{"id":2524,"date":"2018-07-18T21:38:50","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T21:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/?p=2524"},"modified":"2018-07-18T22:28:03","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T22:28:03","slug":"gilgal-a-heritage-remembrance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2018\/07\/18\/gilgal-a-heritage-remembrance\/","title":{"rendered":"Gilgal – A Heritage Remembrance"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Melanie Atkinson Wayne<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One of my favorite messages I ever heard my daddy, Pastor Tony Atkinson, deliver was a message about Gilgal, the place where the Israelites built memorials of remembrance. I was young–middle-school aged, but I remember it like it was yesterday. He hauled big rocks to the front of the sanctuary and built a \u201cGilgal\u201d memorial as he told the story of Joshua 4.<\/p>\n

As the Lord instructed the children of Israel to tell the story over and over of how He delivered them from Egypt\u2019s bondage by His mighty hand, my daddy told those same stories to our church. He then challenged the church family: \u201cBuild your Gilgal places as you go along life\u2019s journey. Remember the God-things that have brought you to this place today. Make a point to tell those stories to your children, your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Melanie Atkinson Wayne and her family. Melanie serves as the worship pastor at Christian Life International Church in Salem, Virginia.<\/p><\/div>\n

As I think about that, I am aware that his message (and diligent, daily investments from my amazing parents) instilled in me a gratefulness and remembrance for those in my family who have served the Lord with great dedication. Because of them, I have a rich heritage in the Lord. As I reflect on the generations of my grandparents and their parents, I realize that my heritage includes two pastors, a hard-working farmer, a business owner, servicemen, a factory worker, professors, educators, and amazing homemakers and parents. Every one of them were and still are diligent stewards of the life they were given by their Creator.\u00a0\u00a0They have lived and are living lives that honor God in everything.<\/p>\n

Perfect people? None of us are. Diligent stewards aiming for the high call? Yes! I am so grateful!<\/p>\n

Come visit one of my Gilgal stops with me. This is one that the Lord brought me to a few years ago on a hot July evening in Piedmont, Virginia–sitting under the open-sided tabernacle at Piedmont Camp Meeting, listening to the message and the river babbling beside us, watching children play quietly beside parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. All of these generations, and so many more represented, under one tabernacle, listening to the Word together. It was in that moment that a renewed thankfulness began welling up in my heart. I sat there listening to the message, hoping and praying that my 7-year-old son didn\u2019t lose his grip on the baby frog he had brought to church, when the beauty of heritage hit me. Seated several rows in front of me I saw my great uncle and aunt, Ed and Lois Henson. Immediately, I thought about the impact that Uncle Ed\u2019s decision to attend, and eventually be employed by, Emmanuel College had on my life story.\u00a0From that decision, an incredible life path was beginning to be cut! There he met his wife, Lois (Atkinson) Henson. Their daughter, Kathy, became dear friends with my mama, Sharon (Hartsfield) Atkinson. On a visit to Virginia with Kathy, she met my daddy, Tony Atkinson, and the rest is history.<\/p>\n

All from ONE decision! A Spirit-led decision? Certainly. But, a decision nonetheless. Today, I am thankful that Uncle Ed was and is a God-fearing man who has sought the Lord for these and countless other decisions.<\/p>\n

The choices we make not only affect us, our personal story, and that of our children. Just think of how much one decision affects the generations to come, like that of my Uncle Ed! Many doors will open to us throughout our lives. How will we decide? Will we make decisions based on selfish desires or will we seek the Lord for direction, not only for us but for those who come after us? Where will these decisions lead us and our families? What a great responsibility we have! That responsibility can be a great weight and can overwhelm us, if we aren\u2019t careful to heed His Word. But, here is the peace and confidence that I find from His Word:<\/p>\n

\u201cYour word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path\u201d (Ps. 119:105 NKJV).<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations\u201d (Ps. 100:5 ESV).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring\u201d (Is. 58:11 NLT).<\/p>\n

Diligence, integrity, compassion, gratefulness and a dedication to the Lord, family, and the body of Christ–all of these are priceless traits that come from a strong, godly heritage. They must continue to be lived out and passed down to the next generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name\u201d (Ps. 61:5 ESV).<\/p>\n

\u201cOne generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts\u201d (Ps. 145:4 ESV).<\/p>\n

With these great truths in mind, here is my greatest realization: My story isn\u2019t my story at all! If we are created to bring glory to Him, then our story is a part of HIS great story…all written to bring Him glory. For the generations before us, the generations of today, and the generations still to come, it is all a part of the great story that God is writing to bring all glory and fame to Himself!<\/p>\n

We all have Gilgal places. As we visit these places, we remember that some rocks represent seasons of great hurt, mistakes, sadness, or pain. Other rocks will represent joyful and victorious seasons. And still, others will represent the slow and steady walk of faithful dedication to the Lord. No matter what those rocks represent, either great or small in our eyes, they ultimately represent a place in our story–our God-story.<\/p>\n

It is my prayer that these words will spark a desire in your heart to pause and visit your \u201cGilgal\u201d places with a heart of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord for His faithfulness to all generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise\u201d (Deut. 6:6-7 ESV).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[520,1],"tags":[510,521,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-2524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allgenerations","8":"category-general","9":"tag-510","10":"tag-all-generations","11":"tag-july","12":"entry"},"title_es":"Gilgal - Una memoria del patrimonio","content_es":"Por Melanie Atkinson Wayne<\/strong> Uno de mis mensajes favoritos que alguna vez escuch\u00e9 que mi pap\u00e1, el pastor Tony Atkinson, me transmiti\u00f3 fue un mensaje sobre Gilgal, el lugar donde los israelitas construyeron monumentos conmemorativos. Yo era joven, de secundaria, pero recuerdo que fue ayer. Arrastr\u00f3 grandes rocas al frente del santuario y construy\u00f3 un monumento a \"Gilgal\" mientras contaba la historia de Josu\u00e9 4. Mientras el Se\u00f1or instru\u00eda a los hijos de Israel a contar la historia una y otra vez de c\u00f3mo los libr\u00f3 de la esclavitud de Egipto. Su poderosa mano, mi pap\u00e1 le cont\u00f3 esas mismas historias a nuestra iglesia. Luego desafi\u00f3 a la familia de la iglesia: \"Construye tus lugares de Gilgal a medida que avanzas en el camino de la vida. Recuerda las cosas de Dios que te han tra\u00eddo hoy a este lugar. Haga un punto para contar esas historias a sus hijos, sus nietos y sus bisnietos \". Al pensar en eso, me doy cuenta de que su mensaje (y las inversiones diarias diligentes de mis incre\u00edbles padres) me infundieron un agradecimiento y recuerdo para aquellos en mi familia que han servido al Se\u00f1or con gran dedicaci\u00f3n. Por ellos, tengo una rica herencia en el Se\u00f1or. Al reflexionar sobre las generaciones de mis abuelos y sus padres, me doy cuenta de que mi herencia incluye dos pastores, un granjero trabajador, propietario de un negocio, militares, obrero de una f\u00e1brica, profesores, educadores y amas de casa y padres incre\u00edbles. Todos y cada uno de ellos fueron y siguen siendo administradores diligentes de la vida que les dio su Creador. Han vivido y viven vidas que honran a Dios en todo. \u00bfGente perfecta? Ninguno de nosotros lo es. \u00bfMayordomos diligentes apuntando a la gran convocatoria? \u00a1S\u00ed! \u00a1Estoy muy agradecido! Ven a visitar una de mis paradas de Gilgal conmigo. Este es uno que el Se\u00f1or me trajo hace unos a\u00f1os en una calurosa tarde de julio en Piedmont, Virginia, sentado bajo el tabern\u00e1culo abierto en la reuni\u00f3n del campamento de Piedmont, escuchando el mensaje y el r\u00edo balbuceando a nuestro lado, viendo jugar a los ni\u00f1os tranquilamente al lado de padres, abuelos y bisabuelos. Todas estas generaciones, y muchas m\u00e1s representadas, bajo un solo tabern\u00e1culo, escuchando juntos la Palabra. Fue en ese momento que una renovada gratitud comenz\u00f3 a brotar en mi coraz\u00f3n. Me qued\u00e9 all\u00ed sentado escuchando el mensaje, esperando y rezando para que mi hijo de 7 a\u00f1os no perdiera el control sobre la rana beb\u00e9 que trajo a la iglesia, cuando la belleza de la herencia me golpe\u00f3. Sentado varias filas frente a m\u00ed, vi a mi t\u00edo abuelo y mi t\u00eda, Ed y Lois Henson. Inmediatamente, pens\u00e9 en el impacto que la decisi\u00f3n del t\u00edo Ed de asistir, y eventualmente ser empleado, tuvo Emmanuel College en la historia de mi vida. \u00a1De esa decisi\u00f3n, un incre\u00edble camino de vida comenzaba a cortarse! All\u00ed conoci\u00f3 a su esposa, Lois (Atkinson) Henson. Su hija, Kathy, se hizo muy amiga de mi madre, Sharon (Hartsfield) Atkinson. En una visita a Virginia con Kathy, conoci\u00f3 a mi padre, Tony Atkinson, y el resto es historia. \u00a1Todo desde UNA decisi\u00f3n! \u00bfUna decisi\u00f3n dirigida por el Esp\u00edritu? Ciertamente. Pero, una decisi\u00f3n, no obstante. Hoy, estoy agradecido de que el t\u00edo Ed fuera un hombre temeroso de Dios que ha buscado al Se\u00f1or por estas e incontables decisiones. Las elecciones que hacemos no solo nos afectan, nuestra historia personal y<\/u> la de nuestros hijos. \u00a1Solo piense cu\u00e1nto una decisi\u00f3n afecta a las generaciones venideras, como la de mi t\u00edo Ed! Muchas puertas se abrir\u00e1n a nosotros a lo largo de nuestras vidas. \u00bfC\u00f3mo decidiremos? \u00bfTomaremos decisiones basadas en deseos ego\u00edstas o buscaremos la direcci\u00f3n del Se\u00f1or, no solo para nosotros, sino tambi\u00e9n para quienes nos siguen? \u00bfA d\u00f3nde nos llevar\u00e1n estas decisiones y nuestras familias? \u00a1Qu\u00e9 gran responsabilidad tenemos! Esa responsabilidad puede ser un gran peso y puede abrumarnos si no tenemos cuidado de prestar atenci\u00f3n a su Palabra. Pero, aqu\u00ed est\u00e1 la paz y la confianza que encuentro en Su Palabra: \"L\u00e1mpara es a mis pies tu palabra, y lumbrera a mi camino\" (Salmo 119: 105 NVI). \"Porque el Se\u00f1or es bueno; su amor constante perdura para siempre, y su fidelidad para todas las generaciones \"(Sal 100: 5 ESV). \"El Se\u00f1or te guiar\u00e1 continuamente, te dar\u00e1 agua cuando est\u00e9s seco y restaurar\u00e1 tu fortaleza. Ser\u00e1s como un jard\u00edn bien regado, como un manantial en continuo flujo \"(Is. 58:11 NTV). Diligencia, integridad, compasi\u00f3n, agradecimiento y dedicaci\u00f3n al Se\u00f1or, a la familia y al cuerpo de Cristo: todos estos son rasgos inestimables que provienen de una herencia fuerte y piadosa. Deben continuar siendo vividos y transmitidos a la pr\u00f3xima generaci\u00f3n. \"Para ti, oh Dios, has escuchado mis votos; me has dado la herencia de los que temen tu nombre \"(Sal. 61: 5 ESV). \"Una generaci\u00f3n encomendar\u00e1 tus obras a los dem\u00e1s, y declarar\u00e1 tus grandes hechos\" (Salmo 145: 4). Con estas grandes verdades en mente, esta es mi mayor realizaci\u00f3n: \u00a1Mi historia no es para nada mi historia! Si fuimos creados para darle gloria a \u00c9l, entonces nuestra historia es parte de SU gran historia ... todo escrito para darle gloria. Para las generaciones que nos preceden, las generaciones de hoy y las generaciones por venir, todo es parte de la gran historia que Dios est\u00e1 escribiendo para traer toda la<\/em> gloria y la fama a S\u00ed mismo. Todos tenemos lugares en Gilgal. Al visitar estos lugares, recordamos que algunas rocas representan estaciones de gran dolor, error, tristeza o<\/u> dolor. Otras rocas representar\u00e1n estaciones alegres y victoriosas. Y a\u00fan as\u00ed, otros representar\u00e1n el caminar lento y constante de fiel dedicaci\u00f3n al Se\u00f1or. No importa lo que representen esas rocas, grandes o peque\u00f1as a nuestros ojos, finalmente representan un lugar en nuestra historia: nuestra historia de Dios. Es mi oraci\u00f3n que estas palabras despierten un deseo en su coraz\u00f3n de hacer una pausa y visitar sus lugares \"Gilgal\" con un coraz\u00f3n de acci\u00f3n de gracias y alabanza al Se\u00f1or por su fidelidad a todas las<\/em> generaciones. \"Y estas palabras que te ordeno hoy estar\u00e1n en tu coraz\u00f3n. Les ense\u00f1ar\u00e1s diligentemente a tus hijos, y hablar\u00e1s de ellos cuando te sientes en tu casa, y cuando andes por el camino, y cuando te acuestes, y cuando te levantes \"(Deuteronomio 6: 6-7 ESV) .","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/01\/All-Generations-GSO-2018-3.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-EI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}