Two lesson here: 1) Understanding takes time.  A flash of lightning convinced Luther that he should enter the laity – Over five years of Bible study brought him to the revelation that salvation is by faith alone.  2) People can change.  How often do we denounce someone because of what they said at one time in the past?  If John MacArthur wrote the 95 Theses – there would be Christians who would never forgive him for it.  Food for thought eh?

On to the reading:

• Point 40 – Sole Fide anyone?  (Also Point 69)
• Point 48 -50– Luther visited Rome seven years before he wrote the 95 Theses.  I wonder if he was thinking back to this visit when he wrote point 48.
• Point 56-57 – Christian relics were very common in this period.  A merchant would product a piece of the cross or some other icon with power to grant relief for the dead.  At this point in the narrative, Luther questions the quantity and the authenticity more than the concept itself.  (Also Point 82)
• Point 62 – I love this statement: “The true treasure of the church is the Holy gospel of the glory and the grace of God.”
•  Point 92 – Great use of Scripture: “Away, then, with those prophets who say to Christ’s people, “Peace, peace,” where in there is no peace.”

~ JK

Then I started thinking about all of the famous texts that have been used to spark debate and discussion in the church.  These are texts that often get referenced in passing but are rarely discussed in detail.  So I thought you might enjoy reading through important documents in church history with me and having an excuse to start a discussion.  What i’m looking for are your first impressions – not a wrestle through the source material.

Have you ever read the 95 Theses by Martin Luther?  Let’s start here with Theses 1-40.

• Luther on the purpose of the 95 Theses: “He [Luther] requests that whoever cannot be present personally to debate the matter orally will do so in absence in writing.”  This sounds like a blog post.
• 1-7 contrast Biblical repentance to the church practice of penance and the role of the Pope in the remitting of sin.  Point 1 is beautiful: When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent”, He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”  Point 7 hints at the idea that he still considers himself a Catholic.
• Point 14 is an interesting observation on human nature: “Defective piety or love in a dying person is necessarily accompanied by great fear, which is greatest where the piety or love is least.”
• The discussion on purgatory and indulgences gives us a window into how Luther is debating the issue in his own mind.  In Point 17 he appears to validate purgatory.  In Points 24 and 27 he attacks the idea that souls can be delivered from purgatory by indulgence.  In Point 29 he even uses the writings of saints to posit the idea that there are souls in purgatory that choose to minister to those who are suffering.
• Point 36 and 37 sharpen the argument against purgatory and indulgences.  “Any true Christian whatsoever, living or dead, participates in all the benefits of Christ and the Church; and this participation is granted to him by God without letters of indulgence.”

Next post I will cover Theses 41-95.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this section of text.

~ Jeremy

While waiting for the wedding to start I took some notes on what I saw around me in the building:

The church seating reminded me of the family box pews found in Europe and America.  I remembered the story of Charles Simeon – a minister who faced significant opposition from his congregation in the form of locking the pews to stop people from worshipping.  At the base of the box pews were foldable prayer benches with no padding at all.  I could not imagine kneeling on these benches (have we grown soft?).

There was a series of stain glass windows in the gothic arches and Scripture engraved in the sandstone including Psalm 122:1 – “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.”  I noticed the huge granite baptistery  (not quite like our fiberglass tubs) and beautiful choir loft set at the back of the chamber.

It wasn’t until after the wedding that I noticed the most famous feature of St. Stephen’s – the glorious spire attached to the church.

Here’s my question – does church architecture enhance worship?  Are there design elements that hinder worship?  Any thoughts or comments would be welcome.

I recommend the following articles on the anniversary event:

Time Magazine – What took so long?

NY Times – Artists Reflect Video

I attended a Christian school in Sydney for the majority of my K-12 schooling years.  Recently, someone asked me answer this question: “How do you know that you attended a Christian school?”  I’ve thought through the question and in relation to my experience at the school I could answer it this way:

1. The school name had a reference to Christian virtues and a denomination.
2. The insignia I wore had Christian iconography on it.
3. The staff members were (to my knowledge) all Christian and attending the same church.
4. Class time included time for prayer, formal doctrine classes, and chapel time.
5. There was a strong Christian ethos in the school.
6. General classroom conversation could include elements relating to the Christian worldview.
7. I had many faith-based conversations with my teachers and most of my friends attended church.
8. There was a identifiable connection between faith and practice.
9. There was a strong student behaviour code (this doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with it being a Christian school).

I remember the first time I saw a data projector used in a church service.  The unit was the size of a carry-on piece of luggage and it also acted as a convergence device with a built in VCR!  Today, you would be hard pressed to find a church without some integration of a data projector into the worship or teaching time.

Here are some suggestions for data projection software in church:

1. Powerpoint/Keynote – Both Microsoft and Apple have presentation software that can be adapted for church use.   They have the best feature set and graphic options for presentations.  You can create video announcements and dynamic slides if you combine iMovie (live motion) and Keynote (still frames).  You’re looking at $100 for the Apple iWork suite or $150+ for different versions of Microsoft Office.   Ultimately, you trade the flexibility of creating anything you want with a custom-designed workflow that is better suited to a church service.  For example, how do you manage a large library of songs for weekly services?  Copy and paste?  I don’t think so.
2. Open LP – Open LP is a free cross-platform tool specifically designed for church services.  There is a passionate community behind Open LP with a track record of adding features and support.  You’ll find library management , integration of CCLI licensing and savable service orders.  As a Mac user, the Mac version isn’t as mature as the PC version but it all works.  Also, it’s hard to argue with free.
3. ProPresenter – The team at Renewed Vision have taken presentation software to the next level with lots of features aimed at a large congregation.  You’ll find things like DVD pre-syncing (so there isn’t any lag), centralised song management on a web server (so you can have one database with multiple users), and a wireless monitor tool that lets you broadcast the presentation to an iPad on the lectern.   Here’s the catch – it costs $400 for a non-concurrent license and the most mature feature set is only available for the Mac version.

