Editor's Note: Every two weeks (or so) this blog will alternate between articles dealing with Chaplain issues in the military and book reports. The purpose for both is for a tool to encourage and provoke one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24). This particular blog for the AGC Shofar Journal features reviews on two books. Actually the first one is an audio book. The book "Radical" is one of the latest "trends" out there affecting Young Christians and how they see American culture in a Christian context. The second book review concerns the thoughts and heart of Evelyn Husband who lost her astronaut husband when the shuttle "Columbia" blew apart. Enjoy!
Book One:
Book One:
Book Review/Audio :
“Radical: Taking Back your faith from the American Dream” written by David Platt. Published by Christianaudio 2010. Reviewed by Bob Freiberg.
Every generation has a contemporary consciousness about what is going on around them in society. In “Radical,” David Platt has questioned America’s quest for materialism. This book is very popular in young Christian circles because in very practical terms, Platt gives personal examples of how a Christian can better serve the Lord. As a pastor of a large mega church, the author makes a clarion call for all to give up what is comfortable and make a difference in this world for the Gospel of Christ.
Focusing on foreign missions, Platt takes to task how most Christians view America. That is, how our love of God somehow has falsely transferred to crass commercialism and materialism and how we should gain our love once again for the sharing of our wealth and of the Gospel to the hungry of the world. Using personal stories of mission trips, this brother has indeed demonstrated the truth of how one can use the principles of sharing the Gospel and evangelizing those around the globe.
In review, I would like to make some positive and negative observations of hearing this audio book:
Positive:
1. He speaks volumes of how easy it is for one to be in a church and get comfortable with our “version” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. He has a heart and vision for the veracity of Scripture and its practical application.
3. The modern Evangelical movement has often lost its first love.
Negative:
1. Platt gives one the impression, whether intentional or unintentional, his experiences and personal choices should the standard for spirituality and evangelism. Like so many of his generation, the materialism that he so often despises and writes against are a reflection of his own lifestyle. I do not think the intent of his illustrations was to bring attention to himself, but one is reminded of the Pharisee who stood at the temple treasury to show everyone how he gave and sacrificed for God. Granted, the point of his missive was to show how we are as American Christians fat with prosperity and how we can live on less in order to give more.
2. Although he had a small caveat to the contrary, the listener or reader cannot help but think that the author is for using communalism by sharing wealth and physical necessities to spread the Gospel to the poor. Whether poor or rich is not the issue. People either accept or reject the Gospel as the spirit of God works in their lives. We are merely the agency or tool in the hand of God.
Impression:
This book is a good reminder of why we are on this earth. Is 43:7 declares the reason we exist is to give God glory. We are to be wise stewards of what God has given us-whether time, money or resources these are tools to be used for the Master’s glory. Each person as they seek the will of God must decide how they are to be used by God. Daniel’s talents were used to further the agenda of a godless government while Jeremiah was used to testify against that same government. One person’s calling is different from another’s. Platt disagrees and seems to think that everyone should follow his lead and if they did things would be much better for the Kingdom of God. The biggest take away from this work though is unmistakeable: we in the Church do need to remember our evangelistic and mission mindedness. Go out into all the world is not a wish, it is a command by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen!
Book Two:High Calling: The Courageous Life and Faith of Space Shuttle Commander Rick Husband, by Evelyn Husband, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003). 233 pages. Reviewed by Ken Lawson.
On February 1, 2003 the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia was scheduled to land after a 16 day scientific mission in space. On that day the Columbia crashed, killing all seven astronauts on board. The vessel broke up over Texas, leaving debris over hundreds of miles. Rick Husband was the Commander of the Space Shuttle. His widow Evelyn wrote this book several months after his death.
Rick and Evelyn Husband were a military family, he a career Air Force officer. Both were religious growing up, but were not committed Christians until after they were married. She grew up Presbyterian and he Methodist, but Christianity became real to them in their early to mid-twenties. Evelyn said of their first years together, “We still didn’t know what it meant to have a deep, personal relationship with God,” p. 33.
As a career military aviator, Rick learned to fly over 40 types of aircraft. It was a dream since his childhood to become an astronaut, a dream that eluded him for several years. While newly married and unable to have children, Evelyn began to study the Bible with the assistance of an Air Force chaplain. She stated, “I was hurting so much that I searched the Scriptures for comfort. We attended chapel on base, and the chaplain taught the Bible in a simple yet personal and meaningful way. For the first time in my life I really wanted the kind of relationship with God that the chaplain told us about – a relationship that was close, dynamic, and real,” p. 37.
Evelyn was the first in their marriage to get serious with God. Her inability to conceive a child drew her to a deeper faith, and she invited her husband to join her in a deeper faith experience. Rick was initially reluctant but then became excited in his recommitted faith. Depending on their Air Force assignments, Rick and Evelyn attended military chapels or civilian churches. They were eventually blessed with two healthy children, a daughter and then a son. They were interested in strengthening their faith together, and joined a couple’s Bible study. In addition to the Bible, the book that changed Rick Husband’s life was titled Point Man, by Steven Farrar.
Rick became serious about his Christian responsibilities as a husband and as a father. Not that he was bad in these areas previously, but now he placed God as the head of his life and Christ as the desire of his heart. His wife and children thrived under his newfound commitment. Rick Husband became known as a man of faith and prayer, attentive to his spiritual life and devoted to his wife and children. Evelyn wrote, “Rick was enjoying his newfound freedom in Christ, learning more and more about God’s grace and forgiveness. He was also taking on the role of spiritual leader in our home for the first time,” p. 49.
