The

MESSENGER
P u b l i s h e d b y We s t m i n s t e r P re s b y t e r i a n C h u rc h
Vo l u m e 1 6 2 Wi n t e r E d i t i o n 2 0 1 4

The Messenger W i nt er 2014

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To uphold the teachings of Scripture as summed up in

All materials for the editor, such as contributions,

the Westminster Confession of Faith.

letters and comments about The Messenger should be

directed to:

To assist the WPC churches in their congre- gational

Revd Clem White,

life and witness.

10 Melaleuca Terrace,
HALLS HEAD, W.A. 6210

To foster a spirit of unity amongst WPC churches.

Phone: (08) 9535 3301

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Email: candpwhite@bigpond.com.au

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The Messenger W i nt er 2014

The Dark Side

During the trial of Rolf Harris the judge referred
to the dark side of Harriss nature. They also
observed that he seemed to have a Jekyll and
Hyde personality.

After God created Adam and Eve we know

from the account in Genesis 3 that they rebelled
against God by eating the forbidden fruit. As a
consequence of this action sin entered the hearts
of Adam and Eve. This sin has been passed down
through the generations. Romans 3:23 tells us
that, all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God.

However, Rolf Harris is not unique in having a

dark side.
Adrian Ernest Bayley was found guilty of the
rape and murder of Jill Meagher, in Brunswick,
Melbourne, in the early hours of September 22,
2012. He was sentenced to life imprisonment
with a 35 year non-parole period. During his trial
it emerged that he had a history of sexual crime.

Every person is born a sinner and is capable of

committing the worst crimes imaginable. This
not only applies to unbelievers but sadly, also
to believers.
James 4:1-2a, warns us about
this problem of sin remaining in the lives of
Christians. What causes fights and quarrels
among you? Dont they come from your desires
that battle within you? You want something but
dont get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot
have what you want. You quarrel and fight

The general public was so outraged by this

vicious crime that on September 30, a public
march was organised. A crowd of 30,000 walked
down Sydney Road in memory of Meagher. The
march also symbolised broader concerns about
violence against women.

So it seems that not only people like Rolf Harris

and Adrian Ernest Bayley have a dark side to
their lives, so does everyone. But the good
news is that believers have the Holy Spirit living
within them to give them power to overcome
sin. We are also told in 1 Corinthians 10:13,
No temptation has seized you except what is
common to man. And God is faithful; he will not
let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
But when you are tempted, he will also provide a
way out so that you can stand under it.

Whenever a person is found to have committed

heinous crimes there is an understandable
reaction from the community.
However, we all have a dark side to our natures
to some degree or another. We are all capable of
committing rape, murder, embezzlement, or any
other moral deviation possible to the human race.
Why is this the case? Why has the human race
been fighting one another since Cain murdered
Abel? Why are we unable to live in peace with
one another for any length of time? Why is it that
right now, there are nations fighting each other in
the Middle East?

May we pray for all those who are beaten by the

dark side of their natures that they will come to
the light. Jesus tells us in John 8:12, I am
the light of the world. Whoever follows me will
never walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life.

Well, we know that the answer to these questions

is found in the Bible. But that seems very old
fashioned to most people and they look for other
reasons for answers to our problem. They may
blame a troubled childhood; repression of sexual
drives; overbearing parents; peer pressure as
contributing factors to these puzzling questions.
But these are not the basic cause of crime
according to the Bible.

Clem White

THE MESSENGER ON
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C lem W hite

The Messenger W i nt er 2014

ANZAC DAY, 2014

TALK AT BROOKTON

This talk was given by Pastor Clem White at the

Brookton RSL Anzac Day Dawn Service, 2014.
Our elder Arthur Slater prayed two prayers at the
service. One of our members, Mrs Sue Bennell,
laid a wreath on behalf of our church. We were
all very pleased and honoured to be invited
to take part in this service of remembrance.

at our weekly concert?

It is not a
brainstorming affair but the dinkum thing.
My uncle Ray was in the medical
corps but he also played the cornet so
he was recruited into the army band.
In 1915 the famous poet Rudyard Kipling said in
one of his speeches, The soul of the battalion is
most often found in the band This sentiment was
echoed in the diary of the AIF bandsman, Sydney
Young: The band is the soul of the battalion.

C.J. Dennis, Australias favourite wartime poet,

epitomised Australias soldiers in his poem The
singing Soldiers.
They wus singin on the troopship, they wus
singin in the train;

Kiplings argument was powerful in his speech

that was widely reported in the Australian press:

When they left their land beind em they wus

shoutin a refrain,

A few drums and fifes in a battalion means at least

five extra miles in a route march, quite apart from
the fact that they can swing a battalion back happy
and composed in its mind, no matter how wet and
tired its body may be ...the roll and flourish of the
drums and fifes around the barracks is as warming
and cheering as as the sight of a fire in a room.

An Ill bet theyll have a chorus, gay an glad in

greetin for us,
When their bit uv scrapins over, an they lob back
ome again..

Then on a recruiting drive it was common for the

town band to march through country towns calling
for volunteers to join the march. I wonder if they
ever did this in Brookton?

An the blockes that aint returnin blokes that

paid the biggest price,
They go singin. Singin, singin to the gates uv
Paradise.

The soul of

In those days there were no TVs, a few movie

theatres, no facebook, no mobiles but there was a
lot of home style entertainment. It was common
at family get-togethers for someone to recite
a poem, tell a joke or get up and sing a song.

the battalion is...

most often found in
the band

Then everyone would gather around the

piano and have a good old sing-along.

~ Rudyard Kipling ~

So when they were recruiting men for the army it

was not uncommon to ask questions like; Are you a
singing man? Can you elecute? Can you spin a funny
yarn? Can you play the mouth organ, concertina,
Jews harp, cornet or any other instrument?
Can you help to entertain in ANY way?
If so, why not give a helping hand

So today in this great tradition of music we

join together in singing some of the grand old
songs of Christian worship that inspired our
fore parents, uncles and aunts, brothers and
sisters and children in times of conflict and war.
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Clem white addresses the Anzac Day Dawn

Service in Brookton
However, I sometimes wonder if todays society
is losing that ability to sing a song or whistle a
tune as we go about our work or relax at home.
Are we too taken up with being entertained than
in creating our own enjoyment through songs and
playing musical instruments? Are we enmeshed
in our mobiles, facebook, ipads, TVs, and
whatever is the latest electronic gimmick? Is this
the lifestyle our grandfathers and grandmothers,
uncles and aunts fought for? I dont think so.

Mrs Sue Bennell, Pastor Clem white, Mrs Pam

White and Elder Arthur Slater.
We read in chapter 14 of the apostle Johns
vision, then I looked, and there before me
was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion.And
I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of
rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder.
The sound I heard was like that of harpists
playing their harps. And they sang a new song
before the throne and before the elders. The only
ones who could sing that new song were those
who were redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ
from the earth.

We as grandparents and parents need to

teach our young people to sing and play
music. We need to hear them singing happily
in our school and at home and church.
What I really enjoy at our Calvary Presbyterian
church worship services is their singing and
music. You can throw just about any song at
them and they will sing it with joy and gusto.

Clem White

Let everything that has breath

It seems to me that God has created us to be a

singing people. God is a singing God. The book
of Psalms is full of songs. God encouraged his
people of old to make music in their worship of
Him.

Praise the Lord!

The Psalmist says in Psalm 150, Praise Him

with the sound of the trumpet, praise him
with the harp and the lyre, praise him with
tambourine and dancing, praise him with the
strings and flute, praise him with the clash of
symbols, praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Psalm 150 : 6

C J Dennis alluded to the soldiers singin their

way to the gates of Paradise. The last book in
the bible, Revelation, also alludes to singing in
heaven.
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church - news
The addition of GPCM strengthens WPC Qld
The Plight of Country Churches
to four churches and adds a further seven elders
in Australia.
(one teaching elder,
Al Baigrie) to the Presbytery.

