Halloween vs. Reformation Day

Today the world celebrates Halloween. There will be parties, costumes, spooky decoration, and lots of candy. Now, is it just me or does it seem that over the past decade the popularity of Halloween has grown exponentially? In fact I have actually heard people say that out of all the Holiday's we celebrate Halloween is their favorite. I'm sorry but that is a little strange. But my point isn't to write about Halloween but the little known holiday that Halloween overshadows every year - it's called Reformation Day.
It all started on October 31st, 1517 when a brash, but biblical Catholic priest by the name of Martin Luther had had enough of the corrupt ways of certain leaders in the Catholic church and wrote out his concerns in what is now known as Luther's 95 thesis. History tells that Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the door of the church in Wittenberg Germany (the town where he lived and served) also sending a copy to Albert the Archbishop of Mainz and Madgeburg. This move is what most historians believe to be the spark that started the reformation.
The reason I write of this is to express my admiration for Martin Luther. I do not claim to agree with everything that Martin Luther wrote or taught, but what i do claim is that Luther was a man committed to Scripture. This commitment is best summarized in his response to his accusers at the Diet of Worms. I encourage you to take a moment and watch his response as portrayed in the 2003 movie Luther.

Lord, Lord

This morning I began preparations for Sunday's sermon, but I didn't get very far. Jesus' words pierced me. Not the William Wallace kind of piercing, but more of a surgical incision. I'm still not sure everything that Jesus plans to expose in me but right now this question continues to echo in my heart:

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and don't do what I tell you?"

Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians - Ephesians 3.14-21

"I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Dancing in the Minefields

Andrew Peterson never disappoints. This is a great song of his Counting Stars album.

“If Only . . .” Living with Regrets | CCEF

Here's a great article by Ed Welch

“If Only . . .” Living with Regrets | CCEF

Be Filled With the Spirit - Ephesians 5:18

The Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit can be compared to a glove. Until it is filled by a hand, a glove is powerless and useless. It is designed to do work, but it can do no work by itself. It works only as the hand controls and uses it. The glove’s only work is the hand’s work. It does not ask the hand to give it an assignment and then try to complete the assignment without the hand. Nor does it gloat or brag about what it is used to do, because it knows the hand deserves all the credit. A Christian can accomplish no more without being filled with the Holy Spirit than a glove can accomplish without being filled with a hand.

(MacArthur, Ephesians, 250)

What Are We Doing?

David Platt in his book Radical writes,

One of my good friends spent time recently among unreached and unengaged peoples in Southeast Asia. As he talked with villagers in one remote area, he tried to uncover their core beliefs. he asked them, "How were we created?"
They responded, "We don't know."
He asked, "Who sends the rain for the crops?"
They responded, "We don't know that either."
Then he asked, "What happens when we die?"
They looked back at him and said, "No one has come to tell us about that yet."

Soon thereafter he found himself in another remote village with people who had never heard the gospel. They were warm and hospitable, and they invited him to share a drink with them. One man went into his small shop and reappeared moments later with a classic red Coke can. Immediately, it hit home with my friend. A soft-drink company in Atlanta has done a better job getting brown sugar water to these people than the church of Jesus Christ has done in getting the gospel to them. (Radical, 158)