E-Newsletters

A Good Word Cooking for a Crowd FYI Moments for Moms Pages and Tunes Reflections Side by Side Unlimited! Women@Work Laugh Lines

Daily Prayer Focus

Pray for Churches

Pray for your pastor, church leadership and staff.

Reader Poll

How do you like the new Leaders Unlimited Web site? I didn't find it helpful. It's okay. I love it! View Results

Reflections

Pass It On

Biblical genealogies always amaze me—first, that somebody kept those records and second, that the rest of us read them. However, I have learned biblical genealogies have purpose. They tell the story of God’s chosen people, pointing to Jesus who has the genealogical right to the earthly throne of David.

Tracing family genealogies has become a serious hobby for many people, a hobby I viewed with the same amazement I had for biblical records. That is, until I got a letter one day from a seventh cousin, telling me he had traced our family tree. He asked if I would be interested in the two volumes that included my branch of the family. Curiosity overcame me, so I ordered the books.

Amazed again! Instead of endless lists, I found intriguing stories of people—generations with my family name. I imagined myself with the earliest known family member who settled in Stamford, Connecticut in 1645, presumably coming from England. What was life like when Stamford’s map showed only a few residences, a meeting house, a grist mill and a burying ground?

Eagerly, I followed the family from Connecticut to New York. In the third generation, family history took a different turn as they joined the Society of Friends at the time of the George Fox revivals. From New York they moved to New Jersey, possibly because of the persecution of the Friends movement.

Life was not easy for the Friends during the Revolutionary War. My forefathers suffered intensely because they chose not to bear arms, bringing persecution from both the Americans and the British. Only a very strong faith could have brought them through these difficult years.

The family continued in the Friends community until the early 1800s when my great-great-great-grandfather John left the Friends for an unknown reason. I continued to read through three more generations, down to my grandmother’s family whom I knew very well

An obvious fact then leaped off the pages. None of the succeeding family members were listed as having any church connection. The faith born in the revival of the early 1700s kept the family together for almost one hundred years, but it was lost in one generation. When Great-great-great-grandfather John chose to leave the church, he made a decision not only for himself but for his descendants. The faith of his fathers was not passed on.

This knowledge haunted me for several days as I thought of my grandmother whom—to my knowledge—never went to church. Would her father have abandoned his wife and 12 kids if his grandfather had passed on a faith to live by? How different could life have been for her and all the other descendants of this unknown Grandpa John?

Not wanting to be too judgmental, I wondered why Grandpa John left the church. I could only make assumptions, based on why people leave the church today. Did he not like the pastor? Did someone hurt his feelings? Did the cares of life and the deceitfulness of riches lure him away from the church, even in that simple day? Had the experience his forefathers had with God in the days of revival degenerated to only a form of religion? Was his reason for leaving important enough to deprive his descendants of a spiritual heritage? I can never know.

What I can know is the value of passing my faith on to the next generation. I will do everything I can to pass on the faith that, like Timothy, I learned from my mother and my other grandmother. I want my children and grandchildren to know the Lord.

As we approach Mother’s Day next week, we will talk more about the importance of leaving a legacy of faith.

Points to Ponder

Can you trace your faith back to previous generations? What are you doing intentionally to pass that faith on? Is anything hindering the transmission of your faith to the next generation?

PEGGY MUSGROVE is a licensed Assemblies of God minister. She is also a speaker, freelance writer, author and prayer group leader. Her latest book, Musings of a Maraschino Cherry was released in 2004.. You can visit her at www.musgroveville.com.

Like what you've read?

Subscribe to this email newsletter at
www.womensministriesunlimited.ag.org/newsletters