Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 6)

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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I wrote a three-part blog series on this very topic about a year ago – when is the right time to put our children out into the world to make a difference in others? I definitely do not believe that we are called to place our children in the “evangelism field” in first grade – at that age, there is too much danger that the world will influence them more than they will influence the world. Jesus himself prepared for his ministry well into his adult years before taking on the world (and even then, he spent his efforts training twelve other men to go into all the earth).

“Raising Children That Will Stand” by Kevin Swanson

· When should I release my children to the culture? When they can change the world – not when the world can still change them! If your children are being changed by their immersion into the world, then it’s too early for them to be in the situation they are in.

· Karl Marx has achieved exactly what he wanted in our culture today – the destruction of the family. “Abolition of the family! … The bourgeois family will disappear, in the course [of history] as its supplement [private property] disappears, and both will vanish with the destruction of capital.” - The Communist Manifesto, Chapter 2, Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels. Just look at our divorce rates and single-parent statistics to see some evidence of family destruction at work among us.

· The husband-wife marital relationship, for the first time in America, is now in the minority – less than 50% of families conform to this model.

· The solution to managing a successful Biblical family is found in Malachi 4:6 – “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers”

· By 2035, in one more generation, we may see an utter breakdown in society, unless God in His grace works through us for healing. But remember – no matter what happens, Jesus Christ reigns supreme.

· Research Rudyard Kipling’s “all that glitters is not gold” poem – did Kipling foresee our American society’s downfall?

· “Homeschools are the monasteries of the new Dark Age.” – quoting a Roman Catholic priest who believes Christianity may still be salvaged in America

· Our boys are not always turning into effective men – because Dad can’t get home from work to raise them

· “Boys cannot play computer games…while Rome burns.” Neither should fathers…

· We need mighty men of God to pass on the vision for future generations

· And we need boys who are willing to run out and cut off the giant’s head – just like young David did. The giant, in this case, may be a cultural or philosophical tenet – like evolution or pornography.

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Back to Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 1)
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Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 5)

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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Voddie Baucham is perhaps the strongest, best preacher I have ever listened to. He is clearly a dedicated family man, preacher, and evangelist. His words on education take you from his days being raised in the rough part of Los Angeles, to his story of obtaining advanced degrees from multiple notable colleges (including Oxford University), to his words on the dangers in higher education today. If you want to be seriously challenged, visit his website (but remember, I warned you, it is serious stuff). For my own words on higher education, visit here or here.

“Harvard or Heaven” by Voddie Baucham

· First of all, college is not inherently sinful, or completely useless. That is not what we’re saying.

· God calls us to prepare our children for heaven, not college or career. But this doesn’t mean that no one should go to college.

· So, what is potentially wrong with college today? There are five specific things.

1) Most undergraduate degrees aren’t worth the paper they are printed on

· On average today, a high school diploma will net you $1.2 million of income over your entire career. A college degree will get you $2.1 million. A master’s degree will get you $2.5 million.

· But, you can give your 18-year old a check for $10,000 (just once, and this is far less than you would pay for the first year of most colleges), and encourage them to save $500 a month during their “career”, then they will have $1 million in the bank by age 51. So, if being a millionaire is the goal…..then this is a pretty safe route to get there.

· Read the Forbes magazine article from January 14, 2009 entitled “The Great College Hoax”. It’s eye-opening.

· The “loan sharks” charge more, higher education costs more, the return of a college degree is less – all because the colleges know that America worships at the altar of higher education

· If you go to a decent state school and get a B.A degree, you can spend between $80,000 and $250,000 to get a four year degree – in “specialties” such as Film Studies, Art History, Dance, Chicano Studies, Interior Design, African-American Studies, Packaging Science, Metalsmithing and Jewelry, Golf and Sports Turf Management, and Surf Science. You can even get a four-year degree in Painting – not artistic painting, but how to paint a living room! Really! The point here is that people are paying tens of thousands of dollars to get a degree – just because they can. The reward of having these degrees is very limited.

2) Four years is too much time to waste

· If you are getting a degree that is worth nothing to your future career, or to God’s kingdom, then you are wasting four very productive years of your life

· From ages 18-22, people start careers and families. Read Malachi 2:14-15 to see what God places importance on in our youth.

