“How Frustrating To Be The Devil! ” ~ Welcome To “Coffee With The Clancys” ~ Where God Is Good And So Is The Coffee! Can you identify ONLY one point of Church history that you would like to have turned out differently? I sure can. I know exactly how I would have liked to have altered Church history. I think that there may have been radically different and much more positive outcomes for all of history if this one single action had not been taken by 5th Century Church leadership! I think the alteration of this particular event would have had an incredible impact on both the Church and world history. The historical event that I would like to have changed had the powerful force of fear driving it. I believe, if this one self-centered, self-protective event had not been done by the Church in Rome, all of history would have looked different. The event I am speaking of is when the leaders of the Church in Rome decided to burn all other translations of the Bible, in the mid-5th century (around 450 A.D.). The only translation they allowed people to retain was the Latin Vulgate translation; and in the 5th Century, none of the common people and most of the village and town priests, could not read the Latin translation. After this event, it would take another 1,000 years for the Bible to be translated into common language again and at a very high price imposed by the Church itself. This very oppression of the Church leadership in Rome is what caused the Reformation in October, 1517 and a Church split that tore the entire Church into pieces. Why did the Church leadership from Rome, in the 5th Century, want to burn all of the other five hundred common language translations of the Bible? Primarily because they wanted to control access to the Word of God so that Church leadership could set doctrine, policy and orthodox practices of the Church; without the interference of lay leaders who could read the Bible and determine sound doctrine for themselves. This primarily revolved around the practice of selling indulgences. The Church during the middle ages raised tremendous amounts of money through this practice. People were told (who could not read the Bible) that they could buy family members out of Hell who had passed away as non-believers. However, this corruption of the Word of God deteriorated to a new and even more wicked level! Believers were told by their Priests that they could commit any sin as long as they paid the appropriate indulgence for it. This led to a destruction of family, faith and Christian community. All of this was about maintaining control over the people of God for their own benefit. I am certain God felt frustrated by this very manipulative, controlling and wicked behavior of the Priests, Elders and Pastors of the 5th Century Church. God was not frustrated in the sense that this was going to cost God the victory. No, I believe God was frustrated over all the human suffering that would happen because of these selfish decisions: The parents who were burned at the stake for teaching their children how to say the Lord’s Prayer in their common language. The courageous men and women of God that tortured and were burned alive at the stake because of having Bibles in their own language. Was God’s over-all plan thwarted? No, of course it was not. However, we may want to ask the question: Did God really want the entire known world to be without a version of His Word that they could read for a thousand years? I think the answer here is obvious as well, no, of course not! So if God is all powerful and all knowing, why did it happen? I believe the primary reason is that God created His creation to be free. Man really does possess the ability to choose against the will of God and the purposes of the Kingdom of Heaven which are being worked out into the history of this world. By this one terrible choice, the 5th Century Church leadership slowed down the purposes of God for at least 1,000 years. And considering the Church split that took place during the Reformation, those actions may have slowed down God’s Kingdom purposes for far more than we even realize. The Bible even tells us in 2 Peter 3:11-12 that we can speed up “the Day of The Lord” by our faithful and godly living. 2 Peter 3:11-12 (The Voice) 11 Knowing that one day all this will come to pass, think what sort of people you ought to be—how you should be living faithful and godly lives, 12 waiting hopefully for and hastening the coming of God’s day…” My point is that if by our good will and actions as Believers we can speed up God’s Kingdom purposes, can we by our evil will and actions slow it down? God always loves, is always on our side, always doing everything He can, given the reality of His created order, to keep His mission moving forward. Often God must react and find another solution for history in order to deal with our very bad choices, without violating our freedom. Our freedom is an essential part of the creation, because without it, true love cannot exist! And love is the foundation and purpose for it all. Can you imagine what could have happened if the Church leadership in Rome would have supported the Bible being published in every known human language in the 5th Century. Think of the impact that would have occurred on culture, freedom, science, medicine, economics, education and human rights. What would the world look like right now? We