Our First Visitors From Crossway Fellowship
We had our first visitors from Washington this weekend. Jeff and Kerry Munson joined us at Covenant Baptist Church on May 5th. We enjoyed lunch with them and then they spent the afternoon with us seeing out little farm.
It was so good to see them and have them worship with us at the church they helped plant. We didn’t want them to leave.
We look forward to more visitors from the PNW to NWA. Let us know if you are coming this way!
Bart
1 Year Update
April 7th of last year was our arrival date in Arkansas. At that time, our total church planting contacts were Josh and Kelsey Rice (whom we had met with only once). We had made it to Arkansas but the beginning steps to plant a church were unclear. Then God started providing. The story of our first year is told in all the blog posts so far. It is an amazing story of God's providence and guidance.
After a year, the month of April brings a barbeque and lots of new babies in the church.
We have learned that this church plant is really good at preparing food. The barbeque was another great example of our ability to serve up some great food. Cory Smith's chicken marinade recipe was legendary.
Our people joined together in a wonderful way to provide a lunch for pregnant moms at the Loving Choices Springdale Resource Center. These women have chosen to keep their babies rather than abort. The luncheon was a way to continue to support and equip them as they choose. I was very proud of the spirit of service that was demonstrated by Covenant Baptist Church. We continue to look for opportunities to be involved in blessing our community and fight for life in Arkansas.
Speaking of life…we have a new congregant who was born this week and two more due to arrive before the end of the month. I can’t wait to hold these new babies and see them grow in the Lord.
Also we have our first men’s retreat this weekend with Living Hope Church in Fayetteville. I look forward to the fellowship and encouragement of this event.
Covenant Baptist Church is GROWING. We have 70-80 people gathering for worship each week which means we are getting full in the Zion Oak Grange. We are planning and praying to multiply our church by planting again. Pray for God’s provision again.
God has done amazing things in 1 year. He has firmly established Covenant Baptist Church for his glory. May we continue to be faithful.
Prayer for another gathering place
We are 5 months into our church plant and a wonderful need is on the horizon. The need is for another Sunday gathering place because we are mid way to filling our current space. So we are calling you to pray! Covenant Baptist Church will still continue to gather at the Zion Oak, but the grange can only seat about 120 people (we think). This reality necessitates the need to plant a new church to relieve the pressure as the space becomes uncomfortable. So, some of Covenant Baptist Church will need to go out and plant another church.. and then another.
We need to start praying that God provides another place for us to meet! God provided our current location at the Zion Oak Grange in such a miraculous way. Would you join us in asking him to do it again? Josh and I are praying, looking and pursuing options. Perhaps you could join us in that activity. Maybe there is a space available that you know about with an owner who desires to see another Gospel preaching church planted in Northwest Arkansas. This is an act of faith and discernment. We are asking God to show us where He would have us plant and we are believing in him to provide.
Join us
Bart
A time for signs
Let’s see if they last… or if they get removed. Update: They didn’t get removed.. and our children used them to get cars to honk after church on Sunday.
Thank you Lanny for spending 3 hours with me!
Austin bound
Kristen and I are headed to another conference in Austin this weekend. The conference is called Blueprints For Christendom 2.0 - Seven Doctrines for Ruling the World. After the conference we will be attending Joel Webbon’s Church Covenant Bible Church. We will miss our church family at Covenant Baptist Church for a weekend but we will be back the following week to worship with you all.
Here is a summary of the conference written by Joel Webbon
America will either have Christ, or it will have chaos.
All over the world, Christians are waking up to this reality. Many of them are embracing the idea of "Christian Nationalism." However, there appears to be an epidemic of what might be called "Frankenstein-Theology;" that is, doing theology "à la carte."
This same phenomenon occurred during the resurgence of Calvinism in the 1990's and 2000's. Christians began to embrace Calvinistic Soteriology, while maintaining several other doctrinal stances well outside the Reformed Tradition. And so the phrase "New-Calvinism" was coined. Suddenly, Calvinists could be Charismatics, Egalitarians, Dispensationalists, etc.
