Blog Posts

NO TURNING BACK!

6/28/2019

The year was 1519. Spanish explorer and conqueror Hernán Cortés had set sail from Cuba to Veracruz, Mexico with a crew of 600 men. Upon their arrival, Cortés' men knew that many of his men were already tired, discouraged, and fearful. He also knew that, without immediate results, many of them would most likely soon develop a desire to turn back and head home to their old life.

As legend now has it, Cortés decided to preempt this plan of action. Accordingly, he had the men burn their ships. Cortés instinctively understood that, with their ability to retreat to their previous way of life now gone, he and his men were now left no option but to press on toward their stated objective. Simply put, he removed their safety net!

The burning of those ships was a powerful statement. Far more than just separating he and his men from their old ways and old comfort zones, it symbolized what lay ahead. For it now represented the blazing fire within their hearts that would be needed to complete their mission, and in so doing, to be a part of something far greater than their own selves.

Thus it is that the phrase “burn your ships” has come down to us as reminder of making a total commitment. When we burn our ships, as it were, we let go of our safety nets and turn our focus from the past to the future. In so doing, we recognize that there is now no turning back to old habits or old ways or old securities. We then turn to face our destiny; and, without reservation, we boldly march forward!

I do not know how well Hernán Cortés knew the Bible. But I do know that the notion of “burning your ships” has a Biblical precedent. We read about this in the Old Testament Book of I Kings (chapter 19, verses 15-21) in the story of the call of the Prophet Elisha. The context is that the Prophet Elijah has been instructed by God to seek out Elisha and ordain him as his successor. Beginning in verse 15, we read:

19So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. 20Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!”

Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.” 21So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.

To his credit, the young man Elisha demonstrates a total commitment to his new found calling. He slaughters his oxen and burns his plow to create a fire to cook the meat they provide. Then he gives away this meat to feed others, says his good-byes, and never looks back!

Thus we see in the story of the calling of the Prophet Elisha a young man who, like Alexander some 600 years later, and like Caesar some 800 years later, and like Cortés some 2500 years later, burns any connection he has to the past and all it provides.

For Elisha, after that day, gone were the comforts, the security, and the allure of the past. From that day onward, he was only going one direction: forward!

What about you? Do you have any ships that you need to burn today? Is your own future currently held in check by any inordinate connection to your past? If so, then why not strike the match and set your personal ships ablaze? You might be surprised to discover just how freeing it is. And also just how exhilarating!

SOURCES:

STORY SOURCE: Available widely in varying forms on the internet.
Cf.: https://blog.thecenterforsalesstrategy.com/burn-your-ships-how-to-be-a-great-leader; as well as https://www.weburntheship.com/the-story/.

NOTE: Some historians say that Cortés sunk his ship on the premise that they were no longer seaworthy. Either way, he removed any possible means of abandoning his agenda and retreating by sea.
Cf. : http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_d00.html; as well as:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hern%C3%A1n_Cort%C3%A9s#Destroying_the_ships.

NOTE ALSO: The notion of burning one’s ships so as to prevent retreat has been variously attributed to many historical conquerors. Among them are Alexander the Great in his invasion of Asia (“We go home in Persian ships or we die!”), Julius Caesar, and even the Vikings.
Cf.: https://yeretsianonrealestateinvesting.wordpress.com/2019/05/27/burn-your-ships/.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/nlt/1_kings/19.htm.

READY, SET, GO!

6/24/2019

Paul Powell once told a story about a friend of his who was assigned to work in an evangelistic endeavor in northern Mississippi. One day he walked up to the porch of a man chewing tobacco and engaged in conversation.

When the time seemed appropriate, he said to him, “Are you a Christian?” The man replied, “No, the Christians live down the road about a mile.” He said, “Well, you don’t really understand what I’m talking about. Sir, are you lost?” “Lost?” he said, “why no, I’ve lived here all my life; and I know right where I am.”

“No, no,” said my friend. “Are you ready for the judgment?” The old man said, “Well, when is it gonna be?” The friend said, “Well, I don’t rightly know. It might be today or it might be tomorrow.” The old man said, “For Heaven’s sake, don’t tell my wife. She’ll want to go both days!”

Dr. Powell’s suggested application when sharing this humorous story was: “In witnessing, it’s important to explain things so people can understand you.” I have a slightly different application to suggest: “This man’s wife was willing to go both times if she had the opportunity.”

I know of another individual who was willing to go two times. His name was Philip; and he was one of the first seven Deacons in the early church. We read about him and his exploits in the eighth chapter of the New Testament Book of Acts.

As the chapter opens, persecution in Jerusalem has resulted in the dispersion of believers to outlying areas. Philip is led to make his way north to Samaria, where he is given the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He responds to the direction of God’s Spirit, shares the good news, and sees many people believe and be baptized.

Almost immediately thereafter, he is directed to go south on the road to Gaza, where he encounters an Ethiopian eunuch returning from Jerusalem, and pondering the meaning of Isaiah’s prophecies. Given yet another opportunity to share Christ, he does so once again, and sees this man too believe and be baptized.

Twice Philip was given the command to go, twice he was given the opportunity to share Christ, and twice he was faithful to do so. As a result, twice he was able to see others have their lives changed.

While not everyone who follows Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be called upon to go to multiple places to share Christ, all who follow Him can be expected at some point to be called upon to go somewhere and share with someone, even if that is only across the street or across town rather than across the world.

