World Day of Prayer, March 5, 2010
World Day of Prayer is March 5th. I actually didn’t know there was a “world” day of prayer until I was recently informed and I expect many readers didn’t know that fact either. The theme verse for this year’s observance is Psalm 150:6, Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Certainly many of us were humbled to pray on behalf of the Haitians who turned their own mourning into praise to God in the same moments they could not be certain when or how their next drop of water or bit of food might arrive. Were not many of us provoked to pray for God to intervene on their behalf? Together we saw the reports of defiant praise that seemed to communicate; “Even if we are near our last breath –we will still praise our Creator and God!” If you are like me I not only prayed for God to bring order out of the chaos but wondered what my response would be if I was in a similar situation? Inwardly, I hoped that would not be a situation I would have to face. Many among us know to be deployed as a caregiver, relief worker, or as a military member, to a natural disaster, country or situation ravaged by terrorism, is a difficult burden that rightfully enlarges our worldview, as well as challenges our hearts and minds for how positively or negatively “worlds” of people can be impacted.
Many times in my life –especially during deployments, I sensed that I lived and breathed on the prayers of God’s people praying that I would continue on with a sustainable joy that only a Holy God can provide in the face of turmoil and various hostilities, both within and outside the wire. As it was in my case, we often do as well as we do because of the gifts of joy and peace that really do not make sense in light of what we have faced –except for the explanation the Apostle Paul provides in Philippians 1:19; For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.
In the Old Testament scripture of Isaiah 42:10-16, the prophet gives the call to all the known “worlds” of creatures:
Sing to God a brand-new song,
sing his praises all over the world!
Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause,
with all the far-flung islands joining in.
Let the desert and its camps raise a tune,
calling the Kedar nomads to join in.
Let the villagers in Sela round up a choir
and perform from the tops of the mountains.
Make God's glory resound;
echo his praises from coast to coast.
God steps out like he means business.
You can see he's primed for action.
He shouts, announcing his arrival;
he takes charge and his enemies fall into line:
"I've been quiet long enough.
I've held back, biting my tongue.
But now I'm letting loose, letting go,
like a woman who's having a baby—
Stripping the hills bare,
withering the wildflowers,
Drying up the rivers,
turning lakes into mudflats.
But I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way,
who can't see where they're going.
I'll be a personal guide to them,
directing them through unknown country.
I'll be right there to show them what roads to take,
make sure they don't fall into the ditch.
These are the things I'll be doing for them—
sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute." (The Message)
As I write, my prayer for each one of us, wherever we are in our “worlds” today, is that we know that God in His word has charged us with an appropriate response to whatever disaster, turmoil or hostility we are facing or have yet to face. Through the words of Isaiah above, God has also expressed his intent for us. That’s a God we can praise –even when our outcome seems intangible! May our praise also be our prayer –for ourselves and each other!
In many ways we have begun the process, of MAKING PEACE ON THE WAY HOME FROM WAR. Although we are still at the business of war, and many of us intimately know all over again, as well as some have discovered for the first time –It’s not just about the war, it’s about the war in the middle of the war. We know often our families and loved ones feel like they are in the middle of a war with all that many of you are juggling and quite often prayerfully supporting us in our diverse situations from a distance.
Yet, certainly, there is a turning of hearts and minds toward home and the long awaited reunion, especially in light of this period typically being the toughest part of the deployment, so far, for both Soldiers and our loved ones. As we pace ourselves, mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually in the days and weeks ahead, I believe we all have a responsibility to facilitate peace for ourselves, our comrades and our loved ones to the best of our abilities. What this means is that for many of us, the hardest work is yet to come.
