Introduction to Worldview Series (Part 1)

Click here to watch this entire series’ video playlist on YouTube.

Hello! My name is Léo Gaumont.

I have been actively involved as a professional educator for over forty years, nearly thirty of them within the home education community, primarily within Alberta but on a national and international level, as well.

I made learning the biggest part of my teaching career. I felt that if I was not truly learning, that is, actively seeking the truth, I could not be a good example to those I was privileged to have in my classroom.

That search for truth led me to discover God’s plan for the redemption of a lost world. I became a believer in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and an ardent student of the Bible.

During this lifelong quest for truth, I questioned everything I had come to believe was the acceptable norm, especially in my field of education where I was being challenged daily with things I could not connect with the well-being of students.

This led to my wife and I deciding to bring our children home so that we could expose them to the truth while developing the skills they would need to survive and prosper in this world. It was a decision we have never regretted and now advance for all.

Helping parents to acquire a biblical perspective of parental authority and responsibility in the raising, training and teaching of children is more than an occupation for me. It is a passion. It is a ministry that compels me to carry on and share as much information with as many people as possible and to quietly influence as many as possible to discover the truth for themselves.

You will notice that I said discover the truth and not find the truth.

Discovering it means that it already exists. Finding the truth leaves too much room for personal creation and interpretation of the truth or for outside influences to “help” you find it.

Truth has never been relative, created or democratically determined. It just is and it pre existed the dawn of man. That is why is must be discovered.

This is the first in this series of presentations which I hope will bless you as you engage in your own quest for truth. Although the main focus is home education, one can apply the ideas discussed to other topics as it is built on a foundation of biblical understanding.

Enjoy as you learn.

The Sinister Nature of Lies

Part of the series Hangups
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2015-12-07.

We generally have no idea of how many lies we pass for truth because we are usually not even aware that we are being lied to.

We are generally all ignorant of what is actually happening around us. This ignorance can either be perpetuated and capitalized upon or fixed to empower the masses. It is time to enlighten home educators who have generally been kept in the dark respecting what is occurring within their community. (Ephesians 4: 11-16)

Bible Reference: John 8:44

Pontius Pilate likely stated one of the most important questions ever asked when he said “what is truth?”. He was stating a fundamental question that has directed man since creation. Indeed, one of the earliest Biblical accounts of man involves a discussion on this very issue, a discussion that continues to this day. World view, self-centredness, tradition, culture, religion, all have this common characteristic. They are established on a belief in or understanding of what is truth.

Truth is hard to describe. It is not a matter of public opinion, democratic rule or consensus. It is not something established by world view, but rather establishes world view. It is not our understanding of what we think is true, nor is it true because we believe it or created it. That is self-righteousness. It is not true because our traditions say it is, nor is it true because it is advanced or accepted by our modern culture as true. Truth has no variants. It is or it is not true. No greys, just black or white. Most importantly, it is not established by man, whose perceptions are myopically restricted by time and space, but by God, who is universal, whose vision is eternal and whose judgments are absolute.

In today’s secular society, where it is no longer the church but the Government that decides what is right and wrong, a new morality is at play. Not one based on objective or absolute truth, but on what some people (often a small minority of people) have determined to be legitimately or justifiably “true” and advanced with an attitude of moral superiority that does not debate or even tolerate opponents, but silences them. We are encouraged to applaud things that used to be understood as wrong, while denying the very same right of individual expression to those with whom we disagree, almost to the point of condoning acts bordering on terrorism. Did you realize that terrorism can actually be nonviolent? Obviously, there are those who kill to persuade others to join forces with their idea of truth, but there is also the less obvious approach of claiming authority to legislate while forcing others to conform with what is advanced as “truth”. Then there is an even more sinister form of terrorism when people and agencies willfully or unknowingly advance traditionally or culturally perpetuated half truths, errors, lies and omissions. Whether by bullets, bombs, legislation or indoctrination, to diminish the freedom to question and to direct behaviour, are forms of terrorism as each method uses fear to control the thinking and actions of others.

Whether “truth” is being sought or implanted, the fundamental question remains. What is truth? Is it something we are actively seeking or are we being told what we should be accepting as such? Adolph Hitler was said to have quipped that if you advance a big enough lie, often enough and loud enough, people will come to accept it as the truth… and that was before the advent of the new digital age! C. S. Lewis said that the best lie was 98% true, meaning that if it is not completely true, then it is not true at all.

