Happy
Reformation Day Greetings
from
HomeWorship 101™
“Unless
I am convicted by scripture and plain reason,
I
do not accept the authority of the popes and councils,
for
they have contradicted each other,
my
conscience is captive to the Word of God.
I
cannot and I will not recant anything
for
to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me.
Amen.”
-
Martin Luther’s defense at his Catholic inquisition, April 1521.
The
western world knows October 31
is Halloween, but what is seldom mentioned is that it is also the day
the Protestant
Reformation began. In
the Protestant world the day should be a celebrated because the birth
of all the Protestant/Sabbath keeping/Sacred Name/Messianic, etc.
churches was made possible by the unfolding events beginning on this
day in 1517. Unfortunately,
this day is hardly mentioned, because the idea of turning away from
bad habits and adopting new ones is probably one of the hardest
Biblical mandates to accomplish – that is because Satan hates people
getting closer to their CREATOR YHWH.
I
often say, critically thinking is a lost art; think about it, what
does the term “Protestant” Christian mean?
Most do not even know that October 31, is their holiday.
It’s really a shame because so much blood was spilt to break
the chains of religious dictatorship, give the world the Bible,
and give most of the western world religious freedom.
America was founded as a Protestant nation, and it was a very
important step in government, but watch the news today; you will not
hear anything regarding the great Reformation movement – not even
from the pulpits of the American Christian churches!
In my humble opinion, at the very least this day should be
called Religious Freedom Day!
Unfortunately, the only thing you will hear a lot about is
Halloween, and that’s pitiful.
(The
stories of the Bible translators and Protestant reformers are
heartbreaking, read through chapters 9-20 of Fox’s
Book of Martyrs
for the complete story.)
Most
know of the story of Martin Luther
the lawyer/scholar turned Catholic monk, who in 1517 C.E. sounded the
call to religious change in an unchanging world by calling for a
debate on his 95 theses of church reform.
To make his theses public, he daringly posted them on the
castle church door in Wittenburg, Germany, and by his act he
unknowingly ignited a religious explosion called the Protestant
Reformation. His 95
points of reform rebukes various traditions added on to YAHWEH’S Law
by the feudalistic Roman Catholic Church.
As always, challenging the Roman status quo was done at your
own peril. Luther would
have been branded a heretic and swept away to a dark jail cell like
many before him, but paper making and moveable type were invented in
his time, and his open letters of debate appearing in print for all to
see helped fuel the protesting movement against the dogmatic Roman
Catholic rule.
"My
greatest thought is my accountability to God."
-
Daniel Webster
Martin
Luther began the Protestant revolution
and America was founded as a Protestant nation that honored our
CREATOR instead of an earthly king, our founders boldly answered the
GOD question for all the world to hear, but few today even know what
the word Protestant means or represents.
Generally, the religious powers to be do not like any talk of a
protesting laity, being lovers of their own words the religious
scholars, over time, covered up and smothered the original meaning of
the Reformation movement. As
regular readers of my work know, I specialize in removing the layers
of tradition and get down to the pure original truths.
The pure Protestant beliefs or concepts are a philosophy not a
religion, and the Protestant philosophy still causes some hand ringing
amongst the traditional Jews, Catholics, and other religious leaders
who want to control people via dogmatic purity and mute obedience.
If
you think about it,
it really doesn’t matter if the majority of a nation is Jewish,
Christian, or Muslim, the Protestant concept that GOD equally grants
rights ‘directly to every human’ which no mere mortal can take
away, and free people join together to form a representative republic
government, can be applied to any nation – Israel, Iran, Iraq, etc.
- regardless of their religious affiliations.
Unfortunately today, as in ancient times, the majority of the
political and religious leadership is reluctant to give up their
control over the people, and therein lays their hypocrisy.
They are in business for themselves, and not for the good of
the people – nor our CREATOR & Messiah.
“The
reasonable man adapts himself to the world,
the
unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
Therefore
all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
- George Bernard Shaw
All
of today’s New Testament Believers owe the unreasonable Martin
Luther a debt of thanks, or we would all still be Catholics.
Unfortunately, most of the churches have forgotten their
history. The term
Protestant Christian means, “protesting Christians.”
