In the summer of 1990 I went on a routine deployment with my Navy squadron to Spain. I was 25 years old and given responsibility to lead a crew of 12 men as the Tactical Coordinator ( I am third from the right in the photo above). Our mission was to track submarines that entered and exited the Mediterranean Sea.
As a Christian, I wanted more than anything to be a witness to my fellow officers and sailors. On each flight I would brief the crew on our mission and then invite them to pray with me. I had a captive audience on the plane, but normally only one or two men would stay in the briefing area for the time of prayer. The others would go to their seats and start preparing for take-off.
Several months later Iraq invaded Kuwait and we were repositioned to participate in Desert Shield (the build-up to Desert Storm). Our crew was trained in combat maneuvers and issued gas masks. Our mission changed to reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. On our first flight I thoroughly briefed the men on the risks associated with our mission and then ... I purposely skipped the prayer and walked to my seat to strap in. At that point, one of the crewman yelled out, "Lieutenant, you forgot to pray!" I'll never forget all the men standing there waiting for me to pray.
God provided new openings to share Christ with these men. I still remember their names and wonder if they are walking with the Lord today.
But over time I have found that is easy for me to grow spiritually lazy, careless, and negligent in evangelism. Tony Varela's message on Sunday was a call to arms . After his convicting sermon, I prayed that God would renew a spiritual wartime mentality within me. I am calling God daily on my wartime walkie-talkie (prayer) and asking Him to show me who I can share the gospel with.
Last week God provided an opportunity to share the gospel with a young man and I was grateful to have with me a copy of John Piper's "For Your Joy" booklet to give him. Today we ordered a case of 300 of the "For Your Joy" booklets from Desring God and will have them available in the church foyer to anyone who would like to use them when sharing Christ with others. They should arrive sometime next week.
We are in a war time. We are in enemy territory. Let's exhort each other to be good soldiers of the cross and bring the life changing message of our victorious Savior to those who need to know Him.
3 comments:
John told me what a great message Tony gave and I needed to listen to it as soon as I got it in the mail. John just asked me if I had the CD yet. I look forward to listening to it.
Yeah, Yeah! I'm happy when someone is handing out Piper!
I think I have that one but I have a friend who could really use it w/ some stuff she is going through reaching out to others.
I was really blessed by the Piper conference. Right now we're reading the green "In Our Joy" book for the Bible study I lead. Praise God that you had the opportunity to share the gospel!
Thanks again for having us, Cornerstone family!
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