When preaching or leading Bible studies I sometimes ask folks what special day is coming up October 31. Invariably, even among Christians, the answer is "Halloween." The response I'm looking for, however, is "Reformation Day." It's the day 492 years ago in which Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenburg, Germany. The world would never be the same.
It's a little bit simplistic, however, to call October 31 Reformation Day. Like any revolution, the Reformation took a long time to accomplish. John Wycliffe and William Tyndale preceded Luther, while Zwingli and Calvin succeeded him, to mention just a few additional reformers.
It's actually Calvin to whom I want to devote some ink today. The following quote appeared in USA Today recently. It's from a Presbyterian pastor named Henry G. Brinton.
"...Democracy owes a debt to Calvin because he established a form of church government in which clergy and lay leaders had equal power. Ministers, deacons, and elders (presbyters), were selected by the people of the church, and thus democratic practice eventually formed the basis of the Presbyterian Church. In England, the American Revolution was criticized as being a "Presbyterian rebellion," and the Prebyterian form of church government went on to have a major influence on the formation of American civil government."
We may not be inclined to name Calvin in the same breath as Washington, Jefferson, Henry, Franklin, Madison, Monroe, and Hancock when speaking of the foundation of the United States of America, but one can see that the Reformation revolutionized, not only the church, but secular government as well.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
A Dead Serious Thing Happened on the Way Home
A few weeks ago I was on my home from the rehab center and saw that there was the cab of a tractor trailer stopped in the middle of an intersection. The next thing I noticed was that there was a man lying down underneath it. "Was he making repairs?" was my initial thought. But no, he was face down. No help had arrived, so I pulled over to see if I could possibly be of any service. A crowd was gathering, so it was apparent that the accident had happened just seconds before I pulled up.
I did not know it at the time, but as it turned out, the man had been to the corner bar (it was about 10:30 in the morning). He was unable to walk unaided, and was trying to cross the street. He was holding on to the bumper of the truck to keep himself aright, when the light turned green. The truck driver never saw the man and pulled forward, knocking him down and running him over with the left front tire.
I walked over to the scene and asked if the man was alive. A bystander said "si." A number of people were now standing around watching the man, but no one was trying to help. I walked over to the man and knelt beside him. His face was pressed into the asphalt, and a puddle of blood about a foot in diameter had formed beside it. His breathing was rapid and shallow like that of a child running a fever. He did not seem to be conscious in the usual sense of the word, but I believe he could hear me and was in pain. I told him softly over and over that God was with him at that very moment, and to trust in Christ. I put my hand gently on his shoulder (he appeared to have been run over at the pelvis or lower back) and prayed with him. As I was finishing the prayer, I said "Lord, take his soul to you." About at that moment, he stopped breathing and I felt the life go out of him. I have prayed with dying people before, but never had someone die during the prayer as I was touching them. It was a feeling like nothing else I have ever experienced to actually feel the life go out of a person and know that the body that had once contained a human being become in that moment nothing more than an inanimate object. I did not take his pulse. The man was gone, and it was clear that any attempts to revive him would only prolong his suffering. I stood up and told the folks who were looking on, "Esta muerto" (he's dead). About a minute later the paramedics arrived. They still had hopes of saving him, brought out the shock pads, turned him over, placed him on a back board and pulled him out from under the truck. At that point, they abandoned their efforts and placed a white sheet over him.
I was thankful to God that I could be there to comfort the man, but had been spared the horror of seeing the accident.
This was not the first time that Martha or I have had something like this happen. During our first year here, Martha showed up at our apartment one afternoon, speechless, both hands covered with dried blood. She began to sob, but could not tell me what had happened. My first reaction was that it might be her blood. When she was finally able to speak, she recounted how she had been walking down the street and heard a terrible sound behind her.
Martha turned around and saw that an elderly woman had been hit by a truck. Again many saw the accident and gathered around to stare, but only one other person tried to help. The woman had blood and gray matter coming from her nose. She was conscious and in severe pain. Martha took the woman's hand. The woman dug her nails into Martha's hand as she tried to comfort her with the love and Good News of Jesus. She was still alive when the ambulance came and took her away, but Martha never held any illusions about the woman possibly surviving.
