Spiritual Lessons from WWII
Presented by Eric Ludy
World War II was an epic tale. And I am like a moth to the flame of any and all things epic. I have always been fascinated by history, the events, the people, and the human challenge. But, war history, for some reason, stands out to me and deeply attracts my soul — bidding me to study it and to somehow try and comprehend it.
In the early 90’s I used to teach classes on the Civil War — and loved it. In 2018, my intrigue for war was renewed and it led to an in-depth study of WWI and WWII.
If you asked me, “Eric, why are you so interested in all this war stuff?” I would say, “Listen to this series and you will find out.” When I study war, I understand how to live more robustly as a godly man. I pray they will inspire you toward vibrant Christian living.
Here’s to going after the epic,
Eric
1933–1939 | The Rise of Hitler
A great evil is afoot; surreptitiously positioning itself to plunder the liberty of nations, to annihilate the weak, and destroy whatever is left of decency and goodwill in this earth. Meanwhile, good men all over the world turn a blind eye to this malevolent and insidious power and do nothing.
February 9, 2020 — The Follies of the Victors
This is the first installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this series on the 1939-1945 war, he is underscoring the parallels between physical battle and our spiritual war as believers. And, it’s remarkable to see how the struggles and vast challenges of WW2 can supply a magnificent portrayal of the two kingdoms at war to a believer’s understanding. In this particular episode Eric focuses on the thoroughness of the defeat of our enemy at the Cross and yet how our moral lassitude as the Church has allowed the devil to rebuild up his military strength and utterly tear down the foundations of the Church of Jesus Christ. It’s high-time we awakened!
February 10, 2020 — The Proverbial Pattern
This is the second installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this series on the 1939-1945 war, he is underscoring the parallels between physical battle and our spiritual war as believers. And, it’s remarkable to see how the struggles and vast challenges of WW2 can supply a magnificent portrayal of the two kingdoms at war to a believer’s understanding.
February 12, 2020 — The Radical Disarmament
This is the third installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this series on the 1939-1945 war, he is underscoring the parallels between physical battle and our spiritual war as believers. And, it’s remarkable to see how the struggles and vast challenges of WW2 can supply a magnificent portrayal of the two kingdoms at war to a believer’s understanding.
February 14, 2020 — The Barman Declaration
This is the fourth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the acute challenges of the German Christians during the Hitler reign and draws out the profound necessity of being the Confessing Church amidst our modern day evils.
February 16, 2020 — The Sacrifice of the Smaller
This is the fifth installment in the Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he digs into the human propensity to sacrifice those directly under our care and protection for the sake of personal security and peace. This was the mistake made by Great Britain in the years proceeding WW2 and it led to one of the greatest catastrophes of human history. Are we making the same mistake today?
1940 | Alone in the Darkest Hour
What Hitler wants, Hitler gets. One after another, the once-powerful nations of Europe fall to the overwhelming martial force of Germany. By June of 1940, only one nation remains standing against this awful power.
February 17, 2020 — The Proving of the Nation
This is the sixth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. This episode showcases the key idea that caused him to put together this series in the first place. In 1940 something happened to the nation of Great Britain that transformed them from flabby to formidable. It is this same thing that Eric craves to see happen in the Church of Jesus Christ today.
February 19, 2020 — Exposing the Fifth Column
This is the seventh installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the important topic of recognizing the Enemy’s deceptive strategies in our lives and building a plan of defense. For what is true at the level of nations is true at the level of the individual soul — there is an enemy, and he is seeking whom he may devour.
February 20, 2020 — The Fall of France
This is the eighth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the significant and necessary work of loneliness in the construction of a mighty Christian — the whole while running a parallel to the the dramatic events that unfolded in 1940 when the nation of France fell to the Germans — leaving Great Britain alone as the one remaining power in the world positioned to still resist the mounting evil.
February 23, 2020 — What is Wanted is a Man
This is the ninth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he showcases God’s desire for a ready man to rise up and prove the intercessor. Throughout history God has sought out the man and/or woman to fill the gap — how much more so is this true today.
February 24, 2020 — Air Superiority
This is the tenth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he talks about the German Luftwaffe (air weapon). During the Battle of Britain, in the latter half of the harrowing year of 1940, everything hinged on the Royal Air Force countering the seemingly unstoppable power of the German air machine. Eric parallels this with the battle of the “air” that each of us as Christians deal with incessantly in our thought lives. The battle for air supremacy is paramount in winning the battle that we, too, are engaged in right now.
February 26, 2020 — The Impossible Maneuver
This is the eleventh installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he discusses the seemingly insane quality of a Christian to take the darkest moment and most harrowing weakness and turn them into the catalyst for the greatest offensive strength.
February 28, 2020 — The Dunkirk Rear Guard
This is the twelfth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the power of silent sacrifice and the importance of doing our heroic deeds in secret and not with trumpet blast. Using Lord Gort (the commander-and-chief of the BEF during the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940) as a case study, the beauty and power of Christ’s silent sacrifice for us at the Cross, stands out with vivid color.
March 1, 2020 — The Ripple Effect of Love
This the thirteenth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he addresses the profound impact that simple acts of love and forgiveness can have upon this earth. Bomb blasts are one method for deterring evil, but Christian love has even greater potential for change.
March 2, 2020 — Leading in the Dark
This is the fourteenth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he examines the pattern for world-altering leadership. With Winston Churchill as his muse, Eric breaks down some of the unique ingredients that this unusual man brought to the nation of Great Britain “for such a time as this”. And as he always does, Eric turns the attention ultimately to Jesus Christ and His amazing leadership over the Church, over the nations, and over all things visible and invisible.
March 4, 2020 — The Bordeaux Collapse
This is the fifteenth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the amazing spiritual parallel between the governmental fall of France on June 16th, 1940 with the identical propensity that each of us as Christian have toward choosing an alliance with a false peace over fighting for the integrity of the Gospel of Christ in this darkening generation.
March 6, 2020 — The Darlan Conspiracy
This is the sixteenth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explains the selfish propensity for preservation that often can overrule Christ’s Kingdom prerogative in our lives. Using Admiral Darlan as a muse and his fatal decision to turn traitor on France and Great Britain in June 1940 as a chief illustration, Eric drives home the critical need for each of us as Christians to forgo our selfish hold on this temporal life in order to gain the greater treasure found in Christ Jesus.
March 8, 2020 — The Hobelar
This is the seventeenth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he digs into the fascinating history of “The Hobelar” and links that with a bold and audacious maneuver by Winston Churchill in WW2. But, the greatest picture of a Hobelar throughout all history is found in the bold and audacious maneuver of Jesus Christ on the Cross two thousand years ago.
March 15, 2020 — The War Machine
This is the eighteenth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the impact of prayer on the outcome of war events and on the turning of history.
March 23, 2020 — The Convoy
This is the nineteenth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he looks into the key decision in the Spring of 1941 for the British to turn their Naval convoy into dire straits in order to supply relief to General Wavell’s forces holding the Desert Flank. The decision Great Britain made in this significant maneuver is a powerful reflection of how the Body of Christ is designed by God to sacrificially serve the weaker around them.
1941 | The Overplay of Evil
Hitler’s and Hirohito’s craven lust for land lead them to plunge into territories that might have been better left undisturbed. And as a result, the Bear of Russia and the Eagle of America are stirred from their long winter nap and deeply angered.
April 12, 2020 — The Sleeping Giant
This is the 20th installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. Even during the COVID-19 lockdown, Eric found an excuse to continue his popular war series — drawing on the bombing of Pearl Harbor as a profound decipher for the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is undoubtedly a unique Easter morning message.
May 3, 2020 — The Door of the Desert Foxes
This is the much-anticipated return to Eric’s WW2 series that was interrupted by the arrival of COVID-19 in mid-March. In this twenty-first episode, Eric brings us right back into the thick of the battle in 1941, featuring the unique life of Erwin Rommel, the legendary Desert Fox.
May 4, 2020 — The German Mind
This is the twenty-second installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the deranged German thinking patterns that led to their butchery of the Jews throughout the war and their strange attack on the Soviet Union in June of 1941. And then he shows how we, too, must be delivered from these same twisted thinking patterns.
May 8, 2020 — Operation Red Beard
This is the twenty-third installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he examines Hitler’s surprise attack on Soviet Russia on June 22, 1941. This key event changed the course of history and ultimately led to the downfall of the Nazi regime, but it also contains some amazing spiritual lessons that can change the course of our lives today.
May 8, 2020 — The Fearless Fellowship
This is the twenty-fourth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he showcases the mindset and attitude of Roosevelt and Churchill in the dangerous season of Atlantic unrest in mid-1941. They both felt it was imperative that they met face-to-face, but to do so would mean incredible dangers. They met, and their meeting changed the course of history. Are we as the Church facing a similar moment, when meeting, even amongst “incredible dangers,” should be prayerfully considered?
May 10, 2020 — The Unfriendly Ally
This is the twenty-fifth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he examines the unique challenge that Winston Churchill faced in 1941 in dealing with Joseph Stalin and then supplies an inspiring teaching on how each of us can effectively administer grace, mercy, and patience to the surly characters in our own lives.
May 11, 2020 — The Sinking of the Prince
This is the twenty-sixth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he examines the devastating loss of two great battleships in December of 1941 and the unique parallel we all should share with this sorrowful sinking in the Pacific.
May 13, 2020 — The Firing of Cunningham
This is the twenty-seventh installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he unpacks the story of General Auchinleck in the Mediterranean theater and his choice to go aggressive instead defensive at a pivotal moment in November of 1941. As the Church, we are at a similar pivotal point in our history. Which way will we turn?
May 15, 2020 — The Honorable and the Outrageous
This is the twenty-eighth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he creates a division between good and evil in WW2. Utilizing Emperor Hirohito in Japan and his deceptive antics on December 7, 1941 as the chief illustration, Eric reminds Christians that there IS a definition of right and there IS a definition of wrong behavior — there is a definition of good and there is a definition of bad that stands firm throughout the passing of time. This message is ideally suited for the age of relativism in which we are all currently living.
May 17, 2020 — The Atlantic Hunting Grounds
This is the twenty-ninth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the idea of mental focus and soundness of mind, using a parallel between Churchill’s dangerous crossing of the Atlantic in December of 1941 and our dangerous crossing of our own life’s dilemmas in the year 2020. The Christian is empowered by the Holy Spirit to maintain a “sound mind” always, even when being hunted by U-boat Wolfpacks.
May 18, 2020 — The Map Room
This is the thirtieth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he examines Churchill’s passion for a map room that, in 1941, gave him a global minute-by-minute picture of the various theaters of war throughout the world. Eric parallels this with the spiritual function of “remembrance” in a Christian’s life and stirs the believer to begin building their very own map room.
May 20, 2020 — The American Supply
This is the thirty-first installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the profound parallel between the untapped American manufacturing potential in 1941 and the oft-untapped potential of Throne Room of Grace that has been opened up to us via the shed blood of Christ. Great Britain was desperate for military supplies in December of 1941, just like each one of us is desperate, in May of 2020, for the weapons of warfare that are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.
1942 | Lighting the Torch
Hitler’s death camps open for business, meanwhile the tide turns in the Pacific theater and the Torch is lit in North Africa.
May 22, 2020 — The Soul of Litvinov
This is the thirty-second installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he builds an beautiful parallel between the Heavenly Father’s shocking pursuit of the filthy prodigal son and Franklin Roosevelt’s shocking pursuit of the soul of Maxim Litvinov.
May 25, 2020 — The Voyage of Captain Rogers
This is the thirty-third installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the power of the Gospel as revealed in and through the perilous 3,500 mile journey of a two-storied flying boat across the Atlantic in World War II.
May 27, 2020 — The Sweater Vest
This is the thirty-fourth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he visits Winston Churchill in one of his most trying moments in the winter months of 1942, when the bullets flying at him are from his own people and not just from the evil Axis powers. During this historic vote of confidence, we see a parallel with the challenges we all face in standing for the Truth of Christ in a hostile age.
June 1, 2020 — Blockaded in Brest
This is the thirty-fifth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the surreptitious plans of Hitler on February 12, 1942 to sneak two German warships through the English Channel right under the nose of the British. A feat that every good British citizen would declare to be impossible. Eric draws a fascinating spiritual parallel in and through this seeming grand triumph of Hitler’s genius.
June 1, 2020 — Roosevelt’s Blind Spot
This is the thirty-sixth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the strange double-standard (a.k.a. blind spot) that can sometimes exist in the Christian life. Eric uses Roosevelt’s controversial executive order in 1942 as an amazing illustration of believing the right things and yet doing the wrong things. As the Church, we are in desperate need of having our blind spots exposed.
June 3, 2020 — The Doolittle Riots
This is the thirty-seventh installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WWII. In this episode he dives into the uncomfortable territory of racial divide and ethnic dehumanization that worked as a key sub-theme in the entirety of WWII. In our modern day, we could learn a lot from the mistakes of the past. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is still, after two thousand years, the best method for dealing with terrible injustice.
