Michael Wagner – Page 19

How Do We Fight?

Part of the series Feedback
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-02-17.

A question was asked: As Christian men when should we fight and what does it look like, in view of the biblical reference to submit to authority?

We do not claim to have all the right answers but based on our present understanding of the scriptures, we will do our best to bring a little clarity to your queries.

Bible Reference: 2 Cor. 5:20

Last week I attempted to answer the “when” of this question, a hard thing to do in a small space! This week I will address how the fight should look.

Truthful, confident, polite, engaging, sincere, irrefutable, positive, considerate, tactful, etc. Get the picture? We must, above all, be good ambassadors for Christ. The New Testament is full of examples of good ambassadorship that we would do well to study before engaging in any debate. Greg Koukl of str.org, teaches us that to be good ambassadors we must have an accurately informed mind, an artful method and an attractive manner. A victory gained otherwise will be hollow and short lived, while one gained by demonstrating a Godly wisdom, method and manner will have more lasting repercussions. I trust you also believe that truth is the final winner. We should, therefore, not anticipate instant victory when advancing the truth and know that the eventual victory is the Lord’s, who authored truth in the first place.

Modern, western Christianity has generally adopted a false doctrine of non-engagement, when it comes to defending the Christian position when false authorities advance issues contrary to the Bible. We may seem to be at a disadvantage when our opponents use unethical tactics, but we should refrain from engaging in like manner, knowing that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood but against powers and principalities, as Christ’s ambassadors.

There are two possible scenarios when it comes to fighting for the Kingdom. Dealing with individuals and dealing with representatives of claimed authorities. We should never fight with the individual. Simply love them into the Kingdom by being real and offering something better than what they have.

When dealing with other claims to authority, I have a secret weapon that I use, that often, but not always, yields positive results. The secret is that deep down, most people do not like confrontation and especially not with a superior, that is, if they value their job. While most people will automatically defend themselves, it is usually not a good thing to do so before the boss, and ultimately, everybody has a boss. I have found that if I have been diligent to properly conduct myself as an ambassador for Christ when dealing with unpleasant people or an unpleasant situation and I get the “get lost” treatment, I contact that individual’s supervisor and if that does not work I go to the supervisor’s superior and on up the line until I reach someone who will treat my concern appropriately. With a little political savvy, one can usually be heard and perhaps even taken seriously with respect to whatever is at issue. I do not believe we should be employing the world’s methods of trying to initiate change through rallies, demonstrations and other parades as this only serves to reduce our claim to truth.

Now you have it, the answer to the big question. However, I think we need to go one step further with this question and apply it to our specific field of education, so, if you will allow me, I will…

conclude this next week.

When Do We Fight?

Part of the series Feedback
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-02-10.

A question was asked: As Christian men when should we fight and what does it look like, in view of the biblical reference to submit to authority?

We do not claim to have all the right answers but based on our present understanding of the scriptures, we will do our best to bring a little clarity to your queries.

Bible Reference: 1 Peter 3:14-16

Last week, I attempted to answer this difficult question by first pointing out that the answer is dependent on our understanding of authority. If, as has been suggested by many church leaders, the admonition, in Romans 13, to submit ourselves to all authority is followed unquestioningly and isolated from the rest of the scriptures, the obvious answer to the question is simply, never fight, which in turn, makes what the fighting should look like, meaningless. The fact that the question included what the fighting should look like, shows us that the question was posed by someone who thinks we should fight. I agree, so let’s go on and answer the “when” part of this question.

I trust that you will agree with me when I state that we have been given the responsibility to advance the gospel, which is the truth. For us to do anything otherwise, makes us liars, which I am sure you know, does not place us in God’s favor. Truth is absolute and so does not need defending. Therefore, we should never fight by defending the truth, but we should be ready in and out of season to advance the truth by always being ready to give the reason for the hope we have within us, to everyone who asks us to give an account for it, yet with gentleness and reverence.

