Earl & Diane Rodd January 9, 1987 93 Great Ryrie St. Heathmont, Victoria 3135 Phone (03) 879-4082
May the coming year find these words of faith ringing within your home: Truly is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, Ordered in all things, and secured' For all my salvation and all my desire, Will He not indeed make it grow? II Samuel 23 :5
WHEN THERE'S A KNOCK AT OUR DOOR...?
Those of us who are committed to hometraining are faced with
daily decisions of making Jesus Lord of our home. The path we
have chosen to walk is a narrow one, and many eyes are upon us.
Some want to see us achieve and do well, and we have their
blessing. Others are watching us with criticism and suspicion,
and we must ask the Lord to give us His true discernment that we
walk in the manner He desires. Friends and neighbors may have
many innocent questions; our enemies may have the same questions
but are they motivated by the same innocence? We live in
deceptive times, and our main source of protection is the Word of
God revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.
Obedience to the Holy Spirit is something each family must
resolve for itself. The unity of the Holy Spirit between husband
"Any
kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or
house divided against itself falls." (Matthew 12
:25) The visible
demonstration of the division of the established church has proven
"I in
them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that
the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them,
even as Thou didst love Me." (John 17
:23)
Some of us who are committed to hometraining understand that
the education of our children in our homes is not the ultimate
goal or purpose. We are also committed to the restoration of all
things to God's pattern as revealed by the Holy Spirit in God's
written word, and as that is obeyed, we become a part of God's
solution in reconciling humantiy to Himself rather than being part
of the problem. Unity in the home is and will be the most dynamic
method of evangelism the modern world has ever seen. Worship and
intercession emanating from the home will loose the powers of
darkness from our families, our neighbors, our cities, our nation.
I Peter 3
:1-17.
Those of us who are hometraining must face the fact of being
slandered, ridiculed and even persecuted for the choices we are
making. The Biblical passage just cited is God's view of such
circumstances. Submission one to the other in our homes, true
unity which comes from heart submission and the ability to forgive
and bless when the enemy attacks us is the greatest challenge
ahead for us and will be the fire of testing for many of us. Out
of such situations, the light of our Lord will have an opportunity
to shine.
Each family must come into a unity for each circumstance it
faces. If not, our homes will fall. If we as parents do anything
out of expediency or from the tyranny of the pressure we are
under, we will be our own worst enemy. At those times we must
seek the Lord's will and direction until we "are standing firm in
one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the
gospel;". (Philippians 1
:27)
Earl and I spent some time discussing what to do if the state
inspector turns up on our door step while Earl is at work.
Information about three Christian schools who refused to open
their records to union officials and found themselves before
the magistrate sparked our questioning of our own attitudes and
consequent actions. We had decided to not inform the state of our
hometraining because to do so would acknowledge their claim of
ownership over our family. However, our decision does not
preclude the state from coming to our home to enforce its false
"What do we do?"
As promised, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit are capable
of guidance in such things as this. In the Old Testament we were
reminded of two instances where "outsiders" came to inspect the
"treasures" of God's children. As you read the following
examples, please note the difference in motive of the visitor and
the resultant outcome of the visit.
(1) Solomon was visited by the queen of Sheba in I Kings 10 :1-25 (II Chronicles 9:1-24)
(2) Hezekiah was visited by the king of Babylon in Isaiah 39 :1-8; II Kings 20:12-21:9; II Chronicles 32:31)
If you would like to meet for discussion and prayer over this concern, feel free to come to our home on January 18 at 1 pm. If the weather is fine, we can go to Ringwood Lake where the children can play together while we share with one another on this issue that is so vital to all of us. We can then return to our home for afternoon tea (3 pm; byo food, drinks provided) and a time of worship amd prayer together. Feel free to bring others along whom you know who are like-minded but may not be on the FHC mailing list.
Please RSVP by Friday January 16.