Public Schools: What should the Christian Do?

This topic has been heavily blogged and debated to the point one would wonder why I might try to bring this subject up.  Sadly, this subject has even see churches split.  One wonders why this subject is hotly contested for no one argues that the public school system is broke and in need of repair.  We all see the news stories about how our schools seem to be failing at ever step, that we are not as competitive in the world.  Generally,
Christians agree that the public school system has rejected God and is now a source for human naturalism, just ask why creation is no longer taught at your local high school or middle school.   Yet, we insist on fighting a fight that seems to be hinging on the incredulous. 

“Some of us think that all cannot be too bad.”  “Such a thing might be happening, but it is not happening at our schools.”  “My spouse though works as the school.”  “My pastor is on the school board.”  Though I comprehend these thoughts, these statements are missing the bigger picture.  The problem of government schools is to big for the band-aid response from the Christian community.  The sad reality is that many brothers and sisters in Christ have not thought through this biblically or theologically prior to sending their children to the government run school system.  The quick response when question is that hey it was okay for me so it should be okay for them. 

Christians who still doubt the evil agendas of the government (public) schools need to take heed of the insights of Christian organizations:  American Family Association (AFA), Liberty Counsel, Concerned Women for America (CWA), and others. 

AFA has done a documentary entitled, Speechless: Silencing the Christians.  One segment tells the story of a mostly conservative, tight-knit community in Kentucky whose schools have not escaped the reach of the homosexual lobby.  Regarding a video that promoted homosexual lifestyle, “Students were told that they could not make any comments that disagreed with this idea, and they were not allowed to object on religious
grounds…. There was also no provision for parents to opt their children out of the program.”  A mother responds to the school in the film, “You’re telling me that my child is no longer mine as long as he’s on school property? And they [school officials] said, ‘That is correct.’”[1]

Now some of us may quickly think that this is will never happen in our schools.  The NEA (National Education Association), the largest teacher’s union, would disagree.  Matt Barber, director of
Cultural Affairs for Liberty Counsel, explains, “The National Education Association is on board a hundred percent with the homosexual lobby’s wish list – with their goals – so they have an ‘in’ to our system of public
education.  Groups like GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, they provide the curriculum that is being taught in our Sex Ed classes throughout schools – and civic classes and elsewhere – they provide the curriculum.”[2]

Concerned Women for America doing their research remarks, “I’ve warned about this before, but now the evidence is beyond dispute: there is an evil scheme aimed at destroying our children.  The attack comes on many fronts…These reports confirm my worse fears about this scheme.  Radical homosexual activists have long said, “Whoever controls the schools controls the future.”  If they can convince the next generation
that homosexuality is “just another lifestyle,” there will be no stopping them.”[3]

One may start to be wondering, where are you going with this?  Sadly, I am out of room for this post.  My next post will look at what some Christian leaders state regarding public schools and hopefully encourage fellow parents to engage Biblically and come to a theological solution for their children.

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[1] Speechless: Silencing the Christians,  produced by AFA; hosted and narrated by Janet Parshall.  The film may be viewed at www.silencingchristians.com

[2] Ibid.

[3] “Jesse’s Dream Skirt, New Tactics Revealed to Lure Our Children,” 2005 Newsletter #451, Jesse’s Dream Skirt Ver. B1, Concerned Women for America, August 8, 2005.

Health care - Are there any options

As we struggle with the new law, Christians have some struggles with the idea of allowing our money to go directly to abortion amongst other things. With this in mind, there are many Christians asking what can be done. One such question was asked of Voddie Baucham, a prolific Bible teach. Below is that question and his response.

I remembered reading a blog of yours some time ago that you used Samaritan Ministries instead of regular insurance. My family is having a hard time with health insurance (and NOT wanting Obamacare!) so we are checking into Samaritan. We wanted to ask a family that has it if they are pleased and would recommend it to others.


This question is very important in light of the recent passage of Obamacare. We are in the midst of a Constitutional crisis the magnitude of which most Americans cannot fathom. Even if the Republican party takes power again, they are likely to treat this issue like that of Social Security or Medicaid (two other socialist programs that were instituted under the "New Deal," and are now Sacred Cows that even the staunchest conservatives choose to ignore even though the programs are bankrupt both financially and ethically).

