Two VERY Different People

Here is an interesting and insightful article I ran across today and I wanted to pass it on. Tell me what you think . . .

The Man Who Defeated Adolf Hitler

By Eric Metaxas

This week, billions of Christians around the world will celebrate Easter. But Wednesday was a special day too.

Wednesday -- April 20th -- was Hitler's birthday! Have you forgotten? The Fuehrer would have been 122 years young today! Aren't you celebrating? As I explain in my book "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy," during Hitler's 12-year reign, people across Germany twisted themselves into veritable pretzels to praise the Fuhrer on his birthday! It was a day of national celebration.

How things change! Today Hitler's name is synonymous with evil. What a spectacular reversal of fortune.

Hitler's last birthday -- his 56th -- was already a harbinger of things to come. Ten days later he would commit suicide, so the mood in the bunker on his last "Geburtstag" was not exactly festive. He was a shattered man, hiding like a rat beneath the shattered city that was to have been the capital of his new Germany. His die-hard bunker-mates held a small celebration for him, but Herr Hitler had to be sedated before he could make an appearance. Can anyone dream up a more depressing birthday party? What's the German word for "bummer"?

Contrast Hitler's bleak ending with that of another German of that era, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Bonhoeffer was a brilliant young pastor and a theologian, whose deep faith in God led him to get involved in the plot to kill Hitler. When Hitler learned of Bonhoeffer's involvement he flew into a typically violent rage. As one of his final acts of revenge -- just three weeks before he committed suicide -- Hitler condemned the young pastor to death. Bonhoeffer was hanged on April 9, 1945 at Flossenburg Concentration camp.

But by all accounts, Bonhoeffer went to his death with the peace of God, with no regrets. How can that be?

He was 39 years old, widely reckoned a theological genius. He had already written two of the classic books of the 20th century, "The Cost of Discipleship" and "Life Together." He was engaged to be married to a wonderful young woman. He had such a terrifically bright future! Bonhoeffer even had an opportunity to escape his fate.

In my book I tell the story of how he had fled to America, but then decided to return to Germany, to face the horrors that lay ahead with his people. Why did he return when he didn't have to? And why didn't he have any regrets for doing so, even after he knew he would pay the ultimate price? Just before he died, Bonhoeffer told a fellow prisoner, "This is the end. But for me, the beginning of life."

How is it that one man slunk to his death defeated and is today despised by the whole world, while another man went to his death with God's peace, and is today everywhere hailed as a hero, as one of the few Germans with the courage to see what was happening and to speak against it and act against it, even at the cost of his own life?

There's much to say by way of an answer, but since the Easter season is upon us, let's start there.

Bonhoeffer believed the Easter story. He actually believed the extraordinary story of God's coming to Earth and dying and then rising from the dead to defeat death forever. He believed that because this was true, he need never fear death. All he needed to worry about was doing the right thing and trusting God with the results. And that he did.

Because Bonhoeffer believed these things he had the courage to do what almost no one else around him could do. He stood up for the Jews of Europe and today he is celebrated and cherished, while Hitler, who condemned him to death and who only believed in himself, is reviled as a monster.

That day in the bunker 66 years ago today, as the drugged-up Fuehrer celebrated his last birthday, he was alive and Bonhoeffer had been dead for eleven days.

But on that day -- April 20, 1945 -- who was happy and who was at peace, Hitler or Bonhoeffer? For that matter, which of them is happy and at peace today? It's something chilling to think about, the contrast between these two Germans, between these two lives and these two deaths. But at this time of year especially, it's appropriate that perhaps we do think about it.

But at this time of year, when Passover and Easter are being celebrated it's especially appropriate that we do think about it. Do those of us who say we believe in God really believe it? Because if we do, it will affect how we behave today, this week, this month... If we believe in the word of God, as Bonhoeffer did, it will give us the courage do the right thing wherever we are. Like Bonhoeffer, we will do the right thing and trust God with the consequences. Faith and courage go together.

Bonhoeffer's faith gave him the courage to stand against the greatest evil of the 20th century. And today we celebrate him and revile the inhuman tyrant he stood against.

So this Easter season, dare to think about what you really believe. What you believe about your faith will affect how you behave today and how people regard you years from today. That's a fact.

Let the life of Bonhoeffer, lived in faith and without fear, be a source of encouragement to you, so that your life in turn may be a source of encouragement to others in years to come.

Eric Metaxas is the author of "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" (Thomas Nelson) and "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (But Were Afraid to Ask): THE JESUS EDITION" published by Regal Books. For more information, visit www.ericmetaxas.com.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/04/20/man-defeated-adolf-hitler/#ixzz1KBi6DL4Y

Losing "Friends"

I was reading something this morning from Craig Gross and Steven Luff who were talking about breaking free from sinful patterns that have defined and captured our lives, specifically in this case, pornography. However, it can apply to all kinds of sin - substance abuse, sexual sins, being a workaholic, pride, greed, envy, bitterness, etc. They said this:

As many men can attest, going sober can be an otherworldly experience. If you are going sober, you really may feel as if you are losing a friend (and in essence you are - you're losing the worst friend you ever had, a friend who lies to you, cheats on you, and steals from you). Ultimately it's like an abusive relationship where an individual systematically isolates you, twists the truth you once knew and understood, and keeps you under his control by telling you that the world you once knew doesn't understand you but that he does.

So what's it going to be like walking away from this "friend"? It's going to be scary, it's going to take a lot of courage, and most of all, it's going to take a lot of faith in God that all the promises he offers you in Scripture really do exist, even if you can't quite see them (as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7, "We live by faith, not by sight"). (Pure Eyes, pg. 146)

Now that is a friend we want to be rid of . . . Unfortunately, I have kept "friends" like that around far too long. Have you?

Why do we hold on so often to this "friend" who is destroying us and making us into people we don't want to be?

What prevents us from moving forward and trusting in God and His promises for us?