Michael Wagner – Page 20

I Am Not Religious!

Part of the series Inspiration From Facilitation
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-12-09.

Most people think they are not religious, but observe what happens when you challenge what they believe.

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: James 1:27

The biggest deception perpetuated by secularists is that they are neutral and therefore, non-religious. There is no such thing as neutral. Just as we have searched in vain for the “standard” child and the “perfect” family, so have we discovered no example anywhere, of anything being neutral. One can be diplomatic but never neutral as diplomacy is the art of being kind to potential opponents while covering the true, inherently biased, and therefore, non-neutral position of the diplomat.

Although there may be a few definitions for the word religious, the one we are using here is when a person ascribes a supreme importance to a pursuit or interest. How religious is the secularist’s desire to get rid of God? Very religious! There is only room for one God, if we understand God as supreme. No plurality here! Therefore, if God is no longer God, something or someone must become “god” in His place. As a consequence, when we position ourselves as “god”, we can become as religious about what we believe to be true as we can about what is actually true.

We have seen innumerable examples of religious people who think they have a corner on the truth. These people rarely question what they believe but are very quick to defend it! If truth is absolute, it needs no defence, therefore, there should be no need to defend our position, unless, of course, what we believe is, in fact, not true.

We are all religious. Some because we believe the truth while others because they can’t be wrong. To be open to the possibility of being wrong rather than to be religious about being right will make the difference between believing something because it is true and something being true because we believe it.

Christian Adaptation of Secular Messages

Part of the series Inspiration From Facilitation
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-12-02.

How do we know that what is being advanced as Christian is actually Biblical?

Bible Reference: Eph. 4:14-16

When we fail to properly identify something as untrue, we have a tendency to simply accept it as true. It is far easier to accept and normalize a lie than to stand against it. To stand against a lie will put us directly at odds with those who would advance a lie as the truth and so this is why those who follow Jesus are persecuted for their faith. It is also possible that individuals can be completely in error, yet believing that they have an inside knowledge of the truth, can behave in such a way as to attract persecution, but this is for being “a nut” rather than for standing on the truth.

Secular thinking is so prevalent in our western world that it has become entrenched, not only outside, but also inside the institutional Christian church as would soon be discovered when discussing the topic of education. Ignorance of the facts has always been the greatest enemy of any position, yet it is still difficult to comprehend how church organizations can oppose the biblical perspective of training and discipling of children in favour of the secular educational philosophies advanced by the state. This rather confusing situation is brought about by the normalization and acceptance of error, accepted as truth and “christianized”, in spite of the blatant opposition to scriptural directives. A few isolated scriptures may be invoked to defend the government authority in education, but mostly the secular position goes unquestioned and unchallenged. Any opposition is usually ignored, scorned or persecuted.

None of this makes any sense, either from a biblical or common sense perspective! When we accept the false claims made by secularists as true and then advance them as biblical, we become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. We end up training and indoctrinating rather than training and discipling our children which encourages and perpetuates the acceptance of the secular claims against the truth of the Bible.

What is Secular Humanism?

Part of the series Inspiration From Facilitation
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-11-25.

The truth can only set us free if we know it. When we are familiar with it, we are free from the lies that would lead us away from faith in God.

Bible Reference: Matt. 12:20

Three foundational Statements:
God is God. There is no other God.
Jesus is Lord.
Truth is absolute.

Three statements that cannot be challenged, if we accept the Bible as true. Now if we use something else as our gauge of truth, such as feeling, opinion, science or philosophy, then the entire structure upon which these three statements are made collapses. If that be the case, we are clearly against God rather than for Him, and therefore:

There are many gods made of all kinds of materials and human imaginations so that all religions are equal and…
Jesus becomes a historical figure, maybe, and is not Lord at all. Therefore…
Truth becomes relative.

The first three statements form the foundation of a biblical worldview. The second three statements discredits the biblical worldview in order to put man in control rather than God which forms the foundation for a secular worldview. Under the guise of being non-religious or non-spiritual, the secular worldview is advanced as neutral. However, since the scripture is clear that we are either for God or against Him, it should be obvious that a neutral position is not possible. The secular worldview is therefore an alternate spiritual perspective that is defended with as much, if not not more, religious fervour as any other faith system.

Every religious system has its opposing worldview. Islam sees non-muslims as infidels. Judaism sees non-jews as gentiles. Biblical Christianity sees those opposing the faith as secular humanists.

Secular humanist deny the existence of God and so see man as the ultimate “creation” of nature through evolution. In this faith man replaces God, science trumps the Bible and all that the world has to offer is for man and by man.

Many of our families have expressed a desire to understand what secular humanism is, how it can be identified, and how one can protect themselves from its erroneous teachings. The answer is the same as what has been offered before. Desire to know the truth. Seriously seek it. Read your Bible with the express purpose of finding it. Secular humanist have done all that is possible to discourage you from doing so because the truth within it will reveal the lies being advanced by them.

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.

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!

To God Rather Than To Man

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

If a building requires a good foundation, a life more so.

Bible Reference: Matt. 6:31-33

If what matters most in life is relationships, then we are blessed indeed. We have been privileged with being able to visit hundreds of families each year, not only throughout the Province of Alberta, but across this country and beyond. Of all the relationships possible in this world, it should be obvious that none is more important than that of the family. It is most certainly what matters most to us, beginning with our own and enriched by yours.

Facilitating a multitude of families has given us opportunity for much insight. Insights that when tested against the truth of the Bible has brought more than a few things to light. We hope to encourage you with some of these insights over the next few weeks.

It is obvious that there are many processes and procedures at work in the world of home education, but the foundational reason for choosing to educate at home directs them all. Nobody builds a house without first establishing a strong foundation, yet there are people whose spiritual house lacks that foundation. Actually, it is not that there is a lack of foundation as much as there is a usually a lack of consideration as to what our world view foundation is. We all have a foundation, but most of us simply carry on in life, believing what we have been told or experienced without questioning or having a clear understanding of what directs our lives. All of us have adopted and incorporated things that are not true as part of our world view foundation simply because we did not have the the truth against which we could measure potential error.

If building a house requires a good foundation, building a family, more so. The Bible gives us two possible foundations, one as solid as a rock and one as unstable as sand. The first is based on the truth, the other is not. People do not normally determine to build on sand or lies, but that is what we default to if we do not actively seek the truth. Coming to the knowledge of the truth should be the motivation of all who desire Godly wisdom. If we seek it, we will find it, but if it doesn’t matter, we will no doubt be accepting lies that will lead us, and all that we do, away from God. The Bible clearly states that we are either for Him or against Him. We pray that all home educating families will actively seek the truth in order to make sure that the children are truthfully directed to God rather than to man.

Who Is Responsible?

Written by Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-10-28.

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blogger which, although based on a personal knowledge of the scriptures can be in error, as no one has a corner on the truth. We simply and sincerely search for it.

We, as frail human beings, are a defensive bunch. Being imperfect, we all make mistakes. Some are small, like putting cinnamon instead of chili powder in the batch of chili. This error does not have serious repercussions. Other mistakes are very costly such as shutting off the heat instead of the hot water tank when going on an extended vacation in the middle of the winter. Whether the mistake is small or large, someone is responsible for making the mistake and must accept the consequences of that decision.

When it comes to making decisions regarding our children’s education, we do so based on the information we have. Some decisions are good such as deciding to home educate. Some are not, such as sending them off to public school. Whether we acknowledge it or not, God has entrusted our children to us as their parents and has given us the responsibility to raise them for His kingdom. We use various resources and guides to help us but we still do make mistakes. When we do, we must accept the consequences, ask His forgiveness and carry on. We do our best as loving parents but there will be some things that don’t turn out as we had hoped. Ultimately, because there are no guarantees in this life, the results may not be what we think they should be. Children may rebel and do things contrary to our directives, which may be biblical in foundation. We at Education Unlimited want to help you train your children following a biblical standard. Remember that people don’t see things as God does. We see only the immediate, temporal result, when God knows the final, eternal picture. The last page of the story isn’t written yet. Trust in the Lord, admit your error (encourage your children to do the same), ask His forgiveness and go forward.

Feeling Inadequate?

Part of the series Commanded, Commended or Condemned?
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2013-10-21.

Feelings of inadequacy, while normal should be replaced by the knowledge that God is sufficient.

Bible Reference: 1 Cor. 10:13

My wife expressed a concern that got me thinking about why we have some of the feelings we do. Feeling inadequate is one of those feelings. We can be overwhelmed with worry and concern about what we need to do, but is this of God? Scripture tells us that God will allow us to be tested but that He will not allow this testing to go beyond our ability to withstand. So if we are getting these feelings of inadequacy, is it God, or is it us who is the cause? When considering the fact that God cannot be inadequate, the answer should be obvious.

Feelings of inadequacy should immediately inform us that we may be trying to do something that God neither commanded or commended. Essentially, we have taken over God’s job and made it our responsibility rather than entrusting Him to the task. Could it be that we have feelings of inadequacy because we actually are… inadequate? Perhaps we need to focus on the work God has instructed us to do without assuming His responsibility for it. After all, we are actually not the ones who are ultimately in control. Servants should understand this.

