From jwestendorp at crca.org.au Sun Dec 1 22:39:31 2013 From: jwestendorp at crca.org.au (jwestendorp at crca.org.au) Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 08:39:31 +1000 Subject: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette Message-ID: <001701ceeee6$33bb3a40$9b31aec0$@crca.org.au> Good morning men. I trust you had a wonderful Lord's Day yesterday. We certainly did and were blessed by Andrew's third sermon on Song of Songs. We hope to have it accessible from our church web page shortly. I said to someone yesterday, "I've only ever heard one sermon on Song of Songs and that was as allegorical as could be. Andrew's approach was refreshing and it's good to see that sending Andrew to the last Preaching Conference at the RTC has paid dividends for us in Toowoomba J I write this though because I want to raise a matter for discussion on the MINS email list that has troubled me for some time. It's the matter of acknowledging our sources. That's a difficult matter and I know that there are a lot of grey areas. In our preaching we do heaps of research that includes not only grammars and lexicons but also commentaries and the even the sermons of others. At the end of the day we may end up with a sermon that has "borrowed" from half a dozen sources or more. Most of us, if we have a lengthy quote, will acknowledge the source. It's even happened that at the start of a new series of sermons I begin by acknowledging my indebtedness to a certain book/author. However there is a grey area where we use ideas that we pick up and then develop further ourselves. It becomes a nightmare - and a hindrance to good communication - to repeatedly say, "I just want to acknowledge that I got that idea from Matthew Henry (or whoever)". I sometimes take consolation in the thought that it has all been said before. The same is true for the stuff we put in our bulletins. If we thought it up ourselves we put our own name under it. If we've taken it from a book or off the internet then it is good etiquette to acknowledge the source. In fact not to do so could lead us to be charged with plagiarism. Although I'm mindful of the quote, "If you borrow the words of one author it's called plagiarism, if you borrow from twenty authors it's called scholarship!". I mention all this because I do take the time these days to listen to some of the sermons being preached in our churches and I also get a fair number of church bulletins crossing my desk. There have been times when I have thought, "That sounds familiar!" The helpful thing is that these days you can do a google search on a whole phrase or sentence. When that same sentence (or even paragraph) then pops up on a website then it's obvious that it has been cut and pasted. And please don't think you can get away by arguing that the same Spirit who inspired the other author also inspired you J We need to remember not only that doing this is not good etiquette... it is also embarrassing when you are caught out. In fact many years ago a man was actually dismissed from the ministry when it was found out that all his sermons had been plagiarised - in that case simply by being translated from another language but never acknowledged. This is not intended to be taken as me having a shot at anyone - I just want to raise a concern I have and I trust that those who find that the cap fits, will indeed wear it. Thanks for hearing me out. Please add your words of wisdom if you have something to offer. John Westendorp (CRC Toowoomba) Westy's Weekly Blog Pearls In the Holy Bible there are less than a dozen references to pearls. Some of those references simply refer to what is most valuable and precious. Thus Jesus tells us not to throw our pearls to pigs (Mat.7:6). I've often used that verse (and probably misused it too!) to justify not answering an antagonist who is having a go at me for my Christian beliefs. In other instances pearls are used to refer to jewellery items and are simply included along with gold and precious stones. Read more.! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 530 bytes Desc: not available URL: From pgadsby at crca.org.au Sun Dec 1 22:58:50 2013 From: pgadsby at crca.org.au (WPGadsby) Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 09:58:50 +1100 Subject: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette In-Reply-To: <001701ceeee6$33bb3a40$9b31aec0$@crca.org.au> References: <001701ceeee6$33bb3a40$9b31aec0$@crca.org.au> Message-ID: <007701ceeee8$e84d3380$b8e79a80$@crca.org.au> Hi John and others, Reminds me of the story about the little church that couldn't afford a minister, so every week students from a nearby seminary would take the service. One week a young bloke preached and began by acknowledging that he had 'borrowed' the sermon from C.H.Spurgeon (the famous 19th century London preacher). After the service, one of the elders spoke to him. "It's interesting that you mentioned that you'd borrowed the sermon from Mr Spurgeon, because it was the same sermon we had last week. Must have been Mr Spurgeon his self!" More seriously, this issue has come up recently with regard to Pastor Mark Driscoll, who has been caught our quoting extensively from the work of Dr Peter Jones, without proper acknowledgment. Details here . I reckon that there is a grey area between plagiarism and "research." In the latter case, you studied and weighed the views of others, and come to your own convictions about the matter. In the former, you just lazily quote verbatim, or nearly so, the words of another. According to the above-cited web page, an IP fellow at Columbia has stated that "Copyright laws protect expression - the exact ordering of words - not the idea." Can we narrow the grey area? Blessings, Peter G Canberra From: mins-bounces at crca.org.au [mailto:mins-bounces at crca.org.au] On Behalf Of jwestendorp at crca.org.au Sent: Monday, 2 December 2013 9:40 AM To: mins at crca.org.au Subject: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette Good morning men. I trust you had a wonderful Lord's Day yesterday. We certainly did and were blessed by Andrew's third sermon on Song of Songs. We hope to have it accessible from our church web page shortly. I said to someone yesterday, "I've only ever heard one sermon on Song of Songs and that was as allegorical as could be. Andrew's approach was refreshing and it's good to see that sending Andrew to the last Preaching Conference at the RTC has paid dividends for us in Toowoomba J I write this though because I want to raise a matter for discussion on the MINS email list that has troubled me for some time. It's the matter of acknowledging our sources. That's a difficult matter and I know that there are a lot of grey areas. In our preaching we do heaps of research that includes not only grammars and lexicons but also commentaries and the even the sermons of others. At the end of the day we may end up with a sermon that has "borrowed" from half a dozen sources or more. Most of us, if we have a lengthy quote, will acknowledge the source. It's even happened that at the start of a new series of sermons I begin by acknowledging my indebtedness to a certain book/author. However there is a grey area where we use ideas that we pick up and then develop further ourselves. It becomes a nightmare - and a hindrance to good communication - to repeatedly say, "I just want to acknowledge that I got that idea from Matthew Henry (or whoever)". I sometimes take consolation in the thought that it has all been said before. The same is true for the stuff we put in our bulletins. If we thought it up ourselves we put our own name under it. If we've taken it from a book or off the internet then it is good etiquette to acknowledge the source. In fact not to do so could lead us to be charged with plagiarism. Although I'm mindful of the quote, "If you borrow the words of one author it's called plagiarism, if you borrow from twenty authors it's called scholarship!". I mention all this because I do take the time these days to listen to some of the sermons being preached in our churches and I also get a fair number of church bulletins crossing my desk. There have been times when I have thought, "That sounds familiar!" The helpful thing is that these days you can do a google search on a whole phrase or sentence. When that same sentence (or even paragraph) then pops up on a website then it's obvious that it has been cut and pasted. And please don't think you can get away by arguing that the same Spirit who inspired the other author also inspired you J We need to remember not only that doing this is not good etiquette... it is also embarrassing when you are caught out. In fact many years ago a man was actually dismissed from the ministry when it was found out that all his sermons had been plagiarised - in that case simply by being translated from another language but never acknowledged. This is not intended to be taken as me having a shot at anyone - I just want to raise a concern I have and I trust that those who find that the cap fits, will indeed wear it. Thanks for hearing me out. Please add your words of wisdom if you have something to offer. John Westendorp (CRC Toowoomba) Westy's Weekly Blog Pearls In the Holy Bible there are less than a dozen references to pearls. Some of those references simply refer to what is most valuable and precious. Thus Jesus tells us not to throw our pearls to pigs (Mat.7:6). I've often used that verse (and probably misused it too!) to justify not answering an antagonist who is having a go at me for my Christian beliefs. In other instances pearls are used to refer to jewellery items and are simply included along with gold and precious stones. Read more.! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.gif Type: image/gif Size: 530 bytes Desc: not available URL: From jtzuidy at gmail.com Mon Dec 2 01:04:47 2013 From: jtzuidy at gmail.com (John Zuidema) Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 12:04:47 +1100 Subject: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette In-Reply-To: <007701ceeee8$e84d3380$b8e79a80$@crca.org.au> References: <001701ceeee6$33bb3a40$9b31aec0$@crca.org.au> <007701ceeee8$e84d3380$b8e79a80$@crca.org.au> Message-ID: Hi John and others. Thanks for reminding us to be credible in this part of our work in the Lord's kingdom. The only other thought I had was that some people may have been unaware that one needs to aknowledge another's work when using it sermons or bulletin blogs or meditations. 'Copy and paste' with acknowledgement is simply wrong. So thanks for the gracious reminder. Blessings John Zuidema On Monday, December 2, 2013, WPGadsby wrote: > Hi John and others, > > > > Reminds me of the story about the little church that couldn?t afford a > minister, so every week students from a nearby seminary would take the > service. > > One week a young bloke preached and began by acknowledging that he had > ?borrowed? the sermon from C.H.Spurgeon (the famous 19th century London > preacher). After the service, one of the elders spoke to him. ?It?s > interesting that you mentioned that you?d borrowed the sermon from Mr > Spurgeon, because it was the same sermon we had last week. Must have been > Mr Spurgeon his self!? > > > > More seriously, this issue has come up recently with regard to Pastor Mark > Driscoll, who has been caught our quoting extensively from the work of Dr > Peter Jones, without proper acknowledgment. Details here > . > > > > I reckon that there is a grey area between plagiarism and ?research.? In > the latter case, you studied and weighed the views of others, and come to > your own convictions about the matter. In the former, you just lazily quote > verbatim, or nearly so, the words of another. According to the above-cited > web page, an IP fellow at Columbia has stated that ?Copyright laws protect > expression ? the exact ordering of words ? not the idea.? > > > > Can we narrow the grey area? > > > > Blessings, > > > > Peter G > > Canberra > > > > *From:* mins-bounces at crca.org.au 'mins-bounces at crca.org.au');> [mailto:mins-bounces at crca.org.au] > *On Behalf Of *jwestendorp at crca.org.au 'jwestendorp at crca.org.au');> > *Sent:* Monday, 2 December 2013 9:40 AM > *To:* mins at crca.org.au > *Subject:* [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette > > > > Good morning men. > > > > I trust you had a wonderful Lord?s Day yesterday. We certainly did and > were blessed by Andrew?s third sermon on Song of Songs. We hope to have it > accessible from our church web page shortly. I said to someone yesterday, > ?I?ve only ever heard one sermon on Song of Songs and that was as > allegorical