Hope Beachhead
Theme of the Week: United for Impact
David Shenk
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
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Key Bible Verse: "Your blood has ransomed … from every … people" (Revelation 5:9). Bonus Reading:Romans 15:1–7
At the height of the Bosnian war, Nikola Skrinjaric and his fiancée, Sandra, purposely moved to Mostar to wed. During their honeymoon, rockets destroyed nearby houses. But they stayed on, zigzagging across streets to dodge snipers and grenades, and helping the wounded, hungry, and homeless in the name of Christ.
When I visited in 1997, neighbor-against-neighbor violence had destroyed 80-percent of the city's Muslim east. The Christian west was also heavily bombed. We worshiped that night in a rocket-damaged building: 40 or so Christians from Muslim, Croat, and Serb backgrounds.
The two churches that Nikola and Sandra had helped plant were the only places in town where people from the three groups were voluntarily talking to each other.
I experienced a baptism of joy among former enemies who'd participated in the destruction. Now redeemed, they'd been rescued from bitterness by forgiveness and united in bonds of love. The whole city had taken note.
That's why Jesus is worthy to take the scroll of history in His hand. No other authority can create such a miracle amid so much evil and hate.
—David Shenk in Surprises of the Christian Way
My Response: I also saw Christ bridge ethnic or cultural gaps when …
Thought to Apply: Reconciliation is not weakness or cowardice. It demands courage, nobility, generosity, sometimes heroism, and overcoming of oneself rather than of one's adversary.
—Pope Paul VI
Adapted from Surprises of the Christian Way (Herald Press, 2000) by permission.
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Lord, turn my critical eyes inward so I may grow in grace. Transform my snap judgments of other Christians into prayer, understanding, and service.
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