A Day of Celebration! A History Lesson

Many people celebrate the 31st of October in a way that can not be pleasing to God. We choose to celebrate a day in history that is one all believers should be grateful for, REFORMATION DAY!

What is Reformation Day? I am glad that you asked. Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31 in remembrance of the Reformation, particularly by Lutheran and some Reformed church communities.

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of indulgences. This proposal is popularly known as the 95 Theses, which he nailed to the Castle Church doors. This was not an act of defiance or provocation as is sometimes thought. Since the Castle Church faced Wittenberg's main thoroughfare, the church door functioned as a public bulletin board and was therefore the logical place for posting important notices. Also, the theses were written in Latin, the language of the church, and not in the vernacular. Nonetheless, the event created a controversy between Luther and those allied with the Pope over a variety of doctrines and practices. When Luther and his supporters were excommunicated in 1520, the Lutheran tradition was born.

Within the Lutheran church, Reformation Day is considered a minor festival, and is officially referred to as The Festival of the Reformation. Until the 20th Century, most Lutheran churches celebrated Reformation Day on October 31st, regardless of which day of the week it occurred. Today, most Lutheran churches transfer the festival, so that it falls on the Sunday (called Reformation Sunday) on or before October 31st and transfer All Saints' Day to the Sunday on or after November 1st.

The liturgical color of the day is red, which represents the Holy Spirit and the Martyrs of the Christian Church. Luther's hymn, A Mighty Fortress is our God is traditionally sung on this day. Lutherans customarily stand during the hymn, in memory of its use in the religious wars of the Sixteenth Century.

It is also traditional in some Lutheran schools for schoolchildren to hold Reformation Day plays or pageants that re-enact scenes from the life of Martin Luther.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation_Day"

So you asked, why does this little southern baptist butterfly celebrate a day that the Lutherans celebrate. Well the answer is simple...Martin Luther was allowed by God to grasp and understand the biblical principle of Sola Fide, which means "faith in Christ Alone".

I celebrate Reformation Day because this great man of faith took a stand for Christ that costs him his life, but liberated believers from the persecution and oppression of a works based faith! Praise God for the faithful who stand for righteousness.

May all who come behind us, find us faithful,too!

Thankful Thursday!

Over a month ago I saw this picture on a blog that I read and I wish that I could give credit where credit is due for the graphic. I downloaded it then and have not had the opportunity to use it until tonight.

This has been a week. It started with a busy Monday morning preparing to teach two different Bible study classes. After four hours of studying, I felt the urgency to "get all of my ducks in a row" and complete several other tasks that needed to be checked off of my list. As the day was winding down and supper was on the stove, I received a call from our youngest daughter and she was in a major crisis with her health, physically and emotionally. Quickly, I dropped everything and headed to Milledgeville, Georgia a two hour trip in the rain and dark.

Upon arriving at her house and seeing her, I quickly determined that she was in fact sicker than I had thought. I stayed with her until about two in the morning and went across town to check into a hotel for a very short night. Tuesday morning started with a trip to the school clinic, first to try and get her excused from class so that we could see a doctor. Did you know that you can't miss class, even if you are deathly sick?

We were quickly referred to an infectious disease doctor in Macon, Ga. However, they could not see her until today. In the meantime the diagnosis was a staph infection and cellulitous on her face with a serious sinus infection. While waiting to hear from the doctors office about an appointment, I called her uncle who is also a physician and he felt that she should begin a high powered antibiotic immediately. She took her first dose within an hour.

Late Tuesday evening I left her to come home. Yesterday, I spent most of the day on the phone with her doctors, the CDC, infectious disease doctors at Emory University and any other source that I could contact for information. Late Wednesday afternoon, I spent about 3 hours completing 18 hours of continuing education for my insurance license, and fell into bed exhausted.

This brings me to Thankful Thursday! This morning began early with getting dressed and preparing to leave to go and pick my daughter to get her to the doctor in Macon. Two hours to Milledgeville, 45 minutes to Macon, over two hours in the doctors office and an hour and a half home tonight!

So you must be wondering why I am thankful this Thursday evening. Well, I am so thankful to be home and to have my daughter home with me. I am so thankful that I do not have to work and that I am afforded the luxury of being available for my children and family. I am thankful for traveling mercies. I am thankful for medical professionals who want to try and get to the bottom of her problems. I am thankful for my husband who works so hard to provide for us. I am very thankful for my daughters. In all of the concern over Leslie's health issues I am thankful for her personal integrity and determination to continue on with her schooling, maintaining good grades. I am very thankful for the prayers of so many friends who have been faithful to remember us this week. And, most of all I am thankful for God's grace and mercy and for the wisdom and peace that He has given me all week.

Tomorrow, we will start over with her doctors in Atlanta at Progressive Medical trying some alternative therapies and IV's and wait for the results of the tests that were done today. Since tomorrow has worries of it's own, for tonight I am just thankful!

Girl Talk

This past evening the women's ministry of our church hosted our first Girl Talk, a dinner event designed to encourage women of all ages to come together and take off their "church lady" masks and get real about the issues that affect their lives and daily walk with the Lord.

There were 60 women who attended and it was a nice evening for all. Many, many questions were submitted for our expert panel to answer. Questions ranging from raising children, submitting to a husband's authority, picky eaters, dating for single Christian women, lovely elderly women looking for a husband, to girlfriends spending time together without husbands being jealous. Frankly, I was amazed at how different many of the questions were and yet as I think about it today, there was one common thread.

The common thread that ran through all of the questions really boils down to the biblical issue of contentment! The married women have problems with husbands, in-laws and children...the single girls are looking for a man...the moms all need help raising their children..............

