Long Ago Far Away

Traditionally, Memorial Day is a day of remembering service men and women who have sacrificed their lives while defending our country. It's good to have a day for that, but honestly, that should be EVERY day.

Today however, I am thinking about another group of "soldiers." They too have sacrificed their lives for something they believed in. Jesus. They're called martyrs.

Blessed are those soldiers, who not only sacrifice their lives for this country, but also willingly suffer death for the sake of Christ and the Gospel. Probably the best-known martyr for the Bible was Stephen.

"When they (the Pharisees) heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. ⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, ⁵⁶and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

⁵⁷Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; ⁵⁸and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep." - Acts 7:54-60

Each of us makes our own decision about how far we are willing to go for Jesus. Some fold when they are persecuted by society. Others leave the faith when they are hurt by their own churches. But then there are those who suffer many things for Christ and refuse to yield to Satan and his minions, no matter what. We need to be one of those.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:35-39

Remember . . .

Remember - Harry Nilsson

In Memoriam

It's Memorial Day here in the US of A. What's everybody up to? Going to a veteran's memorial service? Driving back home from a big weekend up north?

I personally don't think we spend enough time honoring those who sacrificed their lives in order for us to be free. I wonder if our younger generation (those under 20) understands just what it means. They have no idea what war is like.

The last US war ended in 2021 - Afghanistan. You remember that hideous withdrawl, right? 13 US soldiers died that day. Here are their names.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas

Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, Calif.

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tenn.

Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, Calif.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyo.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, Calif.

Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Mass.

Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Ind.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Mo.

Navy Hospital Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio

Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Neb.

I know that other soldiers have died serving our country since these 13 perished in Afghanistan but these 13 came to mind for me. And look at their ages. All but one of them were in their 20's. Most of them in their EARLY 20's.

They were strong and courageous. I do not know if any of them knew The Lord. I hope they did. But this Psalm is for them regardless:

"Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me." - Psalm 144:1-2

May this Memorial Day be one of rememberance and honor for the fallen heroes of our country. And may there be no more names added to the list of the dead.

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice, and may the Lord above guard the hearts of their families and friends . . . today and always.

Memorial

This past Sunday we had communion at our church. We do that once each month. Some churches serve communion every other week, others EVERY week. It doesn't really matter, as long as "as often as you eat of this bread and drink of this cup, do so in remembrance of me."

Prior to communion, our pastor uses a Biblical story as an illustration. There are many to choose from. Last Sunday it was the story of God's people crossing the Jordan River into The Promised Land.

"So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” - Joshua 4:4-7

Our pastor's point was that communion is 'a memorial' to Jesus. And he's right. But then I got thinking....

What is our personal memorial to Jesus? We can't carry 12 stones around with us all day long. According to our communion verse we're supposed to 'do this in remembrance of me.'

I don't know about you, but I find myself thinking about Jesus many times throughout each day. What do we do as a rememberance then? The answer is simple.

Love.

What does love look like? It's visiting a friend who is going through a tough time. It is taking someone a meal who is sick. It's driving six hours to comfort someone who just lost a friend. Or simply give someone a hug because you care about them.

Love comes in many different forms. And guess what....

Each of us is a memorial to Jesus. His love resides in ALL who believe. Jesus is what this world needs right now and WE are His delivery service.

So, 'set up your memorial' by living your life for Jesus. How? By loving everyone you meet.

"Do this in remembrance of me."

A Memorial Offering

It's been an interesting couple of months - worshipping from home. Interesting. Not necessarily enjoyable. But this week we received news that churches and worship were "essential" - a "memorial" before God.

Yesterday was the first day back in our church for Sunday worship. I wasn't sure what to expect. As I approached to front door, it was standing open. That was good. No touching. And when I walked inside no one was in the entryway, all per instruction from our pastor.

Then I saw some friends, elders of the church. Each one greeted me warmly by name. I did the same with them. No hugs, although the desire was there. Then I walked into the sanctuary. My brothers and sisters!!

It was so good to see everyone again - gathered together to worship our God. I sat down in my socially-distant chair and we began to worship. That's when it hit me. This is what it's going to be like when I die and go to heaven.

