Here are tons of pictures.
BJ is 9 1/2.
Jonathan is 8.
Lilly is almost 7.
Michael is almost 5.
Stephen is 3.
Joshua is just about 22 months.
Caleb is 5 weeks.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Meet Caleb Joseph Sersaw
When we found out we were expecting our 7th child, we didn't tell a lot of people. Too many people in this world are quick to judge and do not truly value human life. Think about it, if God creates life and He is in control of everything, how can we question Him or His timing? As Christians, we all stand against abortion. We believe in the sanctity of human life, but how many of us have been quick to judge or say something about larger families? Should those families be made to feel bad by others just because God blesses them with a new baby? Sadly, that happens and happens way too often in the pro-life community. Anyway, when we found out we were expecting Caleb, we did question God and His timing, but we knew that He has a plan for everything, and if He believed it was time for the Sersaws to have another child, then so be it (we secretly hoped he would be a girl though).
When we found out that Caleb was definitely a boy and would not be a girl, we told the kids. We were concerned about Lilly as she has been praying and praying for God to give her a baby sister. She handled the news rather well, and still to this day prays for a baby sister or for an opportunity to adopt a sister. All of course went well throughout the pregnancy except for some increased pain issues that were mainly attributed to my hip (two surgeries on left hip and there is an incorrectable deformity in the ball and socket joint). I just had to be more careful and realize that hopefully once Caleb was born all would go back to normal.
When I went to the doctor at almost 39 weeks, I was discouraged to find out I was only 1 cm dilated. I have always had our babies early and usually dilated to at least 2 cm by 36 weeks. The doctor said he was a little concerned that I was not appearing to be anywhere close to ready, but he wanted to give it another week and see what happened. He did do something that he said may help it a little. All I got out of it was more pain. Oh well.
On Friday, August 21st, the pain from my doctor appointment on the 19th still had not subsided. I also noticed that the normal braxton hicks contractions that I have from about seven months on were definitely getting stronger and started to wonder if maybe we would have a repeat of Joshua's birth -- labor on Friday and birth on Saturday. I contacted my mom to find out her plans for the day, and then said I didn't really think anything would happen. Mistake on my part. By 10:00 Friday evening, I was starting to have more pain -- nothing regular as usual. By midnight, I was counting to take my mind off the pain and figured if I were to go in, I could convince labor and delivery to let me stay. Plus, I love getting the epidural before anything is too bad. It really helps me with my hip and makes everything very easy. We tried to call my parents, but no one answered the phone. We continually tried all night long to no avail. I kept on saying I would just hold out, but we both knew that I probably should go in. According to my doctor, they didn't want me to go in until the contractions were five minutes apart and a minute long. I was not going to follow those rules though because I wanted an epidural earlier than that. We eventually got the kids up sometime after 4 on Saturday morning, August 22nd, and drove over to my parent's house and knocked on the door and rang the doorbell until they answered. We gave them the kids and headed to the hospital. By this point, I thought maybe the contractions were splitting or something. They were still 10 to 12 minutes apart, with pain lasting about 30 to 45 seconds but would come, go away, come back in 2 minutes, and then not come back again for another 10 minutes or so.
We got to the hospital and walked into Labor and Delivery. I was able to tell the nurse everything, and she told me to do all the standard changing, using the bathroom, etc. Well, I went to use the bathroom, had a contraction, and then the water broke. Now, I knew from experience that when the doctor breaks my water, I deliver within 30 minutes or less. I believe that I started to panic at this point as I still had no IV, no bloodwork, and no epidural. It may not matter to some, but when you have a hip problem, that epidural is a lifesaver when it comes to pain. We told the nurse that we thought my water broke, and she said she would check. I was only at 5 cm. This was probably around 5:45 to 6:00 in the morning. After that point though, every contraction was extremely painful and rather often. I am not sure which was worse -- the pain in my hips or the actual contractions. They got the IV in and ran the bloodwork, but when they checked me again, I moved from a 6 to an 8 in one contraction. The nurse said she may need to prepare for a nurse delivery. Luckily my doctor was nearby, and he was able to get to the room. I think I realized that I really wasn't going to get that epidural or anything, and I sort of panicked, but the doctor and staff, as well as Brian, were great at helping me through it all and Caleb was born at 6:27 in the morning. He was small but healthy. He did have a little bit of a problem transitioning, just like Joshua, but other than that he was perfectly fine at 5 pounds, 12 ounces, and 18 1/2 inches long. He has the darkest hair of all of our kids. He is so small right now that he swims in all of his clothes, but he is a sweet baby.
