Church History in the making! What is happening in Churches Today ?

Where are we heading?

Good things take time... time set aside to begin them, time to enjoy them, and time to finish doing them properly. A child is like this...if they are too hurried and too busy they will miss out on the best things in life. We can be like this with our children.....if we are too hurried we will miss the pleasure and best delights of a child. We can even be too busy in a church, so busy doing things that we are too busy to worship God, to truly enjoy God. If we are too hurried for too long, we forget who God is and we are dulled by our busyness, just like an alcoholic, or drug addict or a child who is constantly over stimulated by TV, we forget that there are simple but beautiful pleasures in life.

Church History is in the making right now....and I find it fascinating and very interesting. We sometimes forget this as we plod along to church. Yet every single thing we do in the church context should be a deliberate attempt to follow sound Biblical principals, there is no middle ground. Personally for me, I cannot see how there are not such things as preferences and philosophies when it comes to church functioning. For even mere preferences/philosophies are based on how you view the Bible and therefore on what your theology is. If you think something is a preference, you have to make sure that it is based on solid biblical principals - or else you are on shaky ground.

I do wonder how our present church trends will be written up in books in years to come - will we be surprised to realise how we have made history? Are we aware of what we are doing and where we are going, of what consequences follow our actions? Sometimes it seems not, sometimes it seems we are lulled into a 'crowd mentality' of thinking, "it's alright" because everyone else thinks it is, if 'so and so' were taking a stand , then maybe I would have to consider doing so as well. Our standard should be made on Christ's stand not on what other people think it should be.

I was very privileged to have very godly teachers in my life, particularly in South Africa...time and time again we were taught, "go back to the Bible, check out what was said, make sure there is no error in preaching, and come and talk if there is something I say which does not agree with the Bible, even if it may seem small." This, I think, is a very healthy position to be in... otherwise one's theology can drift with whoever is 'in change' or whoever has a convincing personality.

Before you dip into currant church history below with me I would encourage you to read my previous blogs on Good Worship and Good Preaching and in case you think I am being pedantic or legalistic I love this quote, and earnestly try and apply it to my life! The reason for talking here about these matters is that I feel we should all examine how we worship God, not because I want to win you over to my 'preference', but because we love a holy God, who deserves our honour and our best. And my conscience urges me forward to a position of 'no compromise' on these matters.

Douglas and I have spent much time praying about and talking about many issues recently. The issue, we have talked about the most about the 'how to worship God' issue, "Should you be contemporary/ traditional? When are instruments a distracting, man orientated gimmicks or not? How much input should youth have?" And many more. For us entertainment versus worship is a non issue, as far as we are concerned you cannot entertain and be man focused when you are worshipping God, but it presents a problem when we as humans try and figure out the dividing line of where one ends and the other begins. An issue that seems to be related on a practical level is ' should the youth have predominance in the church context, or should godly wise men be our leaders?'

Anyway, here are some interesting links that I have come across in recent times.

The first is by Peter Masters, who on the 'how to worship' issues, would be the most conservative in Reformed Baptistic circles. see http://www.metropolitantabernacle.org/?page=articles&id=13 Here he outlines very well the way Reformed Baptistic churches are heading today, I have to say it left me shaken when I first read it, and nearly every person we have spoken to about what this article was initially disbelieving... they especially felt that he has overstated the trend in the Mac Arthur church. But here is the link to the band they use for their Resolve Youth Conference ( run by John Mac Arthur's church) . http://www.myspace.com/enfieldworship So what you may ask. But I urge you....Take the time to listen and think, listen and look for yourself, the words may be 'good' but where does the emphasis lie....good drummers, good singers or good focus on God? Instruments tucked away where they cannot distract or detract from God himself, or are they centre stage and part of creating today's much valued atmosphere.....lights dimmed and feeling injected with a drug like induced atmosphere. May I be so bold as to say.... I strongly feel even they are entertainment focused too.


Here is some preaching on this matter....Gary Hendrix would not be as conservative on the instruments issue as Peter Masters but he is still conservative on the issue of 'no entertainment', and 'focus on God only in worship' issues.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=2909115712896

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=2909122520333

For many years I could not understand why protestants were going to Catholic and to Greek Orthodox Churches....it was totally beyond me, I did not get it. Even now I do not think it is the right way to go....but I do see now that those churches offer a quietness and orderliness and that some people have to have in order to even begin to worship God, even if they do have other problems.

