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Living and Leaving a Legacy

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By Beau Leaman

What do you get when you add up the following?

  • monthly Jeep cruises
  • shooting guns
  • telling scary Sasquatch stories
  • a yearly men’s retreat at Evergreen Bible Presbyterian Church
  • a website with the exact coordinates of Noah’s ark
  • driving down the freeway with the blinker on
  • teaching children the Greek alphabet
  • pointing and shooting a gun at a kitchen table to see if it’s loaded
  • lip-syncing worship songs because people lost their place in the song
  • helping me put my flipped jeep right-side up
  • the love of God

What do you get? My dear friend Edward Crawford.

Psalm 99:6-7 says: “Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the Lord and he answered them. He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.”

This week, as I was processing through Psalm 99, I realized that these men — Moses, Aaron, and Samuel — all lived a legacy. A legacy that David remembered. A legacy that David found worthy to write about. These men lived lives faithful to God. Their faithfulness reached beyond just their own generation. Each of their lives was such a powerful testimony, a legacy reaching down generation to generation, touching a whole nation. Their testimonies taught others that obedience, faithfulness, and a relationship with God is not only vital, but is who we are.

Edward Crawford died a few years ago; the cause of his death was unknown. It is a mystery how a man in good health and full of energy, a man who had just climbed Mt. Ararat, could pass away suddenly and without warning. I truly believe my dear friend had great love for his Savior and had made it his mission on earth to proclaim that love. He made it his purpose to shout God’s glory and ensure all around him knew God’s faithfulness. Although my friend didn’t finish what he had started on earth, God decided it was time to take him home, ending his life on his earth. But one thing Edward did leave was his legacy.

We’re not given the exact time Christ is coming back, or when our lives here will end. I continue to go back and look at the life of my friend because I desire what he had. I desire the way he would communicate with Jesus. I desire the way he knew God’s Word. In thinking about his legacy, I wonder what kind of legacy I am living today. How will I finish the race? How am I impacting my neighbors, coworkers, community, and friends in an intentional, purpose-driven, and Christ-centered way? My hope is that I leave a living legacy even after I have left this earth.

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Searching for heroes

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by Jeff Foerster

What are you searching for these days? Some seek the meaning of life, while others hunt for a lost set of keys. Internet searches, job searches, searching for a missing person, a mate, or lost hikers. Others search for fulfillment, happiness, peace, even a quiet place. Many search for the perfect gift, Waldo, Bigfoot, or proof of UFOs.

I recently finished a reading of the book of Genesis. While my eyes danced over the words, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, I searched for a noteworthy character, one I could maybe even call a hero. I read through creation and the fall of man in Adam and Eve and decided to move on. They had kids, and murder was invented. No lingering there.

Fast forward to Noah. Now there’s a cat with some guts, building a dry-docked wooden super-tanker by faith that God would send “rain,” whatever that was, to flood the earth. But even Noah, a great man of faith, is recorded as getting so drunk he passed out naked (Genesis 9). Man, why did that have to be in there?

Then came the tower of Babel and Sodom and Gomorrah.

Moving on I found Abraham. I know that Abraham is lauded a man of faith, yet I’ve had some trouble with the fact he made a concubine of his wife’s maid Hagar. How about Isaac and Rebekah, or Jacob, or Joseph. I searched but could not find someone with the clean record I sought.

Now, you may be shouting “Jesus!” at your screen right now, and I agree. He is the only one unblemished by sin and bad decisions. This leads me to where I find encouragement: in the perpetual sin of man. Well, almost. You see, I am in good company with these folks; I sin. If the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth works in, amongst and through these then maybe He has something stored up for me, another sinner, even yet. That is a very encouraging thought, indeed, and something well worth finding.

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Knock, knock … who’s there?

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by Gordy McCoy

I have a brass ship’s bell on the front door post that our son-in-law Jack likes to ring sometimes when he comes over.

One day Jack came to the door and I was in my sweats, unshaven, and still tired from having a busy weekend. The curtains weren’t open yet, not because it was particularly early, but just because I was moving a little slow that morning. There stood Jack and all I could think about was our messy house. The dining room table still had all  the dishes from the get together we had with our community group.We always have so much fun with all of them and after everyone left, we didn’t tidy up the house, we just called it a night.

Oh well. Jack didn’t care. I invited him in and he didn’t even notice all the clutter. He knows we lead a busy life and his purpose coming over did not include a “house check.” He’s our son-in-law …and also a friend.

I thought about Jesus and the fact He feels comfortable with my busy life. He’s always kind to me amid the chaos, and like Jack, He just wants to spend time with us. No need to try to hide the “messes” in our lives, we all need a little cleaning up and He is the One to do it.

Jack knows we are busy about our Father’s business. Ministry can sometimes be messy and time consuming … but, oh, so worth it. I realize there are times others minister to me and my family.

So when your house gets messy and life gets hectic because you are busy with life with Him, remember we are also setting an example for our children and grandchildren. “I have no greater joy than to hear my children walking in The Truth” (3 John 4).

KNOCK, KNOCK …who’s knocking on your door? Let them in.

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