Saturday, December 20, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
My Reasons for Homeschooling
I started this blog some time ago with a post introducing myself and a brief explanation of how I came to the Principle Approach but I've never put together an explanation for my reasons to homeschool. My study of the Principle Approach so far has helped me to better clarify my reasons for homeschooling but it wasn't until Dana from Principled Discovery posted one of her reader's question "What are your reasons for homeschooling?" that I took time to think about it and put together an explanation. These are my reasons:
Before the birth of my first daughter, I didn’t think much about education. My own education had been only what I had experienced and from that, I knew generally something was amiss but I wasn’t really clear as to what all “being educated” or what “having a good academic education” meant. At the same time in my life, I was going through a struggle in my spiritual life and faith, and I also didn’t fully understand what it meant to have a true, Christian education, or what exactly it meant to bring up children in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). Once my first daughter was born, all of this became a real interest and concern and God used it to make changes in my mind-heart. At that time, my husband was not opposed to government schools. He did well academically so he had very few issues with them. I didn’t want the government schools but couldn’t explain why. So we reached an agreement and decided on a small, private, church school for kindergarten. At the end of end of the school year, the administration announced that the school was closing. After thinking we had figured out what we were doing for her education, my husband and I found ourselves back at square one, needing to re-think and make another decision. We did agree to homeschooling for a year to see how it would go and thus began my “re-education” and the “official” home education of our two daughters.
Looking back, I have to admit now, it was more of an emotional, gut reaction for me rather than a well thought out, specifically defined decision. From a mother’s perspective, I just simply loved my girls and enjoyed being with them so much that I hated the idea of being apart so much. Through 14 years of home schooling and conversations with my husband, we’ve understood more of what I was reacting to and have found more specific reasons for our decision to home educate.
The reasons all inter-related and of equal importance so it’s hard to separate them or value one over the other. The ones at the top of the list tend to be fundamental or foundational to the rest. They come down to the basic parenting responsibility, family relationships, individuality, academic, and religious reasons:
1. More time together - to talk to one another, share interests, share thoughts and feelings, imperfections and struggles, activities and just being together and with extended family of grandmothers.
2. Closer relationships - they’re my constant companions other than my husband, mother and sister, and friends at church, the socialization I prefer.
3. Character & spiritual growth and maturity.
4. Their friends are at our house a lot and we get to know their friends well.
5. Freedom to educate my daughter the way I (we) think best, freedom in curriculum.
6. Curriculum content - by law in our state we are to use a curriculum comparable to the government school but we want a Biblical content, so I follow it to a point then teach it the way I want, expand/add to it or delete, go ahead on concepts or slow down, we don’t really go by grade level only for certain situations.
7. High academic standards, they can learn and grasp concepts yet balanced with their own time and speed.
8. Curriculum methods, philosophies - how and for what purpose is important.
8. Being able to know how to learn, find answers, study.
9. Not knowing the teacher personally -- giving my child to an individual I did not know was one of my biggest fears!
10. Physical safety.
11. Teacher and school accountability or lack of it.
12. Parental involvement or lack of it, being prevented from being involved.
13. Not wanting my daughters to disappear into the mass, one size fits all, not wanting wrong labeling, being able to develop individual gifts, strengths, interests --- to become the unique person they are.
14. Peer pressure, learning to be able to think for themselves.
Educating my daughters is my maternal (parental) desire, pleasure, responsibility and right -- it’s parenting -- in the way I think best for them as individuals and for our family, free from the government funding and regulations/restrictions. Academic and religious education is one for me, I can’t separate them -- two distinct parts of the whole. Similar to a coin -- two distinct sides, yet the one coin. I call myself a home educator of the eclectic, unstructured sort, using a combination of Charlotte Mason, classical, and Principle Approach. I’ve never been one to think that everyone should home school because I do or that they home school in the same way I do. It will be different for everyone and I tend to stay away from the individuals/groups that want everyone and everything to be identical. Homeschooling hasn’t been without struggles. There are better days than others. Days where we don’t accomplish as much and days where we do accomplish a lot. Right now we’re behind due to a lot of sickness but we work at it on the weekend and year around. Even with this it has been well worth it and I’m glad to be a home educator. If some one has an interest I would certainly encourage them to try.
As I get further along in my Principle Approach study, I hope to post more specifically about the Principle Approach, homeschooling, and my reasons for doing so.
Before the birth of my first daughter, I didn’t think much about education. My own education had been only what I had experienced and from that, I knew generally something was amiss but I wasn’t really clear as to what all “being educated” or what “having a good academic education” meant. At the same time in my life, I was going through a struggle in my spiritual life and faith, and I also didn’t fully understand what it meant to have a true, Christian education, or what exactly it meant to bring up children in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). Once my first daughter was born, all of this became a real interest and concern and God used it to make changes in my mind-heart. At that time, my husband was not opposed to government schools. He did well academically so he had very few issues with them. I didn’t want the government schools but couldn’t explain why. So we reached an agreement and decided on a small, private, church school for kindergarten. At the end of end of the school year, the administration announced that the school was closing. After thinking we had figured out what we were doing for her education, my husband and I found ourselves back at square one, needing to re-think and make another decision. We did agree to homeschooling for a year to see how it would go and thus began my “re-education” and the “official” home education of our two daughters.
Looking back, I have to admit now, it was more of an emotional, gut reaction for me rather than a well thought out, specifically defined decision. From a mother’s perspective, I just simply loved my girls and enjoyed being with them so much that I hated the idea of being apart so much. Through 14 years of home schooling and conversations with my husband, we’ve understood more of what I was reacting to and have found more specific reasons for our decision to home educate.
The reasons all inter-related and of equal importance so it’s hard to separate them or value one over the other. The ones at the top of the list tend to be fundamental or foundational to the rest. They come down to the basic parenting responsibility, family relationships, individuality, academic, and religious reasons:
1. More time together - to talk to one another, share interests, share thoughts and feelings, imperfections and struggles, activities and just being together and with extended family of grandmothers.
2. Closer relationships - they’re my constant companions other than my husband, mother and sister, and friends at church, the socialization I prefer.
3. Character & spiritual growth and maturity.
4. Their friends are at our house a lot and we get to know their friends well.
5. Freedom to educate my daughter the way I (we) think best, freedom in curriculum.
6. Curriculum content - by law in our state we are to use a curriculum comparable to the government school but we want a Biblical content, so I follow it to a point then teach it the way I want, expand/add to it or delete, go ahead on concepts or slow down, we don’t really go by grade level only for certain situations.
7. High academic standards, they can learn and grasp concepts yet balanced with their own time and speed.
8. Curriculum methods, philosophies - how and for what purpose is important.
8. Being able to know how to learn, find answers, study.
9. Not knowing the teacher personally -- giving my child to an individual I did not know was one of my biggest fears!
10. Physical safety.
11. Teacher and school accountability or lack of it.
12. Parental involvement or lack of it, being prevented from being involved.
13. Not wanting my daughters to disappear into the mass, one size fits all, not wanting wrong labeling, being able to develop individual gifts, strengths, interests --- to become the unique person they are.