I am incredibly grateful to see so many Christians from all kinds of different theological backgrounds begin to embrace the Lordship of Christ over every area of life. And yet, there is a particular, theological blueprint which champions the universal Lordship of Christ, and has stood the test of time. In other words, there is a singular system of doctrine which possesses both fidelity to the Scripture and perfect cohesion, without any contradictions.
The purpose of this conference is to equip
Christians with the Blueprints For Christendom 2.0.
-Pastor Joel Webbon
Interesting.. I look forward to telling you all about it when I return.
Blessings
Bart
Headed to Seattle
Josh and I are traveling to the 3 strand retreat Thursday thru Saturday. Pray for our travels. Everything needs to go without a hitch so we can be back Sunday morning. We will have time to plan as elders which is very needed.
I’m excited for Josh to meet all the 3 strand pastors including all my friends from Crossway Fellowship.
Unfortunately we will be at the retreat the whole time we are there. So we won’t have a chance to visit. Thank you Mike Boseck for driving up to the retreat to take us to the airport on Saturday.
Decline to Sign
Please watch this video and post the link everywhere you can. We must educate people what the abortion amendment is really all about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnxAILMV7MQ|
Bart
Moving day
I am moving Carmen and Beau out of California today. It has been 6 years of begging God to bring them home. Today I am tired but O so grateful because my God is faithful. For all who have prayed alongside us and believed in God for the redeption of my daughter and grandson…thank you!
He is a faithful God and His saints have been a great encouragment as we waited on the LORD. He is good. This evening we start the journey home. Pray for mercy as we travel. Were almost home.
Bart
A Time for the Church to Stand
I attended a meeting yesterday with other church and local leaders concerning the Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024. This amendment has just received certification and now will need approximately 90,000 signatures from across the state in order to guarantee a limited right to abortion in the state. The group backing this amendment is sinisterly calling themselves “Arkansans for Limited Government.” This is a deceitful attempt to get conservative voters to sign the petition and ultimately vote for this measure under the guise of voting for things like limited government and second amendment rights in Arkansas. However, the reality is that they are tricking citizens into enshrining abortion into the Arkansas constitution. The passing of this amendment will constitutionally allow women to abort babies from 20 weeks until birth for reasons of rape, incest and the health of the mother (any health concern deemed by her physician). This is how they define “limited” abortions. This is really bad, and if passed, many Arkansans will wish for the days when Roe was still in effect.
“State officials must know that we (the church) are serious about stopping abortion, which is a matter of clear principle concerning the babies themselves and concerning a high view of human life.” - Francis Schaffer
“Decline To Sign” is the new slogan to counteract this nefarious amendment. We encourage all and want to educated all to be informed about what you may be asked to sign. In the next several months, there will be paid solicitors who will be at Walmarts, on the University of Arkansas campus, outside DMV’s, at the Northwest Arkansas Mall, and other public places trying to dupe people into supporting abortion with their signature. If you encounter such a person, respectfully ask what to see the bill which is written on the back side of the signature page (note - it is very small). Maybe you can explain to those about to sign what the solicitor is not saying.. again, please be respectful.
We will be talking about this at Covenant Baptist Church. We will be telling our congregation NOT to sign or vote for this amendment. This stand by our church against abortion does in no way support a political party or endorse a canditate’s political campaign. However, this stand is against those who desire to make abortion a constitutional right in Arkansas. Covenant Baptist Church will fight in obedience to scripture and as a righteous duty defending the unborn who need of someone with a voice to speak for them.
“Abortion – often referred to as the legal, systematic elimination of the most vulnerable members in our society – is one of the most heinous crimes known to man. I vehemently oppose it, and I ardently agree with the scriptural teaching regarding the origin of life at conception. My goal as a Christian has never been to force others to agree with me. Instead, my goal has been to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Abortion is a subject mentioned in political debates, but is primarily a subject found deep in the Word of God.” - Paul Chappell
There is an event this Sunday, January 28th on the Fayetteville Square (2 PM). The group Arkansans for Limited Government will be holding a rally celebrating the certification of their abortion amendment. At this event they will begin gathering signatures for the amendment. Media will definitely be present. Perhaps a large showing of people holding signs that say, “Decline to Sign - don’t sign for abortion!” just might end up on the news.
