Homeward Bound: Building an Attractive Christ-Centred Family on Eternal Principles (Hartman)

“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.

Table of Contents:

1. Preparing to Die Well (Eccles. 7:1-14)
2. The Privilege of Submitting to One Another (Eph. 5:15-33)
3. The Role of the Husband in the Godly Family
4. The Role of the Wife in the Godly Family
5. Family Worship
6. The Strategy Toward a Grace-Portraying Family
7. The Centrality of the Lord’s Day in the Godly Home
8. The Reformation of the Godly Home (Neh. 3:1-32)
9. Responding to Tragedy (Isa. 28:29)
10. Reflections of a New Wife and Mother by Emily Potts Hartman

Appendix: The Manner of Dying Well by William Perkins 

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.

Endorsements

“... profoundly helpful. It is a refreshing change because it does not hold up ideals that set us up for failure instead it shows the only way to live and die well is in constant reliance on the Lord.

If you want your heart warmed, mind renewed and faith strengthened I commend this book to you." - Reformation Today

"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, Senior Pastor, Parkside Church, Chagrin Falls, Ohio

"I found this book profoundly helpful. It is a refreshing change because it does not hold up ideals that set us up for failure instead it shows the only way to live and die well is in constant reliance on the Lord.

If you want your heart warmed, mind renewed and faith strengthened I commend this book to you." - Anna Hughes, News & Views, FIEC

"If your heart thirsts not for pious platitudes from the complacent but for real comfort from a brother who has found God faithful in the valley of death's shadow, read this book." - Dennis E. Johnson, Professor of Practical Theology, Westminster Seminary in California, Escondido, California