Keep Your Christmas Cards...and Pray!

Undecking the halls, throwing away boughs of holly, and cleaning ashes from the open-fire-roasted chestnuts are about as much fun as having a root canal.  Last month’s joy of getting the decorations out can be muffled quickly this week by thinking about getting it all back in the boxes and in the attic.

For weeks, the Christmas cards came flooding into our mailbox.  With each trip from the mailbox, we got so much joy hearing from friends around the country and seeing family photos from throughout the previous year. 

Oh, the time and energy that went in to making some of those Christmas cards.  The thought of trashing them is just too much to bear!

Another December 25 has come and gone.  Decorations have all been stowed away, but this year’s Christmas cards will remain with us throughout the New Year.  As each day of 2011 passes, we will look at last year’s cards again and again, and our family will pray for those who wished us Christmas greetings in 2010.

We keep our Christmas cards in a homemade “Prayer Box.”  Our Christmas Card Prayer Box is an essential part of our evening dinner table ritual.  Our boys wouldn’t even think about eating at night until we pulled out the Prayer Box.

We certainly won’t win any home decorating or craft awards.  The Prayer Box is simply a diaper wipes box with piece of construction paper taped to it which says—"Pray Without Ceasing.”  What lacks in creativity is compensated by the lessons on intercession which we are all learning every night.

At dinner, a different boy gets to reach into the prayer box and pull out a Christmas card.  Before we dig in, we pray for our food and for the folks on the card.  When two-year-old Isaac pulls out the Christmas card that Mr. Bill and Mrs. Brenda sent last year, our mealtime prayer becomes even more special as we pray for his Sunday school teachers.  Sometime, the friends we pray for may be sick or having a difficult time.  Pulling out cards from our cousins always brings them a little closer to home.  Occasionally after we pray for a particular family, one of our boys will say, “We should call and check on them.”  Watching your children think about others is such a joy.

Selfishness and prayerlessness go hand in hand and there’s too much in today’s society that encourages children to focus on themselves.  The Prayer Box does just the opposite—it gets our minds off ourselves and helps us pray specifically for other people.

Don’t throw those Christmas cards away!  Recycle them.  In fact, redeem them and use them for a godly purpose in your family’s life.

If you sent us a Christmas card this year, know how thankful we are for you.  Know also that our little tribe of six will be praying for you throughout the year!

Pastor Todd

An Increasingly Colorful Christmas

Art Linkletter made us all laugh when he interviewed children for Kids Say the Darndest Things.

 

As a pastor, I’m finding that even adults say the darndest things.

Being a white Southern Baptist preacher with a white wife, three white kids and a black kid in a small-town First Baptist Church makes for interesting looks at the grocery store and curious conversations with folks around town.

We adopted our fourth son from Ethiopia.  Among many other things, you guessed it—he’s black.  Now, his momma’s white.  His daddy’s white.  His brothers are white.  His grandparents are white.  His aunts and uncles are white.  His cousins are white.  And the list goes on.

Couples who adopt from another race immediately make themselves a biracial family.  No one goes into such a situation lightly.  There is so much about the present and the future to consider—especially when you live south of the Mason-Dixon!

One lady told me that she thought anyone who adopted children—especially black children—was “inviting trouble.” 

Didn’t God “invite trouble” when he chose to send His Son into our world?

Bring it on.

I was asked one day if my wife and I were going to “get Benjamin around black people so he knows where he came from.”  Talk about not knowing how to respond.  As if simply surrounding Benjamin with other black kids would give him a greater sense of identity and help him feel more rooted in this thing called life.

When we were in the process of adopting Benjamin from Ethiopia, we started a blog entitled “Making Benjamin a Brady.”  (http://makingbenjaminabrady.blogspot.com)  That’s what we were doing—making him a Brady.  He’s been home for over 6 months now and we’re still making him a Brady.  We’re making all our kids Bradys, and we’ll be working on it until the day they walk about of our house.

We live in Paducah, Kentucky.  Most of our friends have white skin.  We spend a lot of time together as a family, and church is a big part of our lives.  I want Benjamin’s primary identity growing up to be his family.  I want him to know of God’s love for us, of his parents love for God, of our love for each other, and of our love for all our boys.