as could be. Andrew?s approach was refreshing and it?s good to > see that sending Andrew to the last Preaching Conference at the RTC has > paid dividends for us in Toowoomba J > > > > I write this though because I want to raise a matter for discussion on the > MINS email list that has troubled me for some time. It?s the matter of > acknowledging our sources. That?s a difficult matter and I know that there > are a lot of grey areas. In our preaching we do heaps of research that > includes not only grammars and lexicons but also commentaries and the even > the sermons of others. At the end of the day we may end up with a sermon > that has ?borrowed? from half a dozen sources or more. Most of us, if we > have a lengthy quote, will acknowledge the source. It?s even happened that > at the start of a new series of sermons I begin by acknowledging my > indebtedness to a certain book/author. However there is a grey area where > we use ideas that we pick up and then develop further ourselves. It > becomes a nightmare ? and a hindrance to good communication ? to repeatedly > say, ?I just want to acknowledge that I got that idea from Matthew Henry > (or whoever)?. I sometimes take consolation in the thought that it has all > been said before. > > > > The same is true for the stuff we put in our bulletins. If we thought it > up ourselves we put our own name under it. If we?ve taken it from a book > or off the internet then it is good etiquette to acknowledge the source. > In fact not to do so could lead us to be charged with plagiarism. Although > I?m mindful of the quote, ?If you borrow the words of one author it?s > called plagiarism, if you borrow from twenty authors it?s called > scholarship!?. > > > > I mention all this because I do take the time these days to listen to some > of the sermons being preached in our churches and I also get a fair number > of church bulletins crossing my desk. There have been times when I have > thought, ?That sounds familiar!? The helpful thing is that these days you > can do a google search on a whole phrase or sentence. When that same > sentence (or even paragraph) then pops up on a website then it?s obvious > that it has been cut and pasted. And please don?t think you can get away > by arguing that the same Spirit who inspired the other author also inspired > you J > > > > We need to remember not only that doing this is not good etiquette... it > is also embarrassing when you are caught out. In fact many years ago a man > was actually dismissed from the ministry when it was found out that all his > sermons had been plagiarised ? in that case simply by being translated from > another language but never acknowledged. > > > > This is not intended to be taken as me having a shot at anyone ? I just > want to raise a concern I have and I trust that those who find that the cap > fits, will indeed wear it. > > > > Thanks for hearing me out. > > > > Please add your words of wisdom if you have something to offer. > > > > John Westendorp (CRC Toowoomba) > > > > > > *Westy?s Weekly Blog* > > *Pearls* > > -- Zuidy Sent from Gmail Mobile -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.gif Type: image/gif Size: 530 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ptuit at calvinseminary.edu Mon Dec 2 00:19:27 2013 From: ptuit at calvinseminary.edu (Pieter Tuit) Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 11:19:27 +1100 Subject: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette In-Reply-To: <001701ceeee6$33bb3a40$9b31aec0$@crca.org.au> References: <001701ceeee6$33bb3a40$9b31aec0$@crca.org.au> Message-ID: Hi all, This reminds me of my former prof and colleague Dr Richard Muller at Calvin Seminary who said to new students,"If you think that you can say something new when it comes to preaching the gospel you can be sure it is heresy. I am also reminded of a candidate who preached for his classis exam( not in this country) and when an elder googled a phrase that sounded familiar found out that his sermon was plagiarized. Give credit to sources where you can. Sometimes just a some wrote or said is sufficient, or at the beginning of a series, acknowledge the main sources that you will draw from. Do allow me to say that the older i get ( And yes, John you can still remember how young I once was), I am having more fun preparing, preaching and writing sermons than ever before. Have a good eye on Scripture, our confessions, the culture around us and discern how the Holy Spirit is at work in the congregation as well as the world, the devil and our sinful flesh. Blessings, Pieter On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 9:39 AM, wrote: > Good morning men. > > > > I trust you had a wonderful Lord?s Day yesterday. We certainly did and > were blessed by Andrew?s third sermon on Song of Songs. We hope to have it > accessible from our church web page shortly. I said to someone yesterday, > ?I?ve only ever heard one sermon on Song of Songs and that was as > allegorical as could be. Andrew?s approach was refreshing and it?s good to > see that sending Andrew to the last Preaching Conference at the RTC has > paid dividends for us in Toowoomba J > > > > I write this though because I want to raise a matter for discussion on the > MINS email list that has troubled me for some time. It?s the matter of > acknowledging our sources. That?s a difficult matter and I know that there > are a lot of grey areas. In our preaching we do heaps of research that > includes not only grammars and lexicons but also commentaries and the even > the sermons of others. At the end of the day we may end up with a sermon > that has ?borrowed? from half a dozen sources or more. Most of us, if we > have a lengthy quote, will acknowledge the source. It?s even happened that > at the start of a new series of sermons I begin by acknowledging my > indebtedness to a certain book/author. However there is a grey area where > we use ideas that we pick up and then develop further ourselves. It > becomes a nightmare ? and a hindrance to good communication ? to repeatedly > say, ?I just want to acknowledge that I got that idea from Matthew Henry > (or whoever)?. I sometimes take consolation in the thought that it has all > been said before. > > > > The same is true for the stuff we put in our bulletins. If we thought it > up ourselves we put our own name under it. If we?ve taken it from a book > or off the internet then it is good etiquette to acknowledge the source. > In fact not to do so could lead us to be charged with plagiarism. Although > I?m mindful of the quote, ?If you borrow the words of one author it?s > called plagiarism, if you borrow from twenty authors it?s called > scholarship!?. > > > > I mention all this because I do take the time these days to listen to some > of the sermons being preached in our churches and I also get a fair number > of church bulletins crossing my desk. There have been times when I have > thought, ?That sounds familiar!? The helpful thing is that these days you > can do a google search on a whole phrase or sentence. When that same > sentence (or even paragraph) then pops up on a website then it?s obvious > that it has been cut and pasted. And please don?t think you can get away > by arguing that the same Spirit who inspired the other author also inspired > you J > > > > We need to remember not only that doing this is not good etiquette... it > is also embarrassing when you are caught out. In fact many years ago a man > was actually dismissed from the ministry when it was found out that all his > sermons had been plagiarised ? in that case simply by being translated from > another language but never acknowledged. > > > > This is not intended to be taken as me having a shot at anyone ? I just > want to raise a concern I have and I trust that those who find that the cap > fits, will indeed wear it. > > > > Thanks for hearing me out. > > > > Please add your words of wisdom if you have something to offer. > > > > John Westendorp (CRC Toowoomba) > > > > > > *Westy?s Weekly Blog* > > *Pearls* > > *In the Holy Bible there are less than a dozen references to pearls. Some > of those references simply refer to what is most valuable and precious. > Thus Jesus tells us not to throw our pearls to pigs (Mat.7:6). I've often > used that verse (and probably misused it too!) to justify not answering an > antagonist who is having a go at me for my Christian beliefs. In other > instances pearls are used to refer to jewellery items and are simply > included along with gold and precious stones.* > > *Read more?! * > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mins mailing list > Mins at crca.org.au > To manage subscription settings - > http://crca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/mins_crca.org.au > > -- Rev. Pieter C Tuit Minister of the Ulverstone Christian Reformed Church and Sanctuary Hill Christian Fellowship ( Penguin CRC) 2 Main Road PO Box 110 Penguin Tasmania Australia 7316 Phone 61-(0)3-64372188 Mobile 0417919098 email for North America ptuit at calvinseminary.edu email for other countries including Australia ptuit at crca.org.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 530 bytes Desc: not available URL: From jtzuidy at gmail.com Mon Dec 2 03:43:33 2013 From: jtzuidy at gmail.com (Zuidema John) Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 14:43:33 +1100 Subject: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette In-Reply-To: <001701ceeee6$33bb3a40$9b31aec0$@crca.org.au> References: <001701ceeee6$33bb3a40$9b31aec0$@crca.org.au> Message-ID: <779A068D-6DD2-4331-9D20-C2A8717D1EBE@gmail.com> Hi again, My previous post should have read ?copy and paste without acknowledgement is simply wrong." Also, when we were in preaching class at College, our professor summed up this concern by saying, ?You can milk three hundred cows, but you have to make your own butter?. Not sure why, but that resonated with me (-: Zuidy On 2 Dec 2013, at 9:39 am, wrote: > Good morning men. > > I trust you had a wonderful Lord?s Day yesterday. We certainly did and were blessed by Andrew?s third sermon on Song of Songs. We hope to have it accessible from our church web page shortly. I said to someone yesterday, ?I?ve only ever heard one sermon on Song of Songs and that was as allegorical as could be. Andrew?s approach was refreshing and it?s good to see that sending Andrew to the last Preaching Conference at the RTC has paid dividends for us in Toowoomba J > > I write this though because I want to raise a matter for discussion on the MINS email list that has troubled me for some time. It?s the matter of acknowledging our sources. That?s a difficult matter and I know that there are a lot of grey areas. In our preaching we do heaps of research that includes not only grammars and lexicons but also commentaries and the even the sermons of others. At the end of the day we may end up with a sermon that has ?borrowed? from half a dozen sources or more. Most of us, if we have a lengthy quote, will acknowledge the source. It?s even happened that at the start of a new series of sermons I begin by acknowledging my indebtedness to a certain book/author. However there is a grey area where we use ideas that we pick up and then develop further ourselves. It becomes a nightmare ? and a hindrance to good communication ? to repeatedly say, ?I just want to acknowledge that I got that idea from Matthew Henry (or whoever)?. I sometimes take consolation in the thought that it has all been said before. > > The same is true for the stuff we put in our bulletins. If we thought it up ourselves we put our own name under it. If we?ve taken it from a book or off the internet then it is good etiquette to acknowledge the source. In fact not to do so could lead us to be charged with plagiarism. Although I?m mindful of the quote, ?If you borrow the words of one author it?s called plagiarism, if you borrow from twenty authors it?s called scholarship!?. > > I mention all this because I do take the time these days to listen to some of the sermons being preached in our churches and I also get a fair number of church bulletins crossing my desk. There have been times when I have thought, ?That sounds familiar!? The helpful thing is that these days you can do a google search on a whole phrase or sentence. When that same sentence (or even paragraph) then pops up on a website then it?s obvious that it has been cut and pasted. And please don?t think you can get away by arguing that the same Spirit who inspired the other author also inspired you J > > We need to remember not only that doing this is not good etiquette... it is also embarrassing when you are caught out. In fact many years ago a man was actually dismissed from the ministry when it was found out that all his sermons had been plagiarised ? in that case simply by being translated from another language but never acknowledged. > > This is not intended to be taken as me having a shot at anyone ? I just want to raise a concern I have and I trust that those who find that the cap fits, will indeed wear it. > > Thanks for hearing me out. > > Please add your words of wisdom if you have something to offer. > > John Westendorp (CRC Toowoomba) > > > Westy?s Weekly Blog > Pearls > In the Holy Bible there are less than a dozen references to pearls. Some of those references simply refer to what is most valuable and precious. Thus Jesus tells us not to throw our pearls to pigs (Mat.7:6). I've often used that verse (and probably misused it too!) to justify not answering an antagonist who is having a go at me for my Christian beliefs. In other instances pearls are used to refer to jewellery items and are simply included along with gold and precious stones. > Read more?! > > _______________________________________________ > Mins mailing list > Mins at crca.org.au > To manage subscription settings - http://crca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/mins_crca.org.