____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ May 14, 2000 ____________________________________________________ Letters to Our Children Unto Us A Child Is Born (First Letter) Tom M. Roberts Preface Many Christians know the ache of David's heart when he wept for his rebellious son, saying: ``O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son!'' (2 Samuel 18:33). David went aside by himself and wept bitter tears. Many Christians know the bitterness of such tears -- the helplessness that David must have felt -- the burden of regret and sorrow. One of the most terrible feelings known to Christians is that which is felt when a beloved son or daughter turns their back on Christ and becomes unfaithful. There are no words adequate to describe the broken hearts. This series of ``letters'' will describe some of the feelings that parents have when children reject God. No one family is described; rather a composite family drawn from many experiences is projected. It is hoped that parents will use these articles to open the door of young people's hearts to the tender love of Christ and remind them of their parents' love. They are also an appeal to our young people who have forgotten the most important lesson they will ever learn, ``Love God and keep His commandments.'' We urge you to use these letters to reach out to your wayward children as gentle reminders that the only true happiness is found in service to God. It is our prayer that even one might be restored as was the prodigal son in Luke 15: ``This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.'' The First Letter ``My dear child, I don't know if you will ever see this or read it, but there is such a burden on my heart that I must attempt to put it into words. ``Some time has passed since you have worshipped faithfully and you no longer seem to care about God and His will. The Lord's church does not seem to be important to you, and with the passing months your interest in spiritual matters seems to grow ever more cold. As we think on these things, your mother and I are filled with a sense of sorrow that is more than we can express. You are the most precious thing in this life to us and we know we are losing you to Satan. Will you take the time to read this letter that is written with a love that forces us to speak, even when hope is weak? ``How can we tell you how we felt when you were born? It seems ridiculous now to think of you as ever being so tiny and helpless when you have grown so tall and are making your own way in the world as an adult. Yet, there you were, just born and we held you with such love and tenderness, for you seemed so fragile. At that time we could never imagine the years would pass so quickly. All those old folks' stories about time going so fast are really true. It seems like yesterday to us that you were sent to us from heaven. ``There was such a mixture of emotions when we first saw you! You were a person, yet an extension of ourselves. We were awed when we realized that you were sent into our keeping from God to shape and mold and we had such good intentions. Believe me, you were really loved and tenderly cared for. We wanted to be such good parents! ``Somewhere between that blessed event and today some terrible mistakes were made. I suppose there is enough guilt to pass around to everyone: ourselves, you, society, the schools, the church. But I can only speak for myself when I say that I feel a terrible burden of failure when I see you turn your back on God. I am responsible for what I did! And for what I failed to do! Does it help at all to say that everything I did had good intentions behind it? All along the way I assumed that you would know this and overlook my mistakes because I loved you and wanted you to be the very best that you could be. Most important of all, I assumed that you would want to be a Christian. And this is our biggest failure of all. ``I remember teaching you to sing `Jesus Loves Me' at home. You really enjoyed singing when you were young. You toddled off to Bible classes and brought us the work sheets when you learned to print `Jesus loves me' by yourself. Do you remember any of this? What are your earliest recollections of life? We tried so hard to plant a love of God along with visits to the zoo and playing in the water and working in the yard. Do you remember your first prayers at the dinner table? Do you remember playing with the children of other Christians and the enjoyable visits we had with our good friends in the church? These were good times and we truly were happy as we watched you grow. These memories seem so bittersweet now that things have changed so much. It is true that we cannot go back to these times, but just the memory of them means so much to us. I wish I could know how much of these things you remember. I wish I could know if such memories mean the same to you or if you have shelved them away somewhere. ``Since I cannot say all that I want to say now, I will write you again. As I close this letter, I want to ask a favor of you. Will you search your memory to see how much God was a part of your early life? Wasn't He more than just `going to church,' or `getting your Bible study'? Didn't you truly love God when you were young? We thought you did and we were so proud of you. In those years you were all that we hoped you would be. We thanked God for you and for the pleasure you brought to us. It is our prayer that you may recall those early memories of the love you had for God and think about it until you hear again from, Your Loving Dad'' -- Via Watchman, July 1999 ___________________________________________ Letters to our Children Our Child Is Reborn (Second Letter) Tom M. Roberts ``My dear child: Memories and emotions are such powerful forces. When I wrote to you the last time, I mentioned a part of my memories of your childhood. I don't know how that affected you, but it had a tremendous effect on me. Just speaking of these things intensifies my desire to see you restored to the fellowship of God. You were so happy then and I wish for you this same happiness once more. ``Indulge me just a little more and see if you can remember when you were baptized. Since religion is no more an important part of your life, I am interested if you recall the sincerity with which you expressed a desire to me to obey your Lord by being baptized. I remember talking with you since you were a little young, I thought. You reminded me that people were taught to be baptized when they knew they were sinners and that you knew you had done things that were wrong and believed that you were lost. You said that you wanted to go to heaven when you died and knew baptism to be right. Your mother and I realized that this had to be your decision and were proud of you. We have the date marked down somewhere. It is printed indelibly in our minds. But can you remember your feelings then? Surely you must have loved God and had faith in Him at that moment in your life. You were not pressured into being baptized; it had never been a matter of force. You came seeking to do God's will and seemed to do it gladly. I am wondering what importance you put on this even now. It was a great event for us then, and it remains so to this day. For us, it meant that you were a part of the kingdom of Christ, a member of His church. Your