24-7's German Base Leader, Markus Laegel, is celebrating the appointment this week of a fellow countryman Cardinal Ratzinger (below) as Pope Benedict XVI. 

 

Markus writes to tell us, somewhat controversially, that he thinks this new Pope may well be 'one of the biggest evangelists Germany has ever seen', that his books are outselling Harry Potter on Amazon and about a recent chat he had with a guy who looks like a Goth version of John Lennon...

 

Cardinal Ratzinger raises a very German toast!

 

Hi Guys,

 

I just thought I should write and take a stand on the new Pope. I guess he is one of the 10 most clever guys on planet earth. At this moment he is the biggest evangelist germany has ever seen. Why? well, his books are amazing! Really they are. And right now, on the amazon top 10, his books occupy the first 4 places. Then comes the new Harry Potter, followed by another by Ratzinger and then in 7th place is Dan Brown. Imagine how many people are reading this stuff right now - real explanations of Christian faith.

 

I don't like all of his positions, but the new Pope is clearly talking about Jesus. and I am sure that selling 4 times more books this week than harry potter and dan brown, means that loads of people are getting good stuff to think about. so, to make a long story short: we made a major step right now in germany. and I am happy about the times to come.

 

Just yesterday I had a talk with a history student in a pub. He looks like john Lennon would have done if he had been a goth. All of a sudden he said: 'Hey, shall I tell you how I came to start believing in God?" I was shocked! and then he told me how he had started reading the bible a few weeks ago, which he bought in a supermarket. As he read about jesus he thought: 'Man, he died just for the stupid wrong things we did. he must be real!' Then he explained to me that he isn't praying every day to God because he figured that 'God has so many things to do and so many prayers to answer, that I don't like to bother him just with my exam tests!' Our talk went on, but for me this student is another sign of a change to come.

ok, have a nice day.

life is better than we might think.

 

Markus