Biography of John Huss

John Huss was one of the principle Christian leaders responsible for helping to ignite the reformation, as he was a proponent of John Wycliffe, who is largely credited with kindling the flame which let to the sweeping changes in Christendom.

As a Catholic priest he attempted to reform the Medieval church, attempting to engender a discourse over the writings and assertions of Wycliffe, even though he didn't necessarily agree with everything Wycliffe wrote. He was adamant that they weren't to be cast off as casually as they had been by Catholic leaders.

Those believing in the teachings of Huss were called Hussites in that day, and later on those that were called the Moravian Church by outsiders considered themselves spiritual heirs of Huss.

Among other things, Huss battled against the assertion by Catholic clergy that they were the only ones making up the church. Huss and Wycliffe both blasted this as a falsehood. That easily can be seen as a precursor to one of the main themes of the reformation: the priesthood of all believers.

The priesthood of all believers refers to more than that of course, but to be even considered a priesthood, ordinary believers first had to be recognized as officially part of the church.

Huss also spoke against the immorality of Catholic leaders and their love for money by charging for the services offered by priests, such as "confession, for mass, for the sacrament, for indulgences, for churching a woman, for a blessing, for burials, for funeral services and prayers," said Huss, according to Macek, 16.

Below is a film biography of Huss and his battle against the excesses and immorality of the Catholic church leaders of his day.

Huss, who is also called Jan Huss outside the West, was burned at the stake on July 6, 1415.

Huss and Wycliffe are two of the major influences on Martin Luther who is largely credited with sparking the reformation.

Biography of John Huss

What is Acts 29 Review?

This site is called Acts 29 Review because it's a declaration that Jesus Christ is continuing to work with His people, and the story of the church and its purpose didn't end at the closing of the last words of Acts.

God  continues to write his story in the hearts of people willing to listen and respond. That's why Paul said concerning the churches he planted that they were a letter written for all men to read. That letter is to be Jesus Christ Himself worked into a people, being seen and read by all who view them.

That's the essence of what the narrative of Acts was and why the Holy Spirit, through Luke, wrote it. That narrative is still being written today, although the vast majority of those calling themselves Christians don't want to be in the story as Christ wants it written.

This blog or website exists so it can be understood that the people of God  are meant to continue on in their testimony of Jesus Christ. Not simply as words repeated from bible versus, but by a people that embrace those words and Christ in obedience. Then as we're changed into His image, reflecting who He is to the people on this earth.

That's a story that will never end, and needs again to be embraced by the real followers of Jesus Christ.

The bottom line in the Church and all of life on this earth for believers is this: "While there was some initial testimony, the Apostles did not formulate in conference an enterprise, a mission, with all the related arrangements and organization. The new Life forced off the old leaves and dressed the new organism with a new vesture from within. The might, energy and urge of the Holy Spirit within produced a Way and an order, un-thought-of, unintended by them, and always to their own surprise. What was happening was really that Christ was taking form within them, individually and corporately, by new birth and growth. The believers and the companies were becoming an expression of Christ." - T. Austin-Sparks

That all begins in the individual believer, and when those carrying the life of Christ within them find one another; a city can truly be found whose builder and maker is God.

From there the life of Christ spreads out and permeates all the areas of life that are touched by His people. Eventually the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth and everyone will know Him from the least to the greatest. In other words, Jesus will become Lord over all areas of our lives. He is of course already Lord of all, but it must be worked out practically in our daily lives.

With that in mind, we'll talk about the life of Christ within and how He overflows without to touch the world with Himself. From there His kingdom comes and will is done on the earth as it is in heaven.

It points to the answer to the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: "They kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." It's a prayer that He will respond to and answer on our behalf, for His sake. This will continue to be the case until Jesus calls everyone out of the grave at the end of time.

Until then, He will continue to work to conform His people to His image, that He may be all in all.

Part of that conformity is to exercise our kingly authority by taking dominion over God's creation. We were created to do so, and those willing to prepare for and take on that responsibility, are on the threshold of ruling and reigning in this life by Christ Jesus in a way they never understood , saw, or believed possible.

The kingdom of God is rising. Yes, it starts within, but like the high priest moving from the Holy of Holies to the outer court of the physical creation, so is Jesus Christ moving from within His people to the outer courts of the world.

There will be the inevitable clash of the kingdoms, but there is no doubt who the victor will be, as we work from the victory already accomplished by Christ.

Acts 29 Review exists to help navigate the dominion waters; putting into context the meaning of the many battles while they are being fought, and to enter into the conflict as well.

So don't be afraid of the weaponization of the followers of Jesus Christ. It was inevitable that the time would come when people and events would require and demand a response, and that time is now.

