messenger spring 2012 online

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MESSENGERThe

Published by Westminster Presbyter ian Church | Volume 155 Spr ing Edit ion 2012


2/282 Th Mg Spring 2012

CtetsVolume 155 Spr ing Edi t ion 2012

AimsTo uphold the teachings of Scripture assummed up in the Westminster Confessionof Faith.

To assist the WPC churches in their congre-gational life and witness.

To foster a spirit of unity amongst WPC

churches.

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the messengercommittee Clem White (Editor) Sandra Wilson (Treasurer) Pam White (Secretary) Ray Wilson (Proofing) Roy Lim (Designer)

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T h M s s g

Youth & Family

22-23Missions

4-11Features

12-21Church News

24-25

Photo on cover: Pg 9 - 11: Daid ad ela Fil, MtW missiais Idia, a w iig.


3/283Th Mg Spring 2012

A

vow is a solemn promise made before Godand witnesses to adhere to whatever is

promised. Right?

Well, not exactly. In some situations a vow istaken with a mental reservation. A mentalreservation is a form of deception which is notan outright lie. It is known in ethics as a wayto full obligations both to tell the truth and tokeep secrets from those not entitled to knowthem, such as that claimed for the confessional.

For example, it is claimed that Francis ofAssisi once saw a man eeing from a murderer.When the murderer came to Francis he askedhim if his quarry passed by that way. Francisanswered, He did not pass this way, sliding hisforenger into the sleeves of his cassock, andpointing in the opposite direction. This typeof communication has become known as mixedspeech. That is the combination of speech and

gesture.Sadly, over the years, it seems that this is whathappens when some elders, deacons andmembers make their vows. To justify walkingout on a vow, such as to be in submission totheir brothers in the Lord, they must surely have

had their ngers crossed.

Another variation on the meaning of mentalreservation involves truths expressed partly inspeech and partly in the mind. This form reliesupon the idea that God hears what is in onesmind while human beings hear only what onespeaks.

Therefore, the Christians moral duty is totell the truth to God. Reserving some of thetruth from the ears of human hearers is moral

if it serves a greater good. This is the

doctrine of strict mental reservation.Nowadays people, especially youngpeople, say they will do somethingbut mentally, either consciously orunconsciously, think if it suits me atthe time.

It also seems that some people whenmaking their wedding vows are secretlysaying in their minds, Yes, Ill stick with

him/her until I nd someone better.Some people who have made membership vowssay when questioned about why they walked outof the church over some minor tiff, I didntknow that was what that vow meant. In otherwords they hadnt taken their vows seriously.

The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 15:4, that the onewho may dwell in Gods sanctuary is he, whokeeps his oaths even when it hurts.

Politicians are notorious at breaking theirpromises but we Christians have higherstandards than they do - or do we? U

Edt a l

Clem White

VOWS

The Messenger on FacebookFor updates and downloads of past issues, visit:

ttp://www.f.m/tmmzi

3Th Mg Winter 2012



Taa: A Lad f Lht ad Dakess

Bytom RiChaRds

In many ways Tanna is an island of contradictions.It is a beautiful island. The rich greens of the

jungle covered mountains are set off by the tranquilwaters of the Coral Sea lapping at the reefs fringing

the coastline. Yet it is a harsh island, ravaged by

cyclones, earthquakes, and the constant eruptions

of Mt. Yasur.

It is land of bounty with rich volcanic soils

producing crisp yams and luscious sweet fruit. Yet

it is place where babies die of disease because of alack of medical supplies.

It is a place where the light of the gospel is shining

out and people are coming to faith, yet it has been aplace of darkness, of cults and spiritual oppression.

Beyond all else, as a mission eld, it is a place

of immense opportunity, where by the work ofthe Sovereign God, we might witness the gospel

bearing fruit.

Tanna was a tough mission eld from the beginningwith early missionaries driven from the island in

1842 (Turner and Nisbet) and 1862 (Matheson and

Paton), but by the grace of God, it was evangelised

for the most part around the turn of the 20th

century. However by the 1930s a movement hadbegun that became the Jon Frum cargo cult, which

caused people to reject Christianity, schooling and

anything foreign in order to bring untold riches tothe island.

One Sunday in 1939 only three people came to

worship at the Presbyterian church in the small

town of Lenakel where 1000 people usually

gathered. The movement spread and had taken

hold by the end of World War II. Jon Frum is a

false messiah gure and often likened to Jesus, who

will return to the

island on the

15th February

in an unknown

year. Jon Frum

adherents cant

agree on whether

Jon is a white man or a black man, or whether

he will come from over the sea, from heaven, or

from the volcano. What they do agree on is that

following certain rituals will bring temporal wealth.

Along with the beliefs about foreign cargo, came a

return to traditional spirituality and magic. Again

the people lived in the fear of those amongst them

who claim to hold power over life, health, the

weather, and the harvest through the manipulations

of idols of stone and wood. In most places on

Tanna, the foothold that the gospel had gained was

lost within half a century.

M i s s i o s

Bg: www.takingabttanna.cmFacbk: www.facbk.cm/takingabttannaTwitt: @takabttanna



This situation changed at the turn of themillennium, when a Tanna man, later namedProphet Fred, believed that God spoke to himwhile at sea working on a Taiwanese shing boat.He led a number of Jon Frum people out of theircult and began a small church. He prophesied alake breaking its banks and people were saved from

its oodwaters when they heard his church bellringing and left their town to investigate. Theseevents established Freds reputation and helpedhim to gain credibility.

While Fred was obedient to Gods call and ledhis people away from Jon Frum, he was himselfilliterate and did not tend to take his revelation fromthe Bible, but rather from prayer and fasting. Hismovement, Unity in Christ, was soon swampedby legalism and little better than Jon Frum.

A Presbyterian college offered a scholarship to onemember of Unity in Christ of their choosing, and achief s son named Maliwan was selected. Maliwanwas soon soundly converted and remained atcollege for the two year course. Upon graduating,he returned to spread the true gospel amongst hispeople. People were converted and sought entryinto the Presbyterian church.

Prophet Fred died in December 2011 and his naldeclaration was that his people should now enterthe Presbyterian Church. This is by no means anautomatic process and each individual has to bewon for Christ, but what it does mean is that thereis an enormous opportunity for evangelism andplanting churches in former Jon Frum and Unityin Christ villages.

I visited one such village in February where a church

has been established. Their rst building hadbeen burnt down by people resisting the churchsestablishment, but a second more permanentbuilding had been built in its place. Margaret and I

visited another village in April where 53 people hadbeen baptised and a local evangelist was workingwith a Sunday school teacher and a literacy worker.

In order to meet the need of establishing the gospelin Tannas many rural villages, Mission to theWorld has worked with the Presbyterian Churchof Vanuatuto establish anetwork oflocal missionworkers whoare trained andplaced in thesevillages. They are supported with a small wagefrom Australia and the US, and Dave Kiewiet, PaulTaylor and others have been offering on-going

training and support.I travelled to Tanna with the purpose ofinvestigating mission work there, and when Pauland Dave asked the Church there whether theycould use a worker from overseas, the answer cameback as yes, they would like someone to teach inthe small Presbyterian Bible college that has beenestablished in the islands north-west.

South Island Bible College (SIBC) trains lay leadersfor the churches of TAFEA province, of whichTanna is a part. Its primary focus at this time isto train evangelists to work in Jon Frum and Unityvillages. Most of the current mission workers aregraduates of the college and future workers will beselected from graduates.

So, God willing, Margaret and I will move ouryoung family to Tanna to live and work at SIBCwith the aim of working with the local staff toproduce well grounded workers for the harvest.

We will also support the mission workers in theeld, visiting them in their villages in order toencourage them, pray with them, and provide on-going training and resources. U

Tm rh is a Teaching Elder at

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Maida

Vale. He is married to Margaret and theyhave three beautiful children, Sam, Lucy,

and Tim.



Hldas ad css-cltal wkes

ByWendymaRshall

Missionaries dont need vacations? Wellthats a lie!*

But cross-cultural workers often nd it difcult totake holidays. People in ministry generally do, butsome extra factors make it more challenging forcross-cultural workers.

1. Location this depends on where someoneis working. If they are stressed because of cross-cultural issues, it is challenging if they cant escape

it, just a little, when they go on holidays. There canalso be a lack of suitable holiday accommodationin their country of service. This can be due toprice or due to the fact that many countries justdont take lengthy holidays like Australians do.

2. Cost - typically cross-cultural workers are ona low wage and dependent on others for support.It isnt easy to make holiday plans if they are on atight budget.

3. Time - ministry is demanding and relentless. Itis often hard for a person in ministry to prioritisetheir needs above those around them, in order totake time to rest.

