More Than A Cross On My Chest

Every Chaplain In the US Army wears his or her faith group symbol on their uniform. As a Protestant Chaplain I wear a cross above my name tape on the right side of my uniform. I remember the day that I was able to pin that cross on and it was pinned on by my father, one of the greatest moments of my life for several reasons. First, it was a goal that I had set 15 years prior when I felt the calling of God to be a Chaplain. Second, it was pinned on by my dad. While it may not seem that big of a deal for most people for me it was an honor to have the man who had instilled such great values in my life to be the one who passed the mantle of sorts. Finally, it was proof to me that it was the calling of God that had gotten me there and the Cross was a symbol of where God wanted me to go with my life.

Several weeks later I was at church and I remember my pastor talking about how we are to live our lives, we were supposed to live it in such a way that everyone knows that we are willing to take up the cross each day for the Lord. Our actions should be proof that we are children of God. As a Chaplain in the Army we wear that cross (or other religious symbol) in a very obvious spot and it is a testament not only to our position in the military but also of our personal faith. It was a reminder for me that not only do we carry the cross in our hearts we carry it in front of our men and women in uniform, what a great responsibility.

Fast-forward to this past weekend when I was getting my uniforms ready for inspection Tuesday morning. With each of my four uniforms I carefully removed any loose strings and ensured that my name and branch was placed in the right place. Then, I placed my cross on each uniform and took the time to pray after each placement. I prayed that God would use me in a way that would be a reflection of His love and concern for his children. I also prayed that every time I donned my uniform I would live my life in a way that promoted my faith and the Army values.

I know that there are few people in the world that wear their faith on their collar, but that does not mean that people don't or shouldn't  know where you stand. Can you wear a cross on your collar all day so that all know where you stand or are there times when you need to cover the cross so that you wont show it disrespect. I am certainly not trying to sound pious for I am like Paul in that there is no greater sinner than I.  I believe it should be our prayer everyday that we will live our lives with more than a cross on our chest, it should be just as evident in our hearts, actions, and attitudes.

Knowing What Right Looks Like

For the next several weeks I will be away at a military school and many of the things I write about will be because of something I have learned from my fellow classmates. Since we just finished up our first week I have not been writing very much. I have been busy with my education here and that takes time, effort and a certain mindset. I spoke with Sarah about this a few days ago, apologizing for not giving her the focus that she deserves from me but I have had to go into Army training mode which means that I have to be focused on learning what right looks like.

What does that mean? There are many things in the Army that I have had to explain over the years especially when I use one of the acronyms that we use. I have been in many conversations where I have been asked to stop speaking in code because they have no idea what I said. Something like “After we finished PT this morning I went to the DFAC for some chow. Then I changed in to my BDU's and went to class where we studied DADT and then moved to AR 670-1 to discuss regs on wear and appearance of the uniform. Afterwards we went out for some Land Nav and closed out the day with PRT and MRE’s.

I know that some of that makes absolutely no sense to most people but when I say that we are studying what “right looks like” it is just that. We are learning what the military says is right and what the rules are. When we leave here we need to know the correct way to do things and when they are altered or need to be altered we can do that and still know what the correct way to do something.

Why am I bringing this up?  Well, it made me think of my Christian walk and knowing what right looks like. When I went to seminary I learned what right looked like. It was the time that I devoted to getting the base information for being a minister. It also reminded me about the base ideas of what it means to be a Christian. There are some decisions that I still must make as a Christian, things that I did not study in seminary but because of the things that I learned in seminary I know how to find the right answers and I know what right looks like according to scripture.

There are times when we all need to get in “army mode” when it comes to our Christian walk. Maybe we have slowly faded away from what right looks like and we need to get back in the mode of just finding our base again, finding what right looks like. Maybe we need to take the time to look deep into our actions, reactions, motives, speech, attitudes, etc… and compare it to our base knowledge. It may mean taking some time to be distant from family and friends maybe even from the trappings of everyday life and go back to the basics and study long and hard. I am not saying leave everything behind and start from scratch or get so deep in thought that we neglect our families and friends, but get in a place for a short time to not be distracted from what we need to be learning.

Just a thought.

PS I will try to write more often but with our school schedule it is a little more difficult. I have some more thoughts to put down so please keep looking.

History Lesson

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
Matthew 23:37

This morning I am preparing to start another military journey, Chaplain school. While I may have already finished my degree and been allowed to put on the cross, I still have to attend CH-BOLC (Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course). This has certainly made me think about the last 15 years of my military career. 15 years ago today, I was entering basic training in Ft. Knox, KY. I was scared to death my first night there. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. There was no way to prepare for such an environment and it was the first time that I had actually been away from home on my own. It was also very, very, very cold. It snowed the first 15 days were in Basic.

Here in SC it is a little different. I must woke up in my hotel room, walked out to my truck in 45 degree weather where the sun is beaming down. I have somewhat of an idea of what is going to happen over the next several months and I have been away from home so much now I feel like I am at home.

Wow, what a difference in the last 15 years, not just in the way the military runs, but in my preparation for such an event. This morning when I read this scripture passage it made me think of the other preparation that I have had in other areas of my life, especially in my spiritual life. While this may be taken theologically out of perspective what I am about to write is how I felt, so for all my professor and exegetical friends out the, relax.

Over the last 15 years, God has sent some great men and women of God my way to help keep me protected and lead me in the right direction. My parents are first and far most on my list. My Dad, he has been such a wonderful guide and counselor for me. He has always provided sound advice, never pushing the Bible down my throat but living the life that promotes Biblical living. My mom, has always been by my side and a willing listener. No matter what I have shocked her with, she has always reacted with love and respect. Her life has been a living Bible study. Sarah has always been a refuge for me to run to both physically and emotionally. As much poop as my parents have had to deal with over the years, Sarah has had to deal with more in less time. Without her and the kids I would be a total wreck.

There are so many other people no mention, Chris, Joe, Andrew, Corey, Paul, Pepsi, T.J., and about 5 people named John, Pepper, Milton, Ken, Malcolm, and the list could go on for a long time. Why is that important today? Why with this passage. I believe that this passage reminds me that he will continue to send people my way. How often will he send people my way and I not listen to them. God has prepared a group of men and women for me to be surrounded by during this Chaplain course, all of which I know I can learn something from. There will be some to learn from more than others I know but each one of these people has been chosen to be here today.

Where are you in your walk with the Lord? Are you looking at each person you encounter as a possible person God has sent your way to protect you and cover you with his love? I saw a post card the other day that said "There are billions of people on the planet and you are going to let just one ruin your day?" take some time today to look at the people you are surrounded by and see if they may be there to bring you under the wing of God. It may change the way you respond to them and how you view the awesome power and glory of God.

No such thing as coincidence

My wife and I are big fans of the TV series NCIS. I like it because of Gibbs, Sarah likes it for DiNozzo. Agent Gibbs has a saying: "I don't believe in coincidences" and I completely agree with him. The devotional book that my friend gave me was very special to him because it seemed a coincidence that everyday he read it, it was speaking directly to him about a situation in his life. Every time we talked about it I would remind him that I don't believe in coincidences, especially when it is God speaking to us. Yesterday I read the dpassage for the day and did not get anything out of it. Today, that very situation was thrown up in my face and I knew how to react because just the day before I was told how. ( not that I did it well, but I did know what I was supposed to do in theory). So, lesson one for today is this, coincidences don't exist; the power of God does.

Lesson two.
"Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?" Genesis 4:6

I love all of my children, beloved. I don't disparage one in favor of another. It grieves me when you believe that I do.

I favored Abel's offering, but did not favor Abel over Cain. Cain misunderstood the difference and allowed his anger to blind him.

My child, I caution all of my children to be slow to anger because of the devastation that anger can unleash. I did not want Cain to go down that path of destruction. Instead of giving in to his emotions, I wanted him to examine why he was angry. Envy was the match that ignited his fury. He chose to hang on to anger instead of me.

Child, when you're upset don't focus on it to the exclusion of all else. Bring it to me. Let's explore together why you are angry. Then, let's douse that flame together.