Whether lonely, frustrated, stressed out or struggling with the issues of life--basically we have to come to a place where we fully understand what Paul meant when he said, for whatever state I am in, there I will be content. Contentment comes when we can keep our eyes focused on the author and finisher of our faith.

The God of all comfort is here to comfort us and guide us and strengthen us through every single season of life and through all of the places where He is calling us to walk. Colossians 3:1 says set your eyes on things above and not on things on this earth. We are to be content with the lot that has been given to us. If we believe that God is soverign in our lives then we must come to a place of peace with the lot that we have been given.

What does this mean in a practical way: if you are married--love and respect the man your married to, if you are a mother--be grateful for the opportunity to raise the precious children with whom you have been entrusted, if you are single--embrace the freedom and privilege that you have to serve the Lord without hinderance, if you are lonely--look only to God for company and for Him to provide you with companionship you long for.

God is the All-Sufficient One and He is all that we need. So lean into Him, trust Him, pray that your thoughts would become agreeable with His will, and that you can find peace and contentment that passes all understanding.

Irregardless of your circumstances or season in life---be still...and know that He is God, a very good God who loves you with an everlasting love and only wants what is good for you all the days of your life!

Out of curiosity, what questions do you have about life as a female on planet earth that you need an answer to from a biblical perspective?

A very belated thank you and post!

Sometime last week, my friend Dianne posted an award that she had been given and then passed the award on to those who had impacted her in someway, my name was on that list. Being relatively new to the blogging world, I have been a little slow in my response and in expressing my gratitude.

Although, I am humbled and grateful that she would mention my name with such an honor, in reality, she has been an encourager and uplifter to me for many months now. God is so good to give us great friends and family, those special people who encourage us and even push us when we need to be nudged along life's way.

Thank you, Dianne for your kindness and the support and encouragement that you give to me and especially to the womens ministry of our church. God Bless you for being so generous and giving!

Reminder, It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Please do not forget that this is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is important to click the pink dot on the left side of this blog everyday or every visit, but it is so much more important to remind yourself and those you love, to do the self-exams.

This little reminder is brought to you today in loving memory of my mama, who lost her life to inflamatory breast cancer on October 22, 2004. May God grant someone the wisdom and knowledge to find a cure for this horrible disease.

Sincerely,
Butterflies against Breast Cancer!

A word of warning!

Be careful about the words you post, they may come home to bite you. Yesterday's post,about all of the things that I have learned about anger was heartfelt and true. Today, those words were put to the test, BIG TIME! Can't say that I passed the test with much glory. The truth is that walking in victory and obedience requires a day by day, moment by moment effort and yielding.

May God help us when the next trial and temptation comes along and may you find a fresh victory through Christ. Be angry and sin not! Well I was angry today and I sinned, for that I am humbly repentant. LF

Be angry and sin not!

Today, I completed an eight week Bible study on anger, what an awesome study. It is so amazing that the Truth of God's Word is sharper than a two-edged sword. Moving through the process of sanctification is often painful and exhausting, this study proved to be equally challenging for me personally.

When the Bible says "Be angry and sin not" what it means is "when angry, do not sin." We will be angry because anger is a true emotion that God experiences. But when we become angered, we must learn to quickly remove ourselves from the anger and forgive and let it go.

The mark of a true believer is one who walks in obedience to the commands of Christ. Christ tells us that if we get angry, we can't stay there--we must take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ and yield to the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome our anger.

"The anger of man(or woman in my case) does NOT accomplish the righteousness of Christ." I really believe that forgiving and forgetting are both a gift from God, one that can not be attained apart from the indwelling Christ.

The real lesson that I have learned these past eight weeks is this: "It is not what has been done to me, but what has been done for me on the cross that makes the difference."

I thank God that He is freeing me from the evil spirit of anger that can set itself up against the true knowledge of Christ in my life. My hearts desire is to please God and live a life that is worthy of the calling on my life and honoring this great salvation that He has granted to me through faith in Christ alone!

I challenge you to think about what it means to be a vessel of mercy, again, and make a mercy list of all of the people in your life that you need to give mercy to. God delights to show us mercy and gives us the same amount of mercy that we extend to others. Do not be angry, turn from anger quickly, forgive others and yourself and let it go. We can walk in the freedom that is available to those who believe. Christ came to set the captives free, and for those whom He set free ---they are FREE INDEED!

MERCY!

This morning as I began to study and prepare to teach tomorrow, the word mercy continued to run through my mind. We often speak and God's grace and sometimes of His mercy, but His infinite mercy is not a subject to be taken lightly.

MERCY is not getting what we deserve - which is God's wrath!
GRACE is getting what we do not deserve - salvation!

What I deserve is the wrath of God and death,"for the wages of sin is death",and what I get that I do not deserve is "the gift of God which is eternal life in Jesus Christ my Lord". I praise God daily that He has allowed me to get a glimpse of His glory through my salvation in Christ Alone! It was His kindness that lead me to repentance(Romans 2:4)and it is His mercy that allows me to see His glory.

In an online sermon,by John Piper entitled "Vessels of Mercy", he profoundly reminds us of what is means to understand the truths of Romans 9:23 "...in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory..." There is not a more popular scripture known than the 23rd Psalm, and the phrase that Piper points out is "surely goodness and MERCY shall follow me all of the days of my life."

Surely, God's mercy shall follow me because He did not give me the death that I deserved. The scripture teaches that God delights to show mercy to His beloved sons and daughters, the very ones that He has set aside to be a vessel of mercy to others.

At a recent Beth Moore seminar, she showed this video link from Godtube.com that reiterates how precious we are to God and how much He "delights to show us mercy". "Surely goodness and mercy" will never be the same after you watch this video.....



May the Great God of all, grant to you today His mercy and may you in turn grant mercy to those whom you meet...."Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy!"