JET LAG CRASH

We're back from Germany and Ukraine!  It was a long road but after five flights and a train journey we made it through ten time zones to our own bed by 3 AM. The last flight was grounded due to a violent storm. We were so exhausted we were not sure what country we were in when we woke at home. Then during the day we have those "jet lag crashes" at times. It makes you appreciate missionaries and others who travel long distances for the sake of the Gospel. They have their ways of minimizing it though. One we met actually crosses the Atlantic by ship now instead of plane. It takes six days but softens the jet lag. Think I'll try it some time.

Kiev train station.

What about Abraham moving his family around the fertile crescent to find the land God promised him? He went from modern day Kuwait to Israel. Or have you thought of Joseph and Mary or Jesus walking from Galilee to Jerusalem or Bethlehem? There were no hotels on the way. After the resurrection the apostles went to all points of the compass to preach Christ. The apostle Paul took three very long missionary journeys and almost died a few times while traveling. Martin Luther is said to have walked 800 miles to Rome to try to find a way to be at peace with God. John Calvin traveled from France to Geneva and other places.

Odessa port lighthouse.

With the modern missionary movement of the last century they traveled great distances by sailing ships. Some never returned. When they did take a furlough it was after decades at times.  One spent forty years on the field before his first furlough. May we be encouraged to risk more for Christ in our day of easy travel.

Hitler's headquarters.

We truly live in a unique time in history when travel is so easy even with jet lag. We complain about the economy seats.  We do have melatonin.  Chris, Ruth, Nancy and I, over the last two weeks, have walked were Luther walked, stood in his pulpit, gazed at his house and kneeled beside his grave and saw the president of Germany in person. We have eaten wiener snitzel in Berlin a few feet from the Brandenburg Gate and stood atop the bunker that became Adolph Hitler's suicide grave. We spent time with the Gustafsons, met with pastors and walked the streets of Kiev where the heavenly hundred died. We sailed the Black Sea and worshiped with believers at Caleb's church and encountered cattle rush hour in the remote village of Makarovo. We toured an abandon Soviet military base and told the Sgt. De Roo story to young Ukrainian soldiers there on their way to the front lines. 

Ukrainian soldier we ministered to.

We also touched down in Ireland and enjoyed some Irish potatoes and fish on our way home.  But we're home now and will be reporting on this unique mission trip.  Chris and I with our wives will have more to say this Sunday and in the weeks to come.  Thanks for praying.

Odessa train station.

Writing from my study (At least that is where I think I am this morning??),

Pastor Mark

WHAT I SAW IN HIS PULPIT

I couldn't believe my eyes. We were standing above the people with a huge old Bible on my left.  Chris and I were standing in the actual pulpit the great reformer Martin Luther. This picture was taken in Luther's Saint Mary's church in Wittenberg, Germany where he had been a Catholic priest prior to 1517. We were there for the conference celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation (1517 to 2017). After Luther became a believer by faith alone in Christ alone he continued in this church.  It was his study of Romans 1:17; "The righteous man shall live by faith." that changed him. Prior to that he had strived to please God by human works and merit but knew he always fell short. Then he saw Scripture taught that forgiveness is by faith alone in Christ.  He went from a man that was a mess, confused, fearful and feeling demon oppressed to one that was changed. He was changed by God and became a man of simple faith and was passionate about preaching the Bible as God's only authority. His church eventually changed also from Catholic to protestant. We were standing in it. 

While touring we asked if Chris and I, being pastors, could just go up and stand in Luther's pulpit. The lady in charge looked perplexed but then agreed and led us to the narrow spiral staircase and opened the gate. We climbed the ancient wooden steps and stood where Luther preached over 1,000 sermons that changed the world. This was the place where a man was used of God to bring about perhaps one of the greatest movements in the last 2,000 years.  Amazing! There was a huge bible there so I put my hand on it for the picture that the wives below took.

This reminded me of the first reformation principle called "Sola Scriptura" or "By Scripture Alone." There is no other authority God has given on earth determining doctrine or practice of spiritual things than Scripture. The Bible is it. Luther stood on that principal. Not church tradition or sacraments, not human leaders or popes, not additional books like the Apocrypha nor dreams or visions. The sufficiency of Scripture is it. That is why we preach verse by verse.

Note also the elevation of the pulpit was so the preacher could be seen and better understood. The rounded roof-like cover above acted as a sounding board so the preaching of the Word could be heard.

The preaching of the Word of God became central and replaced the Catholic view of communion and baptism as "sacraments" that somehow dispensed grace or forgiveness rather than simple remembrances or symbols of truth. Eventually the pulpit location also changed from being placed on the side to the center of the church as we have it today indicating Sola Scriptura.

