October 31 – Reformation Day

On October 31, 1517, a little over 500 years ago, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther invited church authorities to debate some church practices which he believed were in violation of scripture. He nailed his 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, where he was a university professor. These proposals were translated from Latin into German, printed, and quickly circulated throughout Germany.

Luther was objecting to the sale of indulgences by representatives of the church. These were certificates guaranteeing deliverance from Purgatory, and offering the false promise that salvation could be obtained by the payment of money. Having discovered the happy assurance that “the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17), Luther protested that salvation is only through faith in Christ, apart from good works. “The true treasure of the church,” Luther wrote, “is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.”

This event is seen as sparking the Protestant Reformation which is being remembered this weekend in many churches around the world. The main themes of the Reformation have been summarized in five distinctive declarations about salvation: it is based upon scripture alone, through Christ alone, it is by faith alone, by grace alone, and thus all glory goes to God alone.

The beliefs we find in these five statements set Luther and his fellow reformers apart from the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century. Scripture alone (sola scriptura), taught that the Bible as the inspired Word of God is the final authority, not  papal edicts and decrees. Christ alone (solus Christus) is the belief that it is only through Jesus that sinners may be justified and reconciled to God. Faith alone (sola fide) asserts that salvation is through faith in Christ, apart from works or human effort. Grace alone (sola gratia), means that salvation is a free gift from God. Because of this, God alone receives all praise and glory (soli Deo gloria).

One of the key texts on which the reformers’ doctrine of justification by faith rests is Romans 3:24, “…  and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” “Justified” means to be declared righteous. This involves the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believer’s account. This is the basis for the believer’s acceptance before God. “Freely” means that justification is a gift of God’s grace, completely apart from human works or merit. It is possible only because of the “redemption” of sinners by Christ when he died on the cross. His sacrifice was the ransom price to God to satisfy the justice required by his holy law.

When Luther studied the book of Romans and discovered the meaning of justification by faith, it set his spirit free. He learned that salvation comes not through vigils, fasts, pilgrimages, or monastic discipline, but by grace alone through faith in Christ alone. That same freedom of grace is available to you if your faith is in Jesus Christ, and in him alone.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

God Bless America

During the seventh-inning stretch at some Atlanta Braves baseball games, a tenor soloist sings “God Bless America.” The beauty of the song and the sight of thousands of fans joining in, puts a lump in my throat. I too want God to bless America and I pray for that every day.

The moral decline and divisions in our nation have prompted a renewed urgency in many people of faith. Pray for America yard signs, Facebook posts and church prayer gatherings indicate that there are believers who are looking to God for his guidance in this contentious election year. But the thought remains: why should God bless America?

Are we entitled to his blessings when over half of the adults in America claim no membership in any church or religious institution, and the number of adults who say they believe in God is on the decline, according to Gallop polls?

Should God bless an America where in all but thirteen states it is still legal to kill a human baby inside his/her mother’s womb? Can God bless an America which legitimizes sexual behavior that his word says is abominable? Will he bless racial hatred, internet misinformation (lies), mass shootings, the breakup of families, and a political culture of cruelty and incivility?

It is chilling to read the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. Recently I read chapters 6-9 in which he declared God’s intention to punish his chosen people for their sins. (Maybe the Jews heard Jeremiah preach and wished God would choose somebody else!) He prophesied judgment on the surrounding nations too, but Judah and Jerusalem were not spared.

Jeremiah told them why. Falsehood, greed, violence, theft, murder, adultery, idol worship, and child sacrifice were among the sins for which God’s inevitable judgment was coming, Added to these was Judah’s stubborn refusal to repent and to obey the word of God. This reminds me of America.

As I pray for America I sometimes recall the words of President Thomas Jefferson: “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.” President Abraham Lincoln said that the war between the states was a judgment on America by the Almighty as punishment for the wickedness of slavery.

History confirms what Jeremiah predicted. The nations of Edom, Moab, Syria, Assyria and Egypt were overrun by the powerful and cruel Babylonian army. Jeremiah’s prophecy about Judah also proved true: “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there” (Jeremiah 9:11).

