The Wilkes Team

Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. Ezra 6:8

But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Romans 11:4

By no accident has the Lord allowed these verses to stand out as recent rhemas. The Lord is indeed preserving and preparing a generation of young people who, under the authority of parents with a desire to rear a Godly seed in an evil culture, are being raised to influence a world desperately in need of a vision - the impact of having a personal and dynamic relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. “…happy is that people, whose God is the LORD (Ps. 144:15b).

Over this past weekend, the powerful truth of Isaiah 59:19b was brought to remembrance once again how that, “…When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” Families with a passion for Jesus Christ, a recognition of their need for vision, and a desire for exhortation from like-minded believers gathered for a ‘Family Encouragement Weekend (FEW).’ The purpose of which was, “To encourage families to work together, impact their local communities, and leave a Godly legacy for the generations to come.” There are many successful individuals in our country, but what our culture is in need of are successful families.

Over the years, our family has been greatly blessed by the Godly example of the Staddon family. During a season of life where God is using their children to impact people all around the world and time together as a whole family is limited, the entire family graciously and eagerly came to Virginia last week to share at the Family Encouragement Weekend. Their goal was to give testimony of how by God’s grace & mercy they are standing against an ungodly culture while giving their children hope and a vision for a different way of life: To remain unspotted from the world.

We learned that each person has 5 areas of responsibility which include living as a Godly Person, a Godly Proclaimer, a Godly Provider, a Godly Partner, and a Godly Parent.  In lieu of these 5 areas, Mr. Staddon exhorted each father to lead their family in drafting a family vision. Specific questions were given the fathers to assist in discovering the Lord’s leading:

- What do you see as your kingdom role?

- What Scripture(s) has the Lord used to encourage your family?

- How has He designed you? What talents? What giftings?

- What specific needs are around you?

- What burdens do you have?

In all this, the charge was given to follow the principle of Matthew 6:33 to, “Seek (ye) first the kingdom of God.” Further insight into a family vision can be found in Luke 4:15-22 where a powerful vision from a father to his son is recorded.

God has a specific purpose for each family that fits in to His divine call upon all creation to bring Him glory (Is. 43:7) and disciple all nations (Matt. 28:19) while loving Him with all their hearts (Matt. 22:37-38). What an inspiration it was to be around families who love the Lord, love each other, and desire to impact the small corners of the world they have been called unto. God is doing a great work across this nation.

The wonderful news is that God “…hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began (2Tim. 1:9).”

A big thank you to Tim Hynes for supplying several quality photos of the weekend. Read their family’s report of F.E.W. here.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 8:02 am and is filed under Family News, Ministry Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.