14. Peer pressure, learning to be able to think for themselves.
Educating my daughters is my maternal (parental) desire, pleasure, responsibility and right -- it’s parenting -- in the way I think best for them as individuals and for our family, free from the government funding and regulations/restrictions. Academic and religious education is one for me, I can’t separate them -- two distinct parts of the whole. Similar to a coin -- two distinct sides, yet the one coin. I call myself a home educator of the eclectic, unstructured sort, using a combination of Charlotte Mason, classical, and Principle Approach. I’ve never been one to think that everyone should home school because I do or that they home school in the same way I do. It will be different for everyone and I tend to stay away from the individuals/groups that want everyone and everything to be identical. Homeschooling hasn’t been without struggles. There are better days than others. Days where we don’t accomplish as much and days where we do accomplish a lot. Right now we’re behind due to a lot of sickness but we work at it on the weekend and year around. Even with this it has been well worth it and I’m glad to be a home educator. If some one has an interest I would certainly encourage them to try.
As I get further along in my Principle Approach study, I hope to post more specifically about the Principle Approach, homeschooling, and my reasons for doing so.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Advent: Why was Jesus Born?
All our Advent readings for this year 2007 can be viewed on my personal blog by clicking here.
First Advent Sunday Lighting the Candle ...... Waiting with hope .....
The season of the waiting heart, with hope, for the Promised Messiah, our Savior, Immanuel. Latin definition of ad-venio: "to come to."
Old Testament Reading:
Isaiah 11
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Biblical People to follow the lineage of Christ for the Jesse Tree:
The Physical World
Genesis 1:1-2
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Adam
Genesis 2:7
... then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Eve
Genesis 2:21-23
21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
New Testament Reading:
1 Peter 1:20
He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ...
Ephesians 1:4-10
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Matthew 1
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name "Immanuel" (which means, God with us).
24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Immanuel lyrics and played by Michael Card, sung by Steve Green.
A sign shall be given
A virgin will conceive
A human baby bearing
Undiminished deity
The glory of the nations
A light for all to see
That hope for all who will embrace
His warm reality
Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel
For all those who live in the shadow of death
A glorious light has dawned
For all those who stumble in the darkness
Behold your light has come
Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel
So what will be your answer?
Will you hear the call?
Of Him who did not spare His son
But gave him for us all
On earth there is no power
There is no depth or height
That could ever separate us
From the love of God in Christ
Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel
Why was Jesus born?
Jesus was born to be our High Priest, our Mediator, our Redeemer. Jesus was born to secure our eternal salvation, to take away our sin, to save us from our sin, to free us from the power and control of sin -- to give us liberty and His own righteousness.
An Old Testament Priest:
1 represented the people before God
2 was taken from among men to be their representative
3 was appointed by God
4 was active before God in the interests of men, a Mediator
5 offered gifts and sacrifices for sins
6 made intercession for the people
7 means 'one who is called in to help, an advocate, one who pleads the cause of another.'
Westminster Shorter Catechism
Question 25: How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
Answer: Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making continual intercession for us.
Old Testament Reading:
Isaiah 53:5-7
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
Psalm 110:4
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Genesis 14:18-21
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)
19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Biblical Person to follow the lineage of Christ for our Jesse Tree:
Isaac Genesis 22:6-14
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8 Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."
12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 So Abraham called the name of that place, "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided."
New Testament Reading:
Matthew 1:21
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
1 Corinthians 5:7
… for Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed …
1 Peter 1:19
... but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
Hebrews 9:26, 28
… for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself … so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 2:17
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 7:25
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 5:5-10
5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;
6 as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Die he or justice must: unless for him
Some other able, and as willing, pay
The rigid satisfaction, death for death.
Say, Heavenly Powers, where shall we find such love,
Which of ye shall be mortal to redeem
Man’s mortal crime, and just th’ unjust to save,
Dwells in all heaven charity so dear?
~Milton~
First Advent Sunday Lighting the Candle ...... Waiting with hope .....
The season of the waiting heart, with hope, for the Promised Messiah, our Savior, Immanuel. Latin definition of ad-venio: "to come to."Old Testament Reading:
Isaiah 11
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Biblical People to follow the lineage of Christ for the Jesse Tree:
The Physical World
Genesis 1:1-2
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Adam
Genesis 2:7
... then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Eve
Genesis 2:21-23
21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
New Testament Reading:
1 Peter 1:20
He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ...
Ephesians 1:4-10
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Matthew 1
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name "Immanuel" (which means, God with us).
24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Immanuel lyrics and played by Michael Card, sung by Steve Green.A sign shall be given
A virgin will conceive
A human baby bearing
Undiminished deity
The glory of the nations
A light for all to see
That hope for all who will embrace
His warm reality
Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel
For all those who live in the shadow of death
A glorious light has dawned
For all those who stumble in the darkness
Behold your light has come
Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel
So what will be your answer?
Will you hear the call?
Of Him who did not spare His son
But gave him for us all
On earth there is no power
There is no depth or height
That could ever separate us
From the love of God in Christ
Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel
Why was Jesus born?
Jesus was born to be our High Priest, our Mediator, our Redeemer. Jesus was born to secure our eternal salvation, to take away our sin, to save us from our sin, to free us from the power and control of sin -- to give us liberty and His own righteousness.
An Old Testament Priest:
1 represented the people before God
2 was taken from among men to be their representative
3 was appointed by God
4 was active before God in the interests of men, a Mediator
5 offered gifts and sacrifices for sins
6 made intercession for the people
7 means 'one who is called in to help, an advocate, one who pleads the cause of another.'
Westminster Shorter Catechism
Question 25: How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
Answer: Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making continual intercession for us.
Old Testament Reading:
Isaiah 53:5-7
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
Psalm 110:4
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Genesis 14:18-21
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)
19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Biblical Person to follow the lineage of Christ for our Jesse Tree:
Isaac Genesis 22:6-14
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8 Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."
12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 So Abraham called the name of that place, "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided."
New Testament Reading:
Matthew 1:21
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
1 Corinthians 5:7
… for Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed …
1 Peter 1:19
... but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
Hebrews 9:26, 28
… for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself … so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 2:17
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 7:25
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 5:5-10
5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;
6 as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Die he or justice must: unless for him
Some other able, and as willing, pay
The rigid satisfaction, death for death.
Say, Heavenly Powers, where shall we find such love,
Which of ye shall be mortal to redeem
Man’s mortal crime, and just th’ unjust to save,
Dwells in all heaven charity so dear?
~Milton~
Friday, November 16, 2007
Understanding Thanksgiving
Some information I was never given in any of my history classes:
Understanding Thanksgiving
The celebration we now popularly regard as the "First Thanksgiving" was the Pilgrims' three-day feast celebrated in early November of 1621 (although a day of thanks in America was observed in Virginia at Cape Henry in 1607). The first Thanksgiving to God in the Calvinist tradition in Plymouth Colony was actually celebrated during the summer of 1623, when the colonists declared a Thanksgiving holiday after their crops were saved by much-needed rainfall.
The Pilgrims left Plymouth, England, on September 6, 1620, sailing for a new world that offered the promise of both civil and religious liberty. The Pilgrims had earlier left England in 1608, as the Church of England had curtailed their freedom to worship according to their individual consciences.
The Pilgrims had settled in Holland for twelve years, where they found spiritual liberty in the midst of a disjointed economy (which failed to provide adequate compensation for their labors) and a dissolute, degraded, corrupt culture (which tempted their children to stray from faith). For almost three months, 102 seafarers braved harsh elements to arrive off the coast of what is now Massachusetts, in late November of 1620. On December 11, prior to disembarking at Plymouth Rock, they signed the "Mayflower Compact," America's original document of civil government and the first to introduce self-government. While still anchored at Provincetown harbor, their Pastor John Robinson counseled, "You are become a body politic ... and are to have only them for your... governors which yourselves shall make choice of."
The Pilgrims were Separatists, America's Calvinist Protestants, who rejected the institutional Church of England. They believed that the worship of God must originate in the inner man, and that corporate forms of worship prescribed by man interfered with the establishment of a true relationship with God. The Separatists used the term "church" to refer to the people, the Body of Christ, not to a building or institution. As their Pastor John Robinson said, "[When two or three are] gathered in the name of Christ by a covenant made to walk in all the way of God known unto them as a church ."
Upon landing in America, the Pilgrims conducted a prayer service, then quickly turned to building shelters. Starvation and sickness during the ensuing New England winter killed almost half their population, but through prayer and hard work, with the assistance of their Indian friends, the Pilgrims reaped a rich harvest in the summer of 1621. Most of what we know about the Pilgrim Thanksgiving of 1621 comes from original accounts of the young colony's leaders, Governor William Bradford and Master Edward Winslow, in their own hand. "They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; for some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye somer ther was no wante. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter aproached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degree). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they took many, besids venison, &c. Besids they had aboute a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corne to yt proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports." W.B. (William Bradford)
"Our Corne did proue well, & God be praysed, we had a good increase of Indian Corne, and our Barly indifferent good, but our Pease not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sowne, they came vp very well, and blossomed, but the Sunne parched them in the blossome; our harvest being gotten in, our Governour sent foure men on fowling, that so we might after a more speciall manner reioyce together, after we had gathered the fruit of our labors; they foure in one day killed as much fowle, as with a little helpe beside, served the Company almost a weeke, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Armes, many of the Indians coming amongst vs, and among the rest their greatest King Massasoyt, with some nintie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed fiue Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed upon our Governour, and upon the Captaine, and others. And although it be not alwayes so plentifull, as it was at this time with vs, yet by the goodneses of God, we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty." E.W. (Edward Winslow) Plymouth, in New England, this 11th of December, 1621.
by Dr. C. Matthew McMahon from A Puritan's Mind. Read entire ariticle here.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
New Homeschool Blog Network
There is a new homeschool blog network put together by Dana. Here's a link to the Homeschooling Network page.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Little By Little
I came across a sermon in one of my devotional books two years ago and posted it on my other blog. Again, it's not exactly BPA but it was just what I needed for the beginning of another new school year and is still helpful this year so I'm reposting it here too. God is so good to remind me He does His work first of all within our hearts and then as a parent, through my example and effort.
"And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." Isaiah 54:13
Each year I have to remind myself, it isn't to learn it all in a day. This is a "way of life" not a cram for the test. We will learn what He wants us to learn this year . . .Little by Little
~Thomas Lye~ Puritan Sermons Vol. 2 pp.120, 125 (P.S.)
In all your instructions, be careful to avoid all tedious verbosity. Nothing more disgusts a child's spirit than long and tedious discourses. Make up for the shortness of your discourse with frequency; a little now, and a little then, not all at once; drop by drop, as you pour liquor into a narrow-mouthed bottle. Just as you do when you first begin to feed the bodies with a spoon, so must you do when you first begin to feed their souls with instruction. Long speeches burden their small memories too much; and men's imprudence may unhappily make them to loathe spiritual manna. As physicians, therefore, in their dietetic prescription to children, say, 'little and often'; so must we. Young plants may quickly be over-glutted with rich manuring, and rotted with too much watering. Weak eyes, newly opened from sleep, at first can hardly bear the glare of a candle. 'Line upon line', therefore, and 'precept upon precept; . . . here a little, and there a little.' (Isaiah 28:10) You must drive the little ones towards heaven, as Jacob did his toward Canaan, very gently (Genesis 33:13). Fair and soft goes far.
To holy, hearty, serious, affectionate, frequent admonition, add an exemplary behavior. Inferiors are apt to be led by example rather than rule, and more prone to imitate practices than to learn principles. They are more mindful of what we do, than of what we say; and they will be very prone to suspect that we are not in good earnest, when they see what we command them one thing, and do another ourselves. When we teach them well, and do wrong ourselves, we only pull down with one hand what we build with the other.
Fair and soft goes far . . . 'Line upon line', therefore, and 'precept upon precept; . . . here a little, and there a little.' (Isaiah 28:10)
Daily Devotions from the Puritans by I.D.E Thomas
"And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." Isaiah 54:13
Saturday, August 25, 2007
True Education . . . A Form of Repentance
Many have already started the new school year but we won't officially start until after Labor Day. Even though I don't have the Bible Principle Approach all figured out yet and I have a lot more to learn, I can still go ahead and teach what I do know because I know God is moving me/us in a new direction, still teaching me. This year again I'm referring back to a post from 2005 I have on my other blog. It's not exactly BPA but the quote from George Grant has been a great encouragement to me and I'm posting it here.
There is MUCH I don't know and as I depend on Him, The Source of all Wisdom and Life and Truth and Knowledge, my prayer for the new school year is:
"O God, who has thought us worthy of Thy blessing, that Thy Word daily sounds in our ears, let it not find stony hearts and iron minds, but so let us submit ourselves to Thee with the humility that becomes us, that we may truly feel Thee to be our Father; and being confirmed in the hope of our adoption, so long as Thou continuest to speak to us, may at length enjoy not Thy voice alone, but even the sight of Thy glory in that heavenly kingdom, which Thine only Son has purchased for us by His blood. Amen." ~John Calvin~
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30
"At the beginning of every academic year I like to remind myself and my students that true education is a form of repentance. It is a humble admission that we've not read all that we need to read, we don't know all that we need to know, and we've not yet become all that we are called to become. Education is that unique form of discipleship that brings us to the place of admitting our inadequacies. It is that remarkable rebuke of autonomy and independence so powerful and so evident that we actually shut up and pay heed for a change.You can read the entire entry at his blog: Grantian FlorilegiumC.S. Lewis said it well: "The surest sign of true intellectual acumen is a student's comprehension of what it is he does not know; not what he does know. It is a spirit of humility that affords us with the best opportunity to grow, mature, and achieve in the life of the mind. It is knowing how much we do not know that enables us to fully embark on a lifetime of learning; to recover to any degree the beauty goodness and truth of Christendom."
Likewise, G.K. Chesterton asserted: "I am always suspicious of the expert who knows he is an expert. Far better to seek the wisdom of the common, the ordinary, and the humble--for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble."
So I tell my students again and again that we have been given much--and that since we have been given much we ought to be able to move to that place of profound gratitude and humility. We have received an amazing inheritance of Art, Music, Literature, Ideas of Philosophy, of Science and Mathematics. We have received a tradition of excellence. We have been taught what it means to have both passion and purity. We have learned of the essence of chivalry, valor, and godly servant-leadership. All this and more have we received in the remarkable bequest of Christendom's great flowering.
We have also been the beneficiaries of an extraordinary web of relationships. We have begun to understand that true education is more about a culture than it is about a curriculum. It’s more about a way of life than it is a way of doing. A vision of what God’s called you to than it is about a mechanical set of prescriptives that are to be implemented in your life. It is about relationships, about community, about the rich covenant into which you have been grafted by God’s good providence. . . ." ~George Grant~
There is MUCH I don't know and as I depend on Him, The Source of all Wisdom and Life and Truth and Knowledge, my prayer for the new school year is:
"O God, who has thought us worthy of Thy blessing, that Thy Word daily sounds in our ears, let it not find stony hearts and iron minds, but so let us submit ourselves to Thee with the humility that becomes us, that we may truly feel Thee to be our Father; and being confirmed in the hope of our adoption, so long as Thou continuest to speak to us, may at length enjoy not Thy voice alone, but even the sight of Thy glory in that heavenly kingdom, which Thine only Son has purchased for us by His blood. Amen." ~John Calvin~
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Quote: Liberty & Security
Would we trade liberty?
Another version and information about the quote not being by Benjamin Frankline from Wikiquote:
Many paraphrased variants derived from this saying have arisen and have usually been incorrectly attributed to Franklin:
"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
"Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither"
"He who would trade liberty for some temporary security deserves neither liberty nor security"
"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither"
"People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both."
"If we restrict liberty to attain security we will lose them both."
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."
"He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither"
"He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security" ~Benjamin Franklin~
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another version and information about the quote not being by Benjamin Frankline from Wikiquote:
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."This statement was used as a motto on the title page of An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania. (1759) which was attributed to Franklin in the edition of 1812, but in a letter of September 27, 1760 to David Hume he states that he published this book and denies that he wrote it, other than a few remarks that were credited to the Pennsylvania Assembly, in which he served. The phrase itself was first used in a letter from that Assembly dated November 11, 1755 to the Governor of Pennsylvania. An article on the origins of this statement includes a scan that indicates the original typography of the 1759 document, which uses an archaic form of "s": "Thoſe who would give up Essential Liberty to purchaſe a little Temporary Safety, deſerve neither Liberty nor Safety." Researchers now believe that a fellow diplomat by the name of Richard Jackson is the primary author of the book. With the information thus far available the issue of authorship of the statement is not yet definitely resolved, but the evidence indicates it was very likely Franklin, who in the Poor Richard's Almanack of 1738 is known to have written a similar proverb: "Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power."
Many paraphrased variants derived from this saying have arisen and have usually been incorrectly attributed to Franklin:
"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
"Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither"
"He who would trade liberty for some temporary security deserves neither liberty nor security"
"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither"
"People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both."
"If we restrict liberty to attain security we will lose them both."
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."
"He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither"
Monday, August 6, 2007
Quote: American Revolution
What do we mean by the American Revolution?
"What do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations . . . This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution." ~John Adams~
Saturday, August 4, 2007
What is the Bible Principle Approach? Part 1
I started by reading the information available at the Foundation for American Christian Education (F.A.C.E.) web site. They stated a brief definition: The Bible Principle Approach has been called "reflective teaching and learning." It is ...
The Bible Principle Approach begins with an internal commitment and submission of mind-heart to the saving grace and rule-government of Jesus Christ. It is a divinely revealed wisdom, not of the world, but found in and of Christ, the Wisdom of God, the infallible Living Word of God. This is a spiritual, religious, Biblical education in, of, and through the Bible, the whole Bible which gives us the "knowledge of God" (the doctrine and theology of the basics of the Christian faith). It relates to all areas of life and living by the Spirit revealing truth to the spirit of man which is not something that cannot be learned merely with the mind. The very Wisdom of God is the "Source" from which all other knowledge and principles and understanding come which gives a unified view of God and how He is "Life" itself to all created life and things. From this come the Bible Principle Approach 7 Biblical principles which formed our American Christian character and form of Christian government.
This Biblical belief system (philosophy) forms and produces the Biblical method (how something is done) of studying, searching, meditating, reflecting & thinking/reasoning (internal) on Scripture and from it into all areas of life along with notebooking, keeping a record of what is learned, using the 4 R's (researching, reasoning, relating, recording). It is a Biblical method of studying specifically how the 7 Bible Principles are found in our Constitution, and also in our American Christian heritage and form of government.
So the Bible Principle Approach is both a Biblical philosophy and Biblical method of teaching and learning.
Scripture references for "reason - reasoning":
And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures… Acts 17:2
And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, "Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” Acts 24:25
...as they reasoned among themselves... Matthew 16:5-12
(Samuel said) Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers. 1 Samuel 12:7
You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. Leviticus 19:17
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD... Isaiah 1:18
But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side... Luke 9:47
But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
Strong's Online Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon: Main Page Here
REASON from Greek (dialogizomai)
To bring together different reasons, to reckon up the reasons, to reason, revolve in one's mind, deliberate.
Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
REASON, n.
1. That which is thought or which is alleged in words, as the ground or cause of opinion, conclusions, or determination.
2. The cause, ground, principle or motive of any thing said or done; that which supports or justifies a determination, plan, or measure.
3. Efficient cause.
4. Final cause.
5. A faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes truth from falsehood, and good from evil, and which enables the possessor to deduce inferences from facts or from propositions.
6. Ratiocination; the exercise of reason.
7. Right; justice; that which is dictated or supported by reason.
REASON, v.i.
1. To exercise the faculty of reason; to deduce inferences justly from premises.
2. To argue; to infer conclusions from premises, or to deduce new or unknown propositions from previous propositions which are known or evident .... Men may reason withing themselves; they may reason before a court or legislature; they may reason wrong as well as right.
3. To debate; to confer or inquire by discussion or mutual communication of thoughts, arguments or reason. "...as they reasoned among themselves..." Matthew 16:5-12 To reason with, to argue with ; to endeavor to inform, convince or persuade by argument. Reason with a profligate son, and if possible, persuade him of his errors.
4. To discourse; to talk; to take or give an account.
REASON, v.t.
1. To examine or discuss by arguments; to debate or discuss.
2. To persuade by reasoning or argument; as, to reason one into a belief of truth; to reason one out of his plan; to reason down a passion.
Scripture references for "philosophy":
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8
Matthew Henry's Commentary Colossians 2:8 & philosophy:
SYS’TEM, n. [Fr. Systeme; L. systema; Gr. _ _ _ to set.]
1. An assemblage of things adjusted into a regular whole; or a whole plan or scheme consisting of many parts connected in such a manner as to create a chain of mutual dependencies; or a regular union of principles or parts forming one entire thing. Thus we say, a system of logic, a system of philosophy; a system of government; a system of principles; the solar system; the Copernican system; a system of divinity, a system of law, a system of morality, a system of husbandry, a system of botany or of chemistry.
2. Regular method or order.
3. In music, an interval compounded or supposed to be compounded of several lesser intervals as the fifth octave, &c. the elements of which are called diastems.
METH’OD, n. [L. methodus; Gr. _ _ _ with, and _ _ _ way.]
1. A suitable and convenient arrangement of things, proceedings or ideas; the natural or regular disposition of separate things or parts; convenient order for transacting business, or for comprehending any complicated subject. Without method, business of any kind will fall into confusion. To carry on farming to advantage, to keep accounts correctly, method is indispensable.
2. Way; manner. Let us know the nature of the disease, and the method of cure.
3. Classification; arrangement of natural bodies according to their common characteristics; as the method of Theophrast; the method of Ray, the Linnean method.
In natural arrangements a distinction is sometimes made between method and system. System is an arrangement founded, throughout all is parts, on some one principle. Method is an arrangement less fixed and determinate, and founded on more general relations. Thus we say, the natural method, and the artificial or sexual system of Linne, though the latter is not a perfect system.
PHILOS’OPHY, n. [L. philosophia; Gr. _ _ _ love; _ _ _ to love, and _ _ _ wisdom.]
1. Literally, the love of wisdom. But in modern acceptation, philosophy is a general term denoting an explanation of the reasons of things; or an investigation of the causes of all phenomena both of the mind and of matter. When applied to any particular department of knowledge, it denotes the collection of general laws or principles under which all the subordinate phenomena or facts relating to that subject, are comprehended. Thus the branch which treats of God, &c. is called theology; that which treats of nature, is called physics or natural philosophy; that which treats man is called logic and ethics, or moral philosophy; that which treats of the mind is called intellectual or mental philosophy, or metaphysics.
The objects of philosophy are to ascertain facts or truth, and the causes of things or their phenomena; to enlarge our views of God and his works, and to render our knowledge of both practically useful and subservient to human happiness. True religion and true philosophy must ultimately arrive at the same principle. S. S. Smith
2. Hypothesis or system on which natural effects are explained. We shall in vain interpret their words by the notions of our philosophy and the doctrines in our schools. Locke
3. Reasoning; argumentation.
4. Course of sciences read in the schools.
TEACH, v.t. pret. and pp. taught. [L. doceo; dico, dicto, and both these and the Gr. to show, may be of one family; all implying sending, passing, communicating, or rather leading, drawing.
1. To instruct; to inform; to communicate to another the knowledge of that of which he was before ignorant. He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. Is. 2. Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. Luke 11.
2. To deliver any doctrine, art, principles or words for instruction. One sect of ancient philosophers taught the doctrines of stoicism, another those of epicureanism. In vain they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matt.15.
3. To tell; to give intelligence.
4. To instruct, or to practice the business of an instructor; to use or follow the employment of a preceptor; as, a man teaches school for a livelihood.
5. To show; to exhibit so as to impress on the mind. If some men teach wicked things, it must be that others may practice them.
6. To accustom; to make familiar. They have taught their tongue to speak lies. Jer. 9.
7. To inform or admonish; to give previous notice to. For he taught his disciples, and said--Mark 9.
8. To suggest to the mind. For the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that same hour what ye ought to say. Luke 12.
9. To signify or give notice. He teacheth with his fingers. Prov.6.
10. To counsel and direct. Hab. 2.
More words from the above definitions that can be looked up for my personal study:
DEDUCE
INFER
CONFER
DEBATE
INQUIRE
DISCUSS
COMMUNICATE
DISCOURSE
TALK
INSTRUCT
INFORM
COUNSEL
DIRECT
"America's historic method of Biblical reasoning which places the Truths (or principles) of God's Word at the heart of education. Each subject is predicated upon God's Biblical principles and students are taught to think and reason from principles and leading ideas using the Notebook Method to 4R: Research, Reason, Relate, and Record."Rosalie J. Slater states in her Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History, The Principle Approach, p. 88 -- The Principle Approach is ...
"America's historic Christian method of Biblical reasoning which makes the Truths of God's Word the basis of every subject in the school curriculum. The Principle Approach begins by restoring the 4 R's to teaching and learning."James Rose in his Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School, p. 3 says:
"In its contemporary meaning, the Principle Approach refers to the re-discovery and re-statement of the historic truths or principles of God’s Word on which the character of our original peace, order, liberty, and prosperity, both individually and corporately, were built. It refers also to the Christian method of reasoning from the Holy Bible (the proper and primary authority concerning our view of philosophy of life and living), and how to comprehend all subjects, inclusive of education and government in the home, church, school, and society."Rosalie J. Slater in her Teaching and Learning America's Christian History, p. 92 says:
"This guide, Teaching and Learning America's Christian History, is the effort to establish Christian Method in the curriculum of the Christian School. While it might look as if we were dealing with the subject of Christian government -- actually, we are teaching principles which are basic to every Christian in every area of life. For what constitutes the Constitution is what constitutes the life and character of our people . . . . . as we understand Christian education to begin with salvation -- the internal commitment of the heart and mind to the saving grace of JESUS CHRIST -- then we are concerned as to whether we are extending the Christian approach -- internal -- to our methods of teaching."The Bible Principle Approach is first of all a Biblical mindset, a Biblical belief system, using the means of mind, heart, soul, and logical reasoning to give an explanation of the reason or cause of things (philosophy). There are several other ways of saying the same thing: a Biblical way to look at things/life, a Biblical perspective, a Biblical worldview, a Biblical education, all of which is really our beliefs and values that translates into our doctrine, theology, principles, rudiments, traditions, our very life and culture. It is religious and spiritual because we are both spiritual beings and human beings. (Everyone has a belief system, a perspective, a worldview, a mindset, a philosophy or beliefs/values with doctrine, rudiments, principles, traditions that they sincerely believe in, live for, view/explain life from, and are committed to. There is both the Biblical and the non-Biblical.)
The Bible Principle Approach begins with an internal commitment and submission of mind-heart to the saving grace and rule-government of Jesus Christ. It is a divinely revealed wisdom, not of the world, but found in and of Christ, the Wisdom of God, the infallible Living Word of God. This is a spiritual, religious, Biblical education in, of, and through the Bible, the whole Bible which gives us the "knowledge of God" (the doctrine and theology of the basics of the Christian faith). It relates to all areas of life and living by the Spirit revealing truth to the spirit of man which is not something that cannot be learned merely with the mind. The very Wisdom of God is the "Source" from which all other knowledge and principles and understanding come which gives a unified view of God and how He is "Life" itself to all created life and things. From this come the Bible Principle Approach 7 Biblical principles which formed our American Christian character and form of Christian government.
This Biblical belief system (philosophy) forms and produces the Biblical method (how something is done) of studying, searching, meditating, reflecting & thinking/reasoning (internal) on Scripture and from it into all areas of life along with notebooking, keeping a record of what is learned, using the 4 R's (researching, reasoning, relating, recording). It is a Biblical method of studying specifically how the 7 Bible Principles are found in our Constitution, and also in our American Christian heritage and form of government.
So the Bible Principle Approach is both a Biblical philosophy and Biblical method of teaching and learning.
Scripture references for "reason - reasoning":
And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures… Acts 17:2
And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, "Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” Acts 24:25
...as they reasoned among themselves... Matthew 16:5-12
(Samuel said) Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers. 1 Samuel 12:7
You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. Leviticus 19:17
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD... Isaiah 1:18
But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side... Luke 9:47
But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
Strong's Online Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon: Main Page Here
REASON from Greek (dialogizomai)
To bring together different reasons, to reckon up the reasons, to reason, revolve in one's mind, deliberate.
Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
REASON, n.
1. That which is thought or which is alleged in words, as the ground or cause of opinion, conclusions, or determination.
2. The cause, ground, principle or motive of any thing said or done; that which supports or justifies a determination, plan, or measure.
3. Efficient cause.
4. Final cause.
5. A faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes truth from falsehood, and good from evil, and which enables the possessor to deduce inferences from facts or from propositions.
6. Ratiocination; the exercise of reason.
7. Right; justice; that which is dictated or supported by reason.
REASON, v.i.
1. To exercise the faculty of reason; to deduce inferences justly from premises.
2. To argue; to infer conclusions from premises, or to deduce new or unknown propositions from previous propositions which are known or evident .... Men may reason withing themselves; they may reason before a court or legislature; they may reason wrong as well as right.
3. To debate; to confer or inquire by discussion or mutual communication of thoughts, arguments or reason. "...as they reasoned among themselves..." Matthew 16:5-12 To reason with, to argue with ; to endeavor to inform, convince or persuade by argument. Reason with a profligate son, and if possible, persuade him of his errors.
4. To discourse; to talk; to take or give an account.
REASON, v.t.
1. To examine or discuss by arguments; to debate or discuss.
2. To persuade by reasoning or argument; as, to reason one into a belief of truth; to reason one out of his plan; to reason down a passion.
Scripture references for "philosophy":
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8
Matthew Henry's Commentary Colossians 2:8 & philosophy:
There is a philosophy which rightly exercises our reasonable faculties; a study of the works of God, which leads us to the knowledge of God, and confirms our faith in him. But there is a philosophy which is vain and deceitful; and while it pleases men's fancies, hinders their faith: such are curious speculations about things above us, or no concern to us.Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
SYS’TEM, n. [Fr. Systeme; L. systema; Gr. _ _ _ to set.]
1. An assemblage of things adjusted into a regular whole; or a whole plan or scheme consisting of many parts connected in such a manner as to create a chain of mutual dependencies; or a regular union of principles or parts forming one entire thing. Thus we say, a system of logic, a system of philosophy; a system of government; a system of principles; the solar system; the Copernican system; a system of divinity, a system of law, a system of morality, a system of husbandry, a system of botany or of chemistry.
2. Regular method or order.
3. In music, an interval compounded or supposed to be compounded of several lesser intervals as the fifth octave, &c. the elements of which are called diastems.
METH’OD, n. [L. methodus; Gr. _ _ _ with, and _ _ _ way.]
1. A suitable and convenient arrangement of things, proceedings or ideas; the natural or regular disposition of separate things or parts; convenient order for transacting business, or for comprehending any complicated subject. Without method, business of any kind will fall into confusion. To carry on farming to advantage, to keep accounts correctly, method is indispensable.
2. Way; manner. Let us know the nature of the disease, and the method of cure.
3. Classification; arrangement of natural bodies according to their common characteristics; as the method of Theophrast; the method of Ray, the Linnean method.
In natural arrangements a distinction is sometimes made between method and system. System is an arrangement founded, throughout all is parts, on some one principle. Method is an arrangement less fixed and determinate, and founded on more general relations. Thus we say, the natural method, and the artificial or sexual system of Linne, though the latter is not a perfect system.
PHILOS’OPHY, n. [L. philosophia; Gr. _ _ _ love; _ _ _ to love, and _ _ _ wisdom.]
1. Literally, the love of wisdom. But in modern acceptation, philosophy is a general term denoting an explanation of the reasons of things; or an investigation of the causes of all phenomena both of the mind and of matter. When applied to any particular department of knowledge, it denotes the collection of general laws or principles under which all the subordinate phenomena or facts relating to that subject, are comprehended. Thus the branch which treats of God, &c. is called theology; that which treats of nature, is called physics or natural philosophy; that which treats man is called logic and ethics, or moral philosophy; that which treats of the mind is called intellectual or mental philosophy, or metaphysics.
The objects of philosophy are to ascertain facts or truth, and the causes of things or their phenomena; to enlarge our views of God and his works, and to render our knowledge of both practically useful and subservient to human happiness. True religion and true philosophy must ultimately arrive at the same principle. S. S. Smith
2. Hypothesis or system on which natural effects are explained. We shall in vain interpret their words by the notions of our philosophy and the doctrines in our schools. Locke
3. Reasoning; argumentation.
4. Course of sciences read in the schools.
TEACH, v.t. pret. and pp. taught. [L. doceo; dico, dicto, and both these and the Gr. to show, may be of one family; all implying sending, passing, communicating, or rather leading, drawing.
1. To instruct; to inform; to communicate to another the knowledge of that of which he was before ignorant. He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. Is. 2. Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. Luke 11.
2. To deliver any doctrine, art, principles or words for instruction. One sect of ancient philosophers taught the doctrines of stoicism, another those of epicureanism. In vain they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matt.15.
3. To tell; to give intelligence.
4. To instruct, or to practice the business of an instructor; to use or follow the employment of a preceptor; as, a man teaches school for a livelihood.
5. To show; to exhibit so as to impress on the mind. If some men teach wicked things, it must be that others may practice them.
6. To accustom; to make familiar. They have taught their tongue to speak lies. Jer. 9.
7. To inform or admonish; to give previous notice to. For he taught his disciples, and said--Mark 9.
8. To suggest to the mind. For the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that same hour what ye ought to say. Luke 12.
9. To signify or give notice. He teacheth with his fingers. Prov.6.
10. To counsel and direct. Hab. 2.
More words from the above definitions that can be looked up for my personal study:
DEDUCE
INFER
CONFER
DEBATE
INQUIRE
DISCUSS
COMMUNICATE
DISCOURSE
TALK
INSTRUCT
INFORM
COUNSEL
DIRECT
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Why Principled Heart?
