In this battle for the minds and souls of our children, it's helpful for us to examine what a good public education should be. With over 85 % of America's children educated in public schools, the philosophy of education determines what our country becomes. Do we really like what we see in our country today? The morally debased and depraved world that we see in the t.v., movies, music, and social media is the product of what has been taught in our secular schools for several generations now. It's the "new normal." Although mature adults avoid most of it, it's the daily diet and total world for most young people now. The Common Core/College and Career Readiness curriculum cements the secular education with the goal of low level job training in a global system. Our children deserve better. Much better.
What is the real purpose of a public education? William Samuel Johnson, president of Columbia University, said to the first graduating class after the War for Independence:
You have...received a public education, the purpose whereof hath been to qualify you the better to serve your Creator and your country...Your first great duties...are those you owe to Heaven, to your Creator and Redeemer. Let these be ever present to your minds and exemplified in your lives and conduct.
Imprint deep upon your minds the principles of piety toward God, and a reverence and fear of His holy name. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and its consummation is everlasting felicity...Remember, too, that you are the redeemed of the Lord, that you are bought with a price, even the inestimable price of the precious blood of the Son of God. Adore Jehovah, therefore, as your God and you Judge. Love, fear, and serve Him as your Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Acquaint yourselves with Him in His Word and holy ordinances.
Make Him your friend and protector and your felicity is secured both here and hereafter. And with respect to particular duties to Him, it is your happiness that you are well assured that he best serves his Maker, who does most good to his country and to mankind.
The knowledge of God and His Word was the foundation of education that unleashed the genius of mankind to the world - that with less than 5% of the world's population, the United States created over 95% of the world's wealth with freedom and opportunity for all! Now THAT was good public education!
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Saturday, February 1, 2014
"What We Don't Know..."
"What we don't know, we don't appreciate. What we don't appreciate, we discard," wrote St. Augustine many years ago, but is still quite true today. In fact, he could have been describing present day America. The State of the Union Address this past week is a good example of that.
At the time of the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, Americans knew that the legislative branch of government was to be dominant over the other two branches. Whether the U.S. Constitution should be ratified was hotly debated throughout the country, and there was no lack of knowledge about it. The Federalist Papers, written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, were published to encourage ratification and the Anti-Federalists were just as vocal, with Patrick Henry as one of the leading spokesman.
The leading Federalists assured Americans that the power of government would be limited and separated into three distinct parts, with each branch able to restrain the other two branches. A further assurance was that the Representatives of the People and the States would be more powerful than the Chief Executive and the Supreme Court Justices. (Americans were a little "king" shy, having just come out from under the tyrannical rule of King George III.) As stated in Federalist Paper # 48, written by Madison, "The legislative department derives a superiority in our government...its' constitutional powers more extensive and less susceptible of precise limits...
The departments are listed in the Constitution in their order of power, Article I Legislative, Article II Executive, Article III Judicial. The Legislative Branch being listed first and is by far the longest of the three, because "We the People" give them more authority and responsibility.
After the Constitution was ratified by the states, President George Washington searched the District of Columbia for the highest hill in the area to place the Capitol Building, where the peoples' representatives would make the laws. He located a hill 88 feet high - known as "Capitol Hill" today. President Washington chose the highest place to indicate that the highest authority was "the People". "Here, Sir, the People rule!" spoke Federalist author Alexander Hamilton.
Back to the dismal State of the Union Address from last week, I don't think the President or most of Congress have this knowledge- it hasn't been taught in many years. It obviously wasn't appreciated and was discarded.
At the time of the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, Americans knew that the legislative branch of government was to be dominant over the other two branches. Whether the U.S. Constitution should be ratified was hotly debated throughout the country, and there was no lack of knowledge about it. The Federalist Papers, written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, were published to encourage ratification and the Anti-Federalists were just as vocal, with Patrick Henry as one of the leading spokesman.
The leading Federalists assured Americans that the power of government would be limited and separated into three distinct parts, with each branch able to restrain the other two branches. A further assurance was that the Representatives of the People and the States would be more powerful than the Chief Executive and the Supreme Court Justices. (Americans were a little "king" shy, having just come out from under the tyrannical rule of King George III.) As stated in Federalist Paper # 48, written by Madison, "The legislative department derives a superiority in our government...its' constitutional powers more extensive and less susceptible of precise limits...
The departments are listed in the Constitution in their order of power, Article I Legislative, Article II Executive, Article III Judicial. The Legislative Branch being listed first and is by far the longest of the three, because "We the People" give them more authority and responsibility.
After the Constitution was ratified by the states, President George Washington searched the District of Columbia for the highest hill in the area to place the Capitol Building, where the peoples' representatives would make the laws. He located a hill 88 feet high - known as "Capitol Hill" today. President Washington chose the highest place to indicate that the highest authority was "the People". "Here, Sir, the People rule!" spoke Federalist author Alexander Hamilton.
Back to the dismal State of the Union Address from last week, I don't think the President or most of Congress have this knowledge- it hasn't been taught in many years. It obviously wasn't appreciated and was discarded.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
"A Very Present Help in Trouble"
The bad weather has certainly brought many difficulties for large numbers of people here in the south ( and elsewhere), but I'm hearing tales of great heroism and acts of kindness to total strangers who found themselves stranded and in great distress because of the snow and icy conditions.
How uplifting and inspiring it is to see help coming in the midst of trouble! As human beings, our hearts are warmed and softened when we experience it, hear of it, or read about it. It's a God thing. Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." God's people love to give and help others because we are His hands and feet here on this earth. Whether it's handing out food to the hungry, trudging through the ice and snow for miles to bring your children home from school, or rescuing the stranded by helicopter, God's people are a very present help in trouble.
On a personal note, we lost power and had no heat for quite some time and it was really hard to get warm-especially without my morning coffee. We had plenty of invitations to warm houses and hot breakfasts, but we chose to stay and wait for the power to come on. The cold I endured was so worth it when my daughter brought a jug of hot coffee and built a roaring fire in the fireplace, and my son brought in freshly made rich onion soup! They were so glad to help us and be able to "do something" for us that made it almost a party!
So...I'm thinkin' there may be a pattern here, that regardless of what's going on in the circumstances we're facing, we can truly know, and God wants us to know, that He is a present help in trouble, and we can count on it.
How uplifting and inspiring it is to see help coming in the midst of trouble! As human beings, our hearts are warmed and softened when we experience it, hear of it, or read about it. It's a God thing. Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." God's people love to give and help others because we are His hands and feet here on this earth. Whether it's handing out food to the hungry, trudging through the ice and snow for miles to bring your children home from school, or rescuing the stranded by helicopter, God's people are a very present help in trouble.
On a personal note, we lost power and had no heat for quite some time and it was really hard to get warm-especially without my morning coffee. We had plenty of invitations to warm houses and hot breakfasts, but we chose to stay and wait for the power to come on. The cold I endured was so worth it when my daughter brought a jug of hot coffee and built a roaring fire in the fireplace, and my son brought in freshly made rich onion soup! They were so glad to help us and be able to "do something" for us that made it almost a party!
So...I'm thinkin' there may be a pattern here, that regardless of what's going on in the circumstances we're facing, we can truly know, and God wants us to know, that He is a present help in trouble, and we can count on it.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Learning To Love Our Country
Noah Webster, known as America's Schoolmaster, believed that learning to love one's country began at the time children began to walk and talk with stories-stories-stories! That would of course, necessitate the parents knowing and loving their country to be able to share about it with the little children. It would have to be a priority with the parents to spend a lot of time teaching their children, carefully selecting inspiring books to read to them, and taking them to historical sites when possible. Music and art could be explored and enjoyed to further enhance the experience of learning to love one's country.
During the early years of our great republic, learning was highly prized and eagerly sought after. Our literacy rate was very high because we were a Bible reading people who understood the necessity of teaching our children how to read at an early age. Americans knew that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, the beginning of wisdom," so it was essential for every individual to read the Bible for himself. In America's early years before our people became sophisticated, worldly and corrupt, the purpose of life was known to be not about pleasing oneself, but God. Harvard University's Rules and Precepts stated: "Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, John 17:3 and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning..." The story of America is the story of its' Bible believing, God loving people who achieved unparalleled success and upward mobility as a consequence of who they were and knowing what they were called to be.
Every Bible believing, Bible reading Christian still knows and understands this truth, but in the world and even the church world, it's not acknowledged or seems to be known. It as if almost everyone has bought into the idea that education is for the purpose of getting a good paying job or acquiring a prestigious profession/position with good benefits, etc...so if that's the case, what's the purpose of fostering the love of country and the founders of it? We've been going down this road a long time now and it would be difficult to change direction even if enough of us had the will to do it. But in the early years of our great republic, it was done and done well. We have the blueprint left to us - we are Americans. Our children are American children. They have a heritage, a great treasure to learn about, to love and to claim.
During the early years of our great republic, learning was highly prized and eagerly sought after. Our literacy rate was very high because we were a Bible reading people who understood the necessity of teaching our children how to read at an early age. Americans knew that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, the beginning of wisdom," so it was essential for every individual to read the Bible for himself. In America's early years before our people became sophisticated, worldly and corrupt, the purpose of life was known to be not about pleasing oneself, but God. Harvard University's Rules and Precepts stated: "Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, John 17:3 and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning..." The story of America is the story of its' Bible believing, God loving people who achieved unparalleled success and upward mobility as a consequence of who they were and knowing what they were called to be.
Every Bible believing, Bible reading Christian still knows and understands this truth, but in the world and even the church world, it's not acknowledged or seems to be known. It as if almost everyone has bought into the idea that education is for the purpose of getting a good paying job or acquiring a prestigious profession/position with good benefits, etc...so if that's the case, what's the purpose of fostering the love of country and the founders of it? We've been going down this road a long time now and it would be difficult to change direction even if enough of us had the will to do it. But in the early years of our great republic, it was done and done well. We have the blueprint left to us - we are Americans. Our children are American children. They have a heritage, a great treasure to learn about, to love and to claim.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
"Take Away A Peoples' Heritage..."