Okay so you get the picture, I am ultra frumpish by today's standards. I like to worship God in a quiet way and very orderly manner. I like to challenge my brain when I worship. I love anything quiet, even if it is modern as long as the words are excellent and totally focused on God. I do not like to have my attention drawn to people during public worship, and as I am 'very pea brained', and get very easily distracted from the reason for my being there....to enjoy God, and to aim to give pleasure to God with my worship! I hate being sucked into an atmosphere of 'feeling' good about God to come home and realise I remember nothing from the service that pointed me to know more about who God is, why I love should love Him more etc because nothing much was said in the service I have just been to. I like to come home full of the joy of who Christ is, what he has done for me....I like to have something to motivate me to love Him better, read more of His word etc in the week. And I love it when as a group we are so excited about God that we just cannot help ourselves but to talk about God! That is the essence of what worshiping God together is about.

Food for thought....how are you making Church History? What are the consequences of your decisions? How will it effect the next generation? Have you thought through what message you are giving the next generation?

Another interesting angle on current church history, is how the rest of the world sees it happening. Our local paper for Logan City recently ran an article where people had a chance to voice their opinions in the debate as to whether the local council should give a church the green light to go ahead with new church buildings on a new premises they had bought. The neighbours were saying "no", both loud and clear....they did not want the noise of a rock band ever time the church met, and for band practices in between! Church is usually at the time as when they liked to relax at home, and not have their peaceful BBQ brunch blasted by music they hate. Similarly the recent Easter Festival in Toowoomba was met with annoyance by non Christians as they had their weekends messed up by 'Christian' noise.

"But will it hurt, this world wide trend to entertain instead of worship? To be man focused instead of God focused?" I have been asked, "what will the long term effect of all of this be?" I cannot answer fully and but usually my reply is along these lines.....in the short term it may appear that pews are filled by people attracted by entertainment style worship.... it's cool, it gives an emotional buzz, your non Christan friends are as comfortable in the pew as at any other rock concert. But it does not fill the brain with scripture and prayers and meditations of who God is, how wonderful He is and how marvelously he has saved us from wretchedness. Most times it avoids the horrible words like sin and hell and leaves us with a shallow reflection of the picture so perfectly portrayed in God's word , the Bible. This, 'filling of pews' is not the same as a revival. I have seen too many casualties of people turning their backs on God because Christians have failed to show them who God really is. Too many people judge Christianity by what Christians do and teach and not by what it is in the Bible. God is perfect in every sense of the word, how long will it take us to realise that we are presenting a second rate Christianity to the world by ignoring the depth and breadth of his word, by not having the time to pull ourselves away from entertainment long enough to see who God really is?

But my church is not like that you say....the test? How long do you pray together as a church? How often do you just enjoy the word of God by reading it? How often is the character of God meditated on from many angles. How often do you remember the sermon from Sunday and go through it in the week, going over and over the gems you have gleaned? May God have mercy on us all as we make church history today!

New Evangelicalism

Another interesting subject:

http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/ca.htm

Calvinism and other such very interesting matters in life...

For those of you who are interested in theology (and who isn't in reality for we all believe in something, like it or not) here is something I discovered recently...A 7 Point Calvinist! Read about it here: http://thoughtsactions.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/piper-a-7-point-calvinist/

If you are unsure of what a Calvinist is in the first place then look here
http://www.reformedreader.org/t.u.l.i.p.htm
and here
http://www.calvinistcorner.com/tulip.htm

This little booklet ( Where is God when things go Wrong by John Blanchard) explains some of the practical implications which we often misunderstand about these issues. It is written exceptionally well - a must read! Go on, go and buy it!

And last but not least is the 1 pointer, who is none other than the reputable J I Packer himself! See http://donaldkim.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/ji-packer-one-point-calvinism/

(Please don't misunderstand and think that a Calvinist is a Hyper Calvinist! The two are not the same! See http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/hypercal.htm )

Can you handle Handel?

