Prayer Request

My wife's grandmother is in the hospital right now. SHe's been having mini-strokes and has been falling a lot lately -- ever since the latter part of July, actually. She's had a brain hemmorage, and the doctors have said it's just a matter of time before she goes on the heaven.

Please pray for my wife's family -- this is the sixth death on that side of the family in the past three years. Her grandfather is the last one of his generation.

Book Review: In the Beginning, There Were No Diapers by Tim Bete

Five pages into this book, I put it down, looked over at my wife, and said, "When I finish this book, you HAVE to read it." This is not a decision that I recommend, though -- once you say this, you automatically forfeit your rights to read significant passages from the book out loud to everyone in the room. And that is something that you'll want to do -- many, many times.

I was able to really identify with Bete as he talked about his experiences with babies -- especially potty training, and the trials of getting a child to eat more than hot dogs and chicken nuggets. But even the stories that I couldn't directl relate to were stories I could enjoy, and laugh at.

Bete's stories ring very true to parents, who can at least sympathise with his many misadventures and anxieties. He writes as if he is the parental version of Everyman (call him "Everydad"); even when parents cannot actually identify with a particular story, they can read and laugh, knowing that there, but for the grace of God, they go.

Bete also focuses on the "minor miracles" that happen every day in parenting. The day your child goes potty by themselves. The day they eat an actual vegetable without being threatened. His experiences also allow him to more fully appreciate many of the miracles in the Bible -- Jesus fed 5000 with bread and fish, and none of the kids complained, dropped their food, or wanted tartar sauce for their fish. Two miracles happened that day, but only a parent can appreciate the second miracle.

Tim Bete was once recommended to fill the shoes of Dave Barry after the latter's retirement. While their topics are not always the same, fans of Dave Barry will definitely see similarities in comedic style and sense of humor. But the himor isn't the best part.

Bete has an award-winning website that should be in every writer's bookmarks. He tracks the journey of this book from idea to published work, including tips that any new writer will find valuable. I know that I'll refer back to his site a lot in the very near future ...

And now, I need to get this copy of Tim's book to my wife, and remind her that I've already rad it, so she doesn't need to read it aloud to me. But I know she will anyway -- it's that funny.

BFL Week 4

I don't want to alarm anyone, but ... it happened. I won this week.

I figured I would win, since Nick didn't start a quarterback (Rothlesburger had a bye this week), but that wouldn't have mattered. Thank you, Eli Manning. Pewie Podcasters 70, Nick's Roughnecks 46. I try to extend this winning "streak" next week against Brendoman.com, who beat the Highlanders this week 94-71.

In other action:

The Houston Fire Ants burned the Disgruntled Mimes 71-48.
The Crusaders edged the Kung Fu Mamma's Boys 69-63, giving Bill Wallo's boys their first loss this season.
The Rockets beat Holtsberry's Hacks 63-48. The Hacks take the Podcaster's place at the bottom of the standings ... for now.
And the NBB Twisters topped Daniel's Boyz 65-43.

In Memory

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 ESV)

It's been a long week and a half. Last Sunday (the 2nd of October), we received a phone call as we got home from church. My wife's aunt and uncle were wondering if we knew where her grandparents were. We found out they were at the hospital, and it didn't look good at all. My wife's grandmother had fallen at church -- not a bad fall, more of a sinking to the ground. She had a brain hemmorage because of some previous falls. When we got to the hospital, we were told it was only a matter of hours.

It was actually a week, almost exactly. We spent the past week at the hospital most of the day. My wife and her mother spent the night every night, sleeping on couches or recliners, staying until her grandfather came in the mornings. She had a living will, so there was little anyone could do once it was determined that she was terminal: no life support, just pain medicine and saline drip, and waiting.

I've never actually watched someone die. My dad was gone before I made it home, and both my grandparents died when I was living out of state. It's not something I want to repeat.

She died this past Sunday, at about the same time she was admitted the week before. Her viewing and funeral were last night, and the burial was today, with a small service for the family at the grave.

We grieve, but not as those who have no hope. We miss her, but we know that we will meet again. It's not goodbye, it's "See you later>'

On The Bookshelf

I've got a bunch of books I'm digging into -- one of the benefits of Blogcritics and Mind and Media.

Bruce Feiler's book Where God Was Born looks interesting. I've read Walking the Bible, and I'm looking forward to reading this. A review will show up here and at BC.

