LRC, Houston - the weekends-free church in Houston, Texas

We now move from the Dark Ages to the Enlightenment and Reformation eras. The world was done with Pope’s who loved to party, make money off of brothels, and the sale of indulgences. It was time for Science to take a shot at what it could tell the world about life. Copernicus, Newton, and others made history and in so doing doing ran afoul of the church that was still desperately trying to CONTROL WHAT people might THINK! It was one thing to put off the return of Jesus for a few decades, but giving excuses for His “no show” for more than a dozen centuries was just getting too old to hold up. Telling a more and more diversified world and varied cultures that they could not translate the Bible in their own tongue was just too much. At least it was too much for a man named Martin Luther.

The Roman Catholic church is pushed back on it’s heel and with heels dug in the war against all these “Protestant up-starts” was on- and still is today as evidenced by the Pope Benedict XVI affirmation that there is only one true church.

This fourth period I am dating roughly 1500-2000. Remember, there’s no magical line where one era begins and another ends. Focus on the five moments in time, not exactly what happened WHEN! Everyone should know about Luther’s challenge to the Pope and Catholicism in general. Martin Luther dealt the symbolic blow that began the Reformation when he nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenburg Church. That document contained an attack on papal abuses and the sale of indulgences by church officials.

And many other issues!

But Luther himself saw the Reformation as something far more important than a revolt against ecclesiastical abuses. He believed it was a fight for the gospel. Luther even stated that he would have happily yielded every point of dispute to the Pope, if only the Pope had affirmed the gospel. And at the heart of the gospel, in Luther’s estimation, was the doctrine of justification by faith–the teaching that Christ’s own righteousness is imputed to those who believe, and on that ground alone, they are accepted by God.

As my friend Richard Rohr, a Franciscan, has said often, “If only the Protestants had reformed us“.

Unfortunately, Luther and others only took a short journey. The Kingdom was still put off though in this time frame, the return of Jesus became more hysterical in what we know as the RAPTURE mentality. Life was still about obeying and believing in BELIEFS! Say the right prayer, believe the orthodox way, follow the correct sacramental rituals, and eternity was guaranteed.

Oh, and do what the church leaders tell you; blindly, without question.

Tomorrow, it’s time to open our eyes to LIVING in the KINGDOM NOW, which Jesus preached 2,000 years ago!