Our church uses ProPresenter (after two years of Keynote) and I can definitely say that dedicated church presentation software is better than the standard office programs in a church context.  I would love to hear about any other programs that I’ve missed and the combo that you use for your church.

~ JK

It would seem that our most fervent discussion grows out of our differences.  Posts on Bible versions, Calvinism, or Standards (BCS for short?) attract the widest readership and the most comments.  The fact that we have both differences and vigorous discussion highlights the robustness of the Christian faith.  I’m choosing the high road here because at times I think that Michael Caton’s quote from The Castle is more appropriate – “Tell ‘em they’re dreamin’.”

Whether you are denominational or non-denominational (independent), the overwhelming majority of the readership would be able to trace their faith and culture back to the Protestant Reformation.  Consider the role of Scholasticism as a contributing factor leading up to the Reformation. Take a moment to read through this translated quote by the famous Scholastic Thomas Aquinas in his capstone work, Summa Theologica:

“Sin, in so far as it is inordinate, has the character of evil; but, in so far as it is an act, it has some good, at least apparent, for its end: so that, as an act, but not as being inordinate, it can be the cause, both final and efficient, of another sin. A sin has matter, not “of which” but “about which” it is: and it has its form from its end. Consequently one sin can be the cause of another, in respect of the four kinds of cause, as stated above.”

How did you go with that one?  The Scholastics were famous for their nuanced semantics and logical arguments.  At times I feel like our friend Thomas Aquinas would be very comfortable in our debates.  Ironically, during this protracted period of navel-gazing the preservation of the Scriptures flourished in the Augustine and Dominican monastic orders.  Here’s a big generalization for the purpose this post – God preserved his Word while people were talking at it – not applying it.

So to adapt a phrase from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night – “if disagreement be the food of sanctification, play on.”   But I wonder… how many of you are comfortable with reading the Bible in Greek or Hebrew (the language of God’s Word)?    How many of you have actually read something that John Calvin wrote (or Jacobus for that matter)?  Food for thought eh?

~ JK

“A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it.  People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the proving questions of a smart skeptic.  A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.  Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts – not only their own but their friends’ and neighbors’.  It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them.  Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive…”

The two questions I wrote in the margin of the book were as follows: “what do I doubt” and “what is the role of doubt within the context of Christian education?”  I would like to talk through the former more personal question now and the latter question in my next post.

When I asked myself the question – what do I doubt?  The answer was not immediately apparent.  The first place I looked was at the traditional culprit – crisis.  At the time of reflection and at the time of writing there is no crisis in my life, relationships, or circumstances.  While many people seem to be living in a Dickens novel my life at this time feels more like an Asterix comic (near the inevitable banquet scene).

In the absence of identifiable doubt I started looking at the environment that could lead to doubt and this stark warning “A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.”  I thought about the following questions in the context of my own spiritual life and I believe they have wider application among believers:

Am I relying on past spiritual experiences instead of present day spiritual vitality?  Do I refer to things that God has done last year or even decades ago without any thought to what God is doing in my own life right now?

Does the absence of doubt reflect spiritual contentment or indifference?  It is very easy (especially as men) to become invested in work or lifestyle pursuits that appear to fill the God-sized hole that we have in our lives.  If life was a game of charades would I be labeled as content or indifferent?

Am I living towards my ultimate purpose?  There are many good things that I could be doing with my time and relationships – but are they the best things?  How does my life reflect my ultimate purpose?

JK

I didn’t fully understand it then – but I do now.  My mother was modeling and teaching truth every day.  Only a servant would spend two hours in the car each day driving back and forth from school.  She used that time to share her faith and to encourage me to ask the big questions of life.  She showed me how you could rise above the immediate trouble and see God’s purpose.  She helped me to see the preciousness of others.

To my own mother – I love you and I am thankful for you.  To mothers – know that your children are learning from you every day.  Before they can talk and read they have the opportunity to learn about God through your reactions and through your actions.   Above the tears and the sleepless nights – your children will rise up and call you blessed (Proverbs 31:28).

~ Jeremy

I returned when the tree was cut down to see what all of the fuss was about.  The base of the tree was rotten to within 15 cm of the outside bark.  You could put your foot into the heart of the tree and scrap out the termites nest that was happily eating away at the base of the tree.  Now I understood – a tree that looked perfectly healthy on the outside was actually rotting on the inside.

John Piper, in a recent post, said “It is sheer madness to believe in God and live a lie.”  At the heart of this comment is the idea that we can take on the look and feel of a Christ-follower while happily allowing something to eat us away from the inside.   If you’ve felt this way (and it’s very easy to be like this) – here are some thoughts:

Stop hiding behind your reputation. If you are a Christian, you believe that you are a sinner who received God’s forgiveness through faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ.  News flash – you are not a good person!  Christians are not some topiary carefully crafted in the palace garden.  Christians are gnarled bushes that God has mercifully redeemed for His own glory.

Start with simple faith. Scripture tells the story of Nicodemus, a man who invested himself wholeheartedly in the study and application of the Scriptures.  His questions to Jesus revealed that he missed the big picture.  Faith is the starting point for a relationship with Jesus.