By God’s grace, under Christ’s authority, we vow to strive for purity, peace, and Scriptural order in the formation of the Christ Reformed Presbyterian Church. Therefore, we endeavor to exclude those who disturb her peace, corrupt her testimony, and subvert her established forms from her communion. Therefore, as previous generations of Presbyterians did before us, we covenant together as elders in the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ to be “True to the Scriptures, the Reformed Faith, and the Great Commission!”

In order to guard against committing the same errors of our past affiliation, we submit this as our Testimony and Covenant.
Our Testimony
Brethren beloved in the Lord:
As to the crisis in which we now find ourselves, we are conscience bound to separate from those constitutional abuses and alarming theological errors, which have been perpetrated by many and now have been approved and sustained by a majority in the highest court of Vanguard Presbytery. Not wanting these failures to lead to this, we had hoped for more brotherly treatment and a willingness to hear all sides. At the least, we had expected from her stated commitments there would be a willingness to hear and consider Holy Scripture in her deliberations. Sadly, we have found that this has not been the case at all. Rather, we have seen a party spirit, deference to men, justification by legislation, an overturning of our Book of Church Order, and our most solemn covenant together broken by supplanting the Word of God with the word of man, and thus effectively denying the Headship of Christ over His Church. This most basic tenet of Biblical Presbyterianism being denied at the highest court of Vanguard Presbytery, we see no other recourse but to separate from her fellowship and form a denomination which will by the grace of God be a faithful expression of Biblical Presbyterianism and a true continuation of the work of Christ in history to call and perfect his Bride.
We love God in Christ; we love God’s Word; we stand in the long line and rich history of the Presbyterian Church. While we freely acknowledge that it is a history marked by the spots and wrinkles which Christ is progressively removing by the washing of water with the Word, we rejoice to give God the glory for the manifold testimony of His grace in working in and through her. With joy, we look back in history at her instrumentality in promoting the welfare of men; her love of human rights; her efforts for the advancement of human happiness; her clear testimonies for the truth of God, and her tremendous and blessed efforts to enlarge and establish the kingdom of Christ our Lord. We delight to dwell on the things our God has wrought by our beloved Church. We pray His grace will enable us to resolve to continue these earthly blessings, that our children shall not have the same occasion to weep over unfaithfulness as we have experienced in leaving Vanguard Presbytery. Sadly, a survey of the larger Presbyterian Church offers us no alternatives which promise to uphold the tenets of The Reformed Faith without apology. We are encouraged by the kingdom promises of our Lord Jesus Christ that He will honor those who honor Him, and would rather stand with a few for Christ, than with many against Him.
Our Covenant
Persuaded that if God is for us, who can be against us, we are committing to be a faithful continuation of all that is faithful in our glorious heritage in Biblical Presbyterianism as practiced by the Apostolic Church and largely rediscovered in the Protestant Reformation. As the only infallible rule of faith and practice, we vow and commit together to keep the Word of God at the center of all our deliberations and actions, desiring above all else to hear the voice of Christ speaking and ruling in His Church, which is the best evidence of His walking among us and the best means we have of showing the honor due to His eminence. For the honor of Christ’s name, for the witness of the Church to the world, for the preservation of the deposit entrusted to us for future generations of the people of God, we cannot stand idly by and behold the ruin of this glorious edifice we know as the Presbyterian Church.
“Now I plead with you brethren,” says the Apostle, “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Cor. 1:10 NKJV) Therefore, in the presence of that Redeemer, we wholeheartedly affirm that the standard of doctrine and ecclesiastical order here subscribed to is that known as The Reformed Faith and Presbyterian church government, as definitively and infallibly revealed in Holy Scripture and as faithfully though fallibly summarized in the Westminster Confession and Catechisms.
By God’s grace, under Christ’s authority, we vow to strive for purity, peace, and Scriptural order in the formation of the Christ Reformed Presbyterian Church. Therefore, we endeavor to exclude those who disturb her peace, corrupt her testimony, and subvert her established forms from her communion. Therefore, as previous generations of Presbyterians did before us, we covenant together as elders in the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ to be “True to the Scriptures, the Reformed Faith, and the Great Commission!”
Therefore, our commitment is to follow Jesus Christ, the only actual Head of His Church. We humbly stand upon the shoulders of past faithful servants of Christ. We will obey our Lord’s commandment to disciple the nations and baptize them in the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all of Christ’s commands, ministering under that great and encouraging promise, the blessing of His presence.
Signed and adopted, May 8th, 2022, by the inaugural assembly of Christ Reformed Presbyterian Church.
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Written by Bruce A. Little |
Thursday, November 25, 2021
Though some may argue strenuously against any connection between virtue and freedom, all of history is against them. When personal responsibility is divorced from virtue, it is deprived of its guiding principles and moral foundation. Without moral foundations, the freedom to choose will present an opportunity for the selfish one to pursue personal ambition in disregard for the freedoms of others. Where virtue is ignored, rejected, or redefined in pragmatic terms selfish pursuits of power and gain prevail, leaving little to stand between anarchy and totalitarianism.

