Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Dan 3.
In scanning the news this morning, my eyes fell across an article speaking to the accounts, of the day twenty years ago, when the Berlin wall fell. I remember being glued to the TV at that time, as I cheered the East Germans and West Germans tearing down the wall together, that they might finally be reunited. It was as glorious a demonstration, as any in this world's political arena. On that memorable day, freedom rang loud and separated family members hugged each other with long held tears of joy flowing from their eyes and hearts. For two decades, the world has given Gorbachev and Reagan all the credit for this earth shaking reunion. Now it seems, other's want their share of the accolades. Isn't that the way of carnal men.
Below is the article that thrilled me, not for the whole of it's content, but for the last line, where the "fourth man" is mentioned. I couldn't help but think that the fourth man in this writing; the one who stood on the sidelines, could very well have been our Jesus.
Oh, let men clamour and strive for recognition, when we realize only One is worthy. He came as a lowly servant, a man from the disparaged Nazareth to free us from our vanity and lift us all to a different glory. It is only when we finally conclude we have no claim, that the real glory comes to us in the form of the Forth Man, the Son of God and our beloved Jesus.
Below is the article that thrilled me, not for the whole of it's content, but for the last line, where the "fourth man" is mentioned. I couldn't help but think that the fourth man in this writing; the one who stood on the sidelines, could very well have been our Jesus.
Oh, let men clamour and strive for recognition, when we realize only One is worthy. He came as a lowly servant, a man from the disparaged Nazareth to free us from our vanity and lift us all to a different glory. It is only when we finally conclude we have no claim, that the real glory comes to us in the form of the Forth Man, the Son of God and our beloved Jesus.
Did Brinkmannship Fell Berlin's Wall? Brinkmann Says It Did
By Marcus Walker -- Almut Schoenfeld contributed to this article.
BERLIN -- The world believes Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev or peaceful protests brought down the Berlin Wall 20 years ago next month. But for those who had front-row seats, the argument boils down to Ehrman vs. Brinkmann.
Riccardo Ehrman, a veteran Italian foreign correspondent, and Peter Brinkmann, a combative German tabloid reporter, both claim they asked the crucial questions at a news conference on Nov. 9, 1989, that led East German Politburo member Günter Schabowski to make one of the biggest fumbles in modern history.
Mr. Schabowski was supposed to announce a temporary bureaucratic procedure that would make it easier for East Germans to travel abroad, a tactic aimed at shoring up the Communist regime in the face of mass demonstrations.
Instead, he inadvertently opened the Berlin Wall.
When his fellow Communist leaders decided on new travel regulations, Mr. Schabowski was out of the room. Later that evening he skim-read the executive order, stuffed it in his briefcase, and headed off to meet the world's media.
Pressed on the meaning of the new travel policy -- When did it come into force? Did it apply to West Berlin? Did people need a passport? -- the flustered apparatchik rustled his papers and gave confusing answers that led the news media to believe the border was open, with immediate effect.
The result, once East Berliners had seen that night's news on West German television, was chaos at border crossings across the city.
At Bornholmer Strasse, one of the main checkpoints in central Berlin, confused border guards couldn't get clear orders on how to deal with the crush, and debated whether to open fire. Instead, they opened the barrier, and the Berlin Wall was history. The events have been chronicled by Hans-Hermann Hertle, a historian who specializes in the fall of East Germany.
As the anniversary of that tumultuous night nears, a dispute is heating up over who flummoxed Mr. Schabowski.
Among those who are aware of the incident, Mr. Ehrman generally gets credit. In 2008, Germany's president awarded Mr. Ehrman the country's highest honor, the Federal Cross of Merit. "His persistence at the press conference finally elicited the crucial statement" that brought down the Wall, the citation said: "His name stands for...German unity."
"The surprising fact is that I apparently was the only journalist in the room who understood the meaning of Schabowski's words," Mr. Ehrman says.
He remembers quickly leaving the press conference and sending his employer in Rome, news agency ANSA, the headline: "The Berlin Wall has collapsed." His editor there said he had gone pazzo, crazy, and at first refused to run the story.
That heady night, cheering East Germans queuing to pass through the Wall recognized the Italian from TV and hoisted him onto their shoulders.
But Mr. Ehrman is puffing up his role, says Mr. Brinkmann, who worked for Bild-Zeitung, Germany's mass-selling tabloid, famous for its shrill headlines, short articles and topless front-page models.
Mr. Ehrman merely posed a question about a previous travel proposal, Mr. Brinkmann says. The crucial questions about timing and West Berlin were his alone, he says.
And while Mr. Ehrman was being feted that night, Mr. Brinkmann, by his own account, wasn't yet done bringing down communism. He says he secured the opening of Checkpoint Charlie, the Wall's most famous crossing, by arguing with its guards.
When his rival got a medal, a decision Mr. Brinkmann calls "nonsense," Mr. Brinkmann wrote the German president to set the record straight.
"The annoying thing is you can't see me on the TV footage -- you can only see Ehrman and Schabowski -- but you can hear me," says Mr. Brinkmann. He adds, for anyone who thinks it is the Italian posing questions, that it is "funny how Ehrman suddenly develops perfect German" during the exchanges.
Mr. Brinkmann thought he had picked the best seat in the house: front row and center. The German tabloid reporter occupied the chair with his jacket three hours before the news conference in East Berlin began.
Mr. Ehrman arrived so late that all seats were taken, so he sat on the edge of the podium, in full view of the cameras.
Mr. Brinkmann, now 64, is trying to fight his way into the history books with a public-relations offensive. He has persuaded some historians and TV documentary makers of his story, and he is spreading the word on Twitter.
"Am angry that Riccardo Ehrman falsely gets the credit for calling out 'When? Immediately?' when the Wall fell in 1989," Mr. Brinkmann tweeted recently.
Mr. Ehrman counters that he has never even heard of Mr. Brinkmann. "Anybody is free to claim whatever they like, but the record is clear," Mr. Ehrman says. "It was a sort of conversation between Schabowski and myself. This, Schabowski admits."
Mr. Schabowski, now 80, has been in and out of hospital this year and is too sick to give an interview. Mr. Brinkmann is trying to get the ailing former East German Politburo member to sign a statement backing his version. "Then I can show everyone," Mr. Brinkmann says.
Mr. Ehrman says he is offended that some German media and historians have recently cast doubt on his role in 1989. "Some said it was just a fluke, while others said I was a tool of the [East German] regime," he says.
Archive footage from East German TV packs some surprises that nobody quite remembers. For an hour, the press conference is a nonevent. In a cramped room clad in the Soviet bloc's regulation brown paneling, Mr. Schabowski rambles on about the party leadership's deliberations that day.
With time running out, Mr. Ehrman asks about travel restrictions. Mr. Schabowski drops the bombshell that the regime has decided to allow East Germans to travel west or emigrate.
Three reporters launch a rapid-fire cross-examination: Mr. Ehrman, Mr. Brinkmann -- and Krzysztof Janowski, a political refugee from Communist Poland who worked for Voice of America (and who now says he doesn't remember details of the day). Together, the trio cause Mr. Schabowski to scratch his head and read his brief aloud, learning its content himself as he goes.
Finally, a fourth voice draws Mr. Schabowski's eyes to the opposite side of the room. The voice repeats the key question: "When does that go into effect?" The Politburo member scans his papers and quotes words out of context: "Immediately. Without delay," he blunders.
The fourth man has never been identified.
Who Is the Fourth Man?
By Marcus Walker -- Almut Schoenfeld contributed to this article.
BERLIN -- The world believes Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev or peaceful protests brought down the Berlin Wall 20 years ago next month. But for those who had front-row seats, the argument boils down to Ehrman vs. Brinkmann.
