Be The Church

03/12/2026

Amen! 🙌

✅️ It's the essence of λογομαχέω, which Paul warned us not to do in 2 Tim. 2:14. Never subject God's word to man's word!

03/11/2026

📜 Today in Church History: March 10, 1528
The Martyrdom of Balthasar Hubmaier: A Voice of the Radical Reformation

Balthasar Hubmaier, one of the most educated leaders of the Anabaptist movement, was burned at the stake in Vienna as a heretic.

Hubmaier was not originally an Anabaptist. He began as a respected Catholic theologian and university scholar. But during the upheaval of the Reformation, his study of Scripture began to challenge long-held church traditions. 📕

As Hubmaier studied the New Testament, he became convinced that, in Scripture, baptism followed personal repentance and faith, not infancy. Because of this conviction, he joined the Anabaptist movement, which taught that the church should consist of voluntary believers rather than citizens automatically enrolled at birth.

⚠️ In the political world of 16th-century Europe, this was considered extremely dangerous.

Church membership was tied to civil order. To question infant baptism was not just a theological disagreement; it threatened the entire structure of society, where church and state were closely intertwined.

Hubmaier was eventually arrested, imprisoned, and severely tortured in an attempt to force him to recant. He obviously refused and was burned at the stake.

😔 Just three days later, his wife Elisabeth Hubmaier was executed as well, drowned in the Danube River.

Hubmaier was a careful scholar who grounded his convictions in Scripture. He firmly believed:

📖 Baptism should follow personal faith
📖 The church should be made up of committed believers
📖 Scripture must stand above church tradition

Interestingly, Hubmaier also differed from many other Anabaptists in one key way: he did not fully embrace pacifism, believing that civil government still had a legitimate role in maintaining order.

This reminds us that the Anabaptist movement itself was diverse, made up of believers who were sincerely wrestling with what Scripture taught.

Hubmaier’s story reminds us that reform often begins with a simple question........ What does the Bible actually teach?

📕 Biblical conviction may challenge long-held traditions
📕 Standing on Scripture can isolate you from powerful systems
📕 Truth has often been defended by those willing to suffer for it

Be willing to stand on God's Word no matter who it may offend!

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8

03/10/2026

📜 Luther’s Thesis 77

“To say that even St. Peter, if he were now pope, could not grant greater graces, is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope.”

Indulgence sellers were claiming that the pope had such extraordinary power that he could release souls from purgatory and distribute spiritual merits.

🤔 Luther is saying that If indulgences are truly as powerful as claimed, then even the apostle Peter himself would supposedly not have greater authority.

The system had elevated papal authority so high that questioning it was treated as blasphemy.

The indulgence system was creating a theological hierarchy that taught:

🙈 Papal authority was treated as nearly unlimited

🙉 Questioning indulgences was treated as heresy

🙊 Institutional power overshadowed the Gospel

Scripture never presents apostles or church leaders as possessing independent spiritual power!!

2 Corinthians 4:5 “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.”

✝️ The apostles never claimed personal authority to dispense grace; they always pointed people only to Christ.

03/10/2026

📜 Today in Church History: March 9, A.D. 395
The Death of Gregory of Nyssa Defending the Trinity

Gregory of Nyssa died after helping defend and clarify the doctrine of the Trinity during one of the most important theological battles of the early church.

Gregory lived during a time when false teachers like Arius were claiming that Jesus was a created being and not fully God.

📕 He defended the doctrine with his brother Basil the Great and his close friend Gregory of Nazianzus. Gregory helped clearly explain what Christians had always believed from Scripture:

One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

It is important to understand something about church history; the Trinity was not invented in the 300s.

The word "Trinity" had already been used nearly 200 years earlier, by Tertullian 155-220 AD

💯 Even earlier church fathers spoke clearly about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as fully divine. So this is not a "Catholic" doctrine as many false teachers proclaim.

When false teaching arose, the church gathered to clarify what Scripture had always taught and what Christians already believed.

One essence (what God is)

Three persons (who God is)

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Tri-unity or Trinity of God

💯 This language helped protect the truth that Jesus is truly God and that salvation itself depends on the full deity of Christ.

Church history reminds us that doctrine matters. False teaching rarely begins with open rebellion. It often begins with small distortions about who God is.

🙌🏽 Clear doctrine protects biblical truth! Every generation must defend the faith from error! Understanding who God is will shape how we worship Him. We are to worship in Spirit and truth!

