Who

ABOUT JON CARDWELL

I have been blessed and privileged in having been called by Sovereign Grace Baptist Church as the congregation’s pastor. I have now been the pastor there since January 2009.

After fruitful pastoral ministries to the Aleut people of the remote Alaskan fishing village of King Cove (King Cove Bible Chapel) and to the Yup’ik Eskimos of the remote Alaskan fishing village of Scammon Bay (Scammon Bay Covenant Church), my family and I left Alaska on January 23, 2008 when symptoms that were once thought to be Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (aka ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease), began to manifest in 2006.

After extensive testing at Loma Linda University Medical Center, and continued testing at Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center in California and Birmingham VA Medical Center in Alabama, a diagnosis was slow to come. When it did, it was rescinded. Finally, on June 3, 2010, though the symptoms are just like those of ALS, it has been determined that my ailments cannot be identified (see the article “My Light, Unidentified Affliction”). With the medication I have been prescribed, I will be able to continue to minister with only light affliction, by God’s grace.

MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY…

I was born in San Diego, California to Ronald J. Cardwell and Leticia O. on August 25, 1960. My father, a navy man, passed away in 1963 while in military service. My mother married another sailor 3 years later. As a result, the family moved all over the country. By the time I graduated from high school in southern California, I wanted to travel again. I dropped out of Riverside Community College in the spring of 1979 and joined the navy with hopes of being a “frogman.”

Climbing the ranks quickly, I found favor with my superiors in the navy diving community; yet, I was empty and troubled. Assigned as a 2nd Class Diver onboard the U.S.S. McKee in 1984, God surrounded me with Christians who loved me, prayed for me, and answered any questions that I had. For the entire month of May 1985 I was under conviction as a hopeless sinner doomed to eternal punishment. On June 3, 1985, after nine months of Christian witness and conviction from the Holy Spirit, I sought out one of the Christians, Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Vincent Lawrence. I asked Vince to pray for me because if I didn’t repent, I knew that I was utterly and eternally lost; yet, I also knew that I couldn’t possibly repent until God changed me and made me capable of repenting. Vince invited me to kneel and pray with him. As we knelt together in the divers’ berthing compartment, I supposed that I repeated Vince’s words; however, I know I didn’t hear a word Vince said until the very last “amen.” While kneeling with closed eyes, I KNEW that I was a totally depraved sinner with no hope; yet because God poured out His just and holy wrath upon Jesus Christ for my sins, and that Jesus lovingly and willingly paid that price for my sins, that God made me right with Himself by what He accomplished on the Cross of Calvary. From the depth of my soul I groaned for forgiveness by His atoning blood, and in a moment, an indescribable peace came to me. I remembered saying, “amen,” and opening my eyes. I stood up as a new man. I was different. I was transformed. It was noticeable to the other divers I worked with. Although I couldn’t understand all of it, I had a love for God’s Word and couldn’t stop reading it. I also had a love for God’s people and wanted to be around them whenever I could.

MY PREVIOUS PASTORATES…

Scammon Bay Covenant Church, Scammon Bay, Alaska

King Cove Bible Chapel, King Cove, Alaska

First Filipino Methodist Church, Riverside, California

MY MINISTRY INFLUENCES…

A great many lives and literature have influenced my ministry over the years. Here are just a few of the most prominent (in no particular order):

Charles Haddon Spurgeon
John Bunyan
Octavius Winslow
Jonathan Edwards
Robert S. Candlish
Asahel Nettleton
Andrew Bonar
George Muller
John Calvin
Louis Berkhof
Charles Hodge
Melissa “Lisa” Cardwell
Leah Cardwell
Rachel Cardwell

MY STATEMENT OF FAITH…

I am in general agreement with the early English Baptist confessions, such as the 1st London Baptist Confession of Faith (1644/1646) and 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith (1677/1689), as well as the early American Baptist confessions, such as the Philadelphia Confession of Faith (1742) and the New Hampshire Confession of Faith (1833).

Additionally, by God’s grace, in my faith I strive to be Reformed in theology but not exclusive; Calvinistic in bibliology but not fatalistic; evangelistic in soteriology but not pragmatic; amillennial in eschatology but not dogmatic; puritanical in praxeology but not legalistic.

CURRENTLY PREACHING & TEACHING:

Adult Sunday School: The Gospel According to Luke (Jimmy Turner, teaching)

Sunday Morning: Genesis

Sunday Evening: Revelation

Wednesday Evening: Devotions from Revelation

SWORDS OF CHOICE:
King James Version, Cambridge Edition (in the pulpit, for personal devotions and memorization)
New American Standard Bible (for expositional study)
English Standard Version (for web articles, treatises, modern editions of classics, &etc)

FAVORITE AUTHORS:
John Bunyan
Charles Spurgeon
Octavius Winslow
Jonathan Edwards
Jerry Bridges

OTHER ACTIVITIES & INVOLVEMENTS:

• Sovereign Grace Baptist Fellowship: current chairman, elected September 2011
  Vice Chairman, 2009; 2010
• Southeast Sovereign Grace Baptist Fellowship: attending five conferences per year
• Iron on Iron at Anniston Bible Church: attending monthly
• Eclectic Group of Birmingham: attending monthly
• Seniors Bible Study at Talladega Rec Center: attending every Wednesday; leading song worship

SOME FRIENDS AND OLD PHOTOS:

Flowing Faith Conference 2011

2011 Sovereign Grace Baptist Fellowship Executive Officers

Langellas and Cardwells February 2011

with HeartCry brethren

with Team Papua New Guinea

in Scammon Bay, Alaska January 2008

with God's Smuggler 1998