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Today marks a special anniversary in the Church's history.  It's the 500th anniversary of the day Martin Luther nailed his "95 Theses" to the Wittenburg Castle Church Door - triggering the Reformation whilst altering the direction of the whole world (which isn't an overstatement). 

Martin Luther was a Catholic monk.  He was also a vulgar cuss, an anti-Semite, and a stubborn coot.

Martin Luther was a Catholic monk.  He was also a vulgar cuss, an anti-Semite, and a stubborn coot. But God used this man to remind the church (which had become woefully confused) that if we should boast, we should do so only in the LORD.  That we are who we are not because of our own merit or piety but because of the endless grace, mercy and love of God. 

Martin Luther was only the next in a long history of God choosing oddballs to further his purposes. This is a lesson we so easily forget.  It's one I choose to remind myself of on this 500th Anniversary. God's never much cared for our supposed strength. It all looks a little silly next to him, anyway. Poverty of spirit, grace and mercy, boundless salvation, these, on the other hand, where the kinds of things God always adored.

500 years ago, Luther reminded the Church of this good news. It's something it often needs reminded of.   

To farts and reformations!

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Interested in more on Luther? A few years back I took a Reformation tour through Germany.  I came back and taught two lessons on Luther's life.  You can listen in here.