The Reformation Revelation: Foundation for Revival

New YouTube video on the Reformation

https://youtu.be/1ZeIrIfW1QI

Martin Luther experienced a revelation from the Holy Spirit about the grace of God that sent forth far reaching waves of reform, renewal, and revival, creating a ripple effect that would have great impact through the nations and history. In fact, the Reformation became the foundation for the revivals that followed in its wake.

 

From Law Student to Monk 

 

Luther had originally been studying to become a lawyer. However, he had a near-death experience on the way to law school one day: He got caught in a thunderstorm and a bolt of lightning struck the ground right next to him knocking him down, and in terror he cried out to Saint Anne, the patron saint of the miners (as his father was a miner) vowing that he would become a monk if he survived.

 

Having survived the storm, he entered the monastery and became a Catholic monk seeking to find peace with God. However, he was soon bogged down and struggling with all the rituals imposed upon him within the Catholic structure. These rituals didn’t bring forth the peace with God he sought but rather served only to drive him further away from God,

 

He sought to earnestly follow the Catholic teaching that says: Each and every sin ever committed must be remembered and confessed to a priest in order to be forgiven. In obedience to these teachings, Luther would rack his memory and confess his sins hours and hours a day. After leaving the confessional, he would often remember something he’d done as a child and return for more confessing.

 

The leader of the monastery grew so tired of his coming so often to the confessional he finally blew up at him, “Why don’t you go out and commit some real sins and come back when you actually have something worth confessing.”

 

Seeking to find a way to distract him and redirect his attention, and frankly get him out of the monastery for being such a bother, the leader of the monastery decided to have Luther go and study the Bible at Wittenberg. 

 

This, however, was not the norm for monks, priests, nor any of the clergy, except some of the highest Catholic theologians who were permitted to read the Bible and interpret it. In fact, the Catholic Church had forbidden common people from even possessing a Bible at the Synod of Toulouse in 1229. Furthermore, the Catholic Church only allowed the Bible to be in Latin—a long dead language even then that very few could understand.  

 

As pointed out by David Daniell: The Bible might have well been in Chinese for all the good it did forcing it to be kept only in Latin. Very, very few could read Latin, and this included the vast majority of the clergy. Instead of the Scriptures the church substituted a book called “The Little Hours of Mary” promoting the cult of the Virgin and her worship.

 

Because Luther had studied law, he wouldn’t have to begin by learning Latin first. He was moved from Eisleben to Wittenberg, Germany and began to read the Bible and study Paul’s Epistles in the New Testament. 

 

He subsequently began wrestling with Paul’s words about justification especially in the book of Romans. After some time wrestling and contemplating it, he finally had the light break forth and received revelation from the Holy Spirit as he gained understanding of Jesus’ full payment for sin on the cross.

 

He understood after a long period of struggle that Jesus had paid the price for our sin on the cross, and simply through faith in Christ we are justified and put right with God through His grace, the grace that comes through faith in Christ’s atonement. 

 

Indeed, Paul communicates about: A Righteousness that comes from God and is by faith and through God’s grace we are justified. (Romans 1:16-17, 3:21-23)

 

Luther finally understood that all his sin was paid for “once for all” by Christ when he took our sins on the cross. Once one repents and receives Christ there is no need to remember each and every sin and confess it to a priest, just believe upon Jesus. Luther spoke of how he was born again when he finally understood this.

 

A Revelation That Reverberated 

 

This rediscovery of this central truth of the New Testament and teaching of Jesus and the Apostles (John: 1:12, 3:16, 6:29, Romans 3:21, Ephesians 2:8-10) had far reaching implications and brought forth waves of renewal, reform, and revival, causing a ripple effect throughout the nations and history. 

 

This revelation caused Luther to challenge some of the teachings and practices that the Catholic Church was engaging in, especially when indulgences began to be sold in his region—basically the selling of forgiveness to reduce time in purgatory—by a priest named Tetzel.

 

Luther drew up some Theses, his intention however was only to debate with some of the other theologians.

 

Before he knew it though he was in the middle of a conflagration, as unbeknownst to him some students had taken Luther’s Theses that he’d nailed to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg on October 31^st  1517—which marks the beginning of the Reformation—and reprinted and distributed them widely. As they went out it caused a widespread “Ja wohl” by many who had grown tired of the errors and abuses in Catholicism. 

 

This reverberation spread to where even the Pope down in Italy eventually got wind of it and reacted: “Who is this drunken German?! I’ll have this heretic burned at the stake within two weeks!” An onslaught of reaction by the powers that be sought to silence Luther who, having been touched in the heart by the grace of God, was of no mind to back down now.

 

The accusations against someone who would dare challenge the established religious system—especially against a system that was producing large amounts of money —flew fast and furious at Luther.

 

Didier Erasmus, a well-known reform-minded professor, jested that Luther’s “sin”was to dare touch the money-making system of the church and dare challenge the authority of the pope who saw himself as some type of king now.

 

As Luther was railed against, he actually grew bolder and spoke and wrote out more, which was touching many and causing him quite a following.

 

The religious system was not tolerant of any dissent and sought ways to silence him—as they had done to all those who had sought reform and a return to Biblical principles in the past—usually with a formal condemnation labeling them a heretic and then burning them at the stake. 

 

Jan Hus had sought a similar return to Biblical teaching a century earlier and was condemned and burned at the stake for it.  However, right before his death, he prophesied of another reformer being raised up in 100 years who they would not be able to burn: It was one hundred years later when Luther experienced his revelation of the grace of Jesus Christ while reading Romans, which set the Reformation in motion.

 

Attempts to Silence Luther 

 

As Luther had already garnered a following, with some even in higher positions agreeing with him, there was a cautionary approach in dealing with him lest the public revolt. 

 

Thus, a debate with one of their staunch theologians was proffered. Luther would debate Johan Eck, who the Catholic leaders thought would make quick work of Luther and then begin the process afterwards of condemning him as a notorious heretic.