"Every generation needs a reformation back to the Word of God."
- Paul Washer

03/09/2026

📜 Today in Church History: March 9, A.D. 320
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

Forty Roman soldiers stationed in Sebaste in Lesser Armenia (modern-day Sivas, Turkey) refused orders to sacrifice to pagan gods.

These men were Christians serving in the Roman army during the reign of Emperor Licinius, who had begun persecuting believers in the eastern provinces.

As punishment, the soldiers were stripped of their clothing and forced to stand through the night on a frozen lake. 🥶 Nearby, a warm bathhouse was prepared for anyone willing to renounce Christ.

❤️‍🔥 None chose the warmth; they all remained together in the freezing water and died for their faith.

Their story spread quickly across the early church and was later recorded by Basil of Caesarea, one of the great Christian leaders of the fourth century.

🤔 There is a legend about one soldier witnessing their strength and running into the water to die with them, replacing another soldier who couldn't remain and came out; God kept the number 40, but again, that is a later legend.

The world may offer comfort for compromise, but this story reminds us that conviction is proven when faith costs something. No amount of comfort is worth losing the eternal presence of God.

“Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10

03/06/2026

📜 Today in Church History: 4th Century AD
Arcadius of Cyprus

In the 4th century, on the island of Cyprus, a man named Arcadius devoted his life to two things. Knowing God. And making disciples.

He lived as a monk and teacher during the reign of Constantine the Great, the emperor who had made Christianity legally protected across the Roman Empire.

⚔️However, when Julian the Apostate seized the throne in A.D. 361, everything changed. Julian was Constantine's own nephew.
Raised in a Christian home and educated by bishops, he ended up hating the faith.

He reopened pagan temples. Stripped Christians of legal rights. and banned believers from teaching in schools. He removed Christians from positions of power. His goal was to erase Christianity from the Roman Empire entirely.

💔 The disciples Arcadius had poured his life into Julian the Physician, and Euboulos were executed for their faith. Arcadius grieved deeply. He buried their bodies with his own hands and shortly after died.

There is a lot of superstition around his life and legacy now, but what we truly know is that he was a monk who loved Jesus, discipled others, and cared deeply for those he mentored.

🔹 He chose depth when the culture made shallowness easy. Constantine's favor had made Christianity fashionable and comfortable. Arcadius went the other direction entirely.
🔹 He built disciples, not just a following. He didn't live for himself. He invested in men who were prepared to die for what they believed.
🔹 He grieved faithfully and finished well. When loss came, he didn't harden. He felt it. He honored their bodies. He mourned. Then he died faithfully.

❓ Let's Ask Ourselves:

Who are you discipling???

When culture turns hostile, and it will, will the people around you be prepared?

Can you say this to those whom you are teaching? "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1

The church has always advanced through people who were more afraid of being unfaithful than of being persecuted. Are we building that kind of disciple today???

03/05/2026

📜 Day 76 of 95: The Pope Cannot Remove the Smallest Sin

Thesis #76: “We say on the contrary that the pope has no power to remit any guilt except by declaring and confirming that it has been remitted by God.” – Luther

He said even if the pope claimed the ability to grant indulgences, he could never actually remove guilt from a sinner’s soul.

✝️ A church leader can proclaim what God has already done, but no human authority has the power to forgive sin itself. Forgiveness belongs to God alone.

This was a direct challenge to the spiritual authority that was built around indulgences.

The system implied that the Church possessed the power to release souls from guilt. Luther reminds us that forgiveness does not originate from the Church but from God alone.

📖 What does the Bible say?

Mark 2:7 “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Isaiah 43:25 “I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

💯 The Church can preach the Gospel, but only God can cleanse a sinner’s soul.

This truth protects the heart of the Gospel. No human system can control salvation.

03/05/2026

📜 Today in Church History: March 5 -Early 300's
Adrianus Thrown to a Lion in Caesarea

During the intense persecutions of the early 4th century, a Christian named Adrianus was executed in the arena at Caesarea Maritima, located along the Mediterranean coast in what is modern-day Israel.

🦁 This occurred during a major civic celebration honoring the city’s patron deity. Roman authorities often staged executions during festivals so large crowds could witness the consequences of refusing to honor the gods of the empire.

Christians were usually given a choice to offer the sacrifice and acknowledge the emperor and their gods. Renounce Christ and walk away alive.

⚔️ He refused and was thrown to a lion in the arena and afterward killed by the sword. His story was recorded by Eusebius of Caesarea, who lived in the city and documented the persecution of believers during this time.

