History - Dene's Blog

Changing of the Guard

11/11/2025 0 Comments

My high school class was just a year or two too young to lose many to the Vietnam War, but we knew upperclassmen who went, and Keith was in the Marine Corps from ‘67 to’71. My life could easily be different now.

The way those men were greeted when they came home from that horror is a shame to our country. They did not start that war; they were just pawns on a larger political chessboard. The ones who spat on them and called them names were, by and large, a younger group who had never fought in a war, never experienced any sort of economic deprivation, but rather, had their lives handed to them on a silver platter.

In 1994 another group of veterans was finally given the honor they deserved in the many 50^th anniversary observances of D-Day. They were called “the Greatest Generation,” for making it through the Great Depression and then going on to fight for their country. Many gave the ultimate sacrifice, as we call it. Of the few, if any, still left, others still suffer from the injuries they incurred. Many more still bear the pain of emotional scars from that awful conflict. Truly they deserve our respect and our gratitude.

So what has happened? 1994 is gone. I live in Florida, where a great many retirees, many of whom are veterans, finish their lives. They are regularly the brunt of jokes and disrespect from a generation that may never know the trials that group went through, solely because those people went through those trials. Funny how time can wreak such havoc with attitudes isn’t it?

Unfortunately, I have seen the same thing happen in the Lord’s body. A younger generation sneers at an older one because it is older, because it doesn’t understand that society is a bit different, and what was once expedient no longer is. Yet that older generation is the one who saw the problems in the work force during the 40s, a war machine grinding out supplies at a pace unheard of before. They were the ones who saw the need for a Sunday evening service so that those Christians who were working shifts would not be left out of the group activities, so they too could experience the encouragement that comes from praising and thanking God together.

You know what? When they came up with that idea, it was new, it was different--it broke all the traditions. Don’t sit there on your high horse and accuse them of not being able to change with the times.

That is why those things are so hard for them to give up. Yes, for some there may be an attitude problem, perhaps a willfulness or stubbornness that should be dealt with, but I would suggest that is not the case for most. Just because someone has a difficult time seeing the need for an expedient change, does not mean he is a Pharisee, which seems to be the accusation du jour. Too many times we act towards them with a disrespectful scorn and impatience, while at the same time being happy to stand on those same tired, hunched shoulders, shoulders that bore the burden of fighting the battles that have kept the church sound and faithful to the Lord. Where would we be now without them?

My generation and the one just younger need to be careful. Trying to withhold respect and honor and cloaking it as righteousness is simply another facet to the same Phariseeism we claim to abhor (Mark 7:8-13). Our Lord would not like it now any more than he did two thousand years ago.

So please, be a little more careful how you speak to and about the old warriors. Be understanding of the feelings they must have, seeing their world change perhaps more than any other generation before. Be grateful to them for what they have been through and the battles they have fought. One of these days, another generation will come along and look at you and the things you don’t want to change. What kind of example will you have left them?

You shall stand before the gray head and honor the face of the old man, and you shall fear your God. I AM Jehovah, Lev 19:32.

Dene Ward

November 2, 1898 Yell Leaders

11/3/2025 0 Comments

College football has been around as an organized sport since 1869, when Rutgers played what is now Princeton University. It took a while, though, for it to come to its fruition in what we now recognize as the various divisions of the NCAA and all of its conferences. Even those took some time to become what we know today. The SEC, in fact, first included Georgia Tech, Tulane, and Sewanee!

But though organized college football may have begun in 1869, it was November 2, 1898, before the first man climbed a fence, ran onto the field and attempted to rouse the fans with a cheer. His name was Johnny Campbell of the University of Minnesota. Before long, others joined him, and yes, in the beginning it seems that they were all young men. It was World War II when most of the young men were off fighting a war before young women stepped in as what were first called "yell leaders." We now call them cheerleaders.

It isn't just sports teams who need a cheerleader. I suppose the first true cheerleader for the church might have been Barnabas. Here was a wealthy man, a good man and full of faith, who not only sold a piece of property and gave the money for the aid of needy Christians (translate that to property prices today for an eye opener), but who was so encouraging to others that the apostles nicknamed him, "son of encouragement/exhortation/consolation" whichever your translation chooses. He was a man of patience who gently prodded others to become what he knew they could be—John Mark, for example. He was a man of trust and courage as he introduced the former persecutor Paul to the church in Jerusalem and then went with him to work with the church at Antioch where they received and taught Gentiles. Truly if there was ever a cheerleader in the church it was Barnabas.

We all need a cheerleader sometimes. I remember clearly the many times friends have gone with me when I was asked to speak, especially in the early days. Their friendly faces in the audience spurred me on when the topic became touchy, though necessary. Students in Bible classes can do the same for teachers. Elders need people who encourage the members to follow them, speaking of their wise decisions and the good that can come from their plans, instead of goading them into rebellion. Evangelists need the same. For some reason, we seem far more prone to DIScouraging than ENcouraging, and that simply ought not to be. Imagine a cheerleader screaming, "Lose team! Lose, lose, lose!"

But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work's sake… 1Thess5:12,13.

But let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teaches in all good things Gal6:6.

God designed the church as a fellowship that helped each other. That is why we cannot be a servant of God without being a part of the people of God. We hold each other up and yes, we cheer each other on, especially when trials abound. Blessed [is] God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort, who is comforting us in all our tribulation, for our being able to comfort those in any tribulation through the comfort with which we are comforted ourselves by God; because, as the sufferings of the Christ abound to us, so through the Christ our comfort also abounds; and whether we be in tribulation, [it is] for your comfort and salvation, that is worked in the enduring of the same sufferings that we also suffer; whether we are comforted, [it is] for your comfort and salvation; and our hope [is] steadfast for you, knowing that even as you are partakers of the sufferings—so also of the comfort 2Cor1:3-7.

You may think you have nothing to offer the "team," but when you do so, you are arguing with the plan of God. When you feel helpless at the plight of others and don't know what to do, you can always cheer.

And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number that believed turned unto the Lord. And the report concerning them came to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas as far as Antioch: who, when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord: for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. And he went forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that even for a whole year they were gathered together with the church, and taught much people, and that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch Acts11: 21-26.

Dene Ward

October 7, 1959 The Dark Side

10/7/2025 0 Comments

No one had ever seen it, even using a telescope. And as always in cases like that, everyone was curious, especially once they finally had the opportunity to see. The USSR launched Luna 3, and on October 7, 1959, we saw in photographs what no one had ever seen before—the dark side of the moon.

And this is what they found: the dark side is completely different from the light side. The near side has dark smooth plains and is covered with the remains of ancient lava flow. The far side is rugged and rocky, full of craters, and has far fewer volcanic deposits. The far side has a thicker crust as well. This leads to all sorts of theories about the moon's history, all of which are treated as facts, just as those kinds of things so often are.

We learned all of this because wondering about the side we had never seen before made us curious. We wanted to know all the secrets. The darkness lured us in. The same thing can happen with spiritual darkness. Perhaps that is why God's Word warns us about it so often.

Those who reject Jesus love the darkness rather than the light, John 3:19. On the other hand, if you follow Jesus, you are no longer in darkness, John 8:12. If you believe on him, you are not in the darkness, John 12:46. He has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, 1 Pet 2:9. But if we hate our brother, we walk in darkness, 1 John 2:11. We are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, Eph 5:11. And what is all this darkness? The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye is single, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness Matt 6:22,23. Darkness is evil. If you focus [your eye] on evil things—anything that is not good and right—then you are living in darkness.

I know some young people who were raised to know right from wrong, going to church since they were babes in arms, sitting in Bible classes, and even having been taught at home by good, God-fearing parents and grandparents, yet who had a fascination with what they were "missing." They wanted to see the dark side. A few of them managed to come back "home" to the light. But many were taken prisoner by the world rulers of the darkness, Eph 6:12. The ones who came back will tell you it isn't worth the risk. They all have regrets that you never want to feel. The far side of the moon may not be so, but spiritual darkness is invariably ugly, scary, dangerous, and evil. You don't need to know what it's like. You aren't missing a thing.

And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin 1 John 1:5-7.

Dene Ward

September 4, 1957 The Biggest Dud in History

9/4/2025 0 Comments

     I was born legally blind. In those days, they did not check children like they do today, and I learned to feed and dress myself, and played happily in my bedroom with no one the wiser. Finally, when I was four, my parents noticed that I kept getting closer and closer to the television. Don't judge them harshly. They loved me and cared for me as any parent would. They just did not recognize the problem because of how well I coped. And I coped that well because I assumed everyone was like me and so never raised a fuss.
     I got my first pair of "coke bottle" glasses when I was 4—and it was still nearly 50 years later before the doctors came up with a name for what was wrong with me. But those glasses were pretty amazing. My mother said the first thing I did when we left the doctor's office with them was to lean over and look at the ground. Finally, she came to see what I had found and nearly cried when she realized it was the first time I had ever seen ants.
     I spent a lot of time looking at things after that, and seeing them for the first time. My daddy, who was a car guy, was especially tickled that I learned all the identifying characteristics of the different models of cars. Back then, there were not as many as today, so a four year old noticing a "Winken" and "Toodebaker," which for some reason I also called a "backwards forwards car," was not all that amazing. I also remember when Edsels came out. That big horse collar of a grille was easy to see for a four year old who paid attention to things like that.
      But Ford had goofed in their research. They were aiming at people who would buy mid-priced sedans. Time magazine says they spent $250 million dollars on research and advertising, but by the time the car came out, the country was in a recession and people were looking at compact cars to save money. The Edsel came out on September 4, 1957, and was discontinued on November 19, 1959. The car's name has come to mean "a dud," in our slang, and people will always remember it that way.
     The last thing any of us should want is to be remembered for our worst mistake. In the scriptures, Jeroboam probably has that distinction. In order to solidify his reign and hold on the people, he introduced things to the worship of God that were considered from then on as some of the worst abominations in the land, particularly the golden calves in Dan and Bethel. I counted at least 25 times that these sins were listed in the historical books as they described the kings who reigned after him--he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. God had promised him a dynasty if he only obeyed, but he did not trust God to keep his word, and so he lost that promise.
     We can make life-changing mistakes ourselves. Whom you marry is probably one of the most important decisions you will make—it can determine your eternal destiny, AND your children's. "But I can change him," has about as much chance of happening as snow in Tampa—which has happened only once in my lifetime. How you choose to raise your children is another one. What you do and don't do, and who you listen to can determine their whole lives. The career you choose can also be important. Even the congregation you choose to be a part of can make a difference if all you want is entertainment or "easy listening." Whenever you find yourself saying, "But I will do better than all those others, it won't affect me that way," you have put an Edsel on the assembly line and are likely to have the same results.
     Please be careful. Young people, please listen to those who are older and have come through the same stages of life you are in now. They care about your souls and they want to help you. You don't want to be remembered as the biggest dud in history, and you don't want the eternal results that might lead to, especially for those you love.

An ear that is hearing the reproof of life lodges among the wise. Whoever is refusing instruction is despising his soul, and whoever is hearing reproof is getting understanding Prov15:30-32

Dene Ward

September 1, 1914 Becoming Extinct

9/1/2025 0 Comments

     A couple of centuries ago, Passenger Pigeons were the most widespread bird in North America, estimated to be 25-40% of the entire avian population, roughly three to five billion. When they passed overhead, the skies darkened for up to an hour, the time it took for one flock to pass by. Someone said they sounded like a thousand threshing machines, a thousand steamboats, and a thousand trains all at once. They ranged from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River and from the Great Lakes to the southern United States.
     The birds flew far in their migration and when they returned in the spring, the settlers in the early days of this country jumped for joy—free protein after the near starvation of winter. The birds flew so low and so thick that you could swing a pole and kill enough for dinner. With the advent of the telegraph and railroad, the hunting of passenger pigeons by both amateur and professional sportsmen flourished with numbers nearly as many as the birds themselves, until by the mid-1890s, only three captive breeding flocks were left. On September 1, 1914, the last passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoo. She was about 29 years old and had never laid a fertile egg. Efforts to save them had come too late. (All information courtesy of Audubon, the e-magazine.)
     What are you doing to keep Christianity from going extinct? Or do you just expect others to do that?
     Think first about your family. Are you teaching your children at home, not just expecting them to pick it up in church Bible classes, but spending regular time every day talking to them about God in any and every way possible, praying with them, reading the scriptures to them, helping them to begin to make small decisions that a Christian must eventually make in his life in a much larger way?
     How about your neighborhood? Does the man across the fence know you are a Christian? Does the woman down the street whom you pass as she weeds her flowerbeds, the couple who take a walk every evening on the sidewalk that runs past your house? Does the friendly cashier know that you are on your way to Bible class and just stopped to pick up a couple of things you forgot? Does the UPS man know that you are pressure cleaning the sidewalk because you expect some folks to come that night for a study? Or are you hiding your allegiance to the Lord, and if so, why?
     What happens at work? Does the boss know that staying late on Wednesday night is not a good option for you? Does she know that you will miss the company picnic because you will be worshipping God on Sunday? And maybe more important, do they know they can count on you to work hard and do things right precisely because you are a Christian. That you won't be making flimsy excuses for missing work, possibly even lying about being sick?
     Will any of that keep Christianity from going extinct? Why do you think people ask you about your religion? Because, as a nurse told us once after several days in the hospital, "There's something different about you." You'd better believe it will help.
   But for today, just think about your home. The first step to extinction is when the next generation is lost. What's happening to yours?

And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel. And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim; and they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them: and they provoked Jehovah to anger. And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth Judg2:10-13.

Dene Ward

August 6, 1846 Heed the Warning

8/6/2025 0 Comments

     Most of us over 60 grew up watching Westerns on television. Marshall Dillon, Cheyenne Bodie, and Rowdy Yates were our heroes. We also watched a show called "Wagon Train," but only occasionally as it aired on Wednesday nights. We had to be sick at home to see that one. Otherwise we would have been at Wednesday night Bible study.
     None of us were told about the real adventures and tragedies of the Old West until we grew up and read some of them. I am sure you know of the infamous Donner Party, a group of emigrants traveling west to California that wound up trapped by snow in what is now called "Donner Pass." Unable to get through the mountains, their situation led to disease, starvation, and ultimately cannibalism to survive. Of the 87 who began the trip, only 45 reached California.
     Could it all have been avoided? On August 6, 1846, they came upon a note from their guide, who had gone ahead. The note told them that the route was worse than he had thought, possibly impassable, and they should wait for him to return. After 8 days, he sent another message to follow yet another trail and they did. Now we view their guide, Lansford Hastings, as an unscrupulous man, completely unconcerned with their safety. The route was not better, had never even been blazed for something like a wagon train, and cost them 18 days, putting them squarely into the winter in those higher elevations.
     It is difficult to say that they should have known better, that his words about the pass being impossible to travel should have sent them scurrying back to safety, rather than forging on ahead with this guy. It remains a tragic episode in the history of Westward expansion, the site of which is now the Donner Memorial State Park. Not only does it commemorate this particular event but all the trials of all pioneers in the nineteenth century.
     It is easy for us to look back and criticize. It is even easier to say, "I told you so," which helps no one at all except perhaps a weak ego. But it also serves to remind us to pay attention to all the warnings in scripture. Look through the prophets and see warning after warning, not only unheeded, but the messengers persecuted. Surely we, who pride ourselves on our "superior" knowledge would do better. Would we?
     Do you realize that wealth in the New Testament is never pictured as anything but dangerous? Yet, we all confidently affirm, "I would do better than they did, Lord!" as we work ourselves into a frenzy to make more money. False prophets are shown to be handsome, friendly, and flattering, tickling ears with their smooth speech. "We wouldn't fall for them Lord," and yet knock one another over like a snaky row of dominoes as they stroke our feelings and condemn those who disagree with them.
     Do yourself a favor this week. Run a search and see all the things we are warned against. Put them into categories so you can get the brunt of the impact for each. These things God warns us against. Don't make a fool of yourself by arguing against God's opinions. His "I told you so" could be the last thing you hear.

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray Matt24:4.

Dene Ward

July 2, 1843 Raining More Than Cats and Dogs

7/2/2025 0 Comments

July 2, 1843, was a hot sultry day in Charleston, South Carolina, "one of the most oppressive days inflicted on mortal man," according to the Charleston Mercury, the local paper. As often happens on those kinds of days, a violent thunderstorm blew up. As a born and bred Floridian who is familiar with that sort of weather, I can not only sympathize, but also tell you that those kinds of storms can be precursors to all sorts of bad things. This one, it seems, did far more than the usual strong winds that topple trees and ferocious lightning that can start fires. In the middle of this storm, an alligator fell out of the sky right on the corner of Wentworth and Anson Streets. Not a very heathy specimen, it measured only two feet, but it still shocked the town. It was supposed that the unfortunate creature had been picked up in a waterspout, carried through the air for miles, and dumped unceremoniously. The clipping goes on to tell us that no one actually saw this happen, but "the beast had a look of wonder and bewilderment about him" and "he couldn't have got there any other way." The story was picked up by the Times-Picayune of New Orleans and has stayed in the history books ever since. I found several sources.

Now you are probably sitting there laughing at the naiveté and ignorance of those people. Such a thing could have never happened! And in your heart, when you read of almost impossible things happening to others, you always think, "It could never happen to me." In my many years, I have known of people or had in my family things happen that no one ever expected, and I have learned to never say, "Never happen, especially to me." That is often said by people who are not in a good relationship with God, who want to sow their wild oats for a while before getting their lives straightened out. "I have plenty of time," they think.

A young couple were on their way to church one morning when they were carjacked and the husband shot and killed. Another young Christian couple and their child were killed when their home was destroyed by a tornado. A cousin of mine was killed in an ATV accident when he was out with friends one afternoon for a little fun. Another got in the truck with her brother to go home from school and was killed when a semi hit them. Another cousin of mine lost her 35 year old husband to a brain aneurysm one morning. A friend of ours from Keith's early preaching days went out one morning to buy his wife some aspirin for her headache and when he got home, she was dead. She was about the same age as my cousin's husband. Another couple went out for dinner one evening. He never made it home because he had a heart attack while they ate. "I went out to eat with my husband and came home a widow," she said.

And by now, you are getting my point. Things happen when you least expect it. Can I add this one, which is about as likely as an alligator raining from the sky? My husband went out to do his rounds as a community control officer one evening and was ambushed by one of his caseload. One of the bullets hit the Pilot clicker pen in his pocket which was just enough to turn the bullet sideways so that it plowed through his chest across the ribcage rather than going straight into his heart. Unlikely, even impossible things do happen!

And now you are tsk-tsking me about using scare tactics to get you to straighten out your life, aren't you? Jesus used some of the scariest language in the Bible to describe Hell, and far more of it than anyone else. He had no problem putting a goad to people to get them to change their lives, so why should I? If that is what it takes to wake people up, then use it. You are in good company with the Lord.

Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he comes shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find [them] so, blessed are those [servants]. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have left his house to be broken through. Be you also ready: for in an hour that you think not the Son of man comes Luke12:37-40.

Dene Ward

June 14, 1777 The Flag Act

6/13/2025 0 Comments

"Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." It has changed now and again from that day over two centuries ago, but the American flag still means to us what it did then—a symbol of a new nation, no longer a colony belonging to a mad king.
            The thirteen red and white stripes represent the original thirteen colonies. The fifty stars represent the fifty states in the union. Even the colors are symbolic. Red symbolizes hardiness and valor. White symbolizes purity and innocence. Blue symbolizes vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
            The symbolism of flags and banners is nearly as old as man himself. In Num 2:2 we see that every tribe of Israel had a banner, a flag, which flew over their encampment. Like the American flag, the images on the flags were symbolic. Unfortunately we do not have a Biblical record of those symbols. The best we can do are various rabbinic lists, and some of them do make sense. The image on Judah’s banner, for instance, was supposedly a lion, taken from Jacob’s description of Judah in Gen 49:9 as a “lion’s whelp.” Benjamin’s flag pictured a wolf, we are told, based on his description as a “scavenging wolf” in 49:27. The odd thing to me is that some of these symbols are anything but complimentary. Dan’s symbol, for example, is a snake: Dan shall be a serpent in the way, An adder in the path, That bites the horse's heels, So that his rider falls backward. 49:17.
            And so I found myself wondering what if God ordered a flag act, requiring us to fly a banner outside every meetinghouse? What would be on them? What would represent our “tribe” of God’s people?
            I wonder if we could somehow depict the city of Gibeah (Judg 19) on every flag outside an unwelcoming group of brethren, people who ignored the ones who weren’t dressed well or who showed up in leather and covered in tattoos? Maybe we could put a whitewashed sepulcher on the flags of those who sit in the pews on Sunday but live like the Devil the rest of the week. Perhaps phylacteries would be the picture on the flag of those congregations who could quote verse after verse, but who never served their neighbors or each other. Maybe we could put a big puff adder on the flag of those who were “conceited and puffed up” with “an unhealthy craving for controversy,” 1 Tim 6:4. And don’t forget one with a rendition of Judas kissing Jesus for those congregations who betray God by ignoring His authority in all they do.
            It would certainly be handy wouldn’t it, far better than those “directories.”   Then we could look for flags showing foot washing—truly a church of servants. We could look for flags depicting an open Bible for those known for their love of the Truth and spreading it. We could even look for embroidered hearts denoting love and sincerity.
            I am sure you are sitting there right now trying to decide what should be on your congregation’s flag. Here is something even more important for you to consider for the rest of the day: what would God put on your own personal flag, the one flying right outside your home?

You have given a banner to them that fear you, That it may be displayed because of the truth. Psalms 60:4.

Dene Ward

June 12, 1987 Tear Down This Wall

6/12/2025 0 Comments

If you grew up during the Cold War, you know about the Berlin Wall. After World War II, the political ideologies between the USSR and most of the West became more and more at odds. Finally, Communism overtook Eastern Europe and most of Asia. Nikita Kruschev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party in the USSR, made it plain that their goal was to completely conquer the rest of the World. We all grew up a little anxious. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, which we explored in another post, we were a hair's breadth from World War III. All of the school children in my Florida county wore dog tags, had a stash of canned goods with their names on it in the classrooms, and practiced diving under their desks whenever a plane flew over. Many of our neighbors built bomb shelters in their backyards.
            One of the symbols of Communism and the terror it caused was the Berlin Wall. After the war, Germany was divided into East (Communist) and West (free) sections. And the capital city Berlin was divided into four zones, three controlled by western powers and 1 by the Communists. After East Germany lost 1/6 of its population (4 million) to those who were escaping, the leaders decided to build the wall. It went up in one night, August 12-13, 1961, first as strands of barbed wire. As time went on, buildings were torn down to add two concrete walls, dog runs, bright lights, even mine fields, and "the order to shoot" was given to the guards. The wall ran 155 km in length straight across the city center and around West Berlin. At least 140 people died trying to cross the wall. 70 tunnels were dug, only 19 of which were successful, but over 300 people managed to escape that way.
            The Berlin Wall stood for almost 30 years. Along came Mikhail Gorbachev, and a new policy called glastnost, a new openness in Soviet government. A few people were no longer terrified to say a few things against the system. Still, many were afraid to cause trouble. Perhaps it was the leftover fear from the Cold War, but perhaps it was just the usual fear that leads to something called "diplomacy," which too often means compromise. Finally an American president stood up to the system he dared to call an "Evil Empire." In a speech in Berlin on June 12, 1987, Ronald Reagan said:
"Behind me stands a wall that circles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe…Standing before the Brandenburg Gate,every man is a German, separated from his fellow men. Every man is a Berliner, forced to l ook upon a scar---As long as this gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, it is not the German question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all mankind…
            "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate.
            "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!
            "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
            The fall of the "Iron Curtain," as Communism had begun to be called, began 2 years later, and the wall was down by 1990. Most historians say this speech helped to that end, even though many of his own advisors tried to stifle President Reagan, even on the very day he gave it. To the East Germans it was liberation.
            Christians are aware of another Wall that has come down, a wall Jesus himself brought down. Wherefore remember, that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands; that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, [so] making peace Eph 2: 11-15.
            The wall between Jew and Gentile was a wall far larger than any other has ever been. It began back in Genesis as God whittled down the population into the one group through whom the Messiah would be born. Nation after nation was rejected and the Jews, rather than being the light to the Gentiles, did their best to alienate themselves from them, creating a hatred that lasted through the centuries. Now Christ has torn down that hated wall and made freedom available to all--the greatest freedom we can imagine—freedom from sin and death. I am one of the liberated, and perhaps you are too.
            People today may have forgotten the horror of the Berlin Wall, but the destruction of that other wall should never be forgotten, and no one, regardless his race, gender, or status in life should be denied the description "child of God." Praise God for tearing down the Wall and making us all one new people. Let no one separate us from each other again.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for as many as were immersed into Christ put on Christ; there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither servant nor freeman, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus; and if you [are] of Christ then you are seed of Abraham, and heirs according to promise Gal3:26-29.

Dene Ward

April 15, 1974—Stockholm Syndrome

4/15/2025 0 Comments

I was a college girl, just a year older than Patricia Hearst, the heiress to the Hearst publishing empire, when a group calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped her from her off-campus apartment in San Francisco. Two months later, on April 15, 1974, she appeared on grainy black and white security camera footage helping those same captors rob a bank.
            She was eventually captured and sent to prison for awhile because the jury could not accept the psychiatrist’s diagnosis of Stockholm Syndrome, a malady officially named after a bank robber kept hostages in a Stockholm bank vault for 131 hours. Like Patty Hearst, they emerged from the ordeal exhibiting sympathy for their captors. The mind does strange things when under stress.
            Doctors say this happens when the abductors constantly tell the victim there is no hope, that no one knows where he is and no one will rescue him. They spin lies about their own “mistreatment,” while abusing the victim at the same time. They tell the victim he is going to die, repeating it not just once, but over and over. Then for some unaccountable reason they do something nice for that same victim. The victim grows not only to depend upon his captor, but to identify with him as well. That is Stockholm syndrome, and anyone who has struggled with sin should recognize the symptoms.
            But I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members, Romans 7:23.
            In meekness correcting them that oppose themselves; if peradventure God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth, and they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him unto his will, 2 Timothy 2:25-26.
            Sin abducts a man and tells him lies like the one Satan told Eve—“God is just selfish, you won’t die--you’ll be just like him.” It tells him he’s stupid to listen to anyone else. It tells him that no one else cares, that no one can save him, and that he will die anyway, so why not die having fun? Satan, the father of all lies, tells the captive that he is the only one who really cares and the only one who can do anything for him. Satan is the one who started Stockholm syndrome, not that bank robber in Sweden.
            We tell people over and over that sin is deceptive, that once you are in you may never get out. Sooner or later you reach a point where you won’t listen to anyone. …being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness, Ephesians 4:18-19.
            What scares me is this doesn’t have to be heinous sin to work. People who spend their days gossiping will become impervious to any sermons on the subject. Satan has told them, “You’re only trying to help,” and they believe him. People who begin every sentence about a person with, “I’ll never forget when he did [this] to me,” will never heed the lesson about the unforgiving servant who was handed over to the torturers for his lack of mercy. “That’s different,” Satan tells them, and they believe that too. Any sin can deceive you. Any sin can take you captive, even the smallest.
            What can we do? Never excuse sin in yourself. Look to Jehovah, the Psalmist says in 25:15, and he will pluck you out of the net—he’ll rescue you from those abductors. Exhort one another, the Hebrew writer says in 3:13, so that you won’t be so easily deceived. Prove the spirits, John tells us in 1 John 4:1, and look for the way of escape Paul adds in 1 Cor 10:13.
            Don’t open the door when Satan knocks. Don’t let yourself be taken captive.

But I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord...There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 7:23-8:2

Dene Ward