I want Benjamin to realize Martin Luther King’s dream of a land where men are not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

I want Benjamin to know that he was born in Ethiopia.  I want to tell him about his mother’s death which took place during his birth.  I want to tell him about our conversation with his father the day we got on the plane to bring him home.

I want him to know that tears well up in my eyes if I look for too long at the picture of his father on my desk.

I want Benjamin to avoid stereotypes—for him to realize that this world is not black and white.  I want him to realize that our country is not made up of blue states and red states.  I want him to understand that what you see is not always what you get.

I want Benjamin to realize that the words of the song are not just empty words, but that they are real.  Indeed, Jesus does loves the little children—all the children of the world.  Red and yellow, black and white, they are all precious in his sight.  Jesus loves the little children of the world.

I want Benjamin to know of God’s great love—a love which knows no distinctions and entertains no discrimination.  I want him to know that in Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female” (Galatians 3:28)

Three or four decades from now, Christmas may be a whole lot more colorful than it is now.  I’m sure we’ll have some white grandkids. There may be some black grandkids coming over for Christmas.  There might even be some of those kids who are called “mixed.” 

It doesn’t matter, because man looks at the outward appearance.  God looks at the heart.

It may be too simple, but I think a loving home life where Christ reigns supreme will do more for Benjamin than encouraging him to see life in a racial and superficial way.

So, to answer the question:  No, we’re not going to “get Benjamin around black people.”  We’re going to do our best to get him around God’s people, and if those people are black, then so be it.  If they are white, so be it.  If they are green, well, we’ll get him around them too.

In our day, there will always be some issues for trans-racially adopted children.  But what an opportunity we have to show Benjamin (and the rest of the world) that his life is not about the color of our family’s skin, but the faithfulness of our God.

Pastor Todd

The Pope on the Church

The greatest persecution of the church doesn't come from the enemies of the church on the outside but is born from the sin within the church.

                                                              Pope Benedict  XVI








Pastor Todd

A Christ-Centered Christmas

What kind of childhood Christmas memories do you have?  A favorite gift?  Christmas concerts at church?  Watching the annual Christmas parade?  Racing down the hall on Christmas morning to tear into the presents under the tree?  Eating a holiday meal at Grandma and Grandpa's house?

Regardless of your Christmas memories, it is safe to say that your parents shaped your holiday experiences.  And the same will be true for your children.  The way you lead your children to celebrate Christmas will create memories which they will take into adulthood.

Kids do not need mixed messages about Christmas from their parents.  Children deserve caring, clear, and pointed parenting, especially during the holiday season.

Think about it.  Confusing signals abound for kids during the holidays.  Children in today's world already have a difficult time distinguishing between fantasy and reality.  However, Christmastime often blurs even further the line between what is real and what is not real.  Multiple manger scenes may grace the landscape of your home, but until you start celebrating Christmas like a Christian, your children may have difficulty understanding the significance of the holiday.

Excessive materialism, frenzied activity, gluttonous gatherings, and yielding to society's expectations may cause your child to wonder if you really believe what you say you believe about Christmas.

We all have seen the front yard manger scenes where Santa Claus is standing around Baby Jesus along with Joseph, Mary, the shepherds, the wise men, and the animals.  Could it be that such an image does more harm than good in the mind of a child?

We certainly do not need to jettison all the cultural traditions of Christmas.  Kids need the experiences of roasting chestnuts over an open fire, and riding in a one-horse open sleigh would be the dream of a lifetime.  But your kids need to realize that Christmas is not primarily about trees, ornaments, stockings, lights, presents, or parades.  Kids need to know that Christmas is about Christ.  And kids will not realize that Christmas is about Christ unless they see that your Christmas is about Christ.

Do not allow mixed messages about the meaning of Christmas to get into your kids' heads.  In everything you do, make sure that your kids know that Christmas is about Christ.

Pastor Todd

Heart Training

As a pastor of a bunch of folks, a husband of one woman, and a father of four boys, I am realizing with each passing day the profound importance of the heart.  I am convinced that in a family, in a church, and in a society, nothing is more important than the heart of a man. 

