Back in November 1997 I was privileged to attend and speak at a conference entitled ‘Ex Catholics for Christ’ – that conference was held in Grace Community Church in Los Angeles. The organisers very kindly asked me to give the opening talk on the subject of ‘Can we tolerate the error?’ and you can view that talk on this link –
The pastor of Grace Community Church is John MacArthur and he has just this month celebrated 50 years as pastor of that church – the folks at that church have been truly and richly blessed by having such a man as their pastor for such a length of time. John MacArthur himself contributed two talks to that conference in 1997 on the subjects of ‘Is faith plus works another gospel?’ and ‘Contending for the faith’. Those two talks can be viewed on these links –
Moving on then to March 1999 I was once again back in America for the second ‘Ex Catholics for Christ’ conference that was hosted by Countryside Bible Church in Southlake, Texas. I contributed to a number of the sessions but also whilst there I recorded an interview dealing with a number of matters in relation to Roman Catholicism. Larry Wessels of ‘Christian Answers’ subsequently posted that interview to his ministry YouTube site and it can be viewed on the following link –
My good friends Rob Zins and Mike Gendron (both former Roman Catholics) were both in attendance at those conferences and both at some stage(s) over the history of ‘Take Heed’ have been my guest here in Northern Ireland and have stayed in our home. Another friend (and former Roman Catholic) Tim Kauffman, during a brief visit to Northern Ireland also spoke at a meeting organised under the umbrella of ‘Take Heed’ and likewise stayed in our home. Tim was very much involved in the publication of books by Rob Zins and has also himself authored a numbered of helpful books dealing with aspects of Roman Catholicism. On the ‘Take Heed’ YouTube site there are contributions by all of these friends as you can see by going to the following link and scrolling through –
https://www.youtube.com/user/TakeHeedMinistries/videos
Some months ago, both Rob Zins and Mike Gendron were exercised to seek to organise a conference under the title of, ‘Former Catholics For Christ’, and they very kindly asked if I would be willing to be a speaker at it. Although I myself am not a ‘former Roman Catholic’, because of the involvement over the years of ‘Take Heed’ in ‘matters Roman Catholic’ (such as organising public debates involving Evangelicals and Roman Catholic priests) they felt it would be appropriate for me to once more participate in such a conference. To complete the line-up of speakers they agreed to invite Tim Kauffman and he readily accepted.
When searching for a host-church I happened to mention Southern View Chapel in Springfield, Illinois. The pastor there is another good friend, Gary Gilley, and he and his church were quick to agree to host the event. Gary likewise in times past was a guest of ‘Take Heed’ when he spoke publicly for me on the subject of ‘The Emerging Church’. If you’re not familiar with that you can view Gary’s talk on these links –
The arrangements for the conference have now been finalised and full details can be accessed on the web site of Southern View Chapel by going to this link –
https://www.svchapel.org/former-catholics-for-christ-conference/
On this link you will see details of the church location, options for accommodation in the area, if needed, and a facility to register – there is no cost to register but it will be helpful to the organisers in assessing catering needs. As well as speaker-details, you can see (via the ‘MORE INFO’ button) the conference schedule and topics to be covered.
As you will see, the closing session (8) will be on Sunday morning, 19th May when Mike Gendron will speak on ‘Evangelising Roman Catholics’. Later that day I shall have the privilege of preaching at the 5.30 pm evening service in Southern View Chapel. During my time in Illinois I shall also be privileged to speak as follows –
Wednesday 15th May: 7.00 pm: Elk Grove Calvary Chapel (near Chicago).
Church web site – https://www.ccelkgrove.org/
I’m looking forward very much to renewing fellowship with Pastor Phil Ballmeier and his wife Cyndi, having spoken in their church back in October 2007 during a previous trip to Illinois that I mentioned in my ministry newsletter on this link
https://www.takeheed.info/news-from-the-front-december-2007/
(Scroll quite far down to Ministry trips to USA [past and planned])
Wednesday 22nd May: 7.00 pm: Living Hope Bible Church: Roselle IL
Church web site – http://livinghopechurch.net/
I’m looking forward to meeting up for the first time with Pastor Matt Black
as he and his church, like myself, are fellow members of FIRE.
Just in closing, a promotional video for the conference has been put together by Larry Wessels of ‘Christian Answers’, who I mentioned earlier, and it can be seen on –
If anyone reading this article is able to make the conference known to others, that would be greatly appreciated, as will also be your prayers for the event.
Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries – 19th February 2019