DoodleBlog

Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz were arraigned in court last Tuesday, accused of murdering their 7-year-old adopted daughter during a discipline session which occurred the Saturday morning before.

Most disturbing? Apparently the Schatz’s are homeschoolers and their discipline methods can be traced back to Michael and Debbi Pearl’s child training book.

Here are two bloggers’ thoughts on this devastating event which I found helpful: Child Discipline or Child Abuse by Virginia Knowles, and When Parenting Kills by Katiekind.

Read, be informed, and share with your friends. There are many new, well-meaning parents who are looking for instruction and help in parenting. Use your knowledge to help them keep away from this dangerous path.

Do you have family or friends for whom Super Bowl Sunday is the “Holiest Day of the Year?” Then you may find this article by Shepherd Press a helpful explanation for why this day is so important to them and why its perceived importance threatens the very happiness your friends and family seek.

The Holiest Day of the Year

Greg Doyle is a writer for CBS Sports. He is a good sports reporter and I enjoy his work. I also believe that he represents what many think about the role of sports in our culture. As you may know, Tim Tebow and his mother are going to be featured in an ad sponsored by Focus on the Family during this year’s Super Bowl. Mr. Doyle provides this description of what he thinks the ad will be like:

“Apparently the commercial has a beautiful, undeniable message. Tebow’s mother suffered a life-threatening infection during that pregnancy, and doctors advised her to abort the baby. She didn’t. She named him Tim. Just typing this paragraph gives me goose bumps. The commercial might just make me cry.”

Yet, Mr. Doyle is offended by the ad. Why? Because it is airing during the Super Bowl. Listen carefully to his reasons for not wanting the ad to run. His comments honestly reflect his priorities.

“And I’m not complaining about the ad because it’s anti-abortion and I’m not. I’m complaining about the ad because it’s pro-politics. And I’m not. Not on Super Sunday. If you’re a sports fan, and I am, that’s the holiest day of the year. That’s a day for five hours of football pregame shows and four hours of football game and three hours of postgame football analysis. That’s a day for football addicts to gorge themselves to the gills on football.

It’s not a day to discuss abortion. For it, against it, I don’t care what you are. On Super Sunday, I don’t care what I am. Feb. 7 is simply not the day to have that discussion.”

This is a clear statement of allegiance. There is deep passion voicing these thoughts. Sports is at the center of Mr. Doyle’s life. He clearly believes there is room for other things—just not on Super Sunday. This view would be fine in a world where man decided his own fate, determined what was moral and what was not, and God was not a jealous God who requires undivided worship and fidelity from man. But that is not the world we live in. We live in God’s world, in which he determines where we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:24-28). So issues like abortion, sexual purity, and personal holiness and righteousness matter every day, even on Super Sunday. The living God of the Bible will not be pre-empted, even for a day.

Despair and difficulty burden many in our culture because they have embraced Mr. Doyle’s worldview. To be sure, he is not the originator of this viewpoint, he is just a subscriber. But living with anything other than God at the center of life is living in the world of idolatry. Idolatry always leads to despair because it can never deliver on the promises it makes. To quote from Tim Keller’s latest book, Counterfeit Gods, idolatry can happen anytime someone takes a good thing and makes it the ultimate thing. In this sense, only God is ultimate, because no one or nothing else can compare to him. Idolatry may focus on things that are evil in themselves, but not necessarily. It can also result from taking something that is good in its proper context (like sports), and making that thing more important than anything else. If I make sports ultimate, to the point where I put aside issues of morality and holiness, then at least three things happen. The first is that sports will become the center of my life. The second is that relationships with others will be secondary to this primary pursuit. The third thing is that sports will turn out to be a cruel god, for it cannot deliver what it is that it promises. So all of the time that has been invested in the pursuit of this idol will come to yield emptiness.

Are Christians ready to state clearly what is most important in life? For Greg Doyle the ultimate thing is sports. But that answer won’t do. God demands all of our worship and attention each day. It does matter whether or not infants are killed in the womb. It does matter whether or not drunkenness is permissible when your team wins the big game. It does matter if you look at women to lust after them. It does matter whether or not God has first place in your life. It does matter whether or not men respond to the gospel.

