Rashional Thoughts — Live a life worthy of the sacrifice

Rashional Thoughts 2018

Rashional Thoughts — Live a life worthy of the sacrifice

The retired serviceman’s sincere, straightforward approach to his time in the military intrigued me. And the more I thought on his words, the more I realized the depth and intensity of what he was saying.

“When I’ve been in uniform throughout my career, random people have walked up to thank me for my service or buy my lunch,” he said. “There also have been times when applause broke out as I walked through a restaurant or an airport.

“While I appreciate their appreciation, what I really wanted to say was, ‘Don’t thank me. Don’t buy me lunch. Don’t applaud me. Just live a life worthy of living so my service and the sacrifices I made for you were not in vain.’”
The U.S. military was officially established by Congress at the urging of President Washington in 1789.

With hundreds of thousands of people serving in the early days and more than 2.5 million combined active and reserves serving today, my mind can’t quite grasp exactly how many individual people have dedicated their lives during these past 229 years.

Each of those men and women served sacrificially. Many saw and experienced horrific events that they carried or will carry for their entire lives. Most choose to protect the rest of us from the worst of the details and are hesitant to even admit how heavy the load really is.

In many cases, those who served are now sentenced to a life of attempting to manage post-traumatic stress disorder, continual nightmares and/or difficulty assimilating back into civilian life. Alcoholism, drug addiction and suicide rates among former military personnel continue to climb. Family relationships and friendships will never be the same for them. Some find a way to push through and quietly battle their internal demons while balancing a loving and caring relationship with family who could never understand. Some do better in isolation or at least by keeping a defined distance from others.

Millions of our fellow Americans stood in the gap for us in past years. Millions more are serving right now or are within days, weeks or months of taking their turn to serve. They have protected and continue to protect the freedoms and way of life we enjoy as U.S. citizens.

But how often do we really think about the sacrifices so many have made for us?

Military families are typically the best at honoring those in service, caring for those returning and being sensitive to the reality of the situations. And most of us likely have a family member, at least an extended family member, who has served at some point.

It is good to honor those who have served on Veterans Day.

We also remember those who died in service on Memorial Day.

Most often the 4th of July includes a shoutout to our current military and Lee Greenwood’s famous “God Bless the USA” is sung with sincere gusto.

But outside of those three holidays, how often do we remember the men and women who fought and in some cases died for our freedom? Do we actually grasp and respect the concept of true freedom?

Are we living lives worthy of all those who sacrificed for us?

Are we making the United States better because we are citizens?

And for those of us who are believers in and followers of Jesus Christ, do we fully grasp the sacrifice He made for us? Are we living lives worthy of Him? Do we allow His love and grace to shine through us as He describes in Matthew 5:14–16?

Does our faith journey showcase the fruit of the Spirit outlined in Galatians 5:22–23 — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control?

Being an eternal citizen of heaven along with our current citizenship in the U.S. both bring great privilege and blessings and with both come great responsibility.

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Rashional Extras

It’s tempting to charge someone we disagree with of being unbiblical and unfaithful when the debate we’re having is actually within the circle of evangelicalism — whether the matter is spiritual gifts, the doctrine of the Trinity or counseling. All of us, of course, are unbiblical and unfaithful to some extent, unless we want to say that our doctrine is perfect. Beware of charging that someone is outside the bounds of orthodoxy when in fact the only issue is that they disagree with you.

Thomas Schreiner
Excerpt from “Beware Theological Dangers on Both Left and Right” blog post on TheGospelCoalition.org.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Schreiner is the James Buchanan Harrison professor of New Testament interpretation and associate dean for Scripture and interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

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When a church (or ministry) knows its mission and keeps its focus, three things will happen.

  1. Satan will turn up.
  2. Leaders will rise up to serve others and make disciples.
  3. God will show up.

Pastor Bill Wilks
NorthPark Baptist Church, Trussville
Preaching from Acts 6:1–15

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@StephanieRodda
Don’t give the devil any opportunity to work. (Ephesians 4:27) I believe we can position ourselves for a miracle. I believe we can also position ourselves for disaster. Where have you positioned yourself? Be careful who you are allowing to deposit into your Spirit. #ponderthis

@rayortlund
The great thing about being body-slammed with a life-altering catastrophe is that, from then on, your life can be explained only in terms of God’s powerful care. You find that the disaster was the beginning of your real life. Before that, in comparison, was child’s play.