GI Funded Missionary

I used to think of myself as a sort of GI funded missionary, wherein I was paid by the Navy to do Navy work, but in my off time (and honestly sometimes on my "on" time) I would be doing God's work. This philosophy paid huge dividends in my ministry on the USS Mobile Bay and the Kanagawa Bunko Christian Church in Japan. Unfortunately, the strategy broke down while in San Diego and Little Rock. I got side-tracked pretty easily while looking for my next home run and I missed several actual opportunities to serve. My heart wasn't in the right place anyway.

I made a great deal of progress on the USS Antietam, however, during my second stint in San Diego. I relearned the art of relying on God for everything in ministry and while I was still pretty distracted, I figured out how to get the message across to my Sailors without too much trouble. The ministry wasn't as much of a success, but there were bright spots here and there.

In Great Lakes, I've really learned that the spiritual climate of the military, and maybe the United States as a whole, has changed. Like American culture in general, spirituality in the military has become more polarized. Either you're into God or you're not. When I was in Japan, we had several closet Christians who would come to services whereas in San Diego that didn't happen. Having seen this same sort of thing take place in Great Lakes, I'm ready to admit that the revival I had longed for is further away than I would like to admit.

This doesn't mean I'm not still a GI funded missionary. I very much assume I am. I have several lines in the water in which I hope to bring in a new believer or two for the kingdom. I'm also working hard to help a few younger believers grow at work. All this means is that I'm finding the work to be more difficult than I had hoped and that my dreams for a larger and more widespread ministry are lessening.

I'll talk more about a contractor mentality in the next post, but suffice to say that my ministry in the Navy is more difficult than it used to be. It is requiring far more in relationships than it used to, which seems to be mirroring missions work in general, at least as far as I read in blogs and updates from my missionary friends. 

CPO 36 COMREL Pt II

A couple of weeks ago the Center for Surface Combat Systems Unit Great Lakes conducted a second CPO 365 Community Relations Project. The goal of this project was to get together as Chief Petty Officers and future Chief Petty Officers and help our the local community. As we are currently going through an economic distress (an understatement I'm sure) and North Chicago is a poor community (compared to its peers), I focused our attention in this city.

Partnering with the Northern Illinois Food Bank and the Chapel, our CPO 365 program handed out food to over 175 people in North Chicago. Below are some pictures of the event:

 Senior Chief Dominguez's wife helped too! Thank you!

Answered Prayer

I was going to write about how angry I was that military personnel were getting to wear their uniforms in the San Diego LGBT Pride parade, but that was only from anger and anger does little to stem the tide of Satan's work (the work at this moment seems to be to distract me from any real cause of the Kingdom).

What I need to write about instead, and so set forth to do in this post, is prayer. I'm currently taking a class at Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary on prayer and spiritual warfare and I'm truly loving it. It is refreshing to see that not all Baptists believe the Holy Spirit is a silent bystander in our affairs. Anyway, I've been praying about North Chicago, but that changed a week ago today (at least temporarily).

On Sunday, the 15th, my dad called during church with horrible news. My mother, who had been sick for a bit with kidney issues, was in a bad way. Her kidneys had failed, her lungs weren't working, and there were other issues as well. He informed me that the hospital in Girard, Kansas had put her in a medically-induced coma to keep anything else from going wrong and were looking for a bigger hospital to move her to.

They ended up moving her to the Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City. As the helicopter was landing in Kansas City, my wonderful supervisors in Great Lakes had already put me on emergency leave and told me to get home as soon as possible.

What happened next befuddles me even now. I'm still trying to figure out how to really explain it. My mom was supposed to be in the coma for 2-3 days while the doctors sorted out her problems. She was in a coma for 1 day. Her kidneys were failing. Now they aren't (although they are damaged to be sure). Her lungs were damaged and spitting CO2 into her bloodstream. Now they work fine (though they too are damaged). My mother is going to make a full recovery, within reason.

How? Prayer...bottom line. I got more comments on my Facebook page and by text than I could have ever imagined. So did my wife, Alicia. I believe that some of those comments were simply well-wishers who said they would pray because it is a very American thing to say, but many were undoubtedly truly praying for my mom.

I was praying too. I made specific requests regarding my mother, fearing that God might not answer me positively. Well, maybe he wasn't answering me, but he was answering all of us to be sure. My mom is doing so well now. She's simply got a few more issues to work out, some surgeries to go through (mostly minor), and she'll be good to go. Of course, I would love to have your continued prayer support.

My thoughts on prayer do not mean that I don't appreciate the work of good doctors. However, I believe that God was behind it. After all, it was the doctors who said everything and gave the timelines that God broke.

