Well, Reformation Day is upon us. This is a great time of year for many reasons, but in particular what a great time for Reformation theology. It gives us—both Lutherans and Protestants—a wonderful reason to revisit what we believe and why we believe it and to once again understand what was risked by some for the proclaimation of the Gospel.

And just what was it that was so revolutionary about the Reformation and what Luther rediscovered in the writings of St. Paul?

The Doctrine of Justification.

We sinners are justified before a holy God entirely on the basis of Christ’s works and merit, and absolutely none of our own, Jesus’ righteousness being imputed to us and credited as if it were ours. This was done FOR us on Calvary’s cross, completely outside of us and any of our soiled works, not dependent on us in any way, simply so that we could receive the gifts of heaven that we could not have received in any other way.

A God-man became sin so that we would stand as if blameless before our Father on That Day.

And it worked. “It is finished.”

You might think that this simple proclaimation is old news, or a rehashing of something that people have been talking about for so long, that it seems awfully redundant to continue to do so. I mean, it’s almost boring to keep hearing something like this, right?

Wrong.

People AREN’T hearing this. They’re going to churches where the highlight is consistently their own works and their own love and their own merit and what they can be doing to fix their broken lives and how loving God will “work for them”. Christianity has been turned into an even more vapid self-help program, worse than the one that has been pushed by Rome for so long. Now it’s up there with Zig Zigler and Tony Robbins.

Is it any wonder so many people are mad or sad with the church and Christianity? Is it any wonder people don’t want to hear anything more from Christians—they’ve heard it all before. It’s a sales pitch. It’s a multi-level marketing program, and if you join up right now, you too can enjoy all the benefits of being in the “in crowd”.

It WILL HELP YOUR LIFE! You will FINALLY be happy!

These false idols are things we’ve always been drawn to in our fallen state. We’re consistently drawn to anything that makes us feel as though Jesus started something and now WE need to finish it. We CAN do it, with Jesus’ help. And it’s a good thing, too, because if He hadn’t come along, we never could have been given the head start He gave us so we can GET TO WORK.

But eventually, the reality of these works- and self-based righteousness programs (which promote our natural fallen tendency to curve inward to look at ourselves, rather than outward to the cross) come crashing in on many people who realize that, as a matter of fact, they CAN’T do it. But no one is there to pick them up with the Gospel when this crash happens.

And this is tragic. Because the good news is true. The work has all been done by the only One Who could do it. And the benefits of such a death and resurrection are freely given to you! Don’t worry little flock, it is the Father’s good will to give you the kingdom. And He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us.

I only wish more Christians were hearing this, because too many of them are being driven to despair in church. I pray that we have another Reformation to help once again to trumpet the glory of the Gospel to people who have been wandering in the desert—thirsty, spiritually speaking—yearning to hear what they suspect is true.

It is true. Jesus did it all. For us. It is finished.

Under the totally sufficient imputed righteousness.

There’s nothing quite so exhilarating as seeing your home team make it all the way.  What a great post-season.  Now, to see if we can get our hands on some tickets.  And if we do, what should our big sign say?

Congratulations, Rockies.  You guys are amazing.  Just a baseball machine!  You truly deserve to be where you are.  (I mean, come on, winning 21 of the last 22 games and sweeping BOTH of the post-season series they played?  Wow.)

Just in case some of you may have not heard, The White Horse Inn’s Michael Horton will be one of the people interviewed in an interesting expose on 60 minutes tonight (Sunday, October 14th, 2007) involving the ministry of televangelist Joel Osteen. Though he will only have small portions of his interview featured throughout the piece, we highly recommend you stop by and take a look.

In the middle of the watered-down Christianity too many people are exposed to in our culture, Dr. Horton always offers a unique, extremely valuable and I think necessary point of view as an alternative for folks who many not realize that they’re not even hearing the Gospel.

Here’s hoping that Dr. Horton has more appearances like this in the future where he might be able to get more air time to get his desperately needed message out to the masses. It would be one more step towards another reformation, helping people—agnostics, non-Christians and evangelical Christians alike—hear the good news in the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.

**UPDATE**

You can now view the Joel Osteen piece in its entirety on the 60 minutes website. Dr. Horton appears at 7:33 into the piece. Even though his part is a small one in the whole thing, I think it’s extremely valuable. Dr. Horton’s term “fortune cookie” is a great description of the kind of message that Joel is pushing and trying to back with scripture. Of course, I challenge you to find where Joel actually quotes any scripture to back his message.

If not, you should probably check it out. (Click on the link provided in the right hand column of our website or go to www.whitehorseinn.org) This is a great weekly radio program dealing with Christian doctrine from the Reformation, and is broadcast across the country, or available as a podcast from their website.