4. Friends and family - cross-cultural workerstypically are not located near friends and family.Therefore, if they go back to their home countryor city for a holiday, they will want to spend timewith those people during holiday time. Time

spent with friends and family isnt always relaxing.Therefore it is a challenge to balance the need tospend time on their own and to spend time withthese precious people.

5. Travel - often a considerable amount of travelis involved if a cross-cultural worker wants to seefamily and friends, or they want to travel awayfrom the cross-cultural situation for a time. This istiring on what is supposed to be downtime.

6. Replacement - during an absence, ministryneeds to continue in a place like a church, hospital,or support ministry. It often isnt easy to ndreplacements. Thankfully this isnt a problemfor teachers if theyre able to go away during the

scheduled school holidays.7. Cultural norms - Australians place a high valueon holiday time, but this isnt necessarily the casein other cultures.

8. Climate - not every ministry location is close toa good place for a holiday. For example, when werst arrived in Hokkaido, in the north of Japan, wewere surprised at how all the missionaries seemedto holiday between June and September. We didnt

initially realize that in Hokkaido it is the only timewhen it is warm enough to have a relaxing holiday!

9. Expectations of senders/supporters - workerswho rely on others for support might worry aboutspending money on holidays. What will oursupporters think? In a culture where locals donttake long holidays, a missionary might wonderwhat the church members would think.

10. Singleness - single missionaries have the aboveissues as well as some special challenges. It can be

difcult to nd somewhere safe and affordableto go on their own (they are most often women).Often suitable places are quite social (missionaryholiday homes with multiple people holidayingat the same time), so privacy and time away frompeople are rare.

For those of us in Japan, cost and location are bigissues. A lack of affordable self-catered holidayhouses or units exists in Japan. Japanese usuallytake only a few days holiday at a time. A typicaljob here only offers 10 days annual leave and nosick leave, so people often save up their annualleave for times of illness. When they do go away,they often go to expensive hotels, or fast tours

M i s s i o s



overseas. The cost of travel, inside Japan, as wellas for overseas travel is also high.

The solution to this for many missions andmissionaries is to acquire cheap houses/cabinsfor budget holidays. Our family has also taken uptenting as an affordable way to get away.

With regards to the third reason, time, I alwaysthink of this scripture:

Dont you know that you yourselves are Godstemple and that Gods Spirit dwells in your midst?If anyone destroys Gods temple, God will destroythat person; for Gods temple is sacred, and youtogether are that temple (1 Corinthians 3:16,17,NIV).

These are strong words from God, but its clear wemissionaries have a responsibility to look after ourbody. If we dont, then not only will our ministryand others suffer, but also, well sin against God.

Number four, friends and family, presented anissue for us recently. Weve just taken a 5 weektrip to Australia for holidays. During our time therewe hired a motorhome and drove to Uluru. Oneof the reasons we chose to do that was so that

we could have some time on our own. On ourtrip we met some other Australians who have beeninvolved in cross-cultural work within Australia.They expressed the same tension, How can weorganise a holiday that doesnt involve meetingscores of friends and family, without offendingpeople?

Weve been blessed both in Japan and in Australia.OMF has a few holiday homes in Japan that wevebeen able to use. Theyre old, and we have toclean them after weve used them (and sometimesbefore too), but they arent expensive and theyreprivate. Last time we spent a year in Australia wewere given a week in two different places for free.And the time before that a supporting church inW.A. gave us some holiday time in a very specialplace south of Perth. God had blessed us in manyways, more than we can count.

Pray for your cross-cultural workers. Encouragethem to take time off, to take regular holidays. Theyneed it, maybe more than most. Stress is high, andthe burnout rate is also high. Their bodies, minds,and spirits are valuable resources. U

* From this blogpost: http://myall4him.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/missionaries-dont-need-vacations/

Our trip to Australia included visiting our families and some friends, but wealso took time to drive to Uluru in a motorhome. It was an amazing journey.

d Wy Mh have served as

missionaries in Japan with OMF International

since 2000. Wendy writes almost daily onher blog about ordinary life as an Australian

family in Japan: www.mmuser.blogspot.com.

E: [email protected]



Mashalls Mss - Setembe 2012

ByWendymaRshall

M i s s i o s

SpoTLigHT on CAJThe rst few days of school, many students sporthappy, smiling faces. But such a great group offriends to hang out with comes at a price: work!

Schools are places where students are supposed tobe challenged, but challenges produce a mixtureof emotions in students. Complaints are usuallythe rst to emerge, but I have found that if Iscratch the surface I often nd a determinationto meet the challenge. (Yes there is often a lackof motivation as well, but that changes with theday!)

CAJ wants to equip students to impact the worldfor Christ. We believe that students need to bemoved to the edge of their comfort zones, andthen strongly encouraged to step out. We wantthem to see God in all the subjects they do, andthat is a challenge worth taking on.

Hopefully, we as teachers set a good example by

taking on challenges of our own.Please pray for us all at CAJ as we begin the newschool year and seek to take on the challengesGod puts before us. We want to succeed at thechallenge of becoming more able witnesses toHis power and glory, no matter where we go.

prAyEr poinTS

Pray for new students and teachers settling intoCAJ. Some new teachers are settling into a newcountry too!

For the seniors who graduated in June. As theyadjust to a very different life to the one they knewat CAJ. Many of them are in the USA studying.

For David as he tackles his Masters subject.Hes already behind because of our time away.

For Wendy as she handles the variedresponsibilities of Managing Editor of JapanHarvest. Pray for another editor to assist her.

For preparations for the next Writers Workshopthat Wendy will be leading in October. Pray for agood number of attendees.

Continue to pray for full nancial support

during 2012, especially for more long-termregular supporters.

Pray for Callum, Douglas and Jamie, that theywill have a good year at school, growing in body,spirit, and mind.

For wisdom in how we use our time. Particularlyat this time of year when we are asked to committo various things for the year to come.

Praise points

For such a beautiful home country as Australia! Safety during our long motorhome journey.

For good times with family and friends.

For the growing maturity of our boys that our

families noticed while we were with them.

That God has called us to serve him here in

Japan and given us enjoyable and

meaningful work to do.

For Davids mum visiting us for 212 weeks. U

Davids mother returned to Japan with us and we took hercamping only 36 hours after we returned to Japan

d Wy Mh have served as

missionaries in Japan with OMF International

since 2000. Wendy writes almost daily onher blog about ordinary life as an Australian

family in Japan: www.mmuser.blogspot.com.

E: [email protected]



Davd ad Elea Fl Vst WA

By PeteRstaeR

M i s s i o s

WPC Bull Creek recently had the privilege ofhosting David and Eleanor.

They were visiting their supporters prior toretirement.

Bull Creek has given a Special Christmas offeringto Bhogpur Childrens Home for many years.

Their visit with us was like a breath of fresh air.It is not often we see long-term missionaries.Dave and Eleanor have had 48 years of mission

service in North India.Their original service was looking after anorphanage/childrens home of the children oflepers at Bhogpur, North India.

Because of the stigma of leprosy these childrenhave very little hope of achieving anything of

signicance inlife David andEleanor sawthe need to give

these childrentraining andskills. So theystarted a schoolas well as theo r p h a n a g e

for the children. This has been so successfulthat now many of these children are workingin responsible professional positions and someof them have come back to work in the school

where they had their original education.

With the orphanage and school running wellDavid saw the need of theological education andso he started a seminary in the same district. Againthis has been productive and is now producingmen and women for ministry particularly inNorth India where there is a real shortage ofmission personneland the Christianpopulation issmall.

Their time with uswas a real blessingto the churchas they involvethemselves in all aspects of the church andshared their many gifts and abilities.

David and Eleanor worked all these years underthe auspices of Mission to the World. They maybe on paper going home to retire but in actualfact they still have much that they want to do inthe Lords service.

As well as being such a blessing to WPC BullCreek they also shared with the presbytery,Canning Vale, Mandurah and Brooktoncongregations. Our Brookton folk identiedwith the marginalised people David and Eleanorrepresented. U

Pt st is a member of Bull Creek WPC

David Fiol speaks to some of the folkat Brookton

Eleanor speaks to the ladies atBull Creek

David address the Presbytery of WA.

9Th Mg Spring 2012



48 eas f Mssa Sevce ida

ByeleanoRFiol

M i s s i o s

August 30, 2012Dear friends,

As I dug deep in a drawer of my desk in IndiaI came across a box of carbon paper. Howlong has it been since I used that stuff daily?!It reminded me that there was a time, in theearly half of our 48 years as missionaries, whenwe didnt have the convenience of computers,e-mail and internet. With the carbon paperof course, you older folks will remember, went

the typewriter eraser and the little pieces ofpaper to be inserted behind each carbon as youcorrected mistakes. Now at the ick of a ngerthe mistake is gone and in a few more icks youhave sent copies to as many hundred people asyou want. Amazing!! How we praise God forthe computer age. Sometimes I wonder if Hebrought it into being just for His work.

