Millions of Souls: The Philip Riteman Story

One of my current reads is this book, lent to me.   I doubt if I have ever read anything that portrays the horror of the holocaust as vividly as this.  There has got to be a judgment.  There has got to be a Hell.  Thank God there is forgiveness in Christ. 

 

Millions of Souls: The Philip Riteman Story

by Philip Riteman
with: Mireille Baulu-MacWillie

 

FLANKER PRESS | October 12, 2010 | Trade Paperback

Philip Riteman is a Holocaust survivor whose mission is to educate today’s youth on the atrocities committed against millions of Jews and Gentiles by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime during World War II. From the Pruzhany Ghetto, Poland , Philip and his family were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. There, his entire family was exterminated.   As the lone survivor, Philip was used as a forced labourer in five concentration camps, where he witnessed the cruellest treatments that can be inflicted on human beings: degradation, dehumanization, starvation, hard labour, daily beatings, torture, and deliberate, cold-blooded murder.   Millions of Souls is told in three parts. First is Philip’s account of life in his hometown and as an eyewitness to the struggle for survival in the concentration camps. Second is the story of Philip’s exodus to Newfoundland after the war, where he discovered that there was still some humanity left in the world. Third is the story of Philip Riteman today, and his commitment to spreading his message: “Hate destroys people, communities, and countries. Love binds us all together and makes a better world.”   Philip Riteman’s story was recorded by Mireille Baulu-MacWillie during a series of interviews at Philip’s home in Nova Scotia , Canada 

Faith in the Valley

Christian meets Apollyon as he descends into the valley of Humiliation.  That is not without importance.  It is both a necessary attitude by which to confront the enemy; but perhaps it is also the place where the battle rages the greatest?

 Apollyon (Απολλυων) is the Greek name for Abaddon, the spiritual being (or place) named as the destroyer (or place of destruction) in Christian apocalyptic theology. The temptation of Apollyon was to persuade Christian to turn back.  He has gone from bad to worse.  Sadly the Evil One says, "It is ordinary for those that have professed themselves his servants, after a while to give him the slip, and return again to me. Do thou so to, and all shall be well."  Apollyon's strategy was to appeal to Christian's ethic and suggest that his current frame of mind is one of disloyalty.  However Christian counters with the truth that even if that were so, his God "is able to absolve me, yea, and to pardon also what I did as to my compliance with thee."   Christian had the sense to know that the "his wages, his servants, his government, his company, and country, better than [the Devil's]."

Apollyon's next approach was to show the end to those who are faithful to the King.  He reminds Christian of the many who have come to an untimely and horrific death.  How shall he respond to such an obvious truth? " "His forbearing," responds Christian, "At present to deliver them, is on purpose to try their love, whether they will cleave to him to the end: and as for the ill end thou sayest they come to, that is most glorious in their account. For, for present deliverance, they do not much expect it; for they stay for their glory; and then they shall have it, when their Prince comes in his and the glory of the angels."

Whereas sins of the past and the ill-fate of the many cannot dissuade Christian from his resolve to continue down the path to the Celestial City, the Evil One now aptly points out Christian's present sins and failings.  Although the accusations are true, the defense is impregnable: "All this is true," admits Christian, "And much more which thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honor is merciful, and ready to forgive. But besides, these infirmities possessed me in thy country, for there I sucked them in, and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and have obtained pardon of my Prince." 

Then for more than a day, this deadly Enemy assaulted Christian with darts.  His shield protected him from mortal wounding but he was not left unscathed.  The disciple continued to resist and then holding forth his Sword he said, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise, Mic. 7:8; and with that gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back, as one that had received his mortal wound. Christian perceiving that, made at him again, saying, Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us. Rom. 8:37."  At this Apollyon left him.

" Then there came to him a hand with some of the leaves of the tree of life, the which Christian took and applied to the wounds that he had received in the battle, and was healed immediately. He also sat down in that place to eat bread, and to drink of the bottle that was given him a little before: so, being refreshed, he addressed himself to his journey with his sword drawn in his hand; for he said, I know not but some other enemy may be at hand. But he met with no other affront from Apollyon quite through this valley." 

The Enemy's tactics as described by Bunyan were to throw past sins and present failures at this Child of God.  He presented the difficult and deadly prospects of any who follow the Savior.  The Evil One threw fiery darts which only the Shield of Faith was able to quench.  But through all this, though wounded, Christian withstood the Enemy to the praise of God.  "So when the battle was over, Christian said, I will here give thanks to him that hath delivered me out of the mouth of the lion, to him that did help me against Apollyon."

Can't Go Around It; I'm Not Afraid

It is the understatement of the ages to say that God is complicated.  The goodness and love of God is true in their simplicity, but fail to describe the massively amazing complexity of God.  Additions to His Being that reflect any degree of severity often cause confusion (to say the least) through to abhorence (at best). In Piligrim's Progress, nine times in the Third Stage of the story, Bunyan refers to God as the "Lord of the hill."

If Bunyan was referring to the Hill of Zion, we'd probably get it.  Or in simpler terms: the hill of triumph and victory would strike a harmonious chord.   For God to be God He'd have to be the pinnacle, the top, the conquistador!

Surprise, surprise, that's not what the author had in mind.   The hill that little Christian met on his path to the Celestial City was desribed as:

"I beheld then, that they all went on till they came to the foot of the hill Difficulty . . .."

Bunyan described God as the Lord of this Hill.  The Hill called Difficulty! "They saw that the hill was steep and high."   Bunyan knew that difficulties encountered along the pilgrim's path were not there by accident or  freak of nature.   Nor where such obstructions placed their diabolically by the surpremacy of Evil.  No!   Bunyan knew that our God, our Lord, is the sovereign master of such hills.  How did Christian respond to the hill before him?

"This hill, though high, I covet to ascend;
The difficulty will not me offend,
For I perceive the way to life lies here:
Come, pluck up, heart, let's neither faint nor fear!
Better, though difficult, the right way to go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe."

What a great lesson for us who know Christ.   "Better, though difficult, the right way to go . . .."

So to change the ol' camp song: "Can't go around it; can't go under it; got to go over it," is the best approach when it's the right way!

Does oil really trump water?

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?  If you are you won't deny that in every case oil will float on water. Oil floats on top of the water because oil molecules are lighter than water molecules. You can mix oil and water together but oil will always float to the top. Oil always trumps water. 

In John Bunyan's classic allegory: Pilgrims Progress, he pictures the beauty of this science.  While Christian (the Pilgrim) is visiting the House of the Interpreter (the Holy Spirit), his host shows him a picture.  The scene was a fire.  Beside the fire was a man pouring water on the flame.  Rather than douse the fervor, the flame seemed to increase in intensity.  Why was that?  Well what wasn't readily seen was that in secret behind the inferno was another man pouring oil on the fire.   So what does this mean, pray tell?  Let Bunyan tell you:

This is Christ, who continually, with the oil of his grace, maintains the work already begun in the heart; by the means of which, notwithstanding what the devil can do, the souls of his people prove gracious still. 2 Corinthians 12:9. And in that thou sawest that the man stood behind the wall to maintain the fire; this is to teach thee, that it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of grace is maintained in the soul.[1]

Oil ALWAYS trumps water ... ALWAYS.

Dear Child of God, you may be facing the onslaught of Satan's attack today. You feel as if the fire is ebbing as he diabolically splashes water on your life seeking to drown you into infamy.  Take heart, for Christ has neither left you, nor forsaken you.  His oil will trump the Enemy's water -- EVERYTIME!

A picture is worth a thousand words.  This picture is worth an eternity.   

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1. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bunyan/pilgrim.iv.ii.html 

Communion, Baptism and Membership

I have experienced no small degree of ostracization by my denomination and some of my 'former' pastoral friends regarding my stance of baptism and membership.  I basically concluded in a lengthy paper on the subject that a person who was biblical convinced of affusion (or pouring) and could express a compelling scriptural argument should be accepted into membership in a baptist church.  Of course we are assuming that they recognize the immersionist position and respect it without causing division.  I do not hold the same welcome to paedobaptists.  I recently read this post.  It contains impeccable logic.

The Open Baptist Who Bested Spurgeon

In his biography of baptist Charles Spurgeon, W. Y. Fullerton makes mention of what he calls "Open Baptists" who not only "welcomed all believers to the communion service," but also "grant church membership apart from baptism." Fullerton recounts a humorous anecdote from Spurgeon concerning the issue.

He once told me with appreciation how he was worsted in argument by an American divine. During a drive, the visitor made a number of inquiries, and discovered the practice of the church . . . how it admitted people to the Lord's Table who were not baptized, and refused them membership unless baptized. "Which means that they are good enough for the Lord, and yet not good enough for you!" said his guest. And Spurgeon had to admit that the logic was not on his side.

It is inconsistent to open the table and close the membership. Unfortunately, some have tried to remedy this by closing communion. But the implications are serious. It is no small thing to turn away from the Lord's Table someone who is manifestly a brother in Christ . . .  (to read the entire article click HERE.)

Pastor Jim Why Is Membership Important?

I recently received an important question from someone that attends my church.  "Why is membership important?"   Here's my answer:

There are several reasons why I believe membership is important:

1. The New Testament never speaks of a type of Christianity that does not include active participation and commitment to the Church.

2. We are to honor the civil laws of our nation as long as they do not contravene the Word of God.  Currently we have been instructed that it is unwise for any church to use staff at any level who have not formally agreed to the Statement of Faith and Constitution of the church.  (PS: I am facing the same issues as to people I marry.  The current Human Rights legislation is this way: If you have an open door it must be open for all).  If we allow unrestricted leadership of church ministries we would be facing an HR violation to exclude some and include others.  When you become a member you voluntarily become accountable to the church and formally assent to their doctrine and practices.  We would find ourselves on thin ice if we had non-members "primarily" leading and making decisions in the church. 

3. We are a Baptist Church.  We are convinced by Scripture that the local church is to be self-governed and autonomous.  That practically means that the membership is the final "human" court of authority.  Even elders are servant leaders who serve under the authority of Christ, His Word and the will of the congregation.  Logically, then, there must be a process whereby Christians take out formal membership for it is this membership that will select leaders, empower financial budgets and decisions, act as the final arbiter in a case of church discipline and affirm the vision of the church. 

4. Without the responsible and voluntary decision of a Christian to align themselves with the local church in a formal way, the question is always vague as to whom the pastor(s) are truly pastoring?  Does simply attending a church create a relationship between pastor and believer? 

5. God is a God of covenant.  All that He does in based on, and worked through His covenantal relationships.   Marriage is a picture of this.  For a Christian to withhold themselves from formally aligning with the local church in mutual support and care is akin to common-law marriage -- a relationship with no commitment.

6. There is an argument from logic, too.   If we do not care about membership; if we do not value it; and if it is non-consequential then why have membership at all?  The fact is that for the reasons noted above we do believe it is important to be a member.  So to take this one step further, if we, in practice, allow ministries to be lead by non-members then we have dishonored membership and are operating in contradiction to our principles. 

Now on a practical level we cannot force membership and if someone chooses not to be a member then we won't usurp their conscience.  With that in mind we attempt, as best as we can, to allow non-members to participate in the fullness of church life.  

The most common 'push-back' I get by well-meaning people is that this makes us "religious"; or we have succumbed to "human traditions".  I have a couple of short responses.  One, it is not religious to seek to obey the New Testament (Click HERE if you doubt that).  It is not "religious" to obey civil and church authorities (obviously with exceptions when it is immoral.)  Thirdly Jesus was very religious.  You may wish to read my blog on this topic by clicking HERE.

Back in 2008, I did a series in the Church entitled "God's Blueprint for the Church."  You can read the transcripts of that series on our Church Blog.   The first transcript had to do with Elders (You can read it by clicking HERE. There were 7 messages in the series.)

Here are 2 books that I'd highly recommend:


1. Stop Dating the Church by Joshua Harris; and


2. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever

Don't You Dare Say That Word!

If you wonder about the statement: "That's the pot calling the kettle black" then your question will be answered when you read about me discussing the matter of controlling your tongue.  It's a good thing I'm typing this, because otherwise the ink in my pen would bleed "hypocrite".  Having said that, it still doesn't dismiss the truth that our tongue is an amazing weapon of mass destruction.   Listen to James 3:5–6 (ESV)  

⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 

Remember the delightful radio show:  Kid's Say the Darndest Things?  Well I thought of that title as I read James 3:5-6.   I would say it this way, "We as people say the "damnest" things."  Now I'm not supposed to say, "Damn!"  My parents taught me that much.  But what if we don't say damn, but damn people in what we say?  Is that anymore right?  "Evil speech (including blasphemy, gossip, slander, lying, false vows, and the like) has the power to spoil, stain, and corrupt the entire moral character of a person." [1].

Now James has already said that if we can tame the tongue we have achieved perfection.  There's a target I probably won't get to until the ashes are sprinkled on my coffin.  But it is a goal -- a tough one. I am challenged by the quote from  Cesare Payese (an Italian poet and novelist): "Give me the ready hand rather than the ready tongue."




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1.  Whitlock, L. G., Sproul, R. C., Waltke, B. K., & Silva, M. (1995). Reformation study Bible, the : Bringing the light of the Reformation to Scripture : New King James Version (Jas 3:6). Nashville: T. Nelson.