My Son Josiah 1

Matthew was driving to the church leaders' meeting at Piddledon Farm. He passed a child on a tricycle.
"This is a very dangerous road," said Matthew. "I don't like driving down this road in the car. That child on his tricycle will be killed."
"Should I call the police?" asked Stanley.
"No. I'll pull over on the pavement here." Matthew pulled over, got out of the car and put on the hazard lights. He waited for the tricycle to catch up with him. "Hello," he called to the child. "Are you lost?" As the child came closer, it became obvious that it was Pastor Boris' son Josiah.
"No," said Josiah. "I'm going to the leaders' meeting. I want to be a preacher." Matthew lifted up the back door of the car and put the tricycle behind the seats. Stanley moved himself to the middle of the back seat and opened the door so that Josiah could get in.

They arrived at the leaders' meeting. The men sat down together in the hall.
"I forgot to bring my Bible," said Tom.
"Oh, that's all right, I never bring mine," said Stanley. "I know all the passages Pastor Boris preaches on. What will it be today? The book of Acts. The believers were all together and had everything in common. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. The body of Christ. The gospel of Matthew. Jesus telling the rich young man to go and sell all that he has. The gospel of John. Brotherly love."
"That's a bit cynical," said James. "He does talk about other things. It's not as if he always preaches on his five favourite Bible verses."
"Pastor Boris hasn't got his Bible," said Matthew.
"Nowadays, preachers have their notes on a small computer that they carry around with them," said Stanley.
"No, he hasn't ever had one of those."

Pastor Boris stood in front of the microphone. "Acts chapter 4." He did not use a Bible but paraphrased the passage from memory. "The believers were all together in one place and no one pretended that his possessions were his own. They had all things in common. They sold all that they had and put the money at the apostles' feet. Brethren, something tremendous is happening in this church today. We have rediscovered the long lost essence of Biblical Christianity. Living together. Sharing our possessions. You look at other churches? They aren't churches at all. This is the Kingdom of God. 'Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.' What is the will of God? Living together in one place. Sharing our possessions. Having all of our money in one bank account. 500 years ago Martin Luther rediscovered salvation by faith. 500 years ago the Anabaptists rediscovered adult baptism. 100 years ago the Pentecostals rediscovered the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 50 years ago our church discovered community. This is the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle that will complete the protestant reformation. Our movement will be remembered forever. The Anabaptists were persecuted. People would say, you want to go under the water? We'll drown you. We are persecuted. We are persecuted by the newspapers. We are persecuted by the town planners who think that our bedrooms and kitchens are too small for the number of people sharing them. Well, you can tell the town planner exactly how many people you're going to have living in that house so that they'll give you planning permission for a house shared by seven people and then you can move in twenty eight. We are persecuted by the banks who won't let us open bank accounts anymore because they think that the homeless people who work on our farms are slaves. Well, I have some community bank accounts that were opened decades ago and you can all put your money in those. We have more community houses than we did then? This is the computer age. Three houses can share the same bank account. Oh, we can deal with the banks. They want to see every signatory at the branch with their photo ID? Fine. Don't make somebody a signatory unless they have a driving licence or a passport, or get them one. And make sure that your signatories have their names on some of the household bills. The banks will want to see those. We can deal with councils and we can deal with banks."

