I vaguely remember the hubbub over Sputnik in October of 1957....my being not quite eight years old at the time....but I remember much more clearly those thirteen days in October of 1962. I started taking some classes in the Russian language while in the army but did not progress very far. Khrushchev Remembers....1970....was one of the first books that I picked up at the National Record Mart while attending Pitt after getting out of the army in 1972. This was my habit....put the textbooks aside....and buy something at the National Record Mart that I was really interested in reading.
It was sometime in 1973....almost a decade before being humbled in mortification by the gospel of Jesus Christ over who I was. One of the books that I picked up at that record/book store....purely out of curiosity....was a paperback titled....The Persecutor....by a young Russian....my age....Sergei Kourdakov....whose job it was as a member of the Russian Konsomol....the youth division of the Communist Party....to break up bible studies. He sickened of his work....became a Russian naval officer.....jumped ship near Canada....became a Christian....toured and gave his testimony....then was found dead of a gunshot wound just before publication of his book....his death ruled an accident. He had warned that the KGB was threatening him. There is controversy over his story. I tend to believe that generally it was true....but I know this for a fact....that testimony of his conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ....made a lasting impression upon me.
I continued over the years to have an interest in Russian history....after my own conversion it revolved around Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. If you browse 'my favorite films' in my profile you will see....Russian Ark....a 2002 experimental film....the camera never stops from the opening scene to the end....even though the plot takes you through the centuries long history of Russia. Somehow....Dr. Zhivago escaped me for many years....but I watch it at various times today....the cinematography and scenes of revolution being so compelling. More recently I have read Helen Rappaport's books....The Romanov Sisters....Caught In The Revolution....The Race To Save The Romanovs....and After the Romanovs....and highly recommend all of them to you....but you must start with Caught In The Revolution.
I'm writing this because I have some regular visitors to these posts from Russia. I have no idea who they might be....but may God bless them in these difficult times. When the Soviet Union collapsed....even while celebrating....my concern was in what would replace communism. That concern has proven prescient. Putin....like Trump....seemingly had it all....(in their value system anyway)....and then threw it all away. He rules today like Stalin. The Ukrainian people are in my prayers.....the children....the believers....the cold winter and the loss of life. I woke up this morning and lifted that terrible situation up for mercies. The Russian people are also in my mind.
Addendum: Are you suffering? John Piper's sermon of the Day this morning might bless you mightily. You can easily Google it at....John Piper...how God makes known the riches of His Glory to the vessels of mercy.