I hope all of my readers who follow Christ will commit along with me to be willing to go and share whenever and wherever we are directed by God. After all, had someone else not been willing to do so, we ourselves might never have come to know Christ in the first place!

JOKE SOURCE: Paul Powell, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Retirement (Dallas: Texas Baptist Leadership Center, 2000), p. 51.

Cf.: https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php?id=146507.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/kjv/acts/8.htm.

FREE AT LAST!

6/20/2019

Yours truly has been in utter bliss every Thursday evening in May and June of this year. That is because Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has been commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day with two months of programming that honors “the courage and sacrifice that was required to win World War Two”.

(For those desiring to know more, the full schedule of TCM’s “Never Surrender: WWII in the Movies” can be found here: https://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TCM/2019/WWII/TCM-WWII-2019-Schedule.pdf.)

Tonight’s’ focus is Prisoner of War (POW) movies; and the line-up includes two classics: The Great Escape and The Bridge on the River Kwai.

The first of these, The Great Escape, is a star-studded 1963 rendition of Paul Brickhill’s famous 1950 book of the same name.

Based on an actual event, the movie recounts an audacious 1943 Allied POW plan to dig three tunnels and undertake a simultaneous mass break out of 250 men from German POW camp Stalag Luft III, so as to draw thousands of German armed forces away from the front lines in order to search for the fugitive Allied POWs.

In the end, however, only 76 Allied prisoners actually get away; and most all are eventually rounded up. In a particularly tragic scene, 50 are executed by machine gunfire on the explicit orders of the Nazi high command.

The second movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai, was made six years earlier in 1957. This one was based on a 1952 novel by Pierre Boulle (who was later to write his more famous novel, Planet of the Apes). The film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942-1943, and recounts how a small group of commandos are sent in to destroy a railroad bridge over the Kwai River that has been built by forced labor of Allied prisoners.

I confess that I already own digital copies of both of these movies; and that I know them virtually line by line! But that does not prevent me from tuning in one more time whenever I happen to come across them on television.

Of course, the plot of both movies is dependent upon the successful escape of one or more prisoners from internment. In the former, so as to recount what happened to the wider world; and in the latter, to be recruited to become part of the commando squad that returns to attack the bridge.

In reality, in regard to the total number of United States military personnel imprisoned during the war (93,941 in Europe and 27,465 in the Pacific), only a very, very small number actually managed to succeed in escaping imprisonment and making their way back to friendly lines. Most endured years of privation and barbarity at the hands of their captors.

In fact, the vast majority who survived imprisonment were only freed by liberation. In some case, this was by designated raids undertaken for that very purpose, as in the January 1945 raid on Cabanatuan in the Philippines that freed nearly 500 U.S. prisoners.

More often than not, though, throughout the spring and summer of 1945, advancing Allied troops simply came upon and liberated Allied POWs who were being held by the retreating German and Japanese armies.

Ironically, on another channel, two episodes of Hogan’ Heroes are being broadcast concurrent with these movies. A product of the 1960s, when America had emerged victorious from World War Two and become a world superpower, this television comedy presents the Axis powers as bungling idiots outwitted by Allied POWs at every turn. Yet, nothing could be farther from the truth.

As more realistic depictions of the Second World War emerged from Hollywood over the years, we have been reminded of just how fiercely contested this struggle was. TCM is right to stress that they are honoring “the courage and sacrifice that was required to win World War Two”.

Of course, the preacher in me cannot help but see the parallel to our human condition. In our great struggle against evil, we have been taken captive by the evil one – Satan. And no attempt on our part to escape his clutches has ever proven successful. But praise God, we were not forgotten. In the fullness of time, we were liberated by an infinitely more powerful combatant – the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

As the Bible says (in the New Testament Book of Galatians, chapter 4, verses 4-5, CEV), “When the time was right, God sent his Son … so he could set us free!”

To Him, and Him alone, therefore, do we owe our ultimate freedom! Thus, while I certainly join TCM in celebrating “the courage and sacrifice that was required to win World War Two” and give us earthly freedom, I rejoice even more in the same qualities that enabled the Son of God to fight His way to victory at Calvary and guarantee my eternal freedom in the process. For in the words of Jesus Christ Himself, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!”

SOURCES:

A Google search will provide numerous sites dealing with WW2 POWs and their exploits.

See, for instance:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_escapes_from_German_POW_camps;

https://guestsofthethirdreich.org/home/;

https://worldwar2.org.uk/prisoners-of-war;

http://ww2today.com/16-april-1945-the-first-pow-camp-liberated-fallingbostel;

http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/liberation_photos.html.

NOTE: The actors who played the four major German roles in “Hogan’s Heroes” - Werner Klemperer (Luftwaffe Colonel Klink), John Banner (Luftwaffe Sergeant Schultz), Leon Askin (Luftwaffe General Burkhalter), and Howard Caine (Gestapo Major Hochstetter) - were all Jewish. Of these, Klemperer, Banner, and Askin, along with Robert Clary (who portrayed Allied prisoner, Corporal LeBeau), were all individuals who actually spent time in internment camps in Nazi Germany before escaping to America!

(Cf.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogan's_Heroes.)

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/cev/galatians/4.htm;

https://biblehub.com/john/8-36.htm.

LASTLY:

Mark Felton has written a wonderful book recounting a similar mass escape undertaken a year before in 1942 by Allied POWs from another camp known as Oflag VI-B. Cf.: Mark Felton, Zero Night: The Untold Story of World War Two's Greatest Escape (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2014).

