For God and Country: Serving America's Soldiers and their families

Symphony of Love

2010-12-29T12:48:00.005-05:00

Music and Lyrics by Pat Salem
Piano by Jon Anderson
Video by Graham, Cameron and Riley Simmington
Vocals by Joe Salem

If there is a God, then why do I suffer?

2010-09-08T11:17:00.003-04:00

The link will lead you to a message from R.C. Sproul

Message begins at about the 2 minute mark into the broadcast

How Does the Death of Jesus Save Me?

2010-03-15T19:33:00.000-04:00

How Does the Death of Jesus Save Me?
by Insight for Living (Pastor C. Swindoll)

"Question:
I've been told that Jesus died for my sins. What does that mean exactly? How could the death of Jesus help me get to heaven? What does the death of Christ save me from?

Answer:
One way to understand the meaning of the death of Jesus is to imagine a courtroom scene in which we are on trial for our sins and God is the judge. Our sins against God are capital crimes. God Himself is our judge, and according to divine law our crimes deserve the death penalty. Death, in a spiritual sense, means eternal separation from God in unending torment. That's a very serious judgment.

By shedding His blood on the cross, Jesus took the punishment we deserve and offered us His righteousness. When we trust Christ for our salvation, essentially we are making a trade. By faith, we trade our sin and its accompanying death penalty for His righteousness and life.

In theological terms, this is called "substitutionary atonement." Christ died on the cross as our substitute. Without Him, we would suffer the death penalty for our own sins. Here are a few verses that explain this concept:

He [God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
And while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
(1 Peter 2:23-24)

Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)

The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way: "And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22). For God to forgive our sins, His judgment had to be satisfied and that required the shedding of blood.

Some object, "Shedding blood seems so barbaric. Is it really necessary? Why doesn't God simply forgive us?" Because God is holy, He must judge sin. Would a just and righteous judge let evil go unpunished? At the cross, God poured out His judgment on His Son, satisfying His wrath and making it possible for Him to forgive us. That's why Jesus shed His blood for your sins, my sins, and the sins of the whole world.

At what moment during the crucifixion ordeal did God pour out His judgment on His precious Son? Many theologians believe it was toward the end of the three-hour period of darkness when Jesus cried out: "'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'" (Mark 15:34). By taking upon Himself the sins of the world, Jesus removed Himself from God's holy presence, and God, in turn, removed Himself from His Son. It was a temporary but excruciating separation, for at that moment, the Son of God became Father-forsaken.

God unleashed His wrath on His Son so that we might be spared that awful fate. This is the central message of the cross and the reason for our hope: God forsook His Son so that He might never forsake us. God assures us, "'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). Isn't that a wonderful promise?

Have you placed your trust in Jesus Christ as the substitute for your sin? Do you believe that Jesus died for you in order to give you eternal life and that He rose from the dead victorious over sin? If not, we encourage you to receive Jesus as your Savior right now. You can express your desire in a prayer like this:

Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins and rose again. I trust in You as my Savior now. Forgive me of my sins, and make me into the kind of person You would have me to be. Thank You for your gift of eternal life. Amen.

If you truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have eternal life. You can rest in that truth. The apostle John has written: "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (1 John 5:11-12). When you have the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, you have eternal life."

You and God in the Gap

2010-03-07T15:37:00.004-05:00

I remember once writing a paper about how we can learn from how change is done in organizations and look for principles to be applied in our own transformation into the image of Christ. I remember writing about the gap phase.

This is the phase where one has embarked on the journey to the new land that the Lord had led us to but where we have not yet arrived. This gap can be a scary place. The things that once comforted us seem so far away and the things that will bless us in the new land we are heading to (but have not yet arrived) are not seen or known yet. This gap is the place where some can decide it is too hard and turn back to where they came from. This gap can break a person if they do not run to and then faithfully remain in God’s open arms.

I have learned several principles that have helped me in the gap. First, it is helpful to honestly admit when you are out of sorts and to note the real reasons why most would feel that way. There is nothing wrong with you and you are not defective. God is calling you to Him. Comparing to others is unwise.

Second, this is especially the time to give your worries, burdens and fears to the Lord and have the faith and trust that He hears you and is right beside you.

Third, this is a time to be strengthened in the Word of God and prayer – not just reading or saying the words but allowing those words from God’s lips to wash over you and comfort you as you are filled with His Holy Spirit.

Fourth, this is also a time for remembrance of the times that you have been in the gap before and that the Lord never abandoned you but brought you through it. Not only did God redeem you through it but you were stronger, wiser, and more intimately in relationship with the Lord. Those are wonderful fruits that can make us count our trials as joy. The other element of remembrance is why you are in this gap in the first place. God has called you to something new and this trial of passing through is very likely the preparation that God knows you need in that upcoming new land. The most important preparation that God is working will always revolve around your relationship with God. A close second will be your relationship with others. You will likely find a soaring appreciation for the many blessings God has provided you such as your spouse and family.

Fifth, this is a time for lament and praise. Cry out to God when you are broken and praise Him not only when He answers but also because He is there. Know that because He is for you nothing that comes against you can truly destroy you.

Sixth, this a time to not get tunnel vision of the here and now. Tunnel vision is when we get so focused on the gap that we lose the big picture of what God is doing in our lives and lose sight of the grand story of Scripture. Let’s look at that latter point. We must never allow the fact of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His Person and His work, to become some stale story for us. Rather, we must continually be amazed at His loving gift of grace for us and that, once His, that this is not our home. Eternity in heaven is secured for those who have placed their faith in Him! This brief, wonderful yet hard life at times will one day pass away and the suffering, questions and tears of our hard times will end. With that in mind and heart, we approach today by faith with His eternal perspective knowing that this life and its hardships are but a breath compared to our eternal, heavenly home with Jesus. We don’t live in today and head toward heaven but we approach today from the rock solid promise and splendor of heaven secured for us by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Seventh, the gap is especially a time for fellowship with one’s family and trusted friends where we can share and pray together and hold one another up in Christ. God will often work through others at the perfect time to bring you that godly love, Word and perspective that is needed. I am amazed every time this happens and God is always faithful to bring these gifts into my life at the perfect time.

Eighth, the gap is a time for spiritual purity in thought, word and deed and in how we choose to invest our time. Know that the enemy will be especially on the prowl for you at this time. Do not give him any open doors and battle him with the full armor of God. Keep your hands, eyes and ears away from anything ungodly. And, intentionally fill your heart and mind with God: through His Word, sermons, prayer, music, journaling etc.

Ninth, make praise of God a habit. You will be amazed at the several times and ways that He will answer your prayers. Take note of these and thank Him for them. Let his love and faithfulness strengthen you and tell others of these so they can grow in their hope. Speaking of others, the gap is a great time for service. As you will be so humbled, reliant on God and personally seeing His work in you, this is a time to find people facing a trial and sharing your concerns and yet your growing testimony of hope. As God flows through you as His vessel to others, you and they will be blessed abundantly.

Tenth, the gap, even in light of the above principles, will be hard at times. Don’t deny your feelings but do not let your feelings be your guide. You will have great days and days of challenge. Be persistent and consistent in the above godly principles no matter how motivated you may feel to do them.

Know that you are never alone. God is with you right now and is already where you are heading next on earth and in heaven.

Great Illustration!

2010-03-07T13:45:00.002-05:00

Ten Ways to Boost Your Spiritual Immune System

2010-03-06T18:11:00.002-05:00

Ten Ways to Boost Your Spiritual Immune System
Your First Line of Defense
by David Jeremiah

Everybody knows the principles for maintaining good physical health-nutritious food, exercise, pure water, lay off the junk food, plenty of sleep, healthy and loving relationships-right? But, one third of Americans are now obese, and another third are overweight. That means two-thirds of Americans, in spite of knowing better, are living unhealthy lifestyles.

The same is true for the way many Christians approach spiritual health-keeping their spiritual immune systems in top shape. Most of us know what to do; we just have a hard time putting it into practice. The disciplines of physical and spiritual exercise are equally challenging-and the results of inaction and apathy equally life-threatening. So don't think the list that follows is too "basic" or "common sense." Read through this list carefully and prayerfully, and let the Holy Spirit speak to you about boosting your own spiritual immune system.

Ten ways to prepare yourself for spiritual "germ warfare":

1. Bible Study (2 Peter 1:4)
When troubles in life come, God's great and precious promises are what keep us from becoming infected with fear and doubt. God's promises are found in only one place: the Bible. Daily doses of the Word of God are required for continuing spiritual health.

2. Prayer (Philippians 4:6-7)
Prayer is like a healthy dose of vitamin C at the first sign of a cold-the first thing we should do when troubles come. Pray for strength, pray for wisdom, pray for help. And most of all, pray for endurance and faithfulness. In prayer we claim God's promises.

3. Scripture Memory and Meditation (Psalm 1:2)
The more we incorporate Scripture into our hearts and minds, the more we think like God. When troubles come, instead of trying to think of a Scripture verse, the Word of God is there because that's how we think anyway. Take time to dwell on what God says.

4. Clear Conscience (Psalm 32:5)
No one who has a guilty conscience-one defiled by unconfessed sin-can be spiritually healthy. Guilt leads to physical complications, and it certainly leads to spiritual ill-health. How can we call on God in times of trouble when we harbor sin in our lives?

5. Worship and Church Attendance (Hebrews 10:24-25)
A healthy human is a worshiping human-but not worshiping just anything. Because we were created by God, we are destined to worship Him. Failure to worship leads to isolation, introspection, and infection with the disease of self-centeredness.

6. Service (1 Peter 4:10)
Because we were created to serve, we will only be truly spiritually healthy when we are using our spiritual gift(s) to serve others. If we fail to serve, we atrophy-lose our strength and shrivel up. Discover your gift(s) and stay healthy and strong by serving.

7. Relationships (Proverbs 22:24-25)
The better part of wisdom is to avoid unnecessary contact with carriers of contagious diseases. The same is true spiritually speaking. Anger, bitterness, resentment, envy, and other carnal characteristics can be caught and spread. Choose your friends wisely.

8. Lifestyle (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Living a healthy lifestyle physically doesn't guarantee perpetual good health-but your chances are better. The same is true spiritually. Living a lifestyle of wisdom, acknowledging God in all your ways, is foundational for spiritual health.

9. Giving (Luke 6:38)
It takes an investment in a healthy lifestyle to strengthen your body's immune system. Investing your resources-time, talent, and treasure-in your spiritual life will return to you an abundant spiritual health. We reap what we sow physically and spiritually.

10. Fellowship with Other Christians (Romans 12:10)
Remove a part of the human body and set it aside, and it dies within minutes. Remove yourself from relationships with others, and the same is likely to happen spiritually. You are a "cell" in the body of Christ, and you must stay connected to be nurtured as a part of the whole.

How healthy is your immune system? You will be healthier spiritually when you implement more of these principles consistently. And the healthier you are, the more likely you are to withstand the infections of this world.

This article was excerpted from Turning Points, Dr. David Jeremiah's devotional magazine

Strength Training

2010-02-15T11:19:00.000-05:00

Strength Training
Flexing the Power of the Holy Spirit
by David Jeremiah

In the late 1880s, you would have been astounded to see a small Canadian man lift a platform holding 18 men and weighing 4,337 pounds. Louis Cyr became known as the strongest man in North America and Europe. Strongmen spend their lives conditioning their bodies so their strength shouldn't surprise us.

What should surprise us is the strength of a different kind of strongman who never worked out with weights. Yet, he fasted and fought the Devil and won in the desert. And after 40 days, power like the world had never seen exploded from Him: "Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit…and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region" (Luke 4:14).

News spread so fast because Jesus was "healing all kinds of sickness…torments…demon-possessed" (Matthew 4:23-24) with "the power of the Spirit," the same Holy Spirit who lives in each and every Christian today.

The gift of God is for us to live with a power greater than that of human strongmen. No believer in Christ should be a spiritual "90-pound weakling." Christians need to flex the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the Christian's "muscle"—waiting to be flexed, exercised, and employed in every moment of the believer’s life. Scripture shows us that "the power of the Spirit" is the strength behind God's strongmen and strongwomen through the ages: Micah the prophet was "full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might" (Micah 3:8).

Mary was overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). The disciples turned the world upside down after being told, "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8). God anointed Jesus "with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10:38). Paul performed "mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God" (Romans 15:19).

You may think, "The Holy Spirit would never give me that kind of power and strength. Who am I?" Who you are is exactly the point: a person indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. In fact, if you do not have the Holy Spirit within you, you are not a Christian to begin with (Romans 8:9-11). But because you are a believer, you have the strength of God in you just waiting to be made manifest in your life.

Your battles are no less serious than the battles fought and won by Scripture's strongmen. Your need for power and strength is the same: "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10).

Bodybuilders strengthen the muscles in their bodies. But what about spiritual muscles? You become stronger spiritually as you allow the Holy Spirit more control in your life. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). If your heart, soul, and mind "muscles" are strong, then you will be strong.

