He lived in wartime Germany. In the midst of incredible evil he stood for God and was executed by the Nazi’s only days before the end of the war. Following is just a sample of his thinking for us to glean from.

 Prayer “I have often thought that the Tauentzienstrasse (Berlin’s red-light district) would be an extremely fruitful field for church work. It’s much easier for me to imagine a praying murderer, a praying prostitute, than a vain person praying. Nothing is so at odds with prayer as vanity.”

Preaching “Anything good must come from God, so even in a sermon that was poorly written and delivered, God might manifest himself and touch the congregation. Conversely in a sermon wonderfully written and delivered, God might refuse to manifest himself. The “success” of the sermon is utterly dependent on the God who breaks through and “grasps” us, or we cannot be grasped.”

            “In 1932 Bonhoeffer told Hilderbrandt: “A truly evangelical sermon must be like offering a child a fine red apple or offering a thirsty man a cool glass of water and then saying: Don you want it? At Fingenwalde he effectively said the same thing: We must be able to speak about our faith so that hands will be stretched out toward us faster than we can fill them… Do not try to make the Bible relevant. Its relevance is axiomatic…do not defend God’s Word, but testify to it…Trust to the Word. It is a ship loaded to the very limits of its capacity!”

Death “Death is only dreadful for those who live in dread and fear of it. Death is not wild and terrible, if only we can be still and hold fast to God’s Word. Death is not bitter, if we have not become bitter ourselves. Death is grace, the greatest gift of grace that God gives to people who believe in him. Death is mild, death is sweet and gentle; it beckons to us with heavenly power, if only we realize that it is the gateway to our homeland, the tabernacle of joy, the everlasting kingdom of peace.”

Faith “..requires faith, and may God grant it to us daily. I don’t mean the faith that flees the world, but the faith that endures in the world and loves and remains true to that world in spite of all the hardships it brings us. Our marriage must be a “yes” to God’s earth. I fear that Christians who venture to stand on earth on only one leg will stand in heaven on only one leg too.”

 Strength “Who stands fast? he asked. Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God -  the responsible man, who tries to make his whole life and answer to the question and call of God.”

The everlasting, invisible (spiritual), immutable (shadow; stand), and one true God dwells in unapproachable (approach) light and splendor. Honor, glory, majesty (magnificence; to be marvelous; noble) and power (ability; great; greatness; might; strong) are due to His name. He is magnified (magnify) and highly exalted (pride), and His manifold wisdom (wise) is unsearchable (deep). He is life and bestows life.

His character and will are perfect, complete, and divine. He is gracious (grace), kind, merciful (rich), compassionate, and completely trustworthy (to believe). He shows His love (loving-kindness) and faithfulness to all. He is not forgetful or slack, and knows all things (heart; foreknow, foreknowledge). His rule (reign; throne) is righteous (righteousness) and just. His burning anger (to be wroth; wrath) is provoked because he is zealous (to be jealous) for His holiness (fire; holy).

Taken from Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary Topic Finder under “Character and Attributes Of”

Hallelujah (or “Alleluia” in some mainline churches, a much nicer way to sing the word) roughly means “Praise the Lord” – but what exactly does that mean? Perhaps a more illuminating translation of Hallelujah is “all hail to Him who is”. This meaning is similar to the first, in that “praise” and “all hail” summon us to worship, honour and revere the object of the praise. But the translation “Him who is” leaves us room to consider our God more deeply. The Lord God gave Himself the name “I AM WHO I AM” – he first revealed it to Moses in the burning bush scene of the Bible. “I AM” implies completeness, power and presence – our Lord is not a historical figure only, He was then and He is today. When we pause to consider that the God who loves the world loves you, and is present now, then perhaps we can quietly, loudly, reverently or joyfully say “Hallelujah – all hail to Him who is!”

In the past eight days, there have been 53 earthquakes of at least 5.0-magnitude around the world, according to the US Geological Survey.  Of those, 28 struck near Japan.  Japan’s latest quake places it in the Geological Survey’s top five largest earthquakes.

The largest occurred in Chile in 1960, and another at Prince William Sound in Alaska in 1964.  The third-largest, at 9.1, occurred in Sumatra, on Boxing Day in 2004.  It claimed almost 230,000 lives, displaced about 1.7 million people and triggered a tsunami that hit 14 countries across south Asia and east Africa, causing more casualties than any other in history.  The last time a powerful quake rocked Tokyo in 1923, it claimed more than 147,000 lives.

Matthew 24:3-11  Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.  5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.  “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.  10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

I would like to make the following points after reading prophesies regarding current world events that have been well documented and profound in their content.

1. Jesus said these things must come to pass.  He did not mention the sins of men or the judgment of God.  He did mention that prophets would be active in these times but only false ones are mentioned.
2. People in general are shocked at recent TV and internet footage.  Many feel helpless and insecure.  These events include famines, pestilences and earthquakes which can be interpreted as above the earth (atmospheric), on the earth and in the earth.  He also mentions wars and persecution which are terrible things that are happening around our world.   Jesus tells us two things.  The first is to not be deceived and the second is to not be troubled.

God loves all people and desires none to perish. His name means anointed saviour and he commands Christians not to judge.  God loves sinners including myself.  If any person is anything in the sight of God then that is a work of grace alone.  I believe it is a time for Christians to pray, to give and to help which is the most powerful possible demonstration of our spirituality.

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