For an equally riveting first hand account of an escaping Allied POW in the Pacific, check out the following book: Damon L. Gause, The War Journal of Major Damon "Rocky" Gause: The Firsthand Account of the One of the Greatest Escapes of World War II (New York: Hyperion Press, 1999). "Rocky" Gause escaped from the Philippines to Australia in 1942. His journal was found years later by his then grown son in a chest in the attic and eventually published.

THINK TWICE!

6/17/2019

I have written before of my love for John Wayne. A Hollywood icon and top box office draw for five decades, “The Duke”, as he was affectionately known, is primarily remembered for his war movies and westerns. Despite this, he is officially accredited with 178 total acting roles in a variety of genres over his lengthy career, which lasted from 1926 until his death in 1977.

In fact, only Clark Gable sold more tickets at theaters than did John Wayne. Given his immense popularity with fans, it may be somewhat surprising then that Wayne was only awarded one Academy Award. That came in one of my personal all-time favorite movies – 1969’s “True Grit”.

In this first Hollywood treatment of Charles Portis’ runaway bestseller of the same name, Wayne portrayed the one-eyed Federal Marshal, “Rooster Cogburn”, against Kim Darby’s “Mattie Ross” and Glen Campbell’s Texas Ranger, “LeBoeuf”. (A second adaptation was produced by the Coen brothers in 2010.)

I still remember the night my parents first took my sister and me to see this movie when it was first released. As a child, I had always held John Wayne in high regard. But seeing him get the bad guys, save the day, and rescue the damsel in distress cemented him forever in my mind as the quintessential American hero!

(Of course, these days, I am older and a bit wiser. I now understand that leading men always save the day by besting the bad guys and rescuing the girl! But when one is eight years old, he understandingly lacks the benefit of such insights.)

In any event, if you are familiar with the plot, you will likely know that Marshall Cogburn didn’t do all these things by himself. He had a little help – from both young “Mattie Ross” and the Texas Ranger “LeBoeuf”. In the climactic scene where Mattie has fallen backward into the pit full of rattlesnakes after having shot Tom Cheney (the bad guy) with her father’s “Colt’s Dragoon”, Marshal Cogburn descends by rope to rescue her.

Unable to carry her up out of the pit, he finds that he is nonetheless pulled up and out with her on his shoulder by the mortally wounded LeBoeuf. Shortly thereafter, as “Mattie” and “Marshal Cogburn” kneel over the deceased Texas Ranger, John Wayne, in his role as “Marshal Cogburn”, makes the following statement: “Texican! He saved my neck twice. Once when he was dead!”

As I reflect on these words, I am reminded of the story found in the eighth chapter of the New Testament Gospel of John, where the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus. In an attempt to trap Him, they inquire as to whether or not they should stone her according to the Law of Moses. Jesus, of course, knows their hearts, and challenges them accordingly: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”

Thereafter, one by one, her speechless accusers began to depart. In the process, Jesus literally saved her life! John's Gospel goes on to record that, a couple of years later, this same Jesus gave His own life on an old rugged cross for the sins of all men and women. In so doing, He saved this particular woman’s life twice – once when He was dead!

The first time around, He saved her life physically. The second time around, He saved her life spiritually! And this second time, in the spiritual sense, He did so by giving His own life in the process!

Of course, what He did for this woman He also did for you and me. I trust you realize this. I trust you also take the time to acknowledge this! For this Judean, this Bethlehem-born Nazorean, has truly saved our lives – and He did so once and for all – when He was dead! And by his death, we are made alive, both for this world and for the world to come!

MOVIE QUOTE: https://www.quotes.net/mquote/99431.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/8.htm.

ANSWERED PRAYERS!

6/13/2019

I love the story about the community that found itself in need of rain. The drought they were experiencing had continued for what seemed an eternity, and the small community of farmers was in a quandary as to what to do. Rain was important to keep their crops healthy and sustain the townspeople's way of life.

As the problem became more acute, a local pastor called a prayer meeting to ask for rain. Many people arrived at the church to pray for the needed rain. The pastor greeted most of them as they filed in.

As he walked to the front of the church to officially begin the meeting he noticed most people were chatting across the aisles and socializing with friends. When he reached the front his thoughts were on quieting the attendees and starting the meeting.

His eyes scanned the crowd as he asked for quiet. He noticed an eleven year-old girl sitting quietly in the front row. Her face was beaming with excitement. Next to her, open and ready for use, was a very colorful and extremely large umbrella, much bigger than her in fact.

The little girl's beauty and innocence made the pastor smile as he realized how much faith she possessed. No one else in the congregation had brought an umbrella. All had come to pray for rain. But the little girl alone had come expecting God to answer!

In the New Testament, the Apostle James cautions us about approaching prayer half-heartedly. In his General Epistle (chapter 4, verses 2-3), he writes: “Ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss…”

Perhaps James is reminding us that prayer is the ability to have a personal conversation with the God of the universe; and we should not only take advantage of the opportunity to do so, but also undertake to do it with intentionality and conviction.

After all, prayer is communicating with God. This means that prayer is not just talking to God or asking for things. Prayer is also listening for answers and expecting them to be provided!

STORY SOURCE: Available widely on the internet. See, for instance: https://www.atimetolaugh.org/umbrella.html.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/kjv/james/4.htm.

