Continuing Reformation

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

As we remember and celebrate the Great Reformation, it is important for us to recognize that all great reformations spiritually, socially and politically have begun in the Church, the Bride of Christ. They have continued in the lives of individual Christians.
May we join together spiritually and sing and pray this great old hymn written by J. Edwin Orr:

SEARCH ME, O GOD

Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
cleanse me from ev'ry sin and set me free.

I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
fulfill Thy Word and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;
fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;
I now surrender, Lord— in me abide.

O Holy Spirit, revival comes from Thee;
send a revival– start the work in me.
Thy Word declares Thou will supply our need;
for blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God:  The Reformation is a celebration of who God Is.

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Martin Luther loved to praise God and wrote many hymns.  His most famous hymn is “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”  Most of us learned the English translation by Fredrick H. Hedge.  That translation was published in 1853.   The hymn is based on Psalm 46.

Psalm 46:1-3 (NKJV):
¹  God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
²  Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
³  Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling.

Let’s celebrate the Reformation, the knowledge that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), with renewed hearts proclaiming that God is our refuge and our strength and in Him we need not fear.  What a powerful word for today.

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

  

Reformation:  the Celebration Continues

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

            On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted 95 theses on the door of  a church in Wittenberg, Germany.  The reaction sparked the Protestant Reformation and the counter-reformation within the Roman Catholic Church itself.  In short, God intervened and cleaned His house. 

            Unfortunately, we have allowed the practice of Halloween to obscure the significance of the Reformation.   While some congregations recognize its history on Reformation Sunday, most Christians are unaware of the impact that the Reformation made, not only within the family of God, but within Western Civilization as a whole.  

            Reformation should not be considered as just a historical event.  Reformation should be a continuing experience in our Christian lives.  Scripture tells us that we are to grow from faith to faith and glory to glory:

▪ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” ( Rom 1:17 NKJV)

▪ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor 3:18 NKJV)

            Paul wrote to the Roman Church declaring that the reformation experience results from the transformation of our thinking: 

▪ And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

            Many believers struggle with a flawed concept of good vs. evil.  This is an area where we can be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Part of the problem is that we have determined that good is the opposite of evil and have, thereby, equated the power of good with the power of evil.  The next step in that erroneous thinking process is equating the power of God with the power of satan.  Transformation of our minds about this perception can lead us into deeper reformation and further growth in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

 Evil is not the opposite of good.  Evil is the absence of good. In like manner, darkness is not the opposite of light.  Darkness is the absence of light.  Hatred is not the opposite of love. Hatred is the absence of love.  Just as light dispels darkness, love dispels hate and good dispels evil. 

     Remember the words of the beloved apostle John, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4 NKJV)  

We need not fear the enemy of our souls.  We need not ascribe power to the one who was made powerless by the blood of Jesus.  “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39 NKJV)

May we continue our reformation through the transformation of our minds until we live and move and have our being in Him.

 

Reformation: They Are Watching the City on the Hill 

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

All of creation is watching and waiting for Reformation.

Jesus said of the Church,

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Notice He spoke in the present tense.  We are the light of the world.  We are the city set on a hill that cannot be hidden.  The world is watching us. 

At the same time, we are watching the world.  We are watching the violence, the divisions, the anger, the unforgiveness and the despair. 

And the world, including all of creation, is watching us and waiting for us to step forward and take our places as the sons of God. (Romans 8:19).

The sons of God must stand in unity against the forces of the enemy of our souls.  The turmoil in our culture is manifested in the political, but its roots are in the spiritual.  Only the sons of God can battle in the spiritual realm.

When Jesus went into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of His crucifixion, He didn’t chase out the money changers in Caesar’s court.  He cleansed His own house.  He cleansed the Temple.  Today, Christians are the Temple of God.  We must be busy cleansing the Temple.  Before any political reformation came about in history, it began with a cleansing of the hearts of Christians. 

We cannot experience true brotherhood in the world until we experience true brotherhood in the Church.  The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Epheseus, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

The desire of God’s heart is that Christians come together in unity–harmony within the church and harmony among the churches based on salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ, the virgin-born Son of God. We are not called to be sports teams in competition with one another.  We are called to stand together and to usher in the Kingdom of God—His will done on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, sweat drops of blood as He prayed for the unity of His followers throughout the ages: "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me” John 17:21-23. 

Psalm 133:1-3 declares the blessing in unity.  “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing: Life forevermore.”

We often preach about loving the sinner and loving our enemies.  We seldom speak of loving other Christians with the agape love that our Father has poured out upon and through us.  The Word tells us that the world will recognize Christians by the love we have for one another: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13: 34-35).

The world is waiting for Christians to love one another.  In that unity is deliverance, freedom and peace. Unbelievers will be drawn to Jesus by the love we have for other believers. (Isaiah 60:1-3).

Oh, Lord God, may the world know us by the love we have for one another, by our unity in the Spirit, by the peace we have within our hearts and with one another.  Amen.

Rise Up O Church of God

By William Pierson Merrill

Rise up O church of God

Have done with lesser things

Give heart and soul

And mind and strength

To serve the King of kings

Rise up O church of God

His kingdom tarries long

Bring in the day of brotherhood

And end the night of wrong

Rise up O church of God

The church for you doth wait

Her strength unequal to her task

Rise up and make her great

Lift high the cross of Christ

Tread where His feet have trod

As brothers of the Son of Man

Rise up O church of God

 

What We Should Be Celebrating on October 31

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

As Christians, many of us have become so caught up in whether or not or how we should or shouldn’t celebrate Halloween that we have either forgotten or have never learned what is important about and worthy of celebration on October 31.

On Oct 31, 1517, Martin Luther (then a Catholic monk) posted his 95 Theses (or

statements) on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. This act started

the  historical movement known as the Reformation. The Reformation was the great rediscovery of the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV):

⁸ For  by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Although, Reformation Day is more commonly celebrated in the Lutheran Church,

Martin Luther should be celebrated as a hero of faith by all Christians. The Protestant churches that many of us worship in today are the result of Luther's efforts to restore the gospel, salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, to the hearts of Christians.  The Catholic Church, as well, went through a major reformation during the ensuing years. 

Therefore, Halloween is a time for us to war in the opposite spirit by celebrating our covenant in Jesus Christ and turning from the ugliness, the wickedness, the witchcraft that the world celebrates.  It is a time to celebrate life in Christ rather than death.  It is a time of walking in faith instead of seeking out fear.

May we, like Luther, courageously stand for the truth, light and life in the Body of Christ.  

Today, more than 500 years since the time of Martin Luther, it is time for another Reformation.  Let’s boldly place these theses on the door of the Temple, the hearts of Christians:

Unity in doctrine; diversity in worship—Let’s stand together in the knowledge that our sin has separated us from God, that God the Father sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to the Cross to pay the penalty for our sin, that Jesus died, was buried and rose again and that He is coming back for those who have, by faith, accepted His sacrifice.  Let’s then allow believers to worship in spirit and in truth whether it is with pipe organs or guitars and drums, formal liturgy or flowing in the Spirit, or classical or contemporary music, or an eclectic, yet spiritual, mixture of all.

Repudiation of “progressive” Christianity—Progressive Christians believe that the Bible is no longer relevant and must be reinterpreted for our time.  Basically, progressive Christians do away with salvation by grace, the Ten Commandments, and the Cross, and become gods unto themselves.

Denunciation of Replacement Theology—Replacement Theology states the Church has replaced Israel in the heart of God so we can just forget that nation and its people.  Believers in Replacement Theology don’t understand that when the Lord makes a blood covenant with a people and pronounces that covenant as lasting forever that He means “forever.”  Those who choose Replacement Theology also choose to ignore Romans 11 which teaches us that we, as Christians, have been grafted into the olive tree that is Israel. 

October 31 is a day to celebrate the courage of a man who stood for the truth of the gospel.  It is, likewise, a day to reaffirm our commitment to biblical truth.

 

Lydia: More Than a Dealer in Purple

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Lydia’s story is told in Acts 16:9-15: 

Lydia was the first convert to the Christian faith in the colonial Roman city of Philippi (Acts 16:11-15), in the district of Macedonia.

Paul’s missionary strategy included visiting local synagogues, but there apparently was no synagogue in Philippi. However, there was an informal place of prayer at the riverside. Paul met the devout there.  Among the worshippers was Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a devout worshiper of God who came to the riverside on the Sabbath to pray. It was there that she and others heard the message of the gospel from Paul and his companions. 

In the first-century Roman world, women owned and managed businesses. Lydia sold an expensive item.  Purple cloth was worn only by the aristocracy.   Lydia was probably a successful and relatively wealthy commoner.  She was very likely an independent business owner since women occupied a prominent place in Macedonian life.

When Paul first met Lydia, she was a “worshipper of God” or a God-fearer (Acts 16:14). Her Greek background would suggest that Lydia was a former polytheist. At the time of Paul’s arrival, she was worshipping with the Jews.

Acts 16:15 tells of her conversion into Christianity. She became a true believer in the Lord, and she and her household were baptized. She then persuaded Paul and his companions to stay at her home. Paul and his company remained at Lydia’s house during their ministry in Philippi. The newly established church also met there (Acts 16:40).

Women were of equal importance in the church in contrast to their situation in the synagogue. In Jewish circles, Lydia, as a woman, would have played only a secondary role, but in the new Christian community, she played a prominent role.

While the formation of a Jewish synagogue required ten men, this new Christian community began with one woman who was fully committed to her Messiah.

Lydia's home became the meeting place for the first church in Europe, a testament to her influence and the new beginnings in Philippi. She continued to support Paul and his companions during their time in the city.  This was a significant moment in the spread of the gospel because it was the first time Christianity had reached Europe.

Lydia’s conversion and hospitality are the foundation of the church in Philippi and the home of the first European conversions to Christianity

Lydia's life demonstrates that God uses ordinary people, including women, in extraordinary ways to advance his kingdom and plant churches. 

 

Dorcas—A Disciple of Service

By Rev, Lonnie C. Crowe

Act 9:36-42:  “And in Joppa was a certain disciple named Tabitha (which translated is called Dorcas). She was full of good works and kind deeds which she did. 

And it happened in those days, becoming sick, she died. And washing her, they laid her in an upper room. 

And, because Lydda was near Joppa, hearing that Peter is in it, the disciples sent two men to him, begging him not to delay to come to them. And rising up, Peter went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper room. And all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was with them. 

And putting them all out, Peter knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, Tabitha, arise! And she opened her eyes. And when she saw Peter, she sat up. 

 And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. And when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 

 And it was known throughout all Joppa. And many believed in the Lord.” 

Her life of service: 

The Bible emphasizes her "good works and kind deeds". She was well known for sewing clothing for the needy, especially widows.  They mourned her death by showing Peter the garments she had made. 

Dorcas was an active and faithful disciple "full of good works and acts of charity". Both her names, Tabitha and Dorcas, mean "gazelle," denoting grace and beauty.  However, the Word of God emphasizes on her character and charitable works.

Remember James 2:16-18  “and if one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them those things which are needful to the body, what good is it? Even so, if it does not have works, faith is dead, being by itself. But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith from my works.”

James 2:26  “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

Dorcas knew that while we are not saved by our works, we are saved in order to do His work.

Christians, we are saved to serve.