End of Year 2025 Printed Newsletter
December 18, 2025
Here we are again, just a few days before Christmas. It seems the old adage, “The older you get the faster time flies,” is so true. There is not a year that passes when we look back and think, “Wow, this year took forever!” History is passing by and we look forward to the new year as we continue to focus on our eternal destiny. Our theme this year has been, HISTORY & DESTINY. Christmas is a great time to reflect on these two realities. Everyone has “Christmas history”, as I term it - those moments from past Christmases that are remembered year after year. Maybe it’s a great family gathering or Christmas activity that has become a beloved tradition. All of those moments are formed by previous years’ experiences. Sometimes this season can be tough, as we may have that memory of a loved one that has passed or other difficulties that we may be facing. Christmas history is always impactful, be it good or bad. This makes me reflect on the first Christmas. For Mary and Joseph, there was no previous history like that moment, per se. Yet, the history of the prior four thousand years had been preparing for the manger, the moment in history that our Savior would be born and begin Christmas history for all of us. Whether it is acknowledged or not, without Jesus’ birth in history, none of this season happens. Each and every Christmas our desire is to make those “Christmas history” memories for our family. Our desire is to impact the future of our family, our destiny. Often our efforts fall short or are interrupted by things out of our control. In those moments, so much stress can come from our efforts not going as planned. Sometimes it ends up ruining the whole season, especially if our focus has not been on the simple fact that He was born to bring peace, not stress. Let us not forget that it didn’t start the way Mary and Joseph had planned, with no room in the inn. But the Lord provided a place for them to rest and deliver the baby. Immanuel, God with us, is the bell ringing for all eternity that started that first Christmas. Our eternal destiny hinges on whether we acknowledge who He is everyday, not just in this season. Yet, this season is most assuredly a great time to emphasize His gift of life for all eternity. Our Creator became as one of His image bearers in that stable under imperfect conditions. He joined HISTORY and DESTINY that moment in time. The years of history that prepared the world for the child born that first Christmas would give us hope for all eternity. Jesus is the marker for all history. Because of that moment in time, our life can have peace for eternity through Him. May we all focus on the culmination of HISTORY & DESTINY during our family Christmas celebrations this year. Our history is written but our destiny is hope in Jesus Christ, our Creator and Savior. Blessings this season to you and your family from all of us here at Creation Truth Foundation!
As many saw corruption not only in the abuse of parishioners, but also in church authority and doctrine, many started to speak out for reform. Martin Luther published his 95 Theses in 1517, and thanks to Johannes Guttenberg’s printing press, was able to print many short treatises on Biblical matters. His publications are thought to amount to ⅕ of all works printed in Germany in the first third of the 1500s. Economic historian Dr. Jared Rubin published in 2014 that “the mere presence of a printing press prior to 1500 increased the probability that a city would become Protestant in 1530 by 52.1 percentage points.” 1 Over in England, King Henry VIII desired to annul his marriage to his first of 6 wives, Catherine of Aragon. Pope Clement VII wouldn’t grant it, so King Henry established the Church of England, with him as the Supreme Head. After his and his son Edward’s deaths, his daughter from Catherine named Mary was able to take over. She reinstated the Catholic faith, although she was quite vengeful, burning at the stake more than 280 dissenters in her 5-year reign, giving her the label “Bloody Mary.” During this time, many Reformers fled to Geneva where they published in 1560 the Geneva Bible. After Mary’s death, her half-sister Elizabeth became queen and restored the Church of England. After her nearly 45-year reign, her cousin James I became king upon her death. He would commence the 1604 revision of the Book of Common Prayer and the Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 1611, known today as the King James Bible. Understandably, with all this political activity, things may not have always been on the up and up in the Church of England. Consequently, there were many reform efforts that sprung up, such as the Anabaptists, Baptists, Barrowists, Behmenists, Brownists, Diggers, Enthusiasts, Familists, Fifth Monarchists, Grindletonians, Levellers, Muggletonians, Puritans, Philadelphians, Quakers, Ranters, Sabbatarians, Seekers, and Socinians, to name a few. Robert Browne was an Anglican priest who was influenced by some Puritan theologians. He eventually rejected the idea of purifying the Church of England, and helped start a separatist church in 1581. In 1592, the Seditious Sectaries Act was passed specifically outlawing Brownists and other separatists, including imprisonment. Still, more continued to be influenced. So, in 1604, Archbishop Bancroft launched his campaign of suspending or firing some 380 Puritan and Separatist ministers, many of whom started new separatist churches, such as ministers Richard Clyfton and John Robinson in 1606. The postmaster and manager of the archbishop’s Manor House in Scrooby, William Brewster, had been impressed by Clyfton’s preaching and invited the separatists to meet in the house. Brewster eventually resigned his position, being fined for his absences at the king’s church. As the congregation grew, one enthusiastic 16-year old William Bradford began attending. An orphan since age 7, he had heard Clyfton preach at age 12. Now he was a member of this house church that grew to some 50 members, making it difficult to avoid the authorities. Bradford wrote, “But after these things they could not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were hunted & persecuted on every side… For some were taken & clapt up in prison, others had their houses beset & watched night and day, & hardly escaped their hands; and the most were fain to fly & leave their houses & habitations, and the means of their livelihood.” 2