For several days now I've been brooding over some disturbing news I was recently given. I've known for quite some time that our country's glorious heritage has been hidden for some 60 plus years now-almost a century, I suspect. I know how it was done, why it was done, and by whom it was done. But I won't go into that now except to say that it was planned and executed by enemies of God and freedom.
A lovely librarian/journalism teacher/grandmother told me about her brilliant granddaughter in her 3rd year of college who is not required to take any history courses. She had graduated high school at the top of her class and was highly intelligent and articulate. They were together over the 4th of July, so the grandmother decided to do a little pop quiz about the holiday being celebrated. She was terribly disappointed and alarmed to discover that her very smart granddaughter knew absolutely nothing about it or the Declaration of Independence and its' signers, etc.! Nothing about the history of her own country!
"Take away a peoples' heritage and they are easily persuaded," wrote Karl Marx, the father of modern communism, who plotted and planned a takeover of the world, and left it to the progressives, leftists, and fellow socialists/communists to execute his plan.
I believe that we are quite far along into that plan now and although I still have a glimmer of hope for the restoration of our foundational principles, I'm concerned that most of the effort taking place is just the application of band aids to the wounds, and the treatment of symptoms rather than getting to the cause.
Do I think I know what will really help restore our principles to rebuild/restore our foundation? Yes, I think I know a part of it, and I'll be writing about it real soon.
A lovely librarian/journalism teacher/grandmother told me about her brilliant granddaughter in her 3rd year of college who is not required to take any history courses. She had graduated high school at the top of her class and was highly intelligent and articulate. They were together over the 4th of July, so the grandmother decided to do a little pop quiz about the holiday being celebrated. She was terribly disappointed and alarmed to discover that her very smart granddaughter knew absolutely nothing about it or the Declaration of Independence and its' signers, etc.! Nothing about the history of her own country!
"Take away a peoples' heritage and they are easily persuaded," wrote Karl Marx, the father of modern communism, who plotted and planned a takeover of the world, and left it to the progressives, leftists, and fellow socialists/communists to execute his plan.
I believe that we are quite far along into that plan now and although I still have a glimmer of hope for the restoration of our foundational principles, I'm concerned that most of the effort taking place is just the application of band aids to the wounds, and the treatment of symptoms rather than getting to the cause.
Do I think I know what will really help restore our principles to rebuild/restore our foundation? Yes, I think I know a part of it, and I'll be writing about it real soon.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
A Little Boy's Prayer
"Please dear Lord, keep all the football players safe and if they get hurt, help them, Lord, and help them play their best. All the basketball players, too, Lord." Jack had been at the Dothan Classic High School Basketball Tournament the night before, where he had seen the very best basketball players-ever! And of course last night was the spectacular Texas A&M vs. Duke game where he cheered his lungs out for Texas and Johnny Football.
This is a boy who always has a ball in his hand and is mesmerized by any ball game being played. He talked to his Lord about what was on his heart and what was important to him. He thanked God for family and the Christmas holidays, but he definitely was in earnest praying for all the athletes. Praying from the heart.
This is a boy who always has a ball in his hand and is mesmerized by any ball game being played. He talked to his Lord about what was on his heart and what was important to him. He thanked God for family and the Christmas holidays, but he definitely was in earnest praying for all the athletes. Praying from the heart.
New!
New! We're starting a new year, based on the Gregorian Calendar or Christian Calendar from the 16th century. Pope Gregory XIII improved the Julian Calendar and the Western world has been using it ever since, with it being the basis for the international standard, as well.
Cool-very cool. And no matter how much anti-God talk and action being demonstrated in the world today, everyone acknowledges the Christian world view of time, Anno Domini-In the Year of Our Lord, 2014, for everything in life! (Of course the Muslims have their own dating system for their personal habits of Jihad etc., but still acknowledge the Christian Calendar in global trade, business, etc.)
So we're starting an exciting brand new year! We've never been this way before! It's new! It's unlike any year has ever been before or will be again. So this new year is an opportunity to pursue our hopes and dreams that are, hopefully, the Lord's hopes and dreams for us. It's a new opportunity to be faithful to God's call on our lives, in this Year of Our Lord, 2014.
Happy New Year!
Cool-very cool. And no matter how much anti-God talk and action being demonstrated in the world today, everyone acknowledges the Christian world view of time, Anno Domini-In the Year of Our Lord, 2014, for everything in life! (Of course the Muslims have their own dating system for their personal habits of Jihad etc., but still acknowledge the Christian Calendar in global trade, business, etc.)
So we're starting an exciting brand new year! We've never been this way before! It's new! It's unlike any year has ever been before or will be again. So this new year is an opportunity to pursue our hopes and dreams that are, hopefully, the Lord's hopes and dreams for us. It's a new opportunity to be faithful to God's call on our lives, in this Year of Our Lord, 2014.
Happy New Year!
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