The Legacy of Faith

This past week I moved into my new office. With each move comes the work of moving books, files and other stuff. But this move turned out to be quite special as I placed books on my shelf.

About half the books I possess have been passed on to me from my grandfather who was a pastor/evangelist. The two most cherished items I have in my collection are two Bibles that belonged to him.

The one is my grandfather's Bible that he used to preach from and thus has many of his handwritten notes in it. That alone is very special. After his death, my grandmother passed it on to me and wrote this in the front;

"Presented to Tim, my dearly loved grandson. Grandpa's greatest delight would be to know that you are reading and studying the Book. Just as Elijah pass on his mantle to Elisha, I know grandpa would pass the mantle on to you Tim and want you to carry on where he left off. In Grandpa's first Bible he wrote these words: This Book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this Book." - Love Grandma (Christmas 1989)

The other one is a Bible he used at various points, but grandma had written down the notes from my induction service into my first Senior pastoral ministry. How cool to have the Bible that grandma had on that very proud day for her. In the very front it reads the following three points from my induction service;

Induction Service - Tim - August 16, 1998

1. Guard the Gospel
2. Transfer the Truth
3. Preach the Word

2 Timothy - Dr. Launstein (the gentleman who preached the service)

I share all this as my heart was overflowing with gratitude this past week for the legacy of faith that has been passed down to me. Lord help me pass it on to the next generation!