What does this mean for my faith? It is a bit stronger, for sure. God was very gracious to my family and for that I am grateful. It doesn't mean, unfortunately, that I have become fearless in my faith, or ready to take on the gates of hell, but I'm a little closer.

I'm definitely ready to say that prayer made the difference here. I'm also ready to get back to praying for the folks in North Chicago.

Satan's Grip on North Chicago

I have been living in North Chicago for almost 2 years. Wait, I have to be more forthcoming than that. I have lived right next to North Chicago for almost 2 years. The reality is that I live in military housing, which is almost like living in a (poorly) gated community that opens into a rather diverse and hurting city.

North Chicago is a city of 30,000+ persons. There are several churches in the city, although none of them are immediately close to the housing I live in. South of Martin Luther King Road (as you can see below), there are very few options, and most of them either on base or not evangelical. So the need exists.

As I was praying last night, and reading an old book (published in 1906) called "Quiet Talks," it came to me that I should pray against Satan, not just pray for the people in the city. I was reminded that Satan was shown more than once in the Bible to be an actual, living, aggressor to God and his people, and therefore battle was needed. We are, as it were, a city at war.

How? Well, according to Wikipedia, the city has a greater number of poor, homeless, and single parents than the rest of the county, their immediate neighbor Waukegan the lone exception. The state of the school system in the city is another prime example of the spiritual war going on in the city. All you have to do is Google the news reports and you'll read about the board getting fired, the state taking over the district schools, etc.

It's not that another church needs to be planted, or that I am the man for the job. Rather it is that there is a losing war going on for this city and another outpost for God's force needs to be established. I know it's become taboo to talk about Christian matters in military terms, but I am a military man. It is what it is.

Please pray, and if you are praying, pray harder. 

Praying in the Dentist Chair

I had a two hour dental procedure yesterday. The dentist, who happened to be a Navy Captain, was going to remove a crown, grind down another tooth (to make an anchor), take some moldings, and then make me a temporary bridge. Six weeks from now, I will have a permanent bridge and then no gaps in my teeth due to missing teeth. This morning I'm enjoying the fact that, for the first time in over a decade, I have no gaps in my teeth.

Yet I was definitely not ok with the appointment. I don't like dental work, despite the fact that my mouth has more metal than enamel in it.

I've been reading a book called "Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders" by Dave Earley. In that book, he describes C. H. Spurgeon speaking on Prayer. He tells of how Spurgeon could always pray, and felt that prayer was more of a constant communication with God vice a dedicated, head-bowed, experience. One should, therefore, always be in communication with God.

So I decided to use my 2 hours in the dentist's chair to pray to God. In order to combat my anxiety, I started by praying about how God is my provider in that he provided for the procedure I was going through, and provided it for free. I'm really grateful for my healthcare. The Lord has provided for me! So I spent some time in grateful praise.

Then I prayed a little about North Chicago and whatever might come from that, mostly that North Chicago as a people would come to an understanding of Christ.

I moved into praying about myself, asking God to reveal sin in my life. I didn't intend to do that, because I have never really done that before. I went through my day to that point, and realized that I had already had some sin in my life (no, I won't discuss it here). I asked for forgiveness for what I had done, and found forgiveness for that. It was really great, despite the embarrassment of realizing my sin.

God has been good to me as I have embarked on this prayer life. I want to incorporate some of my prayer walks in this new lifestyle of prayer. Yet I had never thought I'd incorporate a dental procedure into my prayer life, so I'm grateful for God showing me how to effectively use my day. Thank you Father!

The Coming Revival

Since before I arrived in North Chicago, I've been hoping for a chance to witness to the city about God's love for them. Since then, I've seen one church close and no changes happen in the city. Oh, and I haven't done a single thing but sit around and wish away my day.

I've been reading a book on prayer and it tells me to pray specifically for something and expect an answer. So many days I drive down Martin Luther King BLVD or Green Bay Rd or Lewis Ave in North Chicago and I see people who need Christ.

So it is time to pray. Pray specifically for a revival in the hearts of those who claim to know Christ and an awakening in those who don't. I've prayed today...will I pray tomorrow?

Military believer, do you pray for the city you are stationed in? Or, like me, have you ignored those that need us most? Yes, of course this blog is to strengthen you and get you prayer cover from Christians around the country, but it's also for you to reciprocate and support the communities we live in. Please join me in praying faithfully for those we live around.

Spurgeon on Prayer

"We are a large church, and should be doing more for the Lord in this great city. I want us to ask Him to send us some new work; and if we need money to carry it on, let us pray that the means may also be sent."

I want to pray like this.