Homeward Bound: Building an Attractive Christ-centered Family on Eternal Principles

"For the Christian, the best is always yet to be. Ed Hartman reminds us of this in a way that comforts, challenges and inspires. I commend it warmly."
- Alistair Begg

"Few things more attractively display and persuasively commend the glory of God in the life of a Christian than a Christ-centered marriage and a Christ-centered family—one that would cause the watching world to sit up and take notice." So writes Ed Hartman as he contemplates the news that his young wife is probably suffering from a brain tumor.

It was a wake-up call to raise his family with a more eternal perspective.

We live in a consumer culture that exalts and commends living with a passion for the moment - our society depends on it. The prospect of future gain is easily set aside in exchange for the personal gratification that we rarely delay—proven by our all-time high in consumer debt. We have bought a subtle lie that there will be no day of final accounting - and so our children don't live with an eternal perspective.

When Ed's wife, Amy, died from that brain tumor, all the flowers at the funeral did not come with a card saying 'with our condolences' but with the phrase 'welcome to your new home' - a phrase Amy picked out herself. As Ed says:

"Few things, like death, will put life in perspective. And few things, like accountability, will put obedience in perspective. This life is transitional; it can prepare us to be welcomed into our new, eternal home. And it provides us with a lifetime of opportunities to invite others along, beginning with our own families."

So join in with Ed and his family as they explore what makes a Godly home - and a way of attractively displaying and persuasively commending the glory of God in the life of a Christian family.

240 Pages
Published: July 2008

About the Author

Edward A. Hartman (B.S, Columbia Bible College; M.Div., Reformed Theological Seminary; D.Min., Westminster Theological Seminary/California) has been the senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Kosciusko, Mississippi. He & his wife, Emily are currently missionaries with Mission to the World (PCA) in Romania.