Here We Raise Our Ebenezer

“Ebenezer” is the English equivalent of a compound Old Testament Hebrew word which means “stone of help” or “commemorative stone.”  After God dried up the Jordan River to let Israel cross into the Promised Land, He instructed them to “raise an Ebenezer” as a memorial of His help and faithfulness toward the nation (Joshua 4:1-7).  He literally instructed them to build a large twelve-stone monument for that very purpose.  In a similar way, God demonstrated His faithfulness quite clearly in 2008 by “drying up rivers” and launching Churches for Life [CFL]. So, like Israel, we want to “raise an Ebenezer” to remember and celebrate Him!  This report is our Ebenezer, our 12-stone memorial, our “commemorative stone” to God.  Please join us as we start this annual tradition praising God for His faithfulness to us over the past year.   

The foundation of this year’s Ebenezer is God’s extravagant love to His people in Christ Jesus.  It is the opulent love of God in Christ and His free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus that is the motive and method for this ministry.  Upon that foundation, we honor God for clearly revealing His purpose to launch Churches for Life to several children of God in late 2007 and early 2008, including Elder Arne Molbach, Rev. Ron Steel, Rev. Dan Doriani, Rev. Dave Greiner, Rev. Cortez Cooper, Deacon Kerry Brown, and several other mentors and friends.  We remember God’s kingly kindness in confirming His call through the Missouri Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America by the laying on of hands by that body on the evening of January 20, 2008.  We thank the Holy Spirit for His many years of careful training and eventually calling Rev. Doug Merkey to be the President of this ministry. 

 

Throughout 2008, The Lord of Glory protected and provided for us in dramatic ways.  The list below highlights some of His more obvious provisions, and could be seen as stones in our Ebenezer monument.  What can not be listed (either for the sake of brevity or mystery) are the intricate and intimate ways The Shepherd initiated new ministry relationships, thwarted unseen spiritual foes, and wove together His secret providences for the good of Churches for Life and its President, Rev. Merkey.  As you review this items below, give thanks to God, who has proven to be our Help, the One who sustains us (Psalm 54:4). 

 

Here we raise our Ebenezer^* for 2008 to the glory of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Rejoice with us in what God has done! 

 Joshua 4:1-7

 

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight." So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

 

 

Most know the term “Ebenezer” from a line in the hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing which says, “Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I’ve come….”   The hymn was written by Robert Robinson in the mid-1700s.