They protest against the dictatorial rule of a centralized
religious authority. They
protest against any human being placed between them and GOD.
And they stand for the right of anyone to have a copy of the
Holy Scriptures in their native language for personal study.
“I
hate, I despise your feast days,
And
I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
Though
you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I
will not accept them,
Nor
will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
Take
away from Me the noise of your songs,
For
I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
But
let justice run down like water,
And
righteousness like a mighty stream.”
-
Amos 5:14-15, 21-24
Protesting
against dictatorial religious leadership goes way back.
Martin
Luther is only one man in a long line of religious leaders pleading
with the faithful and religious hierarchy to reform their pagan
tainted spiritual habits and festivals.
Reformation was a common topic preached by the Prophets YHWH
sent to ancient Israel. Unfortunately,
like today, the people didn’t want to hear it.
They mostly ignored their Prophets, and sometimes the ancient
Israelites even killed them for suggesting it.
Yahshua was also a Prophet of His FATHER YHWH with a startling
frank message of reform to His contemporaries.
In
my strange way of looking at the world I believe that Christ, His
Apostles, and the very-first Christians, were Protestant - protesting
- Jews! Most Christians
forget that Christ and the Apostles also protested against the
dictatorial rule of the rabbis. They
believed in an educated laity, not a subjugated one.
They believed in building a personal relationship with YHWH, as
opposed to the rabbi’s demand for mute obedience to ritual purity.
“Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
...Serpents,
brood of vipers!
How
can you escape the condemnation of hell?”
-
Matthew 23:29-33
One
can’t help but wonder:
What
would the church do?
If
they had Yahshua the Reformer, in front of them.
As
the reformer Yahshua challenged the orthodoxy.
No one had ever before denounced the priests and Pharisees, or
dared to question the doctrine of the elders.
He expertly quoted the Prophets as He strongly rebuked
Judaism’s stiff-necked religious hierarchy - the establishment
religionists who never lived the righteous life.
They were corrupt. They
were blind guides. They
were play-actors, and did not live according to the spirit of the
Law (Mat.3:7, 5:20, 23:1-36; Luk.11:37-54, 18:9-14; Jno.8:44).
Yahshua
challenged
the doctrines of the scribes and rabbis, telling them bluntly that
they did not know the Scriptures (Mat.22:29).
At least eight times Yahshua scornfully denounced them for
being legalistic and fourteen times for being hypocritical.
They were excellent in reading and quoting Scripture, to keep
the people on a tight leash, but in practice they themselves disobey
by following their own ritualized customs.
Yahshua
detested
some of the Pharisees, the religious fundamentalists of the day,
because they did not have a heart for the sinners, and were not
sensitive to the needs and hurts of the individual.
Yahshua taught of YAHWEH’S
free salvation by grace, not by law - very revolutionary.
And He taught in His Sermon on the Mount that He brought a
Kingdom for the meek and for the poor in spirit (Mat.5:5-11), which
clearly was just as opposite as you can get to what the Pharisees
taught.
Yahshua
strongly scolded
the religious leaders because they were always bitter, constantly
finding faults, and tearing everyone apart.
This, the “holier than thou” crowd, by their own attitude,
promoted bigotry, prejudice and hatred.
He showed them that their religious worship was mere ritual,
with emphasis on minor details, “while ignoring the weightier
matters of the Law,” such as “justice, mercy and faith.”
He taught that the motive of the heart was important, not just
the outward action (Mat.23:1-23).
Yahshua
chastised
them for the many traditions they added to YAHWEH’S
Law, making the Law a hardship on the people.
The religious authorities pretend to love you, but in reality
they just want to hold you hostage.
The Pharisees slowly gained power over Jewish society by being
the overseers of the many elaborate and intricate Jewish oral laws
that they required the people to live by.
These “traditions of men,” in an effort to micro
manage the people, only burden the community, and has reduced
righteousness to mere ceremonialism of outward splendor (Mar.7:6-13).
YAHWEH
calls HIS
people to unity, not uniformity.
The simple - common sense - Laws of YAHWEH
do not enslave people, it sets them free!
Do
not let your religion keep you from a truth!
