November 8, 2004

The Little Evangelist

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

Bible In One Year: Jeremiah 43-45; Hebrews 5

My 6-year-old neighbor Michael and I were talking in my front yard when two new neighbor kids stopped by. After I asked them their names, Michael's first question to them was: "Do you love God?" Sugar, a 5-year-old boy, quickly responded, "No!" Michael gave him a look of disapproval and concern. When 4-year-old Nana noticed he wasn't pleased with that answer, she said, "Yes!"

Michael's "witnessing strategy" may not be the most effective, but he does have an important question for the people he meets (and I've heard him ask it of several others as well).

Jesus was asked, "Which is the first commandment of all?" (Mark 12:28). He answered, "The Lord is one. 'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength'" (vv.29-30).

Jesus was referring to Old Testament times, when God had told the Israelites to place Him as the one and only God in their lives and nation. The pagan nations around them had many gods they loved and worshiped, but God's people were to be different.

Loving God is to be our top priority too. So, Michael wants to know, "Do you love God?" —Anne Cetas

For Further Thought
Have you trusted in Jesus as your Savior?
What evidence is there in your life that you love God?
How are you showing God's love to others?

If you truly love the Lord, you'll want others to love Him too.

Marines turn to God ahead of anticipated Fallujah battle
Sat Nov 06 2004 09:37:17 ET

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov 6 (AFP) - With US forces massing outside Fallujah, 35 marines swayed to Christian rock music and asked Jesus Christ to protect them in what could be the biggest battle since American troops invaded Iraq last year.

Men with buzzcuts and clad in their camouflage waved their hands in the air, M-16 assault rifles laying beside them, and chanted heavy metal-flavoured lyrics in praise of Christ late Friday in a yellow-brick chapel.

They counted among thousands of troops surrounding the city of Fallujah, seeking solace as they awaited Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's decision on whether or not to invade Fallujah.

"You are the sovereign. You're name is holy. You are the pure spotless lamb," a female voice cried out on the loudspeakers as the marines clapped their hands and closed their eyes, reflecting on what lay ahead for them.

The US military, with many soldiers coming from the conservative American south and midwest, has deep Christian roots.

In times that fighting looms, many soldiers draw on their evangelical or born-again heritage to help them face the battle.

"It's always comforting. Church attendance is always up before the big push," said First Sergeant Miles Thatford.

"Sometimes, all you've got is God."

Between the service's electric guitar religious tunes, marines stepped up on the chapel's small stage and recited a verse of scripture, meant to fortify them for war.

One spoke of their Old Testament hero, a shepherd who would become Israel's king, battling the Philistines some 3,000 years ago.

"Thus David prevailed over the Philistines," the marine said, reading from scripture, and the marines shouted back "Hoorah, King David," using their signature grunt of approval.

The marines drew parallels from the verse with their present situation, where they perceive themselves as warriors fighting barbaric men opposed to all that is good in the world.

"Victory belongs to the Lord," another young marine read.

Their chaplain, named Horne, told the worshippers they were stationed outside Fallujah to bring the Iraqis "freedom from oppression, rape, torture and murder ... We ask you God to bless us in that effort."

The marines then lined up and their chaplain blessed them with holy oil to protect them.

"God's people would be annointed with oil," the chaplain said, as he lightly dabbed oil on the marines' foreheads.

The crowd then followed him outside their small auditorium for a baptism of about a half-dozen marines who had just found Christ.

The young men lined up and at least three of them stripped down to their shorts.

The three laid down in a rubber dinghy filled with water and the chaplain's assistant, Navy corpsman Richard Vaughn, plunged their heads beneath the surface.

Smiling, Vaughn baptised them "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."

Dripping wet, Corporal Keith Arguelles beamed after his baptism.

"I just wanted to make sure I did this before I headed into the fight," he said on the military base not far from the city of Fallujah.