Matthew sat with Stanley, James, Tom and Josiah around a table in the canteen.
"What did you think of Pastor Boris today?" asked Stanley.
"The words of his sermon were very predictable," said Matthew. "I hear that the livelink broke down today so Birmingham International Christian Centre had to show a YouTube video recording of last years meeting. Nobody noticed the difference. Why are we eating sausage rolls and beans?"
"We can't get domestic sisters anymore," said Stanley. "This is what the brothers have made."
"I think if I was making a meal, I could do better. How about some tins of steak and mushy peas and tinned potatoes? That's a healthy meal."
"Well Matthew, you should volunteer to do it next year," said Tom.
"I like sausage rolls and beans," said Josiah.
"So do I," said Matthew, "but not all the time."
"I would like to have them every day for dinner and tea".
"That's because you're seven," said Stanley. "Children need lots of energy. But we're old and worried about being slightly overweight."
"Why can't we get any domestic sisters?" asked Matthew. "Our way of life frees women from the financial need to work."
"They don't see it that way," said Tom.
"There are all sorts of reasons why women work," said James. "Perhaps people are not as materialistic as we think."
"I have a theory that women who were born before 1950 didn't mind being domestics," said Matthew. "They saw themselves as having a different but equally important role. They were quite happy to be subservient."
"Or perhaps the men who were born before 1950 thought that and the women couldn't do anything about it," said Stanley.
"No, I remember a woman who was born in the 1900s who was quite furious that the elders in our church had allowed the women to speak in an open meeting. They liked doing housework. She would always invite people to her house for tea and there were lots of home made cakes. They were happy to be subservient."
"The thing is Matthew," said Tom, "that women born in the 1900s are not around anymore. We can't get them to do our housework."

A few days later Pastor Boris sat with Josiah in the children's bedroom which Josiah shared with three other children. Josiah was holding a tablet.
"What are you reading, Son?"
"The Bible."
"Any particular part of it?"
"The book of Chronicles."
"That's one of the hardest parts. Read Kings and Samuel. Same stories but told more slowly."
"I do read Kings and Samuel but I'd much rather read Chronicles. It's like an action movie. All of those things happen in a couple of hours."
"What reading scheme are you following Josiah? You can't just read the Bible from cover to cover. You'd soon get bogged down in the laws of Leviticus."
"Oh, how I love the laws of Leviticus."
"Really? What do you get out of them?"
"Jesus is the sacrificial lamb. All of those lambs were like Jesus, without defect, and the scapegoat carries our sins off into the desert, the way Jesus carried all our sins away."
"I understand what you're saying, Josiah, I'm just not sure I could have understood it when I was seven. Don't you ever have any fun?"
"What do you mean Dad, fun?"
"Well, watch a science fiction movie or something like that?"
"Dad, I thought you didn't like people watching movies."
"Science fiction is OK. Some Christians expect the Antichrist to come in a flying saucer and others expect him to have a big computer with which he will control the world. Science fiction should be required viewing for Christians living in the last generation before Christ returns."
"I can't say l've never watched films like that but I'd rather read the book of Revelation. In fact, they made a film about it. Revelation like you've never seen it before."
"Josiah, you will be everything I am but without any of my short comings. When you preach your first sermon I will collapse on the floor and cry out, 'My work on Earth is done. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

Matthew shouted at Pastor Boris. Tom stood beside him looking just as angry.
"We will not baptise Josiah. He is only seven years old."
"I assure you, my son is genuinely converted."
"He is not," said Tom. "How does he even know what genuinely converted means?"
"A child wouldn't understand," said Matthew. "We need to wait until he's old enough to understand being born again."
"He has given his life to Christ."
"But does he understand what happened to him?" asked Tom.
"He is sitting in the lounge," said Pastor Boris. "Ask him." Josiah was reading.
"I like your little Kindle," said Matthew.
"Thank you. I was just reading the book of Hebrews. Brushing up on my knowledge of sacrificial substitutionary atonement. I know why you came today."
"Why do you want to be baptised?" asked Tom.
"You know, I'm terrified of water. I never learnt to swim because I kept thinking I was going to drown. But when I think of what Jesus did for me. God gave his son for me. Why don't I give him my life in return? All of it."
"Are you born again?" asked Matthew.
"I believe I am, although I'm sure I will have a much stronger experience of the Holy Spirit after my baptism. I have been born from above. My spirit has come to life and is connected to God. I can't say I feel inright, outright, upright, downright, happy all the time but I have felt the touch of God on my life. A little bit of joy has filled my soul. I'm sure God will have more for me after I'm baptised in water."
"Plenty of time to experience the joy of the Lord," said Tom. "You're only seven. What does it mean to be baptised?"
"You leave your old life behind and you come out of the water to a new life. The water represents death. I know that more than anyone. But even if I am frightened of water, you will baptise me, won't you? I do so much want to be baptised."
"On the strength of those answers, I think Josiah should be baptised," said Tom. "You look worried, Matthew."
"I just wonder if we should wait until Josiah is old enough to decide for himself."
"Matthew, since when has anybody in this church decided anything for themselves?"

