Personal Renewal, Part 2: Let Your Light Shine Before Men

During both services today I preached from Matthew 5:13-16, where Jesus commands His followers to be the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world." In the military and around the world Christians are being told to "put their light under a basket" or in essence stop sharing their faith or expressing their love for Christ. This is ultimately a tactic of the Devil. The prince of this world has always attacked through fear and the desire for people to conform to their environment. The command of Jesus is to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:!5). Of course if this is Jesus' command then Satan must oppose it. This declaration from Christ simply incites the Devil to intensify the warfare against Christians and the kingdom of God as never before. In fact anyone who has ever served in the military, knows it is becoming an unreached people group. Essentially, the Devil will use anti-Christian organizations to block and suppress the Christian witness. Presently, atheistic groups are seeking to "put a basket over the light of Christians serving in the military.
However, please know this, Satan can use government restrictions and liberal groups, but his strongholds cannot stand against the life-transforming power of the gospel. He has lost the war, he is simply seeking to win battles and gather souls.

Never let anyone or anything put a basket over your light; let your light shine before men so your good works will glorify the Father.
Stay encouraged and stand firm!
 

Personal Renewal, Part 1: Regneration = A Biblical Wordview

Do you ever wonder why so many people call themselves followers of Christ but never adopt a biblical worldview? Many have said I want Jesus to be my Savior, but never wanted Him to be their Lord. Why? Because calling someone your Lord requires submission, surrender, and obedience. It requires loosing your life as you know it, something most believers are not willing to do. If Christ is your Lord, He is your master and ruler. The reason so many Christians do not have a biblical worldview is because they have never been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. The word regeneration only appears twice in the New Testament, Matthew 19:28 and Titus 3:5. The regeneration of the soul comes after a person is drawn to Christ (John 6:44) and are saved by His grace through their faith in Him (Ephesians 2:8). For a regenerate believer there is great joy in following and obeying Christ. They will also adopt a biblical worldview, which simply means they will commit to thinking like Jesus. A biblical worldview is a way of dealing with the world in such a way that we act like Jesus 24 hours a day because we think like Jesus. In Titus 3:5-7, Paul instructs Titus about salvation by saying this "He saved us - not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. He poured out this Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life." Thus salvation brings divine cleansing from sin and the gift of a new, Spirit-generated, Spirit-empowered, and Spirit-protected life.
Just like salvation, adopting a biblical worldview doesn't come from us, it comes from God as His Spirit regenerates our souls.
As a chaplain, I am constantly engaging people and building relationships and it doesn't take long for me to assess whether a person has a biblical worldview. Why? Because it's the lens through which they view life.

Take Away:

Don't Be Led Astray

"Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ." (Colossians 2:8)

Paul's warning to the Colossian believers cautions us that the world will actively seek to turn our minds in a different direction than that which God intends.

Carefully consider each option and reject those that do not conform to God's ways.


 

Admiral Boldly Speaks About Religious Freedom

Be inspired by the humble, yet bold message of this Admiral. He was speaking at the National Day of Prayer Service in Washington D.C. this past May.
As a military chaplain I can't tell you how much it encourages me to know there is bold Christian leaders still in the military that are willing to stand up for their faith in Christ.

Enduring Hardship Like a Soldier of Christ

When I decided to follow Christ I understood that part of the cost of following Him would be persecution.
Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12 "...all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

Enjoy this video from Focus on the Family's Citizen Link News Show. It's very informative and eye opening about the issue of religious persecution in the military.
Stand up and speak out and demonstrate the courage Paul did during his missionary journeys!

The God Anthology Bible Study

Last night at South Camp Chapel we began a new Bible Study series called The God Anthology.
It's a Lifeway Bible Study series by Pastor Mark Batterson from National Community Church.
The importance of this study is to explore the six critical aspects of God's character and personhood. The study explores the mystery, holiness, incomparability, mercy, jealousy, and sovereignty of God.

At the completion of this study everyone should have a right understanding of God.
If God's people truly desire to be on mission with Him to accomplish His purposes, they must understand His nature and His ways.

God's ways are not our ways, but He desires that we know them, so we can be shaped and changed by them (Psalm 119:117-120).

Military Wives of Faith

If you are a member of the National Guard or a member of the 5-113th FA please encourage your wife to check out this website and join the God Strong Online Bible Study.

The passion of Wives of Faith is to connect, encourage and support the Military Wife, so if that’s you or your wife, then you are certainly in the right place! Women of deployed service members need a place where they can connect with other women and share the ups and downs that military life brings – the overwhelming emotions of deployment, the joys of homecoming, and the frustrations and issues that can frequently pop up along the way.

My wife is a member of their technology team and has been blessed by the God Strong Bible study.

www.wivesoffaith.org
 

The Influence of a Father

What a great video of why a father is so important....I love it when the little girl says that the reason she loves God is because her dad loves God. It reminds me of my daughter Taylor and just how much I miss her.
Warning...you might cry.

 

Building Personal Courage

This is an article I wrote for my monthly Spiritual Newsletter here at South Camp:

The Army defines personal courage as facing fears, danger or adversity, both physical and moral. Personal courage has long been associated with our Army. With physical courage, it is a matter of enduring physical duress and at times risking personal safety. Facing moral fear or adversity may be a long, slow process of continuing forward on the right path, especially if taking those actions is not popular with others. You can build your personal courage by daily standing up for and acting upon the things that you know are honorable. The question each soldier has to ask themselves is what standard do I use to determine what is honorable and moral. Or in other words, what do you consider as truth. Truth is the beginning point of everything. If there aren’t some things in your belief system that you absolutely know to be true, then everything else falls apart. When our founding fathers were establishing our Constitution and drawing up the Declaration of Independence, they turned to God and His word as the foundation of our new nation. When our founding fathers were led to build this nation upon the precepts of God’s word, they began to operate under the objective nature of God’s truth which stabilized our new nation, which brings me back to you, the individual Solider. How can you build your personal courage?  By daily standing up for and acting upon the things that you know are honorable. The greatest General of all time and our first President George Washington prayed these words to congress shortly after the end of the Revolutionary War “direct my thoughts, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate Blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit…Daily frame me more and more and more into the likeness of Thy Son Jesus Christ.” Fifty-two of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence were Christians, many of which possessed seminary degrees. These men possessed personal courage to stand up for the biblical and moral principles found in the Bible. I challenge you today to have the personal courage to ask yourself this question…what do I consider truth, God or myself?

Taylor's 8th Birthday!

It's days like this that make deployments so hard. On June 14, 2005 God gave us Taylor. Ashley spent over 20 days in the hospital with premature labor prior to Taylor's arrival, but what a glorious day it was when Taylor arrived (5lbs and 12 ounces). She was born at Memorial Herman Hospital in The Woodlands, Texas this day 8 years ago.
Ashley took Taylor and Garrett to the Children's Museum in Columbia, SC today. In the video, the kids are throwing footballs inside the museum.
They enjoyed lunch at the Mellow Mushroom.

Every morning I devote time to praying for my children, this morning the scripture which related to my devotion was Proverbs 20:7:

"The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him."
What an honor it is to LEAD my children.

What a fitting verse as we approach Father's Day.

Fatherlessness

For the past couple of days I have been visiting my troops at North Camp. The highlight of the visit was the time I spent in prayer and my opportunity to speak to a small crowd on Wednesday night at the Chapel. On Wednesday morning, the Fijian Chaplain, CH Seabolt, and myself came together to seek the Lord. We felt led to focus our prayer on false converts, spiritual revival, marriages, and that the Lord would open the hearts of our troops. We also laid hands on SPC Debolt and prayed over him for his premature twins that were born three months ago that have yet to leave the hospital. With Father's Day arriving this Sunday, my message was focused on biblical manhood and the growing problem of men not leading their families.

Here are some disturbing statistics of fatherlessness:

-80% of rapists and sex offenders are from fatherless homes
-Children who don't have a father are more than twice as likely to be treated for an emotional or behavioral problem
-The number of adolescents and adults who are currently taking anti-depressants and anti-anxiety  prescriptions increased 800% between 1988-2008
-63% of teenage suicides are committed by children from fatherless homes
-85% of children who have behavioral and mental disorders are from fatherless homes
-Nearly half of the children in American are without a father in their home

This is what is destroying our country.

The solution?

For men to follow Christ and lead their families!


 

No Atheists Chaplains....For Now

 What is disturbing is that 18 members of the House Armed Service Committee voted to allow atheists chaplains!

The House Armed Services Committee voted Wednesday 43-18 to shoot down amendment 1960, offered by New Jersey Democratic Rep. Rob Andrews to accompany the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.
The text of the amendment directs the Secretary of Defense to appoint "humanists, ethical culturalists, and atheists" to the Chaplain Corps of the Armed Forces.
The amendment was reportedly heavily contested by the Republican members of the GOP-majority House Armed Services Committee, who argued it was pointless to have an atheist chaplain because in the broadest sense, an atheist rejects belief in the existence of deities.
"You can't use the word chaplain with atheists because they don't believe anything," Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) said at Wednesday's committee meeting regarding the amendment.
"I can't imagine an atheist accompanying a notification team as they go into some family's home to let them have the worst news of their life and this guy says, 'You know, that's it – your son's just worms, I mean, worm food,'" Conaway said, adding that he "disagreed vehemently" with the amendment.

Follow us Additionally, Republican Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana argued that allowing atheists to serve in the chaplaincy would make a mockery of the group.

"This I think would make a mockery of the chaplaincy," Rep.Fleming said at the meeting, as reported by The Huffington Post.
 "The last thing in the world we would want to see was a young soldier who may be dying and they're at a field hospital and the chaplain is standing over that person saying to them, 'If you die here, there is no hope for you in the future,'" he added.
Conservative news source Breitbart argues that the term "atheist military chaplains" is an oxymoron, as by definition the duties of a chaplain are to offer "prayer, spiritual counseling, and religious instruction," while by definition an atheist believes "there is no divine being to hear prayer, has no spirituality, and no religious beliefs."
New Jersey Rep. Andrews argued that he proposed the amendment not to be controversial, but rather to simply offer atheists in the military the same private counseling offered to religious military members.
Atheists reportedly have the opportunity to visit psychiatrists or other medical professionals to discuss their values, but their conversations are not confidential as the conversations between a chaplain and a believer are under military law.
According to the Navy Times, other concerns raised in regards

Read more at http://global.christianpost.com/news/lawmakers-vote-to-oppose-atheist-chaplains-in-military-97478/#P4silhC48qMrg9SZ.99

Casual Acceptance or Absolute Surrender?

Please watch this message from David Platt. We live in a time where churches are doing everything they can to "sell" Jesus. But is that what the Bible teaches? No. Jesus demanded a person consider the cost of following him before they commit and surrender. Jesus' doesn't want any half-hearted, lukewarm, fair weather followers. He doesn't even consider that kind of person a follower. He expects His followers to be willing to die spiritually and if need be die physically for the Him and the faith.
A scripture I shared tonight during Chapel was John 6:61. Just before this in verse 60 some so-called  followers of Jesus' said "This teaching is hard!" Who can accept it? and then Jesus knowing in Himself that his disciples were complaining about this, asked them "Does this offend you?"

Jesus demands FULL SURRENDER to all His teachings! Only true followers are willing to do that.

Enjoy the video.

Spiritual Fitness or Physical Fitness

In our culture today we tend to shift to extremes more than ever. There is always something new and desirable to distract us. Here at South Camp physical fitness has become an obsession for many. Some are working out twice a day or are trying to achieve certain goals and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. However, when there is not a balance between physical and spiritual, then a person can become so self-absorbed they become susceptible to the tricks and traps of Satan. People begin to idolized their own bodies without even knowing they are guilty of idolatry. Idolatry is the tendency to value something or someone in such a way that it draws us away from our relationship with Christ or our worship of God. The responsibility of Christians is to honor nothing more than God, to include our own bodies.  Physical fitness becomes an issue of time and focus that can turn into a personal God.
Let me explain what Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:8. Paul told him "for physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." As you can see physical fitness is of some value, but offers nothing to us in the life to come. It's simply designed for us to keep out bodies in good physical health, which absolutely glorifies and honors God. We have been given stewardship over our bodies after all. But as Oswald Chambers wrote "It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us." Nothing should exert more power over the Christian than the atonement of Jesus Christ.

I pray God can open the spiritual eyes of our soldiers and teach them that nothing should exert more energy and time over their life than pleasing and serving the Lord.

Stop Buying Girl Scout Cookies

Girl Scouts Join Planned Parenthood at Huge Pro-Abortion Conference

No one performs more abortions ( or murders) in America than Planned Parenthood!

