The Kingdom-Driven Family

Remembering Sam

Andrea Schwartz

July 17, 2015

1927 – 2015

I first heard of Sam Blumenfeld in the mid-eighties soon after meeting Dr. Rushdoony. We had donated a car to Chalcedon. As part of his thank-you to us, Rush gifted us with books. Since he knew we were already homeschooling, Sam Blumenfeld’s books were among those we received. I read his book NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education and How to Tutor. Soon afterward, I purchased a copy of Alpha-Phonics: A Primer for Beginning Readers. Two of my three children learned to read with this book and I have used it successfully with a man who was functionally illiterate and improved his reading capability.

Sam became a giant in my eyes, as were most of those who were affiliated with Chalcedon. My appetite for discerning how the Word of God applied to all areas was voracious and I was given much to eat and digest. Because I respected Rush, I was very interested in learning from the people he respected. Continue reading

Whatsoever Comes to Pass

Andrea Schwartz

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July 15, 2015

Jesus commanded us to let our light shine before men so that they would see our good works and glorify His and our Father in heaven. There are many ways to do this, but today I had an unexpected opportunity to obey this command. The Lord’s orchestration of events was unquestionably evident.

I did not follow my usual activities for a Tuesday. I have the chance to meet with a dear friend tomorrow who is visiting from out of town, so I switched my personal training session from Wednesday to Tuesday to stay faithful to my commitment to exercise five days per week. On my way home, I debated whether or not to get gas. I was having one of those ambivalent moments: should I or shouldn’t I do this task now, and concluded that it really didn’t matter. I finally determined to wait, but the next thing I knew, I was changing lanes and entering the gas station. My told myself, “I guess I’m getting gas!” Continue reading

What Would It Take to Change Your Mind?

Andrea Schwartz

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July 9, 2015

Through my mentoring and teaching encounters, I know that many struggle when it comes to having discussions with non-believing family members and friends. Topics like abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, statism, etc. are especially difficult. Christians want to know how they can get others to change their mind on these topics. I encourage them to ask themselves what would cause them to change their minds on these issues. If they say they would never change their minds regarding these issues, I ask them, “Why not?”

Certainty is a prerequisite to being able to give a true reason for the hope that is within you. It must be a genuine hope, rather than a quasi-hope for you to be convincing in any discussion. If you are not certain of your apologetics (reason for believing as you do), you will have difficulty in convincing others of the validity of your beliefs. In fact, it will be obvious to anyone when you are putting forth arguments of which you are you are not sure. So, step one is to know what you believe and why. Continue reading

Let Them Struggle

Andrea Schwartz

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July 7, 2015

Over the past year, I have begun to learn how to grow food in my garden. There are many life lessons, many right out of the Bible, that I have had reinforced in the process of gardening. For example, when Jesus told the parable of the wheat and the tares, and cautioned about pulling weeds prematurely, He was warning about making snap judgments about which people were “in” or “not in” the Kingdom. It takes time in a garden to see the difference between the good plants and the weeds. The same is true for those in your family. Once mature, weeds are easy to recognize and then handle. Likewise, we need time to allow the fruit to appear in a person’s life before we regard that person as a productive addition to our lives or as a weed that will suck the life out of us. Continue reading

Activating a Dedicated Christian Minority

Andrea Schwartz

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July 4, 2015

Today as I went about my business at the bank and the farmers market, I was repeatedly wished a happy fourth of July. I am afraid I do not have much to celebrate. I know God is on His throne, and His Word will not return to Him void; but I also know that those who endeavor to stand upon the full counsel of God are in for rough roads ahead.

What intrigues me most, though, are professing believers who are surprised when the humanistic culture that has rejected the God of Scripture and His law-word acts upon its presuppositions. The enemies of Christ are being consistent to their belief structure, while most of Christian America has been content to sit on the sidelines and wait for rescue from social disintegration. Thus, the battles that have been lost were not due to superior “firepower” from the opposition, but because many who claim to be on our team failed to show up for the contest. Continue reading

Did I Mention That I Had a Heart Attack a Year Ago?