PS. If you plan to attend, I would suggest arriving by 1PM or 1:30PM because you may have to walk as parking will be an issue.
Bart
Covenant Baptist Church 2024
It’s a new and significant year for us.
Sunday, Covenant Baptist Church took a break from our expositional teaching in Galatians to cast a vision for the year before us. Josh and I co-preached the sermon by presenting our commission from Christ and a strategic plan for church planting. Yes, we plan to plant a church in 2024.
We followed the service with our first member meeting. The meeting was short as we welcomed nine new members to the congregation. That brings us to 25! Each new member had completed the membership process prior to the member meeting. During this part of the meeting, I was struck hearing the testimonies of our new members along with their heart felt requests to join the church. The current members of Covenant Baptist responded by voting each member into the church.
We also passed out our first budget! This budget is a 6 months mini budget to be followed with a July through July annual budget. Members will ask questions and vote in the budget at our next members meeting in two weeks.
We taught the congregation parliamentary procedures for amending and ratifying our bylaws and statement of faith. This will take up the bulk of our time in the coming member meeting. However, the investment of work and discussion will be well worth having these foundational elements in place as we move forward.
Josh has done a lot of work to get these things in order. I appreciate his gifting and knowledge in these areas as I tend to be more gifted in the artsy department.
Update… we still are loosing to the skunk. Josh was battling it today and I have yet to hear his victory scream here in Siloam. The air is so cold outside, I’m sure I would have heard it echoing over the hills. We may be in for another stinky Sunday. More skunk news to come… I’m sure.
Bart
A Christmas Surprise....
Church planting in Arkansas has unique challenges. We have a skunk that has moved into the church. Presently the smelly offender is residing in the crawl space under our feet as we gather for worship and fellowship.
My fearless ministry parner, Josh has set a trap for the varmint, but the latest report is that the bait was taken and the trap is empty. Skunk -1 Covenant Baptist Church -0. However, this game is not over! We will prevail, and evict our squater from the building. Welcome to Arkansas church planting. It’s a tough gig, and not for the faint of heart. If you attempt to plant a church in this state, make sure you invite some hunters and trappers to be a part of your core group! Big thanks goes out to Josh and Chad!
Bart
Carmen and Beau
Many of you have been praying for my daughter Carmen and her son Beau. Here is a quick update. Carmen has been trying to move out of the state of California for the last year and a half. She must request a move order from family court because of the visitation agreement she has with Beau’s dad. He is using the courts to prevent her from moving even though it would improve Carmen’s ability to provide a better standard of living for his son.
Carmen has had several court hearings to date. The next is January 17th 2024. Would you begin to pray with us that Carmen will be able to move? This is a trial which is different in scope from the hearings so far. Carmen’s retainer for the trial is $10,000 and she must have it to her lawyers no later than December 29th 2023. We have set up a go fund me account to help her with these fees. Up till now Carmen has worked hard to pay her attorney fees with the help of Mom and Dad and a few others. However, this is a lot of money that she needs to get together quickly. The reality is that she can not do it alone.
Thank you to all who have given to help Carmen move to Arkansas. We are looking forward to having her and Beau join our community of Faith at Covenant Baptist Church. God is writing a beautiful story of grace for Carmen and Beau. Thank you all for participating in that story. It has been a long story with many disappointments and we pray that God will begin to turn the tide and allow her to come home. We need your prayers most of all.
If you desire to help Carmen financially you can follow this link: Carmen GOFUNDME
Update 12/7/2023. I have pushed a pause on the Gofundme as a settlement negotiation is currently in process. Please pray for wisdom for Carmen. More to come as we hear news.
Thank you for your prayers and support
Bart
Thankful for our church plant
Thanksgiving 2023 is an opportunity to pause for a moment to reflect and to give thanks.
Thank you God for growing your church in East Springdale. Thank you for Josh Rice a faithful partner and friend. Thank you for all the families that You have connected together and who gather to praise your name in the Zion Oak Grange. Thank you for all those who sacrificed to financially support Covenant Baptist Church. Thank you for prayer warriors who have tirelessly lifted holy hand of intercession for our needs. Thank you God for Jesus and the cross, for forgiveness of sin and life everlasting.