· A lot of people pick majors in college because they simply don’t know what they want to do, or because they have flunked out of their first or second choice. And a wrong choice of major made during college can limit your options for life.

3) College costs too much money

· The economy is down, but tuition and enrollment are up! How can we explain this except that people are worshipping the idea of education, rather than analyzing the product?

· Are we counting the cost? See Luke 14:28-30. Yet, families are going into debt for college educations. And young families are starting their marriages knee-deep in debt – at a time when this burden should not be on them.

4) College is not for everyone

· Not everyone has the academic ability to go to college. But this does not prevent colleges from enrolling them as paying students!

· Long ago, when there were only a few universities in the United States, students used to have to know Greek, Latin and Hebrew – before being admitted to college! Now, an average college will take you if you have a pulse and a loan. College is a business, and people who are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars each year are welcome.

· A new college model to generate more revenue is to allow unqualified students to enroll – but then put them through a year of “remedial” classes – turning a four-year degree into a five-year degree….and charging full price for that extra year. Think about it.

· You don’t have to have a college degree to support your family! Don’t believe the lie that is told about this!

· Those who graduate from college generally don’t know anything about the business world – they have to be trained in their first job. Why not cut out the middle-man (universities) and apprentice them right out of college?

· What about my kids – what should I do? 1) Analyze their gifts and talents (Proverbs 22:6), 2) Analyze their desires and callings (1 Timothy 3:1), 3) Ask yourself if college is necessary, 4) Follow the Lord’s leading

5) Most universities are philosophically antagonistic to Christianity

· Professors are often the enemies of God (not always, but often)

· Proverbs 13:20 – the companion of fools will suffer harm – it’s a promise

· Students are often guided strongly by their teachers – in life, morals and character

· So what if I decide that college is for my child? 1) Do it as quickly as possible (Ephesians 5:15-17), 2) Do it as inexpensively as possible (Luke 14:28), 3) Do it as safely as possible – don’t send your children into a lion’s den, evaluate the environment they will be in, consider college near to home

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Back to Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 1)
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Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 4)

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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Kevin was the Executive Director at Christian Home Educators of Colorado for about ten years, and is now working in an international ministry. He also has a daily radio program called Generations Radio. He is an engaging speaker, and challenges my thinking every time I hear him. In this lesson, he focuses on the importance of having a few, exceptional Christian relationships and how that shapes the family.

“Rediscovering Relational Living In Family And Church” by Kevin Swanson

· The Barna group conducted a study and found that only 1 in 3 born-again Christians consider the salvation of their children to be an important parental emphasis. But 2 out of 3 consider their child’s education to be important. (Does the first statistic mean that the majority of Christian parents consider the job of teaching salvation to their children is someone else’s job?)

· Jean-Jacques Rousseau – the father of modern education in America – need to research this man

· “You can change the world…by changing the life of one little boy”

· Churches are going through cultural phases – the “old fogey” church, the nose-ring church, the recovering prostitute church. Consider what would happen if you started a homeschooler’s-only church…and all of the kids graduated? What we need is a cross-generational church – this is a biblical model.

· God is serious about his instructions – if you have doubts, read Deuteronomy 27 and 28 and see all of the curses God promised to people who did not obey

· If you practice hospitality with others, remember – it’s not a church program, it’s what Jesus did! He came all the way across the universe to have dinner with a tax-collector and a prostitute. Relational living is not a “ministry” – it’s what we as Christians should naturally practice.

· Do we think we minimize our efforts if we spend time on only a few deep relationships, as opposed to spending time with hundreds or thousands? Jesus discipled 12 men over a three-year period – and then sent them out into the world. He himself did not try to reach the world directly. What is our calling in this area?

· Consider the concept of family-integrated churches – they don’t contain age-group stratifications – families sit together in church services, from grandfathers down to newborns, because that fosters a cross-generational focus. Kevin has mentioned before that he has been interviewed about why the youth of his church are so strong – it’s remarkable considering that they don’t have a youth ministry or any specific youth programs. I don’t believe they even split off their youth into separate Sunday school classes. Instead, everything is focused on the family – and creating strong fathers and mothers to lead their children in the home and at church. I wonder – isn’t this the Biblical model?

