Home-schooling is now becoming a trend in education. A lot of schools, especially in the Philippines, are now offering home-schooling curriculum. Home-schooling was never heard of until the year 2000. And it was not accepted until 5-6years later. Home-schooling is unknown in the unbelieving world, but this is a basic Biblical teaching. It is unheard or unpracticed in the unbelieving world because most, if not all, parents would prefer to throw their children in schools because they need to work to provide the children with good education. But this is not true with the Biblical teaching. Deuteronomy 11:19 says "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Although this specific passage talks about the miracles that God had done and has to do with the teachings of the law, the same is still true when it comes to educating our children. In the Old Testament time, one may argue, there was no institution called school, but that's the purpose why school was made, so that parents can focus on working. But I say, that is wrong. Statistically speaking, children fare well in this world when both parents are there to teach, guide and live by example. Some children fare well too with only one parent present. However, the same can't be said to a child or children who were left in the care of an institution. Home-schooling is the most ideal, but also most taxing of all.
Home-schooling Moms need to have patience, abilities and discipline. Most of the time, we'll hear parents scold their children of not being focus on their studies or assignments. But in home-schooling, it's the Mom (or the supervisor) who needs to be disciplined. The "Supervisor" must be consistent with study time and goals accomplished. The "Supervisor" must prepare all of the things, esp when it comes to craft time. If the "Supervisor" failed to do these things, then home-schooling will not be effective.
However, there are perks as well in doing home-schooling. The child is trained to be independent in doing his homework. The child gets more attention than in a traditional school set up. And the "Supervisor" can figure out the child's weakness in each subject and be able to help the child cope up.
As with anything in this world, there'll always be pros and cons in a given situation. One must weigh the pros and cons of home-schooling before actually "leaping" into it.
I've done home-schooling with my son for 3levels in a span of 2years. I can say that home-schooling is still the best for I can focus on my son's weaknesses. However, my son has acquired my weaknesses as well. I'm pretty poor with crafts, and so I have the tendency to pay more attention with his actual subjects than honing his skills in the arts' section.
Again, there are pros and cons in doing this thing...but it's truly worth a try. It can strengthen one's bond with your child/ren or it can cause more problem. With my case, it has allowed me to get to know my son better in the area of his studies. And I was able to relay to him my goals for him. I can say it has helped us in improving our relationship with one another. And on top of this, I am able to follow-up the principles I'm teaching him here at home with this studies. Home-schooling, for me, is and will always be the best!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Why Is It So Hard?
Why is it so hard to be a pastor? Well, first and foremost, I have been a pastor for only 6 years. And just recently, I have decided to resign from that post to concentrate on my new mission field, which is raising my children God's way.
But for these 6 years, I've seen that the difficulty of being a servant of God in our time did not differ much from those in the Bible time. When Israel had finally settled in the land of Canaan, they were surrounded by idolatry and was enticed to worship their gods. When Isaiah was called to preach the Word of God, the people he was to preached to were hardhearted people and their hearts were not towards God. At the end of Paul's life, he was still fighting against heresy in the church and had to face false teachers inside. Sounds like our time, right?
The Church Age is not different from the days of the Old and New Testament. If I may say so, I believe the Bible IS and ALWAYS will be the manual for God's servants...for in It, we find that we're not alone in fighting this tragic battle and how we must fight it.
As far as I can see, there are actually 4 areas in this battle. The 1st one will be the religious group that are growing faster as each day passes by. They are not only growing in worshipers but the cultic groups are popping out faster than popcorn themselves! And yet, these groups are not new. They may change their names but their teachings were the ones that Paul and the church fathers had been fighting against during their time.
The 2nd one will be the pastors who are no longer afraid of God but instead they choose to fear men. Pastors nowadays are afraid to lose their jobs, because once that happens, the business world can and will not welcome them back because they know nothing about that world. Therefore, out of fear of not having anything to eat, they no longer preach what they're suppose to preach! They water-down their messages so that the church-goers will not be offended. Sin is no longer confronted and instead it is being flaunted for all to see. These pastors are afraid to correct them especially if they are the biggest giver. They no longer preach nor teach, instead, they give stories for their listeners to be entertained with. They make a clown of themselves just so that their listeners will not boot them out of the church. Some of them would even twist the passages of the Bible just to suit whatever they wanted to say. The holiness of the Bible is no longer put into perspective, nor the holiness of their Master put in mind.
The 3rd one will be the listeners. If you notice I don't call them Christians because unless they see errors in what their preachers are doing, then they are not truly born of Christ. The listeners allow their preachers to preach whatever they can as long as they will not be offended by it and their sins are not brought into scrutiny. They choose whom they wanted to listen to and they don't care if it's for the sake of their spiritual growth or not. The listeners had just simply decided to listen rather to think and grow.
