Despite the attempt to bring Christianity to distant lands, a western Christianity forgot to bring a world and life view with it, and in the process, post-modern thinking from the west destroyed the family everywhere (including countries like Japan and South Korea).
But a handful of Christian leaders are determined to change all of that, by the Word and the Spirit. Homeschooling is spreading around the world, including South Korea. Homeschool grad himself, and foreign missionary, Brad Voeller testifies to what God is doing in South Korea with a burgeoning home discipleship movement taking that nation by storm. Learn how you can connect with international home school families on this issue of Generations.
Although not all evangelicalism is soft and squishy at center, the faith is wobblier now than ever before. Occasionally, people wonder out loud (or via e-feedback to the Generations Production Team) why we come across as sort of "hard core," on concerns like faith, family, and freedom. The answer is given on this segment of Generations. Because we are a couple of dads, who are desperately trying to grab for some semblance of faith, family, and freedom, in a day where we are fast losing these values. And the pace is only picking up!
In our continuing quest for edifying, entertaining, and biblically sound music for our families, we have landed on another one.
To address the horrifying biblical illiteracy of our day, and to reintroduce some long lost biblical themes into the music of Christian community, enter Jamie Soles. Jamie is taking Children's Music way beyond "Only a Boy Named David!" He has been producing children's music, terrific music for the whole family, since 1994.
How would you work Ahijah the Shilonite into a song? Or what about Eglon, the big fat king of Moab? Listen to selections of Jamie's music on this edition of Generations.
No Sunday Schools? No Youth Pastor? No Children's Church? What kind of a church is that? Two pastors in studio discuss the challenges and the blessings of forming a home discipleship church. Henry Reyenga and Dr. David Feddes are pastors of Family of Faith Church in Monee, Illinois.
They're independent of the state. They're radically counter cultural. They're motivated. They tend to lead. They are more entrepreneurial. But beyond any doubt, homeschoolers are here to stay and they will define the broader culture in the next 40 years.
Even more significant, the home school graduate is poised to take it to the second generation, and even if the first generation homeschoolers flatline at 2.4 million, we're expecting the movement to increase to 6 million by 2027 and 15 million by 2050.
In this interview with homeschool graduate and president of Home School Alumni, Camden Spiller, we cover some of the advantages, challenges, and potential achievements facing homeschool graduates today.
For 4500 years Christians and Jews could be distinguished from pagans by how they cared for the dead. Then in the year 1873, something happened in Pennsylvania to change all of that. Does God care how we treat the human body, dead or alive? What would you tell your kids if they were kicking a human skull around in the back yard? Kevin Swanson talks about how God feels about all of this on this edition of the Generations Radio broadcast.s
With the national apostasy from the Christian faith in full force, the younger generation is quickly turning to atheism, nihilism, or just about any wayward cult that comes down the pike. A couple of Christian dads in studio grapple with how to sustain the faith into the generations. One important method discussed is the age-old, time-tested teaching tool called "catechism."
Christians who have no worldview grounding, no theological grounding, and no historical context for their faith are doomed to follow any dictator, cult leader, or weird Pied Piper coming down the pike.
Several illustrations of the naivete of Christians are offered here; primary of which is the recent, enthusiastic reception among many evangelicals for a literary concoction entitled "The Shack." The author is concerned to address certain "religious conditioning," yet Kevin Swanson is concerned with the "worldview/religious conditioning" of people who write books that favor a man-centered ethic and telos, Marxist egalitarianism (in the abolition of authority in the economic Trinity), and post-modern rule-less relativism.
As the Islam religion presents a kingdom that is merely external, coercive, and statist, many Christians make the opposite mistake and assume the kingdom of God is nothing but an internal, spiritual, and immaterial reality.
Kevin Swanson contrasts perspectives on kingdom on this issue of the Generations radio broadcast. Taking issue with a perspective from the Protestant Reformation that distinguishes a worldly kingdom from a spiritual kingdom, he points out that Jesus intends for us to actually keep His commandments, and teach others to do so in all nations, institutions, and human relationships. He argues that there is a battle between two kingdoms and we battle over every square inch of this world's territory.
Assuming parents love their children and want the best for them, Kevin Swanson and Dave Buehner assess the value of public schools in terms of safety concerns, social issues, worldview issues, and academic concerns.
With the next school year looming, this is a good time for parents to start assessing the best educational plan for their children. Of all the projects we will work in our life, what would be more important than the paideia (discipleship and instruction) we provided our children?
With the wholesale dissolution of the family in the west, some of us are wondering what relevance the church has to the deconstruction or reconstruction of the family. Did the church show up to a bombed out city with a handful of Bandaids and an Aspirin? Is the church contributing to the disintegration of the family, or will it be able to relay the footers and re-establish the foundations of the family in the next few decades?
As pastors themselves, Henry Reyenga and Dave Feddis interact on this challenging problem with this edition of the Generations.
Several important court battles will impact the future of Christian home schooling and Christian schools in California. Christians are awaiting decisions from an appellate court on the Long case. A February decision that effectively illegalized home education in California is now being reheard by the same court. Meanwhile, another California court deliberates on the part of the admissions departments of the University of California efforts to disqualify Christian high school curriculum. This decision will effect home schools and Christian school students in that state, and establish precedent elsewhere.
Homeschool Legal Defense Association President, Mike Smith wades in on the issue of education freedoms on this issue of Generations. After 25+ years in the battle, Mike provides an overview of the present situation, and we discover that the battle for freedom may never end.
IMPORTANT: This Program not Intended for Children
The breakdown of the family, the stripping back of sexual mores, and the widespread accessibility of web-based porn have all contributed to massive increases in child sexual abuse in recent decades. With estimates of child sexual abuse now as high as 25-35%, Christian churches and families must take this into consideration as they work to rebuild lives, marriages, and family.
Keith Dorscht from Biblical Concepts in Counseling points out the path of recovery for the victims of sexual abuse. For those parents facing the sad circumstance of sexual abuse will find this program helpful as they guide their children down this path of hope and freedom from guilt and shame.
Worldviews and values often collide when we get together with relatives. How does one witness to unbelieving relatives? And at what point are you casting "pearls before swine?" It's hard enough to work through conflict with believers, but what happens when you find yourself engaged in conflict with an unbelieving relatives? Sensible, wise advice in this segment of Generations for those families who face conflict, unsavory influences, or even persecution from relatives and other acquaintances.
With the culture in the death throes of nihilism and the family and faith waning in the western world, blame has yet to be assigned. Ideas have consequences, and Europe and America are suffering the consequences. But who are the Idea Men that systematically dismantled the faith and culture of the west?
