‘POW’ Tom Gains His Freedom

True Story: WWII had ended. And yet . . . for about thirty years afterwards Tom, haunted by the ugly scenes that he’d witnessed when engaged in the theatre of war, agonized deeply—tortured especially by the fact that he’d killed fellow human beings. He eventually sank into the dark dungeon of depression and despair. 

One day in the mid-1970s, while alone in his house, he took his shotgun and, in a suicide attempt, blew off a large portion of his face. Amazingly, help reached him in time, and he survived. 

I don't have Tom's photo.

Pictured here is my late father-in-law.

Following the Normandy Invasion he 

was assigned to the British Liberation

Army, and was the only one of four 

school buddies to return home alive. 

He didn't like to talk about it.

 

After much reconstructive surgery, including the fashioning of a new jawbone from another bone and graft tissue from elsewhere in his body, Tom was on the road to physical recovery. Yet the emotional wounds persistently pained him. Until . . . 

Until the psychological and spiritual prisons that led to his committing that desperate act were broken open and demolished. 

A neighbour of Tom’s—a pastor friend of mine—visited with him and gently encouraged him during his long journey towards physical recovery, sharing faith and hope in the love of Jesus. Other Christian folk also came by. Tom, like a prisoner of war and hungry for relief was finally heart-ready to be set free from the shackles that held him bound; ready to find the peace that had eluded him all those years.

Tom opened up his life to God and received Jesus Christ as his Saviour. He experienced a palpable sense of forgiveness and release, peace and wholeness. It was for real! Hungry for more of this grace, he and his wife began attending a supportive Christian fellowship. 

I shared many a conversation with Tom, for I also became his neighbour, during his continuing journey of healing and faith.

Quite some years ago I wrote about Tom, and suggested that until He received the healing presence of Jesus into his life he’d remained, in effect, a 'POW'— prisoner of war, although the war had long before been fought and won.

Many people live like POWs, even though, through His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ won our war against the forces of evil and the sinful nature that are at enmity against the goodness, grace and will of God. 

Do you remain imprisoned within yourself—bound up in chains of sorrow, anger, unforgiveness, guilt, unfounded fear and wounded pride, and more? Is your heart broken, in a state of perpetual fragmentation, because you’ve been unwilling to let Jesus heal it?

May God grant this year’s Remembrance Day season to be one in which you are released from any prison cells of the soul that have too long held you in spiritual chains. It will be a Remembrance Day season well worth remembering.

A Prayer:

Dear God our Heavenly Father, I thank You for the gift of Your Son, who shed His blood on the ‘battlefield’ of the Cross to secure my pardon. I claim Your forgiveness of all my sins. Cleanse me, renew my spirit and mind, and lead me in Your way everlasting. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

~~+~~

Peter is a retired pastor – well, sort of retired – as he is currently engaged as an associate volunteer pastor. He lives in Southwestern Ontario with his wife, May, and writes a weekly inspirational newspaper column and occasional magazine articles. Peter is author of two books: "Parables from the Pond" (Word Alive Press) and "Raise Your Gaze . . . Mindful Musings of a Grateful Heart" (Angel Hope Publishing). He and May are also engaged in leading nursing home / residential chapel services, pulpit supply and music. ~+~

Corrie Ten Boom: Victory Through Surrender

By Rev. Dr. Ed & Janice Hird

Corrie ten Boom once said: “I’ve never had the joy of bringing to birth a child, but I’ve often had the great joy to bring the rebirth to someone else. The creative life that a woman had to be married and have children, I could use in the Kingdom of God.”

