[Pepper]

Corrie's letter:

The world is deathly ill. It is dying. The Great Physician has already signed the death certificate. Yet there is still a great work for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water, channels of mercy to those who are still in the world. It is possible for them to
do this because they are overcomers.

Christians are ambassadors for Christ. They are representatives from Heaven to this dying world. And because of our presence here, things will change.

My sister, Betsy, and I were in the Nazi concentration camp at Ravensbruck because we committed the crime of loving Jews. Seven hundred of us from Holland, France, Russia, Poland and Belgium were herded into a room built for two hundred. As far as I knew, Betsy and I were the only two representatives of Heaven in that room.

We may have been the Lord's only representatives in that place of hatred, yet because of our presence there, things changed. Jesus said, "In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." We too, are to be overcomers - bringing the light of Jesus into a world filled with darkness and hate.

Sometimes I get frightened as I read the Bible, and as I look in this world and see all of the tribulation and persecution promised by the Bible coming true. Now I can tell you, though, if you too are afraid, that I have just read the last pages. I can now come to shouting "Hallelujah!

Hallelujah!" for I have found where it is written that Jesus said, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things: and I will be His God, and he shall be My son." This is the future and hope of this world. Not that the world will survive - but that we shall be overcomers in the midst of a dying world.

Betsy and I, in the concentration camp, prayed that God would heal Betsy who was so weak and sick. "Yes, the Lord will heal me,", Betsy said with confidence. She died the next day and I could not understand it. They laid her thin body on the concrete floor along with all the other corpses of the women who died that day.

It was hard for me to understand, to believe that God had a purpose for all that. Yet because of Betsy's death, today I am traveling all over the world telling people about Jesus.

There are some among us teaching there will be no tribulation, that the Christians will be able to escape all this. These are the false teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days. Most of them have little knowledge of what is already going on across the world. I have been in countries where the saints are already suffering terrible persecution. In China, the Christians were told, "Don't worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated - raptured." Then came a terrible persecution.


Millions of Christians were tortured to death. Later I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly, "We have failed. We should have made the people strong for persecution rather than telling them Jesus would come first. Tell the people how to be strong in times of persecution, how to stand when the tribulation comes - to stand and not faint."

I feel I have a divine mandate to go and tell the people of this world that it is possible to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in training for the tribulation, but more than sixty percent of the Body of Christ across the world has already entered into the tribulation. There is no way to escape it. We are next.

Since I have already gone through prison for Jesus' sake, and since I met the Bishop in China, now every time I read a good Bible text I think, "Hey, I can use that in the time of tribulation." Then I write it down and learn it by heart.

When I was in the concentration camp, a camp where only twenty percent of the women came out alive, we tried to cheer each other up by saying, "Nothing could be any worse than today." But we would find the next day was even worse. During this time a Bible verse that I had committed to memory gave me great hope and joy. "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part evil is spoken of, but on your part He is glorified."

(I Peter 3:14) I found myself saying, "Hallelujah! Because I am suffering, Jesus is glorified!"

In America, the churches sing, "Let the congregation escape tribulation", but in China and Africa the tribulation has already arrived. This last year alone more than two hundred thousand Christians were martyred in Africa. Now things like that never get into the newspapers because they cause bad political relations. But I know. I have been there. We need to think about that when we sit down in our nice houses with our nice clothes to eat our steak dinners.

Many, many members of the Body of Christ are being tortured to death at this very moment, yet we continue right on as though we are all going to escape the tribulation.

Several years ago I was in Africa in a nation where a new government had come into power. The first night I was there some of the Christians were commanded to come to the police station to register. When they arrived they were arrested and that same night they were executed. The next day the same thing happened with other Christians. The third day it was the same. All the Christians in the district were being systematically murdered.

The fourth day I was to speak in a little church. The people came, but they were filled with fear and tension. All during the service they were looking at each other, their eyes asking, "Will this one I am sitting beside be the next one killed? Will I be the next one?"

The room was hot and stuffy with insects that came through the screenless windows and swirled around the naked bulbs over the bare wooden benches. I told them a story out of my childhood.

"When I was a little girl, "I said, "I went to my father and said, "Daddy, I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus Christ." "Tell me," said Father, "When you take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?" "No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train." "That is right," my father said, "and so it is with God's strength.