I figure I'll arrive in some state of floatiness. No one will be there at first but then a couple of familiar faces will greet me. Friends or family perhaps. People I haven't seen in a while in either case. They will greet me by name. And there will be hugs. Lots of hugs.

And then we'll go into the throne room. And we will worship! We will sing songs we all somehow know. No big screens to follow. The words and tune will be in our hearts.

And, as I look around the room on this future day of worship, I start to cry tears of joy. The children!! Look at all of the children! And the soldiers, both men and women, who sacrificed everything so I could worship back on earth! They're all here!

After I get done looking around at everybody worshipping I will look up towards the throne and . . . there He will be!!! Jesus!!!!

I don't mind telling you I just got chills typing that. I got chills today too at church when we sang our worship songs. This one song in particular caught my attention. The chorus of this song! What a special meaning it will have on that glorious day.

Here I Am To Worship - Sonic Flood

The lives we live today, each one is a memorial to God. Do we live in such a way as to get God's attention?

Cornelius was a soldier. He got God's attention by the way he lived his life and he was blessed for it.

"At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

4Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God." - Acts 10:4

Let us be like Cornelius - living is such a way as to be a memorial offering to God.

A Memorial

Memorial Day is all about remembering those who gave their lives in service to our country. We can't thank our service men and women enough for all that they have done, and continue to do, to keep us safe. There are other battles that have been waged in our lives though, whose heroes also need to be remembered.

Today we remember Green Bay Packer quarterback Bart Starr who died on Sunday. He was truly a hero worthy of remembrance. I remember meeting Bart when I was in high school. Truly a highlight in my life. When Bart won the Super Bowl I MVP award, a Corvette, he donated the car the Rawhide Boys Ranch - a recovery center for wayward boy in New London, WI.

I get to remember my father and grandfather who served in the military. They didn't die while serving but their lives were worthy of remembrance - living them with honor, dignity and service.

Today I also get to remember the life of my brother-in-law Pat, a cancer battle veteran and casualty who fought and died this past Saturday. A professor at Carthage College, a husband to wife Kathy and father of two amazing girls - Oksana and Nadya.

Pat was a flying enthusiast. Years ago, he and I both flew our R/C planes together. Often crashing them, then laughing. Pat and some others began a program in Nicaragua. Kind of a doctor's without borders thing. Their efforts improved the quality of life for many of the local people. Pat is another hero worthy of remembrance.

You know, each of us has this one life to live here on earth. How will we choose to live it? Will our lives be worthy of remembrance by those we leave behind?

Pilots have a saying called CAVU. It stands for Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited. CAVU my brother. I hope your flight was a good one.

"live a life worthy of the LORD and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light." - Colossians 1:10-12

Missing Man Flyover

Memorial

Today is Memorial Day - a day we, as nation, have set aside to remember those who have fallen in the defense of our country. It is an honorable thing to remember those who have sacrificed so much.

Often, examples of such service can be seen throughout the generations. My great, great grandfather served in the Civil War, my grandfather in World War I and my father in World War II. Fathers and Sons. Serving.

When soldiers are welcomed home from war, they are greeted warmly by their family members. A video example of families welcoming home their loved ones is at the end of this story. Please watch it. The "welcome home" hugs remind me of when the prodigal son came home in Luke 15.

"20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him." - Luke 15:20

Examine the looks on the faces of those who are being surprised in the video. Is Our Father's expression any different when we come to faith in His Son? I don't think so. We are welcomed with open arms. We are welcomed home.

I thank God for those who sacrificed their lives for those they loved. We all should. Not just this day, but every day.

God did the very same thing for you and for me, you know. He sacrificed His only Son for those HE loved. Give HIM thanks and praise today as well - this Memorial Day. Remember the Father and the Son, as well as the sons and the daughters, the sisters and the brothers.

Have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day!

Soldiers Coming Home Video

A Different Kind Of Memorial Day

It's refreshing to watch all of the posts on Facebook, honoring our soldiers who have sacrificed so much for our country. It wasn't always that way. I grew up in the Vietnam era. The American public greeted soldiers returning from war with jeers and riots. Our soldiers were spit upon and degraded by the very people who they were fighting for. A very dark time in this country's history. But today, thank God, things are a whole lot better in the way we treat our soldiers.

As I was reading the book of Revelation this past week I came across a passage of scripture that made me stop and take notice. The story was about a different kind of soldier. They were honored for their service and for making the ultimate sacrifice for the God they love and serve. I would like you to read this, keeping in mind the numerous Christians who have lost their lives because of their faith. It is a story of their ultimate reward.

"I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years." - Revelation 20:4

Most of cannot understand what goes through the mind of someone who has been asked to make a choice between denying Jesus Christ or dying. It is a testimony to those brave souls who did not struggle when a knife-wielding Islamic extremist cut their heads off. Their reward is in heaven as we have just read.

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." - Philippians 1:21

We need to lift up our soldiers in prayer. Not just the brave soldiers that guard our country and protect it against all enemies - foreign and domestic. We also need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to pray for their families as well as their enemies. OUR enemies.

If we lived in a world without evil there would be no need for soldiers. Our young men and women would never have to go off to war. They would never have to die for their country or for God. They could stay at home and love their children and their spouses. They could play and work in an environment of peace rather than fear.

What will it take to one day live in a world without the bloodshed of human lives. Two things. We need to pray, as I have already mentioned, and we need to place our faith in God, the one TRUE God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We need to repent of our sins, receive Jesus, the savior of the world, into our hearts and live our lives for Him, not for our selfish desires.

Jesus already paid the price for our sins. Let us remember HIM this Memorial Day and also the soldiers in God's army, men, women and children, who have paid the ultimate price for their faith.

"34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” - Luke 23:24

The following is a very powerful video. It is also very graphic in nature - depicting a Christian family choosing Jesus over death. I offer it to you this morning because we often do not know these people who are dying for their faith. If we did, we might take action and pray. Otherwise we sadly just flip the channel, onto something else, ignoring the all-too-real threat many of our brothers and sisters face every day.

Pray. Pray for the fallen . . . and for those left behind.

Liena's Prayer - Voice of The Martyrs

Canoe

If you have ever been to our house and happened to look out into the backyard, you have probably seen an old "birch bark" fiberglass canoe that's been sitting there for years. It's all of 40 years old and is scratched, cracked, bent, faded and it hasn't seen any white water in years. Kind of like me.

One could easily say, "Why don't you get rid of that old eye-sore? What good is it? It just sits there." One could easily say the same thing about me. Well, today I will let the world know why I don't simply put my old canoe in a dumpster. Hopefully, this story will provide encouragement to you, just like that old canoe does for me.

When I was in my early 20's me and my best friend Chris did a lot of canoeing. And I do mean A LOT of canoeing. Our summers were filled with trips "up north" to run as many whitewater rivers as we could. The nastier the river, the better.

One spring we decided to run the Namekogan, a tributary of the St. Croix River in Northwestern Wisconsin. One could tell that it was springtime because it was still cold and the river was rather swollen. High water levels can be both good and bad when canoeing a river. It's good in shallow parts of the river so the canoe doesn't scrape it's way along the gravely bottom.

[That's why I chose a fiberglass canoe over aluminum. There is nothing louder in the otherwise quiet wilderness than an aluminum canoe scraping across gravel or rocks.]

The bad part of running a river in springtime is that all that extra water from the melting snow makes the rapids more dangerous. I have seen aluminum canoes literally wrapped around rocks by the force of the current. Springtime canoeing can really be rather dangerous.

Chris and I were canoe camping that weekend, taking a two day trip to one of our favorite rivers. We were veteran canoeists but we were also young and over-confident - not a good combination as we approached our first major set of rapids.

We got out of the river upstream of the first big rapids we encountered and scouted which route to take through the rocks. We did that for half an hour. Then we emptied all of our camping supplies on shore "just in case" and ran the #3 rapid with relative ease. Rapids are rated 1 through 5 . . . 1 = easy, 5 = portage. We had just gone through a #3, which is actually more like a #4 in springtime with that extra water.

"Wow! That was easy!!" we said to ourselves. Over confidence, coupled with high water levels is a VERY dangerous thing. Our overconfidence, pride and youthful exuberance were about to do us in.

We loaded all of our supplies back in the canoe and headed down the swollen river to the next #3. This time we didn't even bother to scout it. We didn't bother to empty our canoe of the things we wanted to keep dry. We just went on ahead . . . through the 3-foot high standing waves in the middle of the channel. Our canoe immediately filled with water and swamped. Our supplies were floating down stream and so were we. A random kayaker, who just happened to be there, grabbed our tent and sleeping bags as we rode the rest of the rapids as swimmers.

