Hearing God

November 9th, 2010

hearing-godCan people today hear God? In other words, does God speak individually to believers who are open to what He would have them do? The answer is yes.

Today I was reading the book Walking with God by Beth Jones, and the chapter, “But I don’t hear God’s voice” really struck me. I realized that most people don’t even try to listen to God, and they don’t know what God’s voice is supposed to sound like. They miss out on a lot of wisdom that God has. If you don’t consult God about what you should be doing, you are missing out on a more fulfilling life, where God is using you to accomplish His will.

Beth Jones mentions that one reason we can’t hear God is because of unconfessed sin. “Sin affects our ability to hear from God,” she says, and I agree. Scripture tells us that sin blocks our prayers. So the first place to start is to ask God to reveal sin in your life. Then ask God’s forgiveness, and turn away from doing it. We need to be pursuing holiness, too.

Secondly, we need to be praying. I would like to add that if you ask God a question, this helps. So ask God a question, and then be quiet. The answer will come as a still, quiet voice. As long as it doesn’t contradict Scripture and is motivated by love, you have nothing to lose by obeying. Also, there is a supernatural peace that comes with obeying God’s voice. It’s not audible, by the way. It’s more like a knowing. After you’ve obeyed Him once, you will recognize it in the future.

Third, make sure your radio is off, your TV is off, and that there is no noise pollution. If your kids are really noisy, take out something that will cause them to be quiet, like an educational video. (I know, the TV is on, but if you go into another room and shut the door, you finally have the silence you need.) Even though God sometimes speaks to your heart in the middle of noise, usually you are too distracted to hear God, which is why Beth Jones recommends silence.

Fourth, our hearts have to be open to God. If our hearts are closed, we aren’t going to hear Him. Beth Jones also talks about fasting. To be honest, I don’t know that much about fasting. But Jesus was God, and He fasted, seeking the will of God. Apparently fasting can clarify your mind as to what the will of God is. If you have diabetes or low blood sugar, it might be dangerous, so make sure it is what God wants you to do. Plus, you shouldn’t be too weak to take care of your family. She mentioned fasts where you can drink orange juice and other liquids, and you still have a similar effect of weakness and leaning on God.

So can we hear God today? The answer is absolutely yes! “My sheep hear My voice.” (John 10:27) All we have to do is quiet ourselves before God, make sure we have no unconfessed sin, and have our hearts open to His voice.

Walking With God logo: Copyright 2010 Beth D. Jones

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The Pros and Cons of Sports

November 8th, 2010

pros-and-cons-of-sportsI recently heard some speakers who believe that being involved in sports is sin. I’m serious. That’s what they said in their homeschool conference. (They say it in their books as well.) Here is their reasoning: their sons were developing pride, which was not a character quality they wanted in their sons. Secondly, sports are all about winning, and causing the other team to lose. So it’s not “being a servant;” instead, it’s “being selfish.” Thirdly, you become obsessed with it as an adult. So it feeds the “wrong appetite” in your kids, since they will prioritize that above their families when they get older. (“Move over, can’t you see I’m watching the game?!”) Let me address each of these arguments one by one.

First, they said sports will cause your child to develop pride. That’s only if your kids are good at sports, which most homeschoolers aren’t. (Yes, we’re misfits. Go on and throw tomatoes if you want, but most homeschool kids seem more klutzy than public school kids who get their regular inoculation of sports.) For my own children, it develops humility and an ability to lose well. They’ve never scored a goal or a touchdown, bless their souls, no matter how hard they’ve tried. If they do, I will holler like a crazy woman and jump up and down, and hurray for them. It’s not a sin to be happy when you try to do something, and you’re happy that you did it. Like swimming, for example. Is it a sin to be proud of yourself that you’re swimming for the first time? “I did it!” they beam. Hurray for them. That’s happy. When Jesus was a toddler and walked for the first time, He was probably proud of Himself. Yet He was the most humble man that ever lived. That doesn’t mean He was mousey and felt that we wasn’t good at anything. It’s good to have confidence, so that we can share the Gospel and use our spiritual gifts. We need to know our strengths and weaknesses. This doesn’t mean that it’s a sin to have strengths, or to have confidence of a job well done.

Secondly, sports are all about winning, and causing the other team to lose. It’s not teaching them to be a servant to others, but to be selfish. Actually, to learn to work as a team, you have to serve the people on your team, letting them get the glory that you set up for them. Learning to work as a team is something that helps to understand the body of Christ (the church) and how it works. Yes, you can learn this by doing chores as a family or feeding the poor in a soup kitchen. Do all of the above, by all means, at least what God leads you to do. But in a sport, your kids are getting exercise at the same time that they’re learning a skill. Better hand-eye coordination is a plus. Also, not being stupid about sports (“Basketball? What’s that?”) is helpful for a well-rounded education. Education is more than books. It’s an understanding of life. Plus, our obese society should exercise more.

Lastly, your children will prioritize sports above their families in the future. Maybe this is true; maybe it’s not. Maybe your kids will love their families way more than sports, but also enjoy watching a game. That’s why you need to seek God each year, to ask Him whether your child should do a sport or not. Only God knows what the results will be. Then don’t proceed unless you have peace. Enjoying watching a football game is not necessarily a sin. My husband and I don’t watch sports, and I’ve already made it clear in other blog entries that I hate sports myself because I was always picked last. But I guess what I’m trying to say is, “Ask God. Only God knows what’s best for your family. Don’t grab someone else’s rules just because they’re famous or godly. The only way to be godly is to have a personal relationship with Christ and seek Him about these things. Then follow His leading.”

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God’s Will for Someone Else

November 6th, 2010

God's-willI  recently attended a homeschool conference. It was a good conference, and I hold the speakers in high esteem. I’ve read many of their books. But one thing became clear to me early on in the conference: whatever God convicted the speakers for, they felt everyone should adhere to their rules. The speakers have a dynamic walk with God, and I don’t doubt that God has led them to have the rules they have. But a lot of their rules don’t apply to everyone across the board.

In fact, Scripture says that those who are mature will have more freedom, and that people who are less mature will have more rules. The Bible is very clear about this. At the same time, if God convicts you of sin in a certain area, if you get rid of that area of sin, God is pleased. To take back that area of sin would be sin.

Take, for example, the television. They tell everyone that TV, or “the beast,” should be thrown in the trash; that it’s a sin to own a TV. I know a lot of people who have gotten rid of their TV’s, and their family life has thrived. It’s great to get rid of your TV, if God so leads you. But it’s not a sin to own a TV. My children watched Creation vs. Evolution debates on DVD’s on our TV. They have grown in their knowledge of God’s Word because of those DVD’s. But to be honest, in most homes, the TV is an idol. It is on every evening no matter what. In my own home, many evenings my husband and I have a cup of chamomile tea and talk quietly about God, or life, or a struggle I’m having. The TV is off. We are just sitting there for hours having a deep conversation. I know this is unusual, though, in most homes. My husband and I also like several shows that we watch together. We laugh and enjoy our time together, commenting on what’s going on during the commercials. Our children watch educational videos and DVD’s, and they learn an immense amount.

For many people, though, they can’t just have a little bit. They have to have tons. It’s just like drinking alcohol. Jesus drank alcohol, so it’s not sin. But many people go overboard by having tons. They drink too much, getting so drunk that they can’t stand up. (This doesn’t mean that people who have self-control in that area are sinning. I know many Christians who drink in moderation and don’t get drunk. But well-meaning people force other people to have the rule of not drinking because theoretically people could end up sinning if they drink.) It’s the same with TV or any other area of life. Anything can become an idol by wanting too much of it. Just look at what you look forward to in your life. Whatever it is will probably be an idol. (Not always, but usually.)

Something else about television: it is a tool that you can use for good or for evil. It’s very similar to the internet. If your heart is right with God, the internet can draw you closer to God. There are so many sermons and spiritually convicting articles and blogs. Plus, you can find out how to clean Sharpie marker off the wall, and other practical things. It can be used for good.

My husband and I were having a conversation last night, and he mentioned the fact that people who don’t have a TV are usually prideful and look down on people who do have a TV. I said, “What if they’re right? What if it’s like a paradise, with the whole family linking arms, swaying, and singing Kumbaya? In other words, if the house is quiet and you have nothing to do, men would play more games with their kids and talk to them more.”

“That’s not going to happen. It’s a heart issue. They’ll replace the TV with another idol to avoid their children and to de-compress. They’ll get a hobby, like going into the garage and working on a motorcycle. Family life will not be better just by getting rid of the TV,” my husband said. Parents can interact with their children and have a great family life, even if there is a TV in the house, in other words.