Kevin Swanson makes a list of the five most influential men of the last 200 years in this broadcast. From historical patterns, he demonstrates how the breakdown of social and political institutions follow closely upon the breakdown of philosophical systems to a godless and purposeless nihilism.
But not all is lost! While Christian thought was heavily synthesized throughout the 19th century, by the 1950s and 1960s Christian thinkers returned to the war of the worldviews. Competent apologists who were willing to engage the antithesis at the most fundamental levels, rejected all calls for détente. The villains and the heroes are catalogued in this program.
So the humanist universities out in the UK are getting sick of celebrating diversity. When all the infidels found out that fully 1/3 of the Muslim students on 20 campuses are A-OK with killing the infidel, it sort of put a damper on the whole diversity celebration thing. Why can't all the atheists, the Sharia-law toting Muslims, the Christians, and the Wiccan human sacrifice enthusiasts all get along in the same pluralist state?
When we finally discover that it is impossible to create a pluralist state where all the religions get along well in the sandbox together, that's about the time we begin to note a rise in civil unrest and a massive increase in the power of the state to keep the whole mess together. Tyranny and anarchy play off of each other, until the system breaks down. In this segment of Generations, Kevin Swanson explains how the Christian country has always maximized freedom, provided for peaceful trade with nations of other religious perspectives, and balanced unity and diversity by the law system of a God who is One and Three.
The price of homes has quadrupled since 1970, and the square footage has almost doubled. Household debt is soaring.
Is there any wonder why America is practically bankrupt, and the real estate market is in crisis?
But never worry! The feds are cranking out a $25 billion dollar rescue bill to save us again. We're not sure where the money is coming from, but we're guessing it will be more debt!
Nevertheless, there are a few of us out here that have abandoned the materialistic-frenzied, debt-saturated rat race, and are living the simple life. The good life. The God-blessed life of being content with a little food and raiment, a debt free existence, a modest home, a bunch of kids, and family worship. We're living the other worldview on this program.
Conservatives are disillusioned and discouraged. More than any other recent presidential election, they are disunified on the Republican candidate. And the Democrat candidate is the first pro-infanticide candidate to run for political office. So they don't like that guy much either.
Kevin Swanson tries to assemble a few reasons to vote for John McCain but has a hard time whipping up much enthusiasm in that order. It's sort of hard to figure out who should preside over the continued amassing of political tyranny and the breakdown of a society. But more importantly, what does God think about our political priorities? How does God want us to vote?
In the bloody battles surrounding the breakdown of the family in the modern age, there is plenty of blame to go around. Presiding over the entire mess is the worldview promulgated by our ideological systems of public schools, universities, and media. But the world is also constructed of tiny moments filled with tiny people making many tiny choices that serve to unravel our social institutions.
Kevin Swanson assigns blame in fornication and divorce, and then constructs a biblical argument for who gets the kids in a custody battle. Have fathers been disenfranchised over the last three generations of divorce proceedings? In the outside chance that you had a righteous judge in America, how would he rule in a custody battle? In the midst of the chaos and destruction, here is a sane voice offering the simple standards of God's Word as a great place to start rebuilding the broken walls.
It's not wrong to sing about work, love, fathers, mothers, war, death, pain, crime, gunfights, babies, weddings, murder, driving trucks, wine, beagles, sunsets, beaches, and trees. In fact, we should sing about these things. But be careful. Kevin Swanson reviews the top 5 songs in the nation, and finds lesbianism, animalistic sex, narcissism, one night stands, and other pure forms of unadulterated trash. Then he turns to the top 5 country western songs in the nation, and finds the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Music is extremely powerful. Kevin urges careful discernment when it comes to music for our families, because this is what will solidify our children's world and life view. Be careful to consider the social context of the songs and the redemptive elements or lack thereof. As the music gets darker, and the descriptions of fallen, hell-bound man become increasingly stark, how does a Christian listen to it? How can he enjoy it? Important answers to these highly-relevant issues contained on this issue of Generations. If your family listens to music written and performed by unbelievers, you must listen to this program. Discernment is critical. It may save your family.
Evolution can't answer any basic questions about origins, can't provide a viable mechanism for evolutionary speciation, and doesn't conform to the scientific method, but we're all supposed to believe it anyway!
Now evolutionists are all upset over a bill signed into law in Louisiana allowing for critical thinking and intelligent discussion in public schools concerning "scientific" issues like evolution, global warming, and human cloning.
Relying heavily on pejorative, ad-hominem attacks, rather than meaningful discussions, evolutionists continue to deny creationists any access to the public form. In this edition of Generations, we unravel a Scientific American article that attempts to address the creationists' arguments against macro-evolution.
With the progressive breakdown of education, and rising illiteracy rates among college graduates, concerned parents are abandoning conventional education methodologies and searching for something better. Compare George Washington's letters and speeches with George W.'s, or better yet, compare Patrick Henry's speeches to John McCain's stumbling mutterings, and you will quickly note a vast difference in comprehension, literary ability, and rhetorical depth. In this interview with Woody Robertson from College Plus, we examine the educational methodology used in the time of the founding of this nation - an approach vastly different from the present failing system.
Read 2 Samuel 23 and you find what a few mighty men can do for the cause of righteousness! But we hardly live in a time of manhood. Today, we have plenty of irresponsible men, spineless men, heartless and treacherous men who won't keep covenant, dishonorable men, and passive men. But mighty men of God are few and far between. The problem is a catch 22. For men who themselves have never captured a vision for manhood will have a hard time raising men.
In this inspiring interview with Richard "Little Bear" Wheeler, you will find ways in which you can recapture a vision for manhood from history, from Scripture, and from a father exemplifying sacrificial, loyal, courageous manhood in the home.
Of all the indices that portray the devastating dissolution of the family in America, none is more heart-rending than the illegitimacy rate. With 37% of children born without fathers and many other children living without a father for long years in their upbringing, the devastation is only intensifying over time.
What can the righteous do? Well, courageous families and churches will begin to rebuild these families, one brick at a time. Tremendous spiritual and physical assistance is needed to come along side these single moms and help them to rebuild their families. Kevin Swanson challenges homeschool organizations, churches, and private families to incorporate the principles of 1 Timothy 5 to do this. He describes how the aid of widows and orphans will become a significant part of life for one who decides to live the Christian life.
The present economic system continues to unravel with the collapse of the second largest bank in American history. Freddie and Fannie are in trouble, and the current real inflation rate is at least twice the CPI (Consumer Price Index). Using the most accurate inflation rates available, it appears the nation has been in recession since 2001.
Here's the good news: the Generations Radio team has never been so optimistic about our future. Listen to this program and find out what to do when the system fails.
Euthanasia is coming to a state near you. The modern socialist world will not be able to sustain the rising ratio of retirees to births. According to a report from the trustees of Social Security, the Medicare fund is just years away from bankruptcy.
Kevin Swanson handles these tricky ethical issues by placing the decision in the hands of families. Is it ever appropriate to pull the plug on a dying relative? These questions and more on this segment of Generations.
Humor plays a major role in the Swanson home, and in this edition of Generations, Kevin Swanson presents a biblical view of it. He tells the funniest the joke in the world and the runner up, and Dave doesn't laugh at either one.
This program also includes a review of the worldview of the most popular comic strip in America - Calvin and Hobbes.
Another pastor's kid takes us to a new low on the Top 40 charts. Katy Perry lands the #1 song in the nation, and helps millions of little girls along the way to Gomorrah.
Meanwhile, another "Christian" leader of the 2.2 million member, Episcopal church in America commits a major abomination in public on national television. In chronicling the demise of Christianity in the west, it is critical to note that "Christians" are the cause of it. May God deliver us!
After 30 years of teaching, at the zenith of his career as New York State Teacher of the Year, John Taylor Gatto quit teaching because he was "No longer willing to hurt children."
Education is dangerous. . . Very dangerous. You would think that parents would be a little curious as to why the best teacher in New York State reacted so violently against the system of education used for millions of children in America. . . except that they have already been taught NOT to be curious.
Listen to this insightful interview with John Taylor Gatto, Author of "Dumbing Us Down," "The Underground History of American Education," and the latest, "Weapons of Mass Instruction."
A well-known reformed preacher in America is unwilling to protect his family from violent attack, because "they're not ready for heaven, and we are."
Kevin Swanson establishes the biblical case for family defense, and encourages fathers and magistrates to shoot to kill for the glory of God and in love for Christ and your people. If you love Christ, you will keep his commandments, including those contained in Genesis 9:6, Acts 25:11, Neh. 4:14, and Exod. 22:2-4.
He carefully analyzes the Jim Elliot martyrdom case, where missionaries refused to act in self defense when attacked by the natives.
Sans God's law, the sexual boundaries in our communities that existed for hundreds of years are now gone, and a sexual free-for-all has turned this world into an even more dangerous place. Moreover, the "anonymous" brave new world of the internet hasn't helped the situation much.
Also with increasing levels of parental abdication, massive delegation of child-raising, and unsupervised situations practically everywhere, it is vitally important for parents who care about their children to get educated on the issue of child sexual abuse - what it is, how to warn your kids, and how to prevent it.
Police investigator home school dad, and author, Jon Holsten shares important wisdom from his vast experience working with child abuse cases on this critical edition of the Generations Radio broadcast.
This program for parents only, please.
An immigrant from the USSR loses his child to the SS in Denver without the benefit of a trial or even any substantiated accusation. Kevin Swanson presents the biblical definition of liberty as defined by the laws of God, and then a discussion ensues concerning why conservatives and Christians have steadily lost influence in the present day political systems.
Americans seem to want to celebrate freedom on independence, whatever that is. The only trouble is that we can't agree on what freedom is. . .
Freedom to kill 60 million babies without the benefit of a court trial?
Freedom to get arrested for bearing arms in Denver?
Freedom to be taxed to death?
Or maybe it's the freedom to get drunk and fornicate on July 4th. . .
A discussion concerning freedom leads to a history lesson on the demise of a free country. Whatever happened to America? Kevin Swanson traces the roots of the humanist state into the 1830s and 1840s on this edition of Generations.
The only art form required by God is singing, yet families will spend hundreds of hours listening to the radio, watching television, and even practicing the piano; and very little time singing.
For parents who want to shepherd the hearts of their children, what better way to reach the heart than by music? In this interview, Pastor and Father of Nine, Marcus Serven explains what a powerful effect singing together as a family bears on the culture of a home and on the lives of our precious children.
Only 24 percent of all Americans say they know an evangelical person, and 53 percent say they know a homosexual person well, while homosexuals only make up 3-5% of the population. So what gives?
Meanwhile, during the SB-200 hearings, an ACLU representative told a Judiciary Committee in Colorado that "religious people" better keep their religion out of the public forum.
With homosexuals now well out of the closet, it appears that Christians have climbed back into it. If Jesus wants us to be salt, yeast, and light, what exactly does that mean? Does it mean we're going to make people uncomfortable with a message concerning sin, law, repentance, atonement, and stuff like that? Does it mean we're going to confront a culture with a message that could turn the world upside down by a different epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics?
Admittedly, anybody who cares about the Christian faith, moral values, and the integrity of the family, is going to be a little pessimistic concerning present trends. Nevertheless, does this portend the end of the world? And do Christians discredit themselves when they attach a name to "the Antichrist?" Kevin Swanson brings a balanced look at how to read current events in light of the unfolding of the kingdom of God. With millennial fever fading, sensible Christians are once again setting themselves to the business of disciple-ing the nations and developing generational vision out of the ashes of dead humanist civilizations.
Are you raising a career woman or a help meet in the dominion task God has given us on earth? The vast majority of women in South Korea and America have a vision that they have been meticulously taught from grade school to high school. It is the vision of Betty Friedan and Margaret Sanger.
Here Kevin interviews Elizabeth and Anna Botkin on their book 'So Much More.' These young ladies, ages 18 and 20, have a vision that few have. But this is the vision it will take if we are going to salvage our civilization.
In a few years, Canada will have more people over 65 years of age, than under 18. Population implosions are happening everywhere, and people just don't want to have children in the west. That's why Islam will take over Europe.
But what about the assumption that children are expensive? Why waste time raising six children when you can get a two-income family raking in $150 Grand a year, and die with a net worth of $1.5 million? That's assuming a worldview that we don't share. Families that understand the vision of the unified household can be fabulously wealthy.
This program will introduce a whole new way of looking at family and economics. Malthus was wrong.
Recent data indicates 55% of teens are sexually active, and the numbers aren't much different among 'Christian' teens.
In this interview with Julie Hiramine, director of 'Generations of Virtue,' we identify what it takes to raise pure daughters in an impure world. It turns out it's not the billions of dollars put into Abstinence programs by President Clinton or President Bush. Incredibly, it's parents who love their children and communicate with them as they walk by the way.
The breakdown of a culture always stems from the breakdown of the father-son and father-daughter relationship. While conservative activists will do everything that they can do to preserve "family values" in the state, these efforts are worthless if their own sons and daughters are turning into lesbians and homosexuals, because the hearts of fathers are not turned to the children and the children to the fathers. This is how we get bills like Colorado SB-200 that attempt to ban the Bible and other Christian books for their offense homosexuals.
Kevin Swanson outlines a very simple plan for turning the hearts of fathers back to the sons, "lest God strike the land with a curse." In this succinct little program, Kevin presents family worship for dummies.