This fall, our church has been focusing on The Heart of the Matter http://www.fbcpaducah.org/resources-audio-video.html.  In addition, Tony Woodlief's recent work, Somewhere More Holy has been used by God to encourage, challenge and refine me.  Here is another excerpt:

I guess in all this homeschooling and training and handwringing over whether we're getting it right is a desire not just for our children to be well-educated, but to have good hearts.  We are working out how best to train them--in our classroom and in every other room as well--not only to help their intellects flourish, but because part of building a home, we are learning, is training our hearts and the hearts of our children to seek God where he will be found.  Wendell Berry argues that schools ought not to focus just on imparting skills, but on cultivating humanity.  "For human beings the spiritual and the practical are, and should be, inseperable."  Training up the heart is more important than teaching the mind, adn this is what we are wrestling out each day, on the battlegrounds of our own hearts as well as theirs.  "I would rather have a boy of mine stand high in his studies than high in athletics," wrote Teddy Roosevelt to his son, "but I could a great deal rather have him show true manliness of character than show either intellectual or physical prowess."

Pastor Todd

Joy in Marriage

Marriage is a daily dying to self, which is hard to recognize with popular images of lifelong romance and mutual satisfaction.  Endurance has been the way of man since the Fall--finding joy not in the absence of suffering, but in the midst of it.  When Christ said, "Take up your cross and follow Me," he wasn't talking about a cute little gold cross that some people dangle from their chests as a signifier of their spirituality.  Christ was talking about the sort of cross with weight and jagged splinters to which each of us nails his pride, his self pity, his selfish wants, his dreams of how the world ought to treat him.  Marriage is, for many of us, an essential part of our sanctification.  In it we die, every day, for other people--for our spouses, for our children.  Can joy be born in this?  I can tell you that the answer, miraculously, is Yes.  But not unless you endure.

Somewhere More Holy, Tony Woodlief

Faithful Friends and a Great Bible Teacher

We had lunch today with Olin and Joyce Bryant--dear servants of God.  The boys love the Bryants--and Isaac is especially fond of Mrs. Joyce

This afternoon, I am thankful for Joyce's diligence, creativity, eagerness, and faithfulness as one of FBC's Sunday morning Bible teachers.  Joyce went to great lengths this past Sunday to teach from Ephesians 6 about the Christian's armor.

Pastor Todd

loving God, loving people...measuring our love

Our love of God

will never be greater

than the love we have

for the person we love the least.



Pastor Todd

To Santa or Not to Santa?...that is the question.

‘Tis near the season to be jolly, and with the season comes Christian parents who are doing some high-energy theological, cultural and semantic gymnastics concerning “What to do about Santa Claus?”  It seems that a lot of people make a bigger deal out of the whole question than they should. 

I have one word for those who refer to Santa as "Satan Claus" –RELAX!  Have fun with Santa Claus, or have fun without Santa Claus.  Just make sure you are loving your kids and being honest with them.

Walking with your children through the Christmas holidays is your responsibility.  What you decide to do about Santa Claus goes right along with what you decide to do about having a Christmas tree, sending out Christmas cards, going to Christmas parties, buying Christmas presents, and more—it’s your choice and you’ll want to make decisions which are best for your family.

Each year Amy and I have folks ask us if we “do Santa Claus.”  Well the answer is “kind of.”  Of course, on Christmas morning we video the boys coming down the stairs and rushing to open their presents under the tree from Santa.  But they know that the presents are really from mommy and daddy.  Santa Claus is not real.  He’s not bad either.  He’s just “pretend.”  It sure is fun to pretend.

This Christmas season—and in every Christmas season, we want our kids to understand the pretend part of Christmas, and we want them to understand the reality part of Christmas. 

Santa Claus is pretend.  Jesus is real.

Each day in December, we’ll read The Advent Book, by Jack and Kathy Stockman.  We’ll decorate the Christmas tree.  We’ll bake cookies.  We’ll wrap special presents for mommy.  We’ll make sure our boys know we are giving to others this Christmas.  We’ll tell the story of Jesus’ birth over and over and over.  We’ll spend time with friends, family, and of course with those who are a part of our faith fellowship.  We’ll make memories that I hope the boys will look back on and remember with warm hearts.

