This was written by a friend of mine named Duane Harris whom I graduated high school with in 1994. We recently reunited and I will be going to a high school reunion held in Gatlinbug, TN in a few months and will see him as well as other friends for the first time in years. Can't wait!
"I just finished watching Saving Private Ryan. I have watched this movie probably ten times before tonight. As I sit here tonight I was moved with thoughts and emotions that compelled me to write you all today. I know there is a chance that you guys would think it is just another cheesy thought from Harry, but I figured since you know how I am any way you would forgive me if you did. As I watched that movie I had thought about the ultimate sacrifice that was made by so many. We as Americans so easily forget what those who have gone before us and served in combat have given up. Not only has the cause they fought for been so just, but the life that they could have would be a life in the most privilaged nation on Earth. I think about the men and women who have served our country in war over the decades. I thought about how each man who lost his life in combat lost all of the things we enjoy every day as well. We live in America. We are the richest, most powerful, and most enveyed nation in the world. Why?, because God has chosen to bless this nation. I feel a big reason for that is because the American fighting man has always faught for what was right. He bled and died for people who he never met in foriegn countries so that they may be free from oppression, dictatorship, and slavery. The American military has been the only force capable of accomplishing those tasks. The American soldier has not only preserved our own nation's freedom but the freedom of many nations all over the world. That, I believe, is a big reason God has chosen to bless and keep this great nation we call home. The ultimate sacrifice has been made by so many, but not only those who have died need to be remembered. The ones who are currently serving over seas and the ones who have been badly wounded in combat, never to live a normal life should also be remembered. I know that Veterans Day is over but that doesn't mean that we can't take a moment to thank our God for the men and women who have made it possible for us to live our lives as we do in this great nation. Everything we enjoy can be traced back to a lonely, scared, cold, tired, strong, brave, well trained, and unwavoring soldier fighting on the battlefied of today or on the battlefieds over years gone by. I don't want anyone to thank me today for my service. This is not about that at all. I have done nothing compared to the ones I have referred to in this email. I just want everyone to take a moment today to thank God for the American fighting man, pray for the ones serving right now, and thank a Veteran if you get a chance. Especially a WWII vet. Love you guys and I hope you all have a great day. God bless America. Honor the flag, and when you see one flying today where ever it is, remember them."
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Sunday, November 13, 2005
TO: Commander In Chief, Spiritual Armed Forces, Jesus Christ.
FROM: Officer of Battle, Spiritual Armed Forces, Weary Warrior
RE: Request For Transfer
Dear Sir,
I am writing this to You to request a transfer to a desk job. I herewith present my reasons: I began my career as a private but because of the intensity of the battle You have quickly moved me up in the ranks. You have made me an officer and given me a tremendous amount of responsibility. There are many soldiers and recruits under my charge. I am constantly being called upon to dispense wisdom, make judgements, and find solutions to complex problems. You have placed me in a position to function as an officer, when in my heart I know I have only the skills of a private. I realize that You have promised to supply all I would need for the battle but Sir, I must present You a realistic picture of my equipment. My uniform; once so crisp and starched is now stained with tears and blood of those I have tried to assist. The soles of my boots are cracked and worn from the miles I have walked trying to enlist and encourage and instruct the troops. My weapons are marred, tarnished and chipped from constant use in battle against the enemy. Even the Book of Regulations I was issued has been torn and tattered from endless use. The Words are now smeared. You have promised You would be with me throughout, but when the noise of the battle is so loud and the confusion is so great, I can neither see nor hear You. I feel so alone. I am tired. I am discouraged. I have Battle Fatigue. I would never ask You for a discharge. I love being in Your service but I humbly request a demotion and transfer. I will file papers; anything. Just get me out of the battle; PLEASE Sir!
Your Faithful But Tired Servant,
Weary Warrior
TO: Officer of Battle, Spiritual Armed Forces, Weary Warrior
FROM: Commander In Chief, Spiritual Armed Forces, Jesus Christ
RE: Your Request For Transfer
Dear Soldier,
Your request for transfer has been denied. I herewith present my reasons.....
You are needed in this battle. If you leave your post, your comrades-in-arms will be exposed to the enemy. I have personally selected you and I will keep My word to supply your need. You do not need a demotion or transfer. You need a period of R and R (Renewal and
Rekindling) I have set aside a place on the battlefield that is insulated from all sound and is fully protected from the enemy. I will meet you there and will give you rest. I will remove your old equipment and make all things new. You have been wounded in the battle, my precious soldier. Your wounds are not visible, but you have received grave internal injuries. You need to be healed and I will heal you. You have been weakened in the battle and need to be strengthened. I will strengthen you and be your strength. I will instill in you confidence and ability. My words will rekindle within you a renewed love, zeal and passion to fight the enemy. Report to me tattered and empty for I will refill you, soldier.
Compassionately Yours,
Jesus Christ, Commander In Chief
FROM: Officer of Battle, Spiritual Armed Forces, Weary Warrior
RE: Request For Transfer
Dear Sir,
I am writing this to You to request a transfer to a desk job. I herewith present my reasons: I began my career as a private but because of the intensity of the battle You have quickly moved me up in the ranks. You have made me an officer and given me a tremendous amount of responsibility. There are many soldiers and recruits under my charge. I am constantly being called upon to dispense wisdom, make judgements, and find solutions to complex problems. You have placed me in a position to function as an officer, when in my heart I know I have only the skills of a private. I realize that You have promised to supply all I would need for the battle but Sir, I must present You a realistic picture of my equipment. My uniform; once so crisp and starched is now stained with tears and blood of those I have tried to assist. The soles of my boots are cracked and worn from the miles I have walked trying to enlist and encourage and instruct the troops. My weapons are marred, tarnished and chipped from constant use in battle against the enemy. Even the Book of Regulations I was issued has been torn and tattered from endless use. The Words are now smeared. You have promised You would be with me throughout, but when the noise of the battle is so loud and the confusion is so great, I can neither see nor hear You. I feel so alone. I am tired. I am discouraged. I have Battle Fatigue. I would never ask You for a discharge. I love being in Your service but I humbly request a demotion and transfer. I will file papers; anything. Just get me out of the battle; PLEASE Sir!
Your Faithful But Tired Servant,
Weary Warrior
TO: Officer of Battle, Spiritual Armed Forces, Weary Warrior
FROM: Commander In Chief, Spiritual Armed Forces, Jesus Christ
RE: Your Request For Transfer
Dear Soldier,
Your request for transfer has been denied. I herewith present my reasons.....
You are needed in this battle. If you leave your post, your comrades-in-arms will be exposed to the enemy. I have personally selected you and I will keep My word to supply your need. You do not need a demotion or transfer. You need a period of R and R (Renewal and
Rekindling) I have set aside a place on the battlefield that is insulated from all sound and is fully protected from the enemy. I will meet you there and will give you rest. I will remove your old equipment and make all things new. You have been wounded in the battle, my precious soldier. Your wounds are not visible, but you have received grave internal injuries. You need to be healed and I will heal you. You have been weakened in the battle and need to be strengthened. I will strengthen you and be your strength. I will instill in you confidence and ability. My words will rekindle within you a renewed love, zeal and passion to fight the enemy. Report to me tattered and empty for I will refill you, soldier.
Compassionately Yours,
Jesus Christ, Commander In Chief
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
This is a message that I sent to another group that I believe never got posted because of an "end of thread notice." It was a bit off-topic for that group, but I thought that others that read this blog might get some helpful info from it:
"I am a first-year seminary student studying for my Masters of Divinity degree at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. I received a free copy of Today's New International Version from my seminary which I believe is the translation that the gender-neutrality has come up. I might be wrong about that, but that is my understanding of it. If that is the case, I did peruse the translation and looked up some key passages. In particular interest to me was the 1 Timothy passages on requirements for overseers and elders. It is important to note that these passages were not changed to be gender-neutral. As a matter of fact, from what I could see, there were no changes made to parts of the Bible that obviously had to do with one gender. In other words, Jesus was never made out to be a woman and masculitnity or feminity (sp?) was not stripped of anything where context showed the gender being obviously specified. What was changed was phrases such as "brothers" now read "brothers and sisters" and the like.
"David, you are right. There are no perfect Bible translations. According to the textbook which I am using right now in my Hermeneutics class, Michael Gorman lists the versions which he will and will not use for exegesis. Please keep in mind that this was written before the current TNIV controversy. They are as follows:
Versions Preferred For Exegesis:
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
New American Bible (NAB)
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Versions Acceptable For Exegesis, With Caution:
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Revised English Bible (REB)
New International Version (NIV)
Versions Unacceptable as the Basis for Exegesis, but useful in other ways:
The Message
Good News Bible (GNB)
Contemporary English Bible (CEV)
New Living Translation (NLT)
New Jersuselem Bible (NJB)
Versions Unacceptable for Exegesis:
The Living Bible (LB)
King James Version (KJV) or Authorized Version (AV)
New King James Version (NKJV)
"That's right. Gorman considers the King James an unacceptable Bible for exegesis. The reason being is, "Since 1611, many older and better manuscripts of the Bible have been discovered..." and the increase in textual criticism. All of this information is taken from Elements of Biblical Exegesis by Michael J. Gorman. From everything that I could read, Gorman is moderate in his theology, so I do not agree with everything he writes, but the point about the KJV version of the Bible is well taken. My preferred translation is the NIV, but I also have the priviledge of being able to read some of the original Greek and there is no better way to read it. However, a caution must be added here also. If you want to learn Greek or Hebrew in order to read the Bible in the original language to "find out what it really says," you will be very dissapointed. For the most part, the Bible in English as we have it today is a very accurate reflection of what the Greek and Hebrew says. Greek and Hebrew help you increase your knowledge of what the Greeks mean when they use certain words, but rarely does it aid you in changing the meaning of a passage when it is read in English. A good example of what I'm talking about is the use of three words for love in Greek that mean different things versus the one word that we have.
A good tool for any layperson who wants to increase his knowledge of Scripture and his enjoyment of the study of Scripture is a good Hermeneutics textbook which could be recommended by your pastor and learning how to use a Greek and Hebrew lexicon. I would never suggest, however, to simply use a Hebrew and Greek lexicon without some knowledge of hermeneutics because just because that word means something and it is in that particular place does not mean that it means that in that particular place. As the old saying goes, "A text without a context is a pretext" and as my undergrad Greek professor drilled into our heads: 'Context is king.'"
"I am a first-year seminary student studying for my Masters of Divinity degree at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. I received a free copy of Today's New International Version from my seminary which I believe is the translation that the gender-neutrality has come up. I might be wrong about that, but that is my understanding of it. If that is the case, I did peruse the translation and looked up some key passages. In particular interest to me was the 1 Timothy passages on requirements for overseers and elders. It is important to note that these passages were not changed to be gender-neutral. As a matter of fact, from what I could see, there were no changes made to parts of the Bible that obviously had to do with one gender. In other words, Jesus was never made out to be a woman and masculitnity or feminity (sp?) was not stripped of anything where context showed the gender being obviously specified. What was changed was phrases such as "brothers" now read "brothers and sisters" and the like.
"David, you are right. There are no perfect Bible translations. According to the textbook which I am using right now in my Hermeneutics class, Michael Gorman lists the versions which he will and will not use for exegesis. Please keep in mind that this was written before the current TNIV controversy. They are as follows:
Versions Preferred For Exegesis:
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
New American Bible (NAB)
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Versions Acceptable For Exegesis, With Caution:
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Revised English Bible (REB)
New International Version (NIV)
Versions Unacceptable as the Basis for Exegesis, but useful in other ways:
The Message
Good News Bible (GNB)
Contemporary English Bible (CEV)
New Living Translation (NLT)
New Jersuselem Bible (NJB)
Versions Unacceptable for Exegesis:
The Living Bible (LB)
King James Version (KJV) or Authorized Version (AV)
New King James Version (NKJV)
"That's right. Gorman considers the King James an unacceptable Bible for exegesis. The reason being is, "Since 1611, many older and better manuscripts of the Bible have been discovered..." and the increase in textual criticism. All of this information is taken from Elements of Biblical Exegesis by Michael J. Gorman. From everything that I could read, Gorman is moderate in his theology, so I do not agree with everything he writes, but the point about the KJV version of the Bible is well taken. My preferred translation is the NIV, but I also have the priviledge of being able to read some of the original Greek and there is no better way to read it. However, a caution must be added here also. If you want to learn Greek or Hebrew in order to read the Bible in the original language to "find out what it really says," you will be very dissapointed. For the most part, the Bible in English as we have it today is a very accurate reflection of what the Greek and Hebrew says. Greek and Hebrew help you increase your knowledge of what the Greeks mean when they use certain words, but rarely does it aid you in changing the meaning of a passage when it is read in English. A good example of what I'm talking about is the use of three words for love in Greek that mean different things versus the one word that we have.
A good tool for any layperson who wants to increase his knowledge of Scripture and his enjoyment of the study of Scripture is a good Hermeneutics textbook which could be recommended by your pastor and learning how to use a Greek and Hebrew lexicon. I would never suggest, however, to simply use a Hebrew and Greek lexicon without some knowledge of hermeneutics because just because that word means something and it is in that particular place does not mean that it means that in that particular place. As the old saying goes, "A text without a context is a pretext" and as my undergrad Greek professor drilled into our heads: 'Context is king.'"
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