June 2 - Whoosh!

June 2 – Whoosh!

Yesterday’s post was the last dedicated post to Christian History from me for awhile.  This has been a great deal of fun!  I’ve learned so much.

This fall I begin seminary at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.  I can do the majority of the classes online, so will be hiding out at the cabin as much as possible while I study and learn, read and write. 

While I have enjoyed every moment of learning about church history and writing these daily blogs, I’m going to take the rest of the summer to do some other writing projects.  I will continue the Bible Study at Pour Out a Blessing … I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to give that up.

I am quite confident that at some point I will revisit this blog – there is still so much of Christian History that I need to learn and for me, the best way to learn is for me to teach and share.

Thank you for joining me on this journey!

June 1 - Second Try

June 1 – Second Try

In 1962, the Catholic Church under John XXIII called an ecumenical Catholic council.  This was the 21st council that had occurred, the two prior had happened in 1545-1563 (Council of Trent – repudiated Protestantism, defined Scripture’s canon and seven sacraments) and in 1870 (First Council of the Vatican – pope’s infallibility, repudiated, atheism, materialism, rationalism, defined the relationship between faith and reason.)

John XXIII recognized the changing world and the fact that so far the Catholic response had been nil, it was time to bring the church into the modern world.  He intended to emphasize the care of the people within the church rather than politics.

In October of 1962, nearly 2000 church leaders – bishops, cardinals and abbots came to Rome, John XXIII told them it was time to actively care for its people, rather than pulling away from the troubles in the world or condemning them.

Many changes occurred during this period – from 1962-1965, though for the first time, the Pope didn’t dictate the reforms, he allowed the leadership to do their job. 

Until Vatican II, Latin was the accepted language for mass, at this point the decision was made to celebrate the language of the mass in the native tongue of the people.  Both the clergy and laity were accepted as God’s people, sharing in ministerial duties.  The Council declared that the laity also had a Christian calling and were part of the work of the church.  The pope no longer alone had apostolic authority, it was extended to the entire body of bishops.

Scripture was set forth as the primary basis of God’s truth – not tradition.  All people were finally encouraged to study the Bible in order to find that truth.

Ecumenism was given a positive spin, allowing other denominations to be considered Christians and no longer required to come back to the church in order to be saved.

In the final session of the Council, the Vatican Council renounced power over the political arena.

The Catholic Church had taken more than two years to prepare for the opening of the Vatican Council and throughout the next four years as the leaders came together, they did so knowing that to propel the Church forward under God’s hand they had a great responsibility.

May 31 - Praise the Lord!

May 31 – Praise the Lord!

In 1971, my parents received an inflowing of the Holy Spirit that would change the lives of their entire family, their church and many others over the course of their lives.  While the Pentecostal movement had kicked off a desire among many to have freedom with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it had not moved into mainstream churches.

As I read the names of the people associated with the early Charismatic revival, it was a roster of people that moved in and out of our lives in a small town in Iowa … I really had no idea what I was part of at the time.  In fact, I probably still don’t fully comprehend the depth of change that one night in Mom and Dad’s life spurred.

Dennis Bennett was an Episcopalian rector in California in the early 60s when a friend asked for help in understanding what had happened to a couple who had ‘received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.’  Bennett didn’t have any answers, but in talking to the couple, he experienced the same baptism and soon what began as a prayer group moved throughout the church.  While the gifts were not released in normal worship services, soon people began lining up on either side of the issue and a split was about to occur.  Bennett left that church and took another position in the Episcopal Church – this time in Seattle.  The small, struggling church welcomed him and soon began to grow, spurring Bennett and his wife, Rita to national leadership in the Charismatic movement.

Rather than establishing a separate denomination, charismatics remained within their local churches, encouraging ministry with their gifts and prayer.  Soon the movement began flooding through denominations making it to the Catholic church in 1966 at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

Men like Oral Roberts, Demos Sharkarian (Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship), and David du Plessis began teaching these Pentecostal beliefs in mainline denominations.  Du Plessis, a Pentecostal leader had a wonderful spirit, a brilliant mind and an articulate voice that allowed him to be heard among the intellectuals and affluent members of large traditional churches.

Charismatics have worked within traditional churches to remove the fear of outward, enthusiastic expressions of faith and brought new ideas to the church with regards to evangelism. 

As I grew to know these amazing men and women, meeting others just as wonderful, I recognized a joy and depth of understanding of the Holy Spirit that couldn’t be quenched.  Through their teaching and work, generations have discovered that same joy.  Mom and Dad’s evening of transformation brought these Charismatic leaders into Iowa to teach, speak, lead and pray.  I can only say “Praise the Lord” as I lift my hands in worship.