Whatever you “do” with Santa Claus…or whatever you do this Christmas season, make sure you do it in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17).

Merry Christmas!

Pastor Todd

Portraits of Thanksgiving at FBC this Tuesday

One of my favorite gatherings of our faith fellowship each year is our annual Portraits of Thanksgiving service.  Tuesday night at 5:00 we gather together in the Great Room for a traditional turkey and dressing dinner and to hear from three special folks in our family.


It's going to be great to see hundreds of folks gathered around tables fellowshipping and eating together.  It's truly a picture of family.  There will be folks of all shapes and sizes and ages.  Come early and get your seat.  Parents, come early and get your high chairs!


A highlight of our time together will be hearing from three in our body who will share testimonies of God's grace and their gratitude.  You certainly don't want to miss out as we hear from Elena Breeden, Mike Ezell, and Leah Rogers.  Elena is a freshman at UK and is the younger daughter of Robin and Melissa Breeden.  Mike is Glenda's husband, Penny Wilson and Joy Beth McGough's father, and the grandfather to a beautiful army of grandkids.  Leah is Michael's wife, and they have four precious girls.


What a great faith family we have.  I'm thankful to be the pastor of such great people.

Looking forward to seeing YOU there!


Pastor Todd

Show your thanksgiving by serving others!

Come to the church commons at 9:30 this Saturday morning and deliver some Thanksgiving goodies to friends and family in our Paducah community!

Men, bring your wives and do a good deed together this Saturday.

Dads, bring your wives and kids and serve the Lord together by serving others around us. 

Teenagers, get your parents and come to the church--help out in our annual Thanksgiving deliveries.

Just like every time we serve others, we will walk away receieving more than we gave!

I'll have some little boys with me in the morning.  I want them to get an early start on thinking of others.


See you on Saturday morning!


Pastor Todd

Midweek at FBC--An Adulterous Heart

You shall not commit adultery.

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

If you right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.  For it is bettter that you lose one of you members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  For it is better that you lose one of you members than that your whole body go into hell.

See you at Midweek!

Pastor Todd

What Do You Worship?

When we cease to worship God, we do not worship nothing, we worship anything.

                                       G. K. Chesterton









Pastor Todd

As Goes the Man...

Grandad brought us some pictures from our fall Florida vacation today.  

I love this photo. 

With a meatloaf in the oven, two boys in pajamas on the couch, two other boys in the tub, and with worship in the morning, I am reminded and overwhelmed of the powerful twin truths:  1.) As goes the man, so goes the family, and 2.) As goes the family so goes the church.

What a great life!

Pastor Todd

 

Kids from all over are coming to Paducah!

My heart is full when I think about the kids God is bringing to our faith family.  This week, I am especially overwhelmed at what God is doing.

Kris and Vanessa Durfee just brought Theo home from Korea.  Alicia and Weslyn are such good big sisters.

A group gathered around Kevin and Marcie Peck this week to pray for them and to support them as they are waiting to go to China to get Maggie.  She is so blessed to have Trevor and Brandon as big brothers!

Steve and Cassie Moore will have a very Ethiopian Christmas as they leave on December 22 to go see their twin little boys.  They also will be going to court and will have to make a second trip back over there to bring them home.  We can’t wait to have get the Moore boys here.

Joe and Emily Roark got home this weekend with Ethan James.  We're praying for the Roark family and are so glad that Ethan is home.

Brad, Kijsa, Talia, and Keaton Housman got the call on Tuesday.  They leave on Friday for Korea to go get Tate!  Can’t wait to have them all back here.

Pray for these dear people and others who are walking similar roads.

God is placing the fatherless in homes...right here in Paducah!

Pastor Todd

Our Life Together

God has called us to share life together and we are a people who reach up to God (Worship), reach in to one another (Community), and reach out to the world (Ministry).  The images above are snapshots which capture what we are all about.  Whether it is a Sunday morning activity, a Midweek event, or a Thursday morning gathering, God’s people who are called Paducah’s First Baptist Church are about Worship, Community, and Ministry.

