Another arrow to shape

"As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate" (Psalm 127:4-5).

On Wednesday, March 15, 2006, we added a new arrow to our quiver. He is our ninth, another boy. God has given us the awesome task of working with Him in shaping this arrow so that it will fly straight and true to its intended target. For there is a war going on out there, a spiritual one which can only be fought by the use of strong spiritual weapons. Parents play a key role in preparing sons and daughters for the fight.

Some have asked us why we keep on having children, and are we going to have any more. We will have more if God so blesses, and we have them because they are a blessing. Should every Christian couple have as many children as possible? I'd say that's for each couple to pray about individually, but here is a short section of a recent news article which I found interesting:

"Just look at the development within Europe, where the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes," [Mullah] Krekar said. "Every western woman in the EU is producing an average of 1.4 children. Every Muslim woman in the same countries are producing 3.5 children.

"By 2050, 30 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim."

I'm not sure how to do the math on this, but what if all the truly godly women in the EU had an average of five children each? How would that change the face of Europe by the year 2050?

Suppose my nine each marry and produce nine. That makes 81 in the next generation. Suppose those 81 do the same. That gives the third generation 729. Even if you shrink the original number to five, there would be 3125 in the fifth generation, for a grand total of 3905 (not counting spouses) in just one family. Do the math, and think what could happen if each family in your church did the same. Even a small church would have the potential for making a major impact on its community.

No, we have no guarantee from God that each child born into a Christian home will become a Christian. But the potential is there. I have six sons who have the potential to become preachers, evangelists, missionaries, or pastors; and three daughters who have the potential to become the wives of preachers, evangelists, missionaries, or pastors. My girls could also be teachers (Titus 2:3), servants of the church (Romans 16:1), prayer warriors.

I am not putting my faith in numbers. My faith is in the living God, who has seen to it that Christianity has survived the test of time, in spite of (or because of?) severe persecutions from those who declared that they would rid the world of Christians. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have been slaughtered, yet the true Church continues to thrive. If God will be pleased to use me to help replenish the ranks, then may He give me the grace to shape the arrows He gives me to their proper form.