I had the privilege of being involved with the hosts of the WHI back in the early days of CURE (Christians United for Reformation) when the radio program was first getting started. Their approach to the show was radical and cutting edge for the times. Secular music was used for the intros to each segment and was thematically related to the subjects being discussed.

They would use humor, scripture and reason to expose the false premises of evangelicalism, and made no bones about calling out TV evangelists and theologians by name if they were teaching false doctrine or heresy. They still do these things. The local radio station here in LA that broadcasts the WHI still issues a disclaimer at the end of the show, stating that the views expressed by the hosts of the White Horse Inn are not necessarily the views of this radio station, its management, or the parent company that owns the station. They do this for no other program that I’m aware of.

Pretty ironic that the show with the great doctrine has the disclaimer, while every other wingnut with access to recording equipment is given a passive endorsement. That counts for something in my book and would compel me to listen to it just to check it out, even if I didn’t love theology.

During the dark days of my sojourn out of evangelicalism this show was a beacon of light to me and those like me who were grappling with their love for Christ and the Scriptures while being in church bodies that discouraged or rejected good doctrine and practice. This show is a life saver and has pulled many back from the brink of despair. It is also utterly unique in Christian broadcasting, from its format to its subject matter.

A few other ministries are kind of catching on, but none has the interplay between the very knowledgeable and competent hosts mixed with the clarity of explication and compelling doctrinal content. It’s a very rare mix, and a breath of fresh air in the world of Christian Radio. Visit their site and tune into their show, I guarantee it will be time well spent.

They also publish a magazine called ‘Modern Reformation’ that is required reading for those interested in Reformation Theology. It’s a great magazine.

How I love the fall season. I think it might actually be my favorite season. Colder temperatures, a little more rain, leaves change color and fall and lie in piles on sidewalks and streets (unless you live in California), kids start wearing long pants and jackets to school, harvest festivals, Oktoberfest and bratwurst and beer, Major League post-season (go Rockies!), Halloween… and Reformation Day. It’s almost here.

And in the spirit of all these wonderful things, I thought I would bring up some discussion ahead of time regarding Christians and the holiday of Halloween. It’s clearly becoming as big a deal in our culture as Christmas, at least in terms of dollars spent, both in marketing and by the consumers.

I’m not going to wax eloquent on this too far, but rather will shamelessly lean heavily on the work of our friend Pastor William Cwirla (please forgive me, sir). Of course, if you’ve seen his writing, you know the man regularly hands out gems of Gospel like they’re pennies in his pocket. He’s a true wordsmith, a contemporary poet of Christian grace. But last year he also wrote a great piece on the subject of Christians celebrating Halloween.

Should Christians celebrate Halloween? Well, as he is wont to do, after a little historical background, Pastor Cwirla explains the dangers, conforming to his “two ditches” structure to recognize that there are typically two extremes to which Christians may fall prey. First, a little history.

Halloween is short for All Hallows Eve, that is, the evening before All Saints Day, a Christian holy day on which Christians honored the saints (the “hallowed” ones), the heroes and martyrs of the faith. For Lutherans, All Hallows Eve is also Reformation Day, the day Martin Luther posted his 95 theses for debate on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg.

October 31st happens to be the last day of the Celtic year. On that day, the Celts celebrated their festival for the dead. Other cultures have similar celebrations.

In the Middle Ages, people had a profound sense of the demonic. Just think of Luther’s Reformation hymn, A Mighty Fortress - “though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us….” People believed that the demons were especially active on the eve of All Hallows. People carved gourds with ugly faces and set them out to guard their homes. This was similar to the practice of carving grotesque gargoyles on the drain spouts of cathedrals to ward off devils. People paraded in the streets dressed up in costumes and masks to confuse the demons and confound their schemes. All Hallows Eve became a night of practical jokes and pranks, not to mention bribery (“trick or treat”). After all, you could always blame the devil!

Now, of what traps must a Christian be conscious?

On the one side, there is the danger of taking death and the devil too lightly. Make no mistake. The devil is real. He isn’t some red guy with a pointy tail and a pitchfork. He is a liar, the father of lies, and a murderer. He masquerades as an angel of light, appearing to be very religious in order to deceive people and draw their focus away from Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 11:14). St. Michael and the angels fought a vigorous battle in heaven against the devil and his demons (Rev. 12:7-12). The Bible says that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. He can be resisted only by standing firm in the faith of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 5:8).

…When Christians take part in the darker side of Halloween, they may create the false impression that death and the devil are not serious business, or that it’s OK for Christians to dine with the devil once and a while, as long as your spoon is long enough. No faithful Christian who takes sin, death, and devil seriously would want anything to do with that.