First and foremost, we are a worshipping community.  God has loved us.  He has redeemed us and made us right with himself.  Therefore, we see the rest of life as a response to him.  Weekly, we gather together to worship him and Colossians 3:16 describes who we are:  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thanksgiving in your heart to God.

Not only has God called us to himself—he has called us to one another!  We belong to God and we belong to one another.  As a church family, we walk through life together.  We share our lives together.  We rejoice with one another.  We do life together, and we do life together the way the Bible tells us to do life together.  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people.  1 Peter 2:9-10

We reach up to God in worship and we reach in to one another in biblical community.  In addition, we also are a people who reach out in ministry to the world around us.  Whether it be right here in Paducah or all the way around the world, we know that God has called us to share the message of the gospel with those around us.  God has loved us, and because he has shown us his love, we seek to minister God’s love to the world.  A new commandment I give you, that you love on another:  just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  John 13:34-35, Matthew 28:19

Empowered by God’s Spirit and committed to his Word, may God bless us—and may God bless the world as we do life together.

What a joy it is pastoring our faith family!

Pastor Todd

Check out the Pics!--Fall Festival and Reformation Day at FBC!

What a great weekend we had as a faith family!

Saturday night’s Fall Festival was a ton of fun.  There were swarms of people, lots of hot dogs and nachos and cheese, bunches of games, cool inflatables, and so much more.  The costumes were great.  Did you see all of those Bible characters walking around?  They would even give you candy if you guessed who they were!

At FBC, we value community—and seeing our faith community along with those from the Paducah community coming together for an evening of fun was great. 

Thanks to all who pitched in and helped make it a great event.  Whether you were a pop corn popper or a hot dog maker or a face painter or a booth worker or a Bible character or a registration worker and the list goes on—Saturday night would not have happened without you! 

 Special thanks to Josh Cornett, our pastor for children’s and family ministries who provided excellent leadership.

I remember walking around thinking “Now, this is the kind of church I’m glad to be a part of!”

Things even got better the next morning. 

We celebrated Reformation Day on Sunday by gathering all older children into the gym.  Martin Luther told his story of nailing the 95 thesis to the Castle Church door in Wittenburg in 1517.  After being interrupted by John Tetzel who tried to sell us some indulgences, we talked about the 5 important truths which we believe—Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, and God’s Glory Alone!

We went out into the church commons and all tacked up our Theses on the door.  We then went back into the gym for a little Reformation party.  We talked about Luther’s words at his trial—Hier Stehe ich.  Ich kann nicht anders.  (Luther stuck to what the Bible said!)  And then, yep, you guessed it.  We ate Diet of Worms cake!  The cake was chocolate and had plenty of worms!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Pastor Todd

Grace Alone

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God”

  

Adam and Eve hid. 

Humanity has been hiding ever since.

We had some hiding going on in our house this week.

Our oldest son knew he wasn’t supposed to look in the garage closet.  Mommy and daddy had told him that there were Christmas presents in there and for him and his brothers not to open that door.  Just like it would be for all of us, the instruction not to look in the closet combined with the temptation to see Christmas presents in October proved too potent for resistance.

Once the door had been opened, the brothers staged a coup and tattled on him.  Amid cries of “He opened the door and looked in!,” The elder brother pled for mercy and responded honestly and helplessly “But I didn’t see anything!”

I told him that he would have to tell his mother.

As we sat down at the supper table to pray, I asked if he had told his mother.  With a beet-red face and glassed-over eyes as big as cue balls, he quietly shook his head “no.”  I told him that after supper he could share with mommy what he had done.

We made it through supper, but our son was not his chatty self.  You could count all his bites that night on two hands.  Earlier than usual, the burdened little boy asked if he could be excused.  He carried his plate to the sink and then went silently upstairs. 

After supper, Amy went upstairs and found him in bed with the covers pulled up over his head.  With a heavy broken heart, mommy saw that he was hiding.

The two of them talked about the Christmas presents and about obeying mommy and daddy, but more importantly they talked about sin and grace. 