If God judged those nations, can we be so glib and complacent as to assume that God will overlook America’s offenses against him? The election won’t solve the problem of America’s moral decline. Neither presidential candidate can effect the spiritual renewal we need. Politics is not the solution. It simply holds up a mirror to America and shows us what we have become. When we look into that mirror, we want to cry, “God help us!”

Well that’s what we need to  be saying. It is time for prayer, desperate prayer. Our intellectual power, military power, and economic power cannot save us. Only God can restore the soul of our nation. It’s all right to sing “God Bless America.”  But we also ought to be praying prayers of repentance and begging God to be merciful and to forgive our sins.

Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord, put it this way: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Vance Havner wrote, “There is a weird and sinister movement of the powers of darkness all over the world today. One of its major objectives is to destroy America. It will not be necessary to do that from without: we are allowing it to be accomplished from within. . . . It is time for holy desperation because it is too late for everything else.”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

Safe in the Storm

A friend smiled at me and said, “I have two words for you: hunker down!” He was right. The third hurricane to hit our town in just two years was headed in our direction. Longtime residents of Valdosta, Georgia, tell me that the force of these storms this far inland is unprecedented. Last year Hurricane Idalia devastated our little city. Hurricane Debby hit us in August of this year.

Friends of our daughter Carrie invited us to ride out Hurricane Helene in their spacious and beautiful home in the country. They had a generator with enough power to provide electricity for several days. Their big, strong house was like a fortress. We felt welcomed and we are grateful to our friends for providing that safe haven for Connie and me.

Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend area the evening of September 26. It marched north and hit Valdosta about midnight. The next morning uprooted trees  and downed power lines blocked roadways. My son-in-law and grandsons hoisted chainsaws and helped our host clear fallen trees and debris near his house. All day we heard reports of widespread damage and power outages throughout Valdosta

Since we knew it would be a while until electricity would be restored to our neighborhood, Connie and I decided to evacuate to our daughter Mary’s home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We stayed there for a week until we got power again at home. During that week we followed the news about the terrible effects of flooding in Appalachia caused by the hurricane.

Coincidentally, we had visited friends just a few weeks before in Asheville and Blowing Rock, North Carolina, and in Connie’s hometown of Damascus, Virginia. Like the rest of the nation we were saddened by the stories of catastrophic destruction of property and loss of life throughout the region.

I have been without internet service from September 27 until the date of this writing, October 14. That is why I have been unable to write new entries for hiswillblog,com.

Connie and I are thankful to the Lord for his provision and protection. The words to a gospel song by Mosie Lister have been on my mind.

“In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face / While the storm howls above me, and there’s no hiding place. / ‘Mid the crash of the thunder, precious Lord hear my cry. / Keep me safe till the storm passes by.

“Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more, / till the clouds roll forever from the sky; / hold me fast, let me stand, in the hollow of your hand. / Keep me safe till the storm passes by. ”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

Who’s the Real Hero?

She had sad eyes and a weary expression. She appeared to be in ill health. As we conversed I learned that she had worked all her life as a waitress. Her husband had died as a young man. They had been married only seven years. She had been left to rear her daughter as a single mother. Her life had not been easy.

Her expression brightened as she talked about her only child. She proudly told me how her daughter has made a success of her life, helping hundreds of families through her profession as a pediatric dentist. I congratulated my new friend on being a good mom and giving her daughter a good foundation for life. I asked, “How did you manage to do it?”

She answered, “I couldn’t have done it without the Lord. He was with me. He helped me.”

This humble Christian woman is living proof that John Lennon was a false prophet. He was a cultural hero during my high school years. In the 1960s he famously and foolishly predicted that the Beatles would, in ten years, be more popular than Jesus Christ. Lennon is long gone and so are the Beatles.

But here, in the year 2024, is a woman testifying to the living presence of a living Savior who has been with her all her long life and remains with her today. How are we to explain this?

Dallas Willard provided an answer in his book The Divine Conspiracy. “I think we finally have to say that Jesus’ enduring relevance is based on his historically proven ability to speak to, to heal and empower, the individual human condition. He matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weakness he gives us strength and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity.”

The woman with the sad eyes and weary expression has had a hard life. But she is praising Jesus and looking forward to eternity with him. She has had an indirect influence on every life touched by her daughter. To me she is a real hero. I think she will be at the front of the line when the rewards are handed out in heaven.

Pastor Randy Faulkner