A key frustration of Martin Luther was how the church glorified and used money. He saw that the church in his day distorted the good news of Christ by offering salvation in exchange for money. And when the church became focused on money it ceased being the church. It stopped serving God. I wonder if […]
Tag: Society
On Technology
If Martin Luther’s 95 theses were the match igniting the flame of the Reformation, technology was the wind that caused that flame to become a wildfire. Without the printing press (the technological marvel of Luther’s era), the flame of the Reformation might have burned out quickly and not have re-shaped the western world as much as […]
On Rural and Urban
I’ve found this interesting: the scriptural narrative begins in a garden (Genesis 1-2) and ends in a city (Revelation 21). And I think it is worth pondering, what this means. Perhaps it means that God can be found in both the city and the country. In both the busyness of the city lifestyle and the […]
On Relationships
Martin Luther challenged the church teachings on relationships for priests and got married. Protestant churches today often view this as a minor detail. A natural, easy thing to accept. However, we must realize the uniqueness of this action. Now, it may be that historically some priests had secret wives in Luther’s day, but there is […]
On Values
For Christ-followers, we may like to think our faith is the sole influence on our values, but other factors (such as modernity, history, culture, and nationality, to mention a few) influence our values as well. Some of this is okay (right and good), since we are meant to live in the present while working for the Eternal […]
On Culture
We are called to live in our present time and yet, at the same time, we are called to be workers of Christ’s Eternal Kingdom as well. We have reflected on how this applies to our attitude towards history, modernity, and nationalism. Now, consider how this applies to our posture toward our culture. In contemporary […]
On Nationalism
As workers of the Eternal Kingdom, Christ-followers must be wary of unfettered nationalism. For the Christ-follower, it is impossible to have full commitment to both God and country. Only to God. This indeed is a hard pill to swallow. We want to follow what is most tangible and present, and we find this often in […]
On History and Modernity
History can be a hard subject for the Christ-follower to reflect on and consider. So many dark, dangerous, and truly evil things were done (and are still done) in the name of Jesus. As those that follow the Light of the World, we have a duty to learn from history and absorb it in its entirety, […]
On Conscience
One of Martin Luther’s most well-known quotes comes from when he was asked to retract his statements (which, at the time, were considered heretical and wrong). Standing before the authorities of his day, Luther said “…my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant, since it is neither safe nor […]
On Confession
As we meditate on the Lord’s Prayer and think about “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive our trespassers”, we must also think about confession. There are stories of young Martin Luther confessing his sins for hours on end, then leaving his confessor, and then immediately returning, realizing he left out something and fearing the consequences. […]
Relevant Reformation 