May 30 - The Cross and the Switchblade

May 30 – The Cross and the Switchblade

In 1958, a young pastor saw the cover of TIME magazine and on it were seven young gang members from New York City who were charged with murder.  David Wilkerson was moved by the Holy Spirit to go to New York City and he began a ministry on the streets of that city to the drug addicts, prostitutes and gang members.  He placed himself into situations with these young people, knowing that God would protect him or take him home.

His bravery and full confidence in God touched many young men, including Nicky Cruz who pulled a switchblade on Wilkerson and soon came to see Jesus Christ and recognize him as his own personal savior.  His story was then told in a book called “Run, Baby, Run.”

In the 1960s, he and his wife met with two other couples in Colorado and from those prayer times, three programs were developed to reach out to young people.  David Wilkerson started “Teen Challenge” which can be found in cities around the country, Loren & Darlene Cunningham began the “Youth With A Mission (YWAM)” program and Howard & Pat Foltz began “Teen Challenge Europe-Asia.”  The Teen Challenge programs work directly with drug addicts using a biblically-based program that is recognized as a leader in recovery.

Wilkerson has spearheaded many other youth-oriented programs, hoping to bring kids to Christ before they get lost in the world. 

He is now known for his disaster prophecies as he attempts to challenge the Church of God to bring itself to holiness, but his greatest story is told from the streets of New York City where he reached out with compassion to young men.  He reached out with a love that surpassed fear to bring the Gospel of Jesus to those that had never known love.

May 29 - Death to Life

May 29 – Death to Life

On January 8, 1956, five men gave their lives up for the cause of Christ in the wilds of Ecuador.  Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and their pilot, Nate Saint, flew into Ecuador to work with the Huaorani tribe. 

Jim Elliot had felt the call to the tribes of South America and spent his college years preparing himself with languages and the skills necessary to translate the Bible for local tribes.  He met Elisabeth Howard while in college and though they had a great relationship, he recognized that it would be difficult for him to be in the mission field while married.  He forged ahead alone for several years.

He landed in Quito, Ecuador and began studying the local languages.  He finally married Elisabeth and moved to the Shandia mission station where they began working with the Quichua Indians.  He met the violent Huarorani Indians and felt God calling him to minister to them.  He and several of his missionary buddies began flying over the tribe’s home dropping gifts and making contact from the air.  The tribe finally responded by sending up a flower.  Jim had managed to make enough contact so that with a loudspeaker they could speak to the people in their own language.

The best way to finally make good contact with them was to land within their territory, so they planned for landing at a small sandy beach.  As they flew over, they saw several people making their way to the beach.  They landed, built a pre-fab tree house and began speaking words of encouragement and friendship out loud, hoping to bring people to them.

On January 8, the wives expected a daily radio transmission at 4:30 pm.  When it didn’t come, another pilot flew over the area and radioed back that he found the plane, stripped of all its fabric.  Two days later, he spotted the first of the bodies.  The Huarorani had killed them all.  A group moved in on the ground to gather the bodies – all were taken home except Ed McCully, whose body had washed away.

While many of us might have reacted to this by leaving the tribe to their own devices, the wives of these men knew that they couldn’t allow their lives and deaths to be in vain.  Elisabeth Elliot and her friends began working among the tribe and taught them about the love of Christ.  Finally the day came when they were able to discover the reason for the massacre.  The tribe was concerned that these men were cannibals and were simply fighting for their lives.  The ones who had killed finally came to know Jesus.

In 1949, Jim Elliot had written in his journal, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."  He gave his life to gain the lives of many.

May 28 - Fancy Foods to Evangelist

May 28 – Fancy Foods to Evangelist

After graduating with a degree in Economics, Bill Bright moved to California to make his fortune.  While there, he began a company called Bright’s California Confections and was well on his way when God spoke to him.  He became a Christian in his early 20s and began taking seminary classes on the side.  One evening while studying Greek with a friend, Bill felt God drawing him even closer.  In the middle of the conversation with God, he knew God was telling him to leave seminary, though he was close to being finished.  He obeyed and later discovered that God had a purpose for that … he was much more effective as a layperson than he would have been as a pastor in the work he was about to begin.

In 1951, he and his wife Vonette founded Campus Crusade for Christ working with intellectuals in Los Angeles.  He began by focusing on athletes, beauty queens and other prominent members of the UCLA campus, knowing that they would influence great numbers.  With this, his vision from God was set into place.  He was out to evangelize the world beginning with students.

