Reflections of a Sold-Out Young Mother

Reflections of a Sold-Out Young Mother

I  had a flashback yesterday as I was worshipping God at faith4life Dallas. Maybe it would be better-called retrospective insight. Whatever it was, it was powerful, and you need to know about it, especially if—
·      You’re involved in raising or ministering to kids
·      You attend a small church
·      You pastor a small church

See, yesterday I wasn’t sitting in any church. I was in the church that my son, Matthew Tarkington, pastors. He is highly anointed. I have taught in several Bible schools and have preached from many pulpits. I know many extremely anointed younger and older preachers, and my son doesn’t lag behind any of them. I sit amazed at his insight (although once in a while he takes credit for something I told him years ago). J  He has an ability to follow the Holy Spirit and to exhibit patience and love for people that is second to none. Thousands of people listen to his messages all over the world. If you don’t know him yet, you will!

And… I wasn’t just singing any worship song. We were singing “Jesus at the Center.” Israel Houghton is generally regarded as the composer of that song, but I knew that he had help. The official lyrics include two other writers. One of them is Adam Ranney. You might know his name; if you don’t yet, you will! Maybe you’ve seen him on TBN (I think he’s on like… every other day!).

Adam Ranney grew up in the same church and Christian school as my son. As a matter of fact, I have the honor of being known as the music teacher who cut him from the small ensemble in junior high…yea…And now he’s a world-famous worship leader! That’s another story… 

To the Pastors

Both Pastor Matt and Pastor Adam spent most of their developmental years in a church whose attendance hit around 200 at its peak. The pastor wasn’t famous. The facilities weren’t fancy. The staff was small, and most of them were volunteers.
My family started attending the church in 1985. Pastor Matt was barely two years old. As a matter of fact, he raised some eyebrows in the nursery when he got the Barbie doll out of the toy chest, pointed to her legs, and said, “pantyhose.”   

Adam is several years older than Matt, but I remember him coming to the church when he was in third or fourth grade. 

Many of us who attended that church came out of the Jesus Movement or the Charismatic Renewal of the late 1970’s. We were sold out for Jesus. We were hungry for the Word and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

The pastor preached the Word. He and his wife graduated from the first class of Rhema. Sometimes he would flow in the gifts of the Spirit. He taught us about tithing. He debunked old church myths. He used to say, “Stop shucking and jiving God.” Sometimes he would butcher the English language, but we knew what he meant, and he was anointed! His wife taught the women from Scripture about raising children and being good wives. She was instrumental in opening the Christian school at the church, which required monthly Scripture memorization. I’m sure both Pastor Matt and Pastor Adam remember Bible verses from those days! These pastors taught the Word of God without compromise and flowed in the Holy Spirit.

The church had an amazing children’s church program. Volunteers ran it. My son still remembers it as “Starship 91.” There was Starship Bridge with knobs and lights and buttons kids could turn and click and punch to make the time machine work. Out of the time machine came Bible characters to give their account of what God did in their lives. My son got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit there. 

To the Parents

Neither Adam Ranney’s parents nor Pastor Matt’s parents would have ever thought of letting their kids skip church. The Ranneys were in their seats on the aisle in the third row every week. (One week I intentionally sat in “their seats” just to throw them off!)
I don’t know if the Ranney kids ever complained about going to church. I imagine they did, but in looking back, I realize that my kids didn’t ask to skip church. It’s just what we did. On Sundays and Wednesdays, we went to church… Period.

I know the Ranneys well enough to know that they, like we, raised our kids and lived our lives according to the Word of God. If the Word said to tithe, we tithed. I know that both of our families went through difficult financial times. We didn’t throw up our hands and cry, “This faith stuff doesn’t work!”  We continued to give and to volunteer. The pastor continued to teach us the truth.If the Word said to discipline our children with the rod, we did. We didn’t abuse our children. Mr. Ranney coached his boys in soccer. I directed my son in several musicals. We laughed with our kids; we loved our kids; we believed in our kids, and we taught them they could do all things through Christ which strengtheneth them! 

We just did what the Bible said.

The Point

Neither the Ranneys nor the Tarkingtons were perfect. Our pastor wasn’t perfect. Our church was full of imperfect people, but they were sold-out people.  I wonder if Adam Ranney would be on TBN (practically every time I turn it on) if his parents had said, “You can go to church if you want or stay home. Whatever. It’s up to you!” Probably not.
I wonder if my son would be an anointed world-changing pastor if I had treated my Christianity as a hobby. You know what a hobby is—you do it when you want and how you want to do it. Hobbyist Christians pray when they really need something, go to church when it’s convenient, and sometimes do what the Word says… when it doesn’t demand too much of them! Would my son be who he is if I had been a hobbyist Christian? Probably not.
Both the Ranneys and my family avoided gray zones. We lived in black and white. Right and wrong. If we didn’t know what to do, we went to the Word. We believed in absolute truth, not in a moving target morality. That’s how we raised our kids. We were sold out, fanatical young parents. And I’m thankful we were. I guess you could say we put Jesus at the center of it all! 

Jesus At The Center

Israel Houghton, Michah Massey & Adam Ranney

Jesus be the center of it all Jesus be the center of it all From beginning to the end It will always be

It’s always been You Jesus, Jesus

Jesus be the center of my life Jesus be the center of my life From beginning to the end
It will always be

It’s always been You Jesus, Jesus

Nothing else matters
Nothing in this world will do
Jesus you’re the center
Everything revolves around You
Jesus You, at the center of it all, the center of it all

Jesus be the center of Your church Jesus be the center of Your church Every knee will bow
and every tongue shall confess you Jesus, Jesus

From my heart to the heavens Jesus be the center
It’s all about You
Yes, It’s all about You

Jesus, Jesus