Edmond Burke famously stated that “all that has to happen for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing”. When things are not right, we should engage in some sort of action. Much can be accomplished by graciously and lovingly exposing others to the error of their ways. Never should the action be motivated by wanting to be right, as much as by a sincere desire to be a good ambassador of Christ, advancing the truth to the benefit of mankind, in the Kingdom of God. We should also bear in mind that if we are Christ’s and that He works through us, we should be demonstrating a willingness to step up and defend those who are not as able to defend themselves. That is why God has placed a calling in some people to do something about issues designed to direct people away from the real God to serve false gods claiming authority in areas for which they have no jurisdiction. If we do not stand up for truth, whether in big deals or small ones, those who advance things that are not true, will prevail, not because they have a better argument but because we failed to present any argument at all. So, let your righteous voice be heard. Do what you can to make things right, yet never with the desire to be right, in and of itself, for that is called self-righteousness and it does nothing to advance the Kingdom of God. In fact, it is the biggest deterrent to others seeing what God has for the world.

To Be Continued, next week.

Submission to Authority

Part of the series Feedback
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-02-03.

A question was asked: As Christian men when should we fight and what does it look like, in view of the biblical reference to submit to authority?

We do not claim to have all the right answers but based on our present understanding of the scriptures, we will do our best to bring a little clarity to your queries.

Bible Reference: Rom. 13:1-2

There are actually three issues in this question. The question of when we fight is based on the definition of authority which then requires a clarification on what this should look like. All are very difficult questions to answer and ones that have troubled me for many years. I have opinions about this based on a lot of thought in light of my understanding of scripture.

Taken literally, the question of submission to authority found in Romans would indeed suggest that if someone or something is in a position of authority, we must acknowledge this authority and submit to it. However, to submit to an authority that normalizes or advances what scripture clearly states as wrong creates a dilemma for believers who hold the Bible as authoritative. In another scripture (1 Cor. 15:24) where the Apostle Paul is addressing end times prophecy, he refers to a time when Christ delivers the Kingdom to God the Father who “puts an end to all rule, all authority and all power”. Now I don’t claim to be an expert here, but it would appear to me that if God puts an end to all rule, authority and power, He would effectively put an end to Himself as He is all Rule, Authority and Power. More insight is obtained, if we consider the possibility that there could be two types of rule, authority and power. When considering that the biblical narrative clearly states that there are two sides to everything, such as right versus wrong, heaven versus hell, or more generally, being for or against Him, it does make sense that rule, authority and power can also come in either a true or a false version of each. Since putting an end to all rule, authority and power cannot mean God putting an end to Himself, it only makes sense that He puts an end to all false rule, false authority and false power.

Therefore, when the question of submission to authority comes up, it is reasonable, actually imperative, that one questions whether the claim being made to authority is a legitimate, true claim or an illegitimate, false claim. Are there false authorities in this broken and fallen world? Yes. Do these false authorities know they are false authorities? Maybe, but not necessarily. That is why the admonishment to submit to all authority is difficult to understand and often a point of contention. I personally believe that we do, indeed, have to submit to the authorities that God has ordained, but even here we must be wise and discerning as I also believe that if we unquestioningly acknowledge and submit to all claims to authority, we inadvertently agree, enable and empower false claims to authority. We have been advised to “render onto Caesar, the things that are Caesar’s and onto God the things that are God’s”. Good counsel as long as we can distinguish what belongs to whom.

To Be Continued, next week.

Standard Kids and Perfect Families

Part of the series Feedback
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-01-27.

A question was asked as to what was meant by our never having found the standard child or perfect family.

We do not claim to have all the right answers but based on our present understanding of the scriptures, we will do our best to bring a little clarity to your queries.

Bible Reference: Romans 3:10-12

Sometimes a question is asked that may cause us to, in turn, question the question! Confused? All questions are legitimate and they all need to be answered. Some questions have answers that are so obvious, you may actually think the person asking the question is lacking in some way. We all make assumptions about others that are simply not true. As an example, a believer diligently studying the scripture, will often assume that all professing believers do the same. We have all stated that everybody knows that…, or started a conversation three levels above the person we are talking to simply because we assumed they had spent as much time in thought about the topic as we have. The first rule of assumption is… never assume anything! So, let us deal with the topic at hand.

