“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…” Psalm 46:1-2 NKJV
Pending a move of God’s Spirit on par with the “unquenchable flame” of the Protestant Reformation ignited in the 16th century through the likes of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, and Tyndale (and prior to them Wycliffe and Hus), our country is in big trouble. We are facing perhaps the greatest existential crisis since the Civil War as Woke Neo-Marxism is a pagan worldview that is antithetical to Biblical Christianity, human flourishing, and the ideas that built Western Civilization. All ideas have consequences and bad ideas like Marxist ideology are destructive and have victims. Something needs to change in the American church and family before it’s too late and we must therefore learn all we can from our Reformation heritage.
“The just shall live by faith” (Rom.1:17b NKJV). Christ Himself used such Pauline truth to transform Martin Luther and God’s Spirit ignited a passion in his heart to stand with resolute biblical conviction in his generation because something needed to change. And change they did as just over 500 years ago, on October 31st, 1517, this Augustinian monk, nailed his (now famous) 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenburg, Germany. The document detailed his protests against the corrupt practices of the Roman Catholic Church which dominated Medieval Christendom. This historic event thus fanned the flames of reformation that had been stirring in Europe for hundreds of years.
Something did indeed change because Luther and the other Reformers understood the sacrifice of separation for the sake of rescuing the gospel from religious tyranny. Their legacy is the unquenchable flame of the Protestant Reformation that resulted in the salvation of multitudes, founding of Christian churches that sought to be faithful to biblical doctrine, translation of the Bible into English, widespread persecution, establishment of western Christian civilization, and the rise of cross-cultural missions in the modern era. This is a historic glimpse into our Christian heritage as Evangelicals in general and Mid-Acts Dispensational Grace Believers in particular living today in 21st century America.
We are heirs to the past and ancestors to the future. The Reformation was a rediscovery of the Pauline truth of justification which later generations built upon by recovering the pre-tribulational rapture of the Church, the Body of Christ, as well as the distinctive apostleship and message of Paul. Just as those who have gone before us were faithful in their generation, we too must face the challenges of this era of history with resolute biblical conviction because, once again, something needs to change especially with the American church and family.
Demographics are grim and radical changes must be made by churches and families moving forward as co-champions of the next generation. The strength of our gospel outreach both here and abroad depends on the spiritual health and vitality of American Grace churches. Therefore, if you and I care about God’s glory being magnified through the salvation of rebel sinners among all nations worldwide, then we must care about our country, our churches, and especially our homes. Since advancing the cause of Christ to the ends of the earth begins right at home with biblical marriage and family life, we must take very seriously how students of history like Rod Drehr encourage “Christian parents [to] be intentionally countercultural in their approach to family dynamics.”[i]
In the New York Times bestselling book, “Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents”, Dreher further explains the following…
“In the coming soft totalitarianism, Christians will have to regard family life in a much more focused, serious way. The traditional Christian family is not merely a good idea—it is also a survival strategy for the faith in a time of persecution. Christians should stop taking family life for granted, instead approaching it in a more thoughtful, disciplined way. We cannot simply live as all other families live, except that we go to church on Sunday. Holding the correct theological beliefs and having the right intentions will not be enough. Christian parents must be intentionally countercultural in their approach to family dynamics. The days of living like everybody else and hoping our children turn out for the best are over” (emphasis mine).[ii]
We must wake-up and connect the dots between MISSION MOBILIZATION & POLITICS & HISTORY and therefore be enlisted as religious dissidents, like the Reformers, and be devoted to counter-cultural Christian intentionality. The secularization of the culture and apostasy of the church capitulating to woke paganism and cultural Marxism is wreaking havoc upon our civilization because of its effects on the home and family. Our diabolical enemy also understands that as the American church decreases in strength so will our missionary impact upon the unreached people groups among the nations. Something needs to change indeed.
This change must begin with the grass roots level of hearth and home. A biblical reformation, spiritual revival, and revitalization of the church must come through the family otherwise there is no long-term or generational sustainability of any semblance of church growth. The stewardship responsibility of our Grace Commission begins right at home and encompasses the comprehensive nature of the biblical worldview, in general, and the gospel of the grace of God, in particular.
Just as the Reformers understood that something needed to change in their generation and subsequently led the way forward, those who have eyes to see in our day must also be catalysts toward positive change for such a time as this. This is why Grace Family Ministries has a passion for “Strengthening Church and Family as Co-Champions of the Next Generation.” The church must equip the family, and the family must enrich the church through the practical relevance of biblical convictions which include: 1. Solid Theology of GOD’s Design for the Family, 2. Singing of GOD’s Praise & Inter-Generational Worship, and 3. Scheduled Priorities of GOD’s Time Restructured.
Every generation must take personal ownership of the truth and therefore stand with resolute biblical conviction in this present evil age just as spiritual giants, as it were, did in the Protestant Reformation. Their godly legacy was passed down and the 17th century English Puritans were champions of biblical marriage and family life. The beloved commentator, Matthew Henry (1662-1714) experienced this firsthand in his father’s household and later explained that “here [at home] must the reformation begin.”[iii] Once again, something needs to change. May it be so in our generation for a mighty fortress is our GOD (Ps.46:1). Soli Deo Gloria!
P.S. The link below is to a sermon that also highlights this material (beginning at 13:45).
Recommended Resources:
“Rescuing the Gospel: The Story and Significance of the Reformation” by Erwin W. Lutzer
“The Eclipse of God: Our Nation’s Disastrous Search for a More Inclusive Deity (And What We Must Do About It)” by Erwin W. Lutzer
“The Gathering Storm: Secularism, Culture, and the Church” by R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
“Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk With God” by Voddie T. Baucham, Jr.
“On the Shoulders of Giants: What the Reformers Would Say to Us Today” DVD by Todd Friel
[i] Drehr, R. (2020) Live not by lies: a manual for Christian dissidents. New York, NY: Sentinel.
[ii] IBID
[iii] Whitney, D. S. (2019) Family worship: in the Bible, in history, and in your home. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
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