'Letters Home' tells war stories in the words of those who served  By: JOHN HUNNEMAN - Staff Writer TEMECULA ---- Bret Thwaites leaned back from his work, paused, turned to no one in particular and asked, "Have you read any of these? They'll tear your heart out." Thwaites was one of a dozen craftsmen racing to finish work on the "Letters Home" Veterans Memorial at Duck Pond Park ahead of a dedication ceremony planned for Thursday, which is Veterans Day. Last week, the Temecula man attached 16 letters written by armed forces members ---- which have been engraved onto ceramic porcelain tiles ---- that date from the American Revolution to the war in Iraq on a granite wall that encircles a bronze statue of a young soldier. The war letters were chosen by artist Christopher Pardell, who designed the memorial, and his assistant Kathy McNeeley, with the help of a New York Times best-selling author and "Dear Abby." The trooper ---- meant to symbolize military men and women from all eras and all services ---- is shown pausing from the battle and taking time to write to his loved ones back home. The sculpture will serve for decades as a reminder of the sacrifice made by ordinary Americans. The letters ---- excerpts of which are printed below ---- tell tales of war and sacrifice in the words of the men and women who were called to duty. June 12, 1779 "... I am, by the care of Providence, in the field in defence of my country. When I reflect on the matter, I feel myself distracted on both hands by this thought, that in my old age, I should be obligated to take the field in defence of my rights and liberties, and that of my children. God only knows that it is not of choice, but of necessity, and from the consideration that I had rather suffer anything than lose my birthright, and that of my children..." ---- Jason Williams, husband and father of eight children. Last year, when the city of Temecula approved money for construction of a veterans memorial, Pardell, a sculptor from Fallbrook, was one of 13 artists to submit a proposal for the project. That list was eventually narrowed to two and in May the City Council ---- with input from an online poll of the city's Web site ---- selected "Letters Home." "My feeling was that this was never meant to be a war memorial, but a service memorial," Pardell said. "This is all about average Americans and what they do when they are called to service." And what better way, he said, than to let the words of those servicemen and women tell that story. "Hopefully, when people come here they will get a sense that these are not heroes," he said. "These are your neighbors, your friends. The ordinary people who have always gone off to defend freedom." Oct. 13, 1918 All these things, the wide-eyed dead man gazing at you with a cold stare, wounded men trying to suppress groans, the smell of sulfur and the sickening stench of blood in the shelter almost made me wish they would close on us and capture what few remained after the rush. ... War is terrible, but with all we're glad we're here to stop it. After all, it is really the wives and mothers etc. of those boys with the glassy eyes who do the real suffering." ---- 1st Lt. Edward Luckert, who survived World War I and returned home in 1919. Andy Carroll didn't come from a military background or family, had no particular interest in history and if his Washington, D.C., house hadn't burned to the ground around Christmas in 1989 probably would have never started his project. "Everything I had was wiped out, including all the letters I'd received from friends both from here and overseas over many years," Carroll said. That loss inspired Carroll, 35, a Columbia University graduate and co-founder of the nonprofit American Poetry and Literacy Project ---- which distributes hundreds of thousand of free books each year to promote literacy ---- to start the Legacy Project, an effort to collect letters written by military personnel from all of our nation's wars. "I was stunned by the military veterans and their families I talked with who were throwing all those letters away," he said. In 1998, Carroll wrote to syndicated columnist "Dear Abby" about the project and asked her help in getting veterans to send him copies of their war-time correspondence. On Veterans Day that year the request was printed in her column. "That opened the floodgates," Carroll recalled. "Three days later I got a call saying my post office box was full. I told them I'd ride my bike down to pick up the mail. They told me I'd better bring a car." That day, several bins stuffed with copies of correspondence from every war were waiting for Carroll. Since then, he has received more than 75,000 letters, some of which were published in his 2001 book "War Letters ---- Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars." The book became a New York Times best-seller. Carroll donates all of his earnings from "War Letters" to charities