If I Had to Send my Kids to a Public School

Does the style of schooling we choose for our kids really matter? Of course it does. Instead of taking up a “hot” debate that the Scriptures do not speak clearly to, let’s ask another question: What are the essential Biblical principles Christian parents can and should use to guide their children, regardless of their choice in schooling?

Since Maki and I are planning to home-school and then gradually work our kids into the Christian bilingual school I work at, I was wondering, “What would I do if I had to send my kids to public school?“ What if we didn’t have the option, financially or otherwise, to send them to a Christian school? And what if Maki and I felt we were not being called or able to do homeschooling? Here are some general steps I would take as a parent in this situation:

1. Plan to disciple my kids at home regardless

Proverbs 13:20 says, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

Walking with other unwise children every day at school will do my kids some harm. Yes, even if they are from Christian homes. It is always easier to be pulled down than to pull others up. With little sinful natures kids are primed to go astray - especially if they are constantly surrounded by peers. That is why I must invest quantity and quality time with my kids. I must do this intentionally, with a plan. I must take time to “walk with them” through life, asking how they are doing and opening up to them about my life as well.

2. I, the dad, must take the main responsibility for teaching my kids about life and about God.

The buck stops here in God’s eyes. Men, we are to lead, even when we don’t feel like it. We are to lead in our labor of love and service not only at work but also in the home. We are to model to our kids what Jesus is like (Eph. 5) and serve our wives. In the same way, I must not leave the teaching of my kids mainly to the school or to the church. I must take primary responsibility for making sure that my kids know and love God and His Word. This is best done through life-on-life mentoring and adequate time spent reading and discussing the Bible together. For a good resource for very young kids, I suggest CBHministries.org – Keys for Kids. My kids love it!

3. Finally, I would make sure that I know what my kids are learning at school.

Don’t be naive, our kids in public schools will be picking up some garbage. Along with the good and the great things they will learn, they will also learn that God doesn’t have to be the center of learning. They will learn (I’ll just say it) sheer lies about the beginning of the universe and lies about themselves from peers and teachers alike. As a parent, I need to ask my kids about what they are thinking about, what they are learning, and know how to guide half-baked learning into something more helpful, full, eternal and glorious. Proverbs 26:4 says, “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.“ Without the fear of the Lord there is a lot of foolishness that is going to be happening at school. (Prov. 9:10) However, with these commitments in mind, I believe almost any school can be attended to unto the glory of God and the good of our children.

Samaritan's Purse: Healing Japan

Update on CRASH Progress in Japan
Press Release - June 24, 2011 - June Update Released
Click here to get the PDF Report

June Update Released How CRASH Japan is offering hope to survivors. Mobilizing volunteers to aid in the recovery. Tattoos as a cultural bridge in God's plan to impact lives. The inspiration behind our New Life Starter Kits.

Fukushima: Still a Ticking Time Bomb
Please pray for the suffering people in Fukushima today.
Please pray for suffering people to come to the God of all hope.
I have heard many stories of how God is already doing a ton in this area. Churches are growing and people are asking the big questions of life. Many Christians are reaching out in love and people are noticing the difference. Please pray for Maki and I to know how to help this summer also.

WORLD Magazine's Book(s) of the Year
World Magazine‘s 2011 “Book of the Year” went to two books, both edited collections of essays and both on God and evolution:

• Should Christians Embrace Evolution: Biblical & Scientific Responses, ed. Norman Nevin
• God and Evolution, ed. Jay Richards

You can read Marvin Olasky’s cover story about the books here.

My favorite quote of the article:

Evangelicals who know what the Bible says may feel like ignoring the first two chapters of Genesis in the interests of evangelism, but if we are "successful" in growing churches by that method, to which God are converts coming?

(HT: JT)

Orphaned by the Tsunami

Orphans of the Tsunami

Japan Still on High Radiation Alert

Japan - 3 Months Later
The clean-up continues with some places going well, and some more slowly. Please keep praying for these precious people.
See before and after pictures here.

Louis Zamperini’s Story

Below is the incredible story of Louis Zamperini. He was an Olympian, Japanese war prisoner and overall inspiration. His story is in the process of being made into a major motion picture.

Justin Taylor writes:

Zamperini has lived an amazing life and was rescued (in more than one sense) by the grace of God. The story is told in Laura Hillenbrand bestselling book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (see reviews by Collin Hansen and Tim Challies). To read more about Zamperini’s Christian testimony, see his autobiography Devil at My Heels: A Heroic Olympian’s Astonishing Story of Survival as a Japanese POW in World War II.

[Note, at the end of the second and third video, there is a very loud static sound at the end of these videos.]

OR... click here for a BETTER picture, no interruptions and no loud static!

He is Worth It All
My twin brother Doug: Amen. This is powerful.

Lyrics:

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will.
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross.
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life
Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me.
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose.
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You.

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI), by Jordan Kauflin

Why should God's Word Interpret Science?
At the outset it is important to make the distinction between operational science and historical science. O.S. is the science that allows me to type on my computer right now. It is the science that allowed Galileo to reveal the unbiblical notion that the sun travels around the Earth. H.S., on the other hand, is the science of extrapolating scientific laws into theories about the past that cannot be tested by the scientific method.

While God encourages operational science in his Word, ("Taste and see that the LORD is good." -Ps.34) He knows that we will absolutely need the Bible to clearly understand anything of what He has done in the past. (Heb. 1:1-2)

While the theory of Intelligent Design further reveals the obvious general revelation of God's creation, (Rom. 1:18 and Psalm 19:1), and reinforces the book of Genesis, it fails to give us the most significant details about who this intelligent Designer really is: What is He doing and what has He done throughout history? The Bible remains the only certain and reliable history book of the universe.