 

However, Luther stood up to Eck in the debate and proved to be an equal match. Eck thus resorted to calling Luther a Wycliffite and a Hussite, two men who had earlier attempted to bring reform and a return to Biblical foundations and were condemned for it. 

 

During a break in the debate, Luther went to the library to make a quick study of Hus and Wycliff and came back declaring: I am a Wycliffite and a Hussite for they were not wrong and were wrongly condemned. Quite the bold statement for someone who would not want to be condemned and burned himself.

 

By and large the debate backfired, and Luther only grew more renowned. He displayed a fluency in the Scriptures and a boldness that was clearly coming from on high; it wasn't his natural inclination.

 

In time Luther was called to answer before a Diet—a type of trial—in the city of Worms. Luther was called before a panel that included even the emperor himself, who was the most powerful person in the world at that time, to be examined regarding his teachings. Having been assured he would be able to discuss his views, he came willingly. Yet when he was called before the Diet, he was only given the option to recant all his teaching or face the consequences, which would mean being labeled a heretic and executed.

 

Luther was sweating profusely while being examined, but in the end refused to recant and took his stand saying: “My conscience is captive to the word of God, to go against conscience and the word is neither right nor safe, I cannot and will not recant anything. Here I stand, so help me God.” The room erupted, some with outrage, others cheering Luther on with bravos, as he walked out. Some of those on the panel dropped out and refused to condemn Luther, saying he was only returning to the Bible. However, a rump of the panel decided to condemn him and have him arrested the next day.

 

During the night however, divine intervention took place and the peasants’ Bundschuh was placarded on the building. This was the sign of the Peasants’ Revolt and signaled that if Luther was arrested there would be riots by the peasants throughout the region. The Diet was thrown into a panic and decided it would be better to arrest him quietly after he returned home. He'd surely never make it home, however, since Catholic fanatics—keepers of the Inquisition—would be waiting to assassinate him on the way.

 

Divine Intervention Again 

 

The Elector Prince of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, had been persuaded Luther was doing nothing wrong and was only seeking to return to the church's original Biblical foundations. Frederick set up a ruse and had his knights secretly kidnap Luther as soon as he began his journey back. They surrounded him and with much screaming, yelling, and cussing, made a big show of grabbing him while secretly whisking him away, having riders all take off in different directions, as he was snuck off to be hidden at an old, abandoned castle in Eisenach called the Wartburg.

 

For nearly a year Luther was hidden away at the Wartburg, where while stuck hiding out, he worked on a translation of the New Testament into the common German tongue. Luther’s German Translation of the Bible became one of the biggest boons and blessings spreading the Gospel and the Reformation throughout Germany and into other nations. 

 

The word had spread about how Luther had taken a stance for the truth at the Diet of Worms, and he had become a hero to many Germans as time had passed and he was only more popular. There was no chance now of being able to apprehend him without widespread uprisings after this. This one they were not able to burn, fulfilling Jan Hus’s prophecy he had made as he was about to be executed for trying to bring about reform as well a hundred years earlier.

 

The Reformation Spreads to England

 

One of the places to eventually get impacted, amongst many others, was England and the British Isles.

 

Luther’s teaching began to cross the channel from Germany into England and began to be regularly discussed and debated, especially at the University in Cambridge.

 

The White Horse Inn, a pub on campus, became a central location for discussions about the teachings of the New Testament and about Christ’s payment for sin being received by faith versus the Catholic Church’s teachings on rituals, masses, holy water, confession, the papacy, etc.

 

Amongst some of the early adopters of a return to the roots of New Testament Christianity influenced by Luther were Thomas Cramner, who would become a reforming Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as William Tyndale.

 

Tyndale transferred from Oxford to Cambridge because Oxford was resistant to reform and held a prohibition against the Bible being translated into the English language—this became a stain on Oxford’s historical legacy—standing against one of the greatest contributions to the English language and culture in history.

 

Tyndale had in mind to do just that and translate the Bible into common English. He was a Catholic priest who had also a l experienced a personal conversion to Christ like Luther. He’d also come to understand that it was faith in Christ alone through His grace that salvation is received. Tyndale knew that if people could read the New Testament for themselves, they could see that simple faith in Christ alone is all that was necessary for salvation.

 

Tyndale writes: “Repent and Believe the gospel...and begin life anew! And his Spirit shall dwell in thee and be strong in thee and his promises shall be given thee at the last…and all things forgiven for Christ’s blood’s sake…Commit yourself to Him without respect either of thy good deeds or thy bad, repentance and belief is all! Works count for nothing in Christ’s blood!”

 

He thus saw the need for the Bible to be made accessible to the common person. This required it to be translated into the English language. The Catholic Church opposed translations into vernacular languages and only allowed the Bible to be in Latin—a language that had been long dead even then. Against persecution, oppression, and misunderstanding, Tyndale set out to make a translation from the original Greek into English. Erasmus had recently assembled and published the original Greek version of the New Testament into a whole manuscript, making it available and taking the control out of the hands of the Catholic Church.

 

Tyndale, like Luther, used Erasmus’s Greek manuscript to begin translating the New Testament into English. Soon persecution ramped up and he eventually left England and met with Luther in Germany. Luther’s German translation was another blessing and helped Tyndale finish his New Testament translation. Tyndale printed the first editions of his New Testament in Germany, at Cologne, and had them smuggled as pocket Bibles into England. They were popular amongst the people but opposed by the Catholic clergy and his Bibles were even rounded up and burned by the Bishop in London.

 

Tyndale’s Bible and the Spread of the Gospel

 

The Bible being accessible eventually spread movements of faith and reform through the land and eventually gave rise to further spread of the Gospel and the rise of renewal and revival movements.

 

Amongst them were the Puritans in England which, according to historian Sydney Alhstrom were a revival movement that sought a return to the Christianity found in the New Testament. They also taught that believers need to experience Christ in their lives and should receive His grace in their hearts, as head knowledge by itself alone is insufficient.

 

They were increasingly marginalized in England. A group of Separatist Puritans eventually left seeking freedom to worship as they desired. Sailing across the sea on the Mayflower and arrived on the shores of  America in 1620. They started the first colony that would sustain and last and grow into a continued movement of Puritans coming across the sea, in the process creating the early Christian fabric of America.