sins were washed away and as much as anything, it seemed that you were taking the initiative in living right. No one pushed you into baptism; it was something you wanted to do. Do you have any regrets about it now? If you had it to do over again, would you be so eager to be right with God? ``Can you imagine how your mother and I felt when you served us the Lord's supper the first time as you `waited on the table'? You seemed so small up in front of the congregation with the grown men and you were nervous. You were afraid you would drop the plates, remember? But I knew you could do it and you did. You were dressed so neatly in your suit and were so sincere in doing everything right that I wanted to burst with happiness. Even as a young teenager, you were everything that we wanted you to be. Sure, we had discipline problems with you ... you were a boy, weren't you? We had some disappointments along the way, but the total of your life was good and decent and right. We never missed worship services. We never missed gospel meetings. You even led singing in some of the training classes and in the assembly a number of times. You led prayers and led the prayer at the table at home. Did we ever tell you how proud we were? Maybe this was the beginning of some major mistakes. We assumed you knew how we felt and how proud we were. If we failed in this, please accept our apology. We just knew that you understood how we felt. But maybe we took this too much for granted. ``I feel also that I was too busy with work during this time and didn't spend enough time with you in everyday things. We were together in the evenings and on weekends as we worshipped together, but maybe I should have gone fishing with you more or showed you how to use tools ... just anything to keep a close relationship. Because it was somewhere along these early teenage years that you must have begun to develop an interest outside the home and church that has made such a change in your values. I have spent many hours looking back, trying to analyze just where I could have used more wisdom, could have spent more time with you. It bothered me when you began to have friends outside the church more and more, but I thought this would be a passing thing. You had always done what was right before and I believed you would keep on doing what was right. But, if I can put my finger on a period in your life when you began to change, it is right here. Your interest turned away form home and the church as you began to make friends in the world. ``When I write to you again, I would like to talk to you about the beginning of troubles at home with you. I do not bring these up to stir old animosities but to analyze, to search, to seek for answers. I still see in you the possibility of right living. I still hope for you a heavenly home. So please bear with me as I speak of things that are painful to both of us. Sometimes a bitter dose of medicine can bring about wonderful healing. If opening my heart to you, however painful it may be, can help bring you closer to God, it is well worth it. ``May God grant you life and health both here and hereafter. ``Lovingly, Dad'' -- Via Watchman, July 1999 ___________________________________________ Letters to Our Children will be concluded next week. ___________________________________________ Thoughts That Live On by Tom Edwards Well, the truck was all packed. I was proceeding down the road toward my new destination and many miles from the home I had just moved from. Then it occurred to me: I had forgotten the aloe plant that a friend had given! As I thought about this, I realized that though the plant had been left behind, the memory of the kindness had not. And even after the plant would wither and die, the friendly gesture in how I received it would live on. Some things just never die. This also reminds me of another ``moving'' story about a preacher who was going to work in a new congregation. While in the process of getting ready to move, he said goodbye to an elderly woman who responded by saying, ``Well, sir, you'll be busy packing up your belongings, I expect?'' ``Yes,'' he replied. ``I have only a few things to get into boxes now.'' ``There's one thing you won't be able to pack up, sir,'' the lady informed him. ``You'll have to leave that behind.'' Not knowing what she referred to, the preacher inquired. In a soft voice, she kindly explained, ``You can't pack up your influence, sir.'' Yes, the way we live becomes our influence, which can remain many years after we are even gone; and how we choose to live our lives will determine what type of impact--whether good or bad--that influence will have on others. I've often been impressed with what the Bible says about Abel, a man who lived so many hundreds of years ago. Yet, as Hebrews 11:4 declares, ''...though he is dead, he still speaks.'' The thousands of years that this man has been gone have not detracted from the good example he had led and has left behind. We are still encouraged by the faithful relationship Abel had with God and inspired by it to do likewise. What do our lives say to the world around us? What will our lives say when we're gone? What will our lives say about the importance of church? about spiritual things? about striving for a Christ-like spirit? Will our lives show that we had actually rejected the Lord--regardless of how often we declared to know Him? As Paul writes, ``They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him....'' (Titus 1:16). And when it comes to influence, how we live will very much outweigh what we say. Therefore, if we want to instill in our children or the newly converted the importance of attending church, what will the impact be if we ourselves do not go? To effectively teach them right from wrong, we must show them this in our lives by striving to live righteously and refraining from that which would be displeasing to God (cf. Matt. 7:3-5). We need to maintain a proper influence in this world that we might help promote the cause of Christ. As Jesus instructs, ``You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peckmeasure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven'' (Matt. 5:14-16). To live a life that brings glory to God should certainly be our chief aim; and does not this--regarding those who see our good works and glorify God--indicate that these individuals were encouraged by our influence to submit to the Lord themselves, so that they could truly praise Him as His people? I am thankful for all the good brethren that I have met down through the years whose influence remains with me--even though many of these are no longer in the land of the living. Yet, their good example still brings comfort and encouragement; and what greater legacy can one leave behind than the legacy of a good influence that promotes the cause of Christ? May our lives always shine brightly for the Lord--as a flame that can never be snuffed out! ________________________________________ Avondale CHURCH OF CHRIST P.O. Box 421 1606 Glen Willow Rd., Avondale, PA 19311 (610) 268-2088 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 11:00 A.M. Worship 6:00 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:00 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (610) 925-3567 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________