By Jon Jenks
Our mission has had an incredible heritage, including a series of godly men who formed BCP’s unique governance and clear mission of planting churches. One of these men who played a key role in creating our legacy was David Whipple who served as a BCP chief financial officer and executive director of ChurchCare for over 17 years. God saw fit to take him Home in 2021, but based upon our relationship and out of respect for his writing and thinking, allow me to co-write with him about our robust heritage that should leave a robust legacy. More specifically, I am inviting you to embrace the idea of leaving a legacy as families and churches.
Our mission has had an incredible heritage, including a series of godly men who formed BCP’s unique governance and clear mission of planting churches. One of these men who played a key role in creating our legacy was David Whipple who served as a BCP chief financial officer and executive director of ChurchCare for over 17 years. God saw fit to take him Home in 2021, but based upon our relationship and out of respect for his writing and thinking, allow me to co-write with him about our robust heritage that should leave a robust legacy. More specifically, I am inviting you to embrace the idea of leaving a legacy as families and churches.
We have little to say about the initial heritage we receive, but the legacy we leave is completely up to us. We cannot escape the heritage that has been passed down through the generations to us—we cannot rewrite history. Our past connections have had both good and bad influences. Many of us would rather not think of the past in many respects, but we can be thankful that by the grace of God we can overcome the bad influences. God takes us from our dead heritage and makes us alive in Christ, for by grace we have been saved by faith. This new life releases us from the power of our initial heritage and sets us free with a powerful, robust heritage of God’s family. From this advantaged position we become responsible to leave a legacy that fits with our advantage.
Our legacy, which we hand down to future generations, will become their initial heritage by God’s power. The legacy we leave to them will include the example we set in faith, discipleship, multiplication, integrity, habits, convictions, preferences, biases, attitudes, appetites, hobbies, and values. This should challenge us to be diligent each day in our efforts to submit to the Spirit’s work of molding us into the image of Jesus Christ.
The legacy we leave behind also includes our physical possessions. We aren’t taking them with us, after all. Solomon, writing the book of Ecclesiastes, made the following statement:
I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?
Solomon was concerned about wasting the fruit of his labor in the hands of an unwise man.
Solomon’s conclusion in chapter 12 was:
Remember also your creator in the days of your youth.
The next several verses describe the effects of growing old. Because aging has an impact on our mental abilities, Solomon encourages us to take action now, when we can think clearly about the godly legacy we leave.
Your legacy to your children, grandchildren, your church, and to those who knew you will live on long after you depart this earth. Ask yourself, “Will my legacy remind those who remain that the Lord and His work are primary? Will the principles and priorities that I have lived all my life be carried out in my last will and testament?” As you consider these important questions, you may benefit from knowing you are leaving a godly legacy in these ways:
- I have a will. My executor and attorney have clear instructions.
- In my will is a written testimony of my faith in Christ.
- I have determined that the Lord’s work will receive the major portion of any assets left.
- I have named my local church in my will.
- I have named other ministries that have similar desires to fulfill the Great Commission.
There are many creative ways to leave a godly legacy. Some of your legacy is left by your month-to-month investment in God’s work, and some of it is written in your end-of-life plans. If you would like counsel on ways to leave an end-of-life legacy or add to your month-by-month legacy building, please contact us at Baptist Church Planters.
Month by month we are seeing the legacy of BCP being built from our robust heritage. Even this last month we saw a revitalization church come to unity on a hard decision, and every member of their core has had God or gospel conversations with people in the community this month. Another revitalization church had reconciliation between members on day 28 of 30 days of intense prayer. Pray for them; they have extended their intensive praying and must now agree upon their replant plan. A short-term missionary with BCP saw God enable his wife and daughter to legally immigrate and join him in our newest church plant. Pray as they adjust and join another couple that are applying to become full-time missionaries with BCP. Plans are being laid for eight discipleship retreats and two more consultation weekends this fall. In addition, our BCP administration is actively serving in our local churches in hands-on and teaching roles.
Join us in leaving a legacy—in your local church first and then in over 70 local churches who are reaching another layer of people and churches through BCP. Join us by giving, praying, and serving. God has continued to provide for our greatly increased budget this year—part of this provision came from a $100,000 legacy gift from one family.
Please consider being a part of His provision month by month to help finish this year’s need, or through planning a legacy gift that provides well into the future.
