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When Christian, homeschooling parents are asked why they educate their children at home, they give varied responses. Some say it is to “get out of the system” that would otherwise corrupt their children. Some argue that it is the most effective way to build their child’s academic ability. Others may mention a special need their child has that can be best catered to at home. The least common response I hear is that we (as believers in Jesus Christ) have been given the primary responsibility to educate our own children. It’s as simple as that. It is even more rare to hear that fathers bear the primary responsibility to disciple their children in the ways of the Lord. Yet homeschooling flows from these convictions. My sincere hope and prayer is that many fathers would read this article. But that probably won’t be the case. Mothers will primarily read these words. Their response can be anything from “My husband needs to hear this and I’ll make sure he does” to “How can I encourage my husband to read this without nagging him?” Ladies, may I suggest the leave-it-open-in-the-kitchen-and-pray approach over the wear-him-down-with-suggestions-and-withhold-food-if-necessary approach? There are two areas in which (I believe) we home-educators have lost our way. 1. Biblical leadership in our home education. 2. The goal of biblical home education. Let’s consider each. THE LEADERSHIP OF HOME EDUCATION One of the New Testament’s clearest exhortations regarding parenting is Ephesians 6:4. There Paul writes: “...and you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”  Note that this verse is addressed specifically to fathers, and concerns their responsibility to train their children. In Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (the “classic” discipleship passage), we read: “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”  This passage is not simply a list of principles for a happy home. It

Most of us want our children to grow up with a love for God’s Word. The challenge is to nurture that desire without it becoming more of a ‘have to’ than a ‘want to’. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that we can all feel lethargic about reading our Bibles at times. Right? THE PERFORMANCE TRAP Often, we develop our own, personal style of quiet time (yes, even with eight kids!) which soon becomes our standard of acceptable spiritual discipline. It might be fifteen minutes of Bible reading in the morning. Before long, though, we end up feeling guilty and ‘unworthy’ when we read for less than fifteen minutes. Alternatively, when we exceed that timeframe, we feel a little bit more ‘worthy’ in God’s eyes! This is a sign that we have allowed ourselves to slip into a performance trap. No longer are we basing our standing before God solely on the finished work of Christ. Instead, we are basing our standing (at least to some extent) on how well we maintain our own standard of daily Bible reading. Why is this important? Well, if we want to help our children develop a love for God’s Word that can stand the test of time, then we need to deal with the potential pitfalls of forming such a habit. In Galatians 3:3, Paul shares his strong concerns with believers who had started out basing their standing before God upon His work, but then ended up basing it upon their works. “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” It’s important to remember that reading God’s Word daily is not something we do to stay saved. Rather, it is something we do to stay safe! After all, why do we want our children to develop a love for God’s Word? Is it so that they look like good Christians? Is it so that others will be impressed at how spiritual our children are? Or is it because we know that God blesses those who read, study, and submit to His Word? IMPORTANT FOUNDATIONS It’s crucial that we begin with the right foundations. Here are some of the most important Biblical principles that we need to teach our children: 1. God is the ultimate authority in our lives (Deut. 4:39). 2. God has given us His Word to help us know and understand His character, His will, and His direction for our lives (Ps. 119:105, John 1:1). 3. Th