We are very thankful to God in all of this. He was in control of it all from day one. I could have easily had Caleb in the car, or somewhere else, but God let us get to the hospital in time. Who knows. Maybe he allowed him to be small on purpose -- to make it easier on me. Now we are in the recovery phase. I am having some severe issues with pain associated with my hips, but the doctors say we just have to give it time to see if it clears up on its own, or if we have perhaps had some damage done. We will just cross each bridge as we come to it. God always carries us through. We would not trade Caleb in for any other child, and our family loves him dearly. God has truly blessed us with seven wonderful, healthy children, and we look forward to all that He has in store for us in the years to come.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Thinking about children's ministry
I'm thinking that when it come to children's ministry I'll just aim lower, think smaller, give up, and have a cup of coffee (even though I don't own a coffee maker and rarely drink coffee anyway). Before you criticize me, please watch this video. -- Brian
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Homeschooling: Pros and Cons
As many know, all of our kids are home schooled. They will usually say that they love it. They don't have to wake up early in the morning, and they don't have to do school all day long simply because let's face it, it doesn't take all day to learn when you don't have an entire class of distractions.
There are some cons to homeschooling. One of those is the time that it requires. I can't work on laundry, or clean house, or get other chores done very easily when homeschooling because I have four kids on four different grade levels, and they have a tendency to get off task if left unattended. Then you of course have the issue of the younger kids wanting your attention and time as well. We usually try to let the younger kids sit and color and work on workbooks, crafts, and things like that. Another con to homeschooling is that it is very easy to clash with your child. Depending on how you are homeschooling, if you are doing a lot of the teaching (which we are since I am more than capable of being able to teach elementary age curriculum -- use Abeka and some other curriculum), you can have issues where your child will get an attitude. This is something that may not happen as often if they were at regular school. We usually are able to work through those issues though. Most of the cons to homeschooling can be worked through, making homeschooling a very wonderful experience.
There are so many pros to homeschooling. One that I really love is that my kids are never sick. They don't have to go around kids who go to school on a regular basis with colds and other contagious infections. It is very, very nice. Also, with homeschooling, you can work at your own pace. Yes, your child is in a grade and yes you want them to be equal if not ahead of their peers, but it isn't the end of the world if you get behind. You can very easily catch up. My younger kids also have a habit of learning more advanced concepts early because they are there when their older siblings are learning them as well. Lilly and Jonathan both do BJ's third grade social studies and science if the assignment is doable. Lilly may require some additional assistance, but she picks up on the ideas and concepts very quickly. Another thing I like about homeschooling is that as a parent, I can control what my children are learning. I don't have to worry about them being exposed to values, principles, and lifestyles that are against God's Word. Do we talk about abortion, homosexuality, and other sins? Yes, in age appropriate discussions at appropriate times. We don't shelter our kids just because they are home schooled, but we also don't expose them to things that would have a negative impact on them.
Why did we choose to home school? Well, actually we were forced to do it. We couldn't get the kids in the school that we wanted them to go to, and we could not afford to send them to private Christian school. It is working out great though. Brian grew up in public school, and I grew up in a private Christian school until high school, so after discussing it, we had always said that our kids would either be home schooled or attend a private Christian school. Will they later move to a private Christian school from the home school environment? We would like them to maybe around late elementary or middle school if they want to and if we have the finances and find a school that we would like to send them to. Also, we will let our children go to a public high school if that school has classes and other courses that they could not get by being home schooled or in a private school and those were classes and activities that they would really want to be able to participate in. Who knows, maybe we will like homeschooling so much that they will just stay home schooled and be able to take college courses in high school. We are just taking each year at a time and going as God leads us. --Jennifer
There are some cons to homeschooling. One of those is the time that it requires. I can't work on laundry, or clean house, or get other chores done very easily when homeschooling because I have four kids on four different grade levels, and they have a tendency to get off task if left unattended. Then you of course have the issue of the younger kids wanting your attention and time as well. We usually try to let the younger kids sit and color and work on workbooks, crafts, and things like that. Another con to homeschooling is that it is very easy to clash with your child. Depending on how you are homeschooling, if you are doing a lot of the teaching (which we are since I am more than capable of being able to teach elementary age curriculum -- use Abeka and some other curriculum), you can have issues where your child will get an attitude. This is something that may not happen as often if they were at regular school. We usually are able to work through those issues though. Most of the cons to homeschooling can be worked through, making homeschooling a very wonderful experience.