In 1965, Bill wrote down the Four Spiritual Laws which have become a foundation for evangelism.  This small tract made it easy to explain the work of God in our lives and our response.

1. God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. (John 3:16, John 10:10)
2. Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23)
3. Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. (Romans 5:8, I Corinthians 15:3-6, John 14:6)
4. We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives. (John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8,9, John 3:1~8, Revelation 3:20)

Campus Crusade is behind the “Jesus Film” project which created the 1979 film “Jesus” and plans for it to be translated and presented in every country around the world.

Today Campus Crusade has over 25,000 staff members, a ministry presence in 191 countries operational offices in 13 countries around the world.  Bill Bright died in 2003 and is remembered by Billy Graham as carrying a burden for evangelization of the world.

May 27 - A Simple Gospel

May 27 – A Simple Gospel

In 1949, the stage was set for the beginning of what would be a lifetime of evangelistic campaigns.  Over 6000 people were in attendance at an immense tent set up at Washington Boulevard and Hill Street in Los Angeles and hundreds were turned away.  William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers carried the story of this crusade where celebrities were being converted and a three-week crusade stretched to eight.

Billy Graham was preaching in Los Angeles while holding a position as the president of a small Bible college in Minneapolis and the meetings he held became nationally known.  He had been ordained at the age of 22, after having been converted in North Carolina.  In 1943, he graduated from Wheaton College and married Ruth Bell.  He was a pastor in Chicago, but then got involved with the new Youth for Christ ministry and worked with them through the mid 1940s.

Billy Graham did not want to limit his crusades to a single church.  When he entered a community, all of the local church leaders were invited to be part of the process of planning the campaign.  This was the basis for his success and broad appeal.

After the Los Angeles crusade, Graham traveled to Boston and other locations and in 1954 took a preaching trip to London, gaining international celebrity status.  He became a friend of President Eisenhower, which would be the beginning of his friendships with many other United States and world leaders.

He learned how to work with the media, writing books, broadcasting on the radio, and with his father-in-law, cofounded “Christianity Today” magazine for Christian leaders and then later, “Decision” magazine for everyone.  He developed a feature film production company and sponsored worldwide mission meetings for education and encouragement.

Billy Graham has traveled and preached in Communist countries, focusing on evangelism rather than attacking their social issues, which has given him access to many more locations than would be expected.

Over 100 million people have heard Billy Graham speak in person and his staff offers estimates of over 2 million people coming forward to signify their conversion.

But, the greatest thing that Billy Graham has done is offer a simple Gospel … the truth of Jesus Christ.

May 26 - Words of Hope

May 26 – Words of Hope

A lot of soldiers came back to the United States after having spent time in Asia concerned for the souls of the people they had left behind.  Even before the war, two men – John Broger and Bob Bowman felt called to begin a radio ministry in Asia that would reach millions of people.  The war stopped their plans, but when it was over, they began the process again.  With one other man, they combined their resources - $1000 and John was back in China attempting to gain a broadcasting license.

The Chinese nationalists weren’t helpful at all.  If they offered a Christian broadcasting license, they would have to also allow the Communists to broadcast, so they refused him outright.  Without knowing what to do next, they continued to prepare and plan.  Two days after the Philippines declared independence, John Broger was on the island to secure a radio broadcast license. 

They faced many problems getting things set up due to the destruction that had occurred from the war.  Infrastructures were ripped apart, power lines were down and it seemed nearly impossible to meet the deadline that the government had given them to get on the air and prove they could use the license.

On June 4, 1948, their deadline loomed.  If they didn’t broadcast at 8 pm, they would lose their license.  The team made it to the station, the engineer flipped a switch, they sang “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” and they were on the air.  Two hours later the transmitter broke down, but they had met the deadline and were set to go.

The next year they were able to begin broadcasting into China with an immense signal made possible by transmitters from the United States Office of War Information.  The message of hope through Jesus Christ flooded the airwaves of China.

The Far East Broadcasting Company exists today, broadcasting the message of the Gospel on 41 AM and FM stations, throughout Asia, Southeast Asia, Russia, Africa and the Middle East as well as in 149 languages on Shortwave Radio.

May 25 - Independence for Israel

May 25 – Independence for Israel

My timing is a little off – the day was May 14, 1948.  The British lowered the Union Jack over Jerusalem, releasing the territory and war was on.  The Arabs and Jews began a fight for territory that would only last for six days.  The Jews were desperately under prepared for this and the United States begged them to try for a truce and not declare themselves a nation, but they went forward with their plans.

