Recent Pictures

29 April

Well, we made it back to our home base today after a few days away. I have many more of those short trips planned before this is all over, which is both good and bad. It is good because you get out ad see people and see new areas. It's bad because the traveling part is a drag. Once you're there it is fun... but getting there stinks. Lots of waiting around at airports or landing zones (LZs) for helicopters. And some trips, like today, take 3 hours to go in a zig-zag route to the final destination. A straight shot would have been 30 minutes. I was tired of being on that helicopter!

Anyway, I wanted to share a few pictures from the last trip. I really enjoyed the mountains and the village near this particular FOB. Lot's of scenic views.

Stars at Night

27 April
It's Tuesday now, and I wanted to reflect on my late-night trip to the bathroom last night. Yes, I know, not your normal topic of conversation. But I have to admit, we drink a lot of bottled water around here, and I'm not always diligent to stop drinking early in the evening... so the consequences of being hydrated are late night trips to the bathroom. The only problem is the lack of indoor plumbing in any of the sleeping areas here, so you end up having to leave your building, or tent (in this case), and walk a few hundred feet to find the nearest bathroom. Be very thankful for a bathroom right there in your own home! (And a clean one at that). In my current case, we are visiting another FOB and staying with the Soldiers from our Unit in their tent. It is large enough to sleep 6 people, and they framed in walls from wood available for just such a purpose. So I have a nice little room with a bed and a door I can lock. That's cool.

Anyway, back to the original story. What I wanted to mention was the moon and the stars last night. Many of the smaller FOBs are called "black-out FOBs" because external lighting is not allowed at night. You can have lights in your rooms, but when you go outside you have to have a flashlight with either red or blue light (nothing white). This is all for safety reasons and to make the FOB harder to see at night. It also makes it harder to find your way to the bathroom! But last night the full moon was out and it lit up the sky. I just stood there for awhile and was mesmorized by the night time sky. The stars out here in the mountains tend to be unbelievable as well. It's always the same way when you get out in nature and away from the lights of a big city and then check out the stars at night. They're beautiful. My PT buddy was an atronomy "minor" in college, so he's always telling me the names of stars and constellations. I can identify a few of them, but for the most part I just look at them and think about God. There is a song by Chris Tomlin where he sings about God's indescribable qualities. He says, "You placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name." Those lyrics come to mind when I gaze at the night sky here, because it is so massive and awe-inspiring. It makes me think of how awesome God is, too. By the way, I have even seen more than a half-dozen shooting stars over the months, too. They seem to be prevalent here, although I'm not sure why.
Gotta go for now. Thanks for checking in with me. I'll post more later when I can.

ANZAC Day

25 April

Today (Sunday) is a really busy day for me. I was asked by the soldiers of the New Zealand group if I would participate in their annual "ANZAC Day" ceremony. It is an annual day of remembrance, much like our Memorial Day, where both Australia and New Zealand remember soldiers who fought together and were killed in WWI. It has grown into a national holiday for both countries and is celebrated at dawn on April 25 each year. I was asked to give the opening and closing prayer, as well as a brief "message" before the ending. (I think they asked me because my office is near theirs, but who cares. I was honored they asked!) I chose to tell the story of Joshua and the Israelites crossing the Jordan River on dry ground, and then building a monument from stones to commemorate the event. I told how the monument was designed to help future generations remember what took place that day and how God led them into the Promised Land. The annual Anzac Day ceremony is very similar. It is designed to remind us to never forget those who came before us and died in battle.

I had many nice compliments afterward and they invited me to a private breakfast (since it was only 5:20 am when it was over!). I met about 25 Soldiers from New Zealand and Austrailia who are stationed here. They only serve 6 month tours! Lucky bums. I also enjoyed listening to them talk. They have a great accent, and actually say things like, "No worries, Mate!" In fact, several of their Air Force pilots invited me to bring my family down to NZ for a visit after I get home. I'd love to, but who is going to pay for it? If they're offering a free trip... we're there! But somehow I doubt it. Anyway, it was a great cultural experience for me and I learned quite a bit today about NZ. (Did you know, in the summer down there you can snow ski in the mountains in the morning and then drive to the beach and swim in the ocean that same afternoon?) That sounds great! The attached pictures are of the ceremony this morning at sunrise (their Major addressing the crowd of about 40 people), and the wreath they placed to remember the fallen (Lest We Forget).

On a different note: I already preached one time this morning at the 10am service, and now I will pack this afternoon for another trip, and later tonight I will preach again at a different service. My topic is on the progression into sin, and I used Lot (from Genesis 19) as my text and example. He slowly moved closer to and then into the city of Sodom and became accustomed to the lifestyle there. In fact, he and his family were reluctant to leave, even when the angels told them it was going to be destroyed. I wonder how often we are like that? Living around so much sin, and not really noticing it anymore because we're so used to it? It's all around me here -- trust me, Satan is alive and well in this country AND in the military! So I want to open my eyes some more and try to open a few others to the dangers of the sin all around us. Please pray for me and this message, as well as for our safety on future travels. Thank you.

Oasis in the Desert

19 April
I am visiting one of our teams at a very remote location for a few days. You can be stuck where ever you go and at the mercy of the helicopters coming in and out. At some places there are not a whole lot of birds arriving, so you may be there a few days. That is the case here. It's Ok though, because this place is a nice oasis in the desert. There is a small river that runs through the entire camp, and it drops off a 5-ft ledge and makes beautiful waterfall at one point. The entire area near the river is covered with shade trees due to the abundance of water nearby. I'll post pictures soon. But it is a beautiful spot to sit and relax. I read my Bible there this morning and had a quiet time. God sent me a lttle frog to be my company. He flopped down the waterfall and tried to hide in the water from me, but I saw him anyway. It was sort of a reminder of life in the midst of a desert (let alone a warzone). It also reminded me of Elijah staying by the brook and being fed by the birds until the water dried up. Maybe my frog buddy will be there tomorrow, too. We'll see.

One of the interesting things that is happening to me -- or to my faith, rather -- is the repeated exerience of seeing God answer my prayers: for myself, my family, and my Unit. I have been praying for my Soldiers and their safety and asking God to cover them with the promises of psalm 91. And it's working. I want to make sure the world knows there is a Living God who answers prayers. I am keeping a record of incidents where our soldiers could have been injured or worse, but were not. In fact, we had another incident last week from an explosion, and our guy walked away without a scratch. It's unbelievable and only due to the grace and providence of God. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness to your Word!

Honoring Chris

15 April
We held a brief "Remembrance Ceremony" yesterday for our Fallen Hero, Chris Coffland. If you have been following my blog you may remember he was killed by an IED explosion last November 13th. But recently his sister painted a wonderful painting of him laughing -- which is how she remembers him -- and sent it to our battalion HQ. We had it framed and our Commander wanted to have a nice ceremony to unveil it and then hang it in our tactical operations center (TOC). It was really nice. All I had to do was lead an opening and closing prayer, which was not too bad. This morning, coincidentally, was a 5K Remembrance Run held by the EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) guys for all the soldiers KIA over the past year. If you saw the movie "The Hurt Locker" then you saw the EOD guys in action. There were probably hundreds of people who came out at 6:00 am to run. One of our Soldiers asked his wife to have this picture made up on T-shirts a few weeks ago, and so about twenty of us wore a t-shirt with Chris's painting on it. Apparently, he was fond of saying, "I'm Outta Here!" and so that is the saying on the plaque and the shirts.

I have become a big fan of Christian singer and songwriter, Mark Schultz. I got to see him in concert with "Point of Grace" when I was home on Leave. He puts on a great show, and has more energy that I ever imagined. His album, Broken and Beautiful has a song called "40 days" which really hits home for me right now. He sings, "Lord I came to the mountain top, to be with you / I felt your grace falling down like rain and I was made new / But there are time like now, when I'm all dried out / And as I've 40 days out in the desert feeling like I'm lost forever, crying out for you / But in these 40 days I'm gonna seek you, with my heart 'cause I believe you ...brought me to this place...these 40 days." I love that. Awesome lyrics!

What a Difference a Week Makes

Sat. April 10
Greetings all. I am enjoying a warm Spring day and thinking back on the events of the last few weeks. I gave the devotional to the other Chaplains during our weekly luncheon this past Wednesday, and I spoke on trials and suffering. I used some material from Steve Farrar's book, "Battle Ready," and received several very positive comments. The highest ranking Chaplain in the area was present, too. He works personally with General McCristal, the 3 star General over everything here. So I did what they always say in public speaking classes: imagine him in his underwear! (No, I am kidding). I acted like he was just another one of my colleagues. That was easy.