The military career of the committed Christian Rick Husband steadily advanced. He completed fighter pilot training and was selected for a prestigious exchange program with the British Air Force. His aviation skills were excellent, but he still dreamed of becoming an astronaut. After a series of rejections by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Rick was finally accepted as an astronaut candidate. At this point in his life a friend and fellow pilot said of Rick, “I can’t emphasize enough how easy he was to get along with. He showed a rare balance of leadership and grace. Some people are good leaders but are difficult to be around. There was a natural humility to his leadership. He wasn’t there to prove anything,” pp. 67-68.
Astronaut candidate training was grueling. Nevertheless, Rick found quality time to spend with his wife and small children. He was able to separate work from home and did not bring issues from work to disrupt his family time. Rick attended church regularly with his family, sang in the choir, and participated in small group Bible studies. As his wife wrote, “Rick was not demonstrative with his faith; he never pushed it on anybody, but he also never denied it,” p. 148.
In May, 1999, Rick Husband was a member of the space shuttle Discovery. For over two weeks the Discovery crew soared in outer space, conducting a series of experiments. Rick’s dream of becoming an astronaut was complete. The space shuttle successfully landed on June 6, 1999, much to the elation of Evelyn and the other spouses. People began to question Rick related to his views on creation verses evolution, whether or not he believed that God created the universe or if all life evolved over billions or trillions of years. Rick never hesitated to state that he believed that God created the heavens and the earth, and that God created the physics and math and science that allowed humans to explore the handiwork of God in outer space, pp. 97-98.
After the successful summer of 1999 space mission, the astronauts were placed on routine technical assignments to keep their mental skills fresh but to also allow them to emotionally recover from their mission in space. They also flew various aircraft to maintain their proficiencies, but were typically home every night. Evelyn wrote, “Rick used the time between shuttle missions to memorize scripture and continue his steady walk with the Lord. He got up each morning and studied the Bible and spent time in prayer before leaving for work,” p. 102.
In September, 2000, the crew for the next space shuttle was selected, with Rick Husband as Commander. This time they would fly the Columbia. It was unusual that Rick, as a junior astronaut, was selected to be Commander of this mission, but his competencies, personality and aviation skills allowed him to be selected. Because of various administrative and political delays, the mission did not begin until 2003. This proposed mission was the 113th for the space shuttle program, a sixteen day mission of research and experiments. This was the twenty-eighth mission for the Columbia.
On January 16, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia launched successfully into space. Evelyn and the children were able to occasionally keep in touch with Rick while he was in outer space through various advanced communication equipment set up for the space shuttle families. In preparation for being away, Rick recorded daily Bible readings that his children were to listen to while he was gone. Evelyn writes warmly about those sixteen days in space, as the love of her life was achieving his dreams as a Commander on an astronaut mission. On February 1, Evelyn and the children woke up early in anticipation of watching the space shuttle Columbia land and having Rick return home safely. Such was not to be.
Evelyn and the children were awaiting the landing of the space shuttle when she realized something was wrong. The shuttle did not land on time. She quickly saw a television report that showed the Columbia breaking up over Texas and finally exploding. In this moment she watched her husband die before her eyes. She wrote that this was the worst moment of her life; that she broke down in tears and was in shock, pp. 168-169. Her husband, her leader, the father of her children, the love of her life was taken from her. In full anticipation of his homecoming and joyful reunion, she was shattered as she watched on television the bright light in the sky and the explosion which meant her husband had been killed. The Columbia broke up over Texas at about 200,000 feet, scattering fragments of the shuttle over hundreds of Texas miles.
Amazingly, the remains of all seven astronauts were recovered throughout Texas. Air Force chaplains were present as the remains were gathered, insuring a reverent and respectful process. Over Rick Husband’s remains the chaplain prayed and read scripture, from Joshua 1:6-9, which was remarkably the same text Rick quoted to Evelyn the night before the launch.
Rick Husband was a man of many attributes. His wife called him “brilliant but humble,” and “disciplined in his spiritual walk and in his speech,” p. 83. At a memorial service it was stated, “He lived his faith. He did not hesitate to put in a good word for Jesus. His life was his sermon. By his life and his love and his faith, in life and in his death, he has witnessed to the whole world,” p. 211. This unassuming man, who asked Jesus to be his savior while a college freshman, left a legacy of faith and hope to his grieving wife and children.
High Calling is a book about life and love and heartache and healing. It is about a man who achieved his dreams and then was suddenly taken from those whom he loved. In this book we read of a woman very much in love with her famous and admirable husband, only to witness her world collapse before her eyes at his tragic death. Evelyn struggled to understand why her husband of twenty years was taken from her and why she was a widow at age 44 with two young children at home. As the new widow Evelyn Husband wrote,
People have asked me if I blame God for what happened, and I always tell them no. God has a plan for each person’s life; I may not understand that plan, and it may grieve me, but I am not bitter toward God. He has been too good to me, to Rick, and to our families. I have a long history with God, and I cannot turn my back on that history of God’s faithfulness, provision, and grace. He has always loved me when I was unlovable and continues to love me today through the greatest sadness of my life. He has carried me through dark times and continues to carry me through the darkest of days without Rick, pp. 231-232.
I used this book in a lunchtime Bible study in which we discussed military Christian heroes. The text was well received. This book can be a good counseling tool for chaplains looking for examples of faith overcoming grief. The pace of the book is balanced, with simple examples of faith and prayer as a foundation for the traumatic event that shook the life of the author. Evelyn Husband has done us all a service by recording her personal experiences and feelings in this book. I highly recommend it. 
No comments:
Post a Comment