After World War 2 ended, thousands of Jews fled to Palestine from Europe.  Britain found itself in a constant battle with the Jews as they tried to stop the influx of immigrants and gathered them into detention camps.  Finally, in 1947, Britain gave up – there was no way to establish a solution that would work for both the Arabs and the Jews in Palestine. The brand new United Nations came up with a Partition Plan for the small country, splitting it in half and declaring Jerusalem an international city.  While the Jews accepted this plan, the Arabs rejected it.  A three-day strike was proclaimed by the Arabs and Jewish targets were hit.

Soon, however, the Jews went on the offensive, the Palestinian Arab economy collapsed, 250,000 Arabs left the country and on May 14, 1948, the day before the British Mandate expired, Israel declared itself a nation.  On May 15, five Arab countries – Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq declared war on this brand new nation and attacked.

A year later, a cease-fire was declared.  Jordan annexed the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Egypt controlled the West Bank and on May 11, 1949, Israel was accepted as a member of the United Nations. 

Survivors of the Holocaust and Jews from Muslim nations flooded into Israel and between 1948 and 1958, the population exploded from 800,000 to two million.  The little nation became an international force.

The creation of Israel as a nation impacted world politics and Christianity.  With the relocation of Jews back to their homeland, it seemed as if things were being set in place by God for the final days of mankind on earth.  While we don’t know what God’s timing is, praying for peace in Israel is a hope for the Jews and Christians alike as we look towards Jesus’ reign.

May 24 - Voice of the Martyrs

May 24 – Voice of the Martyrs

It is nearly impossible for us to imagine that torture and executions continue to exist for Christians in the world today, but there continues to be persecution in many locations on the earth.

In 1948, Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian pastor left his home for his church and never arrived.  For eight and a half years, his family didn’t know whether he was dead or alive.  Not long before that day, he had spoken at a conference freely about his faith in Jesus Christ, encouraging others to stand up for their faith.

In the middle of the day, the secret police scooped him up from the street into a van and took him to prison where they tortured him.  During the last three years of his sentence, his wife was also taken and imprisoned for her faith.

They were finally released, only to start secret church meetings again and he was once again taken into prison.  In 1964 he was released and in 1965, Western churches raised $10,000 to ransom the Wurmbrands from Romania.

They came to the United States and began speaking out against the persecution that was found in Communist countries.  Richard Wurmbrand stood before Congress and showed them the eighteen different holes that had been cut into his body, all because he professed faith in Jesus Christ.  This event was broadcast on live television and he became the voice for the underground church throughout the world, a commitment that he claimed for the rest of his life.

In 1967, he and his wife formed “Jesus to the Communist World” an organization that offered support to persecuted Christians in Communist countries and that later expanded to help persecuted believers anywhere in the world.  The organization was later renamed “Voice of the Martyrs.”

In 1990, the Wurmbrands returned to Romania for the first time in 25 years.  While there, The Voice of the Martyrs opened a printing facility and bookshop in Bucharest and Richard Wurmbrand preached in many different denominational churches.  The man who wrote the book “Tortured for Christ” was able to see Christ in the country that had tried to eliminate anything to do with Christianity.

May 23 - A Bored Shepherd Boy

May 23 – A Bored Shepherd Boy

As the tale goes, a young boy out with his sheep got bored and began aiming rocks at the holes in the hillside when he heard something break.  Upon investigation, he had landed upon a series of caves and the breakage was a pottery jar containing some very ancient scrolls.

Whether or not this is true, between 1947 and 1956, eleven caves were found to hold over 900 scrolls which were placed there by the Essene community between 150 BC and 70 AD. 

The scrolls themselves have been the subject of much conflict among historians, archeologists, countries, religious scholars and others.  They have been sold on the black market, hidden by scholars so that others couldn’t have access and discussed over and over as to their authenticity and importance in history.

In the last few decades nearly all of the fragments have finally been photographed and made available to scholars. 

The scrolls are made up of three different types of documents – Biblical (40% of the fragments), Apocryphal (those that didn’t make it into the original canon of the Old Testament – about 30%) and Sectarian (those that have more to do with the community of Jews – about 30%).  In the Sectarian scrolls, there have also been found commentaries on many of the Old Testament books.
   
One of the greatest finds was the Isaiah fragment which is one of the most complete and of which there is more than one copy.  The discovery of these scrolls lent authenticity to the canon of the Old Testament and one of the other great things that happened was that in the Sectarian scrolls, since they were written in the period just before Jesus’ birth, many of the phrases that Christ used were discovered to be common patterns of speech in that region and so brought more understanding of the world at the time He lived on the earth.