Many of us have at least a short “laundry list” of issues we want or need to work on as we re-integrate our lives together again. What might have been on the back burner is beginning to make its way to the front burner. This is often the time we need to fully utilize the resources that have been available to each of us all along. It has been a luxury, in some manner, to not absolutely need one of the helpful resources offered by Military OneSource, our Garrison Family Life Chaplain, an FRG representative, or even a caring citizen in our greater Colorado Springs community who has been waiting for you to take advantage of their willingness to come alongside a challenging situation. I would like to encourage you to resource yourselves at home as we begin to resource ourselves even at Camp Basra in Iraq –because some luxuries should not be left out at this stage of our respective mission. So make the appointment. Pick up the phone and re-connect with a friend or neighbor who is good for you and respects the stage of life you are in. Find out what is going on in your community to assist those of us in unique situations. And by all means contact the Rear D Chaplain or myself (lisa.northway@us.army.mil) and let us know how we can assist you. We all want to finish this war as well as our individual battles with the least regrets as possible. We’ll get there --better off than most by helping each other make decisions that are good for ourselves, our comrades and our loved ones. See you soon!
*Many opportunities are still being facilitated for our Soldiers such as Every Man's Battle
Book Study, Every Woman's Battle Book Study, Soldier Daddy Boot Camp and a Marriage Enrichment series. A class utilizing a chaplain comrade’s expertise entitled, "Making Peace Through Self-Defense: A Chaplain Led Tae Kwon Do Course" may
wrap up our time over here.
Soldier daddy is the man, not those on earth
excerpted from June 1st edition
Colorado minister, Pastor Gene Roncone of Aurora First Assembly, recently wrote;
“It’s May, and Colorado’s rivers are white with foam. I am told our state is one of only two in which all the water flows out of the state without any flowing back in. Sometimes we feel that way in life. There are times that it seems like all our resources, strength, and energy are leaving like a mighty river. The good news is that the Bible says God gives ‘strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak’ (Isaiah. 40:29). So open up your heart and let God’s river of strength fill your soul this week!”
What a profound message for all of us on both sides of this deployment! The most common way in which we feel powerless is when we become aware that the one(s) we each hold most dear are struggling physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually --- and thousands of miles apart from us. We must remember we can go from powerless to powerful when we approach our Heavenly Father in prayer on behalf of our loved ones. Our Heavenly Father is depicted as a warrior through King David’s reflection of how God intervened on his behalf numerous times as his life hung in the balance during his earlier years as a young Soldier.
David’s “hind sight” reads:
I love you, God — you make me strong.
God is bedrock under my feet,
the castle in which I live,
my rescuing knight.
My God—the high crag
Where I run for dear life,
Hiding behind the boulders,
Safe in the granite hideout.
I sing to God, the Praise-lofty,
and find myself safe and saved.
--Psalm 18:1-3 (The Message)
Tonight I find myself marveling that after thousands of years of human warfare, the “granite hideout” is still the safe house of choice against incoming fire. I sat in one made of concrete with my fellow comrades this evening. But on the way to the hideout,it was my Heavenly Father —my Soldier Daddy, so to speak, whom I called on, faster than I could get to where I was supposed to be. It is our Soldier Daddy many of us have called on numerous times on behalf of the entire Roughrider Family and our extended
network of loved ones. We called Him whether or not we knew of specific hardships many of our members back home or here were facing. May we continue to remember, we have a Soldier Daddy who wages war against the chaos of our lives and he invites us all to call upon him in our time of need.
We have many Soldiers among us who became fathers during this deployment. Some Soldiers became fathers of more than one child. The Chaplain Section has enjoyed presenting these Soldiers with their own box of pink or blue Bubble Gum cigars.In addition we are planning a Soldier Daddy Boot Camp for those who are first-time dads or who need a refresher before returning home to care for their precious little ones.
Redefining family is found in the Scripture
excerpted from May 1st edition
As this is my fourth Mother’s Day apart from our son, due to the last and current
deployment along with a mobilization and the National Training Center sandwiched in
between, I can only imagine how our Roughrider moms back home might feel a bit deflated at not having the other half present to ensure the day is as special as those of us who are mothers would want it to be. I’ve come to believe that as long as we are
all where we are supposed to be, we can also expect that God can step into our lives, as we invite Him, and help us to redefine “family”. Jesus was where He was supposed to be, crucified on a cross. When He looked down and caught sight of His mother and His best battle buddy, He gave humanity a living example of family redefined.
