Our library is begining to look like one. I don’t have any digital “before” pictures, but imagine walls with broken and missing plaster, oak floors with water damage and buckled, accoustic ceiling tiles with water damage and missing.
We aren’t completely done yet, some trim and doors yet to finish, but ceiling, walls and floors are done. Baseboards are up and the first of the bookcases are installed and loaded. Here’s a pic.
This summer I am returning to my Foundational Studies. One area is in 7 Biblical Principles of Liberty. This post is about what I see as the first principle, God’s Sovereignty. I may post on each of the 7.
Also I have added several pages to my website this summer. Look under Bits and Pieces for Freedom & Simplicity. The page on 7 Biblical Principles of Liberty will show you what the other 6 principles are and my comparison chart will show you what others call these principles. Also several of our L.E.D. Resources & Recommendations pages have been updated. Here’s the page that will link you to those pages.
Here’s my understanding of the principle of God’s Sovereignty.
God’s Sovereignty – the Lordship of Christ:
The principle of God’s Sovereignty is that of God’s rule over us, as Lawgiver, Judge and King. God Providentially rules all things whether man acknowledges it or not, just as God is Creator whether man acknowledges it or not. When man acknowledges and submits to God’s rule he is able to live in both liberty and order.
When man rejects God’s Sovereignty, he sets up for himself a false sovereign, either the individual (resulting in chaotic anarchy, a false “freedom” with no order, that nurtures selfishness, pride, and perversion) or the state (resulting in stifling tyranny, a false “order” with no liberty, that nurtures passivity and dependence).
God’s Sovereignty, operates in both power and form, displaying His balance of freedom and order. It is God’s power that causes change and growth and His form that channels it aright. Order (through God’s law) protects man’s freedom from the sinful nature of others (this is the form), while freedom (through His grace) enables man to be creative and productive (this is the power).
We see in HisStory God’s Sovereign Providence directing man’s course, whether man acknowledges it or not. We determine who those involved “think” is sovereign. Although man (individually or corporately) can choose to walk after his own ways, disregarding the Sovereignty of the Lord, it is still the Lord “who directs his path”.
In man submitted to God’s Sovereignty, we see his internal and external governments patterned after God’s form to allow God’s power to flow through them. Therefore, this principle could also be called Faith in God and His Word, or Power and Form. Even in man choosing to look to a false sovereign we see power and form – but unbalanced. Rosalie Slater termed this principle the Christian Form of our Government.
I’m still working away at my Freedom & Simplicity in History guide and hope to have it finished in the next couple of weeks. But in the meantime we’ve begun our study of Guide to American Christian Education (GACE) through a yahoogroup and I’ve posted a 5 part series on renewing our minds to lay a foundation for Christian Home Education.
It is some of my thoughts and some notes and quotes from GACE on:
Why Christian Home Education?
Why the method of teaching by Biblical Principles?
What are the challenges and rewards?
How can we overcome the challenges?
What do we do to develop a Christian philosophy of education?
You can read these posts on my website – here.It’s too long to post here on the blog, and would just get lost amidst the other articles.
I’d better post something or you’ll all think I’ve dropped off the face of the earth as a couple of my internet friends have. (But it has been less than a month since my last post, and sometimes that’s about par for me.)
Anyhow, I’ve been working hard on my audios and books – and our home remodel, and life. Freedom & Simplicity in HisStory is almost finished. What you say, I thought you already had that? Well, the conversion to downloadable ebook, led to a complete rewrite and big expansion. I was hoping to have it finished before convention, but we leave tomorrow and I must pack today, so hopefully next week or so.
ANNOUNCING! As if I don’t have enough going on, (but this one shouldn’t be a burden on me 🙂 —- ta dah —-
A new elist! Anna-Marie (a co-moderator with me on the bibleprinciples elist) and I are offering an introductory book study for preparing to teach by Biblical Principles through A Guide to American Chirstian Education for Home and School (GACE) by James Rose. We will be following his “getting started” steps on page 118 of the book. If you want to enrich your study even further, we’ve added into the schedule corresponding readings from Teaching and Learning American Christian Education: The Principle Approach (T&L) by Rosalie Slater.
