Passing on the torch

One detail that has often bothered me, even with some great heroes of the faith, is that their own offsprings rarely following in their shoes. The next generation may be nice-to-do, but rarely carries the fire of their parents.Even in Old Testament accounts, it seems scarce. Moses for example was succeeded by Caleb, not by one of his own sons. Samuel succeeded Eli because Eli's sons weren't exactly noble characters. However Samuel's own sons weren't much better, prompting the people to request a king.The New Testament indicates that a man's first ministry is his own household (An elder needs to have his own household/family in order), yet history seems to show that growing up in the shadow of strong man of God, doesn't necessarily make the next generation very strong.Where are things going wrong? Any thoughts on how we can pass the fire onto our own children once we have revival in our own lives ?PassingThru

Great question, I'm afraid I don't have a great answer but I think maybe I can see part of the reason for this phenomenon.When we drink from the overflowing wells of anointed people around us it is easy to be satisfied with that alone and not dig our own well and seek our own anointing. I think that a real desperation and yearning from a very dry place must precede digging a deep well and that just doesn't happen so often when your living under anothers anointing.As an interesting side note, you may wish to do a study on anointing and how Saul was anointed with a vial of oil and David was anointed with a horn of oil. What is the significance of that?In Christ,Ron

Do some research on the life and posterity of Jonathan Edwards, I do believe you'll be utterly amazed as to the godly heritage this man left and how bright the torch of God's holiness burned in his future generations, Google might be a good place to start.