ordinary

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Dana

I recently watched the video of a minister sharing about Jesus. He was just an ordinary man in his sixties, but his words and demeanor revealed a passionate love for our Savior and a great desire for everyone to know Him. At one point I thought: “His face reminds me of the picture of someone… who is it?” Then I remembered…

Susan and I watched a movie not long ago entitled Operation Finale which prompted me to re-read a book called Hunting Eichmann. The movie and the book recount the persistent search and eventual capture of one of the most notorious Nazi leaders to escape Europe after World War II.

Adolph Eichmann was one of the key architects of the ‘Final Solution,’ the evil plot to eliminate all Jews in Europe. Tipped off by a resident of Buenos Aires, an eleven man Mossad team made their way to Argentina via various cities from different continents. Their plan was top secret and no one from the Argentine government was informed.

After living with his wife and sons for over ten years on foreign soil under an alias name, Adolph Eichmann was captured near his house on May 11, 1960 and flown to Israel to be tried for the wartime murder of Jews. Despite his claims of innocence, after testimonies of survivors of the Holocaust in a trial that lasted almost four months, Eichmann was found guilty of fifteen criminal charges, including the murder of masses. Since 1948, he is the only person assigned the death penalty by an Israeli court. Adolph Eichmann was hanged on June 1, 1962.

The most common description of Eichmann by his captors and those that observed the trial was: “He just looks like an ordinary man.” Very few photographs were taken of him during the war or during his years of hiding, but a few were included in the book. One of those pictures came to mind as I watched the video of the Christian minister speaking about Jesus.

Besides the eras in which they lived, what is the difference between these two ordinary-looking men? The Christian might say: “But for the grace of God, there am I.” In humility, a repentant man that realizes his need, confesses his sin, and calls on the name of the Lord receives the mercy he knows he does not deserve. Though just an ordinary man, he can then proclaim hope for all sinners. “If Jesus can save me… He can save you!”

The man who refuses to face the truth about himself and surrender his life to the King rejects the grace and love God offers. The Israeli government allowed a Canadian protestant pastor named William Hull to spend many hours with Eichmann after he was sentenced. The pastor knew that God loves everyone and he wanted the convicted murderer to be saved before he was executed. But the ordinary-looking man would never admit he was wrong. He said to Hull: “There is no Hell. I have not sinned. I am clear with God. I did nothing wrong. I have no regrets.”

The devil is the master deceiver; Jesus is the Master Savior. May we live as His humble servants and may we share His extraordinary message of love.

“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace…” Romans 8:5-6

Quote from Hunting Eichmann, by Neal Bascomb; ©2009 Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt Publishing Company, New York, New York; p 318

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Susan

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Dana

In the summer of 1975 I met a pretty dark skinned girl with long black hair. Her name was Susan and in the summer of 1981 we married. When you are a teenage boy you don’t think too much beyond the weekend, but if I could counsel a kid about marriage, I would encourage him to look far beyond his girlfriend’s beauty and ponder questions that might never cross the mind.

Will she be one you can count on through thick and thin? We just repeat “in sickness and in health” because the preacher says it, but what if tough times really come? Will your lover be faithful? I joined another patient and three multiple myeloma doctors at a conference in downtown Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. I shared, “Be sure to honor your caregiver. My wife has been amazing these eighteen years and I would not be sitting on this stage without her.” That statement received a long applause in the room full of those dealing with the disease.

Will she be a good mother? Noble goals and youthful dreams may be put on hold when kids come into the world. No matter what a person’s philosophy about raising children is, being a mother is no joke. The time, the energy, the sacrifice, and the love required is beyond comprehension. In addition to loving their husbands, mothers extend themselves, give of themselves, and deny themselves for the good of the little ones God has given.

img_0795Will she be a good grandmother? My joy now is watching Susan love Wilkes, Macy, and Owen. She will leave in a few days to fly to Denver to help Kinsey bring another granddaughter into the world. We joke that the grandchildren are more fun than the children, but we’re truly loving everyone. When I was a twenty-one year old newlywed, I doubt I would have paid much attention to someone trying to get me to envision what type of grandmother my new bride would be, but decades later it is an important matter.

