SERMON OUTLINE 008--25 DEC 2006

RETAKING the OBJECTIVE

Christmas Day
FOB Paliwoda
25DEC06

Scripture
Luke 2:1-20

Timeline
1:5-25 Jonathan promised to Elizabeth and Zacharias in their old age
1:26-38 Gabriel visits Mary
1:39-45 Mary visits Elizabeth
1:46-56 Mary’s song of joy
1:57-80 John the Baptist is born

I. Introduction

A. It is beginning, or has for awhile, felt like every day is like the movie Groundhog Day. Every day is the same. Well, does this Christmas Day feel any different? Should it?


B. Topic of this message is hope, it is our objective. Unfortunately, I think we have lost at times this objective called hope. It may not be that we are hopeless, but we have lost that sense of faith.


C. Hope originally meant trust. Where is our trust, who do we trust?


D. Hope is what this day is about, and if every day is the same, then shame on us for not retaking it back in the name of the Lord.

II. The Child Who Did Not Count

A. Historical context


1. The census was for tax purposes.


2. The journey was through rugged mountain trails.


3. Think about this day from Mary’s perspective. Here she was, pregnant for the first time, scared, traveling with a man that was her husband that she really just met, the baby is coming, and they will not even let them stay at the inn.


4. How cold do you have to be to refuse a pregnant woman a place to stay?


B. Do we have it harder than Joseph and Mary?


C. The inn was packed because of census. It was more important to obey Caesar than it was to show mercy and compassion to a pregnant girl. In a way, Jesus was the boy who does not count.


D. Have you ever felt like you did not count, that you were not important, that you were just a number? Now you have something in common with Christ.


E. “There were only a few shepherds at the first Bethlehem. The ox and the ass understood more of the first Christmas than the high priests in Jerusalem. And it is the same today.” -Thomas Merton

III. The Child Who Takes Anger Away

A.

A Nigerian woman who is a physician at a great teaching hospital in the United States came out of the crowd today to say something kind about the lecture I had just given. She introduced herself using an American name. "What's your African name?" I asked. She immediately gave it to me, several syllables long with a musical sound to it. "What does the name mean?" I wondered.


She answered, "It means 'Child who takes the anger away.'"


When I inquired as to why she would have been given this name, she said, "My parents had been forbidden by their parents to marry. But they loved each other so much that they defied the family opinions and married anyway. For several years they were ostracized from both their families. Then my mother became pregnant with me. And when the grandparents held me in their arms for the first time, the walls of hostility came down. I became the one who swept the anger away. And that's the name my mother and father gave me."


It occurred to me that her name would be a suitable one for Jesus[1].




B. We find Christ in a dirty manger in a place where most of the world would not be. Christ still comes to those places. He was not born in suburbia, or in a burnt out neighborhood, or even on a farm in America. He came to a war-torn, ravaged place—a place not meant for children, a place that many called unholy and unfit for God. A place filled with hate and vengeance. He still comes to those places, waiting to be born, except now it is in the rough, bitter places of our hearts. That grudge that you hold, is it worth it? Is it worth putting Jesus out of the inn of your heart?


C. Is there someone with whom we have a broken relationship? Perhaps it is a parent, a sibling, a spouse, or a child? Have we been holding onto that barrier because we were either too afraid or too full of pride to make peace?

IV. The Child Who Unites in God’s Name

A.

A Palestinian baby found abandoned at birth in a roadside heap of trash was rescued by Palestinian doctors, nurtured by a group of nuns, and had her heart repaired by an Israeli surgeon. The survival of tiny Salaam, whose name means "peace" in Arabic, has become a rare example of the region's usually fractured and clashing peoples working together to save a life.


The area has been torn by Palestinian-Israeli violence in which children and infants on both sides have suffered and died.


Salaam was found by Palestinians along a road north of the West Bank town of Ramallah and taken to a shelter run by Palestinian social services. A group of nuns in Bethlehem gave her a permanent home.


But the baby's health worsened. She was born with a large hole between the chambers of her heart, and her lungs were not receiving enough blood. Palestinian doctors noticed she was turning blue and losing weight, and the baby was taken to a Jerusalem hospital.


"She was skin and bone and that's it," said Israeli doctor Eli Milgalter, who operated on Salaam's heart on January 24th. The nuns raised nearly $11,000 to pay for the hospital costs, and Milgalter performed the surgery without accepting payment. Salaam has made a full recovery, doctors said.[2]




B. Does this story mean something different to you now that we are here? When people ask you what are we doing in this place, are we not trying to bring some hope. We are more than soldiers, we are men, and we have been created in this Child’s image, despite what we believe. Let us not turn away from that question we all get from our fellow soldiers, “what are we doing here,” without speaking a word of hope. Shame on us if we do.

V. Conclusion

A.


There fared a mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.
To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star
To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.[3]

God came into this world, despite the fact that all the doors were shut in his face, all the reasons to hope were gone, yet he still came. He comes still. He comes for me. He comes for you. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace (and hope), goodwill toward men.


[1] Gordon MacDonald, author, speaker, Leadership editor-at-large, Leadership Weekly (11-6-02).
[2] "'Peace Baby' Touches Mideast Enemies," Associated Press (2-25-02); submitted by James C. Lindberg, Tempe, Arizona.
[3] G. K. Chesterton, extracts from his poem "The House of Christmas," Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 14.

SERMON OUTLINE 007--24 DEC 2006

HOPE is a PLAN

Fourth Sunday in Advent
FOB PALIWODA
24DEC06

Scripture
Luke 1:39-56

Timeline
1:5-25 Jonathan promised to Elizabeth and Zacharias in their old age
1:26-38 Gabriel visits Mary

I. Introduction:

A. What was your best Christmas? Why?

B. A common theme, I would guess, with all these stories is that the Holy Spirit was at work. More specifically, we were surprised by God. Sacred surprises are what Christmas is all about. Illustration: little children waiting for Santa. The attraction is not the gifts, as witnessed by a child’s fascination with a box rather than the toy that it housed, but the magic of the day.

II. The Holy Spirit at Work

A. Mary’s surprise


1. Betrothal back then was the same as getting married. Mary was, essentially, already married to Joseph. We also must remember to show up pregnant before your wedding day was legal grounds for punishment by stoning.

2. Gabriel appears to this girl who is about as near the bottom of the social totem pole as one could get. She was a girl, she was poor, and she was a Hebrew.

3. The miracle is not only the conception but in the fact that she said yes, without asking why. Moses asked why, Abraham asked why, David asked why, but not Mary.


B. Unconditional promises bring unpredictable futures


1. When a couple says their marriage vows, do they put conditions on them? Well, if you are in an unconditional relationship with someone, get ready for a wild ride.

2. We want conditional promises. Why? Because we want to limit our risk and control our futures. This is great if you are an investment banker, but it is impossible if you act with people and with God. Illustration: if we build enough clinics, schools, and take out enough HVIs, we will have success. We want to have benchmarks.

3. God does not give us benchmarks

4. Mary said yes because she did not care about what God promised to her but who He was.

III. Holy Imagination

A. Where has our imagination gone?

B. We cannot limit the Holy Spirit.

C. Part of our faith is the inherent God-given dignity in every man or woman. We have a probably illiterate peasant girl, barely out of puberty, who has the audacity to think that God can work through her.

D. “Faith,” says theologian James Whitehead, “is the enduring ability to imagine life in a certain way.”

E. We are imagining what Christmas could be like at home, but let us imagine what Christmas could be like here. Illustration: we need to see the Holy Spirit working around us. Chaplains do not control God.

IV. Looking Ahead

A. Country music star Travis Tritt spent many years playing out-of-the-way joints before he made it big in the music industry. He reports that many of the bars were dangerous places, with drunk fans starting fights over the smallest matters. But Tritt found a unique way to keep the peace in such situations. He says:


Silent Night proved to be my all-time lifesaver. Just when [bar fights] started getting out of hand, when bikers were reaching for their pool cues and rednecks were heading for the gun rack, I'd start playing Silent Night. It could be the middle of July—I didn't care. Sometimes they'd even start crying, standing there watching me sweat and play Christmas carols.[1]



B. They cry because something from home comes back to them. Either something that was or something that should have been. The song sparks the imagination, a memory of how life could be.

V. Conclusion

A. What are we doing here? Why are we here? God can use this place, this time to make us better, to use us to make the people around us better.

B. Remember what John the Baptist said, making the roads straight; we are witnessing the great leveling. It is not the worldly way in how you relate to your brother or sister that is important; it is how you relate to God.

C. With the incarnation, the coming of Christ, God becomes personal. God is not distant. If God is distant it has everythng to do with us and nothing to do with Him.

D. Imagine


1. Imagine: Roman soldiers watching the children play in Nazareth. Those girls would not look much different than the girls who wave at us every day we go out on mission.

2. Imagine: the how the local religious, cultural, and political leaders would have reacted if they had known that God had put so much trust into such a girl in their presence.

3. God put the future of the world, the salvation of the world, into the hands of a peasant girl from the Middle East. When you see the girls playing alongside the road, this is who Mary was.


E. It is not hard for soldiers to imagine any of this. Perhaps this is why soldiers can be so easily swayed into believing. We place our lives, our futures, into the hands of those around us every day. Bullets do not know rank, skin color, gender, or social status.

As we imagine the world, if we imagine with God’s heart of faith, hope, and love, then what does God have for our future, what trust, what faith does he have in us? Amen.


[1] Twang! The Ultimate Book of Country Music Quotations, compiled by Raymond Obstfeld and Sheila Burgener (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1997)

The House of Christmas--G.K. Chesterton

There fared a mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.

For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay on their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done.
Here we have battle and blazing eyes,
And chance and honor and high surprise,
But our homes are under miraculous skies
Where the Yule tale was begun.

A Child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost - how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky's dome.

This world is wild as an old wives' tale,
And strange the plain things are,
The earth is enough and the air is enough
For our wonder and our war;
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings
And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star.

To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.

DIGIJOURNAL 009--21 DEC 2006

DATELINE: 21DEC06 PB PALIWODA

Greetings to All,

I have received many favorable comments from folks who have visited this blogsite. Thank you. But I want everyone to know that it is easy to write about the great people whom I have the privilege of serving. I would like to make a couple of things clear about what this site represents. It is a compilation of my own personal observations about what is going on over here. I stress personal, because if you ever perceive that I am either insensitive or idiotic, please go ahead and assume that it has everything to do with me (good assumption) and nothing to do with the fine character of our soldiers.

Well, I have said my disclaimer, so now let us begin with the updates...

Wait…one more item. Even though we are involved in a very serious business over here in Iraq, I have to add some humor to the environment. There is a saying, “sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.” My hope is that these words bring a chuckle to the heart that banishes away, at least for a moment, the anxiety and fears of and for your loved ones. Laughter always seems to be a byproduct of hope. May it be so. Peace.

Thoughts for the Week
When I brief the leadership every week, I usually try to include a few thoughts and/or ideas that I have discovered in my weekly prayer and study time. I will start including them here.

"Fanaticism is overcompensation for doubt." --Carl Jung

"In war it is not hard to hate, but hatred is a poison which harms more the one who harbors it than the one against whom it is directed.” --Rev. Robert McLean

Christmas
I want to thank everyone who has made this Christmas special for our soldiers. The response has been overwhelming. Every soldier (700+) was able to receive at least two cards, a stocking, and other small items. The gifts are great, but what means the most to soldiers is the thoughts and prayers behind them. We receive a flood of information over here, almost too much information. Sometimes it may seem like folks have given up on what is going on overseas. However, what we perceive and what is real is often different. What I see, what we see, is that a variety of individuals and organizations across the political, ideological, and religious spectrum have reached out to us. While some may argue over our foreign policy (and, by the way, we are blessed to live in a country where we can debate), there is no arguing about the fact that folks still support us—-the soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines who are serving downrange. This war has now eclipsed WWII in duration, but it is a powerful witness to the faithfulness of the “common” American men, women, and children who still take and/or make the time to support us. We will never be able to repay you for all you have done for us.

The Big Thing
One of our primary concerns during operations is that we need to keep things quiet from any prospective enemy. Armyspeak for this is called Operational Security, or OPSEC for short. It is important that both our soldiers and our families get repeatedly briefed about how important OPSEC is. As a result, I always refer to big missions (as opposed to small missions, which is as messed up a concept as “minor” surgery) as the “thing,” as in “WH6, can CPL C and I go out to see soldiers on this ‘thing’ we are doing?”

PC (aka CPL Paul ‘I would like to buy a vowel’ Crnkovich, my fearless and trusty chaplain assistant) and I had the opportunity to go out on a thing with members of A, E, and HHC companies. What an interesting time. I have traveled all over Northern Iraq, both last time I was here and this time. The difference this time was that, while previously we had always tried to avoid the enemy, this time we were trying to find him.

Now, before I can claim or anyone gets images of me fearlessly running alongside of infantry dismounts catching shrapnel with my teeth, let me reassure you and my wife that I spent the vast majority of the time safely ensconced in a reinforced, medic-track 113. I say this to highlight the true courage (again, truly amazing) of our soldiers. After leaving early in the morning, when the sun came up I went out to visit the guys and gal who were dismounted guarding our sector. Many of you have images of the sweltering heat and wilting humidity of Iraq, and those days are coming, but it actually gets cold here. In fact, PC allegedly spotted a couple of snowflakes this weekend. Our soldiers were outside braving these elements. When I went to talk to them, they were cold but positive. Amazing!!!

They must have been in a good mood because they had to have laughed as I came lumbering over to them. I wish I could describe myself as the Brad Pitt/George Clooney-looking chaplain who lithely slips across the battlefield, leaping over broken buildings and t-walls with ease. The truth is that I am a big, doughy white guy who looks like a brontosaurus competing, poorly, in an obstacle course as I run over to these twenty-something soldiers. It drives PC nuts. He is that graceful guy who has to protect the lumbering brontosaurus. With creaking knees and jacked up spine I knelt down, slowly, to talk to these great people. After visiting with them, I jogged, again slowly, over to the First Sergeant (1SG) to see how he was doing. He nervously looked around, dropped the back ramp, said hello, and then told me to get back in the medic track, which leads into the next issue.

Apparently, it is bad luck to get your chaplain hurt in battle. Now, as my wife’s favorite husband, I like that sentiment, but I wonder how it sounds to you the reader, especially if your husband/son/daughter/etc. is not the chaplain. What makes me special? Nothing. The plain fact is that the chaplain is like the rabbit’s foot or mascot for the unit; and, like a rabbit’s foot or mascot, a lost or stolen chaplain is usually bad (depending on what you think of the chaplain). As our soldiers are scanning for snipers, I get the vibe that they are not usually in the mood to discuss the finer points of predestination and Calvinistic theology, so I do not get into the lack of uniqueness of their chaplain. I want you to know that I do appreciate the sentiment of our soldiers to keep me safe.

Well, as the mission reached completion, I am glad to say that the only casualty that we had was my rear-end due to sitting in the back of the 113 for hours. I call this ailment "113-butt." If all the sheep come back to the fold with wet noses and all their fingers and toes still attached and operational, I call the mission a success. Add to this that our soldiers did complete all their objectives, and we have a good day in Warhorseland. I must thank SGT V, the chief medic in A Co., for being such a gracious host as we stayed in his track. I must say that I was a little disappointed in the cabin service. Instead of cocktails and a hot meal served once we reached cruising altitude, all I received was an MRE (meal, ready-to-eat, I love Armyspeak reverse acronyms) and some Gatorade. At least the Gatorade was cold.

Theological Reflection and Incoming Fire
As I was out participating in a very small way in the “Big Thing,” listening to the reports of enemy activity and the sounds of contact (Armyspeak for flying bullets and explosions) thankfully not too near us, I began to do what most soldiers do at time like these—think about God. Whether they are metaphorical or real bullets, it often takes danger to force us to reflect on our finitude (chaplainspeak for death, limits, life, we are not God, etc. ).

I made this observation: how long would we keep a friend around who only came to talk to us when they were in trouble or when they needed something? Probably not for long, but why do we treat God like this? Why do we, or more specifically I, who of all people should know better, only approach God in desperation? Do not get me wrong, God always likes it when we come to Him, but I find that I say “I want, I want, I need, I need” far too often than I say "thank you." It is also frightening to think about what I am teaching to my two sons in how I pray. I guess, like Joseph finding good even when his own brothers intended evil for him, even on the battlefield when you are desperately praying for the safety of the soldiers because you can see their families in their faces, you can discover the Holy Spirit talking to and moving through you.

This evening during worship I mentioned to our soldiers that even God can use this deployment to make us better husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons. It just depends on our vision and the teach-ability of our spirit. This Christmas I am reminded that God did not wait to approach us, did not wait until we were perfect, sinless, and deserving, but He came as a child to the very same part of the world where we are, when it was just as or more dangerous than it is today. He came for us, and we will never be able to thank Him enough.

Gotta Love the Infantry
One of my constant comments is how much in awe I am of our soldiers, and how thankful we should be of how courageous they are. During the “Big Thing,” despite being on one knee in the freezing cold for hours, despite the very real danger they were in, they still managed to laugh and to do their job without complaint. To give you an idea of what it is like to be a dismounted infantryman, artilleryman, tanker, or mechanic, for we are all riflemen now, let me tell you how they sleep. When a 113 personnel carrier is moving over asphalt, the inside sounds like you are riding in a cement mixer full of rocks while listening to a Metallica concert. I think it would be quieter sitting next to a jet engine. However, for the rifleman, it is not too noisy to sleep. As the dismounts ran back to our vehicle, moving more gracefully than their chaplain, they piled in, feigned the respectful interest in my eager questions, but went immediately to sleep as we rolled back to our FOB. Before drifting off to sleep, one of the soldiers commented to a new arrival that “we have to be more than steely-eyed soldiers; we have to win the hearts and minds of the people.” He was stating what the vast majority of soldiers feel in their hearts, despite their bravado, and that is that they still care about the people of this country. While I would never want to be accused of being a sentimental, touchy-feely guy (gag), this is my guess why, when they did eventually drift off to sleep, they looked like angels.