“D PLUS 3”

6/9/2019

In my last blog, which was written on the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day, I wrote about the fact that it was one of many such invasions in World War Two – albeit it was by far and away the largest and most involved. I referenced the fact that the letter D always signified the given day of an invasion and H signified the hour. For this reason, the timetable for operation Overlord for was measured in hours and days from the moment of invasion - which began with paratroopers capturing Pegasus Bridge at 00.16 (12:16 am) on 6 June, 1944.

I share this because, while the first several hours of D-Day were critical for gaining a foothold on the beaches, the battle was far from over afterwards. Once the troops were ashore, they then had to fight through the hedgerow country in order to then capture key objectives, including enemy strongholds, railway lines, highways, and above all, Cherbourg, with its permanent deep-water port on the Carentan peninsula, in order to supplant the temporary portable one made possible by the artificial “mulberries” floated over from England.

As I pen this blog post, it is June 9, 2019. Seventy-five years ago, today would have been “D Plus 3”. I thought it fitting to post a short piece shared with me by a lady in the church whose uncle went ashore in the second wave at Normandy, and then fought until he was later wounded on this date in 1944. The following piece, written for his family, is used with permission. I post it here in honor of the unparalleled bravery and sacrificial spirit shown by a whole generation of men just like this man, William H. Tilley, Jr.

MY EXPERIENCES THROUGH THE WORLD WAR II YEARS
By William H. Tilley, Jr. Jan. 22, 2007

When I was 18 years of age, I volunteered to go the Army. I was inducted at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Ga on June 17, 1943 and after a few days I was sent to Camp Fannin, Texas, near Tyler. After about six weeks of basic infantry training I was turned loose to go home for ten days then I was to report to Fort Meade, MD where I was assigned to Co. A, 115th Infantry, 29th Division. After a few days there we were shipped to Camp Shanks, NJ. to get ready to go to England.

In Jan. 1944 we loaded on a small Ferry Boat and went down the Hudson River past the Statue of Liberty and loaded on a small ship bound for Liverpool, England. It took us fourteen days to go across, the Sea was rough and I thought at times the ship was going to turn upside down. I had to stand guard on deck one night and it was cold, dark and wet. when we arrived at Liverpool a train was waiting to take us to Plymouth, England and this is where we stayed until a few days before D-day. (I can't remember the name of the camp near Plymouth) While we were at Plymouth we spent about three or four days a week in the Moor.

A few days before D-Day we were moved to another camp and were told what our mission would be. We were assigned to Omaha Beach in Normandy. We were told to the best information they could get was that we should meet with little resistance and be able to move inland very quickly. After a few days we were loaded on an LCI waiting for orders to go. June 5th. was set for the invasion date but the weather was so bad and the Channel was real rough they postponed it until the next day, June 6, 1944, a date we will never forget.

Sometime during the night our ship got underway headed for the coast of France and to join all the hundreds of ships that were also on the way for the largest military operation in history. The Channel was still rough and I was sea sick but we arrived near the coast of France that morning. The first wave of troops landing on Omaha Beach at around 8:00 AM. were from the U.S. 29th. Division, 116th Infantry Regiment and the U.S. 1st. Division 16th Infantry Regiment. I think it was about 8:30 am when we were told to get off of the boat and join the invasion.

The water was up to my neck and I was loaded down with ammunition but I made it to the beach. Machine gun and rifle fire was spraying the beach along with artillery and mortar fire. Just as I reached the edge of the water I laid down to get an idea of where I should go next. I took the plastic wrap off of my rifle and about that time a big wave came in and an artillery shell came in and landed near my feet at the same time dumping water and sand all over me and jamming my rifle but I am sure the wave saved my life. I decided the quicker I could get off of the beach the better off I would be.

I saw a sea wall out some distance and I decided to make a run for it but when I got there I didn't get to stay long, an (unknown officer) officer said "let’s go men" so we started inland through a mine field. The engineers had marked a trail with white string so we would not step on a mine. A big percent of the first wave were killed, wounded or washed away by the high tide. Many of them were still lying on the beach when the 115th Infantry took over the mission.

When we reached the top of the hill we were going down a dirt road and the soldier in front of me raised his hand and that meant for everyone to stop. I laid down in a shallow ditch beside the road and about that time a German machine gun opened up on me just missing my head, I don't think he could see me but he knew I was there. He kept me pinned down for a few minutes then he threw a hand grenade and it landed within my reach but it rolled into shallow hole made by a wagon in the mud. The grenade went off but by being in the hole it did not hit me. We met with heavy resistance because the 352nd German infantry Division had just moved into the area.

Moving on, I came upon our Battalion Commander, Col. Blatt, he bad several men gathered close to him and when he saw me he motioned for me to come there. I hesitated for a few seconds and he motioned again. I got up and started toward him and just before I got there, an artillery shell hit in the middle of them. I bad seen wounded and dead all day and seeing Col. Blatt and the soldiers with him blown up was hard for me to take.

It was getting late so we spent the rest of the day getting organized. We could see what was going on down on the beach. Bulldozers building a road and heavy equipment coming off of the ships and artillery shells coming in on them at the same time. The battle ships were still out there firing over our heads. When they fired those guns it felt like someone hit me in the chest with their fist. There was not much sleep that night but I did find a ditch to lay down in and get some rest after I cleaned the sand out of my rifle.