Riccardo Ehrman, a veteran Italian foreign correspondent, and Peter Brinkmann, a combative German tabloid reporter, both claim they asked the crucial questions at a news conference on Nov. 9, 1989, that led East German Politburo member Günter Schabowski to make one of the biggest fumbles in modern history.
Mr. Schabowski was supposed to announce a temporary bureaucratic procedure that would make it easier for East Germans to travel abroad, a tactic aimed at shoring up the Communist regime in the face of mass demonstrations.
Instead, he inadvertently opened the Berlin Wall.
When his fellow Communist leaders decided on new travel regulations, Mr. Schabowski was out of the room. Later that evening he skim-read the executive order, stuffed it in his briefcase, and headed off to meet the world's media.
Pressed on the meaning of the new travel policy -- When did it come into force? Did it apply to West Berlin? Did people need a passport? -- the flustered apparatchik rustled his papers and gave confusing answers that led the news media to believe the border was open, with immediate effect.
The result, once East Berliners had seen that night's news on West German television, was chaos at border crossings across the city.
At Bornholmer Strasse, one of the main checkpoints in central Berlin, confused border guards couldn't get clear orders on how to deal with the crush, and debated whether to open fire. Instead, they opened the barrier, and the Berlin Wall was history. The events have been chronicled by Hans-Hermann Hertle, a historian who specializes in the fall of East Germany.
As the anniversary of that tumultuous night nears, a dispute is heating up over who flummoxed Mr. Schabowski.
Among those who are aware of the incident, Mr. Ehrman generally gets credit. In 2008, Germany's president awarded Mr. Ehrman the country's highest honor, the Federal Cross of Merit. "His persistence at the press conference finally elicited the crucial statement" that brought down the Wall, the citation said: "His name stands for...German unity."
"The surprising fact is that I apparently was the only journalist in the room who understood the meaning of Schabowski's words," Mr. Ehrman says.
He remembers quickly leaving the press conference and sending his employer in Rome, news agency ANSA, the headline: "The Berlin Wall has collapsed." His editor there said he had gone pazzo, crazy, and at first refused to run the story.
That heady night, cheering East Germans queuing to pass through the Wall recognized the Italian from TV and hoisted him onto their shoulders.
But Mr. Ehrman is puffing up his role, says Mr. Brinkmann, who worked for Bild-Zeitung, Germany's mass-selling tabloid, famous for its shrill headlines, short articles and topless front-page models.
Mr. Ehrman merely posed a question about a previous travel proposal, Mr. Brinkmann says. The crucial questions about timing and West Berlin were his alone, he says.
And while Mr. Ehrman was being feted that night, Mr. Brinkmann, by his own account, wasn't yet done bringing down communism. He says he secured the opening of Checkpoint Charlie, the Wall's most famous crossing, by arguing with its guards.
When his rival got a medal, a decision Mr. Brinkmann calls "nonsense," Mr. Brinkmann wrote the German president to set the record straight.
"The annoying thing is you can't see me on the TV footage -- you can only see Ehrman and Schabowski -- but you can hear me," says Mr. Brinkmann. He adds, for anyone who thinks it is the Italian posing questions, that it is "funny how Ehrman suddenly develops perfect German" during the exchanges.
Mr. Brinkmann thought he had picked the best seat in the house: front row and center. The German tabloid reporter occupied the chair with his jacket three hours before the news conference in East Berlin began.
Mr. Ehrman arrived so late that all seats were taken, so he sat on the edge of the podium, in full view of the cameras.
Mr. Brinkmann, now 64, is trying to fight his way into the history books with a public-relations offensive. He has persuaded some historians and TV documentary makers of his story, and he is spreading the word on Twitter.
"Am angry that Riccardo Ehrman falsely gets the credit for calling out 'When? Immediately?' when the Wall fell in 1989," Mr. Brinkmann tweeted recently.
