{"id":1802,"date":"2017-12-08T22:38:07","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T22:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/?p=1802"},"modified":"2017-12-08T22:38:07","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T22:38:07","slug":"the-graying-of-the-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2017\/12\/08\/the-graying-of-the-light\/","title":{"rendered":"The Graying of the Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this guest blog post, Taylor Drake shares his contemplations from his recent trip to Wittenberg, Germany, for the 500th<\/sup> anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

It was an odd thing to watch the graying of the light as we descended between the ever-darkening layers of clouds. What was once a bright and clear flight had now become ash and soot-colored as we touched down in the paradoxical city of Berlin–a city that boldly tries to outlive the hauntingly grievous recent past by splattering modern fonts and slogans over aged buildings. And yet, it was the further past that brought us presently to this place–a celebration of protesting, of reforming, of such paradigm altering hermeneutics that the waves of that seismic shift are still experienced in every corner of Christendom. However, there was one melancholy thought, planted by a minister, that rested on my mind throughout the days. For many, this would not have bothered them. Unfortunately, I was unable to shrug this conflicting phrase from my conscience as we drove through this water colored city: Hitler quoted Luther.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, it is essential to recognize that Luther would neither condone nor accept Hitler\u2019s genocidal philosophies and actions toward and against the Jewish people. Luther desired the Jews find salvation in Christ, whom Luther believed, they did not kill (a vehement counterculture belief in his time). In contrast, Hitler desired the Jewish people be exterminated. In Luther\u2019s vigor, his works did not call for the eradication of the Jews; Hitler\u2019s actions were founded in eradication. Never has Germany possessed such starkly dissimilar figures.<\/p>\n

It seemed unfathomable that both Luther, whose bust would mantle upon the pantheon of Christendom\u2019s most invaluable theologians and thinkers, and Hitler, whose venomously infectious ideology of dominance and supremacy which still lingers today, would share a common mental thread: that the Jewish people are not really people. It was here the minister\u2019s words reverberated through the corridors of my heavy heart: Hitler quoted Luther.<\/em><\/p>\n

The following days were a blur of history, theology, community, and story after story of God\u2019s great presence in the variously represented denominations in attendance at the Wittenberg Congress. IPHC leaders and my own conference\u2019s executive council was there (in its entirety) and we mingled with Nazarenes, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and others in our branch of Christianity. We gathered to celebrate the defiance of one man, and how he, through a new doctrine, brought Christ to the masses in an accessible and personal manner. We are the children of the Reformation–and we came to rightly honor our father and mother. In this collage of denominational men and women, in spite of color, tongue, or creed, we chorally and authentically affirmed the defiantly Protestant doctrine that man is saved from his sins and their consequences by faith alone.<\/p>\n

I pray not for the harvest; I tarry for laborers. <\/em>\u2013 Dr. Timothy Hill<\/p>\n

What does the church look like when it stops building walls? <\/em>\u2013 Dr. Glenn Burris<\/p>\n

You sow yourself into others.<\/em> \u2013 Dr. Alex Mitala<\/p>\n

Our call is not to filthiness, but to holiness.<\/em> \u2013 Dr. Samson Ayokunle<\/p>\n

Forgive us our sins, Oh God. Forgive us, we pray.<\/em> \u2013 Dr. Jo Anne Lyon<\/p>\n

We are preaching answers to questions no one is asking.<\/em> \u2013 Dr. Leon Fontaine<\/p>\n

Tribalism is the perversion of the biblical function and purpose of tribes.<\/em> \u2013 Dr. Gustavo Crocker<\/p>\n

The reading aloud of Scripture is the soundtrack to life.<\/em> \u2013 Dr. Leonard Sweet<\/p>\n

If you want to plant something that lasts for a season, plant flowers; a lifetime, trees; forever, churches!<\/em> \u2013 Dr. Suliasi Kurulo<\/p>\n

What Muslims call an abomination, Christians call our greatest joy.<\/em> \u2013 Lazarus Yeghnazar<\/p>\n

After you read a book 100 times you can immediately understand it.<\/em> \u2013 Dr. Byoungho Zoh<\/p>\n