I was lling in an alumni survey for CovenantCollege the other day and one question asked

how well the College had prepared me withcomputer skills. Ho, ho. (In 1961?) I checkedthe old N/A on that one for sure. They didteach me to spell, but I dont even need that skillnow with spell check. (Just kidding, students.Learn to spell!)

I had further occasion to reect when newscame on July 30 that Davids mother, EstherFiol, who along with her husband, Frank,served in India for 44 years, had gone home

to be with the Lord. She was so ready to goand we are rejoicing with her. She lived intoher 100th year; would have been 100 on Nov.22. How we praise the Lord for her, her loveand enthusiasm for her large family and Godswork and her good example in many, manyways. People all over the world are grateful forher ministry to them in Sunday School and Bibleclasses. And we her family are thankful for hermothering and grand mothering and great-grandmothering. She never used a computer or evena typewriter but wrote thousands of letters byhand to supporters, people she was ministeringto and family. Her memorial service will be onOct. 13 in Quarryville.

This summer we took a 10-day trip to Australiafrom India (and returned to India) to visitwith a church that has been supporting theChildrens Home in Bhogpur since the 1970s.Westminster Presbyterian Church in Perthis a thriving church that has until recentlybeen pastored by Steve Schoof of MTW. Itscongregation includes 27 nationalities. How weenjoyed the fellowship with people eager to hear

news of the Childrens Home in that church

and several other churches from various ethnicbackgrounds, including an aboriginal group.Here we are with our Australian hosts (in theback) and our Australian friends of Indianbackground.

I had the privilege of leading only one of theLife Group studies at Grace Academy thissummer, using the material I had developed.But it was special because a number in thatgroup were young people I had known for many

years and I had a chance to say some things Ihad been wanting to share with them. PastorSamuel of Covenant Church is leading thesessions this year and I was glad to help him outwhen he needed a substitute. I am especiallyhappy that the Board has made arrangements tocarry that on.

PRAISE THE LORD THAT

The Lord has kept us well and safe in ourtravels.

The church in North India, the leastChristianized area of India as it issometimes called, is steadily growing andyoung people are coming forward to join



the laborers in the harvest, often at greatpersonal sacrice.

Board meetings of which we are membersat the Childrens Home, Bhogpur, P.T. Seminary (David only) and GraceEducational Society went well. We

are happy with the position that eachinstitution is in right now with muchpotential for future development andministry.

MTW colleagues with years of ministryahead have good ideas and are workinghard, being well-received in India.

Ashlyn and Anna,our granddaughters

in India, are eagerlylooking forward tohaving a new brotheror sister in January. Please pray for Aminawho is often quite nauseated.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY

That the GES board will continue to focuson the development of the boarding/hostel ministry to national Christian

workers children at Grace Hostel(boarding) at the Academy so that theirparents can continue to work, often inremote areas.

That the Lord will provide funds to nishthe last building urgently needed for theGrace Academy campus.

That the committee that has beenappointed for long-range planning forthe Childrens Home, Bhogpur, will

have guidance and consensus in makingplans, will be able to execute the plansfor improving the physical and spiritualministry to the children and will makeit possible for even more children to beserved.

That the Lord will provide teachers for theSeminary and the best administrators andstudents.

That the Lord will continue to provide

committed Christian teachers for GraceAcademy in Dehra Dun and for HomeAcademy at the Childrens Home whowill grow in the Lord and in their

understanding of Christian education aswell as staff for Grace Hostel who willnurture the students to have the dedicationof their parents.

That the Lord will continue to guideand protect as we visit those of you

supporters in Oklahoma, Texas, California,Washington, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, St.Louis, Florida, etc., to give a report and tellyou how much we appreciate your nancialsupport and prayers. We have somerequests for the future as well.

That the Lord will make the Octobervision trip that David will be leading toNorth India meaningful and helpful toeach one of the group. Dont forget to ask

the Lord for health and protection for all.Well, its time to ick my nger on the amazingcomputer a few times and send this out to all ofyou. What fun.

In Christ,

Eleanofor David and Eleanor Fiol U

d e Fiol, MTW missionaries to

India, are now retiring



1. it leased gd, hs eteal se, tchse ad da the Ld Jess, hs lbette S, t be the Medat betwee gdad ma,

It blows your mind to think that God chose Jesus tobe the go-between God and man before Adam andEve fell into sin.

the phet, who spoke for the word of God; thepest, who Offered himself as a sacrice to satisfythe wrath of God against sinful people adK,who was and is the supreme king who rules for everas predicted in Psalm 2:7, I have installed my Kingon Zion, my holy hill.

the Head ad Sav f hs Chch.The angelGabriel told Mary, Luke 1:33, he will reign overthe house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will haveno end.

the He f all ths, as we are told in Hebrews1:2, God has appointed Jesus, heir of all things.This means Jesus will get everything and everyonesaved by his precious blood. Jesus tells us in John16:15, All that belongs to the Father is mine.

ad Jde f the wld:Acts 17:31 tells us thatGod, has set a day when he (Jesus) will judgethe world with justice by the man appointed. Andwhat is even more amazing we are told in 1 Cor. 6:2,

Do you not know the saints will judge the world?The saints, by the way, are all those who belong toJesus.

t whm he dd fm all etet ve aele, t be hs seed. Ephesians 1:4 tells us,For he chose us in him before the creation of the

world to be holy and blameless in his sight.ad t be b hm tme edeemed, called,justied, sanctied, and gloried. The believersin the time of the OT were saved when they trusted

in Gods promise. The promises in turn relied onthe redemption which Christ would accomplishwhen he came to live, die and rise from the dead.Isaiah 55:5 says of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Surelyyou will summon nations you know not, and nationsthat do not know you will hasten to you, because ofthe Lord your God the Holy One of Israel, for he

has endowed you with splendour.Then the believers in the NT times are redeemedby Christ as they look back on him in faith. Afterexplaining that God chooses those who are notreliant on their own wisdom to be saved but on thewisdom of God. We are told in 1 Cor. 1:30, It isbecause of him that you are in Christ Jesus, whohas become for us wisdom from God - that is ourholiness, righteousness and redemption.

2. The S f gd, the secd es theTt, be ve ad eteal gd, f esbstace ad eqal wth the Fathe,

The theology of the Trinity is dealt with in chapterone of the WCF. It is impossible for us tounderstand the mystery of the Godhead but thisis not an excuse for anyone to dismiss it as untrue.Deuteronomy 29:29, tells us The secret things

belong to the Lord our God, but thethings revealed belong to us and toour children forever, that we may all

the words of this law.dd, whe the flless f tmewas cme, take hm masate,

The classic passage in Philippianschapter two helps us here. Your attitude shouldbe the same as Christ Jesus: who being in the verynature God, did not consider equality with Godsomething to be grasped, but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant, being made inhuman likeness.

wth all the essetal etes, ad cmminrmities thereof, when he was made like hisbrothers in every way, Heb. 2:17, yet without sin aswe are told in Heb. 4:15.

CHriST THE MEDiATor

ByClem White

A cosidatio of th 8th chapt of o Wstmist Cofssio of Faith(WCF); pat of a sis of aticls witt by vaios lds of th WPC.

F a t s

O aso why hsis mg fom

closly asod thology is bcas oo mo aspcts of th tachig a ov

mphasisd at th xps of oth pats.



be cceved b the we f the Hlghst, the wmb f the v Ma, f hesbstace.

It is absolutely amazing to think that Marysforebears included shady characters like Judah whogot up to all sorts of shenanigans with a prostitutewho turned out to be his daughter-in-law, Tamar,

Gen. 38.S that tw whle, efect, ad dstctates, the gdhead ad the mahd, weeseaabl jed tethe e es,wtht cves, cmst, cfs.

When we read the closely reasoned highly technicallanguage it is no wonder it took the early church juston 400 years to hammer out these concepts. Themen who put together the WCF had the advantageof a number of creeds formulated in the fourth andfth centuries; such creeds as The Apostles Creed,

The Nicene Creed and The Athanasian Creed.The word creed comes from the Latin word credoI believe.

Whch es s ve gd, ad ve ma, ete Chst, the l Medat betwee gd adma.

Mary was told by the angel Gabriel, The HolySpirit will come upon you, and the power of theMost High will overshadow you. So the holy one tobe born will be called the Son of God. Lke. 1:35.

For there is one God and one mediator betweenGod and man, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Tim. 2:5.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Mary isthe mediator between us and her son Jesus. Thisobviously ies in the face of biblical teaching.

One reason why heresies emerge from closelyreasoned theology is because one or more aspectsof the teaching are over emphasised at the expenseof other parts.

The following are false views of the two natures inthe person of Christ.

These views deny that Jesus Christ is both God andman, but afrm he is only man, only God or neitherGod nor man.