Parents sentenced to jail time for the crime of home schooling their children in Germany. Children removed from home because parents took them to church in Washington state. A court overturns father’s decision to ground his daughter from a school trip.
The character and the morality of the future generation are carefully undermined by a state-sponsored, secular-humanist worldview (that rejects things like the fear of God, the honor of parents, absolutism in ethics, and parental discipline). Then to correct for the chaos created by this system, huge government bureaucracies are created. The Rights and Responsibilities of families are systematically removed. Foster care programs and prison systems are filled with the products of this brave new world created by the state. And the system continues to perpetuate itself generation after generation. This edition of Generations presents the battle for the family in the 21st generation as a battle against the growth of the state in social welfare and education programs. If there is anything we have learned from the historical battle for liberty it is that when the state controls church or family, in the end, it will destroy it.
We want to talk about how to avoid becoming a 48 year old man in mid-life crisis. . . Or a 52 year-old washed-up, burned-out career woman, who missed God's calling on her life. . . Or a 28 year old professional student, who after 4 colleges and 6 majors is still wandering around California trying to find himself.
Calling begins with a vision, something that most people don't understand because they were never taught vision in their conventional public school experience. In this segment of Generations, Kevin Swanson shares some wisdom concerning a life calling that should be taken into account in the raising of any and all of our children from the time they are 12 years old.
More powerful than buying every major media outlet in the world. . . More powerful than taking over the legislatures of this country and legislating against every sin that men commit (including abortion and homosexuality). . . More powerful than dropping 1 million tracts over every professional football game. . . The most powerful way to change the world is a really foolish tact - preaching.
But preaching is passe', especially to a post-modern age that simply cannot tolerate any sense of absolutism or authoritative declaration. So what do we do, when nobody likes preaching and nobody wants to preach? Here is a powerful message to the post-modern world. Kevin Swanson discusses the biblical idea of preaching, and how we will warm our children to the idea.
To even speak of the father-daughter relationship comes across as strange and even twisted to many fathers and young teenage daughters today. But the father-daughter relationship is key to preparing young women for their future families. Dysfunctionality in this relationship will only lead to more dysfunctionality in marriage and parenting later on. Therefore, this edition of Generations focuses on the hearts of fathers and daughters. How to heal the rifts. How a daughter can capture the vision of her father while she lives in his home. How a father can capture the heart of his daughter. David Barrett and his daughter Elysse have authored the new book "Fathers and Daughters," and they join us on this issue of the Generations radio broadcast.
The Southern Baptists turned down two more attempts to caution their members concerning California public schools where the schools are required to teach the moral equivalency of all forms of sexual behavior, including homosexuality, transgenderism, etc.
But will the Southern Baptists condemn the schools when they bring in mandatory, homosexual laboratories into California High Schools, when sodomites are tutoring all the young Christian Boys?
Unless God's law is applied as the basis for ethics, the church will continue to follow the culture twenty feet behind on the slide into Gomorrah.
Why does Christian art have the reputation of being schlock? How could the words "His Pain Your Gain" on a cool, muscle t-shirt convey the intense metaphysical reality of the propitiatory sacrifice that met the demands of an infinitely just and holy God? It is hard to create strong art forms when one does not believe in anything very deeply - things like the justice of God, the fear of God, and that fearful atonement of the eternally-begotten Son of God at the cross. And it gets even tougher when you limit yourself to the latest, weak art forms produced by an alternate worldview.
In order for faith, family, and freedom to dissipate, it is absolutely essential that visionary, biblical fatherhood be completely eliminated from the homes across this nation. Thus, over the previous 4 generations, we have gradually lost a vision for fatherhood.
That's why the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the sons is central to any meaningful reformation in the modern world. Listen to this important interview with Norm Wakefield from Spirit of Elijah Ministries on this critical need of the day.
A unique candidate surfaces as the Democrat nominee for president of the United States. Incredibly popular with the masses, few have any idea of the man's basic ideology or worldview. Kevin Swanson takes a moment to analyze his positions on the issues, and then studies the Messianic complex found in many political candidates in our day, not to mention Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.
Jesus recommends the millstone treatment for anybody who offends "one of the little ones who believes in Him." Meanwhile, teachers and administrators in Idaho discuss ways to teach 2nd grade children about the homosexual lifestyle. Here Kevin Swanson and Dave Buehner discuss what parents might do to avoid the millstone treatment.
With the disappearance of faith, family, and freedom today, more than anything else, we lack men. We lack visionary fathers who have a grasp of the biblical ideal for manhood. Nevertheless, the best thing we can do to restore this vision is by raising these men of God. Nobody can show a boy how to be man better than his own father - and this program offers some practical advice towards that end.
Practically every mega-church and Community Fellowship Church of Who-Knows-Where, Indiana touts community as the buzz word of the day. But what kind of community are we talking about in the shallow, city-life of the vagabond? Kevin Swanson and Dave Buehner discuss the radical change of lifestyle that happened when they began an effort to bring back relationship-based covenant-community in family and church. Biblical community happens when hard-truth is nurtured in long-term relationships, through the rapids of conflict, and the exercise of mega-doses of love, joy, peace, and longsuffering.
The #1 movie in the nation last weekend was "Sex and the City." Interacting with the Newsweek feature article on the "Sex" phenomenon, Kevin Swanson questions the worldview behind the independent, narcissistic, and materialist worldview found so attractive by many who watch the film and TV series. This leads to a discussion on the whole issue of portraying kissing (ala Prince Caspian) and sexual intimacy on the big screen.
After 400 years of religious freedom for those who wanted to own and distribute Bibles on their own property in America, the Governor of Colorado has put an end to it. SB08-200, signed into law last week will prohibit the issuing, circulating, and distributing of Leviticus 20:13. While churches are exempted for now, Christian schools, Christian book stores, private business, etc. are not.
Will we avoid a persecution against Christians at the hands of committed humanists in the next 40 years? While their may be a short term persecution, Kevin Swanson suggests that there may be a hope for faith, family, and freedom yet, at least for our grandchildren.
How do you teach a child with an impossibly short attention span? How do you get your child off the refrigerator into learning? This was a question that Carol Barnier faced with her son. When she and her husband couldn't bring themselves to medicate their ADHD-diagnosed child, particularly after his already long medical history of 13 surgeries, Carol found herself homeschooling.
In this segment of the Generations Radio broadcast, Carol provides wonderful practical ideas when working with a specially gifted child - gifted with ADHD.
Increasingly, many families have become disillusioned with college as a means of preparing their young people for the calling God has on their lives. It fails miserably in life integration, the honing of character, the maintenance of meaningful accountability systems, and the application of the disparate pieces of the education into the whole. Thus Christian Home Educators (in Colorado) has introduced an AME Program, geared to bring mentorship back into the college/corporate and entrepreneurial life tracks. Kevin Swanson interviews Director, Carl Bobb on this new exciting program that will not only vastly improve higher education, but rejuvenate family economic systems for the future of a nation.
