You think you're radical?

Written by Terry Dashner


“Think You’re Radical, Think Again”

Is it radical to raise your hands in worship to God? Is it radical to pray out loud during congregational praise? Is it too radical to talk about your love for Jesus when others talk about their worries and fears? What does it mean to be a radical Christian? If you asked that question to any number of believers today, probably you would receive any number of comments. Why? It’s because radicalism’s meaning has changed many times overrepparttar centuries. For example, inrepparttar 146070 12th century if you demanded thatrepparttar 146071 Bible be written in a common language forrepparttar 146072 common man, you were radical and probably would be burned atrepparttar 146073 stake. Inrepparttar 146074 16th century you were radical if you protestedrepparttar 146075 worldly lifestyle ofrepparttar 146076 pope. This also could cost you your life. Today many define radical Christianity as “holy rollers”—those who sing too loud, and want to talk about Jesus constantly. If that’s radicalism today, it won’t be tomorrow. One day every believer will sing loudly and shout to Jesus. When we get to heaven,repparttar 146077 shouts of praise and rejoicing will never cease. Thenrepparttar 146078 praises will come from everyone’s lips, even fromrepparttar 146079 soft-spoken believer. Trustrepparttar 146080 Bible on this one. I’d like to take you back to a time in history when radicalism was no different than today’s most reserved and traditional Protestant.

The Rising Stars of Reformation were Radical

He was despised so byrepparttar 146081 Council of Constance that it charged him with over 200 crimes and ordered his writings burned. Then they dug up his corpse and burnt it. He had been dead for only 44 years. Now that’s pretty severe punishment for someone whose only crime was translatingrepparttar 146082 Bible from Latin into primitive English forrepparttar 146083 common man. But his actions were too radical forrepparttar 146084 Catholic Church duringrepparttar 146085 rising Reformation. And although his body was destroyed, John Wycliffe’s (c.329-1384) legacy continued. There were other radicals like Wycliffe. They started appearing in history whenrepparttar 146086 Church became weak, immoral, corrupt and scholasticism becamerepparttar 146087 focus ofrepparttar 146088 Catholic Church. Scholasticism was an attempt to combine Greek philosophy with Christianity, but it backfired. Instead of trainingrepparttar 146089 best minds ofrepparttar 146090 day to think, critiquerepparttar 146091 classics, and supportrepparttar 146092 Catholic Church, it educated a number of scholars that could now dispute Catholic doctrines, and do it intelligently.

The Challengers

Marsilius (c.1275-1343) was a man who could have had a successful career as a church official, but he blew it. That happens when people get radical. They disrupt their comfort zones. Marsilius, an Italian, believed that all beliefs should be measured against God’s word. If that wasn’t radical enough, he believed inrepparttar 146093 priesthood of believers. The priesthood of believers means that each man may go to God in prayer and each individual is responsible to God for his spiritual condition. When he attackedrepparttar 146094 pope, it didn’t set well withrepparttar 146095 powers that be, and he was excommunicated. If he had not received protection from a German prince, not only would he have been excommunicated but executed as well. Pretty radical stuff isn’t it? Byrepparttar 146096 way,repparttar 146097 German prince that protected Marsilius also protected William of Ockham (c.1290-1349) fromrepparttar 146098 pope. William of Ockham developed into perhapsrepparttar 146099 greatest logician that ever lived. He pointed out that ‘the Christian faith…is superior to any pope…’ This landed him in hot water too. William was tried for his beliefs, imprisoned for a while, and then excommunicated byrepparttar 146100 pope. These guys were just too radical for their times.

WHY WAS GOD SORRY AND GRIEVED?

Written by Irvin L. Rozier


Genesis 6 verse 6 "And it repentedrepparttar LORD that he had made man onrepparttar 145962 earth, and it grieved him at his heart."

Wickedness was everywhere...so much so that ONLY ONE man was righteous inrepparttar 145963 eyes ofrepparttar 145964 Lord...that being Noah.

I once tried to bake a cake and it did not turn out right...I threwrepparttar 145965 whole mess away and started over..Thank God he did not throw awayrepparttar 145966 whole earth but saved righteous Noah (and his family). The LORD said "it repenteth me that I made them." In other words, He regreted he made man...things didn't turn out right.

This passage of scripture tells us much aboutrepparttar 145967 character of God..He has emotions, He felt sorrow and grief. Have you ever felt sorrow and grief when things didn't go as planned? I have, and it comforts me to know thatrepparttar 145968 Lord knows how I feel.

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