The significance of this discovery can not be over stated.  These are now the earliest scrolls and confirm much of the information we have about the Old Testament and the translations that were made.  After 2000 years, this was a treasure for which there was never any realistic price.

The scrolls have been photographed and the photographs in many cases are better representations than the scrolls themselves since they began losing their integrity as soon as they were removed from their linen coverings.  They can now be found online and will continue to be studied as scholars look into the world of the Bible in order to understand how we live today in our world.

May 22 - Never Too Old

May 22 – Never Too Old

Some stories inspire my soul and today’s is one of those. 

Evelyn Brand was sixty-eight years old and the mission board was making a decision about sending her back into the mission field for another five year contract.  Their decision was to not do this because of her age.  She and her husband, Jesse had gone to India and set forth a plan, to build mission stations in five mountains there.  When he died and it was time for her to return home, there were still four mountains to go.

She had lived quite modestly on a small inheritance and turned all funds raised for her stipend back into the mission field, buying land for the mission.  Her entire life was wrapped up in the people of India and here they were, planning to send her away.  She cried and wept, begged and pleaded, finally getting them to agree to send her back for one year, at which point she would quit arguing with them.

During the next year, with the help of her son, she built a small home, bringing in supplies in small enough loads to haul up the mountain.  At the end of her service with the mission board, she officially retired and then told them of her plans to stay in India.  Over great protests, she left and moved back to the place she had spent most of her life, caring for the people and teaching them about Jesus Christ.

For Evie Brand, life began at 70, and the hope for India that she had created with her husband was about to be set into motion.  Everyone called her Granny Brand as she traveled throughout the mountain ranges, teaching, praying, rescuing abandoned children children and offering medical help.  Within fifteen years, her work alone nearly eradicated Guinea worm disease from one of the mountain ranges and over the rest of her life, she not only evangelized the five mountain ranges she and Jesse had planned, but added two more and built missions within all of them.

Granny Brand proclaimed Christ wherever she went, even while in the hospital with a broken hip.  When she couldn’t walk easily because of broken and misrepaired bones, she used two canes and continued working, all the while exclaiming “Praise God!”  When her son traveled to India to visit her, he found her looking younger than ever.  She told him that she let everything else in her life fall away except love … that was how to grow old.

She died in 1974 after spending 24 years in the mission field following a declaration that she was too old. 

May 21 - A Man Called Peter

May 21 – A Man Called Peter

Many of you have read Catherine Marshall’s book “Christy” (or maybe you saw the television shows or movies), or possibly have read some of her other books, but the man that she was married to before starting her writing career was an incredible personality.  In fact, her first book told his life story and became a runaway best seller – “A Man Called Peter.”

Peter Marshall’s grew up not far from Glasgow, Scotland.  His father died when he was four and his stepfather was an abusive alcoholic who finally kicked him out of the house.  Peter wanted to go to China as a missionary, but couldn’t finish his education.  He worked long hours during the day, attending night school, fully committed to living his life in God’s service.  A cousin encouraged him to move to the United States, offering to pay his way.  Peter spent three weeks in constant prayer, begging God to let him know God’s will and after the three weeks were up, he was assured that God had a place for him in America.

His first years in the United States weren’t easy.  He knew no one and ended up digging ditches to make his way.  All of a sudden, God opened a way for Peter Marshall.  He said that "Within the space of a few short weeks, I had joined the First Presbyterian Church, had been recommended by the Session as a candidate for the gospel ministry, had spoken at a prayer meeting, had been elected president of the young people's league, had become interested in the Boy Scouts of that church, and had been asked to become the teacher of the Men's Bible Class."

Peter Marshall continued his education and ended up preaching in Washington, DC at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.  All of those years of waiting and preparing opened Peter’s heart to God’s word and it was obvious in his preaching.  Hundred had to be turned away because there was no room for all who came to hear him speak on Sunday mornings.

On January 4, 1947, Peter Marshall was appointed as the chaplain of the United States Senate.  Senators would arrive early just to hear him pray, “O Lord our God, even at this moment as we come blundering into Thy presence in prayer, we are haunted by memories of duties unperformed, promptings disobeyed, and beckonings ignored. Opportunities to be kind knocked on the door of our hearts and went weeping away..."

In 1949 at the age of 45, Peter Marshall had been the Senate Chaplain for two years and died of a heart attack.  This man touched hundreds of people in a great way in just a short period of time. 

