#95theses

Martin Luther was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and Augustinian friar. He was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation.

Cloistered Monk to Reformer: Before becoming a key figure in the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther was a devout Augustinian monk. He entered the monastery in Erfurt, Germany, against his father's wishes, seeking spiritual fulfillment. It was during this time that he struggled with questions of salvation and the nature of God's grace, ultimately leading to his theological breakthroughs.

Tower Experience: Legend has it that Martin Luther had a pivotal moment in his life known as the "Tower Experience." In 1517, while in a tower at Wittenberg, Luther is said to have had a profound spiritual revelation that sparked his theological insights, eventually leading to the posting of his famous "95 Theses" on the door of the Castle Church.

Translation of the Bible: Martin Luther played a significant role in translating the Bible into German, making it more accessible to the common people. Completed in 1534, Luther's translation of the New Testament and later the Old Testament into German greatly contributed to the standardization and development of the German language.

Marriage to Katharina von Bora: In 1525, Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora, a former nun. This marriage was considered scandalous at the time, as it challenged the celibacy vows associated with monastic life. Luther and Katharina had a happy and supportive marriage, and they had six children together.

"Yes! Feel the fire! Yes! Yes! Feel his anointing!" Pastor Yves shouts on the microphone as people come forward for the healing service.

"Hallelujah! Amen! Thank you, Lord!" The church members respond as they get down on their knees.

"In Jesus' name, the weak shall walk!" Pastor Yves lays his hand on a woman sitting in a wheelchair. "By his stripes, you are now healed!" Little by little, the woman stood up from her wheelchair and inched her way toward the Pastor. The crowd started wailing and lifting their hands. "Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!"

"Come on." Madame Delphine Delon beckons her daughter, Élise. She responds, nodding her head with disapproval. "Come on now; you're a child of God. Ask him to heal your scoliosis."

"Mama, I don't want to."

"Élise! Go now, or I'll kick you out of the house."

Immediately, Élise gets up from her seat and heads to the pulpit as her hand fidgets. Pastor Yves looks at her. "Yes, my dear child of God, what is it you need for healing?" He lays his hand on her head.

"Um, my-my scoliosis."

"Lord, have mercy on this child. Take away the pain from her body. Restore her bones and let her stand firmer in your presence. In Jesus' name, it is gone! No more scoliosis!" He pushes her head to make her appear as if she fainted. Uncomfortably, she observes that everyone seems to be shaking on their knees while she kneeled firmly. They were all wailing as if in a state of euphoria while she felt nothing. Nothing has changed. She still has the same posture.

"Now, it's time for the spirit to speak through all of you. I command you! Spirit come through!" He approaches a middle-aged man and shakes his head. Little by little, the man starts uttering words in an ancient language. "Yes! Holy Spirit! Come through! Touch their tongues!" He shouts on the microphone. Afterward, it was Élise's turn, but nothing came out, so she made up words. Beside her, an old lady mumbled, "Coca-Cola. Pepsi-Cola. Fanta. Hallelujah!" Élise then couldn't hold her laughter. Thankfully, no one noticed because everyone else in the congregation started speaking in tongues.

When the service ended, Madame Delphine approached Pastor Yves and thanked him for the anointing service. He took her hand and shook it. Élise, on the other hand, went to the water closet for a bit to wash her hands. While she cleaned her hands, she caught a glimpse of a woman crawling in pain through the mirror. "Argh!" The woman wailed. It was the woman who forced herself out of the wheelchair. Élise turned around, and a hand grabbed the woman inside the cubicle as if to hide her. The hand wore a ring with a sapphire on it. She gasped and quickly ran out of the water closet.

As she ran out, she ran into her Mother. "Watch where you're going! You look like you've seen a ghost!" Madame Delphine whispers to her. To which Élise responds with silence.

As they walked out of the church premises, a car drove by. It was Pastor Yves driving in his black Bentley. "Pastor!" Ecstatic, the church members waved him goodbye as they exited the church. He rolls down the window, smiles, and reveals himself to wear platinum Bentley sunglasses. "Next week is tithing weekend!" He winks as the engine revs.

As Madame Delphine and Élise walked home, they caught a glimpse of Raoul sitting outside his worn-down home. He was a regular tither and would always give 10% of what he earned despite it being little. Raoul is a fisherman yet barely gets to try his harvest. But despite that, he still squeezed in some coins to the church.

"Mama, I saw the woman who got off her wheelchair."

"Mhmm, what about her?"

"She was crawling in the bathroom! She's not healed!"

"What are you saying? The Lord has healed her! Stop talking nonsense to me!"

"But Mama-"

"Enough of that! Have more faith, child. Have faith!"

Élise looks down as they finally arrive home. When she reached her room, she took her phone out of her cabinet and opened Twitter. She typed the following:

What you see is not always what you'll get.

Beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing.

It's a theatrical show.

Afterward, she presses the tweet button. And then, the telephone rings. She heads out of her room but sees her Mother has already answered.

"Salut? Ah, oui, ça va! She's fine. She's upstairs right now. Yes! She came forward earlier for her scoliosis. Praise the Lord! This afternoon? Sure. Au revoir!" As Madame Delphine puts the telephone down, Élise quickly hides in her room. "Élise! Sister Alice is coming this afternoon. She'd love to hear your testimony." Madame Delphine calls out as she heads up to Élise's room. Élise quickly grabs a Bible and skims through it as she hears her Mother's footsteps. "Good girl." Madame Delphine states. "Sister Alice is coming this afternoon." Élise nods her head.

Ding dong. The doorbell rings. "Salut!" Madame Delphine greets Sister Alice as she opens the door. They kiss one another on the cheeks.

"Salut, ça va?"

"Oui, ça va! Come in."

"Where's your daughter?"

"Ah, she's upstairs. Élise! Come down! Sister Alice is here."

Hesitant, she walks down the stairs. "Salut, Mademoiselle." Sister Alice stretches out her hand to shake Élise's. Once Élise noticed a sapphire ring on Sister Alice's ring finger, she fidgets. Sister Alice shakes her hand firmly. Afterward, they all sit down.

"So what did you come forward to for healing? We'd love to share your testimony with the congregation." Sister Alice grins.

"It was for her scoliosis." Madame Delphine responds.

"Ah. How's your back feeling now?"

"Nothing has changed," Élise responds swiftly while Madame Delphine glares at her.

"Oh, in time, it will fully recover!" Sister Alice responds with the jolliest expression as she reaches for Élise's hand. Élise quickly pulls out her hand. "Anyhow, I urge you both to attend the tithing service next weekend. God will bless you even more and heal you!" Sister Alice clears her throat. "Thank you for letting me visit, Madame Delphine." Madame Delphine shows her out of the door.

"Élise! What was that? You just disrespected Pastor Yves' wife!"

"So what now?" Élise responds as she heads upstairs.

"They will help us all reach prosperity and healing. You need to,"

"They're all fake! Can't you see? It was all an act earlier! Open your eyes, Mama!"

"Young lady! How dare you speak to me like that? We must submit to our leaders. God will bless those who submit before-"

"I told you! The woman in the wheelchair was acting! I don't feel any change in my-"

"That's enough, Élise! Go to your room and read the Bible. The world must be influencing you with these rebellious thoughts."

"No! I'm just telling the truth. I saw what I saw!"

"Enough!" Madame Delphine shouts as she drags Élise out of her room and pushes her into a tiny storage room. She throws in a Bible, a journal,  pen, closes the door, and locks it from outside. "No! Let me out! It's not fair! How could you do this, Mama?" Élise yells as she bangs on the door. "You are to stay here for the rest of the week and read your Bible. You are to write your daily devotions in that journal, and you will only come out on Sundays. God wants you to read the word, not the world."

"No!" Élise wails.

The following Sunday, Madame Delphine finally unlocked the closet. Inside, Élise was down on her knees and worn out. "Come on now. It's Sunday." She gets Élise up while she clutches the Bible and journal. "You don't need to bring that to the service."

"I'd love to take notes now," Élise responds with a smile that Madame Delphine never expected. "Good girl. The Bible changed you for good."

"Ma, may I get my jug upstairs? I'm a bit dehydrated."

"Sure."

Quickly, Élise heads up to her room with her Bible and journal. In the room, she quickly inserts her phone inside a hole she carved in the middle pages of the Bible. In her drawer, she grabs a lighter and jug. Downstairs, Madame Delphine was waiting. "I'll wait for you outside. Hurry up!" Élise heads downstairs, and in the kitchen, she grabs a container with gasoline. She pours the gas instead of water.

"Ready?"

"Oui," Élise responds as she swipes her hair to the back.

As they walk toward the church, they see Raoul's rotting flesh. "Don't look!" Madame Delphine quickly covers her eyes of Élise. Poor Raoul has probably passed from starvation. What was left from his piggy bank was used for the church and not to fill his stomach? While Madame Delphine walked ahead, Élise quickly pulled out the phone from her Bible and took a quick video of Raoul's body.

As they arrived at the church, Madame Delphine went ahead inside. Élise, on the other hand, excused herself to go to the water closet. Upon entering, she saw the woman crawling in pain at the edge. She quickly grabs her phone, takes a video, and stops as Sister Alice enters. Startled, she hides her phone inside her Bible. "Élise, what are you doing here?" Sister Alice asks with the most condescending smile. "Uh, my scoliosis has been healed." Élise grins. "Oh, that's wonderful news!" She responds as she hugs her. Élise responds with a smile and heads out of the water closet.

Outside, she pours gasoline from her jug around the church and the water closet. "Cool! What are you doing, Élise?" Louis, an old friend of Élise, asks. "That-that is Holy Water from Israel. It is a special gift given by a family friend." Startled, Élise brushes her hair to the side. "Yo, that is so awesome!" Louis gives her a fist bump as he enters the church.

Afterward, Élise's smile doused into a frown. She pulls out her phone and starts uploading the videos she took. The captions read:

What happens when you offer 10% of your earnings to a leader who uses it for his gain?

We continue to remain poor as this man keeps preying on our tithes to get richer while we get poorer.

Don't always believe what you see! This woman hasn't recovered. There is no miracle, and it is all for a show!

Upon entering the church, the congregation was getting ready to line up to give their tithes. "Yes! The Lord will make you prosper more if you give 10% of what you earn. The funds will go to the foundation of the church." Pastor Yves shouts on the microphone. Élise looks around and notices that nothing has changed for 18 years. The ceiling is dilapidated, the paint on the walls worn out, and sewer rats still come and go. Elevated in the pulpit, it was clear that Pastor Yves had new clothes. He had a new Vacheron Constantin watch. It is around 31.617,18 euros. While the congregation lining up couldn't even earn up to 600 euros annually. The people wore worn-out clothes, and some even had holes. It angered Élise. With a click of a finger, she pressed a button. Afterward, everyone in the congregation received a notification. Even the projector on the pulpit reflected Élise's public Twitter account called 95 Tweets. Each of her tweets flashed, and everyone gasped.

In the seats, middle-aged women were whispering. "Isn't that the daughter of Madame Delphine? She has such a slanderous child. Child of the devil!" The woman uttered. "No. No. No." Madame Delphine mumbled in her seat. Everyone started fixing their gaze on Madame Delphine. Suddenly, the projector played the video of Raoul's corpse and the woman in the wheelchair crawling. Everyone was disturbed by what they saw.

"What is this work of the devil?" Pastor Yves shouts on the microphone. "You!" He points his finger at Élise. She was standing at the middle aisle exit of the church. She smirks, grabs her lighter from her Bible, and incinerates the floor until the fire spreads around. The congregation starts panicking. "Child of the devil!" Pastor Yves yells. But to his surprise, the cross behind him starts burning and falls above him. The flames engulf him, and he cannot escape the cross that has trapped his body. In Pastor Yves' last breaths, he couldn't think of anything besides the money he stole from the people. "No! No! No!" He yells as his face burns crispy black with only his big blue eyes staring back. The congregation goes into a stampede while Élise exits with a big smirk on her face. That's what happens when you cage a bird for too long. The more you overprotect her and say that monsters fill the world, the more she'll become the monster herself.

After a while, a firetruck, ambulance, and police car arrive. "There, Sir! There she is! The slanderous child of the devil! Get her!" A middle-aged woman points to Élise, and the police grab her arms to handcuff her. Élise doesn't flinch whatsoever and doesn't bother her at all. They take her inside the car, and as they drive away, the shrieks of the congregation echo as some of them are still trapped or burning to death.

Protestant reformer Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg's Castle Church on this day in 1517. In retaliation, the church staff changed the "5" to a "6," leading people to think that Martin had left them in suspense.