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RPM: Please pray for my pastor-friend

Posted in Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts on January 25, 2025| 2 Comments »

I want to request special prayer for my dear brother and fellow pastor, Pr. Lucrecio Muñoz. I developed a friendship with him not long after I came down to S. Jersey in late 2023. He is a diligent and faithful expositor of Scripture, and we connect weekly to visit, study, and pray together–in English and Spanish. I have also preached in his church a few times and have been very blessed by the biblical and reformational work going on in that Hispanic congregation.

Because his church is not in the financial position to support him very much, he resorts to secular work as a painter to provide for himself and his family. He has also experienced recent setbacks and discouragements, and I would like to request special prayer for him and his dear family.

If you would like to make a special donation for him, we would be happy to forward it; and as usual, all gifts would be tax deductible. Go here to donate. Simply make a notation for “Pr. Muñoz” either in your PayPal gift or on any check you mail in, so we can keep it separate from the main funds.

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RPM: Could you possibly help me?

Posted in Parish in American Context, Parish Theory & Practice, Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts on December 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »

My grandson, Tommy, and I out in the parish.

Dear friend, would you please take a moment and listen to this short appeal for Reformed Parish Mission? Click on the audio file below. And options for giving are here. All gifts are tax-deductible. God bless you today, in Jesus’ name.

“Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:21-23).

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RPM: Why am I raising funds?

Posted in Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts, tagged bible, christianity, church, god, theology on November 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

My role under presbytery is twofold. First is a conventional, pastoral one. I join my elders in pastoring our local congregation in S. Jersey, and I preach on average 1 out of every 2 of our Lord’s day services throughout the year. We are blessed with edifying pulpit supply for the balance of the pastoral ministry. The congregation is able to support me to a certain degree.

Second, I have what may be called a ‘home mission’ function. In 2023, presbytery formally approved my raising of funds for Reformed Parish Mission under the oversight and with accountability to our denominational missions committee. My presbytery also has committed to a measure of monetary support, but has limited means to do more. Together, those means are less than half of what my family and I require.

While not the ideal from a Presbyterian point of view (such missionaries would receive their full support from their own denomination), practical considerations lead me to raise funds for myself in a fashion similar to independent evangelicals. I am too convinced of the worthiness of the cause to allow it to wither for lack of funding; and so I have overcome my natural inhibitions and actively solicit funds for Reformed Parish Mission from friends, family, and churches within and beyond the Presbyterian Reformed Church.

Please pray for me. And if you could contribute—or even commit to monthly support—I would be in your debt. The Lord bless you and yours.

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RPM: Babel, the Bible, and a couple of ants

Posted in Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts, WPE Editor, tagged babel, bible, faith, genesis, god on November 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Recently as I was doing parish outreach visits, I came across a gentlemen with a rather interesting question. Rhetorical and somewhat cynical, to be sure; but a great opportunity to discuss the things of God with a lost sheep.

As this fellow, an African-American probably in his 50s, stood outside his house, I introduced myself. Very soon he raised this objection. “Alright. The Tower of Babel. Why should God even care? If He is so great and infinite, and human beings are just ants, how does their little building project matter?” Thus spake the ant.

So I, but another measly ant, took up the question. “David felt extremely small when he, in Psalm 8, looked up into the heavens and beheld the sun, the moon, the stars.” And so he exclaimed, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Indeed, Father Abraham confessed that he was “but dust and ashes,” and Isaiah wondered at the nations as a mere “drop in a bucket and as the very small dust of the balances.”

I sense he was a bit flat-footed and struck that the Bible had actually considered these kinds of things. “But here’s the thing, Malcolm [pseudonym], the wonder is that God actually took such interest in His creation, and especially one speck of matter on which he impressed His very own image.” And when these image-bearing creatures rebel against Him, defy and dishonor Him, indeed, He cares! In fact, He is profoundly angry. And thus, Babel.

We talked for some time as the autumn sun set amid the changing colors. I got his number, parted from him, and thanked the Lord for another rebel ant who was open to talk. May God confound and confuse poor Malcolm, so that he may throw off the wisdom of this world for the “foolishness of God.”

For more information about RPM, click here. To receive quarterly updates, e-mail me at michael@reformedparish.com, or sign up for West Port Experiment on the right near the top.

