Like him or hate him (and there would not be many who had an ambivalent opinion), all must agree that Gary North’s life has been an amazing string of accomplishments. At age 18 he was converted to Christ, and soon after his conversion he realized that he only had one life to live, at the end of which he was to give an account of it before the Great White Throne of Judgment.
Gary believed he was called to write a theory of economics that was consistently based on the Bible, but in scanning the economic literature over the centuries from the time of Christ, he could not find any serious writing on the issue of Biblical Christian economics. So, he set about writing an economic commentary on the whole Bible. He allocated 10 hours each week, 50 weeks a year, and in just over 39 years he completed a 31-volume economic commentary on the whole Bible. Gary North has read, studied and commented on every verse in the Bible that has something to do with economics.
Having completed that task, and having written a plethora of books on other subjects that caught his attention along the way, Gary North, in his early 70s, is now embarking on a task of writing a consistently Biblical Christian theory of economics with accompanying multi-media teaching material, using his own work as an authority to do so.
Gary North has critiqued every other economic theory that is in existence. He would have to be the world’s, and perhaps history’s, most eminent expert on economics.
Imagine what could be achieved by Christian unschoolers who are encouraged to pursue their passion–their vocation and call of God upon their lives–with Gary North’s accomplishments held up as an example of what can be done by someone with a long-term vision, and freedom to become an expert in one field.
As I think of the possibilities of unschooling, and reflect upon the accomplishments of one man, Gary North, I imagine the day when thousands upon thousands of Biblical Christian unschoolers release their lives’ works to the world, and there is a radical shift in how life is lived on the basis of thoroughly researched, expert Biblical Christian scholarship. In that day the Scripture shall be fulfilled which says:
“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations will come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob, and he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law (teaching), and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Micah 4:1-2).
lanceaboxeducationresearch 
I didn’t realize the extent of Gary North’s prolific writing which is so relevant to Kingdom living including education, politics and economics Thanks for sharing this I am impressed. It just goes to show that if we look at the world, it doesn’t matter what dimensions, physical, biological, ecological, psychological, social, economic, legal, political, ethical/moral and spiritual, all have their roots in Christ and function best within the parameters of the King and Kingdom of God. The more immersed we are in the principles and laws of the Kingdom, it does not matter what it is, the closer we are to optimal harmonious living the way God has designed it. The further we are from God and his word, his laws, the more estranged empty we become, individually and collectively, no exception. Loving God is simply giving God the honour and praise he deserves and believing, trusting, obeying him in everything for everything. I am going through some of the ‘free’ material and it will take me a while. Are you a member or have access to the other topics, What are your thoughts? in particular to education and deschooling, how can people, families, teachers, students, churches benefit, how can we change mindsets and hearts?
I have a concluding thought and I refer to the end times prior to Jesus’ return. It appears especially in Revelations that Christians and the whole world will be under Satan’s influence to such an extent that if we do not have the mark of the beast on our foreheads or right hand, we can’t buy or sell and will most likely be persecuted. Nothing we do will seem to be effective in stemming the kingdom of darkness in the end and the final tribulation as God judges the world. Although I believe the Kingdom of God is a present reality for the believer and a future one when Jesus sets up his Kingdom over all the earth after the tribulation, the reality appears to be that things will get worse not better until then. So, what should be our priority and mission? Is it to train/educate, disciple people in and for Jesus our Saviour and Lord or is it more to warn and proclaim the coming judgment and coming Kingdom of God focusing on repentance and a right relationship with God? Perhaps the two can and should be combined?
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My dear friend and fellow worker in the Kingdom of God. I am very grateful to you. I am within weeks of completing my dissertation; it is almost ready for submission for assessment. Your comments and encouragement went a long way to help me with the work. Thank you, thank you.
In regards to your comments above:
1. There are four main eschatological positions amongst Christians, and they are: preterist, historist, progressive-parallelist and futurist in perspective. Amongst these there are a-millennial, pre-millennial and post-millennial adherents. Depending upon your perspective, the end times are either past or present or in the future. It sounds like you are very familiar with a futurist, premillennialist eschatological position, and possibly premillennial dispensationalist. If you are not familiar with the range of positions, then I suggest you visit: http://www.PostmillennialismToday.com and do some reading around that site. Some other good books on the topic include:
Chilton, D (1985) Paradise Restored: A Biblical Theology of Dominion. Tyler, Texas: Dominion Press.
Chilton, D (1987) The Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation. Ft Worth, Texas: Dominion Press.
Gentry, K. L. (1989) Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation. Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics.
Lee, F. N. (1976) The Central Significance of Culture. U.S.A.: The Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Co.
Gentry, K. L. (2013) The Greatness of the Great Commission: The Christian Enterprise in a Fallen World. Fountain Inn, South Carolina: Victorious Hope Publishing.
Gentry, K. L. (2009) He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology. Draper, Virginia: Apologetics Group Media.
Rushdoony, R. J. (1980) God’s Plan for Victory: The Meaning of Post Millennialism. Fairfax, Virginia: Thoburn Press.
Campbell, R. (1954). Israel and the New Covenant. Philadelphia, Pa.: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company.