By weaponization, I'm referring to testing down enemy strongholds and obliterating them. We should ask for no quarter and give no quarter. More than any time in history, the time for mixture is past. We aren't of this world, and it has nothing to offer the followers of Jesus Christ.

Those attempting to placate and negotiate will find themselves overwhelmed. The battle lines have already been drawn, our families under siege, and our children and grandchildren abandoning God.

I have not interest in taking over the corrupt institutions of this world, but rather in seeing a birthing of the kingdom of God outside of them. In other words, alternative education, distribution channels and churches, among numerous other areas of life.

God will be all in all. Let us engage the enemy and open our own hearts to God so this will become a reality on earth, as it is in heaven.

We'll also talk about the evil that is permeating the world; exposing it, challenging it, praying against it, and finally, looking for ways we can do something about it.


If you're interested in more, contact me at this email address:

Contact: geeb@hotmail.com

Moravians - Centered in Christ

There was a time when the group of people history has called the “Moravians,” solely lived for Christ. Everything they did was done for the purpose that all would depend upon Christ.  

Before getting into the practicals of this, I want to say that it is what is behind the practicals that matters, much more than what is seen.

Nonetheless, from what was unseen and desired was born a response that for a season of time brought tremendous results.  

So in talking of these things, let’s remember why things were done the way they were, rather than what was done. Again the reason these things were done was for simple devotion to Christ.  

A lot of what is remembered about the Moravians was the well publicized period of 100 years that they unceasingly prayed and went in many places of the world spreading the gospel. What is less well-known is their emphasis upon spiritual growth concerning the body of believers; especially intimacy with Christ.  

One of the ways that they encouraged this to happen was to establish what they called, “choirs.”

Choirs were people of the same gender, age group, and marital status. They would live together communally. This happened as early as 18 months old, all the way to a time when people were widowed.  

All aspects of a person’s life took place within these arrangements. For example, when a child was approximately 18 months old, they were put within a choir of all the children of similar ages, until the age of 4. At that time they were separated until marriage from the opposite sex, as far as living arrangements and work was concerned.  

There was a series of these choirs throughout their lives. At around 12 they would go into another choir of older children of the same gender. Then at around 20 they would go into single brothers and single sisters’ choirs. If and when they married they would be in the choir of those who were married. When one was widowed they would be in the choir of those who were widowed. If they were remarried they would go back into the choir of those who were married.

The major reason this was done was to encourage intimate union with Christ.  
The practical reason was that those in the same age groups, gender, and life circumstances, would be in similar spiritual junctures. Thus they could support and encourage one another in their journey.  

Another very important reason for this was to deemphasize blood ties so that fellowship with Christ was first in their lives. The history of this practical outworking was that when there was counsel sought, the various brethren would direct them to Christ, not to themselves.  

The overall separation of genders was also for the sole purpose that there would be a total dependency upon Christ rather than a soulish dependency upon another human being.  

This doesn’t mean that they didn’t live close together; they did. They simply lived in different lodgings and worked separately, with differing responsibilities.  

The reason I mentioned at the beginning of the article concerning why these things were done is what’s important. Someone could easily copy these things and get terrible results. The point that was made was that they saw the most important thing in life: the simple devotion to Christ. Everything else was to pale in comparison to that. The practical steps they took were in response to that understanding.  

We need to center into the eternal aspect of these things, while looking to see if some of the practical can apply for us today.  

Moravians

The Moravians, because of their having a well-documented history, are a little more complex to write about.  

They, like Jan Hus, centered on the reality that Christ lived within you and started and centered His work there.  

These, like those before them, had the strong desire to return to the simple ways of the early church. They had grown weary of the excesses of the institutional church and clergy.  

One of the unique features and developments of the Moravians was their living together. In a number of different times and places throughout their history they had started Christian communities from scratch.
 
Like many people today that are hearing the call to move into neighborhoods together, they, 100s of years ago, saw and responded to the same things.  
Many times when you read of their history you read about houses for brothers, sisters and families. There was this wonderful, spontaneous way of living and life in Christ that is recorded for us.  

While they are not the only ones to do this, they probably have more records of it than any other group of people from that time and before. Their writings and history survived the attempt at destroying it that had obliterated the history of other groups from earlier times.  

Another unique aspect of their lives that was recorded later on was that of starting to bring the gospel to others in a way that hadn’t been attempted before. They eventually reached out to the world in ways that were amazing for the small numbers that they existed in.  

Many of those who went to share the gospel died from disease. This didn’t deter these tremendous believers. With continuous union with Christ that is reputed to not have stopped for over a hundred years, day and night, they did what nobody before them had done.  

One of the amazing testimonies that they had was that many of those involved with the protestant reformation made the comment that they wished that those they had the experience which could even come close to their depth and devotion to Christ.
 
Those of the reformation, in many areas, would have done much better to follow the example of the lives of these simple believers, than the example of those that followed.