Happy Reformation Day

October 31st. For millions of people all over the country, and the world, today is Halloween. But for Christians this date is the date of a very important event in our faith, that sadly not a lot of Christians know about. On this day in 1517, a little German monk named Martin Luther did something that sparked what has come to be known as the Protestant Reformation. On October 31st, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

In his Theses Luther took issue with the sale of Indulgences by the Catholic Church to the faithful. An indulgence is a letter from the Pope granting full or partial remission of temporal punishment for sins that have already been forgiven, making the sale of an indulgence for the forgiveness of sin a financial transaction as opposed to a spiritual one. I believe that the original intent or purpose of an indulgence was a way of granting remission of the penalty due to a person who had violated the law of the Roman Catholic Church. But what happened was that instead of making a confession of guilt to the priest, and restoring or replacing whatever had been damaged, property, human relationships, etc. as penance, an indulgence could be purchased instead. Then people would not have to make restitution for their crimes against others. Luther saw this as a great violation of the original purpose of confession, penance and justification. This practice of buying an indulgence did not promote a right relationship with God or salvation, because Christians were being told that they could find absolution, which is forgiveness of their sins, through the purchase of an indulgence rather than through the free gift of grace and mercy that is offered to all by His grace through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

But you might be asking yourself, why was such an error committed on the part of the Catholic Church at the time. I don't believe it was to purposely deceive the people. The reigning Pope at that time was Leo X. Leo had a vision to restore Christ's church. But Leo's way of going about that was not to go back to the teachings of the historical church. Leo was much too literal for that. He wanted to restore Christ's church by building a new church. So he came up with and designed what is today known as St. Peter's Basillica in Rome, Italy. But as much money as the Vatican had at that time, it still wasn't enough to accomplish this goal of Leo's. Albert of Mainz, who was the Archbishop of Mainz, Germany, was heavily in debt because he paid a lot of money to attain his rank of Archbishop in the Catholic Church. So to pay back his debt, he allowed John Tetzel to sell indulgences in the territories that he controlled as long as he would get a cut of the proceeds from the sale of indulgences. He could then use that money to pay off his debts. Luther was not aware of this. Luther's prince, Frederick III of Saxony and the prince of the territory next door, George, Duke of Saxony had outlawed the sale of indulgences in their lands, which meant that the people in these towns had to travel a great distance to purchase an indulgence for the forgiveness of sins.

These people paid a lot of money to purchase an indulgence and they brought these plenary indulgences to confession to show Luther that their sins had already been forgiven by the Church and they didn't need to confess their sins to a priest or to make restitution for what they had done. This angered Luther greatly because it was such a violation of scripture and it was this situation that prompted Martin Luther to write the 95 Theses. So here, without further adieu, I present to you the document that sparked the Protestant Reformation. The 95 Theses. Keep in mind that it was not Luther's intention to break away from the RCC and to start another church. These Theses were points for debate that would be discussed at the University of Wittenberg. Luther requested that those who could not be present to debate these points in person, write a letter containing their thoughts about these serious theological and spiritual matters.

*The 95 These can be viewed here:

http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/95theses.htm

R.I.P. Issues, Etc.

March 18, 2008 is a day that will live in infamy. It is the day when one of the best Lutheran podcasts, Issues, Etc. was cancelled and the host, Rev. Todd Willken and the producer, Jeff Schwarz, were terminated with no explanation given. I don't know if anyone still reads this blog and I don't know if anyone who does read this blog ever listened to Issues, Etc. but this is one radio show that was not afraid to proclaim the truth of God's word. In an age where Christian media is ruled by the likes of Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Hagin, and Rick Warren, Issues, Etc. was a breath of much needed fresh air.

Here is the official statement that was released by KFUOAM regarding this incident:

"For programmatic and business reasons, the decision was made this week to discontinue the "Issues, Etc." program on KFUO-AM.We look forward to bringing you new programming in this time slot in the near future. Also, we thank "Issues" host Rev. Todd Wilken and producer Mr. Jeff Schwarz for their years of service on behalf of the station. Those interested may still download past "Issues, Program Etc." programs from the "Issues" archive on this website. Thank you sincerely for your continued support of KFUO's radio ministry."

The person responsible for taking Issues, Etc. off the air is David Strand. He is the Exective Director for the Board of Communications Services. Here is a list of contact information for David Strand, KFUO AM, the LCMS and other numbers of people who are directly related to this incident.

Rev. David L. Strand
Executive Director Board for Communication Services
(314) 996-1200
(314) 822-0000
david.strand@lcms.org

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
1333 S. Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, MO 63122-7295
(888) 843-5267
(314) 965-9000
FAX: (314) 996-1016
infocenter@lcms.org

KFUO Radio Station
(314) 725-0099
(314) 725-3030‎
(314) 721-2969

Rev. Dr. Gerald Kieschnick
Synod President
(314) 996-1402
(314) 842-7110
president@lcms.org

LC-MS Board of Directors
(314) 996-1350

Please get in touch with one or more or all of the people listed above and express your sadness and outrage over this decision to cancel a great program that taught the truth of God's word on a daily basis. The decision to cancel this program during Holy Week is inexcusable and sickening. We need to come together as the body of Christ and let the Synod know that this kind of behavior will have severe repercussions. I am keeping Todd Wilken and Jeff Schwarz and their families in my prayers and urge you to do the same as well.

Here is a way that we can show our support for the host and producer of Issues, Etc. A Pay Pal account has been set up by The Wittenberg Trail to take donations for the families of these two fine Christian men, who are now unemployed. If you can, please donate.

The Wittenberg Trail is organizing a drive to offer financial support to Pastor Wilken, Jeff Schwarz and their families during this difficult time. The WT has a secure Pay Pal account set up. Please indicate “Wilken/Schwarz” in the donation comment section.
Please log into the Wittenberg Trail and click on the “Donate” button on the right side of the screen.

Visit The Wittenberg Trail at: http://wittenbergtrail.ning.com/

How To Choose a Church

One question that I always hear people asking is “how do you find a good church, when there are so many bad ones out there”? To answer this question we have to first ask ourselves a question. What is our primary purpose in going to a church? Is it to have fellowship with like-minded believers? Is it to “recharge” for the coming week and all the challenges that may be thrown our way? Is it to network with other Christians to find a good business opportunity? Or is it to give glory and honor to the one who has saved us from our sin and the sentence of death that unrepented sin carries with it? I really think it’s the latter. Because while all the things I’ve mentioned above can and do happen at a church, they should not be our primary reason for going there. Our primary reason for going to church is to honor, glorify, worship and be in fellowship with God.

Some things to consider when selecting a church are:

One, what is your denomination, if you have one. We are all Christians first and foremost. I myself am a Lutheran of the LCMS variety. So of course that means that church coffee hour is the fourth sacrament and the term "Jello Salad" is redundant. But back to business, if we wish to continue in our journey with the Lord and grow in our walk with Him, we should do so at a church that teaches what we consider to be true based upon our reading of the scriptures. I attended a non-denominational church prior to becoming a Lutheran, so I did some things that most people don’t do when looking for a new church. More on that in step three. You’ll also want to make a note of how many services they have and what kind of worship services they offer. Some churches are straight traditional and only offer one type of service. Most churches however have a contemporary service, a blended service and a traditional service. The blended service is a mixture of traditional and contemporary and is a nice compromise if you absolutely can’t stand either total traditional or total contemporary.

Second, you should consider the church’s location in relation to where you live. If you don’t mind going for a ride two or three times a week, church location probably isn’t going to be that big of a deal for you. However, if you like to feel that your church home is close by, you’ll want to look for a church that is probably within a five to ten mile radius of your home. Not only do you have the weekly service to attend, you may want to attend any of the following: Bible Study, small group meetings, fellowship meetings, exercise classes (yes some churches have these), choir practice, set up for services or break down of services, or any extra classes you have opted to take, as time in your schedule allows. If you attend a church that is further away, it becomes real easy to say, “I don’t want to go to church today because it’s so far away” or “I just don’t have the energy” or “I don’t have the time” or “I won’t be back to see the big game.” Sunday is God’s day. This is the one day a week that is set aside for worship of Him and all He has done for you. Plus, all He’s asking is an hour a week of your time at the absolute minimum. He’s given you 76 or so years on this earth, can’t you spare an hour a week? Is that really so unreasonable? I think not.

Third, and this one is to me the most important, you should look at the documents and teachings that the church you are attending adheres to, both currently and historically. These will be anything that are confessional statements for the church. Documents that go beyond the scope of their statement of beliefs and/or faith. Since I’m a Lutheran, for me such documents would be The Augsburg Confession and the Book of Concord. Others may include, Luther’s Small Catechism, Luther’s Large Catechism, and the Lutheran Service Book. You will save yourself a lot of time and worry if you find out what statements and doctrines the church you are thinking of attending holds to and whether or not you agree with them. You don’t want to become a member and find out later that your church doesn’t agree with you on an aspect of theology that may be a “deal breaker” for you. If you do your research well, you will find a church home that is perfect for you.

Lastly, you should attend your prospective new church at least three times before deciding to attend or move on. Now does this mean you go for three weeks in a row and then decide if you should move on? Not necessarily. In my opinion, you should draw up a list of churches that are in close proximity to your house, so you don’t fall into the temptation of not going due to distance, and attend all the churches on that list once. If you find you really liked one, go back for a couple more visits to see if it still is as impressive to you as it was the first time you went. Now, if you at any time feel uncomfortable in a church your visiting for whatever reason, write the reason down so you’ll remember it, later on and cross that church off your list. You can also walk out of a service but I personally find that disrespectful and rude. If you can manage it, also talk to the pastor of any church you are seriously considering attending. He can often times answer your questions much better than the parishioners because he or she (depending upon what kind of church it is), is responsible for the direction of the church. If you follow these steps, I am sure you will find a church that will meet your needs for years to come.