Posted on 02/11/2005 4:25:54 PM PST by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA -God has been wonderful to America, but God requires love in return for favoring the nation, a retired Army lieutenant general said Thursday.
Speaking before 400 at the fort's annual National Prayer Breakfast, Alonzo E. Short said noted evangelist Billy Graham recently said America needs to recommit itself to God to ensure the nation stays in God's good graces.
"God is looking down on this assembly and there is one thing He wants from each of us," Short said.
God, he said, is looking for an answer to a simple question.
"What is your relationship with my son, Jesus?" Short said of the question on God's mind.
Only by people having a personal relationship with Jesus can God be satisfied, he said.
Short said he knows the importance of such a relationship, having come to it in 1974 after returning to his family from a second tour in Vietnam. When he came back to the United States, his wife, Rosalin, and their two children had returned to God's fold, he said. She was not going to allow anything to take her off course with her new relationship with God through Christ.
He, too, then understood the need to start on the right religious track. Since then, he said, his message as a soldier and a Christian has remained true.
As the 400 listened, the largest ever group to attend a post prayer breakfast, Short said his growth in beliefs has led him to a position on he board of directors of Promise Keepers, an organization dedicated to making men better people.
When he told his wife he had been asked to be on the board in 1996, Short said he explained the mission of Promise Keepers was "making men better husbands fathers and citizens."
His wife's response was that he "had better join right away," Short said as the audience laughed.
While in uniform, he had many connections to the fort, including being the commander of the Information Systems Command.
"It's good to be home. During my tours at Fort Huachuca, I got to love this old post and Sierra Vista," Short said.
He said he loves the fort's connection to the history of blacks who served in the Army.
His breakfast message was Christian-based, reflecting his views of that faith. But the event brought in other faiths, with Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist and Christian prayers being offered.
Short said America is God's sword, and what is happening in the world to make it more righteous uses the nation's armed forces.
Those who served in America's armed forces are part of God's work, he said, noting that every day he pauses and prays for the men and women in uniform.
Sometime in the future, the world will be at peace and armies will not be needed, Short said. Until that time comes, America will be called upon and will answer that call.
Short noted it was Alexis de Tocqueville, who visited in the United States in the early 1800s, came away with he view that America was great because it was good.
The Frenchman also warned that the day "America ceases to be good it will not be great," Short said.
So far, God, through Christ, has smiled down upon the United States.
"America has found favor with God," Short said.
What is interesting about the Bible is that it shows how the Lord really does look upon nations with favor or scorn. There are examples of whole nations being raised high or laid low depending on their righteousness.
Maybe that's why muslim countries are failed awful societies.
Yep there certainly is.
Probably not a popular opinion, but I have a big problem with the belief that America is "God's sword". Too many people in this world think they are justified in doing anything they want because they are favored by a higher power.
Americans do a hell of alot of good in this world, but not all of them. I'm an American, but I've had friends from alot of other countries. I've got friends of all colors an nationalities whom I would trust with my life, and some of my American friends I wouldn't even trust with a sheep.
When an American soldier commits a violent rape, is he part of "God's sword"? Hell no, that bastard should be shot in the head because he'll almost certainly do it again.
Overall, America probably does more good in the world than anybody else; but when an American commits an act of sadism or willfull blindness, it is no more justified than if it had been done by someone else.
"When an American soldier commits a violent rape, is he part of "God's sword"? Hell no, that bastard should be shot in the head because he'll almost certainly do it again. "
He's a fallen angel just like Satan is. Remember even Christ loved Judas yet Judas betrayed Christ and fell from grace.
One soldier is not America.
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
Thanks for the ping!
That only works with Super Bowl touchdowns.
Bump!
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