A wise man once said, "Keep your convictions visible, and your assets hidden." Don't brandish your firearm at work or parties. Instead, brandish your identification with the WARSKYL philosophy.
make custom gifts at Zazzle
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Daddy, why do we live in a police state? -- 2
Continued from "Daddy, why do we live in a police state?"
Many Puritans (e.g., Samuel Rutherford in Lex Rex) saw the following Scripture as a test for the legitimacy of civil power. American colonials of the 1700's inherited the concept.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. (Romans 13:3, emphasis added)
MacALLEN, TX, IRS OFFICE -- I am confident facing the audit, because I filled out my 1040 form accurately and honestly, and I have receipts to prove my deductions. My confidence fades as the interview proceeds.
"I see you have made substantial contributions to Roloff Evangelistic Enterprises. What makes you think you can deduct them?"
"Well, it's a charitable religious organization that helps troubled teen----" [cuts me off]
"Yes, but what makes you think you can deduct it?"
"As I said, it's a charitable, religious organization----" [cuts me off again]
"Yes, but WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN DEDUCT IT?"
At this point, I remember something I had read. "Don't you have a book that lists all tax-deductible organizations?" He looks a little surprised, leaves the office and returns with a volume the size of a large metropolitan phone directory.
After finding the right page and entry, he closes the book, and without another word about the Roloff contribution, he looks back over my tax return and then drops the bomb. "Just what do you know about Bob Jones University?"
My stomach got that sinking feeling, as it finally dawned on me. The IRS did not select me randomly for this audit, nor did they care about alleged discrepancies in my tax return. They had a political motivation for singling me out.
I was a graduate of the school, had given a good-sized donation to the school which God had providentially supplied to my wife & me in answer to prayer. In addition, the university was locked in legal dispute* with the IRS at the time over its own tax-deductible status.
I was an insignificant player in the drama, but I was also an easy target for a vindictive bureaucracy.
The bottom line was that the auditor required me to produce records for my mileage deductions. I had to request them from my mission organization's headquarters. The same day that the records arrived in the mail, I also received notice that my mileage had been disallowed and I owed $200 in taxes and fines, late fees or some such.
The letter said that I had a right to appeal, but only if I paid them first, It was plain to me that the auditor and his superiors had violated the Sixth and Seventh Amendments of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees my right to a trial by jury whether the matter in question was criminal or civil. I shot back a letter to the IRS, informing them of their violation, and told them if they thought I owed them the money they needed to prove it to a jury of my peers.
The year was 1974. Back in those days, I may have been, perhaps, a bit of a firebrand.
Continued here
*Note on Bob Jones University (BJU): I did not then, nor do I now agree with BJU's erstwhile racial segregation policy which they themselves have since repudiated.
Many Puritans (e.g., Samuel Rutherford in Lex Rex) saw the following Scripture as a test for the legitimacy of civil power. American colonials of the 1700's inherited the concept.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. (Romans 13:3, emphasis added)
My First [Adult] Personal Encounter with Police State Terror Tactics:
MacALLEN, TX, IRS OFFICE -- I am confident facing the audit, because I filled out my 1040 form accurately and honestly, and I have receipts to prove my deductions. My confidence fades as the interview proceeds.
"I see you have made substantial contributions to Roloff Evangelistic Enterprises. What makes you think you can deduct them?"
"Well, it's a charitable religious organization that helps troubled teen----" [cuts me off]
"Yes, but what makes you think you can deduct it?"
"As I said, it's a charitable, religious organization----" [cuts me off again]
"Yes, but WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN DEDUCT IT?"
At this point, I remember something I had read. "Don't you have a book that lists all tax-deductible organizations?" He looks a little surprised, leaves the office and returns with a volume the size of a large metropolitan phone directory.
After finding the right page and entry, he closes the book, and without another word about the Roloff contribution, he looks back over my tax return and then drops the bomb. "Just what do you know about Bob Jones University?"
My stomach got that sinking feeling, as it finally dawned on me. The IRS did not select me randomly for this audit, nor did they care about alleged discrepancies in my tax return. They had a political motivation for singling me out.
I was a graduate of the school, had given a good-sized donation to the school which God had providentially supplied to my wife & me in answer to prayer. In addition, the university was locked in legal dispute* with the IRS at the time over its own tax-deductible status.
I was an insignificant player in the drama, but I was also an easy target for a vindictive bureaucracy.
The bottom line was that the auditor required me to produce records for my mileage deductions. I had to request them from my mission organization's headquarters. The same day that the records arrived in the mail, I also received notice that my mileage had been disallowed and I owed $200 in taxes and fines, late fees or some such.
The letter said that I had a right to appeal, but only if I paid them first, It was plain to me that the auditor and his superiors had violated the Sixth and Seventh Amendments of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees my right to a trial by jury whether the matter in question was criminal or civil. I shot back a letter to the IRS, informing them of their violation, and told them if they thought I owed them the money they needed to prove it to a jury of my peers.
The year was 1974. Back in those days, I may have been, perhaps, a bit of a firebrand.
Continued here
*Note on Bob Jones University (BJU): I did not then, nor do I now agree with BJU's erstwhile racial segregation policy which they themselves have since repudiated.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Daddy, why do we live in a police state?
20th Century victim of molestation: "Officer, that man groped me."
21st Century victim of molestation: "Man! That officer groped me."
Caution: This post contains material that many will find objectionable. If you are a minor, please let a parent review this before you go any further. Honoring parents is the Christian Martialist way.
I admit it. I am not the most patient soul -- especially when I have to deal with the rigid, narrow and totally-removed-from-reality bureaucratic mindset.
That's why my wife told me today, that I will never be able to fly again. If I did, they might very well lock me up & throw away the key.
You see, any visible sign of irritation is often interpreted by the officer on the scene as "interfering with procedure." At that point, anything can happen, including violent behavior on the part of the officer.
Once an officer crosses the line and becomes violent with you, he has to arrest you. To back off at that point would be an admission that he had acted improperly, so for the sake of keeping his job, he will trump up a charge and cart you off to jail.
Do you think I'm making this up or overstating the case? Consider the following videos.
Now, forgive me for my lack of charity, but if some street thug did that to one of my grandchildren, I'd turn him every which way but loose, until the police came and took him away. Problem is, the U.S. gov't has now put the thugs in uniforms and badges and set them on the law-abiding public.
Can you see why I might get myself into trouble at an airport? Warning: if you continue on, it only gets worse.
Although meant to be humorous, you may find the following video objectionable because it shows uniformed agents touching (fully clothed) people's private parts.
You know about the drug agents who landed in prison for shooting a drug dealer, right? How about the female officer who was sentenced to 10 years for following department procedure by ordering her K-9 companion to seize and hold a fleeing felon? Her mistake was the convicted felon was also an illegal alien, which brought down the wrath of the Justice Department and the
Federal courts upon her.
Had she been a TSA officer who helped beat & hospitalize a frustrated airline passenger, perhaps she'd be up for a commendation instead of serving time away from her young child. Watch this video and weep for our nation.
Dr. Phil is not your run of the mill Tea Party extremist, so the fact that this appeared on his program shows that the present state of affairs has reached beyond the attention of the radical right.
I must confess that my first reaction to the arrogant intrusiveness of the police state -- yes, Virginia, we now officially live in a police state -- is reactionary. I want to rally the troops with Nehemiah 4:14.
Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
21st Century victim of molestation: "Man! That officer groped me."
Caution: This post contains material that many will find objectionable. If you are a minor, please let a parent review this before you go any further. Honoring parents is the Christian Martialist way.
I admit it. I am not the most patient soul -- especially when I have to deal with the rigid, narrow and totally-removed-from-reality bureaucratic mindset.
That's why my wife told me today, that I will never be able to fly again. If I did, they might very well lock me up & throw away the key.
You see, any visible sign of irritation is often interpreted by the officer on the scene as "interfering with procedure." At that point, anything can happen, including violent behavior on the part of the officer.
Once an officer crosses the line and becomes violent with you, he has to arrest you. To back off at that point would be an admission that he had acted improperly, so for the sake of keeping his job, he will trump up a charge and cart you off to jail.
Do you think I'm making this up or overstating the case? Consider the following videos.
Now, forgive me for my lack of charity, but if some street thug did that to one of my grandchildren, I'd turn him every which way but loose, until the police came and took him away. Problem is, the U.S. gov't has now put the thugs in uniforms and badges and set them on the law-abiding public.
Can you see why I might get myself into trouble at an airport? Warning: if you continue on, it only gets worse.
Although meant to be humorous, you may find the following video objectionable because it shows uniformed agents touching (fully clothed) people's private parts.
You know about the drug agents who landed in prison for shooting a drug dealer, right? How about the female officer who was sentenced to 10 years for following department procedure by ordering her K-9 companion to seize and hold a fleeing felon? Her mistake was the convicted felon was also an illegal alien, which brought down the wrath of the Justice Department and the
Federal courts upon her.
Had she been a TSA officer who helped beat & hospitalize a frustrated airline passenger, perhaps she'd be up for a commendation instead of serving time away from her young child. Watch this video and weep for our nation.
Dr. Phil is not your run of the mill Tea Party extremist, so the fact that this appeared on his program shows that the present state of affairs has reached beyond the attention of the radical right.
I must confess that my first reaction to the arrogant intrusiveness of the police state -- yes, Virginia, we now officially live in a police state -- is reactionary. I want to rally the troops with Nehemiah 4:14.
Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
On the other hand, I am also aware of why we are at this ugly point in our nation's history where the greatest terrorist threat comes from the officials sworn to protect us. Christ's Church in America has forsaken Him and His Word in so many ways. For example:
- We have forsaken His purpose for the Church as a holy, covenant community of faith with a mission to subdue the world to His dominion and have turned it into a religious club for our entertainment or personal inspiration;
- We have spit in the King's face by saying that it's impossible for us to fulfill the His commission to the Church, so we don't try, substituting something easier;
- We have abandoned our children to be trained up in the worldview of the wicked;
- We have ourselves participated in the barbarianization of our culture, and we have welcomed its music and its ways into our churches . . . .
I could go on, but I think you get the point. When God's people turn their backs on God, He delivers them into the hands of the heathen around them -- re-read the Book of Judges.
So, the next time you stand in an airport line, and some surly jackbooted thug puts his hands in an area where they don't belong, remember that it's not the Democrats who have done this to you . . nor the Republicans.
It is we Christians who have turned the U.S.A. into a police state by forsaking our Biblical worldview, our Biblical calling and our Biblical ethics and by substituting something that suited us better. To put it very bluntly, if crudely, Obama has not screwed us.
We have screwed ourselves.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Palm Heel: Convulsive Action
The Warrior likes Kelly McCann, and I can't blame him.
Kelly McCann's palm heel video below gives a good demonstration of convulsive movement. Newer readers and folks with poor memory may not recall the instruction in convulsive movement in the Knee Spike post a couple of years back.
More DIY videos at 5min.com
Also, notice his shrug that pulls the attacker into the palm heel strike acts as one with the convulsive action of the strike -- like a sneeze or a hiccup. (Hint: "sneeze" those strikes out your arm -- not your nose -- in practice)
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Pre-Thanksgiving Blessing
Last December, my wife entered us in a local radio station's drawing for couples whose anniversary fell in that month. We won a free night at a Blue Mountain Mist Country Inn, a bed & breakfast just outside Sevierville, TN.
We finally took advantage of the opportunity & stayed over Monday night. Thanks are in order to daughter Merrianna who stayed home to feed the chickens & milk the goat.
Three generations of a Christian family are involved in running the Inn, and the easy, friendly manner of their hospitality establish a benchmark for the industry. The evening's agenda included what you might consider the gold standard for accommodations, food & fellowship.
After about 8PM, Laura & I had the whole Main House to ourselves. A time to relax and enjoy each other's company.
Although we were the only guests in the Main House, a youngish middle-aged man and two of his sons checked into the Guest House to await his wife's arrival on Wednesday. We had breakfast with the father & his two very well-behaved boys -- they attend St. John's Christian Academy -- and conversation somehow wandered into the realm of guns 'n' knives.
They had visited the Smoky Mountain Knife Works (SMKW) that morning, and I told him we also had wanted to visit there before we left for home. Then I told them about my specially ordered handmade Kukri from Nepal, and I found out that the father collects shotguns.
The older son asked me if I had ever fired a 10-guauge shotgun. I said no, but that my barber had one, and you could hear a slight echo when he thunked a shell into the chamber. The dad told me he had a 10-guage & an 8-guage.
I joked with the son that an 8-gauge would be handy to have along if you got lost in the woods, because you could just crawl up into the bore for shelter against the elements.
Later, we bid farewell to the folks at Blue Mountain Mist, and we stopped off at SMKW. It's a huge building -- three stories devoted to knives & knife-related items.
As I wandered among the displays of merchandise and memorabilia in this edged-implement wonderland. I overheard a man speaking to his wife:
"What are you looking for? You're looking for a PLATE??!!"
Some people would search for aluminum cans in a gold mine.
The folks at SMKW have devoted the top floor to a museum where you can find displays of flint tools, a bronze Roman sword lying next to a bronze Mongolian sword, and other centuries-old blades. Then there are displays from major knife-manufacturers of the last 200 years.
