Category Archives: Helpful Resources

I am joyfully indebted to Rosealee Slater, Verna Hall, and the wonderful people at the Foundation for American Christian Education (F.A.C.E.). They have, through the Principle Approach, raised a standard of Christian Education that is unsurpassed by any others. Their philosophy of learning by Biblically seeking out the foundational principles of all you study produces students with a more solid Biblical Worldview than any other approach to Christian Education is currently doing.

In fact, their students are so good, the resources I use and love even more than F.A.C.E’s are those by their students. They are resources that we’ve owned and continually gone back to for many, many years. I won’t review each resource here, but I will list some of those all-time favorites that we have found most useful. Many of these we didn’t even know were “Principle Approach” books until we got into reading them. Marshall Foster’s The American Covenant was one of our first, and is now quite well worn, laying a foundation for where we’re at and where we’ve come from. I always meant to get the Study Course to go with it, but haven’t yet. K. Alan Snyder’s If the Foundations Are Destroyed is our newest pick and a must for Biblical governmental understanding. America’s Providential History by Stephen McDowell and Mark Beliles has been for a very long time among our very top picks – overall and in the category of HisStory. Liberating the Nations, also by McDowell is a more recent enjoyment on how a Biblical Worldview transforms everything about a culture. I consider all of these “required reading”.

As for actual PA curriculum type resources, the “other” big red book has remained my most used and most helpful resource – A Guide to American Christian Education by James Rose (full review coming soon). Judah Bible Curriculum by Bill Burtness was on my list for nearly 15 years before I bought it. I’d never seen it, and wasn’t sure I wanted to take the chance, but now that I have it I wish I would’ve gotten it years ago.

I’ll write more individually about these books another day. Some I’ve already written about – in past blogs or on our webpages. But check them out today. They are all worthy additions to your home library.

And THANKS F.A.C.E. for teaching your students well. They have gone on to do exactly what you have taught them, and what Christ desires of us all, to disciple others as they have been discipled. They are modeling the Biblical principle of Discipleship – “you follow me as I follow”, and for that I am ever grateful to you.

The first “assignment” I give to parents coming to me for home education councel is to develop a Biblical philosophy of education. I know some of you think you don’t need a philosophy, you’ll just buy whatever books look good, and wing it. I also know that unless you are a “set in cement” type of person who says “we are going to make this work, no matter what”, you will be switching and buying other things that look better along the way – over and over. Now this isn’t about NOT buying new resources. It’s about getting the right fit. And learning to think “God’s way” – “rightly dividing the word of God” and applying to to every area of life. Anyhow, I’m digressing a bit.

My point is that whether you want to develop a philosophy of ed or not, you already have one, and unless you were brought up in a strong Christian home with a strong Christian education, or have already studied this out, it is not a Biblical view of education. Everyone has presuppositions about education (and life). A Biblical view of education just doesn’t come automatically when you come to Christ. You bring your old mindset with you, that must be renewed to think Biblically – about education and all of life.

Throughout these articles and my teaching I give you ideas on how to develop that Biblical view, but for those of you that desire to go a little deeper into the Principle Approach (PA), or even those that are following Lifestyle Education through Disicpleship a little “looser” than PA – but would like a more thorough, systematic study on this, I recommend the Self-Directed Seminar (SDS) by the Foundation for American Christian Education (FACE). It is a 9 Lesson study, teaching the methods of the Principle Approach as you research a Biblical philosophy of education.

In July and August we will be looking at the lessons of the SDS, 1 each week on Mondays, on the Bible Principles elist at Yahoo. I welcome you to join us there. Get the SDS. Join the Bible Principles list. Begin studying and send your comments, questions, and insights to the list, beginning with Lesson 1 on July 4.

Do you have a few graduations coming up? Are you like us and you think, “We don’t know anyone this year who’s graduating,” but then the mailbox fills up with 3 or 4, or more invitations. I’m urged that, “This set of plates and cups would be a perfect gift, and what a great price,” or some other such thing. I’m tempted but…

I always come back to what I see as a perfect graduation gift – a gift for godly learning. Our top pick is the gift our oldest daughter received at a graduation dinner for the Youth Leaders, given by our church’s Regional Director (or something like that 🙂 It was America’s Providential History. It is the perfect gift for a home educated student with a Biblical Worldview to start their own library. But it is also the perfect gift for the government school student, who has no idea where God fits into History.
Along the way, I’ve thought of a few others that would be great library starters. Understanding the Mysteries of Creation by Dennis Petersen might be more enjoyed by the more scientific minded. And, is a good introduction for those who received their education in government schools, who have not done much study on Creation vs. Evolution.

For the student who received a good Biblical Worldview education through good learning methods, how about their own 1828 Dictionary. I know that is what our third daughter cherishes above all other books. Perhaps their own Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History and Christian History of the Constitution for a studious student.

For any Christian student, you couldn’t go wrong with their own Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and perhaps instruction on How to Study the Bible by Chuck Missler (on tape, for on-the-go less-inclined-to-read recipients).
If the Foundations Are Destroyed is a good introduction to a Biblical view of Government. What the Bible is All About, Walk through the Bible by Chuck Missler and Learn the Bible in 24 Hours are good foundational Bible overviews. (The last 2 on tape/CD.)

Although I think books are ALWAYS the best gift 😉 there certainly isn’t a more appropriate time than that of celebrating their learning to give books to ALL your recipients.

A lot has happened in our family since I’ve last written. A son has been born, and a daughter married. But I’ve also done much reading. I’d like to add another recommendation to the list I sent last month. I really liked this one.

In Assumptions that Affect our Lives, author Christian Overman of the Biblical Worldview Institute contrasts the Hebrew and Greek ways of thought and shows how, although our Western society was based on the Bible and Hebrew thought, today’s Christians have largely adopted our humanistic cultures Greek thoughts. It’s a great introduction to the ancient philosophies and the way the affect our lives today, and what we can do about it.

Enjoy!