An increasing number of Christian families across the US and many other parts of the world are experiencing the benefits and blessings of family-integrated, biblically-functioning churches. However, for some families, this is more of a desire than an actual reality because they live too far away (or in situations like here in New Zealand where there are very few family-integrated churches in existence). So what can a family do, when they belong to a non-family-integrated church, yet have valid concerns about the segregated model? Here are 6 suggestions, followed by 2 radical options that may help your family experience some of the same benefits and blessings, even if a family-integrated church is not an option available to you at this time. 6 Ways To Have A Family Integrated Perspective In A Non-Family Integrated Church: 1. Understand The Difference Between Context And Content Family-integration (or age-integration) is a pattern we see in Scripture, both implied and instructed (Deut 16:9-11, Deut 29:11, Exodus 12:21-27, Joshua 8:34-35, Ezra 10:1, Nehemiah 12:43, 2 Chronicles 20:13, Joel 2:15-16, Luke 12:46, Matthew 18:1-5). However, this has more to do with the necessary and assumed context of biblical discipleship within the local church – that of whole families and all ages worshipping/learning/fellowshipping together, more than it refers to the content. Content is of vital importance. It must be considered and discussed when a person decides which local church they will attend (see point 2). But a problem occurs when the context is prioritized at the expense of content. For example, some families mistakenly think that age-integration alone will “fix” many of the problems and meet the needs they have as a family seeking to raise godly children. In doing so they may pay too little attention to the quality of content they are exposed to as a family.  When you can have biblical content together with the biblical context of age-integrated gatherings – this most effectively serves God’s purpose for the local church. Age-integration only “works” for families when the parents are significantly engaged in the discipleship and spiritual nurturing of their children. An age-integrated environment helps to support and facilitate that process –

I am sure you would agree that as we get older time seems to be going faster. I know I’m not the only dad who regularly feels that there are just not enough hours in the day! Many of the men reading this may be very good at managing their time. For me, this isn’t a strength. However, as a husband and father, I know that I am responsible to manage my time well. Otherwise, life becomes absolutely hectic and unbearably busy. I have found that deliberate planning and intentional prioritizing helps. When life gets too fast-paced, priorities get jumbled and important things are neglected. But, with the Lord’s help, there is much I can do to make things more manageable and peaceable again. I often remind myself that there are always enough hours in the day to do God’s will! So here are a few simple suggestions that may help you develop a family vision (if you haven’t done so already). For our family, this takes place through intermittent family vision discussions. I will give you the loose format we follow, and you can adjust things according to your family’s needs. OPENING PRAYER & FEEDBACK We begin with a time of prayer in which we commit our time to the Lord and ask for His wisdom. We then discuss how things are going in general. What is working? What isn’t? What specific struggles, prayer needs, and problems need to be addressed? We also share our victories and growth and then thank God together. This is also a time for me to be real with my children, sharing how I have failed and where I am seeking God’s help. Children can tolerate a lot of their father’s mistakes, but not consistent hypocrisy. DOCUMENTING THE FAMILY VISION I have a notebook in which I document our fluid family vision. It includes a list of those things we consider to be family priorities that are in line with God’s leading and call upon our lives. We also include the activities and actions that are the outworking of those priorities. So, at this point, our list looks a bit like this: * Family devotions * Fellowship * Hospitality * Quality family time * Evangelism * Exercise * Topics to study? * Skills to develop? * Ways to serve our local church? I then write out some more details for each heading. For example: * Hospitality 1. Having people over after church

Whenever we catch a true glimpse of the holiness of God, it draws us deeper into worship and gives us a greater desire to glorify His name. In Psalm 29:1-2, David expresses this very idea, encouraging God's people to passionately glorify His name, and to worship the Lord "in the beauty of holiness". The more we understand the holiness of God, the more we understand just what a beautiful paradox it really is. The One who no one can approach, apart from Christ, is completely approachable, in Christ. The One who no one can ever be like, apart from Christ, makes us like Him, in Christ. By reckoning ourselves as dead, we find real life. By becoming slaves, we gain freedom. By experiencing suffering, we receive joy. As we consider these and other beautiful paradoxes, as revealed in God's character, God's works, and God's ways, we too can catch another glimpse of the holiness of God, and be drawn deeper into worship, having a greater desire to glorify Him with our lives.

"So why do you homeschool?" I doubt that there is anyone reading this who hasn’t been asked that question before! Perhaps, in a moment of despair, you have even asked yourself the very same question. Well, relax. It’s quite normal to ask that question. And we dads can be sure our wives have asked it many more times than we have. I have found it very beneficial to sit down with my wife, Becky, every now and again to talk about the 'why' of home education, and not so much the 'what'.  Such conversations are something we men can (and should) initiate as the spiritual leaders in our homes; these discussions can really encourage our wives in their daily and often very challenging role.   In 2005, when my family first started to home educate, our reasons were much more about what we didn't want for our children, than what we did want for them. When asked why we home educated, it was easy to talk about the concerns we had with the public schools and the harmful influences we were protecting our children from. However, as the years went by, our 'why' became far more proactive than it was reactive. This has resulted in a more hope-filled and enduring commitment to home educating our children. This proactive ‘why’ helps us get through those frustrating and testing times that we home educating parents inevitably face. HOME EDUCATION & THE GREAT COMMISSION What is your foundational motivation for home educating your children? Is it to help them grow into mature followers of Christ? If the answer to that question is ‘yes’ (as I believe it would be for the majority of Christian home educators), then your thinking is in line with the Biblical mandate given to all believers. In Matthew 28:18-20, we read: And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. If the Great Commission is to be implemented, our obedience must begin first and foremost in the home. When you ask yourself why your family home educates, does the Great Commission co

In this webinar, we discussed really practical issues families are facing. We examined financial pressures and what families can do to protect themselves, how to deal with quarantine overload, and the impact on the culture of the family staying home. We spoke about pressures COVID can place on marriages and the use of time and education. This time, our focus was on the opportunities of the situation. If you would like to learn more about other practical issues, see my articles on our where we are collecting answers to matters of quarantine, visiting the sick, the doctrine of plague and much more.

In the sermon 'No Hope Without the Church' by Kris Baines, it is emphasized that church shepherds, including pastors and elders, play a crucial role in modern society by maintaining the church as the pillar and ground of truth, as stated in 1 Timothy 3:15. The church provides stability and hope in a constantly changing culture. Shepherds are responsible for preaching the Word consistently and faithfully, equipping church members for ministry and evangelism in their everyday lives. The sermon underscores the necessity of having biblically qualified leaders to lead, feed, care for, and protect the church members, thereby maintaining the church's essential role in providing hope to society.

In this interview, Kris Baines (Director of Eternal Purpose Ministries) speaks with Dr. Carlton McLeod about the transition his church took from a program-driven, pragmatic philosophy, to a more biblical model of church & family life. The interview was conducted on Wednesday 18 September 2019. For more info on church & family visit www.eternalpurposeministries.org For more about Dr. Carlton's church & ministry please visit www.crcchesapeake.org

In the sermon 'Is the Enemy Winning,' Kris Baines addresses the anxiety and frustration that can arise from observing the world's current state. He draws a parallel between God's people in Babylon, who were placed there by God's will as a judgment for rebellion, and our present situation, suggesting that we are also where we are meant to be by divine purpose. The speaker reassures that, like the exiled Jews, we need not fear because God has ordained works for us to complete and will provide all we need. By looking above worldly circumstances and focusing on God's eternal purpose, believers can find peace and avoid distress. Baines encourages shifting focus away from self and worldly troubles towards God, promising that this perspective will lead to blessings. The sermon emphasizes God's abiding presence, plan, and purpose, which will ultimately prevail.

In his sermon 'We Know What to Do', Kris Baines addresses the challenges faced by Christians in uncertain times and emphasizes the importance of staying active and committed to God's work until Christ's return. Drawing from Ephesians chapter five, Baines highlights the need to live wisely and make the best use of time, as the days are evil. He underscores the importance of understanding the Lord's will and being engaged in the Great Commission, which involves proclaiming the gospel, making disciples, and participating in church life. According to Baines, regardless of the world's situation, Christians should focus on fulfilling their roles in God's plan, ensuring they are 'about their Father's business' until Christ comes again.

In the sermon 'Time To Teach The Importance of Children,' Kris Baines emphasizes the importance of teaching about the blessing of children within the Church. He challenges the prevailing cultural attitudes that prioritize selfishness and personal pleasure over family and children. Baines argues that children are a blessing not because life with them is easy, but because they help parents to become more Christ-like by encouraging selflessness and investment in others. He stresses the importance of raising children who are strong in their faith and capable of serving God, viewing them as crucial to advancing the Gospel and battling against evil in the world.