The speakers also believe in courting. Now, this sounds great, but dating isn’t necessarily sin. My husband and I dated, and we were pure on our wedding night. It’s not necessarily sin to be one-on-one with the person you’re planning to marry. Presumably we have given our children good values, and playing around doesn’t really have a place in that. For example, my 8-year-old said, “When I’m a parent…” and I forgot what else he said. He meant, “When I’m an adult….” but because it’s normal for adults to be married and have children, that’s what he considers normal. Restrictions and suffocation aren’t necessarily the way to go when dealing with adult children. It seems like by then they know God and are under His authority, and they fear Him. But who knows? I might change my mind when my kids get older, especially for my daughter. For some reason I believe my sons will make good choices for their future spouse. Already they love God with all their hearts and want to serve Him. If you’ve raised them right, it seems like courting would be a non-issue.

The speakers are also anti-sports, but I will deal with that as a separate topic. Since I hate sports, it would be so easy to go along with what they said, but they were wrong in a lot of their reasoning. However, like I said, if God was prompting them to take their kids out of sports, it would have been disobedience for them not to do it. So they did the right thing for their family, but what they failed to say was, “Seek God’s will for your own family.”

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Thoughts About Unschooling

November 4th, 2010

thoughts-about-unschooling

I just listened to a workshop about unschooling, and the whole idea fascinates me, to be honest. I love the idea of delight-directed studies, and my own children probably unschool for the second half of the day. But for the first half, I want my kids to have self-discipline and be involved in learning as a family. One of the reasons I homeschool is to be together as a family. Unit studies is really the only way to do that, teaching a topic (like Ancient Egypt) and living and breathing that topic as a family. That can’t be done with unschooling where kids only do whatever they feel like.

I asked the speaker whether you can just throw math out the window, and she said we don’t need all the higher math in real life anyway. I see many problems with this answer. First of all, you can’t internalize math unless you practice it. It’s similar to reading. It’s a skill that builds on itself, and if you stay in a weak position, you will always remain weak. That affects your ability to balance a checkbook, stay out of debt, or even pay bills. Secondly, if you ever want to go to college, you’re screwed. Thirdly, your kids don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. I guarantee that they will change their minds many times (even as an adult). What if they need higher math for the very thing they will love doing? You basically eliminate all possibility of many occupations. And is your child truly educated without knowledge of math?

She also said that children are naturally born good. This is simply not true. Scripture says we are born with a sin nature (Romans 3:23), and any mother of a toddler can testify to the fact that the child will insist on his own way and scream if he doesn’t get it. This is sin in its most raw state, out of control. Adults who do not deny themselves and follow Christ are equally selfish, but they manipulate their environment to make themselves look good. See, our time is not our own. Our time belongs to God. God, what do you want me to do with my time today?

Playing video games all day is what many children would do if left to themselves. “A child left to himself will bring shame to his mother,” is what Proverbs tells us. Children need to learn to obey when it’s the opposite of what they want to do. Otherwise it’s not true obedience. It’s just agreement that they feel like doing what you asked.

So many times in my own life I have had to crucify my own desires and do the right thing. Day after day, I need to do all the yucky jobs I hate. Like having to train my children in character when one child hits another child or is selfish. It takes so long. I just don’t feel like doing it. But I have to, or they will become worse. Doing the right thing is hard. Ask Jesus. He didn’t want to go to the cross. He denied Himself. He didn’t do “what He felt like doing,” which is what unschooling is all about.

That said, I do see unschooling working in an environment where there is self-denial and a transforming work of the Spirit in a child’s life. He would do what needed to be done (like math or writing), even if it wasn’t his favorite thing, just because that is what God requires of him, to be a good steward of his time. Then he would pursue other delightful interests that could help him have a specialization in the future.

However, laziness and selfishness are the natural results of a totally unschooling philosophy. That is what will naturally occur even in a believing Christian. This is hard to counteract.

Another idea that ran through my mind is that Jeremiah tells us that “our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) I can’t even trust my own motives. I often realize later that I had selfish motives, when at the time I thought I was being altruistic and putting others first. So much more with children. When people say, “Trust your children to know what they should learn,” do they really know? “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.” (Jeremiah 17:9) Scripture says that he will foolishly choose the wrong things if not directed.

Even though I enjoyed the workshop and would like to incorporate more delight-directed learning in my home, these questions are troubling to me. So I guess I’ll never really be a true unschooler.

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