Socialized medicine, in one form or another, is probably here to stay. In the meantime, Samaritan Ministries (and other health care cost sharing programs) is a viable alternative. We chose Samaritan for several reasons:

1) We do not want to pay for procedures we find morally repugnant

Samaritan Ministries is committed to biblical truth. The members of Samaritan have to sign a statement of faith, and have a pastoral recommendation to join. While this is not "foolproof," it is an important safeguard. On the other end of the equation, we know that claims are examined based on the aforementioned standards. I don't have to worry about funding an abortion through Samaritans.

2) We do not want to participate in an unconstitutional, immoral, unethical program if we don't have to.

The current health care bill is a constitutional nightmare in more ways than one. Not only is it unconstitutional for government to mandate the purchase of any product or service, there is also the issue of the unconstitutional measures employed to secure the passage of the bill. Not to mention the myriad other aspects of this legislation that cross the bounds of both Constitutional legality and ethics. If there is any way not to participate in this system, we will find it (by the way, I opted out of Social Security for the same reason).

3) We want to be able to negotiate directly with our doctors for the best price

One of the reasons health care costs have skyrocketed is the existence of multiple middle-men. When we show up at the doctor's office and tell them we're with Samaritans, and will be paying them directly, we almost always get a significant discount. This is both encouraging and sad. Encouraging in that we save money, and sad in that it demonstrates the amount of waste inherent in the current system.

4) We want to be a part of something that has the potential to bring about change

Because of the loophole in the bill, Samaritan is a safe haven for Christians who want to escape the government takeover of health care. However, it also has the potential to open the floodgates for more programs like it. I am encouraged by the number of people who have asked me about Samaritan Ministries. A number of them have joined, and are now part of this important network. Others still have questions.

We are proud both to belong to and recommend Samaritan Ministries.

If you have more questions, click here, or contact Samaritan Ministries at 888.268.4377, or email them at smchcn@smchcn.net

What are your thoughts on this? What should we as Christians do?

PuritanD

The Time Changers: Divorce of Morality with Authority

Two weeks ago, I was able to go off to Lewisburg to a place for those who work within parachurch or church ministry. During my time of refocusing, reflecting, and relaxing, I was able to watch a movie that has challenged my thinking. The movie is produced by a Christian organization and would not have that “Hollywood feel,” which sadly turns off a few Christians. I do not understand the comparison of expectations from production teams that have very limited monetary resources verses ones that seem to have unlimited ones, but this is for another post.

The plot of the movie is based on a professor of the Bible (Russel Carlisle) desire to publish a book back in 1890. The theme of the book is that it is most excellent to teach morality whether we are able to use the name of Jesus or not. The idea is that it is better to raise morality than to do nothing. Yet, one of his colleagues (Norris Anderson) challenges this notion that this is exactly what Satan desires. The serpent does not mind good morals. Good morals are great as long as we divorce the giver of these morals from these statutes. In essences, the colleague states that he would rather have someone steal something than to tell the person that stealing is just wrong. Why, because there is a chance that someone guilty of stealing will desire to come to Christ than an individual who is told just to be good.

Russel disagrees with Norris informing Mr. Anderson that he is delirious. Norris convinces his friend to be sent to the future to see how such a teaching could devastate future people. This is the part of the story where the underling premise is unfolded. There is a bit of comic relief as Russel tries to ascertain himself to the new culture. Yet, there is a great sadness of how far our culture has tumbled away from even the moral moorings of the 1890’s. Russel meets up with a librarian of a local university allowing for frank dialogue of the culture and the effects on Christianity. The librarian hits the theme of morality without Jesus again and again, profoundly awakening within Russel that his colleague’s critique is quite accurate. He returns back to 1890 and reworks his book to fit with his new research.

One aspect that hit home was what I believed to be an accurate display of the American church in broad strokes. Russel is muffed that for a majority of Christians “being there” is much more important than actual involvement like attentively listening to the preacher. The picture develops that you can get enthusiastic participation from many Christians to attend a movie outing but a small handful for the work of church like visitation. The movie pits the Christian’s overwhelming ability to accept sin as the cultural norm and an unwillingness to engage to stand up for what is morally right. Why, because we have lost our center of authority.

Another takeaway of this movie for me was the engagement on some very deep theological issues, especially dealing with how we relate to others within and outside of orthodox Evangelicalism. Today, we are inundated with the need to be liked. We seem to bend over backwards to please others without defending the truth. We do not want to be embarrassed or ridiculed. We would rather laugh at Russel than to stand with him and weep.

Instead of following the dictum, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15)” we stumble and fumble about. Why is this?

I encourage everyone to take some time to watch Time Changer and reflect on its message. Feel free to share your own thoughts.

PuritanD