I even found a display case with some authentic Gurkha Kukris. We talked with a gentleman who works there whom I found to be quite knowledgeable on the art of the Kukri.
If you're ever in the Sevierville area, forget Dollywood. Just visit SMKW.
Well, we're back home now, and with Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow, I reflect on the blessings of my life. By God's grace and Christ's sacrificial love, I am joined by covenant to my God, my family and a host of really great people like my barber, my veterinarian, many of my readers and a host of others like those I met just this week in the mountains of Tennessee.
I hope you find fullness of blessing in your own celebration and giving of thanks tomorrow.
We finally took advantage of the opportunity & stayed over Monday night. Thanks are in order to daughter Merrianna who stayed home to feed the chickens & milk the goat.
Three generations of a Christian family are involved in running the Inn, and the easy, friendly manner of their hospitality establish a benchmark for the industry. The evening's agenda included what you might consider the gold standard for accommodations, food & fellowship.
After about 8PM, Laura & I had the whole Main House to ourselves. A time to relax and enjoy each other's company.
Although we were the only guests in the Main House, a youngish middle-aged man and two of his sons checked into the Guest House to await his wife's arrival on Wednesday. We had breakfast with the father & his two very well-behaved boys -- they attend St. John's Christian Academy -- and conversation somehow wandered into the realm of guns 'n' knives.
They had visited the Smoky Mountain Knife Works (SMKW) that morning, and I told him we also had wanted to visit there before we left for home. Then I told them about my specially ordered handmade Kukri from Nepal, and I found out that the father collects shotguns.
The older son asked me if I had ever fired a 10-guauge shotgun. I said no, but that my barber had one, and you could hear a slight echo when he thunked a shell into the chamber. The dad told me he had a 10-guage & an 8-guage.
I joked with the son that an 8-gauge would be handy to have along if you got lost in the woods, because you could just crawl up into the bore for shelter against the elements.
Later, we bid farewell to the folks at Blue Mountain Mist, and we stopped off at SMKW. It's a huge building -- three stories devoted to knives & knife-related items.
As I wandered among the displays of merchandise and memorabilia in this edged-implement wonderland. I overheard a man speaking to his wife:
"What are you looking for? You're looking for a PLATE??!!"
Some people would search for aluminum cans in a gold mine.
The folks at SMKW have devoted the top floor to a museum where you can find displays of flint tools, a bronze Roman sword lying next to a bronze Mongolian sword, and other centuries-old blades. Then there are displays from major knife-manufacturers of the last 200 years.
I even found a display case with some authentic Gurkha Kukris. We talked with a gentleman who works there whom I found to be quite knowledgeable on the art of the Kukri.
If you're ever in the Sevierville area, forget Dollywood. Just visit SMKW.
Well, we're back home now, and with Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow, I reflect on the blessings of my life. By God's grace and Christ's sacrificial love, I am joined by covenant to my God, my family and a host of really great people like my barber, my veterinarian, many of my readers and a host of others like those I met just this week in the mountains of Tennessee.
I hope you find fullness of blessing in your own celebration and giving of thanks tomorrow.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Clodhopper
The master of combat arts, ancient and modern who lives high up the mist shrouded mountain often refers to me as "Clodhopper". Some of the younger readers may not recognize that this term of affection(?!) originates in a tongue-in-cheek allusion to the 1970's East-meets-western TV show, Kung Fu.
My tartan-clad combat master does not give Buddhist sound-of-one-hand-clapping type advice, but he does have a certain offbeat sense of humor. Whence the appellation Clodhopper.
The following clip will make all clear.
My tartan-clad combat master does not give Buddhist sound-of-one-hand-clapping type advice, but he does have a certain offbeat sense of humor. Whence the appellation Clodhopper.
The following clip will make all clear.
Unprofitable Home Defense 11
Continued from "Unprofitable Home Defense, 10"
To recap what I've already covered in this Unprofitable Home Defense series:
To recap what I've already covered in this Unprofitable Home Defense series:
- God requires that we Christians train up our children in the discipline and counsel of the Lord (Ephesians. 6:4); He also warns us against walking in the counsel of the ungodly (Psalm 1:1);
- Godly education follows a Biblical model of discipleship (Deuteronomy 4:9; 6: 6-9; Mark 3:14);
- By judicial fiat and legislative initiative, government operated, statist (socialist) schools have deliberately and systematically expunged all connection of the God of Scripture to all His works; such an exclusion of God from one's worldview and thought processes is a mark of the wicked (Proverbs 21:4; Psalm 10:4); you cannot do this without replacing God with something else (natural processes) and grounding knowledge in something other than God (human reason);
- A comprehensive 20-year survey reveals that over the past couple of generations, the worldview of Christians has slipped markedly from moderately Christian to deeply humanistic, and this degeneration bears a high correlation to the kind of education participants received (poll by Nehemiah Institute); other surveys that mark the departure of 60%-70% of young adults from churches (Barna, Lifeway) and that Christianity is no longer the default faith of Americans (Barna) corroborate the existence and depth of the problem;
- The various excuses offered by Christians who subject their children to indoctrination in godlessness simply do not hold water; the idea that choosing public education is a matter of Christian liberty is an egregiously presumptuous assertion that borders on blasphemy (Christ died to liberate us from sin and its consequences; therefore, to make ungodly education a matter of Christian liberty is to say that Christ died so that I could turn my child over to a secular humanist system that will teach him/her to think about all things without reference to the Creator & Redeemer -- if this is not blasphemy, it's damnably close, and I do not use the word damnably at all lightly).
Perhaps I should conclude this series with a short presentation of how you can provide the greatest protection for your family: a program of education in godly wisdom. For wisdom is the major objective of a truly Biblical education.
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7)
Wisdom in the Bible has a twofold meaning.
FIRST, is what we might call cognitive apprehension (head knowledge), which in turn has two levels. In its basic form head-wisdom includes a mental catalogue of facts. On a deeper level comes understanding: the ability to relate these facts in to each other and -- more importantly -- to God as the integration point of all knowledge.
FIRST, is what we might call cognitive apprehension (head knowledge), which in turn has two levels. In its basic form head-wisdom includes a mental catalogue of facts. On a deeper level comes understanding: the ability to relate these facts in to each other and -- more importantly -- to God as the integration point of all knowledge.
SECOND, the Bible includes in the term wisdom the idea of application of knowledge -- what we would call skills. These skills may be mental (arithmetic, reading comprehension, etc.) or physical (carpentry, machinists' skills, music, painting, etc.)
For a Scriptural instance of the latter use of the word wisdom, see Exodus 31:3-5:
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
If wisdom is the objective of Biblical education, then the Christian educator must relate all wisdom to Jesus Christ "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). We must acknowledge Him in everything, from basic reading to World Literature, from simple counting to advanced mathematics, from . . . well, you get the idea.
Christ is given to us as "the head over all things" (Ephesians 1:22), and it is a sin as well as a serious distortion of our curriculum's scope and sequence to neglect an acknowledgement of His Lordship over every speck of creation. The more successful you are at doing this, the more Christian -- more Biblical -- your worldview will be.
Having defined the objective and the worldview context of Biblical education, let me give you an operational statement that I believes comprehends said objective and context in terms of the process:
Christian education is a process of discipleship in which the teacher, by precept and example leads the student
1. To Think Biblically about
- God Himself
- God's World (Creation)
- God's Works (Providence, Redemption)
2. To Relate Covenantally to
- God Himself
- Family, Church, Civil Authority, Society (brethren, neighbors, enemies)
- Self
- his own place in God's order
- his calling in life (purpose)
Well, that's just about it. If you or those to whom you delegate the educational responsibility for your children do not disciple them in this way, then you are not following God's model for child nurture found in Ephesians, Deuteronomy, Proverbs, the Gospels, etc. You may very likely cause the child for whom God made you responsible to stumble in his/her faith.
If you are striving to follow the Biblical pattern (albeit imperfectly), may God bless and multiply your efforts. Either way, you ought to ask yourself whether God sees you as part of the problem or part of the solution.
The outworkings of that question in time has eternal implications -- see Matthew 18:5-6.
Soli Deo Gloria
Soli Deo Gloria
Friday, November 19, 2010
Brutal Science: Philtrum
It has been quite a while since I posted a video in this series, because for awhile the National Geographic videos were not available on hulu. I can now access them again, so here is one on the philtrum.
If pressure from one finger causes lingering pain and discomfort, imagine what a judo chop or or a half-fist would do. Anyway, here's the video:
If pressure from one finger causes lingering pain and discomfort, imagine what a judo chop or or a half-fist would do. Anyway, here's the video:
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Fun Self Defense Ad Video
I made the video today that you will find at this link:
Greenville Self Defense
I'm thinking about the possibility of giving local self defense lessons, and so I set up the blog & made the promo video. I hope you get as much fun out of watching it as I did making it.
Greenville Self Defense
I'm thinking about the possibility of giving local self defense lessons, and so I set up the blog & made the promo video. I hope you get as much fun out of watching it as I did making it.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Unprofitable Home Defense, 10
Continued from "Unprofitable Home Defense, 9"
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. (Matthew 12:30)
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. . . . Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen (Romans 1:21, 25)
Does some one say that . . . [the secular school] is teaching some purely secular course, without any such maiming of his subjects or prejudicing of Christianity? If his teaching is more than a temporary dealing with some corner of education, the fact will be found to be that it is tacitly anti-Christian; overt assaults are not made; but there is a studied avoidance which is in effect hostile. There can be no neutral position between two extremes, where there is no middle ground, but “a great gulf fixed. (R.L. Dabney, 19th Century Presbyterian theologian)
In fact the Church does not and cannot repair the mischief which her more powerful, rich, and ubiquitous rival, the secularized State, is doing in thus giving, under the guise of a non-Christian, an anti-Christian training. (R.L. Dabney, 19th Century Presbyterian theologian)
Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American public school is a school of Humanism. What can the theistic Sunday Schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching? (Charles Francis Potter, signer of The Humanist Manifesto; quote from Humanism: A New Religion)
Okay, so the public school leaves God out of the curriculum. We will teach our children to add Him back in at home and in Sunday school. (An excuse I've heard more than once)
How's that workin' out for ya? (Dr. Phil [see previous post -- link above -- for statistical evidence of how it's working out.]
As you can see in the passages quoted above, a mid-19th-Century Christian theologian (Dabney) and an early 20th-Century Humanist philosopher/educator (Potter) have two things in common:
Education ain't cake batter, and God ain't no ingredient. (Coined from one of my favorite lines in Quigley Down Under)
It's impossible for schools to take the infinite Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer and Lord out of education without distorting the content of what they teach. Further, they will always replace Him with someone or something else.
Let me give two examples: God as Creator/Sustainer and God as the Fountain of all knowledge.
God as Creator/Sustainer
You may have learned in physics class that "nature" abhors a vacuum. So do systems of knowledge.
In Romans 1 (see above), you will notice that when man refuses to acknowledge God, he puts something in His place. Usually, it's either Nature -- the humanist educator would never call it creation -- or humanity itself.
Since the public school curriculum does not acknowledge God as the Creator and Governor of the cosmos, it must put something else in His place. In general, it replaces God with natural processes. And I'm not just talking about the theory of evolution as taught in biology class.
In the physical sciences, for example, you will learn that mountains and seas came about by natural processes rather than by an act of God's judgment in the days of Noah. Likewise, you will hear everything from the Periodic Table to the Laws of Thermodynamics explained in terms of natural processes rather than God's design and providence.
Math is not neutral, either. Ask a public high school student of probability why a flipped coin has a 50/50 chance of landing heads. If he understands the question, he will most probably say that it's simply the nature of the case.
How many will quote Proverbs 16:33 (Look it up!) and follow it with an explanation that probability -- like statistical analysis -- can only exist because God maintains a predictable regularity in His governance of creation? Sadly, many Christian school and home school students will also not give the Biblical answer because their teachers and/or curriculum have also been infected with Secular Humanism.
The difference is subtle enough that most Christians indoctrinated in secularism do not even realize that they think of God's creation in essentially anti-Christian terms. Yet the difference is very real, and most churches and Christian homes are both unaware of the problem and unequipped to refute and replace it in the minds of their children.
It's not just the sciences that replace God with natural processes, either. You will find any mention of Providence locked out of history, government, economics and business as well.
And do you think that language classes cite the tower of Babel to explain the origin of different language families? For the public schools, it all comes down to natural processes.
God as the Fountain of All Knowledge
How do you know that something is true and factual? My high school algebra teacher told us, "Two things equal to the same thing are equal to each other." She called that statement an axiom and said that axioms are "self-evident truths", basic and unprovable.
As the math test scores of many students will prove, axioms are not "self-evident" to everyone. Ask a high-school student to explain why any mathematical axiom is true. I'm confident that the overwhelming majority will say something like, "It just is," or "That's the way things are," or, "Huh?"
If the student tells you that an axiom is true because God created the world to be consistent with itself and also consistent with the way the human mind perceives and thinks, then you can rest assured that the student in question did not learn his answer in the public school.
