The Navy Christian: October 2009

Rock Chalk and a half Marathon!

Ok, I know it's not what I usually talk about, but I'm just excited that Kansas is ranked number ONE in the preseason coaches poll. Rock chalk!

Read the article here!

Also, I'm running the half marathon at the Carlsbad Marathon & Half this coming January! More details to follow!

How our Bible study Works

While on deployment, and even now that we're back in port, we have an interesting format for Bible study that I thought might interest you. It's as easy as can be to run, so busy people, or those who are just starting out can do it (big surprise…you don't have to be a theologian to facilitate a Bible study). Here's how it works:

1. Pick out a time and day to meet. On our ship, Tuesdays at 7:30 pm worked best, so that's when we met. Just try to be consistent if at all possible!

2. Work through one book at a time, chapter by chapter. As the facilitator, I picked John because I knew it would give my young believers some easy-to-swallow meat. It's packed with basic doctrine and will help early Christians grow. But you choose what works for you and your group. My suggestion is to stick with a book and go chapter by chapter each meeting.

3. Read a few verses at a time, each person reading a section. Most Bibles are broken into sections of scripture, further breaking down chapters into paragraphs, or conversations. Have a person read a section, then discuss it. Then the next person reads a section, and discuss that.

4. Keep the forum open…facilitate, don't lead. We allow an open season on a section after it's read. Whoever has something to say will say it, and if it leads to a discussion, then fine, and if it doesn't then we just move on. Read the next section, and discuss. Continue that until the chapter is finished!

5. Pray at the end. I know praying at the beginning is good, and we did that too, but make sure someone prays at the end. It's only at the end that the members of your Bible study will know what they want God to remind them of during the week!

So there it is, plain and simple…my recommendations for a successful, and easy, Bible study!

A word (or two) about Military Prayer Week

I am very excited about the upcoming Military Prayer Week. I think it has an opportunity to bring attention to the work being done in the military and for the military, to bring them to Christ. I want to see a sort of revival take place where saints already in the military grow exponentially in thier faith (including me) and reach out to thier fellow service members with the gospel (including me).

So what can you do? Thanks for asking!

1. Subscribe to this blog so you get all of the updates during that week! It's the easiest way to stay connected.

2. Announce the Military Prayer Week. You can do it through Twitter, Facebook, in your church small group, anything really. It doesn't matter if your audience includes active duty, veterans, or civilians.We need all the prayer we can get, so the more you announce it, the better it will be.

3. Pray hard during the week of November 9-14. I want the week including Veteran's Day to be a smash hit for God's plans for the military community.

4. Ask questions! That week will be a great opportunity to ask questions about the military community, our efforts to witness, etc.

How to Start a Home Bible Fellowship

First of all, I’m not an organic church expert, or simple church, or any of the other names the recent movement has been called. I’m very simply a person who has seen this sort of thing in action, and it works! So my hope with this post is not to teach you how to have your own church, but just how to start a simple Bible study or fellowship that you can mold into whatever you and God want later on.

As a disclaimer, if your church already has an outreach based on this, you should consult your church small-groups pastor. The last thing I want to do is give you contradicting advice.

Ok, so now that all of that is over, let me give you three things to keep in mind if you want to start a small home fellowship.

1. Become a Team: If you are single, then this is easy. Surely you don’t argue against yourself! However, if you are married, then you can’t really do this without your spouse. I have tried, and while it worked moderately well, it wasn’t the same. Listen, if you have a loving, godly spouse, then your coworkers and neighbors need to know how that works (a godly marriage). Guys still talk about my wife, our kids, and how we all relate, and we had our last fellowship weeks ago! The testimony on God’s behalf that a family on the same team can give is almost impossible to calculate. So, if you’re married, become a team first.

2. Start something at work first: If this is meant to grow a group of coworkers into a group of Christians, then you need something going at work first. How about meeting a few guys once a week or so for coffee or lunch? Or how about sitting together during your break. People will get the hint fairly soon that your “group” has something to offer. This was of course very easy for us on deployment. It’s not like we had anywhere else to go! (LOL!) Still, you can do this just like we did, because the fact is that we still do this. I sit at lunch all the time with the “guys” who were in my Bible study on deployment. People just “know” what we’re about and what we’re going to discuss at lunch. That has translated into fellowship opportunities, both overseas in foreign ports as well as here in the States.

3. Start small: Maybe for your first fellowship event, just have a few friends (believers) over to the house for some pizza and fellowship. These should be the folks you’ve been working on at work. Regardless of their present spiritual condition, any person with the Holy Ghost in him/her can react well to seeing a loving, spiritual couple and kids interacting together.

4. Remember to bring the spouses: Not everyone you interact with at work is going to be married, but if they are, make sure you invite the spouse. This isn’t a closed session of the Band of Brothers. This is a fellowship! It’s good to get everyone mingling, particularly so that the wives know who they can go to if they have questions and/or need help.

Now, here are some topic suggestions to discuss while having the fellowship event:

1. Ask for five questions you want to ask God when you get to heaven. This stimulated some awesome amazing conversation at our recent fellowship event. We even mixed up the papers and tried to guess who wrote what?

2. As for something you want to do in heaven. While this has a lot in common with the first example, it adds a bit of spice. You get everything from playing intergalactic paintball with God on your team to flying. Pretty good stuff!

3. Bible study: My recommendation would be to keep it fairly simple in this area if you choose to have one. The goal of this get-together is fellowship, so keep the Bible study lighthearted and simple. Now is not the time to bring out your thoughts on predestination.

4. Board Games: This is the perfect way to keep things very open and lighthearted! Bring out the cards (if you’re ok with them), checkerboards, and dominos and have fun!

I hope that I've provided you with at least the first few steps in starting a fellowship group. It doesn’t have to be anything impressive or awe-inspiring...just having one will make it that. Start small and where you feel comfortable and go from there!

Have you hosted fellowship events with other believers in your house? If so, tell me how they went!

Victory on the Antietam

This week has been a whirlwind and has no signs of letting up. However, I wanted to take a few minutes to share the good news:

A young man on my ship accepted Christ this week!

I really don't even know what to say. Just excited to share the news with you all! God has done some amazing things lately and it makes me all the more convinced that I'm in the right place, seeing the right things happen. God is Amazing! Praise him!

If you wouldn't mind, please pray for Cory M., the young man who is now a believer. Unfortunately, our lives don't always become rosy the minute we accept Christ (in human terms) so pray for him. And pray for us! I can't tell you enough about how much prayer military folks need!

There is a revival coming...maybe already here...keep up the good work of prayer!

Military Prayer Week 9-14 November

We are less than a week from kicking off this blog's first Military Prayer Week, coinciding with Veteran's Day on November 11th. I would love for you to join me in asking God to rescue the military from sin while praying for those who are believers and service members at the same time.

Look, I know many of you aren't involved in military ministry and probably don't go to churches that are, but I do know that most of you probably care about the military. Why not join me?

Here's what will happen: Starting on Monday the 9th of November, I will post one prayer item in the morning and one in the evening for the entire working week. On the 14th, I'll wrap it up.

I believe that a revival can happen in the military. I believe that you can be a part of it. Why not subscribe to the blog and join us on the prayer journey starting in a little less than 3 weeks!

Theory in Action

Many of my posts are theory posts, such as where I pray at a ceremony in the hope that someone someday will know that they can come to me with an issue because I am the "praying man", or whether or not military ministry equals missions. The study of theory is important, sure, but sometimes it all comes down to putting that theory to a test and seeing what actions come about because of it.

Action has taken place recently in the lives of two Sailors. Obviously I won't share anything about their stories, but the thing that makes me realize I'm where God wants me is that both of these men came to me with their problems, even though I'm not in the chain of command for them.

The truth is that I didn't know how to handle either of the issues. I'm not a counselor. I'm just a concerned Christian. My hope is that I can help them when they need it, and if they need it again, I'm here for them.

It came down to crunch time for both of them, and I witnessed outright to one and planted a seed for follow up with the other. I've been talking to God about these two men for a while now, and God brought them to their knees. I'm grateful to be used by God and I hope that these men get what they need, even if it's not from me.

Theory about military ministry aside, there are real people hurting in the US Armed Services. I saw pain on the face of a Sailor yesterday that was heart-wrenching, and there are hundreds just like him who need prayer and support. The field is ripe for harvest!

Troubles with Seminary

Wow...this is even harder than I thought it would be! I knew the research and writing would be very difficult (for me), which is why I agreed to take only one class at a time through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. Yet here I am, staring a deadline square in the face, and it's laughing at me! I'm not going to lie...this is crunch time, and I'm still struggling.

Writer's block has hit me hard regarding this paper. It's on reaching the Japanese, a country I love dearly and a country I've worked in while serving in the Navy. Yet I just can't make this work for some reason. It isn't due to a lack of love for the Japanese...I'm just fearful of writing.

It's odd. I don't mind putting all of my thoughts down on a blog for the world to see...yet I'm fearful of putting my thoughts down on paper for my seminary professor to see. It's very frustrating. Anyway, I'll get back to more substantial blogging soon. I'm just trying to get past this block and get my paper finished!

Before I go...anyone have any ideas on beating writer's block? What is your best idea?

Military Ministry...is it Missions?

The reality about military ministry is that even if it's overseas, it's not generally toward persons of a foriegn culture. This cause a little problem between myself and a military minister in Japan (Cadence International). I wanted to reach the local Japanese population and he was adamant that his ministry was to the US Military in the area. In case anyone is wondering, he was right, and I was wrong. But that is another story altogether.