After the Nazis conquered Holland, 100,000 Dutch Jews were sent to concentration camps. Corrie’s father, Casper, known as the Grand Old Man of Haarlem, had a deep love of Jewish people, saying, “In this house, God’s people are always welcome.” No one was turned away. Corrie similarly prayed, “Lord Jesus, I offer myself for your people. In any way. Any place. Any time.” Through disguising themselves as Nazi soldiers, her underground team saved 100 Jewish babies who were about to be killed in an orphanage. A well-known architect built them a secret 2 1/2 foot wide hiding place behind a new brick wall in Corrie’s bedroom. Even after arresting the Ten Booms, the Gestapo were never able to find the Jews hidden in this ‘angelcrib’ hiding place. At the time of the arrest, Corrie’s interrogator painfully slapped her in the face after every question. Corrie cried out: “Lord Jesus, protect me!” He hissed at her, “If you mention that name again once more, I will kill you.” But miraculously, he stopped beating her. Corrie, Betsie and their Father all glanced at their fireplace’s plaque ‘Jesus is Victor’. Corrie thought: “It looks now as if the Gestapo were the conquerors. But they are not.”

Corrie and her sister Betsie hid over 800 Jewish people in their Haarlem watchmaker home, before being sent to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp in East Germany where 96,000 women died. “The sufferings of Jesus”, said Corrie, “became very real to me at Ravensbruck.” She lost four family members in the concentration camps, including her beloved older sister Betsie who forgave and prayed for the guards even as they mercilessly beat her. “Don’t hate”, Betsie pleaded to Corrie. Three days before Betsie died, she shared with her sister Corrie the vision of first opening healing homes in Holland and Germany, before going around the world sharing about Jesus’ love and forgiveness. Two weeks later, Corrie was set free through a God-ordained clerical error. One week after this, all the other women her age at Ravensbruck were taken to the gas chamber.

Upon returning to Holland, Corrie opened a home in Holland to bring healing for people, even including the ostracized Dutch who had collaborated with the Nazis. She was knighted by the Queen of the Netherlands for her work.

Corrie told God that she was willing to go where he wanted her to go, but hoped that he’d never send her back to Germany. Finally, after sensing a blockage in her prayer life, she repented, saying, “Yes, Lord, I’ll go to Germany too.” God sent her back to Ravensbruck to lead bible studies with former guards, now in prison. Then, she rented and cleaned up a former concentration camp in Germany to bring temporary housing and healing to some of the nine million Germans who had been bombed or driven out of their homes.

In Munich, a former Ravensbruck guard said to Corrie: ‘How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein. To think, as you said, that he washes my sins away!’ Corrie later wrote, “His hand was thrust out to shake mine….Even as angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man. Was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him…Again I silently prayed ‘Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness’. As I took his hand, my heart felt an overwhelming love for this stranger.”

Corrie became a penniless tramp for the Lord, travelling for three decades to 62 countries, and sleeping in over 1,000 different beds. Wherever she went globally, Corrie shared from her Ravensbruck experience that the light and love of Jesus Christ is deeper than the deepest darkness. She was the favourite travelling companion of the Bible-smuggler, Brother Andrew as they both did missionary work behind the Iron Curtain in Vietnam and 12 other Communist countries. In Vietnam, they gave her the honorific title of ‘Double-old Grandmother.” While in the Soviet Union, she intentionally preached the gospel in her hotel room, knowing that everything she said was being listened to and recorded by communist officials.
Corrie was a unique blend of the compassion of a Mother Theresa and the evangelistic passion of Billy Graham. Through her deep friendship with Rev. Billy and Ruth Graham, Corrie’s Hiding Place book was turned into a movie reaching tens of millions. Ruth Graham said: “I didn’t know anyone who had suffered so intensely for the Lord and for his people, as Corrie had, and come through with absolutely nothing but love in her heart for her captors —she forgave them.” In 1967, Corrie was recognized by Israel as a righteous gentile, planting a tree in her honour. When people kept telling her how brave she was, Corrie transparently prayed, “What little courage I have…I was not brave. I was often like a timid, fluttering bird, looking for a hiding place….Lord, I am weak and cowardly and of little faith; do hold me close. Thou art the conqueror. May that assurance give me courage and loyalty.”