SGT S
I want to brag on the person I like to call our music minister. One of the spiritual gifts I did not receive was the gift of music, or a good voice, or rhythm, or any other vocal or instrumental blessing. Thankfully, SGT S has stepped forward with his guitar and his good voice to be able to lead us during worship. He makes as many services as the mission will allow, oftentimes forgoing sleep or a much needed meal. He is definitely a good and faithful servant of the Lord.

Father K Comes to Paliwoda
The most important thing a chaplain does for the soldiers he serves is to make sure they have access to practice their faith. For Roman Catholics, it is very important that they be able to attend mass, confession, and to receive the Eucharist as often as possible. In my opinion it is even more important for our Roman Catholics in 3-8 because so many of them are out on missions. Unfortunately, the military archdiocese, like many dioceses in the United States, is suffering from a shortage of priests. It is for this reason that our priests can only come to visit us every 3-4 weeks. Last week CH (CPT) Father K was able to come to Paliwoda. Due to emergency leaves and other factors, it had almost been two months since his last visit. He and his assistant flew in to Paliwoda in a very drafty Chinook (big helicopter, two rotors) on a very cold night. As PC and I waded through the darkness to find them, Father K appeared looking very blue and very much in need of heat. It did not help that I was so glad he was there that I hugged him. I am sure, in the words of our Command Sergeant Major, that he thought I had “done lost my mind.” After having him say hello to the Long Man (WH6), CPL C and I dropped him off at the chapel, set the heater on defrost, and let him have some peace for the night. The priests in country often travel hundreds of miles every other week in order to see as many of our soldiers as possible. I am really thankful for their service and faithfulness. Father K has a special heart for soldiers, and Paliwoda always seems a little brighter after he visits. I have also arranged for another priest, CH (1LT) Father B to visit O’Ryan. Please keep them, all our priests, and all our chaplains in your prayers.

A Very Quick Autobio
Some have asked about my background, so here it is.

Born 1969 (yes I am ancient) in Norman, Oklahoma Boomer Sooner

Age 2, moved to Albuquerque, NM, develop salsa addiction

Age 14, enrolled at St. Pius X High School “Pi High,” coached, taught, and mentored by Father Falbo, Father Glass, and soccer coach Joe Badal

Age 17, suffering from temporary brain damage, accepted appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point

1991, by the grace of God, graduated from Woo Poo U, accepted commission as field artilleryman

1991-1995 stationed at Ft. Stewart, Georgia with the 24th ID

1993 begin to explore my call to ministry while serving on active duty

1994 made the best decision of my life (probably still debatable for H) and married the former Heather Raymond

1995 left active service, transfered to reserves, enrolled at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia (chose UTS for the housing, thus continuing my lack of wisdom when it comes to educational priorities)

1995-1999 attended Union, interned at Eastminster Presbyterian in Columbia, SC for one year, worked as a chaplain at a VA Hospital for one summer, served as chaplain for a retirement home in Richmond, and graduated from Union.

1999-2003 pastored First Presbyterian, a small but growing church in St. Croix Falls, WI, just north of the Twin Cities. Also served in the Wisconsin National Guard as a chaplain for a light infantry battalion (God teaching me a lesson since I put infantry last in my branch choice at USMA).

2001 tie for second best thing to happen to me: Joshua, my oldest, was born. Thankfully he looks and acts like his mother.

2003-2006 pastored First Presbyterian, a larger church in Monroe, NC.

2004-2005 called up for OIF II as battalion chaplain in the 1-113th, an FA battalion out of Charlotte, NC. Our brigade was attached to 1ID.

2004 the other event which ties for second best thing to happen to me: second son Nathanael (showing dad’s preference for the Hebrew spelling), born while dad in Iraq. Once again relieved to see he looks and acts like mom.

2005 eight months after returning from OIF II to pastor FPC, Monroe, called up for one month to serve in New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina. Begin to explore a call back on active duty.

30APR06 Preached last sermon at FPC, Monroe.

5JUN06 Signed in to Ft. Hood

As you can see, I could claim my begin date of entering the military was 1987. I try not to, because it is depressing. My assistant reminds me of how old I am every day (he was born when I was a junior in high school). He always maxes the APFT because of all the pushups I make him do.

We Miss You…If You Are Not a Wife Please Skip to Next Section (Especially You, Mom)
As Christmas day approaches, I would like to explain for the wives what most of the husbands are going through over here. Before reading any further, I would like to make a disclaimer. As my wife has reminded me, listening to the chaplain talk about intimacy issues is like listening to your parents. Stunned silence is often followed by nausea. However--and this may shock some people--my wife and I did not find our two boys in baskets drifting down the stream at a church picnic. As guys begin to return home on leave, there is a reason why they are set on microwave and not crockpot. In between the stress and preparation of war, we also have a great deal of time to think. And we are finding ourselves thinking of you, our wives. While you are doing the noble and more challenging job of keeping things going at home (hosing off kids, paying the bills, fixing the car, going to work, sending us packages, etc.), we are literally pining for home. Many of us, especially me, are thinking about all the idiotic things we said and did and all the good things we did not say and we did not do to and for you. When we get home, the greatest gift that a wife and husband can give to each other is themselves—-completely and honestly. I remind the guys here to try to tone it down and relate to their wives emotionally as well as physically. I would like to remind the wives that husbands tend to relate to their wives emotionally by relating to them physically. Well, I am beginning to blush and make myself nauseous, so I will leave the rest of this topic up to your imagination.

D Co.
I would like to let the folks who have loved ones in D Co. that I am trying to get out to visit them as soon as I can. They are in a location that is hard for me to catch a ride to, and they are with a unit that has a chaplain that is covering down on them. I do, however, want to see them. I know and hear that they are doing great things. And while I am not there in body, I am definitely there in spirit. They are in my daily prayers.

Armyspeak Word for the Week
BYOP (pronounced bye-op, op sounding like stop): short for Believe Your Own Pub. BYOP is another way to say prideful, sinfully prideful, as in “When the elite unit began to suffer from BYOP, they began to alienate all the other units around them.” This concept is closely related to “Institutional Arrogance.” See Enron.

Enough of my yammering. A big thank you to all who visit this site. I am trying to keep it fresh. Every day our guys continue to show why they are not only the best soldiers in the world but also the best people, and they would not be who they are without your love, support, prayers, and gratitude.

Gratia et Veritas
Warhorse Archangel

SERMON OUTLINE 006--17 DEC 2006

WHO HAS YOUR SIX?

Third Sunday in Advent
FOB PALIWODA
17DEC06

Scripture
Luke 3:7-18

Timeline
Luke 2:21-24 Christ is circumcised. Naming ceremony. Two doves are sacrificed (denoting that His parents were poor.
2:25-35 Simeon prophesizes about Jesus’ life.
2:36-38 Anna prophecies about Christ.
2:39-40 Christ returns to Nazareth.
2:41-50 Jesus lingers at the Temple after the Passover. Christ’s parents, though poor, always attend.
3:1-3 Dating the coming of John.
3:3 John’s ministry and message.
3:4-6 Preparing the way for Christ.
3:7-19 John’s message and arrest.
3:14 Soldiers be content with your wages.

I. Introduction

A. Illustration: soldiers taking a sector at H15. Everyone had a position to take. We are good because we plan, we rehearse, we check down to the nth degree of detail. We also have folks, battle buddies, who watch our backs, our ‘six.’ We never do anything alone. Who watches your six? Does God factor into your answer?

II. Taking God for Granted

A. How long would we be friends with someone who only came to us when we were in trouble? How does God feel when we only come to Him when we are in trouble? How does it make us feel? Every prayer said in desperation becomes a test. Soon disappointment could become resentment could become anger to outright apathy. The greatest problem we have is that we do not teach nor do learn how to have a proper relationship with God.

B. This taking advantage of God is exactly what John is speaking to in his sermon we read in Scripture. He calls the people coming to him a “brood of vipers,” essentially sons of snakes. He then tells them to bear fruit worthy of repentance. John is not saying be perfect, but instead, be different. Illustration: a talisman, like a rabbit’s foot, is an object to which we falsely attribute God’s power. In essence, it is an idol. John the prophet is so upset because the people have reduced God to a non-feeling, non-living idol: if they get baptized, it provides an inoculation against bad things happening to them. The people come because it is fashionable.

C. During the Advent Season, as we prepare for the coming of Christ, we tend to think of Him exclusively as a helpless child coming to the world in a non-threatening way. We forget that the world was threatened by Jesus the child, so much so that Herod executed an entire generation of boys in order to protect himself from the Messiah.

D. Who do the people expect? Who are we expecting this Christmas? Are we expecting another year of the same type of relationship?

E. God has our backs, but a core aspect of faithfulness is that because He has ours, whose do we have?

III. Christians are Fruitful, Not Fruitless

A. Those who claim to follow God must show through their lives that they are following God. Illustration: who is more despised to a soldier but a person who claims battlefield glory and heroics that he did not actually commit. In other words, they tell a story of who they should be, who they wish they would be, in order to get the accolades and approval, but it is a lie.

