Lectures From the International Conference

Here are the lectures from the RP Conference held last month in Grand Rapids. For the record, there were 1617 in attendance and 95 who registered but did not show up.

If you can only listen to four of them, listen to: Denny Prutow, CJ William, Anthony Selvaggio, and Rick Gamble. (I was not there to hear Dr. O'Neill, so I cannot speak to his lecture... I will listen to it later.)

They say that recordings of the psalm singing will be up soon. Check back frequently.

Reformed Presbyterians Sing!

Anyone who has spent time around the RP Church knows that singing of Psalms is something that is loved. I wanted to capture one of the songs from the International Conference to show how the singing is really a 'foretaste of heaven', as so many say. Enjoy 1600 RPs praising God!

Reformed Presbyterian International Conference

This week my family and I are at the RP International along with 1600 other Reformed Presbyterians from around the globe. There are people there from the US, Canada, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, England, Cyprus, Japan, the Sudan, and others.


The singing is phenomenal and should be experienced if you are in the Grand Rapids area. It is actually overwhelmingly beautiful. I hope to get a video of it up tomorrow.

Today Dr. Dennis Prutow preached from Colossians 3.16 on how to meet Christ by 'letting His Words dwell in you richly'. The two main points (or moves as he would say) were by heeding the preaching (teaching and admonishing) and the singing of Psalms. Heeding includes hearing and making it change your life. It was a great sermon!


The children also have classes to attend which focus on the same topic. (There are over 150 preschoolers present!)

There are also 'break away sessions' which are attended later in the morning. I went to one on preaching (by Dr. Prutow as well) and Lydia, my wife, went to one on 'keeping our youth', which was led by Pastor Andy McCracken. Some of the others from our congregation attended sessions on 'dealing with conflict in the church' and 'the mercy ministries of Jesus'. Everyone had good feedback on what has been taught thus far.

What an opportunity to meet with like-minded Christians for fellowship, encouragement, and Christ honoring teaching!

Banner Annual Seceder Photo

Here is the annual Banner of Truth Seceder Photograph. It is all of the RPCNA and ARPC ministers, students, and interns.

Banner Singing and Preaching

Here is a video of the singing at the Banner Conference. It is wonderful to hear all these ministers, elders, and students praising God and crying out to him for help on their ministries and the Church universal. It is worth hearing!

Here are some pictures from the conference:
Iain Murray talking with a pastor from New York.
Jered Olivetti getting pastoral lessons from Dr. Adjemian.
Ian Hamilton preached this AM on the 'The Minister's Calling'. What a message! His text was Romans 11.34-36. "If we are not bringing people to a place where they are captivated by Jesus Christ we are not doing our job. This supreme calling of a minister of the new covenant is to make rebel sinners into adoring worshipers!"
This was right before prayer time. The men gather for 45 minutes to pray for the church and for each others ministries and burdens. What a blessed event!

Banner of Truth: Day One

Today Iain Murray and Craig Troxel preached. Rev. Murray opened with a sermon on John 21.19-21. His points were: 1. Following is the Supreme Duty. 2. Following is our Sole Responsibility. 3. Following is not just duty, but earnest desire.

Rev. Troxel had a wonderful sermon on Fanning the Flame. It was from 2 Timothy 1.6. His points were: 1. The Gift 2. The Fanning 3. The Gift of the Spirit 4. The Gift of Christ's Ministry.

I will add some quotes from them later.
Here is the Puritan Paperback collection. They are all about $5. Good book prices.
This is the book room. All men who come get $30 to spend here.
The beginning of the Conference.
Shawn listening to Iain Murray.
Iain Murray preaching. What a blessing to be here.

At the Conference

The Puritan 5 have arrived at the conference. We registered with little to no trouble. I had the great and honorable privilege of taking Dewalt's bags to his room so that he could go and hang out with Tim Challies and other authors and bloggers of importance.

Iain Murray starts in less than one hour. Updates later.

Arrived at RPTS

We have arrived at RPTS. We will be going out into the city tonight. Dr. Scipione is staying here tonight as well.
RHB blogger, Michael Dewalt, is quite happy to be here. He is hoping to convert to Presbyterian soon... maybe after the Banner Conference.
Here is the favorite RP icon- the Blue Banner. This one is in Dr. O'Neil's office.
Derek Naves laughs at Shawn Anderson, who is having battery trouble. Jeff checks the email.
The glorious seminary. We are going to have a good night.

Banner of Truth

Today I am leaving, with 4 other Puritan Seminary students for the Banner of Truth Conference in Grantham, PA. We will be spending the night, tonight, at RPTS in Pittsburgh and then going the remaining 3 hours in the morning.

