A
Recently, I watched the miniseries "The Pacific." It was about the Marines who fought in the Pacific -- the ones who won Guadalcanal, albeit that was just the first victory. The opening fire in a long battle. Mostly these men had to shoot, one at a time, thousands and thousands of Japanese soldiers willing to take a bullet for their god and country. Not willing, like us, to try to live, but openly working toward hari-kari -- suicide for their god, their emperor. That was the enemy those Marines faced day in and day out. And they did.
Later on, one of the lifers -- a man who signed up for 20 years or more of that kind of work -- said something profound.
"Never run when you can walk. Never walk when you can stand. Never stand when you can sit. Never sit when you can lay down, never lay down when you can sleep, and never pass a supply of clean water."
Profound, because that's how I like to live life myself. But more profound because the man who had said it spent at least half a year facing men willing to kill or to commit hari-kari, if for no other reason than to waste a bullet, so one of his fellow soldiers could get to and kill the shooter of that bullet.
It is one thing to take a coffee break between doing chores or facing a mountain of work. It is another thing to take a coffee break in the midst of a real battle.
I do get it though. It means to pace yourself during battle.
We're supposedly Christians. We're supposed to be battling. Yes, there is boot camp first, but after that is real battle with an enemy willing to commit hari-kari to waste a bullet to win for his god Satan. Matter of fact, it's not a wasted bullet, since Satan plans to kill everyone. Our goal is to follow God's battle plan and keep on keeping on despite fear, frustration, and exhaustion.
What's God's battle plan? Not like he kept this a secret.
Mark 12: 30-31 [SUP]"[/SUP]And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
Can I get an amen? Meh, you might want to hold off on that. Chances are good, you'll either disagree with me or think this is about everyone but you before I'm done.
Want to know what I'm seeing on here? Long-term coffee breaks. It seems comfort is the order of the day in the Christian church. A big question lately is "What do we do if we run into homosexuals?" Really? You haven't already? What have you been doing? The lay down and sleep part of that lifer's creed? Wasn't this part of God's battle plan?
The General answered that long ago. Love them.
A wife was upset because her husband befriended a single woman with children, gave them needed help, and then came back home to his own country and wife to discover the single woman friended him on FB. The husband talked to his wife about all this and they agreed to continue to help this family. The single woman was probably putting the moves on her husband. Most responded by saying that relationship should be severed. Really? So not so much about helping others as it is protecting yourself? Wasn't this part of God's battle plan?
The battle plan is to love them, not love them until you're feeling uncomfortable and then run. We are soldiers. We don't have the option of putting ourselves before the battle plan. Our job is to do what the General said, and trust the General to supply our needs. At least we know this General does supply our needs.
Others have family who mock them for being Christians. Obvious answer seems to be to run from them? Really? Where is running from family part of God's battle plan?
Many are teaching healing our own hurts. Where is that in the battle plan? Love God. Love others. Nothing about love self. And, yes, soldiers get hurt. (We also die. Get used to that, because the chances of getting off the planet alive are slim to nil, so that too is part of the battle plan.) There really is a season to heal. A season, not a lifelong coffee break. If God needs to heal us, he does take us out of the battle for the big wounds. He'll also shove us back in when it's better. Not necessarily completely healed, but good enough to fight. He doesn't take us out of battle for a flesh wound, unless it gets infected. The infection, as of lately, seems to be from duck-and-retreat Christianity, not the enemy.
Seems to me, too many haven't noticed we're in an honest to goodness battle. (And that honest and goodness is both literal and on God.) The homosexuals aren't new. The desire to fornicate isn't new. Family and friends hating us isn't new, and, if it is, you're doing something wrong. The consequences of pain in our life aren't new. This is battle, folks! The Church has been on a coffee break way too long. That's why the enemy is trouncing us.
Get over it! Get back to work! Move into battle. Stop running away. This really should be a board used as a deeper study on how to obey God's battle plan or how to win his war. Certainly not to forever think of us first. We've never ever been first. We never will be. We're just soldiers. It hurts. It seems like chaos to us. Not to God! It is frustrating. It is not likely to end in our lifetime. Our job isn't to gaze at what peace might look like. It is to love God fully and love others. No kidding that's shockingly difficult. Never going to happen if you spend all your time inspecting your bellybutton and others' fruit! There's pacing in a long fight, but this is too long a coffee break!
Later on, one of the lifers -- a man who signed up for 20 years or more of that kind of work -- said something profound.
"Never run when you can walk. Never walk when you can stand. Never stand when you can sit. Never sit when you can lay down, never lay down when you can sleep, and never pass a supply of clean water."
Profound, because that's how I like to live life myself. But more profound because the man who had said it spent at least half a year facing men willing to kill or to commit hari-kari, if for no other reason than to waste a bullet, so one of his fellow soldiers could get to and kill the shooter of that bullet.
It is one thing to take a coffee break between doing chores or facing a mountain of work. It is another thing to take a coffee break in the midst of a real battle.
I do get it though. It means to pace yourself during battle.
We're supposedly Christians. We're supposed to be battling. Yes, there is boot camp first, but after that is real battle with an enemy willing to commit hari-kari to waste a bullet to win for his god Satan. Matter of fact, it's not a wasted bullet, since Satan plans to kill everyone. Our goal is to follow God's battle plan and keep on keeping on despite fear, frustration, and exhaustion.
What's God's battle plan? Not like he kept this a secret.
Mark 12: 30-31 [SUP]"[/SUP]And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
Can I get an amen? Meh, you might want to hold off on that. Chances are good, you'll either disagree with me or think this is about everyone but you before I'm done.
Want to know what I'm seeing on here? Long-term coffee breaks. It seems comfort is the order of the day in the Christian church. A big question lately is "What do we do if we run into homosexuals?" Really? You haven't already? What have you been doing? The lay down and sleep part of that lifer's creed? Wasn't this part of God's battle plan?
The General answered that long ago. Love them.
A wife was upset because her husband befriended a single woman with children, gave them needed help, and then came back home to his own country and wife to discover the single woman friended him on FB. The husband talked to his wife about all this and they agreed to continue to help this family. The single woman was probably putting the moves on her husband. Most responded by saying that relationship should be severed. Really? So not so much about helping others as it is protecting yourself? Wasn't this part of God's battle plan?
The battle plan is to love them, not love them until you're feeling uncomfortable and then run. We are soldiers. We don't have the option of putting ourselves before the battle plan. Our job is to do what the General said, and trust the General to supply our needs. At least we know this General does supply our needs.
Others have family who mock them for being Christians. Obvious answer seems to be to run from them? Really? Where is running from family part of God's battle plan?
Many are teaching healing our own hurts. Where is that in the battle plan? Love God. Love others. Nothing about love self. And, yes, soldiers get hurt. (We also die. Get used to that, because the chances of getting off the planet alive are slim to nil, so that too is part of the battle plan.) There really is a season to heal. A season, not a lifelong coffee break. If God needs to heal us, he does take us out of the battle for the big wounds. He'll also shove us back in when it's better. Not necessarily completely healed, but good enough to fight. He doesn't take us out of battle for a flesh wound, unless it gets infected. The infection, as of lately, seems to be from duck-and-retreat Christianity, not the enemy.
Seems to me, too many haven't noticed we're in an honest to goodness battle. (And that honest and goodness is both literal and on God.) The homosexuals aren't new. The desire to fornicate isn't new. Family and friends hating us isn't new, and, if it is, you're doing something wrong. The consequences of pain in our life aren't new. This is battle, folks! The Church has been on a coffee break way too long. That's why the enemy is trouncing us.
Get over it! Get back to work! Move into battle. Stop running away. This really should be a board used as a deeper study on how to obey God's battle plan or how to win his war. Certainly not to forever think of us first. We've never ever been first. We never will be. We're just soldiers. It hurts. It seems like chaos to us. Not to God! It is frustrating. It is not likely to end in our lifetime. Our job isn't to gaze at what peace might look like. It is to love God fully and love others. No kidding that's shockingly difficult. Never going to happen if you spend all your time inspecting your bellybutton and others' fruit! There's pacing in a long fight, but this is too long a coffee break!