Dcetsm Jesus only seems to be man but was infact a kind of angel. Many Gnostics held to this.The NT seems to know of its presence, eg. 1 Jn 4:2;5:6.

Ebsm denied the reality of the divine naturealong the line of those Jews who opposed thegospel in NT.

Aasm Jesus is halfway between God and man -was condemned Nicaea AD 325.

Allaasm denied the integrity of humannature saying that it had been taken up into thedivine nature, so that the two natures had been

mingled - condemned AD 377-381.

nestasm endangered the unity of the personand in effect held two persons, a divine and human,existing in the incarnate Christ - condemned AD431.

Etchasm fused the natures, sacricing thehuman, hence it was also called monophystism

(single nature). It was a reaction to Nestorianism.Condemned AD 449-451. Still held by Coptic,Ethiopian and Syrian Jacobite churches.

Mtheltsm Monophysites were divided overwhether or not the will belonged to the person orthe nature; the Monothelites held the former hencedenied Christ had a human will.

3. The Ld Jess, hs hma ate thsunited to the divine, was sanctied, andated wth the Hl St, abve mease,

The human nature and the divine nature were joinedtogether and set apart to holiness. As king of kingshe was anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit whowas given by God without limit, Jn. 3:34.

hav hm all theteases f wsdmad kwlede; whm t leased theFathe that all fllessshld dwell, Cl. 1:19.

t the ed that,be hl, hamless,undeled, and full oface ad tth, hemht be thhl

furnished to execute the ofce of a mediatorad set.

So the purpose of these characteristics was toenable Jesus Christ to carry out his responsibilitiesas the mediator between God and man.

Which ofce he took not unto himself, but

was theet called b hs Fathe, wh t allwe ad jdmet t hs had, ad avehm cmmadmet t execte the same.

Christ did not take on the ofce of mediatorhimself but was called to the position by God theFather and gave him everything needed to carry outthis task. One function of mediator was a highpriestly one. As we are told in Heb. 5:4, No onetakes this honour upon himself; he must be called byGod just as Aaron was.

4. This ofce the Lord Jesus did most willinglydetake; whch that he mht dschae, hewas made under the law, and did perfectly fullt;

In other words, the Lord Jesus was very willing to



live a life of perfection and came to this world tocarry out the responsibility of being the mediatorbetween mankind and God. The Psalmist tells us,Ps 40:7-8, Then I said, Here I am, I have come - itis written about me in the scroll. I desire to do yourwill, O my God; your law is within my heart.

He eded mst evs tmetsmmedatel hs sl, ad mst aflsufferings in his body; was crucied, and died,

There are many references to the sufferings of Christon the cross but the one I like best is found in Isaiah53:5, But he was pierced for our transgressions, hewas crushed for our iniquities; the punishment thatbrought us peace was upon his, and by his woundswe are healed.

was bed, ad emaed de the we fdeath, et saw ct. o the thd dahe ase fm the dead, wth the same bd

whch he sffeed, wth whch als he ascededt heave,

Christ died for our sins according to theScriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and thento the twelve. After that he appeared to more thanve hundred of the brothers at the same time,1 Cor.15:3-5, and he also appeared to many othersbefore he asceded t heave.

ad thee sts at the ht had f hs Fathe,Mak 16:19.

mak tecess, as we are told in Heb.7:25

he always lives to intercede for them.We all love to sing the good old song in which therst verse says,

What a friend we have in Jesus,

all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

everything to God in prayer!

ad shall et, t jde me ad aels, atthe ed f the wld. Acts 10:42, he is the onewhom God appointed as judge of the living and the

dead.So the next big event in Gods agenda is that Christwill return at which time there will be a generalresurrection of the living and the dead. Then thenal judgement of all will take place before the greatwhite throne, Rev. 20:11-15.

There is a lot of speculation about the eventsconnected with the second coming of Christ. Someare quite complicated but the truth of the matter isthat according to the Bible and the WCF it is verysimple and straight forward.

5. The Ld Jess, b hs efect bedece,and sacrice of himself, which he through theeteal St, ce ffeed t gd, hasfully satised the justice of his Father;

The Lord Jesus obeyed the moral law. For example,Jesus was tempted to sin in every possible way yet hedid not sin, Heb. 4:15. He also obeyed all the lawsa godly Jew was expected to keep. For example hewas taken to the temple eight days after his birth andcircumcised and named Jesus, Lk. 2:21.

ad chased, t l ecclat, that ishe bought, through his life, death and resurrectionpeace between God and man. Instead of Godbeing angry with sinners he was at peace with thosefor whom Christ died. Gods wrath was taken outon his one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

bt a evelast hetace the kdmf heave, f all thse whm the Fathe hathve t hm.

We are told by Jesus in John17:2, For you, i.e. God,granted him, i.e. Jesus, authority over all people thathe might give eternal life to all those you have given

him.6. Althh the wk f edemt wast actall wht b Chst tll afte hsincarnation, yet the virtue, efcacy, and benetstheef wee cmmcated t the elect, all aes sccessvel fm the be fthe wld, ad b thse mses, tes,and sacrices, wherein he was revealed, andsignied to be the seed of the woman whichshld bse the seets head; ad the Lambsla fm the be f the wld; be

esteda ad t-da the same, ad f eve.Here we are taught that the salvation of Godspeople in all ages was through the cross ofChrist alone. The OT sacrices were not able, inthemselves, to redeem anyone from their sins, Heb.9:9. However, they were a shadow of the goodthings that were coming, Heb. 10:1, and they werethe means by which believers received the benetsof Christ before the work had actually been done,Heb.13;8.

7. Chst, the wk f medat, acts

accd t bth ates, b each ate dthat whch s e t tself; et, b eas fthe t f the es, that whch s e te ate s smetmes Scte attbtedt the es demated b the the ate.

For example, when Jesus was asked when he wouldreturn, Mk. 13:32-37, he replied that even he did notknow when that would happen. In this instance hewas speaking with his human nature.

8. T all thse f whm Chst hath chasededemt, he dth cetal ad effectallal ad cmmcate the same; maktecess f them, ad eveal tthem, ad b the Wd, the mstees fsalvat; effectall esad them b hs



TriNiTy TheOlOgiCAl COllege WeSTerNAuSTrAliA

Postal add: PO Box 115, Leedervlle, Perth, WA6902

Add: Level 2, 632-634 Newcastle Street,Leedervlle, WA 6007

Telephone: +61 8 9228 9067Emal: [email protected]: www.ttc.wa.ed.a

AuSTrAliAN iNdigeNOuS MiNiSTrieS

AliCe SPriNgS

Postal: PO Box 31, Alce Sprns, NT 0871Telephone: (08) 8955 5271Contact: Rev. Phl & Cathy StartChrch Servce (wnter):Meets: 20 Parke Cres, Alce SprnsTme: 10.30amEmal: [email protected] web: www.stuarts.id.au

eNglANd

Revd Davd and Barbara CrossEmal: [email protected]

PrOvideNCe reFOrMed PreSbyTeriANChurChPastor Chrstopher SeahMob: +65 9139 4654Meets: 350 Alexandra Road, Level 3

(Next to Prncess Hose)SiNgAPORE 159946.

Tme: 9.30am

Bble Stdy/Snday School: 11.30amPostal: c/o Apt Block 1D, Pne grove, #08-

15, Snapore 593001Emal: [email protected]: http:www.provdencerpc.or

grACe PreSbyTeriAN ChurCh

bellMere, Qld 4510

Contact: Revd Bll Ham (07) 5428 1797

Emal: [email protected]

grACe TheOlOgiCAl COllege

c/- 36 Balaclava Street WYNDHAM

SOuTHLAND NEW ZEALAND

Contact: Revd Andrew Yon

grACe PreSbyTeriAN ChurCh

PO Box 31-210, ilam, Chrstchrch8444, NEW ZEALAND

Contact: Trevor WebbEmal: [email protected]

ChurChFreO

the athern 5:15 pm Snday 408 Soth

Terrace SOuTH FREMANTLE, WAContact: Chck Lnkston


eASTgATe bible ChurCh

Meets: 52 Herres Street - TOOWOOMBA,

QLD.Tme: 10am

Contact: Dave Kewet (07) 4636 5438Web: www.eastatebblechrch.net

sePTeMber 2012

P t: Wh y tk t th fmt th pg t, t th pty fh hh gt t fmth t f y hg.

OTher CONTACTS:

Continued from Page 27

St t beleve ad be, ad ve theheats b hs Wd ad St; vecmall the eemes b hs almht we adwsdm, sch mae, ad was, as ae mstcsat t hs wdefl ad seachabledsesat.

Here we are told that Christ effectually appliesredemption to those for whom he died. That is theelect. This is a very difcult and contentious subjectwith some people. So the following might help toclarify this doctrine.