You will need the GACE book – if you dont have it and aren’t ready to purchase it yet, perhaps your library can get it through interlibrary loan for you. You will also need Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language – if you don’t have and aren’t ready to purchase it yet, you can use it online. You will also need a notebook binder and LOTS of paper, and a Bible. T&L is optional. You can get it interlibrary loan also, or order it. All the ordering links here take you to CBD where you will recieve a discount on the books, and Me and My House ministries will recieve credit for your order if you use our links. (You only have to use the link for one book in your order, the orders can be added by searching once you get to the site.)
You can view more about these books on our site – this page has all 3 of them listed. I also have a few of my notes from GACE posted. Hope you can join us. The list is called GACEstudy and is on yahoogroups. I’ll get a join link posted on my site later today.
This is a rare post for those who are not home educating or providing distinctively Christian private education for their children.
As parents you have a tremendous responsibility to not just train your child in religious matters, relegating God to a “spiritual” box, but to show Him forth in every area of life and learning. Your children will spend nearly 15,000 hours, from K-12 being taught knowledge apart from God. You must teach them to see God aright in everything they learn. All truth is God’s truth and He must be glorified in it. He must be shown as Source and Sustainer of all things, even, and especially in your situation, in academic things where He has been consciously edited out of His own world.
This is not just countering “millions and billions of years ago” or “Heather has 2 Mommies”, but showing that 1 x 1 x 1 = 1 because GOD!… That South America has jungles and exotic wildlife and North America has rolling plains for man’s habitation because God… The importance of every word that we write, speak, read, or hear because God… That the Pilgrims came to America to not only have freedom in Christian religion, but to propogate it because God… And now America has no tolerance for distinctively Jesus-centered Christian religion outside the church walls because God – has given us over to our own devises. That George Washington wrestled in prayer and the Word to determine the justness of fighting a war against unlawful authority, and then was preserved by the Providential hand of God as his coat and hat were riddled with bullets because God… Of course I could go on and on, but I am not writing a Christian curriculum in one blog post. You must research and learn these purposes for yourselves. The answer is not just “because God”, but a Biblical, individual reason and purpose for each thing.
This all goes back to my one key message, that we as parents must first renew our own minds. We must know these things ourselves; these things must be in our hearts. We must see God as the Source and Sustainer of all things. We are to get Wisdom, the most important thing, which is seeing all of life from God’s perspective. We must relate all truth and knowledge back to Him and His purpose for it, which is to glorify Himself. The fear of the Lord is, and must be, the beginning of all knowledge.
And then we must, we are commanded to, diligently teach these things to our children. We must, we are commanded to, bring them up in the instruction and discipline of the Lord, seeing Him as Lord over all, not just all the big picture, but understanding Him as Lord over each and every detail. Oh for all our children, may they not only know God, but glorify Him as God in every detail of life, that their hearts not be darkened.
I came across a quote tonight in Jonathan Edwards’ Religious Affections, in the Author’s Preface. It expresses just what I am endeavouring to do here.
I many times share 2 Corinthians 1:24, “Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand,” for that is truly my desire. But I like the way Edwards put this.
“My design is to contribute my mite, and use my best (however feeble) endeavours to this end” *”knowing clearly and distinctly what we ought to contend for.”
* – Statement is not in original order, however it is in context. “This end” refers back to the previous sentence (quote after *) in the original.
Just a short note – during a short break – to let you know I’m working on getting my books and audios formatted for electronic delivery.
You can now order Sorting it Out and Pulling it Together (book), and Choose ye this Day… – An Introduction to L.E.D. (audio w/ powerpoint presentation) and download them to your computer.
Back to work 🙂
Have you noticed I’ve been busy with my family? No posts for a long time. And just some thoughts today. I’ve been ruminating as I go over teaching notes for seminars and such.
Some things just don’t make logical, Biblical sense. A Christian’s primary purpose is to glorify God, right? Hopefully I have no arguments from any Christian on that. So, why would any Christian turn their children over to an institution that is completely God-less, to have their children taught and trained to, not only not glorify Him, but to not even acknowledge His existance, in everything they learn; to be taught that God (if He/it exists) is not important (let alone of utmost importance) to all the things that they teach them there, most of the day, most of the year, all of their formative years. To put God (if He exists) in a little box that is left out of learning.
What is this? That Christians would allow others to shape their children’s thinking to exclude God! He is the Source of everything. He should never be left out of any teaching. He must be included in everything we teach. He must be taught as Creator and Sustainer of everything – from Math, to History, to baby brothers. Any teaching that is not based on the “fear of the Lord” is neither wisdom, nor knowledge. He is the beginning of both. Without Him, right in the center of all, there can be no true learning.
I want to encourage you to press on. What we are doing is so important, especially in our post-modern, post-Christian society. Press on in teaching and training your grandchildren’s teachers. We have a home educator friend that used to say that all the time, that they were educating their grandchildren’s teachers. I like that. It gives us a Biblical multi-generational view. The Bible actually takes it another generation. We are to teach our children of God in everything they learn. We are to look with faith, down through the halls of the future and see our great-grandchildren being taught and trained to look at all of life and learning through God’s perspective, to know His ways and workings in all they learn. To build a family legacy of education for the Kingdom of God.
God’s blessings to the many of you who have contacted me, and whom God has blessed through my words, by His grace alone! All glory goes to Him who alone is worthy. I have and am nothing without Him. Any worthwhile thing I have to pass on comes only from Him and by His grace. All the rest, that falls and fails, is of me.
I so desire to complete my book of Freedom & Simplicity™ through Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™, but my life is very full of living LIFE right now. My family can attest that I spend every moment I can spare (and probably many that I should’t) at the computer, working on sharing with you (corporately, as in this blog, elists, and my website) and individually. And attempting to gather my notes into coherency for my book. All the while, planning lessons for and teaching my own children. In addition to the normal wife, mommy, home keeper foundations of my life. Don’t feel I am complaining, my joy is in what I do. I only get frustrated that I cannot do it fast enough.
Keys to L.E.D. – Part 1 Faith & Virtue
Though not exhaustive, this series of articles will give you some foundational keys to the philosophy of L.E.D., the goals we are seeking to attain, and methods we utilize to get there. I hope through these to begin to paint a picture wherein you can examine some of the details to show you more clearly what L.E.D. is. Links to previous articles will be used to help pull those together for you.
We desire L.E.D. to result in our children to:
1) Be led by the Spirit – Our children should be governed internally by the Spirit of God, not by external motivation, either positive (physical reward) or negative (force or manipulation), nor by internal “fleshly desires” and selfishness. We do not desire to “candy coat” our children with Scripture, having much “head knowledge” but not living it, but for them to truly desire to love and follow God in everything they do. We desire: that they love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength; that they recognize that every “issue of life” proceeds from the heart, that they understand that for every external, seen action (effect) there is a prior internal, unseen except by God, attitude, motive, and thought, that they would know that character produces conduct; attitude produces action. Therefore, we are primarily home educating to reach the hearts of our children.
Methods we use:
a. Fervent Prayer – that God opens their hearts to Himself, that they may receive His Glorious gift of Christ that will completely transform their lives. He is the only one that can do this, but prayer is the means He has chosen to work through.
b. Parenting their Hearts – Endeavor to “keep” your children’s hearts. Be trustworthy of guarding their hearts. Recommended parenting resources listed here.
c. Feeding them the Word – for in it is Life. Feed your children the life-giving Word daily. It is “living and powerful” and “able to divide between soul and spirit, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart”. We have many Bible teaching resources listed here, but mainly recommend this as a basic foundation to all other Bible “studies”.
d. Cultivating their Hearts – through godly life-changing literature. Stories that capture the heart with godly principles, character, and conduct. “Add to your faith virtue.” Recommendations and more on life-changing literature here.
This is the foundational Key, which we will build upon.
Many people seem to get “lost” when transitioning from learning Biblical Principles education to teaching it. I hold to previous statements that GACE provides the best help in this. 🙂 Everything from seeing the Big Picture to how-to plan and teach lessons.
For those that don’t have GACE, or prefer to see a condensed version 🙂 I have posted on my website, my notes from GACE on teaching Elementary History by Ruth Smith.
GACE Elementary History