Welcome Grace Presbyterian

Church, Morayfield,
Queensland, into WPC

By Bob Burnett

By Bob Burnett

Bob is the pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church,

Morayfield, Queensland

On Sunday, March 23, at a service of celebration,

Grace Presbyterian Church Morayfield (GPCM)
was welcomed into WPCs Queensland Presbytery.

While sound biblical and evangelical churches

can be found today in most of Australias major
cities, the spiritual plight of country centres continues to be a concern.

At the service, held in GPCMs regular meeting

place (Morayfield Community Centre), speeches
of welcome were given by presbytery moderator Pastor Dan Bosshard and presbytery clerk
Pastor Dave Smith. (Part of the membership of
GPCM were former members of WPC Burpengary, which was amalgamated into GPCM when
Dave Smith was called to pastor WPC Redbank
Plains.)

In Queensland, and I expect a similar situation

exists elsewhere in Australia, Christian ministry
to country centres is contracting at an alarming
rate, leaving large areas of Australia without an
effective Christian witness. Churches are closing, church properties sold and clergy moved to
larger centres.

Pastor Clint Lombard of Grace Christian Church

(WPC) Buderim, brought the Bible exposition of
encouragement.
GPCM was established by the late Pastor Bill
Ham and Pastor Al Baigrie, and has long had a
close association with WPC through pulpit exchanges and through Bills many years as a member of WPC Qld Presbytery.

When Im free from my regular Sunday ministry commitments, I preach at Kilkivan Union
Church, a non-denominational Protestant church
in Queenslands South Burnett, 90 minutes drive
from the Sunshine Coast.
The church survives only through the perseverance of a couple of local women and a roster of
visiting preachers from nearby centres. Recently, the only other Protestant church in the town
closed its doors and the building is scheduled for
sale.
We read how, from the Lecture Hall of Tyrannus in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul spread the good
news of Jesus to all the Jews and Greeks who
lived in the province of Asia. We dont know
exactly how the gospel spread happened, but
it did happen, resulting in the establishment of
an archipelago of new churches (cf the Seven
Churches of The Revelation).
We need to do some creative thinking about
how we can reach all the un-gospelled people of
Queensland, Western Australia

From left: Pastors Dan Bosshard, Bob Burnett, Al

Baigrie, Dave Smith and Clint Lombard.
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I have a friend who, having studied theology

post-retirement, in semi-retirement is pastoring four different pastor-less churches, flying or
driving to one church each Sunday. Could this be
the new paradigm for country ministry FIFO
preachers?

Beatitudes for Married Couples

Written by (From WPCBC News Notes)
Monday, 19 May 2008 00:25
Are you married? Are you going to get
married? Then these beatitudes will be a
blessing to you
Blessed are the husband and wife who
continue to be affectionate, considerate
and loving through all the days of their
life together
Blessed are the husband and wife who
are as polite and courteous to one an
other as they are to their friends.
Blessed are the husband and wife who
have a sense of humour for this will be
a handy shock absorber
Blessed are they who love each
other more than any other person in
the world, and who joyfully fulfil their
marriage vow of a lifetime of fidelity as
husband and wife.
Blessed are they who thank God for
their blessings, and who set aside some
time each day for the reading of the
Bible and prayer.
Blessed are they who never speak
harshly to each other and who make
their home a place of mutual encourage
ment and love.
Blessed are the husband and wife who
can work out their problems without
interference from relatives.
Blessed are the husband and wife who
dedicate their lives and their home to
the advancement of CHRIST and HIS
KINGDOM.

While its great to be part of a large metropolitan

or regional church, we must innovate so that the
centre of Australia is not left languishing in the
current renaissance of good preaching and pastoring.

PERTH GOSPEL
PA R T N E R S H I P

Annual Conference 2014

Christ-centred Preaching

Mon 11th 11.00am 5.30pm

Tues 12th 10.00am 4.30pm
Subiaco Church of Christ
260 Bagot Road, Subiaco
Keynote Speaker: Dr Bryan Chapell
Bryan is world renowned for his robust and
practical championing of Christ-Centred
Preaching. He is Senior Pastor of Grace
Presbyterian (Peoria, USA) and formerly
Chancellor of Covenant Seminary.
Costs: $120 (includes lunches, snacks)
$20 discount for PGP Partners, Ministry
Apprentices, full-time students, and those
travelling from regional WA.
Bryan Chapell will be giving a public talk
Living by Grace Monday 11 Aug 7.30pm at
Subiaco Church of Christ

Registrations and more information: pgp.org.au

A lady visited a church one Sunday. The sermon seemed to go on

for ever and many in the congregation were obviously struggling to
stay awake. After the service she walked up to a very sleepy looking gentleman, extending her hand in greeting and said Hello. Im
Gladys Dunne. And the gentleman replied, Youre not the only one,
Im glad its done too!
Source Image: http://kamalsmmm.blogspot.com.au/2011_01_01_archive.html

The Messenger W i nt er 2014

A Greater Goal
at the 2014 World Cup
Used by permission of the Bible Society Australia.

why were supporting the outreach in Brazil.

On 12 June in Brazil, one kick of a ball will tip a

global audience into 32 days of soccer mania. But
another passionate movement on the ground will
point soccer fans towards a more eternal goal.

Pastor Arnaldo Sena is one of those helping to

coordinate the large volunteer groups in Brazil.
At least 500 people in each of the twelve host
cities will welcome tourists at airports, bus stations and hotels, he explains. The visitors
will be offered a Gospel of John in one of nine
languages: French, German, Arabic, Chinese,
Japanese, English, Spanish or Russian.
Our
English, French and Spanish-speaking volunteers will also serve as language facilitators, a
great help for those making their way around
our Portuguese-speaking nation. A Gospel of
John in Portuguese will serve local soccer fans.

The first of an estimated 600,000 foreign visitors are making their way to Brazil as it hosts
the 2014 World Cup. Theyll join 3.1 million locals watching the matches in person, or serving
as volunteers. Thats a great number of people,
and a great opportunity to share the gospel. In
the midst of World Cup fever, there are moments for us to use and reach people for God.
Joga Limpo Brasil or Fair Play Brazil is
a movement coordinated by Bible Society Brazil, working with 1,600 churches and
Christian organisations. Together theyll
send out an army of volunteers with 20,000
Gospels of John and four million tracts.

Bible Society Australia is working with Bible

Society Brazil to make sure that Gods word
is heard amidst the noise and excitement of
the 2014 World Cup. The tournament is on till
13 July, so please do pray for opportunities for
conversation as each tract is handed out, and
that God will guide volunteers as they speak.

Bible Society Australia has helped subsidise the

printing of these materials which have sportsthemed introductions. They draw parallels between sports and the things of lifefair and foul
play, victory and loss. Theyre great conversation-starters, and pave the way for finding out
more about someones needs, or where theyre
at.

We need your help as we assist Bible Society

Brazil with printing and distribution costs for the
World Cup Scriptures. Thank you for your loving concern that others share the same victory
and destiny you havea life hid with Christ in
God. (Col 3:3, KJV)

Handing out Scripture tracts is also a great way to

reach visitors from nations closed to the Bible. For
those whove never heard about Jesus, it could be
the start of a discovery with life-changing impact.
We can never predict what God will do with the
materials handed out. We do know however that
sharing the gospel in this manner does work. At
the World Student Games in Sheffield in 1991,
recalls Rev Andrew Wingfield Digby on the Anglican Mainstream website, an American swimmer took a Bible, and never read it till several
years later when life was in a muddle. God spoke
to her, she became a Christian, re-entered competitive sport and... shone as a light for Jesus.
When Australia hosted the 2000 Olympics, Bible
Society produced one million Scripture portions for distribution, working with churches
on a huge outreach at the Games in Sydney.
That experience showed us that personal evangelism at major sports events has amazing potential for reaching the unchurched, and its

Edit pix caption: 20,000 copies of Johns gospel, in 9

world languages, will be given away at the World Cup.
is accompanied by a special supplement to guide readers on how to get the victory with the help of Gods word.

