
This tattoo on one of the Paratroopers in my battalion is my favorite. It shows Paratoopers making a jump with Michael the Arcangel protecting them. I love the idea combining spiritual and physical warefare becaues
it's reality. See
Daniel 10.
You've heard the saying, "There's no atheists in foxholes." That's a good generalization. Sometimes you might hear a Christian leader say something to the effect that war is wrong because the above cliche is actually innacurate and they know someone who has lost their faith while deployed. It does happen. I talked to someone recently who is wondering about his faith right now as a result of the deployment.
Today I got this email from my friend Barbara, whose son was in 2-505 PIR, Charlie Co, last deployment. Over lunch today, talking to a former Platoon Sergeant from Charlie I found out that it is the most decorated Company in the 82D Airborne Division since WWII. That Company lost 11 men in Samarra, Iraq during the Surge.
Her son was in Charlie when it was all going down. I want to post some of her email here to me today:
I just checked in with your blog and am sitting here with tears flowing. I thank God that you were with the troops during this deployment. I know that prayers are constantly surrounding you, but I can't imagine the hardships, the terror, the darkness that some can fall into in that horrible place. A troop has to have God and walk with God and stay in his spirit. Your charge is so great a mission and I know that Christians have been found, developed and grown under your guidance and teaching. I praise God for you.
Jason said that God wasn't an option, but right there along side him, with his weapon and ammunition, going into battle against evil. He said he saw things that couldn't be explained logically, but only as a part of God's plan. I have often said, and have heard others parents say that we thought joining the Army was the worst thing our child could do, but now know it is the best thing our man did. Jason grew so much spiritually and for that I thank God, and the chaplains who guided him.During my last round of Battfield Circulation I taked with a Platoon Leader who is a Christian, and whose Platoon Sergeant is one as well. They had a very close call not too long ago when they were on a dismounted foot patrol, having walked right passed an implanted IED. That's the short version. He said to me, "That is the 6th time this deployment God has protected us." Who get's the glory for that? Not the Platoon Leader, or the Platoon Sergeant, though their tactical skills are among the best. It is God who gets the glory.
Remember the story of David and Goliath? We get excited when we think about a teen-age boy with a sling and a few stones killing the Philistine Giant. The spiritual principle behind the story is not that David is bigger, stronger, faster, and better equipped,
but God used the weak to accomplish His mission and get the glory. God uses the weak to confound the strong so that when even when the strong can be strong alone, dependence on God is what really makes the difference.
Is God in your foxhole?
Anyone can loose faith in war. There are many complexities and difficulties to try to sort out. But, anyone can loose faith in places where God may seemingly abound. I was the Dean of Men at a Christian College for 4 years. I saw Christian students loose their faith at a Christian College. What really matters is the soil of one's heart. See
Luke 8.4-15.
I tell my little flock that I think being a Christian in the Army is the most difficult place to live it out. But, how about secular college campuses. Mark Batterson in his blog
today highlights the challenges posed there and is doing something about it.
What fox hole are you living in? Everyone has one. Jesus says this, "
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name" (Rev. 3.12).
Now that will be one awesome tattoo. I'll wait to get one then.