Tortured for Christ

Dr. John Vonder Bruegge is the sort of man one may envision dressed in a plush velvet robe, seated in a giant leather chair, encompassed by shelves of ancient leather books, and snacking on cheese and crackers. A Biblical scholar by trade, and a resident of a Dutch community by consequence, Dr. Vonder Bruegge has a unique story to tell. Dr. Vonder Bruegge has wealth of knowledge with a slight pension for performance. He can be found educating throngs of his diligent Biblical pupils at Northwestern College. Dr. Vonder Bruegge is passionate about his job as an educator and a Biblical scholar, engaging his students to grapple with tough questions, even in a small Dutch community like Orange City.

Explanation of how hope of the resurrection plays a role in comforting Wolterstorff is present, with detail and many examples, and shows a deep understanding.

This sermon provokes the one who has had their own hearts weaken to seek holiness from the transformation of love. Wesley desires every Christian to attain the status of perfect love, where the love of God and neighbor would reign in their hearts. As evidence he quotes St. Paul, “Earnestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show unto you a more excellent way.” (The More Excellent Way,

This passage shows how Christ set the example for all to follow by giving his life for us and that if these people coming to the world would follow Christ’s pattern, they in turn could be an example to others one day.

Sometimes I struggle with the fact that the world is so full of sin. There are so many bad things happening in the world today, and that have happened in the past. It is hard to deal with the fact that God would let such bad things go on for so long. There are so many people in need, in the world today. I hadn’t really thought about it until we had to watch the video showing the mission of St Francis Inn. I think that they were showing God’s love by serving the homeless with respect. They provided meals and let them sit at tables like a restaurant. Seeing and hearing their stories, shows just how much suffering there is in the world

God’s Double Agent: The True Story of a Chinese Christian’s Fight for Freedom is a Christian biography in which former underground Chinese Christian pastor Bob Fu details his life and the moral atrocities that occur in Communist China.

Growth and time reveal old hurts but in the midst we can always find God’s love and grace. Gone are the days of chasing approval of men (and women). Instead I lean into the One who sought me first. And now my heart’s desire is to be transformed daily into the image of Christ.

Wiesel talks about his transformation of his beliefs and his faith. At the beginning of Night Wiesel put all of his faith in his God, there was no hesitation in believing that God was the Almighty. Now in the camp, his beliefs, his faith are being questioned. “Blessed be God’s name? … Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber of me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves?... Yes, man is stronger greater than God…. You have betrayed, allowing them to be tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned, what did they do? They pray before You! They praise your name!... But now, I no longer pleaded for anything… I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused” (Wiesel 67-68). Wiesel no longer believes in his beloved God, he lost his faith. Faith is a part of people, it makes them who they are. Yes, they might be respected, cared for, but their faith makes them who they are. Their faith, is what they believe in with all their heart and soul, and for that to be stripped away from them is dehumanizing on a scale that we can not even attempt to

In a world that does not know the Gospel anymore, we must indulge in it, and love our fellow community though they may not share similar values, but find balancing in still remaining in our own values. Though many of times we find ourselves in opposition of the majority of the world, we must exude Christ love onto others as He does to us unconditionally. The author addresses ways in which we are able to live out our faith and still find a place within our community though they may not share similar values.

During the Nazi German era, which took place from 1933 until 1945, Christianity played a very important role in the rise of Hitler’s regime. The Christian churches greatly influenced not only the formation of the Nazi regime, but also the German folk. The most influential churches were the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Church. Even though Christianity itself faced a state of decline in the early 1930s, the higher clergy of the Christian churches in Germany still managed to make a significant impact. The amount of influence that the churches exerted can be measured not only through the impact of their resistance towards the Nazis, but conversely through the resistance carried out by

Richard Wurmbrand had an inspiring story. I was encouraged by his courage and his wisdom. The first thing thing that I was intrigued by was his story about him being an atheist. He would have talks to himself about how he had resistible feeling to churches. All he seemed to be searching for was that their was this great love in the center of the universe. When he continued to talk about this, it got me reflecting on my own life. Being a christian, I am promised the Holy Spirit and this love. I have this love and I don’t realize that there are people out there that claim to be atheist, but in all reality they just need to be loved on. I always have this natural judgement of atheist that if I was to ever go up to them and tell them about Jesus

Wurmbrand portrays himself as torn for leaving Romania, but believes it is his duty to preach to the free countries in hopes that we will adopt his mindset, “I hate the Communist system but I love the men. I hate the sin but I love the sinner” (Wurmbrand, 52). With his surprisingly kind words towards his torturers, one would think he would show the same love towards fellow Christians in the West who are willing to help his people; however, he comes across in a harsh, judgmental, degrading tone. He plainly states that he suffered more in the decaying Western civilization than he did in a Communist prison (Wurmbrand, 85). I find this hurtful as he continues to degrade our society rather than coming alongside us. While I am rather guilt ridden for feeling this way, his accusations of how Christians of the West are not serious push me to a state of defensiveness. His words cut deep and poke fun at my personal faith, and due to these words, I would have the urge to resist his pleas for help. While I know this would only adhere to his insults, I cannot help but consider how his words effect my self-esteem and outlook on Christ-like

Torture is arguably one of the worst things you can do to a human being. Not only is it physically harmful, it is also mentally degrading. As we have seen, torture is an obvious problem in Egypt. We also learned that it is extremely difficult to determine the right course of action as a foreign onlooker. We can read all the articles and documents we want, but we will never truly know the whole story. No amount of foreign aid will be enough to stop the abhorrent crimes happening throughout the country. Until the Egyptian government stands up for its citizens, torture will continue to be a means to get false confessions.

“Circumcision of the Heart” – This is one of Wesley’s earlier sermons from 1733 that serves as an introduction to what he calls “Christian Perfection” (a different sermon in of itself), or the doctrine of holiness. This circumcision of the heart is most profoundly manifested in the love that the Christian has for God and neighbor. Furthermore, the love that Wesley describes is the mark of a true Christian. The circumcision is not brought about by some outward act like baptism, but rather it is the embracing and accepting of certain internal qualities such as humility, faith, hope, and love being the most important. The true Christian has an unclouded knowledge of himself, recognizing his lowliness outside of Christ and therefore realizing his desperate need of Christ. Once humbled, the faith in Christ is what guides the Christian in day-to-day life, all the while having the assurance that Christ’s sacrifice atones for his own sins. All of this is to say that love is the most crucial affection of the heart that Christians must possess.

Karol’s battle against communism began during World War II, when he was forced to hide his faith from the cruel government. He did this in several ways, including wearing his priestly garb without the collar and being called “Uncle” instead of “Father” in public. Karol was the kind of man who wasn’t afraid to put himself in danger in order to speak the truth. It is evident that “he tried to stand up for the dignity of man, even against the seemingly overwhelming power of Communism” (Accattoli et al 30), which he did at his local university, preaching the message of Christianity to the students and warning them of the evils of the communism and the atheism that went along with such a government. But this action was only one of many early strides that Karol Wojtyla took against communism.