Tonight we are beginning a new Mid-Week series on the Psalms. The Psalms were the hymnbook of Israel and they serve as perhaps the best opportunity to renew both our mind and our emotions for the Glory of God. No matter what you are facing in life there is a Psalms that can serve to renew your mind and point your emotions Godward. We will not be going through the entire book of Psalms, but rather sampling the various kinds of psalms represented in the book and teaching you how to use them in our personal walk with the Lord. Join us at Capshaw on Wednesday night at 6:30PM for this Summer study.
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How to make Homeschool Cool in 3 Easy Steps
Back when Julie and I were married we spent most of our time away from home, traveling from one church to another as I preached revivals, camps and conferences. We had every expectation that we would spend the rest of our lives fulfilling that call. One commitment we made early on was that we would travel together. We also wanted to have a fairly large family so we had to figure out how we would educate the kids. At the time homeschooling was just beginning to pick up steam in Alabama. There was still a stigma attached to it, but we saw the potential of a great opportunity since Julie had her elementary education degree . It seemed our problem was solved.
We began gathering information and attending homeschool conferences. By the way, if you are interested in homeschool – beware of the conferences. There are a few normal people, but you have to understand that there are guys and gals up in the woods that live for those things. The only come out of the woods a couple of times a year, one is for the homeschool conference. I’ll never forget standing in the buffet line at a homeschool conference and trying to think of a point of conversation with the guy in front of me. All I could think of was, “Hey man, nice camo”. To which he replied, “Yeah, I kill all my food”. Which explained a lot about why his boy was a little, well… different.
Perhaps I’m a little jaded from my experiences with the ultra-unique homeschool kids I’ve met, the kid that begins the conversation with, “I can recite the preamble to the constitution – want to hear it?”. Seriously? No, I don’t want to hear it. Just say, “Hi, how are you?”
Now we are no longer on the road, but we have decided to stick with homeschooling. Thus, I feel it is my job to do all in my power to make it ACAP – As cool as possible. Keep in mind, I’m not cool, but that’s doesn’t mean my kids can’t be. So there are a few things I do to try to step up the cool factor from time to time.
1. My kids can’t go out of the house looking ridiculous – Listen, homeschool people, if you don’t want to comb your boy’s hair, cut it so short it doesn’t need combing. Don’t buy clothes you don’t want your kids to wear (No, muscle shirts, jeans and flip flops don’t go together).
2. My kids must learn how to have a NORMAL conversation - Dialogue is not an opportunity to prove that you are smarter than public school kids…. although you probably are. You don’t have to prove it all the time. No one wants to hear you speak Latin.
3. My kids will have school in a cool environment - You don’t train a young man for life by letting him sit start his day at 10AM, in pajama’s, while cartoons are playing in the background. Unless he is called to worship ministry, that won’t fly (sorry couldn’t resist). Therefore, we have made a significant investment in our homeschool room. Check it out on my wife’s blog – julieterry.net.
If you follow these steps, you aren’t guaranteed to have cool children, but at least they will have a fighting chance. 
Our Spiritual Battlefield
Since childhood I have enjoyed perusing Army Surplus stores. What guy couldn’t use an extra roll of camouflage tape, ammo boxes, or a few extra MRE’s (meals ready to eat). I vividly remember the day I discovered that my local surplus store had a copy of the Army’s basic survival guide. After reading that book my confidence soared. I was now equipped to turn my pants into a parachute in the event that I needed to jump out of an airplane, I knew which plants were edible on desert islands, I was ready to face life as a fully competent 11 year old. By the way, I recently bought my son his own copy – he finds it equally as useful.
This year I have walked with Christ for 18 years (I’m 36 years old). I have realized that the Christian experience can be described in a variety of ways. But one of the most frequently used analogies for the Christian life in scripture is that of warfare. The world is our battlefield and we are engaged in a conflict with spiritual enemies who have as their mission the destruction of our testimony, influence, ministry, family, even our lives. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a Basic Survival Guide for Christians? Something that could identify our enemy, expose his tactics, equip us with weaponry, and enable to gain our bearings? That is what I sought to provide when I sat down to write “Our Spiritual Battlefield”.
In this book I tried to compile everything I have learned over 18 years of walking with Christ and battling the enemy so that it could be provided to you in a straightforward concise way. “Our Spiritual Battlefield” is available in paperback on Amazon.com for the price of $9.45. Order you copy today!
