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Jon and Candy Summers share: Christian Home Educators Fellowship—Faithfully honoring God and serving homeschooling families for the past 25 years This email includes the following: 1. CHEF Conference and Curriculum Fair 2. CHEF Information and Activities 3. Special Opportunities 4. Needs and Services 5. Articles by Conference Speakers 6. Our Vendors’ Reviews of Their Companies and Products 7. Books/Supplemental Materials/Games/Curriculum and Supplemental Resources CHEF CONFERENCE AND CURRICULUM FAIR: 25th Anniversary of Advancing God’s Kingdom Through Family Discipleship The best way to support CHEF is to encourage others to support CHEF activities, especially our upcoming 25th annual Conference on Tuesday, and Wednesday, June 23-24, 2009 at the St. Charles Convention Center, One Convention Center Plaza, St. Charles, MO 63303. Please note that you can download the registration form and a complete conference brochure from the CHEF website at http://www.chef-missouri.com/. Please remember to send in your conference registration form by June 15 to get your $10 pre-registration discount!
HELP NEEDED
To advance God’s kingdom and strengthen our communities and our country, we must increase in wisdom and knowledge. We must strengthen our commitment to covenantal families by equipping and encouraging our fathers to lead, our mothers to be keepers of their homes, and our children to honor and obey. We must pass on a multigenerational vision of discipleship. In these perilous times, it is imperative that we strengthen every Christian family with God’s mandate for covenantal families. To this end, we are calling on each of you to encourage other families to attend CHEF’s life-transforming conference. So please consider the following suggestions. Download the conference brochure and mail it to family, friends, and church members. Make calls to friends and church members to view the conference on the website www.chef-missouri.com. Keep registration forms in your vehicle so you have them to pass out. Invite new homeschoolers to ride with you to the conference so that you are able to make them feel more at home. In past years we have had homeschoolers attend our conference from states all over the country, so consider encouraging family and friends to come in and stay at your home while they accompany you to the conference. To assist you with advertising our conference, we would be happy to mail our one-sheet Conference Flyer to you that lists our speakers, date, and location, along with information on downloading the conference brochure on our website. If you would like extra copies to pass out to people in your church, homeschool group or other organization, just call 314-521-8487 and spell out your mailing address and let us know how many you would like mailed to you.
WORKERS NEEDED
CAN ANYONE HELP US OUT?
First, I want to apologize to you for not having the baby grand piano for Lacey Martin to play during the conference last year. To our dismay and Lacey’s disappointment, the baby grand piano displayed within the conference center was not at our disposal for the conference. When I found out that the piano was only for looks and not for playing, I was so surprised but then was told that I would have to get express permission to use the piano from Lacefield Music. I immediately called the owner and asked for their permission to play their piano during our conference with the assurance that we would advertise their company in our newsletter. I received a call later stating that they thought they could help us; however, I called three times to talk with them about where and when I needed their piano, and although employees took my messages at each of their stores, my calls were never returned. I am sincerely sorry, especially since Lacey Martin plays the piano so beautifully. I want to try again this year. Does anyone have suggestions of who I could contact to bring a piano? We will gladly give the company a booth in the foyer or advertise their company in our newsletter, if they promise to bring a baby grand piano. I think that this is a great opportunity for a company since so many of our homeschooled children play pianos. Please call and leave a message at 314-521-8487 if you have any suggestions. Thank you! CALLING ALL FATHERS Just supporting our wives in their endeavor to homeschool is not biblical. God commands that we lead, not nod our heads in approval as our wives lead our children. Since we are ordained as leaders of our homes, it is imperative that we remain faithful to our calling and duty. With that perspective, we can understand what a tremendous blessing God has bestowed on us by bringing such godly speakers to our own hometown. Speakers who are revered around the country will be right here for two days to lead us, to train us, and to gird us up to keep us on the straight and narrow path. Fathers, please do not miss this blessed opportunity. Not only is it important for us to hear these speakers, but also we should make certain that our sons and daughters are sitting at the feet of these great teachers as well. These meaty messages build strong character. Let us raise up these great teachers to our children as the real heroes of our day, teachers worth emulating, who are fulfilling the great commission to make disciples and teach them to observe all that God commanded. These speakers will not only change your life, but that of your children as well. I look forward to seeing you at the conference!
BLESS OUR VENDORS
Please bless our vendors by purchasing your curriculum, books, and gifts for your children’s birthdays and Christmas at our conference this year. We desire to greatly bless our vendors by helping their families stay in business. Keep in mind that it is these vendors that make it possible for us to bring in so many of the best speakers in the country each year. Just yesterday, I was talking to a vendor about this very issue. Her husband died several years ago, so this single homeschooling mom continues to travel to various conventions to provide a living for her children. She, like other homeschooling vendors, expressed distress over homeschoolers leaving her booth and purchasing her products from discounters after she spent considerable time helping them by explaining her products and answering their questions. I am shocked that homeschoolers would be so inconsiderate, but unfortunately, according to vendors, this happens all the time. If you spend time with vendors discussing their products, please be certain that you reward them for that time by purchasing their products. It is not right to spend a vendor’s time and then try to find that product for less somewhere else. Most of our vendors are homeschooling families like ourselves who are trying to provide for their families’ basic needs. Like our vendors, my parents were small business owners and so taught me early on the vast importance of loyalty by supporting those who invest in our lives and in our communities. My parents never went to discount stores, including Wal-Mart. And to this day, Jon and I patronize small businesses even if we can get the same product from a discount store like Wal-Mart. Discount stores put small business owners out of business in every town in which they locate. To strengthen our community, our homeschooling organization, and our country, we must teach our children to be principled and wise by investing in the businesses and organizations that invest in their lives—those that live, work, invest, and reinvest in their community, for it is these businesses/organizations that form the backbone of our communities and the backbone of America. This same principle applies to America’s strength. If we want to strengthen America, we must buy American made products and demand American made products from every store we patronize. Americans have lost their minds, thinking that they are saving themselves money by purchasing products from China. Ultimately, Americans are destroying their own country by enriching China, and quite frankly, empowering them to invade and destroy us. If you desire to possess such a godly conference in your state, you must support and invest in our conference by promoting it and by supporting the vendors that make it possible. So please make certain that you support our homeschooling vendors so that you have a CHEF Conference and Curriculum Fair in the future. ***************************** CHEF INFORMATION AND ACTIVITIES: CHEF Used Curriculum Sale will be held on THURSDAY, June 4, 2009, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon at Parkway Northeast Middle School, 181 Coeur de Ville Dr., St. Louis, MO 63141. We changed to Thursday instead of Saturday this year to save money. Holding it during the week when the janitorial staff is there anyway will save us the money that we paid to have them brought in on Saturday when they don’t normally work. Both buyers and sellers have told us that this one is the best! We have people come from all over the state. Sellers may begin setting up at 8:00 a.m. Tables are $12 for an 8-ft. table. (We pay for building rental, table rental, and table delivery charge.) To register for a table, send your check payable to CHEF, c/o Teresa May, 3110 Fulton Way, St. Ann, MO 63074 or contact her at
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. Directions: Take Hwy. 270 to the Ladue Road exit. Go west on Ladue to Coeur de Ville Dr. (looks like outer road). Turn right on Coeur de Ville; school is first drive on the left. If parking lot is full, go to second drive.***************************** SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES: [This information is communicated to you only as a service to our families. The information contained herein is not screened or verified by CHEF. Please be discerning at all times.] Andrew Pudewa shares: Institute for Excellence in Writing presents a live High School Essay Intensive seminar with Andrew Pudewa on two dates: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at St. James Academy, 24505 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, KS 66227 and Friday, June 5, 2009, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at Savior Pastoral Center, 12601 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, KS 66109. Lunch available: Pizza buffet with drink, $6. The High School Essay Intensive is a one-day seminar for high school age students and teachers. The class is an excellent way to get immediate experience and inside tips on how to do your best on the timed, 25-minute essay response to a prompt required on the SAT and ACT tests. Participants will actually write two full essays, carefully study and apply the College Board evaluation criteria to sample essays, while receiving a detailed booklet of resources and suggestions for continued practice. Additionally, students will learn special structure and style tools for use in composing the college application “personal essay”—an entirely different type of writing task. The complete process will be presented: choosing the question, creating the outline, and polishing a final version. Participants will leave with a clear concept of the task, their own outline for an actual personal essay, and several new tricks and techniques to add to their repertoire. Although this seminar is specifically designed for those who will be taking the SAT or submitting college applications within the next 1-2 years (and especially those teaching such students), it is also useful for general writing practice, tools and tips. It is open to all students, regardless of their experience with IEW courses or materials. A lot of actual writing is done during this six-hour class. *Parents who wish to remain in the room but not participate may sit in the back, chairs and space available. Parents who wish to sit at a table, receive a handout, and participate in the class, should register for $25. Doreen Loeffler shares: Lincoln Country Christian Home Educators Used Curriculum Sale is Thursday, June 11, 2009 at St. Stephens United Methodist Church, Hwy 47, Troy, MO. Doors open to the public from 9:30-11:30 a.m. If coming by Hwy 40-61, take the Troy exit, turn west onto Hwy 47, travel through the town of Troy. The church is on the right hand side of the road, 0.69 miles after the last stoplight (after Wal-Mart). The church is located on a hill at 101 Saint Stephen Ln. Large round tables are available for rent at $5 per table. To rent a table(s), e-mail
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. Please type “table rental” in the subject line. A confirmation e-mail will be sent to you. Cash payment is due upon arrival at the sale. Doors open for sellers at 8:30 a.m. Please note: You do not need to be a member to sell or to shop.
Sharon Jeffus shares summer opportunities from Visual Manna:
1. You can take classes on the Internet in art. You can get several friends together and have a group art class for the same price that it would cost for one person! Cost for a basic art class is $120 where you will get 5 lessons and a CD with lessons and 2 books. You can request classes for older and younger children.
2. You can have your own Internet art camp. You get six PowerPoint presentations and handouts and supplies for your camp. Cost is $135 for 5 children. Each extra child is $15.
3. Visual Manna’s 12th annual camp for the arts is July 20-24 this year. We are offering not only the visual arts, but music and drama as well. It is located in the beautiful town of Salem, MO close to the Current River. Master professional artists come daily and give instruction on techniques and tell their inspiring stories. Cost is $35 per day for day students. All supplies are included. Cost is $75 per day for overnight students. Family discounts are available.
4. You can host a Visual Manna “Celebrate America” workshop for your support group. We will travel to you and give personal hands-on art training. Forty American master art prints picture American history, and Visual Manna does workshops teaching the art techniques. For hosting the workshop, if minimum numbers are met, your children get in for free.
5. You can learn computer graphics and animation and how to put a book together on the computer. Three lessons cost you $75. You also receive a CD with downloadable software.
