Ascribing to and endorsing orthodox doctrines should never be confused with genuine faith. Demons can confess monotheism (Jas. 2:19), and yet their hearts are far from the one true God. Indeed, they hate Him and all of His ways. Consider the reactions of the demons when they encountered Jesus during His earthly ministry. They acknowledged that He was “the holy one of God” (Mk. 1:24), and in that sense, “they believed” in Him and knew more about Him at that stage in His ministry than most anyone, even Jesus own disciples. But they certainly didn't love Jesus, and they didn't believe in Him to the extent that they entrusted their lives to Him. This leads me to conclude that there is a kind of faith, and intellectual understanding, that is “bare” and “empty.” It subscribes to mental propositions but doesn't embrace and love Jesus, and in the final analysis it proves to be no faith at all.
Thomas Schreiner

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Yesterday's e-mail, plus web TV programs by Tina Farewell and Sally Clarkson

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#1 · February 18, 2010, 2:31 pm

Posted by: hopechestnews <hopechestnews@...>

Dear friends,
 
Thank you for all of the dozens of encouraging responses I received in my inbox in response to yesterday's e-mail about child abuse in the home schooling community.  In addition to the 1,200 people I sent it to, well over 500 people read it on the Come Weary Moms blog, most of them linking in from Timberdoodle's blog.  (Timberdoodle is one of my favorite home school suppliers.  I've been ordering from them for about 20 years.  Their main web site it http://www.Timberdoodle.com.)  I've had several requests to reproduce or link my article on other blogs.  You are welcome to do so if you send me the link.  If you wish to link to it, here is the exact address: http://comewearymoms.blogspot.com/2010/02/child-discipline-or-child-abuse.html
 
I did hear from four people who had concerns about what I said.  In response, I do wish to acknowledge that Michael and Debi Pearl have some very helpful advice about child training (I personally own both of their books and I've been flipping through them again) and that their intention is to help children, not injure them.  However, some people have taken their teachings to an extreme with disastrous results.   In addition, many other people have quite valid objections to their teachings.  If you read the following blogs posts/comments and click the links in them, there will be plenty of food for thought on the topic of the Pearls. I don't have the time to read through all of it, but trust you have enough discernment to sort through the issues. 
 
On a much more positive note, I visited the HomeschoolChannelTV web site this morning and was surprised and delighted to hear the voice of my friend Tina Farewell, former owner of Lifetime Books Gifts, speaking on a video program there.  Tina has been such an encouragement to me over the years, most recently (and sweetly) at the Books & Beyond conference we were both speaking at last month.  Tina's presentation on "If This is Homeschooling Why Am I Always in the Van?" is being "broadcast" again tomorrow (Friday) morning at 8 AM Eastern time, so tune in!  Click here for the current week's programming schedule.  Valerie Bendt will speak at 3 PM tomorrow about learning to read. I'm also excited about hearing Sally Clarkson speak on "Twelve Commitments of Wholehearted Learning"  at 6 PM tomorrow.  Sally has been another huge influence on our home schooling since the early years, and in the next Hope Chest, I'll be reviewing her new book Dancing With My Father: How God Leads Us into a Life of Grace and Joy (which hasn't arrived yet).  Meanwhile, I strongly encourage you to read her blog post Formula or Faith? which touched my heart a week ago.  I'll also review her daughter Sarah's excellent and lovely new book Read for the Heart: Wholehearted Books for Wholehearted Families (for which Tina Farewell wrote the forward).  It is funny how after years of not hearing from or about Tina, Sally, and Sarah, God has divinely brought them all back to my focus in the past few months to spark a desire to return to Charlotte Mason style, age-integrated unit studies.  Thad and I have been talking about this a lot lately, and we're planning to take a major "retro shift" in home schooling next year.  I'll write more about this in the Hope Chest in a couple of weeks.
 
For grace, beauty, truth, justice, and so much more
Virginia Knowles
 

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