God Replaces the Goose with a Swan

Tonight is one of those occasions I will remember for the rest of my life. Our youth from Emmanuel Enid have been teaching English to Polish students in Zory, Poland. They traveled 45 minutes to Dzieliegov, Poland today to join us for the evangelistic meeting where I am preaching. We are on the border of Poland and the Czech Republic. At tonight's evangelistic service, hundreds of Czechoslavakians crossed the border mountains into Poland to attend the service. At the close of meeting tonight, many Czechs gave their hearts to Christ (the picture to the left is one my wife took at the end of the service).

Today is a national holiday in the Czech Republic. 600 years ago, on July 6, 1415, Jon Hus, was burned at the stake.  I won't go into the details of all that Hus did in his life, except to say that he was the forerunner of the Reformation.

In in the Czech language the name Hus means "goose." Catholic officials burned Hus at the stake in 1415 because he taught the people that they should be able to read the Bible for themselves, that they could talk to God directly without the mediation of a priest since Jesus Christ is the Great High Priest for all believers, and he encouraged people to trust in the grace of God in Christ alone for their salvation.

Jon Hus died for his faithfulness to the gospel. He was the true foreunner of the Reformation.

100 years later, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenburg Castle in Germany and the Reformation officially  began. Luther's name in Latin means "Swan."

The enemy killed a goose and God gave the world a swan.

Tonight, 600 years later,  I saw the grace of God transform the lives of some Czechs. The national hero of Czechoslavakia, Jon Hus,  is continuing to see the fruit from his martyrdom.

The gates of hell shall not prevail.