Video from C.S.Lewis Institute
Leaving A Spiritual Legacy - Joel Woodruff
"How do you leave a spiritual legacy? Earlier this year, the mother of a friend of mine passed away. My friend received a couple of her mother’s Bibles as keepsakes. One was the Bible her mother had received when she was confirmed. The other was the Bible her mother had used as an adult. My friend cherishes these Bibles, but she finds herself wishing her mother had written more in them: highlights or notes—anything that pointed her to the verses that meant the most to her mother.
That got me thinking. What treasures will my Bible hold for those who receive it when I am gone? The idea of a legacy Bible is new to me, but the idea of leaving a spiritual legacy is not. Here’s what
Asaph, the writer of Psalm 78, wrote about leaving a legacy:
I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old— things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
Every parent is a missionary, and our mission field is our children. God’s plan, even in Old Testament times, was for parents to pass on the faith to their children and their children’s children. This happens in numerous concrete ways over the years of our children’s lives, and one way is through a Legacy Bible..." from the article: Leaving a Spiritual Legacy
"Joel Woodruff has worked in higher education, "tent-making," nonprofit administration, and pastoral ministries in Alaska, Israel, Hungary, France, and Northern Virginia. He served as Dean of Students, Chaplain, and Professor of Bible & Theology at European Bible Institute, where he helped train Europeans both for professional ministry and to be Christian leaders in the marketplace. Prior to joining the C.S. Lewis Institute, he was on the leadership team of Oakwood Services International, a nonprofit educational and humanitarian organization. He is a graduate of Wheaton College, earned his M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where as a Parish-Pulpit Fellow, he studied Biblical Backgrounds & Archaeology in Israel for a year. He holds a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. " from website: C.S. Lewis Institute