You can love God with your mind by thinking on pure and praiseworthy things (Philippians 4:8); with your soul by obedience (Psalm 119:167); with your heart by keeping it pure (Matthew 12:35; 1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:22). When you love God with all your mind, soul, and heart, you will also love Him with all your strength—which will no longer be your strength but His.

You don't have to lift 18 men to demonstrate the power of the Spirit. The only requirement is to acknowledge your own weakness, "for [His] strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

God stands ready to grant you His strength through the Holy Spirit. But, you must seek it (1 Chronicles 16:11). The greater your faith, the faster fear is replaced by strength (Psalm 27:1; 2 Timothy 1:7). Strength takes time and courage (Psalm 27:14; 31:24). But...

"Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength...mount up with wings like eagles…run and not be weary…walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). So "mount up with wings like eagles" because God's "righteous right hand" upholds you (Isaiah 41:10).

This article was excerpted from Turning Points, Dr. David Jeremiah's devotional magazine. Call Turning Point at 1-800-947-1993 for your complimentary copy of Turning Points.

In the Presence of Jehovah

2010-02-02T08:42:00.000-05:00

THERE MAY BE TIMES WHEN YOU WILL FEEL ALONE

2010-02-01T11:35:00.001-05:00

Here is a recent poem from my mom that I wanted to share....

"THERE MAY BE TIMES WHEN YOU WILL FEEL ALONE
TIMES WHEN YOU FEEL LEFT COMPLETLY ON YOUR OWN
TIMES WHEN NO ONE SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND
THESE ARE TIMES YOU NEED TO LET HIM TAKE YOUR HAND

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TALK WITH
OR SOMETIMES, A QUIET FRIEND TO SIMPLY WALK WITH
MAN MIGHT NOT SEEK HIM IF DAYS WERE ALWAYS FAIR
THESE TIMES CAN SHOW YOU HE IS ALWAYS THERE.

THERE IS NOTHING ON THIS EARTH CAN FILL THAT PLACE
GET IN GOD'S WORD, OR IN PRAYER TO SEEK HIS FACE
WE MUST DEPEND ON HIM TO HELP US SEE IT THRU
REMEMBER, HE WAS GOD-MAN, AND HE FELT JUST LIKE YOU

THINK OF JESUS IN THE GARDEN, OR THE SCRIPTURE "JESUS WEPT."
WHEN HE HAD NO PLACE TO LAY HIS HEAD
HE WAS ALSO MAN AND FELT LIKE WE DO IN THE DARKEST OF OUR NIGHTS
FOR THEY WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND AND SOUGHT TO SEE HIM DEAD

SO WHEN YOU'RE FEELING LONELY, YOU ARE NOT ALONE
IT MAY BE HIM JUST CALLING YOU TO PRAYER
TO COMFORT YOU AND SPEAK HIS LOVE AND TELL YOU TO GO ON
THIS WORLD IS NOT YOUR HOME, YOU WILL NOT FIND YOUR TRUE COMFORT HERE"

Thank God for Chaplain Assistants!

2010-01-19T10:19:00.000-05:00

Please click the link for a short article about Chaplain Assistants

Soldier outreach to the local community

2010-01-19T10:15:00.000-05:00

Check out this article

Prayer

2010-01-18T09:16:00.001-05:00

I have the great honor to be a prayer partner of a close Chaplain friend of mine who has been recently deployed. May I ask you to take a moment today and pray for him and his family? Also please pray for all our Chaplains, Chaplain Assistants and the soldiers and families they serve.

To God be the Glory!

Q&A with John Piper at Angola Prison

2010-01-09T16:25:00.000-05:00

What a testimony of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ!

WOW!

2010-01-07T18:23:00.002-05:00

A New Kind of Church

2009-12-30T12:56:00.000-05:00

Here is a great article from In Touch Ministries that provides testimonies from a Chaplain and CPT in Afghanistan.

I will praise You in the storm

2009-12-26T10:13:00.000-05:00

I Dreamed

2009-12-24T15:06:00.000-05:00

I DREAMED by Patti Salem

I DREAMED I WENT TO BETHLEHEM
I DREAMED I KISSED YOUR TINY HAND
I SAW YOU LAYING IN THE HAY
I DREAMED I WENT TO BETHLEHEM

I DREAMED I STOOD AT GALILEE
ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE, I HEARD YOU TEACH
I HEARD YOU SAY, BLESSED ARE THE MEEK
I DREAMED I WAS THERE AT GALILEE

I DREAMED I WALKED TO JERUSALEM
I HEARD THEIR CRIES TO CRUCIFY HIM
MY HEART WOULD BREAK TO SEE LOVE DIE
I DREAMED I WENT TO JERUSALEM

AND THEN I STOOD AT YOUR EMPTY TOMB
AND GATHERED THERE IN THE UPPER ROOM
WHEN THOMAS TOUCHED YOUR PRECIOUS WOUNDS
I DREAMED I STOOD AT YOUR EMPTY TOMB.

The right lines of work

2009-12-20T10:49:00.000-05:00

I often refer to My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers during my devotional time. Here is the entry for today...

I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me. John 12:32.

"Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is a farce, there was no need for it. What the world needs is not ‘a little bit of love,’ but a surgical operation.

When you are face to face with a soul in difficulty spiritually, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the Cross. If that soul can get to God on any other line, then the Cross of Jesus Christ is unnecessary. If you can help others by your sympathy or understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You have to keep your soul rightly related to God and pour out for others on His line, not pour out on the human line and ignore God. The great note to-day is amiable religiosity.

The one thing we have to do is to exhibit Jesus Christ crucified, to lift Him up all the time. Every doctrine that is not imbedded in the Cross of Jesus will lead astray. If the worker himself believes in Jesus Christ and is banking on the Reality of Redemption, the people he talks to must be concerned. The thing that remains and deepens is the worker’s simple relationship to Jesus Christ; his usefulness to God depends on that and that alone.

The calling of a New Testament worker is to uncover sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Saviour, consequently he cannot be poetical, he must be sternly surgical. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful discourses. We have to probe straight down as deeply as God has probed us, to be keen in sensing the Scriptures which bring the truth straight home and to apply them fearlessly."

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year (December 20). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

December 7, 1941

2009-12-07T09:17:00.000-05:00

Remembering Pearl Harbor

Answers in Genesis...

2009-12-06T13:36:00.000-05:00

If, as the Bible teaches, we all descended from Adam and Eve, then how can such apparently different people groups around the world be explained?

Is referring to people as belonging to a different race, biblical? What can the field of genetics tell us? Does it support or refute God's Word?

What does the Bible teach about so-called, "inter-racial marriage"? What is God's concern for marriage?

Finally, is your view of yourself, and of your fellow man founded on God's Word?

I would encourage you to read and pray about this article.

Article: "Giving GIs Faith At Crunch Time"

2009-12-02T12:20:00.002-05:00

Here is an inspiring article about an Army Chaplain.

Giving GIs Faith At Crunch Time

Please continue to pray for our military and their families.

Give thanks

2009-11-27T10:08:00.002-05:00

Does truth exist? Who is the author of truth? Does it matter?

2009-11-25T13:27:00.005-05:00

In John 14:6, Jesus provides an emphatic and eternal answer: “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Truth is a hard thing. Truth remains no matter what we think about it. It does not change based on opinion. Truth is not relative to one’s circumstances or situation. Truth is the truth whether it is accepted or rejected or even if it is claimed to be unknown to a person.

Yes, truth is a hard thing. It is indestructible.

How about an illustration? Imagine a high and curvy road that clings alongside a mountain. Imagine driving your car along that road. You have just seen a sign that says, “Caution: Rock Slide Area! Blind Curve - 1 Mile Ahead. ” Unbeknownst to you, the road has just been destroyed by a rockslide right after the road bends.

Another motorist just minutes ago, rounded that blind curve and heard the rumbling of the rock just in time to slam on his brakes and avoid being hurled over the cliff.

As soon as he came to his senses, he immediately thought of other motorists that would soon round that curve and would not have the time to avoid their certain death.

That other motorist headed the other way to flag down any oncoming traffic. The motorist made it about a half mile before seeing you coming. He flashed his lights, honked the horn and screamed frantically out the window: “Stop…Rockslide!”

The other motorist thought to himself what he might do if he saw another driver acting this way. Would he think such a person had completely lost his senses? No matter the reaction he might face, the truth was clear and the danger was too great. He had to do whatever possible to try to warn you.

You saw and heard the man and concluded that he was out of his mind! I mean, you have driven this road a hundred times with no problem and it was a beautiful and sunny day. You thought to yourself: “The road looks fine. If there is anything to worry about around the curve then I will deal with it then. I need to keep going and get to that important appointment.”

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”

It was not until you rounded the curve that you witnessed what the man was screaming about. The road was gone and it was too late to do anything about it. There was no time to hit the brakes. Off the cliff you go.

So what was the truth? The road was gone. You had two choices. Believe the truth, turn around and live; or, reject the truth and die.

Whether you were warned at all, whether you believed the warning you received or rejected it as coming from a lunatic: the truth remains. The road was no longer there around that blind curve!

You see, the existence of the truth is not at all dependent on our rejection or acceptance of it. However, our fate is entirely dependent on what we choose to do with the truth. For example, if you reject the warning of the rockslide ahead, death is certain and only a matter of time; time only to get around that blind curve and come face to face with the unchangeable truth.

The above illustration is similar to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; that is, His death, burial and resurrection. If we turn around and put our trust in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, then we are made right with God and will live forever with Him.

That is His desire: that none should perish! However, if we reject the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ then we are already dead and will live forever separated from God.

How has God made this truth known?

For millennia, God has graciously warned each of us about the rockslide of mankind’s sin before His righteousness. God spells it out simply beginning with Adam and Eve and Satan, Noah, the patriarchs, with His judges and many prophets including John the Baptist who urged repentance.

Mark 1:1-3 says, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY; 3 THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.’ ”

God out of His love for us even chose to pay the debt that we all owe Him because of our sin by sending His Son, Jesus Christ to die the death that we deserve in our place. God chose to come to us as man to live the perfect life that we never could and pay the perfect sacrifice for our sins that we could never pay.

God desires that we see our certain and eternal death in our unredeemed sin before His holiness and today put our faith in the perfect Lamb, Jesus Christ. God has already paid the debt to save us. What we need to do is to urgently turn from our sin and put our faith in Him.

Remember, the existence of God’s truth has nothing to do with your opinion, your circumstance or how good or bad this life may look to you at the moment. If we will put our faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sin then we will have everlasting life. If we reject His truth, then we are already dead.

Witness the words of theologian, L. Russ Bush: “Jesus is who He said He was. His life and teachings remain a standard of trustworthiness. His death continues to call attention to His life, and His sacrificial atonement remains a compelling story with the inherent ring of truth. His resurrection from the grave demonstrates the victory He achieved and offers over death. Finally, this gospel message remains as the only message that truly brings hope, that offers a real basis for meaning, that remains focused on the truth, and that offers a moral standard that is based on the true God’s actual character.”

Proverbs 3:5-7 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”

I pray that you will know that God and His Word is the truth and that God has demonstrated His love for you through the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ. I pray that you will respond to His truth by putting your trust in Him and living the life that He gave you for Him.

Romans 5:7-11 says, “For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

As we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday, I hope that you will thank the true God for His love for you – His great riches at Christ’s expense.

Loss in the Christian Journey

2009-04-02T08:33:00.003-04:00

The following poem was part of a Small Group lesson that I led last night. We discussed the pain and fruit of loss in our Christian lives.

To grow in the image of Christ we must be engaged in the process of shedding our old selves and putting on the new - that is, Christ. This process can be very difficult and really, it is impossible if not for the Holy Spirit.

It is hard because we must shed what our flesh wants, what often feels satisfying and comfortable and instead, choose to move out into the unknown in faith. That process, this journey that we call life, is marked by: comfort then conviction then calling then vision then faith then movement then blessing then growth then hindsight then wisdom then gratitude to Him.

Along the way, we must be willing to increasingly lose ourselves - one fleshly loss at a time...

But... in place of what seems like loss lies His eternal restoration marked by intimacy, peace and joy.

Blessings,
Joe

Prayer of One Who Feels Lost by Joyce Rupp

Dear God,
why do I keep fighting you off?
One part of me wants you desperately,
another part of me unknowingly
pushes you back and runs away.

What is there in me that
so contradicts my desire for you?
These transition days, these passage ways,
are calling me to let go of old securities,
to give myself over into your hands.

Like Jesus who struggled with the pain
I, too, fight the "let it all be done."
Loneliness, lostness, non-belonging,
all these hurts strike out at me,
leaving me pained with this present goodbye.

I want to be more but I fight the growing.
I want to be new but I hang onto the old.
I want to live but I won't face the dying.
I want to be whole but cannot bear
to gather up the pieces into one.

