Vickilynn

Shalom, Back to TOPIC. G-d is first and foremost in Christian homeschool. THIS is His design for our children's education. Homeschoolers CONSISTENTLY score higher on standardized tests than their public school countgerparts. It is not expensive to homeschool. There are many many resources available to help the parents homeschool, even if they think they are not qualified. They are MORE qualified to teach their own children Christian education, than a stranger, Christian or not. The classrooms are smaller, with a better teacher to student ratio. We don't have Snow days or Teacher Work Days in homeschool. We DO have time to be together learning G-d's Word, living it and sharing what we learn. We have more time to do extra things, such as Christian Karate, Girl Scouts, music lessons, etc. We never have to worry about someone at school molesting our children, (watch the news, TEACHERS are molesting students!!), selling them drugs, beating them up, teaching them wrong things about G-d and life. We never have to worry that our children will be in a public school shooting. When we moved across the country, we took our school with us.

Shalom, About as deep as your obvious disdain for Christian homeschoolers. BTW your comment is totally uncalled for. You disagree with Emily Anne? Fine, discuss the issues please.

Shalom, Our 2 oldest children both took these subjects. The eldest went to a wonderful college in Chicago on an Academic Scholarship. He was homeschooled since first grade. We have excellent resources through Christian homeschool publishers and we co-oped as well. Yes. Both our oldest children had these subjects in homeschool high school. Our eldest graduated college with honors in engineering. Our second is a sophomore with a perfect 4.0 average.

Shalom Smiles, WOW! You totally HIT it on the head. THIS is the big difference between public education and homeschooling Christian education. Every parent should consider homeschooling their children, not send their gifts to the government to be raised.

Shalom Emily Anne, This is EXACTLY it. Public school is not G-d's design. When we send our children to be raised by the government, with no mention of G-d, no prayer, but full of indoctrinations of worldy, pagan ways, we will stand accountable to G-d. Homeschooling a child in a Christian home IS the best option, as it is G-d's design. In answer to the OP, your father is correct, public school is no place to send a precious Christian child. I will NEVER do it, L-rd willing. We've been homeschooling for 17 years and intend to keep on doing it.

Shalom, AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is an excellent post!

Shalom Emily Anne, Actually, I've read ALL the posts in this thread before I started posting. And yes, I see where Back said homeschooling cost $3,000.00 and then said that was the cost of a private school. It costs nowhere NEAR $3,000.00 to homeschool a child. However, again, that is not the point of this thread. The point is, when we stand before Jesus and He asks us HOW we raised those precious souls (children) that He put into our care to be raised, will we answer that we sent them off each day into the world to learn about paganism, homosexuality and all sorts of horrible things that G-d hates? Will we say that it wasn't our fault that our children's tender hearts were filled with things they would have never seen or heard at home? OR, will we say that we did as He desired and we raised our children at home with Christian education, investing ourselves into their lives and not sending them off to be raised by the state? If Christians want to demand something, it shouldn't be to revive the public school system, it should be for championing for Christian parents to wake up and see that their OWN children are at risk in the public schools and we, as parents should be willing to homeschool them. THEN, if they desire, the grown children can be missionaries.

Shalom Poor, Your posts get stranger and stranger. I am so concerned about you, I really am. I am praying for you to really see the truth. Listen, did you know this: You can ONLY "discern" by the Holy Spirit. You toss that word around, but let's look at what it REALLY means and WHERE we get discernment. 1 Thessalonians 19 Quench not the Spirit. 20Despise not prophesyings. 21Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Romans 8: 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 1 Corinthians 2 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

Shalom Back, That's actually N OT the topic of this thread. It is all about the horrible public schools and we, as parents should DO something. Yes, we should let that sinking ship drown and we should care enough about our children to homeschool them. Sorry, this is not Scriptural. We are to teach our children, not send them out to be raised by people who do not live by the Bible and teach against it. You are espousing that the state raise our children. What a travesty!! Christians need to WAKE UP and see that our children are our greatest gift from G-d and not send them out into the world to be indoctrinated by heathens. As far as witnessing to public school kids, that's fine, but a missionary needs to be grounded in the faith before they can witness to anyone. Sending young children into the public schools is NOT the Scriptural choice in my opinion. So, you can yell all you want, but I think you should save your effort and put it into homeschooling children, not sending them into the worldly, anti-G-d schools.

Shalom Back, What? It is not expensive to homeschool. That is not accurate. I know, we've been homeschooling for 17 years and we've done it in times of great financial need. There are ways to homeschool well for little money. However, the money is not the point, is it? What parent would withhold the best from their children for a few bucks? You are insisting that we parents DO something about our children's education, right? I'm saying that I AGREE. Only what I believe is what we should DO is yank our children out of public school and give them the right education they deserve, a Christian homeschooled education.

Shalom Zadok, Thanks for sharing! I found it interesting. However, no we won't decorate pumpkins because we believe strongly that we should NOT celebrate Halloween in any way, as it is not glorifying to G-d in any way. But, I'm glad you are enjoying decorating yours.

Shalom Poor, Wrong. The Holy Spirit IS G-D. We are not glorifying Him alone, but the Triune G-dhead. So, you're saying that because I don't agree with you that I am in a cult? You are simply preaching false doctrine. Please address the COMMAND not to speak ill of the Holy Spirit. You are sinning here. You need to consider that the Scriptures FORBID the speaking against the Holy Spirit, as you are doing: Matt. 12:32, "And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come." And no, Scripture does not back you up since you are not interpreting Scripture correctly by saying we should not worship the Holy Spirit. Please, pray for discernment and with an open mind and heart, READ the Scriptures and references I posted. You will see that Scripture does not back up your doctrine. FYI, there is nothing wrong or sinful about learning from other books as long as they line up with the Word of G-d. Again, I'm glad you feel that way, but in fact, the Holy Spirit leads us through His Word and the KJV is not any better in my opinion than the ESV or NASB. But, you are welcome to use the KJV if you like. It isn't any holier or any more accurate, but if you like it, enjoy. It holds nothing for me, I don't like it. Even in the KJV it says what I posted: but be filled with the Spirit We as Believers should be filled continually to overflowing with the Holy Spirit in our lives and we only do this by surrendering our will. Paul states it quite clearly in the KJV AND the ESV. Same words, same meaning. It is a continual filling. Actually, that is a misunderstanding of the Scriptures. We posted the SAME verse with the same words and I see quite clearly that the Holy Spirit works continually in our lives IF we let Him. You don't see that? Perhaps you're not discerning correctly. The KJV "discerns" nothing, you are exalting a Bible translation. It is the Holy Spirit IN US that discerns, THROUGH Him, all truth. Please, read the Scriptures for yourself: 1 Cor. 2:11, "For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God." John 14:26, "These things I have spoken to you, while abiding with you. 26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. I would love to know where you have gotten his false teaching. You can ONLY "discern" by the Holy Spirit. Not only are you misusing and twisting Scripture, but it appears as if you truly do not understand G-d, His Triune Nature and even how one is to "discern" anything. I am very concerned for you. I pray you will open your heart to the truth from Scriptures. May the L-rd bless you.