6. Sign up for our FREE project newsletter by emailing us today.
7. Private lessons are also available upon request.
8. Do you want to be an art teacher? Mark June 15-18 on your calendar for our Teaching Camp. Come to Salem or do the workshops via the Internet. Six hours a day of delightful art training. Cost is $450. This includes a complete set of our books (some on CD) and training. We can supply you with a packet for teaching art in the Visual Manna Method. The other dates available are July 20-23. This is the same date as our kid’s camp. You receive the newly updated Visual Manna one and two, the unit study that now goes with them, all of our art through the core books with a syllabus that shows you how to use it with each lesson in the Visual Manna one curriculum. If you would like to be a Rep for Visual Manna, contact us today. We need people to teach art lessons that reinforce core subjects and would like to sell our books at your local conventions. If you think that art and creativity is important, this might be the job for you. When you do an art workshop, it is like having a party. You can sell all the books at a wholesale price as if you were a bookstore. All Visual Manna materials are protected by copyright. Incentives are given for sales. You cannot teach Visual Manna art classes without our permission and knowledge. We will provide teaching materials. You will need to be a licensed teacher in the Visual Manna Method. Coming soon! Fall classes available from Visual Manna to cover art credit needed for college requirements. Classes offered on the Internet for older and younger children. Donna Ivanovich, State Chair for the Constitution Party of Missouri ( www.constitutionpartymo.org), shares: To St. Louis metropolitan area homeschools, including Jefferson and St. Charles County schools, the Constitution Party of Missouri will be sponsoring a great summer writing project for students in grades 9-12. The Essays of Freedom topic will be “The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States: Key to Understanding the Role of Government.” Three cash prizes will be awarded at our “Celebrate the Constitution” event on Constitution Day, September 17, 2009. This event will be open to the public. 1st Place $250; 2nd Place $150; 3rd Place $75. Full details of our “Essays of Freedom” contest will be posted on July 1, 2009 at www.EssaysOfFreedom.com. Carol at The Christian Connector shares: The Christian Connector has launched a Christian College Scholarship Resource page on their website. Your high school student can take advantage of this great free service that will allow students to search for different types of scholarships of interest offered at participating Christian colleges. The schools included provided over $100 million in scholarships last year alone! There will be a card in the packet they receive telling them how they can access this information. When responding please be sure to include student(s) name, mailing address and year of graduation. Send the information to Carol at
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or 800-667-0600.***************************** NEEDS AND SERVICES: ***************************** ARTICLES BY CONFERENCE SPEAKERS:
In order to familiarize you with our conference speakers, we will be printing articles written by them starting in this email and in upcoming emails before the conference. Here is our first article:
Preparing Our Sons to Serve
by Dr. Voddie Baucham
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education —Mark Twain
There is an epidemic of mediocre, prayer-less, visionless, immoral, irresponsible men in our culture. And if we continue to train our sons the same way, we will not stem the tide. If we see home education as nothing more than a means to better scores, a safer environment, and individualized learning, then we will miss a golden opportunity. We have an opportunity to raise a generation of men that will turn the world upside down. We have an opportunity to invest in the lives of future visionaries, statesmen, churchmen, and family leaders. We must keep all of this in mind as we educate our sons. As we educate our sons, we must prepare them to serve Christ, to serve their wives and children, and to serve their community. And the Bible must be our guide. We Must Prepare Our Sons to Serve Christ The first and most important thing we can do in educating our sons is prepare them to strive for “First Commandment” living. Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:34-39 ESV). Thus, we must teach our sons to love the Lord first and foremost. Our job is not to raise sons who worship at the altar of education. Our job is to raise sons who worship and serve Jesus. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. First, we must teach the Bible. We must not assume that our children will learn and understand the Scriptures by osmosis. We must teach Bible as diligently as we teach math. Second, we must teach other subjects from a biblical perspective. It is not enough to have Bible class if that’s the only time God’s Word is referenced. We must demonstrate the supremacy of Christ in and over ever subject. Third, we must engage in family worship. In a sermon on family worship, Arthur Pink made this point well. Pink said, “If we would enjoy the blessing of God upon our family, then let its members gather together daily for praise and prayer.” We Must Prepare Our Sons to Serve Their Wives and Children Preparing our sons for college is incredibly shortsighted. College is a short-term proposition that, in the grand scheme of things, has very little bearing on a young man’s life. Moreover, the modern university has become so watered down that this is a low target at which to aim. The impact of a man’s college education pales in comparison to the impact his marriage has on his life. In light of this, we should spend much more time than we currently do preparing our sons to be husbands and fathers and to serve their wives and children. A man’s responsibility to serve his wife and children is an obligation the Bible outlines clearly. Paul reiterates this obligation explicitly on at least three occasions (see Ephesians 5:25-6:4; Colossians 3; and 1 Peter 3). The most explicit examples are found in Ephesians: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body” (Ephesians 5:25-30 ESV). After a thorough discussion of a husband’s duty to serve his wife in this way, Paul turns his attention to a man’s responsibility to his children. “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4 ESV). Some practical things we can do to prepare our sons for these critical tasks are: 1) teach them what the Bible says about the duty to which they will be called; 2) make sure they spend ample time being discipled by their father or another man (i.e., a pastor) if their father is absent; and 3) encourage them to think about their future, and any plans they make, with their role as husband and father in view. We Must Prepare Our Sons to Serve Their Community True manhood is selfless. We must raise sons who look beyond their own self-interest and serve those around them. My favorite example of this in the Bible is the life of Job. In an obscure passage toward the end of the book of Job, we find what I believe is one of the most captivating and inspiring depictions of godly manhood in the entire Bible. Job is explaining his life prior to his sudden and numerous calamities. He is telling his friends about the way princes and noblemen looked upon and respected him in days gone by. Men young and old revered Job, not because of his wealth, but because of his character and his service to others: “I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth” (Job 29:12-17 ESV). In all of our striving to raise “educated” sons, let us not forget these words. Let us not forget to raise our sons to serve Christ, to serve their wives and children, and to serve their community. If we do this, we will have truly moved beyond mere schooling. ***************************** OUR VENDORS’ REVIEWS OF THEIR COMPANIES AND PRODUCTS: inKLEINations Twenty-four years and 13 children later.... Currently from Portage, Wisconsin, we are Dave and Debbie Klein. We are excited to be at this year’s conference. Our family’s website, http://www.inkleinations.com/, is dedicated to sharing things the Lord has been teaching us through our 16 years of homeschooling our children (currently ages 20 and under). Our desire is to figure out how to apply our Lord’s instructions in Matthew 6:33 to all areas of our lives: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” It is our privilege to introduce you to some free materials which have blessed us: The Education of Kings The title for this compilation of essays is taken from God’s instruction to the future kings of Israel in Deuteronomy 17:18-20. We have not seen any other books on homeschooling like this one! The author, a veteran homeschooling father, makes many important observations, including: “People dedicate eight hours daily for 16 years of their lives, preparing for a profession and to earn money, and do not dedicate more than 10 minutes a day to the Bible—and during those few minutes, they do not treat the Bible as if it were as important as a telephone number, which has to be dialed exactly.” Available in paperback, .pdf and .mp3 audio (via our website). Highly recommended! How to Teach Your Child a Verse a Day This practical and insightful booklet may well start you on your path to spending more than 10 minutes a day in the Bible! It lays out convicting reasons for fathers to give the firstfruits of each day to the LORD in teaching their children a verse a day. A simple method is described and demonstrated, including many ideas for teaching your children and retaining what you have learned. The Modern Family Does Not Produce Laborers for God If that title grabs your attention, please come by our table and grab a copy! You will likely agree that in the case of families, “modern” does not have the usual positive connotation. God’s Word points us to a better plan! Wonderful Missionary Books Missionary biographies and stories are one of the best sources of true, uplifting literature outside the Bible. This booklet contains a wonderful excerpt to get you started, as well as a booklist. Ministerial Education Despite its somewhat dreary title, this booklet is packed with inspiring true stories of godly men whose credentials did not include Bible school...not unlike certain fishermen who turned the world upside down! If I Only Had One More Year to Teach My Children What really matters in teaching our children? This moving excerpt from Martyrs’ Mirror is taken from an actual letter written to the newborn daughter of Janneken Munstdorp, shortly before Janneken was martyred in 1573. A tender testimony from a young mother who made a final effort to obey Deuteronomy 6:6-7: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” The Unholy Trinity This booklet is a wakeup call for Christian parents in directing their children’s education. “Why is there a surplus of laborers for the gods of Art, Science and Technology, but there is a lack of laborers for the fields of the Lord?” What About Socialization? Read this true story which illustrates a facet to the age-old homeschooling question that many of us have never considered! Don’t Quit! Some important considerations for parents who are struggling to keep on keeping on in teaching their children. In addition to these titles, we have many more! Some are also available in Spanish; just ask. We hope they will provide challenge and encouragement to our fellow Christian parents. All materials are free. Lord willing, our family will be relocating to the St. Louis area in the coming year, so we hope to make many friends at this year’s conference. May the Lord bless and guide you as you seek Him and train your precious children in the way they should go! “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it!” 1 Thessalonians 5:24 FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS COLLEGE PREPARATION Jim and Karen Stobaugh have four home educated adult children. They have a strong burden for the new leadership group that God is calling forth from the homeschooling community. Jim has written one of the best resources for the SAT exam, SAT and College Preparation Course for the Christian Student as well as a Language Arts Critical Thinking literary series, American and World History unit studies, Fire That Burns But Does Not Consume: Devotions for Thoughtful Christians and A Companion to 50 Classics. Jim and Karen reside in Hollsopple, PA. For Such a Time as This College Preparation Resources is committed to preparing Christian young people to be twenty-first century world changers. In Daniel 1:17-21 we see that young Daniel is a prisoner. He also is the king’s most trusted advisor. Daniel is in Babylon—but he is no Babylonian. God is using Babylon to make Daniel more effective for Him. The college experience for many of our children represents a time of training in Babylon. It is a time to take a stand for Him in an alien culture. At the beginning of this new century, being an alien in a culture that is increasingly non-Christian is the lot that has fallen to many of our children. For Such a Time as This is committed to preparing this generation to be salt and light in a culture that is losing its Christian flavor. Dr. James Stobaugh, homeschooling father since 1985, is the president of For Such a Time as This Ministries. His education includes B.A., cum laude, Vanderbilt U., M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary, M.A., Rutgers University, Merrill Fellow, Harvard University, D. Min., Gordon Conwell Seminary. SAT Preparation Course for the Christian Student by James Stobaugh. A one, two, or three year SAT preparation course for the serious high school, college bound student. The SAT & College Preparation Course causes the student to build an extensive vocabulary, to improve study skills, and to increase reading skills. The primary purpose of this devotional format, literature-based course is to increase SAT scores while encouraging the student to grow in the Lord. With the substantial changes occurring in the 2005 SAT I, this preparation book, which is as much a “lifestyle change” as an academic course, will be no doubt one of the most important tools for the student as he prepares for the cognitive developmental 2005 exam that is more an IQ test than an achievement test. The “coaching resistant” 2005 SAT I will require a preparation that is more an empathic and spiritual preparation than it is an academic preparation. With four out of five colleges requiring the SAT I, the Christian will be well-served to undertake this inspiring preparation course. History Units The writing of history is each generation’s retelling its story. This is what these history units ask the student to do. The student looks at the sources and scholarship available and makes a decision concerning the past. He knows that the past is constantly changing according to new discoveries. These units insist that the student commit himself to the task of examining this new material and make a judgment call. “Every true history is contemporary history,” historians Gerald Grob and George Billias write. The student makes the theories of historical events personal and contemporary. In that sense, the student will himself rewrite history. In these units, at the same time, the student examines the worldviews that shape politics and policies in the last three centuries. Finally, the student is reminded that history that is most important is really made by men and women who obey God at all costs. These history units are unit studies. An encyclopedia or other reference book would be helpful to get a bigger picture. The units are designed to last from 2-3 weeks and approximately follow the same format. Each unit has a teacher’s help guide. This resource provides answers to all the questions and an optional test with test answers. Each history unit set is coordinated with Dr. Stobaugh’s literature series or any other literature-based curricula. Distance Learning Students may choose any of Dr. Stobaugh’s books, and he will grade their papers for that one course via distance learning. Students will choose a course of study and write requisite essays. Students will then e-mail their essays to Dr. Stobaugh for a letter grade or some other form of evaluation. Limit of 25 students. Since Dr. Stobaugh only accepts a limited number of students, there can be no refund. Skills for Literary Analysis As a student works in middle and high school and then prepares for college, these resources will be helpful additions to his library. The Skills for Literary Analysis courses are middle school or early high school courses. Even the most reluctant writer or gifted wordsmith will find these courses useful. These are skill-based courses, so you will need to complete the entire course. For Such a Time as This Workshop From 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. in Room 104, Dr. James Stobaugh will be presenting his workshop: SAT Preparation, College Admission, and Using For Such A Time as This Curriculum. In this workshop, Dr. Stobaugh will discuss strategies for college admission and will also demonstrate how to use his college preparation curricula. He will offer specific SAT/ACT preparation strategies as well as other information. Both parents and students will benefit from Dr. Stobaugh’s workshop. NORDSKOG PUBLISHING Nordskog entered the book publishing industry in 2006, specializing in Christian books in a new series of “meaty, tasty, and easily digestible theological offerings.” The primary mission of Nordskog Publishing is to enhance the spiritual growth and understanding of God’s Laws and truth through the Holy Scriptures, concentrating on moral and ethical books to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ and His kingdom principles. The Fear of God: A Forgotten Doctrine by Arnold L. Frank. In The Fear of God, Frank sets out to revitalize a doctrine that in times past has empowered and emboldened Christians to lead lives that distinguished them among their peers as godly, meaningful and productive. Early on Frank includes helpful definitions of the fear of God found in Puritan writings. The