Newsletter: 2006-13 Happy Reformation Day

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 it should be a celebrated day 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.

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.

Martin Luther began the Protestant revolution and America was founded as a Protestant nation, 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.

All of today’s churches owe 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

Martin Luther is only one 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 they (ancient Israelites) 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-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!

As we all know the religious leadership that heard Yahshua didn’t like Him very much and they generally ran him out of town and wanted to silence Him. (I wonder would it be any different in today’s churches.) Discussing points of reform with religious leaders is like talking to a bulkhead – they just ain’t getting 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.

“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

Christian faith is not just believing in Christ, it is also discipleship – living as he taught us to live. 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. 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.

Come let us reason together (Isa.1:18),
and take comfort in the future paradise
that YHWH is working so hard to give us – enjoy the journey of learning.

Please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all those who stand with Israel (Ps.122).

Shalom and blessings, Errol.
**********************************************
Errol Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com
website: www.homeworship101.com
**********************************************
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
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#WSC Newsletter 2006-13, posted 10/30/06.
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