Welcome to Christ’s Heritage Home. Chances are you have already become acquainted with our family, either personally or on our About Page. Or maybe you have cast a glance at our Instagram feed and gotten a glimpse of our vibrant family life in Western Denmark with many children (and little sleep!).
Maybe you’re a colleague whom I know but have not had the pleasure of getting to know in depth. Or perhaps you are someone entirely different, whom we’ll look forward to meeting one day (introduce yourself!).
But whoever you may be, I want to personally bid you a warm welcome to our family page, a space where I hope you will feel at home, and encouraged!
Although you can find some answers to quick questions in our FAQ page, I wanted to tell a little about the background to Christ’s Heritage Home, and our desires moving forward. But first, start by subscribing to our newsletter by entering your email below, so you get a quick note dropped in your inbox, every time we have written a new blog post, or sent out a family update. 👇
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As time goes by, you will, Lord-willing, begin to see this space populated with a little bit of this and a little bit of that, meditations on fatherhood, reflections on life as a larger family in a Scandinavian context, educating our children at home, or even devotional insights into matters of faith or Reformed theology.
In the last 12 years of marriage, Camilla and I have toyed with the idea of a family blog or website to document our life in a more public manner. Why? In short, it is our humble prayer that our gracious Lord would see it fit to use our ordinary life, in spite of our great weakness, for His glory, in some small way.
Christ’s Heritage Home is a message in a bottle. A documentary. A story told. It is a word to the weary, a missive from a humble home. It is our modest hope that this low offering would act as a conduit, a catalyst to connect and nourish men, women, and families, in service of Christ.
Our Goal and Aim: The High Purpose of This Platform
All that to say, Christ’s Heritage Home can be described in three words, contained in the name itself. These three, simple words encapsulate the ocean which is our life and heart, with all its waves, shores, and depth.
As I write, I am reminded of the hymn “Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,” a family favorite of ours. Do you know that one? I’ve wept many a tear over it’s moving lines. In it, the great love of the sweet Savior is described as “vast, unmeasured, boundless, and free.”
The description is fitting for our family life. Our ambitions, our dreams, though simple, possess a depth which I trust reflects the measure of call to which we have been called as Christians: an eternal, heavenly one. High. Lofty. And yet, in the strength of Christ, by His Spirit, attainable. Not sinless perfection in this world, but faithfulness over the long term. A life of simple obedience, in faith.
A life which for us as a family can be summarized in Christ’s Heritage Home.
First, in all we do, in everything we are, Camilla and I are first and foremost Christians, followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity — satisfier of our deepest longings.
I am an employee at a Danish labor union and unemployment fund. Camilla is a home-maker and educator. We are a mother and father. We are a husband and wife. You could truthfully say that our roles are many. But our identity is in the deepest sense found in Christ, due to our union with Him by faith in His person and work in His death and resurrection. Our life is “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). By faith in Christ, itself a gift of grace, we are not our own.
Although we are individuals, our individuality is rooted in the Lord of Glory, who purchased us by His precious blood on the Cross (Eph. 1:7). Wherever you meet us, in a homeschool co-op, at the workplace, or on our patio giving our rabbits leftover carrot peels, you will find a man and woman driven by the heart of the Psalmist, David, who confided in the Savior words I have often repeated in times of trial: “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” (Psalm 32:7)
We are about Christ. Full stop. Does that interest or confuse you? That’s okay. Feel free to write us, if you have a sincere question, or follow along here.
Secondly, the word Heritage communicates a significant bulk of what we are here seeking to accomplish. As a father of seven children, I am daily aware of the generational dimension of my fatherhood. Our children will one day grow up, Lord-willing, to have families of their own. I have a limited window of time with them, which is given to me with a purpose, a mandate, an assignment.
As one who has been called out of darkness and into the marvelous light of God’s grace, I have been given the stewardship of Christ, or what I like to call the “Heritage of Christ.” As a father, I have been entrusted a treasure, an inheritance which I am called to give to my sons and daughters: the gospel.
As parents, this practically means, humbly striving to raise our children in accordance with God’s Word in the pages of Scripture. Surely, we are fallen creatures, who often are very weak! Thankfully, that is the whole point. “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Cor. 4:7). We daily cling to the promises of God, in weakness. We stumble forward, in dependence on His Holy Spirit.
But when all is said and done, passing on the Heritage of Christ is very simple: to prize Christ, His Word, and His people.
To love the Savior in our own hearts, ever savoring, ever adoring; to cherish His Word, leading our children in daily family worship, showing them Christ in all of Scripture, singing “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19-21); and devoting our lives to the Bride of Christ, the Church, with a vibrant life in the local body — for us, our beloved Aarhus Bibelkirke in Aarhus.
But above all, we are a family, which is enshrined in the word Home. As a family, we believe that the life of the home, is good. It is not a glamorous life, neither is it meant to attract attention from the world. But we believe that a godly home life, in daily family discipleship and faith, is the way of wisdom.
For that reason, we long ago decided to homeschool our children, though we prefer the word “educate” or “teach” since the physical house in which we live is just one of many places where learning happens.
To us the home is a hearth, a gathering, a refuge — another word for family.
Though I work (and enjoy my job!) my top priority, and our first calling after being followers of Christ, is to be a family, as husband and wife, and then secondly to our children, to build — to labor for the good of the home.
Closing: An Appeal to The Reader
To close, I would add a bonus, a fourth word: mission. As we share, as we write, as we document our life, we pray that the Lord would be pleased to use this platform evangelistically, for the salvation of souls, for the eternal benefit of husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, boys and girls of all ages.
When I first moved to Denmark, I determined to learn Danish. I settled it in my heart early on, that I had to master it, no matter the cost. My motivation to learn this notoriously difficult language (the Danes say it’s spoken in heaven, because it takes an eternity to learn!) was simply to be able to share the gospel of grace in Christ, in Danish, and as a pastor one day, Lord-willing.
The Gospel is the Word of Life to the wandering. It is a glory unspeakable. A marvel. It is Christ, given. The missionary John Paton once: “Eternal life, here or hereafter, is just the vision of Jesus.” May this humble platform be used by God, in some small way, to give you a sight of Christ, to stir you to love him with “all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37)
Are you weary? Lay your burden down at Jesus’ feet. Repent of your sin, find the rest you were born longing for. Sin is an ache, a heart wound. I know it is, for I am a sinner too. Yet Christ is “gentle and lowly in heart.” (Matt. 11:28) He is able to save. He is willing. He is sufficient. Christ is enough.
A fresh start, a new beginning, another life, a transformed heart is available, is accessible in His wounds, in His blood shed on the Cross for fallen sinners. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17) A renewed life. Eternal life.
For you. For me. For my children. For Denmark. For the generations.
— Michael
Comments
One response to “Introduction: Welcome to Our World.”
Tak for jeres flotte hjemmeside, jeres smukke ord og jeres vidunderlige hjerter for Kristus.
I er en mægtig inspiration for Sharmini og jeg og vi elsker jeg oprigtige og autentiske tilgang i jeres kærlighed til hinanden og jeres børn!
Vi vil støtte jer i jeres arbejde her med siden og glæder os til at følge med i jeres liv og tanker ❤️