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Monday, July 28, 2008

Who do you work for?

So today was a long, and very eye opening day. It started out normally but was rudely interrupted 1 hour before the end of the day (3pm) by my chain of command telling us that we were not going home until what they decided what needed to be done at 10am this morning should be done before the end of the day. So that really brought out my sin. I immediately started reacting with questions to myself about "why could they not do this earlier, etc etc..". So then I really started having a bad attitude about it. I was justifying all the wrong reasons that I wanted to get out of the military, like being under the command of people who don't make sense, etc. When really, it was me who was not making any sense. I called my wife to tell her that I was not coming home right after work because we would be staying late to clean. Her reaction and famous Godly words were "Just remember who you are working for honey."

So just who is it that I am working for? I am working for God alone, not man. We are called to obey those who have been appointed over us (Ephisians 6:5) , and to do so in a Godly loving manner(Colossians 1:10). Within a short time after my prayer for assistance, my attitude about having to stay was changed and I was looking forward to helping complete the task and enjoy the time spent with fellow coworkers. Thank you God for your amazing teachings and sending your Son Jesus to die on the cross so that when we sin, we can count on our faith in Jesus Christ to forgive us.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Developing a Biblical Philosophy of Reading

While I'm on the topic of simplifying...for those of you who are Christian home educators...what are some guidelines you have used to decide what your children will read? Here are some thoughts that I have come up with so far:

1 - Good reading material will be hated by the world because it will testify with Christ that the worlds' works are evil. (Jn 7:7) What does the reading matter that I am considering say about humanity? Does it say that it is basically good or evil? Good books will agree with Scripture that humanity is totally depraved, and they will point readers to the cross.

2 - On what authority does the author of the book back his assertions? On himself? On someone else? On Scripture? "The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory..." (Jn 7:18) Whose glory does the author seek?

3 - Psalm 101:3 "I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless..." The Hebrew word for worthless means anything that is without profit or wicked. What does Scripture consider worthwhile and profitable?

- Scripture is profitable. 2 Timothy 3:16
- Engaging in good deeds is profitable. Titus 3:8
- Foolish controversies are worthless. TItus 3:9
- Which controversies are foolish? At what level are we to prepare ourselves for apologetics? We are to be prepared to give the reason for the hope that we have. But how far should be prepare ourselves to engage in things like the Creation debate?
- Worldly fables, myths, fiction are worthless as compared to the words of faith and sound doctrine. 1 Timothy 4: 7-8
- Bodily discipline is of little profit as compared with godliness. 1 Timothy 4:8

4 - Philippians 4:8 Checklist...Think on:
Whatever is: true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, worthy of praise

That's what I have so far. What do you think?

Also, how far in advance do you begin gathering resources for your kids? What do you collect? Etc.

Simplifying Wardrobe

Looking for thoughts...

I have managed to acquire a lot of hand-me-downs from others for the children. It has been very helpful, but I've saved almost everything from infant clothing on (which is still practical because I'm young and still bearing children...due again in August actually). However, I am aware that I don't need 15 pairs of pants per child per size. What are some guidelines you have used to decide what to keep and what to share with others? I haven't learned how to sew/mend yet so it is helpful to have a few extra outfits in case on gets damaged. But then, it isn't hard to come across hand-me-downs again if I'm running short. Thoughts anyone???

Thanks again!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Been There, Done That

Well, I've tried my own website for the third time and finally decided that it is just not worth it at this stage in my life. I started out with hankinsfamily.org, then hankinsfamily.com because my family members couldn't remember that it was .org. That didn't work either, whenever I asked if they had checked it they still asked what was the site name. So then I changed it to davehankins.net because I wanted to it again but this time I ended up even more frustrated. I had one faithful visitor who would check it every now and again for updates, but other then that I was at the promising "what was the name of that site" again. I guess to sum it up, I have decided that I will not go the route of creating a website for family to keep up to date with what's going on around here. I will stick to Blogger because its free and hopefully one day, family members will finally know how to visit my page.

David