Mr. Ehrman counters that he has never even heard of Mr. Brinkmann. "Anybody is free to claim whatever they like, but the record is clear," Mr. Ehrman says. "It was a sort of conversation between Schabowski and myself. This, Schabowski admits."
Mr. Schabowski, now 80, has been in and out of hospital this year and is too sick to give an interview. Mr. Brinkmann is trying to get the ailing former East German Politburo member to sign a statement backing his version. "Then I can show everyone," Mr. Brinkmann says.
Mr. Ehrman says he is offended that some German media and historians have recently cast doubt on his role in 1989. "Some said it was just a fluke, while others said I was a tool of the [East German] regime," he says.
Archive footage from East German TV packs some surprises that nobody quite remembers. For an hour, the press conference is a nonevent. In a cramped room clad in the Soviet bloc's regulation brown paneling, Mr. Schabowski rambles on about the party leadership's deliberations that day.
With time running out, Mr. Ehrman asks about travel restrictions. Mr. Schabowski drops the bombshell that the regime has decided to allow East Germans to travel west or emigrate.
Three reporters launch a rapid-fire cross-examination: Mr. Ehrman, Mr. Brinkmann -- and Krzysztof Janowski, a political refugee from Communist Poland who worked for Voice of America (and who now says he doesn't remember details of the day). Together, the trio cause Mr. Schabowski to scratch his head and read his brief aloud, learning its content himself as he goes.
Finally, a fourth voice draws Mr. Schabowski's eyes to the opposite side of the room. The voice repeats the key question: "When does that go into effect?" The Politburo member scans his papers and quotes words out of context: "Immediately. Without delay," he blunders.
The fourth man has never been identified.
Who Is the Fourth Man?
Let me tell you who He is in every book of the Bible.
In Genesis He is the Seed of the Woman.
In Exodus He is the Passover Lamb.
In Leviticus He is our High Priest.
In Numbers He is the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night.
In Deuteronomy He is the Prophet like unto Moses.
In Joshua He is the Captain of our Salvation.
In Judges He is our Judge and Lawgiver.
In Ruth He is our Kinsman Redeemer.
In I and II Samuel He is our Trusted Prophet.
In Kings and Chronicles He is our Reigning King.
In Ezra He is our Faithful Scribe.
In Nehemiah He is the Rebuilder of the Broken Down Walls of our human life.
In Esther He is our Mordecai.
In Job He is our Dayspring from on high and our Ever-Living Redemmer.
In Psalms He is the Lord our Shepard.
In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes He is our Wisdom.
In the Song of Solomon He is our Lover and the Bridegroom.
In Isaiah He is the Prince of Peace.
In Jeremiah He is the Righteous Branch.
In Lamentations He is the Weeping Prophet.
In Ezekiel He is the Wonderful Four-Faced Man.
In Daniel He is the Fourth Man in the burning fiery furnace.
Who is the Fourth Man?
In Hosea He is the Faithful Husband, forever married to the backslider.
In Joel He is the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost and Fire.
In Amos He is our Burden-Bearer.
In Obadiah He is the Mighty to Save.
In Jonah He is our Great Foreign Missionary.
In Micah He is the Messenger of Beautiful Feet, of carrying the Gospel.
In Nahum He is the Avenger of God's Elect.
In Habakkuk He is God's Evangelist, crying, "Revive thy work in the midst of the years."
In Zephaniah He is the Savior.
In Haggai He is the Restorer of God's Lost Heritage.
In Zechariah He is the Fountain Opened in the House of David for sin and uncleanness.
And in Malachi He is the Sun of Righteousness, rising with healing in His wings.
Who is the Fourth Man?
In Matthew He is the Messiah.
In Mark He is the Wonder-worker.
In Luke He is the Son of Man.
In John He is the son of God.
In Acts He is the Holy spirit.
