Martin Luther and the counter-reformation

Argh... I find this post so annoying. One only has to read Scripture thoroughly and know you can't be saved by doing a bunch of stuff. One reason why I did my master's thesis on Martin Luther and the Reformation...

The Counter-Reformation

March 3

Churches and denominations, like houses and hearts, need periodic cleaning and occasional renovation. Luther’s response to the deterioration of the 16th-century church sparked not only the Protestant Reformation, but the Catholic Counter-Reformation, efforts within the Roman church to repair itself. On December 13, 1545 Pope Paul III convened a council in the northern Italian city of Trent, attended at first by only 34 leaders. The several sessions lasted from 1545 to 1563. Participants included Jesuits and scholars, political leaders desiring reunification with Protestants, and clergymen, some desiring reform, others wanting none of it.

The widespread sale of indulgences (which had inflamed Luther) was modified, and many measures were passed to correct and protect the morality of clergymen and church leaders. The doctrines of the church were also reexamined in light of emerging Protestant theology. In most cases, the council reaffirmed traditional medieval doctrines. Protestant views of the Lord’s Supper were dismissed, and transubstantiation upheld (the belief that the wine and bread of the Lord’s Supper become the very body of Christ). The council affirmed Latin as the proper language for the Mass, and it disagreed with Luther on making the Bible available in the common languages. It also rejected the Reformer’s cry of Scripture Alone. Church tradition, said the council, joins Scripture as a source of divine authority for believers.

On this day in Christian history, March 3, 1547, the council began affirming the seven sacraments of the church, all of them, it said, necessary for salvation: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony. The Protestant view of two divine ordinances—baptism and the Lord’s Supper—was rejected.

The Council of Trent is one of the most important events in Reformation history, establishing the tone and doctrine of the Catholic Church for the next 400 years, and providing a basis for reformation within the Roman church. Not until the 1960s at Vatican II did another major reexamination take place.

Look deep into my heart, God,

And find out everything I am thinking.

Don’t let me follow evil ways,

But lead me in the way that time has proven true.

Psalm 139:23,24

Morgan, R. J. (2000, c1997). On this day : 265 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.) (March 3). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Corallie

 

MORNING DEVOTIONS: Something you never knew about John Wesley

Wesley’s Three Nurses

February 10

The great evangelist John Wesley was small but well-built and handsome. He could charm women at will, and often did — but not always with desired results.

At age 33 he met Sophy Hopkey, and she began making daily visits to his cottage for prayer and French lessons. When he became sick, Sophy nursed him, and he fell in love with her. “Her words,” he wrote, “her eyes, her air, her every motion and gesture, were full of such a softness! I know not what might have been the consequence had I then but touched her hand. And how I avoided it, I know not.” But he hesitated too long, and when Miss Sophy suddenly married another, Wesley was shattered.

Some years later during another illness, he fell in love with nurse Grace Murray. He more or less proposed to her, saying, “If I ever marry, I think you will be the person.” She more or less accepted. But when John’s brother Charles heard of it, he stormed into Grace’s house and burst out, “Grace Murray! You have broken my heart,” and fainted. When he recovered, he pelted her with objections, saying she would destroy his brother’s ministry. She broke the engagement, leaving John to painfully scribble, “We were torn asunder by a whirlwind.”

On February 10, 1751 Wesley, now in his late forties, suffered a fall in the middle of ice-coated London Bridge and was carried to the home of nurse Mary Vazeille. This time, he didn’t hesitate. They were married within a week.

It was a disaster. Wesley’s friend, John Hampson, described this account: “Once I went into a room and found Mrs. Wesley foaming with fury. Her husband was on the floor, where she had been trailing him by the hair of his head; and she was still holding in her hand venerable locks which she had plucked by the roots. I felt as though I could have knocked the soul out of her.”

The two spent little time together, and in 1771 we find this curious entry in Wesley’s journal: “I came to London, and was informed that my wife died on Monday. This evening she was buried, though I was not informed of it. … ”

A nagging wife goes on and on Like the drip, drip, drip of the rain. You may inherit all you own from your parents, But a sensible wife is a gift from the Lord. Proverbs 19:13b,14

Morgan, R. J. (2000, c1997). On this day : 265 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.) (February 10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Corallie

 

Lip service and selfishness

How often do we say that we 'fear God', but in actual fact we are still serving our own selfish needs? I was reminded this morning when I read about the children of Israel who lived in the region of Samaria. There was a particular time in Israel's history where God was so fed up with His people that He decided to remove them from their land, allowing them to be captured and deported by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17). The Assyrian king then decided to repopulate the deposed land with people from another region. These new people experienced God's judgment in the form of lions killing their people. They put it down to the fact that they did not know the rituals of 'the God of the land' (as they called it). So the king of Assyria sent an Israelite priest to teach them the ways of this 'God of the land'. The people then feared 'this God', but still served their own pagan gods by carrying out their own traditions and rituals. They employed priests to sacrifice to God for them, but would not serve him themselves, nor get rid of their pagan practices.

