Friday, August 2, 2013

Next Meeting - August 12 - Jacksonville

Wanted to send an invite to all the state fellowship folks and trust we will have a good turn-out for the meeting on August 12th.  We will proceed as follows:

10 AM – Officers meeting
11 AM – Evangelist Alan Harris (Connersville, IN)
Noon – Lunch and business meeting
1 PM – Corey Kershner, Missionary to Taiwan
     (Sending Church – Sonshine Baptist, Port Charlotte, FL)
2 PM – Jeremy Lynn, Missionary to Ethiopia
     (Sending Church – First Coast Baptist, Jacksonville, FL)

We look forward to a great time of food, fellowship and challenging messages from these three men and the work that God has called them to.  Please feel free to contact Pastor Edwards (904) 545-9880 if you have any questions or need any additional information concerning this state meeting.  

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”



Have you ever stopped to think what Joshua had at his disposal when he made this powerful statement?  Even more interesting, have you stopped to think about what he did not have available to him?
·       He did not have YouVersion reminders to help him go through his Bible reading plan every morning
·       He did not have James Dobson or Kevin Leman, or any other great writers of our day to help guide him in how to raise godly children
·       He did not have George Barna at his disposal with tons of research to show what really works to raise spiritual champions in difficult times

He basically only had three things available to him:  The historical evidence of God’s faithfulness to the nation of Israel from Abraham to the present; his eye witness account of God’s work in and through his own life for the better part of a century; and what was written in the Book of the Law of Moses.

From his 40 days on Mt. Sinai he knew the 10 Commandments that had been given by God himself to guide both him, and all of Israel, to a life that would be right with God and with others.  Whether they were allowed to be posted in the courtrooms of Alexandria or not, they still applied to his life and the lives of those around him, and everyone would be would be better if they headed their instruction.  (Deuteronomy 6:1-3)

From some of Moses’ final instructions he knew that he must pass along a life of devotion to his children.  It would not be by following a formula, per se, it would be about taking every one of life’s daily situations and infusion them with a dose of obedience, passion and consecration for God and the things of God that would lead them to genuine worship of that same God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

He had personally heard God’s words encouraging him to be strong and courageous in every aspect of life.  Not to deviate from what he had before him in the “Book of Instruction” that Moses had left in his care.  Not to go beyond what it said or fall short of what it said; not to go to the right OR to the left; just obey what it said with every fiber of his being.

I ask myself, if Joshua could make such a bold statement with such limited history and resources at his disposal (and live up to it all the days of his life!), how much more should we be able to do having so much more history, so much more evidence of God’s faithfulness, a complete revelation of God’s will and ways through His written word AND a bookshelf full of books on the key subjects at hand?


Maybe Joshua had all he really needed, and we do too!

Russell Johnson IBB Church Miami

September National Meeting in California

Let me encourage you concerning the upcoming National meeting which will be in California September.  One of the purposes of this meeting is to make you aware of a special Missions need.  There has been an increasing number of emergency situations with our missionaries all over the world.  What happened to Dan and Vickie Weaver is a prime example as they were shot at causing them to wreck.  The result is Vickie has a severe brain injury.  She has a long road to recovery.  The missions office is developing a fund to help in these situations called a Missionary Care Fund.  They are asking each of us for an offering this September to help in setting up this fund to take care of these emergency situations that are happening more and more frequently.  Pastors of Florida if there is one offering that is worthy of our support it is missions.  I am asking that each of you give something.  I know you can find an extra hundred or more somewhere in your budget for this very worthy project.  Your people would get behind this with a special one-time offering at the end of a service. Let’s all get on board.  - Dan Jeffers Park Street Baptist Church