I melted. I cried. I said that if this is God\u2019s will, I will go. <\/em>\u2013 Dr. David Sobrepena<\/p>\n

I have not enough sole to tread through the heart of Berlin. A few days were far from enough time to drink in the culture, the tastes, the atmosphere of this odd city. The monolithic concrete remnants of the Wall grasped at pedestrians\u2019 feet, as if blades of grass seeking nourishment under the steely branches of industry and national progress. The minimalism of the BauHaus movement, a movement that revolutionized the architectural, appliance, and art spheres of modern ascetics, continues to drive forward at an unrelenting pace. The monument to the Holocaust, a city square block of hundreds of concrete coffins systematically arranged to imitate a claustrophobic cemetery, brought me to tears as I stood in the literal and figurative shadows of one of humanity\u2019s greatest stains. And then to Wittenberg.<\/p>\n

The rain drowned trees, parted by a medianed asphalt path, led us to the womb of our great heritage of protestation. The Germanic countryside regularly reminded me of a casual blend of Ozarkian groves and Carolinian shrub. Moss and leaves bled across the never bare forested terrain, as we snaked amid the flat Great Woods. This was the landscape of Luther\u2019s thoughts and words – how I wished to wander with him between the canopied heaven and soiled earth, longing to hear him speak.<\/p>\n

Scattered lamps and headlights littered the sable silence as we meandered through shadowlands bathed in the thickening fog. The service had followed a similar evangelical pattern, with some minor revisions: an opening song (in Latin by an Asian choir), the welcome and greeting, the sermon (of which there were three), another song (A Mighty Fortress is Our God<\/em>), announcements, thank yous, and then dismally through the door.<\/p>\n

The Door. That Door. Luther\u2019s Door.<\/p>\n

A once wooden door replaced centuries past on firmer hinges, which now hung and swung, etched in his native tongue, Luther\u2019s 95 Theses. The experience was humbling – I cried as I touched the foreign words. History was, at this moment, tangible under my trembling fingers. I dare not ruin the moment by trying to describe its significance to me – but I know that God heard my thankful prayer under the great shadow cast by this portal.<\/p>\n

During the service, a new thought took root in my mind, a thought that germinated and festered as an open wound as the speakers spoke and the congregation listened. A thought that now brings comfort to me–and as we departed from not only the church, but the city, the country, and the continent, the comfort of this new thought brought peace to my heart.<\/p>\n

Yes, Hitler had indeed quoted Luther. But did not Satan use the words of God to the Israelites in his temptation of Christ?<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

By Taylor Drake<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Taylor Drake is a graduate of Southwestern Christian University and currently serves as the director for multimedia, camp, and Timothy Ministries for New Horizons Ministries. He also teaches filmmaking at Augustine Christian Academy. He and his wife Ashlie live in Tulsa with their two daughters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[313,503,134,214,505,314,504,509,502],"class_list":{"0":"post-1802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bishops-blog","8":"category-general","9":"tag-313","10":"tag-500-years","11":"tag-bishops-blog","12":"tag-december","13":"tag-germany","14":"tag-martin-luther","15":"tag-reformation","16":"tag-taylor-drake","17":"tag-wiitenberg","18":"entry"},"title_es":"Redes de reforma para un impacto global: sinergia convergente","content_es":"En un evento hist\u00f3rico, cristianos de 60 naciones se reunieron en Berl\u00edn, Alemania, en el Maritim Hotel Berlin para el Congreso de Wittenberg, del 31 de octubre al 1 de noviembre de 2017. Dirigido por Global Church Network y el Dr. James O. Davis, este encuentro conmemor\u00f3 el 500 aniversario<\/sup> de Martin Luther escribir sus 95 tesis y los inicios de la reforma protestante, pero tambi\u00e9n se centr\u00f3 en terminar la Gran Comisi\u00f3n en 2030. Cerca de 70 l\u00edderes de Hong Kong, Australia, India, \u00c1frica, Europa, Canad\u00e1 y los Estados Los estados representaron a la Iglesia Internacional de Santidad Pentecostal en este importante evento. La pastora Joanne Wong de la Iglesia Wing Kwong en Hong Kong dijo: \"La conferencia nos desafi\u00f3 a terminar la Gran Comisi\u00f3n, construir nuestra iglesia joven y maximizar nuestras vidas\". Obispo Randell Drake, quien asisti\u00f3 a esta celebraci\u00f3n especial con el Consejo Ejecutivo de New Horizon Ministries , sinti\u00f3 que este congreso era importante porque, \"Adorar con hermanos y hermanas cristianas de todo el mundo y conectarse con ellos fue profundamente conmovedor. Me emocion\u00f3 escuchar sus testimonios, escuchar sus historias y disfrutar de nuevos amigos en el reino \". El mensaje del superintendente general Doug Beacham\" Redes de Reforma para el Impacto Global: Sinergia Convergente<\/em> \", le record\u00f3 a la iglesia que debemos honrar el pasado, pero tambi\u00e9n se enfoca en la misi\u00f3n que tenemos ante nosotros. \"Las lecciones de la Reforma no son simplemente historia, son nuevas oportunidades de lo que el Esp\u00edritu Santo busca lograr a trav\u00e9s del Evangelio en nuestra \u00e9poca. . Reforma ofrece una oportunidad para el cumplimiento de los prop\u00f3sitos divinos destinados a transformar el futuro\u201dBeacham identific\u00f3 cinco \u00e1reas de oportunidad para el siglo 21:<\/sup> pol\u00edtica, social y religiosa de convergencia; Escuchando la Biblia de Nuevo; Tecnolog\u00eda y comunicaciones; Educaci\u00f3n; y relaciones transformativas. Concluy\u00f3 declarando: \"Este d\u00eda es un d\u00eda en que recordamos el pasado y agradecemos a Dios por lo que va a suceder en el futuro\". El fundador y red global de la Iglesia, el Dr. James O. Davis, honr\u00f3 al Obispo Beacham con uno de ocho Premios de Liderazgo Martin Luther por su destacado liderazgo y servicio al cuerpo global de Cristo. El mi\u00e9rcoles, Davis record\u00f3 al Congreso que aunque estamos celebrando el 500 \u00b0<\/sup> aniversario de la Reforma, todav\u00eda hay m\u00e1s de 3,000 grupos de personas que no han escuchado el mensaje del evangelio. Desafi\u00f3 a los asistentes a ayudar a Global Church Network a cumplir su misi\u00f3n de \"Un cuerpo, un creyente y un cuerpo de Cristo para cada grupo de personas para 2030\". Para hacer esto, la iglesia debe FINALIZAR: Encontrar, interceder, trabajar en red, invertir , Enviar y Cosechar. El servicio final del Congreso de Wittenberg se celebr\u00f3 en la hist\u00f3rica Iglesia de Todos los Santos (Castle Church) en Wittenberg, Alemania. Oscar Castor y Word of Hope Church (Filipinas) abrieron el servicio con el Hallelujah Chorus seguido de mensajes de Jan von Campenhausen, el Dr. Leonard Sweet y el Dr. James O. Davis. En su discurso de apertura, el Obispo Kenneth Ulmer se hizo eco del sentimiento de otros oradores de que la pr\u00f3xima reforma ser\u00e1 una reforma del Esp\u00edritu. \u00c9l declar\u00f3 que la iglesia est\u00e1 viva, \"El Esp\u00edritu Santo est\u00e1 en movimiento en toda la tierra y la iglesia mundial est\u00e1 creciendo m\u00e1s r\u00e1pido que nunca. \u00a1Esta es nuestra mejor hora! \"En conclusi\u00f3n, la congregaci\u00f3n llen\u00f3 los pasillos de Castle Church con\" Una fortaleza poderosa es nuestro Dios \"de Lutero. El Dr. Timothy Hill, supervisor general de la Iglesia de Dios, dirigi\u00f3 a la multitud en proclamar el FINAL Declaraci\u00f3n que dice: \"Nos comprometemos a COSECHAR juntos hasta que la \u00faltima persona haya escuchado el Evangelio salvador de Cristo\". -Janese Bennett<\/b>","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/Wittenberg-Germany-500-Year-Reformation-Celebration-Taylor-Drake-Photos-11012017_323-e1512664685435.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-t4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}