That All May Know Jesus!

In February I wrote on this blog the following:  “I know I have been concerned about men I have a service-related relationship with, but I don’t know if they know Jesus or not, and sometimes don’t know how to approach them.  It’s a little easier now that I am a little older, I am at the point of not worrying much about the approach and just ask them in some way if they know Jesus.”

Well, I’ve put together a list of those guys who are actively on my mailing list, most of who I am fairly sure don’t know Jesus Christ in a personal way.  I’d like you all to pray for them on a regular basis that they would encounter God in a personal way.  After all, we aren’t getting any younger!

If you would write me at mohawkbeliever@gmail.com and let me know that you’d like to get a copy of the list, I’d be glad to send it to you (I don’t just want to put it up on the web because I am concerned about our friends’ privacy).

In the meantime, have a great upcoming weekend my brothers and sisters in Christ!

Easter 2011

(The following story was borrowed and adapted from our pastor’s sermon this morning.)

The announcement that came over the store’s PA system is one that no dad in the world ever wants to hear. “We have a little boy who seems to have lost his daddy. He’s about 3 and a half feet tall, has red hair, and says his name is Red. If you’re his dad, please come to the customer service counter at once.”

Dad hears this as he is frantically looking for his son and goes to the customer service counter as fast as he can. Out of breath and almost at his wits end, he arrives to see little Freddy (the store’s security person thought his name was “Red” because his hair) waiting for him with the store manager. As soon as little Freddy sees daddy, he runs and jumps into his arms. And the expression on Dad’s face is one of overwhelming joy!

Well, that’s what Easter is all about. God’s one and only Son Jesus came to earth (that’s the Christmas Story), grew up and eventually gave his sinless life for anyone who would believe he’s the Son of God, to pay the penalty of eternal death for our sinful life by being executed on a common criminal’s cross. When I met Jesus many years ago after I returned from Vietnam, God Himself repeated the story of the little red haired boy as I figuratively came running and jumping into His outstretched arms. And, although I didn’t actually see his face then, I knowthat He had a big smile on His face, because I would literally be his adopted child forever!

If you have never read this amazing true story in the Bible, please take a look at the Easter Story (click on the link). If you have known this story and Jesus for many years, take a look at it again. The Lord will show you something new in it!

I hope you all had a great holiday this weekend. May God bless you this coming week!

When I Say "I'm a Christian"

John Ferguson sent this to me.  It possibly might be worth sharing with a friend who is questioning the validity of the faith we have as Christians because of someone's thoughtless words or actions.

When I say that 'I am a Christian', I am not shouting that I am clean living.  

I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.  

I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.  

I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.  

I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect.  

My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain. 

I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,  

I'm just a simple sinner who received God's grace, somehow!

A Minute of Prayer

From Pew Research I recently found the following statement: “The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, shows that prayer is a common religious practice in America, with nearly six-in-ten adults in the U.S. saying they pray at least once a day. However, frequency of prayer differs significantly by religious tradition, age, gender and income.”  The accompanying graph showed that the two groups that prayed the most were Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons, followed by Black Protestants and Evangelical Protestants.  Muslims and Hindus were 5th and 6th respectively.  (See the graph to this study at http://pewforum.org/Prayer-in-America.aspx.)

As you can see, people of many different non-Christian faiths pray a number of times a day to their god, whoever that may be.  Silas Baron (225^th SAC 1970-71) suggested in an email to me that we, as Christians, should take time to pray at least once per day, at the same time with targeted prayers to the God who created the universe and holds sit all together.

Please see the following….  Did you know that during WWII there was an adviser to Winston Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace?  And I’m sure you know the outcome for Great Britain and the rest of the world!  There is now a group of people (possibly more that one group) organizing the same thing here in America.  I don’t see why we as Mohawk veterans can do the same thing also.  If you would like to participate, Silas and I suggest that every evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central, 7:00 PM Mountain and 6:00 PM Pacific), we stop whatever we’re doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our government, our troops, our citizens, our nation’s renewal and for our friends who may not know the Lord.  (A tip would be to set an alarm on your phone or watch to remind you.)

Our prayers are the most powerful assets we have.  Someone has said that if Christians really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless.  It certainly can't hurt to pray to our God who wants to hear from us daily.  Our country needs it and I know I do, as well.  Let's do it!  Let's join our fellow citizens.

If you know anyone else who would like to participate, please pass this along.  Let me know if you’re participating (and keep me accountable too) by emailing me at mohawkbeliever@gmail.com.

John Piper - Desiring God

For a long time Larry Stallard asked me if I had ever read John Piper.  Well, I have never been much of a reader, but he periodically kept asking, so I decided to check out if this guy to see if he had a podcast so I could listen to what he had to say.  By the way, Piper is the Senior Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis.

For quite some time now I have been downloading Pastor John's sermons off the internet (they are available from iTunes for free) and have found them to be wonderful.  Piper is a theologian and a most practical speaker.  He not only preaches and explains the Bible, but his love of the Lord comes through so clearly.  I think this is partly because he is about our age and has life experience to back up what he preaches in such a humble, yet authoritative way.  I'd highly recommend that you take a listen to what he has to say some time soon.  Or pick up one of his many books.  You can get more info and some great resources at his website called Desiring God (www.desiringgod.org).

Thanks Larry for introducing John Piper to me!

Welcome to Mohawkers' High Flight

As most of you know from reading the 225^th Observer blog or from knowing me for many years, I am a Christian, one who is a believer in Jesus Christ as the only Son of God and as my personal Savior.

Well, as Karin and I were in church a few of Sundays ago, something our pastor said prompted the thought that I know there are several believers on my mailing list of guys I was in the service with in Vietnam, or who I have come to know these years later through the internet, who might like to get together through email to share praises and prayer requests or concerns, or to just have a deeper level of fellowship as brothers in Christ.

I know I have been concerned about men I have a service-related relationship with, but I don’t know if they know Jesus or not, and sometimes don’t know how to approach them.  It’s a little easier now that I am a little older, I am at the point of not worrying much about the approach and just ask them in some way if they know Jesus.

Just the other day I broached the subject with a man I consider my brother.  I said to him that he probably knew that Jesus was a big deal in my life, and did he and his wife attend a church?  He instantly answered that Jesus was a big deal in his life and that he and his wife had been members of a local church for many years.  My heart soared!  I had been worrying about bringing Jesus up in a conversation…all that worry was for nothing.  All I had to do was ask!

We’re not getting any younger, and I am becoming more and more concerned that the Good News of eternal life in Jesus Christ has not gotten out to some of our veteran buddies.

Thus the reason for blog that I’ve called Mohawkers’ High Flight.  The poem below I’m sure most of us have heard at one time or another; I heard it read at the first memorial service I attended at Phu Hiep in October 1968.  And it has stayed with me in some form all these years since.  As time goes on I hope that you would send me things to put on the Mohawkers’ High Flight blog in order that we all can share a little bit more of Jesus with our friends and brothers and sisters.

Please let me know your thoughts on how we can establish a deeper level of comradeship, of brotherhood and friendship in Christ.  It’s wonderful that so many of my friends are Christians, but I think it would be even better if all the guys I served with were!  I look forward to hearing from you (mohawkbeliever@gmail.com)!

High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,

I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace

Where never lark, or even eagle flew -

And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee

No 412 Squadron, RCAF

Killed 11 December 1941