ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH
(The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod)
Alma, Kansas
A family united by faith in Christ gathering around God's Word and Sacraments.
To reach out in Christ-like concern and Christ-borne love to each other and to those without Christ!
In This Month's
St. John Witness
MAY WITNESS
Pastor's Message
“A second angel followed and said: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the great,
which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” Revelation 14:8
“On May 6, 1527, an army of barbarians sacked Rome. They had been sent by Emperor Charles V to put the fear of God into the Pope, but it got out of control. In the battle, the commanders of the Spanish and German forces were killed, leaving the soldiers a law unto themselves. For weeks, the Spanish and German mercenaries were a leaderless mob doing violence in the papal city. The Pope himself sought refuge in the Castle of St. Angelo, but in time, he was forced to surrender, so he was imprisoned for six months. Martin Luther, as well as many Catholic leaders, were convinced that the destruction was the judgment of God for the apostasy of the Roman church. The decline in the Catholic Church continued until the ascension of Pope Paul III in 1534. This most unlikely candidate for reform, had three illegitimate sons and one daughter. The sack of Rome shocked him into instituting needed reforms by taking on the College of Cardinals. He appointed nine new cardinals toa reform commission charged with cleaning up the organization and returning to the faith of the apostles. They sought to prevent bribery, immorality, indulgences, prostitution within the church, and other offenses that had been allowed, and even encouraged during the Reformation era.
“Pope Paul II was able to reconcile with Emperor Charles V, and this brought about the Council of Trent. This council swung the pendulum of reform back too far, and the result was the Inquisition and the Index of Prohibited Books. All the writings of Luther and the other reformers were condemned, as were translations of the Bible made into the vernacular languages of the people. Possession of any of these books brought a death sentence in Spain.”*
We may be hard pressed to find something worse than a church gone bad. Christ had been absent from the leadership of the medieval church, but God’s Spirit would not let the truth of Jesus Christ become a byword among the nations. And yet, today, organizations that proclaim to be Christian do not always seek to honor Christ or His name. But the Holy Spirit fights among us today, as well, and He takes up the battles of our age against those who fight the name of Christ and the redemption brought by the cross. Be aware of God’s truth. Read Scripture. Trust the Savior!
Live as holy children of God!
Pastor Grimm
