"Christ Crucified-- The Power and Wisdom of God"

"....We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1 Corinthians 1:23, 24) A young man, whose grandparents have been a part of Sarah and me for over 40 years, is a YWAM leader.  He is leading a team to Germany today, and part of the schedule includes three weeks in Berlin.  They arrive in Berlin on January 22.  He asked for "any spiritual insight you may have from your time there."  The following is what I wrote to him:  My only "insight" is that this is the capitol, and it has had significance for the German for centuries, even before unification under Bismark in the latter 19th century.  The militarism of Prussia has been, and I believe still is, a dominating "spirit" in Germany.  I would recommend a stop at what I call the "Bismarck complex just a few meters from the famous Grosser Stern (Victory Column).  I'm sure you will see some of what I mean.  Also, you will see from this complex the extremely high importance the German places on wisdom and intellect.  I once preached from 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 in a church meeting.  One of the pastors said to me afterwards, "This is what Germany needs." The German People Group is indeed a great people.  They have given the world some of my favorite people, e.g., Jan Huss, Count Zinzendorf, Auguste Franke, just to name a few.  But they also gave the world Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, and Adolph Hitler; they have given some of the best and worst of humanity.  They are no worse nor any better than any people group, yet I believe deeply that they have a destiny which no other people group has.  Their history of militarism and worship of the wisdom of man will some day be at the heart of "the final conflict." This wisdom-worship spirit dominated the ancient world also.  It's "capitol" was Greek philosophy, "....Greeks seek after wisdom...."  This spirit has battled the Church through the ages, took over the major universities in America, and has led to the downfall of Western Christianity as the leader of the Global Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.  One of the figures in the Bismarck Memorial in Berlin is a "sibyl reclining on a sphinx and reading the book of history."  The word "sibyl" is from a Greek word meaning "prophetess."  Here is what the Greek writer, Heraclitus, wrote:  "The Sibyl, with frenzied mouth uttering things not to be laughed at, unadorned and unperfumed, yet reaches to a thousand years with her voice by aid of the god."  Well, Heraclitus, there is also someone else who "reached to a thousand years," which is why, "We preach Christ crucified." Father, in Jesus' Name, deliver me from any "Sibyl" spirit in the world.  Amen. ****************** "Iraq's Descent into Ethnic Mayhem:  www.apf327.blogspot.com Unreached People Group: www.apfunreachedpeoples.blogspot.com