 

That first colony that landed in Plymouth was dedicated to the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith. In time, many revivals that were connected to that still-reverberating revelation from Luther and the Reformation, would be spawned in the New World. Though there may be some differences in theology and ideas with different individual groups over time, that core remained the same: It is by grace you are saved through faith, it is the gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast. And God freely gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask and believe and will fill to overflowing those who call upon him.

 

Some of the Movements and Revivals that followed in the wake of the Reformation: 

• The Great Awakening: https://youtu.be/QcV3_H1DM9M 
• William Tyndale: https://youtu.be/ZEAl5iOyY6c
• The Pilgrims: https://youtu.be/xRM3-jqexe0
• George Whitfield and the 18th century revivals: https://youtu.be/sq1B2qNX-Ks
• John Wesley and the Methodist revivals: Wesley was converted during a reading of Luther’s Preface to his Commentary on Romans: https://youtu.be/Hh4m6oSKvyM
• The Finney Revivals: https://on.soundcloud.com/HEgZi
• The Cane Ridge Revivals

 

And even into modern times :  

 

• Harald Bredesen and the Charismatic renewal: A Lutheran who becomes Spirit-filled and shares his experience with other Lutherans and other mainline denominational believers: https://youtu.be/K7Xciiw2ebI
• Lonnie Frisbee  and the Jesus people Revival:  It was a Reformational type of return to the priesthood of all believers and the simplicity of the New Testament and God's grace to save whosoever calls upon him, even Hippies (!) that brought forth one of the biggest modern revivals: https://youtu.be/0OgfmU13sPI

Connect to Grace World Mission: https://linktr.ee/graceworldmission

Ministry Update - Summer 2023

Patrick and Emily Get Married!

Celebrating the marriage of Patrick and Emily. Now aka Mr. and Mrs Marleaux

We are excited to have just experienced an amazing life event as our son Patrick got married! It was such an awesome time celebrating with friends and family as Patrick and his beautiful bride Emily came together in the union of marriage at their wedding! 

We also had such a fun-filled week leading up to the big day, getting in some surfing and beach time and other activities with them and some others as the time drew near. 

We are stoked that Emily is a strong believer and that they both are leading worship together! In fact, there is an important story behind this that is about perseverance which I think is important to share, which I also shared at the wedding: 

We were on a trip years back when Patrick had just begun his teens. We had a rental car since ours was in the shop, which had satellite radio in it. We were driving along when a long set of Gospel music and Hymns sung by Elvis came on. 

I began worshiping along which brought me into the presence of the Lord. I unexpectedly got a word of knowledge that Patrick would someday lead worship, which took me by surprise.

It caused me to remember that some years before this, Mercedes and I were leading worship at Pearl Chapel on the Central California Coast, when Patrick who was just 9 years old, spontaneously came up on the platform to the microphone and started singing with us. I knew it was something prophetic…then came this word while driving which confirmed it (you can see it in this video: https://youtu.be/MGH8Vpnp_tI)

Then the trials began! I had been teaching him guitar already. After the word came I began to try teaching him about doing worship and some worship songs. It couldn’t have gone more opposite than I expected.

Those early teens are also when some of that typical teenage rebelliousness starts flaring up. I was tempted to just forget it because he would just go, “ahh worship stuff is so boring… this is dullsville...” and he just wanted to do riffs and leads on the guitar and just ignore what I was teaching him.

I actually tried to work with his interests and incorporate riffs and leads into teaching and still slip in worship stuff but the resistance to the worship parts continued. He was quite stubborn about it and I was tempted to give up many times, but the Lord just kept showing me to persevere and that it would come to fruition…in His time.

Well, I had another word of knowledge about two years ago that Patrick was supposed to come to a meeting we were going to in Orange County with some missionary friends. He decided to come and that is where he unexpectedly met Emily.

They began going to some House Church meetings together, where he encountered some guys his age doing worship and his attitude started changing. Then, an opportunity came for him and Emily to lead worship together themselves at a small House Church … they stepped through that door and are still doing it! Patrick actually apologized later for some of that earlier teenage stubbornness, praise God!

The Lord fulfilled the word in His time…it just took some perseverance…around 7 years worth or so. I was rejoicing when I watched him show a visiting friend recently all the worship songs he has learned.

We as believers may sometimes get a word, or a vision, or something of that nature for ourselves, or something like that for a son or daughter, and maybe it’s not fulfilled right away, maybe it takes a long, long time, and even gets to a point that it seems it will never happen…however, perseverance is emphasized as a needed factor in the Kingdom of God: from Abraham all the way through to the Apostle Paul, perseverance was required to fulfill the call!

Then, sometimes when it’s fulfilled, it happens in a way we didn’t expect at all. But as we walk on in the Kingdom, we see that His grace and mercy never fades nor diminishes….even if His higher ways are sometimes mysterious and not understood right away…Praise the Lord!

Patrick and Emily got to enjoy a beautiful honeymoon and are now beginning their newly joined union and lives together. And we are catching our breath after all that activity of the last few months leading up to the wedding. It was an especially busy time as the wedding rolled up and took place while plenty of other ministry was going on as well.

Ministry Update

Here are some highlights from recent ministry:

Ministering the Baptism of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday @ CCSC

We had just been preaching up north in Salinas at the Vineyard Church there, right before Patrick and Emily’s big day. We were ministering with our friend Dave E. and were sharing and reflecting on: The Mother’s Day Outpouring at what was then called Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda. It later became The Anaheim Vineyard and we shared how Lonnie Frisbee had ministered there on Mother’s Day and the outpouring that followed when Lonnie began praying for the Holy Spirit to come over the congregation. We experienced a very powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit ourselves in Salinas as we shared about that and then ministered with many being filled, empowered, and renewed, including some who had awesome breakthroughs with being filled and touched in a fresh way by the Holy Spirit’s power! In fact, a woman who had been wanting to receive the gift of tongues for years got her breakthrough when she got prayed for! Others received healing, and testimonies came of those who were set free from depression and discouragement and others shared of important encounters and personal revelations that buoyed their faith. Hallelujah!