THE END

This was the devotional that I blew through yesterday and did not give it a lot of thought. Why? Because I was not upset with anyone and my day was going great. Today however I got a kink in my chain. See, no coincidence here.

A different kind of post

KEEP READING!!! That statement has nothing to do with my post or anything else I write. It has everything to do with the need for everyone to continue growing. The best way for that to happen is to keep reading. At this moment I have about 5 books I am actively going on my Kindle. Some are for fun but the others are for deep study. Why am I talking about this today? A friend of mine asked me about a book that he was about to start reading. I told him that I had read it at least 3 times and listened to it on audio a few more times than that. He was surprised that I had read it that many times but I liked it and grew from it.

So why keep reading it? Because like everything else the more you do it the more you get from it. When I finished seminary a few months ago I decided to take a break from reading. I mean, after 7 years of college and seminary books I figured my brain needed a break. Wow, was I wrong. I realized that I was missing something when I stopped reading. I was missing growth. So here is what you can take from today... find a book... read it... and then find another one.

By the way, the book that my friend and I were talking about was The Shack. If you haven't read it, I recommend it. There is something simple about the book that makes it nice.

Daily Devotional

One of the reasons that I chose  to do this blog is to have the opportunity to post what I am learning in my daily devotionals. Some of that is just because it will make me do my daily devotional but the rest of it is so I will have an outlet for what I learn. So whether you agree or disagree with what I am writing theologically is irrelevant, I just want someone to know how I feel. So here we go.

This mornings devotional comes from a book that I was given for Christmas from a friend of mine. Heaven Is Calling from Zondervan. The passage comes from Genesis 3:9 "Then the Lord called to the man, 'Where are you?'" So where are we today? According to this devotional book it is not the question that should be focused on but the God's answer to the question; "When you hide, I will seek." Isn't that what he does for his children? When we hide from Him in our sin doesn't he seek to find us and restore us into fellowship with himself? Is it not His passion to have all of his flock at peace with the shepherd.

For some reason, when my family gathers together, stories about the stupid stuff I did during my childhood surface. The look on my dads face lightens a little and he recalls a great deal of things that I  did, some I don't remember doing, but he remembers them vividly. Now that he looks back on them he chuckles about how silly the mistakes were but I vividly remember a different person when I was doing those stupid things.Then those things were not funny, there were direct violations of my dads will for my life. However, over time my dad has forgiven and forgotten the pain and sorrow I caused him by doing some of those stupid things. Many times it was not the deed that was done that upset him as much as it was the fact that I would lie to him thinking I could get away with something. Do you have stories like that? As a kid you would lie to try and cover up the bad that you did? But someone always knew? That person was my dad, he always knew, he never fell for the lie. But I would still continue to hide the truth.

If you know me today, you already know that is not me anymore, if anything I am brutally honest with others, even when it costs me dearly. However, when it comes to my spiritual life there are times when I don't necessarily lie to God about something, but I will hide from Him hoping He did not see, or otherwise somehow I will not get caught. In this passage of scripture we see God calling out to his chosen to see where they are. Not that he did not always know where they were physically but I think he wanted to know if they knew where they were relationally. I believe that is His call to us. "Where are you?" is not something that He needs to learn, but it is a learning experience for us. We need to know where we are with Him, to understand where He wants us to be with Him and to know that He is always calling. There is nothing that we can do that he doesn't know about already. His desire is that we are with Him, that we are honest with Him, that we are willing to run to Him always.

My First Attempt At Writing

There is a great friend of mine that has inspired me to attempt a go at writing. (Not that he knows it or that he will actually read it) I do not know where this page will lead but I hope it will be a journey of Good faith efforts on my part to share with you what God is doing in my life. If you know me you already know that I do not wear my halo for others to see "How Good I Am" but I do carry it with me to be an encouragement to others and to help when I can. God has been good to me over the last year with several large accomplishments in my personal life. I hope that I put them to good use.


So, that is all for my first post. Malcolm, if for some reason you ever do read this, I really do enjoy how you write, it's your fault I am here.