Jeremy Isaacs

BY JEREMY ISAACS

When the Great Depression hit Canada, Joshua Haldeman lost his 5,000-acre farm and had to start from scratch. After dabbling in different careers, Haldeman decided to pursue his passion — flying airplanes.

In 1950, he moved his family halfway around the world to South Africa, a place he had never been before. With the help of his wife, Winnifred, and their children, he disassembled his single-engine Bellanca cruiser, packed it in crates and reassembled the entire plane when it arrived. A few years later, Joshua and Winnifred Haldeman flew 30,000 miles from Africa to Australia and back, the first private pilots to make that flight.

You’ve probably never heard of Joshua and Winnifred Haldeman, but I bet you’ve heard of their grandson, Elon Musk.

Musk has revolutionized several industries, including electric cars, solar power and, most notably, space travel. His life’s mission is to put humans on Mars!

Who is crazy enough to fly to Mars? Someone whose grandfather was crazy enough to fly a single-engine plane from Africa to Australia. In the words of Mark Batterson, “your ‘brave’ is someone else’s breakthrough.”

I can’t prove it, but I think, in some supernatural, genetic way, this is what God meant when he said he “lavishes unfailing love to a thousand generations,” and he “lays the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren … in the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:7)

The Bible is clear, our faults and our faith lives on after we’re gone. Our dreams, battles, prayers and struggles are handed down, but never in the same way; they strengthen as they pass through the bloodline.

I would bet, if you were to ask your grandfather what sins he most fought to overcome in his life, you would find a commonality with his struggles. But, I also would bet that you are living out some of the dreams that he never fully realized.

The decision to move to a different city, change jobs, end grudges, go to rehab, get out of debt, start a business, join a church, or commit your life to Jesus Christ has the potential not only to change your life for the better, but can affect the generations after yours.

If you knew that your faults and your faith had the potential to be 100 times stronger five generations from now, what decision would you make today?

Jeremy Isaacs is the lead pastor of Generations Church. He and his wife, Corrie, live in Canton and have four children.