B. Christians dwell between two poles: faith and service. They are like blades of a scissor; we need both to be effective. St. Augustine, the 3rd Century theologian, said, “No man has a right to lead such a life of contemplation as to forget in his own ease the service due to his neighbor; nor has any man a right to be so immersed in active life as to neglect the contemplation of God.”[1]

C. John is instructing us that we must, like a tree, bear the fruit, the blessings, of being grounded in the Lord, nurtured by the Son, and nourished by the Holy Spirit.

IV. Repentance PT

A. Metanoia: the changing, or repenting, is more than just feeling sorry for yourself because of your sins. It is a complete change of life. “Let us not flee his judgment with sweet platitudes. Let us heed the words of the prophet and bear fruits that befit repentance, giving up our alibis and false hopes and repenting through work that corresponds to God’s advent among us.” William H. Willimon

B. John breaks down the beginnings of a faithful lifestyle:


1. v11 (The Common People): Be content with only what is necessary; share your excess (clothing and food).

2. v13 (The State Employee): Be content with only what is necessary; do not steal from the people; remember your loyalties (to God and to man).

3. v14 (The Soldier): Be content with only what is necessary; do not abuse your position of power (by intimidating others).


C. A Daily Repentance Workout by Frederica Mathewes-Green


As we gradually gain more insight into ourselves, we are able, with God's grace, to find ways to resist habitual sin and grow in self-control. We gain strength bit by bit, like an athlete striving for the prize, as Paul said. Gradually we reclaim more and more of ourselves and offer it to God's transforming light. Thus the Holy Spirit works within us, sanctifying us from the inside out.


From the earliest centuries, Christians have identified certain practices that have been helpful to the "athlete in training." Here are some of them:


• Fasting. People are beset by different temptations, but everybody eats. Restricting foods—not necessarily a total fast, but simply declining favorites for a time—can be a way of strengthening the "willpower muscle" to be ready when needed to handle a bigger temptation. An athlete doesn't lift weights just so he can lift more weights. Those healthy muscles are ready for any situation he meets. Turn down a doughnut today, and tomorrow you might be able to resist calling the driver in front of you an idiot.

• Bite your tongue. Yes, not calling someone an idiot is a frequent theme in Scripture and early Christian writings. Both place great emphasis on controlling anger, perhaps as much as on sexual continence. Jesus said the penalty for calling your brother a fool was "the hell of fire." That includes people who can't hear you, like politicians on TV. It's not the harm to them that's at stake so much as the surging, disorienting pride in your own heart.

• Mind your thoughts. Jesus said that to commit adultery in the imagination is the equivalent of committing it in fact. Nearly all sins begin with thinking about sin. Control the thoughts and you have a good head start on behavior. You may not be able to keep thoughts from appearing, but you can decline to entertain them; birds fly overhead, but you don't have to let them nest in your hair. Paul counsels that we think about things that are true, lovely, gracious, excellent, and praiseworthy, so you might want to read some Dickens tonight instead of watching that sleazy sitcom.

• Practice humility. Humility is not the same as resisting the urge to show off (which is modesty) or denying that you have gifts and talents (which is lying). Humility is remembering that you have a beam in your eye. In every situation remember what God knows about you, and how much you have been forgiven. You might think you can fool people, but no matter how charming you appear, spiritually you have spinach in your teeth. Account yourself the "chief of sinners" and be gracious toward the failings of others. Overlook insults and be kind to those who misuse you. Be swift to admit when you're wrong. Ask others to forgive you, and forgive them without asking if you want God to forgive you.

• Pray constantly. Try always to recall that God is with you, dwelling in you. (This helps a great deal in controlling thoughts.) For more than 1,500 years, some Christians have tried to form the habit of praying, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me" all the time, a kind of background music to other thoughts. It not only helps one resist more turbulent thoughts and deeds, but also creates a kind of mental foyer in which thoughts and impulses can be examined before they're allowed inside.

• Ask God to help you repent. We really don't want to do this and we find a million excuses to change the subject. Read stories about repentant saints, like John Newton, the slave dealer who wrote "Amazing Grace," or the once promiscuous Mary of Egypt. Those are reasonable models for you, not ivory-tower saints. Keep thinking of yourself as the Prodigal Son. Think over your deeds and conversations each evening and look for areas to improve. Read before bed every night. Someday you may actually believe it.[2]

V. Conclusion: Faithfulness is Fruitfulness

A. Why does Metanoia matter? Who has your six?


While working as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, Lee Strobel was assigned to report on the struggles of an impoverished, inner-city family during the weeks leading up to Christmas. A devout atheist at the time, Strobel was mildly surprised by the family's attitude in spite of their circumstances:


The Delgados—-60-year-old Perfecta and her granddaughters, Lydia and Jenny—-had been burned out of their roach-infested tenement and were now living in a tiny, two-room apartment on the West Side. As I walked in, I couldn't believe how empty it was. There was no furniture, no rugs, nothing on the walls—-only a small kitchen table and one handful of rice. That's it. They were virtually devoid of possessions.


In fact, 11-year-old Lydia and 13-year-old Jenny owned only one short-sleeved dress each, plus one thin, gray sweater between them. When they walked the half-mile to school through the biting cold, Lydia would wear the sweater for part of the distance and then hand it to her shivering sister, who would wear it the rest of the way.


But despite their poverty and the painful arthritis that kept Perfecta from working, she still talked confidently about her faith in Jesus. She was convinced he had not abandoned them. I never sensed despair or self-pity in her home; instead, there was a gentle feeling of hope and peace.




Strobel completed his article, and then moved on to more high-profile assignments. But when Christmas Eve arrived, he found his thoughts drifting back to the Delgados and their unflinching belief in God's providence. In his words:


I continued to wrestle with the irony of the situation. Here was a family that had nothing but faith, and yet seemed happy, while I had everything I needed materially, but lacked faith—-and inside I felt as empty and barren as their apartment.




In the middle of a slow news day, Strobel decided to pay a visit to the Delgados. When he arrived, he was amazed at what he saw. Readers of his article had responded to the family's need in overwhelming fashion, filling the small apartment with donations. Once inside, Strobel encountered new furniture, appliances, and rugs; a large Christmas tree and stacks of wrapped presents; bags of food; and a large selection of warm winter clothing. Readers had even donated a generous amount of cash.


But it wasn't the gifts that shocked Lee Strobel, an atheist in the middle of Christmas generosity. It was the family's response to those gifts. In his words:


As surprised as I was by this outpouring, I was even more astonished by what my visit was interrupting: Perfecta and her granddaughters were getting ready to give away much of their newfound wealth. When I asked Perfecta why, she replied in halting English: "Our neighbors are still in need. We cannot have plenty while they have nothing. This is what Jesus would want us to do."


That blew me away! If I had been in their position at that time in my life, I would have been hoarding everything. I asked Perfecta what she thought about the generosity of the people who had sent all of these goodies, and again her response amazed me. "This is wonderful; this is very good," she said, gesturing toward the largess. "We did nothing to deserve this—it's a gift from God. But," she added, "It is not his greatest gift. No, we celebrate that tomorrow. That is Jesus."


To her, this child in the manger was the undeserved gift that meant everything—more than material possessions, more than comfort, more than security. And at that moment, something inside of me wanted desperately to know this Jesus—because, in a sense, I saw him in Perfecta and her granddaughters.


They had peace despite poverty, while I had anxiety despite plenty; they knew the joy of generosity, while I only knew the loneliness of ambition; they looked heavenward for hope, while I only looked out for myself; they experienced the wonder of the spiritual, while I was shackled to the shallowness of the material—and something made me long for what they had.


Or, more accurately, for the One they knew.[3]




B. This year, this time, this life, let us bear fruits worthy of repentance, of a life changed not for our sakes, but for His. For it is only by doing this, by sacrificing our life, by losing it to Him, that he can reach a harvest of people through our acts of faithfulness.

[1]Augustine of Hippo, Of the Dress and Habits of the Christian (Chapter 19), ccel.org.

[2]Copyright ©2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

[3]Lee Strobel, The Case for Christmas (Zondervan, 2005); submitted by Eugene Maddox, Palatka, Florida.

SERMON OUTLINE 005--10 DEC 2006

ROUTE CLEARANCE

Second Sunday in Advent
FOB Paliwoda
10DEC06

Scripture
Luke 3:1-6
Malachi 3:1-4

Timeline
Luke 2:21-24 Christ is circumcised. Naming ceremony. Two doves are sacrificed (denoting that His parents were poor).
2:25-35 Simeon prophesizes about Jesus’ life.
2:36-38 Anna prophecies about Christ.
2:39-40 Christ returns to Nazareth.
2:41-50 Jesus lingers at the Temple after the Passover. Christ’s parents, though poor, always attend.
3:1-3 Dating the coming of John.
3:3 John’s ministry and message.
3:4-6 Preparing the way for Christ.
3:7-19 John’s message and arrest
3:14 Soldiers be content with your wages.

Malachi 3:1 God will send His messenger.
3:2 Who can endure His arrival?
3:3 He will purify the religious leaders so that their offering might be acceptable.
3:4 Offering is pleasant before the Lord.