As
we all know, the religious leadership
of Yahshua’s day Him very much.
They generally ran him out of town and wanted to silence Him.
(I wonder would it be any different in today’s churches.)
It’s no different today, discussing points of reform with
religious leaders is like talking to a bulkhead – they just ain’t
gettin’ it. Today the
mainline Protestant churches may have some slight variation on
theology, but generally they still mirror the holidays and habits of
the Catholic Church. For
example, the Easter and Christmas holidays, Sunday worship and the
design of the service, church buildings, special robes, pulpits,
browbeating sermons, using fear of damnation, etc., are from the Roman
church, not from Yahshua’s’ first-century church.
Even the spirit of Roman-control still manifests itself in the
Protestants bishops. The
laity may elect them, but once elected many backslide into becoming
protestant dictators over their followers.
Surely in the past 480 years there has been enough time to
study the Bible, learn from Biblical archeology, and find more points
of reform.
The
early believers would say:
When I pray, I talk to GOD; when I study, GOD talks to me. They
would verify their teachers lessons, as it says in Acts 17:11 “.
. . in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched
the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so;”
only then would they share their new found truths with others.
They would trust no one with their spiritual guidance but YHWH!
And wants it that way, it is the lesson of Palm Sundays, GOD-test,
examine your doctrine carefully.
.
“…
come let us reason together.”
–
Isaiah 1:18
Some
would say,
what I am talking about happened hundreds of years ago why should
anyone care about it today? The
answer is simple because the Catholic leadership is still promoting
their rules over what the Bible teaches.
Here is a most
reason example:
Vatican
Bars Use of 'Yahweh' In Catholic Churches
Francis X. Rocca
08-14-08
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Catholics at worship should neither sing nor
pronounce the name of God as "Yahweh," the Vatican has said,
citing the authority of both Jewish and Christian practice.
The
instruction came in a June 29 letter to Catholic bishops conferences
around the world from the Vatican's top liturgical body, the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, by an explicit
"directive" of Pope Benedict XVI.
"In
recent years the practice has crept in of pronouncing the God of
Israel's proper name," the letter noted, referring to the
four-consonant Hebrew "Tetragrammaton," YHWH.
That
name is commonly pronounced as "Yahweh," though other
versions include "Jaweh" and "Yehovah." But such
pronunciation violates long-standing Jewish tradition, the Vatican
reminded bishops.
"As
an expression of the infinite greatness and majesty of God, (the name)
was held to be unpronounceable and hence was replaced during the
reading of sacred Scripture by means of the use of an alternate name:
`Adonai,' which means `Lord,"' the Congregation said.
That
practice continued with Christianity, the letter explained, recalling
the "church's tradition, from the beginning, that the sacred
Tetragrammaton was never pronounced in the Christian context nor
translated into any of the languages into which the Bible was
translated."
Invoking
a Vatican document from 2001, the Congregation reminded bishops that
the name "Yahweh" in Catholic worship should be replaced by
the Latin "Dominus" (Lord) or a word "equivalent in
meaning" in the local language.
The
Vatican's move will require changes in a number of hymns and prayers
currently used in American churches, but not to the Mass itself, said
the U.S. bishops' top liturgical official.
Catholic
News Service quoted an Aug. 8 letter from Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli
of Paterson, N.J., chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Divine
Worship, informing American prelates of the policy.
The
Vatican's instruction, Serratelli wrote, would serve as "an
encouragement to show reverence for the name of God in daily life,
emphasizing the power of language as an act of devotion and
worship."
Let’s
examine the highlights:
1)
citing
the authority of both Jewish and Christian practice.
Huh?
Just exactly what authority of Christian practice?
2) pronunciation
violates long-standing Jewish tradition,
True.
But as I just as highlighted above, Yahshua has issues with some
Jewish Law and traditions.
Lets
peal away the layers of man’s traditions and get down to how this
Jewish tradition began. To
give you the quick and simple truth, a few thousand years ago a
group of men decided that you can’t handle the truth, and they put
themselves between you and the YHWH.
