by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Feb 26, 2020 | Creation Education Resources
(Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way).
I have had a long-term interest in Apologetics. In fact, as many of you know, I attended the ICR Graduate School from 1997-1999. I studied Biology and Christian Apologetics during this period. This is one of the reasons I jumped at the chance to review The Unbreakable Faith Course from Pilgrim's Rock, LLC.
The other reason was that I was hoping to reinforce my son's faith as well.
The Unbreakable Faith Course from Pilgrim's Rock, LLC, is an Online Christian Apologetics Curriculum
This faith-building course also includes 2 Textbooks, “God the Reason” and “The Box,” both which are written by Craig Biehl.
Unbreakable Faith is geared toward high school students. Not only that, but it will satisfy one full elective credit toward high school graduation. Unbreakable Faith can also be enjoyed and utilized by adults as well as younger children, depending on the maturity of the specific child.
For the review, I am the main person working through this curriculum. I chose to do this because my son is not quite at the level to totally get the most out of it. Plus he needs my support as he's learning. So, I'm reading and watching the videos so that I may better teach him the lessons.
I do want to point out that I am reading “The Box” to him. Also, we have been watching the videos together. Of course, the curriculum is a year long. So, we are still working through the curriculum as I write this.
There are 6 Parts to the video series, with several videos for each part. I just completed the quiz for Part 1 (I got 100%)! The quiz for each section must be completed before the student can move on. I know I learned a lot! And I have no doubt that my 14-year-old son's faith and my faith are increasing.
In fact, one of the things I like the most about the course is the online videos.
For example, the videos provide visuals as well as Bible Verses to support the author’s point. Also, the videos do an excellent job of reinforcing what is discussed in the books. Having the reinforcement of the videos along with the books obviously will increase the amount of information that the student is able to retain overtime.
This is especially important because “God the Reason” is rather deep and involved philosophically and may be challenging to some readers. Thus, you can watch the videos to better understand the points the author, Craig Biehl, is making in the book itself.
One of my favorite videos discusses the best way to answer the multiple questions asked by unbelievers. He provides a compelling analogy and visual (see images below).
The first image shows how most Christians deal with questions–one at a time.
The second image shows the importance of having a strong foundation. Thus, if we start with the Bible, the Christian's one sure foundation. It will much easier for us to answer questions from unbelievers.
Starting with the Bible, we have our foundation. Thus, we don't need to have a PhD to answer a PhD!
Here are just a few of the statements made by Biehl which I found particularly thought-provoking:
- “The key is to CHALLENGE THE FOUNDATION OF UNBELIEVING THOUGHTS.”
- “Unbelief has nothing to do with the evidence. It has everything to do with the heart.”
- “God's existence is not dependent on what man thinks about Him.”
- God has always existed
- The reality of who God is is not affected by how human’s perceive truth.
The book, “The Box,” includes conversations between Mr. C and Mr. A.
The focus is on helping readers see the irrational beliefs that sometimes underlie their belief systems. The Box ties in with the overall theme of the course.
The goal of the author, Craig Biehl, is to help readers become more aware of “God’s Infinite Excellence.”
Biehl wants to show the reader how little a finite human being can know about the infinite God apart from God’s Revelation.
In the book, Mr. A represents the Atheist in the beginning of the book and later the Agnostic.
1. The Atheist
Mr. A. at the beginning of the book, believes there is no God and that there is no evidence whatsoever for the existence of God–but can't predict what is in Mr. C's garage or antique box.
2. The Agnostic
Mr. A at this point has changed his mind about what he believes and now calls himself an Agnostic. Mr. A. now states that he doesn't know enough to claim whether God exists or not. However, he still believes there is no evidence for the existence of God.
By the end of the book, Mr. A has made progress, but still hasn’t reached the point of believing.
Which reminds me of a very important point:
No matter how logical, rational, or awesome our arguments are. No matter how many Bible verses we can quote or how perfect of a model we are, it’s still going to take God‘s Holy Spirit to reveal to the unbeliever who He is.
