The Gospel of God - In Portuguese (O Evangelho de Deus)

Recently our friend and brother Luis Gomes has begun to translate articles from The Gospel of God website into Portuguese. You may view the fruits of his labour at O Evangelho de Deus.

We are very thankful to Luis for his help in producing this Portuguese version of The Gospel of God and pray that the Lord will use this greatly in the proclamation of the Gospel amongst Portuguese speaking people throughout the world (not just Portugal, but Brazil also, amongst other places).

The website and the translations are still in the early stages but are being steadily developed as time allows.

The Baptisms of Luis Gomes and Ian Potts

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20

"Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Acts 8:35-37

On the evening of 1st April 2008 our friend and brother, Luis Gomes, and myself, both confessed faith in our Lord Jesus Christ in baptism. Pastor Don Fortner of Danville, Kentucky, kindly conducted the baptisms following a powerful and Christ-exalting message in which Freewill was contrasted with Freegrace.

We thank the Lord for an open door to confess His Name in baptism, without hinderance, in this manner and for His wonderful grace and mercy in redeeming lost sinners. The text from which Don Fortner preached on the occasion was Psalm 115:1, the truth of which we can only echo:

“Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.”

The baptismal service is available as an Audio (Mp3) Message and also now in Video.

Sovereign Grace Conference 2008 Messages and Report

The Sidholme Hotel in the coastal town of Sidmouth, Devon, was the venue for our recent 2008 Sovereign Grace Conference. Following his visit to the UK in April 2007 Pastor Don Fortner of Grace Baptist Church, Danville, Kentucky, was welcomed back as our speaker. Like last year the meetings were a great encouragement with the Gospel being boldly proclaimed. We thank God for sending His word in such power and for blessing these meetings to the good of His people and the glory of His precious Name.

The messages are now available in both audio and video formats online.

Tuesday April 1st
Audio Freewill or Freegrace (Don Fortner)

Or click here to play video

Wednesday April 2nd
Audio: A Parable of Every Believer's Life (Don Fortner)

Or click here to play video

The video messages can also be listened to on the Video Page of graceandtruthonline.com or on the Grace and Truth Online Video Chanel on Veoh. When played online they provide a 5 minute preview but they can also be downloaded for playback on your computer.

The Music Room at the Hotel where the meetings were held...

The Gate outside...

(Sadly since returning home to the USA Don Fortner has been suffering from some heart trouble which has required surgery. We were very sorry to hear of this and pray that the Lord will be pleased to grant a good recovery and restore His servant to good health soon. An update on his condition is available in the post below ).

Don Fortner Update

As you may know Pastor Don Fortner has been suffering from heart trouble recently and was diagnosed as having a hereditary condition known as 'aortic stenosis'. This led to his having a pace-maker fitted to control the heartbeat, and he was then scheduled to have surgery on Monday 21st April in order to replace an aortic valve.

The surgery went ahead as expected and we are very thankful to our Lord that all went well and the surgeons are very pleased with our Brother’s progress. He was soon taken off heart/lung support and transferred to intensive care, and by yesterday morning (Tuesday 22nd April) the nurses had him sat up in a chair and even eating a popsicle! His family tell us that he is looking well and should be out of intensive care soon.

Please continue to remember Don Fortner and his family in prayer. We thank the Lord for His goodness to our Brother these past few days and look to Him to watch over His servant in the coming weeks.

(We hope to keep this post updated with any further news as and when we hear it).

UPDATE 24th April:

Yesterday (the 23rd) we heard that Don hadn't had such a good day. He was still in intensive care and the doctors were monitoring his kidney functions due to elevated creatins. The urologist explained that apparently this is not unusual in diabetic patients and can be a result of the anasthesia used during the operation. Brother Fortner was also in much pain, partly because of the doctors seeking to discontinue the pain-killers he was initially on.

...

However, by the evening of the 23rd Don was feeling much better. Having had medication for the elevated kidney creatins, the chest drainage tube removed, and more rest, he was looking much better and was quite alert. The family are hopeful that he should soon be moved out of Intensive care.

Update 25th April:

Yesterday Don Fortner was transferred from Intensive Care into his own room. However he has been very weak and having to sleep a lot. Until he gains some more strength he is not yet up to having visitors.

Update 28th April

Don has been quite poorly the past few days, but we thank the Lord to hear that he has now begun to eat a little, and that the doctors seem happy with the functioning of his heart, kidneys, etc.

Update 21st May 2008

The latest news can be read in this post .

Please continue to remember our friend and brother in prayer.

Justified Without The Law

Have a listen to this excellent message on Romans 3:20-21 which was preached recently by Gary Shepard of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, Jacksonville, NC.

Justified Without The Law (Romans 3:20-21) Gary Shepard

Sovereign Grace Conference 2008 Audio Messages

The messages from the South West Sovereign Grace Conference 2008 are now available online to listen to.

Tuesday April 1st:
Freewill or Freegrace (Don Fortner)

(The Baptisms of Luis Gomes and Ian Potts - April 1st 2008)

Wednesday April 2nd:
A Parable of Every Believer's Life (Don Fortner)

Our thanks to all those who attended the conference and helped make it such an encouragment and blessing as fellowship was shared with many of God's people. But above all, we give thanks to our Sovereign God for His great goodness in blessing the conference held in Sidmouth and attending the preaching of His word with such power.