July 2005 | Main | November 2005
Happy Reformation Day
October 31, 2005
On October 31, 1517 - Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the church door at Wittenburg. He declared there that the church must return to Scriptural authority. Our foundation must be Scripture alone. It was the start of the Reformation.
We have so much to celebrate this Reformation day. The faithful who went before us, calling us, imploring us to read, hear and believe the Word of God. Men like Warfield, Luther, Knox, Machen, Spurgeon, Calvin and more. I love the history of the Reformation. I love it because it calls me back to Scripture. Our sword - our weapon - our defense - is the Word of God.
One lady who went into battle with this mighty sword, and stood on her ground on the firm foundation of the Bible was Lady Jane Grey. I'm thankful to Historia Ecclesiastics for profiling this Reformation woman. Michael Haykin points out that:
Her faith and witness, which shone out so strongly in the days before her execution on February 12, 1554, is a good reminder that the heroes of the Reformation are not simply the remarkable cadre of theologians that emerged at that time, men like Martin Luther, Huldreich Zwingli, Heinrich Bullinger, Thomas Cranmer, and John Calvin. But the faith that these Reformers sought to explicate and promote gripped the hearts of many who were not vocational theologians. Jane Grey was such a one. Only a day or so before her death, Jane wrote in her Greek New Testament a letter for her younger sister Katherine, who was fourteen. She was seeking to encourage Katherine to turn from the fleeting pleasures of this world to embrace Christ and find a treasure that is eternal. She wrote:
“I have sent you, good sister Katherine, a book, which although it be not outwardly trimmed with gold, yet inwardly it is more worth than precious stones. It is the book, dear sister, of the laws of the lord: It is His Testament and Last Will, which He bequeathed unto us wretches, which shall lead you to the path of eternal joy, and if you, with a good mind read it, and with an earnest desire, follow it shall bring you to an immortal and everlasting life. …as touching my death, rejoice as I do and consider that I shall be delivered of this corruption and put on incorruption, for as I am assured that I shall for losing of a mortal life, find an immortal felicity.”
Here we see the typical Reformation love of the Scriptures: “it is more worth than precious stones.” And central to this love of the Scriptures is Jane’s clear understanding as to why they were given: to lead sinners—those whom Jane calls “us wretches”—“to the path of eternal joy” and “immortal and everlasting life.” Finally, she has an assurance of salvation, a basic datum of New Testament Christian experience that had been recovered by the Reformers.
If we ask why she had such an assurance, a final document that she wrote, also on the eve of her execution, tells us. She wrote the following three sentences in her prayer book, the first in Latin, then one in Greek and the final one in English: “If justice be done with my body, my soul will find mercy with God. Death will give pain to my body for its sins, but the soul will be justified before God. If my faults deserve punishment, my youth at least, and my imprudence, were worthy of excuse; God and posterity will show me favour.” She has assurance of salvation because she stands justified before God, she has been made right with God, and thus is now confident of his favour.
Thank you reformers, and Lady Jane Grey for your faithful witness! Happy Reformation Day
FIOS beats cable any day!
October 22, 2005
Fios came about 2 weeks ago. It is Verizon's new Fiber Optic high speed network. I now have 15 mps download and a 2 mps upload. It has been fun playing with video - an area I never explored before. There is a ton of legal Bittorrent stuff out there that is of interest to me (for a geekete). FIOS Rocks!
The install took 2 days and about 9 hours - but, it was free. Works seamlessly. We have a mixed Mac/PC environment - didn't matter - worked beautifully. When FIOS comes to your town - get on the waiting list!
Technorati Tags: FIOS
Our missionaries are ordered out!
October 19, 2005
My church, Redeemer Presbyterian supports some wonderful missionaries in Venezuela through New Tribes Missions. The Muttis bring food, medicine, dentistry and the gospel to Amazon tribal people. They have suffered from malaria, civil unrest and scores of other challenges. Now Hugo Chavez wants them out - they are spies for the CIA. At least that's what the headlines read. I've been following it for a week now wondering what the people of Venezuela may be thinking. Well, hear is a sample of the conspiracy theories that seem to abound.
Carlos Pietri writes in Venezuela Electonic News: VHeadline.com - Missionary camps established in the vicinity of highly strategic mineral deposits:
For an unknown reason, they (missionaries) always chose places of great strategic importance as: Tama-Tama (the point where the Orinoco River branched with the Casiquiare River ... from where someone can exercise the absolute control over navigation on both the rivers. They also established their camps in the vicinity of highly strategic mineral deposits, specially of radioactive value (i.e. uranium).
All the world knows than the government of the United States of America has planned ... among other things ... to penetration of these lands under the guise of religious missions in almost the same way they did to take possession of the ancient kingdom of Hawaii.
Thru the people's faith they take possession of their cost-reducing activities ... by bribes and economic control, they take political power and, finally, incite separatism of the sovereign nation aiming to support them to append it to (North) American union.
And there are many things more behind those plots: to mention one, there are many clandestine airports thru which they take out precious stones and/or radioactive metals like uranium. • All this is very Anglo-Saxon, very North American and with the CIA's characteristic seal of approval and mysterious impunities.
We pray that the government listens to the people who New Tribes has ministered to for years.
"New Tribes Mission in Venezuela has been a very important source of support," said Jose Kayupare of the Puinave people. "For those of us who live in the jungle, [NTM's expulsion] really is a decision that the majority of indigenous people in Amazonas don't support." Kayupare, who was born in the dense jungles of the southern state of Amazonas, stated that NTM has helped impoverished Indian communities ravaged by malaria and other diseases, sometimes airlifting the sick to medical assistance.
Iphoto Web Gallery tool
October 6, 2005
I'm working on a website for the Women in the Church. I found that I'm very limited in posting photos with IPhoto. I just came across this terrific free application that has lots of web galleries to chose from - and real flexibility when it comes to comments. Try out Galerie, you won't be disappointed.
