Hitler's Cross - Erwin Lutzer

Why and how did Hitler ever come into power?  Was it because Satan had the upper hand over God? Was God powerless to stop it?  As Mr. Lutzer asks, "Is God only involved when righteous leaders are installed and uninvolved when a leader is something less than distinctively Christian, or even evil?" Of course, the answer to this is that God is always involved, otherwise He is not God. This is something that I really like about Lutzer's book Hitler's Cross. He reminds us that Hitler's ascension to power was not an accident, it was not outside of God's power. Lutzer reminds us of Romans 13: "...there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." Satan himself is not outside the realm of God's sovereignty, every move he makes works perfectly into God's plan.  Speaking of God's sovereignty in even evil things that take place, the author comments:  "Some prefer to call it His 'permissive will,' but it is His will nevertheless. He directs all things to their appointed end." and again: "Those Christians in Nazi Germany who believed that evil was triumphing because God was too weak to stem the tide could find no hope in their distress."  This is comforting to we who are Christians, nothing, even evil, is stronger than God, and nothing can take place without His will!

It was fascinating to me how Hitler used religion to gain over professing Christians in Germany.  Much of Germany was religious at the time, the Lutheran church was connected with the state.  Instead of wiping out the church, the plan was to infiltrate Christianity, politicize it (more than it already was) and change its doctrines bit by bit until true Christianity vanished altogether. Christian Jews  ended up being required to worship separately from Christian Aryans, Pastors were eventually required to swear an oath to Hitler, Nazis even planned that Hitler's Mein Kampf would take the place of the Bible in the churches. The official church in Germany became the 'Reich church' .

Lutzer points out that there were Christians who were against  the Nazification of Christianity, even at the cost of being sent to consecration camps and/or death. Refusing to take the oath of loyalty to Hitler as the head of the Pastors, they declared that God's word was their authority, and they also declaring that Jews and Christians are one in Christ, therefore there should be no ethnic discrimination in the church of God. By separating themselves from the official church(now the Reich church) and the so called 'German Christians' they were not apostatizing from the church, rather they were declaring the political Reich church apostate.

Lutzer sees that there are parallels between what led to Germanys being Nazified and things in America today. After world war I the Germans had a short lived Republic, they gave up this Republic for a dictator because the economy was very bad. Under Hitler's regime "Workers now had job security, a health service, cheap holiday schemes; if freedom meant starvation, then slavery was preferable." They gave up freedom for temporary safety. Which is something that America may be headed toward.  Lutzer makes us ask questions:  what will we do if things become like they were in Nazi Germany. What are we doing now? What decisions are we making now in our Christian life, what do we truly hold as valuable?

I've read this book before, several years ago.  I remembered having really liked it at the time and recently decided that it would be nice to read it again.  My perspective has changed over the years, and though I still like the book, I've noticed statements in the book that I don't seem to have noticed before. For instance, Lutzer uses Matthew 25:35-36 (I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink…etc.)to say that when the Jews were persecuted, it was the Lord Jesus Christ who was suffering and therefore Christians should have focused on helping them.  But I'm pretty sure that Lutzer is using that passage incorrectly, it clarifies that " ..Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these MY BRETHREN, even these least, ye did it unto me."(vs. 40  ASV - emphasis added by myself).  Who are Christ's brothers and sisters? Christ Himself says, "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother." (Mat 12:48-50 ASV) And in Luke 8:21 He says, "But he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these that hear the word of God, and do it (ASV).  This would seem to indicate that Christ's brethren are Christians, His followers.  And Christ also says that this is how the world will know that we are His disciples, "if you have love for one another".  The whole New Testament seems to emphasize focusing on Christians loving and caring for other Christians and meeting their needs more than it does meeting the material needs of unbelievers.

Perhaps I sound absolutely horrible in saying that! I sound strange to myself! But I’m NOT saying that Christian shouldn't have helped the Jews.  What I'm getting at is this:  if they didn't go out and actively seek Jews to hide or help, were they being disobedient to the Word of God? That is one of the questions I'm struggling with.  Yes they should have stood up to the law that no Christian of Jewish descent could become a pastor, yes they should have stood against the politicization of the church and establishment of Hitler as its head.  But what if, besides dealing with those issues that directly affected their brethren, they did not focus on primarily helping unbelieving Jews in need, but focused mainly on helping their fellow Christians in need (both Jewish and non-Jewish believers in Christ as their Savior and Messiah?).  What if they mainly fed and clothed their fellow saints, took them in and visited them in prison over and above helping non-believers? Would they be sinning if they did this?  Would they be turning their back on Christ if they focused on serving their fellow Christians over and above serving non-Christians?  Will Christ say that He never knew people who focused their lives on serving their spiritual brethren who do the will of God?

