This young adult piece of historical fiction was fantastic! I learned about another part of WW2 that I was unfamiliar with: the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. Crazy to think that more people died in this maritime tragedy than in the sinking of the Titanic. I absolutely loved the subtle character crossover with Between Shades of Gray, and I enjoyed the various first-person narratives. Heartbreaking, well-written, and addictive. I was a fan!
Discipling Nations is a newly required read for Freedom team members. I worked through it on my Kindle, but I think I’d prefer it in paperback. There are charts, footnotes, and graphics that I would’ve liked to reference a little more easily. Miller essentially unpacks the big-picture concept that a person’s ideas have consequences. There are good study questions at the end of each chapter. Overall, I think it helped me more clearly articulate a general overview of different worldview systems.
Below: a few of the quotes that caught my eye in the past weeks!
No one wanted to fall into the hands of the enemy. But it was growing harder to distinguish who the enemy was.¹
What had human beings become? Did war make us evil or just activate an evil already lurking within us?¹
How foolish to believe we are more powerful than the sea or the sky. I watched from the raft as the beautiful deep began to swallow the massive boat of steel.¹
… as the ancient Hebrew axiom says so well, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7 KJV). Development is more than working, even working hard. It is about thinking, and about what we think. The attitudes of our hearts inevitably show up sooner or later in our behavior, speech, writing, and handiwork.²
Ideas also diffuse through time. It has always taken time for ideas to travel around the world and penetrate cultures. But today, with the advent of modern information technologies, ideas require less and less time to spread—for good and ill.²
Those of us who want to work effectively with the poor need to learn three distinct worldviews: our own, that of the culture we’re trying to disciple (our host culture), and biblical theism.²
We live in a moral universe, no matter how hard we try to deny or forget it. Our story has a moral theme. C.S. Lewis stated it most succinctly: First,…human beings, all over the earth, have the curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly,…they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in.²
He who has a “why” to live for can bear almost any “how.” -Friedrich Nietzsche³
Mission-conscious team players who have committed themselves to a team allow the leader of the team to do the leading.³
Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes stated, “The man who is prepared has his battle half-fought.”³
Perfection is what you’re striving for, but perfection is an impossibility. However, striving for perfection is not an impossibility. Do the best you can under the conditions that exist. That is what counts. -John Wooden³
Liddell followed his conscience, choosing to do what was right because to do anything else, he felt, would sully the gift God had given him to run fast.4
… those incapable of malice rarely suspect it in others.4
“No man who really is a man ever cared for the easy task. There is no enjoyment in the game that is easily won. It is that in which you have to strain every muscle and sinew to achieve victory that provides real joy.”4
¹ Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys
² Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Cultures, Darrow L. Miller
³ The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player, John Maxwell
4 For the Glory: The Untold and Inspiring Story of Eric Liddell, Duncan Hamilton
The Mitcheners 