What should you do when you disagree with a government policy? A listener asks whether opposing government on things like "homosexual marriage" is rebellion against God. Does God give the government license to do whatever it wants to do? Kevin Swanson walks through the various forms of tyranny, and then explains the biblical approach to civil resistance in this edition of Generations.
More important than the rising gas prices and failing economy ... more important than who gets elected president in 2008; more important than your last debate with an evolutionist. What are the most important things in life?
Here, Kevin Swanson gives examples of a family who found out what God considers most important and gave their children a lesson on that during a trip to Zambia. What is life about? Doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly before your God.
Includes interviews with homeschool dads Jim Mill and Brent Nelson.
The second Narnia tale produces another box office success. But twists in the tale taken to the silver screen seem to present an ulterior agenda. Is the director's intention behind such modifications to introduce the fornicating and feminist world and life view for the young viewers? Are PG movies more influential that R rated and X rated movies in formulating the worldviews by which hundreds of millions live their lives? And what is that worldview?
A Mennonite farmer in Pennsylvania is arrested for selling unpasteurized milk, and Kevin Swanson admits that he drinks raw milk without divulging the name of the cow.
Our forefathers were concerned about the tyranny of a state that imposed 29 cents of annual taxation upon the colonists. But now the character of the American people has changed dramatically, as they willingly bow to government control of every aspect of their lives, and a government that confiscates 50% of the wealth of the nation each year.
Host Kevin Swanson presents a biblical approach to government regulation, drawing from the gross negligence principle of the bull that "pushes its horn." He makes the point that when men stray from the laws of God, inevitably they give way to tyranny and anarchy (usually simultaneously).
Kevin Swanson reviews the current headlines: Federal taxation rates set to double. The economy is failing. Americans' approval of divorce skyrockets. Homosexuals gaining ground in Colorado. Fathers declared irrelevant in the UK parliament. Partial birth infanticide ok'd by Virginia court.
Tough days ahead. Yet, amazingly the fellas from the Generations Radio Broadcast are outrageously optimistic! The faith is on a comeback in America. The home education movement is growing and will grow to an estimated 15 million in the next 30 years. Fathers are turning their hearts back to their homes by the hundreds of thousands. Churches with a robust, historical Christian theology, visionary fathers, and a willingness to take on the antithesis, are growing. Listen to this program and get a realistic picture first, and then get excited about what God is going to do.
The Republican-appointees on the California Supreme Court legalized homosexual marriage, while the Democrat-controlled legislature in Colorado provide special rights to transvestites. The march of sodomy continues and will continue in the foreseeable future. Such social developments make it important for Christians to gain a wider biblical and historical view of empires and city states that fell into the sodomite lifestyle.
Kevin Swanson gives a brief history of the few periods in history where homosexuality and homosexual marriage made it out of the closet and gained a little social approval. He also takes a look at the attempts to synthesize the Christian church with the homosexual lifestyle including the recent attempts at drawing distinctions between homosexuality and homosexualism.
Because the roots of this problem are so deeply imbedded in the failure of fatherhood, the failure to preach the real Gospel in the churches, and the disintegration of the family, political solutions will be futile. But there is a solution to the onslaught of homosexuality and the inevitable attempts to persecute Christians who oppose it.
Over 31,000 scientists (9,000 of whom are PhD's in their respective scientific fields), have signed a petition calling the Global Warming policy recommendations proposed in the Kyoto Convention a "harm" to the environment, producing deleterious effects to the "health and welfare of mankind."
This is far and away more of a consensus than anything that the Chicken Little crowd has collected for themselves.
Granted, these 31,000 scientists disagree with Bill Nye the Science Guy, Jon Bon Jovi, John McCain, Al Gore, Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, and Ben Affleck. And we all know who the masses will listen to - the celebrities and politicians who love to create crises and present themselves as solutions.
This edition of Generations looks at the concomitant rise of junk science with the failure to recognize God or fear God in scientific enquiry.
He's a major reforming leader in America - one of the most significant pastors in the Christian church in America. He's a visionary father, and a leader in the homeschooling movement today. And he was raised by a single Buddhist mother in the projects of South Central Los Angeles in a society absent of any concept of the biblical family.
If there was a voice of hope in a time of great devastation to the family, especially within the ranks of the African-American families in our country, it would be this great man of God - Dr. Voddie Baucham. Can a man transcend the baggage of generational sins and build a godly heritage for generations to come? This issue of Generations will answer that question once and for all!
Child development theories taught in public universities today are heart-less, love-less, fatherless, and godless. They are diametrically opposed to God's theory on child development contained in the book of Proverbs. The Christian view of child raising involves relationships, families, love, and a focus on character and faith. These ideas are rejected outright by the secular state and the university programs that train child development experts and professional teachers. And it is destroying children and families by the millions.
In their own words, the organizers of the modern public school movement admit that these schools are temples and the religion is a secular humanism.
Here is Charles Francis Potter: "Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American public school is a school of humanism. What can the theistic Sunday Schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?" Amen! We couldn't have said it better than this committed humanist, writing in his book "Humanism, a New Religion."
It's just too bad that there are so few Christians that know about the clergy in the classroom. Listen to Dr. David Noebel's interview concerning his important book "Clergy in the Classroom, The Religion of Secular Humanism."
Responding to questions from the listening audience, Kevin Swanson takes on several challenging questions in this segment of Generations. A woman would like to have more than 1.4 children, but her husband does not share the vision. What's a wife to do? What if a mom wants to home school her children and her husband is unsupportive of the vision? Such marital disunity is not uncommon today, and yet the Bible has a powerful solution to these problems.
The "far-too-radical" Personhood Amendment is on its way to the Colorado ballot for the 2008 elections. Despite opposition or lack of support from mainstream "conservative" organizations, a fledgling band of faithful pro-lifers have already achieved a major victory in a 40 year battle for human life in America.
Kevin Swanson points out how conservative pragmatism has never really won us much of anything. So if you're going to be a pragmatist, he offers several pointers on how to be a consistent and effective pragmatist.
The scenario is all too common. On a business trip, a family man gets a touch of the life of anonymity in the hotel room in the big city. Contrast that with the life of Paul and Elisha who enjoy the hospitality of brothers along the way.
In this ground-breaking program, Kevin Swanson shows how modern systems have purged relationships and accountability from education and travel. Then, he points out how hospitality establishes relationships through the "love of strangers." Should you pay for love on the road, or should brothers open their homes to others, as Christians did for thousands of years before hospitality was commercialized? This Generations broadcast challenges families and churches to re-examine the modern social order, and some practical issues relating to the biblical lifestyle of hospitality are discussed.
The last several major natural disasters that resulted in 100,000s of lost lives were centered in Burma, China, Iran, Indonesia, and Pakistan. And every one of these nations stepped up persecution against Christians throughout the 1990s and 2000s. One big coincidence?
If God exists, and if He is particularly bothered by the torture and persecution of His people, and if He is totally sovereign over all things, then what are we to say? Kevin Swanson interacts with these questions, developing a biblical perspective on God's relationship with man's reality in this segment of Generations.
Parenting by bribery, by threatening, or by anger and impatience - these methods are tried and found wanting by millions of parents again and again.
Ginger Plowman, Author of the book, "Don't Make Me Count to 3," offers advice for moms who do 90% of the child training while dad is off working. Parenting isn't easy, especially if you do it God's way. We're dealing with sin, and we're working in the very depths of the human heart. In this program, you will find wise counsel for the most difficult work you will ever do in your life - shepherding a child's heart.
At the same time that the family is rapidly disintegrating and the faith is dying in America, an unusual movement that began in the 1980s has reached maturity and is set to produce a huge generational effect. The homeschooling movement now makes up about 2.4 million children, and studies indicate that 90% of these students will continue to the vision into the next generation. By 2027 this movement is set to produce about 6 million homeschoolers and if the third generation stays on track, by 2050 there will be at least 15 million home educated students in America. This will produce a substantial movement that will forever change the culture of this country, as well as the politics and the way we educate the generations. Here Kevin Swanson interacts with his recent blog entry that charts the projections for generational growth in the homeschooling movement.
This edition of Generations addresses a practically universal, across-the-board problem that surfaces in mother-son relationships. It is endemic within the homeschooling movement. It seems that a sort of tension develops between mothers and sons as young men enter their teenage years.
Special guest, Norm Wakefield provides some food for thought and powerful counsel for moms who struggle with how to honor their sons in the dawn of their manhood. Also, some terrific counsel for sons who have a hard time honoring the law of their mothers, not to mention sacrificing their lives for those who gave them life.
Kevin Swanson summarizes former Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton's assessment of America's involvement in the United Nations. Although the UN's stated purpose was to end the wars of the nations, were its basic philosophical underpinnings fatally flawed from the beginning? The Generations radio broadcast presupposes that God is really smart and knows something about human hearts, international relations, and these sorts of things. So what does God think about the United Nations?
Now that it's time to graduate his older children, 14 and 16 years of age, Kevin Swanson asks whether graduations are an appropriate rite of passage.
Does a graduation mark a discrete end of some course of study? Or does it mean that you are now free from compulsory education? Or does it a basis for honor? Yet there does seem to be a proper rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. But would you call it a Graduation?
For many parents, it's time to rethink the last 150 years of traditional education that brought us things like proms, graduations, and condoms in the prom bag.
Two of the most hated words in the English Language are Patriarchy and Theocracy. Actually, the words themselves aren't all that bad. Fathers leading in the home? God ruling over all things? Any Christian should be able to handle the concepts. Still, these are words that have of late, been stuffed with meaning that many of us would find reprehensible.
In this edition of Generations, Kevin Swanson interacts with the idea of Patriarchy - the good, the bad, and the ugly. In some ways, the restoration of patriarchy could be the greatest thing that happened to western societies. Yet, on the other hand, it could be the worse.
What to do when you find out that your next door neighbor is a homosexual. . . How do families interact with close relatives who advocate a particular sinful lifestyle and wear it on their sleeves? Such challenging situations are not unusual in the sexually decadent era in which we find ourselves. Kevin Swanson addresses these questions with careful biblical analysis in this issue of Generations.
With science increasingly politicized, it has become difficult for many to distinguish between real science, (testable and reproducible), and pseudo-science. Most of the scientific applications achieved in our present day rest on the shoulders of godly scientists of previous generations like Pascal, Newton, Kepler, Pasteur, and even Charles Babbage (the inventor of the modern computer). But then, what happens when these brave new scientists of the present generation refuse to respect the God of their fathers?
In this interview with Dr. Jay Wile from Apologia Science, we examine the importance of doing science in the fear of God and in humility before men. If we cease to do science this way, the results will be catastrophic. But if we teach our children this kind of science, the blessings of new discoveries and innovation will be as significant as those of our forefathers.
Those who reacted against the permissive parenting of Dr. Spock in the 70's and 80's quickly fell into the trap of whitewashing tombs. Kevin Swanson brings out the critical issue of balance in the raising of children. He covers the important balances of authority and humility, heart and hands, grace and law, affection and correction, and rules and relationships.
For the lack of good biblical balance in these areas, millions of children will rebel in their teen years, fail to honor their own parents. . . And more importantly, they will fail to fear God, love Him, and walk with Him all the days of their lives.
The leading contender for president of the United States has enthusiastically endorsed the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The family is already in shambles in America. Nobody's debating that. But what will happen to the few godly families left who still home school and are trying to raise godly children by a biblical model, if Hillary Clinton gets her way?
Here Kevin Swanson reviews the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and the agenda laid out in Hillary's famous book, "It Takes a Village." He links the agenda of these politicians to the philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau, who abandoned all five of his children on the steps of an orphanage on the day of their birth. After all, this was the father of modern education, who advocated the statist form of education from the earliest days of a child's life. His orphanage has grown to include billions.
So Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana becomes the rage for 8-13 year old girls, as a pseudo-wholesome teen icon, even promoted by family-friendly Walmart.
But what happens when the pop-cult machine exploits her and the millions of little girls that follow her with a fornicating, pornographic spread in Vanity Fair magazine? Just another Britney and Jamie Lynne in the making? And they are copied and will be copied by the vast majority of little girls. BTW, the Cyrus and the Speare families are good Christian families too.
The fact of matter is our children will copy their role models. So Kevin Swanson challenges parents to identify the best role models for their children, and base it on Hebrews 11! What great works for righteousness has Hannah Montana accomplished? Has she laid down her life for the cause of life, liberty, and the kingdom of Christ? Or is she just the latest big star produced by the big star machine, because she was able to capture the latest standard of what's cool?
For lack of a vision, most families sort of wilt and die. But why are visionary fathers such a rarity in this age? Kevin Swanson suggests that young men and women are educated for a box that will not accommodate a generational, kingdom vision. Moreover, the lack of household unity has taken family vision away and replaced it with a vision for a growing state.
Kevin makes that point that every family should have a vision and a set of goals that is unique to that family. He outlines the Swanson family vision, and how it has developed over the years.