Lee, F. N. (1981) Will Christ or Satan Win This World? (on the increasing Christianization of the Great Straight Planet Earth). Wavell Heights, Queensland: Francis Nigel Lee.
Provan, C. D. (1987) The Church is Israel Now: Old and New Testament Scripture Texts Which Illustrate the Conditional Privileged Position and Titles of “Racial Israel” and their Transfer to the Christian Church. Vallecito, California: Ross House Books
Belcher, R. P. (1986) A Comparison of Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology. Fort Mill, SC: Richbarry Press.
Brown, D. (1990 [1882]) Christ’s Second Coming Will It Be Premillennial? Edmonton, AB Canada.: Still Waters Revival Books.
North, G. and DeMar, G. (1991) Christian Reconstruction: What It Is, What It Isn’t. Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics.
and many, many others.
2. I declare that I previously held a Premillennial Dispensationalist view, but after a lot of reading and consideration of the Scriptures, I now hold to a Preteristic Postmillennial view. Therefore, from my perspective, the Great Tribulation was a first century event. We are not to look for that event, it is past, over, finished, gone, not to be repeated in the same way. It was God’s covenantal wrath on an apostate, covenant-breaking generation: His stoning and divorce of an adulterous people. The mark of the Beast in its Biblical description has past, and belongs to a first century situation.
However, there are principles to be learned from what happened to the first century Jewish nation (I Corinthians 10):
a) God does not love unconditionally. Covenant-breakers in every generation will be disciplined, and ultimately judged. God calls all men to repent. The Kingdom of God shall be taken away from the covenant-breakers and be given to a nation (any nation) that brings forth the fruit of it. Life in the Kingdom is contingent upon living the life of the Kingdom. Blessing is contingent upon obedience, and obedience is the evidence of faith. Those who walk in disobedience to the commandments of God are not His children, even though they protest, “the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord”. To obey is better than ritual.
b) The Mark of the Beast relates to prostitution to statism. The Church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is not to go to bed with the State, and the receiving of money from the state, to do the work of Christ, is prostitution, according to the Scriptures. God has given the Church a source of funds to do her work, and that is tithes and offerings. How many Christians withhold the tithe, and are skimpy on their offerings? And if tithes and offerings are paid, how many pastors and church leaders mis-use the resources of the Kingdom on buildings, so-called worship accoutrements, and fat pay-checks to the ministry, to the neglect of widows, orphans, the poor, the stranger, believers in debt, and the other works of compassion that the Church is responsible to God for? How many so-called Christian organisations receive government money to perform “Christian Charity”? How many Christians lobby government for tax redistribution for welfare purposes? This is the receiving of the mark of the Beast in contemporary parlance.
c) The troubles that we witness in the culture around us are not inevitable because they were prophesied, rather, they are the declared consequences for covenantal disobedience. We will not be raptured out of the mess. There is no premillennial rapture, it is a myth and a misreading of the Bible. The only way out of the mess is repentance from our rebellion and disobedience, and then faithful, long-term commitment to the rebuilding of Christian civilization (the Kingdom of God) in our land.
3. What do I think about Biblical Christian unschooling? Well, sending Christian children to statist schools will expose them to developing a statist mindset. A statist mindset will not think the thoughts of Christ after Him. To think the thoughts of Christ after Him, we need to be washed with the washing of the water by the Word in the spirit of our mind. This can only come from an education that is firmly modelled after Deuteronomy 6. I have been thinking on these things for over 30 years, and I have taught in the system for 26 years. It is my firm conviction that the only way forward for Biblical Christians is to bring our children home, and train them up in the way that they should go through unschooling with a discipleship emphasis. This is my conclusion in my dissertation. Most so-called Christian schools have lost their way, and this is because they have accepted mammon in exchange for their purity in Christ.
These comments will not win me friends. In fact, I expect to receive a lot of criticism for my unkind, uncharitable, ungracious, self-righteous comments. However, if we continue down the road that we have been walking, as a Christian community, then the result will be a severe chastisement from the Lord, and possibly a serious judgment.
I submit my work on education and schooling to the Christian community, and will be at the mercy of how it is received. However, it is my conviction that I stand on the Word of the Lord, and I can do no other.
God bless you richly, my good friend and brother.
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Thank you Lance, I won’t go into detail into the end-times prophecies now as to ‘when’, suffice to say, I agree entirely with you regarding your points 2 a. b. c. and 3. Where we all stand or fall is the obedience/disobedience to God’s word and repenting from sin to turn to our loving faithful Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Homes, parents, Christian communities (Church, Christian schools with its leaders) all need to surrender to the Lordship of Christ in the task of educating/training/discipling of the children and young. Like you say, mammom and secular culture have polluted the purity of Christ within most Christian schools. That has to change, it is not God honoring, it is idolatry and committing adultery with the world.
Do not let men and Satan’s lies stop you from speaking and living the truth, just as Jeremiah the prophet was unaccepted by the leaders and people for speaking God’s word and encouraging people to repent and turn to God.
I appreciate what you are doing and saying, even if some or most Christian educators and others do not. Let the Lord be lifted up and praised for his goodness and may his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Keep up the good work. Let your voice go forth and be a witness to all.
God bless you my brother in the Lord.
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