Got my own copy of John Piper's God is the Gospel the other day. I'm late for the controversy that erupted in the godblogosphere, but I figure I'll have a few words about it, and give my take on some of the discussion that happened a month or so ago. Maybe I can even start another discussion!

AND the third book I wanted to mention (I've got more waiting to be read and reviewed -- check in with Blogcritics in the next few days for more on those books ...). I got an email from a very nice lady at Chelsea Green Publishing about a book they wanted me to review. God, America, and Fascism -- all about how terrible the religious right is, and how Christianity has it's priorities wrong, and all that good stuff. I almost passed on the book, but then I heard something that I told someone not long ago. "We should be willing to read things we disagree with," I said, "because there's always the chance that we'll learn something. If nothing else, intellectual honesty says that we need to get their arguments straight from them -- not second or third hand."

So I agreed to read it. I plan on reviewing each of the "sermons" in a post here, with a general review over at BC. I'm still not sure why they wanted me to review the book, unless they just haven't read much of this blog.

What Price for a Soul?

$48, cash or check.

I'm not going to go into a long critique of this method of evangelism. As I reflect on my own life, I can see many times I've done something similar. I can remember the Saturdays that I spent with my youth group, playing kickball and sharing Jesus with kids. And seeing the same kids get saved every single week.

The problem with so many modern evangelism methods is that there is no discipleship. No connect with a local church. No clue what they believe, or why. Then ten years later, they have nothing to do with the church. Did they lose their salvation? No -- you can't lose something that you never had in the first place. We failed them. Our emphasis on numbers has resulted in our missing one important fact -- these are people. They are souls that Christ died for. They will spend eternity somewhere, and we are giving them false hope. Their hope is in a repeated prayer, rather than Christ.

I question any directive that places a greater emphasis on numbers than on discipleship. Quality over quantity. And I am willing to invest whatever I need to -- time, money, tears, whatever.

$48 just seems a little cheap to me.

Comments Closed for now

The site has been hit with a LOT of really nasty Internet porn spam. Until I can get it under control, comments are, unfortunately, turned off. I'm hoping to get this taken care of quickly (with the help of the mu.nu resident experts), so this will be a minor inconvenience.

If you really need to comment on something, email me (it's in the sidebar). When comments come back, I'll put your comment in the appropriate place.

Thanks, and sorry!

Comment Update

Comments are back. MAJOR spammer yesterday evening, with some seriously nasty pr0n spammage. Got rid of it, and hopefully have the site locked down so they can't get back in.

For now, HTML is disabled in comments. I will probably restore it later, but I figure if the link doesn't work, the spammers can't get Google 'credit' for having a link to their site. Maybe that will make them go somewhere else.

I'd planned on actually writing last night, but the spam distracted me. Later today, and maybe tonight after church. Be in prayer for me, because I'm preaching this evening (Galatians chapter 6).

Christian Thoughts on Halloween

Tim Challies had a great post on this yesterday, and I was planning on writing this yesterday evening, but you know what they say about "best laid plans." Tim talks about John MacArthur's response to Halloween, and talks about his own efforts. He points out that, to many neighborhood kids, a dark house at Halloween isn't taking a stand against Satanism or paganism -- it's a house full of people who can't (or won't) have any fun.

Halloween is a big deal where I live now. It's a small town, everyone knows everyone else, and trick or treating turns into a big block party, where you go visit the neighbors and they give you candy. My daughter ends up with quite a haul by the end of the evening -- and we don't go far from home. Usually, our rounds end up taking us in a half-mile loop, and last year I had to run home and get the "auxiliary bucket" when she ran out of candy room in her bag.

Scary costumes? We haven't done them yet, and probably won't. My daughter is just not that type -- she's more of a princess costume type (Cinderella this year, along with a few thousand other four-year-old girls). I don't see a vampire or witch in her future.

"But what about the pagan influences?" I can hear it now. If you're worried about pagan influences, then I hope you:

• Didn't throw rice or bird seed at your wedding.
  
• Didn't do the whole "Something old, something new ..." thing either.
  
• Never put a penny in your shoe, or did anything "for good luck."
  
• Don't wear a wedding ring.
  

A LOT of things we do just out of a sense of tradition are taken from pagan sources. I won't even go into the various pagan roots of many of our Easter and Christmas traditions, because I don't want to get people started.

My point is simple. American culture is good at one thing -- assimilation. We are the Borg of modern culture in many ways. There is no such thing as a purely American culture, because from the very beginning, we have borrowed from others to create our own traditions. While I think that Christians should be careful about what they do and don't do, I think that stubbornly refusing to participate in a holiday that is simply a way for kids to get candy without their parents paying for it isn't a good decision to make. Teach your kids about evil in the world. Teach them about good in the world. And use trick or treating as an opportunity to share the Gospel with kids.

Just don't give them any of those nasty fake chocolate things that so often get packaged with tracts. If you're going to give tracts at the door this year, give the kids something good. If nothing else, the parents who end up eating it will thank you.

Jesus Loves .... Ninjas??

OK, another hat tip to Tim Challies for this one.

I think that one paragraph says it all about this:

Capitalizing on the ultra-trendy Jesus clothing movement, we proudly introduce Jesus Loves T-Shirts: an edgy collection of T-shirts featuring all the people we are afraid to love.
{emphasis mine}

Ultra-trendy Jesus clothing movement??? I don't recall Jesus ever telling us that we'd be "ultra-trendy." I seem to recall something about people despising us for His name's sake, or something like that ...

No Thanks!!!

This one via Al Mohler. Today's Washington Post:

The federal government will help rebuild parochial schools, nursing homes and similar religious institutions but will not pay for reconstruction of churches or other houses of worship destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, administration officials said yesterday.

I call on every religious institution who was hurt by Katrina to refuse this "help." We're being reassured that any building used for "essentially religious activities" will not receive this help. I'm with Dr. Mohler when he says

Well, here's one Southern Baptist who sincerely hopes that every one of our buildings is used for "inherently religious activities." This looks like a genuinely bad idea. Government money means government entanglement. Who will decide what constitutes "inherently religious activities?"

NAMB has already rejected any federal reimbursement for the aid that the convention provided after Katrina. I hope that, as attractive as this offer is, we refuse it as well.

The New Meme

So I'm a sucker for memes, sometimes. This comes from Rebecca Writes and The Crusty Curmudgeon.

Google "Your first nameneeds" and list the first ten hits. Underline the ones that are true.

1. Warren needs repair (actually talking about a road somewhere)
2. Warren needs new ... (some message board. The description doesn't tell me what I need!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!)
3. Warren needs to be first and best (from an article about Warren Beatty and Annette Benning).
4. Warren needs people with him all the time to help with his decisions and choices. (NOT)
5. Warren needs to focus on the younger group instead of the older group.
6. Warren needs to show up everywhere in his gay as black button downs with dragons and flames on them. (HUH??!!)
7. Warren needs to get the public involved in the same way Youngstown did. (Who is this Youngstown guy, anyway? lol)
8. Warren needs glass windows.
9. Warren needs a pharmacy.
10. Warren needs better “life sustaining” jobs

NaNoWriMo

OK, this will sound really funny to anyone who has been reading this blog for any length of time at all, given my occasional lack of posting, but I'm going for it this year. I've registered for National Novel Writing Month.

My goal is to prove to myself that I can actually sustain writing the same story for one month. At this point, the 50,000 words is a bonus. I've had ideas running through my head in the past, but never did much of anything with them. Now is the time.

My wife has also decided to do it, though she hasn't registered yet. Of course, she's had a short story published already, and has two novel ideas, so she's got a head start on me.

I just wish it wasn't strictly a novel writing thing -- I've got an awesome nonfiction idea that I've been playing with for the past few weeks, and I'd like to get that going. But I guess I can do the proposal this month, and do some serious work on it in December and January.

Anybody else doing this? Maybe we should form a "support group" to keep each other going!

Movie Time

Just took my daughter to see Wallace and Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. My review is over at Cinema Veritas.

Short story -- go see it. Get your kids the DVD, and watch it again. Outstanding movie.

A Bloggy Game

Maybe this will become the next blogosphere meme -- and it will have started right here!! Cool, huh?

I'm going to think of 5 numbers, 1-10 (if you're cool, you can roll a D10 for this, but my dice are missing and presumed lost). I'm going to start at my blogroll, count down the first number, and go to that blog. Then count down the next number on their blogroll, and so on. +NOTE -- the numbers CAN duplicate, and you should use the first blogroll on the page as you scroll down.

My numbers are: 3, 8, 2, 9, and 4. So here we go!

