Nothing Too Precious

Sometimes, one little sentence can hold a world of challenge and inspiration, especially if that sentence distills the essence of the man who spoke it. We know very little about F.S. Parker. It is difficult to even piece together the life of an obscure man in the late 1800s and yet the short statement he made to a small group of Christians in 1888 has become a treasure to me as a Christian and as a father.

F.S. Parker had a little mission hall in Pittsfield, Massachusetts where he ministered alongside his wife and his daughter, Susie. Susie was an only child, but did not seem to be spoiled by it. She grew up hearing the stories of Jesus but was also constantly reminded, by involvement with the mission hall, that Jesus calls us to love others in His name. Over the years, she became convinced of both the tremendous price that Jesus paid to purchase our souls and the heart Jesus had for those who were not yet saved. There was a genuineness about her faith that showed up when it was time to help around the house or prepare something for an outreach service at the mission hall. So it was not surprising that when the opportunity came to hear renowned missionary Hudson Taylor speak about the spiritual needs of China, she eagerly went.

It was Hudson Taylor's first trip to the United States, and the very beginning of what would become the North American arm of the China Inland Mission. Taylor's words stirred 26 year old Susie's heart and, along with several others, she offered herself to the Lord as a missionary on behalf of China. Preparations were made, training was done, and soon this first group of North Americans to join Hudson Taylor's mission had gathered for a "send off" service.

To quote from a biography of Hudson Taylor,

"The father of a dear girl in the party, Miss Susie Parker, had come over from Pittsfield, Mass., and was sitting near the platform. Seeing a wonderful light on his face, Mr. Taylor invited him to say a few words...He told us with a father's feelings, what his daughter had been in the home, to him and to her mother; what she had been in the mission-hall in which he worked, and something of what it meant to part with her now.

`But I could only feel,' he said, 'that I have nothing too precious for my Lord Jesus. He has asked for my very best ; and I give, with all my heart, my very best to Him.'"

"Nothing too precious for my Lord Jesus" The words have stirred me often and form an irrefutable answer to every objection that my flesh raises when a new cost is asked of me regarding my commitment to Christ.

"But I'm not sure I can live without that little pet sin!" —Nothing too precious for my Lord Jesus.

"But I don't feel ready to take on this ministry responsibility that's being asked of me!" —Nothing too precious for my Lord Jesus.

"But I'm already so busy. How can I really be expected to spend significant time in prayer for the lost and for the world?" —Nothing too precious for my Lord Jesus.

"But I'm scared to share the gospel with people – what if I'm rejected?" —Nothing too precious for my Lord Jesus.

Mr. Taylor shares further,

"That sentence was the richest thing I got in America, and has been an untold blessing to me ever since. Sometimes when pressed with correspondence the hour has come for united prayer, and the thought has arisen, ought I not to go on with this or that matter? Then it has come back to me-' Nothing too precious for my Lord Jesus.' The correspondence has been left to be cared for afterwards, and one has had the joy of fellowship unhindered. Sometimes waking in the morning, very weary, the hour has come for hallowed communion with the Lord alone ; and there is no time like the early morning for getting the harp in tune for the music of the day. Then it has come again'Nothing too precious for my Lord Jesus,' and one has risen to find that there is no being tired with Him. That thought also has been a real help to me when leaving my loved ones in England. Indeed, I could never tell how many hundreds of times God has given me a blessing through those words."

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." -Matthew 13:44

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The quotes above are taken from the book Hudson Taylor & The China Inland Mission: The Growth of A Work Of God. Many other encouraging books are also available to read online here.

A Striking Contrast

Every once in a while, a home schooled young person finds their way into the national media spotlight. Generally, it is being recognized for winning the National Spelling Bee, or a prominent Science Fair. These I only notice with passing interest. But when two previously home schooled young men appeared in national news stories within a few hours of each other, it really got my attention. But it was the further digging into each story that has really made me think a little longer and harder about parenting.