Next Monday the game will be over. But the real, pressing issues of life will remain. There is only one path that allows you to live in harmony with God’s purposes. That is the path you must point out to your children each day. Jesus Christ is Lord of Lord and King of Kings. The spectacle that is the Super Bowl attempts to say that, just for few hours, something else is ultimate. But that is a lie, an idol that delivers only emptiness. In this sense, the idol of sports is symbolic of any pursuit other than living all of life for the glory of God. As Christians we need to live with fidelity to our King and Savior. We will not be perfect in our pursuit, but we must be consistent with it. May we show our children and people like Greg Doyle what is truly important and fully holy in life. May we take hold of life that is truly life.
—Shepherd Press, Newsletter 85

In response to an article I recently reposted about family devotions, there was a comment about the difficulty of doing family devotions when your family includes special needs children. This is a very valid and relevant concern, and one that many families are facing, so I will make mention of a few personal experiences.

While our family currently does not have any special needs members, we did have an 8-year-old girl with severe autism live with us for about a year. I acknowledge that our experience is limited but here are a couple of things we found helpful.

When Krissy came to stay with us…
Krissy was severely autistic with few words, many destructive behaviors, and endless energy. What we would teach a typical child by accident could be taught to Krissy, but required us to break it down into simple steps and have rigorous follow-up. We used this approach during family devotions.

During our family devotion time, we did not focus on Krissy’s understanding but rather tailored it for the rest of our family while insisting that Krissy cooperate by staying quiet and seated during devotions. Starting with short times, we were able to eventually achieve this.
But a quiet child during devotions does not necessarily mean a spiritually inclined child, so we made sure to include appropriate devotions specifically for her throughout the day.

We went through simple Bible Story books, simply read or retold the stories in her language, often demonstrating or acting out the ones we could. We especially liked the Big Picture Story Bible because of its God-centered chronological approach.

During Christmas we used a picture Bible advent book, each day we reread the previous pages and added a new one.
Because Krissy began to read while she was with us, we also had her read the Scripture passage daily until she had it memorized, but even if your child is not a reader just reading it to them or having them repeat it line by line would be wonderful ways to give them familiarity and eventually memorization of God’s Word.

We also took pictures as we acted out Bible stories and scrapbooked them for her to look at over and over. Our thought was that the more stories she knew by heart the more we would have to reference to and to help her pull together. Eventually she would enjoy talking about them with us and we could gradually get to deeper meanings the more she grew in understanding.

If we had it to do over again, I think we would also have started using a simple toddler Bible Story book during family devotions. It would not have hurt the family to listen and Krissy would then have been able to have a more active part not merely passive.

So what would we recommend for families with special needs children if we were asked?

Commit to a family devotion time, lay down the rules for participation and then follow through. This may mean that for a month all you do is try and maintain control. Children with special needs need to be shown, just as typical children do, that we were made for God and that God comes first. If we never demonstrate this for them, even in the smallest of ways such as insisting on family devotions, then how can we hope that they will eventually somehow understand?

For an active child maybe invest in some felt Bible figures or window cling-ons and tell the stories multiple times until they can tell/act it themselves.

Don’t over analyze it, you can grow with the process, just start and as you see different ways it could work better, change.

But don’t neglect the more mature members (dad and mom, etc) in your family. Maybe you could give the child a puzzle, etc, to work on in the same room during the  advanced devotions and then pull them in with one tailored for them.

Don’t feel like you have to have a “traditional” family devotion time, but do make sure that everybody in your family has the opportunity to learn more about God together so that you can encourage each other, hold each other accountable and proclaim with your actions that Jesus is your life.

If your family is like ours, you likely have been looking into what your family will be doing for family devotions in the next year.

But one issue that can cause trouble for family devotions is how to include and apply them for all ages in your family. We have done different things over the years, for example using both an older and a younger devotional, which everybody listens too, this way both ages are fed but everybody has gathered together and everybody has a common knowledge now to work from.

A couple of months ago I read an article on family devotions by Voddie Baucham which I thought had some very helpful points/tips for family devotions with younger children. Take a minute and read it, I hope you find it as practical as I did.

As is often the case when we encounter homeschoolers or other families experiencing suffering or hardship, be it the endless responsibility of caring for special needs children, suffering sickness, or any other kind of heavy burden, we often find it difficult to know how best to help the afflicted family.

