Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the LORD which He had done for Israel. (Joshua 24:31)
To whom it may concern,
My reading this morning came from Joshua 21-24. The Levites were dispersed into forty-eight cities in Israel. The half-tribe of Manasseh, the Reubenites, and the Gadites returned to there possession beyond the Jordan. Joshua gave his farewell address to the sons of Israel, and he died at the age of one hundred and ten years old. All of the problems that Israel would have going forward from the days of Joshua, and the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the Lord which he had done for Israel, came to the children who did not know the Lord; and therefore, served other gods.
One of my favorite hobbies is reading church history. My ecclesiastical convictions are baptist. I believe that the head of the church is the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that every believer in Jesus Christ has been sealed with the Holy Spirit; therefore, every believer has soul competency; therefore, every congregation should pick their own leaders, and not have them appointed to them by a body outside of the local congregation. I believe that the Scriptures teach believers baptism. I can find no example of babies who do not yet possess the ability to repent and believe being baptized in Scripture. For these reasons, my convictions are baptist.
Given that my convictions are baptist and one of my favorite hobbies is reading church history, I have been reading baptist history. I recently read a book by Marvin Jones on the foundational contributions of Thomas Helwys in Baptist Ecclesiology. Ecclesiology is the study of the nature and structure of the Christian Church. Thomas Helwys was the first permanent pastor of the Baptist Church. His writings are foundational in baptist ecclesiology, and also the foundational on the idea of separation of church and state. Having read this book about Thomas Helwys, I have ordered a book that contains the actual writings of Thomas Helwys. I am very much looking forward to reading his convictions and thoughts. I think that the problems that we have today have already been solved in the past. The problems that we have today are like the problems that Israel fell into after Joshua and elders departed.
In Christ alone,
Michael Peek
The Nurse Theologian