first discovery of the fear of God is found to be in Heaven. There the fear was not a fear of dread or terror but of a worshipful demonstration that is of the very nature of the fear of God. The fear of God is expected from all beings made in God’s image. The Battle of Lexington: A Sermon and Eyewitness Narrative by Rev. Jonas Clark, Pastor of the Church of Lexington. Have you ever wondered who fired “the shot heard round the world” that fateful morning of April 19, 1775? This book contains Jonas Clark’s sermon on the one-year anniversary and his eyewitness narrative of those events. There was no better-prepared place to inaugurate the first battle of the War for Independence than the little village of Lexington. It was to the congregation, educated by such a man, that Providence allowed to be entrusted the momentous events of April 19, events which were to decide the fate of a continent—that of civil liberty the world over. The church needs more pastors like Jonas Clark, who taught the great doctrines of salvation in Christ alone and the biblical right to resistance, which gave his congregation courage to stand in the face of great odds. God’s Ten Commandments: Yesterday, Today, Forever by Dr. Francis Nigel Lee. God gave man Ten Commandments. Every one of them is vital, in all ages. For only by observing them can man live a full life each week; maintain a happy marriage; and function well in his home, his job, and even in the world internationally. God Himself is the Root of the moral law and perfectly reflects it. Christ never broke God’s Law. He said that not one jot or tittle of it would ever fail until heaven and earth themselves pass away (Matthew 5:17–18). Also subsequently, all His apostles taught it. So, too, did the early church fathers, King Alfred, Luther, Calvin, and even the great jurist Sir William Blackstone. It is the very basis of the United States of America and also of every other common law nation in the world. Died He for Me: A Physician’s View of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ by Mark A. Marinella M.D., F.A.C.P. As a Christian physician, I have not only marveled at the spiritual ramifications of Christ’s death, but also the physical and physiological aspects. To present this, I have compiled a succinct overview of Jesus’ death from a physical and medical perspective that I hope both lay and medical people can appreciate and understand. A Whole New World: The Gospel According to Revelation by Greg Uttinger. Greg Uttinger’s book is refreshing for its brevity; it does not confuse the reader in the minutia of exposition. It demystifies Revelation by focusing the reader on the big picture. There are several views of Revelation that I believe are faithful to its message. Partial preterists, like Uttinger, believe much of the book was fulfilled by A.D. 70. Historicists believe the book represents the battle between Christ and Satan in the entire inter-advent period described sequentially. I follow the idealist view which also sees it as a description of the entire inter-advent period, though not viewed sequentially. All these positions are in agreement in seeing Jesus Christ as presently “the prince of the kings of the earth” (1:4). The blessing on those who read, hear, and keep the message of Revelation (1:3) was not referring to the academic or technical interpretation of the details of the book, but to its core message—that we serve the risen, victorious Lord of time and eternity. Uttinger’s book is faithful to that “Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1). —Mark R. Rushdoony, President, Chalcedon Foundation The Death Penalty on Trial: Taking a Life for a Life Taken by Dr. Ron Gleason, Ph.D. This book rigorously examines the controversy over the death penalty with clarity and cogency. After Gleason lays a thorough groundwork in history and law, he defines ethics philosophically and then presents the biblical mandate. Dr. Gleason identifies the governing Scriptures and illustrates them with commentary from the confessional statements of the historic reformed church and some of the foremost voices in the church today. Nourishment from the Word: Select Studies in Reformed Doctrine by Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. This book is for the serious Christian following the biblical encouragement to “be a good servant of Jesus Christ, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of sound doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:6). In a world of malnourished Christians, Gentry leads hungry believers to solid food so that they might grow in grace. He provides a banquet of nourishing entrees too seldom found on the menu of the modern evangelical church to help you grow in your understanding of the significance of creeds for framing the Christian faith, method for biblical apologetics, biblical warrant for six day creation, confessional endorsement of God’s Law, and basic meaning of the Book of Revelation. West Oversea: A Norse Saga of Mystery, Adventure and Faith by Lars Walker. Lars Walker’s third novel about the Vikings begins in the year 1001. King Olaf Trygvesson is dead, but his sister’s husband, Erling Skjalgsson, carries on his dream of a Christian Norway that preserves its traditional freedoms. Rather than do a dishonorable deed, Erling relinquishes his power and lands. He and his household board ships and sail west to find a new life with Leif Eriksson in Greenland. This voyage, though, will be longer and more dangerous than they ever imagined. It will take them to an unexplored country few Europeans had seen. Demonic forces will pursue them, but the greatest danger of all may be in a dark secret carried by Father Aillil, Erling’s Irish priest. LIVEMATHBOWL LiveMathBowl has a number of unique features that strongly supports homeschooled students. Self-paced AND 24/7 Support - Students are able to work through the curriculum at their own pace with immediate feedback and are assisted by an online support center—24 hours a day/7 days a week! Full Math Curriculum - Covers ALL aspects of Mathematic curriculum, and it contains MORE THAN 750 learning activities! Tailored to your child’s strengths and weaknesses - It’s adaptive, tailored questions based on the ability of the individual child. LiveMathBowl is a proven resource to improve average scores in Math. Fosters a stimulating & exciting online learning community - Access to live mental arithmetic challenges with students of a similar age & ability from all over the world! Recognition, Rewards & Reports - Hall of Fame & certificates recognize and reward student’s participation and achievement. Parents will receive a weekly email of student’s progress and monitor results via the dedicated parent centre. Create your OWN Avatar - Students can create their own individual avatar by selecting their hair style, facial features & even their outfit! Achieving high scores and certificates throughout LiveMathBowl will enable students to gain credits to get additional accessories and styles for their Avatar. LiveMathBowl provides programs for students in K-8. The Kindergarten Math Course has a total of 19 activities and covers the topics of sorting and naming shapes and objects, knowing numbers and patterns, measurement and money, and getting ready to add and subtract. The 8th grade math course includes 93 total curriculum activities and covers the topics of integers, rational numbers, exponents and square roots, ratio, proportion, percent, expressions and equations, geometry, measurement, data and probability and statistics, and coordinate geometry and inequalities. LiveMathBowl uses animation to make learning fun! They also offer a safe online community, so although your child may play other students, there is no communication with or between students. What a great feature! The game engine selects games based on your child’s skill level and competing children’s recent averages, so the games are as fair as possible. One game lasts 60 seconds during which the child has to answer as many questions correctly as possible while racing against the clock. Students are able to see their results immediately, and step-by-step animated support is also available to help your student with his/her mistakes—it’s like having a teacher 24 hours a day. Students find success with LiveMathBowl—over 200,000 children have more than doubled their online math scores. This is a site that truly helps your at-home mathematician. What are homeschooling parents and teachers saying about LiveMathBowl? “I love LiveMathBowl. My grandson uses it through his public school. He came to stay with us for three months a couple of years ago. Because LiveMathBowl is a computer based math program he was able to continue to work on his math while he was visiting. I was intrigued with the program and also his willingness to work on it while he was on vacation. I homeschool my youngest 4 children and decided to incorporate it into our curriculum. We are into our second year with LiveMathBowl and I am very impressed with it. Thank You LiveMathBowl!” -Georgina Kent, Providence, Utah “I am amazed at how even some of my low achievers in math are really taking to it and are showing improvement. They love the competition! Would you believe that they ask (beg in fact!) to stay in for recesses to work on it!”-Beth Buchanan, Springfield PS, Canada The annual subscription to LiveMathBowl is only $59. This provides children with 24 hours, 7 days a week access to LiveMathBowl for 12 months. There’s even an unconditional 10-day money back guarantee. Try www.LiveMathBowl.com and help your child succeed in math. Don’t let your kids fall behind in a critical skill! Like any other skill, ease with computers comes best with early exposure. And so MotherboardBooks.com offers materials to help your child or teen feel happy and comfortable bossing computers around. Expert parents are not required! In fact, you may benefit too! At the convention: Buy a curriculum and get a coupon for a free 60- or 100-page eBook, either Web Site ABC’s for teens and adults or Let’s Make a Web Page for elementary. A $19.95 value! See below. Also at the convention: Sign up for my Homeschool Support newsletter to get a free copy of the e-lesson The Internet Scavenger Hunt, teaching your teen how to do research on the Internet. Curriculums: For teens, ages 12 and up: Computer Science Pure and Simple Curriculum. Two self-study books and a MicroWorlds software disk cover two years of instruction. Teaches how to use spreadsheets, how to make Web pages, and how to program animations and games using MicroWorlds software that kids find easy and fun to use. Beth Clifford, Brodheadsville, PA: “I absolutely love this curriculum. It is very well-laid out for the student. Actually, this is perfect for anyone who wants to learn about computer science. The lessons are not childish at all, yet they are not over your head. (I’m talking over the parent’s heads because we all know that kids these days know so much more than we do when it comes to computers.) I am very thankful that she [Phyllis Wheeler] decided to share this curriculum with the homeschooling world.” Stephen Smith, age 15, working his way through Book 1: “I am a sophomore in high school, and this exciting program is my favorite subject in school!” For elementary, ages 8-12: Logo Adventures Curriculum. Self-study book and MicroWorlds software disk cover one year of instruction for younger kids, with plenty of creative projects, including a “board game” and an animated greeting card. Christine Michaud, Washington, DC: “We LOVE Logo (Adventures)... it has been a wonderful part of our homeschooling. I have been spreading the word among my homeschool friends, too, because it is an area where there is a need for ‘curriculum’ and most of us are not equipped to teach these skills.” Nora Huggins, Indialantic, Florida: “My son has so enjoyed Logo Adventures. I cannot get him to stop on most days. He is eating it up with much success. I love the fact that he can do this on his own since he is 11 years old. Thanks again for making learning fun!” eBook, ages 10-12: Let’s Make a Web Page, 60 pages, guiding you and your child through creating a Web page using free-trial-download software. Learn some HTML too. Use this book over and over to create more Web sites! Put it up just on your own computer or on the Web. Bethany LeBedz of Concord, NC: “Now you don’t have to be a computer expert or shell out big bucks for a class in order for your kids to learn how to make a Web page. It’s geared for ages eight through twelve, although it’s appropriate for older kids, too. My thirteen year old had a blast making her own Web page.” Kimberly Charron of Nova Scotia, Canada: “Not only did my son design a page, but interviewing and note-taking were part of the process, so it was a great overall learning exercise. He is very eager to do more.” eBook, teen and adult: Web Site ABC’s, 97 pages teaching you how to make Web sites using some basic HTML and free Web site creation software Nvu. Learn some Internet marketing and how to create and sell an eBook. Cindy Rushton: “Love the new eBook! Great job! I am sure that I will use this for years to come.” Cindy Prechtel: “My 14 year old, budding ecommerce-entrepreneur will be using information from your book to publish and market his first eBook. Web Site ABC’s isn’t just for novices either! Even though I already have an ecommerce business, I was able to glean valuable information about autoresponders and newsletters saving me $60 a year. Thanks Phyllis!” CHATFIELDS BOUTIQUE www.chatfieldsboutique.com Debbie Welcher started Chatfields Boutique, and she is proudly celebrating her first year of business. Chatfields Boutique features dresses with modest necklines and sleeves. As a Christian owned bridal shop, she felt led to honor God by helping women who choose modesty. In addition to the wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses, Chatfields has several lines of dresses for girls. These dresses are perfect for dances and special events. Everything from earwax to toe fungus! That’s what medical transcriptionist do. We transcribe (type) from dictation, interesting stories about people. There’s a huge demand for good medical transcriptionists. Work at home or in an office. There are no age restrictions, so it’s a great career for teens or adults. We would love to see you at our booth during the upcoming conference. We offer curriculum for training. We also contract with medical transcriptionists. You can work for us, from anywhere! The ARTistic Pursuits approach to teaching art is a welcome departure from typical art instruction books. This award winning homeschool art program meets the specific needs of homeschoolers at home. A variety of fun applications teach both the expressive and technical aspects of art while allowing children to make choices about what and how they will draw, paint, and sculpt. Assignments work within the stages of artistic development of children and guide them to mature artistic expression in the visual arts. This is the curriculum students ask to do. Written for homeschool or independent study, these books are so student friendly that anyone, experienced or novice, will feel comfortable producing original and expressive works of art. Parents do not need to know art in order to give their children a great art education with these books. Teachers easily adapt the books to the classroom or homeschool co-op situation. Using ARTistic Pursuits, parents and teachers know that students get a complete overview of the subject of art, written with order and clarity. ARTistic Pursuits reaches out to all children and young adults who want to learn, capturing their interests as they work from direct observation and personal preferences. Parents, teachers and students agree that this is the art curriculum they’ve been looking for! Our new book for Parents of Preschoolers is here, The Way They SEE It, A Book for Every Parent about the Art Children Make. Learn about the stages of development that children naturally progress through in their art and how you can introduce art concepts vital to visual learning, using real world examples. The book is filled with art lessons that you can use with your preschooler as well. Books at the K-3 level introduce Kindergarten, first, second, and third graders to the visual arts and view art through history. Colorful illustrations, art appreciation, and projects designed for young hands and minds delight students and appeal to their interests. Non-consumable. One set serves your entire family! 4-6 Grade, Junior High, and Senior High students learn technical skills while creating original works of art. Book One at each higher level provides an overview of drawing, covering the elements of art and composition. Book Two at each higher level provides an overview of color theory and composition. These books are non-consumable. Each set serves your entire family! Talk to Dan Ellis, artist and co-developer of ARTistic Pursuits, at the CHEF Conference. He’d love to show you how the books can work for your family and answer any questions you may have. While you’re there, take advantage of our show special: With any book purchase made at the CHEF Conference you get a FREE portfolio, one of those nifty large envelopes that artists store their finished work in or 15% off art supplies! We look forward to meeting you. You can learn more and view pages from each book at www.artisticpursuits.com. ***************************** BOOKS/SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS/GAMES/CURRICULUM AND SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES:
Based on 29 years of homeschooling and the hundreds of books that we have read over the years, Jon and I can emphatically state that the following books and DVDs are the most important materials you will ever use to teach your children God’s truth and providential working through history. In fact, the vast majority of our days are spent in reading, studying, discussing, and copying notes from these very materials. More than anything, other than the Bible, these materials have had the greatest impact on our lives, transforming the way we think and live. We are eternally grateful to God for instructing us with these books and hope that these resources bless your family as much as they have ours.