I. Introduction

A. Preparing our hearts for the coming of the Lord. What does that preparation look like?

B. John was preparing the people of Israel, the country, for the coming of the Lord.

C. The language he uses comes from Isaiah

D. Today, just as there was back then, there is a leveling going on. I can see it in our faces. The stress, anxieties, and all the ranges of emotion are changing our hearts. How open we are to the Spirit will tell what shape they will become.

II. Stop Fixing the Wrong Path and Get On the Right One

A. We either try to fix the incorrect path we are on or pay too much attention to another’s. Illustration: it is easy to pick out someone else’s problems but not your own. The feedback of the E4 mafia can be brutal, but it is more often than not honest.

B. v3: baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Metanoia: repentance of sins. Means a change of mind that yields a change in lifestyle.

C. What happens if you follow the incorrect route over here? And what happens to us if we follow the incorrect, Spiritual route? Illustration: Al Pacino in the final scene in Scent of a Woman: “There is no prosthesis for an amputated soul.”

III. Despite Traveling on the Right Path, You May Still Need to Ask for Directions

A. Priests would often undergo a complicated ritual to ensure they were clean before the Lord.

B. We have this theme of cleaning, washing, which is just what baptism is. Christ comes to purify our hearts. Illustration: how do you remove the impurities in a precious metal?

C. The right path will and can be dangerous. “He knows not his own strength that hath not met adversity. Heaven prepares good men with crosses.”[1]

D. Where is the map? We find it in worship, in prayer, in study of the Word. What do we bring to worship? Worship is what we do with our lives, not just what we do in church. Your own desire to see Christ, to lift Him up, meaning to place Him first in our lives, will tell us what kind of worship we will have.

IV. John Was a Spiritual Engineer

A. He made the path smooth for Christ to travel. Why was this important? Because bad guys love terrain that is hard for the good guys to access. Illustration: clearing a route or the flattening of the Eagle’s Nest.

B. Where is your hill-country? Hills are great places for the enemy to hide, to set and ambush. Hills also complicate our travels, slow us down, make us lose focus.

C. Spiritual Route Clearance


1. Have the right people. It is a team effort. Who is your spiritual battle-buddy?

2. Have the right equipment. Your Bible, devotional materials, rosaries, a quiet place of study.

3. Have the right training. Who has discipled you? Who are you discipling? Is or has the church trained you well.

4. Have the right plan, include a backup. Are you following God’s plan or your plan?

V. Conclusion: Preparation for the Cross

A. Illustration: NCO Creed and not making officers do the NCO’s job.

B. “Before we can dig up the moral weeds of violence, materialism, and greed in our society that are strangling our children, we must dig up the moral weeds in our own backyards. So many children are confused about what is right and wrong because so many adults talk right and do wrong.” Marian Wright Edelman

C. We are in a period of preparation. We must prepare our lives for the coming of Christ, the indwelling of the Messiah.

D. We must be more like John, our lives must witness to folks in such a way that they are willing to receive the message of the Gospel.

E. John and Christ were preparing to build a community that would withstand persecution, would share the Gospel, and would remain faithful to the covenants they made.

[1] Ben Johnson, Leadership, Vol. 2, no. 1

DIGIJOURNAL 008--13 DEC 2006

DATELINE: 13DEC06 PB PALIWODA

Hello from Paliwoda,

It has been far too long since I wrote my last journal entry. It seems like every time I want to get to it, something comes up—a drop-in counseling, a visit to a departing soldier, time spent with a section getting to know them, or just joking around with Paul. Over here, the hours, days, and weeks pass quickly, but the months seem to ooze by ever so slowly. We have come to the first difficult phase of the deployment. We have been here long enough to have some shared experiences, but we still have approxiamately ten more months to go. Couple this with the coming of Christmas, and both Paul and I wind up speaking to many guys and gals.

The other challenging thing is that we must remain focused on the basic battletasks that have, thank God, kept us safe so far. It is too easy to slip into a routine where we begin to cut corners. Our leaders maintain a vigilant watch over us so that we will not get casual, which often times means some “coaching, teaching, and mentoring” (Army-speak for butt-chewing) time for individual soldiers. However, our soldiers also need to hear that they are doing a good job. This is where Paul and I come in; we get to pass out the "attaboys." It also helps when we receive the tons of boxes from good folks like you. We use as much of the stuff as we can, we pass as much as we can to the Iraqi children, and we share as much as we can with our Iraqi Army and Police counterparts. Despite what we sometimes hear through the media, it is obvious that most Americans do support, pray for, and care for their troops.

Well, what follows is yet another stream-of-consciousness account of some of the not-so-important events in the life of the 3-8 Combined Arms Battalion.

No Sock Left Behind
We know that no soldier will be left behind on the battlefield. Well, I can now say that this extends to our feet coverings. In addition to leaving no man behind, we now will not leave any sock behind. Here at Paliwoda, some of our folks send out their laundry to Anaconda. But this involves travel by convoy (where it could get lost), being taken to the laundry facility (lost yet again), picked up from said laundry facility, and then brought back to the FOB. Add to this the fog of war, human forgetfulness, the wildly fluctuating length of time it can take for laundry to return, and the guys who have the basic combat load of uniforms can get either pretty stinky in their last uniform or be forced to walk around naked, both very undesirable options.

Fortunately, we do have some American type washers and dryers up here (hence our asking for laundry detergent). The problem with these machines, since they are American, is that they tend to eat our socks. Now, although socks are not very important for your FOB-dwelling chaplain, they are very important for your sand-pounding grunt. It is very hilarious to watch the TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) that guys will go through to ensure that no sock gets “left behind.” Short of climbing into the dryers themselves, they do just about everything else to police up the laundry battlefield. Still, due to good, ol’ American sock-eating dryer ingenuity, while we still have, thankfully, many clad soldiers, they are nonetheless walking around with only one sock per pair of feet.

PS-we can purchase socks at the PX down at Anaconda, so no soldiers' feet have been harmed in the writing of the above paragraphs. The soldiers do not need socks, really....but it is still amusing to see to what extent they will go to avoid mateless socks.

Mouse Jihad Scoreboard
The mouse Jihad continues, and, so far, the mice are winning. One of the mice ate the peanut butter off the trap without setting it off. Obviously we must change our TTPs to match the military preparedness of the vermin. It is bad when the mice wake you up in the middle of the night because they are holding a rave party in your empty duffle bag. Part of the problem is that the sheltered chaplain, me, had a difficult time figuring out and setting the trap (see headspace and timing paragraph in previous journal entry). Well, fortunately our UMT NCO, Paul, stepped in to help me with the trap. He prefers to hunt them down with a knife (so far unsuccessfully). I will keep you updated on the scoreboard. I am sure that you are checking this site repeatedly to find out how this other war is going.

TOC Cat
Despite the temporary setbacks in the mouse Jihad, we have been able to sway some of the local feline nationals to aid us in our battles. Last week, as we were going through the numerous boxes you have sent, Paul felt something rubbing on his left leg. Since getting your leg rubbed is definitely not something that happens over here, Paul jumped. He looked down and there sat, purring, an orange cat (with flea collar). The cat had walked into our room and made herself at home. Technically, we are not supposed to keep mascots, so if any general or sergeant major is reading this, we immediately expelled the cat from our room, notified higher, and kept a vigilant 24-hour watch to make sure we were not infiltrated again—sir/ma’am you can therefore stop reading this entry, and webpage while you are at it.

Paul reached down, scratched her neck, and she began her “I want tuna because I know you have it” dance. We took her outside, gave her some tuna, and when she was finished, like all good cats, she immediately blew us off and went out to search for a couple of more suckers.

Paul the Superhero
My wife, aside from being superhuman and taking pity on me by saying yes over twelve years ago, has taken my assistant, Paul Crnkovich, under her wing. Many of her packages have as much or more for CPL “I would like to buy a vowel” Crnkovich than they do for me. I think it has something to do with her understanding of how hard it is to have such a perfect human being for a roommate. Well, this Paul adoration has now spread to my children. Since Daddy does not carry a weapon and can therefore not protect himself, he has Paul the Superhero to protect him. Well, to a two and almost five-year-old, superheroes are much more cool and fun than, well, Dad. Consequently, Paul has now joined the pantheon of Batman, Spiderman, etc. I consider myself my wife’s favorite husband, so if it takes Paul being a superhero in order for me to get back home to her with all my digits attached and functioning, then Paul, you are my superhero, too.

Bob the Builder (SSG W)
Bob the Builder lives on our FOB. SSG W, a very funny guy from Indiana (who's been kind enough to stop in and ask me how I am doing) is our personal Bob the Builder. He is helping our soldiers do great things when it comes to position improvement (Army-speak for getting internet, bookshelves, anti-mortar T-walls, etc. set up around your living space). With his know-how combined with Joe (Army-speak for soldier) ingenuity, we have the place pretty livable. I will let you in on a little known fact that spans the ages of soldiering: give a soldier enough time and not only will his foxhole have overhead cover and concealment but will also have indoor plumbing and cable TV.

Christmas Trees
We have thus far received three Christmas trees. Thank you so much for the donations. Everyone has been very grateful, but the most grateful by far has been our Special Forces guys. They were so happy to receive a tree that they are going to put in on the roof of their villa, brace it with sandbags, and string it with lights. I will make sure to try to send a picture.

