​2017 is a milestone year in the history of the Christian Church.  This year marks the 500th Anniversary of an event that sparked a monumental change that has affected all of history to this present moment.  A seemingly simple act of posting a list of points for debate among his colleagues changed history.  I am speaking of the nailing of the 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenberg by Martin Luther in 1517.
          Luther was not the first to draw attention to the corruption and false teachings that had arisen in Roman Catholicism, but he was the first to become to public and widespread so fast.  Within decades the entire continent of Europe was in a uproar.  Much of what followed was tragic.  There were numerous wars between Protestants and Catholics.  But on the other hand what was happening was nothing short of a recovery of biblical Christianity that had almost disappeared in the abuses of Rome. 
          At its core the Reformation started by Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and many others was about the recovery of biblical authority.  Would the Bible alone be the source of our truth, doctrine, and practice, or would the traditions of the church hold equal authority?  And when the Bible was carefully examined outside the approved interpretation of Rome, it was discovered that the gospel itself had been compromised.  Salvation comes by faith alone.  It is not so many works added to the gospel, it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
          This year we will be marking this important anniversary in a number of ways.  Just released is a new documentary on Martin Luther that I am hoping to arrange a showing for any who are interested in learning more.  Also I am preparing to take a once in a lifetime trip with my daughter this summer to Germany and Switzerland to hopefully learn more about this amazing work of God started 500 years ago.  We are also planning other ways to mark this year as we move to the fall and October 31st.  You may be thinking to yourself, “I don’t care about all that history stuff.”  But please remember this is not just about the historical events, it is about the ongoing reformation to be reformed to the Word of God and the gospel of Christ.  We must always be in the process of being reformed to the Word of God.
 
   In Christ,
   Blain Craig

What happens when ethics replace the gospel?  Your first response might be to ask what in the world I am talking about.  That is fair.  After all, usually we just lump it all together.  We might reason something like this, “I am a Christian, and I try to be the best person I can be.  We live in a Christian nation, so our laws help keep us all good.  The good people obey the laws and the bad people disobey the laws.”  The problem with that kind of thinking is that it replaces the gospel with merely being good or being moral. 
          For many people, being a Christian means doing a list of things that Christians are supposed to do.  In fact, as well meaning as we may be, our efforts to see laws passed that reflect our Christian values can sometimes be misguided moralism.  As the church of Jesus Christ, we cannot be content to just see people behave well.  We must desire that they be genuinely and eternally transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Anything short of the true gospel isn’t the gospel at all.
          I recently re-read The Plight of Man and the Power of God by Martyn Lloyd-Jones.  In that helpful little series of sermons, Lloyd-Jones outlines the very problem I am discussing.  He gives a helpful illustration for the insufficiency of ethical behavior as a replacement of the genuine gospel.  He says, “A little child is away from home, perhaps even staying with relatives.  He becomes homesick and cries for his mother.  The friends do their best.  They produce toys, they suggest games, they offer sweets and chocolates and everything they know the child enjoys.  But it all avails nothing.  Dolls and toys and the rarest delicacies cannot satisfy when a child wants his mother.  They are flung contemptuously aside by a young philosopher who realizes that, at that point, they are a veritable insult.  He needs his mother and nothing else will do.  Man in his state of sin does not know what he really needs.”
          So Lloyd-Jones pinpoints the problem.  We don’t need more laws to make us good.  We don’t even need more “good” people.  We need Jesus and the life he gives.  Nothing else will do.  Nothing else will satisfy our souls.  Nothing else will bring true change in the society.  True change happens one heart at a time as Christ reigns in that heart.
 
In Christ,
Blain Craig

​We are in the midst of the most important week of the year.  Maybe this is not your most important week professionally or financially or socially.  This may not even be your happiest or most fulfilling week this year.  As a matter of fact, by December of this year you may not even remember anything about this week.  This week of April may just be dates on an old calendar, but in terms of what this week celebrates, there are none more important.  This is Holy Week or Passion Week.  This is the week between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Day.
          Of course, we all know Easter is important, but why emphasize the whole week leading up to Easter?  I am convinced that we cannot accurately understand the resurrection of Sunday morning without understanding the events leading up to that moment.  The resurrection of Jesus did not happen in a vacuum void of other events. In other words, many historical events took place leading up to that most glorious moment.  In fact, all of Scripture points to that ultimate moment of resurrection.  There can be no glorious resurrection apart from the agony of the cross.  Every event occurring in that final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry is important to our redemption.  From the triumphal entry of Palm Sunday to the temple cleansing and cursing of the fig tree at the beginning of the week to the sharing of the Passover meal with his disciples, all of these are profoundly important.
          What Jesus did for us deserves our careful, thoughtful, prayerful reflection.  Take some time this week to study God’s Word.  Read about Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem.  Remember, we don’t do this merely out of curiosity, but out of love.  Remind your children or your grandchildren about the significance of what Jesus did.  There is no week more important in all of human history than Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem.  Thank you, Lord, for the power of the resurrection.
          I hope you will make it a priority to join us on Thursday evening at 7:00pm for our Maundy Thursday service and observance of the Lord’s Supper.  It will be a special time of remembrance and worship.  Finally, I want to ask you to pray for our time together on Sunday.  There is no day more special than Resurrection Day.  Pray that all of us will encounter the Living Christ.  One hymn states it correctly, “O breath of God, come fill this place; Revive our hearts to know Your Grace; And from our slumber make us rise That we may know the Risen Christ.”
 
In Christ,
Blain Craig