Volume I, Issue 1

GRATITUDE

 

I am tremendously grateful to the Lord for each one of you as the time spent with you was such a blessing.  I’m looking forward to spending more time with you and I’m praying, as I know that all of you are, that my wife Lisa, and daughter, Rachel, will be able to be in Alabama soon.

 

THIS NEWSLETTER

 

As a missionary, and also as a missionary-pastor to remote villages, it has been my desire to communicate with the congregation as often as circumstances would permit.  A newsletter has served as a convenient tool; yet, it is not an absolute necessity.  If I find that I’m spending far too much time with something like this, especially at the expense of prayer, the ministry of God’s Word, pastoral visitations, &etc., this newsletter will definitely be set aside, or put away altogether; if the website becomes a burden to the ministry rather than a blessing, or if it fails to honor our Lord in any way whatsoever, it would be discarded as quick as a Gileadite could say, “Shibboleth.”  I believe that Mr. Spurgeon would have put away The Sword and the Trowel magazine if it had become a burden rather than a blessing to his pastoral ministry.

 

The Internet newsletter may also be a useful tool for the congregation, possibly used in sharing web address and links with friends and neighbors so they can also read about some of the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon Sovereign Grace Baptist Church.

 

PURITAN, POST-PURITAN & ANTE-PURITAN PAGES

 

The article links have been updated with sermons from John Bunyan and Asahel Nettleton on the Puritan and Post-Puritan Pages respectively; and the Ante-Puritan Page features an excerpt from John Calvin’s The Institutes of the Christian Religion.

 

I’ve also written an article on The Renewed Mind weblog.

 

ETA

 

I also want to give you an estimated time of arrival, both for myself, as well as for Lisa and Rachel.  Most of you already know that I’m looking to depart California on January 2oth as my target date.  I’ve decided to drive rather than fly for several reasons (which I will mention a little later); but there have been a few folks concerned about my physical condition, especially driving just over 2000 miles by myself.  Perhaps some of you have been wondering about my physical health and the ailments of my symptoms, and therefore, I’d like to have you know some things about that as well (and I believe you should know a little bit more about it).

 

As far as for Lisa and Rachel arriving in Anniston: that will depend on how soon I find a place to live, &etc.  Lisa has expressed how she wishes that we could all just go there right now, yet, in the same breath she also says that she knows that it’s not possible or practical to do so.  Lisa, Rachel, and I are so thankful to all of you for your prayers, as well as for keeping an eye open for prospective homes for us.

 

ALS

 

I have still not been officially diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (aka Lou Gehrig’s disease) because my symptoms seem to be so slowly degenerative.  Typically, 80% of those who get the disease only live between 2-5 years once they’ve been diagnosed, but if I have do ALS, it’s progressing too slow to be the typical 2-5 year category.  When symptoms first manifested in Alaska, dexterity problems (trouble picking up small items or dropping them), muscle twitching (fasciculation), occasional coordination difficulty (tripping or balance problems), muscle fatigue (especially in my hands and feet), muscle cramping and rigidity, and muscle weakness (especially in my arms and legs, and sometimes neck), it was clear that we couldn’t stay in the remote Eskimo village of Scammon Bay.  Nevertheless, since we’ve been in California, though my symptoms have not subsided, and in fact have probably increased, I’m doing much better.  As I’ve been spending time praying and reading the Bible, the truth of the Scripture, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22), is quite manifested in my mortal flesh; and since the Scriptures also say that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalms 139:14), it may be that my body has adjusted to my ailments and symptoms and so they are just not the problem that they used to be; kind of like the man who lost his sight and his other senses were accentuated for the sense that was lacking.

 

I can truly say that the ailments I continue to experience have been a tremendous blessing to me.  Nevertheless, I must be careful not to turn my afflictions into a “works,” with a kind of, “Look what I’m going through for your sake, Lord.”  What a horrible notion that would be… yet, the propensity of sinful flesh to do just that ever crouches at the door of our hearts and the corridor of our minds to tempt us and sway us to swing toward sin.  I must be on guard against that.

 

You may like to CLICK HERE to read an article I had written regarding trials, tribulations, and afflictions; or you can click on the link to the right under Blogroll entitled, “Our Light Affliction.”

 

DRIVING TO ANNISTON

 

As I mentioned earlier, a few folks here in California had some concerns about my driving such a long way by myself.  Many suggestions were made and I listened very openly to what they had to say.  Bringing those conversations before the Lord in prayer seemed to assure me as if He were saying, “Trust Me.”

 

The only reason for me not to drive would be because my ailments may kick in or cause a problem.  Well, if that were the case I would think that I might also be physically unfit for ministering as pastor to the Lord’s people; nevertheless, I don’t think that’s the case.

 

Driving, however, provides several advantages: (1) it will allow me to bring more things with me than I would if I were taking a commercial flight; (2) I will have an opportunity to stop in to visit some friends and family along the way; (3) taking the car will allow me to have transportation once I get there; and most importantly, (4) the time spent alone on the road won’t be time spent by myself as I will have all that time to commune with the Lord and He with me.

 

I’m looking very forward to that time with the Lord because I’m entering an aspect of ministry that is very new to me: ministering within a grace church situated in a very different climate and culture than what I’ve ever experienced before.

 

CATECHISM & DAILY BREAD

 

As you’ve already received the booklets containing C. H. Spurgeon’s A Puritan Catechism and R. M. McCheyne’s Daily Bread, I want to encourage you to use them as the Lord may lead.  If you already have a catechism or a Bible reading plan that differs from what I’ve sent, by all means, please continue to use what you have.  They are merely useful aids in our spiritual growth.  My family and I have been blessed in our personal and family devotions by using the little booklet, and I thought that some of you might find it a blessing as well.  Robert Murray McCheyne’s introduction to the Daily Bread Bible reading plan is well worth having, regardless of what Bible reading plan you use.  You can also download Daily Bread and A Puritan Catechism by clicking on their respective links under the category “Free eBooks.”

 

PLEASE PRAY FOR ME… MUCH

 

I am richly blessed and deeply honored that the Lord would call me through Sovereign Grace Baptist Church to minister to this congregation.  I earnestly desire your prayers as I realize the tremendous responsibility before those who oversee the Lord’s flock.   There are many things that I have been praying for, however, these are things that I pray we never stop praying for (until Christ come):

 

That I, by God’s grace, be a man of prayer and not merely a man that prays; and that by His grace, I be man of God’s Word and not merely a man with God’s Word.

 

That as a congregation we would, by God’s grace, be a people of prayer because the truth of God’s Word is only as anointed and powerful as the saints whose wills are lined up with God’s Word by and through prayer.

 

That the revelation of God’s holiness be ever before us, bestowing upon us the blessed graces of godly fear and repentance, meekness and humility, and a passionate desire for Him and for His name to be hallowed in every aspect of our daily lives.

 

 

I pray that I will see you all soon.  I am ever…

 

at the Cross and in God’s Word by His sovereign grace until He comes,

 

your brother in Christ,

 

Jon Cardwell