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Back to Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 1)
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Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 3)

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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This session was very interesting. Voddie analyzed a verse that everyone is familiar with and showed us, through proper Bible exegesis (I always wanted to use that word in a sentence!), that “I know the plans I have for you” wasn’t actually meant to apply to me and you (unless you are a Jew being carried off to captivity in Babylon). But it does tell us a lot about our God.

“Multi-Generational Vision” by Dr. Voddie Baucham

· Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” – doesn’t mean what we think it means. It doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen to us.

· Hermeneutics is the practice of interpreting the Scriptures. Voddie stresses three elements to proper hermeneutics – 1) the context is critical, 2) narrative is not normative, 3) the text can’t mean what it never meant

· Starting in verses 1-3, we see 1) the people involved (Jews from Judah), 2) the time period (the pre-exile period), 3) the place (Babylon), and 4) the events (the people are being taken away into Babylonian exile)

· But many people think that the “I know the plans” verse is meant for us, as well. Note that God makes many promises in the Bible, but not all of them apply to us. An example – “You will bear a son and will call his name Jesus.”

· Similarly, 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” – we read this often as if it applies to our country and leaders, but the context and the promise indicate that it was given to God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel, not to the United States

· In Jeremiah, it was God who brought the difficulty to the Israelites, not Satan. God brought them into Babylonian captivity to bring them correction. (A thought – so could God be bringing our nation through times like this to do the same for us?)

· Romans 8:18 – “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” – God indicates that suffering can be part of the normal Christian life

· In Jeremiah 29:8-10, the prophets are lying to the people about a brief captivity – it will last for a total of 150 years, which means that none of the people who hear the promise in verse 11 will be alive when it is fulfilled!

· Verse 11 – “I know the plans I have for you…” is a multi-generational promise made to the Israelite people and specifically to their descendants, and the “you” refers to God’s covenant people, not to us as individuals (again, unless you are a Jew)

· So, how do we live as a multi-generational people?

--- vs. 5 – “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce” - set up shop at home, stay, lay down roots, let home be the “safe place”

--- vs. 6 – “Marry and have sons and daughters” – How can we have a multi-generational vision and not accept God’s blessing of children?

--- vs. 7 – Pray for the welfare of your captors – “because if it prospers, you too will prosper”. How can we prosper in a land that is not prosperous?

· If we lay down our life now, like the Israelites going into captivity did, God can bless the world through our children and our children’s children

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Back to Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 1)
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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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Back to Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 1)
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Notes: The Christian Family Conference 2010 (Part 1)

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.

Some observations from the first 15 minutes of the conference:

· We started off in prayer – for our families, children and our world

· 1,200 of us sang hymns together

· A homeschool family got up on stage to sing America The Beautiful, with the youngest getting a solo or two (she was probably about four-years old, and she was good)

· Two prominent men running for public office got up to speak of their dedication to homeschooling and Christian principles – Dan Maes (running for Colorado governor) and Ken Buck (running for U.S. Senate)

· My local State Senator, Kevin Lundberg, was behind the soundboard, serving as he always does in one form or another(he has the best servant’s heart and attitude of any politician I’ve ever encountered – I talked to him later, and he said he was doing it because they were short-handed and needed some help)

I feel so very comfortable in and among this group of people. And I saw a tremendous number of families who were obviously being blessed in their daily walk. They are not afraid to speak to others about it, either.

I’m going to post 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.

“Getting Your House In Order” by Dr. Voddie Baucham

· The text is Deuteronomy 6, where we learn that the Israelites received a promise that if they obey God and fear God, they would 1) live long, 2) it will go well with them, and 3) they would multiply greatly

· Today, can we say in our American culture that “it is well” with us? We know that God will always prevail, but it is not going well in our land. And children in our land are often seen as a burden, not a blessing (the legality of abortion is one reason, but also because we see some people look oddly at families who have five or six or ten kids)

· The phenomenon of the mega-church – it’s the Wal-Mart effect when they come to town, many of the “mom and pop” churches close – hum the Star Wars Death Star theme – and many of these churches are filled with people who are being coddled in their sin

· From verses 4 through 15 – Why aren’t things going well? Why are we not multiplying? As the passage in Deuteronomy 6 tells us, we need to 1) Worship God without rivals, 2) Love without compromise, 3) Don’t forget God as we prosper

· “Worship God without rivals” – If God were not a jealous God, if He allowed others to share His glory, then He would not be God

· “God is not running for God” – He already has the job

· Don’t worship at the altar of education, worship at the altar of God – What is the goal? To get into a good college, or to serve God for life?