1. Back of the Envelope. This is a great site run by a great person with good taste in Webcomics. He's also hosting the Storyblogging Carnival this time, which should interest everyone who is taking part in NaNoWriMo. Eight places down in his blogroll takes me to ...
2. Parableman. One of the first blogs I ever read. Philosophy and politics from a Christian perspective. I like Jeremy's post on the problems with strict constructionism regarding the Constitution. I always thought of myself as a strict constructionist, but I think I may have to change to originalist after reading this post. Two down on his blogroll takes me to ...
3. Uncle Sam's Cabin, by Jeremy's wife Samantha. Among the many great posts on her blog, she has a post reminding us who we are thankful to when we say we're thankful for something. That's something easy to forget. Counting nine down on her blogroll takes me to ...
4. The Gad(d)about. FINALLY, a new blog!! I like the very first (as of right now) post, talking about God's obvious enjoyment of irony. This is a blog that I'll probably add to my feed reader (Mozilla Thunderbird -- works great!!) But there's no blogroll, so I'll go back to Uncle Sam's and use hers. Four down takes me to ...
5. McRyanMac. Top of the page is about a story that I've been thinking about today, ever since I first heard about it. Anne Rice is writing a novel about the early years of Jesus. Salute to Anne for taking the risk, but who is she writing this for? I doubt many of her old fans will appreciate it, and from the sounds of it the Christian market won't like it much. Fans of the DaVinci Code might ... oh, yeah -- the movie is coming out soon. AHHH, I get it now. Is that cynical? Probably so, but I am a cynic at heart.

So that's my trip through the blogosphere, randomly visiting pages. Only found two that I haven't read before, interestingly enough. Maybe next time, I'll visit more than five sites and see what happens.

Blog For Sale!!!

Ok, not really, but I've seen this pop up all over the place -- the whole "My Blog is worth $) thing, and so many blogs I've seen are worth $0. So I decided to try it, and I was shocked.

So if anyone's interested, I can go as low as $60,000. Email me!

{EDIT}Out of curiosity, I plugged my podcast site's URL into the thing. This is what I got:

So if you are interested, I can set up a package deal for you!

Post-Con: What I Wish I had Done at GodBlogCon 2005

So I didn't get to go to GodBloggerCon 2005. And now I have to sit and read all the posts about how cool it was, and what a wonderful time everyone had, and how good-looking David Wayne is. Next year, maybe I can talk about podcasting (HINT HINT TO ANYONE LISTENING!!!! I'M VOLUNTEERING!!!). Ahem. Anyway, while reading the various accounts, I found this post that asks some good questions. The aforementioned Mr. Wayne has tackled a couple, but I'd like to add my two bits to the mix.

1. Is blogging really going to be "the next big thing"? Are comparisons to Guttenberg or television valid? Or is it a temporary blip that will be surpassed by new technologies before it ever really takes off? You can guess what the party line at GBC was, and they may well be right. But someone needs to at least ask these questions.

I think it depends on what we do with it. A new medium is only as good as what it is used for, and how flexible it is. We need to make sure that we don't use blogging simply as a way to validate ourselves and our opinions -- we need to interact and engage. I've done a lousy job of that lately -- my substantial posts have been pretty insular things geared more towards current readers or people who agree with me. That's something I need to change -- but change is hard. We need to blog with a purpose, those of us who claim the title "Godblogger." Christians need to make use of the new media (blogging and podcasting both) as effective tools of evangelism, polemic, and apologetic.

As far as the overall potential of blogging -- only time will tell. I'm sure several years into the printing press, there were still people who wondered when that fad would end. Even at the beginning of the "information age," people wondered why individuals would ever want to have their own computer. There is a lot of potential in blogging, and it all rests on those who blog. The things I mentioned above hold true here as well -- what becomess of blogging will depend on what we all make of it. Blogging has come a long way since it's beginning, and still has a long way to go.

Question number 2 actually ties in with the first part of my answer to #1 (that'll teach me to read ahead!), so I'll go on to #3:

3. Will the close relationship between Christian blogging and politically conservative blogging end up doing more harm than good? Have we looked at the unintended consequences? For example: When Christian bloggers vehemently argue for lower taxes, or less gun control or less environmental regulation or in favor of military intervention in Iraq (all positions I agree with, btw), will they create confusion between Christian absolutes and positions based on human wisdom? There is no biblical case that taxes must ALWAYS be lower or that ALL environmental regulations are bad so these arguments must be made on pragmatic, not biblical grounds. But the case is often stated with the same certainty and demand for orthodoxy as a case made (in the adjoining item) for salvation by faith. Call it the World Magazine Syndrome. At GBC my fellow conservatives seemed very defensive when these types of issues were raised.