I hope to blog the trip, but no promises.

T4G

Some of my friends made it out the "Together For the Gospel Conference". I was unable to go, although I would to have liked to. (I do not think that conference hopping is very wise for a man with a family... one a year is good for me!) I am looking forward to hearing the lectures though.

According to my friend, and Heritage Books blogger, Michael Dewalt, RC Sproul had the most impressive lecture.

Pray that the thousands of ministers present will be refreshed to bring the Gospel back to their homes and their congregations. If you attended, let us know what lectures you liked best and how they ministered to you.

You can download all of them here.

Biblical Evangelism Conference mp3s.

The Conference on Biblical Theology went very well. We had around 150 people in attendance, which was 50 more than we were praying for! We also had 23 congregations represented and 10 Reformed denominations. It really shows that there is a need in the Reformed community and God is raising up his people to meet that need.

Feel free to pass on these mp3s to all who could benefit:

Biblical Evangelism's Motivation
Biblical Evangelism's Message
Biblical Evangelism's Methods

Reformed Presbyterian International Conference

This July Grand Rapids will overflow with Reformed Presbyterians. There will be RPs from the US, Canada, Japan, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Cyprus, and other international locations. If you have never been to an international conference it is truly a foretaste of heaven. Imagine over 1500 people singing Psalms acapella in four part harmony. It is great!

Here is the website to check it out... and of course to register! It only happens once every four years!

First Reformed Presbyterian Church Conference on Practical Theology

First Reformed Presbyterian Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, welcomes you to join us for the Conference on Practical Theology, to be held at the Puritan Reformed Seminary, 2965 Leonard Street, Grand Rapids, MI on Sat, Feb. 2 from 8:45am - 3:30pm. This year's theme will be Biblical Evangelism.

Our lecturer will be Dr. David P. Murray, professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Seminary. Dr. Murray comes with much practical experience in biblical evangelism. Dr. Murray also has a depth of biblical knowledge and a mastery of the original languages of Hebrew and Greek.

This conference will prove to challenge your view of evangelism and encourage you to fulfill every Christian's duty to present Jesus Christ to a dying world!

First Reformed Presbyterian Church Conference on Practical Theology

Biblical Evangelism

8:30-9:00 Registration
9:00-9:45 Biblical Evangelism's Motivation
9:45-10:00 Questions and Answers
10:00-10:30 Coffee Break
10:30-11:15 Biblical Evangelism's Message
11:15-11:30 Questions and Answers
11:30-1:00 Lunch Break
1:00-1:45 Biblical Evangelism's Methods
1:45-2:30 Final Questions and Answers
2:30-3:30 Coffee and Fellowship

Join us for this day of great Christian instruction, fellowship, and encouragement!

There will be a nominal fee to cover logistical costs.

If interested, please email Nathan Eshelman at nleshelman@gmail.com to have a flyer mailed. Please encourage friends and family to come!

Banner of Truth I

This year's Banner of Truth Conference was very exciting for me. The theme of the conference was based upon a quote by the famous minister Robert Murray M'Cheyne. M'Cheyne was a very pious Scottish Presbyterian who was only 26 years old when he went to glory. The story goes that he was asked what his congregation needed most. He responded, "what my congregation needs most is my holiness."

Rev. Ben Short opened the conference with preaching from Phil. 1.21, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." It was a great way to begin a conference on the minister's (and seminary student's) holiness. We must live reflecting Christ in our lives. We must live at his disposal. We must pour out our lives for Christ. We must live out Christian discipleship. Of course, this is not just for ministers, but for all who name the name of Christ.

How is to die gain? Rev. Short gives a number of answers. Some included:

• We will see Christ face to face. We will see all of the beauty of Christ's glory, the wonder of his mercy, grace, purity.
• We shall be like him. The great promise of God is the restoration of all things. The image of God will be restored in us and in all of creation.
• We shall be holy and in full fellowship with our Trinitarian God.
• We shall have full salvation and full deliverance from this life of sin.
• We will be glorified.

There was much, much more to this sermon. I will attempt to give a number of highlights from the week as well as link a couple of other bloggers who have chronicled the event. I look forward to next year's conference.

(BTW, If you look for me and Shawn Anderson in the photo you will find us. We were 2 of the 250 that were in attendance this year!)

Set Apart For God

This year the Banner of Truth Conference will focus on being 'set apart for God'. I have linked the online brochure for you to check it out. I would love to meet up with anyone that is planning on attending. I have heard that in years past the ARP and the RPCNA people have gotten together for a Psalm sing. I am up for that! The dates are May 29-31. Is anyone interested in attending?

Online Brochure