Our Father in Heaven knows when you will need the strength to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. He will supply all you need - just in time."

My African friends were nodding and smiling. Suddenly a spirit of joy descended upon that church and the people began singing, " In the sweet, by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore." Later that week, half the congregation of that church was executed. I heard later that the other half was killed some months ago.

But I must tell you something. I was so happy that the Lord used me to encourage these people, for unlike many of their leaders, I had the word of God. I had been to the Bible and discovered that Jesus said He had not only overcome the world, but to all those who remained faithful to the end, He would give a crown of life.

How can we get ready for the persecution? First we need to feed on the word of God, digest it, make it a part of our being. This will mean disciplined Bible study each day as we not only memorize long passages of scripture, but put the principles to work in our lives.

Next we need to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Not just the Jesus of yesterday, the Jesus of History, but the life-changing Jesus of today who is still alive and sitting at the right hand of God.

We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is no optional command of the Bible, it is absolutely necessary. Those earthly disciples could never have stood up under the persecution of the Jews and Romans had they not waited for Pentecost. Each of us needs our own personal Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We will never be able to stand in the tribulation without it.

In the coming persecution we must be ready to help each other and encourage each other. But we must not wait until the tribulation comes before starting. The fruit of the Spirit should be the dominant force of every Christian's life.

Many are fearful of the coming tribulation, they want to run. I, too, and a little bit afraid when I think that after all my eighty years, including the horrible Nazi concentration camp, that I might have to go through the tribulation also. But then I read the Bible and I am glad.

When I am weak, then I shall be strong, the Bible says. Betsy and I were prisoners for the Lord, we were so weak, but we got power because the Holy Spirit was on us. That mighty inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit helped us through. No, you will not be strong in yourself when the tribulation comes. Rather, you will be strong in the power of Him who will not forsake you.

For seventy-six years I have known the Lord Jesus and not once has He ever left me, or let me down. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him, for I know that to all who overcome, He shall give the crown of life.


Hallelujah!

Corrie Ten Boom
1974

http://www.dccsa.com/greatjoy/corrie.htm

[Kathy.Ca]

We win! We know that! because....we know how this story ends!

Thanks Pepper for the good read.

Praise God! :D

[SageTheRage]

I used to have several Corrie Ten Boom books in my personal library. But you know how it is when you lend books out, sigh! I'd forgotten about them til I read your post, Pepper. Thank you so much for sharing some of her writings. It puts me in mind to go to the library over the holidays and see if they've got any of her books. My favorite was, of course, her accounting of her life before and during her incarceration in the Nazi prison camps. So inspirational!

[Kathy.Ca]

Another interesting read......

The Truth

(By J. Adams)
October, 1994

"And you shall know the truth,
and the truth will set you free." (John; Ch.8, v.32)

The global war described in my papers is a painful upset of man's expectations stemming from a catastrophic error in dominant beliefs and behavior. It involves the total collapse of man's self-confidence, i.e., his ego, as the world realizes the reigning "secular" worldview is irrational and false- a dangerous popular delusion.

-The Truth-

While the apocalyptic war I'm anticipating embodies a total upset of dominant secular beliefs and expectations, it involves the fulfillment of religious beliefs and expectations- i.e., the fulfillment of religious prophecy. In this sense, the secular worldview is being falsified while the truth, realism, and rationality of religion is established. So you understand exactly how this is the case, a brief overview of biblical prophecy is in order.
In discussing my views concerning a future surprise world war involving a nuclear holocaust triggered by conflict in the Middle East, I have noticed that many people respond by saying I'm predicting the "end of the world". I then point out that I did not mention biblical prophecy. Yet, most people are quick to draw parallels between Christian predictions of an Apocalypse and world war three (of course, Jewish, Moslem, and most other world religions have their own prophetic versions of the Apocalypse). This is important because I personally do believe that the global conflict I expect is, indeed, that which is predicted in the Bible. In fact, while trying to determine what could cause the epic crash that now appears to be imminent, I, along with friends, went through what can only be logically classified as a private revelation that clued me into just how "The Crash" would most likely occur.