One hundred years ago, Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't have a single arrest the first year she taught at her little school on the prairie. Yet, schools in nice suburban areas of the modern cities see an arrest a day made on the school grounds. Laura didn't see lesbian activity taking place in the hallways of her little one room school house. No sex abuse cases either. Yet, reports of such activity are not unusual in high schools, and even junior high schools today.
A mere 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson recommended the Bible and Watts hymnal for curriculum in Washington DC schools. Today, a teacher in Mount Vernon, Ohio is on the carpet when somebody found a Bible on his desk. He swears he didn't open it, read it to the kids, or try to give anybody an education in the fear of God!
Still, parents everywhere insist that their children attend a really good school! The only problem is, nobody has a clue what a good school would look like. The frogs in the pot hardly sense the rise in temperature anymore.
He graduated in the top 5% of Harvard's MBA Program. He's been a guest lecturer at Harvard University. In an illustrious business career, he helped found 20 companies, serving as CEO of 5 of them. Now, he's telling young people not to waste their time in Harvard. There's a better way to learn and it's called the New Venture Academy.
In this edition of Generations, entrepreneur-extraordinaire, family-man, and visionary, Wade Myers outlines his strategy for preparing young men for life through his New Venture Academy
The evolutionists and atheists interviewed in the recently-released documentary film, Expelled, insist that religion should be confined to a little box filled with a few cute little rituals, and it should have nothing to say about stuff like metaphysics, ethics, and epistemology (or science or history or culture or . . . ). Then again, hasn't religion worked pretty hard to attain to this level of irrelvance?
But what say we? Everybody's got a religion. It's just that some religions are more laughable than others. It is true that some intellectuals don't always like to admit their biases and worldview commitments, but when they do - the incoherencies and inconsistencies within their thinking reduce their systems to pure irrationality. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." Kevin Swanson recommends your family watch the documentary with a thumb in 1 Corinthians 1:16-25.
"The Antichrist is coming! Run for the hills! Don't polish brass on a sinking ship!" Such messages were preached ad nauseam for generations throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in a large segment of the "fundamental, evangelical" Christian church. Unfortunately, this fixation on a pessimistic eschatology did great deal of damage to any kind of long term vision among families. This is one of the frces that killed a Generational vision and resulted in the 1.7 birth rate among evangelical families and the 80% leak rate of Christian kids who walked away from the faith of their fathers.
Forty, fifty, sixty years later, some of us are recovering from millennial burn-out. Kevin Swanson takes a moment to analyze this millennial fever that crippled the faith in the 20th century, and suggests that maybe we need to address ourselves to "occupying until He returns."
Imagine visionary fathers and Proverbs 31 mothers engaged in a united vision in millions of homes across America! What a contrast with the world of post-modern humanism where 37% of children are born without marriage, a 95% rate of fornication, and where half of marriages end in divorce. Midst the chaos, a biblical vision is beginning to creep back into tens of thousands of households across America.
Here Kevin Swanson chronicles one family's journey, Steve and Kara Murphy from Homeschooling Today Magazine. First, it was mom's vision. Then, dad captured a vision. Now, together they are home educating/disciple-ing 7 sons and 1 daughter using a method that is hardly recognizable to those raised in conventional classrooms!
The documentary "Expelled" opens today on 1,000 screens across the country, making this the most expansive debut of any documentary film in the history of film. The film exposes the squelching of scientific inquiry and intelligent discussion on the ultimate metaphysical questions.
It is a film that is already producing a huge national debate, and is bound to challenge the position of the ruling "intellectual" elite. Throughout the film, host Ben Stein serves the role of the little guy in the Emperor's New Clothes, who points out a few bare facts and stymies the state-sponsored propaganda campaigns. Tearing the curtain back for us, Ben finds a very small wizard indeed.
Here Kevin Swanson speaks with Mark Mathis, producer of the film on this edition of Generations on the background of the production, the ongoing controversy, and the widespread popularity of this film.
The idea of mentorship, discipleship, and education is to pass something along to the next generation.
When there is no vision, there is nothing to pass along to the next generation, and this according to our guest Dr. Jeff Myers, is the reason why there is a vacuum of leadership in the present age. And the problem is bound to get worse.
The message of Jeff's new little book "Handoff" speaks directly to the crying need of the day. But it is a message for ordinary folks. It is for every father, mother, pastor, and master of a trade who has something to hand off to the next generation. Christian Leaders are cultivated wherever a godly vision is transmitted from one heart to another!
With all of her faults, America is still the most generous nation in the world, thanks to the charitable contributions that come from the red states (the states with the strongest, conservative, family values.) At the same time, America is one of the few nations in the world, where the majority of its citizens do not believe they are descended from apes. The multi-trillion dollar propaganda campaign for Darwinism is working so well, when the little guy has a megaphone, and is doing everything he can to retain some semblance of God in the metaphysic.
Could America be the last bastion of hope for faith, family, and freedom in the post-modern world of Asia, Europe, and the Americas? Reporting the middle of the battle for civilization, Kevin Swanson suggests that there might just be an opportunity for a Second Mayflower.
Every reformation has a fundamental principle and a terrific incarnation of that principle. The same applies to deformations, as in the recent deformation of the west in its decline into a raw humanism. The incarnation of the humanist principle came by way of Darwin's Origin of Species.
In this segment of Generations, Kevin Swanson reviews the tremendous influence that Darwinism has borne upon ethics, law, education, and science in post-modern America. Kevin describes how evolution produced a devolution in all of these areas, as Darwinism was used to remove man from God as the Absolute Source of his reality and ethics.
The state of Texas takes legal custody over 416 children without a court trial in yet another raid on a cult compound west of San Antonio. Kevin Swanson interacts with this shocking story, suggesting first that the civil magistrate might arrest every adulterer and fornicator in Texas before taking on the polygamists.
Nevertheless, we are still left with the question of the role of the state in such matters. While trying to preserve family rights in the state, how does one do it when families are dysfunctional and falling apart at the seams? Even the recent California homeschooling case was reportedly precipitated by a disgruntled child in a less-than-unified family situation. Kevin describes the bounds of biblical law relating to family and state jurisdictions, and then proceeds to counsel families that are trying to get along in some state of dysfunctionality.
A new book entitled "Perfect Girl, Starving Daughter," claims that 90% of teen girls "hate their bodies." But what to do about it? And what about the growing numbers of teen daughters that are labeled "over-weight."
Father of four beautiful daughters, Kevin Swanson addresses the issue as a great opportunity for loving shepherding and tender discipleship. On the one hand, there is the problem of the modern body-worshiping cult, something that didn't exist prior to 1900. Then there are sinful, idolatrous, and gluttonous habits that every parent needs to address in the lives of their children during the formative years.
It is critical from the outset to define the standard. Must the standard be the semi-anorexic, wispy woman presented by the "Cosmo Chick?" Or does the Bible present a different standard?
This program would be excellent for any family with children who exhibit any kind of individual Idiosyncrasy or special need, which is just about every child on earth.
Family freedoms are dissipating for many Americans, especially if you send your children to public schools. This is the consequence of several important court decisions since 1980. At the same time, there is a growing cadre of parents that are waking up to the constant efforts on the part of the legislature to erode parental freedoms.
Thus, in Colorado, thousands of homeschoolers appear at the Capitol each year to raise this issue (in what has become the largest annual rally at the Denver Capitol.) This Day at the Capitol event is also equipping thousands of young people in the principles of biblical civil government.
Parents in Oregon are indicted on charges of manslaughter for refusing to use AMA prescribed treatments for their children. Meanwhile, the road to total socialist government is being prepped with the present bank crisis. Following the Swedes, experts are suggesting that the federal government should re-capitalize the banks in the crisis - representing another turn-over of 6% of the GNI to government control.
Would anybody really resist such a plan? The American people are well-prepared to sell their liberty for security every time there is a threat to their security and financial well-being.
How important is it to teach your children Latin . . . or Greek? Two homeschool dads in studio discuss classical education and the importance of teaching your children the languages in your homeschooling. What is most important in the education of children - English, Math, Science or Latin . . . or are all of them important? Using God's Word as the basis for all knowledge and learning, Kevin Swanson draws out the most important points parents should remember when teaching the languages.
The most tyrannical candidate for president of the United States has a record of supporting infanticide, and happens to be the most popular. This is not the first time this has happened in history. King Herod was also a very popular and tyrannical political leader, and seemed to have a penchant for the practice of infanticide.
This leads to a discussion on the honor due to the civil magistrate, and the honor due parents who are less than perfect. How do you honor a parent that abused you, or a parent who has a drug problem and is doing time? Real issues in a really sinful, broken world.
The Academy Award for Best Picture went to "No Country For Old Men," a flick where everybody gets killed, but nobody knows why anybody's getting killed. The stoicism of the 1970's has turned into full-blown nihilism in the 2000's.
Interacting with input to the program challenging any movie-watching whatsoever for Christians, Kevin Swanson tries to find a text in the Bible that equates holiness to not- watching-movies. But more to the question - is this stuff defiling or edifying? Kevin Swanson reviews a number of different movies from the 1970s to the present day, but does he take all the fun out of watching the movies? Listen and find out!
The absence of roots in real community has badly eroded relational life in the 21st century. Modern churches feel the brunt of this problem when they see an almost complete turnover of leaders and members after only 20-25 years.
Kevin Swanson traces the roots of this rootless life and demonstrates from scripture that the life of the stranger and the vagabond in the land is not God’s normative best for you and your family.
For the first time that anybody can remember, the dollar is now worth less than the Canadian dollar. The real estate industry has already tanked. Banking is in serious trouble. Inflation may be pushing double digits, and most people aren't seeing their pay raises in the double digits these days.
. . .And the gods of the copybook headings, limp up to explain it once more.
In this installment of the Generations broadcast, Doug Tjaden, author of a new book, "Fools Gold" gives an overview of what has happened in just the last year. Are we watching an economic cataclysm or will it be a slow bleed? And how do we prepare our families for times like these? Maybe we will learn to rejoice in God and enjoy the simple things despite the chaos around us!
The real estate debacle. The banking crisis. The rise in unemployment. An impending recession. All of this has got us wondering what it really takes to put together a strong economy. In this program, Kevin Swanson unveils the secret to building the best economy in the world. Economics textbooks aside, it's really not all that complicated - fear God and keep His commandments.
Great economies are built by families who know how to work, and who will invest the thousands of hours and 15-20 years required to train their sons in the character trait of diligence. Nations are built, one son at a time. And nations come apart, one son at a time.
More intolerance towards intolerance in Canada! The Canadian government shuts down a Christian ministry for being too critical of other religious sects (like Pharisees and Sadducees, for example.) This spawns a conversation on the role of criticism in Christian ministry. What is the use of it, and what is its limitations? At what point does a critical spirit undermine humility and grace? These questions are addressed in this broadcast of the Generations Radio program.
When Frank Schaeffer, son of the famous evangelical thinker, Francis Schaeffer, calls his father’s writings worse than Barack Obama’s pastor, Jeremiah Wright’s rantings, evangelicals were taken back apace.
Now seen as an “agnostic,†Frank Schaeffer is leading the pack of those apostasizing from the Christian faith. He’s also released a popular book that rags on his parents and his parents’ faith, called “Crazy for God.â€
In this segment of Generations, Kevin Swanson compares the beautiful legacy of generational faithfulness with the shameful and destructive effects coming from generational apostasy. Throughout history, the greatest men and the most infamous are often linked to a heritage of faith. But how does it happen? How do children walk away from the faith? We’ve seen it happen, and the results are devastating. Here are some powerful historical observations to which the prudent should take note.
Affection and emotional nurture is key in the life of a child and should be a constant throughout the day from mother and father. Vast differences develop between children who are raised in the cold, institution, and children who are raised in a warm nurturing environment. How are you raising your children? How were you raised?
What has happened in the modern world? Are we producing generations of emotionally-scarred, nurture-starved children? The inclination to brood over the egg has been bred out of the hen. Now has nurture been bred out of women as they are raised in nurture-less institutions to be nurture-less?
We wade into the controversial question of daughters and college in this segment of Generations, asking the simple question, "Does the average college prepare daughters with a Biblical world and life view, with Biblical normative roles?" Being careful not to "decide" the issue for parents, he challenges families not to passively accept the Betty Freidan and Gloria Steinem philosophy on gender roles. He insists that Christian parents should re-assess God's vision for daughters and start getting a little more creative in the academic preparation of their daughters, rather than naively assuming that the college paideia will de facto support that vision
Christianity Today reports that seventy percent of American men ages 18–34 view internet pornography once a month, and the numbers aren't that different for professing Christians. The problem is intensifying among our youth. A recent survey done by the University of Alberta finds that boys in rural areas are far more likely to have a problem with porn than boys in cities.
In this segment of Generations, Kevin Swanson defines the biblical principles relating to purity, modesty, and sexual desire. This leads into some practical directions on training our young boys in self-control and sexual purity.
About 50% of those who start homeschooling get discouraged and quit. It's always so much easier to put the children back into the big, monolithic, professionally-run public schools, paid for by 500 billion tax dollars.
In this edition of Generations, two experienced homeschool dads talk about the commitment to homeschool, the challenges for moms, and the support that dads should pay to the program. As it turns out, in due season you do reap a wonderful harvest, but only if you don't faint in the process.
The Pew Forum released a study last week, pointing out that the Christian faith is dying in America. Since 1970, the younger generation is dropping out of the Christian church