This is a pet peeve of mine, and it's the reason I don't blog politics very often -- unless it intersects religious faith in general, and Christianity in particular (and I've even done less of that lately. Maybe I need to get with it ...). Lower taxes may be a good idea, but is it a distinctively Christian idea? What about gun control? We've tied our faith to our politics so tightly that we're making purely political issues into religious fights. I make no appologies about being politically conservative, but my politics do not impact my faith, and my faith only impacts my politics in certain areas. We need to be certain to differentiate our faith in Christ from our support of any political candidate. There were Christians on both sides of the Civil War, don't forget -- and both sides were convinced that God and cripture were firmly on their side.

4. Can blogging be an effective tool for evangelism and why is this being treated as a minor side-issue of little importance?

I struggle with this, but I'm going to have to give a qualified "No" to this one. Qualified because I've seen God work in ways that I could never predict, and I don't want to say that God won't use blogs to draw people to Himself. But evangelism is primarilly a personal thing. One-to-one, building relationships. Blogs can be tools that help us to build those relationships, but it ultimately comes though a face-to-face encounter with someone, ministering to them and meeting their needs so that they can see God live in us. I've read a lot of blogs that have tried to change peoples' minds about a lot of things, and none have been very effective. I've read evangelistic blogs, and I've heard nothing good from any nonChristian who went to one. They aren't effective in and of themselves, and that is what I see happening quite often. If blogs are properly used to build relationships, then I can see them being an evangelistic tool. But that seems to be a very big if.

A Victory for ... Whom, Exactly?

So McDonalds is going to start putting nutritional information right on the packaging of its food, huh? And this is some kind of a victory for the fast-food-eating public, huh?

It is a victory for lazy people. It's a victory for people who can't be bothered to turn over the tray liner and read the nutritional information there. It is a victory for people who can't be bothered to head over to McDonalds' web site and check the nutritional information out there. My favorite is the Bag a McMeal -- you can pick out what you're going to eat, and find out exactly how terrible it is for you.

See, I can't imagine people thinking that McDonald's means nutrition. Even before "Super Size Me," I pretty much took it for granted that my Big Mac and large fries were contributing directly to the hardening of my arteries and the expansion of my gut. Look at the grease that stays on fast food (even after it's been sitting for a while, most burgers will glisten) -- and people are amazed that the stuff is bad for them???

But McDonald's is getting some bad press, so they're doing damage control. And people will pay about as much attention to this "new information" as they ever have (you do know that it's been available for the asking in every McDonald's for a long time, don't you?). This is only a victory for the people who can't be bothered to take responsibility for their actions; the people who want to blame everyone else for their obesity.

I am overweight. I am not overweight because McDonald's duped me into eating their food -- I don't do McDonald's much at all. It's directly the result of my own bad decisions -- I sit around all day, don't exercise the way I need to, and eat stuff that ends up packed around my gut. I have dunlaps disease -- that's where your belly dun-laps over your belt (say it out loud, in a Southern accent, and it's funny. Promise.). I can't sue anyone because I'm overweight.

The next step will probably be a lawyer at every entrance to every McDonald's. Before you eat there, you'll have to sign a waiver, acknowledging that you know that the food you're about to eat is not good for you, and you promise not to sue McDonald's when, after a steady diet of Big Macs, you weigh more than your Chevy S-10. That's where we're headed, folks.

Maybe I should have gone to law school.

The New Do It Yourself Industry

Do it yourself .... sodas.

Soda Club is introducing their line of countertop brewing appliances to the United States. The press release, web site, and everything I've read about them says that they're pretty popular in Europe, and are expecting great things from their entry into the US market.

I'm intrigued -- enough that I've gone totally off-topic here to mention it. The 1-liter bottles that you use with the machine are reusable, so you don't have the waste that you have with store-bought drinks. The mixes you use have 2/3 of the sugar, calories, and carbs that store-bought drinks do. And it's supposed to work out cheaper than store-bought (long-term, I'd suspect, with the starter kits running $129 and up).

And I'm getting a sample, thanks to Blogcritics. I'm looking forward to this -- it will definitely be cheaper if I don't have the expense of the machine to factor in. And you all will get a review, because I'm going to cross-post it here and at BC.