The Secular Humanist mantra, "Man is the measure of all things," echoes through public school hallways from sea to shining sea. Thus, Secular Humanist education finds the source of knowledge in the mind of man, his quest for knowledge, and the scientific method.
Conclusion:
Go to any public school in the most conservative state in the Bible belt, and you will find that if a Christian teacher manages to bootleg a mention of God into the classroom, in the long run it will be lost on the students due to the avalanche of repetitive references to natural processes and man's mind as the source of knowledge.
Would you have been able to give a correct, Biblical answer to the questions I posed in this entry? If not, you are infected with Secular Humanist thinking.
You need to click on the link for my book Christian Methodology: The Biblical Process for Advancing Knowledge
, order a copy, and study it. Then explain it to your children -- after you pull them out of the godless public school system. Do it now and pray it's not too late.
Continued here
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. (Matthew 12:30)
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. . . . Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen (Romans 1:21, 25)
Does some one say that . . . [the secular school] is teaching some purely secular course, without any such maiming of his subjects or prejudicing of Christianity? If his teaching is more than a temporary dealing with some corner of education, the fact will be found to be that it is tacitly anti-Christian; overt assaults are not made; but there is a studied avoidance which is in effect hostile. There can be no neutral position between two extremes, where there is no middle ground, but “a great gulf fixed. (R.L. Dabney, 19th Century Presbyterian theologian)
In fact the Church does not and cannot repair the mischief which her more powerful, rich, and ubiquitous rival, the secularized State, is doing in thus giving, under the guise of a non-Christian, an anti-Christian training. (R.L. Dabney, 19th Century Presbyterian theologian)
Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American public school is a school of Humanism. What can the theistic Sunday Schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching? (Charles Francis Potter, signer of The Humanist Manifesto; quote from Humanism: A New Religion)
Okay, so the public school leaves God out of the curriculum. We will teach our children to add Him back in at home and in Sunday school. (An excuse I've heard more than once)
How's that workin' out for ya? (Dr. Phil [see previous post -- link above -- for statistical evidence of how it's working out.]
As you can see in the passages quoted above, a mid-19th-Century Christian theologian (Dabney) and an early 20th-Century Humanist philosopher/educator (Potter) have two things in common:
- They both agree that secular public education is not neutral;
- They both agree that the one-hour-a-week Sunday school is in no way equal to the task of countering the indoctrination of all-day, five-day-a-week secular public school.
Education ain't cake batter, and God ain't no ingredient. (Coined from one of my favorite lines in Quigley Down Under)
It's impossible for schools to take the infinite Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer and Lord out of education without distorting the content of what they teach. Further, they will always replace Him with someone or something else.
Let me give two examples: God as Creator/Sustainer and God as the Fountain of all knowledge.
God as Creator/Sustainer
You may have learned in physics class that "nature" abhors a vacuum. So do systems of knowledge.
In Romans 1 (see above), you will notice that when man refuses to acknowledge God, he puts something in His place. Usually, it's either Nature -- the humanist educator would never call it creation -- or humanity itself.
Since the public school curriculum does not acknowledge God as the Creator and Governor of the cosmos, it must put something else in His place. In general, it replaces God with natural processes. And I'm not just talking about the theory of evolution as taught in biology class.
In the physical sciences, for example, you will learn that mountains and seas came about by natural processes rather than by an act of God's judgment in the days of Noah. Likewise, you will hear everything from the Periodic Table to the Laws of Thermodynamics explained in terms of natural processes rather than God's design and providence.
Math is not neutral, either. Ask a public high school student of probability why a flipped coin has a 50/50 chance of landing heads. If he understands the question, he will most probably say that it's simply the nature of the case.
How many will quote Proverbs 16:33 (Look it up!) and follow it with an explanation that probability -- like statistical analysis -- can only exist because God maintains a predictable regularity in His governance of creation? Sadly, many Christian school and home school students will also not give the Biblical answer because their teachers and/or curriculum have also been infected with Secular Humanism.
The difference is subtle enough that most Christians indoctrinated in secularism do not even realize that they think of God's creation in essentially anti-Christian terms. Yet the difference is very real, and most churches and Christian homes are both unaware of the problem and unequipped to refute and replace it in the minds of their children.
It's not just the sciences that replace God with natural processes, either. You will find any mention of Providence locked out of history, government, economics and business as well.
And do you think that language classes cite the tower of Babel to explain the origin of different language families? For the public schools, it all comes down to natural processes.
God as the Fountain of All Knowledge
How do you know that something is true and factual? My high school algebra teacher told us, "Two things equal to the same thing are equal to each other." She called that statement an axiom and said that axioms are "self-evident truths", basic and unprovable.
As the math test scores of many students will prove, axioms are not "self-evident" to everyone. Ask a high-school student to explain why any mathematical axiom is true. I'm confident that the overwhelming majority will say something like, "It just is," or "That's the way things are," or, "Huh?"
If the student tells you that an axiom is true because God created the world to be consistent with itself and also consistent with the way the human mind perceives and thinks, then you can rest assured that the student in question did not learn his answer in the public school.
The Secular Humanist mantra, "Man is the measure of all things," echoes through public school hallways from sea to shining sea. Thus, Secular Humanist education finds the source of knowledge in the mind of man, his quest for knowledge, and the scientific method.
Conclusion:
Go to any public school in the most conservative state in the Bible belt, and you will find that if a Christian teacher manages to bootleg a mention of God into the classroom, in the long run it will be lost on the students due to the avalanche of repetitive references to natural processes and man's mind as the source of knowledge.
Would you have been able to give a correct, Biblical answer to the questions I posed in this entry? If not, you are infected with Secular Humanist thinking.
You need to click on the link for my book Christian Methodology: The Biblical Process for Advancing Knowledge
, order a copy, and study it. Then explain it to your children -- after you pull them out of the godless public school system. Do it now and pray it's not too late.Continued here
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Cane for Self Defense
I ran across this news item that I thought you might like to see. It's about training seniors to use their canes in self defense.
For suggestions on how to use your cane or stick, check my previous posts:
Cane Fighting vs. Fighting with a Cane
Empty Hand & Weapons Skillset
For suggestions on how to use your cane or stick, check my previous posts:
Cane Fighting vs. Fighting with a Cane
Empty Hand & Weapons Skillset
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Militia Member Exposes Lifestyle
The story of a female grad student who aspires to do refugee work with children in war torn countries, who is a daughter, a girlfriend, a friend, and is also a member of the local militia, might sound strange to most. Once you understand the truth about militias, my life doesn’t seem strange at all.
You can read the rest of her story here:
Dinner with the Militia
You can read the rest of her story here:
Dinner with the Militia
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sharia Law in the U.S.?