Speaking in an African prison, Corrie said about Ravensbruck, “I knew that unforgiveness would do more harm than the guard’s whip…I could not do it. I was not able. Jesus in me was able to do it. You see, you never touch the ocean of God’s love as when you love your enemies.” When Corrie shared with prisoners in Rwanda, a revival of joy and hope broke out, even among the guards. As she was leaving, the prisoners swarmed around her, chanting ‘Old woman, come back. Old woman, come back and tell us more of Jesus.” Many people are unaware of the powerful international healing ministry that Corrie had, once even healing a leper in Vellore, India, through laying on of her hands.

Because of her work blessing indigenous people, Corrie was adopted into the Hopi First Nation and given the name, Beautiful Flower. While staying at a Kansas farm, Corrie challenged her host, who had recently kicked his son out, telling him to never darken his doorstep again. She said to the farmer: “If you believe in Jesus Christ and belong to Him, your sins have been cast into the depths of the sea, and that’s very deep. But then he expects also that you forgive the sins of your boy and cast them into the depths of the sea. Just imagine how you would feel if there should be another war, if your son had to go back into service and was killed in action. Don’t you think you should forgive him right now?” After riding together in silence, the farmer invited Corrie to go with him where he asked his son to forgive him. His son replied: “But Father, I should ask you for forgiveness.”

In her late sixties, Corrie was betrayed and hurt by some Christians she loved and trusted: “You would have thought that, having been able to forgive the guards in Ravensbruck, forgiving Christian friends would be child’s play. It wasn’t. For weeks, I seethed inside. But at last I asked God again to work His miracle in me…I was restored to the Father.” She later burnt the painful letters from her friends, as a sign of letting go. Are you willing, like Corrie, to find victory through surrendering your unforgiveness?

Rev. Dr. Ed & Janice Hird – co-authors of For Better, For Worse: discovering the keys to a lasting relationship

Survivor’s Guilt? Remembrance Musings

She hadn’t yet been born. What would it have been like to be there with her brother and four older sisters and their mother, welcoming their daddy back home from Europe? His military service

Returned Allied Soldier

Courtesy: Daily Mail, UK.

covered the WWII years. Whereas he’d spent the majority of his military service in an engineers’ battalion, doing fortifications and other security work around the UK, his last year saw him in Europe as part of the British Liberation Army.

My wife, May, would like to have heard her dad share stories of his military service, but as is often the case with veterans who’d witnessed tragic scenes, his lips were sealed . . . just wouldn’t talk about them. We understand, however, that he had witnessed horrific scenes amidst appalling conditions in that final year of service, as they moved in to liberate people and prisoners of war in areas which had been under Nazi control.

May's Dad, early 1940s.

He was the lone survivor of four of his hometown buddies who went into wartime service.

Three didn’t return home alive; he did. Whereas ‘survivor’s guilt’ likely wasn’t warranted, I suspect he quietly suffered from it. I wish now that I were able to encourage him to open up and unload the burdens of his heart, but he’s long gone. He died in Scotland in 1977, when we were already living in Canada. Poignantly today I reflect that I’m now the same age that he was when he died.

Are you an Armed Forces vet? Or, is there one in your family or friendship circle? Helping those who carry painful, traumatic memories to find relief requires considerable sensitivity.

Here’s a path that has helped me and many folks to deal with deep and troubling personal concerns: In the quietness of solitude and the sanctuary of my own heart, mostly in private and sometimes with a trusted friend who is a true believer in Jesus, I confess my need, pouring it all out in Jesus’ name to God – my loving Heavenly Father. I sincerely ask for grace to accept His forgiveness for my failures and sins in a spirit of forgiveness towards others. Jesus Christ died and rose again to cleanse and secure forgiveness for me and for us all.

Following through, I seek strength to live in that new reality in a spirit of gratitude.

I’ve found that my burdens are often lightened by following this path. Frequent, daily talks with Jesus along life’s pathway are precious and healthful to me.

War is a terrible thing and surely oughtn’t to be glamourized. It involves more than physical bodies and material armaments; war is a spiritual thing, and involves deep spiritual forces and consequences. Sadly, despite this age of such great enlightenment the dark spectre of war continually stalks the earth.