The Messenger W i nt er 2014

Glimpse of a Greater Plan

Many Japanese Christians are isolated from other
Christians, even those who live in urban areas.
Very often they are the only Christians in their
school or workplace or neighbourhood. But last
year we encountered some believers in a rural
environment who were even more distant from
fellowship. What we didnt expect was that wed
be able to help them.

the school, and one other lady whod never attended church before. Our boys sat with their
friends in an adjacent tiny room and wondered
what kind of church this was. It looked like we
were watching a Youtube video.
When the pipe organ resounded, we sang. When
the preacher preached, we listened. Just the same
as in church, but the setting was unusual. We felt
remote. We felt like eavesdroppers.

Last July during our summer holidays we camped

around the north and eastern sides of Hokkaido,
the large northern island in Japan. One weekend
we camped in a small town, Nishi Okoppe (1,190
people). We knew one family in the town. Their
children had been at CAJ with ours in Tokyo, before they moved up to Nishi Okoppe in March
last year.
The mum enthusiastically promoted the town
and found many things for us to do in that small
place. But the most profound experience was
Sunday morning when we joined them for worship.

When the service ended, the people welcomed

with almost overwhelming warmth. Our hosts
took us to a local hotel for lunch. The husband, a
large-animal vet whos also a certified Japanese
Tea Ceremony celebrant, showed us an authentic
tea house in a local park. He also instructed us on
the basics of the tea ceremony. The wife, an enthusiastic local volunteer, showed us the library
and other local sights.

Their church met in a local couples house, a tiny

single-storey house crowded with furniture and
carpets. Our family practically doubled the numbers at worship that morning. We arrived a little
late, and worship had already begun. Though they
knew we were coming, they had no choice about
waiting for us. Church centred on a computer, a
live broadcast from a large church in Sapporo.

We learned they had been praying for several

years for a local evangelical church to be established. They had been a part of another church
in a nearby town. But a new pastor had come
and told them they couldnt evangelise, so they
reluctantly left the church and began to worship
at home. Praise God they arent secret believers
who just keep their faith to themselves. They are
enthusiastic members of their local community
hoping to win others for Christ where God has
planted them.

We squeezed around the dining room tablewe,

our hosts, our friends, an English teacher from

During the night, as we settled under our canvas

roof, we finally connected some geographical dots.
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We realised that OMF planned to start a church

plant in another town about an hours drive away,
Nayoro (30,000 people) in April of this year.

Its exciting to know that the Lord is

weaving all these meetings together for the
extension of his Kingdom here in Japan!

The next morning, as we began to pack up

our camp, the wife came to visit us. She
thanked us again for coming and encouraging them. We shared the news of the new
evangelical church plant with her. She could
scarcely believe that it might be true. We left
her and her husband with hope in their hearts.
In April this year we were thrilled to hear
that at the second worship service of that
new church-plant in Nayoro, this Japanese
couple joined our missionary colleagues.
We were delighted to catch glimpses of Gods
bigger picture. Who else could have worked this
out? An Australian missionary family that happened to be on holidays was introduced to a local, isolated Christian couple. This missionary
family knew one piece of information that would
make a huge difference for that couple: a church
would be starting in their area.

Were coming back to Australia for a year from

July. Well also visit churches and supporters
while were home. Our base will be Brisbane, but
plan to visit Western Australia and Canberra. We
hope that we can see you and share stories like the
one above. They will give you a glimpse of how
Gods been working in Japan.

The missionaries who are starting this church in

Nayoro probably needed this encouragement too!
This is what they wrote to us:

Wendy Marshall

Wendy Marshall, with her husband

David, has lived and ministered in
Japan with OMF International since
2000. David and Wendy are members
of Grace Christian Church, Redbank
WPC. Their three children are Callum
(15), Douglas (11), and Jamie (9). The
Marshalls will be returning to Australia
for 12 months from July this year and
are hoping to visit most of the WPC
churches during that time.

David and Wendy Marshall

from early July:
39 Katandra Crescent
Bellbird Park, Queensland, 4300.
Skype: marshall7173
Email: themarshalls@omfmail.com
Blog: www.mmuser.blogspot.com
OMF Australia website:
www.omf.org/australia

The committee would love to receive feedback

from subscribers and readers.
We welcome your input to the Spring issue of
The Westminster Messenger.
Please send contributions to Clem by August 15th.

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serving with omf in japan

SPOTLIGHT ON CAJ

PRAYER POINTS

Teaching is a job that is never really finished. A lesson might finish, but there are
goals we have for our students that contiue
over many weeks. Sometimes our goals for
our students extend over a number of years.

For the provision of a suitable van for our

home assignment time. Some furniture is still
needed.
For home assignment planning.
We have to continue to prepare materials in the
next couple of months.
For opportunities to speak to groups while in
Australia.
For good friends for the boys at their new
school.
For strength & health to make it through these
months of leaving and resettling.
That the Japan Harvest magazine could get
back on schedule again and that the handover
to other editors will go well.
Davids handover to other teachers.
A new headmaster for CAJ from August 2015.
For the CAJ Seniors, that they will all choose
Christ as their Lord as they move on to new
things in their lives.

So when it comes to handling over a job for the

coming year, I realise that I am not just giving
someone else a pile of books and some notes
about what to do. I have to make sure that they
can find everything. I have to make sure that any
longer-term projects I am working on are in a
state that someone else can pick them up and run
with them, or can be left idle for a year. I have
to make sure that any parts of the program that I
organise are sustainable, that is, they are not so
unique to me that they cannot be continued by
another person.
So as I finish each of my regular end-of-year activities I am pondering what I have to do to leave
it in an orderly state. Please pray I dont overlook
anything important!!

ON THE HOME FRONT

Were into the last weeks of our third term. The
time has flown. In May weve had our heads
down, trying to stay focused on finishing our
jobs here well, as well as making many decisions about our relocation to Australia.

On another finishing note, our seniors are leaving on June 6, walking out into the world. We
had goals for them to become servants of God,
willing to live out their faith wherever they go.
After that day, they will no longer be in our care,
but we pray our influence will remain with them
for many years to come. Join with us in praying
for them to remain faithful to him in all circumstances. Yes, some still need to come to faith.
Pray for them, too!

Doug and Wendy went on the 5th Grade overnight camp. It included much tramping up and
down mountainsiders. Wendys knees are still
recovering!
Jamie and Doug had end-of-year musical
performances (see photos on page one) on piano
and percussion respectively.

Please contact us now via email

(themarshalls@omfmail.com) to arrange for us
to visit you.

Wendy has had a couple of meetings with the

lady whos taking on her role over the year
were away. Shes done a lot of email work
related to our relocation. She also completed a
photobook for our deputation time.

We make a living by what we get

but we make a life by
what we give.
W. S. Churchill.

David and Wendy cleaned and did some sorting and packing. We also replaced and fixed
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some household things prior to our house sitters

taking up residence.

Were looking to coming back to Australia. The

boys are looking forward to lots of BBQs and
also to joining the Lang Park Wrestling club.
However, they arent looking forward to wearing a uniform for school.

Davids continued to work on his last Masters

assignment and looks forward to graduating
next month. He also edited a video to go with
our presentations. Hes been busy at school,
taking on a couple of extra classes for a teacher
whos been struggling.

David and Wendy are looking forward to a

change in roles and some wider open spaces.
The house well be giving in is on 1/4 acre with
an established garden.
Were very thankful for Gods provision. Were
still wondering what vehicle well be driving,
but trusting God will provide that also.

Callums been busy with school work, including a large project and presentation on Deforestation. He also enjoyed a sleepover to celebrate
his best friends birthday and is looking forward
to celebrating his own with friends after school
is finished.