The next morning we started moving around clearing hedgerows of snipers and moving inland at the same time. We moved around all day and into the night. Finally we stopped for a while and about daylight we were on the move again. The main part of the German Division had moved inland but they left some snipers behind. We were still working our way through the hedgerows and that afternoon we went into an open field and stopped for a break. I saw a small branch near so I went to get some water, and while I was filling my canteen a sniper took a shot at me just missed my hand holding the canteen.

We went on from there and late that afternoon we moved into a village and started digging in for the night. I had just finished digging my fox hole when a Sgt. came to me and asked me to go with them to find a lost squad, so we went off down this road for several hundred yards and the Sgt. told me to jump over the hedgerow and see if I could see anyone. I jumped over and it was so deep on the other side I could not get back up, so I walked back to an opening in the hedgerow and got back on the road and everyone was gone. It was not a good feeling to be in a combat zone all alone. I had an idea which way they went but I decided rather than trying to find them it would be better to go back to my foxhole. I went back to my foxhole but I was scared, I knew the Germans had snipers in the area.

The next morning we bad caught up with the Germans they were just outside the village where we stayed that night They were dug in and we were laying artillery in on them and after while the artillery stopped and we attacked. We got about half way to their location and we could not get across the Aure River so we had to pull back and when we pulled back the Germans made a counter attack. My platoon Sgt. told me and another boy to stay there and hold them up as long as we could while the rest of the men went back over the hill and dig in.

I was laying on a hedgerow firing my rifle when an artillery shell landed just on the other side of the hedgerow about eight feet from me. A piece of shrapnel hit me in the right eye temporarily blinding me and the boy that was with me left me there and I don't know where he went. I do know that he was not hit by that shell. All of the other men in my unit had gone back across the hill but I could hear a rifle firing down the hedgerow about two hundred feet so I followed that sound.

An officer stopped me and gave me first aid and told two of his men to take me behind the lines and get some transportation to take me to a first aid station. A sniper fired at us one ti.me while we were going back and got pretty close. They put me on a litter and across the back of a jeep and took me to a first aid station. They started giving me morphine and got me ready to go out to the hospital ship just off the beach. That night the Germans came over and dropped two bombs on the ship but it did not sink. The next morning we arrived in England and I went through two more hospitals before I got to the one that could treat me.

While I was in this hospital they removed the shrapnel and a few days later the Doctor came to my bed and told me the eye was infected and it would be necessary to remove it. He said it would not be necessary to put me to sleep, the only time it would hurt would be when he cut the main optic nerve AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT THAT. The next thing they started making me a prosthetic eye out of plastic.

I was in that hospital for about two months and when I started to leave I asked the Dr. why he would not put me to sleep to remove the eye and he told me I was shell shocked and I would not have woken up.

Now I'm on my way again to a replacement depot for a few weeks and then back to France. I was in limited service since I bad lost the right eye so they kept me back behind the lines. I had been having bad headaches so I went on sick call and the Dr. ask me how I got back to France and I told him I could not get my name removed from the shipping list. He immediately put me on the list to fly back to England and go back in the hospital. They diagnosed my trouble there as sinus. They transferred me out of the 29th Infantry Division and put me in Detachment Headquarters of the 188th General Hospital as a Clerk Typist at Cirencester England. I was there at the end of the war in Europe.

On June 6, 1945, one year after D-Day, I was sent to London from Cirencester England for two days to be interviewed on a British Broadcasting Corporation program called "Salute to Service Men". This program was "spotlighted" to Station WSB, Atlanta, Ga and was heard by my parents and family and others in Blue Ridge and surrounding areas. They had been notified the time the program would come on. BBC gave me a written copy of the interview and also a recording of.

Awards I received:

Combat Infantry Badge
Bronze Arrowhead Bronze Star
2 Campaign Stars
Purple Heart
EAMET Service Medal*
World War II Victory Medal

In his New Testament Letter to the Romans (chapter 13, verse 7), the Apostle Paul states: “Pay to all what is owed to them … respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” Along with a whole generation of brave men and women who so willingly gave of themselves, Mr. Tilley deserves both our respect and our honor.

Jesus Christ, Who also fought a battle and came out on “D Plus 3” victorious, once told us there is no greater love that any individual can show for others than the willingness to lay down his or her life for them. Just like Jesus, Mr. Tilley was willing, if called upon, to do just that. And along with a great many others, I will never forget what he did for me and my freedom!

REMEMBRANCE SOURCE: A paper document shared with me personally by Ms. Sherwood.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES: https://www.biblehub.com/romans/13-7.htm;
https://biblehub.com/john/15-13.htm.

NOTE: *"EAMET" stands for "European-Africa-Middle Eastern".

I HAVE RETURNED!

6/6/2019

As I pen this post, my all-time favorite movie is on. "The Longest Day" is a star-studded 1962 Hollywood production about the invasion of Hitler’s “Fortress Europe” back on June 6, 1944. That event, technically named “Operation Overlord”, but more commonly referred to as “D-Day”, occurred exactly seventy-five years ago today.

Of the handful of days that can claim to be absolutely pivotal in the twentieth century, “D-Day” certainly ranks among them. To be sure, there were numerous “D-Days” in World War Two. Along with “H-hour”, the term “D-Day” merely designates the day and hour of a planned invasion.

Nonetheless, of the numerous invasions in World War Two (North Africa, Italy, the Pacific Islands, etc…), history mostly associates the term with the Allied invasion of Normandy, France in June of 1944. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost is the fact the invasion was the single largest seaborne invasion in human history. It involved the largest aggregate of landing ships (c. 5000) and troops (c. 156,000 soldiers and another c. 195,000 naval personnel) ever assembled.