Specifically, the revelation I went through had to do with the seventh seal prophecy from the eighth chapter of the Book of Revelation. This prophecy is the key to the revelation of "The Truth" in the context of the Apocalypse (the word apocalypse literally means "revelation"). After the seventh and final seal is broken in the Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse is unleashed and "The Truth" is revealed. Thus, the meaning behind the seventh seal prophecy is of the utmost prophetic importance...


When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, (1) there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the alter with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth; and (2) there were peals of thunder, loud noises, flashes of lightening, and an earthquake.
Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets made ready to blow them.

The first angel blew his trumpet, and (3) there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, which fell on the earth; and a third of the earth was burnt up, and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

The second angel blew his trumpet, and (4) something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships destroyed.

The third angel blew his trumpet, and (5) a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the fountains of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the water, because it was made bitter.

The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and (6) a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light was darkened; a third of the day was kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice, as it flew in midheaven, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets which the three angels are about to blow!"



I have long believed that this prophecy is a depiction of a future nuclear war. Even though it was written some 2000 years ago, it accurately describes each major phase of a global nuclear holocaust:
1. The half hour of "silence in heaven" during which ICBM's would traverse their orbits before striking targets after being launched.

2. The thunderous reports, bright flashes, and earthquake associated with nuclear detonations.

3. The nuclear blasts of "hail and fire, mixed with blood" followed by raging fires that would consume much of the earth.

4. The nuclear explosions, "like a great mountain, burning with fire", all over the world's seas as ports, ships, and submarines are attacked.

5. The lethal contamination of water supplies by radioactive fallout ("Wormwood") for weeks after a nuclear war.

6. The blanketing of the sky by vast dust clouds after a nuclear war such that sunlight, moonlight, and starlight is obscured thereby causing a "nuclear winter".

Over the years my conviction has grown that this prophecy predicts a future nuclear war. First off, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine helped reveal the truth behind the prophecy. This is because, as I later found out, the Ukrainian word for the bitter herb "wormwood", which poisons water in the seventh seal prophecy, is "Chernobyl" (easily referenced- see, for instance: 'Chernobyl' (1987), by Andrey Illesh).

If this were not enough, in February of 1991, in the middle of the Gulf War, a couple of friends and I had some rather remarkable experiences that I believe confirmed the meaning of the prophecy as well as indicated its imminent fulfillment. First off, on February 6th, I saw a special report of a chemical SCUD attack on Haifa Israel that did not exist (believe me, I checked it out fully; the report was never aired). Then, about a week later, I was with a friend of mine who had just become interested in Nostradamus and prophecies that might be connected with the Gulf War. After showing him some books I had on Nostradamus, I began reading him the seventh seal prophecy above. Just as I began reading it, we heard an air- raid siren followed by the bellowed percussion of a nuclear explosion. The authenticity of the experience led me to rush with my friend to a deep basement in a nearby building. From there I contacted the local fire department to see if any sirens had been sounded; however, none had. After returning to our original location, my friend and I began checking with others to see if anyone else had heard anything. No one else had. However, another friend of mine, who is very trustworthy, said that he had heard no air-raid siren that evening- he had heard one that afternoon. When I asked him whether or not it could have been a fire alarm, he responded: "No, it was distinctly an air-raid siren off in the distance".

Needless to say, these extraordinary experiences led me to conclude that the conflict in the Persian Gulf might somehow be linked to a future global nuclear war- an event that would fit the ultimate crash I have been anticipating. Thus, I began to critically reexamine the events that had been taking place in the Gulf, and I quickly realized there was something seriously amiss. In fact, all the inconsistencies and contradictions pointed to one logical explanation: the Soviets and Iraq were engaging in large-scale strategic deception (see my paper, "The Persian Gulf Deception"). The reason they would be doing this was clarified after examining the rather frightening conclusion of our national security analysts during the late-1970s and early-1980's: the Soviets were preparing to fight and win a nuclear war (see: Richard Pipes' "Why the Soviet Union Thinks it could Fight and Win a Nuclear War" in 'Commentary' (July, 1977), Dr. William Van Cleave's "Soviet Strategic Nuclear Forces and Goals: Deception and Surprise" in 'Mesmerized By The Bear' (1987), and/or 'Soviet Strategy for Nuclear War' (1979), authored by Joseph Douglas). Of course, with remarkable fear-induced irrationality, Western society has completely ignored the possibility that Gorbachev's "New Thinking" may have been the introduction of a total lie rooted in the unthinkable "Russian Idea" (see Alexander Yanov's 'The Russian Challenge and the Year 2000' (1987)). There is, however, sufficient reason to believe this is the case.

