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Welcome to our blog, where you’ll get a little glimpse of our life as homeschoolers and our walk as Christians. As we strive to follow our calling to train up our families in the Lord, we hope we can exhort and encourage others to do the same. Email us at davidandkim@dexios.info We would love to hear from you, too!

Save The Titanic Part 1
From americanvision.org (used by permission)

by Dr. Richard A. Jones

Following a recent article, several of you emailed to ask why I appear to prefer homeschooling (HS) as the best educational weapon in this battle for the mind of fragile (5 to 18 year olds) Christian kids instead of opting for a two-way mix of homeschooling and private Christian schools (PCS.) In fact, one person put it this way: “To you, are private Christian schools just so much ‘chopped liver?’” Well, no, they are not chopped liver because they have a key role to play in this notable do-or-die mission of equipping and blessing the next generation of adults-to-be (our Christian replacements) with a culture-impacting biblical worldview. I’ll get to more details about the HS vs. PCS debate in my next article, but for now, and more importantly, please consider a not unreasonable metaphor underscoring the principle that Christian parents must come to understand—big picture-wise—no matter which of the two alternatives they finally chose.

When the first mate of the SS Titanic phoned the bridge for emergency instructions, the captain’s incisive command was, “Whatever you do, stop the ship and get that leak plugged. Fast! This is an emergency. We’ll deal with mold and mildew in the staterooms later.” That is, just plug the leak. There would be time later on for a more critical look at the issues of repair, re-design, etc.

In this metaphor the Titanic represents—collectively—Christian families, the Church and, to a large extent, the entire country. The specific entity that is failing to provide prudent navigation for a culture awash in disarray is the swarm of federal agencies that have commandeered every inch of the public education leviathan. The ripped gash in the side of the ship are the schools themselves—those most basic of all basic life-impacting institutions—operating a $500 Billion (that’s a “B”) per year boondoggle of unwarranted textbook profits, teacher salaries, benefits and retirement packages, all operating inside of, and with stunning inattention to, the moral and academic freefall that the education lobby has bestowed upon a nation of apparently too-busy-to-notice parents.

The seawater flooding in is the abysmal lack of academic success that has reached nearly international joke proportions. Even more perilous to the “ship’s” health and longevity is the toxic torrent of anti-moral, anti-Christian brainwashing, and “secular socialization” being enforced in nearly every subject, every class, every DVD and Power Point presentation. Equally breathtaking are the multiple perversities being shared with not-yet-immune Christian kids via daily contact with their classmates. Many of these peer “disease carriers” themselves have been innocently yet badly infected by disease viruses coming down the pipelines of radio, TV, media and what passes for entertainment. All these educational pathologies are even transmitted (though unwittingly in many cases) by well-intentioned Christian teachers employed in the system. But, all in all, it’s a flood of toxicity that, according to Christian pollster George Barna, is inexorably driving 85% of Christian kids out of church and out of touch with Christ once they leave home as “adults.” And—as we’re repeatedly told to believe—the “vital real-world socialization that only the public schools can offer” has turned out to be a flop, a ruse, and the primary cancer that is bringing about the cultural collapse we all see, one way or another, each and every day.

The flood-stopping plug consists of, 1) obedient pastors willing to provide emergency level leadership among congregational families no matter what any perceived "risks" might be so that the Cultural Mandate of Genesis 1:26-28 and Psalms 8:5-6 can be achieved; 2) equally future-oriented, obedient parents, roused from a secular-induced slumber and finally able to recognize a satanically-placed iceberg when they see one; 3) the parents' kids who will soon be translating their Christian-based academics and Biblical Worldview training into a culture-changing societal miracle pleasing to God. [End of metaphor.]

The undisputed facts about what’s happening to millions of our kids, and the key point of the story, is that no matter which leak-plugging educational mechanism that parents choose – education by HS or PCS—both will serve wonderfully well to help save this ship of family, Church and nation. The immediate emergency need is to remove the kids as soon as possible from out of this down-dumbing, robot-creating, morally inept and forever unrepairable government operated indoctrination system. Any government school, by definition, is anti-God and was—as some of you may be aware—wrong from the start, even in theory, as our founders well knew. A fatal flaw in this instance is that the job of educating God’s children was never supposed to be up to the State—i.e., to flawed men. Biblically, it’s up to the parents. Any government system, if given the kids all day from ages 5 to 18 will (being staffed by paid sinners) always devolve into raising them according to man’s ways, not God’s. This is a fact of life so long as Satan lurks and so long as man is born into trouble, naively watching the pretty sparks flying upward and casually ceding his (God’s) kids over to the Moloch of the public schools. [To be continued.]

Save the Titanic Part 2

by Dr. Richard A. Jones

Last week I used the “Titanic metaphor” to dramatize how inspired Christian parents can take the best step possible in helping plug the hole in the sinking ship of U.S. families, culture and Church. The remedy is to immediately extract hostage children from the clutches of the poisoning, polluting and perverting government schools and transfer them to homeschooling (HS) or private Christian schools (PCS.) As much as nearly any other institution, the federal school system contributes in a deadly way to our cultural tailspin, and this includes the direct and indirect damage it’s doing to Christian church-goers and to the weak reed that is the modern U.S. Church.

For those insisting that our real “culture collapse villains” are the entertainment industry, the ACLU, satanic computer games, TV, radio, etc., please ask yourself this: Where do the people who mass produce our pop American perversities first begin receiving their intellectual “basic training”? Since it’s obviously within the do-your-own-thing, God-hating schools, why should we expect anything other than perversity? We’re reaping what we and our proxy leaders and legislators have been sewing educationally since the early 19th century.

Aside from the pitiful, well-documented academic meltdown, keep in mind that each June, from out of every K-12 schoolhouse, our families and churches and culture are also being systematically gifted with two groups of spiritually- and morally-compromised victims. The first group consists of little pagans-in-the-making who come from non-Christian, non-churched homes, and who, after nine months of steady indoctrination, exit the schoolrooms even more damaged than they were the previous Fall. The second group consists of all the churched and Christian kids who in nine short months have become just that much more like their paganized peers than the previous September. They’re one step closer to abandoning the faith in preparation for being of no earthly good, as adults, to the cause of fulfilling the Cultural Mandate and the Great Commission for Christ all across culture. Many who don’t desert the faith often become accommodating to the divergent worldviews they’ve been exposed to for 12 or more years. They adopt a form of moral equivalency where the world is seen through a prism of “live and let live.”

Intersecting with and adding to the governmental perversion of young minds is a pietistic, feminized, visionless, and Alzheimer’s-trending U.S. Christian Church. Instead of marching forth as a dominion-oriented, all-fronts army, geared up to restore the gospel message and to do battle against secularization in culture, the Church focuses narrowly (and safely!) on such near-trivia as “pastoral sensitivity to congregants concerned with ‘me and my feelings,’” “relationships,” “God’s ‘unconditional’ love for everyone no matter what they do,” the frustratingly vague—“restoring the nation one soul at a time,” “the imminent Rapture escape,” “church growth no matter the fruit,” “relevance,” and other such—some not entirely insignificant—yet nonetheless secondary distractions. The battle for the mind of our kids needs to be fought on two fronts, but at the moment we’re losing on both; in the hostage schools and in weak churches.

Enter now the Christian parent wondering which way to go on the educational home front. I admit my mentors and studies point towards Christian homeschooling (90% of the time) as being the best answer to the academic, spiritual and biblical worldview (BWV) challenge that our kids—and we adults, too—need to master. But the emergency nature of the national cultural crisis means that parents must also be practical in the near term. So, for those who are reluctant or unable to HS yet still willing to enroll their kids in a PCS, we should grant them our wholehearted support and encouragement. I’m confident the day will come when homeschooling is normative in Christian families, but for the moment we need to get the “exodus from out of the government schools” up and running immediately, using either of the two pro-Christian schooling options.