Harriet Miers: My Two Cents

I've left this story alone, for a lot of reasons -- mainly because I don't like blogging politics, partially because I've not been impressed with the nominee. But now that the nomination is gone, I want to talk a little bit about why I'm glad.

I know nothing about Harriet Miers. She may be hugely qualified. SHe may have gone on to be the best justice we've had in a long time. But the only thing we really know about her is that she used to be Roman Catholic, and converted to evangelical, Protestant Christianity.

In the Roberts nomination, religion was off the table. Anyone who mentioned his faith was chastened, because it should only matter how good a justice he would be. And I agree with that -- there should be no litmus test of faith. We all wanted Roberts to be judged on his ability.

But not Miers. It's almost like Bush was saying to us, "Don't worry about what she thinks -- she's one of us! {wink, wink, nudge, nudge}" Christians were expected to support her because she's a Christian.

I don't like that attitude. I don't like being pandered to by the GOP, as if I'm some immature kid who has to have a candy bar thrown to him every so often so he doesn't act up. There are plenty of highly qualified, conservative judges out there who would be a slam-dunk nominee.

I almost thing that the President set Miers up for failure. It's as if he decided to give everyone the nominee that everyone feared the most, and then at the last minute pull her back and give us something else. And that's not fair to Harriet Miers, it's not fair to conservative Christians, and it's not fair to the counrty.

New Blogroll Member

While reading Tim Challies blog today, I happened across the link to Dr. Michael Haykin's blog. I've taken two classes with Dr. Haykin at Southern, and learned a lot from both. He introduced me to Andrew Fuller (which my wife really appreciates) and the early Baptists in England. Even though my church history studies will focus more on the Medieval church (especially the late Middle Ages, shortly before the Reformation), I gained a lot of valuable knowledge and understanding from Dr. Haykin's classes. His blog has quickly been placed in the blogroll, and the RSS feed added to my feed reader.

The Many Faces of iPod

There are a lot of accessories for iPods. And today seems to be the day that the strange ones come out.

First, I read about the BrixPod case. Looks like something made out of Legos, right? 'Cause it is.

The BrixPod Classic is a signed and numbered limited edition of 300 units. Each BrixPod is assembled by hand from 59 genuine LEGO® parts. The BrixPod Classic can be displayed alone but is intended for use with the iPod shuffle (not included). By inserting the shuffle into the top of the BrixPod you get the effect of a fully functional music player constructed from LEGO®. The shuffle is held securely and protected inside the BrixPod. By pushing on the screen area of the BrixPod the shuffle can be paused/played. An eject slider on the back of the BrixPod allows you to remove the shuffle easily.

But this is what really caught my attention:

Inspired by the world's obsession and devotion to the iPod, iBelieve is a replacement lanyard for your iPod Shuffle. It is a social commentary on the fastest growing religion in the world.

My only question is -- what religion would that be, exactly?

Reformation Day, 2005

I actually had to work today, so this is the first opportunity I've had to talk about the real October 31st holiday -- Reformation Day.

This is the date that, in 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg. Or maybe he didn't. The first known account of the actual nailing of the Theses didn't appear until after Luther's death, and there is some discussion among historians over whether it actually happened or not. It is in keeping with the practice of the day -- theses were traditionally nailed up when they were to be presented for debate, and Luther could have done just that, hoping for a debate that would spark reform within the Catholic church. At the very least, Luther's concerns as expressed in the Theses were made known to his superiors -- his opposition to Papal indulgences and many of the other problems in the church resulted in his condemnation and the beginning of the Lutheran church and Protestant Christianity.

I think it's interesting that one of the web sites that you find when searching for "Reformation Day" includes the question "Why is Reformation Day such an important Christian festival?" I would say that it is an ignored Christian festival. Ask the average Christian in the street what Reformation Day is, and they probably won't have much of a clue. Most churches are more concerned with organizing their Hell House and having hayrides for their Fall Festival than they are in teaching the historic origins of Protestant Christianity, or teaching what they were protesting to begin with.

It's a perfect opportunity to remember the Reformation slogan -- Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda -- The church reformed and always to be reformed. We need to always be careful that our beliefs and practices are based firmly on Scripture, and not on traditions, and we need to be willing to make changes when we are out of line. That, if nothing else, is what we must learn from the Reformation.