National Day of Thanksgiving... And Ten Years of Marriage

I suppose it is quite fitting that the occasion of my tenth wedding anniversary would coincide with Thanksgiving Day.  As I realized that just a week ago, I ruminated on how significant and appropriate it was on so many levels.  Also, not by coincidence, I am taking a course on Civil War history.  So as I contemplated the history of the Civil War and the history of the National Day of Thanksgiving, I found the parallels between my marriage and this day’s history to be striking and apropos.

Thanksgiving as a national observance started in 1863 when President Lincoln issued a declaration ordering the last Thursday in November to be a National Day of Thanksgiving.  1863 had seen significant Union war progress and was viewed as a strategic turning point for the Federal effort in the traumatizing American Civil War.  After the disasters of two routing defeats at Manassas Junction, a humiliating retreat from the Virginia Peninsula, and further leadership failures at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the Federal cause in the early Spring of 1863 seemed doomed.  But the dramatic turns of events of July 1863 in the decisive victory at Gettysburg and the capture of Vicksburg gave hope to the Union cause.  Within this historic backdrop, Lincoln issued his declaration, giving thanks to God for His love and mercies bestowed upon the nation.

Similarly, in my life, I have had countless failures in my marriage.  At so many times in the past ten years, nothing but God’s kind providence and gracious love to me has kept my marriage together.  In the past three years, He has seen fit to demonstrate that my wife’s and my bonds of commitment to each other are unbreakable… bendable, and subject to remaining sin, but unbreakable.  In this context, I view our past ten years from the perspective of November 1863, and indeed give thanks for God’s mercy upon us.

Of course, the year 1864 offers other parallels in my metaphor.  1864 has been remembered as the year that saw Lincoln’s reelection, essentially sealing the fate of the Confederacy from a standpoint of political willpower.  It saw the triumph of Sherman in Atlanta.  But 1864 was also the year in which the Union suffered their most casualties due to the dogged, stubborn, persistent attacks by Grant’s Army in the eastern theater of action.  It saw the confused, fiery, terrifying combat in the Wilderness.  It saw the whole-sale slaughter of Spotsylvania Courthouse.  It saw the Fredericksburg-like disaster at Cold Harbor.  It saw the depressing trench-warfare siege of Petersburg.  Yet, despite these trials, Thanksgiving Day was celebrated by these Union soldiers on the last day of November 1864.  The civilians of the North, grateful for the tremendous cost and sacrifice poured out by their boys in blue, generously provided the entrenched units at Petersburg with a trueThanksgiving feast… incidentally exposing many to northeast staples like roast turkey and cranberries for the first time.  Thanksgiving was given to God for His aid and succor throughout that difficult year.

As I celebrate my ten years of marriage on this first Day of National Thanksgiving that coincides with said wedding anniversary, I consider the metaphor of the future years of 1864 in my wife’s and my life together.  We will doubtless encounter our own Wilderness… beset by enemies and terrors unseen.  We will certainly feel lost and hopeless in the tangle of those thickets and may entertain tempting thoughts that God has abandoned us.  We will doubtless encounter terror and fear, facing difficult, heavy entrenchments at our own “Bloody Angles”, having to dutifully fulfill Biblical orders to take the position despite how much it costs us.  We will doubtless face complete defeats when we, in our own arrogance and self-confidence, charge towards objectives without the assistance of God and be severely defeated in our own Cold Harbors.  We will most assuredly encounter objectives too difficult to take on our own and be forced to besiege our own Petersburgs, dependent upon the assistance of Almighty God for victory… which may not come for months or years.  And lastly, we will doubtless encounter the grace and mercies of the benevolence of our brothers and sisters in Christ who will provide the mentorship, counsel, and provisions that will strengthen our marriage and our resolve to see the struggle to our own Appomattox.

My Schatz (German for “treasure”), I love you more than ever before in these previous ten years.  Most of them have been difficult, and most secular counselors would have counted us as loss on more than one occasion.  Yet your love and commitment to me has only gown and strengthened our love.  Your ability to forgive has been a mirror of God’s unconditional love in forgiving me.  I find strength to face my own besetting sins in that I know I don’t have to do anything to earn your love… but I do it because I love you.  Love is an action… and not an emotion.  I pray for you and our children daily and I thank God every day… not just today… for His giving you to me, and me to you.

Life Sucks and How I Deal with It

Just this past week, I have been reflecting on some … well … deeper, more meaningful things, and have made a few painfully obvious, albeit often ignored observations.   The first being, how ungrateful and cynical I am by nature.