You're probably aware that last Tuesday, Oklahomans overwhelmingly voted for a proposition that would bar judges from considering Islamic (Sharia) law in their decisions. It evidently seemed reasonable to them that a system of justice cannot operate consistently under two competing systems of law.
Now a federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the law, which has a good chance of becoming permanent. So, America could officially have one court system functioning in terms of two different law systems -- one Islamic, and the other humanistic (with vestiges of Christian influence).
Isn't it comforting to know that Islamic terrorists and other criminals could have the luxury of pleading that their actions are in accord with the law of their god?
Well, dust off your copies of The World Under God's Law
, Theonomy in Christian Ethics
and Institutes of Biblical Law
. Let's insist that Christians have the right to live under God's law as found in Holy Scripture.
The manifest superiority of God's Law as given to Moses was to serve as a testimony to the surrounding nations. If Israel would only follow it, it would win out over its competitors in the marketplace of ideas.
Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. (Deuteronomy 4:5-6)
So, if America is going to have two ungodly law systems, we might as well introduce the one and only godly law system to compete alongside them.
Now a federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the law, which has a good chance of becoming permanent. So, America could officially have one court system functioning in terms of two different law systems -- one Islamic, and the other humanistic (with vestiges of Christian influence).
Isn't it comforting to know that Islamic terrorists and other criminals could have the luxury of pleading that their actions are in accord with the law of their god?
Well, dust off your copies of The World Under God's Law
, Theonomy in Christian Ethics and Institutes of Biblical Law. Let's insist that Christians have the right to live under God's law as found in Holy Scripture.The manifest superiority of God's Law as given to Moses was to serve as a testimony to the surrounding nations. If Israel would only follow it, it would win out over its competitors in the marketplace of ideas.
Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. (Deuteronomy 4:5-6)
So, if America is going to have two ungodly law systems, we might as well introduce the one and only godly law system to compete alongside them.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Quote on Christianity & Bullying
The demands of Christian worldview require that bullying be rejected. Christians should be protectors and guardians no matter who is being bullied.
The quote above comes from Gary DeMar's article, Why Liberals Can't Deal with Bullying.
The quote above comes from Gary DeMar's article, Why Liberals Can't Deal with Bullying.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Unprofitable Home Defense, 9
Continued from "Unprofitable Home Defense, 8"
I am much afraid that the schools will prove to be wide gates to hell unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not constantly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt. (Martin Luther)
I am as sure as I am of the fact of Christ's reign that a comprehensive and centralized system of national education, separated from religion, as is now commonly proposed, will prove the most appalling enginery for the propagation of anti-Christian and atheistic unbelief, which this sin-rent world has ever seen... It is capable of exact demonstration that if every party in the State has the right of excluding from the public schools whatever he does not believe to be true, then he that believes the least must give way to him that believes absolutely nothing, no matter how small a minority the atheists or the agnostics may be. It is self-evident that on this scheme, if it is carried out in all parts of the country, the United States' system of national popular education will be the most efficient and wide instrument for the propagation of atheism which the world has ever seen. (Presbyterian theologian A. A. Hodge, Popular Lectures on Theological Themes, 1889)
Hey, I went to public school and I turned out okay. (Common excuse)
Blind spots? I don't see any blind spots. (Gravelbelly)
I have heard the excuse that I went to public school or My son/daughter is in public school, and everything is okay. No harm, no foul. Right?
Well, the correct response to that assertion is that your child is NOT okay, and neither are you.
One of the problems with the I'm-okay/my-kid's-okay attitude lies in our own blind spots -- we all have them -- and also the fact that a student's beliefs and attitudes lie beneath the surface, not always visible to parents. I have in mind a Christian, a conservative Republican, who graduated from a public school, but also attended a Christian institution of higher learning.
One of his own offspring could have been a poster child for the my-kid-went-to-public-school-but turned-out-okay argument. Bright, talented, thoughtful and a seemingly exemplary Christian, this young person appeared to have turned out perfectly.
Then came the gearing up for the 2008 elections. My friend found out to his dismay that his exemplary public school graduate offspring was a socialist.
The unscriptural presuppositions of socialism did not come from the very conservative home, nor from the very conservative Protestant church they attended. Where do you suppose this young person became indoctrinated in the philosophy of wealth redistribution? (Does it rhyme with tublick pool?)
Consider a poll done by the Nehemiah Institute.
The Nehemiah Institute devised a poll that asks 50 key questions to test a person's worldview. They consider anyone who scores from 70 to 100 to have a substantially strong Christian worldview.
Then they started tracking teen scores for 20 years. They tested 60,000 students, and 9/10 of the tests took place in youth groups of evangelical churches.
In 1988 the average Christian public school student's score was 38.0, which falls into what they call the moderately Christian category. In 2007, they scored an abysmal 5.4, which falls solidly into the secular humanist worldview category.
I'm not a gambler, so you know I think it's a sure thing when I ask, "How much do you want to bet that the majority of those students -- and their parents -- think that they are basically okay?"
For . . . they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. (2Corinthians 10:12)
Sadly, the scores of students in the traditional (majority) Christian schools have also declined : from 49.7 in 1988 (moderately Christian) to 17.3 (secular humanist). I'll give my explanation for this later in this post.
A small minority of Christian schools put a great emphasis on training their teachers to teach all subjects from a Christian worldview. The students in schools like these actually rose from a 1988 score of 62.1 (high moderate Christian worldview) to a 2007 score of 69.4 (borderline strong Christian worldview).
Researchers at the Nehemiah Institute found that home-educated students averaged between the traditional Christian and worldview Christian schools. This raises the question of why Christian schooled and home educated students scored low.
I think the answer is twofold: curriculum and teachers. Back when the Christian day school movement began to get rolling in the late 1960's and early 1970's, curriculum was a problem. There was no comprehensive curriculum available written from an explicitly Biblical worldview.
As a consequence, many Christian schools adopted older versions of public school texts -- less humanist, but still not Christian. They may have taught reading by phonics, but they did not present Christ as Lord over every branch of knowledge. At least one Christian textbook supplier took over the rights to some of these secular texts, added a Bible verse here and there, put in some new illustrations and marketed them as a K-12 "Christian curriculum".
Add to this the fact that virtually all Christian school teachers, principals and school boards had graduated from public schools, and you have a recipe, not for a Christian education but one that merely lags behind the public school system by a few years.
I remember teaching in a traditional Christian school in the early 1980's. In order to save money, they hired young women who had recently graduated from a state university, because they could hire them cheaply (average teacher salary in that school was $6500/yr, which amounts to something over $15,000 in 2010 dollars -- not a lot for a degreed professional). Another way they saved on salaries was to hire retired public school teachers.
