The Nicene Creed is the most widely used profession of faith in church liturgies and statements of faith around the world. The Creed, as we currently have it, is the result of two church councils: the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325) and the First Council of Constantinople (AD 381). Some in the church see no value in church councils—they espouse "No Creed but Christ, no Book but the Bible." However, it should be noted that in the earliest centuries of the church there was no established list of canonical books. The list of the 27 inspired New Testament books, as we have them today, was first put together in a ...Read More
Why Christians Object to Early Sex Education (and why I’m totally fine with it)
Should you talk to your 8-year-old about sexual intercourse? How about your 6 or 7 year old? I recently wrote a parent-child Bible study called The Talk: 7 Lessons to Introduce Your Child to Biblical Sexuality. The study is geared for children ages 6-10 years old. After about 3,000 people downloaded it the first weekend it was out, amidst the positive remarks I started hearing concerns. They usually sounded something like this: "These lessons are filled with good information and all, but isn't 6-10 years old too young? Won't this make them too curious too soon?" A Respectful Disclaimer Every child, of course, is ...Read More
But If My Wife Homeschools Our Kids, We’ll Lose Our Second Income
God has blessed me with a great job, and my wife has never needed to work outside the home since we've been married. However, a lot of families depend on two incomes. If you decide to homeschool your kids, can you really afford to become a single-income family? Objection #4 If My Wife Homeschools Our Kids, We’ll Lose Our Second Income The fact that there are single-parent homes today that homeschool should alert us to the fact that it is more than possible to work and homeschool at the same time. How? Because the amount of time a child needs hands-on instruction is typically only 2-4 hours a day (depending on the ...Read More
Will Homeschooling Turn My Child Into a Social Weirdo?
Many parents, like myself, have fond memories of public school. It is where we made our first friends. We remember the bus rides, trading food from our lunch boxes, recess, field trips, home games, and dances. Many parents don't want their kids to miss out on these memories. For those interested in homeschooling, the socialization question usually ranks somewhere at the top of their list of concerns. Objection 3: I don't want my child growing up without good social experiences. A lot of dads I talk to say similar things about homeschooling and socialization. They've run into their fair share of socially awkward ...Read More
The Key Passage Your Child Should Memorize to Share the Gospel
One of our great hopes as parents is that we would raise children with a desire and boldness to tell others the gospel of Jesus Christ. To do this, our children need to know several things: (1) what the gospel is, (2) why we believe the gospel is true, and (3) why sharing the gospel with others is important. I can think of few passages in the Bible that teach all these things as well as Isaiah 53. Written hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, this prophetic song is one of the most significant prophecies in the Bible. It is quoted or alluded to in the New Testament many times, pointing readers to Jesus as ...Read More
Homeschooling Can My Wife Really Teach EVERY Subject as a Homeschool Mom?
My wife is pretty smart, but even she will tell you she has her weak spots when it comes to academics. (Don't ask her to edit your papers for proper punctuation. I am the one who edits our blog posts.) For a lot of parents, the biggest anxiety of homeschooling is the fear of teaching: they don't trust themselves to be the judge of their child's progress, and they don't know if they have what it takes to teach. Objection #2: Is my wife really qualified as an educator? Can she really teach our child every subject? The data are in on this as well. Having more professional and academic resources at your disposal does ...Read More
Will Homeschooling Prepare My Child for College?
When it was time for us to consider schooling for Bradley, our oldest child, we debated the pros and cons of public school, private school, and homeschooling. Being a product of public school myself, I had no real objections to the idea of sending Bradley to public school. Homeschooling, by contrast, seemed like an interesting but nonetheless foreign idea to me. I knew zero homeschoolers growing up. When I finally did hear about the concept for the first time, I thought it was something for Amish people and homesteaders. I had a lot of questions. It took me a while to warm up to the idea of homeschooling, but eventually ...Read More
13 Important Questions to Ask Before You Decide to Homeschool
So, you're thinking about homeschool for your kids, eh? Do you know what questions you should ask before you get started? And do you know where to find the answers to those questions? We're here to help! Who Is Homeschooling? Homeschooling is on the rise in America. There are 2.2 million home-educated students in the United States, and the number of students grows by 7% to 15% every year. Homeschooling is on the rise among a demographically diverse group of individuals. You will find conservatives, liberals, and libertarians who homeschool. Low-, middle, and high-income families who homeschool. And ...Read More
