Free Republic

    Character of a man A wise person once said, "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing to him or for him." (author unknown) Columnist Ann Landers put it this way, "The best index of a person’s character is how he treats people who can do him absolutely no good." In the Christian Scriptures, the Apostle Paul talks about entertaining "angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:1) What these writers are talking about here is more than an act. It’s an attitude - about life, about people, and most importantly,...

    Prayer for When You Need to be Refreshed and Renewed Lord, many of us are like gale-beaten ships, arriving at last at a calm and sheltered cove. Our lines are frayed from incessant tension. Our sails are battered by sudden gusts of unexpected hardships... Our spars are broken where we were unable to withstand the force of temptations. Our decks are soaked, having been awash with the tears of worry and doubt. Refit us as we draw close to you in this quiet moment. Restore us with renewed courage that we each may set sail again, as...

Former Rifle Company Commander is Now Deploying to Iraq as a Chaplain Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton Story Identification #: 2006131192329 Story by Cpl. Joseph Digirolamo MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (Jan. 31, 2006) -- A former infantry commander now leads his Marines on a different path – a path of faith. When Eugene Wozniak was a Marine infantry officer, he never thought that duty would call upon him to lead Marines in a special way. He is now a 42-year-old lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and the chaplain for 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Camp...

    Your Mental Attitude - Cornerstone Waste of time is one of the most costly ex­penses on life’s ledger . . . it can never be reimbursed. Thousands of people would never have expe­rienced the bitterness and helplessness of want if they had not first been guilty of WASTE. There is a constant dissipation of thought and feeling, just as there is of physical energies. Each in turn exacts its heavy toll from us. Dissipation of thought and feeling proves wasteful and ruinous to the mind and heart the same process is equally as destructive to health and...

Congressman Sees Progress in Military Prayer Issue Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006 Posted: 9:18:27AM EST The lawmaker leading a congressional drive against Air Force guidelines encouraging non-sectarian prayers in certain situations is confident that the White House is looking into the matter, according to the legislator’s spokeswoman. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) discussed the contested military policy last Thursday with President Bush’s Domestic Policy Advisor Claude Allen, and was confident that the matter would receive more attention within the Bush administration. “The Congressman was very pleased, because he felt that [Allen] had a good grasp of the issue,” said spokeswoman Kathleen Joyce....

U.S. prison chaplain under attack Jewish chaplain for prisoners in Washington state named in lawsuit by prisoner who says he was denied kosher food; Chaplain Gary Friedman says man doesn't meet criteria for being Jewish Manny Frishberg, Seattle Gary Friedman is under the gun again. The chaplain for most of the Jewish inmates in Washington State's prisons has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit by a prisoner who claims he was denied kosher meals while incarcerated in Nevada. Friedman said James Shilling never claimed to be Jewish before being sent to Nevada. According to the chaplain, Shilling had...

    Million Dollar Wound For me, every day I serve with the wonderful men and women of the Navy/Marine Corps, I am reminded why our nation is great. If you will indulge me, I would like to tell you about some of these remarkable young people who wear the uniform of our nation's military. I'll start with a lance corporal I spoke with yesterday who was in Iraq earlier this year. The reason he was back in the States was due to a serious injury he sustained during combat operations. His lower leg was peppered with shrapnel. So...

WHEN A MILITARY chaplain appeared on ABC News last week talking about how pornography is becoming a problem for troops overseas, I listened. When the chaplain said real women at home couldn’t measure up to the impossible pictures, I thought of this woman I had seen years ago in a bookstore on base in Japan. I shouldn’t remember her. The woman was not one of those people you even notice, much less remember. She had no distinct hair color, no charm of face. She reminded me of wide egg noodles and cream of mushroom soup and Minute Rice. But I...

    Your Mental Attitude - Days of Chivalry When the days of chivalry are mentioned, we usually think of a gallant knight rescuing a fair lady or treating her with unusual courtesy. Gallant the knights were-and certainly cour­teous…But the fundamental basis of chivalry was friendship. The Knights of the Round Table were a sworn brotherhood of men whose strongest ties were based on friendship. Perhaps the most celebrated knight of chivalry, the Chevalier de Bayard, was famous above all else for his friendships. Friendship is loyalty-to our family, to our job, to our community. It is not veering...

(AgapePress) - A Navy chaplain says God answered his prayers this weekend when his superior officers permitted him to wear his uniform while publicly praying in a manner in accordance with his Christian faith. For 18 days Lieutenant Gordon James Klingenschmitt conducted a hunger strike to protest the U.S. Navy's policy of not permitting Christian chaplains to pray in the name of Jesus in public. Klingenschmitt had been stripped of uniform and faced the possible termination of his 14-year military career, partly because he has defied military policy by continuing to pray publicly in the name of Jesus. On December...

