In Romans 1:17, the Christian is encouraged to know that in the gospel “is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” Matthew Henry calls the ensuing result an “increasing, continuing, persevering faith.” The Lord has been doing such a work in my life in many ways, but most palpably in His bringing me into the RPCNA.

A Thoroughly Protestant Foundation

I was raised in a thoroughly Protestant home. Like most kids growing up in the South (Hampton, Va.), my parents were Southern Baptists; so I was a Southern Baptist. But as I grew up, I came to learn that more central to their identity was the flagship of Protestantism, Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone). From birth, I learned the law and the gospel, I learned how to read using the Bible, I was expected to listen attentively to sermons, and I observed theology as a regular part of family conversations.

The Lord, in His sovereign grace and through the faithful witness of my parents, called me to faith and repentance at a young age; so I can truly say that I do not remember a day apart from hearty trust in the Lord Christ Jesus. The Lord was building a foundation of faith through home, church, and the Christian school I attended—a foundation rooted in the authority of Scripture. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:20). It was this foundation that eventually led me to the RPCNA.

Call to Ministry

From childhood, the Lord filled my heart with two particular loves—a love for His Word and a love for His Church. During my high school years, my love for Scripture developed into a particular love for doctrinal and experiential preaching. It was in those years that my mentor introduced me to the era of Christian men that continues to be the primary vein of my reading—the Puritans. It was also through my mentor’s influence, along with the influence of godly friends, that I was introduced to Reformed theology. All the while, my love for the Church was fostered by my parents, particularly in going on diaconal visits with my father. By the end of high school, I left for undergraduate work knowing that my desire was to be a pastor.

College and Seminary Years

From 2013 to 2016, I completed my bachelor of music degree in classical guitar performance from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. While in college, I served as a youth pastor, where I taught all ages. Through my time as a youth pastor, the Lord continued to teach me about Reformed faith and my calling to ministry.

The Lord also blessed me tremendously in another way during college. In 2015, I was introduced to Anna through the church secretary, and two years later we were married. As Richard Baxter wrote, “It is a mercy to have so near a friend to be a helper to your soul” (The Godly Home).

After graduating from university, I packed my bags and moved to North Carolina where I started the master of divinity program at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. That same week, I began to serve at a Reformed Baptist church about an hour south of the seminary in a small town called Angier. A year and a half later the senior pastor left. I was installed as the minister of that congregation and served there until Anna and I became members of First RPC of Durham, N.C., in March 2021. I completed my M.Div. that May.

Falling Dominos

This past year, as I have gotten to know a variety of elders and members of the RPCNA, a common question arises: How did I come to Reformed Presbyterian convictions? As with any part of sanctification, it was progressive—the Lord bringing Anna and me “from faith to faith.” There were errant doctrines that successively toppled like the falling of dominoes. While there were many that the Lord had to prune me of, I will mention the two most prominent.

One domino that had to fall (and the most obvious to any outsider looking in on the RPCNA) was my practice of worship song. As with any confessional, reformed Baptist, I would have said I held to the regulative principle, but I did not apply it consistently. In the fall of 2013, my friend who was attending Geneva College purchased for me a copy of The Book of Psalms for Worship. Over the next several years, I began to sing the Psalms regularly, and it was through the experience of regularly singing the Psalms—along with the ministry of good books—that the Lord showed me the unbiblical and sinful error of using human-composed songs and instruments in worship and the blessed sufficiency of His Psalms for singing His praise.

The last domino to fall was the most difficult—the doctrine of baptism. I had been wrestling with the issue for a couple of years, continuing to seek counsel and prayer. In the summer of 2019, as I was in the study preparing to preach the second of two sermons on Psalm 78:5a (“For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel”), the Lord used His Word to convict me of my unnecessarily delaying and contemning His sacrament. After informing my elders in the Reformed Baptist church of this matter, they resolved that I was to stay and continue to minister for the time being; but that solution would not be possible for long, as, four months later, Anna and I learned that we would be having our first child!

Coming into the RPCNA

Obedience is more than acquiescence. It is one thing to complacently assent to truth, but conviction is not truly demonstrated until it is tested. “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (Jas. 2:17). The time had come to repent of my errant theology at great cost to myself and my family, and, in March 2020, I resigned from my position as the pastor of that congregation.

I had known about the RPCNA for nearly 10 years; I had read the history of the Covenanters for encouragement in ministry; my family and congregation had been using The Book of Psalms for Worship for some time; and I knew I was in agreement with the doctrine and practice of the church.

In January 2020, I sent an email to Pastor Kent Butterfield, the minister at First RPC of Durham. (We had never met, but I had been recommending people to go to that congregation throughout seminary because of my love for the RPCNA and appreciation of his sermons.) He called me the same day, and we began to talk about my family’s circumstances, life, ministry, theology, and the RPCNA.

A few weeks later, Pastor Shawn Anderson, the minister at Sycamore (Kokomo, Ind.) RPC and one of our provisional elders at the time, came to visit the congregation in Durham. They were kind enough to invite me out for breakfast. It had snowed that early March evening before we met, and I was thankful for the beautiful drive from the snowy countryside to the booming metropolis, by comparison, that is Durham. We talked for some time, when, toward the end, I asked my two brothers at the table what they thought I should do. I thank the Lord for their response, as they called me to walk in faith and obedience to the Lord. Accordingly, Anna and I were brought into membership at First RPC of Durham at the end of that month, and two weeks later we moved to Durham so we could serve as more faithful and hospitable members.

Here to Stay

The Lord was very gracious to provide my family and me with opportunities to serve soon after we came to First RPC, including an extended internship at the church beginning that July. We rejoiced when in August 2020 our daughter, Sarah Virginia Poplin, was born and baptized.

In January, our congregation elected Eric Hallfors and me to serve as ruling elders. Three months later, our session’s application to the Home Mission Board for the Resident-In-Training program was approved, and we have begun an evangelistic Bible study in southern Wake County outside of Raleigh. In June 2021, the Great Lakes-Gulf Presbytery received my credentials and welcomed me as a minister of the gospel.

I am thankful for the Lord’s ongoing, effectual work of sanctification, revealing His righteousness from faith to faith, and I am thankful to have a denominational and congregational home where I know that my family will, by God’s grace, continue to be fed on green pastures and led by still waters. We are thankful the Lord has brought us to the RPCNA and are certainly here to stay.