UPDATED 2009 ESSENTIAL BOOKLIST
I have our books chronologically placed on our shelves and thus took our booklist from this order last year; however, while placing a multitude of additional books on our list, I realized that several books were out of historical chronology and so ordered them accordingly. I am sorry if this caused any inconvenience last year. Many books have been added, so take a look. I keep thinking of books that I had forgotten to list that we had read and enjoyed. Essential Reading The Essential Arthur W. Pink Collection
By This Standard by Greg Bahnsen
The Institutes of Biblical Law by Rousas Rushdoony
Law and Liberty by Rousas Rushdoony
The Dominion Covenant by Gary North
The Sinfulness of Sin by Ralph Venning
The Mortification of Sin by John Owen
Penitent Pardoned by Christopher Love
The Character of an Upright Man by Richard Steele
The Great Gain of Godliness by Thomas Watson
Keeping the Heart by John Flavel
Gospel Worship by Jeremiah Burroughs
The Lord’s Supper by Thomas Doolittle
The True Believer by Jonathan Edwards
The Almost Christian Discovered by Matthew Mead
My Brother’s Keeper by James Alexander
The Crook in the Lot by Thomas Boston
Blood of the Moon by Dr. George Grant
The Deadliest Monster by Jeff Baldwin
Seven Men Who Rule the World from the Grave by Dave Breese
Safely Home by Tom Eldredge
The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum by Rousas Rushdoony
Always Ready by Greg Bahnsen
Essential Resources
1828 American Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster (This book contains a great biography on Webster)
Matthew Henry’s Bible Commentaries
Timetables of History by Bernard Grun
The History of the World B.C. and A.D. CDs or DVDs from Vision Forum
Meet the Puritans by Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson
The Gift of Music by Jane Smith and Betty Carlson
Music and Moments with the Masters by David and Shirley Quine
Music Masters CDs Essential Reading/DVDs for Studying the Reformation (The Reformation is the foundation of American government and America’s providential history; resources are given in chronological order for study.)
Sketches from Church History by S. M. Houghton
Morning Star of the Reformation by Andy Thomson
Ink on His Fingers by Louise Vernon
Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton
The Obedience of a Christian Man by William Tyndale
The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day by Scott O’Dell
The Great Christian Revolution by Otto Scott
A Heart Promptly Offered: The Revolutionary Leadership of John Calvin by David Hall
The Institutes of Christian Religion by John Calvin
The Mystery of Godliness by John Calvin
The Calvinistic Concept of Culture by Henry Van Til
The British Josiah: Edward IV by Dr. N.A. Woychuk
For Kirk and Covenant: The Stalwart Courage of John Knox by Douglas Wilson
St. Bartholomew’s Eve by G.A. Henty
Scots Worthies by John Howie
A Scottish Christian Heritage by Iain H. Murray
America’s Providential History by Stephen McDowell
The Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall and David Manuel
Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford
The American Covenant by Marshall Foster
Pilgrim’s Progress (unabridged) by John Bunyan
Isaac Watts: Father of English Hymnology by Dr. N.A. Woychuk
Glory and Honor: The Musical Artistic Legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach by Gregory Wilbur
Messiah: A New Look at the Composer, the Music and the Message by Dr. N.A. Woychuk
Jonathan Edwards by David Vaughan
The Forgotten Founding Father: The Heroic Legacy of George Whitefield by Stephen Mansfield
Political Sermons of the Founding Era edited by Ellis Sandoz (Liberty Fund)
The Making of George Washington by William Wilbur
The Bulletproof George Washington by David Barton
Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches, Volumes I, II, III by William Wirt Henry
Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor by Charles A. Goodrich
The Christian History of the American Revolution by Verna Hall
The Battle of Lexington: A Sermon and Eyewitness Narrative by Rev. Jonas Clark, Pastor of the Church of Lexington
George Washington’s Sacred Fire by Peter Lillback
The Bible and the Constitution of the United States of America by Verna Hall and Rosalie Slater
The Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America: Christian Self Government by Verna Hall
God and Government series by Gary DeMar
Introduction to Christianity, Law, and Culture DVD from Vision Forum Ministries
Institute on the Constitution-Uncovering the Foundations: The American View of Law and Government DVD by Dr. John Eidsmoe
Institute on the Constitution-A Study on Christianity and the Law of the Land DVD by Dr. John Eidsmoe
The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States by Benjamin Morris Essential Reading for Studying the Civil War The War Between the States: America’s Uncivil War by John Dwyer
Call of Duty: The Sterling Nobility of Robert E. Lee by J. Steven Wilkins
Life and Letters of Gen. Robert Edward Lee by Dr. J.W. Jones
All Things for Good: The Steadfast Fidelity of Stonewall Jackson by Steven Wilkins
Life and Campaigns of Lieutenant General Thomas Stonewall Jackson by Robert Lewis Dabney
Christ in the Camp by J. William Jones
A Girl’s Life in Virginia Before the War by Letitia Burwell
From Bull Run to Appomattox by Luther Hopkins Other Books for Your Study For the Temple by G.A. Henty
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
Medallion by Dawn Watkins
By Pike and Dyke by G.A. Henty
The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter
Resolute in the Face of Persecution by Robert Pollok
Crown and Covenant Trilogy by Douglas Bond
Faith and Freedom Trilogy by Douglas Bond
Mr. Pipes series by Douglas Bond
The Minute Boys of Lexington and the Minute Boys of Bunker Hill by Edward Stratemeyer
The Boys of ’76 by Charles Coffin
Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry
John Adams by David McCullough
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder Great Books for Boys The Holy War by John Bunyan
John Newton: The Angry Sailor by Kay Marshall Strom
Tiger and Tom and other Stories for Boys
A Friend in the Dark by Ruth Adams Knight
Hostage Lands by Douglas Bond
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Sergeant York and the Great War edited by Richard “Little Bear” Wheeler
Yonie Wondernose by Marguerite De Angeli
Billy and Blaze series by C.W. Anderson
Cowboy Pup by Carole Etow
Cache Lake Country by John Rowlands
The American Boy’s Handy Book by Daniel Beard
Tan Your Hide by Phyllis Hobson
The Handbook of Knots by Des Pawson
Back to Basics Reader’s Digest Building with Stone by Charles McRaven Great Books for Girls The King’s Daughter and Other Stories for Girls
Letters to a Daughter by William Sprague
Grandma’s Attic series by Arleta Richardson
Hind’s Feet for High Places by Hannah Hurnard
Milly Molly Mandy by Joyce Lankester Brisley Great Books for Children The Millers books: Wisdom and the Millers, Storytime with the Millers, Prudence and the Millers
You Are My I Love You by Maryann Cusimano
The Cozy Book by Mary Ann Hoberman
All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan
The Little Country Town by Jandelyn Southwell
Brambly Hedge books by Jill Barklem
Minnikin, Midgie, and Moppet by Adelaide Holl
The Year at Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provensen
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
In the Garden: Who’s Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George
Oddhopper Opera by Kurt Cyrus
Autumn: Poems, Songs, Prayers
North Country Night by Daniel San Souci
The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader Creation Jonathan Park audio CDs Great Cooking Books Victoria at Table with Family and Friends: Treasured Recipes for Memorable Meals
Victoria Sweet Baking
The Gift of Southern Cooking by Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis Great Health Book The Maker’s Diet by Jordan Rubin
Great Garden Books
Great Garden Companions by Sally Jean Cunningham
The Chef’s Garden by Terence Conran
Let It Rot! by Stu Campbell
The Practical Rock and Water Garden by Peter Robinson Recommended Websites for Those Books You Cannot Find at the Conference Lamplighter Books for the Family Melody
The Lamplighter
A Peep Behind the Scenes
Sir Knight of the Splendid Way
Titus: A Comrade of the Cross
Christie’s Old Organ
Clean Your Boots, Sir?
