Joshua 4 has been on my mind the last week or so. It is the story of God once again bringing His people to the place of utter dependence on Him because circumstances left no other option. The Israelites are on the brink of entering the Promised Land but there is a great obstacle in the way. The Jordan River lies before them in a flood having overflowed its banks. God then commands the Priests to carry the ark into the water, God then performs a stunning miracle in true Exodusesque fashion. Joshua 3:17 “Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.”
Once the entire nation passed safely, and may I add dry to the other side of the river, the story becomes more interesting for me, at least at this time of the year. Joshua took twelve men, one leader from each tribe, and gave them a divinely inspired task. They were each to pick up a rock from the riverbed. That is right. God’s great plan is for each man to pick up a rock. How insignificant. How unusual. How easy to reject. How God- like. Here is what He says:
And Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever." Joshua 4:5-7
Why has this passage been on my mind? What is the significance to me? Let me explain. There is a stone in my life that is such a memorial. Not that I picked it up from the bottom of a riverbed that God supernaturally dried up for me. Instead it is a stone of remembrance that when my children ask me of its meaning I am to declare the miraculous providence of God in the sustaining and keeping of my family during 20 days 5 years ago. The date on the stone reads “Sept 18, 2003 - Oct 8, 2003.” Each one of these days were filled with some of the most sweetest communion with God and the most bitter sorrow I have ever experienced. I am of course referring to the life and death of my son Jonathan.
Many of you are new to our church so I would like first of all to invite you to ask of me the question 'What does this stone mean to you?' I could take up more space than I think is appropriate, for a blog, in answering this question. But I would like to, so ask me sometime.
Second, I would like you to know that is not just a Mathers Family memorial. We are all part of this wonderful body called Sovereign Joy, and being part of this body means that God has done glorious things in our past and we need to be reminded of them regularly. I agree with Peter when he says “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder” 2 Peter 1:13.
Thirdly, we need to minister to each other now with the comfort and strength we have already received from God through His Spirit. 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 is well worth taking the time to read over prayerfully this week. There are people hurting, grieving, going through depression, and spiritual attacks all right now in our little fellowship. Are you doing the work of the ministry and encouraging those around you through prayer, speaking the Word, and simply being there for another? If you do not know anyone who is in any of these situations then quite simply you are not being part of the body.
Finally, (and I mean it) we need to become strong by faith in the Christ Jesus now so that when the time comes that God brings us as a church before a flooded river, with no where else to go, we obey when He calls us to do the impossible. We have such stones in our lives to look back to, that give us the confidence in the great providence of God to press forward despite what apparent difficulties lie ahead.
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:3-6
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Welcome to our Church Blog
I am no stranger to blogging although it has been quite a while (a year to be exact) since I last posted anything at my old live journal. This being our Sovereign Joy website I am planning to write about things that will directly relate to our church life and growth as a body. This seems to be the most God glorifying way to write. Sometimes this will mean critiquing a book or ministry, discussing a theological topic, exegete a passage of scripture, talking about events in our body, making prayer requests known, giving my thoughts on a current event, even giving a word of exhortation or rebuke. My prayer is that this would be a great asset to our website and to our fellowship. If you are not a member of Sovereign Joy that does not mean that this is not for you. I think that what ever gets posted here will benefit any true believer in Jesus Christ and bring Him glory.
As a side note please feel free to comment on anything that you see here. Aaron has set up a moderating system so that if there are any comments made that are inappropriate we will not post them. We did have a problem with this once before so it seems wise to watch what gets said on our site. Having said that though, we love a good discussion and even debate from time to time, so even if you are in disagreement with me I would encourage you to comment. I will not be able to respond to everything I am sure but I will do my best.
With that all said here is my first real post. I have been thoroughly reading the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith lately. This is for two reasons. First, I would like us as a church to adopt this confession as our requirements of belief for anyone who would be in a position of leadership here. This would mean Deacons and Elders. We ought to expect our leaders to have a deeper level of understanding about the scriptures and this should be expressed confessionally for all to see. There is a shallow and weak leadership in the church in this country. We do not want to follow this path. We want depth and strength where the church needs it the most, in it’s theology! We find such resolve from a careful study of the scriptures and laid out in a confessional manner.
Secondly, in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Paul lays out a confession of faith. He says “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” Notice what Paul does. First he takes the theological truths of the gospel message and summarizes them. Second he adds scriptural basis for what he has asserted. This is an early, Biblical, apostolic, confession of faith. This is theology. This is, and passages like this (1 Thess. 2:13, 2 Thess. 2:15, 1 Timothy 4:13-16) are our basis for standing on the solid ground of such a historical document as the 1689.
Finally, let me close with the word of the confession Chapter 1, Paragraph 10. “All religious controversies are to be settled by Scripture, and by Scripture alone. All decrees of Councils, opinions of ancient writers, and doctrines of men collectively or individually, are similarly to be accepted or rejected according to the verdict of the Scripture given to us by the Holy Spirit. In that verdict faith finds its final rest.”
— 1689 A Faith to Confess
As a side note please feel free to comment on anything that you see here. Aaron has set up a moderating system so that if there are any comments made that are inappropriate we will not post them. We did have a problem with this once before so it seems wise to watch what gets said on our site. Having said that though, we love a good discussion and even debate from time to time, so even if you are in disagreement with me I would encourage you to comment. I will not be able to respond to everything I am sure but I will do my best.
With that all said here is my first real post. I have been thoroughly reading the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith lately. This is for two reasons. First, I would like us as a church to adopt this confession as our requirements of belief for anyone who would be in a position of leadership here. This would mean Deacons and Elders. We ought to expect our leaders to have a deeper level of understanding about the scriptures and this should be expressed confessionally for all to see. There is a shallow and weak leadership in the church in this country. We do not want to follow this path. We want depth and strength where the church needs it the most, in it’s theology! We find such resolve from a careful study of the scriptures and laid out in a confessional manner.
Secondly, in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Paul lays out a confession of faith. He says “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” Notice what Paul does. First he takes the theological truths of the gospel message and summarizes them. Second he adds scriptural basis for what he has asserted. This is an early, Biblical, apostolic, confession of faith. This is theology. This is, and passages like this (1 Thess. 2:13, 2 Thess. 2:15, 1 Timothy 4:13-16) are our basis for standing on the solid ground of such a historical document as the 1689.
Finally, let me close with the word of the confession Chapter 1, Paragraph 10. “All religious controversies are to be settled by Scripture, and by Scripture alone. All decrees of Councils, opinions of ancient writers, and doctrines of men collectively or individually, are similarly to be accepted or rejected according to the verdict of the Scripture given to us by the Holy Spirit. In that verdict faith finds its final rest.”
— 1689 A Faith to Confess
Mission Statement
We exist "to worship God in all of his glory, enjoy him in all of his fullness, spread a passion for his truth to all peoples, that Jesus might be praised forever."
To this end we are committed to proclaiming the whole counsel of God contained in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible.
To this end we are committed to proclaiming the whole counsel of God contained in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible.
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