You've gotta' see this!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4312730277175242198 &hl=en

Terminally Clueless

"Young people today are desperately trying to vandalize the image of God that they carry about, despite themselves, in their bodies. God gave long hair to women as a glory and a covering -- showing that the Lord is near -- and yet bewildered, unprotected, and lost women now cut their hair with hedge clippers and dye it bizarre colors . . . modern evangelical Christians, who have an eagle eye when it comes to imitating anything the world does, are blind to why the world is doing it. Unfortunate souls are trying to develop a cultural form of dress that says, 'I am lost and hopelessly damned.' And we have Christians who seriously want to imitate this or allow it into the hallways of Christian schools, saying all the while that we can make it mean something like, 'Christians are on the cutting edge too.' But actually it just shows that we are terminally clueless. Imitators of the world's culture from within the church know everything about the world's culture -- except what it means" (The Case for Classical Christian Education, p. 189).

Making the World Safe for Fornication

"Peggy Noonan concluded after looking at public policy crusades during the twentieth century, that the real goal of every liberal movement is to ‘make the world safe for fornication.’ Get enough fornication going and you get a lot of people too frightened to approach God because of their guilt . . . As with the drug revolution of the sixties and seventies, the key to persuading people to experiment is to give the impression that everyone is already doing it and that some people are doing such bizarre things that what you do by comparison is okay. That is why the homosexual rights movement has been promoted and funded by Playboy magazine and other purveyors of heterosexual pornography. And why homosexual activists promote pornography of all types. Any breaking down of the barriers in one sector helps all the other forces of decadence make their case" (Robert Knight, The Age of Consent, p. 35-37.).

Be at peace

Rodney King once asked "why can't we all just get along?" He asked an important question. The answer to it betrays one's view of mankind's fundamental problem and, of course, the solution to it. Doug Wilson get it right in his essay entitled "Little Exiles."

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God created us in order that we would get along with one another. When sin entered the world, our fellowship with God was disrupted, of course, but so was our fellowship with one another. Adam and Eve hid from God after their sin, but they were also estranged from one another, which can be seen in how they blamed one another. And this has been the story of our race.

God in His grace redeemed us so that we would get along with one another. He called us out of our fragmented unbelief so that we could be one in Jesus Christ, that we would all speak the same thing, be likeminded, and confess with one mouth the gospel of God.

But the history of the Church thus far in some respects has been a melancholy one. This should not make us despair—God has promised us that the New Covenant will not end in exile for God’s covenant people as the Old Covenant did. The tree of the Lord will grow, and will fill the face of the world with fruit. But even though this is so, the New Covenant people have nonetheless done far more experimenting with little exiles than they should have done. We have done this by uniting with all the wrong people, and by dividing from all the wrong people. Whether driven by what was believed to have been high principle, or by grubby carnal motives, does not matter.

Where do wars and strife come from, James asks. He answers in two kinds—they come from internal lusts that are unmortified, and from external allegiances to the idolatries of the world. Take care—moderns are greatly confused about idolatry. Because we do not bow down to blocks of stone we think we are immune. But for centuries we have been burning little candles in front of our rationalistic constructs, and all in the name of sweet reason. Realize that these petty idols have no power (or desire, for that matter) to crucify your internal commotions.

So here is the command of God, in the name of Jesus Christ. You are the people of God, assembled in the name of His Son. Abandon every form of strife with one another. Be at peace.

Do unto others...in clothes?

A pastor friend of mine once observed that following the "Golden Rule" is the solution to most of life's ills.

He's right.

"What might be called the 'casual imperative' has established itself in the American mind as the ultimate desideratum. Whatever else you do in the morning when you dress, make sure you make yourself comfortable. Of course, we should dress for comfort, but the biblical view is that we should also dress for the comfort of others. Today our natural tendency is to dress to suit ourselves"
(The Case for Classical Christian Education, p. 185).

Why can't we all get along?

Doug Wilson (www.dougwils.com) gets it right.

Do you?

God created us in order that we would get along with one another. When sin entered the world, our fellowship with God was disrupted, of course, but so was our fellowship with one another. Adam and Eve hid from God after their sin, but they were also estranged from one another, which can be seen in how they blamed one another. And this has been the story of our race.

God in His grace redeemed us so that we would get along with one another. He called us out of our fragmented unbelief so that we could be one in Jesus Christ, that we would all speak the same thing, be likeminded, and confess with one mouth the gospel of God.

But the history of the Church thus far in some respects has been a melancholy one. This should not make us despair—God has promised us that the New Covenant will not end in exile for God’s covenant people as the Old Covenant did. The tree of the Lord will grow, and will fill the face of the world with fruit. But even though this is so, the New Covenant people have nonetheless done far more experimenting with little exiles than they should have done. We have done this by uniting with all the wrong people, and by dividing from all the wrong people. Whether driven by what was believed to have been high principle, or by grubby carnal motives, does not matter.

Where do wars and strife come from, James asks. He answers in two kinds—they come from internal lusts that are unmortified, and from external allegiances to the idolatries of the world. Take care—moderns are greatly confused about idolatry. Because we do not bow down to blocks of stone we think we are immune. But for centuries we have been burning little candles in front of our rationalistic constructs, and all in the name of sweet reason. Realize that these petty idols have no power (or desire, for that matter) to crucify your internal commotions.