Shalom, Some REALLY good info: Is Halloween Really that Significant? Albert Mohler Author, Speaker, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Over a hundred years ago, the great Dutch theologian Hermann Bavinck predicted that the 20th century would "witness a gigantic conflict of spirits." His prediction turned out to be an understatement, and this great conflict continues into the 21st century. The issue of Halloween presses itself annually upon the Christian conscience. Acutely aware of dangers new and old, many Christian parents choose to withdraw their children from the holiday altogether. Others choose to follow a strategic battle plan for engagement with the holiday. Still others have gone further, seeking to convert Halloween into an evangelistic opportunity. Is Halloween really that significant? Well, Halloween is a big deal in the marketplace. Halloween is surpassed only by Christmas in terms of economic activity. According to David J. Skal, "Precise figures are difficult to determine, but the annual economic impact of Halloween is now somewhere between 4 billion and 6 billion dollars depending on the number and kinds of industries one includes in the calculations." Furthermore, historian Nicholas Rogers claims that "Halloween is currently the second most important party night in North America. In terms of its retail potential, it is second only to Christmas. This commercialism fortifies its significance as a time of public license, a custom-designed opportunity to have a blast. Regardless of its spiritual complications, Halloween is big business." Rogers and Skal have each produced books dealing with the origin and significance of Halloween. Nicholas Rogers is author of Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Professor of History at York University in Canada, Rogers has written a celebration of Halloween as a transgressive holiday that allows the bizarre and elements from the dark side to enter the mainstream. Skal, a specialist on the culture of Hollywood, has written Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween. Skal's approach is more dispassionate and focused on entertainment, looking at the cultural impact of Halloween on the rise of horror movies and the nation's fascination with violence. Pagan Roots The pagan roots of Halloween are well documented. The holiday is rooted in the Celtic festival of Samhain, which came at summer's end. As Rogers explains, "Paired with the feast of Beltane, which celebrated the life-generating powers of the sun, Samhain beckoned to winter and the dark nights ahead." Scholars dispute whether Samhain was celebrated as a festival of the dead, but the pagan roots of the festival are indisputable. Questions of human and animal sacrifices and various occultic sexual practices continue as issues of debate, but the reality of the celebration as an occultic festival focused on the changing of seasons undoubtedly involved practices pointing to winter as a season of death. As Rogers comments: "In fact, the pagan origins of Halloween generally flow not from this sacrificial evidence, but from a different set of symbolic practices. These revolve around the notion of Samhain as a festival of the dead and as a time of supernatural intensity heralding the onset of winter. How should Christians respond to this pagan background? Harold L. Myra of Christianity Today argues that these pagan roots were well known to Christians of the past. "More than a thousand years ago Christians confronted pagan rites appeasing the lord of death and evil spirits. Halloween's unsavory beginnings preceded Christ's birth when the druids, in what is now Britain and France, observed the end of summer with sacrifices to the gods. It was the beginning of the Celtic year and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking live evil spirits themselves." Thus, the custom of wearing costumes, especially costumes imitating evil spirits, is rooted in the Celtic pagan culture. As Myra summarizes, "Most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to the old pagan rites and superstitions." The Dark Side The complications of Halloween go far beyond its pagan roots, however. In modern culture, Halloween has become not only a commercial holiday, but a season of cultural fascination with evil and the demonic. Even as the society has pressed the limits on issues such as sexuality, the culture's confrontation with the "dark side" has also pushed far beyond boundaries honored in the past. As David J. Skal makes clear, the modern concept of Halloween is inseparable from the portrayal of the holiday presented by Hollywood. As Skal comments, "The Halloween machine turns the world upside down. One's identity can be discarded with impunity. Men dress as women, and vise versa. Authority can be mocked and circumvented, and, most important, graves open and the departed return." This is the kind of material that keeps Hollywood in business. "Few holidays have a cinematic potential that equals Halloween's," comments Skal. "Visually, the subject is unparalleled, if only considered in terms of costume design and art direction. Dramatically, Halloween's ancient roots evoke dark and melodramatic themes, ripe for transformation into film's language of shadow and light." But television's "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (which debuted in 1966) has given way to Hollywood's "Halloween" series and the rise of violent "slasher" films. Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff have been replaced by Michael Myers and Freddy Kruger. This fascination with the occult comes as America has been sliding into post-Christian secularism. While the courts remove all theistic references from America's public square, the void is being filled with a pervasive fascination with evil, paganism, and new forms of occultism. Danger In addition to all this, Halloween has become downright dangerous in many neighborhoods. Scares about razor blades hidden in apples and poisoned candy have spread across the nation in recurring cycles. For most parents, the greater fear is the encounter with occultic symbols and the society's fascination with moral darkness. For this reason, many families withdraw from the holiday completely. Their children do not go trick-or-treating, they wear no costumes, and attend no parties related to the holiday. Some churches have organized alternative festivals, capitalizing on the holiday opportunity, but turning the event away from pagan roots and the fascination with evil spirits. For others, the holiday presents no special challenges at all. These Christians argue that the pagan roots of Halloween are no more significant than the pagan origins of Christmas and other church festivals. Without doubt, the church has progressively Christianized the calendar, seizing secular and pagan holidays as opportunities for Christian witness and celebration. Anderson M. Rearick, III argues that Christians should not surrender the holiday. As he relates, "I am reluctant to give up what was one of the highlights of my childhood calendar to the Great Imposter and Chief of Liars for no reason except that some of his servants claim it as his." Nevertheless, the issue is a bit more complicated than that. While affirming that make-believe and imagination are part and parcel of God's gift of imagination, Christians should still be very concerned about the focus of that imagination and creativity. Arguing against Halloween is not equivalent to arguing against Christmas. The old church festival of "All Hallow's Eve" is by no means as universally understood among Christians as the celebration of the incarnation at Christmas. Making Decisions Christian parents should make careful decisions based on a biblically-informed Christian conscience. Some Halloween practices are clearly out of bounds, others may be strategically transformed, but this takes hard work and may meet with mixed success. The coming of Halloween is a good time for Christians to remember that evil spirits are real and that the Devil will seize every opportunity to trumpet his own celebrity. With this in mind, the best Christian response to Halloween, might be to scorn the Devil and then pray for the Reformation of Christ's church on earth. Let's put the dark side on the defensive.