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aalmond at rtc.edu.au Mon Dec 2 03:29:36 2013 From: aalmond at rtc.edu.au (Reformed Theological College) Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 03:29:36 +0000 Subject: [Mins] RTC Monthly December In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: [Description: Description: Monthly-Banner] No. 69 - 2 December 2013 Greetings! Welcome to the last RTC Monthly of this year! Exams ended on 15 November and the past few weeks were mostly taken up by marking exam papers and essays. Our annual graduation ceremony also took place on 15 November (more about this below). Please pray for the students who finished their studies this year, that the Lord will bless them with clear guidance for the future. Please also pray for a time of refreshing and spiritual growth over the summer holidays for those who will be coming back next year. Please join us in praying for a good intake of students at the start of 2014. At the very least we would love to see more new students than the number who completed at the end of this year so that the College community grows. We would appreciate your prayers for everyone considering the possibility of pursuing theological studies at the RTC in 2014. Faculty News Bill Berends to Visit Myanmar. The RTC is looking into setting up a special relationship with the Reformed Theological College of Myanmar following a visit to that institution by Phillip Scheepers last year. To further explore that option the college is sending Bill Berends to teach a course in Christian Ethics to the Myanmar students in January, Lord willing. Henny will accompany Bill, and hopes she can do some work with the women in children's ministry. Please pray for a safe and profitable lecture tour. Distance Education We are very pleased to announce two new Old Testament courses to be presented by distance education during the first and second semesters of 2014. In semester 1: "Old Testament Foundations," and in semester 2: "Old Testament Prophets and Writings." These courses will be presented by our Old Testament lecturer John de Hoog. These courses will prove invaluable to all who wish to understand the Old Testament writings within their historical-cultural contexts. Students will also come away from the course with a greater appreciation of the role these writings play in the larger drama of redemptive history. We encourage you to make use of this opportunity to delve deeper into Scripture with the help of an experienced guide. The other courses that will be offered through distance education during the first semester of 2014 are: * CH301/501: The Church to 1550 (presented by Dr Phillip Scheepers) * TH403/603D: Grace and Eschatology (presented by Dr Bill Berends) Participating in these courses will give you the opportunity to experience high-level theological education right where you are! The courses are accredited and can therefore provide credit towards ACT qualifications. More information about all these courses can be found at: www.refstudy.org or by contacting Dr Phillip Scheepers (who heads up our distance programme): pscheepers at rtc.edu.au. Still deciding whether our distance programme is for you? Dr Bill Berends authored a basic theology course designed to give students a "taster" of what online theological study is like. This course is free and the RTC will send certificates of completion to successful participants. The course can be found at the RTC distance education page: www.refstudy.org (click on "Free Courses" towards the bottom of the page). Graduation [The RTC Faculty with students who received awards or were valedicted (farewelled) at our recent graduation][DLP_0399Graduates] Our annual graduation ceremony took place on 15 November. Twelve students received degrees and other qualifications. Some others were "valedicted" (farewelled). These are students who completed their courses of study but are still awaiting final results. It was very special to be able to celebrate the fruits of their hard work with the students. The graduation address was given by Rev Bill Bosker, the past chairman of the RTC board. Rev Bosker gave an excellent address on "God's Job Description for Church Leaders" based on 2 Timothy 2:1-10. In Memoriam We want to give thanks for the life of Don Capill, who went to be with the Lord on November 29. In 1989 Don and Helen came over from New Zealand following his appointment to lecture in Christian Education at the RTC. While the Christian education program did not take off, because of competing courses set up elsewhere, Don led many students in stimulating discussions on what is now known as Christian worldview during his time in Geelong. When Don and Helen returned to New Zealand he continued to write and lecture on Christian education. Some years later their son Murray started teaching part time at the RTC while ministering to the South Barwon congregation, and in 2008 Murray took over as principal of the college. Book Recommendation by Rev John de Hoog [cid:image006.jpg at 01CEEF6A.B1BE1780]Thompson, John L., Genesis 1-11. Reformation Commentary on Scripture. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2012. John L. Thompson is the editor of the first OT volume in the series Reformation Commentary on Scripture (RCS). RCS is envisaged as a twenty-eight volume series that will cover the whole Bible. It gathers exegetical writings from sixteenth century preachers, scholars and reformers in the Reformation tradition. IVP is to be highly commended for this new venture. The fact that a whole volume is dedicated to Genesis 1-11 (in comparison, Volume 3 of the series is projected to cover Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) shows how important this early part of Genesis has been to Christian commentators and particularly to Reformation-era scholars. This large-format work of over four hundred and fifty pages is a pleasure to use. Thompson has selected excerpts from a range of Lutheran, moderate or "reformist" Catholic, Anabaptist, Continental Reformed and English Protestant and Puritan writers. For the English reader, with the exception of Luther, Calvin and various radical reformers, most writers are translated into English for the first time in this volume. This book thus represents a magnificent example of seasoned scholarship serving the (English-speaking) church in a wonderful way. The book proceeds pericope by pericope through Genesis 1-11. As you can imagine, this work is a goldmine of comment on Genesis 1-11. But what is the point of reading old commentaries on Genesis? Isn't it much better to stick with modern works that have put the past heritage of commentary on trial, preserved what is best and now use the tools of modern biblical scholarship to enhance our understanding of the text? If only it was so easy! The Reformation was at bottom a return to the Bible, but that did not mean that all prior theological writing was rejected; far from it. The Reformers were often very familiar with earlier writings on Scripture. Thompson tells the story of one episode in Calvin's life that made it perfectly clear that Calvin saw past theological writing as a gift from God, and that we should not try to get along without earlier writings, particularly that of the early church (xliv). How helpful it could be to those of us whose roots run through the Reformation to have our understanding shaped not merely by modern work but also by the work of those whom God provided in the past as helpful teachers of his Word. In order to get a sample of Reformation-era work on Genesis 1-11, I went to a key text, Genesis 3:15. The very first entry is from Wolfgang Musculus, who quotes from Augustine's idea that the woman in the text represents "animal intellect, the lower part of the human mind" through which alone we can be tempted by the devil, which is to be overcome by the fruit of good works represented in the story by the seed of the woman. Musculus dismisses this interpretation as "absurd" and goes on to contend for a Christocentric interpretation in which Christ is the seed of the woman who is victorious over Satan (156). Luther argues that in this account Adam and Eve were drawn up "into battle line against their condemned enemy (157)." Peter Martyr Vermigli notices that just as the woman fell through an instance of friendliness to the serpent, so God introduces the exact opposite - eternal hostility. After 14 further excerpts the section closes with some words from Andrew Willett, who argues that the promise of the Messiah suggests that Adam and Eve did not lose their faith, for what would such a promise mean to a faithless man (162)? Fifty or more commentaries on Genesis appeared in the sixteenth century, and Thompson has concluded a labour of love in working through them and selecting useful excerpts. The Reformation was an era of biblical revival. May God use this series for similar work in our day. Ministry Spot The Return of an Ancient Heresy by Dr Bill Berends The Reformed churches were originally identified by that name on the basis of their reforms in the church liturgy. They not only joined Lutherans in doing away with the idolatry so prominent in medieval churches, but sought to structure their worship wholly according to biblical guidelines. However, since the late 16th century this label was more and more used to identify the Reformed theology of grace. The reasons were, firstly, that this differentiated Reformed doctrine from the emphasis on works found in the Roman Church. Secondly, Lutheran churches, which had similarly emphasised God's sovereign grace under Luther, soon abandoned this emphasis to teach that coming to and persevering in the faith ultimately depended on human effort. Lastly, when Reformed churches were faced with the challenge to divine sovereignty under Arminius, the Reformed label became strongly identified with the five points of Calvinism. Benjamin Warfield pointed out that the move away from divine sovereignty in works of grace was a move back to the ancient heresy of Pelagianism. Pelagius was a fifth century British monk who taught a pure theology of works. He looked upon the final judgment as an event where God would weigh up each person's works to see whether they deserved to go to heaven. Under the influence of Augustine this doctrine was strongly denounced, but in time it came back in a weaker form. The church began to teach that only some sins were fully paid for by Christ, namely those committed by baptised children before their confirmation, and those of adult converts before their baptism. Any subsequent sins had to be paid for by means of going to Mass, doing Penance, or by invoking the help of saints. Warfield identified this Roman doctrine as semi-Pelagianism. Warfield identified the post-reformational heresy that humans are responsible for choosing their own salvation apart from God's electing grace as semi-semi-Pelagianism. We usually tend to identify this as Arminianism, the heresy that was condemned by the Synod of Dort's five points of Calvinism. Here we should note that Wesleyans did not follow all five Arminian heresies, though they did hold that human choice rather than God's sovereignty was the determinative factor in salvation. Recently Evangelicalism has seen a return to the Reformed doctrines of Grace, especially in North America under the leadership of men like John Piper, Mark Driscoll and R.C. Sproul. This may give the impression that lingering forms of Pelagianism are on their way out, but that would be a false impression. In fact, Pelagianism may have a firmer foothold in Evangelicalism and Christianity in general than ever before, and here we are talking of full-blown Pelagianism, not some weakened (semi, or semi-semi) form. Let me explain. Recent surveys among Christians and Evangelical show that the majority of them believe that people other than Christians will also go to heaven. Statistics vary according to the nature and place of the polls, but it is clear that this has become the default position in Christendom, if not evangelicalism. In itself the view that some "non-Christians" might be saved is perhaps not unreasonable, if this represents the hope that God's grace will extend to more than those who have heard the Gospel (the Reformation's Second Helvetic Confession, written largely by Bullinger, expressed such a hope). The problem is that when people are asked why they believe some Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and others of different faiths, or no faith, will be saved the usual answer is: "because there are so many good and nice people among them". The idea that people are saved because they are good or nice is pure Pelagianism and thoroughly unscriptural. The Bible clearly says, "There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one who understands, no-one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one"" (Rom. 3:10-12). It was this clear biblical truth that led Augustine, and Luther, and the theologians at Dort, to reject any idea that humans can do anything to save themselves; salvation is purely by grace. The idea that some, or even many, of those who do not know Christ will be saved because they are such good and nice people is a dangerous doctrine that must be strongly opposed. The Bible makes it clear that Christ, who said "I am the way, the truth and the life", is the only way to salvation (Jn. 14:6). "Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The rich young ruler who questioned Christ about how he might be saved was a good and nice man by all social standards; even Jesus loved him (Mk. 10:21). But Jesus made it clear that this man would not be saved unless he placed his faith in him instead of his possessions. Being good and nice may be a fruit of salvation, but it is never a contributing cause to salvation. Abraham and his offspring were not called by God because they were good, but "to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just" (Gen. 18:19). If Christians come to believe God saves people because they are good and nice this will have many sad repercussions. It would leave Christians without assurance, because, like Luther, they would always be wondering if they were good enough. It would encourage boasting and showing off (1 Cor. 1:28, 29; Eph. 2:8, 9), outward piety (Mt. 23:25-28), and an unwillingness to repent and let God's Spirit work true renewal (Eph. 2:10). In fact, it would lead to a church little different from the Jewish society that Jesus sought to reform through his preaching of faith and repentance. We may also wonder if the new perception of non-Christians as deserving people has not taken away a major incentive for evangelism and mission. Yes, short term mission tours are immensely popular, and fun, but how many people today are prepared to devote the whole of their lives to reach those without knowledge of Christ? Perhaps we can bring this closer to home. How many of you believe that those who do not know Christ will perish? And if so, have you thought of answering the call to missions or evangelism because of your compassion for the lost? At the end of Matthew 9 Christ encourages his twelve disciples to pray for workers in the harvest. And guess what, their prayer is answered. In the very next chapter we see that the same twelve are sent out to preach the good news that Jesus saves. Are you praying for the lost? Do you dare pray for the lost? Would you be prepared to go if the Lord were to send you? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image009.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 28242 bytes Desc: image009.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image005.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 19164 bytes Desc: image005.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: RTC Monthly 69 December 2.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 490353 bytes Desc: RTC Monthly 69 December 2.pdf URL: From clinton at southbarwon.org.au Mon Dec 2 04:16:37 2013 From: clinton at southbarwon.org.au (Clinton Berends) Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 15:16:37 +1100 Subject: [Mins] [Bulletins] Report from the CPT Message-ID: <006301ceef15$4f29bc50$ed7d34f0$@southbarwon.org.au> Hi all, Attached is a report from the Church Planting Taskforce keeping the churches updated with new churches we have supported in 2013. Please put this in your newsletters / bulletins in the coming weeks. Thanks Clinton Clinton Berends Pastor - South Barwon CRC clinton at southbarwon.org.au 0424477487 www.southbarwon.org.au cid:image001.gif at 01CD01C6.9F5FA3D0 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 2777 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Newsletters.Nov.2013.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 14038 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Bulletins mailing list Bulletins at crca.org.au To manage subscription settings - http://crca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/bulletins_crca.org.au From bkuipers at netspace.net.au Tue Dec 3 01:05:17 2013 From: bkuipers at netspace.net.au (Bert Kuipers) Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2013 12:05:17 +1100 Subject: [Mins] We covet your personal and congregational prayers. Message-ID: G.O.S.P.E.L. - matters for prayer. These points have been forwarded by our director in India. We have been asked to bring these matters of praise and petition before the throne of grace. As well we continue to pray for finances to continue to sustain and grow this ministry. Bert Kuipers. 1. We thank God for a great response to the preaching of the Word. In October there were 114 new believers baptized. In November the Lord added 29 new believers. Pray for these 143 young believers, who have professed their faith in Jesus Christ by taking baptism. Pray for their growth in knowledge and understanding of the Word. 2. We thank God for social projects like Tuition Centres, Special Coaching Classes, Children Clubs and Adult Literacy. All of these wonderfully enhance the church planting ministry. 3. There will be an election in several states in India. The Election campaign is going on in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where we have our mission field. We are praying for state governments which remove laws that make baptism illegal and which refuse permission for church buildings. 4. Our mission field workers and leaders in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are planning to conduct baptisms for about 150 new believers in the month of December. They anticipate opposition from Hindu leaders during the baptismal services. Please pray for the safety of our workers and believers. _____ PS There's a GOSPEL logo (John Westy resized) if you want to use it. Thanks, Bert Kuipers * 11 Heritage Rise, Riverside, TAS. 7250 Australia ( +61 (03) 6327 3058 0438 343101 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: GOSPEL.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 90202 bytes Desc: not available URL: From pgadsby at crca.org.au Tue Dec 3 03:12:57 2013 From: pgadsby at crca.org.au (WPGadsby) Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2013 14:12:57 +1100 Subject: [Mins] My stereos Godhead Message-ID: <000f01ceefd5$929628f0$b7c27ad0$@crca.org.au> Dear All, Recently, I was preaching in a CRCA congregation (not Canberra), and we sang the hymn, " Father of heav'n, whose love profound" (BoW, #194). When we got to verse 4 on the screen, the congregation dutifully sang the following words: Jehovah, Father, Spirit, Son, my stereos Godhead, Three in One: before Your throne we sinners bend; grace, pardon, life, to us extend. "My stereos Godhead"? Was this some reference to the imponderable truth of the Trinity? Or more down to earth, the believer's decision to play only God-honouring songs on his stereo? Well, no. This is how the words appear in the Help File prepared in 1999, "based on the Word versions entered by Bill de Hann." I wonder how many of our people are singing these meaningless words? The printed Book of Worship has them right: ".mysterious Godhead, Three in One." Peter G Canberra -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 2051 bytes Desc: not available URL: From nigel at nigelcunningham.com.au Tue Dec 3 05:07:29 2013 From: nigel at nigelcunningham.com.au (Nigel Cunningham) Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 16:07:29 +1100 Subject: [Mins] My stereos Godhead In-Reply-To: <000f01ceefd5$929628f0$b7c27ad0$@crca.org.au> References: <000f01ceefd5$929628f0$b7c27ad0$@crca.org.au> Message-ID: <529D6711.6060203@nigelcunningham.com.au> Oops. Since I generated the help files from word documents, I guess it was a typo in them. I'll see if I can still get the tools needed to produce a new version (and in the newer help file format). Does anyone else have any other typos they've found? Regards, Nigel On 03/12/13 14:12, WPGadsby wrote: > > Dear All, > > Recently, I was preaching in a CRCA congregation (not Canberra), and > we sang the hymn, " Father of heav'n, whose love profound" (/BoW/, > #194). When we got to verse 4 on the screen, the congregation > dutifully sang the following words: > > Jehovah, Father, Spirit, Son, > > my stereos Godhead, Three in One: > > before Your throne we sinners bend; > > grace, pardon, life, to us extend. > > "My stereos Godhead"? Was this some reference to the imponderable > truth of the Trinity? Or more down to earth, the believer's decision > to play only God-honouring songs on his stereo? Well, no... > > This is how the words appear in the Help File prepared in 1999, "based > on the Word versions entered by Bill de Hann." I wonder how many of > our people are singing these meaningless words? The printed /Book of > Worship/ has them right: "...mysterious Godhead, Three in One." > > Peter G > > Canberra > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mins mailing list > Mins at crca.org.au > To manage subscription settings - http://crca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/mins_crca.org.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 2051 bytes Desc: not available URL: From aalmond at rtc.edu.au Mon Dec 2 03:29:36 2013 From: aalmond at rtc.edu.au (Reformed Theological College) Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 03:29:36 +0000 Subject: [Mins] [Bulletins] RTC Monthly December In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: [Description: Description: Monthly-Banner] No. 69 - 2 December 2013 Greetings! Welcome to the last RTC Monthly of this year! Exams ended on 15 November and the past few weeks were mostly taken up by marking exam papers and essays. Our annual graduation ceremony also took place on 15 November (more about this below). Please pray for the students who finished their studies this year, that the Lord will bless them with clear guidance for the future. Please also pray for a time of refreshing and spiritual growth over the summer holidays for those who will be coming back next year. Please join us in praying for a good intake of students at the start of 2014. At the very least we would love to see more new students than the number who completed at the end of this year so that the College community grows. We would appreciate your prayers for everyone considering the possibility of pursuing theological studies at the RTC in 2014. Faculty News Bill Berends to Visit Myanmar. The RTC is looking into setting up a special relationship with the Reformed Theological College of Myanmar following a visit to that institution by Phillip Scheepers last year. To further explore that option the college is sending Bill Berends to teach a course in Christian Ethics to the Myanmar students in January, Lord willing. Henny will accompany Bill, and hopes she can do some work with the women in children's ministry. Please pray for a safe and profitable lecture tour. Distance Education We are very pleased to announce two new Old Testament