A Most Significant Day

October 31 is a significant day. No, I'm not talking about Halloween and trick-or-treats.

On October 31, 1517 a young man who had studied for the priesthood, 31 year old Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis on the door of the Wittenburg Cathedral, thus beginning what is known as the Protestant Reformation. Church doors were the public bulletin boards of the day. Condemning many of the practices of Roman Catholicism such as the sale of indulgences, Luther's main point was that justification is by faith alone, unmediated by "the church." Luther also saw the Bible as the sole authority in the life of the believer. Sola Scriptura! Scripture Alone!

This was a courageous stand for a young man to take. Luther's bold proclamations led to his excommunication from the Roman Church and exile at Wartburg Castle, where he lived incognito for a time, pretending to be a knight known as Junker Jorg.
On trial before the Diet of Worms in 1521, Luther was given the opportunity to recant his writings and the 95 thesis, to which he replied: "Unless I shall be convinced by the testimonies of the Scriptures or by clear reason ... I neither can nor will make any retraction, since it is neither safe nor honourable to act against conscience."

October 31 is Reformation Day, a day on which God began a great work once again among men.

Real Delight

"Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart."
~ Psalm 37:4

"Delight thyself in the Lord..." An incredible thought, isn't it? To find our contentment, some enchantment, and even, dare I say, ecstasy in Him.
Delight found in anything else is fleeting. I know. Delightful things in this life come and go. But He is constant. Delight yourself in Him today.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full into His wonderful face
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

The Roller Coaster

Working with prison inmates can be the most rewarding work on the planet. It can also be the most frustrating. And sometimes the highs and the lows come in waves, one after the other like a roller coaster ride. Up. Then down. Cresting one big hill, then suddenly the bottom falls out.

Here is the latest. I facilitate a class each week called Father Accountability. It is a thirteen week class which I put together myself over the past year and a half that is designed to enhance the parenting skills of the inmate participants. For the most part it is incredibly rewarding as I see it making an obvious difference in the lives of the inmates and their families. We spend a lot of time talking about things like involvement in our families' lives, awareness of our childrens' needs, nurturance, discipline, being consistent as parents and communication skills.
Yesterday was this class' eighth week together - A big day. Week eight is what we call "PlayDay." On PlayDay we bring in the children of the inmate participants for an afternoon of fun, getting to know our children better and practicing some of the skills we've been working on in class.

PlayDay went well and I was pleased with the interaction I saw between the inmates and their families. I went home thinking, "Okay, this group is turning the corner. We're on track and they're getting it."
Arriving at the prison today I have discovered that two of our participants are in administrative segregation and facing serious disciplinary infractions. They will be removed from the class and most likely returned to medium custody. How frustrating! Have they not been listening? I really thought they were getting it. Now, I'm not so sure.

There is a bottom line here, and this is probably the most frustrating part of all about the work I do as a prison chaplain: God's salvation, family restoration, the blessings of the Lord - I seem to want this for these men more than they want it for themselves.

Simplify?

Sharon picked-up a little book recently called Simplify Your Life. It's chocked-full of ideas to help you to slow down and enjoy the things that really matter in life. Everything from reducing clutter to getting rid of the cell phone to just plain doing nothing sometimes is included.

It's a wonderful thought, isn't it? At times, we all long for a simpler existence. But as we've thought about it, I've come to realize something. Most of the things that complicate our lives are not within our means to control. As much as I want to simplify, there seems to be a bunch of stuff even more determined to un-simplfy my life for me. The bank makes an error and it becomes my mess to straighten out. And have you dealt with insurance lately? Or how about any government agency? (I'm thinking DMV here, but they're all about the same.)

Simplify your life? Yeah, right. We wish, huh?

"Be Freed"

And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all.
And when Jesus saw here, he called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your sickness."
And He laid His hands upon her; and immediately she was made erect again, and began glorifying God.

I love the way Jesus always got to the root of a problem. In the synagogue, he encountered a woman who for eighteen years had been bent over; doubled-up and unable to stand straight. But her problem wasn't a bad back. She didn't have osteoporosis. A doctor or a chiropractor couldn't help her. The Bible says she had a sickness caused by a spirit. This was a spiritual attack.
When Jesus called her over, His words reveal the fact that He recognized the spiritual root. He said, "Woman, you are freed from your sickness." Not "You're healed" but "You're freed." The KJV says "You are loosed from your infirmity."
Loosed. Freed. She stood up straight up and began to glorify God, something she hadn't been able to do for eighteen long years.

There is a spiritual root to many of our adverse circumstances and situations. Many of the trials that keep us "bent over" are spiritual. Financial situations. Relationship problems. Various addictions. All of these have spiritual roots. Many of God's people need to be loosed today.

Faith

"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading."
~ Oswald Chambers

All You Need