April 17, 2019 Show with Dr. Scott Basolo on “Church Planting: The Value & Process of Multiplying & Spreading the Flock of Christ”

Live from the historic parsonage of the 19th century Gospel Minister, George Norcross, in downtown

Carlisle, Pennsylvania, it's Iron Sharpens Iron.

This is a radio platform in which pastors, Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues

facing the Church and the world today.

Proverbs Chapter 27, Verse 17 tells us, Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens

another.

Matthew Henry said that in this passage, we are cautioned to take heed with whom we converse and directed to

have in view in conversation, to make one another wiser and better.

It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours, and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with

your own questions.

And now, here's your host, Chris Arnzen.

Good afternoon, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living

globally, listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com.

This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Wednesday

on the 17th day of April 2019.

And I am thrilled to have a first -time guest today through the enthusiastic

urging of my friend Andrew Rapoport of Striving for Eternity Ministries, and

this guest happens to be his friend Dr. Scott Bassolo, who is the

former director of admissions at the Master's Seminary, former elder at Grace Community Church in Sun

Valley, California, where John MacArthur is the senior pastor.

He is the former senior pastor at Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama, where Dr.

Stephen Lawson used to be the pastor.

And now, Dr. Scott Bassolo is the senior pastor at the Master's Church of Bucks

County, Pennsylvania, which is a Grace Advance church plant.

And today, we're going to be discussing church planting, the value and process of multiplying and spreading the flock of Christ,

and it's my honor and privilege to welcome you for the very first time ever to Iron Trip and Zion Radio, Dr. Scott Bassolo.

Well, thank you, Chris.

It is a rich privilege to be with you and with your listeners today, and to talk about the

passion of my heart in the church and Christ's work in it.

So again, thank you so much.

Well, if you could, before we get into the theme, and before we get into,

even before that, a summary of your salvation testimony, which we typically do when we

have a first -time guest on Iron Trip and Zion Radio, tell us about the Master's Church of

Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Oh, it would be my delight.

Well, the Master's Church is a new work here in Bucks

County.

We are meeting a senior center, which is actually technically called

the Council Rock Senior Center, and our meetings currently are Sunday

afternoons, as we'll be moving to the morning slot first part of June.

So that's a little bit of our physical location.

We are a group of individuals here from Bucks County who had been striving to

find a good, there was

a solid and sound doctrine, and they were struggling mightily with that endeavor,

having to travel almost an hour from where we are, just northeast Philadelphia here, in

order to find a church that they felt like had the doctrinal solidity that they were searching for.

So in an effort to meet the need that they believe existed here in the community, and I

believe absolutely did, in their origination, they came

together and formulated an application to Grace Community Church and

to the Grace Advanced Church Planning Program.

They have endeavored, having their application received about January of last

year, and a pastor, and have continued to expand their small

band into a solid core group, and all of that has moved forward and progressed.

We are today established, I had the privilege of being called by

this group of folks, the Master's Church, and pastor them

at the beginning of the year, and then formally started just a few weeks back,

and have just delighted in the opportunity to shepherd this group.

We have been blessed to see our church expanding, and

often marveled that the Lord has brought a new family almost every week

to our church that are, you know, they're checking it out and kind of looking into all of the parameters, and we're

excited about what the Lord's doing here in Bucks County.

Praise God.

Well, I'm assuming that since this church

is a plant of the Grace Advanced, that you

would have a lot in common, I'm not saying that you at all deny the precious

pillar of the Protestant Reformation, Sola Scriptura, but at the same time, even though we all believe that

the scriptures alone are our sole, inerrant, and infallible authority

for the church, we still have men of God, both from the past and present,

from whom we glean a lot of rich theology and teaching,

and a lot of benefit by trying to follow in their footsteps in some way,

so I'm assuming that the Master's Church of Bucks County

would be resembling a lot of what you hear from the pulpit of

Dr. John MacArthur as far as the theology, as far as the practice of the church, and so on.

Not that you're a cookie cutter, but I'm assuming that there's some great influence there.

Well, there is.

To serve a Grace Community Church, to be educated, Dr.

John, our theology and doctrinal statement is

Grace Community Church.

That is one of the facets of their church planning ministry, is to establish doctrine

amongst small groups like ours to help create a financial

plan, although they remain separate financially from our organization, and then

to help find a man to come in and preach.

Although I never will be a tenth of the preacher of Pastor John,

I am very thankful to at least have been able to glint

his feet for a number of years and seek to honor the

Word in the way that he does, although indeed the Lord has gifted him very uniquely for such a task.

I'm grateful also to be able to fall in his footsteps.

Praise God.

Well, he is one of my modern -day heroes, and in fact, I'd ask you and the listeners to.

Pray.

My friend Phil Johnson, the Executive Director at Grace to You, who has been my

guest on Iron Sherpa and Zion Radio more frequently than any other guest I've ever interviewed,

he is in the process of trying to arrange a second interview with Dr.

John MacArthur here on Iron Sherpa and Zion Radio.

I've only had the privilege to have Dr. MacArthur on once when we were broadcasting out of New

York on our old show, on our old Iron Sherpa and Zion show, and that was surely an extraordinary

blessing, but we are hoping to get him back on, and so please pray that that comes to fruition and that I hear good news

from Phil Johnson about that in the near future.

I would be delighted to, and I know your guests would be, again, doubly blessed to

have Pastor John speak to you about all that the Lord has done through him and laid on his heart and

all that the two of you may be able to discuss.

Now, could you tell us a bit more about Grace Advance, which I know has been involved in planting churches all over the

United States?

Yeah, Grace Advance is a very, I think, singularly unique ministry, and that's saying something amidst all of

the church planting ministries around our country, and some good ones at that.

I'm well known.

I know very well several of the men in different organizations, but the thing that Grace Advance does that I think

sets them apart so uniquely is the first thing that they do is they identify

the doctrinal landscape in the communities that are seeking from them to have them assist

in church planting endeavors.

So they look at the different churches that are in the area, because they're not interested in going

into a community that has solid Bible -believing churches that are

reflecting a similar doctrine and simply add another choice.

I love hearing that, because unfortunately you have churches that

plant churches right in the midst of an area where there are other solid churches, and it just

winds up that the new church very often is just growing numerically by being a vacuum cleaner

to the other congregations that are nearby.

That's right, and we unfortunately have much too much of

a spur that type of an

endeavor, and instead they look at the community and assess whether or not there is a true need

with the doctrinal foundation that does reflect that, similar to Grace Community Church and other good

Reformed churches of theological

position.

And after they've established that and they have a group that has come to them, then they assess the group individually.

Do they seem to have the ability to move forward with the church plant?

One of those things they do is they first off review their theological background, and they

assess very carefully what their theological perspectives are to see

if, in fact, they are in line.

And I don't believe that it is something, although our church is essentially in lockstep with Grace

Community Church and their doctrinal statement, I don't know that it would have to be absolutely point

-by -point.

Obviously, there could be some minor variations that they would allow, but then they interact

with those individuals about those points, particularly any that there may be any discrepancy to discuss and

establish a doctrinal statement for the new work to set that theology and set that

foundation.

Because, as you know, it's all about the Word.

We are all about the Word of God, and where there is any weakness, where there is any compromise,

that compromise is going to manifest and multiply, and we're going to start to see the church go the way

of, unfortunately, many other churches that at one point were more

doctrinally sound, and so they're very careful from that theological position.

And having assessed that theology and the need in the community, then they begin

to establish what the tangible needs of the church will be moving

forward, and they help the church design and

prepare that they will need for some certain years in the future,

so that they know that there is a stability amongst the church plant.

Now, I also find this unique and very important, because there is such

for groups to want to some megachurch somewhere and to have them be

the financial support, and unfortunately, that's a fallacy that we see even in many

missions organizations.

And so Grace does not come in and provide financial support of any means.

They rely upon the core group to, once that budget has been

established, to verify that they are able to meet that budget for

several years in the future, so that there is a strength and stability that they're ready to move forward in.

And those three premises really become kind of the three pillars of the stool on which

the Grace Advanced Church Platform is built.

Now, once those are all in place, and

then Grace in Sun Valley, California, to be

formal sitting elders in that plant, so that as they find a man to come

in to shepherd the flock, there is already a plurality of elders in place.

Now, of course, the first need of the church is to begin to develop leadership and to

see the men that God may perhaps have gifted and called to the office of elder, and to make certain that they are

rightly trained and vetted and ordained, then, into those seats.

But until that time happens, you have it, and

functioning in an incredibly effective elder -led church at Grace Community, who have taken

on the additional responsibility to help shepherd churches around the country.

So it really becomes an incredible platform for success, and for the Gospel to begin to move forward.

Praise God.

Well, I'm going to be, God willing, repeating this information later, but just in case someone has to

leave the program before it's over, I want to make sure that I

initially at least give the websites for not only the church,

where Scott Bassolo is the senior pastor, but also for Grace Advanced.

The Master's Church in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, can be found at themasterschurch

.org, themasterschurch .org, and Grace Advanced can be found at

graceadvanced .org, graceadvanced .org.

So now, as I said before, Pastor Scott, or Dr. Scott...

Pastor is just fine, thanks, Chris.

Well, I'd like you to give a summary of your salvation testimony, what kind of religious

atmosphere, if any, you were raised in, and what kind of providential circumstances that our Lord

raised up, our Sovereign Lord, brought about in your life that drew you to Himself and saved you.

Somewhat of a unique testimony.

I guess we all do.

The Lord works with each of us in His own special way.

I did not grow up in a solid Christian home, as many pastors do, and

sometimes I lament that, but I know that the Lord has divinely ordained all these circumstances.

I had wonderful, loving parents who did take us to church.