There are so many pros to homeschooling. One that I really love is that my kids are never sick. They don't have to go around kids who go to school on a regular basis with colds and other contagious infections. It is very, very nice. Also, with homeschooling, you can work at your own pace. Yes, your child is in a grade and yes you want them to be equal if not ahead of their peers, but it isn't the end of the world if you get behind. You can very easily catch up. My younger kids also have a habit of learning more advanced concepts early because they are there when their older siblings are learning them as well. Lilly and Jonathan both do BJ's third grade social studies and science if the assignment is doable. Lilly may require some additional assistance, but she picks up on the ideas and concepts very quickly. Another thing I like about homeschooling is that as a parent, I can control what my children are learning. I don't have to worry about them being exposed to values, principles, and lifestyles that are against God's Word. Do we talk about abortion, homosexuality, and other sins? Yes, in age appropriate discussions at appropriate times. We don't shelter our kids just because they are home schooled, but we also don't expose them to things that would have a negative impact on them.
Why did we choose to home school? Well, actually we were forced to do it. We couldn't get the kids in the school that we wanted them to go to, and we could not afford to send them to private Christian school. It is working out great though. Brian grew up in public school, and I grew up in a private Christian school until high school, so after discussing it, we had always said that our kids would either be home schooled or attend a private Christian school. Will they later move to a private Christian school from the home school environment? We would like them to maybe around late elementary or middle school if they want to and if we have the finances and find a school that we would like to send them to. Also, we will let our children go to a public high school if that school has classes and other courses that they could not get by being home schooled or in a private school and those were classes and activities that they would really want to be able to participate in. Who knows, maybe we will like homeschooling so much that they will just stay home schooled and be able to take college courses in high school. We are just taking each year at a time and going as God leads us. --Jennifer
Friday, February 6, 2009
"Do You Hear What The Children Are Saying?"
I can remember in high school an advertisement on the television asking parents, "It's 12 am, do you know where your children are?" Most of the time I'd laugh and say to a friend near me, "I'm at a church youth fellowship and yes my parents know!"
Well, it's 4:56 am and I'm the parent. I had a visit from a very tired 2 1/2 year old at 1:30 am who was complaining that the music was off (we have CD players in their rooms that play classical or children's music to them as they drift off to sleep). I escorted him back to bed and turned the music on for him. I, however, could not easily be guided off to the realm of dreams.
So, I am here and God's Word is with me. I flipped through the pages until I reached the first book of the New Testament and over to page 1039 (for those not able to see my Bible right now the passage is Matthew 21:1-16). On that page, I began to read about the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I read, and of course, I was drawn in when I read about the children. They very innocently were caught up into the festive nature of the procession and proclaimed, "Hosanna to the Son of David," all the way up to the Temple grounds. This didn't set too well with the religious leaders who were not happy with Jesus in the first place. They asked Jesus, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" Of course, these are religious leaders, so Jesus referred to the only authority they should not refute -- Scripture (specifically Psalms 8:2). Long story short, the religious leaders had no problem with Scripture, they just hated that this song of praise by David was being used for a descendent of David as a proclamation of Messiahship by almost everyone including children.
I regress. The eye catcher for me in this passage is the words of the religious leaders, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" Obviously, someone was not listening! As a father, I trip up sometimes and do not really hear what my children are saying. This is really a detriment when they are bringing a concern about waste management. Sometimes, my listening is too good and I hear my children say things that they shouldn't. However, recently my hearing has been excellent. You see, from praises by my two older boys, who are Christians, and the testimony of my daughter's six year old friend, I had the opportunity to lead my daughter to Christ. I'm so glad I was listening.
Children are amazing in that they never relent when they hear something good and want to tell you about it. My oldest will be celebrating his 9th birthday and he's never missed a day of telling us what he wants and why. A child is also honest in that what comes from their lips is what is in their hearts (Matthew 12:34). The question is, are we actively listening to what we are saying? It is so easy to be negative, but really with a God who loves us and can provide for us why do we waste our words? Read Philippians 4:10-13 if you want some encouragement. My hope is that when the devil whispers, "Do you hear what Brian is saying?" that my Lord is saying back, "All I hear is praise."