June 5, 2020 — The Wide-Eyed Soldier
This is the thirty-eighth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the unique mindset of the Japanese soldiers during the war that led them to do such heroic, albeit, crazy things. Japanese thinking in the 1940s had some serious errors inside it, however, there is a remnant in all of it of something extraordinary that is revealed beautifully in the story of one single Japanese soldier named Hiroo Onoda.
June 8, 2020 — Revival in Pacific
This is the thirty-ninth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the profound way God works in and through desperate times. In May of 1942 the Japanese appeared unstoppable in the Pacific theater and the United States extremely vulnerable. What was needed then is precisely what we as the Church are needing now — a revival in the Pacific.
June 10, 2020 — The Turning Point
This is the fortieth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he dives into the significance of the Battle of Midway and how that profoundly parallels the critical battle the Church of Jesus Christ is facing right now in America.
June 12, 2020 — Going After the Girl
This is the forty-first installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he parallels the appeasement attitudes of Neville Chamberlain in the years leading up to 1939 with the appeasement attitudes in the Church today toward this violent spiritual storm currently raging about us.
June 15, 2020 — The Manhattan Project
This is the forty-second installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he discusses the scientific battle going on in secret throughout the war to develop the “weapon of weapons” and the race between the nations to win in the realm of the invisible. The parallels with the Church and the Christian life today are profound.
June 17, 2020 — The 42 Offensive
This is the forty-third installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he depicts the challenge President Roosevelt faced in deciding his primary military focus in 1942 with the challenge the Church of Jesus Christ is facing right now in the year 2020.
June 19, 2020 — The Fourth Role
This is the forty-fourth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the uncomfortable territory of the advent of the Jewish extermination camps in 1942 Germany. This is a difficult message, but one that is stirring unto action.
June 22, 2020 — Behind the Silence
This is the forty-fifth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the German mindset in 1942 that would cause an entire nation of “Christians” to remain silent and turn their back on a very real and terrible genocide.
June 24, 2020 — The Moses of Rovno
This is the forty-sixth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he contrasts the malleable power of social correctness with the enabling power of heavenly correctness upon on the Christian life. And, in doing this, Eric utilizes the life and decisions of one specific German Christian in 1942 named Fritz Graebe to illustrate the power of one man choosing to stand up when everyone else remains seated.
June 26, 2020 — Stuck on Sledgehammer
This is the forty-seventh installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores how the diplomatic convincing work of Winston Churchill on Joseph Stalin in August of 1942 parallels how the Holy Spirit labors to convince us of the efficacy and reasonableness of surrendering to the rulership of Jesus Christ.
June 29, 2020 — Before Alamein
This is the forty-eighth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he examines the critical hinge point in the war for Great Britain that unfolded in a place called El Alamein. Up until October 23, 1942 everything militarily for Great Britain had basically proven disastrous. And though this long season of difficulty was arduous for the Brits, it also served a tremendous purpose. And so in our lives, the season “before Alamein” has tremendous worth and it causes us to more fully appreciate and value of the victory that unfurls “after Alamein”.
July 1, 2020 — Reaching the Runaway
This is the forty-ninth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the mercy and long-suffering of God and how that is beautifully demonstrated in both the pursuit and subsequent repentance of Admiral Darlan in November of 1942. This one man’s crimes caused many deaths, and this one man’s repentance saved many lives.
1943 | The Steel-toed Boot
Mussolini falls, Italy switches sides, the Battle of Atlantic become critical, while the Allies scramble up the Boot of Italy.
July 3, 2020 — Casablanca
This is the fiftieth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he dives into the tumultuous waters of contention, division, and denomination in the Body of Christ today. In paralleling the modern Church with the Allied forces in January of 1943, a fascinating picture emerges. Casablanca was the place where a common vision and purpose statement was forged amongst America, Great Britain, and the Free French. The Church is in desperate need of our very own Casablanca Conference in this hour.
July 6, 2020 — The Old Lion
This is the fifty-first installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he unpacks Winston Churchills dangerous bout with pneumonia in the critical war months of 1943 and then parallels that with the Church’s dangerous bout with comfort and correctness in the year 2020.
July 8, 2020 — A Million Unused Soldiers
This is the fifty-second installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he breaks down Winston Churchill’s thinking towards the expenditure of British military strength in the critical year of 1943. Should he hoard it or should he radically spend it? Should he take a step away in order to amass greater strength for a battle someday in the future or should he take the uncomfortable step forward into the fray now and wield the strength he already possesses? His decision-making process back then profoundly parallels the decision that we as the Church are needing to make right now in this hour of dire need.