We had a fun time on Pentecost Sunday and their night of worship at Calvary Chapel San Clemente as they played some of that worship from back in the Jesus People Revival and I followed up by sharing about some adventures back in the Jesus People Revival and how I ended up at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Mercedes shared about the times we had learning and being organically discipled by Lonnie Frisbee. It was an awesome time of worship, sharing, and praying for others for the filling of the Holy Spirit whose presence was with us as we ministered! We have also done some Afterglows with them in recent months as well!

We were blessed to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones while ministering recently in the Santa Barbara area at Mission Isla Vista. We had a blessed time sharing and praying for people. The Holy Spirit filled, empowered, and renewed so many who were there, we also heard about some healings that happened too. We were told it was the most people they have had respond for prayer there and it was one of the most powerful times we’ve had ministering there, hallelujah! We also got to enjoy a few things in the area including a little biking and some firing waves at Rincon on the way out of town that suddenly had an unexpected late season swell just show up. An unusual encounter with a famous pro surfer from the area encouraged us to get out there even if it was a little crowded. In fact, Mercedes was stoked that she got to surf and experience the famous point break herself for the first time!

We had a powerful time ministering at Centro Cristiano Esperanza in Orange County and we were blessed to have Patrick and Emily join us to help pray for people there as well. This led to many people getting ministered to in a powerful way, many were filled and empowered with the Holy Spirit as well as a few who received Christ along with some who who rededicated their lives to the Lord! The power and glory of the Lord was amongst us as we ministered!

We’ve continued ministering in various regions including the border areas sharing the Gospel and praying for others and have also had some powerful divine appointments. As the Jesus Revolution movie came out, it has sparked fresh interest about experiences with that revival and with Lonnie Frisbee, which we have been sharing about. You can check out an article we did which was actually picked up by an International Renewal publication as well as a video we’ve done here: https://www.graceworldmission.org/Jesus_ppl_revival.html

With our friends Jeff and Jeannette and other friends at PrayerFest.

We were also blessed to do a PrayerFest out in Hemet with our friends Jeff and Jeanette. It had been a little while, due to Covid and schedule issues, that we were able to get all together. We were reminded that it was the 15-year anniversary since the first one we had done together with them, and in that time over the years, we’ve seen numerous blessings and breakthroughs including healings and people coming to Christ. In fact, we were reminded by a friend who was visiting that night and told us how his son had gotten touched and empowered by the Holy Spirit and then healed of celiac disease at one of the PrayerFest meetings, as well as a woman who had her knee healed, as well as many others who have received healings as well as the filling of the Holy Spirit, praise the Lord!

In fact, the main focus at these meetings has been leading people into “the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.” We have been blessed to see many who are not necessarily Charismatic nor Pentecostal but rather have backgrounds like Baptist, Nazarene, Presbyterian, etc, come into the Fullness and Baptism of the Holy Spirit and be empowered with the gifts in these meetings in awesome ways, Praise the Lord!

We are glad to be continuing on with the legacy of our old friend and another mentor, Harald Bredesen, who was a Lutheran that got filled with the Holy Spirit and subsequently led many others in the Body of Christ who were not Charismatic/Pentecostal in background to come into the baptism of the Holy Spirit in that powerful Charismatic Renewal, which Harald helped birth and lead.

It is an important need in the Body of Christ: I recall a friend who shared how he was worshiping at one of the biggest mega churches in the country and out of nowhere he began speaking in tongues. He was subsequently escorted from his seat and shown the door, and then kicked out of the church! His story gives insight into the desperate need in the Body of Christ for clear teaching and ministry on the empowering and baptism of the Holy Spirit that is sound evangelically and taught in a way that can be received without the pitfalls of extremism. We have been blessed to minister over the years to unexpected groups which are not normally open to the empowering and baptism of the Holy Spirit and see many get filled and blessed by the fullness of the Holy Spirit! Hallelujah!

Acts 1:5: “For John truly baptized with water, but in a few days hence you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit!

Ministering and praying for people in Santa Barbar at IVC

We greatly appreciate your prayers and support! As you may know the whole deal with us as parents that are helping pay for the Honeymoon, the Rehearsal Dinner, and for many other things Patrick needed for the wedding really add up, so we greatly appreciate any extra support you can give to help us out with that at this time, thanks so much!

We praise God and thank you for your prayers and support! We are so appreciative and give thanks in Jesus’ Name!

Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux

https://linktr.ee/graceworldmission

Ministry Update: Lonnie Frisbee and the Jesus People Revival as well as 2022 In Review

Lonnie Frisbee has been in the news recently with the release of The Jesus Revolution movie. We’ve updated and revised an article we did on him. Our ole buddy John Ruttkay said: “This is one of the best articles on Lonnie and the Jesus People Revival I’ve ever read.” Check it out! 

Lonnie Frisbee and the Jesus People Revival: 

.pdf version of article

https://www.graceworldmission.org/Jesus_ppl_revival.html

With all that has been going on with the release of the movie The Jesus Revolution we got a little delayed with our online version of our 2022 Year in Review, so have a look at that as well!

Year in Review – 2022

We were blessed to minister in various places this last year as things began opening up more after the last few crazy years with so much being shut down. 

Amongst the highlights were some places we haven’t traveled to, nor ministered at in a while, like: Colorado Springs, Colorado. We were blessed to visit with some old friends that we had not seen in a few years as well as minister at their church. We experienced an awesome visitation of the Lord’s presence that was just phenomenal and many of us ended up overwhelmed and floored by the amazing grace and presence of the Lord! 

 

We had similar experiences up in Salinas in Northern California where we caught up with old friends as we ministered at the Vineyard up there with our friend Dave who we connected with years back when he prayed for him, and he got filled with the Holy Spirit. We experienced a powerful outpouring in Salinas that carried on until late in the evening as the Holy Spirit touched most of those who had come to the service. 

We were blessed to get back up to Canada after a few years of not being up that way, after they finally opened up their border. We ministered in some different places throughout Vancouver Island including various places in the city of Victoria, as well as in the towns of Port Alberni and Port Hardy—where we experienced a visitation that overwhelmed the whole church and flooded the place with the Lord’s presence so powerfully that nobody could even hardly move! It was a blessing to see the Holy Spirit ministering in power and filling, healing and setting people free, in each service as well as a having few people receive Christ along the way, including a First Nations lady who got saved and delivered in a powerful way! 

We were also thankful to get up to Mammoth Mountain in the California Sierras, where we ministered at the church in town up there after a series of divine leadings and encounters connected to another meeting down on the coast where we led worship when our friend Lauren was visiting. Lauren’s friend, whose house we had been ministering at down on the coast happened to be up in Mammoth and came to the meeting and got powerfully ministered to, along with a few others there too, it was a blessed time! 

We also had some powerful ministry in various places in Orange County including when we ministered at Centro Cristiano Esperanza and experienced the Lord’s presence in an awesome way with so many at the congregation receiving from the Lord in an amazing way, as well as a few who received Christ and others who rededicated their lives to the Lord. We were blessed to have our son Patrick and his girlfriend Emily, as well as our friend Dave, help pray for people, which led to many getting ministered to. Later on at lunch that day, we prayed for the pastor’s granddaughter who got powerfully touched at a restaurant! 

We had other powerful ministry in various places as well: We ministered in Los Angeles at an old friend’s church where some people received Christ and many got filled with the Holy Spirit as we ministered, as well as in other places in Orange County, which included sharing about The Jesus People Revival at Chuck Smith’s original church in OC, and other ministry along the southern border, where we continued experiencing the Kingdom of God in power each step along the way. 

On the Home Front 

We were blessed to be able to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in 2022 and thank the Lord for His grace to us over the years. We took some time up in Canada, aside from ministering up there, to travel out to Jasper National Park and the Columbia Icefields which was a refreshing time together! 

Our son Patrick got engaged to be married and we are happy to have had the Lord connect him to Emily, a Spirit-filled young lady from a missionary family! 

My (Bryan) stepfather passed away, who was in his 90’s. We were thankful to be able to minister to others in the family along the way in the final days of his illness, as well as conduct the memorial where we shared the Gospel. Along the way, we led a relative in prayer to receive Christ, and prayed for others as well, including my mom who we led to Christ a few years ago. We had some spiritual warfare in the midst of it all and got hit by a distracted driver on his cell phone right after doing the memorial. The insurance is looking to total our car—you don’t get a lot for a 17-year-old vehicle—which is our main car. So we appreciate your prayers and any contribution the Lord may lay on your heart for this need! 

We thank the Lord for each and every one of you and always really appreciate all your prayers and support. 

Blessings to you in Jesus’ Name! 

Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux

https://linktr.ee/graceworldmission

Merry Christmas 2022

And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’    Luke 2:13-14

Christ is Good News for He is that promised Messiah. He came to earth in such a humble way—a mere baby lying in a manger—because there was no room in the inn. Yet, He was surrounded by glory and supernatural signs and wonders. When we make room in our hearts and believe upon Him and receive Him, he cleanses us from all the stain and guilt of sin. Indeed, He gives us peace with God through His grace which is that unmerited favor which is given simply by faith in the Son of God.

 

We pray that His peace which passes all understanding will abide in your heart and life this Christmas and throughout the New Year.

God Bless You in Jesus’ Name!

 

Bryan, Mercedes 

and Patrick Marleaux

Ministry Update - Fall 2022

 

Ministry and scenes from Victoria with
a little time with friends like the
Brasset's and Pastor Dan & Julie.

                                                                                    

30 Years of Marriage 

 

We have been blessed to celebrate thirty years of marriage this year! Wow, that is actually quite the milestone!

It is especially so since we both grew up in backgrounds with broken homes and divorce. However--in Christ there is that blessed “however”—the Lord has, by His grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit, helped us overcome the odds that psychologists say have been stacked against those married couples who both grow up in homes that had divorced parents.

We are thankful, as the Lord has done so much healing, inner healing, restoration, freeing, and on and on, by the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives over the years, to establish us on the Rock of Christ in our union together.

We know so many people who have gotten separated or divorced, unfortunately many Christians among them. But for the grace of God, we could be among them as well! “However” we just humbly thank the Lord—with no pride about it—as we know it is all a gift of grace from above! 

We rejoice that the Holy Spirit continues to work in our lives to heal, and bring health, to our marriage union. We feel blessed to be celebrating this 30-year marriage milestone this year and give praise to the Lord for all His blessings!

 

Canada Mission Trip

 

We recently returned from a month-long trip ministering in British Columbia, Canada, as well as taking a little time to visit some unique and scenic places up there in celebration of our wedding anniversary.

We ministered in various meetings and churches on Vancouver Island, from the south to the north as well as in the middle of the island, ministering in the city of Victoria and in the towns of Port Alberni, and Port Hardy. 

We first ministered on the south end of the island in the city of Victoria, which is the capital of British Columbia.

We did a number of meetings while in Victoria, ministering at a couple of different church services on different weekends, as well as during the week at Bible study Prayer Meetings and a Men’s Prayer Breakfast.

Ministry and scenes from Port Hardy Christian Fellowship and some time hanging out
with Lance and Sarah and friends, we were blessed to check out  
some awesome wildlife and get in a bit of surf while out in Tofino.

    We were stoked to have the presence of the Lord moving and working, all the way through in every meeting! Many were experiencing the filling, freeing, and healing power of the Holy Spirit, along with those who were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

We received some powerful testimonies of some who were healed including a woman who was set free from chest pain! Others experienced inner healing and deliverance, and there was an empowering happening with a release of spiritual gifts and empowering for evangelism that was taking place as we ministered that many who received testified to! Hallelujah! 