To apply this to the present day: What if we Christians don't focus on ending abortion (the killing of little babies in the womb)? Yes, we absolutely want it stopped, but how much of our lives ought we to biblically devote to stopping it?   How far should we go? Should we kidnap any pregnant woman who says that she will have an abortion and free her when her baby is born alive? Are we sinning if we don't go out every year and picket abortion clinics? What if we don't devote some of our lives to ending slavery in the world? Or ending child abuse, spouse abuse or human trafficking?  What if we focus the majority of our lives on loving our fellow saints? Will Christ say that He never knew us?

Of course, we Christians will help unbelievers, if we have opportunities to help them, materially and spiritually.  We are to walk with wisdom and have gracious speech toward "outsiders' (Col 4:5),  keeping our behavior pure, to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us, blessing those who curse us,  showing hospitality and are told, "as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone"  and yet even that statement is qualified by the next: "and especially to those who are of the household of faith."(Gal 6:10 ASV).  I just can't get over the strong emphasis of the New Testament on helping one's fellow believers.

Again, I am not saying that the Christians in Germany should not have helped Jews who came their way.    I'm simply saying that I'm starting to think that Lutzer goes too far in his implications that the church in our day needs to focus on stopping the practical evils of our day: abortion, slavery, child abuse…etc.  And that it needs to focus more on helping the unbelieving world.  I think that biblically, the church in our day needs to focus more on loving our fellow believers.  Christ says " By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (Joh 13:35)  And I'm not sure that that is the reputation of the church in our day, which I suspect has more of a reputation for its love for unbelievers than its love for believers.

I don't want to sound nit-picky, I just felt like I needed to say something about that. There were some other things as well, but I won't bring them up here.  But I still like the book overall. it is a fascinating recounting of the heavy influence of Nazi Germany on the 'Christian' worldview of many of the Germans at that time, and how the churches reacted or didn't react to it.  Many churches of that day proved that their focus was temporal, while others were willing to suffer for the truth of the Gospel.  It really makes you think about how we would react in our day.  Are we willing to suffer and lose everything in this life for the sake of Christ? Will we panic if another 'Hitler' arises in our day and becomes the President of the United States of America? Or will we realize that God is still in perfect control and be willing to suffer persecution for doing what is right?  The sovereignty of God over all the affairs of this world is something that we Christians need to come to realize now, and then we won't have to wrestle later with fears and doubts about His power and about whether or not all things are working together for our good (Rom 8:28-29).

Many thanks to the folks at MPNewsroom (Moody Publishers) for sending me a free review copy of this book (My review did not have to be favorable)!

My Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

****

This book may be purchased at places like Amazon and Christianbook.com

God's Smuggler - Young Reader's Edition

God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew with John and Elizabeth Sherrill: Young Reader's Edition is quite an interesting read.

It gives you an overview of the life of 'Brother Andrew, as he later became known, he was a Bible smuggler.

Andrew, like everyone, did not start out life as a Christian, he was struggling with life-purpose into his early adulthood.  He became a Christian and had a growing desire for knowledge of the Word of God and an eagerness to put into practice what he learned and to share the Gospel with others.

After becoming a Christian, Andrew became aware of, and concerned with the peril of churches in countries that were under communist rule.  He found that the Bible, in many of those countries, was scarce and hard to obtain, despite the idea being touted by the communists that they promoted freedom of religion.  In some countries there were no Bibles being printed, in others there were plenty of Bibles available but hardly anyone was interested in owning one, and in one country the communists advertised that they were printing their own translation of the Bible, but they delayed its publication and did not allow any other publication of Bibles.  Andrew sees a ministry opportunity in this need for Bibles and starts smuggling Bibles into those countries.  This book details many of the ways that God protected Andrew and his co-workers in their getting the Bibles past the various country borders.