May 20 - A Modern Martyr

May 20 – A Modern Martyr

By the age of 21, Dietrich Bonhoeffer had traveled throughout Europe studying religion, studied with Karl Barth and received his doctorate in theology from the University of Berlin.  He spent the next two years in Spain as a pastor in training and became taught a great deal on the church’s influence on society, decrying the minimal impact that the church had because too much time was spent making Christ religious, rather than making Him accessible.

In 1930, upon his return to Germany, he was still too young to be ordained as a pastor at the age of 24-25, so he traveled to the United States to do postgraduate work at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.  He wasn’t terribly impressed with the theology that was taught, but became very involved with an Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, teaching Sunday School there and falling in love with African Spirituals.

When Hitler came to power in 1933, Bonhoeffer was back in Germany and lecturing at the University of Berlin.  He had become part of the Confessing Church in direct opposition to the German Christians which had been infiltrated by Nazi ideas and supported by Hitler.

In 1935, Bonhoeffer became head of a seminary of the Confessing Church which was closed in 1937.  At this point, he was forbidden to publish or do any public speaking.  He was drawn into the resistance movement by a brother-in-law, believing that Hitler was the Antichrist and plotting to kill him.  Bonhoeffer traveled to the United States at the invitation of Union Seminary in an effort to protect him from the turmoil and threats on his life.  Once he arrived, he believed that he had made a terrible error and that he needed to face the trials that Germany was about to face with his countrymen.

He returned to Germany and in 1943 was arrested for smuggling Jews into Switzerland.  From prison he wrote several pieces and many letters.  He had an enormous impact on the faith of the other prisoners and many of the guards, one of whom offered to help him escape.  Bonhoeffer refused, concerned that his escape would place his family in a position of attack by the Nazis.

His part as a conspirator in plots to kill Hitler and as a double agent had been hidden until the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler was exposed.  As the conspirators’ documents were revealed, so was Bonhoeffer’s earlier participation.

Hitler ordered that everyone be killed.  On April 9, 1945, three weeks before the Russians captured Berlin and a month before the Nazis fell, Bonhoeffer was hanged in Flossenberg Prison Camp.

Bonhoeffer spent his years exploring the depths of God.  Theologians continue to debate his works, trying to understand his teaching.  He used the phrase ‘religionless Christianity’ and this has confounded many theologians who try to understand his teachings on the relationship between the Christian and the world.  He taught about ‘cheap grace’ and called Christians to a faith of self-denial in his book “The Cost of Discipleship.”  He believed that real religion meant following God – even if it meant to the death, a belief that he lived and died for.

May 19 - Four Chaplains

May 19 – Four Chaplains

My goodness, I discovered another story that my father told over and over in his sermons.  I had completely forgotten about this one, but of course I wept as I read the story again.  I remember Dad taking me down everytime he told the story … so it seems appropriate that I cry as I read it now.

The date was February 3, 1943 and the Dorchester, carrying 902 men was off the coast of Newfoundland.  The Coast Guard had alerted the captain of the possibility of a U-boat moving through the sea.  He had sent his men to sleep that night with orders to wear their life vests, just in case they were torpedoed.

At one o’clock in the morning the German U-boat launched a torpedo which hit the Dorchester, killing many men immediately, throwing many more into a panic.  It was dark, it was icy cold, ammonia gas flooded the holds.  Wounded and terrified the men made their way to the decks.  Many had ignored their captain’s orders and had chosen to not wear their life vests.

Four chaplains, a Methodist, a Jew, a Roman Catholic and a Dutch Reformed had befriended and cared for the men for months.  They stood on the decks assisting the men as they got into lifeboats.  Lockers were opened and life vests distributed, but it was not enough.  These four chaplains guided the men and comforted them as the ship was sinking into the water.

While each of the chaplains had obeyed the order and worn the life vests, in turn, each gave theirs up to men who were scrambling off the sinking ship.  The Dorchester sank 27 minutes after the torpedo hit.  One of the 230 survivors recalls seeing the four chaplains, arms linked, standing on the deck praying as the ship went down.

“Four Chaplains Day” was marked by Congress as February 3rd, remembering the compassion and heroism of these four men.

May 18 - From Crime to the Passion

May 18 – From Crime to the Passion

If you love crime and mystery novels, you’ve probably read books by Dorothy Sayers (if you haven’t, you should.)    Her father was the chaplain at Christ Church in England and began teaching her Latin when she was just six years old.  She studied modern languages and medieval literature at Oxford and though women weren’t allowed to receive degrees at the time, was the first woman to finally receive one when that was changed several years later.