Is it that I refuse to be out of control,
to let the tears take their humbling journey,
to allow my spirit to feel its depression,
to stay with the insecurity of "no home"?

Now is the time. You call to me,
begging me to let you have my life,
inviting me to taste the darkness
so I can be filled with the light,
allowing me to lose my direction
so that I will find my way home to you.

How Now Shall We live?

2009-03-25T09:26:00.003-04:00

Exodus 20:3 says, "You shall have no other gods before me."

Have you been outraged at the corruption and greed we have all been witnessing in our country – such as what has been happening with AIG? Have you taken note of the consequences?

When we witness such times in our history do we understand these events as God does? That is, through a biblical worldview?

When we read God’s Word such as the commandment that we have no other gods before Him, I wonder if we understand His commandment practically – in our daily lives.

What I am talking about? Money is a god to many and greed and corruption are the natural outgrowth of worshipping that false god – instead of the One true God.

I encourage all of us when we look around and try to make sense of what has happened that we consider the following:

no matter how complicated the problems may seem such as…
….people moving into homes they could not afford; mortgage companies eagerly giving people mortgages that they clearly could not afford and homeowners accepting them; underwriters given incentives to approve these loans that were clearly junk; profit for companies to bundle these instruments together and sell them to wall street, incentives for wall street brokers to sell these to huge institutional investors and financial firms…etc. and etc.

until the house of cards has begun to fall…

Yes, no matter how complicated and hidden the above chain of events is and has been over the years…the answer is simple and piercing: God will not be mocked.

We are to have no other gods before Him – and that includes the god of money that so many of us worship. And by using the word, worship I mean to say that it is money at the end of the day that guides our decisions – instead of God and His righteousness.

A Russian author once wrote: “The line dividing good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either – but right through every human heart.”

Pastor, Dr. David Jeremiah commenting on that quote wrote: “The government is nothing more than human beings gathered together for a particular purpose. Sometimes they make good decisions; sometimes they don’t. In that regard, looking at the government is like looking in a mirror. If you feel that the government should be doing a much better job of governing the people, what about the job you are doing governing your life? Are there integrity issues? Health issues? Effective use of time and resources? The problem is the same with principalities as it is with princes; sin. We are foolish to expect the work of government to be any more effective than the lives of its people.”

So…how do you understand what is going on right now? As we personally and as a nation experience the consequences of disobeying God...what will we learn from this?

Or, to take from the title of a book written by Charles Colson: “How Now Shall We Live?”

Blessings,
Joe

Dying and Living - Ruth and Stella

2009-03-11T13:04:00.004-04:00

About a week ago I attended Hospice training that will allow me to provide care to those who are dying and those who care for them. I was absolutely amazed by our teacher, Ruth, that day. She has been working in Hospice for 14 years now. Many years ago she began her career as a Neonatal Nurse. So she has worked with those at the beginning of life for many years and now with those at the end of life for many years.

Throughout the day with Ruth I was awestruck by four things: her compassion; her expertise yet humility; how little I knew and still know about death and dying; and Ruth’s genuine zeal for life – how alive she is.
At the end of the training she asked us if we had any questions for her. I couldn’t help but ask what had been on my heart for most of the day: “Ruth, what has working with the dying taught you about living?”

Ruth didn’t miss a beat. Without hesitation her eyes grew tearful and she told the following story.

Early in her Hospice career she met an elderly and spunky woman named Stella. Stella was a little rough around the edges to saw the least. At the beginning of going to serve Stella at her home, Ruth was afraid and wondered what she had gotten herself into. She seriously considered why she had ever left Neonatal care to work with the dying if working with people like Stella was what it was going to be like.

For reasons Ruth couldn’t explain then, she grew to really love Stella and even looked forward to the days that she would go see her. Ruth started to understand that Stella - under that rough exterior - had wisdom to share and things that Ruth needed to learn. They became friends.

Ruth shared with us that she now has a wonderful marriage with her husband and now knows how blessed she is to have her daughter. But Ruth explained that it wasn’t always like that. Not even close.

There was a time when Ruth’s priorities were terribly mixed up and she didn’t even know it. Ruth shared that she was a perfectionist. Her way of showing “love” to her husband and daughter was to keep the cleanest house imaginable. She prided herself that if her mother-in-law did the dust test she would pass it easily.

Monday was “vacuum day”. Tuesday was “clean out the refrigerator day” etc. Ruth tearfully remembered her daughter asking mommy to play or her husband to have a date with her and she saying “oh no, Wednesday is dusting day”. She had the cleanest house on the block but her heart was empty and her marriage and daughter were suffering.

One Monday while Ruth was over at Stella’s home, Stella asked her what she was going to do that day. Ruth told Stella (who was dying of a painful cancer) that, “Monday is vacuum day…time to get the carpets clean.” Ruth said that Stella looked so discouraged at her response that she asked Stella what was wrong.

Stella looked her straight in the eye and said “here I am dying and cannot even leave the house. Today is a beautiful day and what you want to do is go home and vacuum. Are you kidding? Go home today and do what I can’t and what I so rarely did in my life. Go pack a picnic and grab your husband and daughter and go live.”

Ruth then looked at me and said, “Joe what working with the dying has taught me about living saved my marriage and gave my daughter her mom back. I may not have the cleanest house anymore but I am not hiding from life or love anymore. I more alive than I have ever been. Stella who died long ago taught me that”

"Would We Know Him"

2009-03-11T13:04:00.001-04:00

Here is one the best poems I have ever read. My mom sent this to me yesterday to share...

"Would We Know Him" by Pat Salem

I was thinking yesterday, if Jesus came, what would I say
If He came to us, as He did then, would we fall on our knees in belief of Him.

Or wait to see what He would do, maybe we need a miracle or two
Maybe listen to Him preach a sermon and then, would we even recognize Him.

Or would we be like the Pharisees, raising up our laws to keep ourselves sin free
They could not recognize a love so sweet, this man in sandals, with dusty feet.

A man who would challenge the life they knew, in pride and rituals, we do that too
Our hearts too hardened to see we are wrong, we hear the music, but not the words to the song.

If we saw Him loving the ones we shun, would we be sure, He's the one
If He showed mercy to those we thought less, whose lives were in shambles, who had chosen their mess.

Maybe we could start to change right now, and learn how to love as He does somehow
I would sure hate to miss Him, or worse to be, one who looks in His eyes..and Him not recognize me.

Who are you living for?

2009-03-03T07:21:00.000-05:00

Good morning y'all. The following was on my heart this morning. I wanted to share it with you

When we take in more calories than we burn - we gain weight. When we do not exercise - we get winded just climbing a flight of stairs. When we do not drink enough water - we get dehydrated and lethargic.

Let me ask you something...If God has designed all these feedback mechanisms to alert us to poor physical health, then how much more do you think that our Creator has designed built-in consequences when we do not personally seek Him? Think about that!

If that makes sense to you then what might the feedback mechanisms of poor spiritual health look like? How about loss of joy? How about loss of purpose? How about feeling like life has no meaning? How about severed relationships? A lack of forgiveness? Pride?

Just like God has designed our bodies to store fat when we take in too many calories, He has designed built-in emptiness and aimlessness when we attempt to live the lives that He granted without Him. When the creation tries knowingly or unknowingly to live apart from our Creator...this is a hopeless game plan!

He is our source, oxygen, purpose and destination. Please hear me...you will never be satisfied, you will never know peace or joy, until you have surrendered your life back to Him.

Placing faith in Jesus Christ in absolutely necessary for salvation but is insufficient for the abundant life God desires for us. We must respond to His salvation by increasingly surrendering our lives back to our Creator and make Him Lord of all.

We are literally designed to be in relationship with our Creator. God so values the relationship with His children that he sent His unique and special Son, Jesus Christ as the bridge from our helplessness in sin back to God.

When we as His most prized creation knowingly or unknowingly try to live apart from our Creator...there is nothing but hopelessness and misery!

Blessings,
Joe

A mother's prayers

2009-01-23T09:40:00.002-05:00

Recently, someone asked me whether a mother’s prayers for the protection and salvation of her son would be heard or honored by God if the child is not yet a believer.

A passage that came to mind is Paul's second letter to Timothy (like a parent to a child he writes with love and gratitude). “2 Timothy 1:1-5: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

Paul highlights the importance of prayer in two ways here. One regarding his own constant continued prayers for Timothy well beyond when he was saved and now walking in the faith. And two, Paul out of his love for his student praises the persistent prayers and godly upbringing of Timothy's grandmother and mother.

A parent’s prayers for their child are in perfect harmony with Scripture and are music to God's ears. A huge celebration with be held in heaven when that child accepts Christ!

As Paul teaches, accepting Christ is not just so we will have eternal life, but it is also because God has a purpose for all of His children here on earth. Can you imagine? A job reserved for each child by Almighty God who lovingly and intentionally formed each of us in our mothers' womb.

God's love doesn't start for us when we accept Him. His love for every person that He created started before the foundation of the world. The proof of that love, also existent before the foundation of the world, is God's divine plan to offer His unique and special Son for our sins in our place.

That love for mankind didn't begin at the cross - Or even when we accept Christ. It was and is always there.

The prayer of a parent should be for her child to receive that already-existent love of God by accepting the gift already in reserve for the child from his Savior: placing a faith that trusts in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That is the amazing thing about the love of God. He chose us!

It isn't only the work of God through His Son that we must grasp; but perhaps it is what this willing work of God reveals about Who He is. He is Love. He is Holy. He desires to be reconciled with the pinnacle of His creation.

A parent’s yearning for their child is God's yearning. It is the yearning love of the earthy parent for her child united to the yearning love of our Heavenly Father for all His children.

I pray that one day seeing your child’s fruit for the King - just as Paul did for Timothy's mother - someone will thank you and our God for your sincere faith and your persistent prayers for your children.

Praise the Lord.

Who do you say that Jesus is?

2009-01-21T08:54:00.002-05:00

Mark 8:27-30: Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" 28They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ."

Hi everyone. I wanted to share this with you today...

near the middle of Mark's gospel, we encounter the most important question that each person must answer. Jesus asks, "Who do you say I am?"

Think about that for a second.

You and everyone you meet..every person in your life...every person who has or will walk this earth...is planned and lovingly created by God.

And, every person is born into the same situation. A potentially eternal problem: we are all born separated from our Creator by sin.

But, that is not the end of the story... Jesus Christ out of His love for all came and died for the sins of all (1 John 2:2; John 3:16).

What needed to happen is to reconcile the problem of mankind's sin before our Holy Creator with the only answer - The death, burial and resurrection of God's own Son, Jesus Christ.

So, how do we personally receive this gift of reconciliation?

Each of us is confronted with the question of who Jesus Christ is. For example, was He a great prophet? A good man? A great philosopher? Someone who was insane? A liar? An impostor?

Or was Jesus, God in the flesh who willingly came in order for His innocent body to be broken and His blood shed for sins? To die and be buried and then three days later to defeat death and rise again? But don't stop there...even knowing this is not enough. Satan and his demons know who Jesus is and what He came to do.

We have to believe that we are sinners in need of the only savior - Jesus Christ. What does that look like? We must know who we are (lost and helpless in sin), and who He is (God) and what He came to do (die and raise again for our sins): on this, you put a faith that trusts in Him as your savior.

So here is the question again: Who do you believe that Jesus is?

I pray that you have put your faith in Jesus Christ. And, If you have it will not be long before you will want to share this most important truth and this most important question with others in your life. And this brings us to the other question in Mark's gospel: Who do those in your life say that Jesus is?

God's gift of reconciliation of our sin to His holiness through Jesus Christ is not meant for you alone. It is not something to be kept secret.

Remember, each person is created and loved by God. And Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. This Good News is not a lamp that we want to hide but one we want to put on a lampstand to shine brightly for all to see.

Oh by the way - this is how we came to Christ. His light was shining brightly for us to see. The Apostle Paul calls this the ministry of reconciliation.

And, all of us who are Christians are called to be God's ambassadors of His great love for mankind that alone can reconcile helpless sinners back to Himself through the gospel of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Look at what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21:

" So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

For Him,
joe

Grace: His Holiness, Born Dead in Sin and His Love

2008-10-29T11:18:00.007-04:00

Have you ever really stopped to consider the fact that each of us are born with a sinful nature inherited from Adam and therefore are born separated from God? Have you ever really stopped to consider that God could have left us dead in our sin, helpless and without hope? Oh, but He didn't! He chose us! He chose to suffer, die and then defeat death so that we might live.

How are we to understand how God's Holiness works with His Love and how both of these work with mankind born dead in sin? How can these three things possibly work together? Only God could make this happen!

Even while unsaved, humans can do a lot of good and loving things (and certainly many bad and despicable things). Sometimes the acts of the unsaved can rival or even exceed that of believers (that is sad and sometimes really confusing). But that is not the core issue - if it were that would be about works.

