I’ve just completed Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. This is just one of the 11 books Dr. Albert Mohler of SBTS recommends all pastors read for 2011.

As a pastor, I was deeply moved by the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer portrayed in Eric Metaxas’ book. Here are a few lessons learned.

1. Apply Theology – For Bonhoeffer, theology was not just facts. True theology is truth about God that creates us, moves us, becomes us. Bonhoeffer sought a life that realized all of God. A life that, at its deepest level, experienced what Jesus said of his followers during the Sermon on the Mount. Theology must be applied like this for it to have real value.

2. Be Willing to Suffer – Bonhoeffer spent his adult life counting the cost of decision-making. In every instance he accepted the consequences, even if those consequences meant suffering. Suffering is real and all too avoided by the likes of men such as myself. If I trust my choices to be honoring to the Lord, and suffering is the result, then may the Lord grant me grace to suffer.

3. Trust is Powerful – Whether traveling to places of pleasure or places of pain, Bonhoeffer clung to a deep trust in God. Metaxas shows how the Nazi guards were often struck by the confidence Bonhoeffer put in his relationship with God. It was usually most evident by the manor in which Bonhoeffer prayed. He prayed as one convinced that God heard his prayer. Trust like that leaves a man unshaken even in the grip of death. No grip was tighter than the Nazi’s.

4. The Gospel Never Fails - Jesus’ blood never failed anyone who believed it to be the only way for sinners to be reconciled to God. Bonhoeffer believed in it. His faith in this good news kept him utterly devoted to the will of God, even to the gallows. Before he died Bonhoeffer said, “This is the end. For me the beginning of life.” Our lives may be taken from us, but through Jesus we belong to God, and in God we receive real life everlasting.