· As a homeschooler, evaluate your priority with this scenario – if your child’s test scores fall, would you consider sending them back to public school? On what do you judge success or failure? If it is test scores alone, then that is a form of idolatry! What test are you preparing them for – the SAT or Iowa Basic? Or a bigger test?

· (in jest) “You should start your homeschool a week later then public school just on general principle!”

· Voddie has talked with people who believe Deuteronomy 6 applies only to “non-school” hours. But if we mark our houses as God’s territory, how can we not be motivated to homeschool? Should we continue to send our kids to Caesar?

· Has our culture eroded our need for God? Example – when sickness comes to our family, are we on our knees before God asking for his help? No, because now we can drive down to the pharmacy to get a cure – and we forget God because we don’t have a need for Him!

· Teach your children to be satisfied with God – not to chase after anything else! Remember – homeschooling is not about education, it’s about discipleship.
For more on the application of Deuteronomy 6 to family life, I strongly recommend that you read Voddie Baucham’s book – Family-Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God

Exchanging Higher Education…for a Trade

As I’ve been writing on higher education, I’ve mentioned the sudden flood of articles on the subject – a great many of them now questioning the value and worth of getting a college degree.

So it is no surprise that I encountered this article last week from the Washington Post – More College-Educated Jump Tracks To Become Skilled Manual Laborers. The title speaks for itself, but it contains a good summation near the opening – “They started out studying aerospace engineering, creative writing and urban planning. But somewhere on the path to accumulating academic credentials, they decided that working with their hands sounded more pleasant -- and lucrative -- than a lot of white-collar work. So bye-bye to term papers and graduate theses, and hello to apprenticeships to become plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics and carpenters.”

For many, this may sound like going backward in time. After all, we’ve been taught that our ancestors worked long and hard in the fields, or in a blacksmith shop, or at some other difficult physical labor so that we, their descendants, could enjoy the increased fruits and pleasures of a white-collar job. We’ve been taught that today’s white-collar business structure is an “evolution” along the career timeline – that we somehow deserve to earn six-figure salaries in the comfort of air-conditioned high-rises, while somewhere there are people doing the “dirty work”.

But here are some observations that I’ve made along the way:

1) There are jobs that still need two strong hands to accomplish – plumbing, wiring houses, building cabinets – some things cannot be replaced by automation or spreadsheets.

2) These “manual labor” jobs can still pay the bills for any average family with the wisdom to stay out of debt and forego a life of unnecessary trappings.

3) A job such as an electrician is usually a local job – fathers don’t often have to travel on business – that is a HUGE advantage to the core family.

4) White collar jobs, like being a middle-level manager or an engineer or a software programmer, seem to be growing more and more unstable. There is not nearly as much job security in these careers as there once was. But even when people are out of work, plumbing still breaks, and so do automobiles…

5) A person is much more likely to end up owning their own business through a trade than they are working in the vertically-integrated white-collar world today.

6) There is a great deal of satisfaction to be had in creating or repairing something with your own two hands.

Each of these items could elicit a great deal of discussion, but let me focus only on the second point for now. Our society (not unlike many societies before ours) places a great deal of emphasis on wealth. But the Bible is very clear – material wealth can draw us away from God. Solomon attests to this in the Book of Ecclesiastes, and Jesus told us this very thing in Matthew 19:24 – “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

As was pointed out to me recently, our culture now worships at the altar of higher education – not at the altar of the Almighty God. That’s something for me to keep in mind as I get ready to send my children out into the world. And when considering my own future career.

