The Harsh Truth About Public Schools (Part 2)

This is the second part of my thoughts on Bruce Shortt's The Harsh Truth About Public Schools. If you would like to read the first part, go here. The thing I found most interesting in the second half of the book was the section starting on page 320 about all of the "but"s people use to squirm out to taking their children out of public school.

"But our government school is different."
Read the book. If you still think that the federal laws, court decisions, and teacher's unions do not assure that your government school teaches a secular humanist world view, read the book again.

"But my child is salt and light."
If this was being said of well grounded college students with a great Christian world view, I might agree. To expect a 8-year-old to withstand the constant spiritual battery of a government school let alone change it is mind boggling. Children must be trained before they can be sent out.

"But we can't just withdraw from culture."
". . . if all Christians withdrew their children from government schools, sending children to government schools would no longer represent the cultural norm - we would have changed it."

"But our pastor hasn't said it's a problem."
Really, if you can't think and reason for yourself, I feel very bad for you and worry about your spiritual well being.

"But our government school has some Christian teachers."
Even Christian teachers are bound by the law, curricula, etc. that make getting a Christian education via government schools impossible. All they can provide is a less corrosive environment. They cannot teach Christian values such as you matter because God created us and loves us. They cannot teach that there is right and wrong and God decides what is right and wrong.

"But what about socialization?"
Christian children can't be Christian and be just like the world. That said, there are plenty of ways to let your kids interact with other kids and grown-ups. Church, karate, going to the dog park, going to the library, inviting people over for dinner, etc. are all examples of this.

"But what about extracurricular activities?"
Really if cheerleading and chess club are more important to you than your children's spiritual well fare, I feel sad for your kids. That being said there are 4-H, boy scouts, church choir, etc. that anyone can participate in.

"But what would my family and friends think?"
WHO CARES?! God's opinion is the only one that matters.

"But we went to public schools and we turned out just fine."
I went to public schools too. I didn't get pregnant or do drugs or get involved in the occult. I also don't think that I reached my full spiritual potential in school despite reading the Bible daily and having Christian parents who made sure that we did at least know the Bible. And government schools get worse every year because of new court decisions, laws, etc.

"But we can't afford it."
My husband and I probably live below the "poverty line", but we do NOT send our kids to public school. Be willing to sacrifice. Be creative. You can do it.

"But we can't send our children to Christian school and I don't think I am qualified to teach."
If you don't think that you are qualified to teach, read chapter 5 of the book. Also, I suggest that just as any person that knows how he/she was saved can teach the Gospel anyone who is literate and can learn can teach their children. If you need a jump start, you can always purchase curricula.

"But we can't send our children to Christian school and don't have time to homeschool."
First of all, it only takes three (or less) hours a day to homeschool your kids. Second, I think that most of us can sacrifice TV time, reading the newspaper, surfing the web, etc for the sake of our children.

I highly recommend The Harsh Truth About Public Schools for anyone who wants a thorough and well-thought-out read.

Confession of National Sin

I have been reading the end of the Old Testament recently. It struck me that those leaders (Daniel, Ezra, etc.) are mentioned confessing for the nation. While I am certainly not a leader, I thought it would be a good thing to start including in my daily prayers. I am sure that there are more things to add and will probably do so in the future.