WASHINGTON — The Navy chaplain who had pledged a hunger strike until rules were changed to allow him “to pray publicly in Jesus’ name” broke his 18-day fast Saturday, calling his protest a victory for religious liberty. Navy officials said they made no policy changes since the start of his fast, and disputed charges that he would have been dismissed if not for his public protest. But Navy Chaplain (Lt.) Gordon Klingenschmitt said he was on the verge of losing his commission before he began the hunger strike and said he believes the Navy changed its policy to keep him...

    Your Mental Attitude- The Team One of the very great virtues of our demo­cratic way of life is that our system encourages both individual initiative and group participa­tion. We are a nation of teams. In probably no other country in the world do people belong to so many groups engaged in so many different projects. All of us are members of many teams - our family, our job, our community, our church, our recreational activity, our social circle, and many others.. Teamwork is co-operation put into practice. It is a positive attitude of mind that combines individual...

Naval Chaplain Klingenschmitt will end his hunger strike with a communion service in front of the White House on Saturday, January 7th. Below is the official Press Release: The Navy Chaplain staging a hunger strike outside the White House will end his fast this morning, after accepting religious accommodations from his reluctant superior officers. "They're finally giving me back my uniform, and letting me pray publicly in Jesus name," said Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt. The Chaplain will participate in a bona fide public worship service in front of the White House at 11 am Saturday January 7th, wearing his Navy...

(AgapePress) - An Evangelical leader and retired military chaplain says the United States Air Force is engaged in religious persecution against evangelical Christianity with its new policy forbidding chaplains from praying in the name of Jesus. Dr. Billy Baugham is Executive Director of the International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers (ICECE). The retired Army chaplain agrees with the more than 70 members of Congress who have signed a letter urging President George W. Bush to issue an executive order to allow chaplains to pray according to their individual faith traditions. Baugham feels the Air Force's written policy banning prayers in...

    10 Health Commandments for the New Year Most people are familiar with the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai as recorded in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:1-21. But have you heard of the second Ten Commandments? The second Ten Commandments are "10 suggestions" of a cardiologist, Steven R. Yarnall, MD, for giving one the edge on being the best you can be. Taking care of ourselves is most often just good, old-fashioned commonsense. But here are Yarnall's "10 Health Commandments" as I found them in a pamphlet put out by the Hope Heart Institute. Thou...

A pattern of hostility to free speech - specifically the rights of Christians to pray - is on the rise in our country. We saw it in our nation’s public schools ... where prayer was officially banned. We have seen it in our workplaces. Now, our United States military seems to have “jumped on the bandwagon” ... with Air Force leadership recently releasing proposed guidelines that will restrict how Air Force chaplains can pray. If approved, these guidelines may well be implemented throughout the entire Armed Forces. This is an outrage that we cannot allow! Already, it is documented that...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Dec. 28, 2005) -- December is a month of celebration for multiple faiths, making the holiday season an extra busy time for chaplains in Iraq. Between Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the Islamic Hajj, Navy Capt. Vince Arnold, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) group chaplain, knows the importance of providing for all service members, regardless of religious preferences. “This time of a year the three main religious groups being Judaism, Christianity and Islam, trace back their genealogy to one person: Abraham,” The Newport, N.C. native said. “It’s interesting that we are in Iraq during this season because this...

    Presidential Message: Christmas 2005 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel' which means, God with us. Matthew 1:23 More than 2,000 years ago, a virgin gave birth to a Son, and the God of heaven came to Earth. Mankind had received its Savior, and to those who had dwelled in darkness, the light of hope had come. Each Christmas, we celebrate that first coming anew, and we rejoice in the knowledge that the God who came to Earth that night in Bethlehem is with us still and will...

Local Church Makes Stained-Glass Replicas For Troops Windows To Hang In Auditorium For Holiday Service OverseasPOSTED: 3:41 pm EST December 23, 2005 STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. -- Members of a Roman Catholic parish in Sterling Heights have made plastic replicas of stained glass windows for American soldiers in Iraq. The six plastic panels are emblazoned with stars and were a present to the thousands of U.S. soldiers served by the Rev. Raymond Bucon. The Army Reserves chaplain left St. Priscilla Catholic Church in Livonia this summer for postings in Afghanistan and Iraq. Eight members of St. Blase Catholic Church in Sterling...

Like Temple, Lou, Murph, others, I too have my own memories of Christmas in uniform. My recollections go back to a time close to when Lou was a captain aboard a carrier in the Indian Ocean. I was a Marine corporal on Okinawa, sitting on my rack in a dingy squad bay, listening over-and-over to a cassette tape of Christmas wishes from family and friends, eating some chocolate-chip cookies Mom had made for me, looking at family pictures, and doing what all American soldiers and sailors have been doing during the month of December since 1775 – dreaming of home.