But this episode in my past brings up a good question. Is military ministry missions or not? I believe it is, for these reasons:

1. It is part of the progression of missions described in Acts 1:8.

A ministry to the military, whether stateside or overseas, should probably be listed as the Jerusalem or Judea part of that progression.

2. Military personnel who leave the military are good candidates for missionary service.

I've had this conversation on blogs before when folks discuss who is a good candidate. I know there are many types of candidates, of course, but the fact is that ex-military personnel, particularly those who have retired from military service, make great candidates. Not only does military ministry complete the first two steps of the missionary progression, but ministering to a service member can lead him or her to pursue ministry to the other parts of the missionary progression.

I don't mean it to be too technical and I definitely don't mean to proof-text Acts 1:8. Simply put, I think that Military Ministry is not only vital, but that it should count, for those who might doubt it, as missions.

Kabul 24: Review

Kabul 24
Thomas Nelson
By: Henry O. Arnold and Ben Pearson
320 pages
$14.99

I was immediately engrossed in the book Kabul 24. It is a powerful story of eight Western aid workers and 16 Afghan workers associated with the organization “Shelter Now International” who were arrested for allegedly proselytizing Afghanis during the late months of the Taliban regime.

Not all of the members of the Shelter Now team in Afghanistan were arrested. As the crackdown began, some family members and other workers made a break for the Pakistan border. As you follow them on their harrowing escape through Taliban territory, you’ll be sucked into the desperation they felt and then be uplifted by the sincere hope they had that God would take care of them.

As you read the story of those who were captured by the Taliban, you begin to get a sense of how powerful God is. Through persecution, mock trials, and horrid prison conditions, you’ll see a group of believers whose faith never wavered even if emotions did. They expected God to make an entrance, and He did.

God’s timing is everything, and I’m glad the writers conveyed that. God provided exactly what the Kabul 24 team needed via Afghani sympathizers and even the Taliban itself at times. Almost as if to mock the persecutors, God used their own people to provide for the Westerners and the Afghani workers. And the US Army Special Forces team at the end is a powerful example as well for those who need more evidence.

For anyone who has ever wondered about real-world persecution of the saints, or anyone who wants to see an adventure of almost Biblical proportions, this is the book for you. More than that, however, it is a book of God coming through for desperate people who had no where else to turn.

You can visit the Shelter Now International Website and read about current projects, but you won’t see anything on there about the detention in Taliban Afghanistan. I, for one, respect that. I also found the Red Cross report on their visit with the group in the fall of 2001, just before the 9/11 attacks in New York. It was interesting to read the Red Cross report after having read about it in the book.

Look, do yourself a favor and get your hands on this book. It will rock your world.

Retirement Ceremony

This is a picture of me praying at a retirement ceremony a week ago.

A retirement ceremony is a huge deal in the US Navy. On Friday of last week, I had the honor of delivering the invocation and benediction at the retirement ceremony for Senior Chief Morgan. I worked for Senior for about six months as the assistant 3M Coordinator and it was an honor to be asked to do these prayers.

Now, the question can be asked, "How does this relate to military ministry?" The thing I want to do, with respect to reaching my crew with the Gospel, is present them as many opportunities to know who I am as possible. Many of my readers will know that the Navy doesn't allow us to pray like we might want to during ceremonies. I don't even try to get around that. It's not important. I don't need to say "In Jesus Name I pray..." in order to be a witness.

Why?

Because all a struggling sailor needs to know is that I was the guy who prayed at that ceremony he was at a few days ago. That's enough. It's like having a fish on your car. No, that doesn't equal active ministry, but it is a good passive ministry. Taking Senior Chief up on his request for me to offer the prayer for his ceremony was me essentially putting my business card out for everyone in attendance. Then they can know that "he's that praying guy."

And that is part of military ministry.

Places I've been: Busan

I can't tell you how many times I've been to Busan (sometimes written and said as Pusan), but it's been a handful for sure. However, like most of my ports on this recent cruise, it has been at least nine years or so since I've visited the city. The interesting fact, spiritually speaking, is that I had never been able to put together a substantial Christian fellowship in the city. No matter how many times I had tried before, it never worked.

Thankfully, this visit was vastly different! We got in touch with the men of the International Community Church. James Howard, one of the leaders, graciously invited us to the weekly men's Bible study, held at the Seaman's Club near the harbor. I was so stoked to finally get in touch with someone!

As with Kagoshima, I had a day or two of liberty until our meeting with the men of ICC, so I went out with some friends:

I really enjoyed meeting with the guys from ICC. We ended up fellowshipping so much that we didn't get to take part in their regularly scheduled Bible study, but it really was awesome anyway. I will never get tired being encouraged and encouraging saints from around the globe. Here are some pictures:

Ubuntu CE: Moving up the chart!

