A 5 Letter Word: TRUST
Thinking back over my years in Special Forces/Special Operations I was reminded that probably the most important word and the most important unspoken factor in the life of a Special Forces Operator was TRUST.
Every time I exited a perfectly good aircraft while in fright/flight I trusted my life to as unknown parachute rigger (not to mention the pilot of the aircraft) and thought nothing about it.
When mountain climbing I put my trust in my pitons, my rope, and whoever was belaying me. When walking through the jungle or an IED seeded desert I put my trust in whoever was walking point.
When fast roping in Panama I put my trust both in the rope and the anchor point in the chopper. When scuba diving we trust both in the equipment and that whoever filled our tanks put in the right stuff. When deployed we trust our wife to be faithful just as she expects the same of us.
When inserting into the badlands we trust that the intel folks have provided good intel and that we won’t be greeted by a hot LZ. When running for your life you TRUST that when you get to the extraction point someone friendly will be there. On and On. Almost everything we do in SF/SO is built on Trust.
With all this in mind I’m amazed at how few in the SF community place their trust in Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe, and whose death on a Roman cross for us gave us the opportunity to become children of God for eternity. Most of us in S.F. are do-it-yourselfers. Sounds great when you’re young and bullet proof but age and sobriety wake us up to the reality that we’re all eventually dying and that someday we’ll stand beyond the grave before a just and loving God to give an after-action report on the life He gave us here on Earth.
King Solomon, the wisest man of his day, gave us all good advice when he wrote, “TRUST in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not on your own understanding but in ALL of your ways acknowledge Him...”
Isn’t it time we get beyond putting our trust in ourselves with all of our shortcomings, or “in the great Jumpmaster in the sky” to putting our present and our future into the hands of the Living God, Jesus Christ? That’s my plan. How about you?
Vahan Sipantzi
Chaplain (Col) USA Ret.
Showing posts with label Guest Chaplain article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guest Chaplain article. Show all posts
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Friday, October 14, 2016
The Gag Order
This is a guest Chaplain's Article from Chaplain Vahan Sipantzi, SF Chaplain for many years and friend to SFA Chapter IX members Ike Camacho and China Boy Joe Lopez.
THE GAG ORDER
Shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Peter. a fisherman, preached to a large crowd in Jerusalem and 3000 of his audience became followers of Jesus. Later, he and his fellow disciple John were brought before the religious and political leaders of their day and told to shut up about Jesus. They were given what we’d call today “a gag order”. Talk all you want but, don’t talk about Jesus the Christ.
Things haven’t changed. Students are told not to talk about Jesus at commencement exercises. Chaplains are told not to mention His name in their prayers. The symbol of His sacrifice, the cross, is not to be displayed on any military buildings because it might offend the people trying to kill our troops. However, if our enemies succeed in killing them, then Uncle Sam will put a cross on their grave. Any visit to any military cemetery will show that the vast majority of grave stones bear a cross representing their faith.
The message, at least in America, from our media, Hollywood, academia, and our PRESENT government seems to be either that God doesn’t exist, or he is a generic god who is to be kept in the closet. They don’t want a God who is our Creator, Redeemer, a Just God who wants the best for us and from us, a God willing to forgive us, die for us, and give us the promise of an eternal future in His presence. To them the crosses that cover the graves of most of our military cemeteries have no meaning other than a quaint decoration. It’s time for the so called leadership in this country, very few of whom have served in the military, or who have made any sacrifices for this great country of ours to visit our military cemeteries at home or abroad and count the number of graves marked with something other than a cross, the symbol of love and sacrifice and the Christian faith. Remove the crosses and the cemetery will look like a western clear cut forest with only an occasional tree standing here and there.
We are told that we are to be silent about our commander-in-chief, Jesus, because “we might OFFEND” someone from some minority of beliefs or lack of beliefs. It’s OK if we Christians are offended even if we are the majority of those who have paid a disproportionate price to maintain our liberties to include freedom of speech and discussion.
Jesus, when He was being falsely arrested told Peter to put away his sword because Jesus had a mission to accomplish – to die for each of us! He didn’t tell Peter to shut up or cover his mouth with duct tape, just put down your sword. His was to be a war – but a war of words, of love, compassion, and hope. His “Rules of Engagement” called on us to heal the sick, visit those in prison, care for widows and orphans, treat the enemy with kindness (for example - Iraqi POW’S in Desert Storm) and to share with the world the Good News of God’s intervention on our behalf through His son Jesus Christ. This was to be a war fought with love not by strapping bombs on children or so-called martyrs. It did not call for raping women and young girls, burning captives alive or beheading or drowning those who disagreed with them. No forced conversions. Instead schools, churches, hospitals, orphanages, leprosarium’s, refugee camps all built in the name of Jesus.
The choice is ours. We can allow ourselves to be “gagged” or do what is right and is our right – to be true to ourselves and true to our Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ.
THE GAG ORDER
Shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Peter. a fisherman, preached to a large crowd in Jerusalem and 3000 of his audience became followers of Jesus. Later, he and his fellow disciple John were brought before the religious and political leaders of their day and told to shut up about Jesus. They were given what we’d call today “a gag order”. Talk all you want but, don’t talk about Jesus the Christ.
Things haven’t changed. Students are told not to talk about Jesus at commencement exercises. Chaplains are told not to mention His name in their prayers. The symbol of His sacrifice, the cross, is not to be displayed on any military buildings because it might offend the people trying to kill our troops. However, if our enemies succeed in killing them, then Uncle Sam will put a cross on their grave. Any visit to any military cemetery will show that the vast majority of grave stones bear a cross representing their faith.
The message, at least in America, from our media, Hollywood, academia, and our PRESENT government seems to be either that God doesn’t exist, or he is a generic god who is to be kept in the closet. They don’t want a God who is our Creator, Redeemer, a Just God who wants the best for us and from us, a God willing to forgive us, die for us, and give us the promise of an eternal future in His presence. To them the crosses that cover the graves of most of our military cemeteries have no meaning other than a quaint decoration. It’s time for the so called leadership in this country, very few of whom have served in the military, or who have made any sacrifices for this great country of ours to visit our military cemeteries at home or abroad and count the number of graves marked with something other than a cross, the symbol of love and sacrifice and the Christian faith. Remove the crosses and the cemetery will look like a western clear cut forest with only an occasional tree standing here and there.
We are told that we are to be silent about our commander-in-chief, Jesus, because “we might OFFEND” someone from some minority of beliefs or lack of beliefs. It’s OK if we Christians are offended even if we are the majority of those who have paid a disproportionate price to maintain our liberties to include freedom of speech and discussion.
Jesus, when He was being falsely arrested told Peter to put away his sword because Jesus had a mission to accomplish – to die for each of us! He didn’t tell Peter to shut up or cover his mouth with duct tape, just put down your sword. His was to be a war – but a war of words, of love, compassion, and hope. His “Rules of Engagement” called on us to heal the sick, visit those in prison, care for widows and orphans, treat the enemy with kindness (for example - Iraqi POW’S in Desert Storm) and to share with the world the Good News of God’s intervention on our behalf through His son Jesus Christ. This was to be a war fought with love not by strapping bombs on children or so-called martyrs. It did not call for raping women and young girls, burning captives alive or beheading or drowning those who disagreed with them. No forced conversions. Instead schools, churches, hospitals, orphanages, leprosarium’s, refugee camps all built in the name of Jesus.
The choice is ours. We can allow ourselves to be “gagged” or do what is right and is our right – to be true to ourselves and true to our Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ.
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