A couple of people testified publicly, and on social media, how they felt the fire and power of the Holy Spirit, baptizing as well as re-baptizing some, in such a way with fire and Holy Ghost power as to overwhelm them, and in the process bringing healing, freedom and deliverance in their lives.

We went out with a van full of people to minister in Port Alberni where the Holy Spirit brought forth some powerful healing and deliverance to a number of people there.

After ministering in Victoria at the southern end, we did a series of meetings in a row up in Port Hardy at the northern end of the island, so we were literally at the ends of the earth on the island.

The Holy Spirit was moving powerfully as we ministered and we received testimonies of people set free, some receiving healings:  A guy testified to being healed of acid reflux and another to being healed of arthritis. We also had a couple people who received the Lord! One woman who opened her heart to Christ had a First Nations’ background as well as coming from a rough set of circumstances, we witnessed a complete visible change come over her after receiving Christ. She spent the next couple of days just reading the Bible, praying, and then came to a service where she publicly shared a song the Lord had just given her! 

At the last meeting in Port Hardy, after ministering every day for a few days, the overwhelming presence of the Lord just swept through, and nobody could even move for quite a while…complete silence … and then waves of weeping and then laughter… repentance … glory! The visitation of the Lord’s presence was so powerful that we were all overwhelmed…just turned into abiding in His presence for quite a while…and then praying and ministering to one another! Something historic revivals have experienced! Glory!!

We just met some people who have ministered in Canada in the past themselves who shared how they were so glad to hear about us going on mission trips and ministering there. They said it is a place that needs the ministry of the Holy Spirit and empowering of the Kingdom of God in a major way, and they feel it is actually overlooked as a mission and ministry destination.

 

    Luther and The Reformation

 

Scenes from when we visited Wittenberg, Germany and the Reformation Celebration a few years ago where a quarter million people flooded the little town of Wittenberg to celebrate the Reformation. We have an important article on the Reformation you can read here.

    We were sharing at a morning breakfast meeting right after a long night, having gone to a BBQ and then a dinner meeting. We were pressed for time in the morning, rushing to the meeting. After we arrived and began eating breakfast, someone had left on a worship program on the TV. Out of nowhere they began playing “A Mighty Fortresses is our God” from Martin Luther, a song not part of the normal worship set at most contemporary churches. 

The Lord had us leading some worship ourselves, and afterwards we shared about Luther and the importance of the Reformation and how it set the foundation for revivals. (We have been blessed to have opportunities to share on Luther at other meetings as well.)  We had a powerful Holy Ghost morning as a result! We also just did a blog on the 505th Anniversary of the Reformation and the 500-year anniversary of Martin Luther’s New Testament Translation. You can check it out at this link:

https://gwmgracenotes.blogspot.com/2022/10/500-anniv-luthers-nt.html

 

Divine Appointments

 

We took a hike out in the Port Hardy area after ministering, where we got to have a unique National Geographic-type moment as we watched the wild bears in the area feed on the salmon coming in from the ocean to go up river! We were originally going to hike somewhere else, but I unexpectedly had a divine appointment with a couple different people who both told me about this particular area and the bears being actively feeding at the moment! It was a unique experience and a small anniversary gift from above, along with all the blessed ministry we experienced up there, as well as getting some of the best surf and weather in Canada we’ve ever gotten when we visited the coast for a couple of days.

We actually also had a divine appointment right as we landed in Canada. We ended up praying for our shuttle driver who drove us from the airport to our hotel. We got to share with him for a while and then prayed for him in the parking lot. He was a believer who needed, and received, a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit as we prayed for him.

Right before going to Canada, we had a rather lengthy divine appointment with a man from Europe as we were taking a walk one afternoon. He had grown up in a religious situation with Catholicism but had no real relationship with Christ. He heard the Gospel though, and was born again and later was empowered by the Holy Spirit. We prayed together with him to renew and revive those gifts of the Spirit in his life, and it was a blessed and powerful time that also confirmed things the Lord has been guiding us in.

The Lord has had us reaching out to fellow believers who need to be empowered and filled with the Holy Spirit, along with those who already have but are in need of a renewing touch of the Holy Spirit’s power in their lives, something that one of our old mentors Harald Bredesen was gifted in doing, glad to be carrying on that legacy.

We’ve also seen many with religious backgrounds who don’t really know the Gospel and don’t have a relationship with Christ, open up and receive Him. In fact, a family member opened their heart to pray with us and receive Christ just recently! Praise the Lord! 

Right after that, as well as witnessing to some other people with religious backgrounds while walking on a pier in Orange County,  I came home and a box fell over in the garage with an article about reaching people with nominal religious backgrounds and leading them to Christ, as well as the need to see believers filled with a fresh touch of the power of the Holy Spirit, something the Lord is highlighting in our day! Billy Graham shared about how he reached out to everyone with the Gospel, including those with religious backgrounds, and also spoke very strongly about the need for us all to be filled, as well as regularly refilled, with the power of the Holy Spirit!

 

Jesus People 

 

Scenes from the Jesus People Revival and a recent meeting.
We have an article that was picked up by an International
Renewal Publication you can read here.

    We were at a Jesus People Gathering fairly recently that had memories from the Jesus People Revival being shared. We also had some powerful divine appointments while there including praying for some people who got ministered to very, very, powerfully!  One man in fact shared how it was a life-changing encounter he had as we prayed for him! Hallelujah!

We also just shared at a meeting that took place in Chuck Smith’s original church before the Jesus People Revival started, and we spoke about Lonnie Frisbee’s role in that revival! It was a powerful time reflecting on that important move of God—that really wasn’t too long ago—and still has latent blessing for us today. There is a fresh interest brewing in how God moved in that time. The Lord indeed uses the weak things that none may boast before Him!  

Lots more has been happening, but we’ll share some more on another update. 

 

We praise God and thank you for your prayers and support! 

We are so appreciative and give thanks in Jesus’ Name!

Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux

 

Grace World Mission—Useful Links 

Email: gracewm@flash.net 

Website: www.graceworldmission.org 

Donate Online: www.graceworldmission.org/contact_us.htm 

Blog Grace Notes: gwmgracenotes.blogspot.com 

Blog Reflections from the Road: reflectionsftroad.blogspot.com 

Podcast: Grace Alone on Apple Podcasts 

Radio: Grace Alone episodes: https://www.elsitiocristiano.com/ministries/solo-por-gracia/

YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/graceworldmission 

Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/graceworldmission 

Facebook page: Grace World Mission (you can like us to get updates) 

Music on Spotify, Apple Music, and Soundcloud listed under BMarleaux

500th Anniversary of Luther's New Testament

Happy Reformation Day!

Photo reflections back from the 500-year Anniversary of the Reformation where a quarter million people flooded the little town of Wittenberg in Germany! 

October 31st is the 505th year anniversary of the Reformation, and it was also just the 500th year anniversary of Martin Luther’s translation of the New Testament into the German language.

 

A Little Background

 

We may take the easy access we have to the Bible today a little too much for granted. After all, we can just open an app on our phone, and we can have the Bible right there at our fingertips.

 

However, it was not always so easy for the common person to access the Bible. In fact, the Bible had become shuttered from access during the Medieval Period. The Catholic Church forbade the laity to even own or possess the Bible at the Synod of Toulouse in 1229, on the pain of torture and death, which many indeed ultimately endured. Vernacular translations were also opposed and only the Latin Vulgate was permitted for the Scriptures.

 

Since Latin was already a dead language, it was another barrier used to prohibit access to the Scriptures. As Oxford scholar David Daniell puts it, “It might as well have been in Chinese for all the good it did being kept in Latin! Very, very, few people could read Latin!”

 

Instead of the Scriptures “The Little Hours of Mary” were proffered which promoted the cult of Mary worship, church rituals, and generated money through stipulated donations. 

 

Enter Martin Luther 

 

Martin Luther had endured a long and difficult spiritual journey after entering the monastery in 1505. In fact, he felt further from God after going down the path of the prescribed rituals of the religious system than when he had first become a monk.

 

In all earnestness, Luther had sought to follow all the prescribed rituals dictated by the religious system and constantly confessed his sins as required. For, according to Catholic teaching, each and every sin must be confessed to be forgiven. Luther kept remembering things he’d done even as a small boy, and he came and confessed so much—once spending 17 hours at the confessional—his superior finally blew up at him saying: “Why don’t you go out and commit some real sins and come back when you actually have something to confess!” 

 

He was finally sent away from the monastery—as a way to offer him some distraction and get him out of their hair—and was thus directed to go into study of the Bible as a form of diversion.

 

It should not be assumed that this was normal activity during this time. Reading the Bible was not practiced, neither by those in the priesthood nor the laity. As mentioned previously, the Catholic Church had banned the laity from even owning or in any way having possession of a Bible at the Synod of Toulouse in 1229. Reading the Bible was reserved exclusively for those elite few who were considered theologians established in the hierarchy of the church. Only they were allowed to read and interpret it and had to stay in line with the papacy.

 

Luther was sent to study the Bible merely as a diversion; he had been a law student formerly so he was able to read Latin.

 

While reading the New Testament himself, Luther came upon passage after passage that declared that simple faith in Jesus Christ was all that was necessary for salvation. This was a complete contrast to what he experienced as a monk.

 

As a Catholic monk, he had grown exhausted and alienated from the heavenly kingdom he had sought. The heavy weight of constant rituals foisted upon him in the monastery did not draw him into relationship with the Almighty but instead created animosity in his heart and the peace with God that he so earnestly sought was nowhere in sight.

 

Here, however, in the very pages of the New Testament, he was finding something completely different from the teachings of the religious system: 

 

There was no requirement to confess all your sins to a priest. Rather the New Testament declared “There is one God and one mediator between God and man… Christ Jesus” 1Tim. 2:5

 

Nor did salvation require good works like the Catholic Church commanded, which included: giving donations to the church, venerating relics, confessing to a priest, praying to saints, vigils, holy water… and on and on! 

 

Rather the Word declared: 

 

“For it is by grace you are saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Eph.2:8-9

 

“Then they asked [Jesus] ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’” John 6:28-29

 

The religious system Luther encountered had required rituals and works for salvation as well as to lessen one’s time in purgatory. These things they required however were not found in the teaching of the New Testament. “Purgatory” itself was just another pure invention of Catholicism not found anywhere in Scripture.

 

Simple faith drew Luther into a living and saving relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ.

Luther wrestled with the Apostle Paul’s teaching in Romans about being justified by grace through faith night and day. He finally understood that Christ had paid the price on the cross, for our sins, once for all, and all that is required is to believe upon Jesus!

 

When he finally understood this the Holy Spirit came upon him, and his guilt and sin were lifted off his back! He says he was "born again" as he understood that his sin was washed away by simply believing in Jesus Christ! 

 

After being set free and experiencing the liberty of God’s grace, Luther was of no mind to return to the dead rituals of the religious system. 

Luther Nails the 95 Theses

 

He in time drew up some statements or "Theses" to engage some of the church theologians on the wayward path the church had taken. It bears mentioning that Luther did not challenge other doctrines that were still orthodox within Catholicism, and there were still many orthodox foundations. Luther only wanted to challenge where they drifted from the Scriptures especially in regards to salvation. 

 

However, the Ninety-Five Theses he drew up to challenge the errors the church had embraced, set off a spark that soon fanned into an international flame. 

 

After Luther had nailed his Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, some students took them and copied and widely distributed them, using the recently invented Gutenberg printing press to reproduce them. 

 

A perfect storm soon erupted fueled forth by the truth based on the Living Word of God and the distribution of this document through new technology. Before he knew what was happening, the Reformation had been ignited and Luther was in the middle of a conflagration.

 

To paraphrase Didier Erasmus, the famous theologian from Rotterdam, this confrontation Luther sparked posed a threat to: The religious establishment’s money-making system as well as the dictatorial nature and infallibility of the papacy.

 

When the Pope got wind of the issue, he said he would “have this drunken German burned at the stake within two weeks!” Although many attempts were made to shut down the emerging Reformation, it continued to roll forward.

