About Us
We are Joshua and Chimwe Brown and this in our online home. Cumulatively we have been walking with the Lord for 22 years. In our 3 years of marriage, God has graciously blessed us with two children (a boy and a girl), and Chimwe is now pregnant with our third baby. The life that God has given us is joyful, challenging and glorious.
From the very beginning of our relationship, it has been our desire to encourage and build up our brothers and sisters in Christ. One of the main reasons why we pursued marriage is because we were convinced that we could do more for the glory of God together than apart.
The verse that defines our marriage is Psalm 34:3 "Oh, magnify the LORD with me. Let us exalt His name together!". To us, this is life: worshipping and magnifying Jesus together, to one another, to our children and to everyone with whom we have the opportunity of interacting.
We are part of a wonderful local church where we get the opportunity to behold God, worship the King with fellow pilgrims and live out the teachings of Scripture. Joshua serves as an elder and pastoral resident there, and both of us find deep joy in the relationships that we have with fellow member's.
Our Vision
WE EXIST TO COMMUNICATE:
THE SUPREME WISDOM OF THE BIBLE,
THE SUPREME REALITY OF ETERNITY and
THE SUPREME WORTH OF JESUS CHRIST.
Prior to our marriage we prayed and thought together about a statement that might capture our vision for a life well-live to the glory of God. Above is that statement. This is not our mission, rather it undergirds our mission. It is the foundation upon which we hope to build every part of our lives. It is the aroma we pray would effuse from every part of our ministry as Christians, spouses, parents, church members, neighbours and citizens.
THE SUPREME WISDOM OF THE BIBLE
We have read many books, but none can even be mentioned in the same breath as the holy word of God. The Bible is supremely wise, infallibly true and absolutely authoritative. There in the pages of Scripture we have found the Good Shepherd who drew us to Himself and pursued us that He might do us everlasting good (John 15:16). He is maker and sustainer of all (Hebrews 1:3), and to neglect or disregard His wise counsel and precious commands is an error rightly called "grave", for that is the eternal end of all who do so. We aim, in all we do, to point explicitly to the word of God as our primary source.
THE SUPREME REALITY OF ETERNITY
God has made us for an end. History is going somewhere. This book called 'life on earth' has a concluding chapter. But there is another book that lacks not only a final chapter, but any chapters. In fact it is just one page. One eternal page. There, there is no night or day; no aging or dying; no sickness or sorrow (Revelation 21:4). It is a plunge into the infinite depths of God's glory and love with no need of ever coming up for breath (Ephesians 2:7).
We cannot even fathom, much less use pitiful human language to express what awaits (1 Corinthians 2:9). Yet this is the day that our souls long for, and yours too. It is written on your heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and the longing for it is why you cry, hurt, fear and tire. We so deeply want to believe that this fallen world is not supreme reality, and that's right. This world will be rolled up and discarded one day (Hebrews 1:10-12). But never will the eternal Kingdom of our Saviour (Hebrews 12:28). We want all we communicate with our lives and words to emit the aroma of eternity and point your thirsty heart there. God in His ineffable beauty awaits those who look to Him, and will in the never-ending end be their ultimate and unmitigated joy.
THE SUPREME WORTH OF JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is altogether lovely. Not in part. Not even in large measure. Altogether. As John Flavel has said "He is an ocean of sweetness without one drop of sour." All things were made by Him, through Him and exist for Him (Colossians 1:16). With glad hearts we proclaim His worth which is above rubies, above comfort, above all the world and life itself. Never has there been and never will there be one like Jesus Christ. He is fairer than 10,000 thousands. If every grain of sand on earth had inscribed on it in microscopic ink the word "worthy!" and were cast one by one at the feet of Jesus as all creation shouted that word in choral beauty, when we reached the last one we would still not have begun to capture the truth. It is our ambition to see as clearly and communicate as truly and beautifully, the same thing that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ sees when He looks at His beloved Son (Matthew 17:5; Proverbs 8:30).
Our Mission
Toward our goal of magnifying the Lord, we have been given burdens from the Lord that we've summarized with three statements:
Plant a church.
Bless the Church.
Serve the World.
Plant a church
Our aim is to be sent out by our local church to plant another church. We are in the preparatory stage of this work, which involves two main things: a pastoral residency and theological education. Joshua is being equipped and trained under the pastors of Royal York Baptist Church, with his theological and ministry training being supplemented through study at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary.
We are actively praying about the specifics of our ministry mandate for the years ahead. Would you join us in praying to the Lord for direction regarding where we are meant to fulfill this call to pastoral ministry (Colossians 4:3)? There are many existing churches in need of a pastor. There is also a great need for many more churches to be planted. We avail ourselves to the Captain of the army to deploy us where He sees fit. In the meantime, we are readying ourselves for that next step.
Bless The Church
Most uses of the word "church" in the New Testament refer to a local congregation of believers. This is where our lives as Christians are forged from day to day; this is where we have relationships bound by covenant with our fellow church members; this is where the shaping currents of the New Testament produce gratitude for the gospel and God-pleasing character; this is where we are helped to put off sinful thoughts and behaviours and put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14).
But there is another use of the word that refers to those in Christ across location and time- this is the Universal Church. For practical and theological reasons our commitment to those beyond our local church isn't as meaningful or binding. However, we still belong to one another and should seek to do good to all in the household of faith as opportunity provides (Galatians 6:10). Because of Christ's great love for us, we are compelled to urge and encourage fellow believers near and far to pursue Him as their great treasure and satisfier of their souls. We have been redeemed in order to know and worship God (John 17:3), and walk in the good works that God has prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10). One of the works that we believe we're called to is publishing and curating helpful resources that will strengthen your faith, magnify the beauty of Jesus, and motivate you to live with whole heart and life worshipping our great God.
This is as good a place as any to explain the name of this website: Completely Christian. The inspiration for it comes from the words of Jonathan Edwards. He was a godly Christian that the Lord used mightily in his time. When he was 19 years old he had a sense of the spiritual battleground that his soul was. He therefore developed a list of 70 resolutions that he believed were true and good implications of the Bible's teaching. He used these resolutions to give shape and direction to his daily life, and cultivate in himself the strength and discipline needed to live godly (1 Timothy 4:7). Resolution number 63 says this:
"On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a COMPLETE CHRISTIAN, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time."
This quote hangs in our living room as a daily reminder that the precious Son of God died so that we would be "perfect (complete) as our heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Jesus Christ, in love, laid down His righteous life so that we would take up the grace of new life (John 10:18). He is the storehouse of heavenly treasure (Colossians 2:3), and it is our desire to imitate Him in every way. In short, we desire to be Completely Christian. This is an aspirational goal. We are the first to confess that there are innumerable Christians far godlier than us. But here stands a goal that both honours the Lord and stirs us to daily repentance, faith and pursuit. We want all that we do, say and write to encourage you to be completely Christian
Serve the World
more on this to come...
What We Believe
Everyone is a theologian and all of life is a theological endeavour. What we believe about God is the most important thing about each of us.
The Bible is the only infallible rule of life and doctrine. However, Christians have found it helpful throughout history to summarize essential teachings of faith in creeds, and exposit a broader range of biblical convictions through confessions. Below are a few of the historical creeds and confessions that we affirm: