Dear Children and Grandchildren,

I have enjoyed the Word of God more than I ever have since I am no longer preaching 3 or 4 times a week and am not pressed for time. Some times I find things I'd like to share with all of you, or some of you individually. With your mother's encouragement I'd like to start a "Bible Blog" and share some of my thoughts with you. Last night I told Joanna that I opened a can of "Pork and Beans" for supper, (your mother is in Arizona helping Becky while Adam recuperates from a serious operation) but I found no pork so I renamed it "Beans and Beans". With a hearty laugh she wondered if I had "looked under every bean?' I trust what I send you will have some "pork" but if you find it to be only "beans" just push the delete button.

Ps.119:168 "I have kept Thy precepts and Thy testimonies: for all my ways are before Thee," As you were growing up one of the things I was careful to emphasize in our daily devotions was that the time would come when you would no longer be under the eye of Mom and Dad but you would never be out of sight of God's eye. What an encouragement we find here to keep God's Word. "all my ways are before Thee,"

"Experience makes many a paradox plain, and this is one. Before God we may be clear of open fault and yet at the same time mourn over a thousand heart-wanderings which need his restoring hand."--C.H. Spurgeon

"I may hide Thee from my eye, but not myself from Thine eye."--Wm. Gurnall

Friday, January 2, 2009

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." III Jn. 4

Dear Children,

My Amish and Mennonite forefathers, from five or more generations back, handed down to me a paper called "INSTRUCTIONS TO MY CHILDREN" translated from the German. The earliest date we have for it is 1808 but it is probably older. These instructions are replete with counseling on salvation and Godly living. It was passed on to me by Sem Johns whose great, great grandfather, Amishman Joseph Johns, was the founder of Johnstown.

Sem writes in this paper: “On the 20th of August, 1933, I was permitted to hold the first child of the 5th living generation, great great grand-child Ronald Earl Blough. He was not quite four weeks old...I am now past 83 years, and as Joshua said (Josh. 23:2), ‘waxed old and stricken in years’...I admonish you to believe the whole Bible as the inspired word of God. II Tim. 3:16, Rev. 22:18,19…”

There is a wealth of material and Godly instruction in this paper--it is yellowed with age and fragile, but we were able to have it copied. If you are interested in having a copy, let me know. Dad

"Parents must see to it that their children know the fear of the Lord, and they must beg the Lord Himself to teach them this truth. We have no hereditary right to the divine favor: the Lord keeps up his friendship to families from generation to generation, for He is loth to leave the descendants of His servants, and never does so except under grievous and long-continued provocation. As believers we are all in a measure under some such covenant as that of David: certain of us can look backward for four generations of saintly ancestors, and we are now glad to look forward and to see our children, and our children's children, walking in truth. Yet we know that grace does not run in the blood, and we are filled with holy fear lest in any of our seed there should be an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." (C.H. Spurgeon commenting on Ps. 132:12)
Posted by at 1:37 PM

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