One elementary teacher used to question me a lot about the worldview issue. She did not see or understand how our curriculum, or how it was taught differed from what she learned in the state university.
The short answer is that there was no difference. The textbooks came from one of the big three Christian curriculum publishers, and much of it was warmed over public school text material.
I was able to teach English, history, economics and government from a more consistently Biblical perspective, not because of the curriculum materials, but because of my own intense and independent worldview studies during and after my university training.
The same problems of curriculum and teachers plagues the home education movement. Parents who graduated from the public schools approach curriculum choices from a position of blind ignorance.
Then they pass on their own Christian/humanist hybrid values, attitudes and beliefs to their offspring. I know this because I have tried to help some of these people over the years.
If I recommended that they read Back to the Blackboard
by Jay Adams or Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum
by R.J. Rushdoony, that was too hard for them. Besides, they didn't want theory, they wanted answers to the practical questions like, "How do I satisfy all the legal requirements," and "What will I do for science labs and advanced math?"
What they don't realize is that by ignoring theory-so-called, they are unconsciously perpetuating the worst of their own education: a worldview tainted by humanistic thinking.
We have come to the place where the enemy has not only siphoned off 70% of our youth, but also seriously infiltrated the Church, subverted the thinking, worldview and values of our adults and youth who still attend, and most of us do not even recognize it because the indoctrination has infected us, as well. As a consequence, pastors defend the public schools as just one of the valid options for Christian parents.
Christian parents who see a problem with the public schools spend large sums to put their children in pseudo-Christian schools, or make huge sacrifices to educate their children at home in a slightly less heinous form of secular humanism.
As a Christian Martialist, I hope you want not only to provide physical protection for your child, but also to guard every thought and attitude of his/her spirit against the incursions of devilish philosophy. If this is the case, no matter what kind of education you yourself received, the road ahead will not be easy.
You must study the Word for yourself, but you don't have to re-invent the wheel. There are some good books out there that will help you find your own blind spots and uncover the humanism in your own beliefs and thought processes.
You could do a lot worse than begin with the two books I mentioned above.
Continued here
I am much afraid that the schools will prove to be wide gates to hell unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not constantly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt. (Martin Luther)
I am as sure as I am of the fact of Christ's reign that a comprehensive and centralized system of national education, separated from religion, as is now commonly proposed, will prove the most appalling enginery for the propagation of anti-Christian and atheistic unbelief, which this sin-rent world has ever seen... It is capable of exact demonstration that if every party in the State has the right of excluding from the public schools whatever he does not believe to be true, then he that believes the least must give way to him that believes absolutely nothing, no matter how small a minority the atheists or the agnostics may be. It is self-evident that on this scheme, if it is carried out in all parts of the country, the United States' system of national popular education will be the most efficient and wide instrument for the propagation of atheism which the world has ever seen. (Presbyterian theologian A. A. Hodge, Popular Lectures on Theological Themes, 1889)
Hey, I went to public school and I turned out okay. (Common excuse)
Blind spots? I don't see any blind spots. (Gravelbelly)
I have heard the excuse that I went to public school or My son/daughter is in public school, and everything is okay. No harm, no foul. Right?
Well, the correct response to that assertion is that your child is NOT okay, and neither are you.
One of the problems with the I'm-okay/my-kid's-okay attitude lies in our own blind spots -- we all have them -- and also the fact that a student's beliefs and attitudes lie beneath the surface, not always visible to parents. I have in mind a Christian, a conservative Republican, who graduated from a public school, but also attended a Christian institution of higher learning.
One of his own offspring could have been a poster child for the my-kid-went-to-public-school-but turned-out-okay argument. Bright, talented, thoughtful and a seemingly exemplary Christian, this young person appeared to have turned out perfectly.
Then came the gearing up for the 2008 elections. My friend found out to his dismay that his exemplary public school graduate offspring was a socialist.
The unscriptural presuppositions of socialism did not come from the very conservative home, nor from the very conservative Protestant church they attended. Where do you suppose this young person became indoctrinated in the philosophy of wealth redistribution? (Does it rhyme with tublick pool?)
Consider a poll done by the Nehemiah Institute.
The Nehemiah Institute devised a poll that asks 50 key questions to test a person's worldview. They consider anyone who scores from 70 to 100 to have a substantially strong Christian worldview.
Then they started tracking teen scores for 20 years. They tested 60,000 students, and 9/10 of the tests took place in youth groups of evangelical churches.
In 1988 the average Christian public school student's score was 38.0, which falls into what they call the moderately Christian category. In 2007, they scored an abysmal 5.4, which falls solidly into the secular humanist worldview category.
I'm not a gambler, so you know I think it's a sure thing when I ask, "How much do you want to bet that the majority of those students -- and their parents -- think that they are basically okay?"
For . . . they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. (2Corinthians 10:12)
Sadly, the scores of students in the traditional (majority) Christian schools have also declined : from 49.7 in 1988 (moderately Christian) to 17.3 (secular humanist). I'll give my explanation for this later in this post.
A small minority of Christian schools put a great emphasis on training their teachers to teach all subjects from a Christian worldview. The students in schools like these actually rose from a 1988 score of 62.1 (high moderate Christian worldview) to a 2007 score of 69.4 (borderline strong Christian worldview).
Researchers at the Nehemiah Institute found that home-educated students averaged between the traditional Christian and worldview Christian schools. This raises the question of why Christian schooled and home educated students scored low.
I think the answer is twofold: curriculum and teachers. Back when the Christian day school movement began to get rolling in the late 1960's and early 1970's, curriculum was a problem. There was no comprehensive curriculum available written from an explicitly Biblical worldview.
As a consequence, many Christian schools adopted older versions of public school texts -- less humanist, but still not Christian. They may have taught reading by phonics, but they did not present Christ as Lord over every branch of knowledge. At least one Christian textbook supplier took over the rights to some of these secular texts, added a Bible verse here and there, put in some new illustrations and marketed them as a K-12 "Christian curriculum".
Add to this the fact that virtually all Christian school teachers, principals and school boards had graduated from public schools, and you have a recipe, not for a Christian education but one that merely lags behind the public school system by a few years.
I remember teaching in a traditional Christian school in the early 1980's. In order to save money, they hired young women who had recently graduated from a state university, because they could hire them cheaply (average teacher salary in that school was $6500/yr, which amounts to something over $15,000 in 2010 dollars -- not a lot for a degreed professional). Another way they saved on salaries was to hire retired public school teachers.
One elementary teacher used to question me a lot about the worldview issue. She did not see or understand how our curriculum, or how it was taught differed from what she learned in the state university.
The short answer is that there was no difference. The textbooks came from one of the big three Christian curriculum publishers, and much of it was warmed over public school text material.