Those opting for a PCS approach are wise to search for a school that teaches from a curriculum in which a BWV is woven into all of the subjects all of the time. Integration of the philosophic with the academic is the best approach for creating spiritually prepared and battlefield-wise kids ready and eager for the task of taking back the culture for Christ. The pertinent Bible doctrine comes from Genesis 1:26–28 and Psalm 8:5–6, instructing us to be fruitful, multiply, replenish and subdue, and—most importantly— to take dominion over the works of God’s hands for the sake of the Cultural or Dominion Mandate. Since a well-ingrained BWV also happens to be the key to success in every part of life, it must be taught all the time and not just once a week or in a specially set-aside class as is often the case in many private Christian schools.

Parental PCS decision-making should take note of the benefits that can come with church-sponsored private schools. When the PCS is tied directly to a single-sponsor church, the likelihood of BWV integration is increased; pastor and elders are more likely to be supportive; the teachers are more likely to be members of that specific church and thus be on the same page on all details; the daily theological messages and BWV offerings are more likely to be consistent which means that confusion among the students is avoided. There is, however, no choice problem at all between any PCS and the public school “option.”

Homeschooling is the topic next time, but the key point today is that with either educational alternative, HS or PCS, parents will know they’re doing the right thing as they free their children from public school “hostage status,” and as they plug a huge societal “leak” in the process.

Save the Titanic Part 3

by Dr. Richard A. Jones

As the sun sinks slowly in the West, and with our adventure nearing its climax, it’s time to find out if the waterlogged ship, Titanic, (a metaphor of threat against families, national culture and Church) is going to sink along with the sun or sail on safely to port. The good news is that the ship can be saved if we stuff the ripped-open gash with the most important plug of all; Christian home schooling (HS). The point of this three-part series has been that if God’s obedient salt and light stewards and industrious “occupiers until He comes,” truly desire to restore our nation to kingdom-advancing, culture-redeeming status, then Christian education of our replacement adults is absolutely the best tool. Private Christian schooling was mentioned last time. Today’s focus is on HS.    Since “education” is key, let’s re-check the term’s meaning. Because of 100 + years of “mom, flag and apple pie” type analogies, the average mind-molded American involuntarily recites back to you the paradigm of the flawed-in-its-very-conception, public school model as his definition. Besides the “3Rs” he envisions huge classrooms of age-segregated peers being production-lined through the K-12 process; dreaded one-chance-only exams; playground “facts of life;” learning to fit in and obey; sports, sports and more sports - almost our national religion; the prime goal of college-guaranteeing SAT scores; eventual high salaries; boy-girl stuff—big time, etc. Scratch most Americans and you find that’s “education.” Since you already sense this mad litany was a set-up, it’s time to turn to just a few of the dozens of well-known Bible verses portraying God’s version of education and see how it relates to HSing. Is there a better starting point than that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom?” Proverbs then immediately links this time-tested message to the rule that children are to “hear the instruction of their father and forsake not the law of their mother.” i.e., education happens at home. Where, then, is the biblical justification for transferring kids away for the academics? It’s not, per Deuteronomy 6, where we’re told that God’s word is to be taught to children non-stop when we speak to them, while sitting in the house, when walking by the way, when lying down and upon arising. By easy inference, the passage’s ”no let-up” time parameter means that, in addition to the spiritual training, the academic part (an aspect, by the way, that is hardly a rocket-science challenge, as studies show, even for a homeschool mom who may not even have a high school degree) must therefore be taught alongside God’s word and integrated with it. Sending the child “away” prevents the first and hinders or even completely prevents the second —especially in 2007 U.S.A. where academic achievement (and morality) continues going into the tank.

Jeremiah 10:2, Proverbs 22:6, Colossians 2:8 are good passages. Ephesians 6:4 implies that failure to constantly train per God’s ways easily produces a child overloaded with wrath against his parents, himself, the world in general, and even against God. Since daily work in HS, to include homework, is typically completed by noon, tons of superb “socialization” opportunities abound during the rest of the day so don’t let naysayers dissuade you with their totally discredited “but, what about socialization?” ploy.