By the time 2007 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow had finished his acceptance speech in New York, 24 year old Matthew Murray was a few hours away from a murderous rampage in Colorado that would leave 5 dead, including himself. What did they share in common, aside from the date of their headlines? They were both from Christian families, and they were both home schooled, K-12.

Such a dramatic contrast begs for closer examination. Tim Tebow grew up as the youngest of 5 to missionary/evangelist Bob Tebow. He credits his dad for teaching him godliness and his mom for teaching him to memorize Scripture. He says that his four brothers and sisters made a path by which he was able to "just follow in their footsteps." Tim had an incredible year on the football field, becoming the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy, but his ongoing Christian witness at postgame interviews are becoming a trademark. During the recent Capital One Bowl Game, we heard a secular sports announcer's voice soften as she told about Tim's deep character that was motivating him to spend his upcoming spring break in the Phillippines helping out at the orphanage that his parents run, while most of his peers will be partying on the beaches.

We know much less about the home life of Matthew Murray, but he also was raised memorizing Scripture and was home schooled using one of the most conservative Christian curriculums (ATI). His father was a respected neurologist, so he obviously was raised with a significant financial advantage and his family was described as extremely religious. However, Matthew's online postings on a number of websites reveal that he rejected Christianity in his early adult years and became enamored with the occult.

The unsettling fact is that the children of Christian parents are going astray in droves. In the past 30 years, Christians have tried to address this problem by developing glitzy youth programs, establishing countless Christian schools, and more recently choosing to homeschool their children. In spite of all these efforts, youth experts like Josh McDowell in his book "The Lost Generation" tells us, "The Nehemiah Institute has offered a valuable service in providing testing to over 20,000 students from one thousand schools. Christian parents have even tested their young people who attend public school. You would probably not be surprised to learn that eighty-five percent (85%) of youth from Christian homes that attend public schools do not embrace a biblical worldview. But what of students in Christian schools? While these students scored slightly higher than their counterparts attending public schools, only six percent (6%) of students embraced a Biblical Theism Worldview. It is clear we have all but lost our young people to a godless culture." Sadly we personally know of numerous homeschooled young adults that have also rejected Biblical Christianity. But what about Proverb 22:6 which promises," Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it"? If we are honest there are only two options. Either this promise is not a true statement or something has gone desperately wrong with the training of Christian children today. It is tempting to try to explain away what this verse means, but in Romans 3:4 and other verses God challenges us to believe His word and mistrust our own ideas,"Let God be true, but every man a liar." So if we are forced to accept that Christians today are significantly failing to bring up their children in the way that they should go, we must ask, "What is the way our children should go?" Unfortunately, the context in Proverbs 22 does not provide a clear cut explanation of what it means by "the way he should go". Instead we must look at the rest of the Bible to clarify this for us.

In Mark 12:29, Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment. Instead of listing one of the ten, he summarized them all in a powerful way. "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment." Can we really grasp what Jesus is saying? At the heart of the Christian faith IS our heart. The core factor in the way we should go is not a formula but a question . . . "Do you love me more than these?" More than these children? More than these pleasures? More than these goals or dreams? More than your favorite "comfort" diversion? Do you love me more than these? The life of a true Christian should be one of a passionate pursuit of this one goal. . . loving God more than anything or anyone else including ourselves. All of life should be seen as an opportunity for God to bring about this pure love for Him. Those trials that plow us under, the blessings that we selfishly cling to, the fears we can't push through, and the the sins that we keep succumbing to, all reveal other loves. If we choose to lay these down as they are revealed to us, our love for God will grow. However, so often we aren't willing to do this. Instead, we focus on lesser goals. Training up children to be responsible adults, even ones who go to church and don't do drugs or who get a decent job and provide for a family, or have interesting skills and hobbies all seem like goals that are worthwhile, but these truly are lesser goals than what Scripture calls us to. The reason why it is so tempting to focus on these kinds of goals is because it requires less from us. . . far less than what God is calling us to. God is calling us to love Him with all our hearts and then to give ourselves to reaching the lost and equipping believers. While winning the lost and equipping Christians must begin at home, it should not end there. Tim Tebow's parents understand that well. They were willing to raise their children along side hundreds of orphans. We may have a romantic picture of this . . . but consider for a moment the kinds of language, stories, diseases and behavior some of street-wise orphans might have. Tim's parents took a big risk --- that these harmful influences might overcome their five children --- but when God led them to do it, they obeyed. Tim says that his parents took his education and spiritual training very seriously, while still living a life poured out for others.