The issue is that we are born positionally separated (literally dead in sin) from our Holy God and that the only bridge back to Him is by the righteousness alone available in the death and resurrection of His Son, our perfect sinless Lamb, Jesus Christ.

The Good News? God knew by the free choice in the garden how helpless and dead we would be in our sin. He was not surprised but thank God He did not leave it there! God knew in eternity past that the only answer was His Son. God willingly chose in eternity past to offer His Son as an eternal payment for the sin of His children. Christ in eternity past willingly chose full obedience as the perfect sinless Lamb slain for our trasgressions, peirced for our iniquities. The living died for the dead. The perfect died for the sinner. The almighty died for the helpless.

It truly is amazing love! Yes, "Jesus paid it all...all to Him I owe...sin had left a crimson stain...He washed it white as snow!" Amen - that is the Good news of the Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ. It is a message where we can never separate any one of the following: His Holiness, our depravity, and His choice of ultimate Love that resulted in God's arms spread wide on a deadly cross and the victorious resurrection from a tomb that death could not hold!

Yes, if any part of it is missing - we cannot fully know the gospel. We must see His holiness and our helplessness, dead in sin if we are to fully see His love.

Most get it wrong by trying to dilute or to amplify one of these three. Such as either a) an unbalanced understanding of His holiness which can result in cold religion, ritual and legalism; or b) an unbalanced understanding of His love which can miss the fact that He is the perfectly righteous and almighty Judge of all mankind; or c) an unbalanced understanding of the doctrine of man which lead some to think that God needs us or that we can take our time in choosing Him or that His patience will last forever.

The true and full Good News is that of the beautiful truth of His Amazing Grace which demands the full force and concurrent understanding of: our helplessness and death before salvation AND The Holiness AND The love of our saving God who has forever demonstrated each of these in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yes, if God is true, righteous and Holy, then a payment must be made for our sin before Him. There is no way around that! That payment can either be a life of eternal torment eternally separated from God OR that payment can be on our behalf through the death, burial and resurrection, that is the Gospel, of the perfect Lamb Jesus Christ.

So how can we be eternally covered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ? That is this amazing Good News! God says that if we turn from our sin and to Him through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ then we are reconciled to Him and have the gift of eternal life. You see it is not we as sinners who ever could have paid the price demanded by a perfectly Holy And righteous God. Only One Who is sinless and perfect Himself could pay the price. That is why He is called the Lamb -- He willingly was slain in our place and paid the highest price that we never could have paid ourselves. Do you see it? His Holiness, our helplessness and yet, His Love! That is His Grace or God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

Faced with this is there really a choice? I mean let me get this straight....I can either be lost in this life, always looking in every wrong place and person only to never fill the emptiness that God put in my heart, and then worse, spend eternity in hell OR I can see my helplessness before the Holiness of God and His Love that sent His Son and put my faith in Him alone.

And it just get's better...when I put my faith in Christ, I will have the Holy Spirit living within me to lead me. You mean to tell me that the emptiness that I constantly looked for the world to fill but never could is now forever filled by God Himself? Are you telling me that He was the answer all along just as Scripture says? And...instead of a life without purpose I am now on a divine journey as an ambassador for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And...Instead of eternal torment, I have eternal life in Christ!

Yes, to answer the question, there certainly is a choice...the most important one...one with our eternity on the line...one each of us must make personally...a clear choice for Christ that Satan works constantly to muddy and frustrate and confuse and delay!

Scripture says that people perish for lack of knowledge. "Jesus paid it all...all to Him I owe...sin had left a crimson stain...He washed it white as snow!"

Now...do we have a message to share with our kids and this lost and hurting world or what!

True Peace & Joy

2008-10-13T08:56:00.001-04:00

Romans 5:1-11
1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Pascal on Truth

2008-09-16T08:05:00.000-04:00

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662:
“I should, therefore, like to arouse in man the desire to find truth, to be ready, free from passion, to follow it wherever he may find it, realizing how far his knowledge is clouded by passions. I should like him to hate his concupiscence [lustful desire] which automatically makes his decisions for him, so that it should not blind him when he makes his choice, nor hinder him once he has chosen…Truth is so obscured nowadays, and lies so well established, that unless we love the truth we shall never recognize it…Weaklings are those who know the truth, but maintain it only as far as it is in their interest to do so, and apart from that forsake it.”

The Stronghold of God

2008-09-15T11:36:00.000-04:00

The following was sent to me by my sister.
Blessings,
Joe
__________________________________
"I have been reading, The Stronghold of God.. by Francis Frangipane..

Here are a few little excerpts that spoke to me.. Helps also to define our journey as being both joy-filled and at times very painful

'While his pledge is a great encouragement, we should be mindful that the Lord did not say He would keep us from the fire or the flood waters, but He would be with us in them. Why does the Lord allow us to pass through conflict in the first place? Because it is here that He trains us in Christlikeness. It is one thing to trust Christ to calm the storm around us: it is another matter to leave our security and venture with Him on the water. This very setting of raging wind and sea is the classroom in which the Son of God seeks to perfect His disciples faith. Let us affirm the Father's highest purpose for us: Jesus did not come just to console us but to perfect us. To behold Christ's goal for us of perfection is to truly gaze into another dimension of God. We should repent of carrying the image of a Savior who fails to confront our sin or challenge our unbelief for such is a false image of God. If we are to genuinely know HIm we must accept this truth: Jesus Christ is irrevocably committed to our COMPLETE transformation.

Jesus Christ is relentlessly given to our perfection. He knows that wherever we settle spiritually will be far short of His provision. He also knows that the more we are transformed into His image the less vulnerable we are to the evils of this world. Thus He compels us toward difficulties for they compel us toward God and God compels us toward change. And it is the transformed heart that finds the stronghold of God.'

Scripture: Isaiah 43 1-3
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name: you are mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire you will not be scorched nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, Your savior.

Prayer: Lord Jesus forgive me for fearing during the storms of life. For too long I have not understood Your commitment to my perfection. I have wanted to be saved without being transformed. I have feared the fullness of becoming Christlike. Bring forth in me your faith. Help me to not misinterpret your encouragement toward excellence when I fall short. With all my heart I want to glorify you with my life. Grant me the grace that when others see what you have accomplished in me they too shall glorify you! Amen"

Service

2008-09-09T13:51:00.000-04:00

Hi there everyone. An essential part of this Chrisitan life is selfless service in His Name! How are you serving?

Here is a neat website that matches volunteers with opportunities - http://www.volunteermatch.org/ (there are many more)

And speaking of opportunities, they are endless: maybe mentoring a younger person, serving at a homeless shelter, being a free tutor to a child of a single parent, serving at a center for the elderly, taking blankets to the homeless, working at a soup kitchen, helping flood and hurricane victims, supporting the family of a deployed soldier, providing free computer training, reading to the blind (I know a Good Book!), working with a special olympian, helping an at-risk teen, helping a teenager get into college, going on a short term mission trip.

Let's use our Gifts!

By the way, if you have some service opportunities, ideas or testimonials that you would like to share please send them along!

When Calling Meets Intention

2008-08-30T08:27:00.008-04:00

Some facets of this Christian Life are beyond my understanding. Such as that the work of salvation is all God yet my response in a faith that trusts in the Gospel is required. Such as that God will complete the good work that He began in me but that we, like Paul, must willfully discipline our flesh to partner with Him as the Holy Spirit increasingly guides us into the image of Christ.

And perhaps the biggest mystery is the breadth and depth of the love of God for me...for all of us...in spite of our often hardheartedness, willful pride and disobedience.

Sometimes in my humanness I wonder why God doesn't just say, "I gave them life, I gave them my One and Only Son and eternal life, I gave them my Word which recounted what I put in their hearts over and over, I gave them opportunity after opportunity to be a vessel for me, I was patient when they walked away and were ensnared as I and my Word lovingly and clearly warned would happen, I came running and embraced them with a kiss when they turned back toward me, and yet I have been taken for granted and sinned against for the last time..." as He then unleashes even a ounce of His Power that spoke the universe into existence.

I cannot fully understand the patience and love of God for me, my neighbors or for our world. But I thank Him for His patience, love, understanding and restraint as He waits for the Gospel message to be preached, accepted, and lived by as many as are called.

The purpose of my writing today is a kind of confession that realizes how inadequate I am, how too often hard-headed and disobedient I am before our Holy and Perfect and Omniscient God. Sometimes the reality of our God as "All knowing" pierces me.

Sometimes like today I see the ugly stain of my humanness especially well and the absolute perfection of God especially well. In this contrast between the divine and human, I am so thankful that before God and by His Gospel I am made undeservedly white as snow before Him.

I know I didn't nor ever could earn it. I know I didn't nor ever could deserve it.

Sometimes like today I am especially in awe of the mystery of His perfect love in spite of me...in spite of me

Lord, lead me away from any ritual of works to try to impossibly repay what You have done and continue to do for me, but please do help me, fueled by an increasing understanding of Your Holiness and Grace, to live a life set apart to you, that brings honor and glory to You and all You are to others around me. Lord ignite my intention to meet and honor Your calling. I love You and thank you Lord.

Chaplains' Retreat

2008-08-26T08:58:00.004-04:00

Michelle and I just got back from Branson, MO where we attended a retreat for military chaplains. It was put on by The National Association for Evangelicals Chaplains Commission (NAECC).

The symposium was enititled, "A Faith-filled response to Post Traumatic Combat Stress". We met a lot of chaplains and their spouses and heard first-hand about the many challenges and many opportunities of the ministry.

The keynote speaker was a retired, 2-star general - Major General Bob Dees who now runs the Military Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. He and his wife are great ambassadors of Christ.

Another incredible speaker was the Hon. Allen Clark and his wife, Linda. Mr. Clark lost both legs in Vietnam as a young CPT. He went through many trials and found that Jesus Christ is the only answer! Their lives are devoted to bringing this Good News to soldiers - especially those who have been wounded.

A very practical presentation was given by a Army Chaplain who recently returned from theater - CH (CPT) Chris Cross. He was deployed after being married for only a month. What a great testimony of bringing God to soldiers and soldiers to God!

And, finally we were blessed to hear from the Executive Director and President of the Commission, CH (COL) Paul Vicalvi and CH (COL) John Shumacher and their wonderful wives who are such devoted partners in the ministry. The humilty and passion to equip and assist Chaplains by these couples is incredible...actually more than that is it inspired by God.

Back home! Calling Confirmed!

2008-08-18T11:51:00.003-04:00

Thanks for your prayers everyone. I am back home safe and sound. What a practicum Ft. Belvoir was!

I had some big expectations for this experience (learning more about the ministry of the chaplaincy, the folks called to fill the boots, the needs of those to whom they minister, and God's will for me specifically).

God is so good! The time He gave me at Ft. Belvoir blew my expectations away.

So many questions answered and so many things that needed confirmation were confirmed. Most of all I am certain that the US Army Chaplaincy is where the Lord wants Michelle and me.

So many people and situations were used to drive that point home but perhaps the most powerful confirmation came from the times that I had the opportunity to be actively present with the soldiers themselves during the last week of my training at Ft. Belvoir.

So many needs...so many opportunities to be a vessel of God's presence to these young heroes.

All that is left to do now is to be obedient to His will.

Hello from Ft. Belvoir

2008-07-30T07:02:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone! Sorry it has been so long since I have written. It is hard to believe but I only have a couple more weeks until I come home - I miss my better half! The training here at Ft. Belvoir has been fantastic. I have had the opportunity to minister in the Army hospital, to work with an awesome group of teenage missionaries to put on a Five Day Bible Club here in the several housing comunities on post (we had an awesome turnout at the clubs and had several decisions for Christ). This week I am training in the Family Life Counseling Center (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, marital issues etc.).

The final 2 weeks of my training here will be to serve as a chaplain (in training) to a unit of soldiers who are finishing their advanced training.

A couple other neat things: I attended the change of command and promotion ceremonies at Walter Reed Hospital recently: one of the ceremonies involved a Colonel who was promoted to a 2-Star General (Major General) as she leads the entire Army Nurses Core. Also, last Friday I went to Ft. Myer and Arlington National Cemetary and witnessed the changing of the guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the celebration of the 233rd Anniversary of the Army Chaplain Core (began on July 29, 1775).

The ceremony was conducted on Chaplains' Hill in Arlington Cemetary (which is dedicated to all those Chaplains that have given their lives for God and Country). I also had the privlege to meet many chaplains and their spouses as well as the Chief of Chaplains and hear about their experiences in the ministry.

I am really excited about this Thursday. My supervising Chaplain asked me to offer a prayer at a Change of Command Ceremony this Thursday. This will be the first time that I have ever done this at a formal military ceremony - Lord please give me Your words. I am really honored that I can be used as a vessel to offer God's blessing on the outgoing and incoming commanders.

Well, that's it for now...thanks for reading and thanks for your prayers for me, Michelle and for our military.