Scripture mentions the “heart” many, many times showing it’s importance to God and that the heart is the real person, the real us -- who we are -- a man is what his heart is. For some time I have been fascinated by the mind/brain - heart connection and how we learn. I’ve read a little about it in Ruth Beechick’s book, The Biblical Psychology of Learning. I don’t come any where close to knowing what she does but from the little I’ve read it seems that the mind/brain and heart are not separated or divided or opposed to each other. From reading Scripture, it seems they interrelate, work together, are connected, more like a “mind/brain-heart”. Perhaps it isn’t that we think with our “mind/brain” and feel with our “heart” but instead we think AND feel WITH BOTH our mind/brain AND heart. I’ve even been wondering if the “left brain-right brain” isn’t really the “mind/brain & heart” but that’s another subject.
Some of the verses from my ever-growing list:
. . . for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought . . . 1 Chronicles 28:9
I the Lord search the heart and test the mind . . . Jeremiah 17:10
. . . for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs (pondereth) the heart. Proverbs 21:2
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6
The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1
And I will give them one (undivided) heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh… Ezekiel 11:19
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Isaiah 29:13
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30 (Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27)
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Deuteronomy 30:6
"A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul." Acts 16:4
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. Hebrews 8:10
. . . but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness (meekness) and respect (fear). 1 Peter 3:15
They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding Isaiah 44:18-19
For with the heart, man believes, resulting in righteousness. Romans 10:10
Keep (preserve) thy heart with all diligence (above all else), for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23
Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart. Deuteronomy 4:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9
. . . but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 1 Peter 3:4
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness (meekness) and respect (fear).
1 Peter 3:15
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge Proverbs 22:17
Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12
Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you." 1 Samuel 12:24
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
. . .keep my commandments . . . write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 7:2-3
Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you . . . write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 3:3
Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? Luke 24:32
But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. Matthew 15:18
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries. Mark 7:21
You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. Leviticus 19:17
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119:11
Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, and keep it with all heart. Psalm119:34
I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed . . . Romans 6:17
These last verses are in the context of "thinking" with and "applying wisdom" to/in the heart:
I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. Jeremiah 24:7
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7
Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. Deuteronomy 4:39
But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. Isaiah 10:7
O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 1 Chronicles 29:18
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart (all she knew, all her mind). 1 Kings 10:2
He (Samson) told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head…. Judges 16:17
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer . . . Proverbs 15:28
And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not. Luke 3:15
But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side... Luke 9:47
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Psalm 51:6
Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding. Proverbs 14:33
For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Proverbs 2:10
The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. Proverbs 15:14
And one last verse which is our verse for the school year:
Proverbs 2:6-12, 20
"For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil. . .So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous."
It's always been easy for me to see the heart as the place of emotion and feeling but it was a whole new idea for me that the heart thinks, knows, ponders, reasons, considers, muses.
Strong's Online Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon:
Main Page Here
PRINCIPLES in Greek
PRINCIPLES in Greek
HEART in Hebrew
Definitions from the Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
PRIN’CIPLE,
n. [It. principio; Fr. principe; L. principium, beginning]
1. In a general sense, the cause, source or origin of any thing; that from which a thing proceeds; as the principle of motion; the principle of action.
2. Being that produces any thing; operative cause. The soul of a man is an active principle. Tillotson.
3. Ground; foundation; that which supports an assertion, an action, or a series of actions or of reasoning. On what principle can this be affirmed or denied? He justifies his proceedings on the princple of expedience or necessity. He reasons on sound principles.
4. A general truth; a law comprehending many subordinate truths; as the principles of morality, of law, of government, &c.
PRIN’CIPLE,
V.T. to establish or fix in tenets; to impress with any tenet, good or ill; chiefly used in the participie. Men have be principled with an opinion that they may not consult reason in things of religion. Locke
2. To establish firmly in the mind.
PRIN’CIPLED, v.t. Established in opinion or in tenets; firmly fixed in the mind.
HEART,
1 the inner part of any thing, the middle part or interior; as the heart of a country, kingdom, or empire.
2 the chief part; the vital part; the vigorous or efficacious part.
3 the seat of the affections and passions, as of love, joy, grief, enmity, courage, pleasure.
4 by a metonymy, heart is used for an affection or passion, and particularly for love.
5 the seat of understanding; as an understanding heart. We read of men wise in heart, and slow of heart.
6 the seat of the will; hence, secret purposes, intentions or designs
7 person; character; used with respect to courage or kindness.
8 courage; spirit; as, to take heart; to give heart; to recover heart;
9 secret thoughts; recesses of the mind.
10 dispositions of mind.
11 secret meaning; real intention.
12 conscience, or sense of good or ill.
These are just a FEW of the verses I’ve found so far and I hope to add more as time allows. There are other words I want to look up but haven't got to yet . . . to be continued. God looks at the heart (internal) and begins His work of salvation and grace in the heart. The real person is who we are on the inside, in the heart, thus my blog: Principled Heart.
From my beginning word study of "Principled Heart" I now have more words are are found in the verses and definitions above to look up for my personal study:
MIND
PERSON
INDIVIDUAL
CONSCIENCE
SPIRIT
WILL
CHARACTER
KNOW
KNOWLEDGE
THINK
CONSIDER
PURPOSE
PONDER
MEDITATE
WISE
WISDOM
MUSE
UNDERSTAND
REASON
SEARCH
INTERNAL
EXTERNAL
OUTWARD
CHIEF
INTENT
DESIGNS
to be continued . . .
Some of the verses from my ever-growing list:
. . . for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought . . . 1 Chronicles 28:9
I the Lord search the heart and test the mind . . . Jeremiah 17:10
. . . for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs (pondereth) the heart. Proverbs 21:2
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6
The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1
And I will give them one (undivided) heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh… Ezekiel 11:19
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Isaiah 29:13
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30 (Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27)
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Deuteronomy 30:6
"A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul." Acts 16:4
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. Hebrews 8:10
. . . but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness (meekness) and respect (fear). 1 Peter 3:15
They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding Isaiah 44:18-19
For with the heart, man believes, resulting in righteousness. Romans 10:10
Keep (preserve) thy heart with all diligence (above all else), for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23
Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart. Deuteronomy 4:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9
. . . but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 1 Peter 3:4
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness (meekness) and respect (fear).