I was able to teach English, history, economics and government from a more consistently Biblical perspective, not because of the curriculum materials, but because of my own intense and independent worldview studies during and after my university training.
The same problems of curriculum and teachers plagues the home education movement. Parents who graduated from the public schools approach curriculum choices from a position of blind ignorance.
Then they pass on their own Christian/humanist hybrid values, attitudes and beliefs to their offspring. I know this because I have tried to help some of these people over the years.
If I recommended that they read Back to the Blackboard
by Jay Adams or Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum by R.J. Rushdoony, that was too hard for them. Besides, they didn't want theory, they wanted answers to the practical questions like, "How do I satisfy all the legal requirements," and "What will I do for science labs and advanced math?"What they don't realize is that by ignoring theory-so-called, they are unconsciously perpetuating the worst of their own education: a worldview tainted by humanistic thinking.
We have come to the place where the enemy has not only siphoned off 70% of our youth, but also seriously infiltrated the Church, subverted the thinking, worldview and values of our adults and youth who still attend, and most of us do not even recognize it because the indoctrination has infected us, as well. As a consequence, pastors defend the public schools as just one of the valid options for Christian parents.
Christian parents who see a problem with the public schools spend large sums to put their children in pseudo-Christian schools, or make huge sacrifices to educate their children at home in a slightly less heinous form of secular humanism.
As a Christian Martialist, I hope you want not only to provide physical protection for your child, but also to guard every thought and attitude of his/her spirit against the incursions of devilish philosophy. If this is the case, no matter what kind of education you yourself received, the road ahead will not be easy.
You must study the Word for yourself, but you don't have to re-invent the wheel. There are some good books out there that will help you find your own blind spots and uncover the humanism in your own beliefs and thought processes.
You could do a lot worse than begin with the two books I mentioned above.
Continued here
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
King of Kings and Lord of Lords
Thanks to my daughter Merrianna for showing me this video of the Hallelujah Chorus sung at Macy's in Philadelphia. The event was staged with singers dispersed among the crowd of shoppers.
They called it "a random act of culture". I call it a magnificent acknowledgment of Him who reigns until all enemies are put under his feet -- whether the participants meant it that way or not.
They called it "a random act of culture". I call it a magnificent acknowledgment of Him who reigns until all enemies are put under his feet -- whether the participants meant it that way or not.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Despising the Word, 2
The previous post has drawn more interest than usual, so I thought I'd follow it up with another post on the topic.
In the 1950's movie version of Treasure Island, I remember a scene in which the pirate crew presents Long John Silver -- played by Robert Newton -- with the "black spot". The black spot was a splotch of ink on a piece of paper that served as a sign that a band of brigands was removing its leader.
Long John looked down at the slip of paper in his hand and saw where his crew has obtained their paper for the black spot. His demand was explosive: "Who tore a page out of the Bible?"
The idea was that even crew of murdering cutthroats should have more respect than to desecrate God's Holy Book. Fast forward a half-century where it's not the pirates but the Christians who wipe their hands on the printed Word.
Deolexrex commented that he hates those jokes based on Bible passages. The Bible napkins and the jokes are only the tip of the iceberg.
Next time you're out driving, look at the bulletin boards in front of churches. It looks like a contest to see which church can out-cute or out-smarm all the others.
When you see one of those bulletin boards, put yourself in the shoes of an unbeliever. Do you suppose he thinks, "'God answers knee mail' . . . man, I've not been taking God seriously enough. I need to go that church and find out more about Him"? It's more likely our own trivialization of our message confirms to him that "religion" would be a waste of his time.
As stewards of the most important message in the world, we strain sense and sensibility to trivialize the Gospel in the name of relevance. Go into a Christian bookstore and look around at the evangelical schlock in the form of key chains, refrigerator magnets and other junk that reduces God's grace to some kind of cartoon.
Speaking of cartoons, do you suppose that the Committee of Evangelical Tastelessness got together one afternoon to decide how they could push the envelope in the American churches' imitation of pop culture? I can hear them now.
"We need a new idea. The 'Smile, Jesus Loves You' smiley face is becoming old hat."
"Hey, how about a series of Bible cartoons?"
"Animated drawings of Bible characters? Sounds boring."
"Well, how about we make it relevant to kids. We'll turn the characters of Scripture into cartoon fruits and vegetables and put them into stories taken from God's panorama of redemption."
"Yes! That's it. We'll strive to make this a child's earliest memory of Bible truth. For the rest of his life, when he thinks of Scripture, he'll associate it with animated produce."
Where is Long John Silver when you need him?
In the 1950's movie version of Treasure Island, I remember a scene in which the pirate crew presents Long John Silver -- played by Robert Newton -- with the "black spot". The black spot was a splotch of ink on a piece of paper that served as a sign that a band of brigands was removing its leader.
Long John looked down at the slip of paper in his hand and saw where his crew has obtained their paper for the black spot. His demand was explosive: "Who tore a page out of the Bible?"
The idea was that even crew of murdering cutthroats should have more respect than to desecrate God's Holy Book. Fast forward a half-century where it's not the pirates but the Christians who wipe their hands on the printed Word.
Deolexrex commented that he hates those jokes based on Bible passages. The Bible napkins and the jokes are only the tip of the iceberg.
Next time you're out driving, look at the bulletin boards in front of churches. It looks like a contest to see which church can out-cute or out-smarm all the others.
When you see one of those bulletin boards, put yourself in the shoes of an unbeliever. Do you suppose he thinks, "'God answers knee mail' . . . man, I've not been taking God seriously enough. I need to go that church and find out more about Him"? It's more likely our own trivialization of our message confirms to him that "religion" would be a waste of his time.
As stewards of the most important message in the world, we strain sense and sensibility to trivialize the Gospel in the name of relevance. Go into a Christian bookstore and look around at the evangelical schlock in the form of key chains, refrigerator magnets and other junk that reduces God's grace to some kind of cartoon.
Speaking of cartoons, do you suppose that the Committee of Evangelical Tastelessness got together one afternoon to decide how they could push the envelope in the American churches' imitation of pop culture? I can hear them now.
"We need a new idea. The 'Smile, Jesus Loves You' smiley face is becoming old hat."
"Hey, how about a series of Bible cartoons?"
"Animated drawings of Bible characters? Sounds boring."
"Well, how about we make it relevant to kids. We'll turn the characters of Scripture into cartoon fruits and vegetables and put them into stories taken from God's panorama of redemption."
"Yes! That's it. We'll strive to make this a child's earliest memory of Bible truth. For the rest of his life, when he thinks of Scripture, he'll associate it with animated produce."
Where is Long John Silver when you need him?
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