Thank you for a vision for Northwest Arkansas that makes us rely on you. Thank you in advance for new churches to be planted, new lives to be redeemed, families to be discipled and believers to be baptized. Thank you God for your mercy. We are not worthy of such lavish favor and blessing. You are greater than all we could hope for or desire.
We are grateful that you go before us and hem usnin behind. Thank you for leading us. Thank you for the strength to faithfully follow you.
Thank you for being our everything.
Bart
Why no groups?
Why are there no community groups or men’s, women’s or youth groups at Covenant Baptist Church? One word - discipleship. Josh and I believe in discipleship. It is inefficient but it creates lasting fruit. It is also hard to get going because it is hard to change our evangelical church culture. We desire to forge a culture of discipleship at Covenant Baptist Church and we want it to be forged with commitment. It will require commitment from a leadership and a congregation.
My working definition of discipleship is an intentional relationship that is focused and committed to spiritual growth. We intent to deepen our relationship with God through regular times of exhortation and encouragement as we live life together.
You will hear me say regularly, “someone at church must have their finger on the spiritual pulse of your life.” We don’t need places to hide in the body of Christ. What is needed is life-giving connection that propels us onward in our Christian faith. However, I fear that far too many men, women and children who attend church remain stagnant and idle. Faith in that state is boring, cowardly and weak. But, true discipleship provides accountability and training. It is for a day that you can’t see coming but you know is inevitable. It is preparation for the coming storm.
So, we can’t have groups because we are committed to developing a discipleship culture. I’m writing this blog as a way to get people at Covenant Baptist Church to think differently about their spiritual growth. How are you growing? Why wouldn’t you try something intensive that could cause your faith to grow more rapidly? If it feels like there is not enough going on at Covenant Baptist Church.. not enough programs.. It’s intentional. We desire to shepherd you well so we have limited what we offer.
It is time to act now! Discipleship is inefficient by design. It is one on one (sometimes one on some). Right now the pastors at CBC have time in their schedules to meet with you. Josh and I don’t meet with women one on one, but I know Kristen has time and is an excellent discipler of women.
Reach out and get started today. It’s how we grow at Covenant Baptist Church.
-Bart
Headed to Austin TX
It’s conference time once again for Kristen and I. This Friday we will head to Austin TX for a family ministry conference with RightResponse Ministries called The Household And The War For The Cosmos. We are exctied to hear Chris Wiley (Children As Artillery), Jared Longshore (Keeping Your Kids) and Joel Webbon (The Cost Of Being A Man). If you are interested in the content that we will be hearing, let us know and we can download the content over coffee.
We hope to glean ideas that are helpful to our philosophy of family worship. It is such a great blessing at CBC to have all the children in attendance in our service. Just last week I was encouraged as I saw Logan Boone (18mons) get on the stage after service and stand where I lead worship. Logan began to sing and bob up and down imitating me leading the congregation in praise. It is working! The children of CBC are seeing and imitating their parents worship and sit under the teaching of God’s Word. However this is just a sign of the greater work that we pray the Holy Spirit does in regenerating these young hearts. I look forward to seeing them come to Christ as an act of faith, and baptize them in obedience to Him. It is what we pray for and it is why we joyfully have them in worship with us.
We will miss everyone at CBC. I am grateful for Rob who will be leading worship. I am also sad to miss as Josh will be continuing our study of Galatians. I will have to listen online and get caught up. You can listen to our sermons online at - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/covenantbaptistnwa.
Lastly, another philosopy of ministry at CBC that we are developing is discipleship. I try to speak about it in my preaching often, urging men and women into intentional spiritual relationships. Someone needs to have their finger on the spiritual pulse of your life. This happens when we are intentional about growing spiritually with the help of another believer. If you are interested please talk to either Bart or Josh so we can get you connected today!
See you next week CBC!
Friends and Family Event/Chili Cookoff
Sunday night, October 22, 2023 Covenant Baptist Church celebrated our first All Church event called Friends and Family night which included a Chili Cookoff. This event will be the first of many bi monthly “all church” events. These events stem from our philosophy of gathering the church rather that dividing it up. So, instead of a small group ministry we have an all church ministry. Don’t get me wrong, small group/home hospitality is also a ministry element at CBC. We have charged our members to utilize their homes as centers for hospitality to visitors and the community. Hospitality is an organic ministry at CBC that stems out of heartfelt service rather than a program that the church manages.
