History
In 1934 in Charlotte, North Carolina, a tent revival was held by a Baptist evangelist named Mordecai Ham. One night two 16-year-old…
Mission · Presence
Psalm 78
History
Hitler Youth and Alfons Heck
December 28 – The Usher Effect (Psalm 78:1-8)
In the late 1930s and 1940s Adolf Hitler understood a sobering truth: “He alone who owns the youth gains the future.” In that conviction he created the Hitler Youth program. The core idea was to take young kids during their most impressionable ages (10–18) and train them in Nazi ideology, values, and ways of living. There was a boy named Alfons Heck who was pulled into the program at the age of 10. In his memoir *A Child of Hitler* he wrote about how the Hitler Youth program gave him purpose, community, and identity — things that his imperfect family and church couldn’t compete with. He later reflected with much regret that they had been so indoctrinated that they truly believed they were helping to shape a better world. Even as an old man, unlearning that training was a painful journey.
How you’d preach it
Sobering historical warning about the power of intentional formation of the next generation. Use carefully and pastorally — the point is not to sensationalize evil but to highlight how every generation will be trained by *someone*. The question is whether the church will intentionally shape them toward Christ.
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Psalm 78
Psalm 78:1-8