may have been a thousand years ahead of where we are right now! What kind of technology would have developed? What about Church history? Without the oppression from Rome, each community of Believers would have naturally developed their own Christian culture and Church structure; there would have almost certainly never been a Church split in the 1500’s. Church finances would have been controlled locally instead of the wealth centralized in Rome. How would the landscape of Europe and the world have changed if that had have happened? However, leading the Church in this way would have required trust and reliance on both God and men. Leadership’s choices to react out of fear and control cost the world and God’s purposes huge delays. Acting out of love and freedom always moves us toward the Kingdom of God and God’s ultimate purposes. Acting out of fear, control and manipulation always result in disastrous consequences and certain delays for the Kingdom of Heaven; even when we react that way in our churches and Christian communities today! Yes, there is continuity in history, but I don’t think it is the kind of continuity that many Christians speak of; a sort of blueprint of all of history where God has already planned out every nook and cranny of it! I think it is far more complex than this, has room for true human and angelic freedom to choose both for and against God’s Kingdom purposes. I believe every choice against God can slow down God’s purposes. I believe every choice for God’s purposes can speed up God’s restorative plan. History is a compilation of God’s Divine purposes and human and angelic freedom. They all play out onto the historical scene together including the impact of positive and negative choices and actions by angels and men; including the good and loving choices for justice, freedom and love by our unstoppable incredibly patient Heavenly Father God. Therefore, history includes both things God wanted and things God did not intend and did not want. However, because love is patient and God is love, God will not stop until His Kingdom purposes are fully and completely accomplished! With this in mind it gives us great hope for the future, because we know that ultimately God’s victory and His wonderful Kingdom purposes will come to pass in history and in this world! All this being said, I have one last thought. If the Church leadership would have made the right choice in the 5th Century, would it have accelerated God’s Kingdom so much that God’s purpose would have been completed for the Earth, let’s say by the year 1900? With this in mind would we not be the saddest people of all, if the Church leadership in the 5th Century made the just and righteous choices, rather than the evil ones they made? Because, if good choices would have accelerated world history to the point that none of us would have ever been born! God the Father knows how to take all of the destructive, chaotic delays of the enemy and make them into greater and greater degrees of blessing! What an AMAZING GOD WE SERVE! How frustrating to be the Devil! ~ By David Clancy Zechariah 9:9 The Message (MSG) A Good King Who Makes All Things Right! 9-10 “Shout and cheer, Daughter Zion! Raise the roof, Daughter Jerusalem! Your king is coming! a good king who makes all things right, a humble king riding a donkey, a mere colt of a donkey. I’ve had it with war—no more chariots in Ephraim, no more war horses in Jerusalem, no more swords and spears, bows and arrows. He will offer peace to the nations, a peaceful rule worldwide, from the four winds to the seven seas. At “Coffee with the Clancys,” we believe Jesus is the fullest and clearest revelation of the love of God, as well as His character and nature. Because of this, we have a VICTORIOUS HOPE and we are more than conquerors in the midst of the battles of life. It is our desire to help both believers and non-believers alike to understand the revelation of who God is, as expressed through the person of Jesus Christ. We desire to create a safe place to share, discuss and discover a new perspective and a renewed Hope for Life. We are thankful that many people are being encouraged in the midst of life’s battles; because Jesus brings such a clear revelation that our Father God is Good and He DOES NOT PARTNER WITH EVIL! 1 John 1:5 (NIV) This is the message we have heard from him (Jesus) and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. Details of the event: Monday Night July 21st, 2014 Main Session: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Location: William Carey Campus US Center for World Mission Building Mary Frances Redding Room M-12 1605 Elizabeth Street Pasadena, California This is across the street and just North of the main William Carey Campus. It is a three story building with a glass entryway. We will be meeting in the Mary Fran Room. Enter the main entrance of the 1605 Building; walk through the lobby and up the stairs to your right, where youll reach a door. Immediately after walking through that doorway youll reach another door to your right, which is the Mary Fran Room. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us: David Clancy (626) 646-3438 Email: davidclancy267@gmail Patty Tessandori Clancy (951) 751-9356 Email: tetsuba@yahoo
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 14:00:35 +0000
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