As I tried to keep my head above water I also looked around for my canoe. Nowhere. Then suddenly, it shot out of the water like a breaching whale, landed upright in the water, and began floating away downstream. I swam to shore and began running through the woods after it.

I eventually caught up to the canoe and we started placing our supplies back in the boat, although everything was wet, and we continued on. What were we going to do that night? Sleep in wet sleeping bags in the 40-degree wilderness? Our only hope of surviving hypothermia was to paddle our butts off and try to get back to my truck, parked 24 miles downstream . . . and it was already late afternoon.

So we paddled . . . and we paddled. The sun set . . . and we paddled some more. Finally we saw the lights of the dam, where my truck was parked. Exhausted, frozen, and weary, the lights became our focus. If we could just make it to the lights.

Then through the mist that floated just above the river, we suddenly saw something approaching us. Something white, bobbing up and down. What was it!? It was coming right towards us. Well, it was a bald eagle, flying three feet above the water. It flew right past us, turning its head to look at us. That was a sign if we ever saw one! We had made it!

You have probably had events in your life that have made you grow, in one way or another. Sometimes that growth can be painful but that pain is usually accompanied by growth. Why do those events happen? Are they just random occurrences? Or does God put certain events into motion in order to grow or develop us in some way, for His ultimate use in the future? Interesting question.

My incident with the canoe taught me and my friend that we are NOT the most indestructible forces on the planet. That our lives are capable of taking turns for the worse at any moment. But it also taught me that life's challenges can be overcome through a reliance on things unseen, through the help of others and by meeting our challenges instead of succumbing to them.

God is an amazing teacher. He uses any method He wishes in his universal classroom. Sometimes we get wet in the process but we always reach our destination, praising His name. So why is that old battered canoe still in my back yard? It is a memorial . . . to a lesson learned and to a great God who saves.

Do you have things that you hold on to, mementos, that remind you of special moments where your life became forever change? God's chosen people did.

"Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. 4 Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” 6 And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

4 When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. 5 And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” - Joshua 3:1-17-4:1-7

The following in not a Christian song but it is a good song nonetheless, encouraging us to ALWAYS . . . remember.

Remember - Harry Nilsson

Memorial

As I sit here this morning on this Memorial Day, a day set aside for remembering those who have given their lives defending our country, I can't help but think of the families of those soldiers. How they must weep when they see us forget to mourn for the family members who have died. Instead we have picnics, we go fishing, we mow the lawn.

Where I live the white bass are running on the Wolf River. There will be places where one could easily walk across the river by stepping from boat to boat. For many Memorial Day has become simply a day off from work rather than a day of remembrance. Our focus on what this day is all about has become lost.

I am guilty of this myself. I enjoy the fact that I don't have to go in to work today instead of those who worked 24/7 defending our freedom. I like sleeping in rather than remembering those who slept in foxholes. I enjoy eating brats, hot dogs and hamburgers, hot off the grille rather than those who ate cold C-rations in a damp, dark jungle as the enemy tried to kill them.

Yet the soldier we are supposed to be honoring today willingly gave their lives as a sacrifice for us. And we thanked them by spitting in their faces when they returned from war (Vietnam).

The similarities between the selfless soldiers who gave their lives and our Lord Jesus are many. They would rather not have died yet they did so. How many soldiers, in desperate situations, asked to "have this cup pass from me" but sacrificed themselves on our behalf. How appropriate it is that the graves of our fallen soldiers are marked with a white cross.

What better day to remember not only those who died defending our freedom but those "soldiers" who died defending our faith.

I encourage you today to attend a Memorial Day service where you are. Spend some time standing over the grave of an unknown soldier. And spend some time praying, giving thanks for the martyrs who were killed simply because of their faith. Our soldiers AND our martyrs should be honored, not only on THIS day, but every day, for the sacrifice they made . . . defending our country or for refusing to deny their faith and our King.

Pray . . . give them honor . . . and may their sacrifice never be lost us we who remain.

"12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." - 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Prayers for the Fallen Facebook Page

Voice of The Martyrs Website