Power Source>> Victory in Christ

The Nashville Music Magazine 

“When I was growing up in Berlin, Germany, my biggest dream was to visit my grandparents who lived on the other side of our city. There was a wall between us, however, and that wall was all too real. It was a ten-foot high wall made of concrete block, secured by electric fences, guarded by armed soldiers on security towers, and made even more inaccessible by hidden mines in the ground. This was the unquestionable reality that surrounded my life. Freedom was a privilege denied to those of us who lived on the East side of the Berlin Wall. I never dreamed then that I would be touring the United States as a Christian pianist and speaker.

 

Out of tears and memories of my past has grown a music that seems to touch the heart and soul of many who hear it. It is a music that brings reflection and inspiration. I use my melodies and compositions to tell a story of sadness and triumph that has led me from a dictatorship of men to a victory in Christ.

 

A few weeks after arriving in the United States to share my music and life story with people here, I was invited to the Billy Graham radio program, “Decision Today.” I was asked to write for that ministry’s magazine, “Decision.” As I shared the difficulties and hardships of my childhood behind the Berlin Wall, and my stand for Christ under the discrimination and persecution, people felt challenged and inspired not to take their freedom for granted, but to use it for a deeper commitment in following Christ.

 

“Decision Today” marked the beginning of sharing my music and testimonies on Christian radio while touring the United States. I was so amazed to see public radio stations spread the Word of God and play Christian music. This could never have happened behind the Berlin Wall with government-owned media. Communist East Germany was a dictatorship that had banned God from the public life and oppressed any open proclamation of the Word of God and encouragement of believers. We were not only deprived of freedom and liberty, but we were also denied the right to share our faith in public. Christian recording artists were unheard of, and Christian media certainly did not exist. We practiced our faith mostly behind closed doors.There was no spotlight as I took my stand for Christ. There was no applause, no standing ovation, no rewards, and no fame to gain for a Christian commitment under Communism. There was only my love for Him, my gratefulness for what He had done for me, and my willingness to follow Him no matter the cost. Yet I had a freedom that surpassed all freedom in Christ. I had a God with whom I could overcome the efforts of the Communist government to suppress any show of Christianity.

 

The Berlin Wall has come down. The dictatorship of East Germany has gone. My faith in Christ has remained. Once Communism tried to silence by belief in God, but now my piano composition “Cascades of God’s Passion and Love” is starting to play on Christian radio stations throughout America to reach the hearts of many. That I feel humbled and honored is the least I can say. I give glory to God for the gift of music he has given me, the opportunities to share it with others and the priceless gift of personal and spiritual freedom. This is a freedom I cannot take for granted.

 

It is my genuine desire to make people aware what a privilege freedom is. How wonderful it is to have the privilege of serving Christ with our gifts and talents. I challenge people I meet not to take being allowed to publicly practice their Christianity for granted. I urge them to support Christian music ministries and media with enthusiasm and commitment. I also challenge those involved to always remember that it is for Christ that we do what we do. Once deprived of freedom and liberty, it has now become my desire to use freedom to reach out to others with a challenging message of hope and faith and music of encouragement and inspiration. Using the title of my new album, I never leave a city or a concert without leaving behind my most sincere wish and prayer for everyone, that the “Peace of God Remains”.