We are almost finished with October...whew! This month has been particularly difficult for me. God has tested, convicted, and renewed me all in the span of a month. Although when He does that, He usually sees me and my family to the other side while adding blessing to us...so no hard feelings. Just exhaustion!
This month I had my birthday (27...man I'm gettin' old). To emphasise my age, I found out that one of my soldiers didn't even know about the show In Living Color. One day I turned to him and said "Homey don't play dat" to which he just gazed at me blankly not knowing what I was talking about. I was immediately struck with the reality of my age. I am amungst a generation who knows nothing of, Perfect Strangers, Mork and Mindy, CHiPs, Knight Rider (original series), the A team, Mash, Who's the Boss, Three's Company, Family Ties, when MTV actually played music...etc. I could go on forever. So I will say again...MAN I AM GETTING OLD!
Yesterday we had an "Organizational Day" which roughly translates to mandatory fun. What they hadn't planned on was people actually having fun. About an hour into the days festivities it began to rain. Yes, you read that right...rain...in Baghdad...and how. It was pooring! Did that stop anything what-so-ever? NO!! We went ahead and completed the events in the rain. Inbetween events we even were playing mud football, and soccer. Yesterday was the most fun I have had so far on this deployment. There have been more meanningful times, but none quite so fun. Most of us were covered form head to toe in mud, even as we proceeded to other events. Have any of you ever played dodgeball on a water filled court? I would highly rcommend it. The referees lined the balls up on the center line and the teams each had to sprint from their corresponding side of the court to try and get as many of the balls as possible. So everyone would charge the centerline, water flying everywhere, people sliding across the slick, wet pavement. What a great time. Later we realized that while we played the entire post was turning into a mud bog. Yuck!
I will be coming home on R&R leave soon, though not soon enough. When I am home we plan on not doing much of anything except be a family for the short itme I am home, and perhaps have some dinner with some dear friends. I will only be home for 18 days or so and then it's back to Iraq. Oh, and by the way...Sandy and I will be trying to get her pregnant again while I am on leave...please be praying for us.
26 October 2008
11 September 2008
Divorce
Sandy and I are currently discussing a subject that is quite a personal one to me. MARRIAGE! We have come across those who seem to gloss over God's standard by "interpreting" into it what they want it to mean, using phrases like "what I think it says" or "what this says to me." Read on and I will show you where I am going with this...
I was listening to KLOVE today...yes I have KLOVE in Iraq...and within a half an hour three callers revealed to the host that they were in the middle of a divorce, some as fresh as a couple of days. One woman was mother of six children...SIX!!!!! In her case the father had just up and left. She continued to share her story as my heart broke more and more with each passing word. The climax to her story was that the two children she has left at home (yes this father even went as far as to break up the children) got out of the car on the highway to hold each other while they both cried. Yet another woman experienced her husband suddenly leaving her three years prior. He abandoned three children. It was not mentioned where these men were spiritually (I assume not even trying or aware), and I do realize that it is not usually one person that is to blame.
This is what we get when we combine God's word with the relativistic garbage that is being puked aloud (much louder than the Gospel) in our country. GOD HAS ONLY ONE STANDARD, FOR ALL PEOPLES, IN ALL COUNTRIES, AT ALL TIMES! WE are the ones who change with the wind and the blown sands of the desert (Yes me too). If his revealed word means something different for me than it does for others than He is at best perverse and at worst not God. He IS God though and his word IS the same, always. His word is true, in it’s true meaning, in the message it was intended to deliver. It produces only one truth that is universally applicable IN ONLY THE INTENDED WAY, NO MATTER THE SITUATION OR CIRCUMSTANCE. To interpret the word “submit” as anything other than what it was intended to mean (in most cases “obey”) is a forgivable mistake; to then teach others or convict others that it means “share” is, at that point, an abomination.
GOD’S TRUTH IS NOT RELATIVE!
· Hebrews 13:8-9a Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. KJV
And…so you don’t think I am “one of those Christians” who only use the KJV, claiming that it is the only true scripture…
· Hebrews 13:8-9a Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. NIV
· Hebrews 13:8-9a Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings. NASB
· Hebrews13:8-9a Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings. ESV
· Hebrews13:8-9a There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn't change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always totally himself. Don't be lured away from him by the latest speculations about him. The Message
GOD’S TRUTH IS NOT RELATIVE!
How can I make a reference to a verse that talks about Jesus when I am talking about the Bible?
· John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. KJV
· John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. NIV
· John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. NASB
I think you get the idea about the different translations…for simplicity I will use NIV from here on out.
Let’s look at this as it was intended for its original audience. John’s audience was predominately Jewish and thus his intent in writing his gospel was to communicate that Jesus was the Christ (Messiah) and that they could have eternal life through His work on the cross. Now we have the original intent. In fact John gets right to work letting us know who Jesus is. So who is He? He is God, the Christ, the Word made flesh. Here we see an equation: God=Jesus=Word. Working backwards…“the Word was God,” is self explanatory. The only part that is not self explanatory is that the Hebrew for “Word” is “logos” which suggests Christ as well as something written or spoken. There is nothing further, or “deeper.” That is the truth of that phrase…emphatically-“the Christ was God.” Next, “the Word was with God.” Again using the Hebrew “logos,” so “the Christ was with God.” Lastly, “In the beginning was the Word”…”In the beginning was the Christ.” So we now come to the entire revealed truth of this verse…Christ existed, known as “logos” as/with God in the beginning. That is it! Nothing else exists in that verse unless WE create it. As if you need it to be anymore inspiring and hard-hitting than that?
In this analysis we have a startling simplicity, and a direct correlation with our verse earlier…
· Hebrews 13:8-9a Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.
Jesus Christ…a.k.a. “the Word”…is the same yesterday and today and forever. Here the word “same” in Hebrew “autos” means self. So it could read like this: the Word is self, or the Word is the Word, or the Word is the same yesterday and today…etc. Either way you want to translate the Hebrew to English you’re only left with one truth: the Word doesn’t change; the Word is the same as it always has been, is, or will be. THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUTH!
In all His love and provision God has made His Word for us and has worked hard to keep it clear enough for EVERYONE to understand. One of the many mistakes of the Pharisees was that they shackled the people with cumbersome burdens “for the sake of the Law.” Let us not burden each other with the task of seeking our truth in scripture, but God’s. God has already provided a truth for us, and that in Jesus Christ. One question to ask yourself when you have trouble accepting God’s truth: Why don’t I agree with God? When He says obey but you “interpret” share, ask Him to give you wisdom (James 1:5) and courage to meet your worldly ways head on and bring them into submission (obedience) with His word. Amen.
So how does this apply to marriage and the ladies mentioned above? When standards are relaxed, or in this case ignored, we are left with something less than holy. Something less than what God intended; something evil. That happened over and over again in the Old Testament and it is happening today. There is no longer a commitment, connection, or relationship in marriage anymore, as we have let the “state” define it for too long. It now more resembles a business agreement that only exists as long as it is mutually beneficial and not so uncomfortable for both parties. Instead of God’s one flesh standard with the husband as the head and the wife as the “helpmeet” we now have a dual flesh standard where there is no discernable head…and as we know, without a head it is hard to tell which way is forward.
I was listening to KLOVE today...yes I have KLOVE in Iraq...and within a half an hour three callers revealed to the host that they were in the middle of a divorce, some as fresh as a couple of days. One woman was mother of six children...SIX!!!!! In her case the father had just up and left. She continued to share her story as my heart broke more and more with each passing word. The climax to her story was that the two children she has left at home (yes this father even went as far as to break up the children) got out of the car on the highway to hold each other while they both cried. Yet another woman experienced her husband suddenly leaving her three years prior. He abandoned three children. It was not mentioned where these men were spiritually (I assume not even trying or aware), and I do realize that it is not usually one person that is to blame.
This is what we get when we combine God's word with the relativistic garbage that is being puked aloud (much louder than the Gospel) in our country. GOD HAS ONLY ONE STANDARD, FOR ALL PEOPLES, IN ALL COUNTRIES, AT ALL TIMES! WE are the ones who change with the wind and the blown sands of the desert (Yes me too). If his revealed word means something different for me than it does for others than He is at best perverse and at worst not God. He IS God though and his word IS the same, always. His word is true, in it’s true meaning, in the message it was intended to deliver. It produces only one truth that is universally applicable IN ONLY THE INTENDED WAY, NO MATTER THE SITUATION OR CIRCUMSTANCE. To interpret the word “submit” as anything other than what it was intended to mean (in most cases “obey”) is a forgivable mistake; to then teach others or convict others that it means “share” is, at that point, an abomination.
