Tuesday, October 31, 2017

"Reformation"

"Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.  After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight."  Hosea 6:1,2

Many will be celebrating Halloween tonight in one form or other-- parties, Trick or Treat, Trunk or Treat, bonfires, festivals, etc.  But some will be remembering something else that took place 500 years ago on this day.  It was when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to a church door.  This began the Reformation.

The dictionary defines reformation as:  the action or process of reforming an institution or practice; making a change in order to improve something.  When he nailed the Thesis to the door, there was a much needed spiritual awakening in the church.  The church was in a dark time.  It was not holding to the scriptures.  It was rewriting them to suit their own desires.  They were not holding to the truth.  They had become nothing but a religious organization.  They had left out the good news of salvation through Jesus and replaced it with law and penance

Five hundred years later and here the church as a whole is again, in the same place.  We have replaced the gospel with self-help teaching.  We have compromised the Word to suit our own desires.  We have watered-down the gospel.  We have not taught the truth.  We have had to come up with our own plans, programs and schemes to reach the lost because we have lost the anointing.  Faith in Jesus isn't taught much.  Repentance, surrender, holiness, obedience, transformation, righteousness, death to self, taking up one's cross have all been cast by the wayside in order to make church seeker-friendly.  If ever we needed a Reformation it is now.  I pray that on this 500th anniversary, that the Lord will graciously send us a Reformation.  Not just a change for change-sake but a change that will bring us back to true Biblical Christianity.

Have a great day.  Pray for a reformation that will bring us back to truth.
 

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