Banner of Truth Conference 2019

Stephen was one of 17 RP ministers who attended the Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference, held in Stafford from Monday-Thursday this week. The theme of the conference was ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit’.

Rev. Edward Donnelly (retired minister of Trinity RPCI and Principal of Reformed Theological College when Stephen trained there) was attending the conference for the 50th time, and gave two addresses on the theme ‘The Spirit of Life’:

One particular highlight was hearing Lindsay Brown speaking about Mission. The first of his two talks was particularly encouraging as it highlighted what God was doing in many countries around the world:

It was also encouraging to hear global updates from men ministering in different countries around the world - some who have faced physical persecution - and to be able to pray for them in their work.

Videos of the rest of the talks are available here, and a list of previous recordings, dating back to 1962, can be found here. The video below is of the 300 men present singing Psalm 46:

The theme for next year’s conference will be ‘Communion with God’. One of the speakers will be Robert McCollum (one of Stephen’s best men, and pastor of Newtownards RPC). Robert spoke twice at this year’s Banner Youth Conference, which was held last weekend. You can watch his talks below:

John Livingstone Commemorated

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Last month a new plaque was unveiled marking the ministry of the Covenanter John Livingstone in Stranraer from 1638-48.

His ministry up to and including his time in Stranraer is summarised in the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology as follows:

The plaque on the church street wall - an identical plaque is on the gate of the High Kirk

‘Licensed to preach in 1625, Livingstone quickly gained a reputation as a powerful preacher, but he refused to enter the parish ministry through opposition to the Five Articles of Perth. In 1630, after being instrumental in a revival at the Kirk of Shotts (Lanarkshire), he crossed to Ireland and became minister of Killinchy in County Down, but he was deposed for nonconformity in 1632. In 1637 Livingstone returned to Scotland to support the Covenanters against Charles I, and became minister of Stranraer, Wigtownshire. He played a notable part in the tumultuous events of the following years. He joined those who demanded the abolition of some traditional practices in worship as unwarranted, and insisted on the right of the godly to hold prayer meetings in addition to attending public worship.’

Livingstone himself recounts how in 1638 he received calls from both ‘Stranrawer in Galloway’ and Straiton in Carrick. He would have chosen Straiton, but sought the advice of six ministers (Robert Blair, David Dickson, Andrew Cant, Alexander Henderson, Samuel Rutherford and his own father) who advised him to choose Stranraer, because it was within four miles of Portpatrick ‘and so nearer for the advantage of our people in Ireland’.

He recounts the 3-day boat journey from Irvine to Stranraer, including a whole day without food or water, concluding ‘yet it pleased the Lord we came safe to Lochryen’. And in words quoted in the newspaper report above, he writes: ‘Some of our friends out of Ireland came and dwelt at Stranraer, and at our communions twice in the year great numbers used to come; at one time 500 persons; and at one time I baptized towards twenty-eight children brought out of Ireland’.

You can read more about Livingstone in:

W, K. Tweedie, Select Biographies edited for the Wodrow Society (2 vols, Edinburgh, 1845-7), i, 127-370

(republished by Banner of Truth in 2008 as Scottish Puritans).

"I'm clean enough"

One thing that all hotels have in common are those little door hangers, which tell the cleaners whether they should come in and make up your room or not. I came across one recently where the usual two options were put in a slightly different way. One side read: ‘I’m clean enough: please don’t disturb’. The other said: ‘I’m a right mess: come on in’.

And as someone who’s passionate about getting the Bible’s message across in everyday language, I thought they were brilliant. Because they perfectly sum up the only two possible responses to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

One of the misconceptions about Christianity that I try and combat as a minister is that it’s only for good people. That it’s for those who have it all together. But that leads only to pride (for those who think they are good enough) or despair (for those who know they are not). In actual fact, the Bible tells us that there has only be one truly good person who has ever lived – Jesus Christ. The reason he came to earth was not (mainly) to set an example for us – since we could never live up to it. Instead, he came to live the perfect life that we fail to live, and then die in the place of his people.

As a result, being a Christian isn’t so much about ‘doing’ but about ‘receiving’ – receiving the free gift of cleansing that he offers. There are many (not least among those who sit in churches) who say, ‘thanks but no thanks’ – ‘I’m clean enough: please don’t disturb’. But by God’s grace there are others who gratefully say, ‘I’m a right mess: come on in’. It all boils down to how you see yourself.

Jesus himself says ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock’ (Revelation 3:20). What will your response be? ‘I’m clean enough: please do not disturb’? Or ‘I’m a right mess: come on in’?

The above article was scheduled to be in today’s Stranraer and Wigtownshire Free Press, but wasn’t printed - the ‘Thought for the Week’ column hasn’t featured in the paper for a number of weeks.

Let Them Live

On Friday night, 3 of us from Stranraer joined people from the other four RPCS congregations at a meeting in Glasgow for a presentation by Let Them Live, a pro-life ministry under the oversight of the Irish RP Church.

The presentation was given by two of Stephen’s former classmates at Theological College - Joel Loughridge (Cloughmills RPC) and Philip Dunwoody (Dervock RPC). They explained how the ministry began and spoke about the need for the church to argue against abortion from an explicitly Christian perspective.

From a Stranraer point of view, it was encouraging to hear the work is under the oversight of the Cookstown RPC session (a recent church plant, pastored by another of Stephen’s classmates) - a reminder that even small congregations can play a significant part in something like this.

The hope is that something similar can be started in Scotland. You can read more about the evening on the RPCS website.

Why we baptise (some) babies

Although infant baptism is turned into a superstitious ritual in many places, we believe that God commands us to baptise children who have at least one believing parent.

This sermon, preached by Stephen at the baptism of a friend’s baby back in September, explains why we do it: