Rap, rap, rap, rap.
Something about the urgency and the firmness of the knocks on your front door tell you that whoever is standing out there needs help. Even though your digital clock gleams 1:38 a.m., you are immediately out of bed and the adrenalin flow sweeps the drowsiness from your mind.
Rap, rap, rap, rap.
Whoever is standing outside means business! Not a trace of hesitancy in those knocks!
You open the door to find the young lady from three houses down the street standing there with an anguished look in her eyes. “Oh, I am sorry to bother you in the middle of the night. But will you please help me …”
Her story spills out. Here in the Guangxi region of China, government officials have been putting the pressure on to enforce the one-child limit. She has already had two children and paid several fines, and is now expecting the third. And just this evening a friend who works in the enforcement department has dropped in after dark to secretly inform her that tomorrow they plan to take her for a forced abortion if she doesn’t volunteer to do it herself.
Now she is at your door asking for refuge. You know that helping to hide her is against the law.
A few Quakers and Mennonites framed this first public antislavery statement in North America, in 1688. It was a statement that clashed with the kingdoms of this world.
Would you, as a disciple of Jesus, help her? Even if it was illegal to help her?
A confrontation of values
It is a clash of kingdoms. No, our war does not involve guns and ballistic missiles. This war is a collision of values and virtues. God said, “Go forth and multiply and fill the earth,” and no murderer shall be a part of heaven. The opposing kingdom says, “We are fearful of overpopulation. You will kill your baby or we will kill it for you.”
And the battle is on. Christ’s kingdom against the kingdoms of this world. Christ’s righteousness against the self-righteousness of those who choose their own standard of right and wrong instead of submitting to the righteousness He has spelled out in His teachings.
As citizens of Christ’s kingdom, Christians are caught up in the clash with the values of earthly kingdoms in many fronts. One continuing thorny issue with the kingdoms of this world has been of self-defense and war. Jesus’ ethic is to overcome evil with good. The kingdoms of this world try to quell evil with punishment and revenge. A very recent example of this is the revenge killing of Osama bin Laden. Jesus’ method of conquering Osama would have been to win his heart by love, changing it from strife and warfare to one of peace and love. The kingdoms of this world “triumphed” over the hatred of Osama with a revenge killing.
But sad to say, it is very likely that the revenge will be revenged, and the hatred will be perpetuated. Hatred does not conquer hatred. Only love conquers hatred.
The clash in history
An example of a historical clash of kingdoms occurred when Europeans kidnapped (or bought kidnapped) Africans and shipped them to various parts of the world as slaves. Such morally twisted values can never be accepted by disciples of Jesus, and some of these disciples began to speak up. In 1688, the first antislavery statement in what would later become the United States of America was issued. A group of Mennonite/Quakers near Philadelphia wrote a letter addressed to other Quakers, reproving them for accepting slavery. The following is a portion of the letter, set in modern English:
These are the reasons why we are against the traffic of humans: Is there anyone that would like to be sold or made a slave for all of his life? Read the rest of this entry »
Click the link to see information about the Timo Miller court case, in which he is being prosecuted for (allegedly) helping a former lesbian escape from the USA.
We have finally got it finished, well, actually it could be improved. But here is the project Bro. Dean Taylor and I have been working on.
The BIG question is, did Jesus really mean it when he said to not resist evil? I mean, did He mean it when people are burning your house down, with YOU INSIDE?!
Click the link to go to a page to view it. The Northkill Amish Massacre
Bro. Dean Taylor invited me along with the high school students for a field trip to Bethlehem, Pa, where the Moravian Brethren had their headquarters for the northern USA and Canada. Here is a video Dean uploaded, part of which happened while we were there. We have the brainstorm to do a series on Bethlehem, looking at some of the good things that happened there.
David Nitschmann (the Bishop … there were at least three famous early Moravian Brethren named David Nitschmann, so that is why this one is called “The Bishop.”) was the first bishop of the renewed church at Herrnhut, Germany. Interesting people, they were. Some of the stories got exaggerated, as can be seen in the video, but Riedhead does catch the spirit of the missions, even though his “facts” are not factual.
I do not in any way put an endorsement on Zinzendorfian theology (he killed the Moravian Brethren, in my opinion), but the zeal and dedication and love of the Moravian Brethren is worthy to look at. (And Zinzendorf was a very dedicated man, just had some kooky theology, which even the Moravian Church acknowledges.)
Who was Anna Nitschmann? I suppose that is one reason I wrote a book about her … she has been forgotten for the most part. Yet at one time, she was the leading female figure of the Moravian Brethren. We all know the Moravian Brethren and missions, dont we?
One of the other reasons I chose Anna to write about is that there are many missionary biographies focus on men, but there are very few written about women. And since men are biblically ordained to take the lead in missions and church leadership, it is right that men are encouraged in that direction. That said, there is room on about any mission front for consecrated maidens of the Lamb. Anna turned down two marriage proposals in her youth so that she could dedicate herself better to Jesus Christ. Not all are called to singlehood, but some are. This story is dedicated to the sisters who are sold out for Jesus.
Anna Nitschmann was a dedicated sister in the Renewed Moravian Church
Anna Nitschmann was a consecrated sister in the Renewed Moravian Brethren church. This booklet was written to encourage young sisters to total consecration. Included in her story is an overview of the Moravian practices and teachings, the good points, and the bad. An appendix looks especially at Zinzendorf’s [bad] theology and the overuse of the lot.
The following is an extract of a letter written by Bryce Geiser, of Caneyville Christian Community near Caneyville, KY. It especially brings to contrast the difference between an Anabaptist soteriology and the typical Evangelical soteriology. Bryce writes:
In mid-October we received an invitation to engage in a discussion with a senior’s group at the St. Thomas Catholic Church. They wanted us to explain the differences between our faith, (Anabaptism), and theirs. We responded positively, perhaps a bit eagerly.
I gave it very little thought as the day approached. After all, this was likely going to be a meeting with a few old ladies, and how deep can you get in a setting like that? When we pulled into their parking lot, however, I was surprised by the number of cars already there. Was this, perhaps, a bigger thing than I had expected? I regretted not taking the time to be more prepared, but I was in good company since Aaron, Andrew, Jonathan, David and our wives were all along. We bravely marched into the St. Thomas Church basement,– suspenders, coverings and all.
We were received warmly enough. After a potluck dinner, the priest, Brian Johnson, gave Jonathan the responsibility of organizing the topics and speakers.
Jonathan gave a brief history of Anabaptism in Europe, and their “coming out” of the Catholic church. I could not see any reaction on the faces of our Catholic hosts–only friendly curiosity. I suspect there is not much history about the Catholic church that would surprise any of them, nor do they feel any real attachment to the Catholic church of 500 years ago. But then, what did I expect? Would I?
Aaron followed with a brief explanation of how Caneyville came to be, and why we are not exactly Amish, Mennonite, or German Baptist. When asked if there were any people in the room who had ever considered joining the Amish, the response was sort of feeble. Undazed, Aaron went on to explain that many of their fellow Americans do, in fact, want to join the Amish. He explained the hurdles those people face, and why there have sprung up across the country small communities like ours who seek to remove unscriptural hurdles and yet maintain the strong community structure of a believer’s church.
Jonathan had me give a summary of doctrinal differences. I tried to explain that Anabaptists take the words of Jesus very seriously and, if at all possible, literally. Besides the obvious difference of believer’s baptism, we Anabaptists also try to live the sermon on the mount; not swearing, not resisting evil, and so on. I also tried to note the places we actually agree with Catholics, without getting too ecumenical about it. Looking around th room at the 50 or more people who were there did not make me want to talk much about our common ground.
Finally, Andrew fielded and answered questions from the group. They had plenty of them, but once again it seemed to be only friendly curiosity–nothing critical or accusatory. We might easily have imagined that we were at a luncheon with the Grayson County Historical society.
A few days later, we did a 180 degree u-turn and went to Carrolton, Kentucky, to a gathering of plain or ex-plain people sponsored by Michael Pearl.
Michael began the 3-day session by telling us that he had spent many hours in the plain church meetings, “stinking, hot, and seemingly endless”, being bored to death by our preachers. Now it was his turn, and he intended to get revenge. He gave us a schedule of 7 meetings totaling around 15 hours of preaching.
Could Michael do it? Indeed he could. He could hardly stop talking when the time was up. And what did he talk about?
Well, Michael is as close to a modern-day Martin Luther as you can get. We spent hours going through Romans and the Protestant “faith alone” doctrine, but we were never bored. Mike is an entertaining speaker with clear and firm gasp of his subject. We liked him.
I was glad for the chance to spend most of three days trying to understand Protestant theology. I was surprised at how little I disagreed with the actual words he preached, and yet how vehemently I disagreed with his summaries and conclusions. Perhaps our greatest disagreement was the way we approached the New Testament. Michael wanted us to skip past the 4 gospels,–(“that’s Old Testament stuff”), and start at God’s premier book to the non-Jewish people, the book of Romans. Romans was, for Michael, the window through which he saw the rest of the Bible. Romans was, in fact, the Gospel.
In sharp contrast, for us Anabaptists the teachings of Jesus and his announcements of the Kingdom is the actual Gospel. We see the gospel as the “turning upside-down” of our lives and inviting us to participate in the kingdom struggle. We read Jesus’ accounts of end-time judgment and believe it to be a judgment of fruits and works, not theology.
Michael doesn’t agree. Our salvation is based on grace, through faith alone and not of works. Period. All that stuff about not swearing, not resisting evil people, doing violence to no man, and so forth, belong to a works-based salvation.
By the end of 3 days, it was clear to me that Martin Luther had distorted the gospel message and robbed it of its fruitfulness. Not so much by the exact things being said, but by an overall imbalance of Scripture and a gross misunderstanding of what the Gospel message was.
I watched for my chance to question Michael in a non-threatening setting between meetings. Finally, on the last day, I found him outside all alone.
“How is is,” I asked, “that there can be absolutely no works in salvation when the Bible includes such things as “calling upon the name of the Lord: to be saved? Even simple belief itself is called a ‘work’ by Jesus in John 6:28b,29 “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” My brain, my mouth, my ‘giving up’–are they not the works of my organic body?”
Michael is never stumped. “Those are what we call non-meritorious works”, he said. “That’s not what we mean, not what Romans means when it speaks of works.”
Oh. Maybe we aren’t so far apart as our etymology suggests. If we could find different words, would our worlds draw closer? But then I think of the crisp advice given by John: “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.”
Catholics and Protestants. Are they opposites? In many ways, they seem more similar to each other than to the Anabaptists, though they would probably cringe to hear me say it. And yet, in widely different ways, each of them has adopted a way of believing the Bible which ultimately becomes friendship with the world and its values. The Way of the Cross, so central to Anabaptist theology, does not dominate their doctrine and thus does not cramp their lifestyle either.
And yet, in my more humble moments, I have to confess that we were treated kindly and graciously in both settings. I want to learn from this, and return grace and kindness to those with whom I disagree, even strongly.
A young converted shoemaker turned Anabaptist missionary and pastor, Peter Riedemann seemed to have lived tirelessly in sharing and living his faith. Traversing literally thousands of miles, writing songs and letters, visiting churches, working as a pastor, and publishing books, he helped shape the early days of the Anabaptist movement. Besides his pastoral letters and a few songs written from prison, Peter Riedemann is remembered today because of two books that he wrote while in prison. Both of his books are works explaining the faith of the early Anabaptist movement to outsiders. His first book, written from prison in Gmunden, Austria, is published today under the title “Love is Like Fire.” His second and most significant, written from prison from the little German town of Wolkersdorf, is published simply under the title “Confession of Faith,” or an older publishing under the more denominational sounding title, “Peter Riedemann’s Hutterite Confession of Faith.” Historically, Peter Riedemann is also known for being (next to Jacob Hutter) as the second founder of the Moravian/Tyrolean Anabaptists, which later became known as the Hutterian Brethren. Perhaps because Riedemann was a labeled a Hutterite instead of a Mennonite, he and his works remained virtually unknown to the English-speaking world until 1950.
Peter Riedemann's Confession of Faith is the best-articulated book I have found to describe the beliefs of early Anabaptism
A positive statement
Right from the first chapter of any of his books one quickly senses a different tone than that of many of the other early Anabaptist writers. With many of the others, I often feel that one thing lacking is a more positive expression of their faith. Written on the run, defending themselves against a false accusation, or having to scratch out a few lines through the terrible conditions of dungeon life made many of the Anabaptist writings come off as defensive or polemic. Having the luxury for careful editing or even the chance to make meaningful analogies to express their heart in a devotional style was uncommon in the early days of the Anabaptist movement. It is here that Peter Riedemann shines most. Riedemann was a very spiritual, expressive, and passionate writer. A longing for Christ and total dependence on the Holy Spirit flows through every page. Riedemann captured the devotional style. He comes off more like an Andrew Murray than a Menno Simons.
Riedemann started to write his first book in 1529 while imprisoned in Gmunden, Germany. He finished it approximately in the year 1532 shortly before he escaped from that prison. During his early years, Riedemann had fellowshipped and studied with some of the most gifted Anabaptist leaders of his day. After his escape from prison, he threw his lot in with the newly-forming Hutterian Brethren in Moravia. The brethren quickly recognized his gifts, and the next year they sent Riedemann out as a missionary, in 1533. In that same year he was again captured and put into prison until 1537, this time in the town of Nuremberg. After his release he traveled as a missionary and did pastoral work until he once again landed in prison around the year 1540, where he wrote his second book.
While in prison, Riedemann took advantage of a few privileges that other Anabaptist prisoners never had. While it is true that his books were written from a castle dungeon, as far as dungeon-life in the 1500s went Riedemann had it better that most. The Protestant ruler of this area, Philip of Hess, did not allow the Anabaptists of his region to be executed. So while Riedemann was imprisoned he was allowed some privileges—like writing. Many scholars think that these “Confessions of Faith” were actually written in answers to questions that Phillip of Hess had personally asked him.
Orthodoxy
One of the most obvious things you quickly notice about “Confessions of Faith” is that he presents the faith following the lines of the ancient Apostles’ Creed. Some have suggested that he did this to prove the orthodoxy of the Anabaptists to Philip of Hess … who knows? Whatever his motive, the beauty of this approach was that it presents the early Anabaptist faith based on one thing—their understanding of God. Just as A. W. Tozer said over 400 years later in the opening line of The Knowledge of the Holy, “what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us,” Riedemann’s theology flows from his view of God Himself. However, flowing from this creedal approach, Riedemann rescues the Apostles’ Creed from a mere head knowledge by insisting that this ancient faith must effect our life—or it is vain. As he wrote, “no one may truthfully ascribe such glory and honor to Christ unless he has experienced this victory in himself.”[1]
Not too long ago a “Christian” lady in Mexico gave the following explanation of how she was going to be saved:
“I know I’m a vile sinner, and when I get to the gate of glory, God is going to read down over the long list of my sins, and look up and say, “Is this you?” And I with shame will respond, “Yes.” But in that very moment Jesus is going to come on the scene and say, “But Father, remember that I died for her?” And right there my list will be erased and I will be let in to glory.
Sorry, Ma’am, but if that is how you plan to be saved, you will be sorely disappointed. Every judgment scene presented to us in the New Testament tells us that our works that we have done will determine whether we enter heaven. You will be asked no questions. When you breathe your last breath, your destiny is sealed.
And your works will determine your final destination. So we had all better turn from evil works to good works through faith in Jesus.
If any0ne can show me where the Bible teaches otherwise, please send me the references.
A family friend was travelling with his mobile home in another state. Night came upon him, and he stopped in a town along the way to ask a local person if they knew of a quiet, secure place close by where he might park and sleep for the night. “Sure,” replied the helpful man, and proceeded to give him some simple directions to a place not too far away.
Faithfully following the details, our friend made the correct turns and finally dead-ended … right in the local cemetery! He never found out how hard the man giving the directions had laughed after he had pulled away.
Have you ever followed directions, only to end up where you didn’t want to be? Or found out later that your map or GPS deceived you, taking you the “the long way around,” or perhaps to the wrong destination? It wasn’t that you didn’t follow the directions well, the map or GPS was simply wrong!
I appreciate bypasses. Most of them anyways, like when I am in a hurry to get to the other side of town. But a recent discovery has led me to realize that a well-known map used by many travelers is in error, and is leading men and women down streets and into a final end where they were never intended to end up at. This map is so well known and highly valued, that it seems no one even questions its authority. It is the so-called “Romans Road to Salvation.” This map is advertised with the following words: “If you walk down this road you will end up understanding how to be saved.”
The problem with the maps I have seen is that they have several bypasses in them, detours that take men onto a route that ends up on a dead-end street. Well, let me rephrase those words “dead-end street.” It would be more proper to call it “a street that ends up among the dead.” Just like my friend ended up in a graveyard, men who follow the typical Romans Road maps will end up among the dead.
Yes, that’s right! Those popular Romans Road maps totally bypass some very important truths in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Let’s take a look at Romans again, carefully, and look at a few points the popular road maps have detoured around. Unfortunately, a short article does not provide enough space to make a full commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans, so this short article is not intended to be a complete package in and of itself. It is written with the simple goal of alerting the reader of some missing aspects of the typical “Romans Road” map. Read the rest of this entry »
The following tract was usually bound in the same Anabaptist books with the tract on “have to” vs. “want to” obedience, and since the writing style is so similar, it is assumed both are by the same author. Michael Sattler, who probably penned the Schleitheim Confession, is suspected to have written them, but they are unsigned, probably due to persecution to anyone whose name appeared as author of an Anabaptist tract.
The topic of this tract, as the previous one, is obedience. But this time the author does not deal with what kind of obedience we render, but rather if obedience is even necessary. The context is the Protestant Reformation, and the common—but mistaken—view held by some Protestants that “Jesus did it all on the cross; we only have to accept His perfect obedience to be saved.” This tract argues that Christ’s work is not finished until Christ has brought the believer to the cross with Him, and Christ is reigning in the heart of the believer. After all, a crucified Christ living in the heart of an uncrucified believer is an impossibility!
This version is a slightly more “free” translation than the more “scholarly” translations that others have made of the tract (Often titled, “On the Satisfaction of Christ”), but the original German text was consulted to keep it faithful to the author’s designs. Since the Scripture quotations are from an early German Bible (most likely the “Froschauer Bibel,” the tract was probably written before Luther had finished his translation)—or even just paraphrased by the author—the wording will be a bit different than what we are used to in our KJV. And, since the Froschauer Bibel did not have verse numbering, only the chapters are given in the references. The paragraph divisions, subtitles, footnotes, italics, and bold letters have been added to aid in readability and comprehension.
Keep in mind what the author is trying to bring forth: It takes more than “accepting what Christ did on the cross” to be saved. We must also take up our cross and put self to death. Only when self is on the cross and Christ is reigning as Lord over our entire being is His work finished.
Christ, the mercy seat
Paul says to the Romans in the third chapter, that they are all sinners and come short of the glory which God should have from them. However, without deserving it, they shall be made righteous by His grace, by means of the releasing which Christ accomplished. This is He whom God has foreshown to be a mercy seat, through faith in His blood. He did all this to demonstrate the righteousness which in God’s eyes has value, in that He forgave the sins which happened formerly under the divine patience.
He says; “From which also you are in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.” John the Baptist says in John 1, “Look, that is God’s Lamb, who takes upon himself the sin of the world.” John says in 1 John 2, “And He is the reconciliation for our sins.” Peter says in I Peter 2, “Who offered Himself for our sin on the tree, that we might be without sin.” As the prophet also speaks, in Isaiah 53, “We are made well through His stripes.”
Such statements, I say, and others like them, the scribes[1] interpret as if a person could be saved through Christ, whether he does the works of faith or whether he doesn’t do the works of faith. If it didn’t matter whether a person did any works, why then should Paul say in Romans 2 that God will give to everyone according to his works? He clearly says that eternal life shall be given to those who strive after glory, praise, and immortality, with perseverance in good works. But to those who are quarrelsome and are not obedient to the truth, but are obedient to the evil, there will come disfavor, wrath, tribulation, and anxiety, yes, upon all the souls of men who do evil.
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