Unfortunately, they were just church attenders and professors and not possessors of faith at that

young age.

That manifested itself early on with a divorce that occurred when I was

about 8 years old.

That divorce and the splitting up of my mom and dad sent my dad to

another state.

I was born in Montana, he moved to Idaho, and we were able to visit in the summer,

which I thought was wonderful, because the community I grew up in, Southwest Montana, was very conservative.

We could certainly use the word redneck and be right on point.

We were children who had crew cuts and Levi's and cowboy boots and none other.

In fact, I remember at a young age asking my dad if we could wear shorts, because we were

going to be in the Fourth of July parade, my two brothers and I, and he relented and agreed

that shorts would probably be okay, since we were walking a few miles through fairly hot heat.

So there we were, the picture of us dressed up as Snoopy and Linus and me as Charlie

Brown pulling the wagon in our crew cuts and cowboy boots and

shorts,

which I hope you don't ever see.

We were in a community called Sun Valley, a

ski resort community, and I thought that was wonderful.

It was somewhat liberal, and I thought it was the greatest.

As it turned out, a couple of years later, my mom and dad remarried, and I thought that

was going to be great, too.

However, there just was a little too much water under the bridge in their relationship, and they were not

able to make it work.

So about two or three years following that, they divorced again.

I was in a community now here in Sun Valley that was liberal.

There were a lot of kids smoking pot.

We were a family who, both sides of my mom and dad's family, were not afraid to have

a drink or two or three, and alcohol was quite available.

So when my friends would come and do a sleepover on the weekend, we would dip in a bit.

I decided I was never going to do the scene, and yet it wasn't but a few

years, and there I was smoking marijuana and drinking.

My dad working hard every day to try to provide for our family, my mom no longer being in the area, my

brothers and I living with my dad, created a situation where I kind of had the world as my

oyster, my oats, and went off to

college, and those only got more severe.

I was engaged in many, too many.

Know that I would have, at that point, called myself a drug addict, but I certainly used pretty much anything that

somebody put in my arm.

The Lord allowed me to be able to continue and do well in education.

I was studying architecture, and I decided to pick up another degree

in engineering because the young architects were getting, and

moving through my seven -year college career, and it was a career, and I thought I was doing

pretty well at it until the student loans came in, but that's another story.

So near the end of my college, my brother was killed in a skiing accident at 19.

Oh, no.

And that really set me on my ear.

You know, I found myself back at home in Sun Valley trying to smoke and drink myself out of

the pain of that event, and it was at this time that I

met my wife on a blind date, actually, on the way back to college after

my brother's passing.

We began to date.

I was working at that time in a bar up in northern Idaho where I was going to school.

A unique thing to meet Karen, I had graduated and decided that I wanted to

go to California to work.

Primarily, I desired to go to San Francisco because my uncle lives there, and it's a rich city

from a place to visit.

I was able to get work there.

However, once I got there, I hated it.

I was the little kid from the sticks in the big city, and the traffic was

absurd to me, and all I wanted to do when I got home was order a pizza

and stay away from all the people on the freeway.

I put on about 50 pounds, was there for six months, and said to Karen, who I had coaxed

into coming to live with me, although I had not done the right thing by her family and by

her, despite her solid upbringing in the Lord.

I told her after six months, I said, I'm going back to Idaho, and I don't care if I dig ditch and teach skiing the rest

of my life, I'm never going to California again.

We went back.

We got married.

I was back in my own stomping ground with all my old buddies.

I'd moved her from Boise to this little community, Sun Valley, and I was sowing

again most of these same wild oats.

My wife had never engaged in those kind of activities, and she was fairly

miserable.

As with one another, in fact, it was just about six months into our marriage, as I asked her to come and meet me at the ski

hill, because that was my activity.

I skied every day at lunch.

I wanted a divorce.

She pled with me not to divorce her.

She is a wonderful, godly, strong -willed woman.

I think until the day I stand before our dear Lord, we'll perhaps be able to

understand why she did that.

Anyway, I agreed.

We decided that children would make everything better.

We had some kids, and the Lord knew better and took us through eight years of infertility.

It was at the blessings that came very quickly after that extended

time of infertility that Karen said that we needed to get the kids to church.

I had had several religious experiences.

I had had a Presbyterian church that we went to when I was a small boy.

The pastor of whom, after my parents' divorce, was counseling my mom and hitting on

her, and we left that church.

We moved to a little apartment before Idaho, and I wanted to go to Cub Scouts and ended up in a

Catholic troop, because that was only about two blocks away.

They wanted me to start coming to catechism before they would allow me to continue.

I said, you know, I don't think so.

I'm here for the Scouts.

It was shortly thereafter we moved to Idaho, and I again wanted to get into Scouts.

The troop right up the street was one of the many Mormon troops, the LDS troops, there in the area.

I didn't even know that they segregated over religion in the Scouts.

Well, they really don't, but in Idaho particularly, the Mormons have

a pretty strong hold on the Scouting program.

There are very few troops that are not directly associated with the

Mormon Church.

And there is such a strong, or at least was when I was in Scouting, such a strong presence towards God and a

lot of focus on that, even God and country special awards.

And so the LDS troop, they wanted me to start coming to seminary, as

they called it, for the high school kids in the morning, and they wanted to do family home visits at our

home.

And I told my dad that, and he said, that'll be great.

Send him over.

We'll teach him how to drink.

You know, I said, that's going to go too good.

And so I left that troop.

And then my next religious experience after the Presbyterians and Catholics and the

Mormons, although not to be lumped in the same group, please keep in mind, but nonetheless, these

individuals was a small Baptist church that my wife asked me to go to partway through our infertility.

We hadn't been there but about two weeks, and the pastor wanted to come visit.

And he wasn't in our house but about 15 minutes when he asked me where my tithing check was.

And I was ready to strain him through the screen door.

And I said, you know, I've had it with religion.

I've dealt with the adulterous Presbyterian pastor, I've dealt with the Catholics and the Mormons, and

now this idiot Baptist, I'm never going to have anything to do with religion.

And so our children are born, and Karen asked if I wouldn't consider consenting to go with

her to church.

And I said, you know, as long as you find a place that doesn't have this other idiot and all these other

individuals, I'll go.

I said, I don't need to go, you know, but I'm still at this point, still smoking pot,

20 -some years at this point.

My engineering business is doing very well, but I just can't seem to get away from that, and that's

causing all kinds of strife in our marriage.

I'm lying about it to my wife, and of course you can smell anybody that's been participating in that from about 50 yards

away.

And you know, I said, I don't want my kids to go through this.

I do remember fondly Sunday school and singing in the kids' choir as a young boy.

So you find a place and I'll go.

So the second Sunday of January in 1998, after the

birth of our second son, we go to this little Bible church just a quarter mile from our home, kind of

out in the sticks outside of Sun Valley.

And we walk in, and I've lived in this community for 35 years, and the elder's eyes are like

saucers, and they're grabbing for the wall, wanting to know, what is this guy doing here?

Because they've all known me very well.

And it's a small congregation, about 40 to 50 people, and we end up on the front row, and the

pastor preaches on Galatians 5, 1 to 15.

And as he preaches, I'm sitting there thinking, you know, he just keeps talking to me.

There's all these people here, and he just keeps talking to me.

Well, I was way too prideful to tell my wife about that, but I said, I guess we'll go back the next week and see what that was

all about.

And being a faithful expositor, the next week we go into Galatians 5, 16 to 26, and the

deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.

I'm feeling like I am pinned to the wall of the church with Goliath's spear,

undone in my

sin, to reveal

that sin to me and to show me Christ and the necessity

for my repentance and my reckoning of where my

life had been and where it needed to be.

I began to grow and continue in that church, and God graciously gave me

the privilege to grow quickly, and that one thing led to another, and it wasn't...

Now, what was it that, in your opinion, or in your

deeply felt belief, what was it that rose up

within you that you knew God was calling you to become a pastor?

I'd gotten out of college and moved back to Idaho.

I'd started working with the Scouts again, because I was an Eagle Scout from that troop, and it was the same

leadership from when I was there, and many of these men are in their upper 70s and 80s, and so I'd worked with the

Scouts for a number of years, and when I got saved, the pastor asked me if I wanted to start helping

logistically, not spiritually, with some of the youth activities, and I agreed.

We were broadening the youth program.

There were actually four small churches working together, because none of us had a large enough group of kids to have a

youth group, and that broadened from a one -time -a -year event for our community

churches to a four -time -a -year event, and eventually a year and a half or so later to actually a weekly

study.

And at that time, I had been asked to start teaching a junior

high Sunday school, and had been privileged to

stumble into Ken Ham's Answers in Genesis.

As you know, anyone who studies it to teach learns more than he ever could convey to those

to whom he's teaching.

That's right.

And I was just absolutely overwhelmed at what I was reading and hearing and

growing in, and soon after that, the pastor asked me to do an internship with him,

and I agreed.

We decided it would be a four -year program, and about a year and a half into it, he came to me and said he and his

wife were being called to another field.

So I had engaged in an online study at Moody in order to

complete part of that internship, and I abandoned that and went full tilt towards completing the

60 -point internship program, and he departed.

I was now running the weekly youth group for several of these churches.

One of the churches also did not have a pastor, so I was preaching there once a month or so.

Our church could only come from Twin Falls or Boise a couple times a month, so I was preaching

at our church fairly regularly.

And the church that didn't have a pastor asked me to be their shepherd, asked me if I would consider applying for the

position of their priest.

We wanted to do it.

This was a group of people I'd known my whole life.

It was a quaint little old American Baptist church from

our part of the world in Idaho there, built in the late 1880s, which was a very old structure.

And I just desperately wanted to do that, but as I prayed and sought the Lord, I

realized that after now four -plus years of salvation, I could not stand before

Christ and tell him that I had done everything I could to feed his flock.

And so I knew I needed seminary.

Now, when you say American Baptist church, are you specifically talking about the denomination?

It was.

They had kind of left those denominational confines, and they were just a church that carried

that label, but were not doctrinally connected.

Right, because as some of our listeners may know, but maybe many do not, the American Baptist

denomination has become very liberal, although there are some conservative Bible

-believing holdouts that remain within that denomination, those that still hold on to

the inerrancy of Scripture and to the pillars of the Christian faith.

My friend John Thornberry, who is retired from pastoral ministry, he is a

really amazing church historian and author, but he was for many years pastoring

an American Baptist Association church, but he resisted as long as he

could against any liberalism.

His congregation was very conservative and confessionally Calvinistic, and finally

they did leave before he retired.

Yeah, well this church also did finally depart from

that group because they were so remote to the rest of the denomination, and

they had, to my way of understanding, very little if any direct connectivity.

So anyway, that was something I wanted to do and could not, and

decided that I needed to go to seminary, and so basically closed my engineering

practice, having found the Master Seminary, and remembering keenly my

comment from my California days that I was never coming back to California, and

loaded off my wife and family, and we were off to Beverly, so Jed said.

Well we have to go to our first break right now, and when we return we will launch right into

our theme today, which is actually on church planting, to refresh the memories

of those listening.

The theme is, Church Planting, the Value and Process of Multiplying and Spreading the Flock of Christ.

If you have questions on that issue, and basically any theological issue that you want to

ask, but we'll be primarily speaking on church planting, our email address is ChrisArnzen at gmail

.com, C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.

Please give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence if you live outside the USA.

Please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.

And speaking of church planting, the first ad that you're going to hear in the first station break

is a new church plant that is being shepherded by my dear friend Bill Shishko,

who for many years was the pastor of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Franklin Square, Long Island, New York.

He retired from that position and went into

domestic missionary work through a ministry underneath the oversight

of the Orthodox Presbyterian denomination.

And just recently, I believe just two weeks ago, has planted a new church called The Haven in Deer

Park, Long Island, New York.

And here is Bill Shishko to tell you more about it.

I'm Pastor Bill Shishko, host of A Visit to the Pastor's Study, and I am so thankful to be part of the advertising

family right here on Iron Sharpens Iron.

If you live on Long Island or if you're visiting the metropolitan New York area, I invite you to join us for worship at The

Haven on Sundays at 4 .30 p .m.

We meet at the Ascension Lutheran Church facility, 33 Bayshore Road in Deer Park, New York.

At The Haven, you'll find God -saturated singing, gospel -rich ministry, and Great Commission opportunities.

Learn more about us at thehavenli .com, and join us this Sunday at 4 .30 p

.m., 33 Bayshore Road, Deer Park, New York.

Chris Arnsen, host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, announcing a new website with an exciting offer from World

Magazine, my trusted source for news from a Christian perspective.

Try World Now at no charge for 90 days by going to getworldnow

.com.

That's getworldnow .com.

I rely on World because I trust the reporting.

I gain insight from the analysis, and World provides clarity to the news stories that really matter.

I believe you'll also find World to be an invaluable resource to better understand critical topics with a

depth that's simply not found in other media outlets.

Armed with this coverage, World can help you to be a voice of wisdom in your family and your community.

This trial includes bi -weekly issues of World Magazine, on -scene reporting from World Radio, and the fully

shareable content of World Digital.

There's no obligation and no credit card required.

Visit getworldnow .com today.

Also, check out World News Group's podcast, The World and Everything in It, at

wng .org forward slash podcast.

That's W for World, N for News, G for Group, dot org forward

slash podcast.

My name is Steve Lawson, founder and president of One Passion Ministries, as well as teaching fellow for Ligonier

Ministries.

I serve as professor of preaching and oversee the Doctor of Ministry program at the Masters Seminary in Los Angeles.

I would like to recommend the church where one of my preaching students, Andy Woodard, serves as the pastor.

It's called New Covenant Church, NYC.

They are a Reformed Baptist church that meets in Midtown Manhattan.

You can find their service times and location on their website, which is www

.ncc .nyc.

They believe in a sovereign God who commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel.

If you're looking for a church that believes in expository preaching, which is simply biblical In

New York City, I'd like to recommend that you visit New Covenant Church, NYC.

Again, their information can be found at www .ncc .nyc.

Have a great day.

Iron Sharpens Iron welcomes Solid Rock Remodeling to our family of sponsors.

Serving South Central Pennsylvania, Solid Rock Remodeling is focused on discovering,

understanding, and exceeding your expectations.

They deliver personalized project solutions with exceptional results.

Solid Rock Remodeling offers a full range of home renovations, including kitchen and bath

remodeling, decks, porches, windows and doors, roof and siding, and

more.

For a clear, detailed professional estimate, call this trustworthy team of problem solvers

who provide superior results that stand the test of time.

Call Solid Rock Remodeling at 717 -697 -1981.

717 -697 -1981.

Or visit SolidRockRemodeling .com.

That's SolidRockRemodeling .com.

Solid Rock Remodeling, bringing new life to your home.

Hello, my name is James Renahan, and I'm the president of IRBS Theological Seminary in Mansfield, Texas.

The Word of God says, if a man desires the office of an overseer, he desires a good thing.

Do you have the desire to serve Jesus Christ in pastoral ministry?

Twenty years ago, the Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies at Westminster Seminary, California, was born.

For those two decades, these institutions worked together to train men for ministry in Reformed Baptist

churches.

It has been a wonderful partnership.

Now we have advanced our school into an independent seminary offering a full program of courses leading to

the Master of Divinity degree.

This is IRBS Theological Seminary.

We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired and inerrant Word of God, that Jesus Christ

is God in the flesh who came to save sinners by his life, death, and resurrection, and that the task of the church is to

honor and serve the triune God in all things.

IRBS Theological Seminary is dedicated by God's grace to preparing godly ministers who will be committed to

these doctrines.

Do you sense a call to serve Jesus Christ and his church as a pastor?

Why not consider IRBS Theological Seminary?

You'll find more information at irbsseminary .org.

That's irbsseminary .org, two S's in the middle.

I hope to hear from you soon.

God bless you.

James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.

If you've watched my Dividing Line webcast often enough, you know I have a great love for getting Bibles and other

documents vital to my ministry rebound to preserve and ensure their longevity.

And besides that, they feel so good.

I'm so delighted I discovered Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding.

No radio ad will be long enough to sing their praises sufficiently, but I'll give it a shot.

Jeffrey Rice of Post -Tenebrous Lux is a remarkably gifted craftsman and artisan.

All his work is done by hand from the cutting to the pleating of corners to the perimeter stitching.

Jeffrey uses the finest in buttery soft imported leathers in a wide variety of gorgeous colors like

the turquoise goatskin tanned in Italy used for my Nestle All -in -28th edition with a navy

blue goatskin inside liner and the electric blue goatskin from a French tannery used to rebind a

Reformation study Bible I used as a gift.

The silver gilding he added on the page edges has a stunning mirror finish resembling highly polished chrome.

Jeffrey will customize your rebinding to your specifications and even emboss your logo into the leather

making whatever he rebinds a one -of -a -kind work of art.

For more details on Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding, go to

PTLBibleRebinding .com.

That's PTLBibleRebinding .com.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said,.

Give yourself unto reading.

The man who never reads will never be read.

He who never quotes will never be quoted.

He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own.

You need to read.

Solid Ground Christian Books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the Prince of Preachers to heart.

The mission of Solid Ground Christian Books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to Christians in the present and

future and to publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world.

Since its beginning in 2001, Solid Ground has been committed to publish God -centered, Christ -exalting

books for all ages.

We invite you to go treasure hunting at Solid -Ground -Books .com That's Solid

-Ground -Books .com and see what priceless literary gems from the past to present you

can unearth from Solid Ground.

Solid Ground Christian Books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

And please remember Solid -Ground -Books .com when you're buying gifts for the upcoming

holidays, Easter, Mother's Day, and many other things and occasions that are

coming up.

There are many wedding anniversaries that come up every summer.

Please consider them because the more you purchase from Solid Ground Christian Books, the more likely they

will be able to remain as one of our advertisers.

They are one of our chief advertisers that help keep this program on the air.

So the longer they are our advertisers, the longer we will be able to remain in existence.

So please remember them, especially since they fell into a bit of a financial rut recently.

And I would love to hear the good news that the listeners of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio help to

revive them and help to pull them out of that financial pit that they have fallen into.

So please go to Solid -Ground -Books .com, Solid -Ground -Books .com, and purchase

as many things as you can, not only for yourself, but for loved ones during the upcoming holidays

and other special occasions.

We are now back with our guest today, Dr. Scott Basolo.

And by the way, am I pronouncing your last name correctly?

Am I putting the emphasis on the right syllable?

I think you're doing excellent, Chris, so stay right with it.

All right, great.

And for those of you who just tuned in, Dr. Scott Basolo is the former director of admissions at the

Master's Seminary, former elder at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where John MacArthur

is the senior pastor, former senior pastor at Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in

Mobile, Alabama, after Dr. Stephen Lawson had left the pulpit there to

pursue One Passion Ministries.

And Dr. Scott Basolo is now the senior pastor at the Master's Church of

Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a Grace Advance church plant.

And we are discussing church planting, the value and process of multiplying and spreading the flock of

Christ.

If you have a question of your own, our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com.

Chrisarnsen at gmail .com.

Please give us your first name, at least your city and state and country of residence if you live outside the USA.

Please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.

So, Dr. Scott, I think it might be wise to start with

mistakes that many Christians and many churches may make when

they are seeking to plant the church.

I know that there are people who, without any cooperation of other churches

or other pastors or other denominations or other brotherhoods or fellowships, they just think to themselves, you

know, I think that I know the Bible pretty well and I love public speaking and I do have a

heart to care for people.

I think I'm going to start a church.

And they just start renting a facility and a few of their friends may join them or some

disgruntled members of another church may join them.

But I'm assuming that is not really the way to go about planting a church, is it?

No, it absolutely is not.

I mean, not only does the Scripture warn against such things where James tells us, let

not many of you become teachers, for you will incur a stricter condemnation, but to

understand as well that, as Hebrews says, that we'll each, as those who shepherd God's

flock, be held accountable.

And it's a very dangerous situation.

And it really becomes that they do not have the foundational

preparation, in most cases, in order to lead God's flock, and therein they end up

oftentimes leading them astray.

And I'm assuming you would agree that one has to be very careful that a vengeful

spirit is not involved in planting a new church because of something that you're displeased with

from a former church.

I mean, there are good reasons and bad reasons, true reasons and false reasons,

godly reasons and sinful reasons to leave a church.

It's not always the right thing to do, and it's not always the bad thing to do.

Sometimes it's a necessary thing to do.

But don't you think that we have to make sure, with much prayer and counsel from brothers

in Christ and even pastors, pastoral peers,

that we are not doing so out of some kind of vengeful spirit, perhaps to see if we can

sheep -steal or steal sheep, however you want to phrase that, from a former church,

etc.?

We have to be very careful about that kind of thing, don't we?

I mean, the dangers involved are

particularly prevalent in that type of situation, and they're often

well -handled when the church plan involves a multiple group of

people.

And that isn't always the case.

There still can be that negative spirit that can come in.

But as you say, counseling with others and understanding what the particular perspectives

are.

I have often counseled people.

I said, you know, it's not that there are no reasons to leave a church, but I believe primarily there is one.

There are doctrinal errors within that church, and you have sought to

identify and illuminate those errors to the leadership,

those problems, and that your further pursuit of those

doctrinal errors is going to result in divisiveness to the church.

And it is at that point that I believe you're compelled to go.

Unfortunately, you know, we leave the church over music that we

don't like or any number of other things, and those can be the foundations by which we feel like we need to start

other churches, and that is absolutely not the right way to go about planning a

church.

Well, having said what you did, I'm assuming, of course, color of carpet should never be a reason, but

you might be in a church that makes a decision,

we are going to start to have very heavy rock music

in our worship services.

You might be in a situation where the church says, you know, we're going to have every Sunday

worship hip -hop music, or whatever the thing is that you are

personally convicted that this is not proper for a worship setting.

And wouldn't you say that in those kind of cases that music would be a legitimate reason to

say, I'm sorry, I just cannot in good conscience remain here.

I love you all and have valued my friendship with all of

you, etc., but I do believe that my family and I have to depart and find somewhere else.

I mean, wouldn't you say in that kind of circumstances it would be okay?

I think that there is some ground for that, Chris.

The key, I believe, to it is, has the new path has

taken become one that is north, and

we have to be very careful because music is so personal.

Music is often very divisive.

At the same time, I think it is quite evident when we see that there is

a change in the tone of music from that, which is truly, words are no longer those

which are bringing glory to Christ and glory to God, then those absolutely, and if that venue

and the medium that's carrying that music

confuses that because you can't hear the words over the, you know, whatever the

particular background may be, that that very much does become a doctrinal constraint,

and I would say even in those cases, the first step is to go to the leadership and

talk about why we're doing what we're doing, and to try to help them see, because God does

put each person in the Church specifically and gifts them for the work of the ministry.

And so then it's important that you do seek to try to

use your gifts and your abilities to move the Church towards, if they're beginning to

veer from a doctrinally solid position, even be it music, that you

would try to illuminate that prior to departure.

And then, as you say, absolutely, when that departure, there's no other path for that than to

go illuminating your love for those people and wishing your best upon

them, not going in a spirit of vengeance and I'm going to show you kind of thing.

Now, something that you just said there, the very last words, don't you think that

the manner with which someone leaves a Church and perhaps either searches

out another Church or even if they are in a position where they can plant the

Church in a biblical and godly fashion, the manner of departing your former Church

can be just as important as the reason.

For instance, the change might not be in the Church, the change might be in the person who has come

to embrace a biblical truth that they formerly did not believe.

They may have been formerly an Arminian Christian who came to embrace the doctrines of

sovereign grace and feel that they need to move on or they may have been a

charismatic or Pentecostal Christian who has developed a conviction of

cessationism or whatever the case may be.

And even us who are believers in the doctrines of sovereign grace, as much as we may

be saddened by those leaving us because they've developed different

convictions that may be within the periphery or in the realm of biblical

soundness, but they just disagree with us in certain areas.

They may have become exclusive psalmody advocates or something like that where they

don't feel right or biblically correct to sing extra -biblical hymns,

whatever the case is, and they feel a need to leave.

We have to be careful also that we do not be overly harsh with them if they

leave and depart with love, with graciousness, because to

violate your conscience is a sin, is it not?

Now, I'm assuming that you would think that the best reason for a church

plant to even take place is when a biblically faithful congregation and its leaders

call a person from among them, whether it's someone they just believe is gifted enough from

amongst the congregation to launch this new work or it could be even one of the elders.

It might even be the senior pastor who believes that the church is now in safe hands with the other

elders or another pastor that has been called, and he believes

that he can move on.

But the most healthy way and the best way, ultimately, isn't it not when

a healthy biblically faithful church wants to multiply and spread the

flock of Christ, as our title insinuates, to just bless other areas

geographically with what they believe they have come to possess in their own congregation?

Yeah, absolutely.

I think that is the ideal way for church planting to occur, because you have a

connectivity of individuals, you have validity with the leader

and an existing leadership that can move forward in that work, and that is an excellent

mechanism by which church planting can take place.

Well, we are now at the point where, believe it or not, we have to go to our midway break.

This is a longer break than normal, because Grace Life Radio in Lake City,

Florida, who airs Iron Trip and Zion Radio twice daily in a pre -recorded format, they need this

middle section of the show to localize Iron Trip and Zion Radio to Lake City, Florida, by airing their own

public service announcements and commercials, while we air our globally heard commercials.

So please take this time and use it wisely to write down the information

provided by our advertisers, because that will enable you to more frequently and successfully patronize our

advertisers whenever possible, and, of course, that will further

the probability of Iron Trip and Zion Radio

existing into the future, because, as I said earlier, we depend upon our advertisers to keep this program

alive.

So please write down the information provided by our advertisers, so that you can patronize them successfully and more

frequently.

And also use this time to write down questions for our guest today, Dr. Scott Basolo,

in regard to church planting or even in a broader sphere of questions involving theology.

Perhaps you are a new believer and you have many questions about different areas.

Perhaps you're not even a Christian at all.

We would love to hear from you, especially if that is the case.

Or perhaps you're a pastor and you need some advice about something going on in your own congregation or with a church plant

that you are prayerfully pursuing.

Well, just send us an email to chrisarnson at gmail dot com.

Chrisarnson at gmail dot com.

And, as always, give us your first name, city and state, and country of residence if you live outside of the USA.

And please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal or private matter.

Don't go away.

We'll be right back with Dr. Scott Basolo after these words from our sponsors.

Did you know that all believers are priests?

In 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9, the Apostle Peter describes Christ's church as comprising a chosen

race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may

proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

So if you're a Christian, you're also a priest.

Now you can find the newest styles in Reformed and Protestant apparel at CitizenPriest .com.

CitizenPriest .com specializes in Christian -themed t -shirts and clothing, especially for

Reformed Christians.

CitizenPriest .com's merchandise is purposefully Scripture -based and meant for the edification of the

saints and the furtherance of the gospel.

Let everyone know that you stand firm on the doctrines of the Reformed faith by wearing apparel from

CitizenPriest .com.

Visit CitizenPriest .com today.

One sure way all Iron Sharpens Iron Radio listeners can help keep my show on the air is to support my

advertisers.

I know you all use batteries every day, so I'm urging you all from now on to exclusively

use BatteryDepot .com for all your battery needs.

At BatteryDepot .com, they're changing the status quo.

They're flipping the script.

They're sticking it to the man.

In other words, they'd like to change the battery industry for good by providing an extensive inventory

of top -of -the -line batteries that are uniformly new, dependable, and affordable.

Ordering from BatteryDepot .com ensures you'll always get fresh, out -of -the -box batteries you

can count on to work properly at competitive prices.

Whether you need batteries for cordless phones, cell phones, radios, PCs,

laptops, tablets, baby monitors, hearing aids, smoke detectors, credit card

readers, digital cameras, electronic cigarettes, GPSs, MP3 players,

watches, or nearly anything else you own that needs batteries, go to BatteryDepot

.com.

Next day shipping available.

All products protected by 30 -day guarantees and 6 -month warranties.

Call 866 -403 -3768.

That's 866 -403 -3768.

Or go to BatteryDepot .com.

That's BatteryDepot .com.

I'm Dr. Gary Kimbrell, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Laurel, Mississippi.

God tells us in James 127 that pure and undefiled religion is a visit to fatherless and widows and their affliction.

In the providence of God, three years ago, I discovered a poor, small church outside Lusaka, Zambia, in a township called

Kabanana, who were taking care of 24 orphans.

I found them just at the time when they had lost all their funding.

What was I to do?

Could I just say, God bless you and walk away?

The situation of the children set heavily upon me.

As I was praying concerning this need, it came to me, I trust from the Lord, to tell the orphans' plight to a broader audience.

The entire need for their clothing, food, education, and some medical services is $73 per month per child.

If just 50 of us would give $35 a month, we could meet the need.

Bethlehem Baptist Church will pay the fee to get the funds there, so if you give a dollar, a dollar will get to the orphans.

In this season of hope and giving, will you consider giving hope to 24 orphans?

Please send your gift of any amount to Bethlehem Baptist Church, 838 Reed Road, Laurel,

Mississippi 39443, or donate through our website, bbclaurel .com.

Again, the address is Bethlehem Baptist Church, 838 Reed Road, Laurel, Mississippi

39443, or bbclaurel .com.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Stephan Lindblad, Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at IRBS

Theological Seminary in Mansfield, Texas.

I accepted this call to teach at the seminary because I'm firmly convinced that the people of

God in the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ need to be firmly grounded in the truth

of Holy Scripture.

I'm excited to be teaching such subjects as the nature of theology and the doctrine of Scripture,

and even the doctrine of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Our churches and our people need to be well grounded in these truths.

Indeed, future ministers of the gospel need to understand these truths in order to proclaim them

to all of God's people.

If you want to learn more about our program, visit us online at irbsseminary .org.

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio is sponsored by Harvey Cedars, a year -round Bible conference and retreat

center nestled on the Jersey Shore.

Harvey Cedars offers a wide range of accommodations to suit groups up to 400.

For generations, Christians have enjoyed gathering and growing at Harvey Cedars.

Each year, thousands of high school and college students come and learn more about God's Word.

An additional 9 ,000 come annually to Harvey Cedars as families, couples,

singles, men, women, pastors, seniors, and missionaries.

Ninety miles from New York City, 70 miles from Philly, and 95 miles from Wilmington,

and easily accessible, scores of notable Christian groups frequently plan conferences at

Harvey Cedars, like The Navigators, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Campus

Crusade, and the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

Find Harvey Cedars on Facebook or at hcbible .org,

hcbible .org.

Call

609 -494 -5689, 609 -494 -5689.

Harvey Cedars, where Christ finds people and changes lives.

My name is Steve Lawson, founder and president of One Passion Ministries, as well as teaching fellow for Ligonier

Ministries.

I serve as professor of preaching and oversee the Doctor of Ministry program at the Master's Seminary in Los Angeles.

I would like to recommend the church where one of my preaching students, Andy Woodard, serves as the pastor.

It's called New Covenant Church, NYC.

They are a Reformed Baptist church that meets in midtown Manhattan.

You can find their service times and location on their website, which is www

.ncc .nyc.

They believe in a sovereign God who commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel.

If you're looking for a church that believes in expository preaching, which is simply biblical preaching,

in New York City, I'd like to recommend that you visit New Covenant Church, NYC.

Again, their information can be found at www .ncc .nyc.

Have a great day.

Including kitchen and bath remodeling, decks, porches, windows and doors,

roof and siding, and more.

For a clear detailed professional estimate, call this trustworthy team of problem solvers

who provide superior results that stand the test of time.

Call Solid Rock Remodeling at 717 -697 -1981.

717 -697 -1981.

Or visit SolidRockRemodeling .com.

That's SolidRockRemodeling .com.

Solid Rock Remodeling, bringing new life to your home.

Hi, I'm Buzz Taylor, frequent co -host with Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpen's Iron Radio.

I would like to introduce you to my good friends Todd and Patty Jennings at CVBBS, which stands for Cumberland Valley

Bible Book Service.

Todd and Patty specialize in supplying Reformed and Puritan books and Bibles at discount prices that make them

affordable to everyone.

Since 1987, the family owned and operated book service has sought to bring you the best available Christian books

and Bibles at the best possible prices.

Unlike other book sites, they make no effort to provide every book that is available because frankly, much of what

is being printed is not worth your time.

That means you can get to the good stuff faster.

It also means that you don't have to worry about being assaulted by the pornographic, heretical, and

otherwise faith insulting material promoted by the secular book vendors.

Their website is CVBBS .com.

Browse the pages at ease, shop at your leisure, and purchase with confidence as Todd and Patty work

in service to you, the church, and to Christ.

That's Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service at CVBBS .com.

That's CVBBS .com.

Let Todd and Patty know that you heard about them on Iron Sharpen's Iron Radio.

Welcome back.

This is Chris Arnzen.

If you just tuned us in, our guest today for the full two hours, with a little less than an hour to go, is Dr. Scott Basolo.

He is former director of admissions at the Master's Seminary, former elder at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California,

where John MacArthur is the senior pastor.

He is the former senior pastor at Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama, where

he ascended into that role after Dr. Stephen Lawson

retired from pastoral ministry and pursued itinerant evangelism full time with his

work at One Passion Ministries.

Today, Dr. Scott Basolo is the senior pastor at the Master's Church of Bucks County,

Pennsylvania, a Grace -advanced church plant.

We are discussing church planting, the value and process of multiplying and spreading the flock of Christ.

If you have a question regarding church planting or any other theological issue that you'd like to ask, our email address is ChrisArnzen

at gmail .com.

ChrisArnzen at gmail .com.

And as always, please give us your first name, city and state, and country of residence if you live outside the USA.

Please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal or private matter.

Before I return to our discussion with Dr. Scott Basolo, we

have a few announcements regarding upcoming events that we want you to attend, if at all possible,

some of which I am going to be attending as well.

First of all, there is an event taking place next week, Thursday,

Friday, and Saturday of next week, April 25th, 26th, and 27th at the

Trinity Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.

That is the Dort 400 Conference, Safeguarding the Reformed Tradition.

And I hope that you can attend that, especially if you live in the Hudsonville, Michigan area

or can easily get there, or at least get there by train, plane, or automobile, if you have the

free time and the ability to get there.

We have a number of speakers at this conference whom I have interviewed on this show, and

some I have not yet interviewed but look forward to interviewing.

Professor Ronald Kamenga, who was a recent guest here on Iron Trip to Zion Radio, is on the roster.

Professor Barrett Gritters, Reverend Brian Huizinga, who I hope to get

on the show soon.

Professor Doug Kuyper, who has been a guest on the program and is going to be, God willing, returning next

month to be my guest again.

Reverend Bill Langerak, and Reverend Mark Shand, and Reverend Angus Stewart,

who it was a joy to interview not long ago.

He is from Northern Ireland and pastors a church there, and he is going to be returning soon, God willing, to Iron Trip and Zion Radio.

If you would like to attend this conference, go to dort400 .org, dort400

.org, and dort is spelled D as in David, O -R -D as in David, T.

You've got to remember to put that second D in there, D -O -R -D -T -400 .org,

and you will have all the information that you need to attend the conference.

Also, coming up very soon in May, I am having the next Iron Trip and

Zion Radio Spring Pastors Luncheon.

This is for all men in ministry leadership, whether you are a pastor or an elder, and I believe those are the same

office, by the way, a deacon, a power church leader, whatever kind of leadership

position you hold.

If you are a man, you are welcome to attend the Iron Trip and Zion Radio Pastors Luncheon, and

it's free of charge.

You'll not only be fed for free, but you will be hearing Dr. Tony Costa,

who is the professor of apologetics and Islam at Toronto Baptist Seminary.

You'll be hearing him give a lecture on how the Dead Sea Scrolls vindicate the reliability

of the Holy Scriptures.

He is a genius, and he is really a powerful speaker, and really a humble and wonderful brother in

Christ.

You don't want to miss any opportunity that you can take advantage of to hear Dr. Tony Costa of Toronto

Baptist Seminary.

If you would like to attend, this is going to be held on Thursday, May 23rd from 11 a .m. to 2 p .m.

here in Carlisle, Pennsylvania at the Carlisle Fire and Rescue Banquet Hall.

Just send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com, chrisarnson at gmail .com, and I will register you for free for this

event.

And guess what?

Everyone who attends is going to be leaving with a heavy sack of brand new books,

absolutely free of charge, that have been donated by most of the major Christian publishers in the United States and the

United Kingdom.

I select a title from each of these publishers, and they donate a hundred copies of each title so that

every man in attendance can leave with a copy of each of these books.

So you'll be leaving with a couple of dozen books at least, absolutely free of charge.

There's no hidden agenda or ulterior motive behind the pastor's luncheons.

These were the brainchild of my precious late wife, Julie, who knew that I had more

pastor friends than the normal person.

And in the early 1990s, she said, why don't we, instead of exchanging Christmas gifts, use that money to treat your pastor

friends to a Christmas lunch?

And I took her up on that suggestion, and the luncheons kept growing and growing and growing until we finally

needed corporate sponsorship to help us pay for the luncheons.

And they continue to exist in the honor and memory of my precious wife

after she has gone home to be with the Lord for eternity.

So I hope that you can attend the free luncheon.

Send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com to register.

And Dr. Tony Costa will be speaking, God willing, at several churches on Long Island, New York, after he leaves

Pennsylvania, when the luncheon is over.

I will be following him to New York, and I will give you all the details you need on these churches,

if you would like that information as well.

He will be speaking Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at several different churches, I believe four different churches,

and I will give you all the details.

Then, right after that, I am heading to Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, to Elizabethtown College,

for the Banner of Truth East Coast Ministers Conference.

It's on the theme, I Believe in the Holy Spirit.

The speakers include Jeff Kingswood, Terry Johnson, David Vaughn, Stephen Nichols, Michael Morales, and

Chad Vegas.

That's May 28th through the 30th in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

Tuesday, May 28th through Thursday, May 30th.

And for registration, go to banneroftruth .org, banneroftruth .org, and scroll down to

the East Coast Ministers Conference.

And I hope to see you there.

Please look for me if you attend.

Ask around, say, do you know where Chris Arntzen might be?

Because I hope to see you there at the East Coast Ministers Conference, run by the Banner of Truth, May 28th through

the 30th, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

Then after that, one of my favorite conferences that I've grown to love is the Foundations Conference,

a conference of sermonaudio .com.

The Foundations Conference is being held again in the heart of New York City and Manhattan on

December 19th and 20th.

And once again, they have an extraordinary lineup of speakers.

Dr. Stephen J. Lawson, who you just heard moments ago advertising New Covenant Church NYC,

a sponsor of this program, he is the founder of One Passion Ministries and one of the finest preachers

on the planet Earth.

Paul Washer, another phenomenal preacher.

If you haven't heard Paul Washer yet, you should really take advantage of every opportunity to hear Paul.

He is dynamic and so biblically solid and so powerful.

Rev. Jeff Thomas, another one of my favorite preachers from Wales.

He's retired from the ministry, the pastoral ministry in Wales, and is now dedicating his

life to itinerant evangelism and writing, and he is really a phenomenon himself.

Rev. Armand Tomassian, who I believe is going to be a household name, especially amongst Reformed Christians over the next

decade.

He is a young man with gifts and abilities far beyond his youth,

and I truly urge you to hear Rev. Armand Tomassian if you hear about him speaking anywhere, including

at the Foundations Conference.

And I'm looking forward to hearing for the first time Richard Caldwell Jr. and Anthony Quigley, who I have not yet heard

preach, but I'm sure that they are excellent if Sermon Audio has selected them for this conference.

For more information, go to thefoundationsconference .com,

thefoundationsconference .com, and I would urge you to register quickly because the venue in Manhattan where this conference is being

held is somewhat small, can only hold about 200 people, so this is sure to

be filling up very quickly, so please try to register as soon as you can.

And last but not least, once again, I will be packing my bags in January

and heading out to Atlanta, Georgia, to the Georgia International Convention Center

in College Park, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, for the G3 Conference

2020.

I love the G3 Conference.

Last time they had well over 5 ,000 people in attendance at this conference, and

I just can't wait to be there again, to man an exhibitor's booth for Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

Speakers include Kosti Hinn.

Yes, that's right, Hinn, H -I -N -N.

He is the nephew of the notorious charlatan

faith healer, Benny Hinn, and thanks be to God, Kosti has repented of

his connection and affiliation with the Word of Faith heresies.

He has become not only a Reformed Baptist, but a cessationist, and he is a pastor in California.

He is on the roster at the G3 Conference.

In fact, I was the one that first told Josh Bice, who runs the G3 Conference, I was the first one to tell him about

Kosti Hinn.

David Miller, what a fine preacher he is.

Derek Thomas, a name that is well -known to most Reformed Christians.

My dear friend of many years, Dr. James R. White of Alpha Omega Ministries.

Joel Beeke, the president of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and

prolific author.

The aforementioned Josh Bice, who is the founder of the G3 Conference and pastor of Praise Middle

Baptist Church of Douglasville, Georgia.

Paul Washer, who I mentioned earlier, who is going to be speaking at another conference in Manhattan.

Stephen J. Lawson, again, is at this conference.

And also, Tom Askle, I just love my brother Tom Askle from Grace

Baptist Church in Coral, Florida, who is also the director of Founders Ministries.

And Voti Baucom.

And obviously, Voti Baucom, if you don't know Voti Baucom, you've got to hear him.

He is an extraordinary preacher as well.

For more details on this conference, which is being held from Thursday,

January 16th, through Saturday, January 18th, go to g3conference .com,

g3conference .com.

And remember, the G3 stands for Grace, Gospel, and Glory.

And I have to, once again, remind you folks, that if you love this show and you don't want it to disappear,

please go to ironsharpensironradio .com, click support, then click, click to donate now.

We are in urgent need of your donations because we have some bills mounting up that we currently

are unable to pay.

And if it continues like this, we are going to bid you our farewell

or bid you adieu, is that how they say it?

Because we are really struggling right now about three or four times a year as we run into this very

serious financial problem.

And we hope to hear from you who really love the show and don't want us to go away.

By going to ironsharpensironradio .com, click support, then click, click to donate now.

You can donate instantly with a debit or credit card.

If you want to advertise with us, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com and put advertising in the subject line.

And as long as whatever it is you're promoting is compatible with what we believe, you don't have to believe exactly as we do, but you

need to be promoting something that's compatible with what we believe, we would love to help you launch an ad campaign because we need your advertising

dollars more than ever.

Also, if you're siphoning money out of your giving to

your local church that you're accustomed to, please don't do that if you're giving to Iron Sharpens Iron

Radio in that way.

Please never siphon money out of your regular giving to your local church because that's a command of scripture to provide

for your church.

Never put your family in financial jeopardy to give to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

Those are two commands of God providing for church and home.

Providing for Iron Sharpens Iron Radio is not a command of God, obviously, but if you are financially blessed above and beyond your ability

to obey those two commands, then please give as frequently as you can and as heavily as you can to

ironsharpensironradio .com.

Click support, then click click to donate now.

If you are without a church home, a local Bible -believing, biblically faithful

church home, and you're not prayerfully seeking for one, you're living in rebellion against God.

So please rectify that situation and send me an email to chrisarensinatgmail .com.

I have lists of biblically faithful churches all over the world, and even if you are vacationing

somewhere, and you would like a recommendation for a church, I have churches on lists

all over the world that are biblically faithful.

So send me an email to chrisarensinatgmail .com.

Chrisarensinatgmail .com and put I need a church in the subject line or something similar.

And that is the same email address where you can send a question for our guest today, Dr.

Scott Bassolo.

Our email address is chrisarensinatgmail .com, chrisarensinatgmail .com.

And we are now returning to our discussion.

Let's see here, Dr. Scott, we have a listener already who has a question for you.

We have Arnie in Perry County, Pennsylvania, and he asks, how do you

delicately and in the spirit of Christ confront

brothers who are planting a church nearby where you are and you think that the

distance is too close for comfort, especially when the theological views of the church are very

similar to the positions your own church holds?

It is indeed a challenging

thought to go

why they feel the need to establish a church

and to find out what the particulars are that are going on in

that new church environment.

He may find that there are items that he's unaware of doctrinally.

You know, there are any number of things that could have arisen that perhaps he doesn't

understand, that in fact there isn't the doctrinal similarity.

And he may find that in fact there is that doctrinal similarity and perhaps can get them to

consider what in fact is their motivation.

I would say going to those brothers and interacting with them about those matters and

about the doctrinal parallels that he sees and giving them an opportunity to

interact would be an appropriate way to begin a conversation with them.

Yeah, I love what my friend whose ad you heard earlier, Pastor Bill Shishko of

the new church plant The Haven in Deer Park, Long Island, New York, I love what he did.

He actually did some research before planting the church in that town and he discovered there

wasn't any evangelical congregation in that town.

So, I mean, I think that that's the kind of thing that should be a part of the decision -making when

planting a church.

Should it not be where you're not moving into an area where it's not as needed

as it could be in another place?

The primary component, as we discussed earlier,

they identify, in fact, is there a need in the community?

So as not to simply repeat

without a

solid foundation or that there is no existence of such a church, then it's

an opportunity to move forward.

But there's no reason, and really you become, in effect, somewhat divisive, I believe,

if you do start church because you've decided for whatever reason that you want to do something

slightly different, but the same doctrinal foundations occur at other venues.

That's a time when you should be supporting them, you should be using your gift for that church, joining it, and becoming a

part of it.

And only at such time when you do see that there is not, that

you are, that then you have those grounds to consider.

Great.

We have Harrison in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, who says,

when a new church rises up in your community, what do you think are the key

things about a church that you should look for before you consider becoming a

part of that church?

Obviously, visitation would be required in some fashion to

learn more about the church, but what are some of those key ingredients that you

believe are necessary for a church to be considered a biblically sound congregation?

You have to go, as you mentioned, visitation, you have to go and understand what the church is doing.

But I think the first matter to discern when you do visit, be it

a new church plant or another church that you're considering attending, is to discern what the biblical

content of the message is.

Really find out, is this a church that is honoring God's word?

So many churches in our day and age, Chris, have just come to the point where they have

watered down the message content -wise to where it is

a 20 to 25 -minute message that is primarily read,

but never is it discussed and elaborated upon, or expounded, as we would

call it.

And that's not what you need.

There is no value of listening to another man's story.

He may be entertaining, but that is not going to do anything for your spiritual walk.

So you've got to go first and determine what is the biblical content of the preaching that's going

on.

As you're there, then, participating in the service, I think the next thing to understand is what

is driving preaching as part of the worship?

Not just the giving, but what about the musical components?

Are these founded on God's word?

Whether they be familiar to you or not, can you determine by looking at the words in a song that they

are conveying a doctrinal solidarity with Scripture and that they are building

up the truth of God's word?

And then I believe from there, you need to start to interact with the leadership and decide,

are these individuals that are really excited about getting out into the community

and ministering that's out there, reaching a

gospel presence in that area?

And I think those are really the elements that need to be looked into when

individuals are considering a new church at all.

Yeah, and I would assume you would agree that sometimes a visit isn't necessary because you might rule out a church

immediately if you go to their website and you realize that they're heretics.

Definitely give you the opportunity and the hall pass not to have to go.

But do be careful as you look at, and that's usually the need for visitations.

I've found that typically as you look at various, they seem to

be right on a doctrinal point of view.

But when you get there, you find out that their internet is not

reflected.

And one thing that frustrates me is that I have, like for instance on Facebook,

I have had people send me requests to like their church.

And I will go to the website of the church, and there's no doctrinal statement.

There is only a description of things like, you know, you will receive a loving, warm

welcome from a bunch of fine folks who will love you and care for you.

And you'll have all these kinds of warm and sweet, fuzzy things.

But you'll see no confession of faith, no creedal statement, no church

constitution, no statement of faith.

There's nothing there.

Wouldn't that be, for the other side of the question, for the

actual people planting the church, that they should be including those things on their websites if they

can afford to have a website, or at least on some kind of publicly available

statement?

And to be also honest, there are churches that unfortunately

operate in a stealth form where they keep things hidden and want to indoctrinate people

like the frog boiling in the kettle without being straight up, right up front.

Wouldn't that be a very important thing for the church planters themselves to make

sure the public is aware of what they teach?

Oh, that's chronic and digital age.

And there is a cost associated with websites and that type of communication, but it is

essential.

And as you do it, the first thing that needs to be conveyed is that doctrinal foundation.

And so many do have these five -bullet -point

statements that convey their statement of faith, if that at all.

And that is unfortunately common and becoming more so because our

churches are so focused on seeking to be growing

in a way so as not to offend.

And our churches are afraid of the truth in many cases and won't state what they believe because

they need to draw people in and will do it at any cost.

And your analogy of the frog in the water that is warm to begin with and then brought to

boiling and eventually boils the animal is a danger.

And there is a necessity that people recognize foundation of God's

Word and whether or not that church stands on it.

And that's the only place you need to go.

Those are the only churches that are true churches, and without that you don't need to be spending your time there.

We have Grady in Asheboro, North Carolina, and

Grady says, The church I attend is a church plant, and the previous church I attended was a church

plant.

Both of these churches had another church come beside them to help out as

they were getting started.

Do you think this is wise when planting a church?

The reason I ask, and he follows up with the reason he asks this, the reason I ask is because I have

a new neighbor, and he was church planting, I guess he means planting,

in the Appalachia area in Kentucky.

He's planning on planting a church in our city, but is starting from

his home.

He said he has no support.

That seems unwise to me.

What do you think?

Well, first, yeah, I would agree, Grady.

That is unwise.

If you don't have that support, again, if you don't have a group of believers behind you,

somebody who is not seeking to serve the Lord, but perhaps himself, now

that is the foundation of what this gentleman is doing, but in most cases that

would not smack of something that has got biblical, good biblical foundation to it.

And as far as your first question, Grady, and coming, another church coming alongside you, absolutely.

That is one of the blessings of the Grace Advance ministry.

There are Grace Advance churches around the country.

We are particularly blessed here in the northeast and that in Wilmington and in

Baltimore and in Columbus and Pennsylvania

and several areas there join and come

alongside one another in their efforts.

And I think when you have another church in an area that's willing to assist you, that's an excellent

way because a church plant is a tremendous amount of work, and it's a lot of strain on a

limited number of individuals.

So that's a tremendous blessing when you can have that church come alongside you.

Great.

Thank you, Grady.

Excellent questions.

We have an anonymous listener who says, if you are in an area where there is no

biblically sound church for even 100 miles and you want to get a church started

near you, if it is impossible for you to move for various reasons to an area where

there is a sound church, how do you get this moving,

especially if you are not personally qualified to be the one leading the church?

How would you suggest inviting people from other areas, not only leaders but also

people who might want to move to your area to begin a work that has the true

gospel and has true compassionate hearts to see the lost saved?

I think that as you have identified that there are no solid churches in your

area and for such a significant distance, as he indicates, then, or she, the thing

that needs to be done is they need to get out and begin to find other

like -minded believers in their community.

Stepping out of ourselves, it means bishops and engaging other

individuals about the gospel.

It really means evangelism in some degree, because therein you begin to find if there are other like

-minded believers in the area.

You need to identify a core group of individuals of somewhere ideally

around 20 to 30 people, and then to move forward to things

like Grace Advance and to approach your desires,

the doctrinal foundations that you represent, and see if you can engage another

church in helping you in a church plant type of endeavor.

Again, that's what Grace Advance is set up to do through Grace Community Church.

There are other organizations as well.

The key is to find a church doctrinal foundation that is

solid, that shows the truth of Reformed theology, that is holding to the inerrancy of

God's Word, and to make certain that those are the groups that are helping you move forward in the effort.

But what you have to begin with is you have to begin joining and finding other believers in the area

and having them come alongside.

Obviously, there's going to be a time gap in that, and my suggestion would be to find, at those

times, a place where you can gather on a Sunday at someone's home and begin

to start watching sermons as if you were part of that church.

That's not a long -term solution, but to go to Grace Community Church and to watch

the broadcast at 10 .30 p .m. Pacific time from

Grace Church and Dr. MacArthur, and allow that to be your church, and allow that to be what drives you and

continues to build your momentum, then those are the ways that you can begin to move forward and

see if the Lord is desiring to see you plant a church in that community.

And it sounds like there's a necessity.

And, of course, I'm sure you would agree that that is never to be.

The permanent solution, is to have your television set or your radio become your church.

No, absolutely not.

And, unfortunately, we have seen so much of this coming about, even with churches

multiplying and different congregations becoming video congregations, although that is a

slightly different issue.

But the television and the home is never to be the location.

Scripture tells us that we're not to forsake the assembling together of ourselves, and further tells us the church is a

body that Christ has ordained and gifted to individuals for the edification of those in it and for

the outreach to the community in which it exists.

So that can't happen inside the confines of a TV screen.

Thank you, Anonymous.

And if you are a first -time questioner for Iron Trip and Zion Radio, and this goes for anybody else

who's listening who's a first -time questioner, if you send me your full mailing address

and name, of course, you will receive in the mail a free new New American Standard Bible,

compliments of the publishers of the NASB, and also compliments of our friends at cvbbs .com,

Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service, who will ship that out to you at no charge to you or to Iron Trip and Zion Radio.

We now have to go to our final break.

It will be much shorter than the last break, but if you have a question that you'd like to ask

Dr. Scott Basileau, please send it as quickly as you can because we're rapidly running out of

time.

That's chrisanzen at gmail .com, chrisarnsen at gmail

.com.

Don't go away.

We'll be right back after these messages from our sponsors.

Paul wrote to the church at Galatia, for am I now seeking the approval of man or of God?

Or am I trying to please man?

If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Hi, I'm Mark Lukens, pastor of Providence Baptist Church.

We are a Reformed Baptist Church, and we hold to the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689.

We are in Norfolk, Massachusetts.

We strive to reflect Paul's mindset to be much more concerned with how God views what we say and what we do

than how men view these things.

That's not the best recipe for popularity, but since that wasn't the apostles' priority, it must not be ours either.

We believe, by God's grace, that we are called to demonstrate love and compassion to our fellow man, and to be

vessels of Christ's mercy to a lost and hurting community around us, and to build up the body of Christ in truth and

love.

If you live near Norfolk, Massachusetts, or plan to visit our area, please come and join us for worship and fellowship.

You can call us at 508 -528 -5750, that's 508 -528

-5750, or go to our website to email us, listen to past sermons, worship songs, or watch our TV

program entitled, Resting in Grace.

You can find us at providencebaptistchurchma .org, that's providencebaptistchurchma .org,

or even on sermonaudio .com.

Providence Baptist Church is delighted to sponsor Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

Did you know that all believers are priests?

In 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9, the Apostle Peter describes Christ's church as comprising a chosen

race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may

proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

So if you're a Christian, you're also a priest.

Now you can find the newest styles in Reformed and Protestant apparel at citizenpriest .com.

Citizenpriest .com specializes in Christian -themed T -shirts and clothing, especially for

Reformed Christians.

Citizenpriest .com's merchandise is purposefully Scripture -based and meant for the edification of the

saints and the furtherance of the gospel.

Let everyone know that you stand firm on the doctrines of the Reformed faith by wearing apparel from

citizenpriest .com.

Visit citizenpriest .com today.

Lynnbrook Baptist Church on 225 Earl Avenue in Lynnbrook, Long Island, is teaching God's timeless truths in

the 21st century.

Our church is far more than a Sunday worship service.

It's a place of learning where the scriptures are studied and the preaching of the gospel is clear and relevant.

It's like a gym where one can exercise their faith through community involvement.

It's like a hospital for wounded souls where one can find compassionate people and healing.

We're a diverse family of all ages.

Enthusiastically serving our Lord Jesus Christ.

In fellowship, play, and together.

Hi, I'm Pastor Bob Walderman, and I invite you to come and join us here at Lynnbrook Baptist Church and see all that a church can

be.

Call Lynnbrook Baptist at 516 -599 -9402.

That's 516 -599 -9402.

Or visit lynnbrookbaptist .org.

That's lynnbrookbaptist .org.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said,.

Give yourself unto reading.

The man who never reads will never be read.

He who never quotes will never be quoted.

He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own.

You need to read.

Solid Ground Christian Books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the Prince of Preachers to heart.

The mission of Solid Ground Christian Books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to Christians in the present and

future and to publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world.

Since its beginning in 2001, Solid Ground has been committed to publish God -centered, Christ -exalting

books for all ages.

We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com.

That's solid -ground -books .com and see what priceless literary gems from the past to

present you can unearth from Solid Ground.

Solid Ground Christian Books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

I'm

Pastor Billy Linhart of Sovereign Grace Particular Baptist Church of San Angelo, Texas and I'm thrilled to have joined the

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio family of sponsors.

We fully subscribe to the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith as a faithful summary of the most vital

biblical truths.

Desire to worship the Triune God of the Holy Scriptures in spirit and truth and seek to make His

glory known in the Concho Valley, West Texas and beyond.

Sovereign Grace PBC of San Angelo purposes to center our worship on the Holy Scriptures and the

Gospel of Jesus Christ in the hope that He will grow us in love and the unity of truth.

