The Man Who Changed Our World

When I was growing up, the Baptist Church, the same one we now pastor, was extremely legalistic. It was all about adhering to a list of do’s and don’ts, with a lot more don’ts than do’s. I concluded that I couldn’t live that way . . . no way, no how!

Apparently, most of the other young people in the community felt the same way, because I witnessed the church losing them one by one.

I determined the church was irrelevant to me and went my “wild ways” for several years until I was a senior in high school, when God chased me down, so to speak. I gave my life to Him and did an about-face.

Still, for many years as a Christian, I carried this oppressive view of Christianity that I had learned as a child. It was underneath, deeply embedded in my sub-conscious. My picture of God was that He was this angry old man who carried a big stick and He was ready to whack me whenever I stepped out of line.

Through sitting before him in prayer, I gradually learned what He was like, and it was the opposite of the legalistic Christianity I had learned as a child.

The bottom line is that we can never be good enough to “earn” salvation. Never!

That’s why Jesus paid the price for us and we accept it by faith as a free gift. When we accept the free gift of salvation and surrender our lives to Christ, God then sees the righteousness of Christ when He looks at us.

This is not a license to go our way and continue to live a selfish, self-centered life. Rather it is a wide-open door to become friends with God, to experience His vast love, and to enjoy an amazing life, walking and talking with Him. For lack of a better expression, I once announced to my congregation that “when you get to know God, you discover He’s really ‘cool!’”

Martin Luther had a similar journey. The following is a little glimpse into his life, a life that dramatically changed all of western civilization. Why? Because he discovered who God is and what He is like.

Religion in Luther’s day was marked by fear-motivated piety with Christ the Judge weighing merits to reward or to punish. Fallen Man was thought to retain a spark of goodness so if he first tried his best, God would infuse grace no matter how feeble the initial effort. Faith then was augmented, completed by works until a saving level of righteousness had been achieved. But where was that level? That question drove Luther into the monastery.

In the monastery he found no loving God. Hours in solitary vigil, nights of prayer, and fasting to the point of ruined health brought no comfort. Luther stayed his course, however, holding to a theology mixing faith with works.

Unable to find comfort through his own efforts, Luther was pointed in a radically different direction by his Augustinian confessor Johannes von Stapitz who urged him to see a gracious Father on the mercy seat of God.  

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV).

I admire Luther for the many things he believed. One of those things is that he believed the Christian should be actively involved in politics.

Something that bothers me deeply is the refusal of most churches to speak into politics and the conditions of the nation. At the very least the church should take a stand against Marxism, a radical movement promoted by the left in America today, which is a completely “evil to the core” idealism. Christians must stand against it!

Martin Luther said, “The Christian is called to responsible participation in the world’s affairs.” The separation of the two kingdoms does not mean withdrawal from civic life. The Christian holds great political and social responsibilities.

Luther believed and boldly stated that abortion is murder!

Luther also said, “You are also to honor parents by your actions (that is, with your body and possessions), and serving them, helping them, and caring for them when they are old, sick, feeble, or poor; all this you should do not only cheerfully, but with humility and reverence, as in God’s sight.”

Luther loved the church, and his anger at the Roman church was like that of a disappointed lover. If only the higher clergy constituted the church, Luther declared, then the ark of the church had become a ship of fools.

Every believer in Christ the Savior . . . the peasant, worker, craftsman, merchant, banker, prince, men and women of whatever vocation . . . belonged to the priesthood of all believers. They were as holy in God’s eyes as the monk, abbot, priest, bishop, archbishop, cardinal, or pope. The layman’s work was divine calling, a vocation of service as holy and God-pleasing as that of the clergy, though the clergy served the high office of the Word and the Sacraments.

Luther risked his life by nailing his 95 thesis to the door of the Wittenburg’s Castle Church.

As a result, the conflict grew so heated that he had to go into hiding for two years because the church was trying to kill him.

Luther prevailed and in time his teachings dramatically changed the course of western civilization.

What’s Happening?

It is a wonderful thing when young children hate to miss church.

Three Sundays ago, Lorraine used her puppets and acted out the story of Zacchaeus, complete with the song, “Zacchaeus Was A Wee Little Man.” We have one family that has four children, nine years old, and younger. The oldest child came with Grandma, but the rest of the family stayed home because mom had a bad headache. The oldest went home and told his brothers about Lorraine’s puppet show. It came back to us that the brothers were “really upset” that they had missed church.

So Lorraine did the same show with the puppets again. The four children were present and three triplets, age 10, were also present. So we had 20 present that Sunday and seven of them were children. I said to the congregation that many churches would be jealous of the fact a third of our congregation that Sunday were children. It was a great service!

Challenges

We again thank all of you who prayed for us and financially supported us through my prostate operation. I am now completely recovered, and I have more energy than I have had for ten years.

We face challenges, however, as October contributions were down over $1000. It is a big ouch! Now we are in catch-up mode. We need a financial surge.  

We leave Thursday for Minneapolis to record more radio spots. The trip will cost us roughly $500. We will record a series on Martin Luther and a series on the Founding Mothers of America.

In addition, we now have a car repair that will likely run about $1000.

Please pray about what you might contribute this month.

We depend on your generous contributions. You are our lifeline.

In His Service,

George and Lorraine Halama

Photograph taken by Lorraine