Mommy asked what Adam and Eve did when they sinned.  He quickly said, “They hid.” 

“That’s right,” mommy said, “and God was gracious to forgive them—in spite of what they had done.”

“I’m sorry, mommy”

Mommy said, “I love you.  Now get out from under those covers and let’s go downstairs with the rest of the family.

Sin Committed.  Wrong acknowledged.  Grace extended.  Relationship restored.

As we celebrated Reformation Day, we all thanked God for the truth of Grace Alone.

Remembering the 95 Theses...Celebrating Reformation Day

Out of love and concern for the truth, and with the object of eliciting it, the following heads will be the subject of a public discussion at Wittenberg under the presidency of the reverend father, Martin Luther, Augustinian, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and duly appointed Lecturer on these subjects in that place. He requests that whoever cannot be present personally to debate the matter orally will do so in absence in writing.

1. When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.
2. The word cannot be properly understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, i.e. confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.
3. Yet its meaning is not restricted to repentance in one's heart; for such repentance is null unless it produces outward signs in various mortifications of the flesh.
4. As long as hatred of self abides (i.e. true inward repentance) the penalty of sin abides, viz., until we enter the kingdom of heaven.
5. The pope has neither the will nor the power to remit any penalties beyond those imposed either at his own discretion or by canon law.
6. The pope himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by God; or, at most, he can remit it in cases reserved to his discretion. Except for these cases, the guilt remains untouched.
7. God never remits guilt to anyone without, at the same time, making him humbly submissive to the priest, His representative.
8. The penitential canons apply only to men who are still alive, and, according to the canons themselves, none applies to the dead.
9. Accordingly, the Holy Spirit, acting in the person of the pope, manifests grace to us, by the fact that the papal regulations always cease to apply at death, or in any hard case.
10. It is a wrongful act, due to ignorance, when priests retain the canonical penalties on the dead in purgatory.
11. When canonical penalties were changed and made to apply to purgatory, surely it would seem that tares were sown while the bishops were asleep.
12. In former days, the canonical penalties were imposed, not after, but before absolution was pronounced; and were intended to be tests of true contrition.
13. Death puts an end to all the claims of the Church; even the dying are already dead to the canon laws, and are no longer bound by them.
14. Defective piety or love in a dying person is necessarily accompanied by great fear, which is greatest where the piety or love is least.
15. This fear or horror is sufficient in itself, whatever else might be said, to constitute the pain of purgatory, since it approaches very closely to the horror of despair.
16. There seems to be the same difference between hell, purgatory, and heaven as between despair, uncertainty, and assurance.
17. Of a truth, the pains of souls in purgatory ought to be abated, and charity ought to be proportionately increased.
18. Moreover, it does not seem proved, on any grounds of reason or Scripture, that these souls are outside the state of merit, or unable to grow in grace.
19. Nor does it seem proved to be always the case that they are certain and assured of salvation, even if we are very certain ourselves.
20. Therefore the pope, in speaking of the plenary remission of all penalties, does not mean "all" in the strict sense, but only those imposed by himself.
21. Hence those who preach indulgences are in error when they say that a man is absolved and saved from every penalty by the pope's indulgences.
22. Indeed, he cannot remit to souls in purgatory any penalty which canon law declares should be suffered in the present life.
23. If plenary remission could be granted to anyone at all, it would be only in the cases of the most perfect, i.e. to very few.
24. It must therefore be the case that the major part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of relief from penalty.
25. The same power as the pope exercises in general over purgatory is exercised in particular by every single bishop in his bishopric and priest in his parish.
26. The pope does excellently when he grants remission to the souls in purgatory on account of intercessions made on their behalf, and not by the power of the keys (which he cannot exercise for them).
27. There is no divine authority for preaching that the soul flies out of the purgatory immediately the money clinks in the bottom of the chest.
28. It is certainly possible that when the money clinks in the bottom of the chest avarice and greed increase; but when the church offers intercession, all depends in the will of God.
29. Who knows whether all souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed in view of what is said of St. Severinus and St. Pascal? (Note: Paschal I, pope 817-24. The legend is that he and Severinus were willing to endure the pains of purgatory for the benefit of the faithful).
30. No one is sure of the reality of his own contrition, much less of receiving plenary forgiveness.
31. One who bona fide buys indulgence is a rare as a bona fide penitent man, i.e. very rare indeed.
32. All those who believe themselves certain of their own salvation by means of letters of indulgence, will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.
33. We should be most carefully on our guard against those who say that the papal indulgences are an inestimable divine gift, and that a man is reconciled to God by them.
34. For the grace conveyed by these indulgences relates simply to the penalties of the sacramental "satisfactions" decreed merely by man.
35. It is not in accordance with Christian doctrines to preach and teach that those who buy off souls, or purchase confessional licenses, have no need to repent of their own sins.
36. Any Christian whatsoever, who is truly repentant, enjoys plenary remission from penalty and guilt, and this is given him without letters of indulgence.
37. Any true Christian whatsoever, living or dead, participates in all the benefits of Christ and the Church; and this participation is granted to him by God without letters of indulgence.
38. Yet the pope's remission and dispensation are in no way to be despised, for, as already said, they proclaim the divine remission.
39. It is very difficult, even for the most learned theologians, to extol to the people the great bounty contained in the indulgences, while, at the same time, praising contrition as a virtue.
40. A truly contrite sinner seeks out, and loves to pay, the penalties of his sins; whereas the very multitude of indulgences dulls men's consciences, and tends to make them hate the penalties.
41. Papal indulgences should only be preached with caution, lest people gain a wrong understanding, and think that they are preferable to other good works: those of love.
42. Christians should be taught that the pope does not at all intend that the purchase of indulgences should be understood as at all comparable with the works of mercy.
43. Christians should be taught that one who gives to the poor, or lends to the needy, does a better action than if he purchases indulgences.
44. Because, by works of love, love grows and a man becomes a better man; whereas, by indulgences, he does not become a better man, but only escapes certain penalties.
45. Christians should be taught that he who sees a needy person, but passes him by although he gives money for indulgences, gains no benefit from the pope's pardon, but only incurs the wrath of God.
46. Christians should be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they are bound to retain what is only necessary for the upkeep of their home, and should in no way squander it on indulgences.
47. Christians should be taught that they purchase indulgences voluntarily, and are not under obligation to do so.
48. Christians should be taught that, in granting indulgences, the pope has more need, and more desire, for devout prayer on his own behalf than for ready money.
49. Christians should be taught that the pope's indulgences are useful only if one does not rely on them, but most harmful if one loses the fear of God through them.
50. Christians should be taught that, if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence-preachers, he would rather the church of St. Peter were reduced to ashes than be built with the skin, flesh, and bones of the sheep.
51. Christians should be taught that the pope would be willing, as he ought if necessity should arise, to sell the church of St. Peter, and give, too, his own money to many of those from whom the pardon-merchants conjure money.
52. It is vain to rely on salvation by letters of indulgence, even if the commissary, or indeed the pope himself, were to pledge his own soul for their validity.
53. Those are enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid the word of God to be preached at all in some churches, in order that indulgences may be preached in others.
54. The word of God suffers injury if, in the same sermon, an equal or longer time is devoted to indulgences than to that word.
55. The pope cannot help taking the view that if indulgences (very small matters) are celebrated by one bell, one pageant, or one ceremony, the gospel (a very great matter) should be preached to the accompaniment of a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
56. The treasures of the church, out of which the pope dispenses indulgences, are not sufficiently spoken of or known among the people of Christ.
57. That these treasures are not temporal are clear from the fact that many of the merchants do not grant them freely, but only collect them.
58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, because, even apart from the pope, these merits are always working grace in the inner man, and working the cross, death, and hell in the outer man.
59. St. Laurence said that the poor were the treasures of the church, but he used the term in accordance with the custom of his own time.
60. We do not speak rashly in saying that the treasures of the church are the keys of the church, and are bestowed by the merits of Christ.
61. For it is clear that the power of the pope suffices, by itself, for the remission of penalties and reserved cases.
62. The true treasure of the church is the Holy gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