 I do need to mention a couple of things that I didn't feel comfortable with the prophetic 'impressions' that Andrew and other people had about certain things: Feeling positive that God would give a car, or getting a confident thought that God would not let authorities harm them on a certain day.  How does one know that one's confidence is in God at those moments and not merely in one's own feelings/desires? Perhaps this may be considered a drastic example, but what if I am locked up in jail for being a Christian and I'm not given any food.  I will  think that I need food, I may even have an impression that God will supply it, but what if it turns out that God wants me to starve, die and be with Him?  That was my problem, and the fact that Andrew never seemed to believe that God would ever say "no" to anything he asked (like getting a helpmeet for instance).  I know that they didn't mean it this way but it could come across to a kid as if God will give you any material, earth-based thing for which you ask. 

But other than those things I really liked the book.  One of my favorite parts to read was of a time before Andrew became a Bible smuggler.  He went to a missionary training school, and quite a unique one!  The school actually sounded like a real mission school based on faith in God and His provision rather than teaching potential missionaries to solicit people for funds and help.  "The real purpose of this training….is to teach our students that they can trust God to do what He said.  He would do……They cannot be effective if they are afraid or if they doubt that God really means what He says in His Word."   On their practice Evangelistic trips they would be sent out with only one pound, and would rely upon God to supply their needs and His supplying did not merely take the form of money, it also took the form of food and clothes being given at just the right time.  That seems to be a more biblical form of missionary activity than what one sees nowadays, and more faith-based.  I know that all missionaries are not like this, but many come across as if they focus on money  and the help of people   If they really are called to the mission field, God will give the needed supplies even without them going to people for help.   So I was very refreshed to see the perspective of the people in this book in regards to their trust in God to supply all their needs.

 I believe that I would have liked this account a lot as a kid and a teenager.  It was very well written, intriguing and it left me wanting more.  It is quite fascinating to see what God has done in the lives of other Christians and to see the various circumstances God put them in in order to conform them to the image of Christ and to bring the Gospel to other people.   I think that this was an abridgment of the original work and so one can probably find an unabridged copy of this account if one wants to learn more (which I will probably end up doing).

Many thanks to the folks at Cross Focused Reviews for the free review copy! 

A couple of the websites where one may purchase this book are Amazon.com and Christian Book Distributors

   

Daily Readings from: The Christian in Complete Armour - by William Gurnall

I have read a good chunk of the unabridged Christian in Complete Armour by William Gurnall, it is very good but HUGE, you kind of need to plough through it. This book, Daily Readings from The Christian in Complete Armour, was an excellent idea!  Breaking it up into small chunks for daily reading makes it a much easier read, and gives you a good taste of Gurnall's great skill of teaching and illustrating various spiritual warfare concepts.

The best summary that I can come up with is that this book is like having a spiritual commanding officer giving you a rousing speech each day to be ready to fight the battles to come.  Gurnall talks about the armor our General has provided for us and each individual piece's purpose,  he instructs us to keep in  mind that we should 'wrestle' with the enemy in the way our General has instructed us to do so, not merely in the way that we think we can defeat him,  he also examines the strategy of our spiritual enemy, and gives many warnings about his tactics

Every day Gurnall will warn you about the enemy's deceptive tactics, alerting you with statements like, "When Satan cannot hide the truth, he works to hinder the practical application of it."  and  "If you wish to stand firm in the midst of suffering, forewarn yourself of this fact:  Temptation is never stronger than when relief seems to dress itself in the very sin that Satan is suggesting."  He'll remind you to be ready to follow the Commander's orders at any moment, "Sometimes soldiers do not have as much as an hour's warning before they  must take the field.  And so you, too, might be called out to suffer for God …. Abraham, for example, had very little time to deal with his heart and persuade it to obey God by offering his child.  'Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest' - not in a year, not a month or week, but now (Genesis 22:2).  This command came during the night and 'early in the morning' he was on his way to the mountain (v.3). .....Sometimes God makes very sudden changes in our personal lives."  He will remind you to keep your focus during suffering, "Let those who will, mock and scorn your faith.  What is Heaven worth if you cannot bear a little shame?  If they spit in your face, Christ will wipe it off.  They may laugh at you now, but not later.  The final outcome has already been declared, and you have sided with the victor."  And reminds us that our Commander is invincible, "Let Lucifer choose his way; God is a match for him at every weapon.  If he assaults the saint by persecution, God will oppose him.  If he works by a subtlety, God is ready there also.  The devil and his whole council are mere fools to God.  The more wit and craft in sin, the worse, because it is employed against an all-wise God who cannot be outwitted."