Let us pray for our nation,

as we remember with respect and commemorate with gratitude those who have paid the ultimate price and those who continue meeting the great cost of keeping our nation “glorious and free”!

~~+~~

Peter A. Black is a retired pastor – well, sort of retired – and lives in Southwestern Ontario. He writes a weekly inspirational newspaper column, P-Pep! and is author of Raise Your Gaze ... Mindful Musings of a Grateful Heart, and Parables from the Pond -- a children's / family book. ~~+~~

Grace-Space

Last week I had coffee with a friend, and when we stood to leave she apologized for the pants she was wearing.

            “I wear these all the time. They’re my default.”

            “I have the same pair,” I said. “I like mine too.”

She had been wearing those stretchy black pants. You know the ones. We all have a pair. We could live in them 24/7. Dress them down for housecleaning or lounging. Dress them up for coffee with a friend or even a night out.  

My friend had just come through a difficult time of family-drama. No wonder she was ready for those comfy pants with the elastic waistband. She needed some grace, some breathing room.

God knows we need elastic - better known as grace. We are not perfect. We are weak; we struggle; we give in to temptation; we hurt others. And God rescues us. And not with just any kind of grace, but grace with a two-way stretch. While God’s grace is wide, like that wide waistband, it is also deep and high, and He invites us to dive in. Ephesians 3:18 describes the vastness of God's love:    ". . . the love of the Anointed is infinitely long, wide, high, and deep, surpassing everything anyone previously experienced" (The Voice). 

King David describes the depth and width of God’s kindness in Psalm 103:11 and 12:  

            As high as heaven is over the earth,

            so strong is his love to those who fear him.

            And as far as sunrise is from sunset,

            he has separated us from our sins (The Message).

How high is heaven over earth? Scientists say that our universe is ever-expanding! And what about the width of his mercy – has anyone ever measured the distance between sunrise and sunset? Is it not an eternal circle? Is God telling us that His mercy is vast and immeasurable? That His kindness knows no end?

The Psalmist said of God’s path that it was broad and easy to walk upon: “You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way” (Psalm 18:36).  He reminds us again later in Psalm 31:8, “Thou hast set my feet in a large room.”

While we know that broad is the path to destruction and narrow is the gate to eternal life (Matthew 7:13,14), King David also knew that walking in obedience to God provided wideness, soul-freedom, and liberty.

The wide-open fields of the Enemy are not wide and free as we might think. They are a maze of constantly changing “right and wrong”. Our footsteps are never sure or confident when there are no absolute standards! Living in relativism causes confusion, insecurity, and fear (Isaiah 33:15; Romans 7:11; Psalm 36).

However, the walls of God’s Kingdom are widely-set, so spacious in fact that we have room to run and dance, and space to fall and make mistakes. We feel secure inside His protective barriers, inside His grace-space. 

Instead of the simplicity of grace, Pharisees dressed in layers of law-keeping and the high-fashion of religiosity. It could not have been comfortable. There was never any wiggle room for somebody to make a mistake, to struggle, to fall. Jesus condemned their rigid judgmental attitudes. “The Law and the Prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it” (Luke 16:16, emphasis mine). His grace extended to tax-collectors, prostitutes, and indeed everyone that recognized their need.

Jesus frees us from the chains of sin and the law, to live a new life of obedience to Him. “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you” (Galatians 5:1, The Message).  

Does that mean we can live how we want? I love the way Eugene Peterson puts it in the Message:

“So, since we’re out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we’re free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it’s your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom! (Romans 6:15-18: emphasis mine).

We have all blown it. We all need grace, everyday. Like those stretchy black pants, God’s grace covers us in the stress and rigor of everyday life, but His garment is also beautiful enough to enter the throne room of our King (Hebrews 4:16).   

Why go around wearing the latest style of self-righteousness? All the frippery of ritzy rules and pretentious policies only serves to weigh us down, make us itchy, and restrict our movement. Step into the robe of Jesus’ goodness instead (Isaiah 61:10), and enjoy the depth and width of His mercy. Extend the same kindness to others. We all need His eternal, elastic, grace-space. Everyday.

