Dear JWC family and friends,
October is known for many things, but one of the most important actually occurs on the last day of the month! No… I’m not talking about Halloween. Rather, I’m referring to Reformation Day! This year marks the 505th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, which is typically dated to October 31st 1517 and Martin Luther’s bold nailing of his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the All Saint’s Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
I think it is important to reflect on exactly what was happening that day (though in a rather abbreviated form!). Luther was not setting out to create a new denomination. He was, however, protesting against practices within the church that he recognized as inconsistent with biblical truths and that demanded reformation, recantation, and repentance. He wanted to see the church restored. The Roman Catholic Church rejected Luther’s appeals, and so came the Protestant Reformation. But it is important to recognize that Luther wasn’t just protesting against the church’s practices. With the nature of the medieval Europe, he was protesting against his society and the mindsets and worldviews of his entire culture. This was not merely an ecclesiastical battle.
Today, 505 years later, we are again facing a society and culture that is in desperate need of reformation, recantation, and repentance. Our society has accepted falsehood, rewritten history, and – worst of all – rejected the Judeo-Christian principles upon which our nation was founded. This is not sustainable. As one of our nation’s founding fathers, John Adams, once said:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
So our nation, our culture, needs a reformation. We need a revival. This revival needs to come from our churches, but it also needs to be exhibited in our institutions. It especially must be exhibited in our educational institutions. According to Barna surveys, 70-80% of students professing the Christian faith who attend secular universities return from those universities renouncing their faith and rejecting their Christian heritage. Our earliest educational institutions were established in the context of and (often) for the purpose of the Christian faith. How far we have drifted from that beginning!
John Witherspoon College is unapologetically Christian. We recognize the need for revival and repentance in our culture and the need for a Christ-centered educational institution. Our nation needs it, and our students and future generations deserve it. We also want to be available to students without crushing them with debt or depending on governmental monies. In order to accomplish this, though, we must rely on those who will help support our institution financially.
As we approach the 505th anniversary of the Reformation, we think of those who invested their lives in the new movement and repentance within the church and throughout society. I would ask you to prayerfully think of how you might invest financially to support a renewal of Christian values within education by donating to John Witherspoon College. Our culture needs a reformation; JWC is committed to educating our next generation to serve in the revival of our land. Will you commit to helping us do so?
Finally, I want to thank you for how you have already supported John Witherspoon College as an act of faith. I know your faith will be rewarded, and am confident, as Paul said, that:
“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)
Sincerely yours in Christ,