The 4th one will be the "rare few" (as some of them call themselves). It is rare indeed to have pastors preach doctrines and correct sin. It is rare indeed to have people who dares to collide with trend and what people want. It is rare indeed to have people who upholds the truth of the Bible and always preach the holiness of their Master. And I see this as the 4th front of the battle because as rare as these people are, the first 3 fronts are trying to crush these rare few. Just like how Martin Luther was crushed during his time, so are the pastors who are serving their God, rather than their stomach, are being crushed.
Yes, it's hard to preach to hardhearted people. It's easier to see money than points earned in heaven. It's easier to feel hunger pangs rather than hear the angels rejoicing. It's easier to feel fear of the unknown than see our Father's smile. Therefore, to the rare few out there who can read this message...Don't lose heart! Our Father in Heaven knows our dilemma. He has been caring for people with the same burden from the beginning of time and He's still taking care of these same people (though of different race, gender and intensity of difficulty) in our time. As we have read in the Bible, we're not experiencing something new. Let us praise our God for giving the Bible to us to remind us that wherever we are, there will always be 4-fronts in a battle. The question will be, which front will you be. Hope you will ally with us so that we will no longer be the rare-few!
But for these 6 years, I've seen that the difficulty of being a servant of God in our time did not differ much from those in the Bible time. When Israel had finally settled in the land of Canaan, they were surrounded by idolatry and was enticed to worship their gods. When Isaiah was called to preach the Word of God, the people he was to preached to were hardhearted people and their hearts were not towards God. At the end of Paul's life, he was still fighting against heresy in the church and had to face false teachers inside. Sounds like our time, right?
The Church Age is not different from the days of the Old and New Testament. If I may say so, I believe the Bible IS and ALWAYS will be the manual for God's servants...for in It, we find that we're not alone in fighting this tragic battle and how we must fight it.
As far as I can see, there are actually 4 areas in this battle. The 1st one will be the religious group that are growing faster as each day passes by. They are not only growing in worshipers but the cultic groups are popping out faster than popcorn themselves! And yet, these groups are not new. They may change their names but their teachings were the ones that Paul and the church fathers had been fighting against during their time.
The 2nd one will be the pastors who are no longer afraid of God but instead they choose to fear men. Pastors nowadays are afraid to lose their jobs, because once that happens, the business world can and will not welcome them back because they know nothing about that world. Therefore, out of fear of not having anything to eat, they no longer preach what they're suppose to preach! They water-down their messages so that the church-goers will not be offended. Sin is no longer confronted and instead it is being flaunted for all to see. These pastors are afraid to correct them especially if they are the biggest giver. They no longer preach nor teach, instead, they give stories for their listeners to be entertained with. They make a clown of themselves just so that their listeners will not boot them out of the church. Some of them would even twist the passages of the Bible just to suit whatever they wanted to say. The holiness of the Bible is no longer put into perspective, nor the holiness of their Master put in mind.
The 3rd one will be the listeners. If you notice I don't call them Christians because unless they see errors in what their preachers are doing, then they are not truly born of Christ. The listeners allow their preachers to preach whatever they can as long as they will not be offended by it and their sins are not brought into scrutiny. They choose whom they wanted to listen to and they don't care if it's for the sake of their spiritual growth or not. The listeners had just simply decided to listen rather to think and grow.
The 4th one will be the "rare few" (as some of them call themselves). It is rare indeed to have pastors preach doctrines and correct sin. It is rare indeed to have people who dares to collide with trend and what people want. It is rare indeed to have people who upholds the truth of the Bible and always preach the holiness of their Master. And I see this as the 4th front of the battle because as rare as these people are, the first 3 fronts are trying to crush these rare few. Just like how Martin Luther was crushed during his time, so are the pastors who are serving their God, rather than their stomach, are being crushed.
Yes, it's hard to preach to hardhearted people. It's easier to see money than points earned in heaven. It's easier to feel hunger pangs rather than hear the angels rejoicing. It's easier to feel fear of the unknown than see our Father's smile. Therefore, to the rare few out there who can read this message...Don't lose heart! Our Father in Heaven knows our dilemma. He has been caring for people with the same burden from the beginning of time and He's still taking care of these same people (though of different race, gender and intensity of difficulty) in our time. As we have read in the Bible, we're not experiencing something new. Let us praise our God for giving the Bible to us to remind us that wherever we are, there will always be 4-fronts in a battle. The question will be, which front will you be. Hope you will ally with us so that we will no longer be the rare-few!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)