First, the perfect family. We all desire the perfect family, may even think we know of one or two, or aspire to create one of our own. Strange, considering that every family has problems of some sort. Scripture makes it clear and we are all well acquainted with the fact that there is no such thing as a perfect person. Therefore, since every family is composed of imperfect people, there is no such thing as perfect family. So, if you are bothered by the fact that your family is less than perfect, problem plagued or even dysfunctional, congratulations and welcome to the real world where everyone does everything possible to cover up the imperfections of their family. By the way, even though home education is the best way to properly train and disciple children, there are no claims made anywhere that it will result in perfect families. A bit less dysfunctional, perhaps, but never perfect. Enough said.

The standard child is a creation of secular humanists that desire a global conformity for people. They see children, not as a creation by God but as a cosmic collision of protoplasm. These people hold a schizophrenic view on the value and purpose of children and generally treat them as computers in need of programming. A standard is actually something applied to a product. One would expect all cars of the same make, model and year to be the same! When applied to programming (as in a computer) the product (the children) should all be the same. God does not delight in conformity but in diversity as manifested by His creation. When considering that God has created multiple billions of people, each one unique in the universe, one can indeed marvel at God’s creative genius, His love of diversity… and the complete impossibility of there being a standard child.

Hope this answers your question.

Which Side Do We Take?

Part of the series Feedback
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-01-20.

A question was asked about the need for government testing in light of two quoted scripture references.

We do not claim to have all the right answers but based on our present understanding of the scriptures, we will do our best to bring a little clarity to your queries.

Bible Reference: Mark 12:17

Since we deal with a very large number of people coming with diverse understandings with respect to the interpretation and application of scripture, we are careful to word things such that we leave room for this diversity without appearing too offensive or defensive. Therefore, please understand that it is not that we advocate a noncompliance with government as much as a compliance with biblical directives. When it comes to the welfare of our children, we must determine whether God or government sets the agenda.

If we believe government has the authority regarding the education of our children, then we would be wise to adhere to the state’s standards and to comply with it’s desire to test the children in ascertaining whether or not this standard is being met. One should, however, question what the purpose of testing would be if there are no consequences for failing to meet the state’s criteria.

If, on the other hand, we believe that we bear a responsibility under God’s authority respecting the education of our children, then we are free to determine whether or not testing is in the best interest of the child. Considering that the state’s programming is based on a secular humanistic philosophy and that all testing produced by the government will be evaluating a child based on this foundational perspective, should lead us to seriously question the objective behind the need for testing. If our aim is to simply train the mind, as any program (think of the word in light of computers!) is meant to do, testing may make sense. If our aim is to direct a child to recognize God and His purposes and to advance His Kingdom, then testing becomes unnecessary as God will see to it that the child is properly prepared in keeping with the abilities and callings. No man made instrument is capable of doing this.

Therefore, refusing to allow our children to be tested is not an act of defiance against the government, as much as an exercise of the God given parental authority we have. For the most part, government understands this and makes no effort to force the issue as clearly seen in the existing home education regulations. What direction the government will choose to take in the upcoming, new Home Education Regulations, remains to be seen. Whether mandatory testing is included or not, our response should still be determined by our knowledge and understanding of the truth in God’s word with respect to the training of our children and the faith we exercise through it.

Hope this clarifies things for you.

Blessed To Be A Blessing

Part of the series Feedback
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-01-13.

Comments made on the contents of the Blog include: clear and to the point, helpful, encouraging, truthful, black on white and a blessing.

We do not claim to have all the right answers but based on our present understanding of the scriptures, we will do our best to bring a little clarity to your queries.

Bible Reference: Col. 3:17

Wow! Thanks.

I must not be the only one to question whether my efforts are being appreciated or, more importantly, helping people to come to knowledge of the truth. I just needed some encouragement and direction, not wanting to waste any precious time on useless endeavors. Your kind words have provided the impetus to carry on with this blog.

Clear and to the point – Why not make it so all can understand? Not much is accomplished by talking in circles, unless, of course, the objective is to keep people misinformed. Just listen to most politicians and salesmen!

Helpful – Why would anybody knowingly, willingly give anybody bad advice, other than to benefit oneself?

Encouraging – Nothing blesses us more than to know that we have encouraged someone. Discouragement is one of the enemy’s chief weapons for the destruction of God’s people. To hear that something is encouraging is to know that the Holy Spirit is at work. Praise the Lord!

Truthful – The opposite would be lies and that does not sit well with me. Besides, it is an affront to the God we serve. It is, therefore, most disheartening to see how quickly some folks resort to lies. Lies about God as a moral monster and punisher of those who fail to follow “His” rules! Lies about who is in authority. Lies about why, what, when, where and how home education is to take place. Lies, lies, lies… because of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We have no good reason to tell anything other than the truth.

Black on White – I loved this one, but I would have preferred white on black. Black is the world without God, darkness, while white represents purity, a light. I would like to think that believers would wish to shed a little light in the world, like cutting letters in a piece of black paper and allowing the light behind it to shine through. None of us are perfect and without sin. We are the black piece of paper. Praise be to Him who has been molding us such that His light can come shining through. Yes, it is truly my desire that “this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine”, as the white stenciling on a black piece of paper in front of the “Light of the world”!

Hoping to continue to be a blessing.

Resolutions?

Part of the series Happy New Year
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2014-01-06.

Resolving to do things better or different this year?

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: Romans 7:15

Faye Says:
Happy New Year! We want to wish all of you a very good 2014, filled with the blessings of the Lord.
It has been the custom of various people at various times to make New Year’s resolutions. We “resolve” to improve ourselves in some way: lose ten pounds, save money, exercise more, spend more time with our children, et cetera. As we all know, these resolutions are usually started with great enthusiasm, but over time the determination seems to dwindle until we are back to being the same old person. In fact, we become so frustrated with this pattern that the only resolution some of us now make is not to make any more New Year’s resolutions! That way, if we don’t start, we won’t fail. I suppose that is true, but can we make improvements that will last? On our own strength, I don’t think most of us can, although there are some individuals that have the type of character that can succeed, no matter what. Paul addressed this pattern of wanting to accomplish something but being unable to in Romans 7:15 when talking about sin. “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” What or who can deliver us from this state? Only Jesus Christ who conquered sin on the cross and the Holy Spirit who intercedes to God on our behalf. However, we have to yield to the Spirit and let Him have His way, not our own, or else we will be back on the same old treadmill of bad habits. This year and every year, let us resolve to let God have dominion in our lives resulting in the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

Léo Says:
Wishing you all a blessed year in 2014. We pray that you will also be blessed by what is included in this blog this year. We sincerely desire to hear back from you with your comments and questions.

We have big plans (not resolutions!) for this upcoming year that you are sure to enjoy and employ. We can only do our best when you contact us with your comments and concerns, so please do.

Many hands make light work. Do you have any ideas on how we can do things better? Do tell.

Starting with our prayer time with God, communication is the key to any relationship. We want to be more than just a home education provider. We want to have and maintain a relationship with you as Christian brothers and sisters. Make communicating with us one or your resolutions!

Well?

Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2013-12-30.

As 2013 comes to a close, it is time to reflect on our accomplishments of the past year.

Bible Reference: Gal. 2:20

Year end is always a time of reflection for me. When I consider that “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”, I evaluate my year in terms of what I contributed to this world, of what would be said of me if I were to leave this world behind. If my life is His life, then my time is His time and all that I have becomes His. Otherwise Jesus is not Lord of my life. How did I reflect that faith? Did those who came in contact with me recognize He who dwells within me? Did my conduct indicate that I desire to be His servant? Were my imperfections made strong by His strength? Did I use the time wisely, redeeming it because the days are evil?

A truthful evaluation of our life will always demonstrate that we fall short in every way. If God expected His servants to be perfect before they could serve Him, He would be in big trouble! He simply desires us to be faithful to Him rather than the world; to be true to ourselves so we can be to others; and to be real rather than religious. These are the parameters we should employ when looking at what was accomplished through us in the past year.