Operation Backpack
I met with CH K, my Iraqi chaplain counterpart, again this week. We usually spend about an hour talking shop over Chai tea. He was very proud to show me his new office and the chapel/mosque he was getting together. Our conversation turned to the school children of the local city. For awhile, the insurgents had been indiscriminately shelling the town. As you can understand, parents kept their children out of school for weeks. Since our IA counterparts were able to clear the outskirts of town of these terrorists, kids are now back in school. I asked CH K what their biggest need was.

Their greatest need is for backpacks. Since they cannot keep supplies at unsecured schools, the children have to lug everything (school supplies, books, lunch, etc.) to and from school. While we can get and have received school supplies, backpacks have been harder to come by. CH K and myself, in conjunction with our Civil Affairs Team and the Iraqi Army, would like to gather enough backpacks to deliver to at least one school (approx. 200 children per school, with over 20 schools within the town and greater suburbs).

If you are interested in donating some backpacks, you can mail them to my posted address. We will try to collect as many as we can, deliver them, and take plenty of pictures. Backpacks with neutral themes (e.g. Britney Spears bad, Mickey Mouse good) for 5-10 year-olds would be best.

Word of the Week
As I sign off, let me leave you with the 3-8 CAB word of the week provided by our Battalion Executive Officer. The word is…jackass-ery. As in, “life here could be easier without the usual jackass-ery of the insurgents.”

Thank You and God Bless
Serving with these soldiers continues to be a truly amazing experience. They are celebrities to me. While they are definitely human (they are tankers, grunts, and chaplains for that matter), their day-to-day courage and compassion continues to show that they are some of the best people in our society. I thank you for loving them, praying for them, and helping them remember how much support they have from back home.

Gratia et Veritas,
Warhorse Archangel

DISPATCH 009--09 DEC 2006

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
John 15:13

Courage.

Courage is a word, like love, that has lost much of its meaning due to its overuse in our society. Of course, many people display courage in our communities: our emergency personnel, our police, and our fire-fighters all demonstrate examples of courage. Far too often, however, we only see acts of courage if they are on the big screen or in a book.

There are many kinds of courage--courage of convictions, maintained integrity, and faithfulness to our promises--but fortunately for most in our society we are safe enough, perhaps comfortable enough, to not have to make choices that might put our lives or the lives of our loved ones in danger. A problem soon develops as acts of personal courage grow less and less. We begin to forget they ever existed, unless they took place in history, years ago, in the good old days.

Many movies and television programs describe the acts of heroism and courage of the World War II “Greatest” Generation. Whether it is Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, or Flags of Our Fathers, images of the courage of our grandfathers and grandmothers have bombarded popular culture. The great tragedy is that, in our adoration of the WWII era, we have overlooked the heroes from Korea, Vietnam, the First Gulf War, and the conflicts in between and that followed. Even today we read about some who question whether our soldiers were not coerced into serving or should not be held accountable for the commitment they made to the military. I think this says more about those who make these claims than about the soldiers, your soldiers, that I see living and working every day.

Let me share with you what I see.

I see men and women who, when they are putting up with the normal and inevitable frustration of daily Army life, nevertheless do not murmur one complaint when they are asked to do the most challenging and dangerous parts of their mission. I see a mechanic who works 24 hours straight in order to get a piece of equipment up and running and safe so that soldiers can go outside the wire and do their mission. I see cooks who, without being asked or told, spend the extra time with their limited resources to make sure that not only the visiting generals but our enlisted men and women can have a better meal than what is required or expected. I see young lieutenants planning, waiting, and learning, going out every day with their platoons, making sure that they are trained and prepared for whatever the enemy might deal to them. I see a medic take the extra time with a local Iraqi so that we might be able to help their young baby recover from a serious infection. I see a communications soldier spending time learning about a brand new piece of equipment in order to make sure that we can talk to one another on the battlefield. During the typical (no soldier's day is average) day, I see so many acts of courage that it is hard to list all of them.

This past week, I watched with worry and trembling as one of our companies departed on a very serious and dangerous mission. CPL Paul Crnkovich, my chaplain assistant, and myself tried to visit with every soldier before he or she left. Whether it was a word of prayer, a joke, or just some quiet conversation we offered, in the time spent with them, they did more for me than I could possibly do for them.

Some have asked me why, after an eleven year absence, I came back on active duty. As a pastor I believed and still believe that the Lord called both me and my family to serve our fine soldiers, and to be able to minister to and with them is a tremendous honor. But what is truly awe-inspiring, what confirms that God has given me countless blessings, is watching our soldiers display on a daily basis the kind of courage that, unfortunately for some, has all but been forgotten. No one will ever be able to take away from them or from you the reverence I and most Americans have for your sacrifices, your dedication, and your service. I thank you all.

Gratia et Veritas,
Chaplain Kevin Wainwright

SERMON OUTLINE 004--26 NOV 2006

LOOK UP and LIFT UP YOUR HEADS

First Sunday in Advent
FOB Paliwoda
03DEC06

Scripture
Luke 21:25-36

Timeline
Luke 21:5-7 By what sign will we see the destruction of the Temple?
21:8-9 Many will be deceived by false signs.
21:10-19 Nation will rise against nation, believers will be persecuted.
21:20-24 Jerusalem destroyed, v22 “For these are the days of vengeance.”
21:25-28 Signs in heaven and on earth, men’s hearts will fail because of the fearful expectation of things to come. They will fear the Son of Man, but you need to be hopeful.
21:29-33 Look for the signs, in my Words
21:34-36 Be ready, watch and pray

I. Introduction

A. The meaning of Advent: a season of looking forward and looking back. The time was similar to when Christ came to Jerusalem. The people were looking for a Messiah to rescue them from the persecution of the Romans.


B. For Christians it should be a season of hope, but so often, especially for deployed soldiers, it is a season of fear.

C. What is fear? Not knowing but expecting the future to hold the worst possible outcome. Illustration: my fear, talking with soldiers before they rolled out (SGT Townsend, SGT Machske).

D. But should we be fearful? What is Scripture instructing us?

II. Gather Intelligence....From the Right Sources

A. What should be the source of our intelligence? TV shows, newspapers, our own speculation? Illustration: the Battle at Little Bighorn and bad intelligence.

B. Christ gives us good intelligence, perfect intelligence.


1. v25-27: bad things are going to happen, the earth and men’s hearts will be in turmoil

2. v28: be not afraid, be hopeful, lift your heads, redemption is near

3. v29-33: you can see the signs of a fig tree; look for the signs in my words.

a. Does Jesus ever break a promise?

4. v34-36: Be ready, for the day will come here unexpectedly. Watch and pray.


C. Illustration: “Busy-ness in a profession can be a way to avoid God, the meaning of life, and life itself.”[1]


1. We can get so busy-with work, with family, with church, with entertainment-that we forget to have that watchful relationship with Jesus Christ.

2. Jesus was not trying to mislead, he was trying to get us to examine our hearts. It is easy to want rules, explanations, and instructions. But is this really a relationship. If you really love someone, you almost begin to think like them.

III. Prep the Battlefield...of Our Hearts and Minds

A. Be Ready: prayer, study, associating with other believers.


1. Illustration: LT Dick Winters, as portrayed in Band of Brothers, did ordinary things in an extraordinary fashion.

2. Be extraordinary in the ordinary things.


B. Be Looking: not in fear but with hopeful expectation.


1. Is there a conspiracy to hide the truth to us? Have we ascribed to the devil too much power?

2. Worry comes from old Anglo-Saxon word meaning to strangle or to choke. Should we worry about something we have prepared for? Illustration: being fearful of
the APFT because we have not trained for it.


C. Be Willing: to witness. To cure the blind so that they might see. Illustration: do we ever leave a man behind on the battlefield?

IV. Looking Toward Christmas...and the Crucifixion

A. Did not the earth tremble and men’s hearts fail when He died?

B. Did we not look upon Him with hope? Illustration: crosses are hung up high for us to see.

C. The gifts for a king: Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Gold for earthly wealth and power, Frankincense for worship, Myrrh for embalming.

V. Conclusion: Faith, Hope, & Love

A. Illustration:


It is said that Satan once called to him the emissaries of hell and said he wanted to send one of them to earth to aid women and men in the ruination of their souls. He asked which one would want to go.


One creature came forward and said, "I will go."


Satan said, "If I send you, what will you tell the children of men?"


He said, "I will tell the children of men that there is no heaven."


Satan said, "They will not believe you, for there is a bit of heaven in every human heart. In the end everyone knows that right and good must have the victory. You may not go."


Then another came forward, darker and fouler than the first.


Satan said, "If I send you, what will you tell the children of men?"


He said, "I will tell them there is no hell."


Satan looked at him and said, "Oh, no; they will not believe you, for in every human heart there's a thing called conscience, an inner voice which testifies to the truth that not only will good be triumphant, but that evil will be defeated. You may not go."


Then one last creature came forward, this one from the darkest place of all.

Satan said to him, "And if I send you, what will you say to women and men to aid them in the destruction of their souls?"


He said, "I will tell them there is no hurry."