To list the vast volume of homeschooling benefits goes well beyond space limits, but the odds of the following rewards coming your way far outweigh those suffered when the (anti-scriptural) decision is made to not HS: Teenage rebellion slows to a trickle or stops; your kids will get better grades—in fact, receiving “all A’s” since new topics aren’t introduced until the old are mastered; no brainwashing via historical revisionism; excellence and entrepreneurship can be encouraged; colleges line up to accept HS graduates; you are more often proud of, rather than embarrassed by their behavior in public; pleasant intra-family bonding becomes a profound, often unexpected, blessing; mom and dad discover, ironically, they needed to engage in home instruction for their own spiritual betterment, etc.

There are two huge though entirely artificial impediments to HS. The first is the “it speaks for itself” American habit of materialistic consumerism or “mortgage-ism” (keeping up with Joneses) where mom can’t stay home because “she has to work.” Biblically invalid, too, are the culture-driven, career aspirations of too many “feminized” Christian women. Be aware, however, that God will bless, in myriad ways, a calm, obedience-based re-assessing of family money goals. Problem two: The all-too-common refusal of dad to give his whole-hearted spiritual/emotional support to mom and the kids. HSing is right and deeply rewarding, but nobody ever said it was easy, so when fathers fail to sign on, the program often doesn’t make it or does poorly. However, a significant reason for fatherly reluctance can be traced directly to those remaining pastors strangely hesitant to preach to and support these public school-habituated dads.

What’s the best reason to raise up kids via HS? That they grow up to be obedient advancers of His Kingdom, pressing forward as adults for all of His goals in all of culture before He comes again. In part, and to that end I’d be happy to email some HS websites to you although “how to homeschool” on Yahoo yielded nearly one hundred thousand hits! Finally, for those saying “we simply can’t homeschool for (any number of whatever) reasons,” please chew on this: If you are not going to homeschool, how was it, exactly, that God let you know He didn’t want you to? Thanks for listening and for saving the ship.

…but be doers of the word, and not hearers only... - James 1:22a

Hear and Do

by Kim d'Escoto

“That was so convicting!”

We’ve all heard a sermon message given on Sunday morning, a keynote address at a conference, or words shared by a friend that have really spoken to our hearts. God often uses the mouths (or pens or keyboards) of others to awaken us to His truth. And when that truth is something that we really need to hear, it strikes a chord deep within.

There have been times when I sat in church listening to my pastor preach God’s Word and I felt like the message was intended just for me. It was as if I was the only one in the room when those words penetrated deep into my heart, taking me into a zone of revelation. And then, as I came to, I wondered if others could see the profound conviction I was feeling.

When God speaks to us in these ways, we would do well to take heed. The stirring we feel within is not a coincidence, it’s a rap on the door of our hearts, an attempt to get our attention. But hearing is not enough, it’s what we do with those words that matters.

If I tell my child that he needs to brush his teeth before bedtime in order to prevent the cavity creeps from eating away at his tooth enamel, is it enough for him to say, “Wow, you’re right, Mom. That’s really convicting”? Words of agreement will not get the crud off his teeth. He has to pick up the toothbrush and toothpaste and brush those teeth.

If your church offers bible classes, marriage workshops, and prayer meetings, are you going to be fed by staying at home? If your Bible sits in the same spot on the coffee table for days, weeks, or months at a time, are you going to have quality time with God? In order to be washed in the Word, you have to get in God’s tub. And sometimes that tub isn’t the big, comfortable whirlpool you’d like it to be, filled with warm water, surrounded by candles, overflowing with bubbles. But, like it or not, it’s the tub He wants us to be in. And who are we to question His will?

We sing the words:

Change my heart, Oh God
make it ever true
Change my heart, Oh God
may it be like you

But sometimes I wonder if our attitude is more of:

Change my heart, Oh God
make it ever true
Change my heart, Oh God
but I don’t wanna do

Growing as a believer requires an open heart and willing spirit. Merely knowing what we have to do is not enough. We have to do it. When we expect change, but we don’t want to do our part, it’s disobedience, plain and simple. Then come the complaints, the bitterness, and eventually, the heart decay. Do you want a better marriage? Be a better spouse. Do you want a more peaceful homeschool? Be a kinder, gentler teacher. Do you want to grow closer to the Lord? Draw nearer to Him. It sounds simple, yet it’s so easy to miss the mark. James hits the nail on the head when he speaks of those who hear God’s Word and claim to know it but do nothing about it.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. (James 1:22-24)

What is God convicting you of? Listen to His prompting, and then, through the power of the Holy Spirit, go do something about it.