Well, it's 4:56 am and I'm the parent. I had a visit from a very tired 2 1/2 year old at 1:30 am who was complaining that the music was off (we have CD players in their rooms that play classical or children's music to them as they drift off to sleep). I escorted him back to bed and turned the music on for him. I, however, could not easily be guided off to the realm of dreams.
So, I am here and God's Word is with me. I flipped through the pages until I reached the first book of the New Testament and over to page 1039 (for those not able to see my Bible right now the passage is Matthew 21:1-16). On that page, I began to read about the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I read, and of course, I was drawn in when I read about the children. They very innocently were caught up into the festive nature of the procession and proclaimed, "Hosanna to the Son of David," all the way up to the Temple grounds. This didn't set too well with the religious leaders who were not happy with Jesus in the first place. They asked Jesus, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" Of course, these are religious leaders, so Jesus referred to the only authority they should not refute -- Scripture (specifically Psalms 8:2). Long story short, the religious leaders had no problem with Scripture, they just hated that this song of praise by David was being used for a descendent of David as a proclamation of Messiahship by almost everyone including children.
I regress. The eye catcher for me in this passage is the words of the religious leaders, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" Obviously, someone was not listening! As a father, I trip up sometimes and do not really hear what my children are saying. This is really a detriment when they are bringing a concern about waste management. Sometimes, my listening is too good and I hear my children say things that they shouldn't. However, recently my hearing has been excellent. You see, from praises by my two older boys, who are Christians, and the testimony of my daughter's six year old friend, I had the opportunity to lead my daughter to Christ. I'm so glad I was listening.
Children are amazing in that they never relent when they hear something good and want to tell you about it. My oldest will be celebrating his 9th birthday and he's never missed a day of telling us what he wants and why. A child is also honest in that what comes from their lips is what is in their hearts (Matthew 12:34). The question is, are we actively listening to what we are saying? It is so easy to be negative, but really with a God who loves us and can provide for us why do we waste our words? Read Philippians 4:10-13 if you want some encouragement. My hope is that when the devil whispers, "Do you hear what Brian is saying?" that my Lord is saying back, "All I hear is praise."
Monday, December 29, 2008
Little Ones
As many of you already know, I am a father of six children. I make it a practice every day to raise up my children to the Lord for His blessing on their lives as they grow. I mainly do this because even though it is my job to work to take care of their needs, I have to acknowledge the fact that I cannot do that sufficiently without the Lord's blessing. If I try to do this under my own power, I may fall under the example of many who work all day and feel that a paycheck alone is caring for their children's needs. These parents end up never knowing who their children really are. I could also be a parent that is involved in every aspect of their child's life and end up seeing my children drift away because they are tired of looking at me. All of this to say that I can't be everything for my children, but as a parent who loves and serves the Lord, I must acknowledge that He can be everything to them. I admit that I need the Lord's help when it comes to raising my children.
In reading Matthew 19: 13-15 and Mark 10: 13-16, I find that there are various perspectives that can be taken concerning the parents bringing their children to Jesus. It is easy to look at the disciples and become indignant in their refusal to allow the parents to bother Jesus with their children while He is teaching. In Mark 10:14, even Jesus became indignant about that. We can look at the perspective of Jesus as He sees an opportunity to teach about how to come to the kingdom of God and write a whole entire book, but I want to focus on the perspective of the parents.
As a parent, we want what is best for our children. We search out the best schools. We shop for the best clothes. We try our best to give our children what we know that they need, and these parents in the Bible knew that a blessing from Jesus was one of the greatest honors that they could provide for their children. I would like to think that when Jesus talked about the faith of the children being the key to the kingdom that there may have been a moment when he looked at the parents and smiled. I firmly believe He knew that they had the faith of a child to bring their children to Him for His blessing. I would love to recognize these parents who knew that they were not sufficient enough to give their children everything but sought the Lord's blessing knowing that through Him, their children's needs could be met.