But then on the other side…

On the other side of the road there is the danger of taking the devil too seriously. Contrary to what some impressionable types seem to believe, the devil is not all-powerful, all-knowing, almighty, or present everywhere. He is a fallen angel, a creature of God turned against his Creator. He stands chained and defeated by the death and resurrection of Jesus. He is a liar and a loser, and his only hope with the short time that he has left is to convince the world that Jesus’ death on the cross isn’t enough to save us.

Jesus Christ has conquered death once for all people, once for all time. He has defeated the devil by His death on the cross. There is nothing in all creation, including death and the devil, that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39). We can live in confidence, free from fear of death and the devil, knowing that God is at peace with us in the death of Jesus, that Jesus is risen from the dead and that we too will rise. Christ has conquered. The devil is defeated. “He’s judged, the deed is done.”

And now for the balance between the two…

That brings us to the middle of the road. It never hurt to poke a little fun at the losers. Jesus didn’t hang on a cross so that His Christians could go around with a dour look on their faces judging everyone around them. When Christians become overly critical of Halloween, they may create the false impression that Jesus does not reign now over all things including the devil, that He has not conquered death by His dying and rising, or that the devil is to be feared more than God.

“Do not fear the one who can destroy the body, but cannot harm the soul. Rather fear the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

Sour pietism on the part of Christians confirms the world’s mistaken notion that Christianity is nothing more that a religion of rules ruled by moral nannies who want to suck the fun out of everything. Martin Luther reminded us that we need to spite the devil every chance we get. Luther sure did, often in rather colorful ways. Halloween certainly affords the opportunity to sass the “old, evil foe.”

And he wraps up with this, in part…

Having defined the ditches, let’s get back to the question that started this whole discussion. Ought Christians participate in Halloween? It all depends. Of course, I don’t expect baptized believers in Jesus Christ to be dancing naked in the woods around bonfires while chanting pagan prayers to the mother goddess or sacrificing black cats, ecumenical liberalism notwithstanding. On the other hand, the devil’s chief work is to draw us away from Christ’s death and resurrection and have us focus on our works, prayers, and piety. He seems to be doing a pretty decent job of that in mega-Christianity. Generally speaking, the cultural silliness associated with Halloween has about as much to do with the devil as Christmas has to do with the incarnation of the Son of God.

…In the end, you must decide for yourself how and to what extent you and your family will participate in Halloween festivities. Context is important. Local mileage may vary. The best advice I can give is have fun, spite the devil, honor Christ, and wipe that sour look off your face. Remember who you are in Holy Baptism: a baptized priest in Christ’s holy priesthood “that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

In the interests of brevity (this is already long), I have quoted some of the core sections of Pastor Cwirla’s article, but there is more there including some supporting scripture that is important in his argument. I highly recommend you stop by and read the whole thing when you have a moment.

The long and short of it is that we Christians are fully capable of taking Halloween and the devil and his minions too lightly, but we are just as capable of (and maybe even more susceptible to?) being too pious about the holiday as well. I think one of the things that helped me the most about this article was the historical background about Halloween. It’s important to know what pagans have done to usurp the original festivities surrounding the holiday for their evil purposes, and that’s no surprise. But I think it’s also important to note the “colorful ways” Dr. Luther himself used to spite the devil regularly, recognizing what is possible in the imputed righteousness freely given to us by God through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Is it possible for us Christians to celebrate Halloween with our neighbors, dressing up our children and taking them out trick-or-treating without feeling as though we have somehow thrown the Gospel of Christ out with the bathwater? Yes, I do. And I appreciate Pastor Cwirla’s words of warning to help us keep in mind certain things that we should not lose sight of in the middle of the revelry.

But, please, let’s not be too safe (pious), shall we? Halloween was always a great holiday for me as a child, and never did it detract from the Christian faith in our home, nor from Reformation Day. If we keep our heads about us, who knows, we might even have a little fun using the holiday to remember the victory won for us over the devil on calvary’s cross. Truly, “It is finished.”

I haven’t always been a Lutheran. I was evangelized into the Christian Faith out of generic unbelief, into a small Holiness denomination. (That whole adventure, and my discovery of the Lutheran Reformation is a story for another time.) Less than a year after my conversion I moved to Houston, Texas to attend my denomination’s Bible College.

I was excited and really amped up to learn the Word and study theology. Core requirements? What were those? I promptly loaded up on New Testament Survey, and as many theology and church history courses as I deemed prudent. English 101 and the like would have to wait until later.