But remember, this book shouldn't be used to replace the Word of God, if you are going to ready any book every day that book should be the Bible.  Like any book, besides the Bible, this book has its flaws, to  name a few, the author may give a bit too much credit to Satan in our spiritual warfare and even in this world in general (he seemed to think that Satan can control the weather), and I don't agree necessarily with all of his advice or application of certain texts, but overall I thought the book was very good, It's now one of my favorite books.  It is VERY motivating and thought-provoking, it is a very good sort of 'push' to have in the mornings to get out and do the work, and fight the battles, that God has ordained for us to face. 

I'll end with one of my favorite, motivating, go out and fight the good fight type of quotes from the book:

 "You should find great strength and encouragement in the knowledge that your commission is divine.  God Himself underwrites your battle and has appointed His own Son "the captain of [your] salvation" (Hebrews 2:10).  He will lead you on to the field with courage, and bring you off with honor.......For bravery none compares with our Lord.  He never turned  His head from danger, not even when hell's hatred and heaven's justice appeared against Him.  Knowing all that was about to happen, Jesus went forth and said, "Whom seek ye?" (John 18:4).  Satan could not overcome Him - our Savior never lost a battle, not even when he lost His life.  He won the victory, carrying His spoils to heaven in the triumphant chariot of His ascension.  There He makes an open show of them, to the unspeakable joy of saints and angels.    As part of Christ's army, you march in the ranks of gallant spirits.  Every one of your fellow soldiers is a child of a King.  Some, like you, are in the midst of battle, besieged on every side by affliction and temptation.  Others, after many assaults, repulses and rallyings of their faith, are already standing upon the wall as conquerors.  From there they look down and urge you, their comrades on earth, to march up the hill after them.  This is their cry: "Fight to the death , and the City is your own, as now it is ours! For the waging of a few days' conflict, you will be rewarded with Heaven's glory.  One moment of this celestial joy will dry up all your tears, heal all your wounds, and erase the sharpness of the fight with all the joy of your permanent victory"

Many thanks to Moody Publishers for sending me a complimentary copy of this book to review (My review did not have to be favorable).

One of the websites where you may purchase this book is Amazon.com

Marie Durand - By Simonetta Carr

Marie Durand by Simonetta Carr is an interesting, though short, account of the Christian lady.  I didn't know anything about Marie before reading this biography, the name sounded familiar but didn't point to any substantive information in my mind. Now, I understand that she was a French lady living during the 1700s who was imprisoned on account of her brother's being a pastor.  She could have gotten out of prison by denying the faith but did not do so and stayed in in prison for 38 years.   

There are interesting illustrations throughout, and also photographs of items and places from Durand's era.  At the end of the book there is a pronunciation key to help one read and pronounce the French words, a 'Did You Know?' section giving more information about the people and lifestyle of that era, and a letter from Marie to her niece Anne.  Also, I liked the Epilogue, where Carr gives an overview of what happened after Marie died. The 'Age of Reason' or Enlightenment was critiqued quite well, and I think in a way that even young children will understand.  Here is a small excerpt:  "During that Age of Reason, or Enlightenment, as that time became known, they started to reject or ignore most teachings human beings can't fully explain, such as that God works miracles, that Jesus is God, or that God is one in three persons."  I especially liked the statement she gives of Paul Rabaut in this section where he states that, "I will not reject a mystery for the only reason that it cannot be understood."  That is a statement that still fits today.  

The only thing that I believe would make this book better would be for it to have a list of other books of Marie Durand and the times in which she lived, so that any children (or adults) who get a thirst for more information on, or a deeper look at, the subject would have some suggested resources already on hand.  But, despite its shortness, this biographical overview is quite inspiring, it shows children (and adults) a Christian whose faith they may strive to imitate.   

Many thanks to the people at Cross Focused Reviews for sending me a review copy of this book(My review did not have to be favorable.

 

One of the places this book may be purchased is at Amazon.com