…By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. -Hebrews 11:5 (ESV)

People-pleaser versus God-pleaser

by David d'Escoto

Are you a people-pleaser or a God-pleaser? Believe it or not, people-pleasers are very prevalent in today’s society to the point that it has been labeled as a “disease.”

I must admit that I have been guilty of having people-pleaser tendencies at different times in my life. There is nothing inherently wrong with pleasing another person, but when it’s done at the expense of disobeying God then there is a problem.

What forms does people-pleasing come in? A couple of examples would be being used as a doormat for others and going along with the crowd, or peer pressure. What is peer pressure but the acquiescing of an individual to the group’s desires, which really is just going along with/pleasing one’s social circle. After all, who wants to look or be different from the rest of the crowd? When one decides that homeschooling is the best option for their family, what soon follows is the peer pressure from relatives and friends. If one is to stand up to this kind of pressure, it is going to take some prayer, grace and fortitude.

An analogy that might work for you is to imagine a pack of people running together in a race. Let’s call them the Joneses, and the race they are in is the annual Rat Race. They are sweating, huffing and puffing and then one of the runners asks, “Hey, why are we running? And where are we going?” only to hear a couple of other runners from the group reply back, “Just keep running—it’s what everyone else is doing!” Have you ever thought about the expression “keeping up with the Joneses,” and wondered “Where are the Joneses going anyway?” and “Do I want to end up where they are headed?” These are good questions to ask yourself since we only get one shot at this thing called life (Hebrews 9:27).

It is best to start asking these questions early in the race so we do not waste precious time and energy heading in the wrong direction. Through God’s grace, let’s try to change our focus to be God-Pleasers instead of people-pleasers. How can we start doing this? The first step is to realize that if you decide to follow the path of homeschooling, know that you will be dropping out of the Rat Race and will be telling the Joneses to go on without you. This will cause some strife and possibly some persecution, but never mind. It may take months or a couple years but it will soon pass, as those who opposed you at first begin to see the fruit of your labor.

Besides, God sometimes uses a little worldly mistreatment to refine us. After all, He is molding and shaping us for His purposes (Romans 9:20-21). Sadly though, I must admit that sometimes I don’t like the refining part of my sanctification process, but I must remember to never lose faith in the One who is shaping me. We need to strive to obey and never lose faith in the Author and Perfector of our faith.

I am reminded of a true story about a godly Christian man who was being used mightily by God in a teaching and preaching role at his church. After years of enduring the steady drip-drip-drip of discontent by his wife (Proverbs 27:15), he relinquished his role as teacher and acquiesced to his wife’s pressure to leave the church. His rationale, based on unwise counsel and the misconstruing of Scripture, was that He needed to please his wife when, in actuality, what he was doing was disobeying God’s call on his life. Sadly, this scenario may be more common than we realize. These type of men and their wives must wonder at times what great plans God would have had for them if they would have stayed and waited for the Lord to bless their obedient faith.

Sometimes pleasing God pleases others, sometimes pleasing God doesn’t please others, but ultimately, we are to please God regardless. The author of Hebrews reminds us in chapter 11 verse 6 that "without faith it is impossible to please (God)". Whether in family leadership or serving in the church we need to be God-pleasers, when we serve the Lord and keep the faith, we can’t go wrong. Keep in mind what Paul wrote in Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. (ESV)

“You don't put baby tomato plants in the hot sun; you keep them in a greenhouse until they have roots.”-Mark Glaser'

