10th Annual Wayside Weekend Bible Conference

Wayside Gospel Chapel is hosting its 10th Annual Weekend Bible Conference Saturday, March 31, and Sunday, April 1, 2012. Two sessions are scheduled for Saturday evening beginning at 5:00 p.m. with a Fellowship Dinner between sessions. The closing session of the Conference will be the Sunday morning worship service beginning at 11:00 a.m.

David B. Morris will once again be expounding the Scriptures at Wayside. David is no stranger to Wayside Gospel Chapel as this is his ninth visit as our featured Bible Conference preacher.

Pastor John T. "Jack" Jeffery (left) with Pastor David Morris (right)

David studied Classics and Linguistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, following his conversion in 1973. After nearly twenty years of pastoral ministry, he entered an itinerant ministry of evangelism and conference speaking. He and Terri, his wife of 31 years, have six children.

David has ministered in the past at:
1) the John Bunyan Conference (New Ringgold, and Lewisburg, PA);
2) the International Baptist Conference (Toronto, Canada);
3) the Sovereign Grace Bible Conference founded by Elder D. J. Ward, Main Street Baptist Church (Lexington, KY); and most recently at
4) the Center for Pioneer Church Planting of To Every Tribe Ministries (Los Fresnos, TX).

Some of his sermons are available on SermonAudio.com at David Morris [accessed 18 FEB 2012].

Pastor David Morris (left) with Pastor John T. "Jack" Jeffery (right)

Don't miss this opportunity to gather at Wayside as we are ministered to by this gifted preacher and teacher of God's Word! Please contact Pastor Jeffery if you plan on attending Saturday evening to assist with planning the dinner at waysidegospelchapel@yahoo.com.

John Bunyan Conference

The 2012 John Bunyan Conference is scheduled for April 23-25 at Reformed Baptist Church in Lewisburg, PA

Speakers and Topics:

Chad Bresson - Preaching the Psalms in New Covenant Theology - 2 Messages

John G. Reisinger - Role of Conscience in Old and New Covenants

Dr. Tom Schreiner - The New View of Justification - 3 Messages

A. Blake White - Cruciform Love - 2 Messages

Steve West - Revisiting Free Will - 2 Messages

Dr. Fred Zaspel- (1) The Law Fulfilled (2) The Doctrine of Forgiveness

Lodging for the conference is available at a reduced rate at the Country Inn and Suites by Carlson in Lewisburg, PA. Just mention that you would like accommodations for the John Bunyan Conference to receive a double occupancy room for only $89.00 per night which includes a nice continental breakfast.

Reservations must be made by no later than April 7, 2012 to receive this reduced rate.

Reservations at the Country Inn and Suites may be made by calling 800-456-4000 or 570-524-6600. Their website is www.countryinns.com/lewisburgpa and the address is 134 Walter Drive, Route 15, PO Box 46, Lewisburg, PA 17837.

Meals for lunch and dinner will be available at the church.

The registration is $65.00 per individual and includes four meals.

Space for meals is limited and registration will be restricted to the first 80 individuals who register. Please register by no later than April 7, 2012. Sign-in for the conference will be from 12:30pm to 1:30pm on Monday, April 23, 2012 at Reformed Baptist Church.

Please call 301-473-8781 or email johnbunyanconf@comcast.net to register; Discover, Visa or MasterCard accepted.

Please register by no later than April 7, 2012.

REGISTRATION FOR THE 2012 JOHN BUNYAN CONFERENCE, LEWISBURG, PA APRIL 23-25, 2012

□ Register me for the 2012 John Bunyan Conference. Enclosed is a check for $65.00.

□ Register me for the 2012 John Bunyan Conference. Enclosed is a check for $20.00; I will pay the remaining $45.00 upon sign-in.

Make the check payable to

Sovereign Grace New Covenant Ministries with a note "For 2012 John Bunyan Conference" and mail to 5317 Wye Creek Dr, Frederick, MD 21703-6938.

Name: ____________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________

City: ____________________________________________________

State/Province – Zip/Postal Code: ____________________________________________________

□ VISA □ MasterCard □ Discover ______ ______ ______ ______ Exp Date ____/____ CCV No. _____

Phone: ____________________________________

Email: ____________________________________

□ If you would like to make arrangements with another individual to share a room and its costs, please so indicate and we will maintain a list of any who may be interested in such an arrangement.

