You are Going to HELL and Taking Someone WIth You!

Posted on April 26, 2010
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(14) comments

That's the headline of a press release from Gregory Thompson and his organization "Asleep No More". I love it when someone pulls a James 4:17 on me, and then tells me things like this...

Here's the press release:

The government schools are anti-Christian, atheistic and pagan, and they are against God, family, and country. Do not call yourself "Christian" saying you love the children, yet have children in a government school, k-12 through college. Christian priests, pastors, and bishops hate their congregations if they do not warn their people to get out of the government schools. Pastor, you must help the parents with this issue of education. Jesus said "love your neighbor as yourself". If you do not tell your neighbors to get their children out of the government schools, you hate them instead of love them. To know this truth, and not do anything about it in your area of influence is sin. James 4:17 - "Therefore to him that knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin." If Church or Government leaders say otherwise, it is a lie from hell.

My name is Dr. Gregory Thompson, I have been a teacher, coach, Athletic Director, Principal, Superintendent, School Board member, on state committees, and am warning you that the "Sacred Cow of Government Education" is harming the children now and for eternity. Many are trusting and ignorant, some are willfully ignorant, and many just don't know what to do.

Facts:

· Government Education helps promote a culture of immorality and death.

· We could not give your child an aspirin without calling you, yet your grandchildren could be murdered without you knowing it.

· your children will receive a much poorer education than is possible

· your children will be more likely to engage in sex and perversions.

· your children will be more likely to be indoctrinated in Sodomy/homosexuality and encouraged to experience it in Government schools

· your children will be more likely to be raped & molested

· your children will be more likely to be bullied

· your children will be more likely to be taught lies

· your children will be more likely to get an STD

· your daughters will be more likely to become pregnant.

· your children will be more likely to become selfish

· your children will be more likely to become rebellious

· your children will be more likely to kill their pre-born child, your grandchild.

· Because of some of these things your children will be more likely to commit suicide

· Worst of all, your children will be more likely to go to HELL!

OK... open forum. What do you think of this? Fact checking... are his facts true? (I think most of them probably are) For example, I've seen the public school in my small mid-west town promote a culture or immorality. No question.

My children are more likely to be taught lies in public school than they were when we homeschooled them. Yes.

Will my children be more rebellious, selfish, or more likely to get an STD or get pregnant? Possibly.

But how do you go from this list of 'facts' to telling people to NEVER allow their kids in public school? This is isolationism at it's best.

If I thought it was more likely that my kids would go to Hell if I sent them to the public school, I definitely wouldn't send them. But I don't.

In fact... I think my kids WILL have a positive impact on the other kids; and that they will have a positive impact on the teachers and school system as a whole. I think this because they have!

With all due respect, please don't tell me I hate my neighbors if I don't tell them to get their kids out of the public school. And don't pull a James 4:17 on something to which it doesn't apply.

What ever happened to being a light in the darkness?

If you don't want to be 'willfully ignorant', Gregory will give you a free copy of his book (if you pay for shipping and handling).

Oh... and he closes by pulling out Matt. 7:21: "Not every one that says unto Me, 'Lord, Lord', shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven"

Suppose he's talking about me?

What are YOUR thoughts?

Todd

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Comments

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Michael Buckingham on Mon, April 26, 2010

“What ever happened to being a light in the darkness?”

Right on. So tired of the self righteous tone of both christian schools and homeschoolers. You want to put your child in a box, fine…but don’t consider yourself better because of it. While I know people personally that don’t fall into that category, too many do.

My son is a public school student. It has tested his faith. It has exposed him to people with different views and lifestyles. It has taught him to be a light. Because of this faith and the way God shaped him, he’s been able to have open honest conversations.

What if…what if christian schools, etc. were used as a place to equip teens to go into the high school campus and shine well?

If you never allow your children, or yourself, to question their faith, to test their faith…they don’t believe, they simply obey. Good start I supposed, but not enough in my book.
Marcus Lynn on Mon, April 26, 2010

Ridiculous! Yes, some public schools may not be good for you child, but to make a sweeping generalizing of all of them in all 50 states is ignorant at best. In our small town, we have nothing but praise for our public schools. Many of the teachers are in our church. Does that mean I don’t look for problems? Of course not. My kids may not be getting a thorough “Christian education” while at school, but they do at home. And I expect them to be salt and light there. That’s the expectation and they know it. Would Jesus run away from public schools? NO! He’d be right there too. That’s why my kids will not be going to hell but hopefully they’ll be bringing some of their friends to heaven.
Dave on Mon, April 26, 2010

Just yesterday I taught a lesson from Philip Yancey’s book “The Jesus I Never Knew”. He made a quote that I will paraphrase here…When Jesus touched the leper he did not become leprous, but the leper was healed. When Jesus touched the dead he was not defiled, but the corpse was resuscitated.

If Dr. Thompson wants to pull a drive-by James 4:7 on me, I might shoot back an 1 Jn 2:6.
Pastor Rick on Mon, April 26, 2010

I agree with you, Todd, but I have occasionally felt like him. Putting your kids into a toxic environment is counter intuitive, but letting them shine as lights in the darkness is at the heart of our mission. But you can’t (and I know you didn’t) just throw them in and hope they come out all right. Such circumstances demand our attention and active prayers. Trusting our children to the public schools may become too great a risk, but we parents still have greater influence, if we exercise it.
bishopdave on Mon, April 26, 2010

My first exposure to a girl cutting herself was a one who had gone K-12 Christian school. She had tried suicide twice during her senior year.

Maybe it was because her parents were callous legalists.

Maybe the difference isn’t the school but the relationships at home that determines success educationally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Todd Rhoades on Mon, April 26, 2010

Pastor Rick,

I hear ya. We homeschooled our oldest two until high school. My 8th grade daughter is in a Christian school (this year) and headed to public high school next year. My seventh grade son, who has been homeschooled up until now, will head to public school next year.

We feel that we have given them the best of both worlds… one on one education in the earlier formative years, and a place that they can be salt and light as they get older.

Doesn’t mean I don’t worry about them a heck of a lot more in public school than what I did at home. I do. They are confronted with so much more there than they ever saw at home. But my hope is that Dawn and I have prepared them adequately (actually, more than adequately) to handle those situations.

So far, so good.

Todd
CS on Mon, April 26, 2010

My daughter is currently a first grader, and my wife and I are seriously considering homeschooling. The influence of her peers and seeing how they interact with her parents has caused her to become more defiant and rude.

She previously went to a Christian precschool where my wife worked, and her behavior and attitude was exemplary. But when she started going to public school, her attitude changed and I can now see the problems of public schools. One of the girls who became her, “best friend,” is notorious for throwing fits and using crude language, and her older brother is worse.

We have a number of friends at our church and at my work who homeschool, and I see how their children behave. They are polite, obedient, quiet, and respectful. They address people properly by their last names and show courtesy with their peers. They also have superior reading, writing, and math skills, and do well in holding part-time jobs.

While we are called to be lights in the darkness, we’re also told to not be corrupted by the world. That’s a fine balance, and I’m thinking that it might be time to avoid that corruption for a while.

—
CS
Leonard on Mon, April 26, 2010

We home schooled our kids until high school. It was a decision based upon a few specific thoughts. In no particular order.

1) we wanted the time to invest in them ourselves. I love and have loved hanging out with my kids. I loved it when they learned to read, write, discover information on their own and share that info. I did not want to miss this amazing season and because we could, we made a decision to be a part of it.

2) we wanted to prepare our kids for impact. Christians spend to much time judging or fearing the world. I thing both of these attitudes interrupt a God centered mission. I have 2 high school students who bring their friends to Christ, serve faithfully in their church and spend time daily with their God. I am very proud of both of them.

3) Ministry lifestyle is hectic. It has odd and long hours and we wanted to make sure we got to spend time during some crazy seasons of church planting and of being a missionary.
Lori on Mon, April 26, 2010

First let me say, as a family with six kids (21 down to 6) we have done it all - public school, charter school, homeschool and Christian school. All four options had pros and cons. We left the horrid situation of the only available Christian school for charter school and left public school for homeschool. Every decision was based on what God had told us to do and also where we lived at the time. We have moved many times and lived in several different states.

That being said, every family must follow what God is calling them to do. We had no problems with our small town elementary school but there is no way we will send our kids to the middle or high school in the next town over. Mostly because it is terribly unsafe. We have worked with our kids teaching them scientific and Biblical apologetics so they could discern lessons taught in school like the recent “Earth Day” celebration. Each family must decide for itself - no one can dictate. I have heard this same line of thought arguing that homeschool is the only Godly option.

Lastly, I would be careful using the “light in a dark world” argument. First, children have to be Christians to be a light. Rarely are children under the age of 7 Christians. (I know it does happen because I was one of them, but it is statistically rare). Secondly, parents have to teach them Biblical truth. Unfortunately, not very many families do this. They rely too heavily on Sunday School. That alone will not prepare children for the onslaught of anti-Christian teaching and principles taught at school. Also, this is true even if a family sends their child to Christian school because, well…Christians are human and not perfect.

Bottom line - follow God’s direction for your family and ignore sweeping generalizations about God’s will for education.
Andy on Mon, April 26, 2010

What I hate is the home schoolers that look at me like I’m 2nd class for sending my son to public school. Regardless of what you decide you can not get rid of the parent’s responsibility to “train up your child.” If you are relying on the school (public or private) to teach your child spiritual things you are not fulfilling your responsibility as a parent.

My child is in public school, and we also are taking seriously our family’s (not just our child’s) role in the school. Not only are we expecting our son to be a “light” in the school my wife and I are trying to do the same thing. We as a family are seeking to be an influence on the world. We realized that the majority of our friends were churched people who believed the same way we do, and decided that was no way to be a witness. We also did not take the decision lightly as to what school we put him at. (Our school district allows some choice in what school we send our child to) We looked for a school that had very high parent involvement, high test scores, diverse population, and a high rate of un-churched people (not easy to determine by the way.)

My thoughts on home schooling are not favorable based on personal interaction with those in my church and city who are in favor of it. Their justification for homeschooling is that there is too much worldly influence in the public school system. My response is that you can NOT complain about how worldly the system is when we remove all the Christian influence. How can it not be worldly if there are no Christians involved? Then when I look at the parents who are becoming the teachers I don’t see many who are qualified to teach. I’m not just talking about a degree, but spiritual giftedness, personality, and heart. Some of these folks are just plain mean to their kids, and others kids too not to mention not able to convey information easily and understandably.

I also think that you can find the “wrong crowd” in any crowd. I have friends that were kicked out of Christian Academies for doing drugs, drinking alcohol, and having premarital sex. Home school kids can find these same things without much effort. I even find that our kids in our youth group @ church are the ones that have a problem with drugs, pornography, and promiscuity. So are the chances slightly higher in public school? Maybe, but would they go down if there were more godly influence from Christians?

So I guess that is comes down to this, do what God asks of you to do, if that is Home school, Christian school or public school. But just don’t think that you are better than me for not agreeing with you. And especially don’t misuse or abuse scripture to do it!
CindyK on Tue, April 27, 2010

We are not of this world but we live in it. So we can’t be afraid of it. I feel that cloistering ourselves away isn’t doing the rest of the world any good.

I considered home schooling when my daughter was going into 6th and 7th grade - because I had not accepted Christ before that time and never considered an alternative. Both my daughter and I prayed and considered then decided that she’d stay in the public school.

It is my first instinct to want to protect her from the things that go on in the school: swearing, sexual innuendo, drugs, physical sex, and the list goes on and on.

But then I realized that her hearing curse words won’t harm her as long as Jesus walks beside her, and the Holy Spirit is inside of her. Perhaps she’ll even be better prepared to go forth into the world and make disciples - once she is grown.

It’s a tough call, one that every parent has to make for themselves. I don’t think less of anyone for whatever decision that they make - I hope that they don’t think less of me.

I think that pulling her out of the public school would have been caving into fear, and because of Jesus I no longer have to be afraid.
Brian L. on Wed, April 28, 2010

Warning - a bit of a long post:

First, we homeschool through 6th grade, then to Christian school 7-12th grade. Our reasons are too numerous to go into.

We are not against all public schools. Some are better than others, both in quality of education and in support of parental beliefs regarding all sorts of things.

Michael B., I would caution against the broad generalizations you use regarding Christian and homeschoolers. Like you, I’ve come across some real whackos. But my experience is that the vast majority are simply concerned that their values aren’t shredded by the public school system they might have to be involved with where they live.

I’m not sure what you mean by putting our kids “in a box.” Can you elaborate? Are you suggesting that homeschool and Christian school children are sheltered (and therefore unable to handle public living)? I have found the exact opposite to be true - in fact, ask any adult who knows my kids and they’ll tell you that they interact very well with both kids their age and adults.

To me the two biggest dangers of MOST public school systems are:

1. The environment. Christian schools (and homeschools) are not perfect, either. But the risks listed above are truly more common in public schools than private ones. Last night I was with a family who is trying to get their two young children out of the influence of some of their classmates who are pressuring them to steal and be promiscuous (and they’re not even teens yet…). I hear these stories constantly regarding our school system here.

And yet, the superintendent is a great Christian guy who works hard at doing all he can to promote a positive environment in the district. And there is another school district about 10 miles away that, from what I hear, is a great environment.

But I don’t want to send my kids to a place where they will be pressured to rebel constantly. Yes, my kids know better, and they have shown themselves able to resist such pressure when with friends outside of our church and school. But when you are constantly exposed to it, even the best of kids may give in to decisions they will regret for a lifetime.

2. The curriculum and teachers.

I won’t go into detail about all this, but let me give just a couple examples:

My niece’s school brought in a gay couple to her FIRST GRADE class to explain how it was perfectly okay and natural. Parents were not notified before hand so they could take their children out. The authority figure in their class promoted a lifestyle that the vast majority of parents disagreed with.

When evolution is taught as a fact instead of a theory, students are caught in a bind, because while they can disagree with what is taught, they are also taught at home to respect their teachers - even as teachers ridicule their beliefs publicly in the classroom.

Here’s the struggle: how do we become salt and light without endangering our children? I agree that isolationalism is the wrong way to go. I also think that homeschooling and Christian schooling are not necessarily isolationist as much as equipping for standing strong in the world after school.

Sorry for the long-windedness (I’m a pastor - it’s a gift…;p)
Brother Jim on Fri, February 04, 2011

I personally have met and attended Christian rallies with Dr. Thompson. He has paid a high price for his witness for our Lord. He was fired for his Christian witness at the public school in which he was the superintendent.
I believe many of the comments I have read are very well intentioned by other Christians. We have homeschooled our son, who recently graduated. I have observed other home school children during the years we homeschooled our son. It constantly amazes me how different children can be, depending on what is placed into their lives.

We are amazed at a young terrorist who will strap on a bomb to his body, and destroy himself and others for his god. The reason a person will usually commit a horrific act is because of what has been placed into their life. Most of us realize that bad influences can corrupt human character. Many Christians expect their child to be removed from the “Christian greenhouse” and to take on the Kingdom of Darkness. At what age is your child ready for spirtual combat? King Solomon one of the wisest men to walk the earth fell prey to his ungodly wives!

I know numerous Christian families who thought their children were ready “to do battle”, and enrolled them into their local public high school. It is heartbreaking to hear the stories of how many of these children departed from the Christian faith. Studies conducted by the Barna Group, Crossway, etc…seem to indicate an extremely high spiritual mortality rate: when you compare Christian families who use the public schools as compared to those who homeschool their children.

As Christians we must interact with our world for the Kingdom of God. At what age are we ready to “take ground” for our Lord? Christian parents must prayfully seek God’s will in fulfilling their role in training their children in the Christian faith (Deut. Chapter 6).

—-Brother Jim
www.gospellight.com on Mon, February 21, 2011

I am not a big fan of when people come out and speak about the religion I love in what seems to be such a malicious manner. I apologize for getting so upset, but I care a bit more about compassion. Is anybody with me?