that work with veterans and their families. Unknown date,1 1917. "What I would like to believe is that God is in this war, not as a spectator, but backing up everything that is good in us. He won't work any miracles for us because that would be helping us to do the work He's given us to do on our own. I don't know whether God goes forth with armies, but I do know that he is in lots of our men or they would not do what they do," ---- Pvt. Walter T. Bromwich, who was shot in the back and head four months after writing this letter to his hometown church. He recovered from his wounds. Pardell and McNeeley, his assistant, spent more than a year culling through about 1,000 letters to pick the ones that are part of the memorial. "We went through book after book of letters," McNeeley said. "A few were sent to us to consider, but most of them we had to find. We tried to select letters that covered a wide range of emotions." The majority of the letters chosen ----- 11 of them ---- are from Carroll's book, borrowed with his blessing and enthusiastic support. "Andy has been a terrific help," McNeeley said. Carroll said as far as he knows, the Temecula memorial is different from anything else in the country. "I think Chris' vision is extraordinary," Carroll said. "I wish more towns would do something like this. It's a great tribute to these men and women because it humanizes them." The other five letters chosen came from a variety of sources including one submitted by a Riverside family who has been invited to Thursday's dedication ceremony. Each of the letters has a story behind it, Carroll said. Enroute Japan, Jan. 18, 1945 Dearest Momie & Dad, I am writing this to you so that you will know exactly what happened and won't be like so many other parents. ... If I could have only been killed in action, it's so useless to die here from disentry with no medicin ... Tell Patty I'm sorry, guess we weren't meant to be happy together. I weigh about 90 pounds now so you can see how we are. I will sign off now darlings and please don't grieve much ... I'm not afraid to go, and I will be waiting for you." ---- Lt. Tommie Kennedy, who was captured at Corregidor in January 1942 and imprisoned on a Japanese "hell ship." After his death, Kennedy's letters and medals were smuggled from one POW to another and finally delivered home after the war. "That letter (from Lt. Kennedy) was found a few years ago by his niece who lives near Los Angeles," Carroll said. That woman was cleaning out her garage and found a bag of what appeared to be trash. "She was about to throw it out, but decided to take one last look to see what was inside," he said." Apparently she had heard about (The Legacy Project) so she saved the letter and sent a copy to me." Carroll urges veterans and their families to send copies of their war letters to: The Legacy Project, Attn: Andrew Carroll, P.O. Box 53250, Washington, D.C., 20009. More information about the project is available online at www.warletters.com. "We're throwing out history every day," he said. "We should do what we can to save it." Feb. 3, 1945, France "I am really ashamed of myself for not writing but it is rather hard to write left handed. ... About 0930, an 88 mm zoomed past me. I looked down and my rt. hand was gone. ... They gave me blood, fixed me up, and sent me back to the evacuation hospital. They operated about 2000 that nite, took the shrapnel out, trimmed my arm up, about a half inch above the waste. So from then on I decided I would be left handed." ---- Pfc. DeWitt "Chick" Gephart was one of more than 40,000 Americans wounded during the Battle of the Bulge. The dedication ceremony for the veterans memorial is planned for 2 p.m. on Thursday. Along with the statue and the letters, those attending will get a first look at the "Path of Honor" leading up to the memorial, which is made of bricks engraved with the names of 765 servicemen and women with local connections. The public is invited. Carroll said he will be unable to attend the dedication, but plans to come to Temecula early next year during a 50-state tour promoting his next book. "I'm really looking forward to seeing it," he said. Sept. 19, 2003 Tomorrow I may see if four years at West Point and $250,000 of taxpayer money has produced an effective leader. I don't know if I will sleep tonight but I will try. The image that keeps appearing in my mind is of you at the end of that aisle as your dad put your hand in mine. All I think about is that ---- and how we have been joined together for life. That is why I must do my best and come home safe to you. Your family entrusted you to me, and I can't take care of you if I don't take care of myself." ---- 2nd Lt. Todd J. Bryant was killed on Oct. 31, 2003, by a homemade bomb while on patrol near Fallujah, Iraq. He was 23 years old. Contact John Hunneman at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2603, or hunneman@californian.com.