63. It is right to regard this treasure as most odious, for it makes the first to be the last.
64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is most acceptable, for it makes the last to be the first.
65. Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets which, in former times, they used to fish for men of wealth.
66. The treasures of the indulgences are the nets which to-day they use to fish for the wealth of men.
67. The indulgences, which the merchants extol as the greatest of favours, are seen to be, in fact, a favourite means for money-getting.
68. Nevertheless, they are not to be compared with the grace of God and the compassion shown in the Cross.
69. Bishops and curates, in duty bound, must receive the commissaries of the papal indulgences with all reverence.
70. But they are under a much greater obligation to watch closely and attend carefully lest these men preach their own fancies instead of what the pope commissioned.
71. Let him be anathema and accursed who denies the apostolic character of the indulgences.
72. On the other hand, let him be blessed who is on his guard against the wantonness and license of the pardon-merchant's words.
73. In the same way, the pope rightly excommunicates those who make any plans to the detriment of the trade in indulgences.
74. It is much more in keeping with his views to excommunicate those who use the pretext of indulgences to plot anything to the detriment of holy love and truth.
75. It is foolish to think that papal indulgences have so much power that they can absolve a man even if he has done the impossible and violated the mother of God.
76. We assert the contrary, and say that the pope's pardons are not able to remove the least venial of sins as far as their guilt is concerned.
77. When it is said that not even St. Peter, if he were now pope, could grant a greater grace, it is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope.
78. We assert the contrary, and say that he, and any pope whatever, possesses greater graces, viz., the gospel, spiritual powers, gifts of healing, etc., as is declared in I Corinthians 12 [:28].
79. It is blasphemy to say that the insignia of the cross with the papal arms are of equal value to the cross on which Christ died.
80. The bishops, curates, and theologians, who permit assertions of that kind to be made to the people without let or hindrance, will have to answer for it.
81. This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult for learned men to guard the respect due to the pope against false accusations, or at least from the keen criticisms of the laity.
82. They ask, e.g.: Why does not the pope liberate everyone from purgatory for the sake of love (a most holy thing) and because of the supreme necessity of their souls? This would be morally the best of all reasons. Meanwhile he redeems innumerable souls for money, a most perishable thing, with which to build St. Peter's church, a very minor purpose.
83. Again: Why should funeral and anniversary masses for the dead continue to be said? And why does not the pope repay, or permit to be repaid, the benefactions instituted for these purposes, since it is wrong to pray for those souls who are now redeemed?
84. Again: Surely this is a new sort of compassion, on the part of God and the pope, when an impious man, an enemy of God, is allowed to pay money to redeem a devout soul, a friend of God; while yet that devout and beloved soul is not allowed to be redeemed without payment, for love's sake, and just because of its need of redemption.
85. Again: Why are the penitential canon laws, which in fact, if not in practice, have long been obsolete and dead in themselves,—why are they, to-day, still used in imposing fines in money, through the granting of indulgences, as if all the penitential canons were fully operative?
86. Again: since the pope's income to-day is larger than that of the wealthiest of wealthy men, why does he not build this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of indigent believers?
87. Again: What does the pope remit or dispense to people who, by their perfect repentance, have a right to plenary remission or dispensation?
88. Again: Surely a greater good could be done to the church if the pope were to bestow these remissions and dispensations, not once, as now, but a hundred times a day, for the benefit of any believer whatever.
89. What the pope seeks by indulgences is not money, but rather the salvation of souls; why then does he suspend the letters and indulgences formerly conceded, and still as efficacious as ever?
90. These questions are serious matters of conscience to the laity. To suppress them by force alone, and not to refute them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christian people unhappy.
91. If therefore, indulgences were preached in accordance with the spirit and mind of the pope, all these difficulties would be easily overcome, and indeed, cease to exist.
92. Away, then, with those prophets who say to Christ's people, "Peace, peace," where in there is no peace.
93. Hail, hail to all those prophets who say to Christ's people, "The cross, the cross," where there is no cross.
94. Christians should be exhorted to be zealous to follow Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hells.
95. And let them thus be more confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through a false assurance of peace.