“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 15:58)
Are not we all happy that our Saviour was stedfast in what He did on the cross for us. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes, and neither will the church where He is at the head. Why would we not want to be stedfast for our Lord? The word stedfast means to be settled in what we believe, and then we are to be unmovable from our beliefs. The Bible states here that this is how we can always abound in the work of the Lord. It is one thing for us to not know something; it is entirely different for us to change what we say we believe. There are so many churches today that are changing. They are caught up with the culture movement that standards don’t matter anymore; movies from Hollywood are okay. In fact, I heard one lady in a church recently say that if we don’t go to the movies, we will not know what to talk about with our neighbors and friends.
Recently I had to separate from such a church that changed what they had stated earlier that they believed. The problem with so many today is that they are not stedfast. They are not settled in what they believe. They don’t take their beliefs from the Word of God, which is our anchor to truth. Truth is what the church is supposed to be about. In fact, Paul wrote to Timothy and stated that the church is to be the pillar and ground of the truth. When a pastor is not stedfast, then he anchors to the only other position that he can anchor to, and that is the position of change. So we see the churches and pastors who are not settled in their beliefs to the anchor of truth continue down the path of change, change, change.
Crystal and I want to thank you for your faithful prayers and support. God has been good. We have started another church in the Yuma area, Liberty Baptist Church. We are six weeks old, and my, how God has been blessing. We have had first-time visitors every single week and souls saved every week. The offerings have been outstanding, and the attendance already is averaging over 30. What a blessing it is to go out each week and already average 10 people from the church out soul winning each week. I am so thankful that God gave us His Word to settle our beliefs. Without it or ignoring it will lead to lies and deception following the culture of our day.
We ask that you pray for Brother Andrew Reed. He is starting a church in San Tan Valley, Arizona, and we are spending a couple of days knocking doors with him. Their first official service will be March 29. Praise the Lord!
Stand strong; Jesus is coming soon. Keep looking up—Jesus is always looking down.
Sincerely,
Dr. Joseph Elwell
