Labor: Created to Create from The Truth Project

Bill and I are attending the Focus on the Family series called The Truth Project at church. I noticed in The Salina Journal earlier this fall that there are other churches in Salina also using this video series. The Truth Project is an in-depth Christian worldview experience. It is led by Dr. Del Tackett. If you are not familiar with The Truth Project you can go to this web-site: http://www.thetruthproject.org/ This is our second time attending this video series. If the opportunity is available I do encourage you to attend this series.

For the homeschool library I have purchased the children's version called The Truth Chronicles. It is in the style of Adventures in Odyssey also produced by Focus on the Family. There are over 5 hours of audio. The back cover of the CD case reads: Are there really right answers to big questions about God, faith, and truth? The kids of Odyssey are about to find out! Can the science club discover the reality of intelligent design? Will Captain Absolutely triumph over the evil schemes of Dr. Relative? And what happens when kids are in charge of their own city - with no adults? There's absolute adventure ahead with these life-changing stories on seeing the world from a Christian perspective - and that's no lie.

This evening the lesson from The Truth Project was Lesson 11 - Labor: Created to Create. In this lesson Dr. Tackett makes the case that work is far from being a curse as the secular world sees it but work is creative labor and a glorious privilege. Labor flows out of the heart of God , who worked 6 days to bring the world into existence. Dr. Tackett states that the creativity of man is a mirror-image of the creativity of God. Work is to be a source of joy so fulfilling and wonderful that God found it necessary to give us the fourth commandment in order that we set our work aside and rest at least one day a week! This creativity is intended to include all areas of work, whether in the factory, the arts, or the media. The video stressed that as Christians we are to be a creative force. Our homes and churches need to find ways to be centers of creative and artistic activities.

So what does the homeschool library have to offer in the area of work and creativity? Right away the book for boys called Created for Work by Bob Schutz came to my mind. Another book by Bob Schutz called Boyhood and Beyond includes many references to the value of hard work. The homeschool library has both of these books. Children need to be encouraged to work. How to get Children to Help at Home by Elva Anson may be helpful for a parent who is experiencing difficulty getting their children to work.

I have studied U.S. History many times with my children. As we study the founding of Jamestown we always learn about the difficulties the early settlers at Jamestown had. The reason was that they would not work. John Smith wanted the men to plant gardens. But the men only wanted to search for gold. They did not want to work. When John Smith became the leader of Jamestown he made a wise new rule - He who will not work shall not eat! Proverbs 18: 9 states, " He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great destroyer." from the NKJV Bible