May God Bless Those Who Serve Our Country

        Two weekends ago I spent two nights on the aircraft carrier Yorktown at Patriot Point in Charleston Harbor.  My son and I were camping on board that great ship with the Boy Scouts, and we both had a great time.  It was interesting to see that ship which had participated in so many important military actions in our nation's history, and to get to live aboard for a couple of days.  My son, David, enjoyed the experience as much as I did, but for different reasons.  He enjoyed seeing the airplanes, the guns, and hearing the stories of the action of battle.  I was moved by the stories of the men who had served there, and the sacrifices they made.  We slept in the narrow bunks, and we had hot water and air-conditioning, the food was tasty, and there were about three hundred Scouts and leaders on board.  We were there for only about two days and we felt safe and secure on board that great ship.

            I thought of the men who lived on that ship in the South Pacific, with no air-conditioning, only occasional baths, under the danger of aircraft attacks at any moment.  Many men have died on that ship and others like her.  I imagined what it would have been like to live on board with 3,000 men, 110 degree tropical heat, and the terror of Kamikaze aircraft in the sky.  I thought of the courage, the sense of honor and duty, and the willingness to die for America that those sailors had.  It is said that unless there is fear, there is no courage; only when we do what we are afraid to do, can we show courage.  I know those men felt terror, but they continued to do their duty.  They showed us what we can accomplish in the face of overwhelming odds, if we will stand firm and do our duty.  There is a photo from the aftermath of one of the battles in which a man is dying on the deck of the ship; the fires are still burning around him, as a chaplain leans over him, comforting and praying for the wounded sailor.  Even in the midst of that burning wreckage, God's comfort was present in the form of that chaplain.

            On Sunday morning outside Fort Moultrie, as we headed back toward home, I led the worship and prayer service for our boys, and asked them to think of something they enjoyed, and then to think about the person who had made it possible for them to have that thing they most enjoyed.  For some, it was an old car, or a game system, or a special piece of sporting equipment they loved.  Most were grateful to parents who had helped them.  Then I asked them to think about their freedom; we had traveled from Tennessee to Charleston, South Carolina, and no official had stopped us and asked to see our identification papers or travel permits.  We had come to Charleston because we were free to do so.  But that freedom, which we take for granted, was paid for at a tremendous cost.  Men and women suffered for us, hurt for us, felt lonely for us, died for us.  Like Jesus Christ, they gave their lives so others might live.  On November 11, we honor those people.  To all our veterans, we say the words, "Thank You," but our hearts feel something much deeper.  We pray that God will bless you for what you did for us.

            Today, there are men and women in Iraq, and in other parts of the world, who are making daily sacrifices for us.  Without them we would long ago have lost our religious liberty.  We would, long ago, have been enslaved or killed; through their sacrifice we enjoy the freedom to choose how to live our lives.  We choose how to spend each day of our lives.  This Veteran's Day, let us take time to remember the men and women of our Armed Services, now and in the past, who are making a difference for our world, and for our children's and grandchildren's world.  I do not want my son and my daughters to have to live in a world where they are forced to live under Islamic law, faced with the choice of conversion to Islam, slavery to Islam, or death.  That is precisely the goal of the enemy we face today. 

            In World War II, the stakes were great; they are no less great today.  So I want to express my thanks to those men and women who have chosen to serve to keep our nation free.  We all owe them a great debt.  Let's pray for them today, and for the success of the cause in which they fight.  If you know a veteran, first pause to appreciate the freedom you have, then thank that vet for the freedom which you enjoy.  Then thank God for the blessings He has given to our country.