The audio files from the BTC 2010 conference are now available for free download! To listen to Pastors Don Donell and Raymond Perron preach on the subject of “The Church & Missions,” follow the links below.
(By David Giarrizzo)
Just over one week ago, 110 people, most of them between the ages of 18 and 30-something, returned to their homes after a refreshing weekend of mutual edification and time in God’s Word. By all accounts, the third-annual Building Tomorrow’s Church conference was a wonderful success. Not even the cool, wet weather of Prescott, Arizona, could dampen the warmth of the fellowship between these like-minded brothers and sisters, many of whom sacrificed time and money to make it for the weekend. Conference attendees Anita, Catherine, and Joshua Baines traveled all the way from Maine to be with the brethren at BTC 2010 and listen to keynote speakers Raymond Perron and Don Donell preach on the topic of “The Church and Missions.” Others traveled from Massachusetts, Tennessee, and South Carolina in the east, and California and Oregon in the west. First Baptist Church in Clinton, Louisiana, sent the most young people with 14 attendees this year. Other churches in Bremen, Indiana, Mansfield, Texas, and southern California also sent large groups to this year’s BTC conference.
The 110 conference attendees represented more than 25 different Reformed Baptist churches from 17 states. More importantly, though, these 110 people represent both a legacy and a future for Reformed Baptists in North America.
A Legacy
Many of the young people who have participated in past Building Tomorrow’s Church conferences are second and third-generation Reformed Baptists. My brother Paul and I are examples of just such people. Our parents were exposed to the doctrines of grace shortly after being converted to Christ. They raised us with the understanding of Scripture’s authority and the Reformers’ and Puritans’ influence. To us, “doctrine” isn’t a dirty word. We have fond feelings towards catechisms, confessions, and creeds. Many young people like us know and love the great hymns of the church and we understand that reverence and order are essential to right worship. Most importantly, we learned from our upbringing in a Reformed Baptist home that everything we do should be done for the purpose of glorifying God (1 Corinthians 10:31, Soli Deo Gloria). This is the legacy our parents have left.
A Future
It is clear through their lives and conversations that most of the young people at the Building Tomorrow’s Church conferences are sober-minded believers. By their own admissions, they are seeking to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ, in full submission to His mission. Many of the BTC conference attendees are already members in their local churches; more are future members. Raised with a biblical understanding of reality, these young believers are the future of our churches; they present older saints with a hope for our churches when they are gone. Though few are seminary-trained and not all college-educated, they are nevertheless Reformed Baptist theologians in their own right because they have learned it from their parents and now own it for themselves. The purpose of BTC is to encourage the young people in our Reformed Baptist churches to continue in the fight for Truth that their parents have fought; to continue in the project of Kingdom-building in which their parents had labored. As Titus 2 encourages the older saints to teach the younger, through BTC we encourage attendees to be both the teachable younger brother or sister as well as the older saint who disciples. As we heard Robert Briggs say at BTC 2009, it’s not an “either-or, but a both-and.”
The legacy left by Reformed Baptist parents and pastors is seen in the lives of their children and young people. The future of Reformed Baptists is viewed also in these same people’s lives. Like a spiritual relay race in which one generation passes the baton of Truth to the next, our generation is responsible to preserve and promote and pass on the good deposit that has been entrusted to us. As God keeps us faithful to Him and His mission, may we stay true to the truths of His Word and the lessons learned from our fathers and churches. May we continue in the work of building the Church today for tomorrow.
After months of preparation, BTC 2010 is upon us. This weekend, August 6-9, 110 people from 25 different churches in 14 different states will descend upon Prescott, Arizona, for what should be a blessed weekend of time in God’s Word and fellowship with God’s people.
Please keep the following requests in your prayers:
That God would be glorified in every part of our weekend together.
That those who are travelling long distances to and from the conference will travel safely and without difficulties.
That God would give Pastors Don Donell and Raymond Perron power from on high as they preach the Word.
That God would encourage the young adults who attend the conference through the messages and fellowship.
That God would encourage the brethren in the churches back home through the Christians who return to continue in their service to the Lord.
That God might raise up the next pastor, missionary, or church planter through this year’s conference.
We are continually amazed at what God has and is doing through this annual conference. Please pray for BTC 2010.
(By: Eddie Goodwin) Paul David Tripp talks up the “grace that decimates…” here.