GOD’S TRUTH IS NOT RELATIVE!
· Hebrews 13:8-9a Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. KJV
And…so you don’t think I am “one of those Christians” who only use the KJV, claiming that it is the only true scripture…
· Hebrews 13:8-9a Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. NIV
· Hebrews 13:8-9a Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings. NASB
· Hebrews13:8-9a Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings. ESV
· Hebrews13:8-9a There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn't change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always totally himself. Don't be lured away from him by the latest speculations about him. The Message
GOD’S TRUTH IS NOT RELATIVE!
How can I make a reference to a verse that talks about Jesus when I am talking about the Bible?
· John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. KJV
· John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. NIV
· John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. NASB
I think you get the idea about the different translations…for simplicity I will use NIV from here on out.
Let’s look at this as it was intended for its original audience. John’s audience was predominately Jewish and thus his intent in writing his gospel was to communicate that Jesus was the Christ (Messiah) and that they could have eternal life through His work on the cross. Now we have the original intent. In fact John gets right to work letting us know who Jesus is. So who is He? He is God, the Christ, the Word made flesh. Here we see an equation: God=Jesus=Word. Working backwards…“the Word was God,” is self explanatory. The only part that is not self explanatory is that the Hebrew for “Word” is “logos” which suggests Christ as well as something written or spoken. There is nothing further, or “deeper.” That is the truth of that phrase…emphatically-“the Christ was God.” Next, “the Word was with God.” Again using the Hebrew “logos,” so “the Christ was with God.” Lastly, “In the beginning was the Word”…”In the beginning was the Christ.” So we now come to the entire revealed truth of this verse…Christ existed, known as “logos” as/with God in the beginning. That is it! Nothing else exists in that verse unless WE create it. As if you need it to be anymore inspiring and hard-hitting than that?
In this analysis we have a startling simplicity, and a direct correlation with our verse earlier…
· Hebrews 13:8-9a Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.
Jesus Christ…a.k.a. “the Word”…is the same yesterday and today and forever. Here the word “same” in Hebrew “autos” means self. So it could read like this: the Word is self, or the Word is the Word, or the Word is the same yesterday and today…etc. Either way you want to translate the Hebrew to English you’re only left with one truth: the Word doesn’t change; the Word is the same as it always has been, is, or will be. THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUTH!
In all His love and provision God has made His Word for us and has worked hard to keep it clear enough for EVERYONE to understand. One of the many mistakes of the Pharisees was that they shackled the people with cumbersome burdens “for the sake of the Law.” Let us not burden each other with the task of seeking our truth in scripture, but God’s. God has already provided a truth for us, and that in Jesus Christ. One question to ask yourself when you have trouble accepting God’s truth: Why don’t I agree with God? When He says obey but you “interpret” share, ask Him to give you wisdom (James 1:5) and courage to meet your worldly ways head on and bring them into submission (obedience) with His word. Amen.
So how does this apply to marriage and the ladies mentioned above? When standards are relaxed, or in this case ignored, we are left with something less than holy. Something less than what God intended; something evil. That happened over and over again in the Old Testament and it is happening today. There is no longer a commitment, connection, or relationship in marriage anymore, as we have let the “state” define it for too long. It now more resembles a business agreement that only exists as long as it is mutually beneficial and not so uncomfortable for both parties. Instead of God’s one flesh standard with the husband as the head and the wife as the “helpmeet” we now have a dual flesh standard where there is no discernable head…and as we know, without a head it is hard to tell which way is forward.
31 August 2008
Stuff from August
Well August has come and gone. Nothing has changed so much that I felt I should write except when looking back through the month. In fact things stay so much the same here that I, and some others have taken to wishing each other a happy ground hog's day. I eat the same things most days. I go to the same places each day though at different times, depending on my schedule for that day. I see the same people.
I have gotten to know the Ugandan guards all around this post. They are super nice and most of them are Christians...like 84% of thier population...what a testament to God's work abroad. They have names like John, Ronald, Enoch, Addah, Bernard, etc. Those names don't seem so uncommon to us, but in thier country where Swahili is the local tounge it is as obvious as someone named Carlose. In that counrty those names identify them as Christians just as Carlose would identify someone of hispanic decent in our country. Some of them are here to help support families, while others are here to work up a dowry for the woman they have in mind back home. Out here they earn what would be the equivalent of $2 Million a year. Though they are so far away from home they still bring thier culture with them. At night sometimes they will build a bon fire and dance around it singing with drums. They are so high on life it is infectious. I can't get enough of them as you can probably tell by my rambling. Just wonderful people and true evidence of God's love for all peoples of the world.