My desire is to pursue our Lord in ministry to children, and as I pursue it, I am always trying to find ways to provide an opportunity to reach out to them with the message of Christ. However, I have to heed the warning that comes from the disciples' example. If I find that what I do in ministry prevents an opportunity to holistically meet the needs of an entire family, then woe to me for stepping in the Lord's way. An example of this would be to plan out a marriage enrichment activity and not provide anything for the children to do at the same time. What a great opportunity and testimony a ministry could have when the parents have trust that in their search to understand God that they can place their very precious treasure, their children, in the hands of people who will be a blessing from the Lord to them. As a minister, I can't help but to look at these parents who desire the best for their children by bringing them to the Lord, and wholeheartedly let them come into His presence by providing opportunities to care for the whole family and not just focusing on the needs of one or the other.
Jesus taught the disciples that the only way to enter His kingdom is as a child. This is a faith that we tend to lose when we focus on our own personal needs and not on the big picture of reaching to others. The disciples had a lesson in this earlier when they argued over who was the greatest in the kingdom, and Jesus corrected them by using the example of a child. Once again, they failed to listen and could have very well disillusioned a group of parents who desired to reach out to the Lord on behalf of their children. Jesus saw the faith of these parents and the actions that they were taking and knew that this was probably one of the greatest teaching moments available. When we acknowledge our inability to meet our needs, and look to Him as the one who can sufficiently meet our crucial need which is a relationship with God through Him, that is when we show faith as a child and truly see the way to salvation. When we come to Jesus Christ knowing that we have a debt due to our sins, and acknowledge that He can forgive us of our sins and establish a right relationship with Him, we have the faith of a child, and we can become a part of the kingdom of God. What are we doing today to allow "little ones" to come to Christ? Are we gearing our ministries to meet one particular need or are we focusing on the fact that our Lord wants us to reach out completely and holistically when it comes to ministry to children and their families? -- Brian
In reading Matthew 19: 13-15 and Mark 10: 13-16, I find that there are various perspectives that can be taken concerning the parents bringing their children to Jesus. It is easy to look at the disciples and become indignant in their refusal to allow the parents to bother Jesus with their children while He is teaching. In Mark 10:14, even Jesus became indignant about that. We can look at the perspective of Jesus as He sees an opportunity to teach about how to come to the kingdom of God and write a whole entire book, but I want to focus on the perspective of the parents.
As a parent, we want what is best for our children. We search out the best schools. We shop for the best clothes. We try our best to give our children what we know that they need, and these parents in the Bible knew that a blessing from Jesus was one of the greatest honors that they could provide for their children. I would like to think that when Jesus talked about the faith of the children being the key to the kingdom that there may have been a moment when he looked at the parents and smiled. I firmly believe He knew that they had the faith of a child to bring their children to Him for His blessing. I would love to recognize these parents who knew that they were not sufficient enough to give their children everything but sought the Lord's blessing knowing that through Him, their children's needs could be met.
My desire is to pursue our Lord in ministry to children, and as I pursue it, I am always trying to find ways to provide an opportunity to reach out to them with the message of Christ. However, I have to heed the warning that comes from the disciples' example. If I find that what I do in ministry prevents an opportunity to holistically meet the needs of an entire family, then woe to me for stepping in the Lord's way. An example of this would be to plan out a marriage enrichment activity and not provide anything for the children to do at the same time. What a great opportunity and testimony a ministry could have when the parents have trust that in their search to understand God that they can place their very precious treasure, their children, in the hands of people who will be a blessing from the Lord to them. As a minister, I can't help but to look at these parents who desire the best for their children by bringing them to the Lord, and wholeheartedly let them come into His presence by providing opportunities to care for the whole family and not just focusing on the needs of one or the other.
Jesus taught the disciples that the only way to enter His kingdom is as a child. This is a faith that we tend to lose when we focus on our own personal needs and not on the big picture of reaching to others. The disciples had a lesson in this earlier when they argued over who was the greatest in the kingdom, and Jesus corrected them by using the example of a child. Once again, they failed to listen and could have very well disillusioned a group of parents who desired to reach out to the Lord on behalf of their children. Jesus saw the faith of these parents and the actions that they were taking and knew that this was probably one of the greatest teaching moments available. When we acknowledge our inability to meet our needs, and look to Him as the one who can sufficiently meet our crucial need which is a relationship with God through Him, that is when we show faith as a child and truly see the way to salvation. When we come to Jesus Christ knowing that we have a debt due to our sins, and acknowledge that He can forgive us of our sins and establish a right relationship with Him, we have the faith of a child, and we can become a part of the kingdom of God. What are we doing today to allow "little ones" to come to Christ? Are we gearing our ministries to meet one particular need or are we focusing on the fact that our Lord wants us to reach out completely and holistically when it comes to ministry to children and their families? -- Brian
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Two Money Makers
This blog came to me as I was previewing a book I offered to my oldest son to use for an assignment in his AWANA book. The assignment was to read a book about a missionary and write a short summary about them. The book I offered to him was given to me while I served as a summer missionary in Pennsylvania. It is entitled Borden of Yale by Mrs. Howard Taylor (Bethany House Publishers, 1988). The book is about a young, wealthy man, William Borden, who in the late 1800's had forsaken his life of big business to become a missionary to the unreached people of Kansu, China. He trained at two prominent theological seminaries, Yale and Princeton, and performed vital ministry at a respected organization with the initials Y.M.C.A. He sadly died at the age of 25 in Egypt.
