Foreword

Anyone facing serious illness or death must ask themselves: “What am I going to do about it?” Will you allow it to change you? Or will you resist and avoid God’s will for your life?

There comes a time when each one of us has to face eternity. When this happens, your whole life is laid out before you. I have experienced this personally. When I was confronted with terminal cancer several months ago, I saw – as I never had before–my sin, how human my past efforts were, and how much I needed repentance and forgiveness. I see starkly now, also as a shepherd of God’s flock, how confiding all of one’s burdens to someone else has eternal consequences and tremendous blessings.

The Blumhardts did not shy away from medical help. They also believed and personally witnessed that God can heal the body as well as the soul. But above and beyond this they saw and understood how true healing can be found only through repentance and forgiveness. This is the message of the gospel and why Jesus came. For them, what mattered most was the kingdom of God. Ultimately, healing is given when people repent and in unity believe that God hears their prayers.

I have experienced this tangibly. When people are fully united, not only is assurance of faith granted, but the kingdom of God draws near. May these words from Johann Christoph and Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt help the reader truly experience the power of redemption. What these two men express comes from what they experienced of God’s kingdom, which I have experienced too.
Richard Scott