Reflecting on what was accomplished in Education Unlimited this year, no doubt the greatest has to be that we finally completed our new web site after nearly five years of preparation. We wanted a web site that would clearly demonstrate our faith, be attractive, easy to use and informative. Included were improvements on some older useful items and a number of new offerings as well, this blog being an example. Our plans are to make continuous improvements on what is already available and to make additions in order to provide the best service possible to the home educating community at large and for our members in particular, who have much more available to them.

In closing this year, I would be very interested in hearing from you in order to ascertain whether anybody is reading this blog and whether or not it is helpful and encouraging. If it is, then I will consider that our biggest accomplishment of the year of the year has been to live up to our Lord’s expectation to make other peoples’ lives better in a confused and dying world.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Just click the Ask Léo A Question button and tell me what you think of our efforts to help the Christian community, home educators in particular.

A Christmas Message

Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-12-23.

Praise God for the most indescribable gift of His only begotten son!

Bible Reference: John 3:16

Christmas! What is it? What are we celebrating? Christians would usually answer, the birth of Jesus. Secularists would rather pressure for the renaming of Christmas to “Winter Fest” or “Santa Day” or some other meaningless term to rid Christmas of its Christian influence. Too bad for them that so many of our favourite carols have such a clear message of rejoicing over the birth of our Lord and Saviour.

Truthfully, Jesus was not likely born on December 25th. We don’t have a birthday for Him. We do have narratives about relatives, stables, shepherds, angels and kings, most of which we do not have an actual timeline for, but which makes for a great story when combined as a single event. Some say that Christmas is the “Christianization” of a pagan holiday more connected to the winter solstice than to actual biblical events and some blame Constantine for it’s introduction. We can probably blame the modern day commercialization of Christmas on those who would benefit the most from continuing with the gifting, decorating, foods and other associated festivities.

A few years ago, we ran into a problem while facilitating. A certain sect of Christians where completely unavailable for three days in connection with Easter. Our curiosity compelled us to ask why this was the case. What happened was very interesting. We got three different answers, all claiming a scriptural basis, yet no answer was defendable from a biblical perspective. These fine folks did not actually mean to be un-biblical, it was just that it had been a part of their culture for so long, it was assumed to biblical. A wonderful cultural tradition that cannot be defended as biblical, yet still worth preserving as it is centered on family. Christmas, likewise, cannot be defended as biblical, yet as long as Jesus can remain the reason for the season and families will gather to refocus on our love for God and for family, it is a worthy tradition to keep.

All of us at Education Unlimited, wish all of you a Merry Christmas. May Jesus continue to be why we celebrate the season, even if it is not actually His birthday. While sharing the faith, let us not forget to mention that there was an even greater event that took place in Jesus’ ministry than His birth. His sacrifice on the cross and victory over death that purchased our redemption. Salvation is much more worth celebrating than a fictitious birthday!

Not As Good As The Public School Students

Part of the series Inspiration From Facilitation
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-12-16.

Some may actually believe that home educated student aren’t as well trained as their public school counterpart, but what are we comparing?

Bible Reference: Romans 12:2

One of the common concerns we hear from both parents and students is that they think they are less educated than their public school counterparts. Indeed, an interesting statement, given the fact that most people left the public system because it was not doing a good job! Where do people get this idea from? Perhaps we have so normalized the public system that we use it as our example for training children when we, as Christians, should be using the bible for our directives.

When one thinks about it, secularist have won the day when claiming they know something about education. They erroneously state that they have the authority in education and that they have the standards by which we can measure student achievement. Most parents have attended school and when the community, family, church and government all advance state education as the only true option for the training of children, it is easy to understand why one can actually start believing that the state or church can produce a better product.

But, this creates a dilemma. If what we believe defines our faith, then our believing the state’s claims in education becomes the foundation of our faith in education. What needs to be determined is not whether or not students are meeting with the state’s expectations but whether or not they meet with God’s expectations. This is critical because the outcomes are very different. If we measure our children’s success by God’s standards, they will be prepared for eternity and this world. If, on the other hand, we have our children meet man’s standards, there is but an assumption of success in this world and no preparation for eternity. Where will you go for your “standards and directives”. God, His Word, His directives and guidance or man and his vain promises? It should be an easy choice.