Reformed Presbyterian Church

Our pastor and elders are available to assist in times of personal trouble or other events. Contacts:

James Spurgeon, pastor, 703-680-6774 (home), 571-288-5073 (cell), pastor@rpchurch.org. Manassas office hours 9–1 Wednesdays and Fridays. Use the cell number when he is in Manassas.

Rick Hepburn, 703-409-8344, rdhepburn1@prodigy.net

Pastor search process has begun. John Stallings has agreed to lead the effort, beginning with looking for leads among reformed seminaries and within the presbytery. Please pray that God will provide the right man of His own calling, and that John and the other members of the Session will be able to follow His leading easily. The process is expected to take a minimum of six months, and could be much longer.

Church office work is inching ahead. Capt. Rick Hepburn reported Friday night that the door and the window were in, and we may be nearing the point where volunteers will be needed for painting, carpeting and finishing. However, Pastor James Spurgeon’s office times are disrupted. Please call ahead if you wish to see him so that he can coordinate with you — 571-288-5073.

About scheduling events in the church building. Any use of church resources should be cleared with the Session first. When approved, an event should be written on the calendar on the bulletin board in the hallway, to avoid conflicts, and as an additional way of getting the word out. Please post the time, the event, and the primary contact person. (If appropriate to inform the congregation, also let the bulletin editor know – Pete Kelly, info@rpchurch.org.)

Noah’s Ark — found again? The claim last week came from a team of evangelical explorers from Noah’s Ark Ministries International, part of Hong Kong-based The Media Evangelism, relying in part on Kurdish guides, but it isn’t the first time such claim have been made.

The group reported a structure with seven wooden compartments buried on Mount Ararat at an undisclosed location. Radiocarbon dating dated pieces of the wood at about 4,800 years old, similar to the Bible’s Flood date (about 2,350 BC). The following is abridged from a response by Ken Ham, head of Answers in Genesis, posted on the AIG website.

“We are aware that many in the group espouse a Biblical creation and a global Flood, and they see the connection between the reality of Genesis and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“What makes us wary is that this isn’t the first time Noah’s Ark has been ‘found.’ It’s not merely that other claims have fallen flat, however; we also have little hope that the Ark still exists or is in a position to be discovered.

“Genesis 6:14 indicates the wood of the Ark was coated with pitch, but there appears to be no such discoloration in photographs of the find. Further, tMount Ararat, at its high levels, has glacial ice which has been shifting over the years, and it would have destroyed anything in its path.

“Furthermore, much of the wood would have most likely been scavenged right after the Flood for shelter and fuel.

“Creationists at AIG and presumably anywhere would be happy to find the Ark. But clearly God could reveal the Ark if He wanted to. This is not to say Ark-searching expeditions are anti-biblical, but rather that we do not need to find the Ark to give Christians more confidence in the Bible. It is the Word of God, and so we do not doubt that there was a huge Ark that survived the global catastrophe of Noah’s Flood and which landed on the mountains of Ararat.

“There is also powerful geological (deep sedimentary layers) and paleontological evidence (the fossil record) around the world that is consistent with the event of the Genesis Flood and confirms that it was a worldwide catastrophic event.