Wednesday, December 19, 2012

2012 Jones Family Newsletter



Dear friends,

It’s a joy to look through our calendar at the end of each year and see how God has been at work. This newsletter is intended to be a blessing to you, but it’s also a type of “memorial stone” for us. It is a time to reflect on the faithfulness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Will you rejoice with us again this year?

Ministry. God has been so gracious to us and the ministry in Yucca Valley. Our church has grown to 80 regular attendees. Stephen is preaching through the Book of Isaiah on Sunday mornings and is developing a basic discipleship program called “Growing in Christ” on Wednesday nights. He conducted 3 weddings, 3 baptisms, a marriage class, and a membership class this year. Exciting!
We’ve also been blessed by our first college intern who began in January. Ryan is a BAT (Bachelor of Applied Theology) student at Cal Baptist University and hopes to go into full-time ministry. What a privilege to help train up future leaders! And what a blessing he is to us!
At the beginning of the year we began hosting a young adults/singles lunch once a month in our home. Our singles have ranged from college students to widowers in their 80s. We love the diversity in our congregation.
It’s also been encouraging to see a growing evangelistic spirit at the church. We hosted summer VBS, fair booths on Memorial Day weekend and July 4th, a one-day missions trip to Pomona, and a Halloween outreach to over 600 trick or treaters.
  
Travel. We traveled a lot this year. Stephen was able to return to Together for the Gospel in Louisville and attended a Nine Marks “Weekender” conference in Washington D.C. While in the capital, he got to visit the Smithsonian and see the actual B-26 bomber Flakbait that his Grandpa was crew chief on during WWII!
In May we took our summer vacation. We tent camped off the Santa Barbara coast for four days,  spent two days visiting the Monterey Bay aquarium, then joined Grandpa and Grandma in their cabin (our first visit) in some gorgeous mountains. Just look at our van! Tent camping, hotel life, long drives and food meant taking a lot of stuff. And yes, the door did close — barely!
Some of our other excursions included a field trip to the Natural History Museum of L.A., an Angles baseball game, and an anniversary getaway to watch The Screwtape  Letters brilliantly performed by Max McLean.

Family. After some serious health problems in the spring, Natalie has been feeling much better and her blood pressure is much more under control. Thank you so much for all your prayers.
Dylan (2nd grade) and Heidi (Kindergarten) are learning lots of fun new things. We just finished studying inventions like the cotton gin, and concluded by designing our own dams using dirt, popsicle sticks, and pebbles. We’re not sure who enjoys the experiments more - the kids or us parents! Dylan really enjoyed learning more about the Civil War and even meeting “President Lincoln” at a Civil War reenactment in October. Heidi is starting to read and got so excited the other day when she spelled the word “rat” in a game all by herself!
Abigail is nearly two now and talking in her cute little toddler voice. One of her favorite phrases is to playfully say, “Mommy? Mommy? Umm!” She’s finally able to play with her big brother and sister and loves it! From playing with Duplo blocks to sitting on   people, to discovering her alphabet, there’s rarely a dull moment with Abby around! And she loves Christmas lights. As we drive around, she’s constantly on the lookout. 
We were able to visit with Natalie’s parents and Stephen’s mom several times this year (and with Stephen’s dad through Skype). We traveled to San Diego for Cousin Cara’s wedding (welcome to the family, Alex!) and to San Clemente to remember the life of Stephen’s Uncle Dave. In the spring Natalie’s Grandpa Parker also passed away. We dearly miss them.
The Lord blessed us with some extra time, funds, and energy to tackle several projects around the house. We painted and organized our family room, bought solar panels, tiled the living room, and installed a wood burning stove. We’re thankful for these improvements that will make our home more energy-efficient and comfortable for visitors.

So those are some of our highlights from 2012. We’ve seen God’s faithfulness in new ways and old, and are one year closer to heaven.
We love you and pray for you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,
Stephen, Natalie, Dylan, Heidi, & Abigail Jones

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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Pastor's Update for Winter 2012

Here's my quarterly update for next Sunday's business meeting...

Last month’s election was very eye-opening. We saw two states legalize marijuana, several more states redefine marriage, and a President be re-elected who openly supports homosexuality, mandatory abortifacients, vast government expansion, and a liberal Supreme Court. The results of the election were like an x-ray revealing a body full of cancer.

The days are increasingly evil (Eph. 5:16), but God has raised up our church for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). In a nation plagued by spiritual disease, we have the remedy - the healing power of the gospel. Let’s stay focused on our mission to “make disciples of Jesus Christ by reaching and teaching everyone.” As we love God and love others, we can help many more people find hope in Jesus.

God is faithful and mighty. He is not bound by the government, by the media, by terrorists, or by the economy. He is sovereign over these things. In fact, since the “Great Recession” began in December 2007, our church’s weekly attendance has nearly doubled (from 44 to 83) and our financial situation has dramatically improved. We have watched God do the impossible, and all glory goes to Him.

But I pray this is only the beginning. As a tree becomes strong and healthy, its fruit should multiply. This next year, we hope to expand our missions support, community outreach, youth ministry, music ministry, Spanish ministry, and leadership development. As you will see later in our business meeting, our 2013 budget changes reflect many of these emphases.

On a different note, I asked everyone at our last business meeting to pray about what you can give to support our ministry. I am pleased to report that September and October were very strong months, though November was down a bit. As we approach a new year, let’s all take time to review our budgets and ask how we can increase our offerings to the Lord.

Finally, I would ask your prayers for me as I plan next year’s California Southern Baptist Convention Pastor’s Conference. It will be on Oct. 21-22, 2013 in El Cajon, CA. Our theme is “Betrothed: a Call to Sanctification for Christ’s Bride.” My goal is to encourage pastors to persevere. Ministry includes many trials and setbacks along the way. But we must always keep in mind the ‘big picture’ of what Christ is doing. He is daily sanctifying His Bride through the water of the Word. This is a gradual work often measured in years and even decades. Like the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 11:2, ordinary pastors have the joy of serving Christ by preparing His bride for a glorious reunion. I currently have Dr. Russell Moore and Dr. Walter Price as keynote speakers, and have a request in with Dr. David Jeremiah. Please pray for God’s wisdom and provision, and that many pastors will be encouraged.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Why So Many Warnings in the Bible?


Have you noticed how the first 24 chapters of Isaiah are dominated by warnings, oracles, and graphic descriptions of God's judgment? Was Isaiah just having a bad day (or decade)?

Take a quick tour through other Major and Minor Prophets - or even the Book of Revelation - and you'll notice a similar pattern. Most of their time is spent on calls to repentance and warnings of judgment. In comparison, precious little time is spent on joy and restoration.

Thumbing through Alva McClain's classic book The Greatness of the Kingdom this afternoon, I came across a golden nugget that explains why prophecy is so lopsided:
Scripture generally gives more space to its warnings of judgment than to its descriptions of the joys of heaven. And this is wholly reasonable. On our highways, men do not ordinarily put up signs telling the traveler that 'This is a safe road'; but for the most part all such signs are those of caution and danger. The world in which we live is one of sin and hazard and death. Some day all this will be ended, but until that day we should be thankful for the abundance of warnings concerning wrath and judgment to come.

A good reminder for preachers, as well. We must not only encourage, but reprove and rebuke. Yet always "with complete patience and teaching" (2 Tim. 4:2).

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