If you have also wrestled with what are appropriate and helpful ways to assist these families in times of need, take a look at John Knight’s blog. Under the “Helpful Things” category is an increasing resource of different ways his church has specifically been a help to him and his wife with their special needs son and his wife’s cancer.

Very helpful, especially since it comes from the heart of someone who has experienced both suffering and the comfort of friends.

Report from Alliance Defense Fund:

An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney filed motions with a New Hampshire court Monday asking it to reconsider and stay its decision to order a 10-year-old home-schooled girl into a government-run school in Meredith.

Although the marital master making recommendations to the court agreed the child is “well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising, and intellectually at or superior to grade level” and that “it is clear that the home schooling…has more than kept up with the academic requirements of the…public school system,” he nonetheless proposed that the Christian girl be ordered into a government-run school after considering “the impact of [her religious] beliefs on her interaction with others.” The court approved the order…

…In the process of renegotiating the terms of a parenting plan for the girl, the guardian ad litem involved in the case concluded, according to the court order, that the girl “appeared to reflect her mother’s rigidity on questions of faith” and that the girl’s interests “would be best served by exposure to a public school setting” and “different points of view at a time when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief…in order to select, as a young adult, which of those systems will best suit her own needs.”

Full Article Here.

When I first stumbled across this post by Steve Marquardt, I almost clicked right by it. Lists about why I should not be doing what I already know is wrong but often fail to heed, is not something that I find very appealing.

Yet as I gave this list a cursory skim, I found myself pulled in, encouraged and aroused towards God.

Give it a chance and see if you find it just as helpful!

35 Reasons Not To Sin

1. Because a little sin leads to more sin.
2. Because my sin invites the discipline of God.
3. Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
4. Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
5. Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
6. Because in time my sin always brings heaviness to my heart.
7. Because I am doing what I do not have to do.
8. Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
9. Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
10. Because my sin saddens the godly.
11. Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
12. Because sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
13. Because sin may keep me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
14. Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
15. Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
16. Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
17. Because my sin may influence others to sin.
18. Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
19. Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
20. Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
21. Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sin.
22. Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
23. Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sins.
24. Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
25. Because sin and guilt may harm both mind and body.
26. Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.
27. Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.
28. Because my sin is adultery with the world.
29. Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
30. Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
31. Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
32. Because to sin is not to love Christ.
33. Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
34. Because sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on it’s own.
35. Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.

Relinquish Your Rights – Reject the Sin – Renew the Mind – Rely on God

Copyright © 1992 Jim Elliff
Christian Communicators Worldwide, Inc.
201 Main, Parkville, MO 64152 USA
www.CCWtoday.org
Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in exact form including copyright
Other uses require written permission. Write for additional materials.

Nearly everyday now, I find waiting in my email inbox another update from families who are experiencing difficult health issues and yet who are still clinging to the God who has a firm hold on them.

The two individuals who have especially been on our hearts of late are Chris Klicka* and Jeff Diez-luckie.** Both of these men and their families have been undergoing overwhelming trials and yet every day they have been a testimony to and of God’s faithfulness.

If your family is not already praying for these families, we would encourage you to do so. These homeschool families are in the midst of hard times and your prayers would be much appreciated.

Read their CaringBridge updates and discuss them with your homeschooled children. Discern what your children’s thoughts are on the God of and in suffering, determine if they have a biblical perspective. And then leave a note for these families to encourage them that they are not alone in their battle.

*Chris Klicka is a veteran in the homeschooling world having represented and defended homeschooling families in court for many years.

**Jeff Diez-Luckie is the husband of the author of Famous Figures of Ancient Times.

I enjoyed reading this article about Dan Walker and his conviction of not working on Sunday.

While most might quickly contend, “It may be fine for you to not work on Sunday but if I want to keep my job, I am required to work,” Dan even as a presenter for BBC Sport and BBC Sports News has still stood by his convictions against what would seem to be impossible odds and has found God blessing him abundantly throughout.

I especially appreciated the amiable yet confident tone of this article.

Our own family has long embraced the belief that Sunday is a day for God and we are delighted to take that day off from all business concerns or cares, and yet too often in my experience those of us who hold these convictions come across as bullheaded wing-nuts.

This article has a refreshingly cheerful tone and Dan’s story portrayed here is a testimony to how great a God we serve and His grace towards Dan and his family. Read entire article.

HT: Challies