21 April 2011

All Education Is Religious Whether It's Sunday School or Monday School

How many Christian parents and pastors would be appalled if the government marched into their churches and took complete control of all Sunday School programs of Christian education, including dictating what curriculum would be taught and who would be licensed by the state to teach Sunday School? How many would oppose such an encroachment by the federal or state government? How many would not put up with such a trampling of our religious and civil liberties and would actually do something to stop it? How many would stand up and say the government has no business at all interfering with churches and Sunday Schools? The answer, I'm guessing, is that many or most Christian parents and pastors would be appalled, would oppose such a move, would not put up with it, and would do all they could to stop it and boot the government from trying to control Sunday School, Sunday School curriculum, and Sunday School teaching and teachers.










Now, think about the logic of this type of government encroachment upon churches and their Sunday School programs. It goes against everything that the church in America stands for, especially the freedom of religion and religious expression. We simply would not stand for such a blatant encroachment by the federal or state governments into the church, into our religious lives, into our Sunday Schools, into our Christian education programs, into the indoctrination of our children by the government. And yet, we think it is perfectly fine for the government to indoctrinate our children with secular humanism, evolution, socialism, Marxism, Islam, homosexuality, statism, post-modernism, atheism, and a host of other ungodly and anti-Christian beliefs and behaviors during Monday School, and Tuesday School, etc. Why is that? Why is it not okay for the state to control our Sunday Schools, but it is okay for the government to control our Monday through Friday Schools? How does this make sense to anyone? The truth is:  if it is wrong for the state to control our Sunday Schools, then it is equally wrong for the state to control Monday Schools too!

I'm calling out to all Christian parents, pastors, and leaders to somehow explain to me WHY 85% of Christian parents institutionalize their precious children (created in the image of God) and freely render them to Caesar, to the state, to indoctrinate their children five days a week, which adds up to over 16,000 seat hours in a 13 year time period. Jesus clearly said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." Are we not rendering our children to Caesar when we send them off every day for 13 years to be indoctrinated by the state into secular humanism and other forms of religion that are completely contrary to Christ, literally, are anti-Christ? Are we not guilty of "over rendering" and compartmentalizing our lives between the sacred and the secular?




Too many pastors and Christian parents believe the myth that we can separate religion from education and they are guilty of compartmentalizing their lives into the secular and into the religious. They think that they can teach religion at home and in Sunday School, but during the rest of the day and week it's okay for the government to teach their children all other subjects. This is a dangerous myth that must be exposed as a lie. The truth is that all education is inescapably religious because all education conveys a worldview that shapes and determines the character, life, beliefs, behavior, and future of children. The problem is not that state schools exist; the real problem is that Christian parents are using public schools to train their children, to "educate" their children, to disciple their children, to indoctrinate their children in humanism, atheism, evolution, post-modernism, moral relevance, new age eastern mysticism, etc. The vast majority of Christian parents and pastors are encouraging, participating in, and helping pass on to their children a worldview that is man-centered rather than God-centered. They have abdicated their responsibility to educate their children according to Christ and God's Word. They have simultaneously put their children in harm's way by voluntarily institutionalizing them in public schools which have effectively become "pagan seminaries" and "schools of humanism" that are nurturing their children in alien creeds and infusing them with false and destructive values that are killing our children spiritually, morally, and intellectually.

If you don't believe me, and if you don't believe that public schools are really all that bad for Christian children, then please listen to the words of those who designed the school system to achieve their goals. Charles F. Potter, Signer of the Humanist Manifesto, stated:  "Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every public school is a school of humanism. What can the theistic Sunday School, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teachings?"  John D. Dunphy, from the Humanist magazine, declared: "I am convinced that the battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers that correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of a new faith....The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and new - the rotting corpse of Christianity...and the new faith of humanism." Joe R. Burnett, editor of the Humanist magazine, clarified: "Public education is the parochial education for scientific humanism."

In conclusion, there is a very obvious reason that the evangelical church is losing up to 88% of their children to the world within two years of graduating from public high school. There is a reason that the vast majority of Christian kids who go through 13+ years of government school indoctrination end up with a worldview that has been proven to be secular humanist and socialist/Marxist. If you care at all about your precious children that God has entrusted you with, then you must take them out of Pharoah's school system and set them free. You must join me and many other Christian parents in repenting for over-rendering our children to Caesar and start rendering them to God. To “repent” means to completely change your thinking about an issue, to change your mind, and to then change your direction. It's time to remove our children from the public schools and to truly and faithfully educate them God's way, according to Christ, according to the Word of God, according to the commandments of Jesus, and according to the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of the Holy. When Jesus commanded his disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, He meant for that discipleship and education to begin with their very own children and families, and then, from there, to disciple outwards towards the nations. Humanists and socialists and statists have always understood this principle and applied it, and that is why they are the ones in complete control of the education system in America and in most of the world. It's now time for Christians to take back control of educating their own children, either through homeschooling or through Christ-centered private schools.

This is not a call to try to reform the public school system. No! That is simply not possible and is unbiblical. Jesus warned us about false prophets and false teachers who would try to lead us astray. He didn't say to try to reform them and their schools, but rather to beware of them and stay clear of them. He told us not to follow blind teachers trying to lead the blind. He told us to examine the fruit of the tree, and if the fruit was bad, to recognize that the roots of the tree are bad, which causes the whole tree to be bad, and the only appropriate action was to cut down the whole tree and throw it into the fire (not to try to reform the tree). Study Matthew 7:13-18 and Matthew 15:13-14, where Jesus concludes: "Every plant that My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." Remember, God is committed to reforming and reviving only those institutions that He started such as the family, marriage, and the church. However, God never instituted state education or government schools; on the contrary, He warned us about them and how they would end up destroying our children, families, and lives.

For help in removing your children from government schools or for assistance in learning more about homeschooling or finding a high-quality Christian school in your area, please contact:  Josiah Friberg, through my blog at www.alleducationisreligious.blogspot.com  God bless you in your repentance and obedience which will remove the curse of Malachi 4:5-6 and release the blessing of "restoring the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers."

Thank you for visiting my blog on . This is asking you to check back often for my most recent postings on , , , and the . Consider adding my RSS FEED so you can keep up to date on godly . This article was posted by Josiah Friberg on his Christian Education blog: www.alleducationisreligious.blogspot.com. For assistance, contact .

20 April 2011

Feast of Unleavened Bread Exposes the Leaven of Modern America that Is Destroying Our Children

This is the season of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I celebrated the Feast of Passover yesterday with my family and friends in order to remember and teach my children the truth of the great deliverance of the nation of Israel out of Egypt, the "house of bondage." Of course, inherent in the memorial celebration is the symbolism regarding the Lamb of God, Yahshua, who would one day come and lay his life down to set all mankind free from their bondage to sin, to the devil, and to the ungodly world system. With the coming of the Feast or "Appointed Time" of the Passover, the head of the house must cleanse his house of all leaven, which marks the beginning of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Everyone in the house must eat only unleavened bread for seven days, and anyone found with leavened food in his house was to be cut off from the congregation of Israel.

Every family was required to put away all leaven, which meant that it was (and is today) a time of great cleansing, of separation from leavening influences in the lives of the family. Before we look at the spiritual symbolism, let's review the natural significance of leaven. Leaven, known today as yeast, is a small bit of sour dough, that when placed in a batch of dough, has the action of fermentation and puffing up with air (gas). Leaven works secretly, silently, and gradually, until it leavens the whole loaf, which is affected by its mysterious operation and fermentation. It causes the dough to rise. It's influence permeates the whole until all is leavened and becomes like itself. Thus, a "little leaven leavens the whole lump."





The New Testament clearly interprets the symbolism of leaven and explains why it must be put away. There are five references to different kinds of leaven found in the New Testament, each of which symbolizes something evil that has to be "put away." First, there's the leaven of Herod, which speaks of the spirit of worldliness. Jesus warned his disciples to beware of the leaven of Herod because he was controlled by the spirit of the world. Second, there's the leaven of the Sadducees, which was their unbiblical doctrine that did not believe in angels, spirits, the supernatural, or the resurrection. Modernism, with its doctrine of atheistic evolution, and post-moderism, with its rejection of all absolute truth and values, are today's counterpart of the leaven of the Sadducees. Third, Jesus warned his disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees, which He explained to be hypocrisy. They did not practice what they preached and they were "puffed up" with knowledge and tradition. Hypocrisy works like leaven in a person's life unless it is purged out and put away. Fourth, there's the leaven of Corinth, which was sensuality and fornication. There were other forms of leaven at work in the Corinthian church, all of which "puffed up" some of the people with pride. Paul also referred to the leaven of "malice and wickedness," which was old leaven that needed purging. And finally, there was the leaven of Galatia, which was clearly identified as religious legalism. There were some Judaizing teachers going around to all of the churches Paul had planted who were sowing the "leaven of legality," which was undermining the doctrine of grace Paul preached.

Paul interprets the New Testament teaching regarding leaven when he says, "Therefore, let us keep the Feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." I Corinthians 5:8 The Feast must be kept in "sincerity," which is in purity (the opposite to the corrupting influences of impurity and hypocrisy), and in "truth," which is the opposite of deceit and lying.  For Israel, keeping this Feast meant a complete separation from Egypt's gods, religion, bondage, food, works, slavery, wisdom, and might. For the believer today and in the New Testament times, keeping this Feast meant putting away all evil doctrine, all evil practices, all hypocrisy, all sensuality, all malice, and all wickedness. The "unleavened" life is the sanctified life, the separated to God life, which would not allow any secret or silent unseen influences (spiritual leaven) to corrupt the believer or his relationship to Jesus (Yahshua), the Passover Lamb of God, or to puff him up with pride. Remember, the key is that all leaven must be put away from our lives in order to be truly consecrated and set apart to the Lord who is our Passover.

This morning my wife pointed out that today one very significant application of this key relates to our children and their future. In America today, there is a leaven at work every day in the secret and hidden lives of our children. It works silently, practically unnoticed, and permeates every aspect of their lives with such a powerful influence that it will negatively affect, and in fact, eventually completely destroy, their lives, their future, and their children's lives and futures. Can you guess what it is?

Historically, the "principle of leaven" has been used politically, socially, educationally, and religiously in various forms of propaganda in all nations, permeating and influencing societies, cultures, and concepts either for good or for evil. We need to realize that all education is religious because all education conveys a specific worldview that influences and determines the student's life and future. "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7 This is why Christian parents are commanded to "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 

So, what is this leaven in American society that influences and forms the worldview of our precious children so that when they graduate from high school, the vast majority will walk away from God, their faith, and the church? What leaven could be that powerful, that permeating, that influential, that detrimental, that destructive, that corrupting, and that unchallenged by parents and the church? By now you've probably guessed it. If not, let me suggest to you that the most powerful and destructive "leaven" in the lives of our children is "the leaven of state education," or you could call it, "the leaven of the public school system." It is actually a combination of the leaven of Herod (a spirit of worldliness, wickedness), the leaven of the Sadducees (modernism, evolution, secular humanism, and post-modernism), the leaven of the Pharisees (hypocritical Christianity, greed, envy, and the love of money), and the leaven of Corinth (sensuality, fornication, sexual immorality, homosexuality, hedonism, lust, and the love of pleasure).

"Second Corinthians 6:14-18 states that Christians are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. How can we fail to recognize that placing children under the control of a pagan institution for 35 to 40 hours a week is yoking our children unequally with unbelievers? Indeed, can there be a worse example of unequal yoking than the deliberate yoking of a child with a pagan educational institution?" - Dr. Bruce Shortt


In the words of humanist, John D. Dunphy, is a description of this modern leaven: "I am convinced that the battle for human kind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers that correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of a new faith....The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new - the rotting corpse of Christianity...and the new faith of humanism." (from the Humanist magazine) And Joe R. Burnett, an editor for the Humanist magazine, stated: "Public education is the parochial education for scientific humanism." 


"Ideas have consequences. What we believe determines how we live....The harsh truth is that public schooling is anti-Christ, literally, against Christ. Public schools substitute man for God in their explanations of all things....The secularism taught in public schools is diametrically opposed to Christianity. They are as different as night and day, and inflicting these lies on Christian children is a foolish thing....All schools are religious schools. All schools teach worldview....All schools are enculturation centers and none is neutral...All education is inescapably religious. The existence of non-Christian schools is not the problem; Christians using them to train their children is the issue. Christian children need Christian education" - Bradley Heath


In conclusion, let us remember that the end result of all education is a worldview and that worldview will be either man-centered (self-centered, eccentric = off centered) or God-centered (Christ-centric). As we remember, reflect, and memorialize the great Exodus and deliverance of the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt through the Feast of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, let us also remember that this is a time for us to remove and put away all leaven from our lives, which means it is a time to separate ourselves from all the ungodly leavening influences of this world such as sin, worldliness, wickedness, malice, sensuality, sexual immorality, greed, the love of money, the love of pleasure, hypocrisy, and external legalistic religion. 


At the same time, I believe God is calling all Christian parents to remove the leaven of state education from the lives of their children and all that comes with that leaven such as ungodliness, secular humanism, socialism, statism, self-centeredness, post-modernism, eastern mysticism, new age philosophy, sexual permissiveness and homosexuality, and a host of other anti-Christian and ungodly behaviors and beliefs. Many Christian parents think that they can send their kids off to the public school during the day, and then at night try to remove the leaven of the world that was put in them. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way and is impossible to do. Remember, leaven is something that works silently, secretly, hidden, gradually, and thoroughly until it leavens the whole lump. All the dough is affected by its mysterious operation and fermentation. Its influence permeates the whole until all is leavened and becomes like itself. Jesus explained this in relation to education when He stated: "A disciple is not above his teacher...Every disciple will become like his teacher, and the slave as his master." Matthew 10:24-25 If you don't believe me and you don't believe Jesus, then I challenge you to make a large bowl of dough, put in a small bit of sour dough (leaven), and then try to separate out the leaven the next day if you can. In the same way that it is foolish to try to separate out leaven from a lump after it has begun working, it is equally foolish to send your child to an irreligious humanist government school or teacher and then try to "un-indoctrinate" your child at the end of every day. It just won't work, and you'll lose your child in the process. 


"In essence, we have abdicated our responsibility to educate our children. As a consequence, we have simultaneously put our children in harm's way and have failed to notice that the 'little red schoolhouse' has effectively become a pagan seminary nurturing our children in alien creeds and infusing them with false values. This, in turn, is transforming our families, our churches, our culture, and our society....The fact is that government schools are killing our children spiritually, morally, and intellectually." - Dr. Bruce Shortt  "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." Colossians 2:8


Listen to the words of Jesus regarding this leaven: "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." Matthew 15:8-9, 13-14  "Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits....A good tree cannot produce bad fruit; nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." Matthew 7:13-19


It is time to cut down that bad tree called "public school" or government indoctrination that has been producing bad fruit for 170 years and destroying the lives of generation after generation of Christian children. Public schools have taken millions of Christian children (and their parents) captive through philosophy and empty deception (i.e. spiritual leaven), according to the tradition of men and the elementary human principles of the world, and these government school classroom teachers who function in the role as "proselytizers of a new faith" of humanism, have become blind guides to the blind. Forsake them, let them alone, because if a blind humanist teacher is allowed to guide your child, both will fall into a pit and your child will be led astray to destruction. It's time to choose the narrow gate of Christ-centered homeschooling or possibly partnering with a high-quality Christ-centered private school, because the broad way of public schooling leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it. Beware of those false prophets of the new faith of humanism who are disguised as benign public school teachers, but under their sheep's clothing they are ravenous wolves who will devour your child's faith in God, chew them up, spit them out, and conform them to themselves by turning them into cookie cutter secular humanists and socialists who will reject their parents, their church, their faith, and their God for the world. Now is the time to cut that deadly tree of bad fruit down and uproot it forever. 


Thank you for visiting my blog on . This is asking you to check back often for my most recent postings on , , , and the . Consider adding my RSS FEED so you can keep up to date on godly . This article was posted by Josiah Friberg on his Christian Education blog: www.alleducationisreligious.blogspot.com. For assistance, contact at: www.ExodusMandate.org