Today is October 31 – many people in the world know this day as Halloween – but it is also known as Reformation Day – the day where Martin Luther nailed 95 thesis on the Roman Catholic church door.  Here is a clip from a devotional that I found very helpful in explaining the reason for the celebration:

“Today, we celebrate the Festival of the Reformation. The Reformation was not a revolutionary act or the beginning of a movement. The Reformation was not anti-Catholic, it was pro-Jesus. Martin Luther simply desired to proclaim the Gospel everlasting that had been proclaimed since the beginning of church history but which over time had been obscured and diluted. Luther had no desire to start his own church but was calling upon the church to reform. The Roman Church responded to his call to return to the Gospel everlasting by excommunicating him. The temptation to teach that we are saved in some sense by our own works is always present. It was the teaching of the Jewish leaders at the time of the incarnation, it is the teaching of all Pagan religions, it had become the popular teaching in the church of Luther’s day, and it remains the popular teaching even among those who consider themselves to be heirs of the Reformation today.”

If you want to read this devotional in full – click on this link: http://lambonthealtar.blogspot.com/2010/10/festival-of-reformation-devotional.html

Happy Reformation Day!