For example, the Big Bang theory has only been around about 50 years. Already many prominent scientists have found major problems with it. Science textbooks are continually rewritten (or should be!) because historical science is just not a very good way to reconstruct history. History books and biographies are never recorded in scientific journals!

The following are some other important points to keep in mind about historical science:
1. Historical science cannot accurately reconstruct history without "historians"or eyewitnesses. The Bible declares an all-knowing Eyewitness who was there and is not silent about His constant supernatural involvement.
2. No matter how much we know, even about the present, we realize that we will always see dimly as if through polished metal. (1 Cor. 13:12) However through the Word of God, and by His Spirit, we can experience clearly what no eye or ear has ever seen or heard. (1 Cor. 2:9-10)
3. Naturalism assumes all things have continued as they presently are. Disregarding the massive evidences for a world-wide flood, millions of years have given us all the fossils we see. Interestingly God knew this was coming, "...scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ... all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly." (2 Peter 3:3-7)

Why is the Bible God's Word?
John Frame writes:
"How then do we know that Scripture is the Word of God? By its self-witness (normative), by facts and evidences (situational), and by the Spirit's working subjectively in our hearts (existential), enabling us to see the Bible's claims as evidences in their proper light."

Let's make that a bit clearer: Scripture is God's Word objectively, whether one sees it or not. The self-witness of God in his own Words proves to us that He is really speaking. The facts and evidence overwhelming show that no one could have made up this story and had it come out so perfectly, especially considering that it was written by over 40 authors in three languages over a period of 1600 years. Finally, without God's Spirit enabling us to see the beauty of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we are left blind in the face of the bright light of truth and glory. (2 Cor. 4:6)

Reinterpret the Bible, or Science?

Reading about the latest sad deception going on at Christianity Today, it reminds me that presuppositions really do matter. How do I form a worldview? With human knowledge? With the smartest theologians, philosophers and scientists by my side? Or with the Word of God? Where does the authority to discern reality really lie: with God or with Man?

Let's start with this simple fact that many stumble over: Science is not the Word of God. It never was and it never will be a sufficient means to give us clear knowledge of God or the world He made. (Rom. 10:14) It is only natural (pun intended) to conclude this when we realize that even the smartest of us own a mere six-pound brain and have a mere five senses to work with. No one can go back into history and do science there. All of us are stuck in the present with clues that are much more complex than anyone can imagine. To compound the problem, God is a supernatural God and has never confined Himself to working in a natural way only. In fact, the God of the Bible has often worked outside natural confines to accomplish His purposes and to reveal His glory.

Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell writes about the current debate over the historical Adam & Eve:

Search the recent Christianity Today article as much as you will, it never explains how the conclusion that there had to be 10,000 original people [to arrive at the genetic diversity we have today] was reached. Oddly enough, neither does the BioLogos website. The latter does tell where to find the information. According to a footnote in one of its articles, “The genetic evidence [of a population of several thousand people from whom all humans have descended, not just two] is explained in: Francis Collins, “Deciphering God’s Instruction Book: The Lessons of the Human Genome,” in The Language of God (New York, NY: Free Press, 2006).”²

So what evidence for this starter population does Dr. Collins provide in his book?

None. On pages 126 and 207, the conclusions presented about the required population size are simply repeated. They are said to come from “population geneticists” who “look at the facts about the human genome.” They assure us that “studies of human variation . . . all point to an origin of modern humans approximately a hundred thousand years ago, most likely in East Africa.” That’s it. And since the magazine article offers no new information, it seems this faith-shaking data is just a rehash of the mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosome Adam data.

All scientific facts are interpreted according to the biases of the observer. Consequently, the things a scientist assumes are true will greatly influence his interpretation of the data. What does Dr. Collins assume is true?³ He says that “we [evolutionists] do agree upon descent from a common ancestor, gradual change over a long period of time, and natural selection operating to produce the diversity of living species. There is no question that those are correct. Those are three cardinal pillars of Darwin’s theory that have been under-girded by data coming from multiple directions and they are not going to go away. Evolution is not a theory that is going to be discarded next week or next year or a hundred or a thousand years from now. It is true.” Given that Dr. Collins plainly states his unswerving faith in the idea of common ancestry—the only reasonable explanation he acknowledges for similarities in genomes—and in eons of time, we know that he will necessarily interpret the data from the Human Genome Project in that light...

Bottom line: the science cannot possibly be wrong, so we must re-interpret the Bible. Find some way to let Adam and Eve be real people but just leaders among the population, the magazine counsels. “That suggestion has the virtue of embracing both a prehistoric couple and a prehistoric population.” That suggestion also has the “virtue” of embracing the Serpent’s words to Eve, “Yea, hath God said?” Either we trust what God said, or we don’t.

Read more here.

Word to the wise: Let us be careful of our starting points. This is not a small issue.

3/11/11

someday I will look back at the
time
i was given here on earth
and wish i had spent more of that
time
on things that advanced
His
kingdom.
because i carry a
name.
my name was given to me at
birth.
it tells people who i am.
it means something.
and there is a reason it was given
to me.
but it doesn't define me.
His name
does.
my name was given to me at birth
so people can get my attention.
nothing more.
there is only one name
that has the power to save, and
the world needs
Him.
those who believe carry Him
like i do.
i want to take that name
and make the earth shake- flood
the darkness
with His light
make that name
famous.

- By Eri Fujino (Japan Harvest, Spring 2011)

Outright Lies in Science Textbooks
The following "evidence for evolution" can be found in any biology textbook in any public school in the United States of America.
Read more here.

It is a tragedy that our children are being lied to by their textbooks and teachers.