1. Christ freely and sincerely offers salvation to allwho hear the gospel, Matt. 11:28.

2. Christ promised that no one who accepted hisoffer would be cast out, Jn. 6:37.

3. The difculty with those who are not effectuallycalled is wholly within themselves, Matt. 23:37;Eph. 2:1f.

4. That the elect do come is only because Christenables them to do so, Lk.10:22. U

References:Rowland S, Ward, The Westminster Confession of Faith:A Study Guide, 2004, New Melbourne Press.

G. I Williamson, The Westminster Confession of Faith: forstudy classes, 1980, Presbyterian and Reformed PublishingCo.



The English Civil War (actually a seriesof three wars) from 1642 to 1651 was aterrible struggle between the supporters

of King Charles I and those who supportedParliament. The conict was over Charleswanting absolute power and Parliament wantingto have a say in the affairs of the nation. It wasalso a time of religious conict between thePuritans who wanted to purify the church and

those who wanted the English Church to remaincloser to the patterns of the Catholic Church.

During the war when it was decided thatthe Parliamentary armies needed an ally theParliamentarian leaders approached Scotland tocome into the war on their side. Scotland at thattime, strongly Presbyterian, agreed to come tothe aid of Parliament with the agreement calledThe National League and Covenant. Thosefrom England and Scotland mutually pledged

that they would undertake the reformationof religion in the kingdoms of England andIreland in doctrine, worship, discipline andgovernment according the Word of God andthe example of the best reformed churches.It was also agreed that popery (RomanCatholicism) and prelacy (rule of the churchby bishops) would be abolished. The two sidesalso agreed to promote uniformity of religionby establishing a confession of faith, a form of

church government and a directory for worship.An assembly was formed, meeting inWestminster Abbey, with men from the twocountries represented. The result of thisassembly, which lasted for six years, was theproduction of the Westminster Confession ofFaith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.

The end result of the wars was that KingCharles I was beheaded and Oliver Cromwell,

leader of the Parliamentarians, became theLord Protector. During the time of CromwellsCommonwealth the inuence of the Puritansincreased.

However, at the death of Oliver Cromwell thesituation in government began to disintegrate.Olivers son, Richard, proved an ineffectiveleader. Presbyterians in England and thosein Scotland had sharply disagreed with thebeheading of Charles, having no desire to doaway with the monarchy.

Scotland had invited the son of the beheadedking, Charles II, to take the throne of Scotland

if he would agree to support Presbyterianism.

Never one to let a lie get in the way of what hewanted Charles II promised he would supportthe Solemn League and Covenant which wouldestablish Presbyterian Church governmentacross the whole of Britain. Upon his agreementhe was crowned King of Scotland at Scone onNew Years Day 1651.

By 1660 England was ready to re-establish

the monarchy. Many of the Puritans rejoicedbelieving that Charles would promote thereligion he had vowed to uphold.

However Charles hypocritical commitment toPresbyterian Church government, along withthe strong pro Church of England policies ofhis second Parliament, led to various legal actsin order to stamp out the non-conformity of thePuritans and other religious sects. Sometimes

referred to as the Clarendon Code there werefour acts passed over the years 1661 to 1665 withthe purpose of making the Anglican Churchsupreme and ending all toleration for those notconforming to the Church of England.

The rst act was called the Corporation Act.Its purpose was to exclude all Non-conformistsfrom gaining public ofce.

The second act was called the Act of

Uniformity. This act made the use of theBook of Common Prayer to be compulsory inall religious services. It was this Act that led toover 2000 ministers refusing to conform to this

THE grEAT EJECTion oF 1662ByBaRBaRa CRoss

F a t s



demand, thus causing them to lose their placeof ministry.

Added to this was the Coventicle Act (aconventicle being a public gathering) whichforbade non Anglican worship services of more

than 5 people who were not members of onefamily. In this way no non-conformist religiousgroups could meet together legally.

The last act was the Five-Mile Act whichstated that a non-conformist minister could notcome within ve miles of a town or the placeof his former ministry. Along with this a non-conformist could not teach in schools.

While over 2000 ministers were affected drivenout by the Act of Uniformity and suffered

under the other acts it would be of interest tolook at some of those best known to us.

Edmund Calamy was a well-known andinuential Puritan. He was the minister at St

Mary Aldermanbury in London a wealthy andprominent Puritan church. He also was a veryactive participant in the Westminster Assemblywhich led to the writing of the WestminsterConfession of Faith.

Though a Puritan, he, like many Presbyterians,had strongly objected to the beheading of KingCharles 1 and worked for the restoration of themonarchy. When Charles was restored as kinghe rejoiced with many others

For his loyalty to the monarch he was appointeda Royal Chaplain and even preached beforethe new king. In fact, Samuel Pepys noted inhis diary that Calamy made a good sermonupon these words To whom much is given, of

him much is required. Along with this he wasoffered a bishopric but he declined. For a timeit seemed that things were going well for thePuritan cause.

However, it was not too long after theRestoration that the various acts of theClarendon Code came into effect and Calamy,as a Puritan would not conform. Along with2000 other ministers he was removed from his

ministry. Edmund Calamy said in his farewellsermon to his congregation, That beside manyoutward troubles, this brings a spiritual famineupon the land a famine of the word. In anodd co-incidence Calamys assistant, SimeonAshe, went seasonably to heaven at the verytime when he was cast out of the church.

In spite of the rules Calamy continued toattend his former church. One Sunday whenthe minister who was assigned to preach that

day did not appear the people urged Calamy toonce again ll the pulpit! The result was that hewas arrested and put in the infamous NewgatePrison. A woman, who was thought to be one ofthe kings mistresses, was held up in the carriageshe was in due to the crowd standing aroundthe prison. When she was told that a person,much beloved and respected was imprisonedfor a single sermon she related this to the Kingwhereupon the Charles II set Calamy free.

Edmund Calamy lived to experience the GreatFire of London in 1666 which had destroyed89 parish churches. As he was driven through

Farewell Sermons



the terrible ruins of the re he was heartbroken.Arriving home he never left his room again andhe died from prolonged grief on 29 October1666. He was buried in the area where his pulpithad stood in the ruins of the church which hehad pastored for twenty-three years.

Richard Baxter, the great preacher ofKidderminster, known for his writings whichcontinue to inuence Christians today, wascontinually persecuted from 1662 to 1687.Even though he had moved to an area to livea quiet life he was placed in prison for having areligious meeting.

Thought he was granted a license for preachingin 1672 the meeting house he had foundedwas closed even though he had only preached

there once. Again in 1682 he was carried awayfrom his home. Thinking he might die he wasreleased but persecution continued in that hisbooks and personal belonging were seized. Hisworst persecution was under the wicked JudgeGeorge Jeffreys who claimed Baxter had libelledthe church. He was sentenced to pay 500 marksand to stay in prison until all was paid. Jeffreysproposed having him whipped as he struggledbehind a cart. At age 70 he was thrown in jail

for 18 months but was nally released when hisne was paid.

John Bunyan, writer of Pilgrims Progress,because of his popular preaching was slanderedas a witch and a highwayman and even accusedof having several wives. In 1658, even beforethe Act of Conformity, he was arrested forpreaching without a license. While in prison hiswife died leaving him with four children oneof whom was blind. In November of 1660 he

was again put in prison. At the Restoration of

Charles II persecution against him increasedeven more. All people were required to attendAnglican services and non-conformist meetinghouses were closed. Private gatherings of non-conformists were considered to be peopleplotting against the king.

While spending many years in jail Bunyan madeshoelaces as a means of trying to support hisfamily. He also continued preaching to about60 prisoners while in jail. His greatest workaccomplished while in prison was the writing ofhis spiritual novel, Pilgrims Progress.

Ian Murray in commenting on the GreatEjection writes, By almost every method whichmen knew, an attempt was thus made to shut themouth of Nonconformists, and for continuing

to claim the liberty to speak not a few of theNonconformists lost their lives ... There couldbe few more scathing reproofs for modernEnglish Christianity than for us really to attendto the words of these men who gave up livings,homes, liberties, goods and sometimes livesrather than surrender any part of the teachingof the Word of God.

A lady whom I know, hearing of my interest inthis subject, said she would like to know more

of The Great Rejection. Her word may havebeen wrong but her thinking was correct. Whathappened in 1662 was truly The Great Rejectionof godly men and the gospel message they hadfor their times. U

b c is a missionary in England and

Wales with Mission to the World (MTW)

COMe On YOur OWn

A fid dw my atttio ctly to a waysid plpit otic attachd to alittl chch.

Wh yo w chistd, yo moth boght yo h;

Wh yo w maid, yo pat boght yo h;

Wh yo di, yo fids will big yo h;Why ot ty comig o yo ow som tim.