Anyway, things are going much better. God is good and time seems to heal all wounds. Or at least helps you move past the hurt. I am preaching tomorrow on several passages from Matthew. I want to examine the life and times of Peter, and try to show that maybe we all need to be a little bit more like Peter -- at least in what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Peter had the guts to want to be like his rabbi, and be with his rabbi, and do what his rabbi did (such as walking on water). Sure, he is remembered for sinking, but at least he tried! What did the other 11 guys do? Nothing. So maybe we need to remember Peter's courage and desire to be a true disciple. Don't forget that Christ loved him and forgave him and rewarded him for this, so may we all seek to be a little bit more like Peter.

I am attaching a new picture from my bedroom wall. I posted a few more recent pictures from family back home. My kids colored Easter eggs and one of them has a Michigan "M" on it (blue and gold, or course), and the other says, "I love my daddy." Thanks girls. I love you, too. Also, if you look closely, you can see my mom going down a zip line while on vacation recently. Way to go, Mom! It looks like fun. Did I mention my mom's age? No, maybe I had better not!

I also want to take a moment to tell my wife I love her. She will be celebrating a birthday soon -- without me. In fact, I will miss all the family birthdays this year. That hurts. I miss you dearly and wish I could be there with you to celebrate your special day. But God had other plans, so please save a little cake for me!

Happy Easter - 2010

Easter Sunday
April 4, 2010
Happy Easter, everyone! This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Psalm 118:24). I am currently passing through a muslim country praising God for the life, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Never thought I'd be doing or saying that here! As for today, it does not look like I will get to lead an Easter service, as we're still hoping to hop to another FOB later this afternoon to visit more of our troops. It has been a slow morning so far, which allowed me to spend time reading the story of Christ's death and resurrection from Luke's gospel (chapters 23-24). I have also been praying through and claiming the promises of Psalm 91 for myself and my Soldiers. I have decided to pray this every day for my battalion, and I believe God will honor that prayer coverage. I honestly believe God will bring my guys through without any more harm or death. God also says of the one who is devoted to him: "When he calls to me I will answer him; I will be with him in times of trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor. I will satisfy him with a long life and show him my salvation." (Psalm 91:15-16). I'm counting on that!

A closing Benediction for today: I like the passage found in Numbers 6:24-26:

The Lord bless you and protect you;
The Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you.
The Lord look with favor on you and give you peace. (Amen).

Happy Easter from the other side of the world!

Battle Ready

2 April
Good Friday. It has been a very good day. My assistant and I are out traveling and visiting our Soldiers at a few outlying FOBs (forward operating bases). It was a relaxing day, filled with sleep, reading, a devotional/quiet time, and exercise (to name a few things). The weather where we are at is wonderful and this place has green vegitation and trees. It's pretty nice. We went for a walk and saw some kids flying kites and others trying to start a soccer game. They came running up to the fence and asked us (three of us in our party) if we would come over the fence and play soccer with them? Not a chance, kid! But thanks for asking. So we got our cameras out and they said, "$50 bucks for a picture!" Again, not a chance, kid. What a bunch of street-smart gangsters! So I took a few pictures for free!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about something I read this afternoon. A few months ago my wife sent me a book called, "Battle Ready: Prepare to be Used by God," by Steve Farrar. (He's the same author who wrote "Point Man" which is a book I highly recommend to any married man). I started "Battle Ready" awhile back, but put it down for one reason or another. I just could not get into it back then. So I decided to bring it along on this trip for pleasure reading during down time. At the beginning of chapter 2 he gives a quote from the famous British (Baptist) preacher, C.H. Spurgeon, who said, "God gets his best Soldiers out of the highlands of affliction." Boy did that speak to me! Steve Farrar goes on to say, "Every man who desires to be used by God will face giants. Do you desire to be used by God? It's what gives meaning to a man's life." Then, later in the same chapter he wrote: "The man who is used by God will not be free from pain and suffering--not by a long shot. In fact, some of that pain and suffering will be of his own making. And when you are facing a giant that is of your own making, well, that is the bitterest fight you will ever wage" (p.38). Amen to that.

Wow! He is speaking my language, and this book seems to have been written for me. I find it interesting that I did not read those words back before Christmas when I first got the book in the mail. Maybe I was not ready for that message then? But I am now and God has me reading it when I need it most. As I have said earlier in this series of blogs, God is speaking to me through books this year, and His message is coming in loud and clear. I needed to read those words and work through the implication of what Steve Farrar is writing. I want to be used by God, and as such I need to be aware of--and ready for--the giants to come and the fight to be nasty. Yes, it did not help that I caused some of my own pain and suffering, but God is using it all to make me "battle ready." Thank you, Lord. And a thank you to my wife for sending the book to me way back when. God knew I would benefit from it when the time was right. I think that time is now. Thanks honey! I love you.