Your Honor, in keeping with the Military Monday theme, I submit the following sentiments expressed by an Admiral.
Now retired, he was no longer constrained from speaking frankly -- and surely did, and in a definitely colorful manner!

Think most here will agree with all he says, and cheer enthusiastically ---

A Letter from a Real Military Man (not a liberal clone one) ~~~

ADMIRAL VAN ORDEN TELLS IT LIKE IT IS - PARDON ME WHILE I GLOAT

PARDON ME WHILE I GLOAT

by Dick Van Orden

I am not normally a cheerful loser or a gracious winner. Whether its tiddly-winks or war at sea, I want to win, win, win! In fact, I hate to lose and when I win I sometimes want to rub the loser's nose in his defeat. After a sleepless night I feel just rotten enough that the past six months of lies and innuendos from the Kerry camp have it all come home to make me more vindictive than usual. As a result, I want to gloat. Here's why:

I am happy that the sound common sense of a majority of America's voters resulted in a solid victory for a true patriot-and in the humiliating defeat of a lying traitor. There was no doubt in my mind that Bush's truthfulness and forthrightness would prevail against the lies and half-truths of Kerry and his supporters, and I am pleased that a majority of good folks saw the light and pushed the Bush/ Cheney button for justice and for increasing support for the nation's bright future.

I am pleased that the left-leaning media-newspapers, radio, TV and newsmagazines-got their bell rung, but good. Now we are assured that these self-appointed "opinion makers" cannot pull the wool over the eyes of most of us, no matter how hard they twist the facts. Their early reporting of the "leaked" fraudulent exit polls, and their sponsorship of other badly skewed voter polls were designed to mislead voters, in which they failed-miserably. And Dan Rather deserves a special place in hell.

I am delighted that the fat, disgusting a-hole, Michael Moore did not achieve the success that he wished for and that he was repulsed by so many intelligent Americans. May his soul burn in hell.

I hope the Hollywood friends of Michael Moore-especially Barbara Streisand, Whoopi Goldberg, P-Diddler, and their friends-are roasting in the hell of their own making. It seems to me that they all offered to depart the U.S. if Bush won the first time, which they did not do. The time is now doubly ripe for their exit.

I am blissful that all the treasure and invective of George Soros devoted to defeating George Bush went for naught. I only wish for a financial future of similar poor decisions by Soros; I want to see him as bankrupt in bank account as he is in patriotism.

I find it particularly satisfying that the high ranking military suck-ups whose lack of integrity led them to desert their commander-in-chief and follow a lying cheat, even though they knew, or should have known, that his dismissal from the Navy was "less than honorable," as detailed in the military record that he refused to release. It is sad that such Navy types as Bill Crowe, Stan Turner, and even Jimmy Carter would be in that group. It is obvious that their motivation was the hope of a cushy job when their new-found knight in shining armor moved into the White House. Even their strategy was flawed, for Kerry is, and always has been, anti-military; he only used his military service-and those military "advisors"-for personal political gain. He would never have offered that cushy job, once he had used them, just as he never voted for the needed armament that they and their shipmates and their Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force brothers-in-arms needed so badly.

I am thrilled that the whiners who have complained bitterly about the "stolen" 2000 Presidential election must leave that fallacy in the past and now try to find something else to whine about-maybe they can even develop a fantasy that the four million vote plurality was a miscount, and continue their whining as they slink away into their caves.

It pleases me that Kofi Annan and the other United Nations sycophants failed miserably when they tried so hard to influence this election to ensure that a more pliable President Kerry would be elected. I hope they will now realize that either they clean up the bureaucratic, corrupt, do-nothing UN, or they will be short of funds when the Bush-led US decreases-or ends-its support.

I am overjoyed at the failure of Osama bin Laden's carefully timed video of invective against the US and its President in hopes of using Islamic scare tactics on the American people. Bin Laden's aim was to entice our voters to elect a new President who will not be as robust in his pursuit of terrorists and more willing to "negotiate" with Islamic Fundamentalists. He did not understand that Americans are not so panicky as the French, fearful as the Spanish, or unthinking as the English. (As for the Germans, they should know better; we have defeated them in battle often enough to convince them of the rightness of our ways.) I hope Osama dies in a blast from a bunker-buster before he gets a chance to make another video or another attack on our nation.

The blatant attempts of European nations and the EU to cause our President discomfort in his efforts to bring peace to the world make me glad that they are so disappointed with the election results. My joy is unbounded at the chagrin of the French and German and other anti-Bush, anti-American nations (including the people of the UK-but not their loyal and faithful government led by Prime Minister, Tony Blair). Now let those U.S.-sheltered Europeans worry about the end of American financial and military assistance when they have problems. Let them beg for American military aid and other handouts that have helped to sustain their economies. And let them perish in their own sweat when we remove out troops from Germany, the Balkans, and other trouble spots where we have pulled their chestnuts out of the fire.

I relish the hope that Islamic fundamentalists will now understand the election result as a blow from which they cannot recover. It fills me with joy that their dreams of world domination will be shattered by Bush's and the American nation's resolve to see them defeated and sent to join their Allah-without the 72 virgins waiting for them.

It pleases me more than I can say that the Senate Minority Leader, Thomas Daschle lost his seat. As the leading obstructionist for the Democrat party, he was primarily responsible for withholding approval of many Bush appointments to Federal judgeships, high-level positions, and other necessary personnel. Good riddance.

The demise of the junk-yard dog, loudmouth James Carville, also brings me great happiness. That happiness is further enhanced by the victory of the first Republican to win a Senate seat in Louisiana, Carville's home state.

I am delighted with the success of John O'Neil and his Swift Boat Vets-and with those thousands of non-Swifties who joined with them-on their forthright revelation of the truth of Kerry's service in Vietnam. They took a truthful but difficult position and made an impact-good and honorable Navy men all. Bush gets gentlemanly credit for not using them and their data in his campaign to demean Kerry, but the word was out that they spoke the truth. I maintain that they were the MVPs of this election; their testimony turned the tide against Kerry, and he never recovered.

And, finally, I must express my unbounded gratification at the defeat of Senator Kerry, a worthless Senator, anti-military extremist, lying self-promoter, and former Naval officer who disgraced us all. His traitorous collusion with the enemy is second only to that of Jane Fonda. He should have been court-martialed for giving aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war. His dishonorable quest for medals and a quick return to the US, where he turned against his shipmates and lied about their actions resulted in a less than honorable separation from the Navy. Jimmy Carter's amnesty allowed him to file for, and get, an honorable discharge 18 years after he left the service. He should have received a court martial.

While my thoughts may seem to be mean-spirited, do not be confused-they really are mean-spirited, as I mean them to be. I have suffered the tortures of the damned over the past year as I heard and read the lies and nasty remarks from politicians, citizens, and media "experts" about our President. I have barely tolerated the feeble but divisive attempts of foreign and domestic peaceniks to build a case against our war on the Islamic fundamentalists, who use terrorism as a weapon against us in order to intimidate out citizens and drive some of our gutless politicians to seek "negotiations" to avoid "confrontations" with those who seek to kill our citizens.

Most of all, I have seethed with anger at those who shamefully derided out military, blissfully reporting on their failures and neglecting their successes. They triumphantly celebrated our difficulties by running daily body counts of our own heroic men killed in battle with the enemy, even publishing their pictures in papers and on TV as if to mock the President who sent them to defend our nation. I have only disgust for such tactics. And those are the very same people who now plead for "united actions" in the House and Senate, now that they are in a steadily declining minority. I would advise our President to "watch your six" because these are really enemies and they are not to be trusted.

Four more years! How sweet it is!

===========================

Oh, yes - how sweet it is that we can face the road in sight with renewed and strengthened hope!

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