I just returned from another great "Living History" weekend. We are better known by the term "reenactors," but we call ourselves "living historians." My specialty in reenacting is the War Between the States. I played the role of a soldier until my physician advised me I shouldn't carry a rifle anymore due to an old shoulder injury, so I switched roles and now serve as
"Chaplain of the First Brigade, Provisional Army of the Confederate States."Yesterday I held "church call" and did a service about the Reformation and why "
Semper Reformanda" remains important even in so-called "Protestant" churches, where superstition, invention, corruption, and false worship are as bad as they were five hundred and eight years ago when Doctor Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door. The service was very well attended by reenactors and park visitors alike.
I always write an "After Action Report" for my superiors and post it to my blog
here. I'll be writing the latest one later today, but interested parties can read previous reports and a little about our Living History hobby there. All of it started for me when we were home schooling our kids and wanted to bring American history to life for them. Too much awesomeness to just sit and watch, I enlisted in the "army" and brought the family along to countless reenactments which they, too, participated in as soon as they were old enough.
God has used this "chaplain" impression in a far greater way than I could have imagined, and opened doors of opportunity far greater than I ever hoped! I just wanted to share this because it has become almost a full-time job now during the reenacting season, and because I'm seeing a real interest in having biblical worship and biblical teaching restored to the Church. People are tired of "the show" and wanting a back-to-basics faith that is as effective Monday through Saturday as it is on Sundays. It's encouraging! Lots more young people are attending now than in previous years, with much greater interest in genuine Christianity than before.
It's getting to be so great now and offers so much hope to see "Gen Z" folks taking an interest in the truth and genuinely pursuing righteousness, that I wanted to share it my friends here in the Reformed community who may have come to feel - as I did for a long time - that the faith once delivered was dying out, drowned out by "the show" and lost to the world as in the 16th century before the Reformation. Take heart, my friends! The next generation may indeed see true revival and reformation.
Your Obedient Servant (as we say in reenacting),
"Chaplain" RC Arnaud
First Brigade
Provisional Army of the Confederate States
