all of the time when you are not there? And how can you teach your children all of the time when you defer their education to Caesar? Moses was not sending his children off to the pagans for instruction! Children learnt from their parents about how their faith infiltrated every area of life. Loving God meant you looked after your sheep, counted them correctly, honoured your parents and so on.

We must be aware that the root of the age segregated schooling model was a manifestation of the dogmatic evolutionist Ernest Haeckel’s Recapitulation Theory. Founders of the modern education system, Herbert Spencer and G Stanley Hall simply applied Haeckel’s theory to the sphere of education. So we find that the age segregation model is based on the lie that “growing children would recapitulate evolutionary stages of development as they grew up and that there was a one-to-one correspondence between childhood stages and evolutionary history.”[6] Listen to Psalm 1; “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” The blessed man DOES NOT walk in the counsel of the ungodly NOR stand with sinners NOR sit with scoffers. If we send our children to government schools WE allow our children to break these commands of God. They WILL be counselled by the wicked, secular humanistic curriculum and teachers. They WILL stand with sinners, being shoulder to shoulder with pagan friends and instructors in the hallowed halls  of schooldom. They WILL sit side by side with scoffers of the faith and of God every day of their lives. “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits’” ( 1 Cor. 15:33). It has been said that dropping a glove in mud does not produce glovey mud!

 Proverbs 1:7says this; “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Romans 12:2tells us; “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Listen to what 2 Corinthians 10:5 says; “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Is biology a thought? Is science a thought? Is maths a thought? Is history a thought? Can we take these thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ through training our children in the ways of Caesar? If we provide education that trains our children’s minds to think like Romans, why are we surprised when they swear allegiance to Caesar? Come on now! 

 Colossians 2:8instructs us to; “[s]ee to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Listen to 1 Timothy 6:20-21; “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge,’ for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.” We must teach our children a world and life philosophy that glorifies Jesus Christ so that they do not become puffed up with vain/false knowledge and then swerve from the faith.

Can we honestly train our children’s minds, teach them a Biblical lifestyle and win their hearts without applying these principles to their education. Can we win our children’s hearts without nurturing them all of the time in the Word of God? Can we protect and shield our children from the ravages of evil company while sending them to institutions rooted in secular humanism? 95% of our young people are telling us no. 

So when all is said and done, are we serious about our God given responsibilities? What is more important; our faithfulness to God in the education of our children or dad and mum working? Are we faithful when we send our children to Caesar for their discipleship? We rest pretty presumptuously upon the grace of God when not educating them in a Christ honouring philosophy of life. Who are we trying to fool? If we do not disciple our children through a Christ centred curriculum we have not even begun to teach our children diligently. And we will loose their hearts, just as the statistics tell us. Yes, God is gracious. He is sovereign. Even though we sin and fall short of His glory He does save our children. But let us not abound in sin (Ro 6:1). God is a jealous, covenant keeping God (Ex. 20:4-6, Deut 29, Lk 1:46-55). According to His covenant promises He will judge the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, down to the third and fourth generation (Ex. 20:5-6, Deut 29). But He blesses covenantal obedience to His Word to thousands (Ex. 20:5-6, Deut 29). We are to be a covenantally obedient people ( Jn 14:15) because Christ died for us (Ro 5:8). Our children are covenant members, they are holy ( 1 Cor. 7:14, cf. Ps 22:9-10, Ps 71:5-6) and the promises of God extend to them ( Acts 2:39). It is time for us to treat them as such. Thus we are to evangalise ( Acts 16:14-15, Acts 16:29-33), disciple ( Matt 28) and train ( Deut 6, Eph 5) our children in the admonition of the Lord. Sending our covenant children to Caesar for their education is not wise to say the least. Christ solemnly warns; “if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck” (Mk 9:42). Again our Lord warns; “[p]eople were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it’" (Lk 15:15-17 NIV). The rebuke must be heeded. We must not hinder our children from coming to Jesus or be the cause of our little ones sinning.  

End Notes

[1] T Paine, “Rights of Man,” 1792, cited in “Keystones of Democracy,” 2005, Barnes & Noble, p. 374.
[2] Aristotle, “Politics,” cited in A Cohen & N Garner, “Readings in the History of Educational Thought,” 1967, University of London Press Ltd, p. 71.
[3] V T Baucham Jr, “Family Driven Faith,” 2007, Crossway Books, Illinois, p. 53.
[4] Ibid., p. 57.
[5] Ibid., p.63.
[6] Biogenetic Law. Retrieved 24 September 2008, from Answers.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/recapitulation-theory.
Published in : Worldviews, Education
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Users' Comments (1) RSS feed comment
Posted by Alastair McCallum, on 29-07-2009 11:03, IP 124.189.65.48, Guest
1. To You and Your Children: Part 2
Brilliant! Governments do so easily take hostage of the education of our children. As a christian teacher - not in a government school, however - I am at pains in my classrooms to correct the obvious secular indoctrination implicit in the syllabus. It's warfare, as most teachers in the system have worldviews that have been shaped by secular humanism through the self-same education system. Something needs to be done. Why are syllabus writers never challenged by leading church figures!For too long has the Church stood by and watched as hungry secularists grab the tastiest helpings on the education smorgasboard. It is high time that Godly men - and women - stood up and at least put the Christian world view - and everything good that it stands for - back on the menu of the education of our young ones. Keep up the good work of this website. I will certainly be sharing these views and insghts with my humanist teaching coleagues
 
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