Satan said, "Go!"[2]



B. 1 Corinthians 13:8-13: A Christian’s Battle Cry


1. Faith that God will give us what we need, will teach us what we need to know, and will give us the strength to face any challenge or task.

2. Hope in the present and in the future. We know our destination, we have map, we have directions to get there, and we are commanded to have joy in the journey.

3. Love of Christ and love for our brothers and sisters will guarantee that we will never pass up an opportunity to give or receive directions, that we will never leave thevspiritually wounded behind, and that it more important to help the lost find our destination than it is for us.

[1] Sidney S. Macaulay, quoted in CMDS Journal (Spring 1992), Christianity Today, Vol. 36, no. 9.

[2]Bruce Thielemann, "Tide Riding," Preaching Today, No. 30; submitted by Kevin A. Miller, Wheaton, Illinois.

DIGIJOURNAL 007--03 DEC 2006

DATELINE: 03DEC06 PB PALIWODA

Greetings from my adventure vacation in Iraq,

Before I say anything, I want to thank you for the tons of boxes you have sent to our soldiers and the Iraqi children. We have been overwhelmed. No matter how many times soldiers receive boxes, they always light up when they get a new one—not just for the stuff inside but because, especially in these uncertain foreign policy times, it means that we have not been forgotten. The little Christmas trees were a big hit, and we have put up our first big one in our Headquarters Company common area. Our women soldiers especially want to thank those who sent boxes for them. It cannot be easy living away from family in the boy’s locker room. I know they volunteered, but sometimes we men can act like Neanderthals (shocking). The books, especially the new releases, were also popular. It might be surprising to some (i.e. the esteemed Senator from Massachusetts) to know that we have many discerning readers, scholars, and intellectuals in uniform. They come from all ranks. Yesterday, in the midst of some frustration over the inanities of the bad guys, a corporal chided me for indulging too much of the thanatos (warlike) side of my personality. I did not know how to respond, so I made him do pushups, further inflaming his criticism of me.

I am trying to keep on top of the Wall of Blessings, writing thank you notes, and tracking boxes. Inevitably there will be some miscounts or misplaced notes. I usually and briefly go through the boxes before we pass them out, so if you have any questions about what has arrived, send them my way. I will address things in my usual bullet comments. Thank you again for your prayers, support, and love. Take care.

No Fear
Many may wonder what a chaplain goes through during a major mission. Well, myself and my assistant, CPL Paul “buy me a vowel” Crnkovich (Sern-ko-vich), visit with the guys before they roll. We have a word of prayer with those who want it, and generally tell them how honored and amazed we are by their courage and strength. I cannot describe how it feels to watch a young specialist or sergeant gear up and get going out to face the bad guys. Rarely do our soldiers complain, and certainly never when they are preparing for or doing the most dangerous part of their jobs. I also go through the usual guilt complex by not going out with them (we sometimes go out on the “safer” missions), but I remind myself that I am no longer an artilleryman but a chaplain who needs to be at the aid station. I say this, and it answers my intellectual worries but not my heart. Like fretting parents, Crnkovich and I usually hover between the Tactical Operations Center and the Aid Station, monitoring what is happening, doing A LOT of praying, and generally worrying. We usually do not sleep. We hear the sound of the track before we can see them driving in, and I feel like waiting at the gate and hugging each one of them as they come in, which is out-of-character because I live by the principle of “no touchy.” We do not relax until all the noses have been counted and all the sheep are in the fold. The missions make for long nights, but it does not matter when all the dirty, tired, yet smiling faces come back to base.

Church
We have several guys who came to church this morning after being up for 24 hours running a mission. Our music director is a NCO in the infantry, and he came to church, led worship, and then went straight off to guard duty. I mention this so next time, when I feel a little tired, or cranky, or just not “ready” to go to church, I will remember what these guys went through just to go on this day.

Attendance in worship is small and variable depending on what missions are underway. The vast majority of soldiers that I spend time with doing chaplain things are not churchgoers. In a way, every day is Sunday and every moment sacred when you minister in a war zone. Our soldiers get very spiritual during these deployments, for they find themselves having to find answers to those difficult questions all young people try to ignore. This is why personal devotional time is so important. One of my mentors called in mining, for you never know what nugget of Scripture might purchase a treasure many years down the line. I also do not mind the smaller worship sizes (from what I was used to as a pastor). I never liked “scoreboard” theology (the more people in worship, the better you must be), and our fellowship is closer in many ways because of our small number and what we are all going through.

Medics
Please keep our medics in your prayers. Of all our soldiers, they, like our emergency room medical personnel back at home, face the most human trauma. They are treating seriously wounded Iraqi Army and Police forces on a daily basis. One of them mentioned to me that they never get used to it. Again, courage over here is so commonplace, and it is an overused term at home, that it is difficult to take it all in and understand what obstacles our guys and gals overcome every day. The medics are truly heroes.

Lieutenants
We had a gaggle, crop, bunch, etc. (chose your favorite descriptor) of lieutenants get promoted from 2LT to 1LT. Being a 2LT is a hard job. I once heard a first sergeant sum up a popular attitude when he said that all a 2LT is is an overpaid private. While I understand that sentiment, I would have to disagree. These LTs face greater challenges than I ever did as a combat arms LT. My biggest worry during the first six months I was in my first unit was who was going to pick up my mail while I was out on my two week field problem. LTs today know they are going into combat almost as soon as the graduate from the basic course. Every commander has remarked that their LTs have really stepped up and met the huge challenge of being responsible for many soldiers in situations where bullets fly. Add to this the personal worries of loved ones, pregnant wives, and young children, and these 22-27 year-olds still go out and function. Again, I live in the company of heroes.

Props to the Red Sox
As a New York Yankee fan, it pains me greatly to make a favorable report about the Boston Red Sox. One of our senior NCOs and his family are huge Red Sox fans. Permit me to be specific. I was visiting his young daughter, who was sick in the Darnall (Ft. Hood) Hospital. The first time I went she was sleeping, and I had a chance to speak with his wife, a very kind woman (demonstrating that, despite being a Red Sox fan, our NCO must have intelligence since he married way up). The next time I visited, his daughter was awake and doing much better. Somehow the conversation with her and her mother became involved in baseball, and I casually mentioned that I was a Yankee fan. You would have thought I had uttered a blasphemy. Right away their smiles went to frowns, and almost immediately the young girl started hazing me about Johnny Damon (the former Red So(ck) now current Yankee). Needless to say, it was "game on" at this point, and all chaplain professionalism and compassion went out the window. I tried to battle back, but I felt like a novice facing true believers as both the mother and the daughter buried me under a mound of statistics and taunting. I was forsaken.

The mom then began to explain how both she and her husband were huge fans, obviously, and how the Red Sox run to the eventual World Series Championship had kept their hopes up during his first deployment to Iraq. She wrote a letter to some Boston area newspapers telling about their story, and Curt Schilling (famous Red Sox pitcher) found out. He began emailing her, her husband, and sending care packages. Fast forward to this deployment. This soldier just received five boxes from Curt, yes the Curt Schilling. Now, whatever you might think about him and his opinions, he did a great thing. How many people know about this? Does he brag about this? No. Instead he lifts the spirits of a family who is spending another Christmas Season apart. It absolutely kills me to say this, but I must admit my admiration for this athlete, despite his misguided team loyalty.

Signing Off
Well, I must be getting to the gym to fight my fat potential. God bless all of you.

Gratia et Veritas
Warhorse Archangel

SERMON OUTLINE 003--19 NOV 2006

CHARACTERISTICS of a CHRISTIAN WARRIOR
Grace

FOB Paliwoda
19NOV06

I. Introduction: Seeking Grace

A. Building up to a conclusion

1. Courage of Joshua

2. Humility of Andrew

3. Hope/Perseverance of Nehemiah

4. Passion of David

B. Challenges in the military

1. The updated deployment schedule came out this week. It seems like the Army is
having a difficult time trying to ensure that everyone gets to stay home at least
one year before they redeploy back to Iraq or Afghanistan.

2. Election results have created a sense of doubt as to the future of our operations.

3. As we move into the holiday season, we miss our families and friends even more.

4. The pace can easily begin to wear us down.

C. The world as our reflection

1. When we look at the world, we often see our reflection. If we are insecure, petty, and suspicious people, the world will seem out to get us.

2. How do you see the world?

3. How often do you see God in it?

II. What is grace?

A. How one person saw the world…


15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” 16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, 17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
 18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
 19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Genesis 50:15-21

B. Revenge or Mercy?

1. Joseph could have been bitter, but instead he saw God working in the world.

2. Retribution is the rule. If we do not payback what is done to us, we lose face and
honor.

3. The insurgents are counting on the culture of revenge

4. What culture are we creating? Illustration: disrespect towards an Iraqi worker.

C. Grace is holding the destiny, the life of your enemy in your hand, but forgiving him like a brother. Illustration: In the book Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assaya, the lead singer and songwriter for the rock group U2 makes an explicit confession of faith: "It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between grace and karma." Saying that the idea of karma is central to all religions, Bono explained:

What you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff….It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity.