July 10, 2020 — Controlling the Sea
This is the fifty-third installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he walks through the intriguing process of discovery that the Allies went through in determining their priority opponent in the war (is it Germany, Japan, or Italy?) and their priority theater of battle (is it the Western Front, the Eastern Front, the Pacific, the Mediterranean, or the Atlantic?). This process of discovery is not only important for World Wars, it is imperative for each of us as individuals and for us as a corporate Church. We need to know who our real enemy is and know the priority battles that God has set before us to win.
July 13, 2020 — The Sicilian Wind
This is the fifty-fourth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he leverages the providential gusting wind along the shoreline of Sicily on July 10th, 1943 to explain one of the most difficult-to-grasp ideas in Scripture and one of the most-needed Truths to understand. This unseasonable wind was very unwelcome to the invading good guys, but this same northwest wind that threatened to destroy the good guy’s ships turned out to be the great undoing of the bad guy’s defense.
July 17, 2020 — The Fall of Mussolini
This is the fifty-fifth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he creates a parallel between the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, and Haman, the great enemy of the Jewish people in the book of Esther. In July of 1943 the Italian people will finally wake up and realize that they don’t want to side with lies, hate, and deceit anymore. And to the chagrin and ultimate destruction of Mussolini, the Italian people are going to put their foot down and say, “No more!” This is an ancient pattern sponsored by God Himself where He takes the fleshly aggression of an antagonist and turns it into a spiritual recovery for His people.
July 20, 2020 — The Rescue of Mussolini
This is the fifty-sixth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he zooms in on Adolf Hitler’s response to the removal of his friend, Benito Mussolini, from power in Italy in July of 1943. Eric creates a parallel between Hitler’s plan of rescue of Mussolini and Mussolini’s fascism with Satan’s plan of rescue for the operation of the flesh in our life, as believers, when Jesus Christ enters in as our new Lord and Leader.
July 22, 2020 — The Spurning of Calais
This is the fifty-seventh installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he addresses the propensity in all of us to want to be important, significant, and famous. Paralleling the decision between Pas de Calais and Normandy for the target location for the great D-Day attack in 1944 Eric brings out that tension between desiring victory in the war and desiring to be made famous in and through the war.
July 24, 2020 — The Order of the White Feather
This is the fifty-eighth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he contrasts the Soviet Union’s military motivation technique during WW2 with the motivation technique of Great Britain in WW1 and WW2. Spoiler alert: Eric is not impressed with either of them. And then he contrasts both of these methods (which both proved effective in an earthly sense) with the motivation pattern of the Kingdom of Heaven. The conclusion: God really does understand the idea of human motivation.
July 27, 2020 — The Mind of the General
This is the fifty-ninth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the mental burdens of Winston Churchill in late 1943. And then he compares that with the list of mental burdens the Church of Jesus Christ is facing right now in 2020. There is an ancient strategy for walking through the darkest hour and it isn’t fear and it isn’t anxiety. This message unpacks this amazing heavenly strategy and reminds the Church just exactly who is Boss and who is in control right now.
July 29, 2020 — Stalin’s Telegram
This is the sixtieth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual lessons from WW2. In this episode he zooms in on a particular interchange of telegrams between Churchill and Stalin in late 1943. Stalin is upset with Churchills phraseology on the matter of Arctic convoys arriving in the winter months of 1943 and subsequently sends a brash, belittling, accusatory, and altogether unpleasant telegram to Churchill. What Churchill does in return is wholly unexpected and unprecedented in the correspondence between world leaders. Churchill’s actions create an amazing picture of the Christian’s response to the Devil’s accusatory voice in our own lives.
August 17, 2020 — The Puppet Government
This is the sixty-first installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual lessons from WW2. In this episode he brings us back to Italy in late 1943 and explores the spiritual parallel between Benito Mussolini’s extraordinary escape from prison and ominous return to Italian power with the struggles many believers face in coming to Christ and finding their old life yearning to pull a coup d’état and to once again rule the body it once held hostage.
1944 | Piercing the Atlantic Wall
Two-and-a-half years in the making, the monstrous Allied attack on the Normandy coastline commences and the momentous breakthrough is finally achieved.
August 19, 2020 — The Gustav Line
This is the sixty-second installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual lessons from WW2. In this episode he pits us in the winter months of 1944 against Hitler’s impassable mountain fortifications known as the Gustav Line. No matter how hard the allied troops tried, they just couldn’t bust through this line. How often our own spiritual lives parallel this painful Italian campaign. However, there is a key to breaking through this line, but it is different than any of the troops at that time would have guessed.