Shalom Poor, I have read John 5:22, 23 BUT, I was asking YOU what YOU want us to see in this. Actually, since you are lowering the Holy Spirit, you are not recognizing that He is equally Divine and equally G-d with the Father and the Son. The things you are saying are simply not Scriptural concerning the G-dhead. And as such you are not correctly relating to the Holy Spirit as G-d, equally G-d. You need to consider that the Scriptures FORBID the speaking against the Holy Spirit, as you are doing: Matt. 12:32, "And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come." And no, Scripture does not back you up since you are not interpreting Scripture correctly by saying we should not worship the Holy Spirit. Please, pray for discernment and with an open mind and heart, READ the Scriptures and references I posted. You will see that Scripture does not back up your doctrine. There are wonderful books that help us understand the Scriptures better. I encourage you to learn all you can about the Holy Spirit and His Divinity and His functions. If you choose to only use the Bible that's great, but there is nothing wrong in using study helps. And, BTW, the KJV is not the ONLY bible. I don't use the KJV, but I prefer the ESV and NASB. This shows that you truly do not understand about the Holy Spirit and what He does. He FILLS us daily as we surrender to Him. If course He indwells us when we are born-again, but He also fills us continually IF we let Him. And we have to surrender to Him to not quench the Spirit. We are told by Paul to live the Christian life by BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. That is not a one-time thing, it is continually being filled, daily, as we live out the Christian life. We are indwelt and we are to be filled. We must surrender ourselves, daily. Ephesians 5: 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, This is so strange! Why do you attack the "hymnals"? As I said, in our church, we don't use "hymnals" and what if we did? They are just songs, not the Bible. You want to talk about the Bible, then what difference do the hymnals make? I pray that YOU will as well, for you are misunderstanding the Scriptures. 1 Tim. 4:1, "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,"

Shalom Andrew, AMEN!!!! And this latest revelation just goes to show us that it is wrong to pollute our children's minds with these lies. Another affirmation that we did the right thing as Christian parents not to expose our children, or ourselves, to this book which is an effective tool of satan. There was no reason for the author to make such a statement unless she was pushing some "agenda" and I believe it is satan's agenda and always has been.

Shalom mathqueen, Of course, if the public school is YOUR mission field, that's great! But it's not the mission field of tender young spirits who can be horribly devastated in their faith and life by what's in the schools. I believe it's great for those who ARE in public school, those teens, teachers etc. to make it a mission field, but that does not support sending Christians in there, especially young ones. That is like sending lambs to the slaughter! If the public schools closed, Christian parents might take more responsibility for their own children's education and teaching.

Shalom Kitty, Kitty, what grade are you in? I assume you are in the higher grades, maybe you are in high school? If so, you are equipped to share the Gospel if you are a strong Believer. And if G-d has called you to that Mission field, you should go - and minister. However, what about the younger ones? The ones who are from Christian homes, but still young and vulnerable and can be shaken and destroyed by the things that are put into their tender spirits and impressionable minds. What about them? Do we just send them on the bus and hope for the best? NO. As a parent, I cannot in good conscience, turn my precious gift from G-d over for someone else to raise. That's what it amounts to. Sending my child off to be put under someone else's rules, beliefs and anything else they want to put into my child. That is not what I should be doing as a steward of this precious gift. What about the next missionary? What if he were MY son, but because I did not invest myself in his education by raising him according to the Scriptures, he did not walk on that path to become a missionary? G-d gave us these children for a reason and sending them off to be indoctrinated by the world and anti-Biblical beliefs is not it. Also, I am a child of public school and I know first-hand what it's like. It is 1000 times worse now than when I attended and believe me, it was bad then. I will not subject my children to what I was subjected to. I have to stand before Jesus and account for how we raised our children. And sending them to public school is not what I believe is what He wanted us to do.