How much do you know about this amazing composer? How much of his work are you familiar with? Most would know his Messiah, but take a look at this web site to listen to his other beautiful music!
http://www.squidoo.com/handel

Do you know why his Water Music is called Water Music? (find the answer here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Music_%28Handel%29

and here http://www.aam.co.uk/index.htm I can't get that link to go the right place, so here is the article for this web site

Handel’s Water Music

by Anthony Hicks

On Wednesday 17 July 1717, in the evening, there occurred in London a royal event of great splendour. King George I and a large gathering of the English nobility boarded open barges on the river Thames at Whitehall and sailed up river to Chelsea, where they took supper. Such was the success of the evening that the party did not leave until three o’clock in the morning, the King arriving back at St James’s Palace at about half-past four. One of the river barges (according to a report in the Daily Courant of 19 July) ‘was employ’d for the Musick, wherein were 50 instruments of all sorts who play’d... the finest Symphonies, compos’d express for this Occasion, by Mr Hendel: which his Majesty liked so well, that he caus’d it to be plaid over three times in going and returning’. The Prussian Resident in London, Friedrich Bonet, also reported the event privately to his masters in Berlin and gave more information about the music. The instruments employed included trumpets, horns (‘cors de chasse’), oboes, bassoons, German (transverse) flutes, French flutes (recorders), violins and basses, and each of the three performances lasted an hour. These details leave little doubt that what the royal party heard that evening was the suite of movements that soon became known as Handel’s Water Music.

Bonet also noted that the Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King George II and Queen Caroline) took no part in the festivities — a reminder that the event had considerable political significance. For some time a rift had been developing between the King and the Prince. By 1717 the Prince had gained several influential followers and was able to command sufficient support in Parliament to be a serious hindrance to the King’s ministers. In consequence the King cancelled plans for a visit to Hanover in the summer and instead decided to display himself more conspicuously to his subjects than had previously been his custom. The party on the Thames, held two days after Parliament had risen for the summer recess, was the prelude to three months of festive activity, mainly marked by a series of lavish receptions at Hampton Court.

The provision of the Water Music may have been Handel’s way of showing that in the conflict between the King and the Prince of Wales his first loyalty was to the King — an important gesture, for at Hanover Handel had been a particular favourite of the Prince and Princess. No attempt to publish the Water Music seems to have been made at the time of its original performance — Handel may have wished to keep the work to himself — but the music that had given so much pleasure to the King could hardly be forgotten. Within a few years it was to be heard frequently in London’s concert halls and theatres.

In 1725 Handel’s publisher Walsh included the Water Music overture (in F major) in his Third Collection of Handel’s overtures — the first appearance of any of the music in print — and arrangements of several movements were included in a collection of Handel’s minuets published by Walsh in 1729. In 1734 Walsh issued a set of orchestral parts for what he called the ‘Celebrated Water Musick’, but in fact the publication contained only about half the movements. A complete version of the suite in the form of a transcription for solo harpsichord was issued by Walsh in 1743. Arnold’s edition of 1788 was the first to present all the numbers in full score. This erratic publication history, coupled with the unfortunate loss of the original autographs, leaves several aspects of the Water Music open to question. Contemporary manuscript copies suggest solutions to some problems, but their evidence is sometimes contradictory.

Any further discussion must begin with an attempt to clarify how the Water Music came to be composed. Though the Daily Courant and Bonet both say that Handel wrote the music specifically for the water party of 1717 it seems probable that some parts of it had been composed earlier for other purposes. It is difficult to believe, for example, that the overture, with its delicate writing for two solo violins, could have been conceived with outdoor performance in mind. The Water Music may have started life as two independent orchestral suites or concertos scored for woodwind and strings only. In 1717 Handel could simply have combined these and added the movements with horns and trumpets, which are obviously suited to outdoor performance.

The music itself provides a brilliant conspectus of the full range of Handel’s style in the period of his first opera for England. As ‘occasional’ music combining quality with immediate appeal it was not rivalled until Handel provided his Music for the Royal Fireworks of 1749. It seems that Handel, always ready to exploit a new orchestral effect, introduced French horns into an English orchestra for the first time in the Water Music, immediately perceiving how to make the best use both of the bright F horns — on their own, in conjunction with the oboes — and of the lower pitched D horns — reinforcing the trumpets or antiphonally echoing them. The very English ‘Country Dance’, with the main tune presented in the middle of the harmony, is a charming tribute to the country in which he chose to settle, and like all the tunes in the suite cannot now be heard without happily evoking Hanoverian England in its most genial aspects.


Interesting is't it? Hmm, such lovely music!

This photograph hardly conjures up the image of regal barges on the Thames River, but Handels music generally inspires me to think of beautiful places and is as soothing as the magnificant sea.