It was Josiah's baptism. He was being baptised in the river. It was a warm summer night and it was just getting dark. The moon was an orange colour and a shower of meteors brightened the dark blue sky. Pastor Boris stood in the water with Tom. Josiah stood between them.
"Does anyone have any prophetic words for Josiah?" asked Pastor Boris.
"This child will challenge his parents to come closer to God," said Matthew.
"Challenge his parents?" asked Barbara. "To challenge Boris and Valery to be more godly than they are now? They're the godliest people on Earth. He will be incredibly holy."
"He will be a famous preacher all over the world," said Colin.
"Josiah will have a healing ministry," said Stanley. "People will travel thousands of miles to be healed by him."
"And with those prophetic words," said Pastor Boris, "we now baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." The two men lowered Josiah into the water and brought him back up again.

A few years later Josiah was 11 years old. Pastor Boris was leading Liverpool Praise Day.
"Now that my son Josiah has started secondary school and is leading the house group Bible study on a Thursday night, I asked him if he would preach a short sermon this afternoon." Josiah was sitting with several people who were on a row of chairs that were behind his father on the stage. Josiah got up and walked up to the microphone.
"If the following statements are true, there can be only one way to God. You are a sinner, your sins have separated you from God and you couldn't save yourself. Religion says, if I can follow the commandments. What, all of them? That would be impossible. Religion says, if I could pray or meditate enough. But your sins have separated you from God. When you try to pray, God seems distant and remote. It's like trying to get through to somebody on a bad telephone line. Religion says, if I can repent of everything I've done wrong and reform myself. Well, in Martin Luther's monastery they employed a priest to listen to his confessions for 6 hours a day. The Bible says, 'There is no one even among the godly who does what is right and never sins.' I just don't think you could determine to sort yourself out, repent of your sins, and spend the rest of your life obeying God's commandments. The essential difference between Christianity and other religions is that, in Christianity, you are lost, you are a sinner, and trying to sort yourself out is like pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. The good news is that God doesn't leave you there. Jesus came to be your Saviour." Josiah's sermon was interrupted by the sound of his father falling on to the stage. Pastor Boris had his hands on his chest and muttered quietly, "Lord Jesus, my work on Earth is done, receive my spirit." Tom got up off his seat which was on the stage.
"Are you all right, Pastor Boris?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I thought I was having a heart attack but it must have been indigestion."

When Josiah was 12 his English teacher was Mrs Harddon, a big buxom woman with long white hair and a very educated accent. It was the first English lesson of the school year.
"Good morning children. I would like you all to tell me how you spent your summer holidays. Ian, would you like to go first?"
"I went to Morocco, Miss."
"What was it like?"
"It was hot. We went across this road and there wasn't any crossing and the cars had to go around us."
"Simon, what did you do?"
"I went to our caravan in the Lake District."
"What did you do there?"
"Carlisle lost the football match and they're out of the league, Miss."
"Did you go to see the football match?"
"No. I watched it on the radio. It was a boiling hot day, Miss. I kept going back into the caravan to hear another 5 minutes of the game. They were winning, Miss. They were still going to be in the league. Then Chelmsford equalised in the last 5 minutes and they were out of the league, Miss."
"Josiah, what did you do?"
"I went over to Africa, Miss."
"What did you do there?"
"I led a revival, Miss."
"Led a revival? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it."