They knew about God and feared Him, but still chose to serve their own gods.

This made me think: how many times do we do the same thing? We know who God is and what He does, yet we still choose to serve ourselves. We are in fact our own gods. We have reverential fear of God (meaning we realise the fullness of His power, and know that what He says, He also has the power to do), yet we still go our own way.

There is a great danger in this, and unfortunately most of us don't even realise we are doing it. Stop serving yourself and your own wants and needs and start serving God!

Corallie

 

A dog's tale: A story of miraculous provision

A bit of an encouraging story I read in my time with God this morning, and I thought I'd share it with you as well.

A Dog’s Tale

August 19

God both guides and provides. He leads and feeds his people, and sometimes in ways unusual—as John Craig once learned. Craig was born in Scotland in 1512, studied at the University of St. Andrews, and entered the ministry. While living on the Continent, he found a copy of Calvin’s Institutes and in reading them found himself becoming a Protestant. As a result, he was arrested by agents of the Inquisition, taken prisoner to Rome, and condemned to death at the stake. On the evening of August 19, 1559, while awaiting execution the next day, dramatic news arrived that Pope Paul IV had died. According to custom, the prisons in Rome were thrown open, the prisoners temporarily released.

Craig took advantage of the opportunity, escaping to an inn on the city’s outskirts. A band of soldiers tracked him down, but as the captain of the guard arrested him, he paused, looking at him intently. Finally he asked Craig if he remembered helping a wounded soldier some years before in Bologna. “I am the man you relieved,” said the captain, “and providence has now put it into my power to return the kindness—you are at liberty.” The soldier gave Craig the money in his pockets and marked out an escape route for him.

As he made his way through Italy, Craig avoided public roads, taking the circuitous route suggested by the captain and using the money for food. But at length Craig’s money was exhausted, and so were his spirits. He lay down in the woods and gloomily considered his plight. Suddenly the sound of steps was heard, and Craig tensed. It was a dog, and in its mouth, a purse. Craig waved the animal away, fearing a trick. But the dog persisted, fawned on him, and left the purse in his lap.

Using money from the purse, Craig reached Austria where Emperor Maximilian listened to his sermon and gave him safe conduct. He thus returned to his native Scotland where he preached Christ and abetted the Reformation until his death many years later at age 88.

Elijah was a prophet from Tishbe in Gilead. The Lord said to Elijah, “Leave and go across the Jordan River so you can hide near Cherith Creek. You can drink water from the creek, and eat the food I’ve told the ravens to bring you.” Elijah obeyed the Lord and went to live near Cherith Creek. Ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day, and he drank water from the creek. 1 Kings 17:1a,2–6

Morgan, R. J. (2000, c1997). On this day : 265 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.) (August 19). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Morning devotions: The Homemade Rope

Hi all,

I found this tidbit to be rather encouraging in my morning devotion, and thought you all might be encouraged by it to. It shows that God can work in any way He chooses.

The Homemade Rope

July 11

The growth of the Korean Church, among the greatest legacies of modern Christianity, came at a cost. The first Catholic missionaries were persecuted in the 1700s, and the first Protestant missionary, Carl Gutzlaff, stayed only a month in 1832. The next, Robert Thomas, arrived in 1876 to become the first Protestant martyr there. Finally, on July 11, 1886, missionary Horace Underwood secretly administered the first Protestant baptism on Korean soil to Mr. Toh Sa No.

But was Mr. No really the first convert?

In his book What in the World Is God Doing? Dr. Ted Engstrom relates a story told him by a veteran Korean Christian. In the early 1880s three Korean workmen, laboring in China, heard the gospel and embraced the Lord Jesus. The three soon conspired about getting the message of Christ into their own country, an action forbidden by the government. Since the Korean and Chinese alphabets were similar, they decided to smuggle in a copy of the Chinese Bible. They drew straws to see who would have the privilege of bringing the gospel into Korea.

The first man buried the Bible in his belongings and headed toward the border, a journey of many days by footpath. There he was searched, found out, and killed. Word reached the others that their friend was dead. The second man tore pages from his Bible and hid the separate pages throughout his luggage. He, too, made the long trip to the border only to be searched and beheaded.

The third man grew more determined than ever to succeed. He ingeniously tore his Bible apart page by page, folding each page into a tiny strip. He wove the strips into a rope and wrapped his baggage in his homemade rope. When he came to the border, the guards asked him to unwrap his belongings. Finding nothing amiss, they admitted him.

The man arrived home, untied the rope, and ironed out each page. He reassembled his Bible and began to preach Christ wherever he went. And when the missionaries of the 1880s fanned into the country, they found the seed already sown and the firstfruits appearing.

Morgan, R. J. (2000, c1997). On this day : 265 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.) (July 11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

"That Part of Publick [sic] Worship Called Singing"

HI guys,

This is an interesting thing I read in my devotion time this morning. I like to try and start every morning (if I can), with one of these little tidbits, as they can often be quite interesting. A sobering note though, especially to pastors in ministry.

Corallie

“That Part of Publick Worship Called Singing”

July 2

From the records of the First Church of Windsor, Connecticut, for Sunday, July 2, 1736:

Society meeting, Capt. Pelatiah Allyn Moderator. The business of the meeting proceeded in the following manner: The Moderator proposed consideration of what should be done respecting that part of publick Worship called Singing, whether in their Publick meetings on Sabbath day, they would sing the way Deacon Marshall usually sung in his lifetime commonly called the “Old Way” or whether they would sing the way taught by Mr. Beal commonly called “Singing by Rule,” and when the Society had discoursed the matter the Moderator proposed to vote. But when the vote was passed there being many voters it was difficult to take the exact number of votes in order to determine on which side the major vote was; whereupon the Moderator ordered all the voters to go out of the seats and stand in the alleys and then those that were for Deacon Marshalls way should go into the men’s seats and those that were for Mr. Beals way should go into the women’s seats. The Moderator asked me how many there was (for Deacon Marshall’s way). I answered 42 and he said there was 63 or 64.

Then the Moderator proceeded and desired that those who were for singing in Publick the way that Mr. Beal taught would draw out of their seats and pass out of the door and be counted. They replied they were ready to show their minds in any proper way where they were if they might be directed thereto but would not go out the door to do the same and desired that they might be led to a vote where they were and they were ready to show their minds which the Moderator refused to do and thereupon declared that it was voted that Deacon Marshall’s way of singing called the “Old Way” should be sung in Publick for the future and ordered me to record the same which I refused to do under the circumstances thereof and have recorded the facts and proceedings.

Morgan, R. J. (2000, c1997). On this day : 265 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.) (July 2). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Genesis 1:1-7 - Could man have lived forever if they had not sinned?

I was reading in my Bible this morning from Genesis 1:1-7, which says:

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

^2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ^3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

^4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ^5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

^6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ^7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

When I saw that, I saw the words "You will not surely die" (verse 4) and thought, 'Well, straight away we know that he was lying, because they did die...spiritually.' But then the thought crossed my mind, 'Well, they also died physically, but not straight away. I wonder if sin had not entered the world, would Adam and Eve have lived forever?'

That thought really caught my attention. Then I was reminded of the verse sin Romans 5:12, 18-21:

(12) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned...

^18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. ^19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

^20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, ^21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I realised that had Adam and Eve not done wrong by God, everyone would have lived forever without death or suffering. It was our mistake that brought death into the world, not God's.

 People might ask, 'Why does God allow pain and suffering?' Well, we were the ones who brought it here in the first place. By placing that tree in the garden, God was giving us a choice from the very beginning. He loved Adam and Eve so much that he couldn't bear the thought of a relationship that was anything but choice. Don't we know that when you choose to love someone is far better, rather than being forced to love someone because you have no other option? It is the difference between a dictatorship rule where allegiance and obedience is forced out of you, and a loving rule where you are not obligated to love, but only encouraged. If you believe God to be the former, then you are SORELY MISTAKEN. God is not a dictator. He could not dictate to Adam and Eve that they WOULD love Him because they had no other option. God gave them the way to opt out of a relationship with Him if they so wished. And opt out they did.

So if you want somebody to blame for all the pain and suffering in the world, look no further than humanity. We cannot blame God for something He did not create. If everybody just showed a little more love to the people around them, those people would be making a difference in that there would be less suffering and pain in their little corner of the world. Think about it: human beings are the creators of pain, but they can also be the creators of love. God gave us that capacity. What are you going to do about it?