As we continue with Paul’s second reflection on change in society (starting from a discussion on Amazing Grace, the film about William Wilberforce and the Clapham Society), it’s appropriate to wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. As few others have ever been graced to see, Patrick fathered spiritual change which ultimately turned the entire nation of Ireland on a course toward the Light. May God give us many Patricks in the next generation!

In the USA all that happens is that the political compass spins back and forth between two political parties, but each of these, when in power, just do what the other did… no basic changes! Red States, Blue States, so what…? What is the real difference? Scripture seems to put the issues deeper, pointing at something “inside” all of the States!

We’ve had 20 yrs on abortion, on marriage, etc. etc. … and we are still swimming, maybe even increasingly so, upstream and against the current.

What might turn this around? Might it actually take a nuclear bomb to really make things serious - like in 24 (the TV serial)?

I’m not for defeatism, nor subjective pessimism; but romanticism and optimism have not been very helpful either. I think a hard core realism is called for. Scripture, and the Puritans like John Owen, suggest that our single greatest weakness is giving in to self-deceptions rather than facing hard objective “truths”. None of us like to face the “truth” about almost anything.

My good friend Paul Cowan sent me a long email with some important reflections about the film “Amazing Grace” and the example of William Wilberforce and the “Clapham Society”. He’s graciously allowed me to post his thoughts in four blog entries. This is the first. I’d be very interested in your thoughts and comments.

After seeing “Amazing Grace” and reflecting on the story of how Wilberforce and his friends fought slavery in the British Empire, I wondered how in the pluralistic society of today such a thing could take place.

We now have more slavery in the world than before - and now it’s girls & women and children, as well as many men. We also have newer forms of slavery, like drugs, that crisscross around the globe via networks that make the British Empire’s “systems” look like child’s play - both in terms of the numbers of people enslaved, and in the sophistication of the networks. This prevents them from being dismantled by a political vote in some Parliament.

It was amazing to see that it was pirates’ boats, egged on by the change of ship flags that in fact, if I understand correctly, really began to undo the British system of slavery. What possibly could be an equivalent today?

This does not discount the “victory” of Wilberforce and the Clapham Society with Pitt’s and John Newton’s help … but in having them as our heroes we must avoid any triumphalism; that has no place this side of heaven.

Frances Schaffer said abortion was THE issue for evangelicals in the 21st century, along with all the related ills it reflects (inward soft worldviews) and ills it spawns such as new moralities, like homosexuality, that care less for children.

Well, we are not doing very well on that one. I’m beginning to doubt that a broad STRONG consensus on anything could built among believers - and then, second, from believers across society - largely because broad cultural and societal networks and solidarities of any kind hardly exist any longer. Our society is characterized by more individual freedoms and less “co-dependency” - at least in the mind and heart. These things work AGAINST social reforms and social revivals. Without these cultural solidarities and strong social “peer-driven” networks, how could movements such as happened in Wilberforce’s and Wesley’s times take place at all, even over a 20 year period?

For you that are privileged to live in Boise, Idaho: (-;
“The Lives of Others” is showing this weekend at “The Flicks” in the downtown.
The show times are 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 Saturday and Sunday.
I don’t know if it will be showing after that.

Secret Police Captain Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe)

Back when the Berlin wall still divided the city and the country itself was split, a unit of our ministry team regularly traveled secretly to encourage believers in small groups and churches in the former GDR (the communist east). Occasionally, Ann and I would also visit Christians in East Berlin, smuggling in Christian literature on one occasion. Today, it is hard for people to really comprehend how pervasive the presence of the Stasi (Secret Police) really was in the East. The film that won an Oscar for the best Foreign Language film comes close to recreating that atmosphere and the moral challenges it produced on the screen. I watched it twice in German on my last trip to Berlin and want to recommend it to you (with one caveat - see below).

The film revolves around the life of an average officer in the Stasi and an assignment he receives to spy on the life of a theater director and his girlfriend, a well-known actress. A dedicated servant to the state, he is increasingly forced to reconsider his commitments as it becomes clear that the reason for his assignment is that a member of the communist party Central Committee simply wants the director eliminated as a rival for the attentions of the actress. The tension increases to the breaking point. The director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, described the background to the film on the film website:

Other people we knew had very normal jobs, yet one could see the fear in all of them, right up to the end of the regime. Fear of the Stasi (The State Security), fear of the 100,000 highly trained employees whose sights were trained on one thing: ‘The Lives of Others’: the lives of those who thought differently, who were too free spirited and above all, the artists and people working in the arts. Every aspect of life was recorded. There was no private sphere and nothing was sacred, not even one’s closest family members… In the film, each character asks questions that we confront every day: how do we deal with power and ideology? Do we follow our principles or our feelings? The Lives of Others is a human drama about the ability of people to do the right thing, no matter how far they have gone down the wrong path.

Jesus recognized that there can be degrees of responsibility resulting from a political situation. He stated to Pilate: “The one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (John 19:11) But he did not excuse the Governor from personal responsibility: the sin was one of degree.
Can people really rise beyond the system they are in? That is a vital human question that this film explores. Watch for it when it comes to your city. (By the way: it is in German with English subtitles.) One caveat: there are a couple of explicit sex scenes. They are not gratuitous, but part of the plot development. Nevertheless, I’d recommend leaving the children at home.

You might want to take a look at an article by Kevin McCandless on CNS News. It’s a sobering assessment of the current “post-Christian” situation in Europe:

“Islam Could Become Europe’s Dominant Religion, Experts Say”

While having a chai tea latte (very yuppie! oops… yummie… yummy!) and waiting for the chiropractor to return to his office, I read an article on German humor in today’s Wall Street Journal.
I thought you might be interested:

Germans aren’t necessarily known for their humor. Still, Viacom believes it can build an audience for the German version of Comedy Central by running homegrown programs alongside foreign fare. Its most popular show so far is “Para-Comedy,” produced for Viacom by Dortmund- based Prime Productions. The show follows handicapped people who play practical jokes on unsuspecting passersby, “Candid Camera” style. In one episode, a blind woman asks a couple to give her guide dog directions. They readily oblige. “You have to go straight down that way and on the left you’ll see a large fountain. Take a left and go about 30 meters,” the man tells the Labrador retriever, stroking its head. “Did you get that?”
It might shock the sensibilities of some, but those involved say their motivation is to break down stereotypes of handicapped people through humor. “German humor is very down-to-earth,” adds Catherine Muhlemann, a Swiss executive who heads Viacom in Germany.

Humor can be a key to the heart. (Witness how Jesus used humorous images to drive home a point. He skewered the “super-pious”, for instance, by saying that they carefully insured their water was kosher by filtering out every gnat, while overlooking the fact that they were swallowing a whole camel - a notably unclean animal!).

After living in Germany for almost thirty years, I’d add just a couple of additional observations to the Wall Street Journal comments:
- German humor has a strong affinity to Jewish humor. There is a strong sense of both the joy of life and its shadow side. This probably isn’t unusual, since Jewish and German culture were so intertwined over centuries. (Germany was the place for Jewish life until the horrors of the so-called “Third Reich”).
- German jokes are seldom self-directed. Unlike the Irish or the English, or - to some extent - the Americans, Germans do not usually tell jokes on themselves.

(When we see each other personally, ask me to tell you my all-time favorite Irish joke. It was told to me by my friend, David Wilson, who directed the Irish work of Campus Crusade for many years.)

Have a wonderful weekend. Please keep praying for the German people - and for our friend in Korea, Jin-Ok, and her associates in the mission congress.

A couple of months ago, a good friend of the Ploners, Jin-Ok - asked if she could present the vision for Philosophia and “House Nazareth” to a missions congress in her homeland, Korea.
The presentation was on Tuesday evening. Jin-Ok wrote:
“Everything went well yesterday evening.
Only the time for my presentation (60 minutes) was almost too short, but the result was that the interest of the participants was that much greater. So, there is another meeting planned…
A reporter from a newspaper wants to write an interview (article) about me and “House Nazareth”…
So, the first stone is moving. I’m excited!
God’s grace is so greaaaaaat!”
Would you please pray that God will continue to open the hearts of these friends in Korea (and around the world) to the immense need of Berlin and all of Europe for a place like “House Nazareth” as a light and witness there?
THANKS!!

Ann and I saw “Amazing Grace” on Friday evening.
We thought the portrayal of John Newton was particularly powerful.
What did you think about it?
Comments welcome! (-:

I want to strongly encourage you to carve out some time this weekend to see the film “Amazing Grace”, the story of the life and work of William Wilberforce, the British believer who battled for years against enormous odds to abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It was produced by Walden Media (Narnia, etc.)
The opening weekend is always crucial for how long a film will remain in theaters.
So, if at all possible, plan to go as soon at it opens near you.
You can check out more about the film and find a theater where it is being shown at the movie website:
www.amazinggracemovie.com

Hi and Good Morning!
It’s almost 5:00am and I’m sitting with the printer as it produces the new newsletter. (I do plan on going back to bed for a little while soon.)
The letter should be in the mail by Friday and hopefully in your mailbox (postbox? letterbox?… interesting variations between American and British English… mmm… German is Briefkasten=letterbox, which would seem to put the Berliner on the side of the English).
Apropo “Berliner”… Yes, it is true that John Kennedy’s famous statement on his visit to the then-divided city in 1961 is ambiguous. It could be understood to say “I’m a jelly doughnut!” (JFK: “Ich bin ein Berliner!”… a native speaker would probably have said: “Ich bin Berliner!”, since “ein Berliner” is a jelly filled pastry.
Have a wonderful day! Thank you for your continued prayers that God will raise up ministry partners to move the remodeling of “House Nazareth” into real time action.