North Korea is a country shrouded in mystery for most people. It brings to mind barbed wire, famine, and Kim Jong Il's nuclear shenanigans. This book touches on some of the negative side to the nation as well, but also focuses on what God has done in North Korea in the past and the new work He is doing there today. One of the greatest revivals in all of Asia took place in what is now referred to as North Korea (officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea). Now, over 100 years later, most Westerners think the church in North Korea has been destroyed. This couldn't be farther from the truth. There is a body of believers there that has held out for generations, even after years of persecution and attempts to destroy Christianity. On top of this, sparks of revival are flying all over the country as thousands of North Koreans quietly give their lives to Christ. How can this be? This is the story of those men and women of God, and their struggle in one of the darkest spiritual places on Earth. This is not another book about North Korean politics or man-made solutions for their problems. It contains the latest information on what God is doing in North Korea, as spoken by the North Koreans and Chinese missionaries themselves. Be prepared to see a side of North Korea you've never seen before.
Martin Luther changed the course of Western civilization by initiating the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and theology professor, he confronted indulgence salesmen with his 95 Theses in 1517. Luther strongly disputed their claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could be purchased with money. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms meeting in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor.
Luther taught that salvation is a free gift of God and received only by grace through faith in Jesus as redeemer from sin, not from good works. His theology challenged the authority of the pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood.
His translation of the Bible into the language of the people (instead of Latin) made it more accessible, causing a tremendous impact on the church and on German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation into English of the King James Bible. His hymns inspired the development of singing in churches. His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant priests to marry.
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