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RPM August Quarterly Update: Kingdom Collaboration

Posted in Parish in American Context, Parish Theory & Practice, Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts on October 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Here is the latest quarterly update. If you missed the last one from February, you can read it here. Also, as a part of my home mission labors under my presbytery, I am free to take pulpit supply opportunities one Lord’s day per month on average. This enables me to supplement our support income with honoraria and, as opportunity allows, raise awareness of Reformed Parish Mission. If you have or know of any opportunities, feel free to drop me a note at michael@reformedparish.com. (Bio & online sermons here.)

RPM Quarterly 2024-08 Download

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RPM: A tempted Savior, a pierced Savior

Posted in Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts on October 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Two more Spanish sermons preached at Iglesia Buenas Nuevas EHT. The first in Spanish only, the second in English and Spanish.

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RPM: A gentle giant & an opportunity to bless

Posted in Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts, WPE Editor on September 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Last year, I met a rather tall, older African-American fellow when first making my way through my Woodbine parish. He was sitting outside just relaxing in his yard. I struck up a conversation with him, and we easily talked for 45 minutes. He was originally from Philly (an hour away), had some trouble with the law years back and even did some hard time. As for his spiritual state, it was pretty clear that he was trusting in his good works to stand before God—and I in turn warned him not to do so, as they are filthy rags, and that we must flee to Christ for salvation. We’ll call him “Darius.”

Since then, I’ve returned to visit—that time learning that he did not live in the large house I had assumed was his, but in a trailer out back (I think on the graces of his family inside). We read the Bible and prayed, and I eventually got him and his girlfriend, “Sarah,” to church. They fell right in.

Sadly, Darius is no longer living there, for whatever reason. He called me out of the blue recently and shared that he is living 30 minutes away in Rio Grande, temporarily in a motel. He is a rather gentle giant, from all I can tell from the outside; but perhaps there is more to the story. Hard to say. In any case, he is on government assistance and must vacate this motel in 13 days from today. He is on Medicare and so has means to pay rent, however limited. He is asking for a place, any place, to stay—including another trailer. I cannot vouch for him beyond what I’ve shared here, but I have evidence that he’s been a hard worker in the past, and he has always struck me as easy-going.

If you live in S. Jersey and have a lead to share, I’m sure he would welcome it. I would be happy to relay any opportunities for him. But either way, please pray for Darius, that the Lord would give him a safe and stable place to stay. And pray for me as I endeavor to draw Him to the Savior. Rev. Allay, a local OPC minister friend of mine who lives close to Rio Grande, will be joining me Saturday for another visit.

Contact me if you have any leads or opportunities at mjives dot refparish at gmail dot com, or by cell at 515-783-5637.

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RPM: Maiden voyage, preaching in Spanish

Posted in Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts on August 7, 2024| 1 Comment »

Below is was my first attempt to preach in Spanish without live translation. I used Spanish-translated manuscript of a previously preached English sermon and practiced a lot beforehand. It has been a blessing serve Pr. Muñoz’s church in Egg Harbor Township, and I look forward to further opportunities. They are definitely growing in their understanding and practice of Reformation principles.

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RPM: Witnessing to witnesses . . . in action

Posted in Abuse, Manipulation, Cults, Cultishness, Heresy, Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts, WPE Editor, tagged bible, christianity, faith, god, jesus on June 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

More “shoe on the other foot” last Saturday. I was out with a new friend from Reformation Bible College, Yiourgos, canvassing for our special evangelistic meetings in Vineland. As I was moving down the street, I noticed three nicely-dressed Hispanic people getting out of their car. Had a hunch, and sure enough—they were “Testigos de Jehová” (Jehovah’s Witnesses).

As usual, very polite. And they knew their Bibles. The Watchtower had trained their drones well! With my precarious Spanish, I went to the Philippians 2 usage of Isaiah 45. The language that Paul used and applied to Jesus, “that every knee would bow” and “every tongue would confess,” was the very same language that Isaiah clearly referred to Jehovah! The Jehovah of Isaiah 45 gave to Jesus, according to Paul in Philippians, “the name that is above every name.” And what is that name, Jehovah gave to Jesus? None other than “Jehovah!”

I tracked with only parts of their response. My Spanish comprehension can be shaky; and the wife seemed to be especially zealous, probably accelerating her speech. I recall resonating with her use of Matthew 28:18-20, which God giving Jesus “all authority in heaven and earth.” We Trinitarians do not dispute the subordination of Jesus according to his human nature and in His person and office as Mediator. But clearly, I’ll have to unpack that more in a further conversation. Truly, “great is the mystery of godliness!”

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