Name: __________________________________________________

Gender: __________________________

Phone: ___________________________

Email: ___________________________

Ocean City Bible Conference

September 9-12, 2012

2012 Theme: 

The Church and Contemporary Culture

Join us this September as we spend time studying the Scriptures to better understand Christ's church.
What should the church look like in 2012? What is it supposed to be doing? How should churches change in light of a shifting culture... and what should remain the same?
This year's conference is designed to make us ask important questions about what God wants for His church, and it's designed to drive us to His Word to find the answers to those questions.
We hope you'll join us this fall as we discuss a subject that's important for every member of the body of Christ to consider!

2012 Conference Schedule

Sunday, September 9

10:45 a.m. Pre-conference speaker – D.A. Carson

4:00 p.m. Registration opens

7:00 p.m. Session 1 – D.A. Carson (open to the public)

Monday, September 10

8:00 a.m. Registration open; continental breakfast at the church

9:00 a.m. Session 2 – D.A. Carson

10:30 a.m. Break

11:00 a.m. Session 3 – Mark Dever

7:00 p.m. Session 4 – Daniel Akin (open to the public)

Tuesday, September 11

8:00 a.m. Continental breakfast at the church

9:00 a.m. Session 5 – Daniel Akin

10:30 a.m. Break

11:00 a.m. Session 6 – Mark Dever

7:00 p.m. Session 7 – Mark Dever (open to the public)

9:00 p.m. Matthew Smith in Concert (open to the public)

Wednesday, September 12

8:00 a.m. Continental breakfast at the church

9:00 a.m. Session 8 – Breakout Seminars
(Seminars with:  Matthew Smith, Jonathan Olsen, Gary George)

10:30 a.m. Break

11:00 a.m. Session 9 – Ed Moore

For more information go to the Conference web page at

http://ocbibleconference.org/ [accessed 15 FEB 2012].

Faith is the Gift of God

Acts 18:27 is the verse the Lord used many years ago to convince me that faith is a gift of God's grace.

"And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:"

If the structure of the last phrase in Acts 18:27 is compared to Eph. 2:8 it should be seen as a "game changer" for any who would deny that faith is the gift of God.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

If it is insisted that it is the "salvation" and not the "faith" that is the "gift of God" there, just as it is "by grace", that insistence is silenced by the phrasing of Acts 18:27. That simply will not work in Acts 18:27, and should give sufficient pause to rethink the conclusions usually drawn from Eph. 2:8 on this subject. I would add 2 Pet. 1:1, "

Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:".

On this verse I would direct attention to the treatment of the Greek verb "lanchano" ("to obtain") by Hermann Hanse (1910-1942):

"Even where there is no casting of lots, the attainment is not by one's own effort or a as a result of one's own exertions, but is like ripe fruit falling into one's lap. This is always to be kept in mind." (IV:1)

"In this sentence the point of lanchanein is that faith has come to them from God with no co-operation on their part. That faith is the work, not of man, but of God or Christ, is not stated with equal clarity in all parts of the NT, but it must be constantly borne in mind. It can be seen plainly in Ac. 13:48....God does not merely give to both Jews and Gentiles the possibility of faith; He effects faith in them. Eph. 2:8 makes it especially plain that all is of grace and that human merit is completely ruled out....Faith is not the presupposition of the grace of God. As a divine gift, it is the epitome and demonstration of the grace of God. "Those who have attained to faith" points finally, then, to predestination as a free act of divine grace. Here one is at the very frontiers of theological utterance. All is of grace, and yet God is righteous." (IV:2)

Source: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1967; from Theologishces Worterbuch zum Neuen Testament, Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer Verlag, n.d.), IV:1-2., s.v. "lanchano".

In a footnote following the first sentence cited from pg. 2 Hanse includes as supporting documentation Bengel (Gnomon of the New Testament), C. Bigg (ICC commentary), and J. B. Mayor (The Epistle of Jude, 1907)

Hanse made reference to Acts 13:48 which should "seal the deal":

"And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed."

Note: Hanse died at a very young age (32) presumably during WWII in Germany. Little else is known about him, but considering where he lived and when, it may be safe to assume that he had "no axe to grind" when it came to Calvinist and Arminian controversies. That should make the strength of his treatment of this verb all the more worthy of consideration by objective students.

Sola Gratia, Soli Deo Gloria,

John T. "Jack" Jeffery
Pastor, Wayside Gospel Chapel
Greentown, PA

Faith is the Gift of God

by John T. Jeffery

Copyright 2012 by John T. Jeffery.

All rights reserved.

The use of excerpts or reproduction of this material is prohibited

without written permission from the author.

Contact the author at:

722 South Main Ave.

Scranton, PA 18504

Home phone:  (570) 342-5787

Email:  johntjeff@verizon.net