By an unknown author

Submitted by Hetty McVey



Inat 1 of this series we looked at governingprinciples of worship. pat 2 examinedhow we have traditionally organised these

principles in practise. pat 3 looks at the role ofthe Regulative Principle in worship.

psalms l?

One area of argument in historical Calvinistictheology was in favour of Psalms only for use

in corporate worship (also known as ExclusivePsalmody). The reformation leaders who wrotethe Westminster Confession of Faith (hereinWCF) would seem to point this way in theirchapter on worship (WCF chapter 21.5), and ofcourse, singing songs from Scripture seems likea very logical way to stay biblical in our worshippractice and avoid the imaginations and devicesof men (WCF 1.1).

The Puritans coined the phrase Regulative

Principle as a guiding principle to helpdetermine what was appropriate or otherwisefor worship, and this principle is spelled outsomewhat in the Directory of Worship tackedon to the back of certain editions of theWCF. Exercising the principle that only whatis mandated in Scripture was acceptable foruse in worship seems simple enough, surely alogical and straightforward guide? Logical yes,straightforward no. More on this point later.

n-sed hms?Other reformers such as Martin Luther, arguedthat man-made hymns were acceptable. Lutherhimself of course led the charge by writing

that arch-Presbyterian of all hymns A MightyFortress is Our God.

The debate surrounding use of non-inspiredhymns in worship was brought to a head aroundthe time of Isaac Watts. To sing specically ofChrist, out of the shadows and types of the OldTestament Psalms and in the full and gloriouslight of the gospel, would seem like a worthyapproach to our singing.

Watts argued that he wanted to write songs basedon the Psalms that Christians could sing, ratherthan pre-messianic Jewish music (ie the Psalmsas we know them in our Bibles today). Christsang hymns the pro-hymn lobbyists remindus, and there are of course those famous textsdealing with singing Psalms, hymns and spiritualsongs in the NT (Col 3:16, Eph 5:19) so non-inspired songs, as well as the Psalms, would

seem to be acceptable under this interpretation.Alas, because of various factors at this pointit starts getting a little complicated, hence thearguments for several centuries now over how

MuSiC in WorSHipPART 3 OF 7RoBeRt Clements

F a t s

Syopsis: This is a 7-pat sis lookig at th ol of msic i woship. Pat 1

otlis som gal picipls which gid o thikig o woship. I pat 2, w

look at how woship has b ogaisd i pactic. Pat 3 discsss th rglativ

Picipl. Pat 4 tochs o th Wstmist Cofssio of Faith. I pat 5, oth

picipls of woship a lookd ito. Pat 6 xamis som fqtly askd

qstios ad pat 7 closs with a look at som itty gittis to do with how w st

abot pttig it all ito pactic.



to resolve these questions. Lets tackle some ofthe issues, one by one.

The relatve pcle.

The term Regulative Principle (RP) of course,is not strictly speaking a biblical one. The RPis a logical and necessary deduction made

from Scripture (or, a good and necessaryconsequence as the WCF has it in chapter 1.6).

Proponents of the RP would argue that theterm Trinity is not strictly speaking biblical

either (ie the word does not appear in theBible, though of course, the teaching implicitin the term is a part of the unalterable canonof Christian belief which to deny puts onermly in the arena of atheism.) So, just as theword Trinity does not actually appear in the

Bible, so the term Regulative Principle doesnot appear in the Bible. The RP is a help that isall, like the word Trinity - this is surely simpleenough?

The Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (ieman-made hymns) proponents would arguethat Scripture contains many songs which areexcluded by the RP advocates. Deborah andBaraks song in Judges 5, the Song of Mosesin Exodus 15 (and the Song of Moses and

the Lamb in Revelation 15:3,4 note the twosongs were sung); Simeons song (Lk 2: 29-32 traditionally taken to have been a sung prophecy,known as the nunc dimitas in Orthodoxcircles), likewise Marys song in Lk 1: 46-55 (theMagnicat) and the Song of Songs of course another entire book of the Bible written as asong. Why only Psalms when the Bible containsseveral other songs either recorded as such ortraditionally taken as such? Some have argued

that there are even songs embedded in severalNT epistles

You see how tricky it starts to get?

Lets pause, and reconsider our order of service

(elements of worship) for a minute while weclear our heads a bit.

The ae.

Prayer is to be patterned on the Lord s Prayer.Jesus taught us how to pray, so we have theperfect pattern on which to base our prayers,

whether extemporaneous or written down andread out. Jesus said: In this manner, therefore,pray Matt 6:9a

The Bble ead.

Another element in worship is the Bible reading.In evangelical circles, this is a very importantelement. Reading the Bible is universallyaccepted as an element of worship even inliberal theological circles which do not subscribeto the inspiration and authority of Scripture.

(For example, the Uniting Church of Australiahas a lectionary in use which is a guide to Biblereadings for the entire denomination on eachgiven Sunday of the year.) Bible reading is awell-established practise with an abundance ofScriptural and historical support.

Sacamets.

There are only two Baptism and the LordsSupper. Once again a practise patterned on theexplicit teaching and practise of Christ and theapostles.

The ffe.

Another practise patterned on the ApostolicEra church practise as seen in the NT.

The sem.

Why do we have a sermon in our worship? It maybe disguised as a talk or a message, it maybe a 10-minute mini-sermon / talk / message,

but effectively, it is a sermon, right? Now thatseems simple enough. Everyone agrees withhaving a sermon. Strict Regulative Principle folkor otherwise would not think twice about theimportance and centrality of the preaching ofthe Word of God.

The sermon then is an inarguable element ofworship, whatever form it takes (ie truncatedor super-massively long). The Apostles allpreached, Jesus preached, synagogue andTemple worship had preaching, the early churchplanters and evangelists all preached. It is theuniversally accepted practise of Christendomfor over 2,000 years built fairly and squarely onthe straightforward reading of Scripture that

Jss taght s hw t

pay, s w hav th pfct

pattn n which t bas

pays, whthxtmpans wittn

dwn and ad t.



preaching is integral to corporate worship.

Now, the sermon is not the Bible reading, is it?Nobody ever just read a chapter of Scriptureand said: well, there it is, thats my sermon.No, the sermon is man preaching Gods Word;it is not the pure opening up of Gods Wordbecause it is mixed with fallen mans inability tobe perfectly holy. The only strictly pure reading

of Gods Word is in fact the Bible reading, notthe sermon. The sermon then must includeextra-biblical material (otherwise it would bea Bible reading, not a sermon). This is logical,right?

What then is the difference between a Biblereading and a sermon?

If I was to appear next Sunday in the pulpit ofyour church as this weeks guest preacher (and Ipity your church if it ever happened!), and thenproceed to read a chapter or two of the Bible,and then promptly sat down in the pew nextto you ready to sing the next song, you wouldprobably wonder what happened to the sermon.

Clearly, the Bible reading and the sermon aretwo distinct elements of worship which are notinterchangeable.

A strict application of the RP would be newith the Bible reading element, but surely

would rule out the sermon. Why? Because thesermon is mans non-inspired word whereas theBible reading is the real McCoy Word of God.Now, I hasten to add, nobody who subscribesto the RP would ever argue that the sermon isan unsuitable element of worship because it is

a mixture of mans word and Gods word. Theinterplay between the human and the divine inthe preaching of Gods Word is accepted asbiblically allowable and worthwhile.

The same logic applies to the use of extra-biblical material in our hymnody. The Psalms-only position is inconsistent at this point, andit is an important point when we examine the

various forms each element of worship takes. Ifa strict application of the RP means Psalms-onlybecause only they are inspired, then logically,there could be no sermon as it would involveextra-biblical material generated by the mind ofman, like hymns do.

If our songs however, are patterned on thePsalms, then they are good songs, just likeour sermons are good ones if they are in linewith Scripture, and if our prayers are like the

Lord s Prayer, they are good prayers. The Biblecontains the patterns from which we structurethe elements of our worship; this is howScripture can regulate our worship.

Therefore, it would seem logical that non-inspired songs, ie a mix of human reasoningheld in check by God-inspired Scripture shouldbe acceptable in accordance with the WCFand Directory of Worship, and not represent abreach of the RP. U

rt cmt is a member of Belconnen

WPC ACT

You Are NoT AloNe

Yo a ot alo - Fo God is with yo.

Yo a ot dfslss - Fo God is yo potcto.

Yo a ot iadqat - Fo God is yo sfficicy.

Yo a ot slss - Fo God has a ppos fo yo lif.

Yo a ot wothlss - Fo God st His So to di fo yo.

Yo a ot withot hop - Fo God has a plac ppad fo yo.

Yo a ot lovd - Fo God lovs yo with a vlastig lov.

Yo a ot jctd, o abadod - Fo God calls yo His ow.

I will v fail yo. I will v abado yo. So w ca say with cofidc, Th

Lod is my hlp, so I will hav othig to fa.

Submitted by Diana Edwards of All Nations WPC, Perth.



Family Website RevieWs

Knowing that there are many people, especiallyamongst younger generations whod rather readsomething off a screen than from a book, Ithought Id check out a few websites in the hope

of nding some gems to share with you.Heres my latest ndings:

FErVr

http://fervr.net/

This is an Australian site aimed at 13 to 18 yearold Christians. It is produced by Youthworks an Australian group that works with churchesand schools with the aim of spreading thegospel to children, youth and families. The site

has won webby awards in both 2011 and 2012and provides an excellent source of sound andwonderfully presented material for the targetaudience.

Inclusions:

articles relevant to the issues faced by teens

encouragement to read the Bible and goodChristian literature

reviews of books, comics, movies, TV

programs and music short movies that highlight important issues

I recommend all parents of teens take a look atthe site to check it out and then decide how youmight allow your teen to interact with it. Thereare facebook and twitter links that parents mightfeel are best to leave only for older teens toaccess.

DoMESTiC KingDoM AppLyingTHE goSpEL To THE MunDAnE

www.domestickingdom.com

A blog produced by two women, Gloria andSam, both with young children who are livingin Dubai.

Theyve created an online place where womencan be encouraged in their Christian walk,

especially in areas relating to their daily lives andin particular their home life.

Sam and Gloria write some of the materialthemselves and ask others from all over theworld to contribute to their site. Recent blogtopics have included:

How the gospel frees me to be honest

Whats on your playlist?

Showing hospitality despite our messes

What makes our modesty distinctlyChristian?

Pour out grace and mercy when pointingpreschoolers to Jesus

The site also contains links to otherrecommended websites and Christian literaturethat the authors have appreciated.

Recommended particularly for mothers ofpreschoolers!

HouSEWiFE THEoLogiAn THEgoSpEL inTErrupTing THEorDinAry

www.housewifetheologian.com

This blog is written by Aimee Byrd who tagsherself as: Bride of Christ, wife of Matt, andmother of three. She aims to challenge readersto examine whether our faith in Christ matchesup with our thoughts and daily activities. Aimee

holds to reformed theology and writes on avariety of topics, some of which have included:

messages on church signs

modesty

remarks that stick with you

feminism

niceness

Aimee is an avid reader and writes excellentreviews and reections about books that she hasread. She also includes a list of blogs she reads/visits.

Recommended for all Christian women!

~ Sandra

Youth & Family Pages



On the 27th May, 2012, our Dad, TonyWalker, was preaching at the Brooktonchurch. It was a long journey from Mandurahto Brookton. It took about two and quarterhours to get there.

This was our rst ever time at Brookton.

While the journey took a long time it wasvery interesting. The highlight was seeing

the baby lambs in the elds near Brookton.Arthur later told us May is the lambingseason.

The church was built in 1903 making it oneof the oldest churches we have ever been to.

Everyone was very friendly and welcomingand made us feel at home. Arthur did anamazing job playing the accordion. Thiswas the rst time we have experiencedthe accordion being played at church. Itwas Belindas birthday (one of the churchmembers) and she brought a chocolate cakewhich she had made which was very yummy.

We met Isabelle the new born baby, daughterof the new members to the church, Racheland Brett. Isabelle was being passed aroundby everyone like pass the parcel. Eva hadknitted a warm blanket for her to snuggle in.

Scarlet played with Nicky on the trampolineafter the service. Lots of Arthur and Faysgreat grandchildren came to say hello afterthe service. It was a great day and we wouldlove to go again.

~ Connor & Scarlet

OuR Day Out at CalvaRyPResbyteRian ChuRCh,

bROOktOn, Wa.by COnneR WalkeR (13),

sCaRlet WalkeR (10)

WeSTMInSTerSHOrTer CATeCHISM

WITH THe SCrIPTure PrOOF

Q. 40. What le dd gd at

rst reveal to man for his

bedece?

A. The rule which God at rst

revealed to man for hisobedience was the moral law

[a]. Rom. 2:14-15; 10:5

Q. 41. Whee s the mal law

set out briey?

A. The moral law is set out brieyin the ten commandments [a].

[a]. Deut. 4:13; Matt. 19:17-19

Q. 42. What s the sm f the

te cmmadmets?

A. The sum of the tencommandments is, To love

the Lord our God with all ourheart, with all our soul, with

all our strength, and with allour mind; and our neighbour

as ourselves [a].

[a]. Matt. 22:37-40

Please senD us sniPPetsFOR OuR mag that yOu

think aRe Relevant tOOuR yOungeR ReaDeRs!



CongrATuLATionS Tony

Tony Walker of Mandurah WPC passed hispresbytery licensure examination with yingcolours.

THE BAiLEyS

Richard and TC Bailey together with theiryoungest son, Duncan recently arrived from USAto assist MTW with church planting ministries inPerth. They are currently serving at Canning ValeCommunity Church (CVCC).

Peter Kuilenburg interviews Richard and TCBailey of Canning Vale Chruch, WA.

Q1: Richard, what was it that rst aroused teest sev gd Astala?

In 2005 TC and I were beginning to feel alittle unsettled in our present ministry. We wereserving in a good church and having a vibrantministry, but felt that the Lord might want us todo something different. We looked at differentministry areas and missions works. We cameto Perth at the invitation of Stephen Rarig andChuck Linkston to look at the work going on

here. We knew Chuck from his ministry daysback in the States. After seeing the work(s) thatMission to the World was involved in and theneeds in Perth we decided to pursue ministryalongside of them. All along the way the Lordhas conrmed our Call here to Perth.

Q2: Was t rchad, wee bthses gds call t Astala?

It was both of us the entire time. There was no

need of convincing the other one of our callinghere to Perth. Since the early days of our marriageand our call to the ministry in 1988 we have doneit all together. In fact, it was TC who was anxiousto get on with the process of becoming MTW

missionaries and me, Richard, who wanted to goslowly and have things conrmed along the way.The Lord has always used our different gifts invarious roles in ministry, but we are denitely aministry team.

Q3: So how did you go about nding where Astala gd mht have laced ?

(See Q 1) Perth is the only city that we havevisited in Australia. On our rst visit we wereintroduced to a number of pastors and churchworks going on here in Perth. We were convincedthat the Lord wanted us to come to Perth, we justdid not know what type of ministry He wouldlead us to. We thought it might be a new churchplant somewhere in the city. Then, on our secondvisit, Steve Raring introduced us to the CanningVale Community Church (WPC) family. We werewelcomed and felt that this was a great groupof people whom we could minister with andalongside of. CVCC had expressed the need forsomeone to come and work with in the churchon a full time basis. We all prayed that the Lordwould lead us to Canning Vale if that was Hiswill. And, here we are.

Q4: it has take a l tme t et hee,hw l exactl?

We began this process in 2005. We were approvedas MTW missionaries in 2006. So, it has takenabout six years to get here.

Q5: That s a l tme! i all that tmedd ethe f dbt gds dect adcall t Astala?

I think we would be less than truthful if we

said we never doubted our call here. Therewere a number of setbacks along the way. In2008 TC was riding her bicycle and was struckby an automobile. She was severely injured andwe wondered if the Lord was telling us to goanother direction. Then in 2008 the economycrashed and fundraising slowed almost to astop. Also in 2008 the Senior pastor at the PlainsPresbyterian Church, where I was the AssistantPastor, left for another calling. His duties and

more fell to me for over a year until anotherpastor could be found. We did not ever feel thatthe Lord was saying dont go to Perth, but thiswas not the quick passage Down Under thatwe were hoping for. One truly wonderful thing

C h c h n w s

24 Th Mg Winter 2012



was the encouragement and conrmation fromour church family at The Plains PC in Louisiana.The Session there is committed to missions andthey are committed to us. They worked withus to allow travel and an employment schedulethat did not over burden us. They prayed forand helped keep us focused on our call to Perth.With the economy in such bad shape in the U.S.many churches have cut back on their missionssupport. Consequently most of our supportcomes from individuals. The Lord has continuedto show us His leading and guidance with littleencouragements along the way. Every time wewould get frustrated and begin to doubt a letterwould come from someone telling us that theywere going to contribute to our ministry. God

kept us going.Also, the Lord had a lot of work to do in our livesto get us ready to come here. We learned muchthrough the long process. The Lord shaped andmolded us with trials and testings.

Q6: nw that ae hee, what ae messs f Astala?

That is a dangerous question! We are stillformulating our impressions. We have only been

here for two months. Australia is similar to theUSA in that it is a rst world country and theylook alike in many ways. Australians are veryfriendly and helpful. Perth is a beautiful city.Everything seems to run well. We cant wait to

get out and see more of WA.

Q7: What ae hes f mst

hee Weste Astala?