Thank you for your prayers over the last four

years. We look forward to seeing many of you
over the next months.

David and the boys have enjoyed several

games nights at Callums history teachers
apartment.

In Christ,
David and Wendy
with Callum, Douglas and Jamie

find out more about the work of OMF

at
omf.org/Australia/
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family pages
Are Christian parents in danger
of raising little materialists?

porting a missionary, or a child in need elsewhere

in the world. Or you could simplify, with all in
the family giving things away to show that you
dont need all you have.

by Simon van Bruchen

www.allnations.org.au/category/blog/.

Make sure you pass on to your kids what you

think you are passing on.

As we continue to work through a sermon series

on money and stewardship at church, I have been
considering where we get our skewed worldview
on money from. Yes, I know there are all kinds of
influences around us making us want more things
due to advertising, and to increase our superannuation, and to upgrade our car.

Using Your Talents for God

From A.C.T.S. an interdenominational
Christian Teaching Service.

Henry Van Dyke wisely said, Use what talents

you possess: the woods would be very silent if no
birds sang there except that sang best.

But it occurred to me that Christian parents often,

unwittingly, help their kids to learn materialistic
ways of seeing the world. We pass on things we
dont realize are unhelpful.

In a primary school on Brisbane there is a motto

written over the door of every classroom. One
of them is the above verse taken from the Bible.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your
might. that is, whatever you do, do it to the
best of your ability and do it with enthusiasm.

On the one hand, we so often give some kind of

reward which is money or possession related; if
you do your chores you will get so much, for example. How do we normally celebrate birthdays?
By giving a lot of presents to children who already have so many toys that they get bored of
or do not play with. Gifts are the way we mark
times of significance in their lives.

Everyone has been given at least one gift or talent most of us several. May we all use them to
the best of our ability to serve God and our felloe
man and thereby help make our homes and our
world better place in which to live.

On the other hand, we can fail to excite them

enough about spiritual matters, sometimes because we are not excited enough about them. If
we choose not to come to church because there
is a birthday party or some other offer, we are
showing them that other things trump being with
Gods people. If they never see us pray personally, or talk excitedly about what we have learnt
from the Bible, they learn quickly that these traditions dont mean all that much in practice to us.
And if they do not matter to us, why should they
matter to them?

God hasnt called most of us to be experts but

He has called all of us to be faithful in putting to
good use the gifts He has given to us. So, Whatever your hand finds to do, do it to the best of
your ability with enthusiasm.
Train up a
child in the way
he should go;
even when he is old
he will not depart
from it.

Jesus calls us to seek his kingdom first, to serve

him and not money. Do our kids draw that conclusion about us?

Proverbs 22:6

I havent included many ways we could encourage them to seek the kingdom first, as it will be
different for every family. Example matters a
great deal. Maybe you could restart family devotions if you have stopped them? Or you could get
your kids involved in some family project sup-

Suggested prayer: Dear God, help me to appreciate the giftds and talents you have given
me and to use them to minister to others and
therein be a part of what you are doing in the
world today. In Jesus Name. Amen
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family pages
WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM
WITH THE SCRIPTURE PROOF

Q. 58. What is required of the

fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requires
us to keep holy to God such set
times as he appointed in his word: in
particular, one whole day in seven.
[a]. Isa 56:6-7

Q. 60. How is the Sabbath or

Lords Day to be kept holy?
A. The Sabbath or Lords Day, which is
given for mans good and as a pointer
to his eternal destiny, is to be kept
holy by resisting all that day from our
work and recreations, and spending
the whole time in public and private
worship, except the time spent in
works of necessity and mercy.
[a]. Mark 2:27
[b]. Heb 4:4-5 & 9-11
[c]. Lev 23:3
[d]. Ps 92:1-2
[e]. Acts 20:7
[f]. Matt 12:11

Q. 59. Which day of seven has God

appointed to be the weekly
Sabbath?
A. From the beginning of the world to the
resurrection of Christ, God appointed
the seventh day of the week to be the
weekly Sabbath; but thereafter he
appointed the first day of the week,
which is the Christian Sabbath or
Lords Day.
[a]. Gen 2:3
[b]. Luke 23:56
[c]. Acts 20:7
[d]. 1 Cor 16:1-2
[e]. John 20:19-26
[f]. Rev 1:10

Ok. Dad !
You get the
toy...

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and

shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and
when you walk by the way, and when you lie down,
and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6:7

The father of five children had won a toy in a

lucky dip. He called his kids together to ask
which one should have the present. Who is the
most obedient? he asked. Who never talks
back to your mother? Who does everything
she says? There was silence as the children
digested this. Then the oldest looked at his
siblings for a second, then said OK Dad,
you get the toy!
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15 Reasons to Take Genesis

As History
Two millennia ago, the Apostle Paul wrote, We
demolish arguments and every pretension that
sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and
we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). In the last 200
years, people have increasingly argued against
the knowledge of God, claiming that nature is
all there is. They claim that natural processes,
alone, can explain the origin and history of everything. This historical naturalism sees no evidence for God.

A proper hermeneutic (interpretative method)

that is consistent with Jesus attitude involves
exegesis, or reading out of Scripture what the
writer was teachingnot eisegesis, or reading
things into Scripture. That is, an honest reading
of Scripture entails finding out what God is saying, not trying to make it say what we find acceptable.
This is not bibliolatry (worshipping a book), a
term of derision applied to those who accept that
Scripture is God-breathed, as it claims. Rather,
it is because Christians submit to the lordship
of Christ that they take their lead from Him. In
many places Jesus said, It is written (in the OT)
to settle an argument and, Have you not read?
which substantiated the authority of Scripture.
Not only was Jesus not jealous of the attention
men paid to the Bible, He censured them for
their ignorance of it (Matt. 22:29; Mark 12:24).
In fact, Jesus affirmed the historical accuracy of
even the scriptural passages that skeptics most
scoff at today. See also Reason 2.

The big bang, uniformitarian geology and biological evolution all assume naturalism. Is it then
a surprise that all three theories allegedly support
naturalism?
All three of these ideas contradict the biblical
big-picture view of history, which is founded on
Genesis 111 (not just Gen. 1). However, there
are good biblical, historical and scientific reasons
to take Genesis 111 as a straightforward history
of the origin of everything. This series of articles
presents 15 biblical and historical reasons to take
Genesis as history. Other sources cover the scientific arguments.

Inerrancy derives logically from Jesus view of

inspiration, for how can God inspire error? And
if Scripture contains error, then whoever decides
which parts are in error actually becomes the authority and so usurps Gods authority. The ultraliberal Jesus Seminar, in which lots are cast to
determine which of the words attributed to Christ
in the Bible were actually spoken by him, is a
logical outcome of such an approach.

1. Jesus understood the Old Testament as

history
Jesus regarded the OT Scriptures as Gods Word;
that is, spoken by God or inspired by the Holy
Spirit, although written by the hands of men
(Matt.19:4, 5; 22:31, 32, 43; Mark 12:26; Luke
20:37) and therefore even the smallest letter or
stroke was inspired and would never pass away
(Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17). Jesus cited nearly every book in the OT as authoritative, thus authenticating the canon as we know it. There is no
room here for regarding any part of Scripture as
deficient in any way due to it supposedly being
the product of the minds of illiterate primitives
(campfire stories of Semitic nomads, primitive
goat-herders, etc.).

