When I think of Luther’s dramatic “here I stand” statement before the Diet of Worms in 1521, I think of …

… Roland Bainton’s excellent biography …

[When Luther concluded the statemet he] “threw up his arms in the gesture of a victorious knight, and slipped out of the darkened hall, amid the hisses of the Spainiards, and went to his lodging.” (181)

… Niall MacGinnis’ fired passion (1953) …

… Joseph Fiennes’ quiet resilience (2003) …

… and Curt Allen’s track off his album The Process of the Pardon. Listen here:

Here I Stand (lyrics)

Verse 1

Let my life be a wordsmith, the word is a gift
What I’ve heard made me observe every verb from my lips
When you come from the curbs, where nervous don’t exist
And your heart is just hard to your sin, it did this
You need a reality check, in actuality vexed is God’s person
When what’s out of His neck is treated like strep
To those that respect stand firm even if you squirm
Learn what’s correct, cause your Diet of Worms is next

Hook

Here I stand, the Bible in my hand, let my life testify Jesus Christ is a man
And fully God, in the cross it’s fully our declaration, legal justification
Here I stand, the Bible in my hand is God’s word, it’s infallible
Disagreement is laughable. Denying this authority is Scripture hating
Planting my flag, I ask: What is your reformation?

Verse 2

Now every so often a heresy will say
That it killed what we feel, putting nails in the coffin
For real, not an option. They all been contested
And next is Paul, and it’s called the new perspective
So here’s the perspective: It’s some that would say
That justification’s not what we know it today
It should blow you away, what they say is insanity
That justification means a part of God’s family
It doesn’t mean that you righteous despite this
Exegesis that strengthens many believers
It gets deeper and hostile, they say
That the gospel is not about how you are saved!
What a grave mistake that you make when
Righteousness imputed to what you did is fake
It undermines the very nature of truth
That grace has now declared us righteous when we see His face

Hook

Verse 3

Now just when you thought it was safe, some depict a negative view of Scriptures
That wrongly pictures God’s Word unreliable, filled with inconsistencies
Though inconsistently brought, it ought not to really be an item
But it’s sad that we gotta fight ‘em, dag what they brag
Affects the word as ad infinitum. Apparently, many find issues with inerrancy
That Scripture makes mistakes, the debate innately tears at the foundation of
Can we trust with our life and observe a word that we not even sure is right?
’Cause it might say something that is wrong is an accusation that is far too strong
What God breathed along through the men that would pen His works
Yeah, there are quirks, but trust in the whole Bible extends the church
Where problems in the Scriptures, search, be a Berean
’Cause the Word that’s infallible, inerrant we believe in

Hook

© 2008 Curt “Voice” Allen, posted here by permission of the artist.

My friend David Mathis was reading a bio on Martin Luther and stumbled upon this excerpt from Twelve Reformation Heroes by G. A. Neilson:

I take great joy in knowing (or hoping) that one of my direct ancestors (or someone’s ancestor) was a “chum” of Luther, and helped feed the starving boy. My guess is without this clever Reinke intervention Martin would have starved and the spark of the reformation would have been extinguished.

I’ve never been more proud to be called Reinke! So thank you, David! This excerpt makes my reformation day.