O LORD, I confess that we Christians in this country have allowed evil to gain ground and we have not aggressively taken ground for the Kingdom. We allow children to be killed at abortionists' hands so that we can be more materialistic, more sexually immoral, and more self-centered. We have allowed our children’s soul’s to be destroyed at day-cares and public schools for the sake of money and fitting in and because of apathy. We do not strive for excellence, but are OK with offering you a living sacrifice of mediocrity. We have not kept our promises to stay married and have gotten divorced for no scriptural reason. Because of divorce our children have suffered yet again. We have not trusted in your scripture to be inerrant and so have allowed our children to be taught that they came from hydrogen gas and will turn to dirt when they die. We have allowed them to be taught that they are soulless animals acting only on instinct and intelligence. Because of this many of our children lose faith or never find it. We have become dependent on preachers for our Bible knowledge, youth ministers to develop faith in our children, and programs to bring people to you. So there are thousands of churches that are full of mature people who have been Christians a long time and yet are not mature spiritually and do not participate in the harvest of souls. O LORD, change the face of our country and your church. There are so many fronts to fight on. Help me to stand firm. Help me know my assignment in the battle. Forgive your Church for losing your passion for the lost. Forgive us for being divided and divisive. We have sinned on both extremes and compromised scripture to be “unified” while at the same time holding on to traditions of men instead of embracing unity. O God, our sins are piled up like a mountain before us and we are largely blind to the mountains existence. We have not stayed separate from the world and so are blind to our worldliness. We have bought the lie that love means having good feelings about someone. We have not lived out love by doing good for a persons body, mind, and soul.

Great Pro-life Voting Article by Another Blogger

Randy Alcorn had a great post today about Christian responsibility and voting pro-life. Read the whole thing here. Here are some quotes from it.

the reader comment that most grabbed my attention was, “Pat Robertson just endorsed, formally, Rudy Giuliani. I would love your thoughts on that.” I found the video clip of Pat Robertson’s endorsement of Rudy G. That was the moment when things changed. This was no longer politics, which I dislike, it was a full-blown moral issue, full of biblical and theological and Christian implications.

Really, what are secular people to think? All the years that Christians have said unborn babies were precious, their lives were sacred, marriage between a man and a woman was sacred, marriage vows were sacred and family was sacred….were they just kidding? Because now some of the same Christians are saying “we support for president a man who has demonstrated that none of those are sacred to him.”So what is sacred now? Being conservative? Being a Republican? Please. I am a disciple of Jesus.

Let me respond to the people, including some who commented on last week’s blog, who are adamantly ABC (Anybody But Clinton). Here’s a quote:

Christian Conservatives must decide on who is best to beat Hillary. That is THE most important point. Huckabee is great, but he WILL not beat Hillary. Whomever wins the Republican nomination must be supported by ALL Republicans. If we step back because we don’t like the candidate we as Christians will be voting in Hillary Clinton. This CANNOT happen.

I mean no disrespect, but actually, yes, there ARE worse things than Hillary being elected. In my opinion, having to stand before God to answer for compromising biblical convictions and acting as moral hypocrites by voting for an unprincipled man who will not defend the innocent and care for his own family is far worse. God will not judge me in light of whether I’ve followed conservativism or promoted Republicanism, but as to whether I have honored my Lord Jesus.

Is there a time for pragmatism? Sure. As long as you can stay within the realm of righteous principles, then go ahead and weigh pragmatic considerations, as a matter of wisdom. But there is no wisdom in unrighteousness. If you are tempted toward a pragmatic action that violates Scripture and conscience, do not succumb to that temptation. To do so is sin.

When Christian Leaders Betray Their Own Principles

The following quote is from Mr. Murray from Religious Freedom Coalition in his blog. He is discussing why several Christian leaders have abandoned their principles by endorsing people for president that are not staunchly pro-life and/or pro-marriage.

Why is the social conservative movement in the United States committing suicide? The answer is power politics. Evangelical conservative leaders are backing candidates they think will win rather than those who have been consistent social conservatives with 100% pro-life records. Many other endorsements I will not mention here have surprised me, but all seem to have one theme: “We need someone who can beat Hillary.” The assumption is that the GOP must choose a “centrist” presidential candidate or Hillary will win. The logic goes, “We need a New York liberal to beat their New York liberal.” By that logic Ronald Reagan would not have gotten the GOP presidential nomination. Reagan was too conservative to be electable by the National Right to Life Committee standards and those of many other social conservative leaders today.

Meanwhile the rank and file members of social conservative organizations are being turned off by their leadership. While National Right to Life has endorsed Fred Thompson, his numbers continue to fall in Iowa and New Hampshire while those of Governor Mike Huckabee continue to rise. Huckabee is now in a solid 2nd place in Iowa behind Governor Mitt Romney who has spent $21 million in that state alone. Huckabee has spent just $500,000 there and he has such momentum that he may well take first place on Election Day. Thompson is in fourth place in Iowa and fifth place in New Hampshire where Huckabee recently passed him. The national polls don’t matter at all because most of those folks will actually never vote in a primary.

