Escape

Dirk Willems was arrested in his hometown of Asperen, Netherlands in 1569. His crime – choosing to be re-baptized as a devoted follower of Christ and hosting worship services in his home – was completely unacceptable to the religious and governmental leaders of his day. The young Dutchman was carted off to a palace that had been converted into a prison to stand trial alongside other religious “troublemakers.” 

Dachau Concentration Camp, 1945. A place of unrelenting suffering and death. More than 25,000 “enemies of the state” lost their lives in this hellish place during the Holocaust. Every prisoner trapped behind the wire jumped at the chance of escape.

Every prisoner except Viktor Frankl.

When Jon Smalldridge went to bed on Saturday night, October 25, 2003, he was aware of the wildfires burning 15 miles away in San Diego. However, he wasn’t aware the fires could spread so quickly. When the flames and smoke woke him just a few hours later, he knew he had to move quickly to survive.

Sadly, many others didn’t quite see the urgency.

History has shown time and again that advancing a kingdom isn’t an easy task. The endeavor demands many resources: soldiers, money, supplies, and time. But the greatest commodity of all is commitment.

Hernando Cortez, the famous Spanish Conquistador, knew that better than anyone else.

On Sunday, October 31, 1926, at precisely 1:26pm, a man named Ehrich Weiss died in a hospital room in Detroit, Michigan surrounded by his siblings, his wife, and a few medical attendants. The world gasped when they heard the news because they knew this man by a different name: Harry Houdini.

But most wondered if death could hold him; for years, Houdini boasted of a plan to cheat the grave.