"Train up a child in the way he should go; Even when he is old he will not depart from it." -- Proverbs 22:6.

High on the list of goals for the average Christian parent is to "train up" their children with the academic knowledge they need to succeed in the world, integrated with (and never compromising) the truth and values of the Christian faith. 

Many Christian parents believe the best way to ensure that their children gain academic knowledge, yet still remain rooted in their faith, is through homeschooling.

A new study confirms the success of students who are homeschooled, compared to their public school counterparts.  The Progress Report 2009: Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics, which surveyed 11,739 homeschooled students for the 2007–08 academic school year, reported that homeschooled students, on average, scored 37 percentile points above public school students on standardized achievement tests.  The Progress Report, the most comprehensive study of homeschool academic achievement ever completed, drew homeschoolers from 15 independent testing services, a press release reports.

According to the release, the study also indicated that the achievement gaps evident among public school students did not exist among the homeschooled population:

Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, believes that these results point to the commitment of parents who homeschool their children.  He also indicated that homeschooling is a successful education movement that has the potential to become more prevalent in the next generation.

"These results validate the dedication of hundreds of thousands of homeschool parents who are giving their children the best education possible," Smith said. "Homeschooling is a rapidly growing, thriving education movement that is challenging the conventional wisdom about the best way to raise and educate the next generation."

What do you think about the idea of homeschooling? Do you/ would you homeschool your children? Why or why not?

When people meet me for the first time, they often see me as a person who tends to be too uptight, takes life too seriously, and just needs to let loose.

I find that this uptightness often carries over to my spiritual life.  My worship style is typically very refined and uncharismatic...and that's fine -- for some people.  But I feel as if I want to want to worship with my whole body, yet I won't allow myself to do so.

 While my heart is burning with excitement about my belief in Jesus Christ as my Savior, my body language certainly doesn't reflect it.  My hands are folded or at my sides, and I often sit or stand -- motionless and expressionless.  I want to throw my hands into the air and dance, but I feel blocked; I just can't bring myself to do it.

I used to blame my unenthusiastic worship style on my denomination.  "Catholics don't raise their hands in worship,"  I told my mom one afternoon. "We don't dance up and down the aisles.  I want to, but I can't.  No one else does it."

My mother immediately confronted me about my faulty thinking.  "This has nothing to do with your denomination," she told me.  "It has to do with yourself.  If you feel God is leading you to raise your hands in worship, by all means do so.  Who is going to judge you?"

She was absolutely right. Not only did I make an uncalled for vast generalization about my own denomination, but I also wasn't opening myself to worshiping in a new way -- the way God was leading me to.

My mother's point was confirmed when I began attending InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational Christian group on my campus.  At InterVarsity, it seemed like everyone "let loose" when worshiping the Lord -- everyone but me.  My hands were still glued to my sides and my feet were firmly planted on the floor.

Week after week at InterVarsity, I felt as if God was telling me, "Lift your hands! Be joyful!" One of my IV friends even asked me one week, "C'mon, Amanda! Aren't you excited?"  I responded, "yes," but he wasn't convinced.  I was excited about my faith, but I just couldn't let that excitement out, as much as I wanted to.

What was it? I asked myself? Pride? Fear? Nervousness? Self-consciousness? Just my personality? All of the above? I didn't know, but it bothered me to no end.

Whatever "it" was, God helped me break through it when I attended a Casting Crowns concert at Rock the Sound NYC last weekend.  When the song "All Because of Jesus" blared through the speakers, the lyrics touched me in a way that I can't begin to describe.  "All because of Jesus I'm alive," I told myself.  He is who I'm living for!

"ALL BECAUSE OF JESUS I'M ALIVE!" I told myself again.  My heart was fluttering with excitement, but I was still sitting in my seat.  Once again, I felt as if God was telling me, "Lift your hands, Amanda!" 

All of a sudden, I felt my right arm rising, ever so slightly.  My friend who was sitting next to me (also a typically uncharismatic worshipper), tapped me on the shoulder and started giggling, as if to say, "What are you doing?"  My arm instantly went down again.

But God wouldn't let that be the end of it.  "Lift your hands to Jesus!" Mark Hall, the lead singer of Casting Crowns cried out.  "Just let loose, Amanda! Let loose!" I felt like God was telling me.

And I did.  I turned to my friend and said, "I just can't help it."  Then, it all happened at once -- I raised my hands, danced, clapped my hands -- everything. Finally was the only word that went through my head at that moment.  It felt like an amazing release, an indescribable breath of fresh air.  

Did you ever feel like God was telling to "just let loose" as He told me?  Did you resist as first?  How did it feel for you when you finally "let loose?"

    A Bible placed on display at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow as part of an art exhibition is now covered in obscene comments, according to a recent article. 

Beside the Bible display, there is a notice written by Metropolitan Christian Church alongside a handful of pens.  The notice, directed at museum visitors, read: “Are there any gay people in the Bible? Out of the tens of thousands of people who appear in the Old and New Testaments, there must have been. Same-sex love, such as that between Ruth and Naomi, existed, but has been written out over time.  If you feel you have been excluded from the Bible, please write your way back into it.”

Many visitors took this opportunity to vent their anger, scribbling abuse all over the pages of the Bible.  Of the many comments, some of the most offensive were, “F*** the Bible” and “I don’t want a fascist God.”  The most offensive pages have been removed from the Bible. 

Andrea Minichiello Williams, director of the Christian Legal Centre, expressed her disappointment about the desecration of this Bible.

“Sadly, it is a failure of the wider Christian church to adequately live and demonstrate the message of God's reconciliation which is the issue," Williams said.
“The Bible stands for everything this art does not: for creation, beauty, hope and regeneration.”

Eddie Arthur, Executive Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators, is also horrified at the abuse that has covered the pages of this Bible, but he does understand that people who feel excluded by the Bible may feel the need to react in this way.  Arthur points the accusing finger at the church for not being accepting and forgiving of these individuals.

"It's disappointing that people feel the need to deface a Bible when offered the opportunity. But it is understandable that people who feel excluded would react to that exclusion. However, it is not the Bible that has marginalized people," Arthur argued. “Sadly, it is a failure of the wider Christian church to adequately live and demonstrate the message of God's reconciliation which is the issue.”

Where do you stand on this issue?  Should the visitors have been allowed to write on the Bible in the first place?  Do you agree with Arthur, that the wider church is at fault?