This denomination really stressed Bible reading, and my pastor had done a good job inculcating a love for the scriptures in me. Still, I wasn’t prepared for Old and New Testament Survey under Dr. Nelson Trick. The first day of class in his NT Survey, as the class ended, I’ll never forget the quote “Ladies and gentlemen, your assignment for tomorrow- all the books of the Bible, memorized, in order and spelled correctly. See you in the morning.” I stayed up all night studying with flash cards I made and had a perfect score on the test the next morning. For the unit on the Minor Prophets our test consisted of twelve phrases or bits of verse with a blank next to it for us to write in the name of the prophet who spoke those words. These classes were hard, and to do well we really had to know the text of Scripture and understand the surrounding history and context. Dr. Trick was a cantankerous old prof, and academically demanding. Lots of students did not like his classes, and attempted to slide by with a minimum effort. However, the knowledge I gained, and the familiarity with the Scriptures I received in those classes has served me well in my sojourn through evangelicalism to the Lutheran Reformation. I no longer agree with the doctrinal teachings of that denomination, but the gift of the Scriptures that Dr.Trick and Gulf Coast Bible College gave me has benefited me spiritually all the years since then. For that I am thankful.

One of the things that troubles me about the church at large and many Christians I meet is a serious lack of familiarity with the Scriptures. On occasion I have silenced would-be debaters (usually on the subject of the Lord’s Supper, or infant baptism) by saying “I’ll be willing to debate doctrine if you can recite all of the Ten Commandments.” Never once has anyone risen to the challenge. People want to debate doctrine and worship styles and whatever else, but lack a rudimentary grounding in God’s Word.

An area that I struggle with is knowing Luther’s Small Catechism as well as I should. I was an adult convert to the Lutheran Reformation, and much to my shame glossed over the memorization work in Catechism Class.

With these thoughts in mind, we partners at NRP wanted to offer some resources to help people learn the Scriptures and the Catechism.

The first of these is the audio CD entitled ‘Bible in an Hour’. This CD is quite simply one of the finest overviews of the Scripture in existence. It follows the themes and storyline of the whole Bible, inserting each book into the narrative in its proper place. Once you grasp the whole picture and connect ‘all the dots’ it really is quite stunning.

We have a limited supply of these CDs because they have gone ‘out of print’. When we run out, this resource will be gone.

The other two CDs are ‘Lessons from Luther’ and ‘Listening to Luther’. These are great aids in memorizing Luther’s Small Catechism. These audio presentations of the catechism will aid in familiarization and memorization. With enough repetition this stuff will sink into your bones and become part of who you are.

One more resource that I strongly recommend (even though we do not yet carry it in our store–hopefully we will soon) is the ESV Listener’s Bible New Testament CDs. This is the NT on audio CD narrated by Max McClain. I received this set as a Christmas gift from my wife, and still use it regularly a couple years down the road. The Scriptures were meant to be heard. It is amazing the things that come to light when you hear whole chapters and books in one sitting, instead of chopped up into little snippets of text or soundbites. I realized after listening to the Gospel of John, that chapter 6 of that book is a whole chapter on the subject of eating. I never understood that before.

You can find these CDs at: www.cph.org. Just do a search for ‘Bible CDs’.

Just imagine what listening to ‘Bible in an Hour’ and ‘Lessons from Luther’ a couple of times a week for a few weeks while driving to work would do for you. Your understanding of the Scriptures and the Small Catechism will skyrocket and grow exponentially. It would be time very well spent.

I really think that every Christian should have a copy of the ESV Listener’s Bible New Testament in their cars or on their iPod. Avail yourselves of a set of these as soon as you can. They are indispensable devotional tools.

It is our hope that you will find these resources to be an invaluable help in your faith and life.

Have you purchased NRP products recently, or worked with our Customer Service? Did you enjoy what you purchased? Did you like the service you received?

Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but if you have an NRP account, you can rate products and send us testimonials. If you love your NRP gear, help us get the word out and let people know what you think! Heck, you even get to put your name on our site.

If you have action shots of our products, you can always email those to us, too. We will add them to the photo sets of that particular product so other customers can see what it’s like to use NRP gear.

Help us get the word out by sharing your love of our stuff today.

Well, things have been busy as usual here at NRP. We are finally getting some very cool new products into our catalog that we’ve been waiting to offer. My father, Dr. Rod Rosenbladt, has been diligently working for a long time now on many different projects, and one of them is beginning to come to fruition here at NRP.

What am I talking about? A great new collection of book outlines that Dr. Rosenbladt has scrupulously culled and edited from students’ papers and projects (or sometimes written himself). These outlines are incredibly effective study guides that can help students and teachers alike.

We’re going to be adding many new outlines to this section over the next few weeks, so keep coming back and see what’s new since you last visited.