God is Good!
Blessings,
joe

Congrats Chaplain Rob

2008-05-19T11:51:00.002-04:00

This is a praise report. Rob, a Chaplain Candidate friend of mine, recently left me a message with some awesome news. He was recently ordained and accessed as a Chaplain! Rob and his family were and continue to be a regular part of my prayers.

So Chaplain Rob and family - CONGRATULATIONS! I know that you will be used mightily in the Lord's service!

Blessings,
Joe

Forgiveness

2008-04-02T08:47:00.001-04:00

When God gets hold of a heart...all things are possible.

"Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times (or seventy times seven).'" (Matthew 18:21-22)
"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." (Mark 11:25)
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34. Uttered by Jesus as he was put to death.
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32)

DeShazer Obituary

"War And Forgiveness

The veterans of World War II are now at that age where they are dying ever more frequently, and their deaths should be an occasion to remember their achievement and sacrifice. Take the heroism and remarkable forgiveness of Jacob DeShazer, a bombardier on the famous Doolittle raid over Japan of April 18, 1942.

The Doolittle bombing raid was close to a suicide mission, a one-way trip to bring the war to the Japanese homeland for the first time. Coming not long after Pearl Harbor and before the Pacific island victories to come, the raid was a huge boost to domestic morale. Corporal DeShazer was one of five crewmen on Bat Out of Hell, a B-25 aircraft that took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, dropped incendiary bombs over Nagoya, and then flew on to Japanese-occupied China, where the crew was forced to bail out.

DeShazer was taken prisoner, and was starved, beaten and tortured by his Japanese captors. For 34 of his 40 months in captivity, he was kept in solitary confinement. His pilot (Lieutenant William Farrow) and engineer-gunner (Sergeant Harold Spatz) were killed by firing squad. But DeShazer survived the war, was liberated after V-J Day in August 1945, and went on to get a degree in Biblical literature from Seattle Pacific College (now Seattle Pacific University). In 1948, he returned as a Christian missionary to the country that had nearly killed him, and he would continue his ministry in Japan for 30 years.

DeShazer died on March 15 at his home in Salem, Oregon, at age 95. It is one of life's safer bets that he is resting in peace."

Straight talk about Sin's Vicious Cycle

2008-03-05T08:22:00.005-05:00

Sometimes our sin and its consequences are obvious and vivid and other times it is like the slow but sure, caustic drip of the faucet. Either way, sin will always lead us away from God and will rust away our fellowship with Him.

That loss of fellowship leads to absolute misery. We lose the joy in life because we have turned away from the joy giver. Worse yet, our thinking begins to get contorted. We sometimes will begin to question the very foundations of our faith.

Once this happens we have truly begun the vicious cycle of sin. Now our "fear" of God is increasingly chipped away. We increasingly willingly sin and decreasingly see our sin as wrong. The result - as we sin more, there is even more misery, we begin to question and blame God more and then we sin again. And the vicious cycle gains momentum!

So how can this cycle end? What can we do to stop it?

This is what is so easy yet so hard. It is so easy because God has already provided the means of forgiveness, His Son Jesus Christ. It is so hard because, if you are in the middle of this cycle you are miserable and questioning everything. So, the answer is right in front of you yet you are nearly blinded by the neck-high consequences of your sin cycle.

So, here's what to do.

Forget about whether you feel like turning from your sin and to God. Your feelings are unreliable - look where your understanding has led you. This is about the truth - not feelings. This is about desperation - there is nowhere left to go. You tried it your way and there you are - perhaps more miserable, angry and depressed than you ever have been.

The enemy has been playing you like an instrument.

Now you are at that critical moment when you will observe your brokenness and blame God for it (that's what Satan would have you do) or you will look at your brokenness and see your responsibility, Satan's lies and God's loving gift of forgiveness right in front of you.

It's decision time! Faith calls you to look beyond the rubble and see God's lighthouse calling you back to Him.

Now it is time to confess your sin and turn to God.

If you have done this, God's Word promises that you are forgiven! Period. Morning has broken!

Now, here are a few things to remember.

Again, forget how you feel. God has restored you but it may take a long time before the earthly consequences of your sin subside or go away. Often what will happen is that God will take what you thought was rubble and build something stunningly beautiful from it.

Don't expect to have that intimate feeling of fellowship with God immediately. Your restoration is not based on your ability to feel it. It is based on the rock solid promise of Almighty God who provides it!

Never forget what happened when you walked away from God. Never forget the lies that Satan told you, that you believed and where they led you.

Finally, never forget how faithful, patient and loving God was and is to forgive and restore you. As He promised in His Word, He never left your side!

Deuteronomy 31:8 (New International Version): 8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Blessings,
joe

What Counts - Galatians 6:9-18

2008-02-13T11:13:00.001-05:00

I had a neat conversation recently with the Chaplain of the Livingston County Jail. Here is a man whose life is devoted to caring for the forgotten and written-off in society. That is real outreach!

I am going to be serving the inmates there again soon (please pray for me). One of the chaplain's life verses is Gal 6:9. I went and read the context of that verse which I have included below. The following devotional is the result of reflecting on that passage.

By the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul skillfully cuts through external religious symbolism (circumcision or no circimcision) and focuses on the real issue: the condition of our heart before God. The outward symbols of our faith can be so dangerous. If we are not careful we forget the cause of what we do and begin to be fooled into thinking that the outward ritual is what's important.

Nothing external means anything, unless done as the result of the cause of Christ in our heart. That is, what matters is that we are born again by the power of the Gospel. What matters is that our motive for what we do is founded on the Gospel and for the glory of God! If we are not born again we are simply, "putting lipstick on a pig".

With the help of God, let's all take a moment and reflect on the condition of our hearts. If our faith has become lukewarm (see Rev 3:14ff), then let us honestly ask ourselves whether we are simply going through the motions of religion or are doing our part to be in a vibrant personal relationship with our Lord and Savior.

For our own good I believe that God has 'wired' our hearts in such a way that Joy (beyond circumstances) comes from surrendering our hearts once and then continually to Him and, misery (beyond circumstances) from keeping our hearts from Him.

No matter how much money you make
No matter the size of your house
No matter how high your position in this world
No matter how many degrees you have
No matter how popular you are
No external circumstance (or lack of it) will bring you abiding joy nor keep misery away.

Only a heart surrendered first and daily to Christ will do this.

Blessings,
joe

Galatians 6:9-18 (NIV)

"9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Not Circumcision but a New Creation
11See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!
12Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. 14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. 16Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.

17Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen."

You say..BUT...GOD SAYS...

2008-02-08T09:05:00.000-05:00

Original Author Unkown

You say: "It's impossible."
God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired."
God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "Nobody really loves me."
God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 13:34)

You say: "I can't go on."
God says: My grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out."
God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: "I can't do it."
God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

You say: "I'm not able."
God says: You can do all things (2 Corinthians 9:8)

You say: "It's not worth it."
God says: It will be worth it (Romans 8:28)

You say: "I can't forgive myself."
God says: I FORGIVE YOU (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: "I can't manage."
God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid."
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated."
God says: Cast all your cares on ME (1 Peter 5:7)

You say: "I don't have enough faith."
God says: I've given everyone a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)

Deut 30 - The Offer of Life or Death

2008-02-08T07:12:00.000-05:00

Regarding my devotional yesterday and the necessity of confession - let me be the first to say, I have let go of the hand of God too many times and walked right into that miserable wilderness that I wrote about. Those are words that I need to heed as much as anyone!

I have a long way to go to be sure but: I know and love the Lord; I know that I am His and that the Lord is leading me; I know what my responsibility is to Him and others and, I know the misery of disobedience.

I, like all of us, just need to daily keep this at the forefront and as Paul, keep dying to self and living to Him.

Check out what Moses says to the Israelites as they are getting ready to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land:

Deut 30:
"The Offer of Life or Death
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

Romans 6 & 1 John 3 - Our Blessed Responsibility

2008-02-07T07:44:00.000-05:00

While our salvation is 100% the work of God, our sanctification (to be daily set apart to the Holy Spirit as He increasingly forms us into the image of Christ) requires our intentional partnership.

Have we resolved ourselves to this? Do we understand this as our blessed responsibility?

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and the answer to either or both of the above questions is no, then you will not know the Joy that God has available for you in this life.

Please do not be fooled. When you and I put our faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (His death, burial and resurrection - see 1 Cor 15), a divine transaction took place. Thankfully, our Savior bought our lives with the greatest price and at the point we trusted Him, our life was no longer our own. We are His and indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit whose ministry it is to form us into the image of Christ.

Again: Have we resolved ourselves to this? Do we understand this as our blessed responsibility?

Perhaps we all need to revisit the meaning of what it is to repent. Repentance simply and profoundly means to turn around. We are called to see the sin in our lives and confess it and turn from it. What is so important however is that this is not what guilt or remorse as the world understands it.

Not even close.

Our confession and repentance can only be the result of our increasing understanding of God's holiness and our sinfulness before Him. That is the cause of confession and repentance.

Very importantly God is also our target when we repent or turn from our sin. That is, we do not simply turn from but we also must turn to. So the reason we see our sin is God, the reason we understand the depth of our sin is by understanding His holiness, and finally, the reason we turn from our sin is because of and by the Gospel of Jesus Christ -- it alone is what allows us to turn to our Holy God.

The above applies both at the 'point' of salvation (here the sinner is positionally made a saint by God) and throughout our lives as the Holy Spirit convicts the remnants of our former sinful nature as He takes our hand along the journey into the image of Christ.

I do not think that I am overstating things to say that if you are a believer and are not in active partnership with the Holy Spirit in the above process then you are lost in the wilderness. Your life will be quite miserable as you continue to go around the mountain over and over again. You are frankly trying to live a life your way that you no longer own. Your life is His and is to be lived for Him. As Romans 12 discusses, your gift to the Lord is your intentional offering of your life to Him. Offer yourself today and every day to God who loved you so much that He gave His perfect, one and only Son to take your penalty in your place. Do this and take your privileged place in His service

The Journey Cont'd

2007-12-14T10:49:00.000-05:00

I was thinking about how wonderful and frankly painful it is for all of us to grow up in Jesus Christ. What a mystery it is that each generation has to, in so many ways, start over and fall, get up with Christ, fall again and so forth. All throughout that process that we call life being divinely molded by the Great Potter with each experience.

What a mystery it is that there are no shortcuts to realizing the unavoiadability and joy of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ once we are His Child. I say unavoidable because while faith in Christ was a choice, once we are His, our life is no longer our own. There really in the end - in the long-term - is no choice!

We may imagine that we still own our life and choose our long term obedience to Him but I beleive that the truth is, once we are His Child the Great Potter will use our disobedience and everything else in this journey called life to learn BY EXPERIENCE that ultimately if there is to be any intimacy, peace and joy then obedience and abiding are "unavoidable". Again, if there is anything but misery to be experienced in this journey, then once one is sealed as a child of God's then ABIDING is the only answer. And, He loves us enough to teach us that! See John 15.

Guess who has known that fact since before the foundation of the world? God. Guess who designed it this way? God.

While this life can be unpseakably painful sometimes for ourselves and often more so on behalf of those we love - like our children - God is in Control! He uses all of our disobedience as the Great Potter to move us forward in this journey to see the unavoidable place that we have been gifted - HIS CHILD. His LOVE sent HIS SON and that same love will never allow us to complely leave His loving care.

Do I believe that God grieves when we sin and are disobedient? Absolutely. Do I believe that God hurts when He knows that His loving chastisement is going to sting us and those who love us? Absolutely.

However, unbelieveably, once His child our disobedience will never cause Him to love us any less. Very ironically, God is glorified in our disobedience (Yet while we were sinners...). Adam's sin, as much as it grieved God, did not surprise God. In fact He had already planned for it through Jesus Christ. So God the Great Creator and Designer planned for our disobedience when we are lost by giving us His Son AND God the Great Potter has ALSO designed our journey to understand the great love of the Father in order to make us His Child and then to KEEP us His Child.

What a mystery!

So why are we born on earth in this often broken life? Why not just be born already as His child immediately in His glorious presence in Heaven? Or, why does the next generation have to go through what it is going through and our hearts be so broke for them?

After searching, questioning and many seasons of anger etc. I have come to understand what for me is the the beginning of the answer to the above great mysteries of Life.

God allows this life for us, while often broken and painful out of His Divine Love and Wisdom. I believe it is His design to work things together for the good to those that Love Him.

God uses life for each of us up to some point to show His children ultimately our helplessness if not for Him (at this stage we become His Child through Christ) and then, God uses the remainder of our lives to see 1) the unbelievable love it was of Father to Send His Son, the unbelieveable selfless sacrifice of Christ the perfect innocent lamb to die in our place and the unbelievable comfort and assurance we have with the Holy Spirit - the Great Indwelling Potter; and 2) relatedly, the absolute impossibility of ever moving from His Hand and the absolute impossibility of finding joy and peace in the long term without abiding in Him.

