For those of us in a military ministry, we get many chances to present the Gospel of Christ to a group of men and women who normally wouldn't hear it because their duty takes them to exotic places around the globe. Whether it be the mountains of Afghanistan, in the middle of the Ocean or the base Chapel, Military Chaplains faithfully serve God band Country. When life may not make sense, they are the ones who bring hope in a world full of despair.
This month's blog and journal salutes those faithful Chaplains who minister day in and day out while serving all over this globe. The featured articles demonstrate a faithfulness of our Chaplains who use the written word in various military publications to present Christ to an often skeptical world. Their willingness to "Go out into all the World" for the glory of God is commendable. So, remember to pray not only for our brave men and women who serve in the military, but also our Chaplains who bring the Words of our Savior to them. God bless.
A Serious Problem by
Christopher S. Jordan, LT, CHC, USN
H&SBN Chaplain
I have recently begun to listen to several pastors and
Christian leaders talking about the current state of our culture. In the words
of Dennis Rainey, “Satan has strung together one victory after another in
creating a culture with the lowest standards of (sexual) purity. By devaluing
marriage and family, he is deadening the hearts of a generation, turning their
attentions entirely on themselves ... and away from God and His design.” So,
where do we go from here? How do we turn the tide?
There is a battle in our culture to reclaim our sexual
purity. Our orders are found in Ephesians 5. We often refer to Ephesians 5 as
the marriage chapter of the Bible, but we often skip down to verse 22. The
battle I want to talk about is in the first 16 verses of Ephesians 5.
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2
and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an
offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. 3 But
immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is
proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly
talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5
For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous
man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath
of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be
partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you
are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of
the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10
trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate
in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12
for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in
secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by
the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this
reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.”
15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
We live in a pornographic society. Sexual immorality in our
culture is rampant. Satan has introduced it slowly and now we face a huge
battle to recover our sexual purity. Pornography is writings, pictures, films, etc, designed to
stimulate sexual excitement. By this definition, pornography is openly displayed at the checkout lines and billboards of our stores on magazine covers that suggest how to have better sex
and usually include a scantily clad female. Audio pornography fills our radios
and iPods whether it is country, rap, or rock. We are bombarded by sexual
images on television, the internet, and billboards and magazines everywhere. A
common thread throughout all of these forms of pornography is the devaluing and
objectifying of women. Paul told Timothy, “treat older women as mothers and
younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.” But, some of us go to church and then go home and watch professional sports or any other TV show that tells us that a women’s only
value is physical. We let Satan spread lies through the media and tell us how
we should look and act to be of value.
The biggest problem is that we need more Christian men to
stand up and say something. If we will laugh at a dirty joke, and watch a
gratuitous sex scene in a movie because the overall message is “good”, if we
don’t flinch at sexual innuendos, and then stand before a pure, holy God on
Sunday expecting a blessing, then we are nothing more than christian aetheist. I
remember when watching a sitcom with sexual innuendos with my parents was
embarrassing, now we include them in children’s movies. I could go on but you
get the point, we must stop the downfall of our culture into sexual immorality.
CH (LTC) James D. Gray
Mobilized Reserve Chaplain covering
Wounded Warriors & Army Air Operations Group
“Prayer During Times
of Uncertainty”
Uncertainty, anxiety, and fear are emotions being
experienced within Our Nation, Our Congress, and Our U.S. Armed Forces as we confront
the woes and battles not only of conflicts in Afghanistan but also of a
worldwide economic decline. We as a people have fought and won many wars throughout our history and by God’s grace we will emerge as overcomers once again.
But as in all wars, victory requires costly sacrifice. Our Warriors, their families and our DoD
civilians understand this perhaps better than most of our fellow citizens. Yet, understanding does not take away the sting and hurt when war touches you personally.
But, moving forward to engage and defeat the enemy is what we in the
Department of Defense do for the sake of our Nation. We do so with courage, with honor, and with loyalty to and for our beloved Country. Even as the DoD has been engaged in wars across the globe for this last decade, so now we are being called to join those in our homeland to
do our part in engaging the economic battles here. It has already cost thousands of our
civilians their jobs with more cuts probably still to come. We in uniform can see that we will also now be asked to make the same sacrifices as so many of our civilian citizens have
made. We will face the same struggles that so many of our businesses have faced as they trimmed and cut to survive. Now we anticipate losing comrades not to enemies of war in a
foreign land but to troop reductions. I hope you will join me during these times in praying for our leaders. They need wisdom that sees beyond today’s issues since their decisions will impact tomorrow’s battles. They will need courage to stand when others may falter due to some political expediency.
May they stand the watch for our Nation and for our Nation’s Warriors
and DoD civilians. May we pray for all of those in authority whose decisions impact not only our personal peace but our National peace.
