The "Happy Reformation Day?" post about a month ago generated a lot of healthy discussion in our small groups as well as over email (though strangely, there's only one comment on the post itself!)

Many readers responded with, "yeah, that totally makes sense" or "I've never thought about the unintended consequences of the Reformation before." But a few others, though appreciating the general direction of the post, thought it would be helpful to read a follow-up that expanded on some of the "vital insights" to the Christian gospel that we owe to the Reformers that I alluded to in the post.

I'm happy to do this! After all, I'm a Pastor ordained in a Reformed church, so it is important to me.

Now, one of the weaknesses of the original post was it's length, or or more accurately, it's brevity. You see, when you try to say anything, you can never say everything, or you'll end up saying nothing at all. (hat tip to my professor, Richard Pratt.)

So in any blog post there's bound to be intended and non-intended "gaps" where the reader is left wondering, "well, I wonder what he thinks about that?" This is unavoidable, but when the topic is theology, or heroes of the faith, or the real heirs of the Reformation, those "gaps" can create more heat than light and may need to be addressed.

So, what I'd like to do is to put together a few posts that will help Intowner's (and maybe a few others) understand what it means that we're a Reformed church, why we feel this is important, and what we owe to the theological and political upheaval known as The Reformation.

So, in the coming days I'd like to give a short historical overview of the Reformation, place Intown within this historical context, and then review some of the most salient theological insights that guide our ministry today.