I have started school with Liberty University in hopes of earning a Multi Disciplinary Degree. So far I have transfered around 90 credits to this program. I am in Bible 104 and Theology 104 right now. In fact, as I write this I am procrastinating finishing my assignment for this week...don't worry, I will get it done...always do. This will hopefully lead to a commision as a Chaplain. I have been corresponding with Chaplian Jones to get more information into this program. More to come on that one as I progress into my education.
Last night I took the Dixie Band out to Camp Cropper to play for the MP Brigade. Just getting on that post is a chore in itself as they are very watchful who comes on and even moreso who goes off, if you get my drift. We got all set up and started playing, leading off with the MP Song. Sounds appropriate, No?? We finished and everyone applauded as usual but we noticed it was a "oh wasn't that a nice march," sort of applause. We rounded out our set with more traditional dixieland music and then ate dinner with them. The group leader went and talked with the 1SG and Commander to ask if they recognised the first tune we played...after a short pause they answered, "oh yeah, it was some sort of march right?" Later on we had a good laugh at thier expense. The MP's didn't know the MP Song...not even thier General knew it. It is supposed to be thier fight song...like Climb To Glory is my Division's fight song. I know every word! Too funny. The night was not without it's own appreciation...as we left my group leader came up to me and said that he appreciated my hard work and handed me a coin from the CSM and the CC of the MP Brigade we played for. Though it has no actual value it was very much appreciated and will always be something special to me. I tried to upload pics but the internet is routinely stupid out here...sorry.
Well all, that is what has happened in August. Please stay tuned as I will continue to post, no matter how long inbetween.
I have gotten to know the Ugandan guards all around this post. They are super nice and most of them are Christians...like 84% of thier population...what a testament to God's work abroad. They have names like John, Ronald, Enoch, Addah, Bernard, etc. Those names don't seem so uncommon to us, but in thier country where Swahili is the local tounge it is as obvious as someone named Carlose. In that counrty those names identify them as Christians just as Carlose would identify someone of hispanic decent in our country. Some of them are here to help support families, while others are here to work up a dowry for the woman they have in mind back home. Out here they earn what would be the equivalent of $2 Million a year. Though they are so far away from home they still bring thier culture with them. At night sometimes they will build a bon fire and dance around it singing with drums. They are so high on life it is infectious. I can't get enough of them as you can probably tell by my rambling. Just wonderful people and true evidence of God's love for all peoples of the world.
I have started school with Liberty University in hopes of earning a Multi Disciplinary Degree. So far I have transfered around 90 credits to this program. I am in Bible 104 and Theology 104 right now. In fact, as I write this I am procrastinating finishing my assignment for this week...don't worry, I will get it done...always do. This will hopefully lead to a commision as a Chaplain. I have been corresponding with Chaplian Jones to get more information into this program. More to come on that one as I progress into my education.
Last night I took the Dixie Band out to Camp Cropper to play for the MP Brigade. Just getting on that post is a chore in itself as they are very watchful who comes on and even moreso who goes off, if you get my drift. We got all set up and started playing, leading off with the MP Song. Sounds appropriate, No?? We finished and everyone applauded as usual but we noticed it was a "oh wasn't that a nice march," sort of applause. We rounded out our set with more traditional dixieland music and then ate dinner with them. The group leader went and talked with the 1SG and Commander to ask if they recognised the first tune we played...after a short pause they answered, "oh yeah, it was some sort of march right?" Later on we had a good laugh at thier expense. The MP's didn't know the MP Song...not even thier General knew it. It is supposed to be thier fight song...like Climb To Glory is my Division's fight song. I know every word! Too funny. The night was not without it's own appreciation...as we left my group leader came up to me and said that he appreciated my hard work and handed me a coin from the CSM and the CC of the MP Brigade we played for. Though it has no actual value it was very much appreciated and will always be something special to me. I tried to upload pics but the internet is routinely stupid out here...sorry.
Well all, that is what has happened in August. Please stay tuned as I will continue to post, no matter how long inbetween.
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