A Revised Heirs of the Covenant—

Revising Heirs of the Covenant was not on my to-do list. I was amazed it was still in print after almost thirty years and never thought about a revision. It was Stephen Estock and Karen Hodge who saw the need and the potential of the book.

When I originally wrote Heirs, my ministry experience as a pastor’s wife and on staff with CDM was with children and women. That experience was the context for what I wrote. When Stephen approached me about a revision, he had a much bigger vision. He said the covenantal principles in the book give a framework for all discipleship ministries. This intrigued me. I prayed about it and then agreed to do it if he and Karen would help me.

As I began reading Heirs from the perspective of an eighty-five-year-old great-grandmother, I prayed with the psalmist, “Even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come” (Ps. 71:18). And the Lord answered that prayer. Like Paul, I gladly boast of my weakness because I experienced the power of His grace (2 Cor. 12:8-10) as His Word and Spirit ignited a deeper understanding of His covenant promises and provisions. I began to see what Stephen envisioned—a covenantal framework for discipleship. And there’s more. . . .

The Lord enabled Stephen, Karen, and me to work in such harmony that we became as one voice glorifying the Lord (Rom. 15:5). Their applications for church and family at the end of each chapter capture the essence of the chapter.

As we gathered new stories for the beginning of the chapters, the storytellers were also of one heart and voice. Their compelling stories are the overflow of covenant theology.

We were almost finished with the book when we thought about asking ministry-leaders to share ways the principles can be applied across a variety of ministries. This appendix gives a valuable resource for leaders of Worship, Christian Education in the Local Church, Older Adult Ministry, Men’s Ministry, Women’s Ministry, Student Ministry, Children’s Ministry, Disability Ministry in the Church, and Global Mission.

Since writing the original version, my personal passion for discipling women and children has intensified as I increasingly realized how all discipleship in the church is interrelated. The revised version is not simply a few updates. This version considers how the content of the covenant is lived out in the context of the covenant community and how it culminates in transformed lives that are passionate to glorify and enjoy God by making disciples who also glorify and enjoy Him.

I am grateful for your ministry to our covenant children, and I pray this new version clarifies and enlarges your vision to see that what we do in one ministry impacts other ministries as we serve together to build strong churches that extend God’s kingdom throughout the world.

When Jesus commanded us to make disciples, He reminded us of the covenant promise: “I am with you always to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). The imperative is impossible without the promise. I experienced the reality of His presence as I wrote. I pray He will use this new edition for His glory and that you will “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together” (Ps. 34:3).