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Back to the Thoughts On Higher Education series

Bonus Material on The Value of Higher Education

A while back I wrote about my perception of the declining value of college education. While the thoughts are not absolute, I believe strongly that many higher education degrees have unnecessarily placed students into great debt and into jobs that require them to work hard (paying off their debt) at things that are not God’s-kingdom-related. Alternative approaches that our family is exploring are community college credits while homeschooling, as well as internship and ultimately, business ownership. All of this, with a goal of no debt along the way.

It seems I’m not alone on this topic. Maybe it’s because I have been thinking about the topic, but I suddenly noticed articles popping up all over the place about this very subject. Whether it is about student loan debt, or the limited value of certain college degrees, there seem to be a lot of people questioning the same topic.

Here are some examples:

Higher Education Bubble About To Burst – Glenn Reynolds is a professor of law at the University of Tennessee. But in a very candid way, he acknowledges that higher education is not what it should be. He points out the dangerous circle of ballooning costs with the seemingly cheap credit that allows students to amass hundreds of thousands of dollars of loans – before they ever even begin to start their career. One student’s quote – "I don't want to spend the rest of my life slaving away to pay for an education I got for four years and would happily give back."

Placing The Blame As Students Are Buried In Debt – More detail on the student quoted above. She went to school for four years to get a degree in Religious and Women’s Studies, amassed $100,000 in debt (credit that she obtained far too easily), and now struggles to scratch together enough income to pay her $700-per-month student loan payments. “It is utterly depressing that there are so many people like her facing decades of payments, limited capacity to buy a home and a debt burden that can repel potential life partners.”

Subprime Goes To College – This one is a tough, technical read. Click on it if you want to understand how the federal government subsidizes a great deal of the education loans in this country – very inefficiently. And a lot of it is a gimmick designed to enrich the educators, not the students. “At one Corinthian Colleges-owned Everest College campus in California, students paid $16,000 for an eight-month course in medical assisting. Upon nearing completion, the students learned that not only would their credits not transfer to any community or four-year college, but also that their degree is not recognized by the American Association for Medical Assistants. Hospitals refuse to even interview graduates.”

Getting An Efficiently Delivered Education – The author argues that the value received in return for the amount paid to receive a college education has become a negative incentive, and has been this way for the last two decades. I believe this may be true for Ivy League institutions and some of the more expensive and elite colleges. It’s probably not as valid for state colleges where the student gets an in-state tuition break. “Most importantly, commercial colleges are stealing the sophisticated non-bubble students who are able to calculate the cost of education, match the specific appropriate academic field or training, and benefit from an efficiently delivered education. Plus, commercial colleges put a lot of resources into making sure their graduates get jobs.”

Did You Know That Student Loans Aren’t Erased By Bankruptcy? – “If you run up big credit card bills buying a new home theater system and can’t pay it off after a few years, bankruptcy judges can get rid of the debt. They may even erase loans from a casino. But if you borrow money to get an education and can’t afford the loan payments after a few years of underemployment, that’s another matter entirely. It’s nearly impossible to get rid of the debt in bankruptcy court, even if it’s a private loan from for-profit lenders like Citibank or the student loan specialist Sallie Mae.” I have to confess that I did not know this – once student loans are granted, even bankruptcy won’t take them off of your books. Unlike any other loan I can think of, student loans appear to be permanent. This may explain why some people are still saddled with these loans even as much as twenty years after school.

8 Reasons College Tuition Is the Next Bubble to Burst – Some interesting points: “On average, college tuition increases at around 8 percent per year, which means the cost of college doubles every nine years.” Or, “Today, 66% of students borrow to pay for college, taking on an average of $23,165 in debt.” And here’s one that’s hard to believe, “Schools are spending on luxurious amenities to lure in more students. At High Point University in North Carolina, students are treated to valet parking, live music in the cafeteria and Starbucks gift cards on their birthdays.” And what prevents all of this from coming back into balance in today’s economy? “When your ‘customers’ have easy access to credit and pay you with money they don’t have, the economy doesn’t really matter, does it?”

All is not lost. The education bubble may burst soon, driving down the cost of a college education, and prompting universities to re-evaluate their priorities. But in the absence of that, there are alternatives to getting your student an education, a job, or even their own business. And you may be able to do it without incurring debt.