The second reason is that the successful breaching of Hitler’s vaunted “Atlantic Wall”, an uninterrupted string of coastal fortifications that ran from Spain in the south to Finland in the north, led to the eventual (and inevitable) liberation of occupied Europe. Indeed, within a little over one month of D-Day, Hitler’s generals had turned against him; and within one year, Hitler himself was dead and Nazism was vanquished forever.

Fittingly, the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day has unfolded amidst much fanfare and pageantry in Normandy. Gatherings, parades, speeches, and similar festivities involving world leaders from across the globe have been the order of the day. Indeed, our own president has received high marks from both sides of the political aisle for the remarks he delivered.

But the one event that grabbed my attention more than any other was the story about the ninety-seven year old D-Day veteran who parachuted into Normandy a second time. According to various news stories, C-47 transport planes dropped a group of a couple of hundred parachutists, replicating a jump made by U.S. soldiers including veteran Tom Rice, as a prelude to the seaborne invasions on D-Day. Many of the original airborne soldiers, including Rice, descended into gunfire and death.

This time around, however, Rice’s jump was a different story. He came down in tandem with another parachutist, after preparing for six months with a physical trainer. He also flew down with an American flag fluttering beneath him, and landed to a wave of applause from the crowd of thousands that gathered to watch the aerial display.

How different this time was from his original jump. The first time around, he jumped with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, landing safely despite catching himself on the exit and a bullet striking his parachute. He called the 1944 jump "the worst jump I ever had”.

According to an Associated Press interview, he stated: "I got my left armpit caught in the lower left-hand corner of the door so I swung out, came back and hit the side of the aircraft, swung out again and came back, and I just tried to straighten my arm out and I got free.”

He added: "Everything was, for the most part, repeated except this is a daylight jump and the Normandy jump in ’44 was a nighttime jump. I didn’t know where I was. I knew where I was here! I represent the United States coming here … I really appreciate all the love and their kindness and their heartfelt emotions."

That being said, Rice admitted that he nonetheless remains troubled by the war. “All the GIs suffer from the same blame and shame," he said. "It bothers us all the time for what we did. We did a lot of destruction, damage. And we chased the Germans out, and coming back here is a matter of closure. You can close the issue now," he said.

As I read this, I was first of all impressed by the physical strength and dexterity of this World War Two veteran. Alter all, he is just three short years away from turning one hundred! I was also reminded once again that a whole generation of Americans sacrificed in untold numbers of ways in order that I might be free today.

Make no mistake about it; Hitler and his thugs had designs on North and South America just as they did Europe and Asia. Were it not for what Tom Brokaw called “The Greatest Generation”, we might all now be speaking German, marching in goose step, or even worse, living in a totalitarian world!

But the preacher in me was reminded of something else. The greatest of all liberators was our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He came down from above to this world the first time to do spiritual battle with the forces of evil. He won that battle on the cross of Calvary. And because of this, we have been set free for all eternity!

But there is more to the story. In multiple places in the New Testament, we are told that this same Jesus will one day return! He will once again descend from heaven to earth – this time to have full and complete closure on the whole matter of spiritual battle!

On March 21, 1942, more than two years before the Normandy invasion, General Douglas MacArthur was ordered by President Roosevelt to evacuate the Philippines and organize a strategy of attack against the invading Japanese from Australia, he famously told the people of the Philippines: “I shall return!”

On October 20, 1944, a few hours after his troops landed, MacArthur waded ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte. That day, he made a radio broadcast in which he declared, “People of the Philippines, I have returned!”

The day will come when Jesus Christ Himself will also return. And when that day comes, we who have been liberated by Him, and who await His coming, will rejoice as He makes his second, long awaited appearance! What a day, glorious day that will be!

SOURCE: Reported widely in the news. My immediate source is: https://www.foxnews.com/world/d-day-veteran-97-parachutes-into-normandy-75-years-later.

The specific article cited above was written by Frank Miles, a reporter and editor covering geopolitics, military, crime, technology and sports for FoxNews.com. His email is Frank.Miles@foxnews.com. Note: Martha MacCallum of Fox News and The Associated Press also contributed to the report.

SEE ALSO: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/macarthur-returns.

NOTE: For a better appreciation of what it was really like, at least here on the home front, back on June 6, 1944, check out these websites that contain the original news broadcast coming in as D-Day itself unfolded in real time:

https://archive.org/details/Complete_Broadcast_Day_D-Day;

https://www.wwiifoundation.org/students/real-time-radio-broadcasts-from-d-day-june-6-1944/.

SLIP SLIDIN’ AWAY…

6/3/2019

Singer/songwriter Paul Simon once had a hit titled “Slip Slidin’ Away”. The song was certified gold and reached number four on Billboard Magazine’s rankings. (And for what it’s worth, the Oak Ridge Boys sang back up!)

The last verse of the song is particularly haunting:

“Whoah… God only knows, God makes his plan.
The information's unavailable to the mortal man.
We're workin' our jobs, collect our pay.
Believe we're gliding down the highway,
when in fact we're slipsliding away…”

I thought of these words this week when I read the following headlines in the news: “BILLIONAIRE'S LUXURY SUPERYACHT SLIPS FROM CARGO SHIP, GETS LOST AT SEA.”