The Gospel of John, chapter 19, verses 25-27 states:
But standing near the cross of Jesus were His mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the
wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
An attempt to recreate family on our own usually creates disaster, but when Christ is allowed to redefine a healthy sense of family and emotionally healthy people with pure motives are a part of the equation, we come to see for ourselves that God is still making provision for all of us --- even in the toughest of circumstances. With the ever increasing maturing of the U.S. Armed Forces (due to recent age extension enlistments), not only do we have parents of adult children, in addition we have many grandparents among our deployed personnel.
PFC Ortega, of Charlie Company, is one such mother and grandmother. Her comrades affectionately call her “Mom.” There are others who have earned such a title through the ups and downs of the deployment. God has not left us without the ability to care for each other. We pray often for our loved ones back home that God, in His infinite love and wisdom, will resource our families spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally and
even socially --- until He brings us all back together.
excerpted from April 7th edition
Soldiers step up spiritually; strengthen battles
Every day of our deployment soldiers, spouses, extended family members and other loved ones make decisions that impact not only themselves but very often those who we said good bye to at the beginning of our mutual journey as well as those we live and serve alongside of. Very often it is the decisions regarding our discretionary or "free" time that has the most profound effect — for better or for worse. This month, as we move closer to the Resurrection Sunday observance, many of us are glad enough to finally know on which camp we’ll be celebrating Easter! In addition, as the
Roughrider Chaplain, I am especially delighted to be able to elaborate on the fact that Roughrider ministry happens beyond the confines of a traditional chaplain section alone. Some of our soldiers are demonstrating selfless service in that they have either taken time before or during the deployment to be certified as a Distinctive Faith Group Leader (read more on DFGL’s in Army Regulation 165-1, 5-5). Still others have given up personal time above and beyond their assigned mission to regularly support a particular worship service or other Religious Program. All of this type of volunteer ministry
help is a great source of encouragement to many as each of these Soldiers gives of themselves and in turn add much to the spiritual quality of life — on whichever camp we find ourselves on! While many are content to hope and pray our deployment will
go by fast, we are blessed to have among us those who consider how they might personally add spiritual strength to the deployment for themselves and their comrades.
Galations 6:8 reads;
“… the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do
the growth work in him (or her), harvests a crop of real life,
eternal life (The Message Version)”.
A well known contemporary Christian artist, Steven Curtis Chapman
sings the following words from his song; Truth and Consequences:
His truth's been given and it's there before us,
Written on the page and in our hearts.
As sure as God made the sun to shine,
He made the rules we must all live by;
He loved us too much to leave us alone
To our own devices.
It's either truth or consequences, there's no other way;
Put truth aside, the other takes its place.
Well, you can close your eyes but that won't make it go away;
The truth or consequences must be faced.
Every day a Roughrider or Roughrider loved one invests in the
spiritual quality of our Roughrider family, consequently we become
“God Strong”, and in turn we truly become Army Strong!
Excerpted from the March 2009 edition:
"As always the Chaplain has some food for thought...and, some for the stomach."
“Hooah”, were half way there
Livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand and we’ll make it - I swear
Livin’ on a prayer --Bon Jovi
I don’t swear but if I did --the one prayer I would swear by at this point in the deployment
would be what many of us know as “The Lord’s Prayer.” Not just because it is the old standard, but because of the assumptions Jesus makes as he demonstrates how we should pray. You may have heard it prayed a thousand times or prayed it yourself as many times --or maybe never read it for yourself before. I invite you to read it with a fresh pair of eyes and see for yourself what is assumed within this prayer:
“Pray like this: Our Father in Heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” –Matthew 6:9-13
The first assumption is that there is no other way to pray. For Jesus says, “Pray like this.” The second assumption is that we need daily forgiveness as much as we need food. The third assumption is that we have already forgiven everyone in our lives who may be in need of our forgiveness before we made a request for God’s forgiveness for ourselves. Basically, the prayer itself demonstrates that we should pray daily to have the grace to forgive others as a lifelong commitment. In his book Total Forgiveness, R.T. Kendall states; Forgiving others (and ourselves) is a lifelong commitment because: 1) We are so often made to relive the wrong committed against us. 2) We may feel irked that the offender is getting away with it –forever 3) The enemy of our souls (Satan) moves in to exploit our weakness in this area.
I can imagine no other complete experience more than the life-cycle of a one year military deployment – whether you are living it as a loved one of a soldier or you are a soldier yourself, that brings up so many ways in which we stand in need of receiving forgiveness as well as needing to give forgiveness. In any relationship that requires loyalty for survival, going from feeling like we once had an option to now feeling like the relationship seems more like an obligation can bring each of us to quickly feeling stuck with each other – even among the best of battle buddies! Both here and on the home front, some of us have asked ourselves these types of questions, “Do I have to interact with that person every day of this deployment…Am I going to be barked at like this for the whole 12 months…is he or she going to ruin our finances…can we remain faithful to our marriage vows, -- emotionally and physically?” The more negative aspects of these dynamics typically include irritability, short fuses and being easily offended by lesser offenses that would not have normally received as much attention from us in previous times and/or circumstances.
Author and Pastor, Max Lucado has identified three ways in which we typically combat these feelings of reduced options: flee, fight or forgive. Those who choose to flee often give up on the relationship by either avoiding the battle buddy, significant other or family member. They “quit the team”, so to speak, and sometimes even end the relationship. These people are often surprised when the problems follow them to their next place of duty or relationship. Others fight by snapping back, complaining, being argumentative or simply making everyone around them miserable. Lucado states; a few, however, discover another treatment: forgiveness (part patience and understanding, part generosity –all love).
Jesus was part of the same platoon for three years. He knew what it was like to be “stuck” with his battle buddies day in, day out, every day - “GroundHog” day. He saw the same quirks and annoying habits; he not only knew what they were really thinking about him or the mission but, in addition, he knew their future doubts, failings and betrayals. Jesus lived out his commitment for lifelong forgiveness when he knelt down before each of his battle buddies and washed their feet as recorded in the Gospel of John chapter 13. He did so in advance of the ultimate failing and betrayal. He knew we would each need the ultimate forgiveness so he finished his mission the next day by going all the way to the cross.
Hebrews 12:1-4 reads:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith,
let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
Jesus gave his own sense of urgency to the mission of committing ourselves to lifelong forgiveness immediately following “The Lord’s Prayer” by saying this: “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins”. Max Lucado goes on to say: “Relationships don’t thrive because the guilty are punished, but because the innocent are merciful. Because the one who is hurt is the one who has the courage and grace to
say, ‘I forgive you. I love you. Let’s move on’.”
Hooah –half way there and livin on this, the Lord’s
Prayer, I believe we’ll make it!
Taken from the February 2009 edition:
A Heart That Beats for You
So did you hear the one about the Rabbi who was on his way back to the seaside from his time in the Israeli countryside, thirsty from his travels and stops at a famous watering hole in a village that was known to have its share of racial, religious and other intolerances? As it turns out he ends up asking the only person there at the moment he arrived for a drink from that historical well. It happened to be a woman (a major social "no go"). Because of the authenticity of this well, the story is undisputed. Natives to the region, Muslims, Christians and Jews all agree that this is the place where the story took place --approximately 2000 years ago, which is recorded in John chapter four of the New Testament.
What's significant about the story is the conversation that took place between the Rabbi and the woman, according to the Bible. Two people, viewed by most bystanders, both appear to be in search of water, for both stop at the famous well of Jacob. But this is just not any Rabbi and this is not just any woman from the village. I suggest to you that if we could examine the heartbeat of this particular Rabbi, we would know he was motivated by something other than a drink of water for himself. Those of us who have been to the Middle East know that one doesn't do anything that isn't absolutely necessary during the hottest hour of the day such as when this story is recorded to have happened (I literally felt like my ACU uniform was constantly in the extra hot setting of the dryer just walking around while "over here" during my last deployment). Yet both the Rabbi and the woman are there; the Rabbi for a drink –the woman with her water jar for her fill-up of daily watering needs!
Thankfully, this was no ordinary Rabbi because he could lovingly see through all her "stuff" and according to the biblical record (Gospel of John, chapter four) the woman not only recognized him as a prophet but as one whom she (and others) had waited for their entire lives! She is quoted as saying to the rest of the villagers, as she left her water jar in a rush, "Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out!" Today when certain people say "I met a man" or "I met a woman" we inwardly roll our eyes - especially around Valentine's Day. But meeting the right one still makes all the difference.
This particular Rabbi "broke" every barrier easily identifiable to humanity, tearing down, pushing aside, carrying them away like the concrete barriers moved by cranes all over theater and even among the construction zones of Ft. Carson before we left (wondering if it is still like that back home?). The barriers of our own lives often have names like race, gender, religious denomination, socio-economic class, reputation…but the heart of this Rabbi was like the heart of no other Rabbi. He is known as Jesus Christ and he embodies the heart of our Heavenly Father who desires reconciliation between us and him.
My hope for each of us this Valentine's Day, is to fully embrace ourselves as the Beloved of God. The heartbeat of the Rabbi not only led him to a remote village in Samaria, it led him to the cross in obedience to God's over-arching mission so that through Christ, we too could be the beloved of God. At the cross, God's heart broke for all of humanity. On Resurrection morning the heartbeat of the Rabbi began to beat again so that we could know for certain the heart of God, through the heartbeat of the Rabbi, beats for us today!
Taken from the January 2009 edition:
It has been an amazing, hit the ground running, first year of Regular Army Active Duty for my family and I as Roughriders. Like many of my comrades, I have an
incredible family who partner with me even from a distance, inspiring not only me but those I have opportunity to work alongside of and who benefit from the support passed onto us. It has been an incredibly wonderful year. We have incredibly wonderful supporters, strangers and loved ones alike, who partner with us in prayer and tangible acts of loving kindness. Some of that is evidenced in the care packages sent to encourage us and offer a certain quality of life. It has been an exceedingly abundant above all I could ask or think sort of year, experiencing in both the tough and joyous moments, the faithfulness of God to my generation. We have an exceedingly abundant, above all we can ask or think sort of God who is faithful no matter what situation
we find ourselves in and Who is faithful to every generation.
It would be impossible in this newsletter, for me to tell you of the many personal and spiritual breakthroughs I have seen in the lives of both military and civilian personnel
already. I continue to wonder what God might do in, through or even in spite of the people I have opportunity to counsel and pray with. Many of you know first
hand that when a soldier gets their marching orders so to speak, that whatever personal problems, addictions, unresolved family issues, etc. they happen to have at that time don’t just disappear but rather somehow they seem to get packed into the “unseen” baggage of their hearts. Many of you know from experience that the human heart was not intended to carry such enormous burdens at least not for very long and never to carry them alone, apart from a loving Heavenly Father. During the course
of a deployment it is not uncommon for the ache of separation to become so intense our hearts seem as if they will break! I believe our capacity to be brought through the more painful intensities of the deployment grows each time we choose to be a blessing to those around us. Already, many of us here, in our own hearts have had to
make similar choices. Consider what choices your own heart has faced so far. The Christmas and Hanukah miracle many of us have recently celebrated are reminders we are not alone in our human condition. My hope for all of us in this new year is that we choose to allow God to bring us through each of our more “fragile” moments
and we will allow ourselves to be part of the process for one another as well as ourselves. In some of the most difficult of circumstances, we can still choose to be a blessing!
In the Gospel of Matthew 18:18-20 (Message Version) it reads:
"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no
on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal.
I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on
earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action.
And when two or three of you are together because of me,
you can be sure that I'll be there."
Where would any of us be if God hadn’t shown up? And where would any of us be if we didn’t have another to agree in prayer with? A scripture from the Old Testament/Torah reads:
"... I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So
choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants."
--Deuteronomy 30:19 (The Message)
Our Heavenly Father can take that unwanted burdensome baggage –even the hidden stuff no one else but Him sees and exchange it for some hope, joy, peace, truth
and other handy items for your journey through this life and the next.
On the 365th Day of 2008 many of us will take time to celebrate the end of a year with the hope of a new year ahead of us. Many of us are living, breathing examples of the grace of God and what He has already brought us through and in spite of many
situations. And today, right now, we all have a choice. Our ultimate mission — if we choose to accept it –is to choose to be a blessing each and every single day. Will you choose to be a blessing?