Tom Watkin’s Mistake
A Hedge of Thorns
Basket of Flowers
Amy and Her Brothers
Rosa of Linden Castle
The Inheritance
Mary Jones and Her Bible
Boys of Grit SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS Doorposts Character Book
Patch the Pirate CDs
Men of Science, Men of God
Moody science videos
Jonathon Park Creation CDs
Christian Liberty Press Nature Readers
Dover Coloring/Sticker/Paper Doll Books (These are great books for children to color while you are reading about the particular subject: Medieval Castles, Cathedrals, Colonial, Early American Trades, American Revolution, Lewis & Clark, Civil War, Cowboys, Old-fashioned Farm Life… The sticker books are great for Science: Birds, Flowers, Forest Animals, Frogs and Toads, Insects, Horses, Reptiles, Solar System…)
Draw Write Now
Hide ‘em in Your Heart scripture memory CDs
Nature’s Workshop Plus (we have personally enjoyed most of the following): coonskin hats, powder horn, suede vest kit, suede leather moccasins kit, leather pouch kit, rabbit fur pouch, pocket knives, compass, rifles, Birdsong Identiflyer, binoculars, birdhouse construction book, beginning birdwatcher’s book, bird sticker book, bird feeders, magnifying glasses, ant farm, frog hatchery kit, butterfly net, insect mounts, insect sticker book, insect books, nature readers, nature coloring books, eco journals, nature games, field guides, rocks/minerals, weather books/kits, science kits, microscopes, lab equipment, Apologia curriculum, Moody science videos, paint by number books, paper making kit, wood project kits, woodburner/woodburning pattern books, character books, readers, coloring books, mazes, puzzles, stencil books… GAMES Our Favorite Family Games
Around the World in 80 Days
Axis and Allies
Bosworth
King’s Cribbage
Oltre Mare
Othello
Parcheesi
Pit
Risk
Royal Hearts
Rummikub
Sequence
Star Wars Epic Duels
Stratego
The Farming Game
Ticket to Ride
Traverse
America
Great States
Mad Dash
Made for Trade (Colonial America)
Oval Office
Snapshots Across America
Cutest Game Ever
Peter Rabbit’s Paths and Burrows
Games with Friends
Pictionary
Scattergories
Taboo
Gardening
The Garden Game
Geography
10 Days in USA
10 Days in USA
10 Days in Europe
10 Days in Africa
10 Days in Asia Name That Country Horses
Herd Your Horses Spelling
Spill and Spell
Scrabble
Wordigo (fast paced Scrabble)
Version of Bridge
Abridged
CURRICULUM AND SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES
The following is given to new homeschoolers to help give them some direction. Because we used very little curriculum, I can only endorse A Beka and Bob Jones from my personal experience. However, the other materials that I have listed come highly recommended from other homeschooling parents whom I respect.
Traditional Textbook Approach
A Beka-especially phonics, consumable math workbooks, history
Bob Jones-especially readers, spelling, language
Christian Liberty Press Unit Study Approach KONOS: All subjects point character traits using the Do, Discover, Drama, Dialogue, and Drill method, but at some point you must teach history chronologically.
Weaver: Weaves the academics around scriptures; comprehensive, multi level, color-coded grade levels. Independent Study Approach Accelerated Christian Education (ACE)
Alpha Omega
Computer Approach
Alpha Omega’s Switched-On Schoolhouse
Very Popular
Apologia Science
Easy Grammar
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Learning Language Arts Through Literature
Math-U-See
My Father’s World Curriculum
Sing, Spell, Read and Write
Spelling Power
Foreign Language
Audio Forum
The Learnables
Reading for Dyslexia
Writing Road to Reading
Accelerated Distance Learning
Accelerated Distance Learning by Brad Voeller College Without Compromise by Scott and Kris Wightman www.collegeplus.org
Writing Helps for Left Handed Writers
Jon and Candy Summers share:
Christian Home Educators Fellowship—Faithfully honoring God and serving homeschooling families for the past 25 years
This email includes the following: 1. CHEF Conference and Curriculum Fair 2. Special Opportunities 3. There’s No Place Like Home May 2009 Newsletter 4. Covenantal Families/God and Government, Part 5
CHEF CONFERENCE AND CURRICULUM FAIR: 25th Anniversary of Advancing God’s Kingdom Through Family Discipleship
This year marks CHEF’s 25th year of dedication to equipping parents to train up their children in the admonition of the Lord. Thanks to all of you who have supported the CHEF conference during these past 25 years. God has blessed our faithful partnership to effectively advance God’s kingdom.
25th Annual CHEF Conference and Curriculum Fair Tuesday and Wednesday, June 23 and 24, 2009 St. Charles Convention Center, One Convention Center Plaza, St. Charles, MO 63303
Since Candy and I believe it is so important for our children—the next generation of homeschoolers—to glean from the wisdom of our godly speakers, we have reduced the price for families to attend. Children are $10 each up to just 2 children, and then the 3rd or more children are free. Also, the Curriculum Fair Only has been reduced to just $15 per family for a two-day pass. Our prices for couples and individuals have remained the same. Preregistration cost for couples is $45 ($55 at the door). Preregistration cost for individuals is $30 ($40 at the door). Please continue to pray for CHEF, that we are able to meet our conference expenses this year.
Please note: In our last CHEF email, we said the Curriculum Fair Only has been reduced to just $15 per family for a three-day pass. This should have read two-day pass. Also, we included “Conference Evaluations from Past Years.” However, it should have read, “Conference Evaluations from Last Year.” Please forgive these errors.
Cindy Wiggers in unable to make it to the conference to teach the vendor workshop “See How Easily You Can Make Learning Come Alive!” from 10:00-11:00 in Room 104 on Tuesday, June 23. Cindy’s daughter-in-law will be teaching the following workshop instead at this same time. How to Teach Geography in a Way That Has Your Kids Asking for More Ashley (Strayer) Wiggers, Geography Matters Are you encountering geography in your everyday life experiences? You can, and we’ll show you how! Knowing geography’s 5 themes will help you make this topic come alive in your daily learning activities. Discover creative ways to incorporate games, simple mapping assignments, atlases and almanacs. Kids love these kinds of hands-on projects and will want to learn more about the geography of our world. Ashley (Strayer) Wiggers grew up in the early days of the homeschooling movement taught by parents, Greg and Debbie Strayer, who are authors of numerous homeschooling materials. Ashley recently retired from a 10-year career as a national champion synchronized swimmer, is a swim instructor at the YMCA, and coaches the Pulaski County High School swim team. In her “spare” time, she speaks at homeschool seminars across the country, edits a monthly online newsletter for Geography Matters, and has written Profiles from History, which will be available in spring of 2009. Ashley makes her home in Somerset, KY with her husband, Alex, and their faithful Golden Retriever, Mandy.
OUR SPEAKERS ARE ADVOCATES OF DISCIPLESHIP
As our next Covenantal Families/God and Government lesson deals with covenantal discipleship, we thought it would be good to emphasize the fact that Candy and I strive to secure speakers that advocate biblical discipleship. In keeping with our goal, consider the following facts about our upcoming speakers and the importance of passing on God’s vision to your children by having other godly men reiterate this vision to your children. How exciting it is for Candy and me to see God moving in the hearts and minds of His people to turn the hearts of the fathers back to his children and the children back to their fathers, so as to make a people ready for the Lord. Dr. Voddie Baucham has authored The Ever Loving Truth and Family Driven Faith. Voddie views education as an essential aspect of discipleship (Luke 6:40) and has seen firsthand the dangers of surrendering this crucial ground. Therefore, not only is he an advocate and exponent of home education, but also is committed to educating his five children. Voddie also currently serves as pastor of a family integrated church, in which he has committed that nothing he does will interfere with the parents’ role to disciple their children. Doug Phillip’s father personally discipled Doug for much of his life, taking Doug with him around the country. His father faithfully read both Old and New Testament to him at the dinner table, taught him constitutional law, public policy, and communicated to Doug a remarkable passion for history. They listened together to more than 2,000 audiocassettes on history, books, and theology. Doug then came to realize that the greatest witness a man could offer for Jesus Christ was not what he knew, but how he lived his life as a father and a husband. It was at this time that God began to build a vision in Doug’s life for seeing the restoration of biblical manhood, godly femininity, and the Christian home. Doug is the founder of The Vision Forum, devoted to producing books and tapes to help build up Christian families. He is also the founder of Vision Forum Ministries designed to communicate a vision for the restoration of the Christian family and the rebuilding of culture for the glory of God. Much of Doug’s time is spent teaching with the hope to spur on Christian manhood and sacrificial fatherhood, and to see dads turn their hearts to their wives and children. Therefore, Doug is a committed homeschooling father to his own eight children, and as one of the shepherds at Boerne Christian Assembly, boldly proclaims biblical discipleship. Norm Wakefield homeschooled his own children and is now participating in the education of his grandchildren. Norm’s ministry was established with the purpose of building up the local church by equipping and training men to be the spiritual leaders of their families. His messages encourage family relationships while preparing the next generation for life and eternity. Andrew Pudewa is a homeschooling father of seven. Dr. Tommy Mitchell’s message concentrates on the truth of the authority of God’s Word beginning with the book of Genesis—the first book of the Covenant. Ruth Smith ministers to preserve America’s Providential Covenantal history and to restore American Christian education in which she has published, among other things, Basic Steps for Homeschooling with the Principle Approach. She is now assisting in the homeschooling of her eight grandchildren. Jeanette Whittaker homeschools her own children while also teaching on the Principle Approach to American Christian Education. Tom and Debra Ritter, parents of 25 children, homeschool their children as Tom leads the family with a vision for whole-family living. This includes owning and operating several family businesses in which all of the children have a role.
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SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES: Greetings from Sharon Jeffus and Visual Manna. Here is a wonderful FREE newsletter with lots of art lessons. I know you will love it. Let us know if you want to be on our list to get one every three months. http://www.scholarsquare.com/app/file/qEdO0FAAcx7/Visual%20Manna%20Newsletter:%20April-June%202009.pdf. We also have a new Artsy Animals Newsletter for younger students: http://www.scholarsquare.com/Visual%20Manna%27s%20-%20Artsy%20Animals%20Newsletter%20Apr-May-Jun.pdf We are very excited about our live Internet workshops offered through the TCRC (through Visual Manna), Curriculum Click and Cindy Rushton. Take art from the comfort of your home. We teach not only art vocabulary, techniques and appreciation, but tie it in to core subjects as well. Do you want to know how to use a computer and do graphic design, computer art and animation and even video production? We have a two part workshop for $25. We will send CD with software included plus PH fee. We will offer this workshop twice each day on Monday, April 27 and Tuesday, April 28. You can choose morning or afternoon. We are also offering it on Monday, May 4 and Tuesday, May 5. We have added a complete unit study program to our big curriculum, and our younger student complete curriculum is the Artsy Animals program. All our books have corresponding workshops. We can even do one live for your support group if you have access to computers or a computer lab. We are offering support groups the opportunity of presenting the “Picturing America” art series. I have been given a grant for the pictures, and I have taught these paintings many times in public school and for homeschool students. I’ll offer 4 art projects: a charcoal drawing, a watercolor painting, a sculpture and a pastel picture (techniques) to go along with the picture series. Cost is $20 for each student for supplies. You can call me and let me know if you would like to arrange this. The series is very beautifully done and gives an excellent study of American history and art. Please go to visualmanna.com and see our new products and workshops! We are offering a 20% discount on our CDs and all Artsy Animal books. Enjoy the newsletters, and we hope to hear from you! Call 1-888-275-7309 or write us at Visual Manna, P.O. Box 553, Salem, MO 65560.
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THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME MAY 2009 NEWSLETTER:
Candy wanted me to relay to all of you that she is so sorry that she had not been able to get this newsletter finished and out to you sooner, but her dad was in the hospital for a week, which required much time back and forth each day and also caring for her mother in our home. Then after just a few days of caring for his needs when he returned home, Josiah, Sonia, and Candy became ill. Candy was actually in bed for five days, running a temperature of 103º to 106º. Thankfully, she is on the mend, but now Josiah and Sonia are back in bed. So Candy has not had time to finish the newsletter as she hoped.
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COVENANTAL FAMILIES/CHILDREN—GOD’S TOOL FOR DOMINION, PART 5
We first titled the God and Government classes as such because we intended on using Gary DeMar’s God and Government books mostly while interspersing our own teaching materials from the Covenantal Families That Are about Their Father’s Business workshop that we gave at last year’s conference. However, what has transpired is that we are mostly using our own teaching materials from last year’s workshop; thus, we have titled them accordingly. Hope that this has not caused any confusion. The following is the fifth lesson in the series of lessons that Candy and I are presenting in our Covenantal Families/God and Government classes. I gave this particular lesson which although was for both fathers and mothers, it was specifically a charge to fathers. Let me just take a moment to encourage the mothers. If you are not sharing these lessons with your husbands and encouraging them to teach these to your children, you are doing a disservice to your family, for these are designed to help equip fathers to disciple their families. Certainly, however, if your husband is not willing to teach your children, I would encourage you to use these lessons with your children, but continue to pray diligently that God place His Spirit in your husband so that he is able to lead as God commands. Fathers, I am greatly distressed when I look at ourselves and realize how miserably we have failed at discipling our children. We have lost our vision and our moorings. Men, it is not enough to work hard to provide for our family’s physical needs. Although it is our duty to provide for our family, let me reiterate that making money is not the most important thing. As a matter of fact, if we do not turn our hearts back to God and return to His design for our lives, we will not possess liberty to spend the money we work so hard to acquire. I believe, along with many other leaders in the homeschooling movement, that if we do not get our priorities in line with God’s Word—that means our homes in order—we will not last another generation. Consequently, our children will either bow down in submission to a tyrannical government or die confessing Christ. The only way to change the course that is unfolding before our eyes is to lay down our lives before God and set the course according to His Word. Are you going to commit your life to serving Christ? That does not mean going to church once or twice a week and having a quiet time every morning. In just a few short years, your children will have children of their own. Fathers, how are you preparing your sons for their most important role in life? Fathers, quit being so selfish. These are crucial times. STAND UP AND BE MEN! Unfortunately, our own fathers dropped the ball. I learned the importance of my role as father and how to lead and how to disciple my children late in life—after I had children of my own. But thankfully God drew my heart to Him and gave me that understanding shortly after I had children. However, we must do better, fathers, much better than that for our own sons. We know differently, and we must be diligent in discipling our children when we rise up and when we walk along the way and when we lie down. Will your children remember you walking with them? Will they remember quite clearly all the time you spent discipling them? Will they in fact remember that there was not a time when you were not discipling them? For God will require an account of our time, every minute in fact. He will demand an answer to “Where wast thou?” (Job 38:3,4). So let us gird up our loins and act like men of God, who know their God and follow Him with a willing heart and a willing mind! God tells us in Matthew 13:45,46 that “the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” What is your most valuable possession? Consider that one of your children might spend eternity damned. I do not want to be like Eli whose family was wrenched out from underneath him because of his sin of negligence. How short is our vision, men? When I talk of my children and when I disciple my children, I am doing it for future generations. What are you doing today in training your children for their role as parents? Titus 1:6-9 sets the course for all men that they be “above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion… as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.” Titus 2:7,8 “In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.” What the world admires, we had better flee. Our responsibility is to seek out God’s revelation of what we are supposed to be. I want to be like Abraham, who 400 years from now will possess a multitude of descendants whom God is still leading. Is God putting in your heart the desire for godly children, or is your vision from here to the wall: “I can’t wait to leave this room so that I can do my own thing?” Philippians 3:7,8 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” What is consuming your life? When you wake up, what do you think? Do you think, “What can I do to please myself today?” How are you training your children? Men, we must concentrate on these thoughts each and every day because they do not come naturally to us. We must look to eternity, for “…the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Men, the things that we naturally strive for are not going to last. Hear me, not one of them is going to last. You need to grasp hold of that truth. Grab hold of the things that are not seen. For whatever you grab hold of will surely be your god and will either take you to heaven or to hell. What I see are fathers grabbing hold of the temporal and not the eternal. God help us! Where are our hearts, men? Are they on our families and our training of them? Where is your sacrifice for your children? Do you understand how I grieve over the fathers I talk with who do not study the Bible, who do not study doctrine, who do not study history, who do not read anything, not even their Bibles; who allow their wives to homeschool their children but have not given it a second thought after once giving their approval; fathers who do not disciple their children throughout the day, who don’t even read the Bible with them each day and pray with them. We are in a crisis where our children are not going to survive if we do not change. Are you like Eli who says, “Well, if it is God’s will, so be it”? If we do not turn our hearts from ourselves and back to our children, we will most assuredly perish, and rightly so. One way or another we are leading our family by example. We are either giving our children the example of selfishness or of sacrificial serving. What are you doing with your life? You cannot just tell your children what they should do, you must set the example. Paul did not just teach—his life set the example—of sacrifice and servitude. If you are only professing with your lips but not living by example and being a doer of the Word, your heart is far from Him, and you are going to hell. The crisis is not out there somewhere in America; the crisis is right here in our hearts. Therefore, it is imperative that we move speedily! Flee from selfishness. Daily examine your heart and your actions. Pray that God give you the desire to do what is right. Our duty is to learn what God expects of us and put His commands into practice and pass them on to our own sons. God’s Law demands total commitment and total obedience; anything less is apostasy. So exactly where are we today? We are on the Omaha beach with a sheer wall before us. Men, it takes men to take the wall, for we are engaged in a life and death struggle. The bombs are coming right at us, so we must move forward as one. And as those fall beside us, we must close ranks and continue to move forward. If we fail to make the climb, but just stand on the beach, we are doomed; therefore, we must take the wall! It is not about, “Should I eat popcorn or peanuts when I watch the football game?” It is not about, “Will I take this son to his baseball game or this son to his soccer game?” We have been relaxing for the last 100 years. Our fathers’ fathers dropped the ball. It is our responsibility to pick up that ball and charge down the court with that ball. It is our responsibility to train our children that our children’s children know God’s Word. It was not just Abraham that God commanded to train up his children, but the children after him. When we go to Deuteronomy, we see the faithfulness of covenantal living reaping blessings, while infidelity reaps curses.
A.As discussed earlier, family is the foundation of dominion. As marriage is the first covenant God makes with man and the very foundation of taking dominion of the earth for God’s glory, it is for the purpose of filling the earth with His glory, and thus covenantal families are the means by which He uses to continue that covenant. As such, the first command He gave to Adam and Eve was to fill the earth. Let us remember, too, that the first component of a covenant is transcendence meaning “independent of this world, existing above and apart from the material world.” It is divine in that it is established by God. In this sense, we must realize that it is not of ourselves that we bring forth children, but it is God who gives children to us. Furthermore, let us gratefully acknowledge God’s goodness to us by blessing us with offspring. 1.Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” 2.Genesis 4:1 “Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, ‘I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.’” 3.Psalm 139:13 “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.” 4.Isaiah 44:2,24 “Thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb…” 5.Job 31:15 “Did not He who made me in the womb make him, and the same one fashion us in the womb?” 6.Jeremiah 1:4,5 “Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.’” 7.Psalm 127:3 “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; the fruit of the womb is a reward.” 8.Genesis 29:31 “Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” 9.Genesis 30:22 “Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb.” 10.Genesis 16:2 “So Sarai said to Abram, ‘Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children…’” 11.Ruth 4:12 “…through the offspring which the LORD will give you by this young woman.” 12.1 Samuel 1 “Now there was a certain man…Elkanah…He had two wives…Hannah and…Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children…the LORD had closed her womb. Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb…She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. She made a vow and said, ‘O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.’…the LORD remembered her. It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I have asked him of the LORD.’…Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh, although the child was young…and brought the boy to Eli. She said… ‘For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition, which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.’”
B.Children are essential to the preservation of the covenant for taking dominion of the earth for the LORD; thus, we must maintain a multigenerational vision. For we are not to be shortsighted, but we are to remain faithful to our responsibility that our children’s children will know the Law of the Lord and dwell in the preservation therein. Just as God chose Abraham to command his children to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness, so, too, are we, as heirs of Abraham according to the promise, to command our children to keep the way of the LORD. Certainly we are seeking a godly posterity, like arrows in the hand of a warrior for the destruction of paganism and everything raised up against the knowledge of God. 1.Genesis 18:19 “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” 2.Galatians 3:29 “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” 3.Malachi 2:15 “…And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring…” 4.Isaiah 65:23 “They will not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they are offspring of those blessed by the LORD and their descendants with them.” 5.Isaiah 65:9 “I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and an heir of My mountains from Judah; even My chosen ones shall inherit it, and My servants will dwell there.” 6.Psalm 127:3-5 “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.” a.When we see parents abdicating their duty to raise up godly warriors, we often comment, “What we could accomplish with that many children.” More children means more hands and feet to serve the entire family in taking dominion for God. Children are an inestimable asset and tremendous blessing!
C.Children, then, are an essential tool for prospering the Church. Ultimately, it was Christ that bruised the serpent on the head, but as He is the head of the church, so, too, we as members of His Church Body take dominion of the earth for Christ through His church. 1.Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”
This includes taking physical dominion of the land. Consider that when God commanded His children to take physical dominion of the land of Canaan by disposing the evil inhabitants, by populating it, cultivating and keeping it, there were 600,000 men to conquer those pagans. 1.Genesis 12:1,7 “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you’…’to your descendants I will give this land…’” 2.Genesis 15:18 “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.’” 3.Exodus 23:31 “I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.” 4.Joshua 21:44 “And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand.” 5.Deuteronomy 1:8,10,11 “See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them.…The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you just as He has promised you!”
OUR COVENANTAL DUTY
A.Another component of the covenant is ethical—a system of moral standards which comprise God’s commands and prohibitions; and promise of permanence or continuity, that bond between God the Father and His children, whereas covenant keepers constituted His legitimate heirs; covenant breakers were illegitimate, and therefore, disinherited. For God created the institution of family to be one of continuity accordingly based on family member’s faithfulness to His covenant. Faithfulness, then, is the very spirit of the covenant. Consequently, covenant keepers are rewarded with blessing, while covenant breakers are punished with cursing. Therefore, because of Adam’s unfaithfulness to His Father’s law, Adam was disinherited and driven out of the garden. And as such, when Cain killed Abel, he, too, was disinherited and driven from his family, again, because he broke the family covenant. And as we see throughout scripture, only those who are faithful to God obtain legitimacy to receive a reward established by an inheritance; subsequently, those who are unfaithful and rebel against God’s laws are disinherited and driven away from God’s presence. Thus as biblical continuity is based on the covenant, so inheritance is based on the covenant, and not on blood. The continuity of this is clearly seen in the reward of heaven and the punishment of hell. All men come from God, yet not all men are His children because of the covenant of grace. Those who, by grace, keep His law, receive their reward in heaven just as those who break His law, and thus the covenant, receive their just recompense of condemnation to everlasting punishment in hell. Furthermore, when we realize that our purpose is to glorify God and fill His earth with His glory, we realize the importance of giving the inheritance only to those who will faithfully execute their roles to fill the earth with His glory. Just consider the import of this law and the efficacious effect this would bring in promoting the gospel. If Christian parents, instead of idolizing their rebellious sons and daughters, would in obedience to God, give God’s provision to godly offspring, who in turn would use it to glorify God, God’s kingdom would greatly increase. Personally, we teach our children that they will receive a monetary inheritance from us and a spiritual inheritance from their heavenly Father only if they remain obedient. As we demonstrated earlier, the Puritans clearly understood this law, that the earth belonged to God’s legitimate heirs and thus determined and labored to claim their rightful inheritance. 1.Genesis 3:23,24 “Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.” 2.Genesis 4:8-16 “…Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ And he said, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’ He said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.’ Cain said to the LORD, ‘My punishment is too great to bear! Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth’…Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD…” 3.Ephesians 6:1-3 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.” 4.1 Corinthians 15:50 “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” 5.Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” 6.1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, not thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” 7.Hebrews 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” 8.Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.” 9.Romans 2:5-11 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” 10.2 Corinthians 11:12-15 “But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” 11.Revelation 21:7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” 12.Colossians 1:9-12 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” 13.Acts 20:32 “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” 14.1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 15.2 Corinthians 6:14-18 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ says the Lord Almighty.” 16.Leviticus 26 “You shall not make for yourselves idols…You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the LORD. If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce…I shall also grant peace in the land…you will chase your enemies…So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you….Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you…I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.” 17.Deuteronomy 7:9,12,13 “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments….Then it shall come about because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb…”
B.Several weeks ago I taught on Joseph, who when seduced by Potiphar’s wife, said, “How can I sin against God?” God’s Law was not written down yet, so how did Joseph know God’s Law? His father and his father’s father were faithful to pass it on from one generation to the next generation. Joseph knew what God required of him because of his father’s father and his father’s diligent instruction! As Abraham’s heirs, we, too, are responsible for passing down and training up our children in the Law of the LORD! So as it is the sacred duty of each generation to train up the next generation for serving the Lord. God, throughout His entire Word, points us to the Hebrew method of parental discipleship. First, by the very essence of God’s triune Being, that of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, by God personally instructing His children, Adam and Eve, commanding them to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth, to subdue the earth, and keep the garden. God the Father also personally instructed His children Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses… And then He dwelt among His children in the wilderness. God redeemed the Israelites by purchasing them with the atoning blood of the Passover lamb. He took them as His people to be their God and led them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. And He fed them with manna from heaven and quenched their thirst with water from a rock. This is true for us as well! God has redeemed us by purchasing us from our bondage of sin with the atoning blood of Christ—our Passover Lamb. He creates us, gives us life through the atonement of His Son, leads us, feeds us with the Living Bread of Life, and satisfies our thirst with rivers of living water. God is truly our Father and we, His sons and daughters. 1.Leviticus 26:11,12 “Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.” 2.Deuteronomy 23:14 “Since the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore, your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.” 3.Exodus 4:22,23 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”‘” 4.Exodus 13:18,21 “Hence God led the people…The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.” 5.Deuteronomy 8:2-5 “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you…He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna…Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.” 6.2 Samuel 7:8,14 “Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts… “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men.”‘” 7.Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O LORD, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand.” 8.Matthew 5:16,45 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven…so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven…” 9.Matthew 6:31-33 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ …for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” 10.2 Corinthians 6:16 “…I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
C.This father/son relationship is also clearly displayed in Christ’s relationship with His Father. 1.John 4:34 “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.’” 2.John 5:19,20,30,36 “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing…I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me…But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.” 3.John 8:28,38 “So Jesus said, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me….I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.’” 4.John 10:25,38 “Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.…but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.’” 5.John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.” 6.John 14 “…believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places…I go to prepare a place for you…I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also…He who has seen Me has seen the Father…Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me…I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son…I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper…He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him…the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me…I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I…so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.” 7.John 15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit…As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me…My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit…Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you…If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love…all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you…He who hates Me hates My Father also…they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.” 8.John 16 “…I am going to Him who sent Me…All things that the Father has are Mine… I came forth from the Father…I am leaving the world again, and going to the Father.” 9.John 17 “Jesus spoke these things, and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do…I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them…I come to You Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me…I have given them Your word…Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world…even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.’” 10.Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.’”