Though that does not mean we shouldn’t take into consideration peoples’ uniqueness or that we shouldn’t remember the importance of loving the unbelievers in our lives. Just not at the expense of truth.
The conversations and the logic in “The Box,” are easy to follow and are successful in driving home the point the author is making. Also, the wording of the text is easy to follow. The one thing that could make the book even better would be to shorten some of the sentences.
The length of the sentences made reading out loud to my son a bit cumbersome. However, despite this one weakness, I still believe Beihl was successful at keeping my son, who is 14 and is on the Autism spectrum, interested.
I believe he was also successful at driving home his main point:
“The truly rational person is the one who believes in God.”
If you want your faith and your children's faith challenged, I highly recommend that you look into this unique and Biblically-sound Christian Apologetics curriculum.
Click the link below to check it out now.
The Unbreakable Faith Course from Pilgrim's Rock, LLC
by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Jun 21, 2019 | Careers for Stay-at-Home Moms, Homeschooling
Entrepreneurship and our children.
I've been thinking a lot about entrepreneurship lately. (post contains affiliate links).
My son, Nathan, is far from being a typical learner, and he has some unique talents and abilities that don't necessarily show up in traditional school testing.
Many of you saw the train clip he made a few days ago. (And if you didn't, because you haven't subscribed to my email list yet, fill out the form below so you don't miss anything else)! This kind of stuff seems to come naturally to him. The only difficulty is getting him to do stuff that isn't in his current special interest area.
However, it is occurring to me more and more that he doesn't have to have a lot of different things going on.
All he needs to do is find one niche he can concentrate on. Something that he is really good at.
And he can start his own little business doing whatever it is. For example, making videos of trains, posting on You Tube, creating clip art, and selling it on Etsy. That, in essence, is what entrepreneurship is all about.
As Nathan gets closer and closer to working age, I'm finding it to be much more uplifting and much more satisfying to know that he is learning things that he will actually use when he is out of school.
Sure he needs to be able to read and write, understand math, science and history. And he is getting schooled in all of these subjects.
However, the life skills he needs to learn, such as how to budget, how to prepare food, how to create his own products, and how to better interact with others. All of these things he's also learning. And they will serve him much better as an adult than just focusing on the book work.
Since he's going into the 9th grade this fall, I've been thinking more and more about what he will be doing once he gets to the point of starting a career.
And, this blogging thing I've been doing for the past year has given me new trust in the ability of people to do anything they want. Especially if it means thinking outside-of-the-box.
This is why I believe it’s important that we as parents consider entrepreneurship as a possible path that our children may take.
Consider these statistics:
- Two out of every three jobs created each year are created by entrepreneurs
- Half of Americans either own or work for a small business.
I don't know about you, but I'm thinking that we as parents should give this entrepreneurship idea some serious thought! With all of the changes that are going on in our country and worldwide, ignoring these facts could lead to our child’s detriment!
So ask yourself: Am I training my children to think like entrepreneurs? Or am I instead training them to think like workers?
The traditional school system tends to teach children to think like workers. And unless we are outside-the-box thinkers, we tend to try to emulate that system in our own homeschooling. I know I did and I still struggle with this concept. But I'm spreading my wings out more and more each year, and I know that you can too!
We need to remember, that a system intentionally designed to create workers who obey orders without thinking, is the absolute opposite of Entrepreneurship.
This is why I was so excited when I first heard about lifechooling! Every year, since I started homeschooling Nathan in 4th grade, I've been gravitating toward this way of thinking without even realizing it.
I have found that by giving my son plenty of free time to explore his God-given gifts, not only am I encouraging him to be creative and think like an Entrepreneur. I am raising a much happier and well-adjusted child.
So, beyond giving your children free time and the chance to explore their talents and abilities, how can lifeschooling help you teach in a way that helps your children become the Entrepreneurs God designed them to be?
This is the purpose of the 2019 Lifeschooling Conference, July 11-13.
To help encourage you and give you tips to help in your important calling of raising children who are happy, well-adjusted, free to be who they were called to be, and true Entrepreneurs in their own right!
There will be speakers who really know their stuff when it comes to entrepreneurship!
So, if you want your kids to not just learn academic facts, but you also want to help them learn how to make a six-figure income without swapping hours for dollars, then you need to attend this conference!
The Lifeschooling Conference is a unique, 3-day, virtual event where pioneer homeschoolers, as well as modern leaders in the movement will come together to show homeschoolers how to “merge life with homeschooling.”
Topics include not only entrepreneurship of our children, but also:
Merging everyday activities with homeschooling
Lifeschooling through mentorships, in the younger years, and in the teen years.
and much more!
Not only that, but you will also get:
Daily Facebook Live devotionals from Ana Willis of “They Call Me Blessed”!
Facebook Live Q&A with speakers after their video sessions, so you can get your questions answered!
A swag bag worth hundreds of dollars (if you choose the All-Access or Premium Access ticket)!
Other perks and freebies if you purchase an upgraded ticket!
Oh, and as I've mentioned several times, it’s FREE.
So sign up now before you forget.
And you will receive a reminder email when the conference draws closer and when it is ready to start. Not only that, but you can participate in our Facebook group (In fact you don't even have to sign up for the conference to participate in the group–I didn't know this until this week). So if you aren't ready to sign up because you want to know a little bit more, you can join the Facebook group here. I will be there, and hope to see you there!
Last, but certainly not least, if you visit the site (you don't have to sign up for conference), and enter your name in the drawing (scroll down to the bottom of the page), you will have the chance to win a cash prize at the end of the conference. Click the “$200 Summer Cash Giveaway” box to the above/left to enter.
Click here to join us on Facebook. I know you don't want to miss this! The group is awesome, with all sorts of amazing people participating. And it's not a huge group either, currently less than 200, if you're a bit shy, like I am.
Sorry this is so long, but I'm really excited about this conference and you should be too!!!!!
Hope you have a great day and weekend,
Speaking of entrepreneurship and our children…click here for more information on The Etsy MasterClass for Teens
And for an AWESOME and affordable printables class that the whole family can benefit from, click here.
Another I've written to help with teaching your reluctant learners:
10 Ways to Encourage Math and Writing
by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Jun 7, 2019 | Creation Education Resources
Why My Son Doesn’t Believe in Evolution – Creation and our kids.
I authored an article recently that is posted on LifeschoolingConference.com
To avoid confusing Google, I couldn't post the entire article here. However, I have included a short blip to get you started. Read the rest of this well-written, thought-provoking post here.
And after you read my article, don't forget to sign up for the conference. The conference will bless you and it's FREE!
Here are the first few words of the post just to give you a taste of the subject matter:
First to clarify, I want to make sure that everyone reading this understands that there is a distinct difference between macroevolution and microevolution.
Creation and our Kids – Macroevolution versus Microevolution
Macroevolution states, “All things evolve in a positive beneficial direction.” For example, macroevolution is defined as the process by which one type of animal, for example, fish, evolves into a completely different type of animal, for example, amphibian.
This requires an increase in genetic information, which has NEVER BEEN SHOWN to happen.
Natural Selection, on the other hand, is the process whereby organisms adapt to their environment, survive, and thus, produce offspring. Natural Selection is an example of microevolution, which HAS been observed in the laboratory. For example, microevolution is what happens when bacteria develop immunity to antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is not the result of click here to read the rest of the article….
For more information on Lifeschooling and to sign up for the FREE conference, click here.
Click here for God Created Dinosaurs Freebie in my store.
To read more about Creation and Evolution:
Why My Son Believes in Catastrophism
When Did Dinosaurs Live?
Did Humans and Dinosaurs Live at the Same Time?
What the Heck is Coelacanth and why should I care?
My Autistic Son Hates School
What Does the Bible Say About Race?
Bunnies: Cute and Cursed
Are Easter and Passover Related?
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