FHC HOME


"It is better to grow a child than to repair a man."


Earl & Diane Rodd
August 1987 93 Great Ryrie St.
Heathmont, Victoria 3135
Phone (03) 879-4082
The next FHC meeting will be:

The letter below is the original FHC newsletter from September, 1986. We thought the letter would be interesting to look at again because some of you never saw it, and the remainder of you would find it a good opportunity to look back over the year and take stock of FHC.

Original September, 1986 letter.

FHC is a Melbourne-based organization designed to provide cohesiveness and support to local families who are homeschooling their children. The main function is a newsletter and/or monthly gathering to share with one another how we are being led of the Lord, to confess our problems and dilemmas, and to have an opportunity to pray with and for one another in a supportive, like-minded group. (Proverbs 11 :14 and 24:6)

We understand that homeschooling is very time consuming, church related activities are very time consuming and fathers' occupations are very time consuming. With that in mind we would like to suggest one monthly afternoon meeting for mothers and children and an evening meeting every other month for the whole family. :note. What has happened since this original letter is that we have a gathering on the first Sunday afternoon of each month for the entire family (held at YWAM, 1 Kent Rd. Surry Hills, Victoria.) Also some weekday afternoon events occur as individuals arrange them.

If you are interested in receiving further newsletters (and/or a HELP packet - H E ducational and L egal P erspectives), please fill out the necessary information and return this form to the above address. A 40 page book has been compiled out of material which started as FHC newsletters over the past year. The title is The Biblical Basis of Home Training If you want to know about this book, tick the appropriate box below. In His keeping,

Earl and Diane Rodd

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Parents' name :___________________________________________________

Address :______________________________________Zip Code___________

Phone Number :_____________ Children's names & ages_____________
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�Ŀ
��� I am interested in information on The Biblical Basis
of Home Training.

If the Lord has given you something concerning homeschooling
that you would like to share with others, please feel free to send
us a copy to include in our next newsletter.

As we are about to embark on a new step of faith - to teach our two sons at home and no longer send them to a Christian school, we have been overwhelmed by the knowledge that if we only prepare them for this physical life, we would be most pitied and fail miserably at the responsibility and task the Lord has put before us. Paul says in I Corinthians 15 :19, "If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most to be pitied."

Thus a true Godly education for our children must not only give them a Biblical world view of language, history, arithmetic, science, etc., but their education must first prepare them for eternity. If we prepare our children to rule and reign with Christ forever, they will also learn to rule and reign over themselves (self-government) during their earthly life, and thus be instrumental in bringing God's government to earth in every sphere of influence the Lord may bring to their charge.

Revelation 21 :7,8 takes on a different meaning for us as we examine it in the perspective of being foundational subjects for a Godly curriculum in a homeschool. It says, "He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." A look into the Amplified Bible will help us gain insight into this verse.

We as parents must educate our children to escape the second death and take their place as sons of the Living God.

To do so we must teach them the Biblical truth about:

  1. Cowardice and allow the Holy Spirit the freedom to provide His choice of experiences that will make our children "bold as lions." (Proverbs 28 :1) Biblical characters who were bold and who were cowardly will have to be studied, examined, and understood. Our own personal lives will have to take on a new boldness, if we too wish to escape the perils of the second death.
  2. Biblical examples of those who were unbelieving, untrustworthy, and doubters will have to be examined as well as those who are Biblical heroes of the faith. We, as parents, must allow the Holy Spirit to root out our own unbelief and doubt, that we may pass on to our children a childlike faith and trust in our Lord that nothing can shake.
  3. We must know and understand and be able to communicate Proverbs 6 :16-19.
  4. We must ask for God's wisdom to teach His definition of a murderer. For an example see Matthew 5 :21-24
  5. We must know and understand how God views immorality. See Hebrews 12 :15,16 as an example of an immoral person.
  6. The Biblical view of a sorcerer goes far deeper against the culture of our society than we, as parents, may find comfortable. Will we search the Biblical record to provide the truth about sorcery for our children and seek the Holy Spirit's wisdom and guidance to help us teach this truth at the level of our childrens' maturity?
  7. As we study God's view of an idolater, we may find the Holy Spirit touching something in our own hearts. James 4 :4 is the beginning of a New Testament study of idolatry.
  8. Liars will not share in the blessed inheritance of eternal life in God's presence. Ridding exaggerated statements from our own speech patterns may be the beginning of homeschooling for parents who are serious about training children in the ways of the Lord.

      The above list is not meant to frighten us or daunt our enthusiasm about homeschooling. This list mentions those who will be far from God's presence in eternity, and it is eternity that is God's goal for our children.

      May we not lose sight of God's eternal goal, as we endeavor to train our children to bring God's Kingdom down onto this earth in their lifetimes. May we see God's heart and vision become ours; His curriculum become ours; and His methods become ours. May we see heaven on earth in our home schools, for now and for eternity.

      Copyright by Earl & Diane Rodd