The church is to be spreading the gospel throughdiscipleship. We hope to be a part of growingCVCC by discipleship. We want the Lord to use

our gifts so that CVCC will be known as a churchwhere the Lord is gloried in worship and wherethe members see growth in their love for Christand each other. We want to be part of trainingothers in the ministry of the church so that theirgifts are used in the body. We are praying fordirection and guidance as we work with the eldersand members to accomplish this.

Q8: Hw ca the ele f WpC a f

ad mst amst s?Pray for our marriage and family. That is whereSatan will attack us the most. It is a lot to movefrom the other side of the world and the stresseson all of us are great. Pray that we will pray. Thatthe Lord will keep us on our knees so that ifanything good happens it is certainly of Him.Pray that we will not be know it all Americans,but fellow workers. Pray that I, Richard will not

be about performance, but about people. Praythat TC will be a witness at her work (nursing)and use her gifts too. Pray that Duncan will bea witness at school (9th grade) and that he willgrow in his walk with the Lord. U



AuSTrAliAN CAPiTAl TerriTOry

belCONNeN WPC

Meets: 61 Templeton Street,(cnr Rowan St.)COOK, ACT 2614

Tme: 9.30am and 6.30pm (every Snday)Address: 61 Templeton Street,

COOK, ACT 2614Ofce Ph: (02) 6251 7727Fax: (02) 6251 7737Emal: [email protected]: Revd geoff FndlayTelephone: (02) 6259 7707 (a/h)

NeW SOuTh WAleS

S.e. AuSTrAliA PreSbyTeryModerator: Revd geoff FndlayEmal: [email protected]: Elder Perry BlackmoreEmal: [email protected]

QueeNSlANd

ChriSTiAN COMMuNiTy ChurCh PACiFiCPArAdiSe

Meets: North Shore Commnty Centre,Davd Low Way, PACiFiC PARADiSE

Tme: 9.30amPostal: 119 glenvew Rd, gLENViEW QLD

4553Contact: Revd Dan BosshardMob: 0439 708 092Emal: [email protected]

grACe ChriSTiAN ChurCh(buderiM WPC)

Meets: Corner of Strnybark Rd and ToralDr, Sppy Downs, SuNSHiNE

COASTTmes: 7.45am, 9.30am and 6.00pm

Chnese Chrch (Mandarnlanae) meets at 1pm. EnlshHor (free Enlsh classes) at 4pm.

Postal: PO Box 346, BuDERiM, QLD 4556Telephone: (07) 5445 8933Contact: Revd Bob Brnett (07) 5442 1783Emal: [email protected] Ste: www.racechrchbderm.com.a

MeTrOWeST COMMuNiTy ChurCh(MT OMMANey WPC)

Meets: Mt Ommaney Specal School, 94Captol Drve, MT OMMANEY

Tmes: 9:30am & 5pm

Webste: http://www.metrowest.ccPostal: 2/101 Harts Rd, iNDOOROOPiLLY,

QLD 4068Contact: Revd ian Spence


grACe ChriSTiAN ChurCh(redbANk WPC)

Meets: School Road, REDBANK PLAiNSTme: 9.30amPostal: P.O. Box 347, gOODNA, QLD 4300Contact: Revd Davd SmthTelephone: (07) 3495 7051Emal: [email protected]

PreSbyTery OF QueeNSlANd

Moderator: John HamltonClerk: ian SpencePostal: 2/101 Harts Road,

iNDOOROOPiLLY, QLD 4068Telephone: (07) 3371 2512Emal: [email protected]

WeSTMiNSTer TheOlOgiCAl COllegeQueeNSlANd

Prncpal: Revd Terry Clarke10 Hollns Close, KuRABY,QuEENSLAND 4112

Postal: PO Box 346, BuDERiM, QLD 4556Telephone: (07) 5445 8501Emal: nformaton@@sctc.or.aWeb: www.sctc.or.a

WeSTerN AuSTrAliA

All NATiONS PreSbyTeriAN ChurCh

Meets: The Beafort Centre, 74-82 BeafortStreet (2nd Floor), PERTH.

Tme: 10.00amEmail: [email protected] ste: www.allnatons.or.aTelephone: (08) 9228 4951Fax (08) 9228 4956Postal: PO Box 8693, Perth BC WA 6849Contact: Revd Smon van BrchemEmal: [email protected]

brOOkTON (CAlvAry PreSbyTeriAN)

Meets: Rchardson St., BROOKTONTme: 10.30am.

Postal: PO Box 99, BROOKTON, WA 6306Contact: Revd Clem Whte (08) 9535 3301Emal: [email protected] OR elder

Arthr Slater (08) 9642 1231

Westmste pesbtea Chch

C o t a c t s



bull Creek WPC

Meets: 32 Bll Creek Drve, BuLL CREEKTmes: 9.30am, 6.30pm.Postal: 32 Bll Creek Drve, BuLL CREEK,

WA 6149Emal: [email protected]: (08) 9332 6300Fax: (08) 9332 1991Contact: Revd Steve Schoof (08) 9310 3357Emal: [email protected]: Revd Mark Vvan (08) 9455 3919Emal: [email protected]: Revd Cra Newll (08) 6161 0525Emal: [email protected]: www.wpc.net

b C WPC inonsan Scs

Tme: 4.00pmMeets: 32 Bll Creek Drve, BuLL CREEK,

WA 6149Revd Pals Srya

Tel: (08) 6465 8763Moble: 0412 441 341

CANNiNg vAle COMMuNiTy ChurCh(CANNiNg vAle WPC)

Meets: Cannn Vale Commnty Centre,Cnr Waratah Blvd. and EcalyptsBlvd., CANNiNg VALE

Tme: 10.30amPostal: PO Box 5153, CANNiNg VALE

SOuTH, WA 6155Telephone: (08) 9256 4776Contact: Revd Alex NathanEmal: [email protected]

kelMSCOTT WPC

Meets: Lot 60 Centre Rd, (Cnr Ralway Ave)

KELMSCOTT, WA 6111Tmes: Prayer 9.15am. Servce 10.00amPostal: PO Box 305 THORNLiE WA 6988Telephone: (08) 94954220Contact: Revd Anton Noppers (08) 9498 3306Emal: [email protected]

kiNgSley COMMuNiTy ChurCh

Meets: 15 Moolanda Bvde, KiNgSLEYTme: 9.30amPostal: 15 Moolanda Bvde, KiNgSLEY, WA

6026Telephone: (08) 9309 4043Sesson Clerk: Elder Tony Veale (08) 9448 6542Emal: [email protected]

MAidA vAle WPC

Meets: 4 Old Mada Vale Rd, MAiDA VALETmes: 10.00am and 6.00pmPostal: 4 Old Mada Vale Rd, MAiDA VALE,

WA 6057Telephone: (08) 9454 7401Fax: (08) 9454 4307Contact: Revd Roer PalmerEmail: [email protected]

MANdurAh WPC

Meets: The Nelle Reaan Hall, Peel St,MANDuRAH

Tme: 10.00amPostal: PO Box 5875 Mandrah, WA 6210

See Kelmscott WPC for contact detals ofpastoral team.

MurdOCh Three CrOSSeS ChurCh

Mornn: 10am Mandala Hall, MandalaCrescent, Bateman at 10am

Evenn: 6pm Mrdoch unversty, MrdochPostal: 9 Johansen Promenade MuRDOCH

WA 6150Contact: Revd Matthew WaldronMob: 0438 021 286Emal: [email protected]: www.threecrosseschrch.com

PreSbyTery OF WeSTerN AuSTrAliA

Moderator: Revd Smon van BrchemEmal: [email protected]: (08) 9228 4951Work: (08) 9457 0107Clerk: Elder Steve HeathcotePostal: 21 Carcoo Cort BECKENHAM 6107Emal: [email protected]: (08) 9458 5449

SyNOd OF WeSTMiNSTer PreSbyTeriANChurCh

Moderator: Smon van BrchemClerk: Mark VvanEmal: [email protected]: Elder Drk SoetTelephone: (08) 9444 7506

C p 15


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Westminster Presbyterian Church

Bull Creek (Perth Western Australia)Seeks a Lead Pastor who is committed to the

Westminster Standards to work with our associate

Pastors in providing spiritual leadership to the church

and to lead in discovering and implementing before

the Lord the vision of the church.

The Lead Pastor will be engaged in a wide range of

pastoral, expository preaching, teaching, visitation and

counselling duties. He would be a Team Leader who is

able to identify, equip and mobilise the church forministry.

WPC Bull Creek is a multicultural church with a

membership of 450 people. It is situated 12kms south

of Perth City close to the Southern Kwinana Freeway.

Applications can be made online via the WPCBC

website www.wpcbc.net

or for further information contact the Administrator

Sue Burrow via email [email protected]

messenger spring 2012 online

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