As we have a natural tendency to create our own god, we end up creating our own way of reaching him, establishing our own parameters for what is right or wrong, acceptable or not, punishable or celebrated. However, whether cloaked in feelings of good will or advanced as right, lies so often resemble the truth that they are mistakenly accepted as such. Such is the sinister nature of lies.

The Prophet

Part of the series First Things First
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2015-10-12.

We know that God desires all men to saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. He has taken care of part one. Are we doing our part by coming to the knowledge of the truth?

We are generally all ignorant of what is actually happening around us. This ignorance can either be perpetuated and capitalized upon or fixed to empower the masses. It is time to enlighten home educators who have generally been kept in the dark respecting what is occurring within their community. (Ephesians 4: 11-16)

Bible Reference: 1 Tim 2:1-6

I considered it a great honor when Dr. Michael Wagner dedicated his first book, “Standing On Guard For Thee“, to me. He called me a “prophet of home education and a man of action”. Quite a compliment! I considered what a prophet is and what is traditionally the outcome for those prophets we read about in the old testament and got a bit concerned!

Although a prophet is most often seen as a visionary who can see into the future and predict what is going to happen, a prophet is best described as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God. Since we know that God is the source of all truth, a prophet is nothing more than a person who tells the truth, God’s truth (as there is no truth outside of Him) no matter what the consequences.

Truth is an interesting thing. It either is or it is not. When it is not the truth, it is a lie and we know that the source of lies is not God. “Prophets” who lie are referred to as false prophets which is actually to not be a prophet at all. The old testament directed the Israelites to do away with such a character. However, more often than not, those in power who could only benefit from the perpetuation of lies, also got rid of true prophets, before they exposed the lie they were living. Either way, prophets have had a tendency to have a shorter life span! Our greatest prophet, Jesus, was killed at age 33, yet the truth He left us with has affected every aspect of our lives, whether we know it or not, in every way. He said the truth would set us free, and that when He would set us free, we would be free indeed.

If truth sets us free, then it can be rightfully assumed that to follow or believe something that is not true leads us to bondage. Even though bondage seems bad, most people prefer the predictability of bondage than the challenges of freedom. As a matter of fact, we are often so comfortable in our bondage, we tend to think we are free. There is no one more in bondage than he who believes he is free when he is not.

Freedom is a scary thing! If we are free, we are responsible for making our own decisions along with the associated consequences. It is easier to let others think and make decisions for us, and there seems to be no shortage of people and agencies willing to take advantage of that. In fact, we have been conditioned by media, government, church, school, fear and tradition to do just that. We are not encouraged to question but to obey without thinking. The result is that most people prefer the temporary comfort of bondage over the continuous vigilance required for freedom.

Prophets have a way of polarizing people. That is, people are either going to listen to what the prophet has to say and take his message to heart, or see him as crazy or worse, a threat, in which case, one who must be ignored or silenced. Prophets are usually perceived as heroes or bums, depending on who is getting what message and how that message will affect them. One way or the other, if a prophet speaks, scripture tells us that the word can land along the side of a road or within rocky, weedy or good soil. Few people, therefore, can truly appreciate the calling of the prophet as a disseminator of truth, for only some people are found to be good soil in which the truth can take root and grow. Few are truly willing to search for and come to the knowledge of the truth, preferring to assume or advance their limited and opinionated understanding as truth.

Truth has a characteristic that few consider. Once known, we want to share it with others, not in an indoctrinating way as is so often seen with the dissemination of lies, but in love, for the source of all truth is love. To share the truth in a world that does not want to hear it is an expression of love as it always comes with an element of risk. We should all desire to know the truth and when we find it, to be prophets, men of action advancing and proclaiming the will of God as truth rather than the will of man. In this light, we should be prophetic in our understanding and advancement of what a biblical home education truly is.

Who Says… We Should Tell The Truth?

Part of the series Who says…
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2015-06-01.

Truth or no truth. Either we are living breathing, saying, telling or standing for truth, or we are not. That’s it.

Building on a foundation that God is, that He created the universe and that He ultimately is responsible for our children’s being, should provide ample substance upon which to build our faith. This lengthy series will identify the secular thinking that has eroded that faith.

Bible Reference: John 14:6

God does! God is truth. Jesus asserted his divinity as the embodiment of truth, claiming He is the way, the truth, and the life, further stating that no one could access the Father, but by Him, which can correctly be projected to mean, in truth. While addressing our hope in Christ, the writer of the Book of Hebrews states that it is impossible for God to lie, an obvious characteristic of the author of all truth!

There is another “author” that must be introduced in this story. Jesus called him a liar and the father of lies. So there you have it. Truth comes from God and lies come from satan. Just as there can be nothing other than God and no god (satan), there is nothing other than truth and lies. Modern day relativism therefore is lying about lies. Truth is not relative to anything. It is or it isn’t. Part truths are lies and part lies are just lies. Nothing is in between the truth or the lie. In fact, lies are actually nothing other than the absence of truth, much as darkness is the absence of light. Satan, therefore, did not even “author” lies, he just chooses to not to tell the truth. So, people do not have to purposely, outright lie to be lying, they can simply not tell the truth or the “entire” truth. There is no sitting on the fence. It is just “the simple truth”. We either know it, tell it, speak it, abide by it and stand for it or we don’t and don’t care or make excuses for not living in truth.

Now, while telling the truth is always the right thing to do, it can and often does, come at a cost, one that most people are not willing to risk. For instance, most professing Christians today would rather not deal with issues involving other people or groups within the church, choosing rather to apply easier to handle virtues than telling the truth and risk being accused of having bad motives. They employ Christian attitudes such as being loving, compassionate, gracious, forgiving, understanding, tolerant or just being nice which are all good, but when used as a cover for doing nothing, other virtues like truthfulness, faithfulness and courage are ignored. This type of “compassionate” church is actually made of up of fearful wimps who hide behind a false caring and sharing “plastic” Jesus that is more a figment of their imaginations than the character portrayed in the Bible. Avoiding the truth does not make the problem go away, it just fails to expose it and prevent it from spreading.

When we see error or sin, what is our approach? Do we ignore it, thinking that God can deal with it himself? Do we leave it up to others to deal with it? The professionals, maybe? Do we believe that it is not really our business to challenge others to clearly evaluate their behavior against biblical principles? What are we actually doing by doing nothing? It is not nothing! Passed off as being tolerant, our failure to expose things that could cause an erosion of faith and principle is more a demonstration of laziness and cowardice than “inclusiveness”. By not courageously exposing sin and error, we tacitly approve of it, enable it, validate it, empower it, allowing it to flourish and to cause its inevitable harm. Why do you think we are in the mess we are in today? Because good men, who knew better, lacked the courage to stand up, be heard and tell the truth so that others would be spared from the evil waiting to overtake them in the lie they choose not to expose.

I am not advocating we start a modern day witch hunt for individuals who fall short of the glory of God as that would entail our starting with ourselves. Actually, that may not be such a bad idea: starting with ourselves, that is. Are we lying to ourselves? If we are, it really won’t be that difficult to lie to others, ignore facing reality, and to not tell the truth about things that ought not to be.

Scripture makes it clear that we are either for or against God. To be for Him is to know Him. To know Him is to know the truth, to advance the truth, to speak the truth, no matter what the cost, so that others can be encouraged to follow the truth that leads to life, sparing them from the false doctrines and false “Christians” that will do them harm. Alternatively, one can also choose to be against Him. Simply avoid the truth and you will be serving the father of lies. Avoiding the unpleasant consequences of telling the truth may seem easier, for now, but ultimately it does nobody any good, licensing evil to take up residence in the hearts and minds of those in our care.

Who says we should tell the truth? You know! And it simply cannot be a part time, sometime effort. If God is truth and Jesus is the truth, then it should go without saying that followers of Jesus (Christians) would not only value, but insist on truth and honesty from themselves and others within the church. If we faithfully and consistently apply this simple understanding, the courage to stand for what is right will come as a natural outcome. This is what is required if we are to advance the freedom we are all seeking. Keep in mind that it is the truth that sets us free.

The Truth Will Set Us Free

Part of the series Inspiration From Facilitation
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-11-18.

Knowing the truth is the only way that lies can be exposed for what they are.

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blogger which, although based on personal experience and knowledge of the scriptures, can be in error. No one has a corner on the truth but we should all sincerely be in search of it.

Bible Reference: John 8:32

By far the majority of the people we facilitate share our Christian world view, yet many do not share our biblical perspective. How can this be? Is not Christianity based on the Bible and it’s teachings? Yes, of course, but most of what we believe is assumed rather than understood. We gather information from our experiences and what we do learn, is not necessarily true. In fact most of the information we are presented with today would not pass the Bible test.

The Bible test is simple. If the “truth” being tested finds no place of contradiction, does not require some passages within the Bible to be ignored or explained away or if there is simply no legitimate biblical argument to refute it, and if it meets with common sense, then it passes the Bible test.

Truth is absolute. It is singular and so, does not have variations of interpretation while there are a plurality of lies. Truth is not determined by majority or democratic processes. It is not a matter of personal opinion. It just is. Because it just is, there are no arguments that can be presented against it. If anything is true, it stands alone. It needs no defense. Those who would oppose it, do so out of ignorance or a desire to vainly discredit what is true.

The Bible does not mention Jesus engaged in arguing. He didn’t debate either. He presented the truth and let it do its work. People either chose to accept it or chose to not accept it and believing a lie instead. If Jesus didn’t argue or fight, why are so many of His followers doing so? Could it be that they really don’t know the truth? And could it be that those who would argue and fight with them actually don’t know the truth either? It has been said that it takes two to argue, but if two are arguing or fighting, could either one be advancing the truth? If the truth is known and accepted, the argument is over. Could it be that the reason we have so many variations of Christianity today is that we have advanced so many versions of the truth? Let God be true and every man a liar. Variations of the truth are actually lies, coming from he who comes to kill, steal and destroy. What if we all started to question what we believe to be true? What would happen if, instead of starting with the belief that we were right, we started with the possibility of being wrong? How would things look if we all purposed to make the discovery of the truth our biggest goal in life? God desires that we come to the knowledge of the truth. If knowing the truth sets us free, what does it set us free from? Lies, that’s what!

The Thread That Holds It All Together

Part of the series What is Being Communicated?
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2013-10-07.

Is there a pattern to the messages we are being subjected to?

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blogger which, although based on personal experience and knowledge of the scriptures, can be in error. No one has a corner on the truth but we should all sincerely be in search of it.

Bible Reference: Matt 12:30

We are exposed to so many messages every day, we hardly take the time to listen carefully to what is being said. We see nothing wrong with messages like “Our Children, Our Future” or “Tiny Tot DayCare: Where Learning Starts” or “Success For Every Child”. That is because we are easy targets for such messages as we are mostly ignorant of the truth. No one can expose a lie unless they know the truth and that truth is being buried in a plurality of lies that have become so commonplace as to be believable. Pilate asked the question we should all be asking, “what is truth?”. To find that truth we must first desire to find it. Truth applied is wisdom. Since there is a wisdom of this world, it is safe to assume that it does not follow truth but something being passed off as a “form” of truth, which is not truth at all. Wisdom has its beginning when we acknowledge the existence of God and reaches its maturity with a clear understanding of the purpose of creation, the fall of man, the history of God’s intervention in this world culminating with the redemption of man through the sacrificial atonement of the messiah and the application of His teachings. Sounds like a lot, and it is, but it is not difficult to understand as Godly wisdom is identified by its simplicity. The truth is that there are only two possibilities. We will either be for Him or against Him. Therefore, when exposed to a message, from any and all sources, we would be wise if we simply asked ourselves two simple questions. What are the underlying presuppositions and are they advancing the truth as outlined in the Bible or are they actually working to disqualify the truth? Back to our starting point. Only those who know the truth can expose the lie. The answer to Pilate’s question is simple. Jesus claimed to be the way, the truth and the life. Get to know this truth and the lies become obvious. Learn this truth by studying God’s truth message in the Bible.
Now is there a pattern to the messages we are receiving? Yes, indeed! It is either advancing the truth or it is not. Check the source of the information and ask yourself what role God has in this place. If God is not welcomed, neither will the truth be. If man is central, then God is not. If we are being directed to do what everybody else is doing, be careful! We are not to be like everyone else. We are to be peculiar in that we actively search the truth and are willing to come into conflict with those who would oppose it for the sake of personal earthly gain. With a bit of practice, it should not take long to see the pattern is mostly hostility towards the Christian Biblical world view. It may even be disguised as Christianity.