III. What are its conditions?


36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
 42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.
 44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.” Matthew 26:36-46

A. Grace usually follows after a painful experience.

1. Does God call us to endure, to trust, to have faith in order that we live pain free lives?

2. In fact, a precondition for grace seems to be sorrow. The woman caught in adultery in the gospel of John is forgiven, but she still must face the shame that comes from her acts.

3. Peter betrays Jesus three times before the cock crows, while Christ proclaims his faith in God’s will three times before the morning dawn.

B. Grace will always be associated with pain because a necessary precondition of grace is sin.

1. Christ was resolute in doing what God asked of him.

2. Illustration: Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great, interviewed Admiral Jim Stockdale, the highest-ranking officer in the Hanoi Hilton prisoner of war camp during the height of the Vietnam War. Regarding the prisoner of war camp, Collins asked Stockdale,

"Who didn't make it out?"

"Oh, that's easy," answered Stockdale. "The optimists."

"The optimists? I don't understand," responded Collins.

"The optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, 'We're going to be out by
Christmas.' And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they'd say, 'We're going to be out by Easter.' And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart. This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

IV. What are we to do with grace?

A. If we have received God’s grace, how should we respond?

B. Do we create an environment that allows God’s love to ripple outwards toward the world, or do we try to dam up and limit its reach?

1. Congregations do not necessarily provide the best soil for growing grace. Illustration:
Churches that stifle confession of sin. Why is a tavern a more safe environment
to share one’s sins than the church?

2. The Army, with its no-fault, no weakness environment, can all too often silence that still, small voice of God. Illustration: soldiers coming to talk to the chaplain because no one else will listen.

V. Conclusion

A. Prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord. Illustration: Preparing the soil-Author J. R. R. Tolkien once wrote in a letter: “No man can estimate what is really happening at the present. All we do know, and that to a large extent by direct experience, is that evil labors with vast power and perpetual success—in vain: preparing always only the soil for unexpected good to sprout in.”

B. This Thursday, in America and on bases throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. As we have gone about are daily struggles that come with a deployment to a combat zone, have we stopped to take the time to see where God is working in our lives? Have stopped to give thanks for the simple yet important things that allow us to experience His joy?

C. When you look at the world, what do you see? Illustration: A man whom many believe was the greatest American president is a good example. When he was 7 years of age, his family was forced out of their home, and he went to work. When he was 9, his mother died. He lost his job as a store clerk when he was 20. He wanted to go to law school, but he didn't have the education. At age 23 he went into debt to be a partner in a small store. Three years later the business partner died, and the resulting debt took years to repay. When he was 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him, and she turned him down. On his third try he was elected to Congress, at age 37, but then failed to be re-elected. His son died at 4 years of age. When this man was 45, he ran for the Senate and lost. At age 47 he ran for the vice-presidency and lost. But at age 51 he was elected president of the United States.

The man was Abraham Lincoln, a man who learned to face discouragement and move beyond it. Did you know that it was Abraham Lincoln who, in the midst of the Civil War, in 1863, established the annual celebration of Thanksgiving? Lincoln had learned how important it is to stop and thank God in the midst of great difficulties.

D. What did God do when He looked at His world? The Season of Advent, the arrival of the Messiah, is upon us.

DIGIJOURNAL 006--28 NOV 2006

DATELINE: 28NOV06 PB O'RYAN

Hello everyone,

I am visiting our soldiers here at PB O’Ryan. They are in very good spirits. One thing I have consistently noticed is how every soldier, regardless of rank, has stepped up their performance since arriving here in country. As I walk around the base, soldiers are busy everywhere fixing things, doing maintenance, or getting ready for a patrol. They are motivating. I am reminded, usually when I am wondering why I am here, what an honor it is to serve and work alongside of such amazing people.

What follows below are some observations over the past couple of days.

Headspace and Timing
Soldiers use the above term to describe the adjustment that they must make on the .50 cal machine gun to account for wear of the firing mechanism. If it is not constantly checked, the rounds will jam as the ammo belt goes through the feed tray. It is also used to describe when a soldier makes a bonehead move. Well, I had a headspace and timing issue the other day. Paul and I both have lately been suffering from insomnia, probably due to many things, but the mice using our rooms as an autobahn does not help (more on that later). It grew bad enough for me to visit the doc at the aid station. He gave me some low strength sleep meds, and I felt satisfied that the issue was solved. Unfortunately, for the next two days, I still had trouble sleeping. I got so fed up that I was going to go back to the doc to try something else. I complained about it to Paul (who just rolled his eyes), but when I went to my shelf where I keep my meds I made an interesting discovery: Tylenol and the sleep meds look remarkably similar. I had placed the two pill-filled, Ziploc bags next to one another. Thus, I have made the medical discovery that regular Tylenol in no way helps put one to sleep. After my extended rant to Paul, I sheepishly told him what had happened. I could read what he wanted but was too nice to say in the imaginary cartoon bubble above his head. I had had what soldiers would call a headspace and timing problem.

Jihad Declared Against the Rodents
Mice have infiltrated Patrol Base Paliwoda, specifically the chapel complex. Since you have been so generous with your boxes, they figured that they needed their cut as well. My main issue is not so much that they are vermin that spread disease, but that they are so bold and brazen. My wife had sent me a bag of pistachios, which I love, that I had sitting next to my computer. I was working on something, munching away, when I set the bag down in close proximity. I worked for about ten more minutes when I heard a rustling in the bag. Apparently Iraqi mice also love pistachios. The little rat was practically on his back, rubbing his belly, munching away. Fretting about collateral damage, I did not try to pound the bag since it was so close to the number one, chaplain combat multiplier—the coffee maker. For the next several days the mice invited their buddies to hang out in our room, scuttling about at all hours of the night, driving us crazy to the point that Paul, my chaplain assistant, was chasing them around with a knife. The last straw was when, suffering from the aforementioned insomnia, I was working on my sermon and one of the mice practically came up to me to ask if he could help. I wondered what the feral cats were doing that live outside the chapel, but they are too busy getting fat eating the tuna and other kibble that our soldiers feed them. We were able to bum a mousetrap from our S2. It is at this point, acting as the high priest of Dunlopistan (our commander is LTC Dunlop), that I issued a fatwa against the infidel mice. My dark acolyte, Paul, immediately went to work waging our jihad against the vermin. We had eliminated one just an hour after we set the trap (the trick being to bait it with peanut butter and not cheese). Archangel Household 6 (my wife’s call sign) should be sending us some traps from the mother ship (code for Wal-Mart/Sam’s/Target Boutique). The mice better enjoy their time, because they are going down.

Thank You for the Boxes
Let me share with you how much it means to our soldiers when you send a box with a note in it. We have some new members on our MiTT team (which I think stands for Military Training Team). They help to train our Iraqi Army counterparts and act as liaisons between them and us. One of these new soldiers is an E-7 (Sergeant First Class, i.e. an higher ranking NCO). He is an older guy who has been very helpful. He was able to get a bed for Paul, who had been sleeping on a cot. (Sleeping on a cot, you say, well I must be a mean chaplain. Except I offered Paul a bed, and in keeping with his monastic character, he said he preferred a cot. I responded by saying that it would make me look like a jerk with him sleeping in a cot and me on a bed. To which the Dark Acolyte responded with the challenge that it was really all about me then. At this point I gave up, succumbed to his jedi mind-trick, and went about my business, knowing that, if he could, everything that he owned would be OD [olive drab] green). Anyway, I gave this NCO a box and five letters for a soldier from folks back at home. The next day he came by the chapel to ask if I could decipher an email address. I did, and, thinking that he was only going to respond to one of the cards, asked him how he liked the box, to which I received this response. He said that he was writing everyone back because this was the first time he ever received a box from someone. I knew he had been in Bosnia, and I shared my surprise that this was the first box. He added that not only did he not receive any boxes in Bosnia, but he did not get a box the entire year he was in VIETNAM!!! He then added that all he ever got was people throwing trash on him when he deplaned in the States coming home from his Vietnam tour. I could not say much after that. A box may be a small thing, and it is a hassle to put it together and stand in line to mail it. However, never underestimate how the Holy Spirit can take anything, any small seed we sow, and make it a huge tree. On behalf of that vet, I thank you for making his day.

Medical Supplies
Our engineer company commander and some of our civil affairs folks have asked me to ask you for any excess medical supplies you might have. We have several health clinics in the area, and, due to some bureaucratic inefficiencies, they have had a hard time getting even basic stuff. We would like to get something to pass out to them. What I had in mind was just the necessities: bandages, band-aides, gauze, gloves, masks, etc. Obviously we could not receive controlled substances, but even basic, over the counter meds like aspirin, Tylenol, vitamins, pepto, etc. would be good. Before anyone purchases anything, I know some hospitals and doctor’s offices can only keep things for a certain length of time. I do not know what they do with the stuff when it gets old. I also think that there are trial sizes of things that folks might be able to get. Anyway, it is another request, and you have already been so generous. If you feel moved to get some medical items, we could definitely use them.

Signing Off
I must be going to dinner. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Life here is good as we "Live the Legend" (The First Cavalry Division’s motto). We have been very blessed, and we are thankful for your prayers. Take care.

Gratia et Veritas
Warhorse Archangel