“Man is like a
thing of nought: his time passeth away like a shadow” (Psalm 144:4, 1662 BCP). As
another year passes and a new begins, it’s a good time for reflection. Here are a dozen or so highlights (in
general chronological order) from 2025:
First: I became a grandfather, twice over, in 2025. My precious granddaughter was
born to my youngest daughter and her husband in January. Then my adorable
grandson was born to my oldest daughter and her husband in April. I’ve
experienced firsthand now what others told me about: The satisfaction and joy of
seeing your children’s children. To top off the year my oldest son was engaged
to his fiancé in December. DV, they will be married in 2026.
Second: I had the privilege of teaching a group of believers in Kenya on issues
related to the text and translation of Scripture for the Trinitarian Bible
Society in a series of sessions over zoom in January and February.
Third: I conducted several funerals. CRBC is generally a young body. We have
had very few funerals over the last decade. This year, however, we had four
deaths, and I took part in four funeral services: a beloved and faithful
charter member at CRBC Carol Bradley; esteemed former missionary and my fellow
elder for over a decade at CRBC Jeff Clark; a solid and encouraging layman,
Rick Jones; the infant son, Adoniram Cook, of a beloved church family.
Fourth: I organized an Ordination Council in February and oversaw the ordination
and installation of Ben Cook on Sunday April 13 as my fellow elder at CRBC.
Fifth: CRBC hosted the Spring Presbyterion (Pastors’ Fraternal) in Louisa on Friday
April 11, and I gave one of the talks offering a review of the book The Case
for Christian Nationalism.
Sixth: I gave a plenary lecture at the IRBS Faculty Conference on Church
Planting on the topic “Setting in order the things that are wanting” (Titus
1:1-5) on Friday May 16 and attended the IRBS graduation ceremony on Saturday
May 17 in Mansfield, Texas.
Seventh: I organized and oversaw our CRBC Youth Conference on Ex Nihilo
Creation (with guest speaker Andrew McCaskill) at Machen Conference Center in
Highland County on June 13-14 and then taught on the OT Wisdom Literature in
our CRBC Vacation Bible School to the children of CRBC June 16-19.
Eighth: I enjoyed a week of family vacation at Topsail Island, NC, June 23-28.
Ninth: I served as chairman of the Reformation Bible Society and with the other
executive committee members organized our second annual conference on August 2 at
Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I gave a plenary lecture on “Erasmus
and the Ending of Revelation.” I then enjoyed a preaching ministry at South
Litchfield Baptist Church with host pastor Jay Chambers in southern Michigan
the week following the RBS conference, August 3-6.
Tenth: I served as a messenger to the inaugural General Assembly of the
Reformed Baptist Association of Virginia at Grace Baptist Chapel in Hampton on
Friday, September 26 and was elected to serve as Moderator of the new association.
I also attended the Keach Conference the next day on Saturday, September 27 in Yorktown.
Eleventh: I had a ministry trip to England, November 7-13. I preached alongside Pooyan
Mehrshahi and host pastor Jonathan Arnold at a conference on Confessing the
Faith & the Nicene Creed at Westminster Baptist Church in London. I also attended
some TBS meetings in London, visited friends in the Gloucester area, and the
midweek meeting of Providence Baptist Chapel in Cheltenham.
Twelfth: I was able to continue my writing, blogging, and podcasting ministry. I
posted Word Magazine podcast episodes 317-362. I contributed two chapters to the book It
is Written and edited the Reformation Bible Society Journal, Vol. 1
on the theme The Reformation Text & the Septuagint, including contributing
a chapter on “How Did the Earliest Church Use the Septuagint?” I also
contributed articles and book reviews to various journals including “To the Saints
which are at Ephesus” to Bible League Quarterly, “The Preservation of
Scripture” to the BLQ and the Trinity Review, and “Father, Forgive
Them: The Case for the Authenticity of Luke 23:34a” to the Puritan Reformed Journal.
SDG!
