Posted on 06/11/2002 7:26:09 PM PDT by truthandlife
A U.S. Army general believes America's war on terrorism won't be won without Divine intervention. Speaking yesterday to more than 1,000 people attending the Community Prayer Breakfast in Fort Myers, Fla., Maj. Gen. William Boykin said it will take prayer to defeat those who want to destroy the United States, "The Fort Myers News Press" reported. "It is a spiritual enemy we have to contend with. Now is the time to fight," said the commander of the Army's Special Forces school in Fort Bragg, N.C. "We've got to defeat them on our knees. Pray for our leaders. Pray for our nation."
Talking about his darkest hour, Boykin asked God to protect his men when he sent them into Somalia during a 1993 covert operation, which resulted in a firefight that claimed 18 Army Rangers and was recently made into the movie Blackhawk Down. "My heart was broken," said Boykin, noting that he went to his bunk where he cried for his men and was angry with God. "I said there is no God. If there was a God, He would've been here to protect my soldiers." Then, Boykin said he heard God's voice saying: "If there is no God, there is no hope." Boykin described his change of heart after that and drew applause when he said: "God is alive. God is real. God will answer the prayers of those who humble themselves before Him."
Falwell? Na, I prefer God and Jesus. Prayer is beneficial and appropirate. But why would anyone think the TV preachers are the representives of our faith?
There is a 'general' returning someday who has an absolute faith in regards to the Father.
There is also a growing number of former line officers who, like me, have become chaplains. They are able to speak with the officers and the soldiers with the credibility of one "who has been there." I personally served in VietNam for a year and half, returning with Purple Hearts and Bronze Stars for my service as an artillerymen. Soldiers listen, and officers respect the role of "faith" on the battlefield.
God bless this general, and all those who serve in the "profession at arms"!
It's the saugage bacon and ham & eggs special advertised under the flashing neon sign that says "Eat" pointing to Jezebel's diner open 24-hours.
Our President is not ashamed of Jesus Christ.
More Americans attend Church weekly on a per capita basis than France, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark.
I hope God will bless America, despite all our faults.
Most officers I knew were church going types and had faith in a higher being.
I believe God would find favor with such a man. May we have a thousand like him.
Falwell claimed 9/11 happened because God had lifted His protection of the USA. The General seems to have it the other way.
A U.S. Army general believes America's war on terrorism won't be won without Divine intervention.
Info in [ ]'s mine
7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns [Sinai] of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. [Jordan] 8 They had hair like women's hair, [Lebanon] and their teeth were like lions' teeth. [Jordan] 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, [Iraq] and the sound of their wings [ironically, Iraq's no-fly zones!] was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, [Somalia, UAE] and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Revelation 9
Falwell's comment about lifting the veil is somewhat like the biblical Father's use of the rod not out of anger but out of love to discipline his children; the kids err enough to justify kicking them out of the house forever, but instead, a lesser punishment, the rod, is substituted. Sometimes, a hard-headed kid just won't believe you when you tell him not to play with fire. Rather than slap his hand all the time until his days are through and he resents you, sometimes it is better to let the kid burn himself, just a bit. The memory of it will save him greater loss in the long run. For a long while he'll remember that with the freedom to choose comes responsibility.
God set us free, if He bailed us out every time we would never learn anything, and never really understand the gift of freedom, or His love for us. We'd remain immature, which isn't what He wants. No Father would want that. Nor would He let us get what we deserve, for if we did we would be forced to obey Him or die, and then there would be no love between us. God doesn't want us to be unwilling slaves.
The way this country had been slacking off, the crudeness and selfishness and such, wasn't good for our culture. But we didn't understand why it wasn't OK to forget our personal responsibilities as a part of a nation which was created for a purpose, and as Christians, we had really let Him down. We let our churches and country decline while worrying about our own small lives. And in doing so, the world itself was allowed to decline. We were letting others rule the battlefield and we were hiding in the foxholes out of the line of fire.
If God wasn't around to bail us out, thousands more would have perished, because as a nation, we were NOT paying attention. We had let ourselves become weak and self-centered, our guard was down and we could have been destroyed. If God hadn't been there for us on 9/11, other plots would have succeeded, here and abroad, and the blow would have been so great that others would have joined in to take us down for good. God placed a veil of protection over us at the nation's birth; he just allows us to remove parts of it now and then on our own, We had chipped away at that veil all through the 90s, or longer. The 'lifted veil' was an opening we ourselves made against God's wishes for us. Too many of us just didn't start asking Him for repairs until we got hit.
God let us make the hole in the veil. He didn't actually lift it, but He also didn't close it, because we had made the choice to put it there. And now, we got burned just enough and not one life more, to make us learn the hard lesson.
When we lost the 18 in Somalia thje nation covered it up and no one noticed when the bodies were brought back in the dead of night. Their blood was on our hands, because of our neglect, and the killers' because of their crime, not on God's. When we lost two embassies and hundreds of our Kenyan friends died, America didn't wake up. When our leaders sold our technology to China we didn't wake up even as China held imprisoned Christians for no reason. When our leader was busy getting BJs while sending troops to fight, the country didn't care if our leader was doing his job or not, and didn't see the rising danger all around. We kept chipping away at the veil, like a bunch of ungrateful termites. That we made it as long as we did without getting hurt far worse is a miracle. We were wide open to be hit at any time.
God set us free; freedom, alas, means you can make mistakes. His Love is what keeps things from getting out of hand. But for Christ, all of us would be truly and wholly dead- we can't bring back the lives we throw away, our own, or that of others.'
So you see, the two concepts were intended in a similar way; Falwell was referring to the rod of discipline, where a freespirited son's choices bring trouble but a loving father, rather than let his kids be condemned, steps in and substitutes a lesser penalty. The debt is paid and we can be forgiven. The general was referring to the need to humble ourselves and ask the God for forgiveness and ask Him to intervene, to make repairs in the veil, because we cannot do nothing good without Him.
I understand others may.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.