Reformation Day ::: 491st Anniversary

Today marks the 491st anniversary of the day when Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenburg, Germany in 1517. It's Reformation Day. While Luther was far from perfect, he was one of the men God used during the Reformation. With apologies for excluding Wycliffe, Huss and other forefunners of the Reformation, I thought I would post a few of the Luther quotes I have in my files.

“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and by plain reason and not by Popes and councils who have so often contradicted themselves, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.” (Luther on trial at the Diet of Worms in 1521)

"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."

"Next to theology, I give music the highest place of honor."

"We cannot attain to the understanding of Scripture either by study or by the intellect. Your first duty is to begin by prayer. Entreat the Lord to grant you, of His great mercy, the true understanding of His Word. There is no other interpreter of the Word of God than the Author of this Word, as He Himself has said, 'They shall be all taught of God' (John 6:45). Hope for nothing from your own labors, from your own understanding: trust solely in God, and in the influence of His Spirit. Believe this on the word of a man who has experience."

"I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth."

"There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage."

“In vain some seek to exalt the light of nature and regard it as equal to the light of grace. In reality, the light of nature is total darkness and the very opposite of divine grace. Divine grace working in man places nothing above God. In all things, it sees only Him, desires only Him, and strives after only Him. Everything else that intervenes between itself and God, it ignores, as though it does not exist. It is directed only toward God.” (from Luther’s commentary on Romans)

Go to Answers.com to read a few articles on Martin Luther.
For a summary of Reformation theology,
please read this article at Monergism.com by Dr. Michael Horton.

Back Rubs, the Shema and Loving God

One of my favorite things to do is to tuck my kids in at bedtime. It's a wonderful way to get uninterrupted time with each of them at the end of the day. I listen to their stories, answer their questions, rub their backs, and pray with them.

A couple nights ago when I rubbing Emily's back, she asked me to write a word on her back so she could guess what I was writing. This is a game she made up. I drew each letter on her little back: L-O-V-E. After she correctly guessed the word, I told her I chose that word for 2 reasons. First was because I'm always going to love her no matter what. Second was because of what Jesus said was the most important thing. I told her about these verses:

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
— MARK 12:28-31 —

It seemed to really click with her, and I was happy to have had a good discipleship moment with her. I then went to tuck in my son, Elijah, and repeated the same word game and Bible verse with him. Together we came up with some hand motions for heart, soul, mind and strength. I love these special, God-centered moments with my family.

I tell these things to my kids, because I want them to know what is most important in life. I pray that I will live out the reality of the Greatest Commandment if front of them so that they will have a working model of what it means to love God with all their energy. This is what they were created for: to passionately love God and love others. This is our purpose. This is my heart's cry both as a parent and a pastor.

“Let a man set his heart only on doing the will of God and he is instantly free…If we understand our first and sole duty to consist of loving God supremely and loving everyone, even our enemies, for God’s dear sake, then we can enjoy spiritual tranquility under every circumstance.”
— A.W. TOZER —
1897-1963

Interestingly, when Jesus answers His critics in the above passage, He does so by quoting from the Shema — the most important Bible passage to any Old Testament Jew (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Included in those verses is a command to teach your children "when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise" (vs 7). Did you catch that? Parents are supposed to instruct their kids in the love of God all the time, including when you get under the covers at the end of the day.

Here's to many more disciple-making bedtime chats...and back rubs.

MP3 Messages & PDF Handouts

Sermon.net finally finished their entire site re-build, so my files and sermon player are available again.

Family Vacation Photos

We had a great time on our 2 week family vacation in Orlando. I have already blogged a bit about what we did as well as the importance of rest and relaxation, so I thought I'd share a few photos. Click on any of them to see the album at my Picasa photo site.

MP3 Messages & PDF Handouts

Sermon.net hosts my MP3 messages and PDF files. The site is currently down but should be up soon.

For the time being, you can find a selection of sermons and files by clicking here.