Aspergers Myth Busters

http://life-with-aspergers.blogspot.com/2010/04/so-your-child-has-aspergers-part-1.html (This article also deals with coming to term with your child's Apserger's label.)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/01/30/the_facts_and_myths_of_aspergers_disorder/

http://healthmad.com/mental-health/12-common-myths-about-aspergers-syndrome/

I do not necessarily agree with all said hear, but it is very interesting.

Aspergers diagnosis and the DSM 5 proposed changes …

“Aspergers diagnosis and the DSM 5 proposed changes – What are the pros and cons of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and their plan to change the diagnosis of Aspergers to autism, without the current separations?”

It effects the PDD-NOS and Aspergers labels. I have followed this issue for a while, what do you think? Go to this link to find some out some more information on the matter. Does any one know what the international response has been? http://parentingaspergers.com/blog/aspergers-diagnosis-and-the-dsm-5-proposed-changes

To Diagnose or not to Diagnose?

To Diagnose or not to diagnose? This is the question all parents of high functioning 'special' kids face....is it better to cruise along and manage? Or would it be better to have that official label in case it is needed at a later stage? Will it help the child if they have the label, or will it throw them into a 'poor me, I am just a 'crazy' frenzy. This is particularly relevant when we are looking at labeling an older child. A new label for an adult or older child can throw them into depression. How will an older child respond to a new 'label'? Will it be more detrimental to get a label or not? Will it be a relief for them to understand themselves and come to terms with who they are and how they are? Will it provide them with dignity, and access to better skills for coping with their issues?

I trained as a social worker... many years ago, I admit, but I do believe it has brought a special dynamic/resilience to our family that has been beneficial. I thought I knew quite a lot about our special needs and had it all under control. We had decided that to pursue a label for an older child would not be beneficial. We were in the process of diagnosing a younger kid with a world leading expert about 4 years ago when my hubby and I just looked at each other and it dawned on us both....this might not be everything the little one has but it is absolutely everything that the big one has. After speaking with this world leading expert it was decided that because of this age the bigger one would be better off just managing without an official label...About 4 years along and how wrong we were for now after a few exceptionally difficult weeks I wish with all my heart we had a label in hand!

Here is why I think a label is useful as young as possible?

(1) A label gives other people a point of reference and helps them to help your child, protect your child, enjoy your child, understand your child etc.
(2) A label means the child has to face the reality of their problem, like it or not. It helps to give them access to an identity and an understanding of who they are and what the point of their life is etc
(3) A label gives your special kid access to support and help when it is needed.
(4) A label gives you access to support as the parent.
(5) A label gives siblings access to support.

Of course there is always the fear that you could 'over diagnose' a child. Make sure your find a professional who has a good grasp of you particular area of need. Make sure you are well educated in your special needs area. Read as much as you can about it, go to the expense of buying books in that area. Know exactly what features your child has/faces and which he/she does not. Before you go to a professional make sure you know your subject back to front and inside out. Don't let unqualified professionals 'fob you off' with a misunderstandings of the basics, for example it is a misunderstood cliche that Aspergers people do not like to socialise. Of course they do like to have friends like anyone else, especially if parents have been very careful to provide very positive experiences in this area, and this is backed up by Tony Attwood who is the world's expert on Aspergers who points this very fact out. More to the point is, how do they socialise? I have know a Psychologist in an Aspergers clinic to get this wrong!

Anyway enough said... except to say that overall pursuing a label is well worth the effort and money involved in the long run! Especially if handled with tenderness and compassion. If there are indeed 'issues' and 'special needs' they will not just disappear and go away or vanish into thin air, and the reality is that for many not ever! If they have to carry their difficulties into adulthood, they need all the help we can give them when they are young. And sometimes we as parents just cannot go solo and need to access help in order to help our kids.

My advise is therefore...get a label and access help while the road is still relatively easy, you never know when you may desperately need access to more help, which would be easier to access with a label in hand!

May God bless and guide all you wonderful mothers and fathers who parent your precious special kids! May your love be stronger than you ever thought possible, may you have wisdom and patience beyond the normal. May you find refuge daily in our mighty and awesome creator. May you know His tenderness as you walk through the hard times. May you know rejoicing as you enjoy all the precious, tender and happy moments, never taking any of them for granted! Life is full of beauty and wonder and joy, see this in all times and treasure it! Life is too short not to enjoy every moment possible!

PS Here is a good link for some Apserger's checklists, if you hit an advert just go back and try again! http://school.familyeducation.com/learning-disabilities/behavior/56323.html
Don't forget to go to Tony Attwood's Asperger's web site too!