Needless to say, this child who read all seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia series complained that the book was too long (207 pages) and didn't want to use it. He chose another shorter text while I gleaned a few passages from the discarded book. I saw two familiar names at the start of the seventeenth chapter and the author's commentary concerning the release of the last will and testament of both men.
The passage reads:
Two remarkable wills were probated within a few days of each other in the spring that followed Borden's sailing for Egypt, one his own, made in the fall of 1912, and the other that of J. Pierpont Morgan, who died possessed of almost a hundred million dollars. Though a devout believer, who prefaced his will with the statement, "I commit my soul into the hands of my Savior, in full confidence that having redeemed it and washed it in His most precious blood, He will present it faultless before the throne of my Heavenly Father." Mr. Morgan at the age of seventy-five left little more than half as much to the work of God as William Borden left at twenty-five.
The last sentence of the passage impressed me, but didn't surprise me. I saw that despite the shared beliefs of the two prominent gentlemen that the end goal of each was profoundly different concerning their investments. Borden looked to the needs of the less fortunate in China and reaped an outstanding testimony of service that inspired many to share the Gospel of Christ to the world. The other, J.P. Morgan, left a wealth that now our present government is foolishly trying to save due to unwise investments. What we invest is important, but what we invest IN gives the tell-tale sign of what we foresee the future should look like.
I want to conclude this blog with a quote from the first paragraph of chapter seventeen:
Who is there tonight who can always see the shadow of the Cross falling upon his banking account? Who is there who has the mark of the nails and the print of the spear in his plans and life, his love and devotion and daily program of intercession? Who is there who has heard the word of Jesus and is quietly, obediently, every day, as He has told you and me, taking up his cross to follow Him? -- Rev. Samuel M. Zwemer, D.D.
(Please read Luke 18:18-30)
-- Brian
Needless to say, this child who read all seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia series complained that the book was too long (207 pages) and didn't want to use it. He chose another shorter text while I gleaned a few passages from the discarded book. I saw two familiar names at the start of the seventeenth chapter and the author's commentary concerning the release of the last will and testament of both men.
The passage reads:
Two remarkable wills were probated within a few days of each other in the spring that followed Borden's sailing for Egypt, one his own, made in the fall of 1912, and the other that of J. Pierpont Morgan, who died possessed of almost a hundred million dollars. Though a devout believer, who prefaced his will with the statement, "I commit my soul into the hands of my Savior, in full confidence that having redeemed it and washed it in His most precious blood, He will present it faultless before the throne of my Heavenly Father." Mr. Morgan at the age of seventy-five left little more than half as much to the work of God as William Borden left at twenty-five.
The last sentence of the passage impressed me, but didn't surprise me. I saw that despite the shared beliefs of the two prominent gentlemen that the end goal of each was profoundly different concerning their investments. Borden looked to the needs of the less fortunate in China and reaped an outstanding testimony of service that inspired many to share the Gospel of Christ to the world. The other, J.P. Morgan, left a wealth that now our present government is foolishly trying to save due to unwise investments. What we invest is important, but what we invest IN gives the tell-tale sign of what we foresee the future should look like.
I want to conclude this blog with a quote from the first paragraph of chapter seventeen:
Who is there tonight who can always see the shadow of the Cross falling upon his banking account? Who is there who has the mark of the nails and the print of the spear in his plans and life, his love and devotion and daily program of intercession? Who is there who has heard the word of Jesus and is quietly, obediently, every day, as He has told you and me, taking up his cross to follow Him? -- Rev. Samuel M. Zwemer, D.D.
(Please read Luke 18:18-30)
-- Brian
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