If you want your “dream baby,” do not adopt or foster a child: buy a cat and make-believe. Adopting an orphan isn’t ordering a consumer item or buying a pet. Such a mindset hurts the child, and countless other children and families. Adoption is about taking on risk as cross-bearing love. – Dr. Russell Moore

This is an article you should read in its entirety

Ken Ham slam dunks it:

However, the bottom line is that I would rather my children dig ditches and eventually go to heaven than be some highly educated person and go to hell because they received biblical-authority undermining teaching and then rejected the Word of God.

Tiana over at God Made …. Home Grown writes a great piece on why public school is not an option for her family. Her reasons are solid and compelling. On top of that, they mirror many of the reasons State Re-education Camps (a.k.a. public schools) and their government welfare are NOT an option here at the Pauper’s Hovel either. Check out what Tiana has to say:

“Even so, academic mediocrity, peer pressure and bullying, stifled creativity and liberal bureaucratic agendas are not my real reasons for homeschooling.

To say so would imply that if the schools were reformed–if all the legitimate concerns and criticisms about the government school system were to be fixed forever–that I would consider sending my children to public school.

But I wouldn’t.

Why Not?

Because God has said in His Word that educating our children is our job as parents”

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.godmadehomegrown.com/biblical-homeschooling/why-not-public-school-the-real-reason/#ixzz1WFg0XcAK

The groundbreaking full length documentary Divided is now available courtesy of the NCFIC:

Official Divided the Movie (HD Version) from NCFIC on Vimeo

Today is a difficult day for many of our brethren in the South. Please join me in praying for our suffering siblings in God’s family.

One of those families is the Lee family. May I be found as faithful in my fatherhood as Mr. Tom Lee.

Developing Story: Faithful Father of Thirteen Gives His Life for His Children In Alabama Tornado Destruction

By Doug Phillips

Tom Lee was a man who always had a sparkle in his eyes and a Gospel message on his tongue. His family is one of those that people describe as “energy givers.” When Tom, his bride and his family of thirteen children would arrive in town, it always meant encouragement.

Last night as tornado storm winds approached the Lee home in Alabama, Tom gathered his wife and thirteen children in the den. They huddled and they prayed. Two minutes later the tornado descended upon them. The house was instantly destroyed as beams and cinder blocks reigned down upon them.

But in his last great act of fatherhood, Tom Lee had the presence of mind to throw himself on top of his children, including his first born son Jordan. Looking up at his father Jordan saw the blood in his father’s mouth and witnessed as the breath began to leave his father, but was able to hear the last words of his fathers crying out to God for the safety of his family. Then the spirit left the body of Tom Lee.

Read the rest of the story here…

Father,

Please comfort the Lee family. Provide for their needs. Please give Jordan the manly courage he needs as he depends on you. Give him wisdom as he assumes the mantle of manhood passed to him by his father. I ask this in the mighty name of Jesus who is the Christ, Amen.

P.S. – The home of Kelly Crawford at Generationcedar.com was also destroyed. Please pray for them. (You can read her story here.)

I can’t wait to see this one! I expect a good dose of conviction and encouragement. May we all be fathers more like our Heavenly Father and His Word.

In case you have been living under a rock or with your head in the sand, I’ll let you in on a secret – your rights as a parent are quietly being threatened. The stakes could NOT be higher. At risk is your right to raise your children as you see fit. Take a look:



For more information on how you can get involved click here.

For the Historian or Theologian in your life comes a give-a-way you can’t miss. The Uber-blogger Tim Challies is giving away a sermon manuscript page from the Prince of Preachers – Charles Spurgeon.

Click here to read about it and enter.

You’re Welcome!

Dr. Russell Moore has written a great piece on adoption in response to a reader question concerning permanent physical mutilation to prevent children (also known as permanent “birth control”) in order to facilitate the adoption of the maximum number of orphans. You really should read the whole piece, it is spot on. My favorite phrase comes at the very end where he says:

“Adopting for life doesn’t demand accepting the knife.”

Read the rest here.

Many of us are comfortable thinking and even speaking about our convictions but what would we really give up for them? For a young man named Joel Northrup his convictions were worth more than the treasures of Egypt  (Heb 11:24-26). Well done Mr. Northrup! You have acquitted yourself as a man should.

From the Associated Press via Yahoo:

DES MOINES, Iowa – An Iowa high school wrestler who was one of the favorites to win his weight class defaulted on his first-round state tournament match rather than face one of the first girls to ever qualify for the event.

Joel Northup, a home-schooled sophomore who was 35-4 wrestling for Linn-Mar High this season, said in a statement that he doesn’t feel it would be right for him to wrestle Cedar Falls freshman Cassy Herkelman. Herkelman, who was 20-13 entering the tournament, and fellow 112-pounder Ottumwa sophomore Megan Black, who was 25-13, made history by being the first girls to qualify for the state tournament. Black was pinned quickly in her opening round match.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan and their accomplishments. However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times,” wrote Northup. “As a matter of conscience and my faith I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most other high school sports in Iowa.”

Read the rest here.