courses to be presented by distance education during the first and second semesters of 2014. In semester 1: "Old Testament Foundations," and in semester 2: "Old Testament Prophets and Writings." These courses will be presented by our Old Testament lecturer John de Hoog. These courses will prove invaluable to all who wish to understand the Old Testament writings within their historical-cultural contexts. Students will also come away from the course with a greater appreciation of the role these writings play in the larger drama of redemptive history. We encourage you to make use of this opportunity to delve deeper into Scripture with the help of an experienced guide. The other courses that will be offered through distance education during the first semester of 2014 are: * CH301/501: The Church to 1550 (presented by Dr Phillip Scheepers) * TH403/603D: Grace and Eschatology (presented by Dr Bill Berends) Participating in these courses will give you the opportunity to experience high-level theological education right where you are! The courses are accredited and can therefore provide credit towards ACT qualifications. More information about all these courses can be found at: www.refstudy.org or by contacting Dr Phillip Scheepers (who heads up our distance programme): pscheepers at rtc.edu.au. Still deciding whether our distance programme is for you? Dr Bill Berends authored a basic theology course designed to give students a "taster" of what online theological study is like. This course is free and the RTC will send certificates of completion to successful participants. The course can be found at the RTC distance education page: www.refstudy.org (click on "Free Courses" towards the bottom of the page). Graduation [The RTC Faculty with students who received awards or were valedicted (farewelled) at our recent graduation][DLP_0399Graduates] Our annual graduation ceremony took place on 15 November. Twelve students received degrees and other qualifications. Some others were "valedicted" (farewelled). These are students who completed their courses of study but are still awaiting final results. It was very special to be able to celebrate the fruits of their hard work with the students. The graduation address was given by Rev Bill Bosker, the past chairman of the RTC board. Rev Bosker gave an excellent address on "God's Job Description for Church Leaders" based on 2 Timothy 2:1-10. In Memoriam We want to give thanks for the life of Don Capill, who went to be with the Lord on November 29. In 1989 Don and Helen came over from New Zealand following his appointment to lecture in Christian Education at the RTC. While the Christian education program did not take off, because of competing courses set up elsewhere, Don led many students in stimulating discussions on what is now known as Christian worldview during his time in Geelong. When Don and Helen returned to New Zealand he continued to write and lecture on Christian education. Some years later their son Murray started teaching part time at the RTC while ministering to the South Barwon congregation, and in 2008 Murray took over as principal of the college. Book Recommendation by Rev John de Hoog [cid:image006.jpg at 01CEEF6A.B1BE1780]Thompson, John L., Genesis 1-11. Reformation Commentary on Scripture. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2012. John L. Thompson is the editor of the first OT volume in the series Reformation Commentary on Scripture (RCS). RCS is envisaged as a twenty-eight volume series that will cover the whole Bible. It gathers exegetical writings from sixteenth century preachers, scholars and reformers in the Reformation tradition. IVP is to be highly commended for this new venture. The fact that a whole volume is dedicated to Genesis 1-11 (in comparison, Volume 3 of the series is projected to cover Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) shows how important this early part of Genesis has been to Christian commentators and particularly to Reformation-era scholars. This large-format work of over four hundred and fifty pages is a pleasure to use. Thompson has selected excerpts from a range of Lutheran, moderate or "reformist" Catholic, Anabaptist, Continental Reformed and English Protestant and Puritan writers. For the English reader, with the exception of Luther, Calvin and various radical reformers, most writers are translated into English for the first time in this volume. This book thus represents a magnificent example of seasoned scholarship serving the (English-speaking) church in a wonderful way. The book proceeds pericope by pericope through Genesis 1-11. As you can imagine, this work is a goldmine of comment on Genesis 1-11. But what is the point of reading old commentaries on Genesis? Isn't it much better to stick with modern works that have put the past heritage of commentary on trial, preserved what is best and now use the tools of modern biblical scholarship to enhance our understanding of the text? If only it was so easy! The Reformation was at bottom a return to the Bible, but that did not mean that all prior theological writing was rejected; far from it. The Reformers were often very familiar with earlier writings on Scripture. Thompson tells the story of one episode in Calvin's life that made it perfectly clear that Calvin saw past theological writing as a gift from God, and that we should not try to get along without earlier writings, particularly that of the early church (xliv). How helpful it could be to those of us whose roots run through the Reformation to have our understanding shaped not merely by modern work but also by the work of those whom God provided in the past as helpful teachers of his Word. In order to get a sample of Reformation-era work on Genesis 1-11, I went to a key text, Genesis 3:15. The very first entry is from Wolfgang Musculus, who quotes from Augustine's idea that the woman in the text represents "animal intellect, the lower part of the human mind" through which alone we can be tempted by the devil, which is to be overcome by the fruit of good works represented in the story by the seed of the woman. Musculus dismisses this interpretation as "absurd" and goes on to contend for a Christocentric interpretation in which Christ is the seed of the woman who is victorious over Satan (156). Luther argues that in this account Adam and Eve were drawn up "into battle line against their condemned enemy (157)." Peter Martyr Vermigli notices that just as the woman fell through an instance of friendliness to the serpent, so God introduces the exact opposite - eternal hostility. After 14 further excerpts the section closes with some words from Andrew Willett, who argues that the promise of the Messiah suggests that Adam and Eve did not lose their faith, for what would such a promise mean to a faithless man (162)? Fifty or more commentaries on Genesis appeared in the sixteenth century, and Thompson has concluded a labour of love in working through them and selecting useful excerpts. The Reformation was an era of biblical revival. May God use this series for similar work in our day. Ministry Spot The Return of an Ancient Heresy by Dr Bill Berends The Reformed churches were originally identified by that name on the basis of their reforms in the church liturgy. They not only joined Lutherans in doing away with the idolatry so prominent in medieval churches, but sought to structure their worship wholly according to biblical guidelines. However, since the late 16th century this label was more and more used to identify the Reformed theology of grace. The reasons were, firstly, that this differentiated Reformed doctrine from the emphasis on works found in the Roman Church. Secondly, Lutheran churches, which had similarly emphasised God's sovereign grace under Luther, soon abandoned this emphasis to teach that coming to and persevering in the faith ultimately depended on human effort. Lastly, when Reformed churches were faced with the challenge to divine sovereignty under Arminius, the Reformed label became strongly identified with the five points of Calvinism. Benjamin Warfield pointed out that the move away from divine sovereignty in works of grace was a move back to the ancient heresy of Pelagianism. Pelagius was a fifth century British monk who taught a pure theology of works. He looked upon the final judgment as an event where God would weigh up each person's works to see whether they deserved to go to heaven. Under the influence of Augustine this doctrine was strongly denounced, but in time it came back in a weaker form. The church began to teach that only some sins were fully paid for by Christ, namely those committed by baptised children before their confirmation, and those of adult converts before their baptism. Any subsequent sins had to be paid for by means of going to Mass, doing Penance, or by invoking the help of saints. Warfield identified this Roman doctrine as semi-Pelagianism. Warfield identified the post-reformational heresy that humans are responsible for choosing their own salvation apart from God's electing grace as semi-semi-Pelagianism. We usually tend to identify this as Arminianism, the heresy that was condemned by the Synod of Dort's five points of Calvinism. Here we should note that Wesleyans did not follow all five Arminian heresies, though they did hold that human choice rather than God's sovereignty was the determinative factor in salvation. Recently Evangelicalism has seen a return to the Reformed doctrines of Grace, especially in North America under the leadership of men like John Piper, Mark Driscoll and R.C. Sproul. This may give the impression that lingering forms of Pelagianism are on their way out, but that would be a false impression. In fact, Pelagianism may have a firmer foothold in Evangelicalism and Christianity in general than ever before, and here we are talking of full-blown Pelagianism, not some weakened (semi, or semi-semi) form. Let me explain. Recent surveys among Christians and Evangelical show that the majority of them believe that people other than Christians will also go to heaven. Statistics vary according to the nature and place of the polls, but it is clear that this has become the default position in Christendom, if not evangelicalism. In itself the view that some "non-Christians" might be saved is perhaps not unreasonable, if this represents the hope that God's grace will extend to more than those who have heard the Gospel (the Reformation's Second Helvetic Confession, written largely by Bullinger, expressed such a hope). The problem is that when people are asked why they believe some Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and others of different faiths, or no faith, will be saved the usual answer is: "because there are so many good and nice people among them". The idea that people are saved because they are good or nice is pure Pelagianism and thoroughly unscriptural. The Bible clearly says, "There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one who understands, no-one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one"" (Rom. 3:10-12). It was this clear biblical truth that led Augustine, and Luther, and the theologians at Dort, to reject any idea that humans can do anything to save themselves; salvation is purely by grace. The idea that some, or even many, of those who do not know Christ will be saved because they are such good and nice people is a dangerous doctrine that must be strongly opposed. The Bible makes it clear that Christ, who said "I am the way, the truth and the life", is the only way to salvation (Jn. 14:6). "Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The rich young ruler who questioned Christ about how he might be saved was a good and nice man by all social standards; even Jesus loved him (Mk. 10:21). But Jesus made it clear that this man would not be saved unless he placed his faith in him instead of his possessions. Being good and nice may be a fruit of salvation, but it is never a contributing cause to salvation. Abraham and his offspring were not called by God because they were good, but "to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just" (Gen. 18:19). If Christians come to believe God saves people because they are good and nice this will have many sad repercussions. It would leave Christians without assurance, because, like Luther, they would always be wondering if they were good enough. It would encourage boasting and showing off (1 Cor. 1:28, 29; Eph. 2:8, 9), outward piety (Mt. 23:25-28), and an unwillingness to repent and let God's Spirit work true renewal (Eph. 2:10). In fact, it would lead to a church little different from the Jewish society that Jesus sought to reform through his preaching of faith and repentance. We may also wonder if the new perception of non-Christians as deserving people has not taken away a major incentive for evangelism and mission. Yes, short term mission tours are immensely popular, and fun, but how many people today are prepared to devote the whole of their lives to reach those without knowledge of Christ? Perhaps we can bring this closer to home. How many of you believe that those who do not know Christ will perish? And if so, have you thought of answering the call to missions or evangelism because of your compassion for the lost? At the end of Matthew 9 Christ encourages his twelve disciples to pray for workers in the harvest. And guess what, their prayer is answered. In the very next chapter we see that the same twelve are sent out to preach the good news that Jesus saves. Are you praying for the lost? Do you dare pray for the lost? Would you be prepared to go if the Lord were to send you? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image009.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 28242 bytes Desc: image009.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image005.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 19164 bytes Desc: image005.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: RTC Monthly 69 December 2.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 490353 bytes Desc: RTC Monthly 69 December 2.pdf URL: -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Bulletins mailing list Bulletins at crca.org.au To manage subscription settings - http://crca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/bulletins_crca.org.au From sedwards at rtc.edu.au Mon Dec 2 06:58:36 2013 From: sedwards at rtc.edu.au (Simon Edwards) Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 06:58:36 +0000 Subject: [Mins] 2014 BILD Training - Registration Form Message-ID: <4C804231BD722A4FAD095D9109CFCC05F1A8AB22@RTC-SBS02.RTC.local> CRCA Ministers: Further to our previous email about the BILD Training program for 2014, please find attached the Registration Form for your use. Greetings in Christ, Philip Phillip Scheepers Lecturer in Missions and Church History [Description: Description: Description: Q:\2-ADMIN\Logos\2012 Dube Logos\RTC Logos for Windows\web\RTC-Full-Colour_rgb.png] www.rtc.edu.au 125 Pigdons Rd, Waurn Ponds, Geelong 3216 T. (03) 5244 2955 M. 0432 988 549 E. pscheepers at rtc.edu.au From: Simon Edwards Sent: Monday, 4 November 2013 3:15 PM To: mins at crca.org.au Subject: Expressions of Interest: BILD Training Dear brothers, The period from 10 to 14 February 2014 has been set aside for BILD 'training of trainers' workshops here at the RTC. The purpose of this email is to call for expressions of interest from those who may be interested to present the BILD units in their congregations. This will normally include pastors who have Task3 students in their churches but may also include those who would like to make use of the BILD units as a general training resource. The units for which training can be presented here at the RTC are: 1) Acts - Training takes 2.5 days (This is the first unit in the BILD Leadership Series and students have to complete this before moving on to other units) 2) Pauline Epistles 3) Shepherding and Counselling 4) Leadership Completion of the 'training of trainers' workshop will enable you to run the Task3 linked BILD training programme in your church. Training for the last three units on the list generally takes two days to complete individually. However, if anyone wants to take all three of them training can be combined to run over a five-day period. The main advantage of this is that the training for all three units can be completed during a single trip to Geelong. I would appreciate it if prospective participants can let me know as soon as possible (at psheepers at rtc.edu.au) if they intend to participate in the training. Please also indicate which units you would like to complete. Greetings in Christ Philip Phillip Scheepers Lecturer in Missions and Church History [Description: Description: Description: Q:\2-ADMIN\Logos\2012 Dube Logos\RTC Logos for Windows\web\RTC-Full-Colour_rgb.png] www.rtc.edu.au 125 Pigdons Rd, Waurn Ponds, Geelong 3216 T. (03) 5244 2955 M. 0432 988 549 E. pscheepers at rtc.edu.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 9290 bytes Desc: image001.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: RTC BILD Training 2014 Registration Form.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 109101 bytes Desc: RTC BILD Training 2014 Registration Form.docx URL: From bkuipers at netspace.net.au Wed Dec 4 02:38:32 2013 From: bkuipers at netspace.net.au (Bert Kuipers) Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2013 13:38:32 +1100 Subject: [Mins] Please promote the CC in newsletter and from pulpit. Message-ID: <95F5D68DEC2440DF90BB3212EE108741@KuipersPC> COMPASSIONATE CATALOGUE. You are invited to give a gift of love in the name of Christ. Every gift is associated with great ministries in developing countries. May God be honoured. Here's a suggestion: Maybe you can help a child receive the wonderful J.S.B. (gift 12) in order to become more Biblically literate. Because we got such a fantastic price on the printing, we can actually now halve the price that's quoted in the catalogue. It's 10 Gujarati JSB's for $A35 or $NZ40. See the whole catalogue on the web: http://wdrw.crca.org.au/catalogue.html _____ Bert Kuipers - editor Compassionate Catalogue. * 11 Heritage Rise, Riverside, TAS. 7250 Australia ( +61 (03) 6327 3058 0438 343101 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Cover page.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 89945 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ettiene7 at gmail.com Wed Dec 4 05:52:05 2013 From: ettiene7 at gmail.com (Ettiene de Wilzem) Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2013 15:52:05 +1000 Subject: [Mins] Please promote the CC in newsletter and from pulpit. In-Reply-To: <95F5D68DEC2440DF90BB3212EE108741@KuipersPC> References: <95F5D68DEC2440DF90BB3212EE108741@KuipersPC> Message-ID: Hi John, I'm pretty sure I saw them on Wendy's desk earlier this week. Part of our announcements? E On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 12:38 PM, Bert Kuipers wrote: > *COMPASSIONATE CATALOGUE.* > > You are invited to give a gift of love in the name of Christ. Every gift > is associated with great ministries in developing countries. May God be > honoured. > > Here's a suggestion: Maybe you can help a child receive the wonderful > *J.S.B.* (gift 12) in order to become more Biblically literate. Because > we got such a fantastic price on the printing, we can actually now halve > the price that's quoted in the catalogue. It's 10 Gujarati JSB's for $A35 > or $NZ40. See the whole catalogue on the web: > http://wdrw.crca.org.au/catalogue.html > > > > > ------------------------------ > > *Bert Kuipers - editor Compassionate Catalogue.* > > ** 11 Heritage Rise, Riverside, TAS. 7250 Australia* > > *( +61 (03) 6327 3058 0438 343101* > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mins mailing list > Mins at crca.org.au > To manage subscription settings - > http://crca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/mins_crca.org.au > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From graham.sayer at crckingston.org.au Fri Dec 6 00:43:28 2013 From: graham.sayer at crckingston.org.au (Graham Sayer) Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2013 11:43:28 +1100 Subject: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette In-Reply-To: <007701ceeee8$e84d3380$b8e79a80$@crca.org.au> References: <001701ceeee6$33bb3a40$9b31aec0$@crca.org.au> <007701ceeee8$e84d3380$b8e79a80$@crca.org.au> Message-ID: <52a11db6.c2ea420a.7dbc.440f@mx.google.com> Hi everyone This is an important issue indeed. The pastor of one of my family members had to resign within the last year due to substantiated systematic plagiarism of sermons. He was found out using the searches already alluded to which were undertaken by an elder who had heard something familiar. A subsequent preliminary investigation by the elders forced a confrontation which was to the effect 'how much has this really been happening?' to which he lied and was then beyond the point of any return when further investigation confirmed his guilt in over 70 sermons. It's a trust issue. Totally unacceptable, but there was of course a pastoral side to the situation raising issues of pressure, expectations, depression, shame, guilt and so on. It has been - and still is - devastating to all involved. May God have mercy on that man, his family, the church and all those who have been looking on from a distance. Humility will find many lessons to learn in these sorts of situations. But just a note of caution. In these situations it is hard, unless you are the investigating body (and even then), to know the whole story. I followed the link to the Driscoll allegations below and the page actually contains updated information to the effect that all content regarding the allegations has been removed from the accusers site. This of course doesn't mean there isn't a case to answer, but beware of circulating these sorts of things as they can seriously damage ministries that in the end may be found to be innocent. Cheers Graham Sayer From: mins-bounces at crca.org.au [mailto:mins-bounces at crca.org.au] On Behalf Of WPGadsby Sent: Monday, 2 December 2013 9:59 AM To: jwestendorp at crca.org.au; mins at crca.org.au Subject: Re: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette Hi John and others, Reminds me of the story about the little church that couldn't afford a minister, so every week students from a nearby seminary would take the service. One week a young bloke preached and began by acknowledging that he had 'borrowed' the sermon from C.H.Spurgeon (the famous 19th century London preacher). After the service, one of the elders spoke to him. "It's interesting that you mentioned that you'd borrowed the sermon from Mr Spurgeon, because it was the same sermon we had last week. Must have been Mr Spurgeon his self!" More seriously, this issue has come up recently with regard to Pastor Mark Driscoll, who has been caught our quoting extensively from the work of Dr Peter Jones, without proper acknowledgment. Details here . I reckon that there is a grey area between plagiarism and "research." In the latter case, you studied and weighed the views of others, and come to your own convictions about the matter. In the former, you just lazily quote verbatim, or nearly so, the words of another. According to the above-cited web page, an IP fellow at Columbia has stated that "Copyright laws protect expression - the exact ordering of words - not the idea." Can we narrow the grey area? Blessings, Peter G Canberra From: mins-bounces at crca.org.au [mailto:mins-bounces at crca.org.au] On Behalf Of jwestendorp at crca.org.au Sent: Monday, 2 December 2013 9:40 AM To: mins at crca.org.au Subject: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette Good morning men. I trust you had a wonderful Lord's Day yesterday. We certainly did and were blessed by Andrew's third sermon on Song of Songs. We hope to have it accessible from our church web page shortly. I said to someone yesterday, "I've only ever heard one sermon on Song of Songs and that was as allegorical as could be. Andrew's approach was refreshing and it's good to see that sending Andrew to the last Preaching Conference at the RTC has paid dividends for us in Toowoomba J I write this though because I want to raise a matter for discussion on the MINS email list that has troubled me for some time. It's the matter of acknowledging our sources. That's a difficult matter and I know that there are a lot of grey areas. In our preaching we do heaps of research that includes not only grammars and lexicons but also commentaries and the even the sermons of others. At the end of the day we may end up with a sermon that has "borrowed" from half a dozen sources or more. Most of us, if we have a lengthy quote, will acknowledge the source. It's even happened that at the start of a new series of sermons I begin by acknowledging my indebtedness to a certain book/author. However there is a grey area where we use ideas that we pick up and then develop further ourselves. It becomes a nightmare - and a hindrance to good communication - to repeatedly say, "I just want to acknowledge that I got that idea from Matthew Henry (or whoever)". I sometimes take consolation in the thought that it has all been said before. The same is true for the stuff we put in our bulletins. If we thought it up ourselves we put our own name under it. If we've taken it from a book or off the internet then it is good etiquette to acknowledge the source. In fact not to do so could lead us to be charged with plagiarism. Although I'm mindful of the quote, "If you borrow the words of one author it's called plagiarism, if you borrow from twenty authors it's called scholarship!". I mention all this because I do take the time these days to listen to some of the sermons being preached in our churches and I also get a fair number of church bulletins crossing my desk. There have been times when I have thought, "That sounds familiar!" The helpful thing is that these days you can do a google search on a whole phrase or sentence. When that same sentence (or even paragraph) then pops up on a website then it's obvious that it has been cut and pasted. And please don't think you can get away by arguing that the same Spirit who inspired the other author also inspired you J We need to remember not only that doing this is not good etiquette... it is also embarrassing when you are caught out. In fact many years ago a man was actually dismissed from the ministry when it was found out that all his sermons had been plagiarised - in that case simply by being translated from another language but never acknowledged. This is not intended to be taken as me having a shot at anyone - I just want to raise a concern I have and I trust that those who find that the cap fits, will indeed wear it. Thanks for hearing me out. Please add your words of wisdom if you have something to offer. John Westendorp (CRC Toowoomba) Westy's Weekly Blog Pearls In the Holy Bible there are less than a dozen references to pearls. Some of those references simply refer to what is most valuable and precious. Thus Jesus tells us not to throw our pearls to pigs (Mat.7:6). I've often used that verse (and probably misused it too!) to justify not answering an antagonist who is having a go at me for my Christian beliefs. In other instances pearls are used to refer to jewellery items and are simply included along with gold and precious stones. Read more.! _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3426 / Virus Database: 3658/6892 - Release Date: 12/04/13 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 530 bytes Desc: not available URL: From pgadsby at crca.org.au Fri Dec 6 01:51:47 2013 From: pgadsby at crca.org.au (WPGadsby) Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2013 12:51:47 +1100 Subject: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette In-Reply-To: <52a11db6.c2ea420a.7dbc.440f@mx.google.com> References: <001701ceeee6$33bb3a40$9b31aec0$@crca.org.au> <007701ceeee8$e84d3380$b8e79a80$@crca.org.au> <52a11db6.c2ea420a.7dbc.440f@mx.google.com> Message-ID: <031701cef225$bb3ecd50$31bc67f0$@crca.org.au> Thanks to Graham for the update. Here is the statement made by Janet Mefford in her 4 Dec. broadcast: Before we go to break, I just want to say something really, really quickly to you. A few weeks ago, as many people know, I conducted an interview with pastor Mark Driscoll. And I received lots of feedback on that interview, both positive and negative, but I feel now that in retrospect, I should have conducted myself in a better way. I now realize the interview should not have occurred at all. I should have contacted Tyndale House directly to alert them to the plagiarism issue. And I never should have brought it to the attention of listeners publicly. So I would like to apologize to all of you and to Mark Driscoll for how I behaved. I am sorry. Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate that the story would go viral online the way it did and creating such dissension with the Christian community was never my aim. And so in an effort to right things as best as I can, I have now removed all of the materials related to the interview off my website, and also off my social media. Carl Trueman has some relevant comments here . (See also the comments below the post.) I wonder if this para. may turn out to be prophetic: Some years ago (another time, another webpage), someone I know made thinly veiled criticisms of a powerful evangelical organization. The response was swift: First, he received a series of personal pleas from people at the organization, telling him to stop; then he later discovered that his boss had come under direct pressure from head office at the other organization to remove him. The truth of what he had said was not (as far as I am aware) challenged at any point. It was simply that his comments were very inconvenient from a public relations perspective. Thankfully, the boss sided with his writer, not with the external critics. I suspect that this story may have legs. we'll have to wait and see. Peter G Canberra From: Graham Sayer [mailto:graham.sayer at crckingston.org.au] Sent: Friday, 6 December 2013 11:43 AM To: 'WPGadsby'; jwestendorp at crca.org.au; mins at crca.org.au Subject: RE: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette Hi everyone This is an important issue indeed. The pastor of one of my family members had to resign within the last year due to substantiated systematic plagiarism of sermons. He was found out using the searches already alluded to which were undertaken by an elder who had heard something familiar. A subsequent preliminary investigation by the elders forced a confrontation which was to the effect 'how much has this really been happening?' to which he lied and was then beyond the point of any return when further investigation confirmed his guilt in over 70 sermons. It's a trust issue. Totally unacceptable, but there was of course a pastoral side to the situation raising issues of pressure, expectations, depression, shame, guilt and so on. It has been - and still is - devastating to all involved. May God have mercy on that man, his family, the church and all those who have been looking on from a distance. Humility will find many lessons to learn in these sorts of situations. But just a note of caution. In these situations it is hard, unless you are the investigating body (and even then), to know the whole story. I followed the link to the Driscoll allegations below and the page actually contains updated information to the effect that all content regarding the allegations has been removed from the accusers site. This of course doesn't mean there isn't a case to answer, but beware of circulating these sorts of things as they can seriously damage ministries that in the end may be found to be innocent. Cheers Graham Sayer From: mins-bounces at crca.org.au [mailto:mins-bounces at crca.org.au] On Behalf Of WPGadsby Sent: Monday, 2 December 2013 9:59 AM To: jwestendorp at crca.org.au; mins at crca.org.au Subject: Re: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette Hi John and others, Reminds me of the story about the little church that couldn't afford a minister, so every week students from a nearby seminary would take the service. One week a young bloke preached and began by acknowledging that he had 'borrowed' the sermon from C.H.Spurgeon (the famous 19th century London preacher). After the service, one of the elders spoke to him. "It's interesting that you mentioned that you'd borrowed the sermon from Mr Spurgeon, because it was the same sermon we had last week. Must have been Mr Spurgeon his self!" More seriously, this issue has come up recently with regard to Pastor Mark Driscoll, who has been caught our quoting extensively from the work of Dr Peter Jones, without proper acknowledgment. Details here . I reckon that there is a grey area between plagiarism and "research." In the latter case, you studied and weighed the views of others, and come to your own convictions about the matter. In the former, you just lazily quote verbatim, or nearly so, the words of another. According to the above-cited web page, an IP fellow at Columbia has stated that "Copyright laws protect expression - the exact ordering of words - not the idea." Can we narrow the grey area? Blessings, Peter G Canberra From: mins-bounces at crca.org.au [mailto:mins-bounces at crca.org.au] On Behalf Of jwestendorp at crca.org.au Sent: Monday, 2 December 2013 9:40 AM To: mins at crca.org.au Subject: [Mins] literary & scholarly etiquette Good morning men. I trust you had a wonderful Lord's Day yesterday. We certainly did and were blessed by Andrew's third sermon on Song of Songs. We hope to have it accessible from our church web page shortly. I said to someone yesterday, "I've only ever heard one sermon on Song of Songs and that was as allegorical as could be. Andrew's approach was refreshing and it's good to see that sending Andrew to the last Preaching Conference at the RTC has paid dividends for us in Toowoomba J I write this though because I want to raise a matter for discussion on the MINS email list that has troubled me for some time. It's the matter of acknowledging our sources. That's a difficult matter and I know that there are a lot of grey areas. In our preaching we do heaps of research that includes not only grammars and lexicons but also commentaries and the even the sermons of others. At the end of the day we may end up with a sermon that has "borrowed" from half a dozen sources or more. Most of us, if we have a lengthy quote, will acknowledge the source. It's even happened that at the start of a new series of sermons I begin by acknowledging my indebtedness to a certain book/author. However there is a grey area where we use ideas that we pick up and then develop further ourselves. It becomes a nightmare - and a hindrance to good communication - to repeatedly say, "I just want to acknowledge that I got that idea from Matthew Henry (or whoever)". I sometimes take consolation in the thought that it has all been said before. The same is true for the stuff we put in our bulletins. If we thought it up ourselves we put our own name under it. If we've taken it from a book or off the internet then it is good etiquette to acknowledge the source. In fact not to do so could lead us to be charged with plagiarism. Although I'm mindful of the quote, "If you borrow the words of one author it's called plagiarism, if you borrow from twenty authors it's called scholarship!". I mention all this because I do take the time these days to listen to some of the sermons being preached in our churches and I also get a fair number of church bulletins crossing my desk. There have been times when I have thought, "That sounds familiar!" The helpful thing is that these days you can do a google search on a whole phrase or sentence. When that same sentence (or even paragraph) then pops up on a website then it's obvious that it has been cut and pasted. And please don't think you can get away by arguing that the same Spirit who inspired the other author also inspired you J We need to remember not only that doing this is not good etiquette... it is also embarrassing when you are caught out. In fact many years ago a man was actually dismissed from the ministry when it was found out that all his sermons had been plagiarised - in that case simply by being translated from another language but never acknowledged. This is not intended to be taken as me having a shot at anyone - I just want to raise a concern I have and I trust that those who find that the cap fits, will indeed wear it. Thanks for hearing me out. Please add your words of wisdom if you have something to offer. John Westendorp (CRC Toowoomba) Westy's Weekly Blog Pearls In the Holy Bible there are less than a dozen references to pearls. Some of those references simply refer to what is most valuable and precious. Thus Jesus tells us not to throw our pearls to pigs (Mat.7:6). I've often used that verse (and probably misused it too!) to justify not answering an antagonist who is having a go at me for my Christian beliefs. In other instances pearls are used to refer to jewellery items and are simply included along with gold and precious stones. Read more.! _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3426 / Virus Database: 3658/6892 - Release Date: 12/04/13 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.gif Type: image/gif Size: 530 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cbiaus at tpg.com.au Fri Dec 6 03:29:19 2013 From: cbiaus at tpg.com.au (CBIAus) Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2013 14:29:19 +1100 Subject: [Mins] [Bulletins] Crossroad Update for Dec 13 Message-ID: <05e501cef233$5cd96cd0$168c4670$@tpg.com.au> Dear Friends, Enjoy our last Update for this year. Wishing you a joyous and blessed Christmas and a great New year of 2014. In His glorious Name, Anne Bruinsma, Director Crossroad Bible Institute Australia and the South Pacific. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: CBI Update for December 2013 - e copy.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 169069 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: CBI Update for December 2013 - print copy.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 165767 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Testimonies received in Nov 2013 - e copy.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 50598 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Testimonies received in Nov 2013 - print copy.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 47454 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Bulletins mailing list Bulletins at crca.org.au To manage subscription settings - http://crca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/bulletins_crca.org.au From awbrnsma at tpg.com.au Sat Dec 7 01:26:59 2013 From: awbrnsma at tpg.com.au (Ann Bruinsma) Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2013 12:26:59 +1100 Subject: [Mins] [Bulletins] Crossroad Bible institute Newsletter for Dec' 13 Message-ID: <002201cef2eb$7f0910e0$7d1b32a0$@com.au> Dear Friends, Enjoy our last Update for this year. Wishing you a joyous and blessed Christmas and a great New year of 2014. In His glorious Name, Anne Bruinsma, Director Crossroad Bible Institute Australia and the South Pacific. From: Jack Simpson [mailto:jjsim7 at bigpond.com] Sent: Friday, 6 December 2013 8:32 PM To: 'Anne Bruisma' Subject: CBI Update for Dec' 13 Hi Anne I have attached the Updates and Testimonies for you to send to the recipients whose addresses were not recognized by Outlook. I will be forwarding the list of recipients shortly. Kind regards and blessings Jack -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: CBI Update for December 2013 - e copy.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 169069 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: CBI Update for December 2013 - print copy.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 165767 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Testimonies received in Nov 2013 - e copy.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 50598 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Testimonies received in Nov 2013 - print copy.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 47454 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Bulletins mailing list Bulletins at crca.org.au To manage subscription settings - http://crca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/bulletins_crca.org.au From tcrc at aapt.net.au Thu Dec 12 01:01:32 2013 From: tcrc at aapt.net.au (John Westendorp) Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2013 11:01:32 +1000 Subject: [Mins] =?iso-8859-1?q?Jan_Dani=EBl_Philippus_Venter?= Message-ID: <001a01cef6d5$b3107430$19315c90$@aapt.net.au> Hi all. Our Stated Classis Clerk, Marijke Hartsuiker, is presently enjoying some holidays in the sunny north of Qld so it falls on me to inform you of the following. Marijke will circulate a formal letter in due course. Classis Qld met on the evening of Wednesday December 11th to conduct a Colloquium Doctum with Jan Dani?l Philippus Venter The Rev. Peter Tuit was present as a Synodical Deputy in view of some unusual aspects of this CD. At the conclusion Classis unanimously approved the motion that as an ordained minister in GKSA, in accordance with CO article 9a, the Rev. Danie Venter is declared eligible for call in the CRCA. If you wish further information feel free to contact me in Marijke?s absence. Shalom John Westendorp Westy?s Weekly Blog And the downhill slide continues In the Land of the Long White Cloud there was a disturbing development this past week. A New Zealand mother and father were declared to have suffered a ?personal injury? and were entitled to compensation from New Zealand?s Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). Read more ! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 530 bytes Desc: not available URL: From bkuipers at netspace.net.au Wed Dec 18 00:45:23 2013 From: bkuipers at netspace.net.au (Bert Kuipers) Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2013 11:45:23 +1100 Subject: [Mins] [Bulletins] Christmas Offering Message-ID: WD&R's Christmas Offering At this time of year our churches dedicate an offering for the work of World Development & Relief. We believe that developing young lives is one of the most important ways to bring lasting change. The Peniel Vocational Training Centre in Bangalore, India is a place where some 50 of the poorest girls receive a useful qualification. As well, they are introduced to the living God who came to save his people by taking on flesh in order to bear their sin. Please continue to support this and other programs which our denomination supports through WD&R. With many thanks: Bert Kuipers WD&R. _____ Please include the notice above in your newsletters this Sunday. Thanks, Bert Kuipers - WD&R publicity. * 11 Heritage Rise, Riverside, TAS. 7250 Australia ( +61 (03) 6327 3058 0438 343101 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Bulletins mailing list Bulletins at crca.org.au To manage subscription settings - http://crca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/bulletins_crca.org.au From bkuipers at netspace.net.au Wed Dec 18 00:52:26 2013 From: bkuipers at netspace.net.au (Bert Kuipers) Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2013 11:52:26 +1100 Subject: [Mins] [Bulletins] Comp. Cat. reminder note. Message-ID: <1F96C8CFBCB7450DA292AFB52C0BE5DD@KuipersPC> Greetings to you all. Please insert this Newsletter item for this Sunday. With thanks. BK _____ Compassionate Catalogue supports many great ministries. If you haven't already done so, please take the time to choose and send a gift. We try to make sure that each gift actually gets delivered with integrity. If you don't have a hard copy you can still find all the details. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Compassionate-Catalogue-2013 http://www.wdrw.crca.org.au/catalogue.html May God's name be blessed as we serve needy people overseas. Bert Kuipers - editor. _____ Bert Kuipers - editor Compassionate Catalogue. * 11 Heritage Rise, Riverside, TAS. 7250 Australia ( +61 (03) 6327 3058 0438 343101 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Cover page.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 89945 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Bulletins mailing list Bulletins at crca.org.au To manage subscription settings - http://crca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/bulletins_crca.org.au From admin at crca.org.au Thu Dec 19 03:34:08 2013 From: admin at crca.org.au (Maria Jobse) Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2013 14:34:08 +1100 Subject: [Mins] Electronic 2013 CRCA Yearbook Message-ID: <000001cefc6b$2ee40a00$8cac1e00$@crca.org.au> Hi all I now have the 2013-14 CRCA Yearbook available as a pdf. If you would like a copy, please let me know. Christian greetings Maria Jobse Synodical Administrator Christian Reformed Churches of Australia 3 Renwick Close Blaxland NSW 2774 AUSTRALIA p: +61 (0)2 4739 6622 e: admin at crca.org.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 12516 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image004.png Type: image/png Size: 14664 bytes Desc: not available URL: From pabetz at crca.org.au Fri Dec 20 02:14:06 2013 From: pabetz at crca.org.au (Peter Abetz) Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2013 10:14:06 +0800 Subject: [Mins] Ministry position with the WEstminster Presbyterian Church Message-ID: <000c01cefd29$38210e60$a8632b20$@org.au> Dear Ministry Colleagues and churches, The Westminster Presbyterian Church in Bullcreek (near Willetton in Perth) is seeking an associate pastor as per the attached adverts in word and pdf format. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please forward them the email. We have had a very good long term relationship with the WPC congregations in WA. With Christian greetings and may God bless your Christmas celebrations Peter Rev Peter Abetz MLA (Associate Pastor) 67 Froudist Circle Southern River 6110 Phone: Home +61 (0)8 9456 2712 Electorate Office: +61 (0)8 9256 4900 Mobile: 0409 076 155 E-mail: pabetz at crca.org.au Grace Christian Reformed Church Current place of worship: Duncraig Leisure Centre Warwick Rd (near Marmion Ave) Warwick WA 6024 Worship times: Sundays: 9:30 am Website: www.gracecrc.org.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 4597 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2013_position_ad_001a.docx Type: application/octet-stream Size: 63632 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2013_position_ad_001.pdf Type: application/octet-stream Size: 122393 bytes Desc: not available URL: From rnoppers at bigpond.com Sat Dec 21 01:44:54 2013 From: rnoppers at bigpond.com (Reinier Noppers) Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2013 09:44:54 +0800 Subject: [Mins] CER meeting with PCEA Message-ID: Dear brothers, Please find attached for the churches a report on our recent meeting with representatives from the PCEA. We are thankful for the positive way this meeting was held and pray that God will enable these first steps to grow into a mutually edifying and God honouring relationship at a more formal level. Yours in Christ, Reinier Noppers -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Meeting of Ecumenical Committees of the CRCA and PCEA - agreed report (FINAL draft -PCEA & CRCA meeting Nov 14th 2013).pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 862398 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ministryformation at gmail.com Mon Dec 23 05:42:08 2013 From: ministryformation at gmail.com (Jack De Vries) Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2013 15:42:08 +1000 Subject: [Mins] Christmas Greeting Message-ID: <004b01ceffa1$b9bfb7d0$2d3f2770$@gmail.com> Dear colleagues and friends in Christ, Jeannie and I would like to wish you all a very blessed Christmas and a joy-filled new year 2014. Christmas is always a very busy time of the year for people in ministry. In the midst of all the busyness, may you find time to reflect on the greatest story ever! May your reflections not simply be for others or how you might preach your Christmas message this year. May you find time how this greatest story ever impacts your life personally and that of your family. May you have the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of His love at Christmas and always. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your churches during this festive time of the year. I have posted a new blog (Making Room ) on the CRCA website and you can check it out here . As we celebrate Christmas, may Christ be everything: every word, every song, every prayer, every thought, every deed. May Christ be all and in all. Making room! In the words of Isaac Watts, "Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!" Looking forward to growing with you next year in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus as we seek to be a church reforming to reach the lost for Christ. Blessings in Christ, Jack De Vries Ministry Development Coach Christian Reformed Churches of Australia 49 Hunter Circuit Petrie, QLD 4502 P: 07 3285 3678 M: 0437 339 008 E: mtc at crca.org.au www.ministryformation.com.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 39496 bytes Desc: not available URL: From jtzuidy at gmail.com Wed Dec 25 00:15:36 2013 From: jtzuidy at gmail.com (John Zuidema) Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2013 11:15:36 +1100 Subject: [Mins] Seasons and greetings plus a Guess who? Message-ID: Hi All, Trudy and I would like with all our colleagues in the ministry the season's greetings and we pray that today may have been a great day to celebrate the birth of our Saviour with the Lord's people, including our families. Every blessing also for the New Year. It has also come to our attention that one of our colleagues was preparing in a 'Santa' suit. We cannot make out who it is, but I am sure that he will let us all know in due time. Any ideas? Blessings Zuidy [image: Inline image 1] -- John & Trudy Zuidema 19 Heather St, Wheeler Heights. NSW, 2097 Australia (http://jtzuidy.blogspot.com.au) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Guess who.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 53931 bytes Desc: not available URL: