Category: Léo’s Blog 2013-2014 Academic Year

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Applying “The Fight” to Home Education

Part of the series Feedback
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-02-24.

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 Tim. 4:7

I attempted to answer the question to the best of my ability in the last three blogs, not near enough time or space for such a complex issue. This week I want to apply what we have learned to the topic of home education, which is what I will assume the person who asked the question was referring to.

Foundation
The real antagonist is the enemy of our souls. Our biggest handicap is ignorance. Our poorest effort is apathy. We must take up the sword and fight the real enemy with truth. Understand what the Bible has to say about the training of children, fix your eyes on this truth and use it to measure and question all educational claims.

Authority
Who has been given the authority for the training and discipline of the children? Fathers. There are no biblical directives otherwise. One should understand that those who employ fear, manipulation, intimidation and coercion are not God’s representatives. We must understand how the false claimants to educational authority can make that claim and not only get heard, but enabled and supported by the larger Christian community, as most have adopted man’s version of learning expectations.

When to fight?
Whenever we are being led to forsake our faith for any contrived reason designed to take us away from the truth or to benefit the perpetrator of the lie. In Alberta, Canada, this is accomplished through the funding of home education, which has given rise to the perpetuation by providers, of the fears and concerns raised by parents for the simple purpose of having the parents register and correspondingly direct the funding to the board making the promises. This is particularly sinister as most of the providers make claims to Christian faith but outwardly advance secular government programming or are associated with schools that do.

How to fight?
With truth. The only hope we have of surviving as a Christian home education community, is as a gathering of like-minded servants of the Lord intent on following biblical directives respecting the training of children. We need to arm ourselves with the truth so that we may stand against the wiles of the enemy. This is not accomplished by outdoing the world in its games, like demonstrations, nor is it accomplished by religious role playing, like quoting scripture to people who have no faith in God or His Word. To take something that is wrong and to try to do it better is not to make it right, only a better wrong, if there is such a thing. Many groups “advancing” home education actually do not even know they are part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Nearly all of our beliefs regarding home education are secular in nature. That is because we have all been made to think that government has been given authority in education, which leads us back to the beginning. We need to decide who has been given the authority and who is claiming to have it. Once the correct decision has been reached, start asking why we do the things we do. You will be amazed at how many things make no biblical or common sense, which should demonstrate how simple the battle actually is.

Done! I hope this answers your question.

When & Where Does Learning Occur?

Part of the series Mostly Honest… Isn’t True
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-03-03.

Some of our parents have expressed a desire to better be able to identify the tricks being used to convince them to believe things that may not actually be true. This series will provide applicable examples of such.

We often refrain from being honest because we do not wish to offend those who need to hear the truth. Opinions expressed in this blog series are intended to offend those who would advance anything, other than the truth, in order to benefit themselves.

Bible Reference: Deut. 6:6-9

I heard a rather intriguing story on the news last year. It got me thinking about how we are led to come to the conclusions that we do. The story was about a northern Alberta community that was considering going to a four day school week. They would increase the number of hours per day which would allow schools to be closed on Fridays. A few questions came to mind as I listened to the story.

The first comment I heard revealed the typical response of that political party that sees everything as caused by a lack of government funding. They saw a four day school week as a travesty of government insensitivity to children’s needs. Really?

The second comment of the story indicated that this would cause parents undue hardship as they would have to find alternate arrangements for childcare on Fridays, indicating that some see schools more as day cares than institutes of learning. There may be more than an element of truth to this observation!

The third comment really caught my attention. It was stated that the greatest concern of a four day school week would be that the children would be left without opportunity for learning for a greater amount of time! If we are not listening carefully, this can easily be passed off as a legitimate concern when, in fact, it is rather laughable that anyone could come up with such a ridiculous statement. When does learning start and where does it happen? This statement implies that learning only occurs within the confines of a school. What happens as students leave the institution? Do their brains shut off? My personal experience as a twenty-five year veteran teacher is that a lot of students shut their brains off before coming to school, not when leaving! Believing that learning starts at birth and continues wherever we are until death, should lead one to understand that reducing the school week to four days would probably increase the opportunity for learning, not decrease it, as implied by this misinformed statement.

The next lengthy series of blogs will question things being advanced as educationally sound, not only by those opposing home education but also by those purporting to be advancing it.

The Blessing That Becomes The Curse

Part of the series Mostly Honest… Isn’t True
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-03-10.

Some of our parents have expressed a desire to better be able to identify the tricks being used to convince them to believe things that may not actually be true. This series will provide applicable examples of such.

We often refrain from being honest because we do not wish to offend those who need to hear the truth. Opinions expressed in this blog are intended to offend those who would advance anything, other than the truth, in order to benefit themselves.

Bible Reference: 1 Tim. 6:10

Before engaging in the exposé of questionable practices and offerings of home education providers and associations, let us be clear of three things. First, we must understand that through God’s eyes, things are right or they are not. No compromises are acceptable, therefore no compromises should be seen among professing Christians. Secondly, we must understand that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, even when dealing with real people and real organizations. The truth is not necessarily known to everyone, while some may know the truth, but choose to suppress it for more sordid gains. Finally, there are parents who are not affected by what is being discussed here as they have chosen, for one reason or another to distance themselves from government authority and the associated funding.

Parents in Alberta have it pretty good. They can choose to send their children to any of a variety of public and private school alternatives or to keep them at home and educate the children themselves or to have them learn through an online program. The provincial government not only provides these choices but supports them all with at least some level of funding. Alberta Education funding is determined by two major factors, the number of students and the amount of public program used. This is where the blessing of financial helps becomes the curse of home education. Since funding follows the student, providers need to recruit the parents to access the funding in the first place and then do “whatever it takes” to keep them in order to maintain the income, even if that means offering parents bad advice and/or public programming which comes with potential for increased levels of funding. In this environment, children become more a form of currency, to be bought and sold with an eye to profit by both providers and parents, than human beings in need of love, and attention towards the Kingdom of God. If money and/or power becomes the motivation for recruitment, rather than the equipping of parents to do the best they can for their children, a competition between providers, who supposedly share a common desire to advance and defend home education, is created. Competition is not necessarily evil in a business world, but is of questionable value when it comes to directing people to the truth of God’s Word, meaning that if all providers had pure motive with respect to parents, children and home education, there would be more cooperation and less competition. That, unfortunately, is not the case in Alberta. There exists an appearance of congeniality, but in actuality, there is more worldly wisdom at play than what one would expect of organizations claiming a Christian foundation. Most parents have a limited understanding of what the Bible has to say about the proper training and disciplining of children. Few parents have any idea of where the home education provider comes from or their primary motivation and even fewer can separate Godly from secular wisdom. Therefore, they can easily be taken advantage of through the use of clever yet questionable advertising, marketing and promises.

Most of the tricks and techniques used to capture parents can generally be described as advancing an acceptable standard of secular ideas. Parents who have had most of their training through public programming will fail to see that this simply normalizes something that is wrong in the first place. Rather than train parents to replace their secular thinking with a biblical approach to training children, they present a variety of “offerings” that are mostly honest … but actually not true. Rather than help parents to be good parents, providers choose to help them be something other than a parent, with an eye to manipulating them for personal gain.

Some of these “tricks” will be discussed in future blogs. In the meantime, parents are advised to know the difference between what the world has to offer and what God has directed.

Is The Service Offered Legitimate?

Part of the series Mostly Honest… Isn’t True
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-03-17.

Some of our parents have expressed a desire to better be able to identify the tricks being used to convince them to believe things that may not actually be true. This series will provide applicable examples of such.

We often refrain from being honest because we do not wish to offend those who need to hear the truth. Opinions expressed in this blog are intended to offend those who would advance anything, other than the truth, in order to benefit themselves.

Bible Reference: 1 Tim. 6:10

Before we begin, let us determine that secular programs do not advance biblical thinking or directives. It is therefore amazing how many “Christian” schools are advancing secular programming as acceptable, even desirable. Programming based on a belief that government has authority over parents in education cannot be properly advanced as scriptural and should have no place in Christian education. The first concern parents should have regarding a potential home education provider is whether or not they or their sponsoring school uses public curriculum or provides high school credits. If they do and you do not wish to be a compromiser, go elsewhere.

Most of the tricks and techniques used to capture parents can generally be described as advancing, as acceptable, a standard of secular ideas. Parents who have had most of their training through public programming will fail to see that this simply normalizes something that is wrong in the first place. Rather than train parents to replace their secular thinking with a biblical approach to training children, they present a variety of “offerings” that are mostly honest … but actually not true.

Being a dedicated, lifelong teacher has given me some interesting insights on what boards, schools, teachers and other education providers and personnel are willing to do, to increase that bottom line. I have a great number of examples that would probably require a book rather than a blog! From my Christian perspective, I find a number of tactics used to entice parents to join any particular agency to be questionable or even unethical. A great number of tricks are used towards achieving the goal of increasing the number of students and/or use of public programming. Let’s start with lies.

How about the offering of “definitive distinctions”! First of all, what does that mean? Especially since the entire list is neither defined nor distinctive! The old adage of baffling people with words, if you can’t dazzle them with wisdom, comes to mind. Be careful of empty words that sound good but say nothing.

It has come to my attention that one provider promised folks of a certain religious sect, that computers would not be used in the provision of services so as to not offend their understanding with respect to their use. I highly doubt that this provider would not use computers in this day and age. This is simply a lie to entice the ill-informed to sign on with them. Should we not be helping parents to train children for their future rather than the parent’s past? Be careful of simply being aided in your misunderstanding.

Another closely related offering is one that really defies logic. It is a question of giving parents what they want, even when we know that what they want is not in keeping with their faith. Few people are truly aware of the depth of secularism the public program eschews. If they did, they would refuse to even be associated with it. Rather than to equip the parents to adequately prepare their children for God’s kingdom, this provider enables them to look just like the world so they can compete in a world’s game. If this is not dubious enough, they then offer to make the public accreditation obtainable without actually using the public programming or resources. Fraud is typically defined as unjustifiably claiming or being credited with accomplishments or qualities, for which this offering provides a rather “credible” example! How does God view our longing for worldly accreditation without actually truly fulfilling it’s requirements? If something appears to be not fulfilling man’s or God’s requirements, it is probably a compromise which accomplishes nothing other than benefit the provider who was willing to help you do the compromising. To not equip is to tell a lie. Beware of trusting those who would be willing to cash in on your lack of understanding!