Yet even these are not the only incidents of pedestrian fatalities that we have witnessed. A couple of years after the incident with Martha and the woman, Martha and I were driving along a pista (highway) here, and noticed an elderly nun slowly making her way across the road on foot. Seconds later we heard a truck's horn and looked into the rearview mirror as the truck struck the woman and sent her flying throught the air. We did not have cell phones at the time, so drove on to where we could get to a phone, called for help, and then returned to the scene. A policeman had arrived by then, but the woman lay motionless to the side on the grassy median strip.
As you can see, traffic safety, and particularly that of pedestrians, is a serious problem here. Since that incident, a pedestrian bridge has been built at that spot over the highway. Please pray for our safety and that we would exercise vigilance as we drive here.
I did not know it at the time, but as it turned out, the man had been to the corner bar (it was about 10:30 in the morning). He was unable to walk unaided, and was trying to cross the street. He was holding on to the bumper of the truck to keep himself aright, when the light turned green. The truck driver never saw the man and pulled forward, knocking him down and running him over with the left front tire.
I walked over to the scene and asked if the man was alive. A bystander said "si." A number of people were now standing around watching the man, but no one was trying to help. I walked over to the man and knelt beside him. His face was pressed into the asphalt, and a puddle of blood about a foot in diameter had formed beside it. His breathing was rapid and shallow like that of a child running a fever. He did not seem to be conscious in the usual sense of the word, but I believe he could hear me and was in pain. I told him softly over and over that God was with him at that very moment, and to trust in Christ. I put my hand gently on his shoulder (he appeared to have been run over at the pelvis or lower back) and prayed with him. As I was finishing the prayer, I said "Lord, take his soul to you." About at that moment, he stopped breathing and I felt the life go out of him. I have prayed with dying people before, but never had someone die during the prayer as I was touching them. It was a feeling like nothing else I have ever experienced to actually feel the life go out of a person and know that the body that had once contained a human being become in that moment nothing more than an inanimate object. I did not take his pulse. The man was gone, and it was clear that any attempts to revive him would only prolong his suffering. I stood up and told the folks who were looking on, "Esta muerto" (he's dead). About a minute later the paramedics arrived. They still had hopes of saving him, brought out the shock pads, turned him over, placed him on a back board and pulled him out from under the truck. At that point, they abandoned their efforts and placed a white sheet over him.
I was thankful to God that I could be there to comfort the man, but had been spared the horror of seeing the accident.
This was not the first time that Martha or I have had something like this happen. During our first year here, Martha showed up at our apartment one afternoon, speechless, both hands covered with dried blood. She began to sob, but could not tell me what had happened. My first reaction was that it might be her blood. When she was finally able to speak, she recounted how she had been walking down the street and heard a terrible sound behind her.
Martha turned around and saw that an elderly woman had been hit by a truck. Again many saw the accident and gathered around to stare, but only one other person tried to help. The woman had blood and gray matter coming from her nose. She was conscious and in severe pain. Martha took the woman's hand. The woman dug her nails into Martha's hand as she tried to comfort her with the love and Good News of Jesus. She was still alive when the ambulance came and took her away, but Martha never held any illusions about the woman possibly surviving.
Yet even these are not the only incidents of pedestrian fatalities that we have witnessed. A couple of years after the incident with Martha and the woman, Martha and I were driving along a pista (highway) here, and noticed an elderly nun slowly making her way across the road on foot. Seconds later we heard a truck's horn and looked into the rearview mirror as the truck struck the woman and sent her flying throught the air. We did not have cell phones at the time, so drove on to where we could get to a phone, called for help, and then returned to the scene. A policeman had arrived by then, but the woman lay motionless to the side on the grassy median strip.
As you can see, traffic safety, and particularly that of pedestrians, is a serious problem here. Since that incident, a pedestrian bridge has been built at that spot over the highway. Please pray for our safety and that we would exercise vigilance as we drive here.
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