August 21, 2020 — The H-Hour
This is the sixty-third installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the way a Supreme Commander of a military expedition defines the Day and the Hour for movement. There is a pithy and powerful parallel between God’s leadership over our lives and the superintendence of the US and British commanders over the Allied D-Day and the H-Hour in WW2.
August 31, 2020 — Rehearsing D-Day
This is the sixty-fourth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual lessons from WW2. In this episode he throws us into the preparations of the Allied forces on the island of Great Britain. D-Day is just up ahead. So, for the American and British troops it is practice, practice, practice. The troops are repeating their movements time and again to ready themselves for the greatest battle in history. As Christians, we are quickly approaching days of testing. How can we, as the Church, learn from Eisenhower’s war preparations in order to better station ourselves for victory in the upcoming weeks, months, and years?
September 2, 2020 — Being Presidential
This is the sixty-fifth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he zooms in on the crisis of January 4th, 1944. It’s a crisis that demands a man to rise up and make one of the most difficult decisions any man has ever had to make. It’s tough being a leader. And, if we really understood the crushing weight that comes with the job, none of us would crave to be the one chosen to lead the troops on D-Day. But, if we are the one given the assignment, we can know that God will supply all that is needed to be decisive in the moment of decision.
September 3, 2020 — The Caged Lion
This is the sixty-sixth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he brings us into the 10 days of lockdown prior to the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944. Most of us had never experienced a lockdown prior the year 2020. And most of us would be happy if we never experienced a lockdown again. However, it is amazing to think that there actually was a lockdown prior to the enormous Allied victory of D-Day. May it be proven yet again that the good guys rise victorious after this current lockdown.
September 11, 2020 — In the Sands of Omaha
This is the sixty-seventh installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode we join the 230 boys from A Company as they land on Omaha beach in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, Amidst a maelstrom of artillery blast and machine gun fire these boys need to put one foot in front of the other. It’s a moment of special need that will cause most men to fold up and give up. But a Christian is supplied something wonderful for these very moments of trauma. It’s called grace.
September 14, 2020 — The Big Red One
This is the sixty-eighth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he examines the U.S. Army’s famed 1st Infantry Division and the profound significance of their two nicknames, “The Fighting First” and “The Big Red One.” There is a profound message about the leadership, the manliness, and the saving power of Jesus Christ baked into this amazing parallel from WW2.
September 16, 2020 — The Spoils of D-Day
This is the sixty-ninth installment in Eric’s series entitled, Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he joins Winston Churchill in his journey to the newly captured territories in France following the D-Day invasion. A profound spiritual parallel emerges in this story between the Christian surveying the wondrous Cross of Christ and Churchill surveying the wondrous victory at Normandy. A Day even greater than that of 1944’s D-Day unfolded 2000 years prior and the victory achieved on that Day, was not a result of the sacrifice of tens of thousands, but due to the sacrifice of One.
September 18, 2020 — Rushing the Bocage
This is episode seventy in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he brings us into the daily slog of the Allied infantry as they make their way across the French countryside. With the momentum of D-Day at their backs, who would have guessed that the next month would be so difficult and so taxing. Often, Christians are surprised by the enemy’s resistance and they underestimate his will to fight. The Allied perseverance through this slow-moving and harrowing slog in June and July of 1944 is an inspiring picture of the perseverance needed in our souls as Christians right here and right now.
September 21, 2020 — Operation Pluto
This is episode seventy-one in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores a profound invention designed by the British during the war years 1942 to 1944 which enabled them to pump oil under the ocean to supply the fuel-needy Allied war machine in France, Belgium, and beyond. It’s a remarkable invention that parallels the extraordinary work of Jesus at the Cross supplying us (the Church) a pipeline of limitless Heavenly Oil for all things pertaining to life and godliness.
September 23, 2020 — The Liberation of Paris
This is episode seventy-two in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he dives into the four year history of France in WW2 from mid-1940 through August 1944. First, we go back to June of 1940 and walk through the inner turmoil that is going to lead to the ousting and imprisonment of the nation’s noble good guys and the French nation falling into he hands of Hitler and his evil regime. And then we will jump to August of 1944, where we are currently at in our story, and realize afresh that good men can be silenced, imprisoned, and exiled for a season, but in the end the good guys always seem to return and prevail. That’s simply the storyline of the Kingdom of Heaven.
September 25, 2020 — Remembering Liege
This is the seventy-third installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he demonstrates, using amazing events from WW2 in August of 1944, how God turns all things to good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.
