Skip to main content

500 Years and Beyond

Many of you have been loyal readers of this blog for a while, and I'm sure you've noticed a long layoff from writing.  I have taken time away to do some other writing and decided to stop blogging during this time. 

I'm posting this to say that very soon I'll be doing a weekly blog - beginning in September.  It will be a weekly blog with a theme that will continue for several weeks.  
It's also being linked to the roll-out of a newly designed website for our church f - New Life Fellowship.  

Over the course of the last few months I've been doing a lot of reading.  I'm spending my time studying the great foundational themes of the Reformation.
As you might remember we are celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation this year.  
It was on October 31, 1517, that Martin Luther, a Pastor and Professor, Theologian and Teacher, posted his Ninety-Five Theses to the Castle Church doors in Wittenberg, Germany, and called for a hearing on the Catholic church practices that involved a person's salvation.  

Luther was appalled by the practices of Indulgences - the raising of funds for the Roman Church through the sale of "promises for the release of souls from purgatory".  The Roman church's abuse of this was inconsistent with the great teaching of salvation - as Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-9 
4  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
6  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7  in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9  not by works, so that no one can boast. 

The Reform of the Church Luther began spread throughout Europe.  Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin in Switzerland were not far behind Luther.  All together the Reformation raised Five Crucial Pillars that would become the historical record of what the Reformers brought to the Church in order for it to be true.

The Five Solas can be summarized this way:


Over the course of this Fall I want to take some time to focus on why these five "Solas" are so foundational for our faith.  

I'm back blogging...and hope you will come along as I "muse" my way into this 500th anniversary celebation.

Peace

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The difference between defending and explaining

The news of recent has focused the suffering of Christians in the middle east who have been martyred for their faith in Christ at the hands of Islamic Terrorists. Through the centuries many Christians have lost their lives as a result of their faith. For us, who live in America, there is little chance that we would have this happen here - but it's entirely possibly that terrorism will strike out at Christians sometime.  But, for many Christians in the western world - especially here in the U.S. - being a Christians who believes God's word there is a form of persecution that is defined by words like "ostracized", "passed over", "ridiculed", and more. What do we do in the face of opposition to faith? When the Apostle Peter writes to the early believers who are undergoing great pressure, even persecution for their faith in Jesus, he gives them this charge. 1 Peter 3:8-18 8  Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly lov

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but let us not forg

The Tabernacle

The readings today are Exodus 36, 37, 38 I wanted to post some pictures of what these various parts of the Tabernacle looked like. It's not the easiest read in the world, but if you persevere through it, you can get a picture of all the different pieces that made up the tabernacle. It is a replica of the various parts of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness: First thing in the chapter listed is the outside of the tabernacle which consisted of curtains tied together and put on cross bars through loops. Next at the beginning of 37 is the table and lampstand: Also, the altar of incense: And, the altar for the burnt offering which was in the courtyard: Finally, the courtyard which made it all come together: Hope that helps with what it might have all looked like. Most importantly, this was their "place" of worship they were building. I hope you have a great day of worship. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad