The presents are all unwrapped, the Christmas goose is now leftovers in the fridge, and every website in the world now presents their “year in review” or “most popular” lists. I confess, the temptation to join the drill is too intense for me not to succumb. As we prepare for 2018 a look back at the top three articles of the last year is in order. While articles written in our first couple years have many times more page views than these, they have also been online longer and found by people using search engines. These articles succeeded because of you, O Gentle Reader, and your likes and shares.
I understand that Thanksgiving is a wholly American holiday and some of our readers in the international community may feel a little left out, or possibly slighted by a shorter entry on this day. I am trusting that any such emotions will be thwarted by today’s passage. In fact, I highly recommend reading these verses aloud. More than once. Let them wash over you. It is my Thanksgiving Day wish that they would come to characterize every believer on this day, the day America celebrates its traditions and foundation.
After a tragically malicious shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas where a gunman killed 26 people and wounded many others in the First Baptist Church last Sunday, a nation turned to its leadership for understanding. President Trump stated his prayers were with the victims and their families and, whatever you may think of him personally, he pointed the people to connect with God -- which is always the right thing to do. Senator Ted Cruz did what the president, who was half way around the world at the time, could not when he visited the small town and mourned with its people the brutality and loss of life.
As a result of posting his 95 Thesis and extoling a deep belief in the infallibility of the Bible and fallibility of the Pope, Luther was taken to task. He was required to defend his belief in Sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”) eventually questioned by his superiors who demanded he recant. Instead of submitting, Luther restated his belief stating, “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason… my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, God help me. Amen."
For many around the world, astronauts are true life heroes – and for good reason. To become one of the few to lose the bounds of gravity means having what novelist Tom Wolfe called the “right stuff”. That includes a lot of education – most of them have advanced degrees (think doctorate level and, for some, even beyond) and experience to match. It also includes being in great physical shape, having near perfect vision, and you must be of a certain height (neither too short or tall). The right stuff seems to be the same stuff of super heroes.
Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years are all rapidly approaching and, for most of us, that invokes mixed feelings. Buying and wrapping presents, preparing a turkey dinner, spending time with family and friends -- including a few we haven’t seen since last Christmas -- can be both rewarding and anxiety inducing. With so much to do it’s easy to let our normal spiritual practices slip, when what we need to do is increase our time with God. We at Think-Biblically have created a few ways you can prepare yourself for the season to come, both heart and soul.
Last week we started a series on the “five solas” of the Reformation period, and today we finish up and we’ve saved the best (if one can classify such things) for last: Solus Christus, or Christ alone. This theological principle is expressed as: Christ alone is the mediator between man and God and salvation is found in no one else. This was a direct response to the Catholic church who taught that man must confess to a priest, and the priest would mediate between God and man. In fact, the Catholic system at the time resembled the Jewish system of the first century.
There was a cold wind coming off the Elbe river that night. Martin Luther raised his collar against the chill and quickly skipped up the steps of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Taking a hammer and pin, he unrolled his 95 theses, written carefully in Latin, and tacked them to the church door. While change had been in the wind for some time, this action sparked a storm of unprecedented strength. For over one thousand years the Catholic church was the only Christian church in the world, and while some had broken away this simple mission of Luther's would change Christendom -- and the world -- forever.
This year the Advent season begins on December 3rd. While largely a Catholic tradition, the focus of the Advent is something that can encourage every Jesus-followers faith and draw them closer to God during the Christmas season. We mentioned a couple weeks ago how important it is to not only keep up with our normal spiritual disciplines during this busy time of year, but that it is best to even add to it so that we are restored and strengthened to take on the challenges we face. Following the Advent guide is a great way to do that.
From the beginning the church has faced deadly difficulties. Jewish assassins, Roman armies, Muslim jihadists, atheist dictators and more have killed, maimed and attempted to destroy the bride of Christ. While it doesn’t make headlines in the west, dozens of Sunday services throughout Africa are interrupted by Muslim warlords who murder every believer who will not convert to Islam. Though there is no evidence that Devin Kelly in Sutherland Springs, Texas or Stephen Paddock in Las Vegas had any connection to Islam, they shared something in common with the African militants who murder believers nearly every week (more on this in a minute). What can we do?
All this week we’ve been celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation by exploring the five “solas” of that period. So far we’ve examined Sola Scriptura, Sola Fidea and Sola Gracia, or Scripture alone, faith alone and grace alone. We’ve seen the importance of these first three in today’s culture, and now we turn to Soli Deo Gloria, or “Glory belongs to God alone”. Before we begin, however, a special shout out to my friend Janice who toured the Reformation landmarks in Germany earlier this year and brought me back the commemorative cookie that is the graphic for today’s article.
Many of the classic horror movies from the 1980’s started with someone making an incantation – something that always ends horribly. In Evil Dead and incantation is mistakenly read aloud from a book, unleashing true evil upon the earth. A serial killer in the movie Chucky recites an incantation on his death bed to force his spirit into that of a toy doll. Examples abound, but are such devices ever used in the real world? Historically, yes, magic rituals, spells, and incantations were all used as a method to bringing calamity upon one’s enemies. Such things were forbidden for the people of God.