Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 2)

My wife, oldest daughter and I attended the Christian Family Conference in Denver this past week. It was an amazing time of encouragement with other Christian parents – most of whom are devoted to homeschooling and home-training their children to be godly men and women, prepared to take on the world with a multi-generational vision. I’m posting some of the notes I took from the conference sessions. Some are sure to fly in the face of the traditions and cultures which most people would consider normal in today’s culture. But these men who spoke to us used the Scriptures, and their lives and the lives of their children are a testament to their integrity and boldness on these topics. Their words motivate me to continue to raise my children in a radical, counter-culture, God-fearing way.

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“The Rise And Fall of Western Civilization” by Kevin Swanson

· Is there such a thing as getting an “education with a Biblical worldview”? Or do we think of education in the same way we do about gasoline? No one would pay extra if the local convenience store sold “gas with a Biblical worldview”. So do we really believe that an education with a Biblical emphasis is possible? We should.

· The average Christian does not realize that they are being affected by the non-Christian worldview that constantly surrounds them.

· For example, scientists just recently stated that spanking will permanently damage the psyche of a child. This clearly goes against what the Bible teaches. So, who do we believe – God or man?

· In our culture today, we give God no credit for sovereign control over realities such as hurricanes. Now, it’s all about science and the environment. When did God get removed from thinking about things like natural disasters…or the wonder of the atom?

· Consider Bobbie Carlyle’s statue of a man carving himself out of stone… how did he get started without hands? Someone had to make his hands. It’s an analogy to “The Self-Made Man” – men want to believe that they are the authors of their own lives, but where would they be without God?

· Sex education is best taught in the context of what God wants – not in the context of how to avoid sexually-transmitted diseases! Because without God, STD’s are viewed as something that can be readily fixed. God’s view on sexual purity is for entirely different reasons (and the consequences are not so easily fixed).

· When you separate God from the chemistry classroom, you run the risk of polluting your life with a humanist worldview.

· Aristotle’s big mistake – he didn’t mention the fear of God in his rhetoric.

· For history class, give your children a synopsis of all history, and how every single empire has eventually fallen. But God is building a kingdom that never dies.

· Humanist worldview shows up even in some of the most famous and classic books. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne never once mentions Jesus Christ, nor repentance. Instead, he brings an element of awe to the letter “A” that Hester wears. It’s as if Hawthorne is looking forward to the day when there is no absolute morality – I think that day has arrived – it’s the very definition of post-modernism. It’s okay for our children to read books like The Scarlet Letter, but someone needs to be there to explain the worldview and to counsel for God’s view on such things.

· “I want my children to be Christians. I don’t want them to be compromised.”

· Idea – Google “greatest Christian books” and give them to your children to read

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