Reformation Day Brings More Reforming

This Monday is Reformation day. On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis. Issues he wanted the church to dialog about.

There was a lot of talk, but unfortunately not a lot of healthy dialog.

However, one of the positive results was how the Bible came to be viewed. The Bible became available to the masses, it was translated into the languages of everyday people, and regular people began to read the Bible for themselves.

The Holy Scriptures and how they were interpreted used to be solely controlled by the clergy. Now the Scriptures were free for everyone to use.

I'm recognizing the guts it must have taken for Martin Luther and others to go against the flow of the established church.

Approximately 500 years later many Christians are talking about another reformation that is taking place.

A large part of this new reformation is the desire to place the church body back under the headship of Jesus Christ alone. For the most part the Reformation retained the structure and hierarchy created by the Catholic Church. The new denominations and state run churches severed their ties with Rome, but replaced Rome's authority with other governance organizations and/or individuals.

So the reformation of the 1500's gave the Bible back to the body. This new movement can be seen as giving the body back to our Lord.

Personally I'm not sure the work of the Reformation has finished. There are still more family issues to sort out. Like Martin Luther, my desire is not to create divisions, but to dialog and encourage my brothers and sisters to consider looking past some of our traditions and seeking God's will for us. I'm doing my part by posting my 95 thesis, stuff I'd love to see the church dialog around:

http://jonjourney.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-95-thesis.html

The Reformation put the Scriptures into your hands. I encourage you to study these Scriptures for yourself. Seek the Holy Spirit, and wisdom from respected brothers and sisters. I pray all can be done in love.

I'd love to hear what God is saying to you. God is still at work. God bless!

Related Posts:

• Am I a Heretic?
• Spring Cleaning - Ecclesia Reformata, semper reformanda
• To My Protestant Friends
• Solo Christo Copyright Infringement
• N.T. Wright on Reformers Perspective of Scripture

Does Jesus want you to update your status

What would Matt 10:7 look like if Jesus spoke today?

Small Is Big

I've been procrastinating on writing a review of Small Is Big (originally published as The Rabbit and the Elephant) by Tony Dale, Felicity Dale and George Barna. The problem with this book is there are so many parts to it that I find encouraging. I don't know if a short summary will do justice. I'd like to say "I like this part", and then quote the whole book, but that may break some copyright rules.

If I were to write a short summary of this book, this is a thought that kept coming to me as I read it:

"This is a record of somebody who is actually living the way I've been thinking lately."

I enjoyed reading their personal stories of their involvement in simple relational church life. I found it encouraging to read stories that had a familiar resemblance to what we find in the New Testament. Tony and Filicity have numerous first hand accounts where the living spirit of Jesus has made an impact on the lives of others and resulted in groups of people following Jesus together. They are actively making disciples of Jesus, building them up, and sending them out to make more disciples.

Unfortunately these stories are too many and too long to include in a blog post here. So you'll have to get your own copy of their book if you want to be encouraged by these stories. (and/or follow their blog here)

I will share a couple of sound bites of what they have learned along the way:

"The phenomenon that is occurring in front of our eyes is a rebirthing of the church - God is taking an event-based institution and re-forming it so that it is becoming life - and relationship-based.".


"The Gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus was very focused on His Father's Kingdom, speaking about it more than any other subject. The Gospels include more than a hundred references to the word Kingdom. Jesus preached about it (Luke 4:43) and told people to seek it above all else (Matthew 6:33). He told parables about it (Matthew 13; 25) and said that the Kingdom was near to people who were healed (Luke 10:9)"


"This Kingdom of God is an upside-down kingdom. It takes the world's values and exposes them for what they are: hollow and superficial. And then it sets its own standards: up is down, death leads to life, law is transformed by grace, the poor are rich, leaders serve, and the humble are exalted."