So here is the command of God, in the name of Jesus Christ. You are the people of God, assembled in the name of His Son. Abandon every form of strife with one another. Be at peace.

How to kill a school

"Lack of discipline will kill your school -- a school without discipline has no way to fight off 'infections.' If a school is unwilling or unable to fire administrators or teachers, expel or suspend students, the school will take on the mission desire by those the school refuses to let go. The troublemakers can determine, rightly, that the board want to do it the troublemakers' way instead of the way set out in the founding vision of the school"
(The Case for Classical Christian Education, p. 182).

Picking up the Mess

Wilson's applications below apply to all our relationships. Substitute the word family or congregation for school and you'll see my point. The lesson is this, don't deal with the "messes" that sin creates and you will pay a price for it. Keep the messes cleaned up and enjoy the benefit of living in the Covenantal world that the triune God has made.

Carpe deim.

"Confession of sin, keeping short accounts, is therefore essential to the spiritual health of a school community. After all, for an average-size school, three hundred sinners spend five days a week together there, for eight hours a day for nine months. If such a school had no janitor, just imagine what the bathrooms would look like after three days. What about the halls? In the same way, because the importance of confession of sin is neglected, many schools operate without any spiritual janitor. Everybody makes a mess, but nobody picks up. When this condition becomes part of the culture of the school, with niggling sins left lying about, a day of reckoning comes when the place blows up -- the headmaster runs off with the secretary, and everyone is flummoxed. 'How could this happen? This is a Christian school'"
(The Case for Classical Christian Education, p. 172).

Keeping Covenant With God in the Education of Our Children

By Dr. Greg Bahnsen

As a confession of our faith, testimony to the world, and instruction to all true believers, the elders of this church have determined to record here our heartfelt and Biblically based conviction that the Lord has appointed to parents the responsibility and final authority to secure, guide and control the education of their children, that they might be trained regarding this world and in all areas of life to think God's thoughts after Him and walk in all His ways.

Man was created, as God's likeness and for God's glory, to study, subdue and develop the world in which God placed him (Gen. 1:26-28). Naturally, from the very beginning, it was a task which belonged to parents to instill this perspective in their children and help them to pursue it.

Ethical rebellion against God has resulted in a curse on mankind (Gen. 3:17-19) which is experienced not only spiritually (Rom. 8:5-8; Eph. 2:1-4) but also intellectually (Rom. 1:21-22; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 4:17-18), and which introduces an unavoidable antithesis between those antagonistic to God and those who belong to the promised Savior (Gen. 3:15).

The task of pursuing proper knowledge of the world and developing a God-glorifying culture therein thus encounters tremendous obstacles and distortions, making it imperative that parents educate their children within the perspective and power of God's revelation and grace. The redemption which Christ has secured for us not only spiritually saves us from the wrath to come, but also delivers us from intellectual futility and foolish reasoning in our methods and learning about the world in which we presently live.

Genuine knowledge of any subject whatsoever begins with reverence and submission to God (Prov. 1:7), particularly the fundamentals and philosophy which adhere to the Lord Jesus Christ rather than the fallen world or human traditions (Col. 2:8; 1 Tim. 6:20). It is the word of God which sets apart His people in the truth (John 17:17). Thus neutrality in education is not only impossible (Matt. 12:30), but immoral (Jas. 4:4). Accordingly, the aim of Christian parents must be to encourage their children to "bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5), "in whom are deposited all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3). Only if they are first disciples of Christ will they know the truth and enjoy real freedom (John 8:31-32).

Therefore, from the very beginning of history, then especially with the introduction of man's rebellion against God, and as well in light of the fundamental nature of any genuine knowledge, it is a parental duty to train and educate their children, regardless of the subject matter, in the nurture of the Lord and the light of His revelation (Eph. 6:4; Prov. 5:1-2; Ps. 36:9; 119:105, 130).

The responsibility rehearsed here has been part of the confession of faith of God's people from the earliest days, indeed a primary application of the first and great commandment (Deut. 6:4-5; cf. Matt. 22:37-38). It constitutes a central element in what it means for those who are saved to keep covenant with God: "And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart, and you shall teach them diligently unto your children" - constantly and consistently, in every time and place, covering all the spheres of human thought, activity and living (Deut. 6:6-9). Note is taken that this responsibility has been assigned directly by God to parents, rather than any other institution of society.

Regardless, then, of whatever children learn - from math and science to history, social studies, literature and the arts - parents have a God-given duty to see to it that their children learn it, as much as is possible (given the resources and opportunities available to their parents), with the perspective and application of the Christian worldview as derived from God's revelation. It is and shall be the policy of this church by instruction, preaching and pastoral care to inculcate this educational responsibility in our parents, directing and helping them to walk in God's gracious covenant as faithful disciples of Christ.

On Athletics

"On the question of athletics, the true extremes are worship of the body and contempt for the body. These views come quickly into play when a school board is deciding whether the school should field a football team or build a gymnasium or sponsor a girl's volleyball team. One contingent maintains that the school was established as a school and that the reason God have boys and girls legs and feet was so that they could walk their brains to school. On the other side, equally extreme, are those who are dangerously close to sacrificing a heifer to the great god Football in their next halftime celebration. Given the quasi-religiouis fervor that grips many of these people, it is surprising that the Supreme Court has not yet struck down high school football programs as a clear violation of the so-called separation of church and state"
(The Case for Classical Christian Education, p. 163).