She was friends with C.S. Lewis and others of the Inklings, attending a few meetings. 

Not only did she write crime novels, but she translated Dante’s “Divine Comedy” considering that her best work.  She also wrote several religious plays for production at Canterbury Cathedral, but when she wrote “The Man Born to be King,” she caused an intense uproar throughout England.  This was a series of twelve radio plays and when it was announced on BBC Radio, she explained her ideas.  She had combined several people into one character, added other characters, used actors from England and America, and employed slang to retell the story.

England, while in the middle of fighting with Germany could not imagine this was anything other than blasphemy.  Before the radio plays were even aired, Churchill received numerous letters and calls begging him to force an end to this.  The Archbishop of Canterbury was asked to ban the plays and there was even a question brought to the floor of the House of Commons regarding the issue.

But the BBC pressed forward and following the first episode of the “The Man Born to be King,” people felt that she had given them a chance to renew their faith during difficult times.  The radio stations were overrun with letters of support, saying that she had made the Christ’s life so real, they had to reconsider its meaning for themselves.

Dorothy L. Sayers will always be known for her detective novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, but her strong faith background was the foundation for her life.

May 17 - Translations

May 17 – Translations

It is probably quite difficult for us to imagine that there are many languages that exist without written words.  Linguistics was a field that didn’t encompass many of the world’s indigenous languages, much less offer translation possibilities into some of the more common languages.

Cameron Townsend and his wife were missionaries in Guatemala.  He had already run into problems with the language when he memorized the phrase “Do you know the Lord Jesus?” in Spanish, not realizing that ‘Jesus’ is a common first name and the word he used for Lord was ‘Senor’ which also meant Mister.  Asking people if they knew Mister Jesus didn’t get him far with spiritual ideas.

As he moved throughout Guatemala and into the highlands with the Cakchiquel Indians, he realized that very few of them even knew Spanish.  He had to learn their language.  It took fourteen years for he and his wife to do it, but they got the language into a written form and translated the New Testament in the Cakchiquel language.

Illness sent them back to the United States where they founded a summer institute for pioneer missionaries which would teach them to reduce a language to writing and then translate the Scriptures.  The Summer Institute of Linguistics in Arkansas was opened.  There were only two universities in 1934 that even offered courses in this type of linguistics.  Townsend then began to work with the Mexican government to open up the various Indian communities to learning their languages. 

The Institute moved to the University of Oklahoma and was growing rapidly, needing a bigger support system.  In 1942, the Wycliffe Bible Translators was formed, named for John Wycliffe who first translated the Bible into English.  Wycliffe would garner financial support in the United States while the Summer Institute of Linguistics worked with foreign governments.

Soon translation work exploded throughout the region, into Guatemala, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador and Mexico, adding the Jungle Aviation and Radio Service to the organization so that translators could have access to even more remote areas.

Wycliffe now has branches in over 50 countries and employs more than 6000 people.  Three hundred languages are represented in scripture and more than 800 others are in process of being translated.

May 16 - Tramp for the Lord

May 16 – Tramp for the Lord

There are a few stories that can still bring tears to my eyes 35 years after the first time I read them, but Corrie Ten Boom’s story continues to move my heart.  Her book, written in 1974, “Tramp for the Lord” was one of the first accounts of Nazi concentration camps I had ever read.

She grew up in the Netherlands in a devout Christian family.  Her father was a watchmaker and Corrie became the first female watchmaker ever licensed in the Netherlands.  Her brother Willem had gone to school for theology and warned the Dutch government about the Nazis and their intents for Jews, but was never heard.

She and her family helped many Jewish families escape the Netherlands when the Nazis invaded and transformed a spot in the wall of Corrie’s room into a Hiding Place with a vent for air so that Jews could hide there during raids.

Then came the day that the family was taken into custody while six Jews hid in the wall of Corrie’s room.  Her father died within ten days after their capture, a sister, brother and nephew were released, Corrie and her older sister Betsie, a beautiful, frail young woman ended up in Ravensbruck.  Betsie was a pianist and the Nazi guards broke all of her fingers while in the camp – that story alone was enough to send me to tears.

Betsie died while in the camp, but before she did, she told her sister “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”  Their faith continued to hold them up.  Corrie was later released, but discovered that it had been a clerical error.  The next week, women her age were killed in the camp.  She said, “God has no problems, only plans.”