Rome believed public fear would silence the Church. However, the courage of believers like Adrianus demonstrated that their allegiance to Christ was stronger than Rome’s threats.

We may not face lions or swords, but for Bible-believing Christians today, we often feel

✝️ Pressure to soften what Scripture actually teaches
✝️ Pressure to not confront sin
✝️ Pressure to value comfort over conviction

The early Christians remind us that faith was never meant to be easy!

📖 Revelation 2:10 “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

03/04/2026

Something is quietly happening in modern Christianity.

Many believers haven’t rejected Jesus, but we are slowly drifting from the very thing that anchors our faith: the Word of God. 📕

Instead of being satisfied in Christ alone and in His Word alone, the Church is increasingly chasing experiences, personalities, and spiritual trends. When Scripture becomes secondary, confusion and division always follow.

I wrote a new blog addressing why this drift is happening and how the Church can return to the living Word.

Read it here:
https://www.bethechurchministry.com/post/modern-christianity-is-losing-its-center-we-must-return-to-the-living-word

Modern Christianity is drifting from its center. Many believers are chasing experiences, personalities, and spiritual trends while neglecting the one thing God has given to anchor our faith His Word. Scripture was never meant to be an accessory to faith but its foundation. In this blog, we explore w...

03/03/2026

📜 Today in Church History: March 3, 1263 AD
The Death of Hugh of St. Cher: The Bible Divided for Study

In 1263, Hugh of St. Cher, a Dominican scholar, died after helping create the first Bible concordance and promoting the chapter divisions that became standard in Scripture.

📕 Scripture originally existed as continuous writings, full of letters, sermons, poetry, and historical narratives meant to be read as complete thoughts; no chapters and verses.

📖 Chapters were standardized in the 1200's to help scholars locate passages.
📖 Verse numbers were added much later in the 1500's by Robert Estienne, making referencing easier for printing and study.

These tools were helpful for organization, but they were never inspired additions to Scripture itself. and history reveals an unintended consequence.

😔 When God’s Word was divided into smaller pieces, many believers began reading isolated verses instead of following the full argument of an entire book.

If someone wrote you a letter, you would read it in one sitting to understand its meaning. You wouldn’t break it into sentences, quote one line, and ignore the rest.

Yet today, we often treat Scripture like sound bites. We see how dangerous this is in modern culture; a short clip taken out of context can completely misrepresent what someone meant.

This is what we sadly see happening with God's Word to His creation!

💯 A verse without context can distort meaning
💯 Letters like Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians were meant to be read as complete messages
💯 Study tools help us navigate Scripture, but they must never replace careful reading

Read and study the whole counsel of God from Genesis to Revelation

03/03/2026

📜 Today in Church History: February 27, 1830
The Death of Elias Hicks When Authority Shifted from Scripture to Experience

In 1830, Elias Hicks, a prominent Quaker minister, died after leading a movement that divided American Quakerism. His followers became known as the Hicksites.

🙌🏽 The early Quakers originally sought sincere Christianity rejecting empty ritual and state-controlled religion and calling believers to simple obedience to Christ.

But then a serious theological disagreement emerged!

🥴 Hicks taught that the “Inner Light,” a personal inward spiritual experience, should hold greater authority than Scripture itself. While he still valued the Bible, inward revelation increasingly became the final guide. (Sound familiar)???

This caused a major split: some Quakers held Scripture as the sole final authority, and, sadly, others followed inward spiritual impressions as primary.

When experience rises above God’s Word, doctrinal clarity slowly fades. Over time, Hicksite influence developed into what many liberal Quaker groups represent today.

👎🏽 No required doctrinal confession; anything goes

👎🏽 Openness to multiple religious paths leads to God

👎🏽 In some meetings, Christianity is no longer central or uniquely defined; Christ is just a good teacher to follow, but not the only teacher.

What began as a desire for authentic faith gradually shifted away from historic biblical Christianity once they replaced the Word with experiences.

📖 Scripture warns believers to test every teaching
"Test the spirits to see whether they are from God." 1 John 4:1

📕 Sincerity does not equal sound doctrine
📕 Spiritual experiences must be tested by Scripture
📕 Every movement, past and present, must remain anchored in God’s Word

When Scripture stops being the final authority, faith slowly reshapes itself around human ideas.

👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽
“Your word is truth.” John 17:17

Every teacher, tradition, and movement must bow to Scripture.