The Reformation

The hammer swung, hitting the nail with a mighty ring. It was October 31, 1517. Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses now adorned the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany. This document, written in Latin, served as an invitation for an academic disputation, a common occurrence amongst scholars. In it, Luther addressed his concerns over the selling of “indulgences,” through which people believed they could pay money for their sins to be forgiven. He believed only God could recognize true penitence.

Luther’s assertions caused an uproar. Certain theologians felt their authority was being attacked. To clarify that he wasn’t denouncing anyone, Luther wrote, also in Latin, Explanations of the Disputation Concerning the Value of Indulgences, presenting a clearer view of his personal stance on indulgences, sacraments, faith, and justification.

As the situation snowballed, Luther grew increasingly fearful for his safety. The Grand Commissioner of Indulgences called for Luther to be burned for heresy. In an attempt to placate his opponents, Luther wrote, Sermon on Indulgences and Grace, which purposefully avoided challenging anyone’s authority. This time, he wrote in German, the language of his country. It was reprinted twenty times.

Sixty-two years had passed since Gutenberg invented the printing press. His first publication was the Latin Bible. However, with the exception of academics and theologians, Latin had been a dead language for nearly seven hundred years. Laymen spoke only the language of their country, yet church services and the Bible were both in Latin. When Luther published Sermon on Indulgences and Grace in German, an irreversible wave set in motion.

The Reformation had been sparked.

Luther, Tyndale, Zwingli, Calvin, and others played a huge role in translating the Bible into the languages of the people. Thanks to this, the growing popularity of the printing press, and a rapidly-increasing literacy rate, people were now gaining access to God’s Word in their own vernacular. Christianity exploded across Europe.

Romans 10:14, 17 says, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? …So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

God calls each of us to “go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). What can you do to follow the example these men set and put the Bible into the hands of those who don’t yet believe? Post your ideas in the comments below.

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff

Measuring Up

Do you remember the days when you would back up to a wall or door frame, and your parents would pull out the yard stick to measure you? I stretched my neck, hoping to be as tall as possible. Sometimes I even left my shoes on in hopes that Mom wouldn’t catch me. I couldn’t wait to grow up.

As I grew in both height and years, I turned into a perfectionist. Everything worth doing was worth doing the right way. The pillows on my bed had to be just so, my homework was completed with precise attention to detail, and I practiced piano with a fervor that reflected the old adage, “Practice makes perfect.”

But I couldn’t be perfect all the time (shocking, I know). Social faux pas were the worst humiliation. GPA’s less than a 4.0 resulted in tears (math was always the source of my scholastic struggles). And sins? They brought on the worst kind of shame.
I grew tired of trying to measure up to my own standards.

We all have expectations of ourselves, and at times, we fall short of those expectations. I expected myself to be perfect, but I had to learn that perfection isn’t synonymous with or even complementary to being human. Perfection belongs to God and God alone.

II Corinthians 12:9 says, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Perfection isn’t God’s expectation for us. Instead, God wants us to rely on Him and His power so He can fill in our gaps when we don’t measure up. His grace allows us to be human and gives us further reason to glorify Him.

On the other hand, God’s grace doesn’t allow us to kick back and sin at leisure or give little thought to what we do. “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid” (Romans 6:15). God still desires lives lived in holy reverence before Him.

God’s standard for living invites personal relationship with Him. We can’t bridge the gap of sin, so Christ did it for us. Instead of struggling through life on our own, we can rely on His strength at all times. We have unlimited access to His limitless grace.

Are you standing tall against your own yard stick? Or is Jesus your substitute yard stick, allowing you to grow unencumbered by unrealistic expectations? Rest in God’s grace, “and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff

I'm Not Ashamed

Rachel Scott lived unashamed of the Gospel. Like anyone, she had her struggles. High school presented a whole realm of potential temptations and bad decisions. Ultimately, Rachel recognized her life’s purpose. As she shared the Gospel with those around her, she faced ridicule – a teenager’s worst nightmare. But that didn’t stop her; she wanted God to use her to reach those who didn’t yet know Him.

In her diary, Rachel wrote, “I lost all my friends at school, now that I’ve begun to ‘walk my talk,’ they make fun of me…But you know what? I am not going to apologize for speaking the name of Jesus. I am not going to justify my faith to them, and I am not going to hide the light that God has put into me. If I have to sacrifice everything I will.”

On April 20, 1999, Rachel did just that. Two disillusioned fellow students, Eric and Dylan, came to school armed with intent to kill. As they approached Rachel, they asked her, “Do you still believe in your God?”

“You know I do.”

“Then go be with Him,” Eric responded with gunfire.

Rachel was the first of thirteen to fall that day in Columbine, Colorado. Her response of “You know I do” perfectly illustrated her passionate commitment to living out her faith. These two strange, dark, ostracized boys already knew about her faith in God. She had been so outspoken about the Gospel that she knew they knew about her faith.

…Can we say the same thing about the intimidating people in our lives? Do they know what we believe and why?

…Are we so zealous for Christ that we are truly willing to “count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8)?

Philippians 1:20 says, “according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” Rachel Scott, a girl of a mere seventeen years, lived to tell the lost about eternal life in Christ in the hope that God would use her to impact many. When the time came, she also died for Christ. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…” Romans 1:16

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff

Purify

“And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.” (Numbers 19:18-19).

In 1846, Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis set out to determine why so many women in maternity wards were dying from what was commonly known as childbed fever. He compared two wings: one staffed completely by doctors and medical students, and one staffed entirely by midwives. As a result, he found that women were five times as likely to die in the wing staffed by doctors and medical students.

After much frustrating research and the death of a colleague after performing an autopsy on a woman who had died from childbed fever, Semmelweis determined that the major difference between doctors and midwives was that doctors performed autopsies. He hypothesized that particles were getting on the hands of the doctors during the autopsies and transferring to the women during childbirth, who would then contract the disease and die. His solution? To have the doctors wash their hands and instruments in a chlorine solution. The rate of childbed fever fell dramatically.

It seems strange to think of a time when doctors didn’t even wash their hands between patients. Over 1800 years passed before the “modern world” figured out the benefits of antiseptic, yet during the Old Testament era, God commanded the Israelites to purify themselves with water suffused with hyssop, an herb with cleansing properties.

While it can sometimes feel tedious to read through the Old Testament’s Books of the Law like Numbers, it’s exciting to see that God didn’t give the Israelites so many laws to follow just because He’s God and could make them jump through hoops; He gave them laws to protect them. The Israelites, God’s chosen people, understood that the purpose behind following these laws was to purify themselves both physically and spiritually so they would be acceptable before God.

The Israelites tried to follow His laws, and at times failed royally. Our sins – when we break God’s laws – separate us from God, putting an obstacle in our ability to have a relationship with Him and to come before Him in worship. However, God tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9). God, in His graciousness, provides the means for us to be cleansed in His sight and to freely approach Him.

Psalm 51:7, 9-13 says, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow…Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.”

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff

Covenant Reflection

His heart raced. Third time’s the charm, Jerry thought. After planning and canceling two special dinners with his girlfriend, he forged ahead with his plans even though the ring still hadn’t arrived. Tonight, nothing was going to stand in his way. He would ask Jeanne to marry him no matter what.

When Jerry proposed with a photo of a ring instead of an actual ring, it didn’t make any difference to Jeanne. She was in love with the God-fearing man seated across the table from her. Together, they could build a life more glorifying to God than apart.

My parents married 46 years ago today, committing themselves to each other “for better or for worse” for the rest of their lives. And throughout their marriage, they have seen a lot of both the “better” and the “worse.” They’ve laughed together, had disagreements, traveled the world together, hurt together over the deaths of family members and friends, faced financial difficulty and illnesses, raised three daughters – everything life has thrown at them, they’ve faced together.

Their union is a marriage of three: Dad, Mom, and Christ. With Christ at the center of their marriage, they have been able to rely on His power and guidance to get them through the “worse,” which has made the “better” all the more sweet. Ephesians 5:22-25 says, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and He is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it.”

Movies and television portray marriage as a contract, one that can and even should be terminated when times get tough or if the husband and wife “fall out” of love. But the love described in Ephesians 5 isn’t one of convenience or emotion; it’s one of commitment, sacrifice, and humility. When a contract is broken, it becomes null, but a covenant stands forever. The marriage relationship reflects Christ’s forever covenant with the Church.

Imagine the predicament we would be in if Christ decided He didn’t want to love us anymore. Instead, His Word tells us, “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). We can take comfort in the fact that Christ will keep His Word. John 14:1-4 says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”

How comforting it is to know Christ will not break His covenant with us! Just like the marriage covenant reflects, He will be with us to love and guide us for all of our days.

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff