Leave No Man Behind

Sgt. John Chapman had been driven once from the battlefield, but he went right back. Shortly before dawn on Monday, March 4, 2002, the Chinook helicopter carrying Chapman and a small reconnaissance team came under heavy fire as it tried to land high in the Afghan mountains. Riddled with bullets, the chopper limped to a safe landing zone. Chapman and his team jumped into a second chopper and returned to base—but only to regroup. Soon they were flying back into danger—to recover the body of a Navy SEAL, Petty Officer Neil Roberts, who had fallen from the chopper in the first landing attempt. Chapman’s squadron officer told his family what happened next:

THE TEAM, a half dozen of America’s toughest Special Operators, jumped out of the plane into a hail of bullets. Chapman laid down covering fire as his buddies tried to set up a defensive position behind some rocks. As he blasted away at the enemy, he was shot several times in the chest. He died fighting so his comrades would live. Before the day was done, five more of his comrades would perish: Sgt. Bradley Crose, Pfc. Matthew Commons, Spc. Marc Anderson (all Army Rangers), Sgt. Philip Svitak (a flight engineer) and Airman Jason Cunningham, a “pararescue” jumper.

"Leave no man behind" is the code of our fighting men and women. It is an ideal that brings security and comfort to those who fight in a cohesive unit. Soldiers feel protected knowing that their commrades will come to their rescue if needed. They will even enter the "hail of bullets" with great bravery and honor to recover a dead body. All because they're a team and they stick together.

What if the church had the same code of honor? What if Christians committed themselves to the team, instead of just their own interests and safety? What if they understood the necessesity of rescuing the wounded and recovering the dead? What if they decided to never leave a fallen commrade to the enemy (Satan)?

The book of Jude shows us a picture of this idea.

Vv. 17-19 say, "17 But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you, 18 that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable. 19 Now they are here, and they are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They live by natural instinct because they do not have God's Spirit living in them. "

Jude reveals to us the The Nature of the Battle we are in. It is a spiritual battle to divide us and distract us. This is why Jesus prayed that we may be one. Our unit is weak when we are fractured. So, it is extremely important to recognize how we're being attacked and for what reasons. The next time you see divisions and selfishness, recognize it as an attack from the enemy.

Vv. 20-21 say, "20 But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit. 21 Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you."

In these verses we see The Focus Of The Soldier. It is to continue growing, to continue praying, and to be led by the Holy Spirit. Notice the great contrast between a scoffer and a good soldier. The scoffer lives by instinct, the soldier lives by the Spirit. To focus on growth and prayer is essential if we want to do the will of God. We cannot simply do what our flesh desires. Instead, we receive and demonstrate the love of God to others.

Finally, vv. 22-23 say, "22 Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. 23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins."

Jude wants us to realize The Great Rescue Mission that Christ has given us. During the battles of our life, we will see many who begin to lose faith. We will witness those who are messing around with evil, and still those who have fallen and are in the flames of judgment. Our posture needs to be mercy and concern for them, not the usual judgmental attitude that plagues many churches. Remember, Jesus would leave the 99 to go after the one!

The next time we are tempted to criticize, remember that God wants us to show mercy.

We will not be divided or distracted.

We will be spiritually disciplined.

We will not leave any man behind, but commit ourselves to their rescue.

Add-on Fun

Hello to everyone who views this blog. You may have noticed that I have added some things to my website. Like the Weather Channel, a poll, and at the bottom, a Scripture search tool from Crosswalk.com. These things reflect some of my interests and I hope you take advantage of them too. Especially answer the poll question. I will use your answers for games I play with my youth group.

Anyway, I am going to try and post more often. I really enjoy this and I love talking with people from all over the world. People are amazing. Of all the miraculous things God did in creation, the most miraculous can be found in Genesis 1:27.

So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.

So, when I look at people of different color, culture, age, education, and status, I see the face of God. We cannot get a full picture of God until we appreciate someone new.

Keep "adding-on" people in your life. Through them, you will see the image of God.

God Loves Bugs

OK. This is just for fun. But, as I was preaching yesterday morning, God placed a thought into my head. After He created everything He said it was good (or excellent). Even the bugs!

The other night we had a Student Leadership Development meeting at our house and it was around 10:30pm and time to end. One of the girls was getting picked up by her mom and was going out the door. When she took a step out, a humongous flying beetle immediately swarmed around her head in the entranceway. She started screaming!

In her panic she wasn't sure to go all the way out or come back in and she left the door open. I knew Mrs. JimmyBob was going to get nervous, so I shouted, "Shut the door before that thing gets in..." Too late. It flew in and started a twisting flight around our kitchen, making some unnerving clicking and chattering sounds.

I immediately went into crazed ninja mode and grabbed the fly swatter. My voice changed and something took over me. Suddenly, I realized what God meant when he told Adam to have dominion and mastery over the Creatures. I swung several times until I nailed him and knocked him to the ground. It took a couple more swings until he quit making noise.

That thing was ugly. How could God say it was excellent?

I think of a friend who once stopped me from squishing a spider. He had an appreciation for all of God's creation. He gently guided it outdoors. I thought, "He's nuts. That thing is just going to come back in here eventually." He would just do the same again if it did.

Now, I think of these pictures I received from a fellow worker of mine...


This is from a brown recluse spider bite. That little dude at the top of this post. Nasty stuff, huh?

When God finished making that spider, He said it was excellent. There's going to be alot of talk about this stuff in Heaven. But, until then, we're just gonna have to learn to appreciate creation a little better.

I wonder if the spider bite wasn't venomous until after the Flood?

Falling in love with Him.

"Once upon a time a woman was married to a perfectionist husband. No matter what his wife did for him, it was never enough. At the beginning of each day, he would make out his list of chores for her to do, and at the end of each day, he would scrutinize it to make sure she had done all that she was supposed to do. The best compliment she ever received was a disinterested grunt if she finished everything. She grew to hate her husband. When he died unexpectedly, she was embarrassed to admit to herself that she was relieved."

Is this the way we see God? Do we see Him as a God that gets delight in creating and enforcing rules on his creation? Do we think that the heart of what pleases him is our obedience to his set of rules?

If so, then maybe we only view God as a strict husband who scrutinizes us. "If you love me, obey my commandments."

I've been rethinking. I've placed the stress in that verse in the wrong spot too many times. It would be better as, "If you love me, obey my commmandments." The reason for this, is that it puts things in the order of importance. Love comes first, then obedience.

"Within a year of her husband’s death, she met a warm and loving man who was everything her former husband was not. They fell deeply in love with each other and were married. Every day they spent together seemed better than the day before.

One afternoon, as she was cleaning out boxes in the attic, a crumpled piece of paper caught her eye. It was one of the old chore lists that her first husband used to make out for her. In spite of her chagrin, she couldn’t help reading it again. To her shock and amazement she discovered that, without even thinking about it, she was now doing for her new husband all the things she used to hate to do for her old husband. Her new husband never once suggested that she do any of these things. But she was doing them anyway—because she loved him."

I believe the heart of what pleases God is when we fall in love with him and want nothing more than to be with Him. It is out of our great love for God that we “obey” him. He doesn’t condemn our failures or withhold his affections. He is patient, accepting, warm, kind...safe. And we end up doing so much more because of who He is.

God is working in me to never paint Him as a cold and demanding husband. He does not want our obedience without our love, obligated and hollow. Our God is a passionate God. He does not settle for what he can get, but he goes after all of us. He is like a love stricken youth pursuing that special person.

His love for you is white hot. He’s crazy about you. He wants you to be able to say that every day gets sweeter when you’re with Him.

This song is dedicated to all the old timers out there that remember singing it...

I keep falling in love with Him,
over and over and,
over and over again.
I keep falling in love with Him,
over and over and,
over and over again.
It gets sweeter and sweeter
as the days go by,
Oh, the love,
between my Lord and I.
I keep falling in love with Him,
over and over and,
over and over again.