Every day it seems I am bombarded by the bad, the distressing, the terrifying, the stupid, the asinine.  I guess it’s both in my nature as one who wishes to be aware of events around me, and as I retch at seeing the country I love and its traditions, culture, ‘religion’, and business being maliciously flushed down the toilet, and as I am the demographic a sucker to whom the 24 hour news media panders to.  I suppose it is hard for me to think otherwise as I read prayer request after prayer request for so-and-so whose father-in-law has cancer, or so-and-so whose friends mom just passed away, or so-and-so who is going through a messy divorce, or even so-and-so whose pastor ran off with a girlfriend who he had on the side.

Yes, it’s easy to be cynical.  Yes, life sucks.  Yes there is an awful lot of bad stuff out there.  And, yes, it is easy for me to get trapped and swallowed up by it and wallow in my own misery.  Which led me to my second observation:  Why am I surprised by all this?  If I am a true believer in God’s word, I should already expect all of this.  It shouldn’t be surprising that all of creation has steadily gone downhill since Eve first fell to temptation in the garden.  It shouldn’t be surprising that Satan still hates God and wishes to undermine Him and His work at every opportunity.  It shouldn’t surprise me that all of this is part of a grand, mysterious process that none of us can truly know in this lifetime.

So, I should not be surprised by this, and I should put everything in context.  Yes, this life is silly, hard, alternately depressing and joyful, and there is much suffering in it… but it is also temporal.  Therein is the catch.  I know where I am going when I die.  I know that this stupid life is not all there is.  I take joy in that.  I take joy in the fact that Christ died for my sins and that I am an heir with Him to the rich, eternal blessings of God that will be bestowed upon me in the life to come.  I think if I were to not have this assurance, that if this life were all that there was, I would have no desire to occupy the land of the living.

Praise God that I do have this HOPE (who originally coined this term and from whom Obama shamelessly ripped it off).  Praise God I will see His CHANGE when Christ comes again and CHANGES the creation, redeeming it from this disease of sin.

Praise God I am able to carry this message with me to share with other sufferers in this life.  Trust in Christ Jesus.  Be sorry for your sins.  Believe on Him for salvation, and you can have that joy too.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” Romans 8:18.

Yet Another Contrast Between the Religion of Pieces and Christians

File this under yet another contrast between the religion of pieces and Christians.

So, some cartoonist doodles a few (in my mind), relatively stupid cartoons depicting the pedophile prophet, Mohammed and the Muslim world and Western Embassies burn down faster than San Francisco and Detroit after winning professional sporting titles.

In yet another attempt to vilify and denigrate the name of Jesus, “You will be hated by all because of My name – Matthew 10:22a,” the Smithsonian is hosting an exhibit that requires an actual disclaimer at the top of the CNS news story:  “WARNING: This story contains graphic photographs of items on display in an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery.”  Included in the display is a sad, in-your-face attempt to outrage sensitive Christians and American values and traditions.  (Is it just me, or is it simply cliché now to be risqué?  I should totally become a painter and bring back realism!  It will be so avant-garde!)  One of the videos depicts a bloody, ant-covered crucifix.

Another Infantile, Fruitless Attempt to Denigrate Christ

Wonderfully, the God I believe in and the Christ who saved me doesn’t depend upon my outrage for His honor and glory.  What a contrast in the reaction of Christians and Muslims!  Christians after swallowing their base-humanistic outrage, hit their knees and pray fervently for revival, and leave the vengeance to the Lord.

Dear Muslim, the God of the Bible does not require you to strap bombs to yourself to defend him.  He does not require you to do anything.  He does not measure your actions on earth to judge your fitness for ‘paradise’.  He only asks you to believe in His son, Jesus, and He will give you eternal life!

Redeem the Creation - Religious Writings of Political Activists in Early America

In response to a question posed by a friend I am posting a short essay I wrote for a literature class on the appeal to ‘religion’ in support of political ideals used by several early American writers.  Bear in mind this is written from a secular viewpoint for a secular school, although I manage to interject some truth into it.  I wish I could do an entire treatise on the subject as I would blast these ‘social-gospel’ heretics who think Christ came to ‘spread the wealth around.’  Well, without further ado:

AP and Defense Department Deliberately Misinforms Public on Military's 'Opinion' on Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

So, Fox News today has an AP story stating that Secretary Gates is set to publish the ‘study’ of how ending the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy would affect the military.