It is easy to slide into an assumption that something as external as home schooling is a silver bullet that will somehow keep our kids from going bad. Or that if we just provide them with enough positive activities or raise them in a strict conservative manner withdrawn from the world, we can escape the heartache of a child who wanders from their faith. Many tragic stories like the one that played out in Colorado a few weeks ago ought to remind us that training of children has no silver bullets. Training children is a costly, costly affair that has everything to do with heart issues in both parent and child.

And yet, if we are willing to step up and ask God to change our hearts so that we will love Him as we should and are willing to aim our children toward nothing less than what God calls all of his disciples to, then we can and should expect to raise earnest and bold Christians who walk on in the way they should go. They will not depart from that training but instead will bring glory to God by loving Him and pouring out their lives on behalf of His kingdom, even if they don't ever win the Heisman.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. 2 Chronicles 16:9

Feed My Sheep

" Feed my sheep" were the words that Jesus spoke to Peter that early morning on the beach. Surprising, since there were no sheep around and Peter's livelihood was fishing. None the less astounding was the fact that these words were spoken just weeks after Peter had denied that he even knew Jesus. Certainly they were not the words Peter would have expected to hear, especially since they were preceded by the probing question, "Do you love me?" The Bible only records Peter's words, but one can imagine the pain and remorse Peter must have felt when he humbly answered, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you." Gone was the swagger and bravado of earlier days. (Mk. 14:29) No longer was he boldly boasting of what he would do for Christ. What remained was a new humility and a simple love for Christ. "Feed my sheep," Jesus repeated.

"Feed my sheep" are the same words, Jesus would say to us as parents today. Just three simple words yet they are filled with volumes of meaning. It is so easy as our children grow to let the demands of life and busyness of ordinary days crowd out the eternal. The starting place is the little word "my". Do we really understand whose sheep they are? God loans us these precious little treasures and within weeks our hearts are so deeply bonded that we forget whose sheep they ultimately are... God's . Do I feel the weight of all that means? Am I really willing to acknowledge that they belong to Him? It is only by standing in the light of that truth that I am willing to adequately embrace the responsibility to feed his sheep.

However, even if I have accepted the truth that my children really belong to God, I can still fail to feed the sheep has entrusted into my (and my husband's) care. In my efforts to teach my children math and reading, and get them to piano and basketball lessons, am I adequately weighing the responsibility to nurture their souls? Have I really embraced the fact that it doesn't it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his soul? While I need to provide my children with skills to function in this world, developing those skills must not be my top priority. I must hear the words of Jesus, "Feed my sheep".

In this era of prepackaged food, whether it be animal feed or macaroni and cheese, food preparation is incredibly easy but in the time of Christ' earthly ministry, there was nothing easy about it. Every kitchen task was done by hand and every meal was painstakingly prepared. Today we have so many devotional books at our fingertips, it is easy to just eat "fast food" every day and feed the same to our family. But God promises his richest blessing on the reading of one book, the Bible. The smallest child can learn to be still while listening to the Scriptures and there are things we can do to help them along. I remember when my children were very young, I salvaged some extra Bible reading time with them by reading to them while they were eating. I would serve all their food, quickly grab my Bible and read between spilled glasses of milk and second helpings. This is not to say that other Christian books cannot be helpful but even these should be carefully selected. When we find one of those rare books that encourage us to faith and a deeper walk with God, they too can feed our children's souls and spur them on to God. Missionary biographies have been a wonderful help because many of those dear saints from long ago demonstrated a life given to God and spilled out for others.

As our children grow and their minds develop, our discussions about the Word of God can also deepen and widen. Walking through life, their disappointments, fears, and sorrows can be met with truths of the Bible and promises from God's Word. And gently applying God's Word to those sinful responses that we see in their lives rounds out the spiritual meal preparation that we owe to God's little sheep.

Just considering the challenge of the task of nurturing our children while carrying out all the responsibilities we have as home schooling mothers can overwhelm us. The last thing we want is one more ball that we have to keep in the air. Perhaps you used to challenge your children more spiritually but lately it has gone on the back burner. Looking at the time you have lost can be very discouraging. We had intended to do better but where have the years gone? As uncomfortable as it is this humble, helpless posture is really a very healthy one. Like Peter we find ourselves broken and needy, stripped of all our great plans of what we wanted to do for God. Instead we are left with only the confidence that the living God loves us, sinful as we often are, and that we love Him. From what better place to feed His sheep than from this humble, lowly place? It is exactly in this place that God can guide and lead us as we come to believe that He knows even more than we do how our children's souls are to be well fed and tenderly cared for.

Isaiah 55:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

By Kristen Martin

Mirror Moments

It was one of those "mirror moments". One of my children had just done something that made me grimace. Why did this little stunt cause such a response in me? It wasn't that the behavior was so offensive, but that I knew that he had learned that particular behavior from me. Sadly, the apple wasn't falling far from the tree...

"Mirror moments" are one of the bittersweet parts of parenting because they come in two different forms. It is truly a sweet experience when we catch one of our children imitating one of the good qualities or habits that have managed to develop in our lives over the years. Who can help but smile when we see our child bow in prayer when they can't find their favorite book, or display kindness toward a new kid at soccer. But then there are those painful times when we instead find them imitating our faults. "Oh no," we think. "This bad behavior that I've struggled so much with in my life is being picked up by my child!" Many parents see this pattern, feel overwhelmed and then just ignore the whole situation. In spite of how we FEEL at such a time, I'm convinced that these little events are one of the hidden treasures of parenting. God has blessed us with children partly because of the purifying effect of such moments, both for ourselves and for our children.

Now in order to benefit from our "mirror moments" we need to recognize what God is trying to do in them. What is the purpose of a mirror? It is to show us what we look like. When I find a piece of food on my collar on my way out the door, I can ignore the mirror and refuse to look at it any more, or I can be grateful that the mirror has helped me identify a problem that needs to be taken care of. God allows these moments of self-discovery with our children because He dearly wants to make us holy like He is. To do any less than gaze honestly into the mirror is to miss the blessing that God has in such encounters.

But to change, ah, that is is the difficulty. It is one thing to honestly look, but how does "looking" translate into "changing"? This is where another function of a mirror comes into play. What if instead of noticing a piece of food on my collar I notice a cancerous growth on my forehead? In this case, the mirror functions to show not only what I look like, but also whether the problem I discover is something that I can take care of on my own or not. In the case of a spot of melanoma, I desperately need the help of something or someone outside of myself. I have discovered something about myself for which I have no power to adequately address! Isn't this a picture of the sin patterns of our lives? Bold resolutions and creative strategies for change only end up highlighting what an honest look in the mirror should have told us. We are out of our league and desperately need help.

Uncomfortable as it is, this is exactly where our loving Heavenly Father wants us. It is not until we recognize our helplessness that we will look to the only One who can really do what is needed. When we finally turn the mirror away from ourselves and point it toward Christ, we will begin to notice change taking place in our areas of struggle. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18 As by the Spirit of the Lord?! Could it be that there is a Divine Physician who can rescue me from the patterns of sin that plague me and my children? Yes! And as we believe this wonderful truth and persevere in believing (trustingly obey), He quietly brings the healing and freedom that we long for.

But how does this all benefit my children who have picked up my bad habits? It is only this. Children don't need instructors as badly as they need examples. As I look to Jesus and allow His Spirit to deliver me from my sin, I will do far more for my child than I would by just confronting them about an area of sin in their life (although this is very important).I will be showing them how to overcome. And thus God allows the "mirror moments" to become a precious treasure to us both.