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Back to the Higher Education series

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Exchanging Higher Education For A Trade

Math…and the Gulf Oil Spill

Without a doubt, the oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico is a regrettable event – dooming various parts of the Gulf to loss of shrimping, oystering, tourism and pleasure – at least for a time. I would never say that the spill is a non-issue, nor would I belittle any effort to cap the pipe on the ocean floor. Every effort needs to be pursued to get it under control. And the loss of life of the eleven men on the Deepwater Horizon rig is a tragedy as well. My heart goes out to their families.

I don’t have cable TV or satellite channels coming into my home, but there are a lot of TV’s at my place of work which do. And the image seems to constantly be that of the BP cameras trained on the broken and oft-repaired pipe at the bottom of the Gulf, spewing oil into the ocean. Given the amount of attention placed on that camera shot, many might come to the conclusion that the Gulf is filling up with oil.

So, I decided to do some math around the spill and put it into perspective. Here are some facts:

· The federal government estimates that the total leakage from the pipe to-date has been somewhere between 22 million and 47 million gallons. For purposes of my exercise, I will use the largest number – 47 million gallons.

· The oil has been spilling from the pipe since the rig explosion on April 20, 2010 –a total of 46 days.

· Rounded slightly, that gives us a daily spill rate of 1 million gallons

Now, just how big is a million gallons? Well, a gallon is equal to 0.133680556 cubic feet. So, a million gallons takes up 133,680 cubic feet. Taking the cube root of that number will give you the dimension of a side of that million-gallon cube – 51 feet on all three sides. A typical tractor trailer that you see hauling goods on the interstate is 53 feet long, by 8.5 feet wide by 9.25 feet tall – that’s 4,167 cubic feet. That amount of space is capable of holding 31,172 gallons of oil (4,167 cubic feet divided by 0.13368 cubic feet per gallon). Dividing a million gallons by this figure tells us that the volume of spill coming from the broken well is equal to about 32 tractor trailers each day.

Thirty-two big-rig trailers full of oil seems like a lot. But let’s put it into perspective. The Environmental Protection Agency tells us that the Gulf of Mexico holds 643 quadrillion gallons of liquid. Spelled out, that is 643,000,000,000,000,000 gallons of salt water. Dividing by 31,172 gallons, this tells us that the Gulf of Mexico is capable of holding 20,627,486,205,569 tractor trailers full of liquid. That’s 20.6 trillion trailers.

So – in a total volume of 20.6 trillion tractor trailers, we are displacing 32 trailers full of oil each day. Assuming the oil field is infinite (obviously not a valid assumption, but stick with me), how many days would it take to completely displace all of the water in the Gulf? Simply divide the two numbers, and you get 644,608,943,924 days. That’s 644 billion days, which when divided by 365 yields 1,766,051,901 years.

So, at the current spill rate, we will fill the Gulf of Mexico with oil in approximately 1.76 billion years.

Let’s put it another way – in a visual. It’s estimated that about 30 million grains of sand fit into a one-gallon bucket (this is obviously very dependent on the type of sand). Assume that one of those grains of sand represents the 32 tractor trailers (1 million gallons) of oil being spilled each day. How many grains of sand represent the rest of the Gulf of Mexico? Simple division – 20.6 trillion divided by 32 – equals 644 billion grains of sand. How many gallon buckets of sand is that? Again, divide 644,000,000,000 by 30 million – and you get 21,467 one-gallon buckets of sand. So, if you can picture lining up 21,467 gallon buckets of sand (or 4,293 five-gallon buckets) in a parking lot, the relative volume of oil being spilled into the gulf each day is equal to one grain of sand.

Unfortunately, all of that oil has a tendency to spread upward and toward the edges of wherever it travels. This tends to make moot any volumetric comparisons and analogies – because the oil is finding its way to the exact places that we don’t want it – beaches and fishing grounds. If oil were heavier than water, this whole event would be a non-issue – we’d have the equivalent of a tiny percentage of the Gulf being taken up with a small pool of oil at the bottom.

Of course, BP has not yet taken action on my spill-prevention suggestion – to stuff the Obamacare bill into the end of the oil pipe. That way, we could take care of two problems at once…

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For an extremely interesting time-lapse-from-space video of the Gulf spill, via NASA satellites, visit this site..