After Sunday services, join us for a fellowship meal followed by our Ladies Fellowship in our Children's Sunday School

class.

If you're looking for a church in West Texas that's serious about the Word of God and worship that pleases Him, come

visit us.

For details about Sovereign Grace Particular Baptist Church of San Angelo, Texas email

sgbcsa at gmail .com or visit us at

sgbcsa .com that's sgbcsa .com.

James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.

If you've watched my Dividing Line webcast often enough you know I have a great love for getting Bibles and other

documents vital to my ministry rebound to preserve and ensure their longevity.

And besides that they feel so good.

I'm so delighted I discovered Post Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding.

No radio ad will be long enough to sing their praises sufficiently, but I'll give it a shot.

Jeffrey Rice of Post Tenebrous Lux is a remarkably gifted craftsman and artisan.

All his work is done by hand from the cutting to the pleating of corners to the perimeter stitching.

Jeffrey uses the finest and buttery soft imported leathers in a wide variety of gorgeous colors like

the turquoise goat skin tanned in Italy used for my Nestle All in 28th edition with a navy

blue goat skin inside liner and the electric blue goat skin from a French tannery used to rebind a

Reformation study Bible I used as a gift.

The silver gilding he added on the page edges has a stunning mirror finish resembling highly polished chrome.

Jeffrey will customize your rebinding to your specifications and even emboss your logo into the leather

making whatever he rebinds a one -of -a -kind work of art.

For more details on Post Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding go to

ptlbiblerebinding .com.

That's ptlbiblerebinding .com.

I'm Pastor Bill Shishko, host of A Visit to the Pastors Study and I am so thankful to be part of the advertising

family right here on Iron Sharpens Iron.

If you live on Long Island or if you're visiting the metropolitan New York area I invite you to join us for worship at The

Haven on Sundays at 4 .30 p .m.

We meet at the Ascension Lutheran Church facility 33 Bayshore Road in Deer Park, New York.

At The Haven you'll find God's saturated singing, gospel -rich ministry and great commission opportunities.

Learn more about us at thehavenli .com and join us this Sunday at 4 .30 p

.m. 33 Bayshore Road, Deer Park, New York.

I'm James White of Alpha Omega Ministries.

The New American Standard Bible is perfect for daily reading or in -depth study.

Used by pastors, scholars and everyday readers, the NASV is widely embraced and trusted as a literal and readable Bible

translation.

The NASV offers clarity and readability while maintaining high accuracy to the original languages which the NASV is known for.

The NASV is available in many editions like a topical reference Bible.

Researched and prepared by biblical scholars devoted to accuracy, the new topical reference Bible includes contemporary topics

relevant to today's issues.

From compact to giant print Bibles, find an NASV that fits your needs very affordably at nasbible

.com.

Whichever edition you choose, trust, discover and enjoy the NASV for yourself today.

Go to nasbible .com.

That's nasbible .com.

My name is Steve Lawson, founder and president of One Passion Ministries as well as teaching fellow for Ligonier

Ministries.

I serve as professor of preaching and oversee the doctor of ministry program at the Master's Seminary in Los Angeles.

I would like to recommend the church where one of my preaching students, Andy Woodard, serves as the pastor.

It's called New Covenant Church, NYC.

They are a reformed Baptist church that meets in midtown Manhattan.

You can find their service times and location on their website, which is www

.ncc .nyc.

They believe in a sovereign God who commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel.

If you're looking for a church that believes in expository preaching, which is simply biblical preaching,

in New York City, I'd like to recommend that you visit New Covenant Church, NYC.

Again, their information can be found at www .ncc .nyc.

Have a great day.

Listening to Christian radio can be a big gamble spiritually.

Even many of the major Christian networks that include excellent biblically faithful teachers on their lineup,

sadly often also include the worst of doctrinally dangerous heretics.

If you are a lover of the doctrines of sovereign grace, you need not fear listening 24 hours a day to

FirstLoveRadio .org.

They feature Christ -centered programming from reformed pastors and teachers you can rely upon for theological

soundness and biblical faithfulness, such as Dr. W .R. Downing, Dr. Peter Masters,

Pastor Joe Jackowitz, Pastor Robert Gifford, Al Martin, Edward Delcor, and

more.

FirstLoveRadio .org also livestreams my Iron Trepans Iron Radio program daily.

Please stick around on FirstLoveRadio .org after Iron Trepans Iron Radio is over to continue

being blessed by the unwavering proclamation of the gospel of sovereign grace.

Spread the word about FirstLoveRadio .org.

Welcome back.

This is Chris Arnzen.

And if you just tuned us in, our guest today is Dr. Scott Basileau, and we are

discussing church planting.

If you'd like to ask us a question, we're rapidly running out of time, so please send it immediately to ChrisArnzen

at gmail .com, ChrisArnzen at gmail .com.

We have Susan Margaret in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dr. Basileau.

And Susan Margaret says, What does your guest think of some of the

names that churches are using when either they are planting a church or

perhaps they're changing the historically held name of the church that they think it's something modern, hip, and

catchy, but actually explains or signifies nothing that the average person would

readily understand it means?

Do you know what our guest is, or should I say our listener, is talking about?

Obviously, the Master's Church.

That's a name that immediately you understand what that means, and it's giving praise,

honor, and glory to God by using the term master.

There's no question mark there.

There's no fuzziness, but there are churches that seem to use names, and I don't want to

even give an example because I might be offending somebody listening.

But I'm sure you can understand what the guest, or I keep saying the guest, the listener is saying.

Yeah, absolutely, to direct your question.

I think in not all cases, but in a lot of those cases, they are

attempting to avoid the reality of what a church is supposed to be therein to try to

present themselves in a more seeker -friendly mentality.

There is a church in a community that I used to pastor in that was planted, and their motto

was a church for the people who don't like church.

And I thought, that is so ridiculous, and we used to just kind of laugh about that.

And yet it became a pretty significant church because they were doing just that, trying to keep

people from feeling convicted, not talking about the reality of the doctrinal

foundation of Scripture, and trying to keep a light, fluffy message.

And a lot of times, Susan, that is the case.

In other cases, there are some who are changing their name because they have been involved with a

denomination that is no longer holding to the foundational components of

the Scripture, and they're in an order to separate themselves from the liberalism that's

occurring in the denomination.

They will move away from that particular title, which I think there's some justification for in that sense.

But in the larger number of cases, it's individuals who are not wanting to associate

with the truth of Scripture and the reality that's required of those who are believers in Jesus Christ.

Yeah, and I'm assuming that our listener doesn't believe that it's always wrong to

change the name of your church, even if it's a good name to begin with, but perhaps you don't

want to be tied into a denominational name that

you think people are staying away because they have wrong

preconceived notions about what that denomination teaches and that kind of a thing.

Such as we were discussing, an American Baptist church of, you know,

when you find out that you are the only one in the denomination who still holds to the inerrancy of Scripture

and the reality of God's Holy Word, then perhaps it's time to consider it.

Yeah, and in fact I can remember having lunch with a bunch of my

Fundamentalist Baptist friends years ago.

They were clients of mine, and they had a radio program where they shared

the hosting of the show and also shared the finances of keeping the show on the air.

And there was a dispute among them on whether or not they should allow churches

that called themselves Bible churches and not Baptist churches.

And one of the men, in anger, as the men were going back and forth, said,

Well, we've got to stop doing what men says, and we've got to stick with what the Bible says.

And this happened to be a man who believed you had to use the name Baptist in the name of your church.

But where does it say that in the Bible?

And, of course, we have a prime example of a wonderful Baptist from history who all of

these men would have upheld as a hero, even though none of them were Calvinists, as Charles Haddon

Spurgeon clearly was.

But Charles Haddon Spurgeon's congregation was the Metropolitan Tabernacle.

So, you know, obviously there's nothing inappropriate about that kind of thing.

Well, I want to make sure that you have several minutes now, uninterrupted, to leave our listeners

with what you most want etched in their hearts and minds before we go off the air today.

Well, thank you, Chris.

And thank you for the privilege of being on your show today.

It's been a true delight.

We want our listeners to know that being a part of a

believing church where

they can participate in using the giftedness that God gives to all believers

truly spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ for the Great Commission, understanding that the church that you're in

has to be a church that is making disciples, that is, that you are being built up in your most

holy faith and growing in your understanding of Jesus Christ,

the ordinance of baptism as required for all true believers in Jesus Christ, and that they

practice on a regular basis, and that you

can, again, grow and that you can see others grow so as you can reach out to the community,

certainly needing the truth of God's word in the dead and dying world that is all around us,

for we have been given the greatest of commissions and the greatest of gifts, and we must be a

part of carrying that truth forward into all of

the world and to everyone to whom we can reach, because the Lord's return, and

we want to be certain that we are found about His work.

Amen.

Well, it's been such a joy, Dr. Bassolo, for you to be my guest today.

I'm looking forward to meeting you in person.

I hope you can come to the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Pastors Luncheon here in Carlisle.

I'm planning on it.

Thank you.

Great, and please invite the men in leadership in your congregation to attend as well.

And for those of you listening, once again, that's Thursday, May 23rd at the Carlisle Fire and Rescue Banquet Hall in

Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Send me an email if you want to register at chrisarnson at gmail .com, chrisarnson at gmail .com.

Also, I want you to remember that the website for the Master's Church of Buck County

is themasterschurch .org, themasterschurch .org, and the website

for Grace Advance, involved in planting churches through the ministry of

Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where John MacArthur is the senior pastor.

That is graceadvance .org, graceadvance .org.

I want to thank all of you who listened today, especially those who took the time to write in questions, and I want you all to always remember for the rest of your

lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater Savior than you are a sinner.

Amen.