1 Peter 3:15
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge Proverbs 22:17
Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12
Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you." 1 Samuel 12:24
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
. . .keep my commandments . . . write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 7:2-3
Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you . . . write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 3:3
Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? Luke 24:32
But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. Matthew 15:18
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries. Mark 7:21
You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. Leviticus 19:17
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119:11
Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, and keep it with all heart. Psalm119:34
I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed . . . Romans 6:17
These last verses are in the context of "thinking" with and "applying wisdom" to/in the heart:
I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. Jeremiah 24:7
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7
Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. Deuteronomy 4:39
But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. Isaiah 10:7
O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 1 Chronicles 29:18
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart (all she knew, all her mind). 1 Kings 10:2
He (Samson) told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head…. Judges 16:17
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer . . . Proverbs 15:28
And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not. Luke 3:15
But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side... Luke 9:47
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Psalm 51:6
Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding. Proverbs 14:33
For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Proverbs 2:10
The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. Proverbs 15:14
And one last verse which is our verse for the school year:
Proverbs 2:6-12, 20
"For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil. . .So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous."
It's always been easy for me to see the heart as the place of emotion and feeling but it was a whole new idea for me that the heart thinks, knows, ponders, reasons, considers, muses.
Strong's Online Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon:
Main Page Here
PRINCIPLES in Greek
PRINCIPLES in Greek
HEART in Hebrew
Definitions from the Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
PRIN’CIPLE,
n. [It. principio; Fr. principe; L. principium, beginning]
1. In a general sense, the cause, source or origin of any thing; that from which a thing proceeds; as the principle of motion; the principle of action.
2. Being that produces any thing; operative cause. The soul of a man is an active principle. Tillotson.
3. Ground; foundation; that which supports an assertion, an action, or a series of actions or of reasoning. On what principle can this be affirmed or denied? He justifies his proceedings on the princple of expedience or necessity. He reasons on sound principles.
4. A general truth; a law comprehending many subordinate truths; as the principles of morality, of law, of government, &c.
PRIN’CIPLE,
V.T. to establish or fix in tenets; to impress with any tenet, good or ill; chiefly used in the participie. Men have be principled with an opinion that they may not consult reason in things of religion. Locke
2. To establish firmly in the mind.
PRIN’CIPLED, v.t. Established in opinion or in tenets; firmly fixed in the mind.
HEART,
1 the inner part of any thing, the middle part or interior; as the heart of a country, kingdom, or empire.
2 the chief part; the vital part; the vigorous or efficacious part.
3 the seat of the affections and passions, as of love, joy, grief, enmity, courage, pleasure.
4 by a metonymy, heart is used for an affection or passion, and particularly for love.
5 the seat of understanding; as an understanding heart. We read of men wise in heart, and slow of heart.
6 the seat of the will; hence, secret purposes, intentions or designs
7 person; character; used with respect to courage or kindness.
8 courage; spirit; as, to take heart; to give heart; to recover heart;
9 secret thoughts; recesses of the mind.
10 dispositions of mind.
11 secret meaning; real intention.
12 conscience, or sense of good or ill.
These are just a FEW of the verses I’ve found so far and I hope to add more as time allows. There are other words I want to look up but haven't got to yet . . . to be continued. God looks at the heart (internal) and begins His work of salvation and grace in the heart. The real person is who we are on the inside, in the heart, thus my blog: Principled Heart.
From my beginning word study of "Principled Heart" I now have more words are are found in the verses and definitions above to look up for my personal study:
MIND
PERSON
INDIVIDUAL
CONSCIENCE
SPIRIT
WILL
CHARACTER
KNOW
KNOWLEDGE
THINK
CONSIDER
PURPOSE
PONDER
MEDITATE
WISE
WISDOM
MUSE
UNDERSTAND
REASON
SEARCH
INTERNAL
EXTERNAL
OUTWARD
CHIEF
INTENT
DESIGNS
to be continued . . .
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
The Beginning of This Blog - The Importance of Education
I'm DJ, a Christian, wife to Dave since 1982, stay-at-home mom and home educator of the eclectic, unstructured sort, using a combination of Charlotte Mason, classical, and, more recently, the Principle Approach in a "tutorial" fashion, since 1987 with our two daughters in our Cornerstone Home Academy. I'm also adopted mother to our cat, Perdita, who we found abandoned in our garden. Being a life long student I enjoy reading, Bible study, theology, history, photography, music of all kinds, and the domestic arts, cross stitch, sewing, crochet along with book and paper arts. In the past couple of years I have enjoyed having my main blog: Let a Woman Learn and decided to extend it here at my Principled Heart blog. I also have another blog about our nature study and birdwatching: Chickadee Nest and from my Seven Pillars Book Nook blog I have recommendations of good children's books we have enjoyed. So I'm rarely bored. I have lots of interesting things to think about and do.This blog is my place to write about the things I want to remember, links I visit and use, hopefully to be a bit more organized by using this as a glorified bookmark holder for my personal use. Mainly, it will be a record or journal of the things on my mind and heart as I learn more about the Principle Approach.
Something about how I got here ... I did an online search on "importance of education" and came up with 174,000,000 links. Most people, in one form or another, in some way, learn, teach, and educate. Most people every where know, on some level, to some degree, how important an issue this is. After high school and college I didn't think too much about education any more, my own or in general. Once I had children, education became a major topic and concern for me. Some 14 years ago (20 years ago) "education" was only what I had experienced and I was really not very clear in my mind as to what all being educated meant. I also didn’t fully understand what I meant by wanting to give my daughters a true, Christian education, neither did I know what exactly it meant to bring up children in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). I just knew something was amiss in my own education and spiritual life AND that I needed to re-educate myself because I wanted my daughter's education to be different and better. Thus began the home education of my two daughters and my RE-education, a topic I consider to be of utmost importance, and a purpose for this blog. My reasons for home educating have since become defined and I'm to list them which I hope to do so soon.
Through the years, by studying the Bible more seriously and routinely on my own, my spiritual life changed and our home education also slowly changed and developed. I took the best aspects of several educational approaches and set aside the rest I didn't want to use. Yet even with all the adapting to fit us none of the homeschool approaches were exactly as I thought they should be, something still seemed lacking. I still love and use some of Charlotte Mason and classical ideas. It wasn’t until recently, after all these years of homeschooling, and my daughters being older students that I came across the Principle Approach. I purchased these two books: Teaching and Learning America's Christian History: The Principle Approach by Rosalie Slater and A Guide to American Christian Education For Home and School: The Principle Approach by James Rose which I’ve been reading to learn all I can. I've also spent a lot of time online at the Foundation for American Christian Education web site reading the information they have available also. I didn't realize at the time that adapting/modifying the other homeschool approaches was preparing me for the Bible Principle Approach. I'm not sure how it will work this late in our home education so we'll see where it takes us this year.
I want to have a growing relationship with the God of the Bible, to know Him, to see Him in all of His created physical world and life. I want to bring my life more and more in line with His Word and ways. As I continue to learn to perceive all of reality from God's perspective and filter every idea, action & event through His revealed Truth and Wisdom in His unchanging, infallible Word, it's my desire and prayer to be able to share this with my daughters that they too may know and love the one, true, living God.
This has been a slow work-in-progress and will continue to be. I have a lot more to learn and I most definitely don't have it all figured out yet. I'm not sure if there will be much to post but we're moving in the right direction . . .
My email address is: letawomanlearn(at)gmail(dot)com
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