Shalom Back, First off, I believe the public schools are the LAST place that Christian children should be. Yes, I believe the public schools are lost and the BEST way to teach Christian children is by homeschooling them. It is our responsibility as parents to teach our children, not turn their precious and vulnerable, impressionable minds over to be raised by people who don't believe the faith and the Scriptures, even being taught by pagans, homosexuals etc. Secondly, if you feel this strongly about it, there are plenty of things YOU can do. Personally, I pray that these things going on in the public schools wake Christian parents up enough to pull their children OUT and start homeschooling them. We are going to see more and more of this in the public schools as the days draw nearer to Yeshua's return, so do not be surprised when they do. And do not expect everyone else to jump on the bandwagon. Not everyone else feels the same as you - that public schools should be fought for. I don't. I believe Christian parents should be spending their time, efforts, resources and prayer into training their own children at home, or at least OUT of the public schools. I pray that these things will cause more parents to abandon the public school system in favor of Christian education, which every child deserves.

Shalom Poor, Please open your heart to the truth from the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit is G-d and you are blaspheming G-d.

Shalom Poor, What does John 5:22 have to do with anything? I'm sorry Poor, but you're not making sense. Why don't you tell me what you see in John 5 that you are referring to? This is the crux of your argument. You don't believe the Holy Spirit is G-d. Let me tell you the Scriptures show plainly that the Holy Spirit is G-d, as is the Son and the Father. They are Three in One and when you call the Holy Spirit "the anti-christ", you are blaspheming G-d. Just so you know. I will post some Scriptures for you to see the truth that the Holy Spirit is G-d.

Shalom Poor, I think I understand where you're coming from in your preaching, but I don't agree. You are saying that we should not praise or worship the Holy Spirit individually, but you are making a whole case and sermon from a misunderstanding. The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, that is one of His jobs and He (the Holy Spirit) is as much G-d as the Father and the Son. They are all equally G-d. Three in One. There is nothing UNscriptural about worshiping G-d, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Also, we don't use hymnals

Shalom Tina, Your blog site is set to private. Can you post the source of the song? Kadosh means "holy" in Hebrew. I believe that Heilig means the same - German or Yiddish, not sure. I need the source to look it up. It looks like the same words in the second stanza as in the Hebrew one. Kadosh kadosh kadosh Kadosh kadosh kadosh Adonai Elohim tz'va'ot Adonai Elohim tz'va'ot Asher hayah V'hoveh v'yavo Asher hayah V'hoveh v'yavo Translation: Holy holy holy Holy holy holy O Lord our God Lord of hosts O Lord our God Lord of hosts Who was and Who is And Who is to come Who was and Who is And Who is to come Who was and Who is And Who is to come Who was and Who is And Who is to come

Shalom, I, like some of you, don't care one whit about "endorsements." They mean nothing. They simply mean someone famous feels they have more say than someone not famous. Look at the Hollywood movie stars. They endorse this one or that one. Who cares really? I don't. I will vote for the one that I feel I should, whether someone endorses him or not. I truly hope and pray that Fred Thompson stays in the race and gets the nomination, but I have the sinking feeling that won't happen. I do think Mitt will get the nomination.

Shalom Brother and welcome to Worthy! First off, your friend is incorrect. One's salvation is not determined by what day they attend church. That teaching is a false teaching and not found in the Bible. That is a sign of a cult, BTW, that our salvation is based upon outward works. But, there is a lot to know about the Sabbath, so let's look at it. Yes, the Sabbath day (which is Friday night at sundown to Saturday night at sundown) IS a holy day, decreed by G-d. So, you see, the 7th day (which is Friday night to Saturday night) IS the Sabbath and it IS holy. It has never been changed by G-d, so the Sabbath remains as the Sabbath and it is holy. The Scriptures are indisputable. Anyone who says otherwise is not correctly reading Scripture. However, what man decrees as HOW to observe the Sabbath is where we run into problems in the church. Your friend is not correct in the assertion that ONLY Saturday church is acceptable. That is not what it says plainly in the New Testament. We need to examine Scripturally this whole Sabbath issue and separate the questions and the arguments from the incorrect assumptions, for there is some confusion in the church as to what this is all about. First off, the Sabbath was given AT CREATION and people who tell you it is the Law and was "only given to the Jews" are not understanding the truth of the issue. You see, the Creation came before the Law of Moses. Also, as it says in Galatians, if Gentiles (non-Jews) belong to Messiah Jesus, they are the sons of Abraham.

Shalom Carol, Exactly. Amen and amen! This is what I believe the Scripture teaches.