(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.”

(By David Giarrizzo)

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 his ministry through music serve 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, in case you haven’t heard, the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith & the 1695 Baptist Catechism (Leather-Bound Hardcover Edition) is now available. Get yours today from Solid Ground Christian Books!

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!

(By David Giarrizzo)

Recently our pastor reminded our congregation about the importance of keeping Christ first in every area of our lives, even our travel plans. He preached from 2 Thessalonians 1:4 where we read Paul’s words to the Christians in Thessalonica: “Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.” Here we are given a glimpse of the kind of network of churches among which Paul was travelling and communicating. Here we are reminded of a biblical argument for associationalism.  Likewise, we read the following in our 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith:

As each church, and all the members of it, are bound to pray continually for the good and prosperity of all the churches of Christ, in all places, and upon all occasions to further every one within the bounds of their places and callings, in the exercise of their gifts and graces, so the churches, when planted by the providence of God, so as they may enjoy opportunity and advantage for it, ought to hold communion among themselves, for their peace, increase of love, and mutual edification. (XXVI, 14)

We should seek to stay informed and connected with our brothers and sisters in other churches across the state, across the country, or around the globe. We should communicate with them when possible and pray for them often. Through our Association of churches, this is made possible and we are encouraged to stay connected for Gospel efforts and our edification.

Finally, from the text in 2 Thessalonians 1:4 my dad applied some sound advice for us to ponder and apply: When we know we will be out of town and away from our home churches on a Lord’s Day, we should plan in advance to visit a Reformed Baptist church in the area of where we will be staying. If a sister ARBCA church cannot be found nearby, we should do the research ahead of time to find the best Bible-teaching, Gospel-preaching church. This usually means doing some work: look the church up online; read their statement of faith or core beliefs; call the church office and ask for the pastor; listen to some sermons online. In other words, take the assembling of saints seriously. Or as my dad would say, “When you take a vacation, don’t take a vacation from God.” (Listen to the entire message here. The above mentioned part is approximately 27 minutes in.)

Please check out any of the following links to aid you in revolving your future travels around the Lord and His Day:

ARBCA Church Directory

Johnny Farese’s Directory of Reformed Baptist Churches

9 Marks Church Search

Also, if you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out the Building Tomorrow’s Church conference for Reformed Baptist young adults in Arizona later this summer!

(By David Giarrizzo)

The following is a letter addressed to ARBCA churches and friends regarding this year’s Building Tomorrow’s Church conference. For more information, please visit the official conference website.


Dear Brethren,

It is with much thanks to our merciful Lord that we are excited to announce the details of this year’s Building Tomorrow’s Church conference. BTC’10 will be held again in beautiful Prescott, Arizona, the weekend of August 6^th-9^th (Friday-Monday). We are privileged to have for this year’s keynote speakers Pastor Don Donell from Crosspoint Church in Fletcher, NC, and Pastor Raymond Perron from Église Baptiste Réformée de la Capitale in Quebec, Canada. The theme of BTC’10 is “The Church and Missions.”

The Building Tomorrow’s Church ministry, aimed at young adults (18 yrs+) from Reformed Baptist churches, seeks to communicate that same evangelistic sentiment that C.H. Spurgeon expressed in his 1856 sermon on Gospel Missions:

We feel persuaded that all of you are of one mind in this matter, that it is the absolute duty as well as the eminent privilege of the Church to proclaim the gospel to the world. We do not conceive that God will do his own work without instruments, but that, as he has always employed means in the work of the regeneration of this world, he will still continue to do the same, and that it becomes the Church to do its utmost to spread the truth wherever it can reach the ear of man.

Thus, the activity of missions is an important part of the ministry of the local church, and therefore deserves our attention as individual Christians and faithful church members. May we all benefit from the reminder to be faithful in proclaiming the Word of Truth to all men.

