The Power of the Word – Impact On My Family

I have been asked to write about what makes our family so special: all six of our kids are disciples and those who are married have spouses who are disciples.

The make up of any family is complex and defining it in one article is virtually impossible. Sherry (my loving friend and partner of thirty-one years) and I are sometimes asked for advice about family matters and are always honored by the request. Before I begin dispensing advice though; I believe that some distant background is vital to understanding our family.

My parents, whose legacy would exceed my ability to write in one article, were so devoted to worshiping in what they considered “the true church” (the Church of Christ), that each week they drove 75 miles each way in a car more similar to a Model T than to anything we drive today. Later they established a new church in our small town doing much of the building with their own hands. One of my childhood heroes was Alexander Campbell, one of our forefathers in the faith. I would highly recommend the reading of a book about his life called “Fool For God”, if you could ever get your hands on a copy.

Sherry has similar roots, with a grandfather who was an elder in the Church of Christ. She turned to God as a teenager, turning her back on her partying friends after she started reading the Bible in earnest, having also considered eastern religions in her search for meaning in life. It was her own reading of God’s Word which transformed her life.

The first private conversation that Sherry and I ever had revolved around “the fear of God” while we were both workers involved in a week long evangelistic campaign with the Church of Christ. We were married less than a year later. We eagerly embraced the campus-ministry movement as it was called way-back-when and later did the same with the discipleship movement while we lived in North Carolina.

To say that our child-raising was unconventional would be an understatement. A few examples of our departure from the norm are:

Before we ever had children we had already established that Sherry would be an at-home mother,.
Allen was the only one of our six children born in a hospital.
We home-schooled them all for some portion of their early educational years and
we were quite restrictive of television.

I am not writing this to advance any of these practices, but we are always open to sharing our thoughts and experiences. All of the children have been considered a special blessing from God and even though they are all quite talented in differing ways they are all well within the normal ranges of young adults (no superstar athletes or child prodigies).

So what is it that makes our family unusual? In my opinion it is the acceptance that each of them has made to become and remain a follower of God and His Word. I’m not a Superdad. Before anyone can become a disciple they must accept that they fall short of the Glory of God. I acknowledge that what our children became (lost) is somewhat because of their imitation of my personal shortcomings (they became separated from God while in my care).

However, since each of them has free will, they made decisions along the way which took them from their original state of being pure and perfect in the sight of God. This is the essence of God’s words given in Ezekiel 18:4: “The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.” For example; the fact that I struggle with personal discipline does not automatically create this shortcoming in one of my children (this is a behavior which can be overcome / repented of)

God gave six children into our care for a reason. I don’t know that reason, but I consider it a sacred trusteeship since many people, who fear and serve the Lord with greater hearts for God than I, remain childless. All I can do is to be thankful that God has blessed me by allowing me to experience these wonderful treasures and accept the challenge to do the best I can to help them become the best that they can be.

Sherry and I pledged in our wedding vows to help each other to be close to God, we both agreed that our goal in raising children was to do the same. Our shortcomings do not invalidate the original commitment and God’s grace is available for us to accept so that we don’t feel overly burdened with those shortcomings. God also blessed our family immensely by the participation of countless teen workers, other teens and the families who became the second family to each of them. And we thank all of the past teen ministry leaders, especially the Thompsons, the Ramseys, the Grabskis and the Roses.

My advice is to keep the Lord’s amazing Word in the center of your personal life, your marriage and your family. With six children under the age of 12 and most of them being educated at home, the house could, at times, be quite chaotic; especially if someone was sick or had some other pressing need. Our goal was to have some kind of scripture reading or devotional every day. It wasn’t always the popular thing to do. Sometimes, when I would lead the devotional, I might not do very well at tailoring my efforts to the abilities of the children and it might sound more like a Bible Talk or sermon than a children’s Bible story. We would almost always sing as part of the devotional. The song, “Father Abraham” was one of the favorites for a long time. And even though the children all have developed good musical skills, the most important part to reflect upon is the scripture reading.

The prophet Isaiah gave voice to God’s sentiments: “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”(Isaiah 55:11) The Terry Brand interpretation of that scripture is: Never doubt the power of the reading of the Word of God. Sherry and I will still occasionally and for varying reasons ask the other to read the scriptures out loud. It never ceases to amaze me how some new concept will leap from the sound waves into my brain from a passage which I had read silently countless times before, or how Sherry will enlighten me with an understanding which had previously eluded me.

If you could open up your child’s head and insert one thing into their brain wouldn’t you want it to be the Word of God? In essence that is what we do with each other when we take the time to read the Word together. Read God’s Word together. It has transformed our lives. God promises that it will transform yours too; it will achieve the purpose for which He sent it.