The lyrics of Frederic Faber’s hymn (1854) speak about God's two-way stretchy grace. Click on the link below and listen if you like:
  There's a Wideness in God's Mercy

Pamela Mytroen takes inspiration from the never-changing bedrock of God's Word, and the ever-changing skies and seasons of Saskatchewan. The tenacity of her English students, and the diverse cultures they represent, challenge her comfortable life and have informed many recent stories. She loves a tall Norwegian farm boy who has tried teaching her how to hunt, call coyotes, and check the gas gauge. Their four children and two grandchildren, LadyBug and Sir Cricket, offer a steady supply of sweet words which she unabashedly plagiarizes, and tucks into short fiction, blogs, human-interest pieces, and devotional writing.    

6 Way to Stay Youthful-by Heidi McLaughlin

My grandson Ryan and I have been in a fierce crib competition for the past fourteen years. This past weekend he came to visit his Nana, and the crib board came out of its dark hidden place ready to trounce this handsome young lad. In the midst of shuffling the cards his brows furrowed and he questioned me. “Nana, when I was young how come you never let me win?” I smiled and explained: “One of the most hurtful feelings in life are disappointments.  The sooner we learn to overcome unmet expectations in a healthy environment, the quicker we grasp the concept that disappointments are part of life. We have to embrace them and move on.”  I continued: “Furthermore, you don’t want to become jaded and end up a critical and grumpy old man.” Ryan nodded and smiled; he got it.

Spending a weekend with my grandson invigorated and reminded me how important it is to have an open mind in order to stay youthful. Here are 6 ways to stay youthful.

1.         Hang around with young people. Things are not “the way they used to be.” We have to open our minds to different ways of thinking and stay current with the lifestyle and needs of our young people and millennials. Thinking young keeps us young.

2.         Cultivate a thankful spirit.  Instead of feeding on disappointments and being grumpy that life didn't turn out the way we thought it would, be thankful for the many good things in your life. Ask yourself: “Whom would I rather hang around with, a scowling and critical person or someone who

expresses appreciation and gratitude for the every day things in life?” Being thankful keeps the smile on our face and makes us enjoyable to be around.

3.         Forgive quickly. Over time, unforgiveness harbours anger and causes us to lash out in ways that can make our faces turn ugly and bitter. It controls our emotions and stops us from being vulnerable and joyful.

4.         Remove stress.  We live in a stressful and demanding generation. But we have to realize that stress is a dangerous enemy that releases cortisol in our bodies and make us sick.  It can cause us to lose sleep, stomach ulcers, panic attacks, heart diseases and many other physical and emotional illnesses. 

5.         Get off the couch. Energy begets energy and if we want to stay healthy and keep our muscles strong, we have to move our bodies.  Exercise not only keeps our bodies vibrant and flexible, it rejuvenates our brain and keeps us alert and focused.

6.         Read good books. Older people’s conversations are too focused on illnesses, medication, and their aches and pains.  Yes, this is part of life, but wouldn’t you rather hang around with people whose conversations are filled with meaningful stories, current affairs and tending topics?

We don’t need to be reminded that we all need to do is drink lots of water, eat healthy and get plenty of sleep.  I am so grateful for this wonderful life God has given me and I choose to live it with gusto and joy.  We are all getting older but I agree with the Bible that says: “Therefore do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day,” (2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV).

Heidi McLaughlin lives in the beautiful vineyards of the Okanagan Valley in Kelowna, British Columbia. Heidi has been widowed twice. She is a mom and step mom of a wonderful, eclectic blended family of 5 children and 12 grandchildren. When Heidi is not working, she loves to curl up with a great book, or golf and laugh with her family and special friends.

Her latest book RESTLESS FOR MORE: Fulfillment in Unexpected Places (Including a FREE downloadable Study Guide) is now available at Amazon.ca; Amazon.com, Goodreads.com or her website: www.heartconnection.ca