Collected Headings Grace will: decimate what you think of you while it gives you a security of identity you’ve never had, expose your deepest sins of the heart while it covers every failure with the blood of Jesus, make you face how weak you are while it blesses you with power beyond your ability to calculate, and take control out of your hands, while it blesses you with the care of One who’s plan is unshakable and perfect in every way.”
Lately I have been working on preparations for two back-to-back weekend conferences and have had little time to think about blogging. So for this week, I’m going to pull a Tim Challies and share some miscellaneous links.
Please be in prayer for these two conferences hosted by my home church, Grace Covenant. This coming weekend, July 30-August 1, many from our church family will be heading to the cool(er) Oak Creek Canyon just outside of Sedona for our annual Family Camp. Pastor Robert Cole will be preaching God’s Word to us. The following weekend, August 6-9, over 100 Reformed Baptist young adults from across the country will be assembling in Prescott, Arizona, for the third-annual Building Tomorrow’s Church conference. Please be in prayer for Pastors Raymond Perron and Don Donell as they focus our thoughts on what the Bible says about missions.
The Local Church and Evangelism – Speaking about gospel missions, I appreciate that the brothers over at Reformed Baptist Fellowship posted this wonderful article by Erroll Hulse. The topic is a timely one, especially for those of us who will be attending BTC’10.
Jason Helopoulos on Good Reasons for Moving On – Over at Kevin DeYoung’s Gospel Coalition blog, Heloploupos shares some helpful thoughts for both church members and elders on the topic of “Good,” “Possible,” and “Insufficient” reasons for leaving a church and moving on.
Andy Naselli on Confrontation – DeYoung also had Andy Naselli guest post for him recently. Naselli uses a hypothetical example of two men, “Mr. Confronter” and “Mr. Blogger,” and illustrates with biblical principles how to receive criticism from a brother.
28 years ago today Keith Green died. – Although he went to be with the Lord about a year before I was born, I grew up listening to singing along with Keith Green cassette tapes. As the author of this article states, “Keith certainly didn’t get everything right. He didn’t have great things to say about Reformed theology, although some of his song lyrics show that he was more reformed than he may have realized (see “You Put This Love in My Heart”).” I think Green’s life and hisministry through musicserve as another important reminder to us that God uses various men with various theological views in various ways to bless the Church for His glory and praise.
And finally, just one year ago this month, 6 men (who have come to be known as the “Ardent Cries Guys”) got their act together and started this blog. Happy One Year, brothers!
(HT: Seth Stark @ PuritanBoard) By: Christopher Powell. I’m not sure if this questioner is a believer or not (and I don’t like the tone of the title of this video), but this questioner brilliantly illustrates Proverbs 26:5 “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.”
Proverbs 26:5 is part of a brilliant two-part apologetic strategy that Solomon presents in v.4-5. The confusion is when these two verses are presented together. On first glance, they appear to contradict each other:
Pro 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Pro 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
However, Cornelius Van Til pointed out the vitality of these two verses as a summary of presuppositional apologetics. As Greg Bahnsen summarizes Van Til’s apologetic: “In the first place, the unbeliever should not be answered in terms of his own misguided presuppositions; the apologist should defend his faith by working within his own presuppositions. If he surrenders to the assumptions of the unbeliever, the believer will never effectively set forth a reason for the hope that is in him. He will have lost the battle from the outset, constantly being trapped behind enemy lines . Hence Christianity’s intellectual strength and challenge will not be set forth. But then in the second place the apologist should answer the fool according to his self-proclaimed presuppositions (i.e., according to his folly). In so doing he aims to show the unbeliever the outcome of those assumptions. Pursued to their consistent end presuppositions of unbelief render man’s reasoning vacuous and his experience unintelligible; in short, they lead to the destruction of knowledge, the dead-end of epistemological futility, to utter foolishness.” (Greg Bahnsen Always Ready, Covenant Media Press, 1996) p.61-2
Clearly, Deepak’s “belief” as summarized in the video clip above that “all belief is insecurity” is utter foolishness as his questioner reveals. It reminds me of those who ardently argue against absolute truth, using the very same absolute truth terms. Their blindness is both humourous (as the clip above demonstrates) but at the same time profoundly sad because so many millions are deceived by similar teachings which the Apostle Paul says “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” May God have mercy on them and may His people grow in our understanding of truth as well as our empathy for the lost.