The concept of freedom is not something that is learned; rather it is bound up in the essence of humanity itself. Although it may not always prevail in every human situation, it is the condition humanity desires from the core of its being. The sense of choice and the desire to choose flow from our being very early on in life. It is why man prefers to be free as opposed to being chained. It is why we think that restricting one’s freedom is severe punishment. This reflects the fact that freedom is not to be understood as a privilege of a few, but is the innate impulse of all humanity. One might say that freedom is a yearning of the soul as hunger and thirst are a longing of the body. One can live with less than desired, but one cannot survive on less than is needed. Freedom is to humanity as breath is to life. When freedom prevails, humanity rejoices.
Freedom, however, is not freestanding or self-sustaining. It requires moral responsibility from all who enjoy the benefits of freedom. Unless men act morally responsible in freedom, freedom will be the occasion for license which will in turn destroy freedom. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, in an interview in July 1989 with Time, captured the relationship between freedom and responsibility when he said: “During these 300 years of Western civilization, there has been a sweeping away of duties and expansion of rights. But we have two lungs. You can’t breathe with just one lung and not the other. We must avail ourselves of rights and duties in equal measure. And if this is not established by the law, if the law does not oblige us to do that, then we have to control ourselves.” That is, external law increases where personal responsibility decreases.
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Written by Dr. David S. Steele |
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Our response to unbelief is crucial.  The world is watching.  May our apologetics match the biblical model.  And may we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in a winsome and compelling way.  For in the final analysis, all of God’s elect will hear and believe.

Unbelief is in the air.  Unbelief is gaining ground in postmodern culture.  Over 100 years ago, the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “I call Christianity the one great curse, the one great innermost corruption, the one great instinct of revenge, for which no means is poisonous, stealthy, subterranean, small enough – I call it the one immortal blemish of mankind.”
The bankrupt philosophy of the so-called four horsemen of atheism continues to gain in popularity.  Why?  Apparently, unbelief is in.  Unbelief is hip.  But the question that is burning a hole in the table for Christians is this: How shall we respond to unbelief?  How shall we who have a heart for lost people answer when they malign the Christian faith and mock the very foundations of historic Christianity?
The apostle Peter instructs believers to respond rightly: “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV).  In other words, we must develop the mindset of an apologist (ἀπολογία).  John Frame’s definition of apologetics of helpful: Apologetics is “the discipline that teaches Christians how to give a reason for their hope … it is the application of Scripture to unbelief.”  Cornelius Van Til writes, “Apologetics is the vindication of the Christian philosophy of life against the various forms of the non-Christian philosophy of life.”  Tragically, the mandate to engage in apologetics often turns ugly.  Well-meaning Christians have turned apologetics into a nasty slug fest.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Notice six crucial principles of biblical apologetics.
Apologetics Involves Verbal Proclamation
Christians are commanded to proclaim the good news.  The Greek word, “proclaim”  (κηρύσσω) means to announce or proclaim; to preach or publish.”  St. Francis of Assisi was on to something when he quipped, “Preach the gospel and if necessary, use words.”  The point: Make sure your life matches the gospel.  However, actions alone cannot convert.  Actions must be backed up with verbal proclamation.  “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17, ESV).  Simply put, the gospel is meant to be published.  The gospel must be proclaimed.  Postmodern gurus and emergent sympathizers may be quick to downplay preaching and promote a “deeds not creeds” mentality.  Jesus disagrees: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14, ESV).  The first principle of apologetics involves verbal proclamation.

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