Reformation Week: Martin Luther

I was inspired to study the Reformers this week by Cindy over at Dominion Family. You really should head over and read her explanation. I love her blog.

So, since I honestly know nothing about the reformers, I decided today was the day to start learning about them and stop feeling dumb about it. So we read about Martin Luther in Trial and Triumph. It was shocking what the catholic church used to tell the poor folks.

The church preyed on the people's fear of purgatory, a place which the roman church taught existed between heaven and hell, where christians after death were punished for their sins and purified for heaven. They would remind the people of their poor dead relatives, telling them to hear them calling from purgatory and asking them for pity. "Will you not drop a few coins into the box and open the door of heaven to us?"

"As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs!"

The people would rush forward, empty their pockets and run home with their letters of 'indulgence' the guarantee of forgiveness from the church.

Martin Luther tried to reason with the people by preaching that sinners are made right before God by faith in Christ alone, but many people who were ignorant of the Bible at that time accepted without question the Roman church's teaching. They believed they would find forgiveness through indulgences, prayers to saints and the veneration of relics (bits of bones, hair and teeth from the bodies of dead saints). Eewww!?

Luther declared the teaching of the church and sale of indulgences a sham. He proclaimed "Christ alone can forgive sins. The pope has no power to forgive or to free souls from purgatory. If he had such power why does he not release everyone from purgatory at once? Why does he not do it free of charge?"

Good point Luther.

On Halloween 1517, Luther wrote a list of 95 Theses accusing the Roman Catholic church of heresy upon heresy and nailed them to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. That makes this week a perfect week to study Luther!

Finally, a good reason to celebrate on Halloween! You probably already knew all this. I'm the last one to the party. Where have I been?

Did you know that he wrote the Hymn "A Mighty Fortress is our God"? I'm going to add it to our family hymnal. (I need to post about that soon.)

I think we will read more on Mr. Luther all week and have my children give a little narration to Papa on Friday. I am also going to have the kids try to draw his portrait. If by some chance you have your kids draw his picture, send me a picture and I'll post them. That could be fun! I think I will try to draw him too.

You?

Come on!!

You can find many more of his pictures here. Cindy wondered what modern day actor most resembled Martin Luther.

I said Gérard Depardieu.

Who do you think?

Christian Biography Series: Darlene Diebler Rose

At the homeschool conference this year, overwhelmed with choices amidst the sea of curriculum tables I had a thought.

"I'm going to focus on Christian Biographies this year. Reading about great men and women of God will have a greater effect on us and our children than the right geography or science book."

I'd like to encourage you to do the same. We need to read about people who have walked through the fire holding onto the Lord's hand. They can mentor us even from the grave. By having a front row seat in the story of their lives, we can learn how to walk faithfully with the Lord too. So this is the first post in a series of Christian Biographies I'd like to share.

The other day the kids and I listened to an old favorite of ours. It is wonderful! EVERYONE should listen to this true story of Darlene Diebler Rose, a lovely woman who was a missionary in Papua New Guinea during World War II. She shares how important it was for her to memorize scripture as a child, when her Bible was taken away because she had hid God's word in her heart, He was able to use it to minister and comfort her. She also mentioned how the hymns she learned as a child brought comfort to her.

Listening to her story also helped the kids be less picky with their food. Our microwave died yesterday. I had some cold brown rice that I gave them and said, "It's not warm, but I bet it's better than Darlene's rice with worms on the top." They ate it without complaint.

Shortly after listening to her story, I searched for her on the internet. I found her website and the book she wrote called Evidence Not Seen. I was so sad to read that she had died in 2004, I don't know why, I just felt she was our friend. But now she is with the Lord and so much happier so I suppose it's silly to be sad. Sad for us.

Last night at the dinner table my oldest son said, "I was looking at the pictures you have in your bedroom. As I looked at the bottom picture of you kissing Isabel I thought

'For it is given unto you, it is a gift, not only to believe on Him but also to suffer with Him."

Wow.

This is something Darlene had said, something the Lord had said to her. That touched me, to see the Lord using her story to encourage my son in his life, and then for him to encourage us.

Suffering is a gift.

That's not something you'll get from reading the Sunday comics and especially the culture around us. Because we were able to hear this great woman's story, my son is making sense of our family's sorrow.

You can purchase the cassette tape we have at No Greater Joy and I found Focus on the Family has a CD called I will never leave thee. I'm not sure if it's the same audio we have.

Spend the money and send for the tape or cd, the impact it will have on your children will be worth it.

P.S. The picture above is a picture of Isabel done by Sketches by Bethany.