It is our great desire to see the lives of young people sanctified by the power of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit’s conviction and encouragement in hearts that love the Lord and His people. We “expect great things from God” as we “attempt great things for God” through this annual conference. We have yet to find out how many future missionaries, church planters, elders, deacons, or Sunday school teachers may be raised up through one of these conferences, but we look forward to what the Lord might do. “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” (Psalm 90:17).  May God alone receive all the glory.

We ask that you keep the BTC conference and its planning in your regular prayers. Also, take a moment to visit www.buildingtomorrowschurch.com to stay informed of upcoming BTC’10 announcements. May the Lord bless you and your Gospel ministries.

On behalf of the BTC conference planning committee and Grace Covenant Church,

David Giarrizzo
Conference Coordinator

For updated information from the front lines of Gospel-driven relief efforts, please visit http://gbcpapillion.org/haiti/. Also, please consider making a donation to this cause via this link.

(By David Giarrizzo)

As I watch the video footage streaming in from disaster-stricken Haiti and read about the terrible plight of its people, my heart breaks for them. As I write these words, morbid thoughts of dead and dying people flood my mind: men and women, infants and aged trapped beneath piles of rubble, striving to breathe, unable to move, completely helpless; many dead, many dying, and we pray still for many to be saved. I am reminded of the words of Job in Job 30:24-25—

Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
and in his disaster cry for help?
Did not I weep for him whose day was hard?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy?”

A Planet in Peril

A simple web search of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, using Google Maps shows a world of devastation: cracks in the earth, buildings broken and crumbled, shipment containers in the bay—all visible signs of a powerful quake beneath an unstable island. As a society we have come up with terms for these kinds of events: “natural disasters” or “Mother Nature’s fury” or even, “the effects of Global Warming.” But as believers, we have a different understanding of events like the earthquake in Haiti.

We have all heard the news media call Earth, “a planet in peril.” Sadly, this is a true statement; however not in a geological sense, but a spiritual one. Earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis: these are the effects of the Fall. Disasters are not natural because death is not natural. Death came with the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. We know from Romans 5:12 that death came as a consequence of sin. Therefore, the death of men—in any quantity, small or large—should remind us as sons of Adam and daughters of Eve that we are all sinners in need of salvation, dead men in need of eternal life (Romans 3:23). The Bible clearly teaches that natural men who are dead in their trespasses and sin are under the holy condemnation of the Almighty God and are merely vessels of His wrath (Romans 1:18; 2:5, 8, 9; 9:22). Thus, this world is indeed a planet in peril!

Enter the Gospel of Christ.

What an analogy we are presented with, aren’t we?—Helpless people trapped in dire situations while rescuers seek to help them out of their present conditions with God all the while directing the rescuers’ efforts. This sounds like Gospel missions!

There is only one hope for dead sinners; it is Jesus Christ. Just as Lazarus would have never walked out of his tomb but for the divine power of God calling him out (John 11), so sinful man will never know life eternal without the power of God effectually drawing him out of his sinful condition, giving him a new heart, and breathing new life into him. Because Christ is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), spiritually dead men have hope.

Our Part

As believers, we have a responsibility to take the Good News to all people (Mark 16:15). If Christ is the answer to the most basic problem of man (sin), then those of us who have been bought by Christ’s blood have an obligation tell others about our Savior. This is the best thing any of us can do when earthquakes and hurricanes come. Let us point people to the cross of Christ for their salvation.

