Martin Luther

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] theologian, university professor, Father of Protestantism,[2][3][4][5] and church reformer whose ideas influenced the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization.[6]
Luther's theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the only infallible source of religious authority[7] and that all baptized Christians under Jesus are a universal priesthood.[8] According to Luther, salvation is a free gift of God, received only by true repentance and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith given by God and unmediated by the church.
At the Diet of Worms assembly over freedom of conscience in 1521, Luther's confrontation with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his refusal to submit to the authority of the Emperor resulted in his being excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church and being declared an outlaw of the state as a consequence.
His translation of the Bible into the vernacular of the people made the Scriptures more accessible to them, and had a tremendous political impact on the church and on German culture. It furthered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation,[9] and influenced the translation of the English King James Bible.[10] His hymns inspired the development of congregational singing within Christianity.[11] His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage within Protestantism.[12]



Taken from http://www.wikipedia.com/



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Recently, I have been learning about Martin Luther's reformation in church music. I can only say that he is a great man despite the fact that he left the catholic church. Basically, I respected Luther for being able to stand firmly for what he believed in. I would say (maybe the catholic church will disagree), without Martin Luther's insistence, the catholic church wouldnt be what it is today. Unfortuantely, the catholic church takes 400 years later to be what it is today, after the Vatican Council II in 1962.

On a serious note, I think it's true that the church is full of crap and contradictions, and even full of crap people after serving in a music ministry for my church for a long time. I just dislike it when people often use the name of the church as their protective cover or telling people what to do. Some e.g. "As a christian, we must be christ-like", "Doing this and this is not being Christ-like", "being a Christian, we must be forgive and forget" etc. and there are some behavioural expectations of you more if you are working or serving in a church ministry. Sometimes serving in a ministry just make me feel as if I am a hypocrite, sometimes I am just saying things in a christian way and not from the bottom of my heart.

I guess the challenge for us is to put the church context as any secular context. Working in a ministry as if you are working for any secular organisation. If you behave the same way you behave in church in outside world, then probably you are not a hypocrite. I have a friend who once told me that she is unsure of whether to continue serving in her university catholic students society as a vice president as she is unsure whether she can live up to what the society expects of a vice president in a catholic community, for e.g. must be more caring, show more concern to her group as a leader. Well, of course, I just told her these stresses and concern are unnecessary and just have to be yourself as if you are working in any place other than catholic context. Since the bible says we are created in the image of God, so why must we be so concern about being too Christ-like?

I just recently heard from another of my church friend whom I respected alot that he left the catholic church to attend Protestant church, though it's just temporarily for a break. I guess if you understand his situation, you can empathize how he is feeling- after serving faithfully in a church ministry, giving every single time of his to lead a ministry and what he receives back from the group is not a word of appreciation but crap and more crap, you would really feel more than just upset and disappointment.

It is sad, isnt it? Where is the concern we are suppose to show to our brothers and sisters in Christ that we often talk about in church? Or are we using that for our own selfish reasons? I leave you with this for those who are serving in a ministry or thinking of serving in a ministry...