Simple Church Minute 98--true and false faith

98—true and false faith

My name is Tom; this is Simple Church Minute

            Recently I was watching some programs on military history of the Middle Ages in Europe.  During that period of time, numerous times one warlord defeated another and forced the people to quote unquote convert from paganism to Christianity, or even Islam, back and forth.  Many of these warlords were looking for a miracle, and considered victory a sufficient miracle.  Many had heard a communication of Christianity which emphasized spirituality in warlike terms, coordinated with alliances between the Roman Empire and its official organizational church.  I can’t read the Holy Spirit’s mind, but will assume minimal true faith was going on there.  Outside the castles, there had been persons who understood faith correctly, and generations forwardly would have persons who would come to true faith.  One cannot totally say one way or another that Martin Luther’s work would have been anything, except for just the right time and place with regard to the politics swirling around him.   The miraculous can be just that; while it isn’t in the words of scripture, Nehemiah chapter 1 happened just at a time when Darius, king of Persia saw a personal political need for rebuilding Jerusalem, which led to his granting Nehemiah’s request. 

            If I mention the phrase, “Remember the Maine” most will recognize the phrase as being part of American history.  I had to look up that it only goes back to 1898, and its aftermath was the Spanish-American War, a battle Spain didn’t want and the U.S. was totally unprepared for, a consequence of outrageous stories in New York newspapers for the purpose of boosting sales. 

             The greater the degree of isolation between ourselves and our leaders, the less we can know whether they are telling us the truth or just being tempted to say something for their benefit, maybe even subconsciously.  In the political realm, that cannot be helped; within the church, it is helped by each of us knowing personally our leaders and their heart, and that can only be done within a small amount of people.  As I’ve said before, Jesus chose to train only twelve.

            You can email me at simplechurchminute@gmail.com.  You can find out more about simple forms of worship at http://www.simplechurch.com/ or (local website).