The Leipzig Debate

 

A debate was proffered which many in the hierarchy believed would slap Luther down. They figured the renowned Catholic theologian Johann Eck would quickly shut down this simple monk Martin Luther quite handily. 

 

However, Luther rose to the occasion at the Leipzig debate, and was equal match for Eck in his knowledge of Scripture and understanding of Christian history. Luther showed that the church had itself strayed and had contradicted its own earlier councils and teachings during its slide away from the truth in the Medieval Era. 

 

Eck in response accused Luther of being a Wycliffite and a Hussite. Many had attempted to bring reform before Luther’s era, figures such as John Wycliffe in England, and Jan Hus in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic), as well as others like early reformer Peter Waldo in France and the Waldensians, who sought to distribute Bibles and pray for the sick. 

 

The Catholic Church had come out against these earlier reformers and continued to persecute those who attempted reform and translation of the Bible. William Tyndale was a contemporary and friend of Luther’s who was arrested and executed for his faith and work in translating and distributing the Bible in the common English language.

 

Luther declared that he himself was indeed a “Wycliffite and a Hussite” throwing caution to the wind! Luther, normally a mild-mannered person, boldly threw himself in with these earlier reformers, even though the followers of Hus and Wycliff had been ordered to be executed by the Pope, this was thus quite a daring thing to say. The Leipzig debate pretty much backfired and Luther’s popularity only seemed to grow.

 

The Diet of Worms

A Diet—a type of trial—was then set up in hopes of quelling the Reformation. Luther would have to answer before the Holy Roman Emperor—the most powerful and important man in the Western world at that time—Luther, a mere peon in contrast, sweated profusely as he was cross-examined in his presence.

 

He was originally told he would be able to explain and defend his writings and teachings. However, after he arrived in the town of Worms, Germany for the Diet, he found he had been lied to and was only given the opportunity to recant or face the consequences.

 

Before the council, while being questioned and cross-examined, Luther was being pressed hard to recant, but in response he finally retorted: “I cannot and will not recant, my conscience is captive to the Word of God, to go against conscience and the Word, is neither right nor safe, I can do no other, here I stand, so help me God.”

 

Luther threw up his hands into the air in the gesture of a knight and marched out to the applause of the Germans and the hissing sneers of the Spaniards—some of which were dyed-in-the-wool fanatics and enforcers of the Inquisition, torturing dissenters of Catholic strictures.

 

Frederick the Wise, the Elector Prince of Luther’s German region of Saxony, who was on the council judging Luther, saw that he was merely returning to the true roots of the Christian faith and declined to condemn Luther, as did some others in the Diet, but a rump of the Diet still voted to condemn him as a heretic.

 

During the night, however, the Bundeschuh—the sign of the peasants’ revolt—was placarded on the wall of the building where the Diet was taking place. This was a serious threat from the people that if Luther was arrested there in Worms, there would be rioting by the people. This sent the Diet into a panic. To appease the peasants—to whom Luther was becoming a hero—he was allowed to return home to Wittenberg and would be remanded into custody later to face the consequences of being condemned as a notorious heretic.

 

Frederick the Wise knew fanatics and assassins would be waiting for an opportunity to murder Luther on his return home, so he arranged for some of his own knights to hold up and kidnap Luther shortly after he embarked on his return home, so as to secretly take hold of him and hide and protect him.

 

The knights grabbed him shortly after he left the town of Worms, and with much yelling and cussing—purposely making a loud ruckus—they then had different knights ride off in different directions, while having Luther hidden and taken away to an old, abandoned castle, making sure no one followed after them.

Luther Translates the New Testament at the Wartburg

For ten months Luther was hidden away, holed up in the abandoned Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany, where he testifies to experiencing some heavy and serious spiritual warfare. He says the attacks of men, including other priests and the pope railing against him and everything else he had endured, paled in comparison to the onslaught of Satan’s attacks on him while alone in the Wartburg. Isolated and without other things to distract his attention, Luther took on the great task of translating the New Testament into the common German tongue and completed his translation while he was there at the Wartburg.

 

Luther wanted others to see the clear teaching of the New Testament for themselves and see that: The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ alone is the Savior! That Jesus Christ alone is the one Mediator between God and man. That one only need come to Christ in faith for salvation. These simple declarations became foundations of the Reformation and led to later revivals.

 

His publication of the New Testament spread a return of the true roots of the Christian faith throughout Germany and Europe and fanned the flames of the Reformation and spawned numerous revivals later. 

 

Jan Hus’s Prophecy Fulfilled

After the Diet of Worms in 1521, with Luther still at the Wartburg and his popularity seeming to only increase, the time passed and the possibility of safely arresting him was even less viable and was eventually abandoned, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Jan Hus, the Bohemian reformer, from a century before. 

 

Hus had attempted during his time to reform the wayward religious system of his day, and as he was about to be executed and burned at the stake for seeking to bring these reforms, he spoke out and prophesied:

 

“Today you burn me a goose (Hus’s name in Czech meant goose) but in 100 years another [reformer] shall rise, he shall be a swan, him you will not be able to burn nor boil!”

 

Hus was martyred in 1415. It was one hundred years later in the year 1515 when Martin Luther began to study Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, which led to his conversion. This encounter with God and His grace during Luther’s born-again experience set off the chain of events which fomented into the Reformation. 

Luther pictured with a swan

The Holy Spirit had opened Luther’s eyes to the salvation which is given freely through faith in Christ and the justification given by His grace. Try as they might they were not able to kill this swan. In his later years, Luther often had himself pictured in paintings with a swan next to his side, showing that God had fulfilled Hus’s prophecy through him!

 

 

These are some videos we’ve produced are helpful to learn a bit more about Martin Luther:

 

Martin Luther and the Reformation 

 

Martin Luther: Born Again into Amazing Grace 

 

The Priesthood of All Believers 

 

Luther quotes on the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit (short video with notable quotes)

The Reformation Spreads: Playlist of Reform Spreading into other Areas.

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