Reflections on traveling and the RPIC 2012

Monday we arrived home from a 6 week holiday in the States. I think it is safe to say we are over the jet lag. We had a great time with family and friends and are thankful that we could do and see so many things. It is always enjoyable to watch the kids forming deeper relationships with their grandparents, aunts and uncles.

I will have to record at another time what the highlights were for each of our children.

One of the highlights for Brandon and I was going to the RP International Conference. Coming from a very small church it was almost overwhelming (in a good way) to be surrounded by so many Christian friends/family for a week. Singing the Psalms with 2000+ people always reminds me of heaven and makes me look forward to the day when all the saints are gathered together singing praises to God.

The preaching/teaching section was led by Dr. Joel Beeke, all focusing on how to live the Christian life. Following the preaching each day all the adults had the option to sit in on various seminars. Brandon and I both appreciated the diversity of topics and the encouragement that we received from them.

Brandon and I tended to take the 'divide and conquer approach to the seminars'. Meaning we split up and went to separate ones and then shared notes afterwards. We like to do this so that we can cover more ground. We don't often get exposed to so much concentrated Biblical teaching on such a vast array of topics and so we wanted to take in as much as possible for the trip home.

The following are the seminars that we attended;

- The Vaccine Wars: A Christian Response

- Science and Faith: Battles, Insights, and Blessings

- Homosexuality: Accepting the Challenge

- Precenting techniques

- How the Lord is at Work Building His Kingdom in Japan

- Restoring Streets to Dwell In: The Gospel and Neighborhood Restoration

There is much to share from these seminars. If you are interested in hearing about them let us know. We would love to pass on what we learned.

I might in future posts review each one. It would help cement everything in my brain by doing such an exercise.

Apart from the great teaching and seminars spending time with people was a great blessing. We were encouraged by many and came away with a mountain to pray for! It is encouraging to see God moving in great ways around the world. We were challenged to continue asking for something similar in this country.  Above all we are thankful that God has blessed the RP denomination with so many godly and theologically sound men that are willing to serve the church body and preach the gospel.

p.s. If you haven't gone to a RP international conference, well the only thing I can say is that you should. There are so many benefits to being with such a group for almost a week. The next one is in 2016...start planning now, we are :-)