You see, God in His divine Wisdom in time uses the shame, feelings of being lost and absolute misery when we wander away from Him in Spirit to teach us to come back to Him. The pain is designed to be the teacher. It is the story of the Prodigal all over again. Once we realize that we are eating pig slop, we repent and return and are wiser IN HIM.

I believe that this process is what Paul meant in Phil 2:12 (work out your own salvation with fear and trembling). God allows each of us the great gift of this life before we spend eternity with Him. The purpose of that life, first and foremost would be that we would know these things of God by experience. That each child of His has the painful opportunity and ultimate Joy to know the love of their Heavenly Father and then spend eternity in His presence.

I pray that that made sense. After many years, these answers that I have struggled through have been a great comfort to me in this painfully beautiful life that God has blessed each of us with. Being His Child will never be for the goal of perfection in order to avoid the pain and realities of life. Being His child will give divine purpose, effect, meaning and ultimate comfort in the pain and realities of a beautiful life that teaches it is thankfully no longer our own and never beyond His loving hand.

With God's Love,
joe

The Journey

2007-12-14T10:40:00.000-05:00

The following came from a great conversation that I was blessed to have recently with a family member...

Check out what Paul writes in Phil 3:12-14: "12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

What I think is so amazing about what Paul is saying is that we don't struggle and strain in order to achieve the goal. God already did that through Christ. The struggle and strain is the constant work we do with the Holy Spirit to intentionally move out of our former cocoon (the remnant of the sinful nature that tries to keep us in bondage even though we are already made free from it) amidst this often evil world that tries to keep us there.

What is so hard about the struggle (and why, ironically in the end it sharpens us so much for the Lord) is that so often it is what we see and touch and hear (the realities and temptations of this world) that scream that faith and surrender is a farce and powerless. Think about it. We are called to exercise faith in the unseen amidst all the evil that we do see. It can be terribly disheartening. And yet, with time what we thought had limited power against the forces all around us that we see every day actually is the only answer.

If not God...
If not our faith in Him and His promises...
If not eternal life in Heaven...

What a miserable life it truly would be.

So, having run the above story over and over and over again in our hearts, minds and lives, we have and exercise our faith because it is God's answer and it is the only answer.

While we are here before Heaven, we, like Paul, live a life holding on, taking hold, pressing forward and straining out of the cocoon. We do so intentionally in spite of the evil world that we see... somehow sharing God's love for the lost (as we once were) that make it that way...and somehow ending up in His army to serve it.

Evangelism Part 2

2007-12-12T12:21:00.000-05:00

I thought I would I expand a little on my last post. I recently viewed a message by Ray Comfort entitled, Hell's Best Kept Secret. I would strongly encourage anyone reading this to watch that message.

The message really made me think the kinds of things that I wrote about in the last post. Essentially, that the Law is there as a great teacher of the lost of their sinfulness before our Holy God and impossibility to be righteous before Him apart from faith in Jesus Christ. One way we can love others is to allow God's Law to convict them of their sinfulness, and guilt before God as motivation to repent and put their faith in Christ. Personally, this is a message that I needed to hear and be ready to gently share as the Lord leads.

Evangelism

2007-12-08T19:36:00.001-05:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about hyocrisy. Not the hyprocisy of others - my own. Just a couple searing questions that I feel the Holy Spirit has been illuminating to me - actually one question framed twice: If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the literally eternal life to him that believes..if this is the most important message in history then what I am doing to share it. Relatedly, if rejection of the Gospel is eternal death to him who rejects it outrightly or through "ignorance" then what I am doing to rightly convey it. What does rightly conveying it mean? Is it the message of the law, grace or apologetics? Is it all of these? Before I get off on a rabbit trail trying to hide behind the original question by framing it academically, let me quickly return to: What am I doing to share it? The answer - not enough. I think that I have found too much comfort in relationship evangelism and have not gently confronted the lost their (all of our need)for Jesus Christ who died in the place of their sins before our Holy God.

A date which will live in infamy

2007-12-07T07:45:00.000-05:00

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Sunday, December 7, 1941

Sequence of Events

Saturday, December 6 - Washington D.C. - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt makes a final appeal to the Emperor of Japan for peace. There is no reply. Late this same day, the U.S. code-breaking service begins intercepting a 14-part Japanese message and deciphers the first 13 parts, passing them on to the President and Secretary of State. The Americans believe a Japanese attack is imminent, most likely somewhere in Southeast Asia.

Sunday, December 7 - Washington D.C. - The last part of the Japanese message, stating that diplomatic relations with the U.S. are to be broken off, reaches Washington in the morning and is decoded at approximately 9 a.m. About an hour later, another Japanese message is intercepted. It instructs the Japanese embassy to deliver the main message to the Americans at 1 p.m. The Americans realize this time corresponds with early morning time in Pearl Harbor, which is several hours behind. The U.S. War Department then sends out an alert but uses a commercial telegraph because radio contact with Hawaii is temporarily broken. Delays prevent the alert from arriving at headquarters in Oahu until noontime (Hawaii time) four hours after the attack has already begun.

Sunday, December 7 - Islands of Hawaii, near Oahu - The Japanese attack force under the command of Admiral Nagumo, consisting of six carriers with 423 planes, is about to attack. At 6 a.m., the first attack wave of 183 Japanese planes takes off from the carriers located 230 miles north of Oahu and heads for the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor - At 7:02 a.m., two Army operators at Oahu's northern shore radar station detect the Japanese air attack approaching and contact a junior officer who disregards their reports, thinking they are American B-17 planes which are expected in from the U.S. west coast.

Near Oahu - At 7:15 a.m., a second attack wave of 167 planes takes off from the Japanese carriers and heads for Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor is not on a state on high alert. Senior commanders have concluded, based on available intelligence, there is no reason to believe an attack is imminent. Aircraft are therefore left parked wingtip to wingtip on airfields, anti-aircraft guns are unmanned with many ammunition boxes kept locked in accordance with peacetime regulations. There are also no torpedo nets protecting the fleet anchorage. And since it is Sunday morning, many officers and crewmen are leisurely ashore.

At 7:53 a.m., the first Japanese assault wave, with 51 'Val' dive bombers, 40 'Kate' torpedo bombers, 50 high level bombers and 43 'Zero' fighters, commences the attack with flight commander, Mitsuo Fuchida, sounding the battle cry: "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!).

The Americans are taken completely by surprise. The first attack wave targets airfields and battleships. The second wave targets other ships and shipyard facilities. The air raid lasts until 9:45 a.m. Eight battleships are damaged, with five sunk. Three light cruisers, three destroyers and three smaller vessels are lost along with 188 aircraft. The Japanese lose 27 planes and five midget submarines which attempted to penetrate the inner harbor and launch torpedoes.

Escaping damage from the attack are the prime targets, the three U.S. Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers, Lexington, Enterprise and Saratoga, which were not in the port. Also escaping damage are the base fuel tanks.

The casualty list includes 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed, with 1,178 wounded. Included are 1,104 men aboard the Battleship USS Arizona killed after a 1,760-pound air bomb penetrated into the forward magazine causing catastrophic explosions.

In Washington, various delays prevent the Japanese diplomats from presenting their war message to Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, until 2:30 p.m. (Washington time) just as the first reports of the air raid at Pearl Harbor are being read by Hull.

News of the "sneak attack" is broadcast to the American public via radio bulletins, with many popular Sunday afternoon entertainment programs being interrupted. The news sends a shockwave across the nation and results in a tremendous influx of young volunteers into the U.S. armed forces. The attack also unites the nation behind the President and effectively ends isolationist sentiment in the country.

Monday, December 8 - The United States and Britain declare war on Japan with President Roosevelt calling December 7, "a date which will live in infamy..."

Thursday, December 11 - Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The European and Southeast Asian wars have now become a global conflict with the Axis powers; Japan, Germany and Italy, united against America, Britain, France, and their Allies.

Wednesday, December 17 - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz becomes the new commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Both senior commanders at Pearl Harbor; Navy Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, and Army Lt. General Walter C. Short, were relieved of their duties following the attack. Subsequent investigations will fault the men for failing to adopt adequate defense measures.

Please pray for our military and their families

It has been a while

2007-12-06T09:56:00.000-05:00

For those who are reading this blog you will notice a couple differences in the entries: First, they may be less frequent than when I was in CH-BOLC; and, Second they will be more personal and perhaps less practical than my day by day account of Chaplaincy training in Fort Jackson. About the second part, I have decided to continue this blog to capture the ups and downs and in-betweens of continuing to prepare for ministry. I want to have a record for myself and others of how the Lord was working in and through me as I enter my last year of seminary.

The blog today will be something that I wrote as I wrestled with the Chaplaincy and the reality of deployments and being away from my wife etc.

Here goes:

Have you ever seen someone on the highway who needed help with a flat tire and yet you chose to keep driving by. I have. You see the need, you know you can help but lack of time or other excuses keep your foot on the pedal as you pass right on by.

As you do, you genuinely hope that someone else stops to lend the hand that you didn't. As you come to your destination, you have that nagging lament that you weren't the one to do it.

That Godly part of you that was over-ruled by the practical part of you is still back there on the side of the road with the disabled vehicle and its passengers. That practical part of you now at the destination feels incomplete and unsatisfied.

All because of that wandering ministerial eye of ours who saw the disabled motorist on the side of the highway. Oh, If my eyes had not glanced over there!

CH-BOLC was like that for me. It introduced me to a whole new side of and need for ministry. It also introduced me again to that part of me that does not want to stop and lend the hand. The costs are huge: doing so means leaving my wife, family, comfort etc. However, not doing so means that I leave a piece of me on the side of the road and don't serve those who need the Lord.

Furthermore, I realize that this thing we call ministry will forever introduce us to more and more disabled motorists and potential ministries to serve them. With each mile I pass these and don't stop I fear that I may harden.

This heart that the Lord has blessed us with can be "curse" if not in Service for Him. And yet it is the tension in the "curse of the minister's heart" that finally leads us to stop the car and lend the hand.

Finally, we stop and see the real blessing of being in His service and yet do so fully aware of the costs of stopping AND the costs of driving by.

Pictures

2007-11-02T08:45:00.001-04:00

Psalm 91
1 The person who rests in the shadow of the Most High God
will be kept safe by the Mighty One.
2 I will say about the Lord,
"He is my place of safety.
He is like a fort to me.
He is my God. I trust in him."
3 He will certainly save you from hidden traps
and from deadly sickness.
4 He will cover you with his wings.
Under the feathers of his wings you will find safety.
He is faithful. He will keep you safe like a shield or a tower.
5 You won't have to be afraid of the terrors that come during the night.
You won't have to fear the arrows that come at you during the day.
6 You won't have to be afraid of the sickness that attacks in the darkness.
You won't have to fear the plague that destroys at noon.

BACK HOME!

2007-11-02T08:20:00.000-04:00

Howdy y'all. Sorry for the lag in postings. And this one will be a little short but sweet. I AM BACK HOME! What an amazing and overwhelming time at CH-BOLC it was. But there is no substitute for being at home with your wife and fam!

The above pics are the 2 platoons of my class on my last day at CH-BOLC.

The Lord opened many figurative and literal doors for me over the last several weeks and my head and heart are still stirring and spinning from it! I know that I will be "processing" for a long time. That will be challenging but I know that I will grow in it!

In a short time, I made many strong bonds with the other Chaplains down at CH-BOLC. What a lesson that is about the deep bonds that can be forged with other believers when we, in unity, set ourselves to His task. There is a sermon somewhere in that one. This may sound very strange, but there is a part of me that feels like I should be back at Fort Jackson.

Please pray for the leaders of our country, our soldiers, their families and even our "enemies".

Blessings,
joe

Chief of Chaplains

2007-10-18T19:04:00.000-04:00

The Army Chief of Chaplains, Chaplain (Major General) Carver recently came to the Chaplain School at Fort Jackson. We began the day with a Regimental Run with CH Carver and all members of the Chaplain School here. Very cool! After Chapel service Chaplain Carver spoke to the group. Even when an individual becomes a 2 Star General, like Chaplain Carver, the title of Chaplain remains the same. Now that's the right focus!

Why we need Chaplains in the military

2007-10-16T19:25:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. I just checked my email and there was a message from my mom telling me that ABCNEWS just aired a story on US Army Chaplains down here at the Army Chaplain School in Fort Jackson, SC. I found the story and the video of the report.

Would you take a moment and check out the story at the following link and watch the video that's available on the upper right of the page?

Blessings,
joe

http://www.abcnews.go.com/WN/Story?id=3736706&page=2

Week 4: 1 More Day Basic Officers Course

2007-10-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

Howdy everyone. Today was a great day. Even though we technically don't complete the first phase of CH-BOLC until EOD tomorrow, for all intents and purposes, we are finished. One of the ways that this military rite of passage is commemorated is by the donning of the Beret ceremony. A rich and special history and a proud moment!

Above is a picture...

Week 3 - In the Field

2007-10-07T18:53:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. Sorry it has been so long since the last update. I was on a 3 day field exercise. Yes, tents, cots, no showers - just wipes, MREs (meals ready to eat - just add water)and the lovely military latrine (which no matter what time nature calls you out of your tent you are required to be in full uniform - yes even at 0300. Actually, it wasn't that bad. Sometimes were really hard, sometimes really intense, sometimes exhausting, sometimes boring and often inspiring. Like the rest of my time here my respect for those who serve our Country, their professionalism and selflessness just keeps growing.

Unfortunately, I cannot go into a lot of details about what we did on field exercise since we have been instructed not to give details since our enemies do read military-related blogs such as this one. I can tell you that we did a lot of land and night navigation, warrior skills training and many other exercises that involved our faces firmly planted in the mud for 75 yard long low crawls with 60 lbs of gear on you. That is the most physically challenging thing I have done since I have been here. You learn to keep your tail down when live ammo is flying overhead!

One of the things I enjoyed the most was when one of the Chaplains gave a field worship service right in the middle of the pine trees. The service was at night and the only light was from the stars and a chem-light. That was really neat.

The 72 hour exercise ended late Thurs. evening in the same uniform I wore to the exercise 3 days earlier. We all were covered in sand, mud, and stench. In fact, when we all arrived back at quarters, most entered the shower in their uniform. When I was done, I had a small sandbox in my shower! By the way, sand gets everywhere and takes days before it finally gets off the skin.

Friday was a light day and I have been enjoying having some time off this weekend and a bed to sleep in again! Good thing for the extra time. The Army gave us about 12 hours of homework to do - yeah, homework. I was a little frustrated with that but then I went to 2 worship services today on the Post, and the Lord refreshed my spirit.

One more very important thing...A lil tribute to my wife! She has really made it possible for me to be here. Just one example - she managed the ENTIRE move of our home over the last 2 weeks (packing, moving, unpacking -- thanks to her friend Kristin and her mom and dad for helping her last weekend). And then she and her friend, Amy painted our new place this weekend. Now to that mix add that she is taking three grad classes and working full time. I don't know how she does it! AMAZING! It really makes me think what heroes the spouses of the soldiers who are deployed to war really are. They deserve every bit of gratitude the soldier does!

I hope that you enjoy the pics. Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement.

Blessings,
joe

Week 3: Day 1

2007-10-01T18:41:00.000-04:00

Today we finished our map reading course to prepare for our upcoming land navigation exercise in the field this week: in other words, find a location on a map and use a compass to navigate to that point. I hope I don't get famous by being "that guy" who gets lost in the woods - ha!

We spent the second half of the day learning life saving skills for combat: CPR,treatment for wounds, persons in shock and how to clear blocked airway etc. We had a fantastic instructor. He has served as a combat medic in Iraq - what he taught us today was from personal exeperience.

A couple things to highlight in the pics below. One: you will notice that I wore my running shoes with my Army Combat Uniform (because of my in-grown toe nail). It was really wierd to be in unifrom and not be in my boots. Two: there are a couple pictures below of one of the chapels that are on post. One assignment that I really like is that all of us in the CH-BOLC class are required to go to 12 chapel services (including all faith groups - muslim, jewish, catholic, mormon, gospel, lutheran, contemporary, etc.) and wrte a reflective paper on each service.

More Pictures

2007-09-28T20:11:00.001-04:00

Photo credits to LT Johnson. Thanks!

Week 2: Day 5

2007-09-28T19:21:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone. Sorry that I have not been posting to the blog as often. We have been really busy and really tired. As I write this note I have concluded two weeks here at Fort Jackson. What an experience it has been already and there are four more weeks to go. Before I get too far into letting you know about what's happening here, allow me to say how much I appreciate your prayers and encouragement. Sometimes you forget how blessed you are to have the souse, family and friends that you have and then you go through an experience that stretches you and you are reminded how priceless they are.

OK you read yesterday about getting through the gas chamber, now let me catch you up on more happenings. In the last 36 hours I have learned to operate a military radio and to properly form, send receive and decipher radio messages. As part of that process I have learned a "new" language. It goes like this: Victor One two Alpha Charlie this is Foxtrot Golf Tree Niner...and with a few Roger, copy, Wilcal etc. thrown in too. Also, I am learning land navigation skills. How to read a military map, find and plot a location and, on Monday, to use a compass to navigate coordinates in the field.

Also, I have been toughing out a couple injuries for the last four days, until finally the pain got to be a little much yesterday. Injury one is a cantaloupe size bruise on my thigh that I earned in one of the ranges that we ran earlier in the week (basically, I had to support a 12 ft long, 4 by 4 piece of lumber as I lowered it so it could be used as a bridge - unfortunately my thigh became the pivot point for the lumber. Injury two is or was an in-grown toenail. I soaked it every day for a week, applied ointment twice a day, but these actions were no match for combat boots and road marches. So, this morning I went to the clinic and had the nail removed. This really worked out well since I have the weekend for some healing time. If you would, please pray that these injuries will quickly heal. Next week we have a three day field exercise in the forest and it would be a blessing if I was as close to 100% as possible.

While I was at the clinic I met a few enlisted soldiers. It is really bizarre to me to be called sir all the time and saluted. I always feel that I should be saluting them. In speaking with these soldiers, I piece their stories together. Why they are at Fort Jackson (usually Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training), how long it has been since they have been home (one soldier today – likely 18 years old- had not seen anyone from home for several months and has a few month left to go). Also, you hear that some of these soldiers come from poor families who do not have the funds to come visit their son or daughter. These are the brave soldiers who are serving our Country folks. And they choose to serve! These are just some of the challenges and sacrifices that they face for us. And, this is just around getting through basic training… let alone upcoming deployments to Iraq. Are these brave young men and women hereos or what?!

Thank a soldier for his or her service today!

For Him,
js

2007-09-27T20:50:00.001-04:00

Thanks to LT Johnson for the pics!

Our entire class went into the Gas House today and experienced being gassed. Not pleasant...but we all made it through. I couldn't help but think of the many many Jews who died in such gas chambers.

Week 2: Day 1

2007-09-24T18:14:00.000-04:00

(By the way - credit for these pics goes to my classmate CH Johnson! Thanks Chaplain!)

Today was incredible and physically taxing. We went to navigate the confidence course today. There were 5 obstacles that we navigated in teams. Each obstacle required teamwork. Some obstacles were fairly straightforward: such as Jacob's Ladder (40 feet high, pause at the top and look down, swing your leg over and climb down. So the main thing there was the muscle for the climb and the mental discipline to push through your mind screaming, "what am I doing up here with out anything between me and mother earth?" Other obstacles were tougher.

One particular obstacle was a four story platform that we had to climb up in teams of four. The best way I can explain it is that we were climbing up the outside of a four-story building one-story at a time. The way it is designed you must have the help of your team to get up each floor. And the person climbing must trust their team mates because if they let you go - you drop. It was really a blast (and scary and hard and I have many bruises to prove it). I would not have traded that experience or the rappelling experience yesterday for anything! These activities locate your comfort zone physically and mentally and then petty much shatter those boundaries.

Two other highlights of the day: 1)a briefing and Q&A from the US ARMY Chaplain School Commandant (A COL with nearly 30 years as a US Army Chaplain with a huge heart for the soldiers of our Country.) And, his wife also took some time with us to give perspective of the life from the view of a spouse. It really made me feel like the Chaplain Corp is one big supportive family that extends beyond the Army Chaplain to include his or her spouse. 2) We toured the US ARMY Chaplain Museum. There were photos and artifacts that date to the beginning of the Chaplain Corp on 29JUL1775. There is a long legacy of Chaplains serving God and Country - pretty incredible!

Tomorrow we have a longer road march to another range. We will wear most of our gear for that march (about 50lbs). Can you imagine soldiers carrying all this gear and more in the heat of Iraq? Please keep them, their spouses and our leaders in your prayers.

By the way, Thursday, is the gas range where we take off our gas masks and get gassed! I will be sure to get that pic posted.

Blessings,
joe

2007-09-23T20:11:00.000-04:00

Week 1: Day 6 (Friday)

2007-09-22T09:11:00.000-04:00

Today was an HOOAH day for a number of reasons:

1) I passed my Army Fitness Test: 2 mile run (15:37), push-ups (45) and sit-ups (48) and I met the weight/measurement standards for my height. These numbers may not sound like they are very high - but I am pleased with how I did - especially since the NCO is standing directly over you counting out the push-up or sit-ups that are according to proper form and therefore count and those NOT according to form and therefore don't count. New folks like me invariably do many more push-ups and sit-ups than actually count in your official score. Hey...that's how you learn!

2) Our class did hours of drill and ceremony in Army Combat Uniform (right face, left face, about face, attention, parade rest, stand at ease, rest, salute AND many marching variations). At the end of the day, the two platoons competed against each other to see who could execute drill and ceremony the best (we did so in front of the NCOs and some drill sergeants who wanted to check us out). My platoon won HOOAH!

3) After a very full day, several of us in my platoon carried our sore feet and muscles off post to fellowship at a nearby Asian restaurant. It was great to have more time to get to know more of my classmates. The quality of these soldiers amazes me. Everyone here has or is working toward a Masters Degree (a few have or are working toward doctorate degrees). More important is that everyone has significant ministry experience (civilian and/or military).

Saturday: includes formation, and a road march to victory tower -- a confidence course that includes climbing and repelling. If Heights worry me at all now, that we be history by this evening.

For God and Country,
Joe

Week 1: Day 5

2007-09-20T19:09:00.000-04:00

HOOAH! Is a word that I never used before the ARMY but... since I have arrived at Fort Jackson, I have used it 30 times a day - especially to respond to the NCOs who are training our class. Today, we reported in formation in our Army Combat Uniforms (ACUs) for the first time. Guess what? I passed visual inspection. Now that deserves a HOOAH!

After formation, we did our first road march on Post as a class (albeit a short one) replete with NCO singing the cadence and the class responding (ok, yelling) back in song: left, left, left right left. I really felt "official" for the first time. Another HOOAH!

An equally big highlight today (as it is everyday) is chapel. We meet for about 30 mins everyday at the Army Chaplain School to worship the Lord and to hear God's Word preached. Think about that. Real soldiers in US Army who are also clergy meeting everyday for chapel! That is standard practice on a seminary campus...but what a neat suprise and blessing to have this daily on an Army Post!

Finally, another highlight was the opportunity to have a Q&A session with our course manager who manages the CH-BOLC course and has many years experence as a Chaplain. In fact, he is also a Ranger and did much of his chaplain field experience serving Special Forces Soldiers. Above all that, he is a gifted expositor and leader! Also, my platoon has a gifted CH (MAJ) directly assigned to us. He is incredibly approachable and knowledgable. Another gifted man of God. Please pray for these men and the many others at the Army Chaplain School who have given their lives to serve soldiers, our country and to prepare others to do the same.

The Army Fitness Test is tomorrow! Time to wind down...

HOOAH & Blessings,
joe

Week 1:Days 3-4

2007-09-19T18:54:00.000-04:00

Howdy everyone. Well, it is only Wednesday night and I must admit it feels like I have been here for 2 weeks. Not in a bad way but when the days start before 0500 and end at 1900 (7PM) it feels like two days in one.

The last two days have still been around in-processing: Medical tests, dental exams, briefings, getting our field gear issued and squared away etc. Also, we have been purchasing/assembling our Army Combat Uniform. You would probably be surpised to know how much time it takes to get a soldier's gear and uniform together and maintained in inspection shape - especially for folks like me with no prior military experience.

I have to say that it has been really humbling to be in this environment since I really know nothing of things military. The detail seems incredible and of course everything must be according to regulation. However, the people here who have served have been extremely helpful to those of us who have not. The key for me is to translate my discomfort into empathy for those 17-20 year olds who feel the same way but much more intensely.

A couple upcoming big events: 1) Tomorrow is the first day that we will wear the Army Combat Uniform here. Everyone is really excited to wear it since we all feel very strange in civilian clothes on the Post. 2) Friday is the Army Fitness Test. Timed sit-ups, push-ups and 2 mile run. Please keep me in your prayers - I need them. 3) Saturday is victory tower: We climb and then repel down a tower that is 70 to 120 feet tall (I have heard different reports).

Did you know...that 3 or more Chaplains in our class are deploying to Afghanistan or Iraq within weeks of graduating from CH-BOLC? These people really need our prayers. All of them to be deployed are married with children and at least one is from the National Guard (that good man pastors a church, presides over a Christian school and is married with four kids). After this school, he will see his family for 2 weeks and then deploy to Iraq for 15 months. All these sacrifices to minister to soldiers and to serve his country. And, Of Course there are more than 100,000 soldiers already in Iraq (and there families here) that need our prayers.