Scripture is not authoritative if it is not inerrant:

for example, is love your enemies an error, or
you shall not steal, or If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins?
Some say, The Bible is authoritative in matters
of faith and practice. This is dangerously deficient: if we cannot trust the Bible in matters of
history, for example, how can we trust it in matters of faith and practice (theology)? Luke 16:31
says, If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded, though one rose
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from the dead. And Jesus asked Nicodemus: I

have spoken to you of earthly things and you do
not believe; how then will you believe if I speak
of heavenly things? (John 3:12). So if we cant
trust the Bible about earthly things (such as
the timeframe of creation and order of events),
why should we trust it on heavenly things (e.g.
forgiveness of sin, heaven, and moral laws)?

people were thinking. But he never surrendered

such absolute attributes as His perfect goodness,
truthfulness, mercy, etc.
Therefore, what Jesus did preach, He proclaimed
with absolute authority (Matt. 24:35, 28:18). Indeed, Jesus Himself said, The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John
6:63). He also gave the sober warning:

The Chicago Statement on inerrancy is a standard statement among evangelicals, and concurs
with Christs teachings by affirming that what
Scripture says, God says. May He be glorified.

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the

Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he
comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father
and of the holy angels (Luke 9:26).

Please note that belief in inerrancy does not mean

wooden literalism (a common straw-man argument). We apply the standard, orthodox, grammatical-historical hermeneutic, which recognizes the various forms of writing such as metaphor
and hyperbole. In other words, we take as literal
history those passages which were clearly intended to be taken as such (including Gen. 111).

Furthermore, Jesus spoke with the full authority

of God the Father (John 5:30, 8:28, 12:44-50),
who is always omniscient. So if skeptics want to
maintain their charge that Christ was mistaken
because of His humanity, they must logically
charge God the Father with error as well.
These critics also confuse two concepts:

2. Jesus regarded Adam, Eve and Noah as

historical people

Adaptation to human finitude vs accommodation

to human error: the former does not entail the latter. A mother might tell her four-year-old, You
grew inside my tummythis is simplified rather
than false. Conversely, The stork brought you
is an outright error. Similarly, God, the author
of truth, used some simplified descriptions (e.g.
using the earth as a reference frame, as modern
scientists do today) and anthropomorphisms, but
never error.

Jesus affirmed many people and events of the

past that skeptics deny ever existed or happened:
Adam and Eve (Matt. 19:36; Mark 10:29),
Abel (Luke 11:51), Noah and the Flood (Matt.
24:3739; Luke 17:2627), Abraham (John
8:5658), Sodom and Gomorrah (Matt. 10:15;
11:23, 24), Jonah and the great sea creature
(Matt. 12:3941). Either Jesus was mistaken, in
which case He does not deserve our worship, or
the skeptics and their allies are wrong. Jesus also
placed man at the beginning of creation, not at
the end of billions of years (e.g. Mark 10:6, Luke
11:5051).

Limitation vs misunderstanding: while the Second Person of the Trinity was incarnate in Jesus
of Nazareth, He voluntarily limited His omniscience, i.e. in His humanity, He did not know
all things. But this does not mean that He was
mistaken about anything He said. All human understanding is finite, but this doesnt entail that
every human understanding

Christ was also fully God, and God never makes

mistakes. But some within the church, to justify
dismissing Jesus statements indicating belief
in a young creation, assert that Jesus in His humanity was mistaken. This is called the kenotic
heresy, which abuses Phil. 2:611. The emptying was really an addition of human nature (the
Word became flesh John 1:14), not any subtraction of the divine attributes. In reality, Jesus voluntarily surrendered the exercise of His powers,
e.g. omniscience, independent of the Fathers authority (which is why He didnt know the day or
the hour of His return), although He could immediately switch them on at will, e.g. to know what

3. Genesis was written as history

Hebrew uses special grammatical structures for
historical narrative and Gen. 111 uses those
structures. It is the same form as Gen. 12 ff. and
most of Exodus, Joshua, Judges, etc. It is not poetry or allegory. Genesis is peppered with waw
(vav, )consecutives (andandand), which
characterize historical writing. The Hebrew verb
forms of Gen. 1 have a particular feature that fits
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exactly what the Hebrews used for recording history; a series of past events. That is, only the first
verb is a qatal (perfect), while the verbs that continue the narrative are wayyiqtols (imperfects).
In Gen. 1, the first verb, bara (create), is qatal,
while the subsequent verbs that move the narrative forward are wayyiqtols. Parallelisms, a feature of Hebrew poetry (e.g. many Psalms), are
almost absent in Genesis, except when someone
is quoted.

Hebrew scholars concur that Genesis was written as history. For example, the Oxford Hebrew
scholar James Barr wrote:
probably, so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any worldclass university who does not believe that the
writer(s) of Genesis 111 intended to convey to
their readers the ideas that:
a. creation took place in a series of six days
which were the same as the days of 24 hours we
now experience

The strongest structural parallel of Gen. 1 is

Numbers 7:1084. Both are structured accounts,
both contain the Hebrew word for day ( ym)
with a numericindeed both are numbered sequences of days. In Numbers 7, each of the 12
tribes brought an offering on the different days:

b. the figures contained in the Genesis genealogies provided by simple addition a chronology
from the beginning of the world up to later stages
in the biblical story

The one who brought his offering on the first day

was Nahshon, son of Amminadab of the tribe of
Judah. ...

c. Noahs flood was understood to be world-wide

and extinguish all human and animal life except
for those in the ark.

On the second day, Nethanel, son of Zuar, the

leader of Issachar, brought his offering. ...

Barr, consistent with his neo-orthodox views,

does not believe Genesis, but he understood what
the Hebrew writer clearly taught. Some skeptics
criticize the use of the Barr quote, because he
does not believe in the historicity of Genesis.
That is precisely why we use his statement: he
is a hostile witness. With no need to try to harmonize Genesis with anything, because he does
not see it as carrying any authority, Barr is free
to state the clear intention of the author. This
contrasts with some evangelical theologians
who try to retain some sense of authority without
actually believing it says anything about history.

On the third day, Eliab, son of Helon, the leader

of the people of Zebulun, brought his offering. ...
On the twelfth day, Ahira, son of Enan, the leader
of the people of Naphtali, brought his offering. ...
The parallel is even stronger when we note that
Num. 7 not only has each day ( ym) numbered, but also opens and closes (verses 10 and
84 KJV) with in the day that to refer collectively to all the ordinary days of the sequence.
In spite of the use of in the day that, no-one
doubts that the numbered day sequence in Num.
7 is anything but ordinary-length days, because
these days lack a preposition like in. This refutes the claim by some critics that in the day
that ( beym ) in Gen. 2:4, summarizing
Creation Week, shows that the Gen. 1 days are
not normal-length. This is a Hebrew idiom for
when (see NASB, NIV Gen. 2:4).

Some other Hebrew scholars who support literal

creation days include:
Dr Andrew Steinmann, Associate Professor of
Theology and Hebrew at Concordia University
in Illinois.
Dr Robert McCabe, Professor of Old Testament
at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary in Allen
Park, Michigan.

In this structured narrative (Num. 7) with a sequence of numbered days, no-one claims that it
is merely a poetic framework for teaching something theological and that it is not history. Noone doubts that the days in Num. 7 are ordinary
days, so there simply is no grammatical basis for
denying the same for the Gen. 1 days. That is,
Gen. 1 is straightforward history.

Dr Ting Wang, formerly lecturer in biblical Hebrew at Stanford University.

4. The rest of the Old Testament takes
Genesis as history

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6. Genesis history is consistent with Gods

nature

A major hermeneutical principle is that Scripture

interprets Scripture. We should always consider
how other parts of the Bible understand a text.

Genesis tells us that God spoke things into existence; God speaks and things happen. As it says
in Psalm33:9, He spoke, and it was done; He
commanded, and it stood fast.
We should suppose that God Himself would be
the best One to tell us what He did, and Genesis,
part of Gods Word, tells of a rapid creation. This
is consistent with other Bible passages about
Gods authority being such that He speaks things
into existence, straight away. Think of the Lord
Jesus Christs dialogue with a faithful centurion
in Matt. 8:513 as a comparison:

Exodus 20:11 summarizes the Creation Week. It

eliminates any possibility of an extended timescale by any interpretive scheme (framework hypothesis, day-age idea, gap theories, Gods days,
etc.), since it is given as the basis for our sevenday week with a day of rest (v.10): For in six
days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and
made it holy. Note Ex. 20:1: And God spoke
all these words These are the very words of
God himself, not the ideas of Moses, or some
redactor or even J, E, D or P (long discredited
nonsense taught, sadly, at many evangelical
theological institutions). ,

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. Lord, he said,
my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible
suffering. Jesus said to him, I will go and heal
him. The centurion replied, Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just
say the word, and my servant will be healed. For
I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers
under me. I tell this one, Go, and he goes; and
that one, Come, and he comes. I say to my servant, Do this, and he does it.

