| | 
"Sincerity isn't enough to save you; it's possible to be sincere and still be sincerely wrong."
"...If any of us get anything right in this life, it is because of the grace of Jesus Christ. It is because God is making us into the image of His Son. There is nothing we can do, no formula or teaching we can follow that will ensure we "get it right". There is only the Person and example of Jesus. As the scripture says "Let him who boast, boast in the Lord". Whoever you are, whatever you believe, any good in your life comes only from living Jesus. And the evil? The evil comes from trying to follow and find life in anything else..."
"...One of the things about abusers, especially really smart abusers is that they ARE going to make their control and manipulation look as close to "normal" as possible. They want their abuse to confuse the victim, but they also want their behavior to look so good that others WILL question the victim's assessment. So there will always be others who really believe that a victim is being too harsh or extreme or exaggerating what she's suffered, calling too much abuse that really looks like normal behavior to outsiders."
more here.
I've had a few people write and ask why I've linked the following blog. "Are you against homeschooling? large families? patriarchy? ministries that teach the above? what about all the "good families" that follow these movements..."
Let me reply ~ if you are wondering, then the above blog I linked has not been read from an open heart, and through a filter of your own preconceived feelings. I believe these questions are irrelative. I have a large family, I homeschool, and I believe that my husband is to be and is the head of our household.
The quote "good families" that I know do not follow a movement, lift up a man, portray a perfect family image, but rather, follow Christ and love their children and others out of their love for Jesus Christ. Some are public schooling families, some Christian school families, and some homeschooling families too.
The common denominator in these families that I know is not how they school their children, whether they have a certain number of children, or any other issue, but completely the common factor is that Jesus Christ has transformed their lives and their first and foremost desire in the life of their family is to love Him and the fruit of that is coming out in the lives of their children, both grown adult children and ones still at home.
If any of us get anything right in this life, it is because of the grace of Jesus Christ ~ it is certainly not because of anything else. No type of schooling, ministry, movement, man/woman, etc. It is because of Jesus. It is that simple.
I would like to discourage man-worship. Ministry worship. Movement worship. All are failure to honor and worship God. Not only failure, but a sin against Him. It is denying God as God.
My husband and I were talking about this the other night - we began to think about the times that we have gotten off base as a couple (and are still paying the consequences to this day for these decisions.) It has been when we followed a man, a ministry, a movement. Christ was not the center - He cannot be when we lift up anything else but Him.
When families fall to the worship of a movement, a man, a ministry, whatever - there will be disfunction within that family, no matter HOW perfect that family appears on the outside. There IS because...
God is a jealous God and He desires us to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
When God is replaced in such a way, and a family chooses to live up to a list of rules or expectations from a movement, their identity wrapped up in what they do, look like, talk like, eat, how they live, whom they fellowship with, then this family will also place those rules and expectations upon others that they come in contact with. That's just the facts. Love ceases to exist in relationships. Identity is not found in Christ, but in what they do, or don't do.
Relationship with God is not having a perfect looking family. There is no such thing as a perfect family. Satisfaction cannot be found in family. Satisfaction is found in Christ alone.
I can't make a blanket statement, because it doesn't apply to all homeschooling families. But there has been a wave in the movement and I can only describe it as the "idolatry of the family." I didn't coin this phrase, as I am not the only person who has seen this wave become somewhat of a tidal wave...
Tidal waves leave destruction. The wave might look like a a good surfing wave at first, but it ends in a wipeout. Just because some appear to be surfing it just fine and look so amazing surfing it, and in fact, might even be instructing others on how to surf it, it is still a tidal wave and it is only a matter of time that the destruction that comes from living a life of idolatry (towards family and others) will come crashing over. The destruction might only be known to those suffering within the family, but still, it is there, and it is painful.
So to the questions - obviously I'm not against homeschooling - how grateful I am for the freedom and the benefits I have seen from it! It is our choice of education, at the present. I love having a "big" family, but God did NOT intend it for everyone, NOR are you more blessed by God because you have more. I'm not a feminist, but I do not believe in the patriarch movement that has been twisted and does not depict the heart of the Heavenly Father, but rather a worship of the family and can be very destructive.
We are all capable of falling to man-worship and getting trapped into thinking and living that is not of God. I am just as capable as the next of blindly following the blind. I am just as capable of trying to find my satisfaction and identity in anything but Jesus Christ. I am just as capable as anyone else in looking for ways to earn my righteousness or attempt to think that I am not acceptable to God unless I do this or that.
I have fallen many times.
My desire is to glorify God and to live for Him - ALONE. This has been my desire since God began to work in my life as a teenager, but has increased even more so as my husband and I have either worked for or have been in very close contact with those within the very movement that I have spoken of. Only by God's mercy, were our eyes opened, and I pray and hope that He might do the same for others.
I desire for Him to continue to open my eyes, to give me a heart of humility. I am nothing without Him. I want my identity to be found in Him, not in something else, or someone else. I don't want to fall to the idolatry of family and I know I am very capable of that too, in one way or another!
a verse just came to mind and it encourages me as much as I hope it encourages others:
"Now to HIM who is able to keep you(me) from stumbling and to present you(me) blameless (only He can present us blameless, not someone else, not our good deeds, some lifestyle following some homeschooling movement) before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the ONLY GOD, our Savior (!), through Jesus Christ our Lord (not through something else), be glory, majesty, dominion (sovereignty and control), and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Jude. 1:24
"Knowledge about the contents of the Bible is not the same as knowing the Lord Jesus intimately. Knowledge about theology (doctrine) is not the same as close personal fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Knowledge about all the Biblical principles for Christian living is not the same as knowing the Lord Jesus with the fullness of one’s soul. Knowledge of how to serve in ministry is not the same as privately gazing with wonder and awe on the Lord in His beauty. Knowledge about the Lord’s supernatural working through the gifts of the Spirit is not the same as knowing in one’s inner being the reality of the Lord’s presence through faith.
To know Jesus Christ—to know Him ever more intimately—to see Him with eyes of heart ever more clearly—to enjoy His near presence with ever increasing spiritual reality—this is the goal, and all knowledge should point to this ultimate goal for life and eternity. Deep personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus brings heart satisfaction like nothing else, and this is what our Heavenly Father longs to give us. This kind of knowledge is what we must set our heart upon to seek. Here is where our soul finds rest. Then we are prepared to tell others with experiential authority, both lost and saved, the wonders of Jesus Christ." (Disciples Notebook)
a. ann~
|
| | Posted 6/1/2010 4:12 PM - 1210 Views
|
PHOTOGRAPHY AND WRITING
COPYRIGHT 2007-2013
RESOLVED2WORSHIP
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED