meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Unfolding

Unfolding Short Stories: "Come back before winter" - Deitrich Bonhoeffer asks God what to do, as told by Christian Historian Joe Thomas

The Unfolding

Northwestern Media

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.9809 Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2024

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Christian historian Joe Thomas shares the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's struggle to discern God's will during a critical moment in history. As World War II loomed, Bonhoeffer faced a life-altering decision: remain safely in America or return to Nazi Germany to stand with his church. Discover how a simple Bible verse, “Come before winter,” became a divine call that shaped his courageous path.

Do you have a story where you needed to hear from God in a critical moment? Tell us about it when you click the green microphone button at WowGod.com

Here's a link to Joe's podcast if you want to go deeper into the life of Deitrich Bonhoeffer: Wayfinding Podcast

 

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

God's story, your life.

0:06.0

Unfolding short stories.

0:10.8

Yesterday, a movie was released called Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Spy, Assassin.

0:16.8

It's a movie about a particular time of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life.

0:21.0

Well, a couple of weeks ago, I got connected with a guy named Joe Thomas.

0:24.7

Joe is a Christian historian, and he actually has a podcast that covers Bonhofer at length.

0:30.2

So I asked him if he'd come in and share a bit about him.

0:33.4

So Joe's going to give you some background about his life, some historical importance of certain

0:38.3

moments. But there's this one part of his life that Joe is going to emphasize, where Bonhofer was

0:45.0

desperate for the direction of God. So get ready for a tiny bit of history, a little bit of Christian

0:51.5

ethics, in a reminder of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.

0:57.0

I think there's a great story we can share about his faith, about his desire to hear God in a very

1:05.0

tense and critical moment in his life. And this was a moment where he had to make a decision on whether he was going to stay in

1:15.3

Germany, go to America, and then once in America, come back to Germany and help the church

1:23.1

through the Second World War under the Nazis.

1:26.9

Diedrich Bonhoferer was a Lutheran pastor

1:29.3

reared in Germany in 1933.

1:33.3

Adolf Hitler became the chancellor and the Nazis took over.

1:38.3

And from that point on, the Nazis were attempting

1:42.3

to take over the church.

1:46.3

And so much of Bonhoeffer's adult life dealt with trying to wrestle with how do we maintain the church in an oppressive and persecuting environment.

1:59.4

And so he was part of something called the confessing church that was formed as a reaction

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Northwestern Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Northwestern Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.