No doubt, parenting provides many opportunities to feel inadequate. We take upon ourselves, the entire responsibility for raising these children, including their future when, in fact, no parent actually knows what that future is! To be sure, we must act responsibly. However, we must understand that we can indeed be responsible without assuming the responsibility. For instance, we can parent responsibly towards a future which is ultimately God’s responsibility.

Prayer is a good place to start when feelings of inadequacy start to come upon us. It will help us to recognize that we do have a responsibility to parent responsibly, yet without having to assume the responsibility for our children’s lives. If we do our part and allow God to do His, we will be better able to adequately prepare the children for their future with God. He, after all, is the one who is sufficient which is much better than being adequate. Direct the children to God, then let God direct them in their lives. Our job then becomes one where we demonstrate our faith in God by the actions we take. This is entirely adequate. In fact, it is sufficient.

God “Cs” All

Part of the series Commanded, Commended or Condemned?
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2013-10-14.

How do we know if something is acceptable or not. If measured from a biblical perspective, one can use a simple little formula to arrive at the right conclusion.

Bible Reference: 2 Tim 2:15

How often do we ask ourselves the question, “is this right or is this wrong”? The answer to this question depends on the foundation from which you make your decisions. The way I see it, there are three main categories of foundational premises from which lives are directed. For those who have not considered that God has created them and the world they live in, there is no absolute right or wrong, therefore you can do anything. Truth is, if you have not considered God in any matter then you are not likely to give too much consideration to what is right or wrong aside from what you can get away with respecting government. The second group believes in God and may even have accepted their salvation through Christ but are not that interested in coming to the knowledge of the truth. They do not spend much time in getting to know who God is and what His expectations of us are and largely rely on what others have told them is right or wrong. This group is most likely to develop a strong sense of self-righteousness if they are passionate about doing right without having a good foundation or reason from which this correctness is to be based. The third category is made up of those who desire to have have a biblical perspective in their lives and are active in searching the truth, knowing that they will be judged according to our understanding of what is right or wrong. We must be careful here not to fall into the “what you don’t know won’t hurt you” mentality. Ignorance has never been an excuse for breaking the law! For those who really want to know how God feels about something, there is a simple little “formula” that may be used to discern the will of the Lord concerning any particular matter. If God commands something, or if He commends its doing, we should be convicted of its correctness. Conversely if God has not commanded nor commends or condones it, we can come to the conclusion that to commit it is a crime before Him. We should apply this simple formula whenever the world is trying to advance something as normal or acceptable, knowing that “God Cs All”. To be sure, one must be familiar with the narratives of the Bible to be able to apply this formula. The reason so many Christians have been corrupted into accepting something as right or wrong is because of the general lack of knowledge regarding the teachings of the Bible. As we become more familiar with what is within the pages of this collection of books we will be better able to use this little formula to discern right from wrong and to commit ourselves to act accordingly.

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?

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.

Helping Parents To Be The Best Teachers?

Part of the series What is Being Communicated?
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2013-09-30.

At first brush, many slogans sound good but when one gives it a bit of thought, we discover them to be in error.

Bible Reference: Col. 2:4

Listening to, or reading commercials, slogans and advertisements is not what most of us do. More often than not, we simply ignore them or brush quickly over them as we press on to more important tasks. If most people pay so little attention to these things, why do so many organizations spend so much money and effort to endlessly assault us with so many of them? Could it be because they are more effective than we think? Without questioning the obvious motive of making you do something you may not want to do, commercials, slogans and advertisements are also very effective in making us think in ways not likely in keeping with what we know to be true. Take, for instance, how many commercials present men, dads in particular, as creatures who have not been well endowed with intelligence! What about those that tell us we “deserve” that furniture, vacation or car? There are even commercials that indicate that the sooner our children get out of our hair, the sooner we can reclaim our lives for ourselves! We should know that all the examples used here are not based on a biblical world view but on a secular one. Is it possible that well meaning organizations can unwittingly use secular thinking when trying to entice people to their organization’s services and resources? Take, for instance, the slogan of “helping parents to be the best teachers”. Initially, it sounds wonderful until one questions the basis for the statement and takes it to its logical conclusion. Is being a teacher more important than being a parent? Apparently so. And what does a good teacher do? Teach, obviously, but what? Academics of course. So when helping parents to be the best teachers, are we not emphasizing academics over discipleship; helping students to reach their “academic potential”; the world’s standards over God’s expectations; teaching over parenting? Does it then not become obvious that the thinking is secular thinking, where the state and its representatives are of greater authority than the parents? Did God not create the parents before government? Does He not use parents, rather than government, to create children, who are then to be trained by pointing them back to their creator? Did God create government to create teachers to deliver a program that directs children away from God or parents? Should we not expect Godly wisdom using a biblical perspective from those who would claim a Christian faith base, rather than a twisted “christianized” version of secular philosophy?