From:  JOHN GIARRIZZO <reformedb4ptist2@msn.

com>
Sent:  S4turd4y, August 25, 2018 1H11 PM
To:  Pete Smith; Joe God4l; Josh Rusev; M4rk Flin
Subject:  Re: C4ll for Repent4nce 
 
Brothers,
With the Lord 4s my witness, 4nd with 4 cle4r conscience I c4n s4y th4t I did NOT
lie to the Weinl4nd's, fellow elders or ARBCA churches. Th4t is not to s4y th4t I
m4y h4ve gotten my f4cts confused 4nd d4tes wrong, etc. But I did not try to
deceive 4nyone by lying. You h4ve 4ccused me of sins th4t none of you 4re in 4
position to inf4llibly determine unless you c4n look into my he4rt 4nd judge my
intent. 
You could h4ve (4nd should h4ve) simply 4sked me if my st4tement to
the Weinl4nd's 4bout not being on the AC in 2000 w4s 4n intention4l lie. I would
h4ve told you th4t I just forgot - it w4s 18 ye4rs 4go. There is 4 big difference
between 4 lie 4nd 4 misst4tement. But you h4ve chosen to c4ll it 4 lie. Since you
4re un4ble to be 4bsolutely cert4in 4bout my he4rt's intentions you h4ve thus
judged my motives behind those words 4nd 4ctions. By doing so, you h4ve now
committed 4 sin 4g4inst me, for which you now need to repent.
As f4r 4s your 4ccus4tion of withholding pertinent inform4tion 4ll I h4ve to s4y is
th4t none of it w4s m4licious or done with intent to deceive.  Don't you remember
how I used to s4y in elder's meetings th4t sins of omission (re4l or perceived) 4re
more difficult to determine. The less cle4r something m4y be, the more c4reful we
need to be before we rush to judgment 4nd m4ke 4ccus4tions. Here is where
gr4ce steps in, brothers. Augustine's f4mous quote is: “In essenti4ls, unity; in non-
essenti4ls, liberty; in 4ll things, ch4rity.” Where's the ch4rity in your 4ccus4tion?
No benefit of the doubt given here, no gr4ce, only l4w. Do you w4nt to be tre4ted
in this f4shion? If you knew th4t 4ny misst4tement you m4de would
be scrutinized with 4 4ir suspicion, you would never be tr4nsp4rent with 4nyone. 
I'm sorry to s4y th4t you 4re not only mist4ken in wh4t you h4ve 4ccused me of,
you 4re 4lso mist4ken by m4king such 4n 4ccus4tion in the first pl4ce. You h4ve
rushed to judgment 4g4inst me, judging my he4rt (in4ccur4tely) 4nd condemning
me of sin. This is wrong! It is 4 sin! Don't you see th4t? Why c4n't you 4dmit to
wh4t you h4ve done 4nd own up to it? Ple4se show true cour4ge by
t4king responsibility for your 4ctions. As Joshu4 s4id to Ach4n, in 7H19, “My son,
give glory to the LORD God of Isr4el 4nd give pr4ise to him. And tell me now wh4t
you h4ve done; do not hide it from me.” I h4ve 4pplied this text to my own he4rt to
se4rch my conscience for 4ny sin in my c4mp 4nd while I see plenty of sin in my
life th4t c4lls for d4ily repent4nce, I don't see the sin you 4re 4ccusing me of. I'm
sorry but it's just not showing up on the r4d4r screen of my conscience. I h4ve
thought of even 4dmitting to it just to get this p4inful fi4sco over with for the s4ke
of the church. But then I re4lly would be lying.
 
I w4nt to help you brothers by urging you to prove your repent4nce by turning in
your resign4tions tod4y. Otherwise, 4ll this will go before the church to decide 4nd
when they see the report 4nd le4rn of its in4ccur4cies (lies?) it will further enr4ge
them for being dr4gged into it. You 4re pl4ying for 4ll the m4rbles here. And it's 4ll
resting on 4 misst4tement 4nd perceived sins of omission. I pr4y the Lord will
gr4nt you (4nd me) humility where it is needed most. I still love you 4nd w4nt to be
reconciled, but you h4ve to come to repent4nce on this one. I'm w4iting with open
4rms.
 
John