Andrea Schwartz

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June 30, 2015

Life is full of important episodes that are significant enough to be marked as anniversaries. Today marks one of those special days that bears remembering. I want to share it and hope you will be blessed by reading it.

Saturday evening, June 28, 2014, I headed off to bed before my husband. This was not an unusual occurrence, especially on a Saturday because I tend to be awake quite early –usually by 5:00 a.m. Ford works a full day at the car dealership on weekends and needs time to wind down before going to sleep. When he eventually made his way into bed, my arm was laying across his side of the bed. He came down right on it. Trying to figure out what he had just sat upon, he proceeded to move it out of the way. At that point, I awoke with a startle. It was so significant that I could not talk. My daughter, in the other room, heard the gasp, and asked if everything was okay. I couldn’t respond; for one of the few times in my life I was literally speechless. Continue reading

Get Rid of the Bushel!

Andrea Schwartz

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June 26, 2015

Why should we be surprised when the highest court in the land declares as a constitutional right that which God’s Word calls an abomination? When a nation has abandoned the law-word of God as the standard for righteousness and justice, we can expect judgment from our Creator. By turning a people over to their own lusts, they end up bringing God’s wrath upon themselves.

What’s the righteous to do? 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us: Continue reading

Education: Privilege or Right?

Andrea Schwartz

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June 23, 2015

I received the following email inquiry from a law student on the other side of the world.

He wrote:

I am a Nigerian student currently in my penultimate level into a five-year law degree programme.

I was recently given a task to speak on radio about the topic: ‘Education: Right or Privilege?’ I decided to do a little bit of research online and I subsequently stumbled upon your article* wherein you argued that learning is a privilege; not a right.

I must confess that I was literally taken aback because over here, we all believe learning to be a God-given right, equal in status to an individuals’ right to life. I had earlier decided to take that view but it seems your argument was more convincing. I now entertain some ounces of doubt as to the position to take.

Thus I humbly wish to ask if you could from your argument, clarify whether it could be seen the other way round that learning could be a right also or it is just a privilege and nothing more.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Continue reading

Isn’t It Time We Listened?

Andrea Schwartz

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June 18, 2015

More and more research reveals that a major component of disease is stress. Eating processed foods, failing to exercise, and engaging in unhealthful habits are significant factors contributing to poor health. However, they are often bad solutions to the problem of stress.

God’s law gives us the blueprint for health and wellness. As we obey the commandments of God, we are spared many of the consequences of sin. While it is true that someday we will all die, how we function while on this side of heaven is very much within our power to effect. For example, to obedient children the promise is long life. This is not merely a platitude. It is an observable fact that those who learn to exercise self-control and self-discipline avoid many pitfalls in life. In the same way, when we disregard the directives in Scripture, negative consequences ensue. For example, too many ignore Biblical guidance regarding anxiety and live by the adage, “Why pray when you can worry?” Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” This is a prescriptive remedy for dealing with anxiety and stress. Continue reading

The Biggest Problem with You Is that You Are Not Me!

Andrea Schwartz

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June 15, 2015

If you are like most people, you have a high opinion of your preferences and perspectives. Thus, you think that the way you do things is the best way to do them. This is positive in many respects, as you would not want to spend too much time with someone who carried out plans and projects they deemed incorrect. However wrong they may be, at least they think their ideas are good. The downside of this reality is the inevitable conflict that arises in families and close associations when there exists a conflict of preferences and perspectives. You then have two or more people lobbying extensively for their own version of what is best.

I have discovered that many of the interpersonal conflicts in families begin with those attempting (advertently or inadvertently, although this is sometimes hard to differentiate) to remake others into their own image. For example, if one member of the family is certain that a messy room does not deter productive work, others will be hard pressed to convince him otherwise. Likewise, a neat freak can overemphasize the value of “everything in its place” to the point that a state of “cold war” exists within the household. We’d do well to realize that we are not all the same. Continue reading