Chaplain Report, July 2022

Here you are, squatting with your comrades, at night, with your squad of riflemen. You try livening up this circle of wanna-be U.S. Army Rangers with tales of your exploits last summer when you heard that unmistakable sound of a pin loosed from its cradle. You thought you yelled “Grenade!” for everyone’s benefit, but rolling on your back after what seemed like an eternity, and with just a little dizziness and some pain from the hard dirt beneath you making itself felt intensely, you now saw the aftermath of this attack. You think later about whether that was a time you should have called upon the Lord instead (Acts 11:12)? I’m sure many of you may have experienced this sense of live action in training, and/or during one of your deployments. If this was one of your experiences, especially as a “close call,” where was the Lord? Did He appear in your mind’s eye, or did you refuse His presence when you needed Him the most (James 1:8)? So… what does it mean to be involved with life, yet hesitating to invite Jesus’ participation to get you where you should be (2 Chronicles 32:10)? Are you…trusting in the Lord, especially for your daily victory over Satan and his ways, or are you double-minded: saying you trust Him but putting no faith in Him to do good by you? Maybe…now’s the time to seek His face…during this mini-Judgment phase we’re going through. Oh, but you haven’t understood that this troubling era in American life is very similar to the sufferings of Israel, headquartered out of Samaria, and later Judah, headquartered at Jerusalem, circa 750 BC and 550 BC respectively? Other Biblical examples of God’s people reaping Judgment are detailed in Ezekiel 5:8, Daniel 9:5, 2 Timothy 3:1-5, and Matthew 24:1-14. By the way, when Jesus does come, before the REAL Judgment for Heaven or Hell, His confessing church will experience the Parusia (Greek for Rapture), described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. Don’t be fooled into not considering your fate with God, BEFORE Jesus’ arrival.

Rev. Dr. William Jackson

 Lincoln ALP 3 Chaplain