"Liquid church happens when we stop inviting others to come to church and instead we go out into every sphere of society as the Lord leads. We reach out to our neighbors or our coworkers, and instead of asking them to come to church, we get together with those people right where they live or work. In this way segments of society that might never have experienced church life are affected by the Kingdom of God"

"Jesus is far more interested in our hearts than He is in our pursuit of correct doctrine or the right church structure. All who know Jesus as Lord are the body of Christ, no matter which spiritual family they may belong to (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). "

"Non-religious Christianity.... This kind of spiritual life cannot be put into a box or placed on an agenda. It cannot be programmed or reduced to a curriculum. As Wolfgang Simson likes to say "Programs are what the church resorts to when the Holy Spirit leaves."

"One of the biggest paradigm shifts within the simple church reformation is the understanding that when we are following the Holy Spirit, there is little need for organization and no neeed for hierarchical control. Ordinary people can be entrusted with the affairs of the church, and since Jesus is head of the church, we need to be willing to risk letting the Holy Spirit direct things as He wills."

Jesus Proclaiming Gospel on Facebook

Did Jesus preach the gospel?

Sharing the gospel is a top priority to many Evangelical Christians. They feel a deep urgency to share the good news message with others, with the hopes that some will accept the gospel. Of course this is a good thing. We should all go out into the world and share the good news of Jesus with others.

But could we pause for a moment and take a look at Jesus.

Did Jesus preach the gospel?

Do we think Jesus frequently preached a gospel message like this?

• You are a sinner
• God is holy and can not have sin in His presence
• Jesus paid the debt for your sins
• Just believe and you will go to heaven when you die

Do we think Jesus preached this from town to town?

Do we think his disciples preached this from town to town?

Do we think the early church preached this from town to town?

My apologies if I've missed or misquoted the gospel message you are familiar with. Everyone seems to have a slightly different version. One problem I see with this type of gospel presentation is that it requires a fair bit of proof-texting. I suspect if this was the gospel presentation made by anyone in the early church, we would find the whole presentation in a number of passages. We would not have to cut and paste verses from different books, mixed together with our own summary, to give the gospel presentation.

What we do find is Jesus preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.

You can not read the gospels without noticing how often the topic of the kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven is on the lips of Jesus. Matt 4:23, Matt 9:35, Matt 24:14, Luke 4:43, Luke 16:16 are a few that link the word 'gospel' with this kingdom message. We also find his disciples were sent out preaching the same message (Matt 10:5-8, Luke 9:1-2, Luke 10:9) . We have 4 books call the 'gospels' that have a lot to say about the good news message Jesus and His disciples preached. Paul and the other New Testament writers continued with the same message and themes.

Following are some links to my attempt to piece together what the gospel was according to Jesus, starting with what is recorded in the gospels. I'd encourage you to do your own study too. I welcome any feedback. I'm certain I don't have it all figured out, but I'm on a journey of changing my way of thinking, that the reign of God is near (Mark 1:15):

• Gospel in the Gospels - Summary
• Gospel in Matthew
• Gospel in Mark
• Gospel in Luke
• I'm a believer - what John has to say about being a believer
• Gospel in John
• Gospel in other NT verses

Kingdom like searching for Pearls

Matt 13:45-46 (HCSB)

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had, and bought it."

Continuing my series on the secrets of the kingdom. The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given to us (Matthew 13:11). Jesus came to share this kingdom message (Luke 4:43). So I'm examining different passages related to this kingdom message.

This short parable in Matt 13:45-46 is very similar to the previous one in Matt 13:44.

Here we have a merchant, a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit. This merchant was searching for fine pearls, something precious and of great worth. When he found one, he recognized it was a deal of a lifetime. He recognized that it was worth giving up all that he had to acquire this pearl.

A version of the parable also appears in the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas:

Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a merchant who had a supply of merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself. So also with you, seek his treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys."
— Gospel of Thomas 76, Patterson/Meyer translation

Some thoughts:

• Are we searching for the kingdom of heaven in our daily lives. Are we seeking heaven's rule, God's ways, God's will.
• Do we recognize the value of the kingdom of heaven, the reign of God?
• What are we willing to give up as we discover God's way?