Jon J. Cardwell - Christ and Him Crucified

CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED

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The Gospel Truth of Jesus Christ in His Death, Burial and Resurrection According to Scripture, Being the Gospel Truth: Expounded Herein by Its Preeminence, Proposition, Power, Purpose, Provision, and Privilege; With an Exhortation in Its Priority

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For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2

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by Jon J. Cardwell

Copyright 2011, 2016, 2020

Jon J. Cardwell

All Rights Reserved.

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All scripture references are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. The King James Version (KJV) is in the public domain.

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Cover design by Jon J. Cardwell 2014, 2016

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Image: Duncanandison | Dreamstime.com - A Man Reading The Holy Bible Photo

For Jesus Christ, our Lord;

for all He is and all He does

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I. PRELUDE

F or which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal . 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

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S ITTING AT OUR DINING table in the parsonage on the evening that would be our last in Scammon Bay, I looked at the faces of three little native deacons from Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church.

God had been doing an amazing thing in that rural Alaskan village nestled just seventy miles south of the Yukon River delta; so much so that in just twenty-eight months, the Yupik people of this fishing community of five hundred souls had embraced us as their very own. Imagine that; the Cardwells, a kassaq ] family from the Lower 48 States, were as much a part of this village as any native-born Yupik resident. This was unusual for bush Alaska, and something only God could do because even natives from other villages, who lived in a community for twenty or thirty years were still considered as having come from somewhere else. Yet, even now, our beloved Yupik brethren still call us on the phone, having already been gone for a few years, and talk about Lisa, Rachel, and I as being away from home; that is, away from Scammon Bay.

Lisa and Rachel were embraced by the community right away and given Yupik names. Although I never received a Yupik name, I have been honored with a Yupik title of position: Qulirarta , which means preacher. ]

Felix, Liz, and Gemma, the three Catholic deacons, wanted to pray for me. Since returning to Scammon Bay after receiving the news that I may have Lou Gehrigs disease, ] the word spread pretty quickly that we were going to leave. Although Felix, Liz and Gemma had attended a few of our services in the past, they were still members of the Roman Catholic church; yet, they wanted me to know that they could see the hand of God upon our lives and see the impact of our ministry, not only upon the congregation of Scammon Bay Covenant Church, but also upon the community at large.

We want to pray that you are healed, Liz said, and that you would be able to come back to Scammon Bay. We believe that God can heal, even today. So we want to pray for your healing.

Dear sister, I smiled at her, then to Felix and Gemma, then back to her, I appreciate your coming to pray for me; and I believe that all healing is from the Lord so if God chooses to heal me, then so be it. Moreover, Im so thankful to God that you all would want me to come back to Scammon Bay. Scammon Bay is more our home than anywhere else on the planet. Yet, I want you to understand that if this disease means that I will die soon, Im not just ready for it, Im looking forward to it; because if I die it means, just as Ive been teaching the congregation here, that I will soon be in the presence of Jesus and there is absolutely nothing better. I will behold His face and I will not look to the left or to the right; and as much as I love you, I will not be thinking of you. My every thought will be for Him and toward Him.

When confronted with the truths that should be to us very plain and exceptionally glorious, the sinfulness of the fallen flesh we have inherited from Adam betrays how silly and foolish we tend to be, as it is written, The simple inherit folly (Proverbs 14:18).

Earlier that summer, in July of 2007, two young boys lost their lives in the Kun River, a river which spills into the Bering Sea on the north side of the village. Why did those boys lose their lives? Why does the pastor have to leave? Many Christians will readily reference this scripture during such a time as the drowning death of two young boys, or the life-threatening ailments of a minister:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Yet, so many who profess a faith in Christ still dont seem to have a clue as to why God works all things together for good. The Lord tells us in the following verse:

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:29