“The document totaled about 370 pages and is divided into two sections, the newspaper said. The first section explores whether repealing "don't ask, don't tell" would harm unit readiness or morale. The second part of the report presents a plan for ending enforcement of the ban. It is not meant to serve as the military's official instruction manual on the issue but could be used if military leaders agreed.”

The AP story claims that 70 percent of respondents to a ‘random’ survey said that the effects of repeal “would be positive, mixed or nonexistent.”

This entire story is so biased, and uninformed I do not know where to start.

1.  What does the AP prove when it says 70% of respondents have an opinion other than negative?  Does that imply that 30% (a vastly higher percentage than the homosexual activists pushing this abomination) have the opinion that it would have negative effects?

2.  From what this story implies, this survey (which I did not receive) did not ask service members or their families their opinion on the matter, just how would the affects be.  This is a deliberate push-poll technique and can in no way accurately reflect the opinions of the force!  How would you reply to a very senior DOD official when he asks you what the “effects” would be for lifting the ban (this is what actually DID happen)?  You would reply honestly what these effects would be.  We, in the military are used receiving missions that are complicated, risky, and difficult, and find ways to accomplish them.  This survey reflects that attitude, not the actual opinion of serving alongside openly homosexuals.

3.  The way the ‘survey’ group conducted their survey was in this very method.  I participated in one.  Every one of the answers to the actual and real concerns of how the dropping of this policy brought non-answers from the panel.  For example, the panel asked the participants for their concerns over “how” dropping this policy would affect their lives, jobs, careers, etc.  Every time a concerned Scout master or one concerned over Military Chaplains asked a specific, “how” question, he was deflected with a “well, we cannot comment specifically on exactly how your installation/commander will handle… blah, blah, blah.”  In other words, they told us senior NCOs and officers to receive the orders and execute, and to hell with the consequences.

4.  Gates and Mullen have both been championing this since Obama dropped the bombshell in his State of the Union address.  I believe it is because of pressure from the administration.  However, it reflects very unprincipled leadership in my opinion.  If they cannot from their position of responsibility and authority make clear the real and true opinion of the services to the Commander in Chief, then they are simply ‘yes men’ going along with this ridiculous social experimentation with our national defense.  I’m appalled by their lack of conviction and the underhanded method in which they conducted this ‘survey’ group.  Kudos to the service chiefs for standing up on principle on this one (especially to the two Commandants of the Marine Corps who made very clear their thoughts).

This abomination cannot stand.  Do not let the media or the Office of the Secretary of Defense deliberately misinform you of the opinion of the military on this matter.  It is being manipulated and coerced from us the soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen.

This entire article is premised upon a lie and a deliberate fabrication.  Please pray for principled, Godly leaders to take a principled, Godly stand on this matter, and let God handle the consequences.

US Army Garrison Tells Us How we are Authorized to Help Each Other - The Household Goods Fire Follow-up

OK, I am probably going to stir up a bit of controversy with this post … so, let ‘er rip:

When Bad Things Happen to 'Good' People

30 October Fire

On 30 October, a fire destroyed the household goods shipments of over 90 newly arrived families here in Germany.  Over 100 shipments of US soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, civilian, and contractors were totally consumed by the blaze.  The non-Christian's response to tragedies such as this is usually summed up in "how can this happen to these good people?"  When events like this happen to Christians, athiests and agnostics in moments of sheer insensitivity and stupidity may even point, laugh, and ask, "where is your God now?"

So, during this mornings Bible study, it came to light that a recent arrival to both the study and our church had lost everything in the fire.  My heart broke as I heard his recount the ridiculous bureaucratic claims process and some of the irreplaceable items his family had forever lost.  I also heard a powerful testimony to the grace, comfort, and perspective the Holy Spirit alone can give His children.  He expressed a deep concern for the welfare of non-believers’ families who lost everything.  He couldn’t comprehend going through a trial like this when this present world is all that there is to live for.

He further broke my heart when he passionately beseeched God’s help for my family in dealing with my children’s health issues and our recent car accident and subsequent transportation limitations.  How humbling it is to have people like this to turn to in difficult times.  How wonderful it is to see the testimony of people who suffer horrible loss and turn it into praise to Him who gave it to them in the first place.

It is occasions such as these that the love of Christ can make the biggest difference in the world.  The walking testimony that my brother showed can do wonders for spreading the message of Hope and Joy.  This is what happens when bad things happen not to good people, but people made good by the grace and power of Jesus.

- A. thank you for your prayers on my family’s behalf, thank you for being my inspiration today, and thank you for your powerful testimony.