…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. –Philippians 1:6

Desire, Determination & Devotion

by Kim d'Escoto

Think of a time when you set a goal for yourself. Maybe it was that all-too-common goal centering around fitness or weight loss. Or, perhaps your objective has been related to finances, such as paying off debts or establishing a savings. I have personally set many goals throughout my life. One of my more recent aspirations centered around organizing my home, so several rooms, closets, and storage areas underwent major purging and decluttering. These areas had been catastrophic in appearance. You know the kind of storage spaces that, upon opening, create an avalanche of belongings—that’s what I was faced with. In more than one room (*blush*). It wasn’t an easy task to begin, but once I got the momentum going, great things started to happen. The rooms became fresh and tidy, and they felt good to be in. Now they’re easier to keep clean because, as the saying goes, there’s a place for everything and everything is in its place. (If it could only stay this way…)

I have to admit, I’m never too thrilled about the prospect of muddling through mountains of junk. When Dave and I moved into this home over fourteen years, we had one baby on the way. Now we are a family of seven, and the amount of stuff that has accumulated in our closets, bedrooms, storage nooks, attic, and bins (we have sooo many bins!) has multiplied faster than our family size. Homeschooling, home business, and hobbies require space and supplies. Children’s wardrobes, toys, and school materials add to the piles. There are times when I find myself drowning in stuff and not knowing where to begin. When I am at the end of my rope, I have a choice to make. I can flip out or I can do something about it.

That’s where the “3 Ds” come in—desire, determination, and devotion. The “3 Ds” are a practical tool to setting goals and achieving them. In my mission of home organization, for example, I desire to make my home a more orderly, functional, and peaceful place to be. I am determined to put together a plan of attack in getting the job done. And I am devoted to completing the task. With these three elements, my goals are eventually met and life is good.

The “3 Ds” come into play in a more important arena than home organization. As a busy homeschooling mom, I have come to realize over the years that there’s one goal in my life I must make a priority--consistent time with the Lord. He has given me the blessing of 24 hours each day, and I have a choice, more or less, in how I use this time. My first and foremost desire should be to spend a healthy, regular portion of everyday with my Lord. Not just the bible and prayer time I spend with my husband or children, nor the study groups at church, but time alone, just Him and me. The desire to seek Him seems to develop when I’m at my weariest. Being far from the Lord does that to you. Patience dwindles, discouragement grows, and the well just dries up. I find myself thirsting for something that’s missing in my life, and I am thankful that God gives me that longing. Without the desire to draw near to Him, I would forfeit so many of the blessings He has in store for this weary child. I am reminded of His promise: Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. –James 4:8

So I become determined to find a way to include Him in my life. Sometimes it means waking earlier than I normally would each day. It may mean resisting the temptation to log onto the computer or flip on the television. It may mean ignoring the telephone when it rings or the “you’ve got mail” chime of my Mac and returning calls or emails later. By reprioritizing, I am able to carve out a portion of time to read His Word and pray. And I remind myself that my own children are watching and learning. How can I expect to teach them the importance of abiding in Christ if I, myself, am not practicing what I preach? Children really do learn more by what is caught than what is taught. I’ve seen my own catch a few things I wish they’d never caught their mom saying or doing. I’ve also experienced the blessing of seeing them model traits that my husband and I want them to learn. With that in mind, I have a greater determination to do the right thing.

Finally, I must remain devoted to my goal. It’s one thing to start a project, like reorganizing a closet. It’s another thing to finish and finish strong. Life has a way of knocking us off course—be it illness, the holidays, a new baby—but consistency can be achieved if we keep our eyes on the benefits. When I’ve drifted from my daily time with God, I can feel a difference in my attitude and behavior. Like regular physical exercise, once it becomes habitual, it’s more obvious when I’ve missed a time. If I can be devoted to other less important things, surely I can (and should!) devote time to my Maker on a regular basis.

The Lord wants us to connect with Him daily. It’s a perfect opportunity to lay our problems at His feet, listen to His direction, and start each day fresh and tidy. Cleaning the clutter of our hearts is a lot like housework. It may not be the first thing we choose to confront, but it makes life at home whole lot nicer when our spiritual life is in order.

“You don't put baby tomato plants in the hot sun; you keep them in a greenhouse until they have roots.”-Mark Glaser'