Tell me who you hang out with and I’ll tell you who you are.
Anna Maria Chávez, CEO of Girl Scouts USA (GSUSA), offers this pithy saying as her favorite quote. In order to figure out who the Girl Scouts are, I suppose we must follow Ms. Chávez’ logic and look at the organizations that GSUSA associates with.
A good place to start would be the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). WAGGGS has member organizations across the globe, the largest of which is GSUSA, contributing approximately a quarter of the ten million members that belong to WAGGGS. GSUSA is a co-founder of WAGGGS and one of WAGGGS’ largest financial supporters, paying over $1 million each year in membership fees which are triggered by each girl and adult member’s annual GSUSA registration.
The global organization is a well-known advocate for sexual and reproductive rights, including abortion, for youth, and claims to speak for all of its 10 million members.
In May 2013, WAGGGS participated in Women Deliver, a global conference with the purpose of “call[ing] for action to improve the health and well-being of girls and women.”
The conference featured speakers such as late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart, philosopher Peter Singer, who supports infanticide and euthanasia, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Some of the breakout sessions were entitled “Outing and Addressing Abortion Stigma” and “Why I Perform Abortions.” Exhibitors included many abortion and population control advocates such as Amnesty International, Guttmacher Institute, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Marie Stopes International, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, United Nations Population Fund, and WAGGGS.
Equally concerning is WAGGGS’ participation, along with International Planned Parenthood Federation and Planned Parenthood Global (PPFA global), in the Youth Advisory Group for the Women Deliver Conference. It seems to me that the Girl Scouts have some interesting, you might even say radical friends.
Sexual and reproductive rights advocacy is nothing new for WAGGGS. In June 2012, WAGGGS Board Chair Nadine El Achy boasted that WAGGGS “represented each one of our WAGGGS members – YOU” as they pushed for sexual and reproductive rights at the Rio+20 conference. In December 2012, WAGGGS and International Planned Parenthood Federation worked together to create the Bali Youth Declaration, a document which called for abortion rights for youth, comprehensive sex education and the “decriminalization of sex work.” WAGGGS appears to be advocating for the legalization of prostitution. I, for one, fail to see how this relates to scouting.
Putting WAGGGS aside, GSUSA has many other concerning friends. Together with global abortion provider Marie Stopes and other many other abortion advocates, GSUSA maintains membership in The Coalition for Adolescent Girls.
The Coalition promotes comprehensive sex education and abortion related care for girls. Additionally, the GSUSA curriculum, the Journey series, used and promoted by every Girl Scout council, was revised for problematic content in 2012. Some corrections were made, but many concerns remain. For example, through Journeys, GSUSA still encourages girls to work with or research many pro-abortion groups such as the ACLU, Amnesty International, Population Council, Sierra Club, WAGGGS and others. Despite this promotion of many pro-abortion groups, I couldn’t find one pro-life organization recommended by GSUSA in their books for girls. It seems that the organization has taken a decided stand on this controversial moral issue. Again, how does this relate to scouting?
I imagine many people will be upset when learn of this association. I know I was. “What?” they’ll say, incredulous at first, “Girl Scouts couldn’t possibly be involved in something like this.”

Don't Live in Fear

 

Last night we watched Refuge from the Storm at our outdoor theater. Is was a movie based upon a woman's true story about her deliverance from fear and her past. A movie that all of our soldiers needed to watch. There are some really good scenes in the movie and I hope it will be released on DVD soon. After the woman came to Christ, the scripture which the woman memorized was 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment." As the movie emphasized, if a Christian doesn't believe in the power of God, then they will not believe in the the power of the Holy Spirit inside them, and ultimately they will never believe in the power of this scripture.

The understanding of this verse is that the Holy Spirit has not made Christians cowards. The Greek word for "timidity" as some translations use in place of fear means a cowardly, shameful fear caused by a weak, selfish character.

When a Christian, as the woman in movie discovered, allows their mind and heart to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, they no longer live in fear, but are able to show love, overcome self-destructive strongholds, and exercise sound judgment.

 

Amazingly, I had just prayed 2 Timothy 1:7 yesterday morning during my prayer time for my children. God is amazing!

 



 

 

 

 

 

G-Man Riding His Bike

My wife sent me this short video of my son Garrett riding his bike. It's moments like this which are difficult to miss and make deployments so hard. The most important repsonsibility I have as a father is to "bring up my children in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). It's challenging to do this when I am 6,300 miles away in a foriegn country. However, its a responsibility I take extremly serious and I am blessed to have my wife Ashley caring and instructing our children in my absence. In Ephesians 6:4, Paul was commanding fathers to both discipline and instruct their children. It's important to note that he is speaking directly to fathers, but the context can refer to both parents.
I wish every father would sign the Resolution from the movie Courageous.

CitizenLink Report: Religious Freedom in Uniform

CitizenLink Report: Religious Freedom in Uniform

Great video clarifying the religious freedom controversy that has come about in the last few months inside the military.
Please subscribe to CitizenLink to receive beneficial videos on issues relating to religious freedom and faith.
Enjoy and stand boldly in your faith!