Sound The Trumpet

I was offended and saddened this morning when I read a recent article on World Net Daily. It seems that parent's rights are, again, being eroded. In this particular case, a parent is being forced to send her daughter to a public school for her education. Was the daughter not being educated? That was not the claim of the guardian ad litem assigned to the case. The GAL claimed the daughter "...shut out points of view and areas of consideration..." In other words, there were points where this student, in her own rationalization, realized that there were certain points of view which are wrong. In fact, the fifth grader was described as having a "vigorous defense of her religious beliefs." This whole debate is a result of a custody battle between the child's father and mother. They are divorced and using the child as a pawn. I do not know what the mother's religious position is or whether she is teaching her child the truth of the Word of God or not. However, it is the parent's right and responsibility to raise their children under the sound preaching of the Word of God.

Psalm 127:3-5 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. (4) As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. (5) Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Genesis 33:5 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.

Ge 48:8-9 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these? (9) And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.

Isa 8:18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

Heb 2:13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

To whom did the Lord entrust children? Did the Lord entrust children to the state? God gave children to their parents and entrusted the parents to rear, and to train the children.

Matthew 22:21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

We are to give respect to the government, where it is due, and to God where respect to God is due. As we will see, training children is not a responsibility God gave to the government, it is one which was given to the parents.

Ezekiel 16:20-21 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, (21) That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

When you send your children off to a public school, where are you sending them? I praise God that HE extended mercy to me by protecting me until I was saved at the age of twenty-two years old. Of course, by then, much of the damage was already done. I had been thoroughly indoctrinated. I have spent the last eighteen years trying to undo the damage done by the state's indoctrination system. No, the world is not millions of years old, as I was taught in the public school. No, there are not many paths to heaven as I was taught in the public schools. No, Bible-believing, fundamental Baptists are not crazy people, as my Algebra III teacher taught. What did theology have to do with Algebra? No, Greek mythology is not equal with the Word of God as I was taught by my eighth grade English teacher. Children should not be taught lies as though they are truth. By sending your children to a public school, you are delivering them to the enemy to be consumed.

Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

The quickest way to produce a reprobate, Bible-hating young person is to send them to the public school! As God-fearing parents, we want our children to be in church. We want them to love God and we want them to serve God. Many preachers have claimed that hypocrisy in the home is a sure way to produce children who hate God. This preacher agrees. However, it is difficult to imagine a greater hypocrisy than a Bible-believing Christian sending their children to a public school. This hypocritical parent sends his child to church on Sunday for a few hours of Bible training. This is in contrast to thirty or forty hours of teaching and indoctrination by the public school system. Moreover, by sending the children off to school, the parents are endorsing the school's teachings!

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: (7) And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

This is a command given directly to the parents. It is the parent's responsibility to teach the precepts of the Word of God to their children. Or, ensure the children are being correctly taught. If a school existed which accurately taught the Word of God and practiced the standards of the Word of God, I would consider it. Sadly, I do not know of a school which teaches the Word of God and truly holds to the standards of separation we find in the Word of God.

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

We are all a sum of the teachings and experiences we have acquired over our lives. These experiences and teachings mold who we are, and what we think in our hearts. When a child's heart is molded in such a way as to reject the Word of God, what does that child become?

Isaiah 54:13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

Jeremiah 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

God has given a fairly clear command to us: train our children in the ways of God. Train our children to love the Lord. Is this really a difficult concept to grasp?

1 Corinthians 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

What are children being taught in the state-run schools?
It is impossible for a state-run school to impart wisdom into a child.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

When God is mocked and every doctrine, cult and myth is taught as an equal alternative, there is a demonstrated lack of a fear of the Lord. In the absence of the fear of the Lord, there may be knowledge, but there can be no wisdom.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 13:20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

As I said above, it is our responsibility, as parents, to train our children in the ways of the Lord. We are to teach our children the history of the world in the light of the Bible. We are to shun fables and profane babblings. We are to teach our children the truth. When we do this, when we teach our children the truth of the Word of God, our children will not depart from that truth. When we teach our children myths and fables such as evolution, Greek mythology, Secular Humanism and the like, it takes the mercy of the Lord to undo the damage. In all likelihood, the damage done by the public schools will never be undone.

Given the current state of our public schools, I would also contend that there is a clear danger for the average child who attends any institutional school. Institutional schools are targets for pedophiles - both from the inside and out. Children who truly worship the Lord are subjected to ridicule and emotional distress by all, including the staff. Since the children are taught from kindergarten that they are no more than animals, they act like animals and the weak are injured. Too often, the bullied lash out in mass-murder.

Aside from the inherit physical dangers of the state-run schools, the schools are simply failing to educate. Even by any secular standard, public schools are simply failing. Not only do children not receive a solid Biblical education, they are not even being taught basic skills such as reading and simple arithmetic and the history kids are taught is inaccurately skewed in favor of a politically liberal world view.

I would contend that, in most cases, subjecting a child to the state-run school system is tantamount to child abuse or child neglect. It is certainly an overt act of ignoring a key part of God's plan for child training.