This weekend Matt will be presenting several talks for a seminar on Islam at Richland Correctional.  His prison students asked him to do the seminar because they wanted to have the men equipped to do some apologetics with the Muslims they frequently rub shoulders with.

He will also be presenting a summary of the talks at his Sunday night Bible study (August 4th, 6:30 pm).  If you are interested in learning how to refute Islam, you are more than welcome to join us for the evening.  If you need directions, you can email Matt.

The talks include: The Dilemma of Islam; Allah: Uncovered and Exposed; The Sure Way of Salvation

The people of Providence put together a great ministry to the AU football team yesterday! 35 players came in to chow down on some food and hear the Word of God.


The whole church was vital to the night's success. So many families pitched in to make food. It must have been delicious because the players powered through 10 lbs of spaghetti, 160 meatballs, and a truckload of cookies!

When they were done, our brother Caleb gave an excellent talk on the Prodigal Son.  There was no doubt that it was a message that was full of truth and deep sincerity.

Each place setting came with an extra piece of cutlery: a gospel tract. A number of guys were seen reading through them.  Our resident evangelist, Joe, also followed up by going table to table to share the gospel.

We wanted to make everyone aware of the introduction to home education seminar that is going to be held at the Ashland Public Library.  Pastor Matt is organizing the event and will be one of the speakers.  Some other Providence members may also be involved.

The event is designed for anyone who is thinking about home schooling or recently started their venture into home discipleship.  The event, which is free, will be held Tuesday August 6, from 6:30-8:30 pm.


For more information be sure to visit the Ashland / Richland Christian Home Educator's website.

Protecting pre-born children is perhaps Providence Church's number one concern.  To that end we are thankful for those in our congregation who are attempting to gather signatures for the Ohio Personhood Amendment.  
In sum, the amendment would give pre-born children equal status with other people, and thus protect them from death through abortion.  You can learn more about it at the Ohio Personhood Amendment website.

There are a number of events over the next few months that will be venues for gathering these signatures.  If you would like to participate by taking a time slot at a booth or accompany others as they collect signatures, we would greatly appreciate your help.  The opportunities that are currently slated are as follows:

July 13             Yaves Ellis concert (Columbus, OH)
August 15-18   Blueberry Festival (Lexington, OH)

We are also hoping to pinpoint some other events in September, and visit other churches in the area for the purpose of gathering signatures.

As we wrap up our series on preaching, we want to make sure we conclude on a high note.  What better way to do that than by talking about the gospel!

Over the years I've experienced two different extremes when it comes to the gospel and how it fits into a sermon.  In my early days I attended a church that never really mentioned the gospel.  Christ was pretty much absent from every sermon that was ever preached.  So the messages were mainly moralistic.

Later, I attended a series of churches where the gospel was preached every Sunday.  It was good at first because I had been deprived of it for so long at my other church.  However, I came to find that the gospel presentation was ordinarily tacked on to the end of the message and really didn't have anything to do with the message that was just preached.  

What's more, in these churches I found that the gospel was not really even for me!  It was typically directed towards the unbeliever as a call was issued to him to embrace the Savior.

Our aim at Providence Church is to preach the gospel every Sunday because we know it is important for everyone's spiritual development, even the Christian's.  As a matter of fact, we believe that if Christ is not preached, then we have not preached a truly Christian sermon!

But how do you do that without tacking the gospel on at the end of the message?  The answer lies in the expository method.  We believe that the gospel should rise naturally from the text itself.

Jesus said that the whole of the Scripture bears witness to him (John 5:39).  At another time he took time to interpret the things concerning himself in the law and the prophets (Luke 24:27).  

This means that every text of Scripture finds its culmination in Christ.  It doesn't matter if it is the deep recesses of Leviticus or the heavy arguments of an epistle, every line finds its fulfillment in Christ.  

So as you come to Providence you will not just hear sermons that are practical.  You will hear sermons that are guided and shaped by the gospel.  Better yet, you will find how the gospel should guide and shape your own life.

A couple people expressed interest in the two men I mentioned in the sermon this past week, Thomas Cranmer and Hugh Latimer.  Because of the interest, I wanted to post some resources that will further your understanding about them and their context.

First, I would recommend Foxe's Book of Martyrs (You can google it and/or probably get a free edition for your kindle/ereader).  The language will likely take some getting used to, but the stories contained in it will certainly open your eyes to the lives & sufferings of many of the great saints.

If you are looking for something more condensed and to the point... This webpage provides Foxe's account of Cranmer's life & death (he's the guy who put his hand to the fire).  This is good in that it gives you a solid digest of those events.  If you'd like something shorter (and something that reveals perhaps some of his more controversial acts) you might try this one.

Hugh Latimer is also found in Foxe's work.  However, Foxe's account of Latimer does not give you a real feel for his wit and character.  You might try these two articles:  This one is very short and is sure to give you a couple chuckles along with impressing you with Latimer's boldness.  This article is a bit more bland account of the main events of his life.  However, I'd recommend you read the last 15 or so lines of the article to see the intrigue that accompanied his martyrdom.

If the whole Reformation thing is something new and obscure to you, we do encourage you to become as familiar as you can.  Perhaps a good place to start would be with this book:  "The Reformation for Armchair Theologins"  Raylene found this book last week and forwarded it to me.  It is supposed to be a brief and witty introduction to this period & the major characters.  It comes in paperback and audio versions.

Lastly, I might suggest this little series by Steve Lawson.  These books are only 100 pages long and  provide a solid introduction to some of the major Reformers.  They might even serve well for children's reading.

Of course, we can suggest other good reads if you'd like to pursue greater study.  I hope this note serves to help you "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith." (Heb. 13:4).

A new audio series is out, and you will definitely want to get your hands on this one!

This series is sure to be a great asset because it highlights Covenant Theology, which is one of our key doctrines here at Providence Church. 

Pastor/teacher Gregg Bahnsen does a superb job of showing unfolding the subject.  You can't help but be interested in what he has to say simply by a few of the subjects covered:  Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism, Covenant Children: Cleansed and Concecrated, A Covenant Meal, The Rapture, The Future of Israel, and The Great Tribulation.

What are the parameters of Scripture?  One of Providence's brothers sums it up well with these words...