First Chronicles 1 summarizes the genealogical

data from Adam onwards in Genesis, and many
other OT passages affirm the events of Genesis
as being historical (real events in time and space)
5. The New Testament takes Genesis 111 as
history

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and

said to those following him, I tell you the truth,
I have not found anyone in Israel with such great
faith. Then Jesus said to the centurion, Go!
It will be done just as you believed it would. And
his servant was healed at that very hour.

How does the NT interpret Genesis? There are

sixty clear quotations from or allusions to Gen.
111 in the NT, none of which hint at Genesis
being anything but history. Jesus genealogy
(Luke 3) goes back to Adam, the son of God,
not the son of an ape! To those who say the early
names are mere metaphors we ask: as we trace
the lineage back, where do the people stop being real and become metaphors? Hebrews 11 lists
heroes of the faith, which start with Abel, Enoch
and Noah, without the tiniest hint that they are
less historical than the others. 2Peter 3 refers to
creation and the Flood. The Greek verb here is
(katakluz), a special word referring
to the global cataclysm of Genesis; not just an
ordinary flood, which is (plmmura),
cf. Luke 6:48.

As the centurion realized, even his own orders

were obeyed immediately and without question.
Therefore, he realized, how much more would
the commands of the Lord of Creation be obeyed.
In Genesis, we likewise have with the days of
creation:
Command: And God said, Let there be
Fulfilment: And it was so.
Assessment: God saw that it was good.
Closure of the day: There was evening, there
was morning, Day X.

The Apostle Paul cites the order of creation of

Adam and Eve as well as the fact that Eve was
deceived while Adam sinned anyway, and uses
this as the basis for teaching on the roles of men
and women in the church (1Tim.2:1314). If the
first people evolved from a population of apes,
then this teaching does not make sense because
man would not have preceded woman.

That is, Gods commands were fulfilled and

even assessed within each 24-hour day. Attempts
to avoid the clear historical timeframe of Genesis destroy the connection between Gods commands and the response of His creation to His
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commands, making Genesis inconsistent with

the rest of Scripture.

. Grigg, R., Did Moses really write Genesis? Creation

20(4):4346, 1998; creation.com/jedp.
16

. Documented in Sarfati, J., The Authority of Scripture,

Apologia 3(2):1216 1994;
creation.com/authority. Canon: the books that make up
the Bible.
1

. Holding, J.P., Does Genesis hold up under critics

scrutiny? (response to critic of ref. 16),
creation.com/moses_critic, 10 September 2005.
17

. See also Cosner, L., The global floodaccording to

the New Testament, creation.com/nt-global-flood, 24 May
2012.
18

. Livingston, D., Jesus Christ on the infallibility of Scripture, from A Critique of Dewey Beegles book titled:
Inspiration of Scripture, MA Thesis, 2003; creation.com/
jesus_bible.
2

. See also Sarfati, J., Genesis: Bible authors believed

it to be history, Creation 28(2):2123, March 2006;
creation.com/gen_hist. See also Cosner, L., The use of
Genesis in the New Testament, Creation 33(2):1619,
2011; creation.com/nt.
19

. For a critical analysis of this and other faulty Jesus

Seminar methodology, see Wright, N.T., Jesus and the
Victory of God, ch. 2, SPCK, London, 1996.
3

. Online at hermeneutics.kulikovskyonline.net/
hermeneutics/csbe.htm.
4

This article is the first of a series supporting

the belief that God made everything out of
nothing (ex nilhalo)

. A good summary is: Grigg, R., Should Genesis be

taken literally? Creation 16(1):3841, 1993; creation.com/
literal.
5

Used with the permission of

Creation Ministries International (Australia)
PO Box 4545 Eight Mile Plains
QLD 4113 Australia
Phone: (07) 3340 9888 Fax: (07) 3340 9889
Visit us on the web at: CREATION.com

. See also Wieland, C., Jesus on the age of the earth,

Creation 34(2):5154, 2012;
creation.com/jesus_age.
6

. Sarfati, J., The Incarnation: Why did God become Man?

Creation 35(1):3437, 2013;
creation.com/incarnation.
7

. Joon, P. and Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical

Hebrew: Part Three: Syntax, p. 390, Pontifical Biblical
Institute, Rome, 1991.
8

. See also a statistical analysis of the Hebrew verb forms

by Hebraic scholar Stephen Boyd, The biblical Hebrew
Creation account: New numbers tell the story, ICR Impact
377, November 2004; www.icr.org/article/biblical-hebrew-creation-account-new-numbers-tell-/.
9

. Actually, the verses in Numbers 7 have baym, where

the a represents the definite article, the, meaning on
the day [xth], unlike beym, which lacks the article.
10

. Theologian: Genesis means what it says! (Interview

with Dr Robert McCabe, head of the Old Testament department, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary), Creation
32(3):1619, 2010; creation.com/mccabe.
11

. Barr, J., Letter to David C.C. Watson, 23 April 1984.

12

. Steinmann, A., [ echad] as an ordinal number

and the meaning of Genesis 1:5, JETS 45(4):577584,
December 2002; www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/45/454/45-4-PP577-584_JETS.pdf. See also creation.com/
numbering.
13

Source: http://www.truthnet.org/creation/creationprocess/

31 And God saw everything that he had made,

and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening
and there was morning,
the sixth day.

. McCabe, R.V., A defense of literal days in the Creation

Week, Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 5:97123, Fall
2000; www.dbts.edu/journals/2000/mccabe.pdf.
14

. Sarfati, J., Hebrew scholar affirms that Genesis means

what it says! Interview with Dr Ting Wang, Lecturer in
Biblical Hebrew, Creation 27(4):4851, 2005; creation.
com/wang.
15

Genesis 1:31 (ESV)

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Music in Worship
In part 1 of this series we looked at governing
principles of worship. Part 2 examined how we
have traditionally organised these principles in
practise. Part 3 looked at the role of the Regulative Principle in worship. In part 4 we had a brief
look at the WCF. In part 5 we open up 8 principles to assist us in our development of music
for use in worship. In part 6 we wrestled with 8
FAQs in applying our principles. In this 7th and
final part we look at the 3 Rs of practical worship music range, rhythm and repertoire. And
mention one more dangerous R!

its really hard for some males to sing high early

in the day. For example, Meekness and Majesty is not an easy one for the male voice first
thing in the morning. (It can easily degenerate to
Weakness and Tragedy if youre not careful!)
2. Rhythm.
Songs to be sung in a corporate setting need to be
fairly straightforward in the rhythms used. Complex timings and off-beats are hard to sing for a
corporate entity of untrained singers. Long instrumental interludes can be really confusing and
run the risk of turning worship into a show and
tell session for the musos if they are not handled
carefully.
I once went to a church which had a very good
ensemble playing, but they insisted on huge tags
at the end of each song everyone was kept
guessing as to when they would actually finish a bit like Mr Bean in that infamous visit he made
to church. Many modern songs require quite a bit
of simplifying so that they are singable for the
entire congregation.
Also, a lot of modern songs are very high maintenance in terms of rehearsal time for the band
/ group of musos something to bear in mind
when selecting new song material. Some churches get around this problem by using CDs or other
digital accompaniments. In some circumstances
this is a necessity. For example, where there is
low literacy mission contexts, or ESL (English
as a Second Language) contexts; small congregations with no musos etc. But for most Western
contexts, the Karaoke Solution has drawbacks
and can lack spontaneity and humanity.

Some additional practical considerations when

selecting songs for worship.
1. Range.
Most hymns (not all) are in a pretty safe range
for males and females. However, some modern
songs (not all) are in a range which is high for
male voices to sing. Remember, some modern
material may or may not have been written with
corporate singing in mind. The current Wow
worship CD will have terrific songs and welltrained professional musicians, but the songs
dont automatically transpose to corporate worship in the local church every Sunday. Try and
avoid high pitched songs early in the morning,

3. Repertoire.
a. Learning new songs. Allow time for new songs
to settle in. If possible, try and teach the songs in
less formal settings to allow a few run-throughs.
Basing a devotion on the new song away from
corporate worship, and discussing biblical teaching in the song is a good way to get know a song,
and practise it at the same time.
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b. Keep a database of known songs it is easy to

forget songs if they are rarely sung. This is especially important if you are reliant on electronic
presentations where there is no hymn book to
refer to.

thing which is central to the Gospel. Believe it or

not, worship music is not central to the Gospel! I
know a family who have three different forms of
worship service across Saturday night and Sunday night, and they very rarely actually worship
together as a family. This sort of division is just
asking for trouble and betrays a lack of understanding of the principles which undergird our
worship. If your young people are herded into the
family service then you have lost them to the
older people in the traditional service, and vice
versa. Corporate worship is for a people of the
Covenant, not split across several factions within
a church who are hunkered down in their small
iWorship corner.

c. Remember to learn / re-learn older songs too.

Here is a challenge to develop the best of the
older songs: can you identify the operating principles that make for good worship songs in the
songs you like? Great hymns from the past need
to be re-learned in each generation. Dont take
it for granted that everyone knows them. I once
set an entire service of songs I thought were
well-known. Alas, without exception, they were
all well known only to me! (A well-maintained
database solves this problem!) Avoid spiritual arrogance by dismissing older songs out of hand.
They are just another set of songs created by
Christians from another time in the life of the
church, not things to be disparaged or feared.

Traditional service folk need to remember

that Isaac Watts was brand new once, and some
people back then didnt like his crazy new-fangled music. This led to dividing the church over
secondary issues to do with music. The ensuing
debate all but ruined this great mans life, and
over what? Misunderstood principles of worship. Likewise, family service devotees should
pay attention to a lyric from a popular family
service song: saints of old line the way (Keith
Gettys O Church Arise) Getty is reminding us
that Christians of all ages (past and present) are
covenant people. That means, Christians of all
ages are all on the same page as far as being right
with God is concerned quite literally! Manmade songs throughout history have served in
their own generation as mini-sermons if you like,
carrying a portable theology dealing with various
issues of the day. The ones that stand the test of
time are the ones that hit a consonant note across
several generations of Christians.

4.Risky practice the fearful fourth R. The

Problem of the Divided Service.
But young people like this style of music, and
we want to keep our young people. Have you
come across this comment? Using this argument
usually leads to the divided service solution. To
whit, the family service, sometimes appearing
first in the morning, includes modern pop songs
while the traditional service, sometimes following straight after the family service, uses
all the old hymns from dusty hymnals in Elizabethan English and is for old people.

The classics are timeless true truths which

affect people of all sorts from different times,
cultures and places. I once met an elderly indigenous saint in Alice Springs AIM when we visited the Stuarts. Somehow we got on to favourite
songs and she sang Holy Holy Holy in Arrentje
(the local indigenous dialect in the Centre) while
I sort of mumbled the lyrics (she had a better
singing voice than me!) For a music teacher, it
was a great moment and a highlight of our visit.
It was also testimony to the durability of songs
that are cross-cultural classics. Classics are
therefore not just classical in style. Amazing
Grace (1779) is one of those timeless classics.
In Christ Alone (2001) would be another (using the criteria listed above). Older hymns give

Source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/29036219@N07/2762010971/

In effect, we now have a divided congregation,

and it is a division over a circumstance of worship (musical style mainly) as opposed to some22

The Messenger W i nt er 2014

a snapshot of the spirituality of the day, and the

theological conundrums of the day too.

there is no church that can claim that they have

got it all together in this area. The only church
with its act together is the universal church in
glory; the rest of us have our work cut out for us
this side of glory! Hopefully these articles have
helped create some forward-looking discussion
and prayerful consideration of the topic.

For instance, most hymns written around the year

1875 are heavily influenced by revivalist theology. It is a recurring theme over and again. Most
songs written around the year 1975 are short Bikini choruses, sometimes straight from Scripture, but theologically about as brief as the ubiquitous 1970s bikini. Turn back the clock to songs
written around 1775 and you have classic Puritan
pastoral theology really tapping into issues of the
heart, plumbing depths most of us in our own
shallow age dont even understand (present writer of this article very much included!) But some
of these songs are a long way removed from current issues.

Let Everything Praise the Lord

150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his
excellent greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and
harp!
4 Praise him with
tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings
and pipe!
5 Praise him with sounding
cymbals;
praise him with loud
clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that
has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

So, do we want MyMusic at church for use in

iWorship? Or do we need to raise our sights and
look a little higher? Which style? What type of
service? Which type of worship should we aim
for?
Answer God-centred worship! Corporate worship is one big covenantal package based on applying the principles of worship in the culture
and practical circumstances in which the Lord
has called each one of us as a Christian community before the Lord.

Let all that has breath

praise the Lord!

Psalm 150 (ESV)

Let all that has breath praise the Lord!
By Robert Clements
Robert Clements is a member of Belconnen
WPC ACT

He said in a loud voice, Fear God and

give him glory, because the hour of his
judgment has come. Worship him who
made the heavens, the earth, the sea
and the springs of water.
Revelation 14:7

Conclusion:
This series of articles has looked at the role of
music in the context of corporate worship. Various operating principles have been examined and
some musical suggestions have been made in relation to the practicalities of week by week worship at the local church. Wrestling with principles
involved in worship is an ongoing process and
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Westminster Presbyterian Church

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
BELCONNEN WPC
Meets:
61 Templeton Street,

(cnr Rowan St.)

COOK, ACT 2614
Time:
9.30am and 6.30pm (every Sunday)
Address: 61 Templeton Street,

COOK, ACT 2614
Office Ph: (02) 6251 7727
Fax:
(02) 6251 7737
Email:
pastor@wpc-belconnen.org.au
Contact: Revd Geoff Findlay
Telephone: 0435 557 117

GRACE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,

MORAYFIELD QLD
Time:
10am
Venue:
Morayfield Community Centre,

Morayfield Road, MORAYFIELD QLD

(next to Bunnings)
Contact: Pr Bob Burnett (07) 5442 1783
Mob:
0400 798 151
Email:
bobandwendy1175@bigpond.com
Web site: www.gpcm.net.au
PRESBYTERY OF QUEENSLAND
Moderator: Rev. Daniel Bosshard
Clerk:
Rev. David Smith
Postal:
PO BOX 347

GOODNA QLD 4300

AUSTRALIA
Telephone: (07) 3371 2512
Email:
john.h@bigpond.net.au

QUEENSLAND
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CHURCH PACIFIC
PARADISE
Meets:
North Shore Community Centre,
David Low Way, PACIFIC PARADISE
Time:
9.30am
Postal:
119 Glenview Rd, GLENVIEW QLD
4553
Contact: Revd Dan Bosshard
Mob:
0439 708 092
Email:
danbosshard@bigpond.com

WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

QUEENSLAND
Principal: Revd Terry Clarke

10 Hollings Close, KURABY,
QUEENSLAND 4112
Postal:
PO Box 346, BUDERIM, QLD 4556
Telephone: (07) 5445 8501
Email:
information@@sctc.org.au
Web:
www.sctc.org.au

