Unbroken

In her book, Unbroken, Lauren Hilderbran tells the story of Louis Zamperini an Olympic distance runner and a lieutenant in World War II. In 1943 his B-52 bomber crashed 800 miles south of Hawaii, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Adrift on a raft with only two other survivors, Louis was pushed beyond his physical and metal limits. He and his companions fought off sharks, survived thirst and starvation, and miraculously remained unscathed after enduring forty-five minutes of machine-gun fire by a Japanese plane. 

As they drifted for hundreds of miles with no rescue in sight, God gave them glimmers of hope. One day they found a few chocolate bars in the pockets of the raft. When their bodies had become gaunt from near-fatal dehydration, merciful rain showers poured down water for them to drink. An albatross landed on Louis’s head, and he reached up slowly and caught it. The men feasted on the seabird like kings and then used its bones to fashion claws to catch the occasional fish that swam just beneath the surface of the water. Seeing the stars strewn across the night sky reminded Louis that God was still there. 

Louis had only prayed once in his life during childhood when he feared his mother might die. Now he prayed to God fervently for help. Without any church background, he recited bits and pieces of prayers he recalled from movies. “When you reach the end of your rope and there’s nowhere else to turn . . . you’re going to look up,” Louis said later. He promised the Lord that if He got him through this, he would serve Him for the rest of his life. 

On day 47 of their ordeal, Louis Zamperini and fellow survivor Russell Phillips were picked up by Japanese sailors. They were held in POW camps for more than two years where they were tortured viciously, injected with strange substances, and deprived of food. Somehow, the defiant American with an unbreakable spirit survived. When the Japanese surrendered and the war ended in 1945, Louis was released and reunited with his family. 

Back home in America, Louis received the Purple Heart and many other honors, but he suffered from severe PTSD, including haunting nightmares from his horrific experiences in Japan. He drank heavily to cope, and his marriage was crumbling. At the prompting of his wife, Louis attended a crusade in Los Angeles in 1949 where a young evangelist named Billy Graham shared the gospel. During the invitation, Louis remembered a prayer he had spoken on that little raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean six years earlier, promising God, “If you save me, I will serve you forever.” At the crusade, Louis stepped forward and gave his life to Christ and experienced a complete transformation. His marriage was restored, his taste for alcohol was taken away and his nightmares never came back. 

Years later, he even returned to Japan where he forgave his captors and led some to Christ. Louis’ life is nothing short of a miracle and a testament to the power of forgiveness. Only Jesus could so radically change a person and use it for such a glorious purpose. -DM

The Golden Fish

 In his book, Miracles, Eric Metaxas tells his conversion story in a chapter entitled, “The Golden Fish.” He writes, “In 1988 I had a dream in which God spoke to me in what I have come to call ‘the secret vocabulary of my heart.’” But, before we get to the dream, there’s an important piece of the story you need to know.  

Once as a young man, Eric saw a chrome fish on the back of a car. He wondered what it meant. Eric asked his father – who was a religious Greek Orthodox church-goer – and he explained, “This was from the Greek word ixthys, meaning “fish,” because the early Christians used this word as an acronym—Iesus Xristos THeos Ymon Sotir. It stood for: Jesus Christ Son of God Our Savior. It was their secret symbol.”

This puzzled Eric, who’s enjoyed fishing as a hobby. The strange idea of the Jesus fish stuck with him, and he never forgot it. Later in his mid-twenties, Eric was befriended by a Christian co-worker who began witnessing to him. At this time, Eric was a skeptical, agnostic. “If God existed, there’s really no way we could know much about him,” he thought. Then Eric’s Christian friend suggested something strange, “Why don’t you pray and ask God to reveal Himself to you in an unmistakable way?” Eric did, but he didn’t expect anything to happen.

In Eric’s own words, here what happened next, “One night near my 25th birthday, I dreamt I was ice-fishing on Candlewood Lake in Danbury, CT. I looked into the large hole cut into the ice and saw the snout of a fish poking out. (Of course, ice-fishing is never this easy.) I reached down and picked it up by the gills and held it up. It was a large pickerel or perhaps even a pike. And in the dazzlingly bright sunlight shining through the blue sky and off the white snow and ice onto the bronze-colored fish, it appeared positively golden. But then I realized that it didn't merely look golden, it actually was golden. It was a living golden fish, as though I were in a fairy tale.

And suddenly I understood that this golden fish was ixthys—Jesus Christ Son of God Our Savior—and that God was one-upping me in the language of my own symbol system. I heard God speaking to me, telling me I must accept Christ. And I realized in the dream that Jesus was real and now I was holding Him there in the bright sunlight and at long last my search was over.”

The next day, Eric told his Christian friend about the dream and what it meant, “I said what I never would have said before—and would have cringed to hear anyone else say. I had accepted Jesus. And when I spoke those words I was flooded with the same joy I had had inside the dream.”[1]

As I read Eric’s story, I was reminded of a couple Scriptures. Paul preached to the Athenian philosophers in Acts 17:27, “that men should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.” The prophet Jeremiah said, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:12-13).

God can speak through dreams, if He chooses to. Think of the Biblical examples – Jacob’s ladder (Gen. 28), Jospeh’s starry hosts (Gen. 37), Solomon’s “blank check” (1 Kings 3), and Jospeh, the husband of Mary (Matt. 1-2). Dreams and visions are not on par with Scripture, but God can speak in and through them to point unbelievers to Him and express specific truths to His children. In Scripture, whenever anyone experienced a dream from God, God always made the meaning of the dream clear. He is never the author of confusion. God is still speaking today: through His word, through the Holy Spirit, through His servants and even in our dreams.

 -DM   

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[1] Eric Metaxas, Miracles (New York: Dutton, 2014), 142-149.

Programmable Money: A Prophetic Sign?

 

On March 9^th 2022 President Joe Biden issued an executive order that called on the US Treasury Department to look into creating a government-controlled digital currency, aka “a digital dollar.” This is the first time the US government has formally hinted at developing a cryptocurrency -- a market now valued at approximately $1.7 trillion, with BitCoin being the most famous example.[1]

These forms of digital money which are controlled by governments are also called CBDCs or Central Bank Digital Currency. Other countries such as China, Sweden, and the EU already have their own CBDC. In fact, 90% of national central banks are at least in the planning stages for launching their own CBDC in the future.

Some 40 million American adults, or 16% of the population, have used, traded or invested in cryptocurrencies, according to the Pew Research Center. Not only does this point to the growing trend in the global financial sector, but the government’s desire to not miss out on the chance to exert more control over people’s money. Isn’t that what it always boils down to – power and money?

Adding more intrigue to this news is talk of something even more intrusive, “programmable money.” Programmability is a major feature of digital currency which would allow the issuer to set limits and controls over its use. Essentially, any CBDC would give either the State, the central bank or the corporation issuing the money as wages the power to control how and where the money is spent.

How would this work? Let’s say the government issued a travel restriction on citizens, only allowing them so much money per month on gas. With programmable currency all transactions could be traced, so once a buyer reaches the limit, they are no longer allowed to buy fuel. I’m not trying to be a fearmonger, but just citing a hypothetical.  

In case you think I’m being conspiratorial, let me cite an example from last year. Tom Mutton, the director of the Bank of England, made a statement about the “double edged sword” of programmable money saying, “You could introduce programmability and there could be some socially beneficial outcomes from that, preventing activity which is seen to be socially harmful in some way. But at the same time, it could be a restriction on people’s freedoms.”[2]

Now don’t take me the wrong way. I’m not suggesting that we pack our Ramen noodles and beanie-weenies and move off the grid. But I am trying to point out how the signs of the times are aligning with the Beast system we find in Revelation 13. Bible prophecy scholars have long warned that the Scripture foretells a day when a global leader, The Antichrist (or Beast), will be able to control what you buy and sell with his “mark.”  The idea that money itself could be programmable so that only those loyal can spend it or restricting the ability of commercial transactions to those with religious or political allegiance is the kind of tech that would fit nicely into the Antichrist’s evil empire.

David Jeremiah adds, “To me, the rise of digital currencies feels more sinister than spectacular – especially with the specter of a government-sponsored form of digital tender. The idea of government officials being able to access the financial records and transaction histories of ordinary citizens is frightening. And the idea of those same officials being able to hack, withdraw, or freeze those funds with impunity is terrifying. We can already see the outer waves of the coming storm. Technology already exists that would make it possible for the economic and religious union predicted in the mark of the Beast. God’s people must be aware of these trends without being seized by fear.”[3]   

These are perilous times, but also exciting times. We can see how much of the stage setting for the last days is coming together before our eyes. Don’t be dismayed, but discerning. “See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet” (Matt. 24:6). Everything is going down just the way God said it would. Until He comes, let’s be found faithful. -DM

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[1] Dan Avery, “Biden's 'Digital Dollar': Could This Be the US' Answer to Bitcoin?” CNET, 5 April 2022

<https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/crypto/biden-digital-dollar-governments-answer-to-bitcoin/>

[2] Tim Wallace, “Bank of England tells ministers to intervene on digital currency 'programming,' MSN Money, 21 June 2021 <https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/bank-of-england-tells-ministers-to-intervene-on-digital-currency-programming/ar-AALhtDP>  

[3] David Jeremiah, Where Do We Go From Here? (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2021), 77.

Eliza Spurgeon: The Mother of a Prince

His name was known around the world. Crowds flocked to his church to hear him preach, and everywhere else people devoured the printed editions of his sermons. When he died, 60,000 admirers filed past his casket and 100,000 lined his funeral route. Even today, people visit his grave in London, England to pay tribute. Even more read his books and are inspired by his sermons. Yet before Charles Spurgeon was “The Prince of Preachers,” he was a young boy in the arms of a godly mother – Eliza Spurgeon. Amid all his success and all his fame, he would not forget his first and best instructor. “I cannot tell,” he said, “how much I owe to the solemn words of my good mother.”

Charles Spurgeon was born on June 19, 1834, in Essex, England, the first child of John and Eliza. John Spurgeon, like his father before him, was a bi-vocational, pastor who worked as a clerk through the week to support his ministry on the weekends. His work and ministry often took him away from home and left Eliza in charge of the children. And there were many children! Eliza gave birth to 17, though nine would die in infancy.

Some of Charles’ earliest memories are of his mother gathering the children to read the Bible to them and to plead with them to turn to Christ. Charles remembered that on one occasion she prayed in this way: “Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear a swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold of Christ.” The thought of his own mother bearing witness against him pierced his soul and stirred his heart. Her intercession made such a deep impression on her young son that many years later he would write, “How can I ever forget her tearful eye when she warned me to escape from the wrath to come?”

Eliza’s prayers dogged young Charles until one snowy January morning when he was drawn from the cold into a little Primitive Methodist chapel. At thirteen-years-old, Charles responded to the Gospel, after hearing an ill-prepared deacon give a brief sermon. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Young man, look to Jesus Christ and live!” Indeed, Charles did look upon the Son that day and he was born again.

Soon after his conversion, Charles wrote his mother a letter in which he expressed his gratitude for her faithfulness. “You, my Mother, have been the great means in God’s hand to guide me to Christ. Your Sabbath-evening addresses and Bible lessons were too deeply settled on my heart to be forgotten. You prepared the way for the preached Word. I love you as the first preacher to my heart and the effectual prayer warrior of my youth. Never could it be possible for any man to estimate what he owes to a godly mother.”[1]

If you follow the greatest men of God back to their beginnings, you will often find yourself in a hidden closet or lonely pew, where a mother kneels to pray. Those who know their Bibles should hardly be surprised. Like the star the wise men saw, the stories of God’s redemptive movements often lead us to a home where a woman, hidden from the great ones of the earth, caresses tiny, beautiful feet that will take the Good News to the world (Rom. 10:15). In the prayers of a mother, spiritual awakenings are born and peoples won, idols are toppled and devils undone, dry bones are raised, prodigals rescued and nations influenced. Again and again, before God laid his hand on a man, he laid it on his mother. Thank God for praying moms! -DM

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[1] Tim Challies, “The Power of a Pleading Mother (Christian Men and Their Godly Moms), 27 May 2017 <https://www.challies.com/articles/christian-men-and-their-godly-moms-charles-spurgeon/>