Back to the Friends and Family night. We called this friends and family because we have many church friends who attend elsewhere on Sunday morning but they have a desire to see what is happening at the new church plant. So, friends and family came and we had seventy five-ish men, women and children along with around twenty pots of chili. I must say that the deserts were amazing and I confess to eating more sweets than chili. Jake Rice is Covenant Baptist Church’s 2023 Chili Champion and has taken home the trophy. His chili was spicy! He will return with the trophy next year to pass it on to the next champion.
We sang a couple of Psalms together to kick off the night, which gave me a taste for the sound of seventy five people singing on Sunday morning. It was loud and glorious.
I met so many wonderful new people. Also, in attendance were the generous couple who have leased us the building which we gather in to worship. It was a blessing to say, “thank you” and let them see all the renovations in the Zion Oak Grange.
Our next All church event will be in December as we prepare for Christmas. Plans are happening. Look for announcements in your weekly email newsletter for the date and time.
See yall there.
October Update
It has almost been a month since my last blog. So, time for an update. We have been continuing our work in the church. Lanny and I have mused together that we should start our own PBS show called, “This Old Church.” The show would be about us renovating old churches and plant new congregations in them.
Lots of painting has been done including the back half of the sanctuary (multiple times), the entry and the kitchen. I did fall off the ladder with minimal injury, however I am still sore. Kitchen cabinets are installed and we are waiting for the counter tops and kitchen sink to be installed. We discovered that the building has never been connected to the gas company so after weighing our options we have decided to put a propane tank on the property to heat the building. Just in time too because cold weather is coming.
As far as church plant is concerned we have been surprised by visitors who saw the sign out front and then re-surprised that they came back a second time. It has been remarkable how God is sending people to our little church. We now have a weekly newsletter that goes out via email. If you are not on our email list and would like to receive updates please contact me. Also our first Sunday night event will be happening Oct 22, 2023. We will have our first annual chili championship with Psalms and a time sharing grateful stories and hearts with one another. There has been talk of a fire pit being installed on the property.
Pastorally, I have been meeting with Brady Boone for discipleship and to sharpen his theology. Also, my counseling load is increasing. This is an exciting development as discipleship quickens my ministry passion. I will be pursuing more men for intentional spiritual development. Covenant Baptist Church needs more elder qualified men. They may not be presently called to Eldership but they must be ready to serve. As always its a busy time church planting.
Lastly, we are looking forward to a visit from the Elders from Crossway Fellowship in Lynnwood WA. More details will be coming.
Launched
Lanny said, “The Warship has been
launched.” and it has been launched. Sunday was launch day for Covenant Baptist Church. We had worked diligently all week to prepare the space for worship by trimming out windows, setting cabinets, work on the second bathroom, installing our sign and painting everything white. Even with all our work, the core team was there early on Sunday with shop vacs raging as Kathy and Jake practiced for worship.
We prayed together as is our Sunday morning practice, joined by friends from Austin TX. Then people started to come. 54 in total for our greatest gathering so far! Our service began with many announcements given by Josh Rice - including next week’s baptism. Kathy and Jake led us in amazing songs of grace and peace. Sunday was also the beginning of our series study on Galatians and I had the honor of launching such a rich letter about freedom in Christ. We finished with more hymns and a time of communion.
It was good to finally meet the Hacking family who had moved to NWA from Seattle. We look forward to getting to know them more.
Our good friend Maggie said that the Holy Spirit was present in the service and that she so enjoyed the old hymns that were sung.
After the service we stayed to after 2PM for a launch lunch. Those who stayed sat outside in the most perfect weather we could have ever dreamed for, with children playing everywhere. It was a filling celebration of the goodness of God with joy-filled conversation and feasting on sandwiches, chips and cookies.
Thank you for all the text messages from all around the country communicating acts of prayer on our behalf. God has answered and Covenant Baptist Church is officially launched. Tell everyone you know.