Man began to govern the spiritual life, not YHWH (a couple of
thousand years later the Romans continued this controlling spiritual
concept). I’ll paste in from my
book, The Mystical Rites of our CREATOR:
><>
When Jerusalem was reduced to rubble by the Babylonian hoards,
the Jews wept for their beloved city, the whole Book of Lamentations
chronicles their anguish. They
shed tears, but they never repented (Book of Habakkuk).
When they returned to Jerusalem from exile, the leadership,
still nervous of GOD’S
wrath, instead of repenting and changing their ways, saw their problem
a different way. They
reasoned that the enemy is within us, it is that evil impulse that is
inside every man and woman and comes with human nature.
“We have met the enemy and he is us,” and they figured out
a solution to their problem.
“We must save the people from themselves,” the rabbis
lamented. The answer
seemed easy, in addition
to the Teachings of YAHWEH,
they would just add a few simple layers of new Jewish laws to it, to
guide the people to righteousness.
Publically they said, “. . . the old laws do not cover all
the needs of our developing society, we need a new system . . ..”
Sound familiar?
They reasoned that with this new system they could catch their
people breaking Jewish law first, before they broke any really serious
Biblical Law, then they could handle the problem in house, so to
speak. They hoped, that
this way, GOD
would not notice a small transgression and hold it against them.
This is called Jewish legalism, here “the Teachings” became
“the Law.” This
system causes people to live in slavery to the letter of the law, and
the freedom of the CREATOR’S
self-government is lost. This
was the first attempt to micro-manage personal behavior - it would
have been better had they just repented.
They just didn’t get it.
Institutional religion develops and dictates holy places, holy
days, holy persons and holy events to build a religious faith.
Then the trappings of the religious system became more
important then the message of the religion.
Incorporated into the religious system are man-designed
accommodations to human weakness (Mat.19:8), this is not the “Code
of Life” our CREATOR
was hoping for. HE
wanted a humbled and contrite spirit rather then sacrifices
(Ps.51:17), justice rather then festival days (Amo.5:21-24).
Instead of offerings, HE
wanted people who were just, who loved kindness, and walked humbly
with their GOD
(Mic.6:8). HIS
“Code of Life” is a means of showing the way which leads one to
grace, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Messiah - these are not
static rituals, it is an evolution of knowledge.
Institutional religion is not our CREATOR’S
idea, because the trappings of institutional religion forces it to
become an end to itself, it becomes rigid and static, and the idea of
reaching for new spiritual heights is discouraged.
The scribes and rabbis did not just surround GOD’S
Law, they took it hostage. The
Torah was now married to commentary relating Jewish oral or civil law,
in time this new combination became known as the Talmud.
The Talmud written from 200 B.C.E. to around 200 C.E. is a
collection of the wisdom, commentaries, sayings and decisions (case
law) of the best rabbis, and thinkers of the Hebrew times.
It was broken down to six major divisions or orders, and is
used as guidance on history and for personal conduct regarding
religious and civil matters.<><
3)
the
name) was held to be unpronounceable and hence was replaced during the
reading of sacred Scripture by means of the use of an alternate name:
`Adonai,' which means `Lord,"' the Congregation said.
The
term “was held” means
that some committee decided…. Again
why is that binding on me?
4)
That
practice continued with Christianity, the letter explained, recalling
the "church's tradition, from the beginning, that the sacred
Tetragrammaton was never pronounced in the Christian context nor
translated into any of the languages into which the Bible was
translated."
The
Roman Catholic religion became the dominant religion after they
butchered most of the early Jewish/Messianic, very first Christian,
believers and then changed the original faith to their more palatable
worldwide view. (It’s no big secret the Romans merged Christianity
with - reformed - pagan
practices.)
5)
The
Vatican's move will require changes in a number of hymns and prayers
currently used in American churches, but not to the Mass itself, said
the U.S. bishops' top liturgical official.
There
you go, they freely admit it,
“Vatican's
move will require changes.”
Again why is this binding on me? Why should Vatican
requirements be binding on any Bible believing person?
6)
show
reverence for the name of God in daily life,
Their
reasoning is that the faithful respect YHWH by not saying our HIS
Name and renaming HIM instead. Uh
oh! Someday you are one among many who are nervolsy standing in line,
and from the Throne, YHWH asks, Who changed my NAME!" How
would you answer? And here they (the
Vaticin) reveals
another flaw, if we the
faithful, reverence YHWH-GOD
then they should not call any mere mortal, reverend or father.
A
thinking person, required by GOD to test
what we hear, should first refer to the Good Book (The Bible).
From the time of Noah, all humanity knew the name of the
CREATOR-GOD from Noah’s 7 Commandments. Through Moses, YHWH gave
humanity HIS Ten basic Laws or Commandments,
and for the next 450 years or so they knew exactly who YHWH’s was.
Noah’s Sixth Commandment, and Moses’ Third Commandment clearly say
to honor HIS name. That means, that the NAME is above all other and
should only be used in spiritual level – and do not even think using
the NAME for your kid. The
faithful are use the name with honor, and to do that it is obvious;
they must have had to know the name.
The Bible tells us we are to pray, anoint, baptize, lay on
hands, etc. all in HIS name. But
the way religious powers to be set it up, we never say HIS Name –
and I think that’s tragic!
Words
have meaning and Names have power!
The Name YHWH has meaning,
and teaches the faithful of their CREATOR.
The Name gives the
faithful place in YHWH’s Universe.
When fighting the darkness,
the faithful need to have powerful spiritual
power tools, and that begins with knowing and invoking YHWH’s
Name. And it is
especially supercharged when you end you prayer to YHWH in the name of
HIS Messiah, Yahshua.
Here
are some more Biblical references:
“For
where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the
midst of them,”
Matthew 18:20. “…the
name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed,”
1Timothy 6:1, see also Exodus 20:7.
For more info on GOD’s Name log on: http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c1_top_god.htm
Also
see my webpage: http://www.homeworship101.com/wp_10_commands.htm
“He
who has an ear,
let
him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To
him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.
And
I will give him a white stone,
and
on the stone a new name written
which
no one knows except him who receives it.”
-
Revelation 2:17
We
do not change YAHWEH's message - His message changes us!
One
must remember we are learning about YHWH’s plan of salvation – not
mans idea of salvation.
Learning YHWH’s higher spiritual truths shouldn’t start
wars or break families apart – that only happens when the
influential are afraid of losing their power over the people.
I named my company “White
Stone Communications” because when I learned of YAHWEH’s real spiritual
truths and mysteries I discussed them with my wife and then we
adopted them (we put off our old life and began anew).
For my wife and I it has been a fascinating journey of
learning. Learning about
YHWH’s Covenants,
learning about YHWH’s Holy
Days, learning about YHWH’s Spiritual
Power-tools, and learning about YHWH’s plan to save us from the
evil chaos of this world has been a great comfort to us.
All the spiritual lessons point to YHWH’S
Kingdom and understanding them brings us peace.
Peace of the mind, peace of the heart, peace
for the growth of the spirit, peace in our house, peace
in our community, and peace to our nation.
The greatest joy any soul can experience is sharing this
knowledge with someone else.
“I
have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
-
IIIJohn 4
Enjoy
the journey of learning…
Ø
Belief
in GOD is NOT a Religion: http://www.homeworship101.com/NL_2003_11.htm
Ø
Ego
Religion: http://www.homeworship101.com/wp_ego_religion.htm
Ø
Thinking
Persons Religion; http://www.homeworship101.com/NL_2005_01.htm
Ø
Spiritual
Warfare: http://www.homeworship101.com/bkspirtural_warfare.htm
Ø
Covenant
Theology: http://www.homeworship101.com/NL_2006_02.htm
Please
remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all those who
stand with Israel (Ps.122).
Take
care. Peace and
blessings, Errol.
**********************************************
Errol
Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com
website:
www.homeworship101.com
**********************************************
WSC
Newsletter 2008-13, posted 10/31/08.
Copyright
© 2008 Errol Mueller. All
rights reserved. Short
quotations, page copying, or redistribution for personal or
non-commercial group study is permitted and encouraged, provided they
are copied in total with no alterations or deletions.
Author’s name, website address, and copyright notice must be
included. If any other
use is desired, written permission is required.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scripture
quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Copyright
© 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.
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