We pray for the people in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere in Haiti, for God to comfort the mourning and call sinners to repentance. We pray for the Lord to send teams of rescuers to find and save those who still survive. We pray for their safety as they travel to Haiti to sift through the rubble, as they seek the living, heal the hurting, and bury the dead. We pray that the Lord will give them strength and stamina and great success in their mission. And most importantly, we pray for the Gospel to go forth in Haiti and throughout the rest of the world through Haiti’s calamity. May we as disciples of the one-and-only Messiah be faithful to preach the truth with hearts full of loving concern for sinners destined for Hell.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
(Romans 10:17)

While the unbelieving world observes a disaster such as this and asks “What?” and “How?” and “Why?”, let us boldly acknowledge the sovereignty of God in the midst of a saddened and confused society (Amos 3:6). Let us acknowledge all of the attributes of God as we seek to provide answers for the wondering, searching masses of people looking for answers to the world’s problems. As Christians we have the answers through Jesus Christ and the written Word (2 Timothy 3:16). May we humbly and diligently share the love of God and the mercy of Christ and the comfort of the Holy Spirit to the lost and dying world.

For related thoughts on the earthquake in Haiti, see these recent posts.

Follow this link to donate to a Gospel-driven relief effort based in the Dominican Republic, Haiti’s neighbor.

If you have serious questions about God and His role in the earthquake in Haiti, please take a moment to read this helpful article by Rev. Albert Mohler.

Additionally, let us join together as the universal Body of Christ and seek the Lord in prayer on behalf of the people of this hurting country. May many come to know Christ through this catastrophe.

Dear Friends,

As we all know by now a week ago today, Tuesday, January 12th, at 4:53 PM local time a catastrophic earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the island nation of Haiti just outside the capital of Port-au-Prince. Initial Red Cross estimates put the number of dead at 45,000, while government figures now put the death toll near 200,000. The death toll is believed to be so high because the quake struck a very poor area in a country with poor building standards. By comparison, a similar magnitude earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter Scale hit Los Angelos, California in 1994 resulting in a death toll of 72.

 

As we know there are many efforts already to help the Haitian people at this time of devastation. While donations to the Red Cross and other relief agencies are helpful, it is also helpful to actually know and support fellow Christians and local churches who are on the ground doing relief work in Christ’s name. ARBCA church, Grace Baptist Church of Papillion, NE, where the 2009 ARBCA General Assembly was held, has Reformed Baptist church contacts in Haiti’s neighboring country, the Dominican Republic who are setting up aid stations and providing direct relief in the most crucial areas. The DR brothers that presented at the General Assembly are the ones who are helping to coordinate and deliver the local relief. Grace Baptist has set up a website where you can donate online using Paypal to support their efforts. Please pray for Pastor Lou Sloger and the church in Nebraska as they coordinate this collection effort stateside. The brothers from the DR have already made trips inside Haiti and have begun delivering relief. Sadly, preliminary reports indicate that there are many pastors missing or dead and church buildings destroyed, some with the people still inside. This is the latest update as of this evening:

 

There is a coordinated effort with 7 churches in the Dominican Republic setting up 4 stations on the border between Dominican Republic and Haiti, with each station being stocked with food, water and supplies. A group of 20 departed Monday to set up and man these stations, then 25 will depart Thursday and stay through Monday. This week forward, there will then be a constant flow in and out as provisions come in. This is the plan for the immediate future and we will continue to provide regular updates here, and will also provide an accounting to anyone who is involved in giving. Please continue to pray as this will be a very long, difficult, and slow process.

 

The intial supplies for the first trip, alone, included the following:

 

* 30 Cots (Foldable Beds)
* 100 Thin matresses
* 1 Electricity Generator 2.5 kw
* 2 Electricity Generator 1.0 kw
* 1 Extension cords, light bulbs, etc…
* 10 Fuel Containers (5 gal)
* 1000 One thousand Disposable plates and spoons
* 100 Gallons of Gasoline
* 5 Tents
* Medical supplies
* Transportation
* Food

 

Total for these supplies was approximately $20,355 U.S. Dollars. Online giving is now enabled through this site. You may, alternatively, submit a check payable to Grace Baptist Church of Papillion. Please clearly mark in the memo that the same is for “Haiti.

 

There is more information about volunteering to help and links for online donation on the website or you can click the image below to make a donation through the account set up by Grace Baptist Church, Papillion, NE.