Saving A Man Who Came to Hate You

Keisha Thomas was only 18 when she threw herself on top of a man to protect him from an angry mob. What is remarkable about this is that the man was there to protest for the KKK. Keisha was protecting him from the very people she was there to take a stand against the KKK with. Her actions have inspired many.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24653643

Inviting the Enemy to Spend the Night

What if someone was attacking you or someone you love? In the book, What Would You Do? John Howard Yoder addresses the question that is forever put to those who believe that loving your enemies includes not taking their life. Along with taking a look at what it was that Jesus meant, Yoder includes several stories of people who have had to face their enemies, and did so in love.

The chapter that struck me the most was titled, Defense Through Disarmament, by Angie O'Gorman. Angie woke up in the middle of the night with a strange man in her room. After a few seconds of thoughts that ran through her head, she knew she couldn't hurt the man, and she didn't want to. Angie then began a simple conversation with him, and invited him to spend the night downstairs. He did, and stayed to breakfast. Angie said she didn't sleep that night, I wonder if her would-be attacker slept any? Why did he choose to stay and eat breakfast? Wasn't he afraid she would call the police? Whatever thoughts ran through his head, he no longer saw a victim, but a friend.

I was not paid or compensated in any way to review this book.

History of a Deed

Many famous people have biographies written to tell about their lives. Few have books written that tell the history of a single action they took and how it spread throughout the world. Dirk Willems is among the few. In the hardbound book, Dirk Willems: His Noble Deed Lives On. author David Luthy has collected the thought provoking stories, beautiful poems, and detailed pictures that portray the love of Christ that Dirk Willems shared and died for.

I can't help but wonder what Dirk Willems would think if he knew how he has been remembered?


I was not paid or compensated in any way to review this book.

Evidence of Faith

Last year a friend introduced me to, Evidence Not Seen, by Darlene Deibler Rose. It has become, by far, my favorite missionary story. So much so that I give it away as a gift to friends and family. 

Darlene's commitment and complete faith in the Lord sustained her through horrible trials during WWII. Even when she began to doubt, the Lord would answer her in miraculous ways. Darlene had offered her life to the Lord as a small child, and later decided to become a missionary, to be used where ever the Lord would have her go. She went to New Guinea to tell people about Jesus, but little did she realize how the Lord would use her, in a Japanese POW camp. Her understanding of how you are to love your enemies, those who persecute you, led her to witness to one who very well could have killed her in a furious rage.

-I was not paid or compensated in any way to read or review this book. 

The Witness to Willhelm Lange

Willhelm Lange is one person who was converted to Christianity due to his interaction with non-resistant Christians. While he had apparently been raised as a Protestant, Wilhelm, sought Christ after attempting to help the government take over Christian schools. At a German Mennonite community he was impressed by the Mennonites there who, instead of fighting back, lived out their love for Christ and won Wilhelm over.*

The Mennonites weren't looking to save their school. To be sure, they would have been sorry to have it removed, but they trusted Christ not their own strength. They took Christ's teachings literally and loved their enemy instead of fighting him. 


*From  The Russian's Secret, Chapter 12

If You Give a Mugger Your Wallet . . .

. . . I have no idea what faith Julio Diaz has, if any. However he demonstrated that it is possible to love your enemies. In this case, a mugger took Julio's wallet and then Julio went the second mile and gave his enemy his own coat and some dinner.


-If the link is broken or the story is no longer available, please let me know.

Why Dirk Willems?

Having anabaptist grandparents, my definition of a hero goes beyond the fire fighters and soldiers, and certainly far beyond a sports figure. Now I'm not saying the first two mentioned don't perform heroically (some do, some don't, a uniform doesn't make someone a hero), and there is nothing wrong with looking up to someone who has achieved their goals. I'm just saying I was raised on sterner stuff. I can't say I teethed on Martyrs' Mirror, horrors! My grandma wouldn't have allowed anyone to chew on a book, but I did fall asleep to a story or two about a martyr. Which is kind of scary, really, but certainly left a child in her bed with food for thought and not wiggles and giggles.

Among the many stories I heard, that of Dirk Willems was one of my favorites. During my youth I didn't like the tale because Dirk saved his pursuers life—I thought the man was a complete idiot—I liked it because it challenged me to think about what had taken place. Stories of martyrs should make you think about such things but I have found, in my life, that it's the things that have challenged me that have turned my thinking more toward the Lord. It just took me quite a few years before I began to love the love of Dirk Willems.

If you aren't familiar with the story you can read it in full at Scroll Publishing, but I'll give you a quick rundown. In 1569 Dirk was a prisoner for his faith. He was able to escape, I don't know how or why, but Dirk fled the prison with a thief catcher in hot pursuit. As Dirk was crossing a river (at least I always pictured it as a river due to the above image), the thief catcher fell into the icy water and was in danger of drowning. Dirk turned back to save this man's life. He was then apprehended and later burned at the stake.

Now what kind of person turns around to save the person who is about to be a party to his own death? As a child I would ponder that and decide that I would not. I would keep running. Dirk had been in the clear and he could have gone on to share the faith with others. Surely that was what the Lord would have wanted. I lived my life on that principle, much to my grandma's disappointment, but that story stuck with me, and I would still go to sleep at night plagued with the question, "Why did Dirk turn back?"

It was love and respect for another human being that had been made in the image of God. Dirk didn't just preach it, he lived it. He took seriously the commandment to love your enemies and bless them that curse you. (Mat. 5:44) Dirk could not have gone on with his life knowing that the thief catcher had died without more time to give his life to Christ.

Oh, you can argue all you want about how Dirk shouldn't have broke the law to begin with, he shouldn't have escaped from prison, he shouldn't have turned back, that the thief catcher had been given enough time to accept Jesus, if he had died that was the end for him. I did. Yet as I have come to know the love of Christ more and more, I have learned that Dirk did what Christ would have done in saving the thief catcher. Dirk laid down his life for another. He knew what the end result would be.

While I know that, while I finally understand the story my grandma was telling me so many years ago, the question that plagues me as I fall asleep now is, "Would I?" I want to, I hope I will, but would I?

When I saw that Scroll Publishing had a sale for a print of Dirk Willems I bought it so I could hang it up and remind myself of what love is and for my children and future grandchildren to see what a true hero is. I'm glad I did, the picture's colors are more stunning in real life then in the image in the store and simply beautiful. Hopefully it will help my own children to come to the same conclusion I finally did.

That's also the purpose of this site. To encourage you to follow even this commandment of Jesus. People do live it, just like Dirk did. It can be done, it must be done.