First, I thank God that the head of the Church is Christ and we "rank and file" Christians are not bound to follow our "leaders" when they turn from the path that Christ would have us follow. So I encourage everyone to vote your values.

Second, when you go to the ballot box for the primary vote for the person you think is the best candidate. Do not try to predict the future! Vote with your conscience.

Third, if you want Mike Huckabee to win, give his campaign a donation. If people don't know about him, how can they decide to vote for him.

Do your part and tell others about Huckabee

The Baltimore Sun has a good article today on Mike Huckabee. Part of the article says,

In a CBS News poll last month, seven in 10 Americans said they hadn't heard enough about Huckabee to have an opinion. But among Republican primary voters, he's the fastest-rising candidate on the 2008 charts, according to recent surveys.

I would like to encourage everyone to tell people about Mike Huckabee. Seven out of ten people don't know about him, so odds are you know at least one of them. Let your pro-life friends know that Mike Huckabee is the only staunchly pro-life candidate above 5% in the national polls. Let your pro-gun friends know that Mike Huckabee has a concealed weapons permit and is an avid hunter. Let your homeschool friends know Mike Huckabee appointed a homeschool mom to the board of education in Arkansas. Let your public school friends know that Mike Huckabee supports a well-rounded public education system. Let your FairTax friends know that Mike Huckabee whole-heartedly supports the FairTax. You get the picture. Spread the word. Wear your Mike Huckabee button everywhere you go. (If you don't have one, buy one here and share the other 9.)

Another part of the article says,
"It takes two things to make a campaign successful, money and organization," says Steve Scheffler, a veteran religious conservative organizer in Iowa. Even if Huckabee were to win the caucuses, less than eight weeks from now, he said, "I don't know what that gets him" because he lacks resources to "go the long distance."

So if you haven't given yet, do so. Give what you would have spent on coffee or movies or shooting at the range. A little times thousands really adds up. Get involved with the campaign at the local level through meetup.com and hucksarmy.com. Sign up to be a delegate in your home state for the Huckabee campaign.

Rasmussen Poll has Huckabee in 3rd

Mike Huckabee is in a third place in the Rasmussen national presidential tracking poll. This is how it breaks down.

Giuliani 24%
Thompson 16%
Mike Huckabee 14%

Imagine what he could do with a little bit more money. If you haven't already, you should donate. Every little bit helps.

Mike Huckabee at Prestonwood and New Beginnings

I had a great time today going to New Beginnings Church in Irving, TX and Prestonwood Baptist Church north of Dallas. New Beginnings was an interested mix of Messianic Jew, Black Gospel, and community church. Gov. Huckabee did a great job on his sermon. It was about how God can use evil for good with examples from the Bible like Joseph and examples from his own life. Gov. Huckabee was interrupted several times by clapping and sometimes with standing ovations. The pastor there was very bold with his praise and practically endorsed Gov. Huckabee from the pulpit. When his talk was over, I made my way to the car and crossed paths with him. I saw me out of the corner of his eye, turned toward me, and warmly shook my hand. I then drove to Prestonwood. I got a little bit lost and so missed the first part of the lesson. I had expected to hear the same speech, but I was pleasantly suprised. This sermon was about how God has good plans for us and that it is our job to prepare for those good things. He said that when the world sees that Christians are not preparing to recieve blessings they know that we have little faith. Gov. Huckabee was well received at this church as well. At the end of the service I got this picture of him before he was ushered on to his next appointment. Afterward I heard several people mention how they thought that he did a good job and how important they thought these primaries are. I was proud to have been there.

Here's what the Dallas Morning News had to say:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-huckabee_05met.ART.State.Edition1.41dad53.html

I also enjoyed this article about it from the Baptist Press (though I am not a Baptist).