According to Elizabeth Llorente, who reported the story for FoxNews.com on June 1, 2019,

The billionaire owner of a 130-foot yacht, named MY Song, is singing the blues after his vessel got lost at sea when it fell off a cargo ship. The $38 million superyacht, which was on the last leg of a journey that began in the Caribbean, was not secured correctly by the crew, according to the company that transported her, when it fell overboard last Saturday.

The owner is Italian billionaire Pier Luigi Loro Piana, who is heir to a luxury clothing company. Forbes magazine puts his net worth at $1.6 billion. "For anyone who loves the sea, his boat is like a second home, and it is as if my home has burnt down," Piana, 67, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

MY Song, which was built in 2016, was being transported to Ibiza to take part in the Logo Piana Superyacht Regatta, which is running in Porto Cervo from June 3 to June 6, when it broke loose over the weekend. MY Song won last year.

The yacht has since been located, with salvagers now working to prepare her for tow. The head of Peters & May, the company that handles MY Song’s transporting, said in a statement to the press: “Upon receipt of the news Peters & May instructed the captain of the MV Brattinsborg to attempt salvage whilst 3rd party salvors were appointed."

“The vessel maintained visual contact with My Song until the air and sea search was initiated. As of 0900hr BST on 28th May 2019 the salvage attempts are still ongoing,” David Holley said.

“A full investigation into the cause of the incident has been launched,” he continued. “However the primary assessment is that the yacht’s cradle (owned and provided by the yacht, warrantied by the yacht for sea transport and assembled by the yacht’s crew) collapsed during the voyage from Palma to Genoa and subsequently resulted in the loss of MY Song overboard. I will add that this is the initial assessment and is subject to confirmation in due course.”

On social media, yachting organizations and publications lamented the misfortune that befell MY Song, a star in the regatta and luxury yacht worlds. Its past honors include Best Yacht at the World Superyacht Awards.

GCaptain.com noted that besides being an award-winning performer in competitions, MY Song was a jewel in luxuriating circles: “The interior accommodation is for six to eight guests including the owner, the focal point being a spectacular deck saloon with hull and superstructure ports, plus skylights providing panoramic outboard views.”

Wow! For my part, I am glad they have at least located the poor man’s yacht. Note that I use the term “poor” here to describe his feelings only! After all, he is a billionaire. Nonetheless, a loss is a loss; and I do not take any perverse pleasure in seeing another individual lose something of value to them.

Of course, most of you are probably like me in that you do not live in a world of $55 million luxury play toys. And I do not even necessarily know that I would spend such an amount of money on a yacht if I did have it to spend. But it is no crime either to be rich or to enjoy yachting; so I hope for a happy ending to the matter.

That being said, the story reminds me that all we ever presume to possess in this world is really just slip-sliding away from us. The stuff of this world, lands, buildings, cars, boats, planes, etc… all of these items continually elude us as they inexorably slip from our grasp and slowly but surely slide further and further away from us.

Like me, you may not have ever lost a yacht. But how many homes have you lived in that are no longer yours? How many cars have you driven that are no longer yours? How many sets of clothes have you worn that are no longer yours? How many pieces of jewelry have you worn that are no longer yours? More to the point: how many toys have you played with that are now in someone else’s toy box?

We would do well not to get too attached to the things of this world, for they are fleeting at best. At most, we make believe that we possess them but for a little while. Soon enough, however, they are wrenched from our grasp and placed in the hands of others. Ironically, they do not then belong to these individuals either. Someone after them will quickly be the next to claim them.

But there will come a day when no one can claim them, for as Jesus tells us (in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24, verse 35), this earth will one day pass away. The Apostle Peter (in his Second General New Testament Epistle, chapter 3, verses 10) tells us how this will happen:

“The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.”

To this, the Apostle John adds in the Revelation given to him (chapter 21, verse 1) that he saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and earth had passed away.

Little wonder then that Jesus admonishes us not to get too attached to the things of this world. In his famed “Sermon on the Mount”, found in Matthew chapters 5-7, he says (6:19-20):

19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Only the treasure we store up in Heaven will neither slip nor slide away! Only it will be with us for all eternity!

SOURCE: https://www.foxnews.com/world/billionaires-luxury-superyacht-slips-cargo-ship-missing-sea.

NOTE: Elizabeth Llorente is Senior Reporter for FoxNews.com, and can be reached at Elizabeth.Llorente@Foxnews.com. She can be followed on Twitter on Twitter @Liz_Llorente.

BIG BROTHER

5/30/2019

My sister has a plaque in her house that reads: “Grandchildren are a reward for not killing your own children!” While neither I nor my wife ever quite got mad enough at our own kids to consider killing them, we do understand the sentiment behind these words.

Of course, the Bible also has much to say about children and grandchildren. For instance, it repeatedly tells us that children are a blessing to those who have them. In one particular instance, the Psalmist (in chapter 127, verses 3-5) puts it this way:

3Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. 4Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. 5Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

To this, the writer of Proverbs (chapter 17, verse 6) adds that “grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged”.

For our part, with three grown children, plus two daughters-in-law, a son-in-law, and four precious little grandsons, my wife and I can say that we have finally begun to appreciate all these words.

Indeed, these days, the highlight of our lives is to spend as much time as possible with each and every one of these God-given blessings!

Obviously, we cannot always be there with them in person. But at least we have the blessing of daily video clips forwarded to us by text and email. It was through one such recent video clip that the Lord spoke to me.