After the war, Corrie returned to the Netherlands to set up rehabilitation centers.  She cared for concentration camp survivors as well as those who had collaborated with the Nazis during the occupations.  One of the greatest stories she told was of meeting a former guard from Ravensbruck.  She knew that it would be difficult to forgive him, but prayed that God would give her the strength.  She wrote: “For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then.”

Corrie returned to Germany and spent much of the rest of her life traveling the world, teaching about Christ’s love and forgiveness, a lesson that she had lived.

May 15 - Of Slavery and Peanuts

May 15 – Of Slavery and Peanuts

When I was in elementary school, one of the black heroes I learned about was a man who had discovered hundreds of uses for peanuts and many uses for soybeans and sweet potatoes.  He had come from a life of slavery, taught himself to read and managed to become a well-respected scientist.

George Washington Carver was simply George when the Civil War ended and he was a freed slave.  The Carver’s, the family that owned his family in slavery, adopted George and his brother and cared for them as sons.  When a local school wouldn’t allow George to attend because he was black, he knew of another that would educate him, so he went away to school.  Upon introducing himself, he did so as he always had, “I am the Carver’s George.”  The headmistress promptly named him George Carver.  She also said to him, “"You must learn all you can, then go back out into the world and give your learning back to the people" which made a great impression on the young man.

Carver applied to many colleges, was accepted by one until they met him and realized he was black.  He finally ended up in Indianola, Iowa and studied piano and art at Simpson College.  His piano teacher saw the beauty of his paintings of flowers and encouraged him to study botany at Iowa State Agricultural College in Ames where he stayed until he received his Master’s Degree.  During this time he did outstanding research into plant pathology and received a request from Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute’s founder, Booker T. Washington, to lead the Agricultural Department there.  He stayed there for 45 years. 

Carver’s desire to teach farming methods to former slaves took him among the people and the farms.  He was instrumental in teaching new farming methods that would help return nutrition to the soil after it had been thoroughly depleted by repetitive cotton crops.  His approach to crop rotation revolutionized farming in the south.

While in the lab, he worked at developing new and creative uses for things such as the peanut, the sweet potato, the pecan, cowpeas and soybeans.  These new uses allowed the various industries to continue to grow, bringing agriculture to a new level of success.  The peanut industry had been overrun with peanuts from China and because of his reports and ideas for new uses, tariffs were set into place and local peanut growers were given a chance to increase their crops.  A new industry was born.

Carver’s faith was central to his learning and his teaching.  He believed that faith in Jesus could destroy barriers, both racial and social.  In working with young students, he set forth eight cardinal rules:

-Be clean both inside and out.
-Neither look up to the rich nor down on the poor.
-Lose, if need be, without squealing.
-Win without bragging.
-Always be considerate of women, children, and older people.
-Be too brave to lie.
-Be too generous to cheat.
-Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.

Carver said, “I have made it a rule to go out and sit . . . at four o'clock every morning and ask the good Lord what I am to do that day. Then I go ahead and do it."

May 14 - God's Businessman

May 14 – God’s Businessman

There are quite a few people that I know about because Dad used their stories as illustrations in his sermons time and time again.  My dad was pretty smart.  He kept a file of his illustrations and recycled them whenever we would move into a new congregation.  Heck, sometimes I’m pretty sure he recycled entire sermons.  I haven’t heard Dad preach for years, but every once in awhile I come across a name that leaps off the page and I am once again reminded of a story.

R. G. LeTourneau’s story was one that Dad loved to tell.  He is known as the greatest inventor of giant earth-moving machines.  In the 20s and 30s, his contracting company with its great machines did the work for the Hoover Dam, the Orange County Dam, the Boulder Highway (around Las Vegas).  He left contracting to open plants around the country – and then around the world to build earth-moving machinery.  His factories supplied 70 percent of the earth moving equipment used by the Allies during World War II.

In 1953, he sold his company to Westinghouse Air Brake Company and began developing other concepts, returning to the earth-moving industry with better equipment based on his designs.

While all of this was a large part of who LeTourneau was, even more important was his faith.  As a leader in the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, Christian Business Men’s Committee and Gideon’s International, he could also be found traveling around the world telling of his faith.

Though he never finished college, he believed in education and in 1946 purchased a military hospital complex in Longview, Texas and established the LeTourneau Technical Institute with the purpose of combining work, education and Christian testimony.  In 1961 it became a college and was awarded University status.

LeTourneau considered God to be the Chairman of his board and established a foundation that would channel 90% of his personal salary to Christian endeavors.  He established two agricultural missions in Liberia and trained missionaries in practical skills such as building homes so that they would be useful in the mission field.