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;…for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight
of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the
knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4
And we ought also pray that God would bless those who are departing
from our ranks. May they take their spirit of service and training into our
civilian communities and succeed. May they…may we realize that the Lord desires to guide our steps and to bless us. So let us seek Him while He might be
found, especially in our times of uncertainty and need. For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of
evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go
and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13
Joseph, Impacting
Family, Culture, and a Nation
By Chaplain Steve
Brown (CAPT, CHC, USN)
The Life of Joseph is perhaps the greatest Old Testament example
of God’s control of our universe. God truly has the BIG PICTURE of all things, everywhere, at all times. Nothing surprises Him as He meticulously governs
His universe. This is clearly seen in His sovereignty and providence in the life of Joseph. Joseph said to his brothers, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God. But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to
save many people alive.” (Gen 50:19, 20)
Joseph, his father’s favorite son, was hated by his older
ten brothers. They decided to sell him into slavery to the Egyptians and then disguise
his disappearance to their father. Joseph becomes a slave in Potipher’s household. God prospers him and he is put in charge of everything in the home. Potipher’s wife
attempts to seduce Joseph (day after day) and he rightly and diligently resists
her advances. He is unjustly imprisoned for her false accusation of attempted rape. God prospers him again in prison and he is eventually put in charge of the whole facility. In
time, he interprets several dreams with the Lord’s help and is providentially elevated
to the second in command in all of Egypt.
What an incredible nonfiction story! Here one man, unjustly treated over the
course of many years nevertheless remains faithful to God. There are no references to Joseph’s
complaining about his lot in life. God prospers him as he remains faithful and maintains a right attitude.
The result, his life is spared. He is given great responsibility for his
faithfulness and wisdom. His family is spared, even those brothers who sold him into the whole mess. A nation is also spared as well. Think of it, a nation ignorant of Joseph’s
God, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians owed their lives to one man, Joseph and
his God.
God’s servant remained faithful despite what he could not
see and he did not understand. What a model for us Chaplains who live in a day that focuses on the next media sound bite which becomes irrelevant before the day’s end. Never forget that our God reigns and He always has the big picture in mind in our lives!
May God help us to see what He can do through us impacting families,
commands, and even other nations simply because we remain faithful to Him and
His word. With Joseph as a model, may we remain faithful, especially when we don’t understand why hardship and difficult people seem to thwart our faithful efforts.
“for in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28a).
Keep looking up. Victory is certain!
Do you walk in the darkness of negative thinking?
By CPT Dell
Harlow-Curtis
We spend hours and hours dwelling and ruminating on the negative and fearful things in our lives. Instead, our focus and attention needs to be on the positive, G-odly things that
will move us in the right direction. There is so much in
our lives that we cannot control. But we can choose to be happy regardless of
negative circumstances. It’s not "when I get a promotion, I’ll be happy....." or "when I can speak in front of a small group of people, I’ll be happy....." The focus should be on learning to be happy now.
Really, analyze your thoughts, your words, and your world. Do you find that you consider the
worst before you are convinced of the good? Do you feel you live on the edge of disaster, just inches away from collapse? Do you walk in the darkness of negative thinking?
Maybe it is time that you consider a new way of thinking. When we become saturated in
negative thinking, we play the role of the victim instead of the role of the
victor. It is as though we look for something bad to happen or believe that life is always half empty because of something unfortunate from the past that is unresolved. We become so dominated and oppressed that we cannot even find the energy to smile, much less encourage others when they are in need.
Okay, you may say to me that there seems to be someone
always "raining on your parade." I must say that sometimes that may be true. However, I have come to realize that when I concentrate on negative feelings towards these types of people, I allow the negative emotions to rob me of God's joy.
I allow the negative to rob me of feelings of peace and of safety. A wise teacher once reminded me "no one can make me feel anything without my permission." I am learning that I cannot control the actions or words of others, but I certainly can control myself.
Today, try to seek after the positives in simple things. Learn to relax and truly look
for possible joys that the Lord is trying to show you. Only you can control you. If you find yourself weak and all alone, call on Him and ask for His comfort. When the
clouds roll in and it feels as though it is going to be one of those days, challenge
yourself to see the good in the experience and how you may grow from it.
Determine that today is the day you choose to walk in the Light. Ask God to help you develop a
positive thought life. Immerse yourself in his Word. Pray. Over time, you will discover that you can control the way you think, choosing to focus on some thoughts and to reject others. The
following verse can be life changing. Write it out and post it where you will see it regularly, on your refrigerator, bathroom mirror, or the dashboard of your car. "Finally, brothers,
whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things (Philippians 4:8).