Does God say to Christ that when He turned 18, He did not have to listen to His Father anymore? No! Christ, as a man in His 30’s, said that He came to do the will of His Father and that He could do nothing apart from His Father. Remember—Not my will, but Thine be done?
Jesus gives us a clear example of the son’s relationship to the father. As Christians, are we not to be Christlike? How are you doing, fathers? Are you being obedient to your Father? Not my will, Father, but Thine be done! Are you sacrificing your desires so that when you lie down, when you rise up, and when you walk along the way you are training your children? Teach them; tell them! Teach them; tell them! Teach them; tell them! You are to teach your children so that 8 generations from now, your children’s children will be teaching their children the truth you taught them.
Remember the Rechabites! Jeremiah 35:1-10;18,19 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ‘Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.’ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites, and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. Then I set before the men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them, ‘Drink wine!’ But they said, ‘We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, “You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but in tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.” We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; and we do not have vineyard or field or seed. We have only dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.’…Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands and done according to all that he commanded you; therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me always.’”‘”
Can you imagine where your children will be standing 300-400 years from now? I weep at our lack of understanding! I weep at our sorrowful state of negligence. It takes a lot of sacrifice to turn from our wicked ways and diligently seek the narrow path, but don’t we want to raise up godly nations? I want to raise up a nation of godly Summers so that 400 years from now, my posterity will be standing strong in the Lord in the promised land. What do you want? And are you willing to sacrifice for it? Get down on your knees and repent. Tell God that you want to be like the Rechabites. Beseech God to give you that strength.
D.The significance of the father/son relationship is also exemplified in Christ’s relationship with His disciples, for He walked with them, instructed them, explained everything to them, commanded them, warned them, encouraged them, rebuked them, ate with them, provided food for them, slept with them, and taught them how to pray. He even called them His children, as indeed He also calls those who are His. 1.Mark 10:24 “The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!’” 2.John 21:5 “So Jesus said to them [his disciples], ‘Children, you do not have any fish, do you?’ They answered Him, ‘No.’” 3.John 13:33 “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’” 4.John 11:51,52 “Now he [Caiaphas] did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” 5.John 1:12,13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” 6.Hebrews 2:13 “…Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” 7.Ephesians 5:1,8 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children…for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light.” 8.Philippians 2:14,15 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.” 9.1 John 3:1,2 “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are…Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” 10.1 John 3:10 “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”
E.Our Hebrew forefathers understood their covenantal duty to train up their children to make ready a people for the Lord, and so must we. Noah Webster defines covenant as “a mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons, to do or to forbear some act or thing; a contract. In theology, the covenant of works is that implied in the commands, prohibitions, and promises of God; the promise of God to man, that man’s perfect obedience should entitle him to happiness. This do, and live; that do, and die. The covenant of redemption is the mutual agreement between the Father and Son, respecting the redemption of sinners by Christ. The covenant of grace is that by which God engages to bestow salvation on man, upon the condition that men shall believe in Christ and yield obedience to the terms of the gospel. In church affairs, a solemn agreement between the members of a church that they will walk together according to the precepts of the gospel, in brotherly affection.”
The Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible defines covenant as “compact, agreement, an association between two parties with various responsibilities, benefits, and penalties, ‘to cut a covenant’ is ‘make a covenant,’ a figure of the act to ceremonially cutting an animal into two parts, with an implication of serious consequences for not fulfilling the covenant.” Covenants are serious!
So what is our covenantal duty? 1.Psalm 78:1,2,5-8 “Listen, O my people, to my instruction; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth…For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God.”
F.Noah Webster defines heart as “the seat of the understanding; the seat of the will.” He defines faithful as “firm in adherence to the truth and to the duties of religion. Firmly adhering to duty…Constant in the performance of duties…exact in attending to commands; as a faithful servant.”
G.Now let us look at how God defines a faithful servant. 1.Luke 12:37-47 “Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves…And the Lord said, ‘Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes…But if the slave says in his heart, “My master will be a long time in coming,”…the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master’s will, and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes.’”
H. So what does God require of us? Everything! 1.Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.” 2.Deuteronomy 11:19 “You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
Remember the bulldog, Churchill? Remember his charge, men? We will never give up! We will fight on the land and fight on the seas, and fight in the air. We will never give up! WE SHALL NEVER GIVE UP! He gave the people a hope against all apparent odds; he was a visionary leader. Fathers, it appears that all odds are against us, but we fail to understand God’s sovereignty if we look at our circumstances with that despairing perspective. For we possess the one and only mighty God who will heal our land if we fall upon our faces and repent of our selfish sins, and turn our hearts back to Him and our families. We must be bulldogs—visionary leaders who lead our own families and other families in the narrow way. This is the vision that we need to give to our children that we will never give up. We will go forward and take the wall. We will rebuild the ancient foundation. We will take dominion of our families, of our churches, of our communities, and of our country for the glory of God.
I.Who is to instruct children? Fathers and mothers! God always refers to fathers and mothers as the instructors of their children. The Book of Proverbs is a book of instruction to make one wise, a tool for fathers and mothers to pass on God’s principles to the next generation. 1.Proverbs 1 “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: to know wisdom and instruction…to receive instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice and equity…to the youth knowledge and discretion, a wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel…the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching…” a. The Book of Proverbs handed down God’s principles to the next generation. 2.Proverbs 2 “My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding…If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity...And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you, to deliver you from the way of evil…” 3.Proverbs 3 “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you….Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil….How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding…Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor…She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast…My son, let them not vanish from your sight; keep sound wisdom and discretion, so they will be life to your soul…Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble…The wise will inherit honor, but fools display dishonor.” 4.Proverbs 4 “Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding, for I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my instruction. When I was a son to my father, tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, then he taught me and said to me, ‘Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments and live; acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth…Hear, my son, accept my sayings and the years of your life will be many. I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; and if you run, you will not stumble. Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life…My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life…” 5.Proverbs 5 “My son, give attention to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding; that you may observe discretion and your lips may reserve knowledge…” 6.Proverbs 6 “…My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother; bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life….” 7.Proverbs 7 “My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart…Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words of my mouth…” 8.Proverbs 8:32,33 “Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways. Heed instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.” 9.Proverbs 10:1 “A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother.” 10.Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” 11.Proverbs 13:1 “A wise son accepts his father’s discipline…” 12.Proverbs 14:26,27 “In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, and his children will have refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death.” 13.Proverbs 15:5,20 “A fool rejects his father’s discipline, but he who regards reproof is sensible…A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother.” 14.Proverbs 17:25 “A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.” 15.Proverbs 19:13,18,20,27 “A foolish son is destruction to his father…Discipline your son while there is hope, and do not desire his death….Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days…Cease listening, my son, to discipline, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.” 16.Proverbs 23:15,16,19,22,24-26 “My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart also will be glad; and my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right…Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way…Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old…The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who sires a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her rejoice who gave birth to you. Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways.” 17.Proverbs 27:11 “Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may reply to him who reproaches me.” 18.Proverbs 28:7 “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.” 19.Proverbs 29:3 “A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad…”
FAITHFULNESS
A.When God speaks of leaving an inheritance to our children, He is not just referring to a monetary inheritance, but to a spiritual inheritance as well. Fathers, pay heed to the importance of leaving a spiritual inheritance to your children. 1. Proverbs 13:22 “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children…”
B.Jonathan Edwards, though long passed from this earth, still speaks, as his posterity is a living testimony to their father’s faithfulness. “Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) is not only the greatest of all American theologians and philosophers but the greatest of our pre-19th century writers as well. So writes Randall Stewart in his book American Literature and Christian Doctrine. An investigation was made of 1,394 known descendants of Jonathan Edwards of which 13 became college presidents, 65 college professors, 3 United States senators, 30 judges, 100 lawyers, 60 physicians, 75 army and navy officers, 100 preachers and missionaries, 60 authors of prominence, one a vice-president of the United States, 80 became public officials in other capacities, 295 college graduates, among whom were governors of states and ministers to foreign countries.” (Portrait of a Revival Preacher by Leonard Ravenhill) 1.Hebrews 11:4 “…he being dead yet speaketh…”
C.When we talk about heritage, we talk about building on the shoulders of great men who have gone before us. I so often hear men say that they do not read about the men of the past. How foolish! I want to see His story in action of how God strengthened the men who gave up their lives in the fire, that while burning preached for God’s glory. We have a great cloud of witnesses that God has graciously preserved for our instruction. Men, it is foolish to cast that wisdom aside when God continually commands us to remember. Only fools despise wisdom and instruction.
HOME: FIRST SPHERE OF GOVERNMENT
A.Home, then, is the first sphere of government where parents lay the foundation of self-government, family government, church government, and civil government. Therefore, our duty is to teach God’s law—God’s tools for dominion. 1.Deuteronomy 6:1-9 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly…You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” 2.Acts 20:27 “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.” 3.Galatians 3:24 “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.”
B.Considering our background, it is amazing to me that from the beginning of Candy’s and my homeschooling journey that God put it on my heart and that of my wife’s to walk according to His statutes and to raise our family in the admonition of the LORD, so that we have been in lockstep from the beginning. I cannot impress upon you enough, men, the importance of leading your families according to God’s Law, where you lead and your wife helps you in that leading. Fathers and mothers must walk, and talk, and act as one. This applies to leading, discipling, and disciplining, to the extent that when my children were younger, they knew that if their mother disciplined them for anything while I was away from home, that they would also be disciplined by me when I returned home.
C.If men do not take hold of leadership, homeschooling will be gone in a generation. Fathers, you must lead; mothers, you must stand with your husbands where they lead. Fathers, you must disciple; mothers, you must stand with your husbands as they disciple. Fathers, you must discipline; mothers, you must stand with your husbands as they discipline. Fathers and mothers, you must stand together and operate as one. This means governing yourselves first and foremost. God does not say if you feel like it on Tuesday, you can go and prune the trees. Man’s purpose is to glorify God, and so all men will bring glory to God one way or another. That means that we can either glorify God as Pharaoh did or as Paul glorified Him. God will be glorified regardless, either in our commission of righteousness or in His judgment for our omission of righteousness.
D.Grumbling and complaining? God says count all for joy whether it seems good to you or whether it makes you happy or not, so that you glorify Him in all circumstances. As parents lay down the foundation of all these spheres of government in their homes, your acts of commission and omission will either strengthen all three governments or destroy them. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. God’s Word is like that chain—you weaken its strength when you compromise in any one area. You cannot knock one out without destroying the whole. Therefore, your word should be law in your home—God’s Law—not to glorify yourself but God. So we must integrate the whole of God’s Word into everything that we say and do.
So let me reiterate the importance of Deuteronomy 6:1-9: “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly…You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
We are to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might and to teach God’s Law to our children every moment of our waking hours. If you say, “I cannot do that. I have to…” What is it that is keeping you from loving God and keeping His Word with all your might?
E.Are you striving for a godly life? I constantly pray for my wife and children because I know that they could be gone in an instant. I pray for you, too, that you understand your responsibility and what you have in your family because life is but a vapor. I am ashamed of opportunities I have missed. Yet when I come home my children greet me and kiss me and ask me how my day was. Even my 21-year-old daughter and my 19-year-old son kiss me and treat me like a king. God gives back the days the locusts have eaten. We are not inherently good but inherently wicked and selfish, men; therefore, we must live with the conviction of striving for godliness. If you want your posterity to be like the Rechabites, you must strive to be like Jonadab where God’s Word is His Law. We either stand on God’s Word or fall on God’s Word. We are either covenant keepers or covenant breakers; there is no in between. It is either all or nothing. Remember Jonathan Edwards was a covenant keeper, and what that faithfulness produced. Just think what God could do with our small body of homeschoolers, if we were all faithful to keep His covenant. I cannot imagine what the fruit of this will be 20 to 30 years from now.
F.Is your family life one of destruction? We do not have to be obviously wicked to wind up that way. We can be like the Pharisees—white on the outside while empty and wicked on the inside. God’s Law is not a pleading; it demands that we obey. God is a loving and merciful Holy Father, not some Santa Claus that L U V’s us so much that he winks at our sins. He hates sin. He hates my sin. He hates your sin. He hates all sin.
Let’s read Deuteronomy 6 again. Deuteronomy 6:1-9: “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly…You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Do you think God is serious about us teaching our children? To do this according to God’s Law, it takes fathers walking and talking and discipling their children. Our happiness ultimately depends on our submission to His perfect divine purpose for our lives, for everything is divinely ordained and divinely judged. 1.Revelation 2:10 “…Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
G.Heir means “the man who succeeds, or is to succeed…one who inherits or takes possession.” What will our heirs take possession of from us? 1.Isaiah 61 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners…so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Then they will rebuild…the desolations of many generations… For I, the LORD…will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Then their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed. I will rejoice greatly in the LORD…for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness…For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the LORD God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” 2. Proverbs 2:1-13 “My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things; from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness.”
To do this, fathers must walk with their children. God has raised us up for such a time as this, to pass on God’s Law and God’s vision for taking dominion for His glory! Just in the last 25 years of homeschooling, God has done great things in strengthening us in bringing up our children covenantally.
Mothers, I have been concentrating on the fathers because it is imperative that they turn their hearts back to their families and lead as God intended. When Eve took the apple, the sin rested squarely on Adam’s shoulders because he was head of the household. Men must take the lead, but the part you play is significant as well, for as the saying goes, “The one who rocks the cradle rules the world.” But isn’t it a blessing that God placed an order to His government: God over husbands, husbands over wives, parents over children. Praise God. And isn’t it wonderful that God has drawn us and put it into our hearts to raise our children according to His design to give them a spiritual inheritance that will last for all eternity?
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THINKING BIBLICALLY STRAIGHT IN A WICKEDLY CROOKED WORLD
This is a great news piece for fathers to discuss with their children at the dinner table to show how perverted men’s thinking is when not anchored in Christ. Taken from the Ferguson Times: “There recently was the death of a 98-year-old lady named Irena Sendler. During WWII, Irena got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a plumbing/sewer specialist. She had an ulterior motive. She knew what the Nazis’ plans were for the Jews (being German). Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of her toolbox she carried, and she also carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack (for larger kids). She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered the kids’/infants’ noise. During her time and course of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazis broke both her legs and arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her backyard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived, and reunited the family. Most, of course, had been gassed. Those kids she helped were placed into foster family homes or adopted. Last year Irena was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize…….She LOST. Al Gore won for doing a slide show on global warming.” Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Isaiah 29:13-14 “Then the Lord said, ‘Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.’”
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SWINE FLU
Candy and I think it is absolutely preposterous that so much is being made about the swine flu—as if it is a pandemic when it is not. Every year 36,000 people die from influenza in America; of course, most of them are elderly and children. So why would the swine flu get so much notoriety? Fear causes many people to do things that they would not do otherwise, like get a flu shot. Think of the money that is to be made during such a panic. And think of how it conditions people to look to their government for protection. Diane Drinkard sent us an article from Dr. Mercola’s site, www.mercola.com entitled “Critical Alert: The Swine Flu Pandemic-Fact or Fiction.” Candy and I have always been opposed to vaccines, especially flu vaccines. We think that Dr. Mercola offers very good advice on why flu vaccines should be avoided. Please also read Government and the Flu: A Short History by William Anderson. The rest of the newsletter is what Candy wrote before she became ill. Again, she wanted me to relay to you that she is sorry that she was not able to write more this month.
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ECONOMY
Webster defines economy as “primarily, the management, regulation and government of a family or the concerns of a household…a frugal and judicious use of money… that management which expends money to advantage, and incurs no waste…a prudent management of all the means by which property is saved or accumulated; a judicious application of time, of labor, and of the instruments of labor.” Family, then, is the most fundamental economic unit and the most powerful economic force on the earth. It is our duty to manage God’s gift of time, labor, and materials with the greatest of care. For the past ten days, I had been totally preoccupied with taking care of my parents. My father had been in the hospital again, this time for seven days, while my mother stayed with us. After my father had returned home, I had been busy with picking up prescriptions, talking to nurses and the doctor, securing the items he needed at home, doing his laundry, and tending to his physical care. Josiah had been sick for three days, so since I had not been able to spend much time taking care of him, after breakfast, I began the morning spending quality time with him, reading, playing games, and rubbing his back. Not knowing what the days ahead would hold, when Josiah went down for a nap, I determined to prepare some meals to have on hand. I knew I had the remains of a ham in the refrigerator that needed to be finished off, so I set to cutting the last of the edible pieces off the bone. I also knew that I had some onions that had sprouted, so since we had just picked up dozens of eggs from the farmer, I knew I had enough to make quiches, enough for dinner and then for one of our breakfasts. Sonia usually has pie dough in the freezer and some in the refrigerator, so I asked her to get the pie dough ready for the quiches and then to start making strawberry pies—since we had two cartons in the refrigerator that had to be used, one for tonight and one for tomorrow night—and then to get the other crust ready for some rhubarb I had just picked from the garden. The rhubarb custard pie would be for breakfast in the morning. Just the quiches, salad, and strawberry pie would not be enough for Jon and Jedidiah who had worked hard all day, so since we had quite a few mushrooms left from our vegetable co-op, I decided to make stuffed mushrooms to go with the quiches. Some of the ham pieces I placed in quiches with the eggs and onion sprouts, while the other tidbits went into some lentils I made for Monday’s lunch. I had Josiah cut the hambone with a hacksaw so it would fit in my pot of lentils. When I make salsa, I pour off the tomato juice and reserve it for adding to soup or such. Since I had just made salsa to go with chips and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch today, I decided to make some spaghetti sauce so I could use that juice. Then I remembered I had some stale pieces of bread in the bread drawer and some hamburger I had thawed, so I decided to make two large meatloaves, one for dinner and the other for lunches—as the boys love meatloaf sandwiches. After placing milk on the bread to soften, I added it to the meat, along with chopped onions from the sprouted onions, eggs, Lea & Perrins, salt and pepper. I then topped it with ketchup. Since I used the last of the ketchup, not to waste the last that clung to the bottle, I filled the bottle one-third full of hot water, shook the bottle, and poured that around the meatloaves. I had some leftover mashed potatoes left from the weekend, so I made some cream of potato soup for another lunch. Leftover strawberries, pineapple, and a wrinkled apple became smoothies. We had rolled oats for breakfast, so the leftover oats I made into oatmeal/cherry cookies. Since I had not been able to spend much time with Sonia this past week, when I was done cooking, I sat down with her and went through some of our Victoria magazine. Even though we had the new issue for awhile, Sonia and I wait to look at it until we can both sit down together, then I read the articles aloud while she looks on. We discuss the decorations and ideas, decide what we want to make note of and highlight those things. It is so pleasurable to savor such beauty together. After I spent time with her, I then sat down to work on the conference, and then started to finish this newsletter. Managing our time, resources, labor, family, and household is essential for a well ordered household—doing that which is best for our family, which in turn glorifies God.
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IN THE GARDEN
Regardless of what vegetables I intend to plant in my beds, early each spring I plant onion sets in each of our garden beds, placing them every sixteen inches apart. They go in early enough so by the time Sonia and I are ready to plant other seeds or plants, they are peeking above the soil to let me know where I planted them, and because we have left plenty of space between each onion, they do not pose any space problems regardless of what we decide to plant. Furthermore, by the time any vegetable reaches a size that would overshadow the onion, the onions are ready to pick. While attending an organic gardening class, Diane Drinkard learned that most straw is heavily sprayed with pesticides, making it quite unsuitable for an organic vegetable bed. When I went to our farmer for meat and eggs this last time, I told him what I had discovered and asked him if he sprayed his straw. He told me that big wheat farmers spray their wheat to keep out the onions that would otherwise greatly reduce the price they get for their wheat. He does not spray his wheat because he feeds it to his livestock. So for those of you who use straw in your gardens, there are sources that have pesticide-free straw.
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SIGNATURE TOUCHES
From intoxicating Sweet Williams to faintly scented violets, spring allows us the luxury of adorning our homes with a profusion of colorful blossoms. Jon and the children have picked bouquets of viburnum, Sweet William, phlox, azalea, redbud, violets, and other wildflowers for me, which I have placed in vases around the house, placing them on our bathroom vanity, bedroom side table, on the sink where we work, on our worktable, and on the living and dining room tables. When the first of the daffodils began to bud, I brought out all my bunnies, silk flowers, spring fabric, hatboxes, painted pots, colored eggs, and baskets to dress my house in its spring attire. Although I always hate to take down our Christmas decorations, I must admit that it is always a pleasure to put up the adorable spring bunnies. Who wouldn’t love them as they pop out of hatboxes, baskets, and garden pots! When my children were young, they would always giggle while they made over my adorable arrangements of decorations, and even now, smile as they tell me how pretty the new decorations look. These are some of the precious memories that mothers impress upon their families—that of a loving, thoughtful mother, who created in the image of the Creator, used her gifting to create a heaven on earth. |