If you are wondering how it is that Western civilization and the world as whole could be so utterly deceived, I have a sensible explanation for you. After Jesus was crucified some 2,000 years ago, his message was spread across the world by way of the church. After a thousand years, Christianity became the dominant paradigm of society- an historical thesis. Then came the rise of Western civilization and rapid technological development. In the context of matter/spirit duality, this epoch of materialism necessarily involved a reaction against spirituality. Thus, over the past 1,000 years the "secular" worldview of science developed in opposition to the church and religion.

The opposing worldview that has emerged, what I refer to as the "secular paradigm", is the historical antithesis of Christianity. According to it, ours is a godless universe that started with a "Big Bang" and is flowing towards ever greater disorder and meaninglessness. This contradicts the idea that, since the moment of creation, God has carried out purposeful work to create ever greater organization and meaning. According to the secular paradigm, life is the result of a process of elimination involving "random mutation" and "natural selection". Contrariwise, Christians believe that life comes from a purposeful, orderly process of creation and divine selection. With regard to society, the secular worldview holds that, with the guidance of some imaginal "invisible hand", selfishness and competition give rise to "general equilibrium". This contradicts the Christian view that unselfish cooperation and the guidance of God bring forth social harmony.

All in all, the secular worldview that dominates today's world is the antithesis of Christ's worldview. Whereas Christ saw a harmonious universe created by God in which people must seek to cooperate and care for each other, modern man sees a chaotic, godless universe in which men create order by competing with each other and caring only about themselves. The problem is: What if Jesus told "The Truth"? Then man's current opposing worldview, the secular paradigm, is the opposite of truth, i.e., it is lies, false beliefs- popular, antichristian delusions. In this case, man, living according to a perspective that goes against reality, is doomed to commit systematic errors. Instead of bringing order to the world, he'll end up causing worse and worse disorder. Eventually his erroneous ways could end in self-destruction. Once science figured out how to split the atom, man had the ultimate means to such an irrational, suicidal End.

Assuming that Jesus did know "The Truth", he correctly anticipated what man would end up doing to the world. His "rational expectations" are what Christian prophecy is all about. Thus, the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, i.e., the outbreak of the Apocalypse, verifies what Christ taught the world some 2,000 years ago. We should accept our interdependence and love each other as Jesus loved us, lest we end up destroying ourselves. The lesson of love Christ demonstrated to the world by life example was not a suggestion for us to heed or ignore as we please. He fully understood a vital universal law, the Golden Rule, that must be obeyed so that human civilization can avoid self-destructive consequences. Rejecting the beliefs, values and way of life taught by Jesus makes about as much sense as ignoring the the law of gravity and walking off a cliff. Yet, it is just such senselessness that man is currently suffering from, thus leading to the most catastrophic error in human history: The Apocalypse.


Hopefully, this time man will learn from his mistake...

http://www.spiritoftruth.org/truth.htm

[Pepper]

Sage, Kathy, glad you both enjoyed the post. She was an amazing woman who served an amazing God.

I once had all of her book's too Sage, like you I lent them out over the years and now don't know where they are. I think you might be meaning her book called, "The Hiding Place"?

If any of you reading this thread have never read any of her book's before, at least read, "The Hiding Place". Even if you do not believe in God, the personal faith of this woman facing horrible odds makes it worth the read.

Pepper

[Kathy.Ca]

Thanks Pepper. I've never read her books, this is great timing, I have to order some books tomorrow for my up coming classes from Amazon. I'll check into "The Hiding Place" and order it along with my others. Get free shipping if my orders over $45 and I know it will be. :)

[SageTheRage]

Yes, Pepper, you're right, it was "The Hiding Place". You're also correct in that it is a good book for everyone to read about raw courage no matter what their religious beliefs might be. I agree!

[fruit loop]

May be on tape somewhere.

She led an amazing life and evidence of God's will for her was evident in her incarceration.

She went back to visit Ravensbruck decades later and found that her release was due to a clerical error. The week after her accidental release, all the women her age were sent to the gas chambers.