Some of you may know this already: we are planting a new church here in Chico (you can read Pastor Pat's announcement on his LiveJournal). We already meet on Sunday nights, and our tentative start date for Sunday morning services is August 26, and our tentative location is at the home of Patrick and Andi Mathers.
For several years, off and on, I have been a part of a regular weekly home fellowship at Pat and Andi's. I first met Pat in the summer of 2002. I dug his piercings (which are sadly now defunct), and we hit it off right from the start. That fall I enrolled in the Romans class he was teaching at Calvary Chapel Chico's Bible College, which is where I first heard about TULIP. At the time, Pat's day job was working at the Jesus Center. In later years, Patrick was on the pastoral staff at Calvary Chapel Chico when I was working in media ministries. I once--twice--wrote a bio about Pat for the Calvary Chapel Chico website, but it's not there anymore. I will probably repost it on my blog some time soon.
I remember in my first draft of that bio I called Pat a Bible scholar. He denied it and requested that I edit it out, so I did. Unwillingly. Princeton University's WordNet defines a scholar as a "scholarly person, bookman, student (a learned person (especially in the humanities); someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines." Pat may not have an advanced degree in divinity, but he is a man of the Word. And that's why I love him. He does not interpret the Bible subjectively, putting it in subjection to human reason and experience, but he is a teacher who strives to come underneath scripture as the authoritative Word of God, conforming his thoughts to it's governing rule. Also, he himself is constantly learning and growing, never content with what he knows. And he reads a lot of books, although he is rather jealous of my reading list at the moment.
Speaking of which--!
Two new books arrived from Amazon today, one of which is The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, by John Piper. It was under the inspiration of John Piper's biographical message on Augustine, which was the basis for one-third of this book, that we chose the name "Sovereign Joy". Both of us, when we listened to that message, were brought to the point of tears, and realized that this "sovereign joy" thing, if we can get it, is the key. It's the key to all ministry. It's the key to all missions. It's the key to our continuing sanctification. It's the key to everything. So, if you're interested in what our church is all about, take a listen. I think you'll like it.
(If you're curious, the other book I got is Augustine's Confessions.)
Also, I don't think we've decided conclusively whether our "full name" would be "Sovereign Joy Christian Fellowship" or "Sovereign Joy Church". I thought I should point that out in case the title of the blog is misleading in that area. But please, come check us out on our first Sunday, if not sooner!