GRACE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

(BUDERIM WPC)
Meets:
Corner Stringybark Rd & Toral

Dr, Sippy Downs, SUNSHINE
COAST, QLD
Times:
7.45am, 9.30am, 6.00pm

Chinese Church (Mandarin) meets
1.30pm

English language class 4pm
Postal:
P.O. Box 7292, Sippy Downs Qld
4556
Phone:
(07) 5445 8933
Contact: Pastor Clint Lombard

0478 578 152
Email:
gracechurch@westnet.com.au
Web site: www.gracechurchbuderim.com.au

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
ALL NATIONS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Meets:
The Beaufort Centre, 74-82 Beaufort
Street (2nd Floor), PERTH.
Time:
10.00am
Email:
churchoffice@allnations.org.au
Web site: www.allnations.org.au
Telephone: (08) 9228 4951
Fax
(08) 9228 4956
Postal:
PO Box 8693, Perth BC WA 6849
Contact: Revd Simon van Bruchem
Email: simon_vb@optusnet.com.au

GRACE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

(REDBANK WPC)
Meets:
School Road, REDBANK PLAINS
Time:
9.30am
Postal:
P.O. Box 347, GOODNA, QLD 4300
Contact: Revd David Smith
Telephone: (07) 3495 7051
Email:
david@gracecc.com.au

BROOKTON (CALVARY PRESBYTERIAN)

Meets:
Richardson St., BROOKTON
Time:
10.30am.
Postal:
PO Box 99, BROOKTON, WA 6306
Contact: Revd Clem White (08) 9535 3301
Email:
candpwhite@bigpond.com OR elder
Arthur Slater (08) 9642 1231

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The Messenger W i nt er 2014

BULL CREEK WPC

Meets:
32 Bull Creek Drive, BULL CREEK
Times:
9.30am, 6.30pm.
Postal:
32 Bull Creek Drive, BULL CREEK,
WA 6149
Email:
wpcbc@iinet.net.au
Telephone: (08) 9332 6300
Fax:
(08) 9332 1991
Contact: Revd Mark Vivian (08) 9455 3919
Email:
pastormark@iinet.net.au
Contact: Revd Craig Newill (08) 6161 0525
Email:
craignewill@gmail.com
Website: www.wpc.net

Contact: Rev Tony Walker

Telephone: (08) 9534 4145
Email:
tonywalker1@hotmail.com.au
MURDOCH THREE CROSSES CHURCH
Morning: 10am Mandala Hall, Mandala
Crescent, Bateman at 10am
Evening: 6pm Murdoch University, Murdoch
Postal:
9 Johansen Promenade MURDOCH
WA 6150
Contact: Revd Matthew Waldron
Mob:
0438 021 286
Email:
mattwaldron@bigpond.com
Website: www.threecrosseschurch.com

Bull Creek WPC Indonesian Services

Time:
4.00pm
Meets:
32 Bull Creek Drive, BULL CREEK,
WA 6149

Revd Paulus Surya
Tel:
(08) 6465 8763
Mobile:
0412 441 341

PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Moderator: Elder Steve Heathcote
Email:
steveheathcote@amnet.net.au
Phone:
08 9458 5449
Clerk:
Revd Ray Wilson
Postal:
105 Regency Drv, Thornlie, 6108
Email:
halcyon@iinet.net.au
Phone:
0421 903 446

CANNING VALE COMMUNITY CHURCH

(CANNING VALE WPC)
Meets:
Canning Vale Community Centre,
Cnr Waratah Blvd. and Eucalyptus
Blvd., CANNING VALE
Time: 10.30am
Postal:
PO Box 5153, CANNING VALE
SOUTH, WA 6155
Telephone: (08) 9256 4776
Contact: Revd Alex Nathan
Email:
alexandernathan@iinet.net.au

SYNOD OF WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN

CHURCH
Moderator: Simon van Bruchem
Clerk:
Mark Vivian
Email:
pastormark@iinet.net.au
Treasurer: Elder Dirk Soet
Telephone: (08) 9444 7506
OTHER CONTACTS
TRINITY THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE WESTERN
AUSTRALIA
Postal add: PO Box 115, Leederville, Perth, WA
6902
Add:
Level 2, 632-634 Newcastle Street,
Leederville, WA 6007
Telephone: +61 8 9228 9067
Email:
reception@ttc.wa.edu.au
Website: www.ttc.wa.edu.au

KELMSCOTT WPC
Meets:
Lot 60 Centre Rd, (Cnr Railway Ave)
KELMSCOTT, WA 6111
Times:
Prayer 9.15am. Service 10.00am
Postal:
PO Box 305 THORNLIE WA 6988
Telephone: (08) 94954220
Contact: Revd Anton Noppers (08) 9498 3306
Email:
wpck@iinet.net.au
MAIDA VALE WPC
Meets:
4 Old Maida Vale Rd, MAIDA VALE
Times:
10.00am and 6.00pm
Postal:
4 Old Maida Vale Rd, MAIDA VALE,
WA 6057
Telephone: (08) 9454 7401
Fax:
(08) 9454 4307
Contact: Revd Roger Palmer
Email:
wpcmv@myoffice.net.au

AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS MINISTRIES

ALICE SPRINGS
Postal:
PO Box 31, Alice Springs, NT 0871
Telephone: (08) 8955 5271
Contact: Rev. Phil & Cathy Stuart
Church Service (winter):
Meets:
20 Parke Cres, Alice Springs
Time:
10.30am
Email:
stuartmob@stuarts.id.au
Stuarts web: www.stuarts.id.au

MANDURAH WPC
Meets:
The Nellie Reagan Hall, Peel St,
MANDURAH
Time:
10.00am
Postal:
PO Box 5875 Mandurah, WA 6210

AMERICA
Revd David and Barbara Cross
Email:
d.cross1942@gmail.com
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PROVIDENCE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN

CHURCH
Pastor Christopher Seah
Mob:
+65 9139 4654
Meets:
350 Alexandra Road, Level 3

(Next to Princess House)
SINGAPORE 159946.
Time:
9.30am
Bible Study/Sunday School: 11.30am
Postal:
c/o Apt Block 1D, Pine Grove, #0815, Singapore 593001
Email:
provrpc@gmail.com
Website: http:www.providencerpc.org

EASTGATE BIBLE CHURCH

Meets:
52 Herries Street - TOOWOOMBA,
QLD.
Time:
10am
Contact: Dave Kiewiet (07) 4636 5438
Web:
www.eastgatebiblechurch.net
GRACE FELLOWSHIP
Address: The RISE, 28 Eighth Ave, Maylands
WA 6051
Meets:
Sundays 10 a.m.
Contacts: Revd Julian Bull 0435 245 919

Revd John Macrae 0468 885 224
Pastor:
Rev Julian Bull
Postal add: 4 Old Maida Vale Rd,
Maida Vale WA 6057
E mail:
gracefellowshipperth@gmail.com
Web:
www.gracefellowshipperth.com
Home:
+61 89471 1433

GRACE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

c/- 30A Montilla Place, Manurewa,
Auckland, 2102 New Zealand
Contact: Revd Andrew Young
GRACE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

PO Box 31-210, Ilam, Christchurch
8444, NEW ZEALAND
Contact: Trevor Webb
Email:
webbt@paradise.net.nz

JULY 2014
Please note: While every care is taken to
ensure the information on these pages are
accurate, it is the responsibility of each
church or organisation to inform the editor
of any changes.

CHURCHFREO
the gathering 5:15 pm Sunday 408 South
Terrace SOUTH FREMANTLE, WA
Contact: Clint, Phil or Paul
Email:
churchfreo@live.com.au

Rev Andrew Priddle

turned 90 on July 10.
Andrew was one of our first
elders in WPC.
He is a great supporter of The
Messenger and we all thank
God for Andrew.

Your bars shall be iron and

bronze, and as your days,
so shall your strength be.
Deut. 33:25b (ESV)
26