Thanks for your prayers for Susan as she serves, and for Kinsey, Jordan, and Owen as they anticipate a new member of the family.

“May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.” Proverbs 5:18

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impressive

Posted on October 4, 2018 by Dana

This school year, in addition to my administrative duties, I am teaching two classes of seventh grade boys, mostly twelve-year-olds. Our topic for the year is ‘the life of Christ’ and I feel privileged to lead these guys in the study of our Savior and the search for His will in our lives.

“Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When He was twelve years old, they went up to the festival according to their custom.” (Luke 2:41-42)

Almost every student has recounted a time of being separated from his parents and each remembered the panic that ensued. No one had a story of being lost for three days though. And no seventh grader can fully comprehend what any parent feels as they search for a missing child. How relieved Mary and Joseph were to find their Son!

With Bibles closed, I asked my students to tell the reason the teachers in the temple courts were impressed with young Jesus. In each class a boy replied the way most adults who have gone to church all their lives would answer: “He was teaching them many things and they were impressed with His knowledge.” It is true that “everyone who heard Him was amazed at His understanding and His answers” (Luke 2:47), but the Scripture does not say Jesus impressed His elders by teaching them. What we do read are three ways any twelve-year-old can amaze his teachers.

“After three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” (Luke 2:46)

“Guys,” I said, “Look what Jesus is showing us! When He was your age He knew how important it was to sit, listen, and ask good questions. You can do the same!”

As I gave this inspiring pep talk to my fifth period class, one of the students fell out of his chair. We’ve got a long way to go…

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:52

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missionaries

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Dana

I recently read a book entitled Evidence Not Seen written by Darlene Deibler Rose, a missionary called to Indonesia in the late 1930’s to serve with her husband Russell Deibler and several other American and Dutch missionaries. The dedication to learn languages and to embrace harsh living conditions in order to bring the Gospel to unreached peoples is inspiring.

The subtitle of the book reveals that the dreams of the young missionary couple did not go as anticipated: A Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the islands of the South Pacific became danger zones. The Deiblers and over 1,500 others were rounded up by the Japanese and imprisoned on the island of Celebes. Eventually the men were taken to one location and the women and children were held at a place called Kampili.

The cruelty of their captors and the terrible living conditions drove believers to ask many difficult questions: “Where are You, God?” “Why would You call us to preach the Gospel and then allow us to become prisoners of war?” “Will we survive this horror?”

Some survived; some did not. The Gospel was preached; there was just a different audience than expected. And whether one felt it or not… God was there. The greatest testimony of men and women of faith who enter any fiery furnace remains: He is with me.

Russell encouraged scores of prisoners of many nationalities, but the sicknesses of the jungle wore down his body. He died in captivity in 1943. Darlene was not told of her husband’s death until three months later and her sorrow was overwhelming. “Why God? What is the purpose? Will You take me too?”

The Japanese leader of her camp, who was guilty of personally beating and killing prisoners during fits of rage, was touched by the grief of the twenty-six-year-old American. When he tried to explain that such are the happenings in war, Darlene was given the grace to share what Christians know is true.

“Mr. Yamaji, I don’t sorrow like people who have no hope. I want to tell you about Someone of Whom you may never have heard. I learned about Him when I was a little girl in Sunday School back in Boone, Iowa, in America. His name is Jesus. He’s the Son of Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth.” God opened the most wonderful opportunity to lay the plan of salvation before the Japanese camp commander. Tears started to course down his cheeks. “He died for you, Mr. Yamaji, and He puts love in our hearts – even for those who are our enemies. That’s why I don’t hate you, Mr. Yamaji. Maybe God brought me to this place and this time to tell you He loves you.” With tears running down his cheeks, he rose hastily and went into his bedroom…

After being a POW for nearly four years, the war ended and Darlene was freed. Of their close circle of missionaries, eight died during imprisonment and seven survived. Darlene returned to America, eventually re-married, and served for over thirty years with her husband Jerry Rose as a missionary in New Guinea and Australia.

Some joyous news came to Darlene years after the war. “A friend vacationing in Java happened upon a priest who had just returned from bicycling in Japan. While in a small coastal village, the priest had stopped at a bicycle shop for repairs. Striking up a conversation with the owner, who spoke Indonesian, the priest discovered that the man had been the commander of the women’s POW camp outside Macassar during World War II. The owner asked the priest if he ever met any of the women who had been in Kampili, to tell them he was sorry he’d been so cruel. He said he was a different man now. Later Darlene heard that Mr. Yamiji had spoken on radio, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Japanese people.”

Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (KJV)
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (NIV)

Quotes from Evidence Not Seen, by Darlene Deibler Rose, published by Harper and Row, ©1988, pp 111, 224

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neighbors

Posted on September 20, 2018 by Dana

Two boys were playing in the Atlantic Ocean on a holiday weekend not far from their Florida home when they were caught in a rip tide. Bobby saw them and without hesitating swam to his fourteen-year-old and eleven-year-old sons. He got them on their boogie boards but could not overcome the pull of the current. Bobby Klein died while saving his boys.

This tragedy took place a little over ten years ago. Bobby and I were two of a group of friends who constantly played football, basketball, and baseball in the neighborhood. We also spent a lot of time at each others’ houses. Bobby’s dad William owned a grocery store in Chattanooga. He did not talk about it, but we all knew William Klein was a survivor of the Holocaust.

I was thinking of Bobby last week and found his dad’s recorded testimony in the archives of the Holocaust Museum in Washington D. C. Later in life, Mr. Klein decided he needed to share his story of growing up as a Jew in a small town in Czechoslovakia and the terrible persecution from Hitler’s evil regime. He visited schools and spoke on radio and television programs.

I had not heard Mr. Klein’s voice in over forty years until I listened to the ninety-one minute recording. Jews were forced to wear the yellow star of David in his town early in 1943. Then in 1944, William, his brother, a sister, both parents, and a brother-in-law were forced into a crowded cattle train for a three day foodless journey to Auschwitz. Separated upon arrival, Mr. Klein never saw his parents or sister again. After two months in Auschwitz, William, his brother, and brother-in-law volunteered to work in Warsaw, Poland. A few months after arriving in Warsaw, 11,800 prisoners were forcibly marched to Germany; only 800 survived. The three relatives were imprisoned in Dachau until the war ended in 1945.

Mr. Klein told his story in a matter-of-fact manner. He said Jews should remember, but not hate; hatred only destroys the one who hates. He recalled his childhood when Jews and non-Jews in his town looked out for one another. Minimalizing his own suffering, Mr. Klein often gave credit to God for allowing him to survive. Fifteen-hour work days, beatings, injuries, and inhumane living conditions were viewed as obstacles to overcome. He, his brother, and brother-in-law tried to help others as much as they could while witnessing cruelties beyond description.

Mr. Klein died at the age of eight-three, six months before his son died rescuing his grandsons. I think he would have praised Bobby for reacting as he was taught to live. Mr. Klein’s only boasting was about his family in Czechoslovakia and his family in America. His simple analysis: “We loved one another.”

I learn these lessons from my neighbors, the Kleins:

  • Do not hesitate to rescue someone in danger, even at risk of losing your life
  • Do not hate those who are consumed with hatred
  • Do not seek pity, even though you have suffered greatly
  • Encourage others through your own experiences
  • Treasure your family; honor your parents; love your children

“My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within, my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed… Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait on Him.’” Lamentations 2:11, 3:22-24

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