Remember: I cannot be deployed until I graduate from seminary and decide to fully join as a Chaplain and get approved. So deployment for me is a long way off.

A prayer request for me if you would: You may know that Michelle and I are moving closer to church. Unfortunately Michelle has to execute this move without my help. Please pray that all goes well for her. She has really been the one to make it possible for me to be here! Thank you honey!

Thanks for all of your prayers and encouraging comments. You truly a blessing!

Week 1: Days 1 & 2

2007-09-16T19:16:00.000-04:00

Thank God! After an 11 and a half hour drive - I have arrived at Fort Jackson, SC. I was planning to leave Friday evening and drive half-way but I ended up driving all of it on Saturday -- up and out at 0500! Michelle thinks that I did not leave on Friday night because I needed to do more work on a paper for seminary. Actually it was because I wanted to soak up every last minute with her before I left. And I have to say this, if not for all the things Michelle did to help me get here - I simply would not have made it. I am blessed!

Although I did not officially have to report until today at 1300(Sunday), I arrived yesterday (Saturday). Chaplain (MAJ) McRina who did so much to help me become a Chaplain Candidate told me to come a day early. That was fantastic advice. It gave me the opportunity to get the lay of the land and get my living quarters set up.

Also, I had the pleasure of meeting a new friend, Rob. He is also a Chaplain Candidate and also down here for Chaplain Basic Officer Leader Course (affectionately known at Fot Jackson as CH-BOLC. CH-BOLC is pronounced like this, "CHA-BOW-LICK"). Rob has already been a great help to me: his dad was in the Army for over 30 years - a reitred COL. Rob, grew up in the military culture and has been helping to get me up to speed: for example, in the Army, the military installation is called a post (not a base - as it is for the Navy or Air Force), the Comissary is the grocery store for the post, and the PBX is the Post exchange (a Wal-Mart like shopping mall for the folks on post). This is all new to me.

There have been a couple pleasant suprises: specifically, the living quarters and the training facilities. At the moment, I cannot say that I am roughing it. I have a 1BR apartment here, with a kitchen, bedroom, family room, 2 TVs with cable and high speed internet access. I'll have to get some pics posted soon. The Army Chaplain School facility is right across the way from where I am staying. It is a beautiful and modern complex.

So what have I been doing down here?
This morning, Rob and I and went to two worship services today: one was more tradtional and the other was more contemporary. And yet, at both chapels, The Lord was worshipped, God's Word was preached faithfully and I pray that hearts were changed.

This afternoon at 1500 we had our first official meeting. There are 45 Chaplains here for CH-BOLC. Tonight we did a few hours of in-processing (the military term for heavy paperwork!). Also we were split into platoons and tomorrow likely into squads.

I have met many great people down here already. It is so neat to think that these folks are called by God into the same ministry as I am and yet from such diverse places and journeys in life. The Lord knows what he is doing!

What's up for tommorrow?
Well, we have formation at 0600 (still in civilian clothes - we will not be in uniform until Thursday). But a few of us hard core students are meeting for a run at 0500 -- HOOAH! Can you beleve it - I have run every day so far down here and offical PT hasn't even started - Thank you Lord for the energy!

In addition to many more hours of in-processing tomorrow, I think we will be taken over to the military clothing store to purchase our Army Combat Uniform (ACU) and PT Uniform. Also, I will be taken to the barber on post and say goodbye to my hair. YIKES!

One more thing...the whole reason that I am here is to learn how to serve and minister to soldiers and their families. It has been so neat to see all the soldiers down here who have volunteered to serve our country. Especially for those that look so young -- I wonder how they are doing away from their families, what they have seen and will see as soldiers and where they are emotionally and spiritually.

I want to feel the full force of missing Michelle, family and friends and the loss of automony (that I took for granted amidst all the comforts of home). I want to feel those things because that is what these young soldiers must feel many more tmes over. Of course, none of this is really about me at all but it is about building empathy for soldiers by walking some in their shoes.

I want to thank all of you who are praying for Michelle and me! I cannot tell you how comforting it is to us to know you care and that we trust that God is listening.

Well that's it for today...0445 will come early tomorrow!

God Bless all of You!

For God & Country,
2LT Joe Salem

New Stuff!

2007-09-07T09:20:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. This will be a short post to let you know about some changes on the site that we have made. If you look to the right, you will notice three new "gadgets".

Gadget 1 to the right on this page...has passages from Proverbs and the New Testament that you can click on (these change everyday). Doing so will launch that passage so that you can view it. By default, the passage will launch in the KJV. If you wish, you can select another version such as NASB or NIV.

Gadget 2&3 a little further down has a place for you to do searches for articles on apologetics (concerned with defending the Christian Faith) and in theological journals. For example, you might choose to type in and search on "Salvation". Doing so will launch a list of theological journal articles regarding that topic.

Pretty cool huh?

Blessings,
Joe

Chaplaincy Training coming up fast!

2007-08-28T11:11:00.001-04:00

Green light for Chaplaincy Training...

Hi everyone. Everything is a go for me to attend the six-week, Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course (CHBOLC)on 9/16. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for Michelle and me. Among the many praise reports we have of late is that my work has approved my leave of absence to attend this training. God is Good!

One more thing...

I have the incredible honor and responsibility to offer the sermon this Sunday at Church. If you would like to come (Sun., Sept. 2 @ 10 AM), please let me know and I'll provide you with all the details.

Blessings,
joe

Neat Video

2007-08-21T23:22:00.001-04:00

I saw this video on a Chaplain's website and had to post it here. Please take a moment and watch this. There is a ministry touchpoint to every scene of this movie. This is why I have a passion to serve these hereos and their families and to witness the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

2007-08-18T20:39:00.001-04:00

Thank You!
First, Michelle and I want to say thanks for the overwhelming response we received about this website and our announcement. It was truly an encouragement and a confirmation for us. There is such a peace that comes when fellow believers are used by the Lord to confirm His work.

A few had questions about the website…
First, about the US Army Chaplain Insignia above: the Latin phrase on it, “Pro Deo Et Patria”, means, “For God and Country” - the mission of the Army Chaplaincy and the title of our website. Speaking of the title of the site, you may have noticed the words, “Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage.” Those words are not mine. These words explain the Core Values of the Army. One more note about the site. You can post responses to the site if you get a free gmail.com account. Just keep in mind that what you post is available for anyone to see.

So here’s what’s new…
First, last Friday, I requested a 6 week leave of absence from work in order to attend the Officer Training Course. We are not sure whether they will approve my leave or not. Please pray that God’s Will would be done with this. Frankly, we are unsure if this will be the time that the Lord moves me out of secular work and into full time ministry or if He will still pave the way for me to keep my secular job while I finish seminary. As you might imagine, Michelle and I are really wondering which way it will go. My work should have an answer regarding whether they are going to approve my leave or not within a week. Thanks to God, we are amazingly at peace in the waiting.

Second, my quest to get into shape (a.k.a. battle of the bulge, or “I have a weight problem – I can’t wait to eat” – ha!) seems to be working. When I started, I weighed 220 lbs. Today, I was below 200 lbs. for the first time since I started. Why the focus on weight? Well, since a Chaplain is not only a Pastor but also a soldier, he must be within the Army’s fitness guidelines. That means for my height, that I must weigh 194 lbs. or fewer. So, I have a month left and 5 to 6 more lbs. to lose. Praise God, it looks like I am going to make it. Another thing about the official guidelines is that I must meet the minimum guidelines for the 2 mile run, push-ups and sit-ups. Of course the training that I have been doing to prepare for these guidelines is certainly helping me hit the weight goal. All of this training reminds me two-a-days when I played football some 20 years ago.

In closing...
One huge praise report that I have to give is to my wife, Michelle. She has been a tremendous partner in all of this! She has generously given me her ear, her voice, her heart and her prayers. All of that amidst working full time and being in Graduate School – yeah, she’s pretty amazing and I am Blessed.

That’s it for today…Please pray for our Country and our Soldiers and their families.

Pro Deo et Patria,
Joe

2007-08-09T10:37:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. Michelle and I have some great news to share. After a ton of research, thinking and praying about this, we have decided to accept the call to enter the Ministry in the military! In fact, recently at church I was sworn in as an officer (Second Lieutenant) in the Army. What this means is that I am now in the Military Chaplain Candidate Program. This allows me to take formal military and chaplaincy training (up to 45 days per year while I finish Seminary). Then, once I finish my Master of Divinity degree in March of 2009, I will enter full-time active duty as a US Army Chaplain. At that time, Michelle and I may be stationed at any Army base in the world or, if at war, to the battlefield.

Why the military chaplaincy?
Well, I can tell you this - this was not on our radar until about a year ago. What has been on my heart consistently for several years is being a help to college-age men and women. I don't know about you but I remember when I was that age and how I struggled to find what life was all about, who I was, what I was going to do with my life etc. For the last few years, Michelle and I have led a college-age Sunday school in Flint and now, at our church in Livonia to walk alongside young men and women as they face these same issues during this formative and often confounding time in their lives.

In fact, it was in one of our Sunday School classes at Riverdale Baptist Church in Flint that one of the girls in the group invited her brother to join the class. Her brother had just come back from serving in Iraq and expected to be re-deployed in the near future. I remember trying to process the gratitude I had for him, the compassion I had for his sister and the rest of her family that worried daily for him. And, I also thought that this courageous young man was the age of two of my nephews.

This seemed altogether too young to be facing death 15,000 miles from home in a culture that probably did not want to hear about anything that might look like fear or weakness. What was connected at that moment was my own growing pains at that time in my life, my passion to be a help to others going through the same and my compassion for these young men and women going through that in a war situation -- perhaps with no one there to walk alongside them.

I want to be one of those persons that these young men and women can trust enough to come to for help in any way I can provide it. I have no doubt that this is what the Lord wants Michelle and me to do!

What will I do as a Military Chaplain?
A chaplain is both an ordained minister and an officer in the military. A chaplain in the US Military is either a Pastor, Rabbi, Priest or Imam (Muslim Priest) who is clergy to a battalion (usually 800-1200 soldiers). Chaplains do all activities done by civilian clergy such as preaching, teaching, counseling, communion, baptisms, weddings, hospital visitations & funerals. What of course is different is the context: the military setting and all that goes with it and the families of soldiers at home.

What's Next?
Quite a bit. In fact, in mid-September I leave for Fort Jackson, S.C. to attend the first six weeks of the Army Chaplain Officer School (essentially - basic training for Chaplains. And yes, PT every morning at 0500, climbing, repelling, marching etc. Everything that a soldier does except carry a weapon. My weapon will be the Word!). After I return from training, I will immediately begin my final year of seminary. Lord willing, I will graduate in March of 2009, be ordained and then be deployed as a full-time Chaplain.

It is going to be an incredible ride together as Michelle and I serve the Lord in this way! We could really use your prayers as we begin this exciting and challenging life of ministry together.

For Him,
2LT Joe Salem

Thoughts on 1 Cor. 15:55-57

2007-08-01T12:46:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. If you have a moment today, think deeply about your perspective on life. Are your perspective and cares driven more by the here and now or driven on the Blessed eternal perspective gifted to us by our Savior?

The Lord has really been driving this home to me lately.
I believe that our true freedom and joy is found by internalizing His eternal gift of grace. Or said another way, realizing that through Christ, it has all already been settled!

It is true! Our eternity as believers has already been purchased by the precious Blood of Christ. We are going to be immediately with our Savior either when we we die or when Christ returns -- whichever comes first. As Paul writes in the passage below, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

Praise God, when Christ defeated death, He did so for all who would trust Him.

So here is the question: Are you living with an eternal perspective founded on the truth that Christ has paid the ultimate price to give to you? No matter your season and circumstances, are you experiencing the overwhelming Joy from the fact that, through Christ, "it is finished"? Is your life centered around the work of Lord wherever you are right now?

Please read the passage below. Notice three key parts: 1) Paul's declaration of the absolute necessity of the Gospel of Christ for perishable and sinful mankind to be able to inherit eternal life (v. 50-53); 2) The Blessed result of the Gospel: Victory over death (v. 53-57); and, 3) the command to believers to not be shaken and to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord.

If I may, I want to take a shot at what I believe Paul is saying:

If we do not deeply make personal the Gospel of Jesus Christ (the death, burial and resurrection - 1 Cor 15:1-4), then we cannot even begin to appreciate the ultimate victory and Blessed future that Christ has gifted to every believer. And, without that eternal perspective and the unspeakable gratitude for the priceless gift of God's grace through His Son, Jesus Christ, then we will never have the steadfastness in Christ to willingly and joyfully devote our lives to His work in His Name and for His Kingdom.

For Him,
Joe Salem

Here is the passage from 1 Corinthians 15.

50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." [g] 55"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"[ h] 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Day 1

2007-07-26T16:45:00.000-04:00

The purpose of this blog is to share progress with family and friends