In Romans He is our Justifier.
In Corinthians He is the Gifs of the Spirit.
In Galatians He is the Redeemer from the curse of the law.
In Ephesians He is the Christ on Unreachable Riches.
In Philippians He is the God Who Supplies All Our Needs.
In Colossians He is the Godhead Bodily.
In ! and II Thessalonians He is our Soon-coming King.
In I and II Timothy He is our Mediator between God and Man.
In Titus He is our Faithful Pastor.
In Philemon He is a Friend that Sticketh Closer that a Brother.
In Hebrews He is the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant.
In James He is the Great Physician.
In I an II Peter He is the Chief Shepard who soon shall appear with a crown of unfading glory.
In I, II, and III John He is Everlasting Love.
In Jude He is the Lord Coming with Ten Thousands of his Saints.
And in revelation He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
(The words above are taken from a sermon preached by Oral Roberts.
In Genesis He is the Seed of the Woman.
In Exodus He is the Passover Lamb.
In Leviticus He is our High Priest.
In Numbers He is the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night.
In Deuteronomy He is the Prophet like unto Moses.
In Joshua He is the Captain of our Salvation.
In Judges He is our Judge and Lawgiver.
In Ruth He is our Kinsman Redeemer.
In I and II Samuel He is our Trusted Prophet.
In Kings and Chronicles He is our Reigning King.
In Ezra He is our Faithful Scribe.
In Nehemiah He is the Rebuilder of the Broken Down Walls of our human life.
In Esther He is our Mordecai.
In Job He is our Dayspring from on high and our Ever-Living Redemmer.
In Psalms He is the Lord our Shepard.
In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes He is our Wisdom.
In the Song of Solomon He is our Lover and the Bridegroom.
In Isaiah He is the Prince of Peace.
In Jeremiah He is the Righteous Branch.
In Lamentations He is the Weeping Prophet.
In Ezekiel He is the Wonderful Four-Faced Man.
In Daniel He is the Fourth Man in the burning fiery furnace.
Who is the Fourth Man?
In Hosea He is the Faithful Husband, forever married to the backslider.
In Joel He is the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost and Fire.
In Amos He is our Burden-Bearer.
In Obadiah He is the Mighty to Save.
In Jonah He is our Great Foreign Missionary.
In Micah He is the Messenger of Beautiful Feet, of carrying the Gospel.
In Nahum He is the Avenger of God's Elect.
In Habakkuk He is God's Evangelist, crying, "Revive thy work in the midst of the years."
In Zephaniah He is the Savior.
In Haggai He is the Restorer of God's Lost Heritage.
In Zechariah He is the Fountain Opened in the House of David for sin and uncleanness.
And in Malachi He is the Sun of Righteousness, rising with healing in His wings.
Who is the Fourth Man?
In Matthew He is the Messiah.
In Mark He is the Wonder-worker.
In Luke He is the Son of Man.
In John He is the son of God.
In Acts He is the Holy spirit.
In Romans He is our Justifier.
In Corinthians He is the Gifs of the Spirit.
In Galatians He is the Redeemer from the curse of the law.
In Ephesians He is the Christ on Unreachable Riches.
In Philippians He is the God Who Supplies All Our Needs.
In Colossians He is the Godhead Bodily.
In ! and II Thessalonians He is our Soon-coming King.
In I and II Timothy He is our Mediator between God and Man.
In Titus He is our Faithful Pastor.
In Philemon He is a Friend that Sticketh Closer that a Brother.
In Hebrews He is the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant.
In James He is the Great Physician.
In I an II Peter He is the Chief Shepard who soon shall appear with a crown of unfading glory.
In I, II, and III John He is Everlasting Love.
In Jude He is the Lord Coming with Ten Thousands of his Saints.
And in revelation He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
(The words above are taken from a sermon preached by Oral Roberts.
It thrilled my heart when I heard those words almost four decades ago)