I've been loosely tracking the popularity of Ubuntu Christian Edition on Distrowatch. When I started reviewing it and writing about the distro, it was ranked 91 on the top 100 list. Today I checked at it was listed as #81! Good times and good things are happening! Well done to the team!

Military Ministry at CEBC

In what I believe is the logical, natural extension of what God has shown Alicia and me in the last several months, God has brought a military ministry to our church. When my pastor mentioned it to me a few days ago, I was immediately grateful and excited at the same time! I went home from the meeting to talk it over with Alicia, and we set about putting together a questionnaire. I will write more about that in detail later in case any other churches could use the information.

We had eight people take part in our questionnaire and a total of 15 people sign up as interested persons! Counting Alicia and me, that makes 17 people! Really...Praise God for his goodness!

Alicia and I are going through the process of putting together what the ministry will entail as we work through the results of the questionnaire, but here are some things that will start soon:

1. Plan a fellowship event to get everyone together. That is one of the primary facets of our military ministry, so it iwll be something to start very soon.

2. Get an email chain going for military-related prayer requests.

These are the first of a series of very exciting steps. I can't wait to see what happens in the future! If you are willing, please pray for the military ministry at CEBC. As I've said before, I think the military can change the world, and we could use all of the prayer support we can get!

Ocular Hypertension

I have been dealing with some writer's block lately. I've dealt with this from time to time in my amateur writing career, so I know it's just a matter of time before I'm back at it. Unfortunately, this week I've been dealing with something much more permanent: Ocular Hypertension.

On Wednesday, I decided to go get a new eyeglass prescription. I only use them occasionally for reading, which I do a lot of for work and seminary, and since I had worn out my old pair (four years old), I needed a new pair. This was the providence of God.

The process went fine for about five minutes. They verified that I still needed the prescription and set me up to get some glasses. Then they did the puff test for glaucoma. I failed that test in my right eye. They ran the test again. I failed the test again in my right eye. Then they ran the test a third time. The corpsman (HM1) said, "FC1, I need to send you to the doctor right now. Have a seat outside."

Lt. Le, the doctor, did a series of tests and wasn't happy. While my nerve endings looked ok, she was not happy with the pressures, hovering right around 30 in my right eye. They should be from 16-20. Her comment was, "It's not that they are just slightly high...they are significantly high. That's not good."

So she told me to come back in two days to measure the pressure again, thinking there may have been an external reason for this fluke. I came back on Friday and found out that yes, my pressures are too high. That was at 7:30am. Then Lt. Le told me to come back again at 11:30. So after offering the invocation and benediction at a retirement ceremony (I'll write about that later), I went back to her and she again verified that my pressures were too high.

The problem is that "elevated intraocular pressure is a concern in people with ocular hypertension because it is one of the main risk factors for glaucoma." Yes, she said glaucoma. The good news is that my nerve endings were looking ok, at least to her equipment at the Naval Base in San Diego.

Lt. Le asked me to go to Balboa Naval Hospital yesterday afternoon so that she could have some more tests on some more advanced equipment run for me. Alicia (what would I do without her?) came up to the hospital because they would have to dilate my eyes to run the tests. I had driven a few days ago in this condition and it wasn't fun, so she didn't want me to go through that again. I am grateful for my wife...so amazing.

So the short and long of it is that right now, my doctor doesn't think I have glaucoma...yet. However, she can't know that for sure because right now I have a risk factor for it, and it's been over four years since I had an exam. The treatment for ocular hypertension is a drop in each eye (because the left eye was borderline in her tests) for 28 days. At that time, she will have me back into her office for a reevaluation. If the drops work, then I'll be on drops forever to keep the pressures down. If they don't work, she will adjust the dosage until it does work and then I'll be on them forever. Finally, if the drops fail to work period, then I will need laser surgery on my eyes' drainage systems to open them up to relieve the pressure. This is all to stave off the inevidible...that I will have reduced vision at some point in my life if we can't get my pressures to stay down where they should be.

On one hand, I don't think this is a big deal. I don't have glaucoma, so I should feel grateful, and I am. Still, I will be dealing with regular checkups and treatments for what I assume is the significant foreseeable future. I think I'm handling it well, but we'll see. I could use some prayer, however, as I am very fearful about anything to do with my eyes. I don't even like watching Alicia put her contacts in, much less anyone doing anything to my eyes! After two days of probing on my eyes, and now eye drops for the rest of my life, I've got to get over this fear.

If anyone knows anything about ocular hypertension, please let me know your thoughts! Oh, and the picture above shows that my nerve is almost perfect, so no damage has been done yet. I'm so thankful!