September 26, 2020 — The Submission of Winston
This is the seventy-fourth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he brings out a struggle in the late Summer months of 1944 between America and Great Britain over how they should handle the Mediterranean theater of war. Eric showcases Winston Churchill’s deliberate choice to defer unto Roosevelt and Stalin in making the final decision on a key operation in order to keep the Allied forces united and together in the pursuit of defeating Hitler.
September 30, 2020 — Fighting Under the Stage
This is the seventy-fifth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the challenging position British General Alexander finds himself in during August of 1944. He is in an un-winnable battle in the Mediterranean, but a nonetheless supremely important battle. Eric emphasizes in this message how God often deems the hidden battles as the most important ones. If we are willing fight heroically when no one can see our nobility — then we are ready to be used in public ways without stealing the glory from our great King.
October 2, 2020 — The Battle of Ludy Gulf
This is the seventy-sixth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the great mistake of the Japanese in WW2. And that is the underestimating of the Americans willingness to rise up and fight. And may it be said in our world today that the great mistake of the Devil was to underestimate the latent power of the Church of Jesus Christ.
October 5, 2020 — The V-Bombs of Antwerp
This is the seventy-seventh installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he examines the “vengeance” tactics of the Hitler on the city of Antwerp in the late fall months of 1944. It seemed like overnight in September of 1944 Antwerp, Belgium became the most critical piece of ground on earth. And both the Axis and the Allies were fighting to gain the upper hand there. When Hitler lost it, he made the people of Antwerp pay. He sent V-Bombs in to terrorize the city. This terror lasted for six months. But, what is often not known is that there was a strategic answer to these V-Bombs. It was simply known by its code name, Antwerp X.
October 7, 2020 — Out of the Ardennes
This is the seventy-eighth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he tackles the super-sensitive issue of conspiracy theories in the Body of Christ and lays out a map for how we as believers should be handling the surreptitious plotting of evil powers. Using Hitler’s Ardennes Counter-offensive in December of 1944 (a.k.a. The Battle of the Bulge) as his muse, Eric shows how the supposed weak spots in the Allied lines prove to be amazing strength points when struck by our conniving enemy.
October 9, 2020 — Unbreakable Bastogne
This is the seventy-ninth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he brings us into one of the most incredible battles of the entire war — the Siege on Bastogne. Totally surrounded and out-numbered 5-1, the 101st Airborne Division is going to pull off the impossible. Oh, that more of what was in the defenders of Bastogne in late December of 1944 might be in the Church of Jesus Christ today in the year 2020!
October 10, 2020 — The White Parachute
This is the eightieth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he looks at the Siege of Bastogne in late December of 1944 through the eyes of a medic thrown into the mêlée. An amazing picture of Christ-like sacrifice, love and care comes out of this dark tale, and we are reminded afresh that there is no greater love than that one lays down his life for his friend.
1945 | Onward to Victory
Hitler falls, Hiroshima explodes, and victory sounds. But in the midst of this extraordinary comeback victory are the political maneuverings of another evil and the sudden death of one of the world’s most important leaders. The world is radically saved from the terrors of WWII . . . only to plunge into a war of a very different kind. A cold war.
October 19, 2020 — Caught in the Middle
This is the eighty-first installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this stirring episode he explores the pains and sufferings of the Polish people in and through the six terrible years of WW2. First, they suffered under Hitler, and then they suffered under Stalin. Eric parallels this topic of the suffering Poles with that of the plight of the unborn in America today. They represent a people group “caught in the middle” — with their pending extermination determined to be the most convenient and wise course for all involved. The question is: what should the Church do about this travesty?
October 21, 2020 — The Seven Generals
This is the eighty-second installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he parallels the massive Allied front of the British and Americans as they crossed over into Germany in March of 1945 with the massive potential front of God’s Church in the year 2020. For the Body of Christ to function as an effective military operation, it must coordinate its members, and they must begin to move in unity with one another. It must function in a manner similar to General Montgomery’s “Seven General” system in WW2.
October 23, 2020 — An Unfinished Portrait
This is the eighty-third installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the strange and history-altering month of April 1945. Three critical world leaders will die in this one month all within three weeks of each other. But there is one death amongst the three that will shock the world more than all the others — the death of President Franklin Roosevelt. His death in every sense, proved to be “an unfinished portrait”. Eric takes this unique piece of history and ties it into our spiritual lives today, demonstrating how each of our lives can finish strong instead of fade with a premature passing.
October 26, 2020 — To the Very End
This is the eighty-fourth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he discusses the strange and intoxicating effect of VE Day (Victory in Europe) on the Allies. It was like a sleeping pill. They defeated Hitler, but May 6th, 1945 was not the time to lay down the weapons, curl up in a ball, and take a long nap. Japan was still threatening in the Pacific and a new menace (previously an Ally), known as the Soviet Union, was quickly becoming a hostile element in Eastern Europe. How often we stop short of complete victory because we are satisfied with a partial victory.
October 28, 2020 — If My People Pray
This is the eighty-fifth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the seven national days of prayer that King and Parliament called in Great Britain during the years of 1940 to 1945 and the amazing things that happened as a direct result.
November 16, 2020 — The Mindset of Victory
This is the eighty-sixth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he rewinds the clock to May of 1940 and reminds us that the amazing victory over Hitler in Europe gained in 1945 seemed completely impossible only five years earlier when the British Expeditionary Forces were backed up to the sea in Dunkirk. Often, we as the Church will be backed up into an impossible situation. But in that impossible hour, if we humble ourselves, pray and seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways — God will pull off a miracle.
November 18, 2020 — The Classic Overplay
This is the eighty-seventh installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he rewinds the clock to December 7th of 1941 — of which President Roosevelt famously stated to be “a day that will live in infamy.” Something both terrible and extraordinary happened that day. As grievous as the disaster was in and through the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it was also the wake-up call that the United States needed to rise up and behave as a the noble nation we were commissioned by God to be. And this same pattern can be seen throughout the history of both men and nations — it’s a necessary awakening that occurs through the overreaching of evil.
November 20, 2020 — The Underdog Principle
This is the eighty-eighth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he rewinds the clock to May of 1942 and reminds us of the turning point in WW2 that took place in and through the Battle of Midway. The United States was on its haunches, and extremely vulnerable to a debilitating defeat at the hands of the Japanese. But, instead of defeat, the most extraordinary thing happened. A victory emerged out of the most impossible of circumstances. Right now in history, it is critical that the Church of Jesus Christ remember that God is the God of the impossible.
November 23, 2020 — Sewing the Iron Curtain
This is the eighty-ninth installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he takes us into the critical months of June and July of 1945. Hitler has fallen and Europe is now free . . . or is it? Decisions are being made in this stretch of time that will define the course of nations for decades to come.
November 25, 2020 — The Atomic Bomb is Born
This is a big episode for us on the Daily Thunder team — our 500th! And it is fitting that in our 500th episode we enjoy the 90th episode in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. This is an inspiring uplifting message, reminding us that God is greater than all other powers.
November 27, 2020 — The Truman Warning
This is the ninety-first installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he explores the Potsdam Declaration given to the Japanese on July 26th, 1945. It essentially said, “We demand unconditional surrender from Japan otherwise Japan will be destroyed.” It’s an apocalyptic sort of moment in history. Nuclear power is about to be unleashed on a country and that country shrugs its shoulders, disbelieving the threats. There is a Potsdam Declaration to this entire earth that many are shrugging their shoulders towards at present. It is imperative that the people of this earth awaken to their sin, humble themselves, and unconditionally surrender to the King of all kings.
November 30, 2020 — A Tribute to Winston Churchill
This is the ninety-second installment in Eric’s series entitled Spiritual Lessons from WW2. In this episode he walks through the month of June and July of 1945 from the perspective of Winston Churchill. After five years of standing up for Great Britain, seemingly all alone against the evil Nazi Empire, on July 26, 1945 Churchill is voted out of office. The sudden end of his prime ministership was startling to both him and the world.
December 2, 2020 — A Solemn Triumph
This is the final episode in Eric’s series on WWII. Uproarious celebrations full of shouts, cheers, and confetti broke out in New York City, San Francisco, and other places about the United States on VJ Day as the people of this country heard the announcement that the Japanese had formally surrendered. But this amazing news was processed quite differently by Americans in other parts of the world. Those in POW camps and prison camps found it difficult to shout, to dance, or to throw confetti into the air. Instead they simply fell to their knees, and in silence, with tears streaming down their cheeks, gave thanks to God.
Most of us wish we had the cheering and dancing variety of celebration for all our future breakthroughs, but often, the Christian life enjoys a very different sort of victory party — a silent one — full of tears of thanksgiving and deep groans of gratitude. But, don’t be fooled by all the hoopla. It is these silent, solemn triumphs that are truly the most exquisite kinds of victory parties to enjoy.
