Today marks the anniversary of Luther’s bold stand at the Diet of Worms, where he famously stood before his critics and refused to retract his teachings which had already sparked such controversy in the Church.

For those of you who are wondering, Worms is a city in Germany, and a “Diet” is basically a council, an official gathering of some kind. So, although a diet of worms might be an intriguing way to lose weight, the Diet of Worms was an imperial council that met in the city of Worms in 1521. (And if you want to sound all germanic and cool to your friends, you pronounce it like Deet of Verms.)

Here are a few highlights from Luther’s speech that day. You can read the whole thing here.

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Eighteenth century England faced a number of significant challenges: rapid industrialization, an increasingly polarized society, growing economic inequities, and a church that seemed to many to be stale, lifeless, and and uninterested in engaging these pressing issues. This was the context in which John Wesley, along with his brother Charles, began their ministry, sparking a movement that would eventually impact almost every Christian church in the west.

John Wesley died on March 2, 1791, fifty-three years after the famous Aldersgate experience that shaped his approach to Christian life and ministry. In honor of his amazing life and impact, today’s prayer comes from him.

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I often ask my students to give me a quick summary of church history. It’s a good way to see what they know, and, more importantly, what they think they know. The results are fascinating. Beyond the unsurprising fact that most know very little about the story of God’s people between the end of the New Testament and the day before yesterday, the stories usually have at least one thing in common: a Golden Age.

That’s the beginning of my latest post over at Christianity.com: “There Was No Golden Age.” I go on to explain four things that I think is wrong with the “Golden Age Mentality,” and then I conclude with:

There was no “Golden Age.” Or maybe we’d be better off saying that every age is a Golden Age; that is, a time when God is still faithfully working through his people to spread his gospel and display his glory throughout this broken and fallen world.

Persecution is alive and well in the modern world. For Christians in Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, and other places around the world, persecution is a very real and present danger.

When I hear Christians in the west talk about persecution, though, I’m struck by how often I hear something like the following:

No one has ever stopped the church through persecution. Indeed, whenever the world persecutes the church, it just grows even more. Look at the early church. The Romans tried to persecute it out of existence, yet it spread the gospel throughout the entire empire. And, more recently, the church in China blossomed during the twentieth century despite tremendous persecution.

Unlike the lazy and complacent Christianity that develops in “safe” countries, persecution fosters a robust Christianity, confident of its faith and bold in its proclamation. The church thrives under persecution.

And I understand where that sentiment is coming from. Christians are optimists. In general, we have a deep and abiding sense that God is in control and that he’ll make sure everything works out his people in the end. Thus, even when we hear that things are going badly for Christians in some part of the world, we’re comforted by the fact that God is still at work and that he can do amazing things in even the most difficult circumstances.

So we take a theological conviction (God is in control), combine it with some historical examples (the church in China), and come up with a pretty impressive conclusion (the church thrives under persecution). But there’s one little problem: it’s not true. Or, at least, it’s not true as it is usually stated. Here’s why.

[This is the beginning of my most recent post over at Christianity.com. Head over there to read the rest.]