My daughter filmed her two year old son playing in the backyard sandbox that we had gotten him. While he is playing, she is holding his younger brother, age six months, in her lap. As the camera cuts back and forth, the latter is completely transfixed by his older brother barely three feet away.

The clip shows him keenly watching every move his older brother makes, and literally cackling out loud each time his brother does anything particularly noteworthy (such as tossing sand in the air or squealing with delight as he stamps his own feet in the sand, etc…) The caption she added to the forwarded clip said it all: “I can’t wait to grow up and join in the fun!”

The first time I watched the clip, I naturally delighted in the frivolity on display. Just seeing two of my grandsons laughing and having such fun was reward enough for the moment. But as I have watched it again and again, the Lord has spoken to me about a spiritual truth on display.

My youngest grandson is happy and content for two main reasons. First, he is in the arms of a loving parent, who has met all his needs – even those of which he is not yet fully aware.

Second, he has his eyes on his older brother, whose every word and action give him supreme joy and absolute delight. Indeed, his only desire in the clip seems to be to one day follow the example of his elder brother and emulate him in all that he does.

If you think about it, how like us this is! As born-again children of God, we are continually in His loving embrace. All of our basic needs have been, and continue to be, met by our Heavenly Father – even those of which we are not fully aware.

Nonetheless, He continually nurtures us and protects us and showers us with love. And even as we rest securely in His care, we fix our gaze upon the One Whom the Bible (in Hebrews 2:17; Romans 8:17, 29; and Mark 3:34-35) asserts to be our older brother, Jesus Christ.

In Him, we find our supreme delight! Thus, we are inspired to follow His example and become all we can become and experience all we can experience as a result!

I offer this simple prayer as I close:

“Thank you, Heavenly Father, for all you have provided for me. And thank you, Jesus, not only for saving me, but also for inspiring me and encouraging me to follow your example in order that I may experience all you have for me in this world and in the world to come! Amen.”

SCRIPTURE SOURCES: All Bible verses referenced above are available at: https://biblehub.com/.

SACRIFICIAL LIVING

5/26/2019

I do not know what all your Memorial Day weekend has thus far involved; or what all it may yet entail. There are plenty of parades, cookouts, reunions, concerts, and of course, fireworks shows to attend.

But I do know that for a lot of folks here in east Tennessee, it has also involved pulling for the lady Volunteers softball team as they have battled the Florida Gators in the NCAA Gainesville Super-Regional trying to advance to the Women’s College World Series.

Our daughter brought her two little boys over and we all watched the game together on Saturday, as the Lady Vols evened the best of three series at a game apiece. Alas, however, it was not meant to be, as the Lady Vols then went down in defeat in the rubber game of the match on Sunday afternoon. But we enjoyed the games nonetheless.

As we watched, we also reminisced together, for my daughter played a lot of fast-pitch softball down through the years. For years, my wife and I literally hauled her to tournaments all over the southeast. Later on, she was privileged to be a part of a high school state championship team as well.

I learned a lot about softball watching all those games down through the years. For instance, rarely does one team actually blow another team out. More often, the games are quite close, and come down to being won by just one or two runs.

What is more, very often in close games, a team will work together to “manufacture” a run.

This is how it worked when my daughter played. She was not a power hitter; but she could absolutely scoot around the bases. For this reason, she was often the lead-off batter.

When she came to the plate, her job was to get on base most any way she could, she was to coax a walk, to lay down a bunt, even to get on by an error. Most any way she could, her job was to get on base.

Then, once on first base, her next job was to steal second base. Over the years, she got good at that. She would worry the opposing pitcher and/or catcher mercilessly, feigning a steal, until she finally caught one or both of them off guard. At that moment, off she would go, speeding toward second base, and usually managing to slide in just ahead of the attempted tag after the throw down from the catcher.

Now, if all of this happened as planned, the most important step in the sequence came up. The job of the number two hitter was then to lay down a sacrifice bunt in order to get my daughter on over to third base. Once this was accomplished, with only one out and the power hitters due up, most any ball hit out of the infield, either on the ground or in the air, would easily allow the run to score from third base!

Looking back, while I was always happy whenever we got a run this way, I have to admit that I often felt sorry for the number two hitter. You see, unlike the base runner, or the power hitter, she never got the glory!

What is more, because of her role, her own personal offensive statistics suffered terribly. Her personal batting average, her personal on-base percentage, her personal “RBI” (or “runs batted in”) totals, her personal runs scored totals, and even her own chance to steal bases herself – all these statistics suffered in comparison to those of her team members!

Yet, without her willingness to sacrifice, the “manufactured” run would not have been scored. As a result, quite often, the game itself would not have been won!

And there you have it! Sacrifice is a powerful thing. Nonetheless, it is always costly to the individual undertaking it! However, without sacrifice, the cause is not advanced, the victory is not won!

This Memorial Day weekend, remember all those who have willingly sacrificed to give us what all we now have. Remember the men and women of our nation’s armed forces who willingly laid down their lives for our political freedoms. Statistics tell us that over the centuries, some 1.2 million individuals have died in service of our country, helping to guarantee the rights we enjoy each and every day.

Beyond this, as you have opportunity, seek out and thank any veterans and service members you know for their willingness stand on the line and, if need be, go into harm’s way, on our behalf!

Above all, remember the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who willingly gave His own life that we may have spiritual life –and have it to the full! Be sure to express your gratitude to Him as well. And take every opportunity to share the good news made possible by His sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection!

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