I wonder what we find in the pulpits of today? It is easy for pastors to capitulate on solid preaching and replace it with catchy sermons, interesting stories, humor, shorter sermons and even drama. This results in more and more people being less and less literate about the Bible even though attending church often. Many who claim to be Christians today have little knowledge of God's Word or even attend church. Studies show this is increasing among millennials. This results inversely in more spiritual and moral problem and people being led by their emotions or subjective feelings.  

The application of Sola Scriptura (By Scripture Alone) for today is that we must first read it and then study it to know God and what he desires of us. How is your Biblical literacy?  The 95 theses of Luther have been rewritten to make them clearer for our generation today.  They are called "For the Love of Truth" after Luther's preface to the original 95.  Here is one for Sola Scriptura.

 "Because the Scripture is all-sufficient to know Christ and believe in Him, we reject the belief that God will bring about salvation in Christ through the sacraments, visions, or dreams."

This means se must also preach it, teach it, believe it and live it today. Like Luther, we should say, "Here I stand (on Scripture), I can do no other." May the Bible continue to be heard in clarity today in pulpits and lived in our homes.

We had the opportunity to preach that Word yesterday from a different pulpit in the small church in the Ukrainian village of Makarovo.  It was such a blessing to reunite in worship and encourage them. They send their greetings to us. More later.

Writing to you from Odessa, Ukraine

Pastor Mark

Chris preaches the Word as Caleb translates.

Village ladies Natasha, Anna and Pasha chat with my daughter Ruth and granddaughter Naomi.

REFORMATION CELEBRATION AT WITTENBERG

“No good deed goes unpunished.” That is how I felt after arriving in Wittenberg, Germany for the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation right were Martin Luther lived.   

Opening session of conference in the overflow hall where German was translated to English for us.  Over 1,000 church leaders from Europe and around the world attended.

Nancy and I left early Monday while Chris and Ruth followed on a separate flight.  Then our flight out of DC was cancelled so we had to rebook on a longer route.  After 27 hours of travel we arrived. But one of our bags didn’t. Not easy to fill out lost baggage forms or rent a car when your German is rusty. 

But there were also unexpected blessings like the Irish couple, John and Cricket, who also waited in line with us for 90 minutes to get new tickets. They were youth leaders in an Anglican Church in Ireland who were concerned to see the Gospel go out more clearly. We prayed together before separating. There was also Liz, a middle-aged Catholic lady, who heard I was a pastor and began to ask good spiritual questions. We invited her to dinner between flights. Discussion continued and we had a chance to explain the gospel and give her the De Roo tract. We found she was a medical doctor with some fears but was open to God’s word.  Before parting she insisted on paying for our dinner, hugged us and said she felt like God brought us to her like angels.  We hugged and departed with joy.

Another bump in the road was a mistaken lodging reservation for a city of a similar name but different by one letter and three hours away.  We tried unsuccessfully to cancel.  A local hotel clerk found another lodging only 7 miles from Wittenberg in the middle of beautiful farm country with grazing horses, rolling wheat fields and a forest background. It was overwhelming how good God was to lead us to such a restful and absolutely quiet place.

The first few days here have been powerful as many scholars taught us the story of the Reformation in great depth. The life of Luther had perhaps more impact on the past two thousand years than anyone else except Christ. Now, 500 years later, his influence continues. He was a mixed up Catholic monk who was trying to gain righteousness by his works but was plagued by his conscience with no peace.  But his study of Romans led him to challenge the selling of indulgences to build a Catholic church. He wrote down 95 complaints and nailed them to the door of the church he taught in. He thought this would be helpful to the Pope but he was wrong and became a marked man. 

Chris and I were allowed to actually stand in Luther's pulpit in the church that changed from Catholic Church that changed to follow the Scriptural teaching of salvation that Luther rediscovered in 1517.

Romans 1:17 led him to rediscover the simple Bible teaching that man can only be saved by the grace of God alone without any works.  He had to flee but continued to proclaim these truths.  We must also proclaim the doctrine of Christ’s simple salvation to a lost world. 

At the Luther Oak on the edge of town where later Luther burned the Papal Bull (Decree against Luther) and other documents that opposed reformation truth.  This was the site of the hospital at the time where bodies of the dead were burned.  See Chris or my facebook for more pics.

We have also had some amazing opportunities to stand where this happened. Chris and I were given special privilege to actually climb the steps and stand in Luther’s church pulpit (by special permission). We walked in the garden area of his home and all of us had the privilege of standing at the foot of his grave in the Castle Church where he taught. Both churches turned from Catholicism to become churches which taught the word without compromise. Luther hit the nail on the head…ninety-five times. May we do the same. 

Pastor Mark with Chris, Ruth and Nancy on scene in Wittenberg, Germany