Changing the World One Step at a Time

As promised I am going to tell you a little about our upcoming homeschool year, followed by some information about making an impact on the world.
In a little over a month we will be embarking on our 12th year of homeschooling with kids in 3rd, 5th, 6th/7th, 9th and 11th grades, respectively. The oldest two are in high school and are following Sonlight cores 100 and 300 with added Life of Fred math, Rosetta Stone spanish, and Apologia science for one.
The middle schooler is still on track with the youngest two. These will be doing a combination of Saxon and Teaching Textbooks for math, Learning Language Arts Through Literature (with some supplements) and gradespelling.com for LA (and I'll throw in some reading and writing projects here and there), Story of the World and Texas history units, Apologia science, art.
So far we are in a good place and I have very high hopes for a smoother year on the new gluten free diets. The kids will also take some dance classes and participate in co-op again. There will be various activities within the church and community as well.
This brings me to the changing of the world. I want my kids to know the bible, but also to make Christianity their own, and truly follow Jesus. Whatever they choose to do, this has to be something they choose to make time for, set aside money for. We have always given to the local congregation, and visited and served wherever we could, usually within the church programs, and those typically serve only our local church members. Nothing wrong with serving internally, but shouldn't we be serving externally in the world, just as much? If the church congregation doesn't do it, I can do it on my own, I reasoned. It has been on my heart to help the world at large with major needs that we don't feel and experience here in our comfy little American life bubble. The command to go into the world means we Christians have to go. When we can't go, we have to pay to send people and support their work. Changes take time, and there are so many factors affecting each situation. My personal call to action came through reading three specific books this spring: Crazy Love, not a fan., and The Hole in Our Gospel. I began to see that my ministry at this time may my children, the neighborhood in which I have contact, and social media. BUT, being middle class, surely we could spare some cash to help globally, right?? I thought so. I want my kids to be aware of missions, and give now and then, too. I did some research on reputable charities that I felt good supporting. Here are the ones I decided we could and should support on a regular basis as much as possible. I hope you will check them out and decide to help globally, too. Or find some other ways to help reach the world with basic needs and the gospel. We can change the world one dollar and one person at a time. But we have to be the ones who go, and the ones who give. Here are my charities of choice, though there are many worthy causes out there:

Raffa Clinic
Children's Medical Center
St. Jude Childrens Research hospital
World Vision
Doctors Without Borders
Eastern European Missions
China -Missions.org
Habitat for Humanity
Local food pantries
Local children's homes

Matthew 22:36-40³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 25:31-46  ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,^[f] you did it to me.’⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 Luke 18:18-23  ¹⁸ And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour your father and mother.’” ²¹ And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” ²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ²³ But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

Matthew 28: 18-20    ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

The Bottom Line

The gospel (aka good news):
God is the creator of all. His Son, Jesus, was a real man that came from heaven to earth to live amongst us, yet he was not acknowledged by most for who He truly was. So he was killed by those who thought He was coming out against God. God loves his creation like parents love children, but so much more. He yearns for us to love and obey Him, but He will not force us. Sin separates us from God for He is holy and cannot be in the presence of sin, and we cannot enter His holy heaven without those sins being taken away. Jesus died on earth for that purpose. He was sinless and His lifeblood paid the ultimate price for our sins, so when we believe in who He is and decide to repent of our sins and change our lives to follow Him, His blood, through our baptism, will wash our sins away forever. That is how we are added to His kingdom. His kingdom on earth. And after living faithfully as a follower, we can enter heaven with Him. That is it. The good news. 
Really, that is all the early Christians knew. They didn't have the bible. Maybe some scrolls and letters distributed, but no scriptures to check out whenever they wanted. Grace covered them as they were growing and learning. Everyone is growing and learning, all the days of their lives.
The whole gospel hangs on two things: love God, and love the people He made. Love them enough to meet their needs, and show His love through your actions, so they will see it and want to be a part of what you belong to. Most people do not feel anything is missing in their lives. They can't see a need for salvation and change. Change takes time---often lots of it. They probably don't truly believe in God and heaven and hell. These concepts are fairy tales to many. They can't be held to the Christian standard any more than we can be held to the standards of the world. Only by doing selfless love and THEN explaining your reason (because you are a Christian and love the people God made) will people see tangible proof of God. We, who have the Holy Spirit  living inside us, are the ones who have to show the world who God is. 
So Christian, let's all try to do what Jesus asks. Do good to your neighbor, to the least of these (Matthew 25), to our fellow Christians. Let's study the bible and put it into practice to the best of our ability. Get out there and be a part of society rather than isolating yourself among those like you. Try to be like Jesus. Serve your fellow man, alleviate suffering, pray often and specifically, try to avoid sinning. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love.
This is truth. This is Christianity, as I see it.