Christian Home

The Christian Day school is a gift from our forefathers. It is a privilege worth defending. We are a generation in the reaping of a concept and sacrifice which we may not have had the forethought or conviction to begin.

We are also a generation in sowing. The Christian Day school of today is a blend of fruit and seed. If we are going to continue to enjoy it, we must continually evaluate what we are sowing, and sow according to truth.

“Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous” (1Pe 3:8). This exhortation to us all is the only place in Scripture where the adjective courteous is used. The origin of the Greek word translated courteous is two words – one meaning ‘friendly’ and the other meaning ‘to rein in or curb the feelings of the mind’ – combined to form a Greek word meaning ‘friendly of mind.’ What a fitting definition! We all know that courtesy is not simply good behavior, but polite behavior.

Robert is angry. One of the causes for his anger is because he has not learned to accept a “no” from his parents when he was young. His parents were easy going. Robert could pretty well have his way in whatever he set out to do. Now Robert has younger brothers and they are treated the same way. Mom and Dad seem to look the other way when the household erupts into vicious sibling rivalry. Schedules are made to be broken. all this makes Robert angry and bitter. He has been secretly viewing DVD’s and listening to rock music, but he is not sure it would matter if his parents would catch him.

Two young men walked up a hill carrying burdens made of wood. Both were called to sacrifice themselves. Both of them needed to accept the will of their father. And both of these young men gave their lives willingly into their fathers’ hands. The 1,800 years that separated the two young men did not change the nature or intensity of submitting their wills to their authorities. Thousands of years after the sacrificial lives of both Isaac and our Lord Jesus, we struggle in the battle of the human nature versus the authorities placed over us.

Is fatherhood still a subject that needs to be addressed today? While children and fathers exist in the world, it is safe to conclude that the subject remains relevant.

Children grow up developing various interests and appetites in life. Not all appetites are good appetites. Every Christian parent is concerned that his children will develop spiritual appetites as they grow older. Sad it is when as parents we become aware of a lack of spiritual appetite in our youth. Many times by this point it is too late to begin to inspire this interest. How can we develop a wholesome spiritual appetite in our children as they grow up?

Johnny pulls his shoes on reluctantly as mother encourages him to hurry or the school van will have to wait on him. “I can’t stand school this year,” he offers with a sigh.

“Oh Johnny, next year you will have Brother Mast for a teacher and then you will enjoy it a lot more.”

“But Mom, he’s just as bad. The boys say he’s stricter than Sister Ellen. They got in trouble yesterday just for sliding on the wet hall floor.”

Can the Christian pitch his tent toward Sodom? Have you ever heard of a person who “had one foot in the church and the other in the world”? This is, of course, not really possible, but pitching our tents toward Sodom is, like Lot, choosing the temporal and physical over the spiritual and eternal. Jesus said it this way, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt 6:24).

Oppositional defiant disorder. This is a newly diagnosed disorder, defined by experts in psychology as existing among children. It is characterized by negative, defiant, disobedient, and hostile behavior toward adults and authority figures. It is not to be confused with CD, or conduct disorder. Conduct disorder is recognized when a child violates the basic rights of others and expresses “antisocial behaviors.”

It is no secret. We live in a busy age. Even secular articles address it. I was reading an article where the author was concerned with the amount of distractions people are willing to involve themselves in while driving. These activities include eating, cell phone conversing, studying for tests etc. The article went on to conclude that everyone has too much to do and they are finding ways to save time instead of giving full attention to driving. Who of us would not have to raise our hand and confess we have been guilty of some of the same things in order to save time?