Giants of the Reformation (1)

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the LORD.” Amos 8.11

The Freedom of a Christian
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
“On the other hand, there is no more terrible disaster with which the wrath of God can afflict men than a famine of the hearing of his Word, as he says in Amos. Likewise there is no greater mercy than when he sends forth his Word, as we read in Psalm 107: ‘He sent forth his word, and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.’ Nor was Christ sent into the world for any other ministry except that of the Word. Moreover, the entire spiritual estate – all the apostles, bishops, and priests – has been called and instituted only for the ministry of the Word.”

According to the Apostles, the ministry of the Word and prayer is the work pastors are called to pursue (Acts 6.4). In Luther’s day, a widespread effort was underway, even before 1520, to try to reform the Church, so that more of the Word could find its way into the lives of God’s people. But the effort wasn’t proceeding fast enough for Luther. He called for more emphasis on preaching the Word, and on helping God’s people to feed in it. Whatever in our ministry is not grounded in and comprised of the Word of God may not be legitimate. God’s people, like baby birds, need continuous feeding if they are ever to fledge and leave the nest of infancy to soar in the winds of the Spirit and maturity in the Lord. The pastor’s job is to feed, feed, feed His people with the milk and meat of the Word of God. We bring a famine of hearing into the lives of our people if we fail to sow and cultivate the Word of God in all our ministries and activities.

What would a “famine of hearing” look like if it began to settle on your congregation? Are doing all you can to preclude such a disaster?

Pastoral Hope Initiative
Pastor, where are you in your walk with and work for the Lord? Are you growing? Covering all the bases? Working fruitfully toward the Kingdom of God? Our Pastoral Hope Initiative can help you establish a framework and baseline for steady, fruitful growth into the Lord Jesus. We have permanently waived the fee for men who want to work through this 14-week protocol. Watch this brief video, then, if you’re interested, let me hear from you at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.All quotations from Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christianin John Dillenberger, ed., Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings(New York: Doubleday, 1962).