Inside the Mind of a Reformer

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

The Church left Luther no choice but to leave, Mizpeh. Some things are not totally decided by the reformer.

Just asking. I hope he stays.

The UPC is not the Roman Catholic Church by a long shot. The UPC is not the church. But the UPC does need a reformation.

How can it be reformed without a reformer?

[Nahum]

Continued...

21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;

22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.

23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.

24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.

25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.

26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.

27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].

28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.

29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.

30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

The major part of my personal reformation is complete. Though I truly believe I will never be satisfied to trust an ecclesiastical system again, I have decided to stay for now.

My pastor had a similar reformation in the early 90's. He left.

[SDG]

15 Theses. Wolfgang Simson http://housechurch.org/basics/simson_15.html

14. Developing a persecution-proof spirit
They crucified Jesus, the Boss of all the Christians. Today, his followers are often more into titles, medals and social respectability, or, worst of all, they remain silent and are not worth being noticed at all. "Blessed are you when you are persecuted", says Jesus. Biblical Christianity is a healthy threat to pagan godlessness and sinfulness, a world overcome by greed, materialism, jealousy and any amount of demonic standards of ethics, sex, money and power. Contemporary Christianity in many countries is simply too harmless and polite to be worth persecuting. But as Christians again live out New Testament standards of life and, for example, call sin as sin, conversion or persecution has been, is and will be the natural reaction of the world. Instead of nesting comfortably in temporary zones of religious liberty, Christians will have to prepare to be again discovered as the main culprits against global humanism, the modern slavery of having to have fun and the outright worship of Self, the wrong centre of the universe. That is why Christians will and must feel the "repressive tolerance" of a world which has lost any absolutes and therefore refuses to recognize and obey its creator God with his absolute standards. Coupled with the growing ideologisation, privatization and spiritualisation of politics and economics, Christians will, sooner than most think, have their chance to stand happily accused in the company of Jesus. They need to prepare now for the future by developing a persecution-proof spirit and an even more persecution-proof structure.


15. The Church comes home
Where is the easiest place, say, for a man to be spiritual? Maybe again, is it hiding behind a big pulpit, dressed up in holy robes, preaching holy words to a faceless crowd and then disappearing into an office? And what is the most difficult, and therefore most meaningful, place for a man to be spiritual? At home, in the presence of his wife and children, where everything he does and says is automatically put through a spiritual litmus test against reality, where hypocrisy can be effectively weeded out and authenticity can grow. Much of Christianity has fled the family, often as a place of its own spiritual defeat, and then has organized artificial performances in sacred buildings far from the atmosphere of real life. As God is in the business of recapturing the homes, the church turns back to its roots, back to where it came from. It literally comes home, completing the circle of Church history at the end of world history.
As Christians of all walks of life, from all denominations and backgrounds, feel a clear echo in their spirit to what God's Spirit is saying to the Church, and start to hear globally in order to act locally, they begin to function again as one body. They organize themselves into neighborhood house-churches and meet in regional or city-celebrations. You are invited to become part of this movement and make your own contribution. Maybe your home, too, will become a house that changes the world.

[Nahum]

BTW, I want to be clear in saying that the reformation I crave is not confined to an organization. I want reformation. I want my family to experience it. I want my church to crave it.

I want the entire movement to be ablaze with the flames of revolution passion.

[J-Roc]

Originally Posted by J-Roc

I read somewhere that the next and 3rd reformation has to do with changing this structure set-up (i.e. cathedrals, temples, or Christian Life Centers) and going back to the book of Acts' house-churches...where christianity grows wide and not deep...so that once a house church reaches 21 members, it's time to start a new one. The current structure has one man or several men with 500-1000 people deep....whereas house-churches grow wide....

Yep, Daniel.....that's where I read it....thanks.

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

15 Theses. Wolfgang Simson


3. The Third Reformation.
In rediscovering the gospel of salvation by faith and grace alone, Luther started to reform the Church through a reformation of theology. In the 18th century through movements like the Moravians there was a recovery of a new intimacy with God, which led to a reformation of spirituality, the Second Reformation. Now God is touching the wineskins themselves, initiating a Third Reformation, a reformation of structure.


4. From Church-Houses to house-churches
Since New Testament times, there is no such thing as "a house of God". At the cost of his life, Stephen reminded unequivocally: God does not live in temples made by human hands. The Church is the people of God. The Church, therefore, was and is at home where people are at home: in ordinary houses. There, the people of God: -Share their lives in the power of the Holy Spirit, -Have "meatings," that is, they eat when they meet, -They often do not even hesitate to sell private property and share material and spiritual blessings, -Teach each other in real-life situations how to obey God's word, dialogue - and not professor-style, -Pray and prophesy with each other, baptize, `lose their face' and their ego by confessing their sins, -Regaining a new corporate identity by experiencing love, acceptance and forgiveness.


5. The church has to become small in order to grow big
Most churches of today are simply too big to provide real fellowship. They have too often become "fellowships without fellowship." The New Testament Church was a mass of small groups, typically between 10 and 15 people. It grew not upward into big congregations between 20 and 300 people filling a cathedral and making real, mutual communication improbable. Instead, it multiplied "sidewards", like organic cells, once these groups reached around 15-20 people. Then, if possible, it drew all the Christians together into citywide celebrations, as with Solomon's Temple court in Jerusalem. The traditional congregational church as we know it is, statistically speaking, neither big nor beautiful, but rather a sad compromise, an overgrown house-church and an under-grown celebration, often missing the dynamics of both.

[SDG]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

Just asking. I hope he stays.

The UPC is not the Roman Catholic Church by a long shot. The UPC is not the church. But the UPC does need a reformation.

How can it be reformed without a reformer?

The Protestant reformation [external] led to an internal Counter-reformation. Outside pressures led to change w/ in the old structure.

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

The Church left Luther no choice but to leave, Mizpeh. Some things are not totally decided by the reformer.

Erasmus made a different choice.

I'm not saying either man is right or wrong, Dan. Just saying.

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

The Protestant reformation [external] led to an internal Counter-reformation. Outside pressures led to change w/ in the old structure.

Maybe resolution 4 will one day be called reformation 4.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

What monks are you talking about?

It is a faith statement that I base on the word of God. Not man, not history...God.

His truth ENDURES to ALL generations.

The Bible we have today reveals the truth of salvation for us and was transmitted to us in large part by the medieval Catholic church. To that we must also add the Byzantine church as well, obviously.

The truth that endures to all generations passed through the hands of individuals like St. Jerome, Emperors Constantine and Justinian as well as literally thousands or millions of others.

Obviously, not all of those millions believed the truth of which they were the custodians. Psalm 100:5 does not require us to think that there was an unbroken chain of succession from the time of the Apostles to us today. It only states that "His truth" would endure. People are a replaceable commodity in this economy, heartless as that may sound. What we are to look for is "truth" and not fables and endless genealogies. His truth endures! People don't endure, not on this side of glory. Movements, denominations and religious bodies don't endure. His truth endures!

We will ultimately fail, if not through moral weaknesses and doubts, then surely through the ravages of time and old age; but His truth endures!