Saint Martin's Cloak

Pictured is the memorial tablet one sees as one enters Soldier Memorial Chapel on Camp Walker in Daegu (or Taegu), Korea. It may look like just another memorial plaque, but here on this land U.S. forces made a real difference for the 50 million people now living in the Republic of Korea (ROK). If someone asks if the use or threat of armed force ever does any good, one need look no further than the Korean peninsula. After the U.S. liberated Korea from a half-century of Japanese occupation at the end of World War II, the Soviet Union made a land-grab to gobble up as much territory as it could in the Pacific. Soviet forces entered the northern half of Korea and effectively divided the nation at the 38th parallel. Stalin trained and equipped the army of his hand-picked dictator - Kim Il Sung - to dominate the region. Unsurprisingly, in June 1950 the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) invaded the unprepared and virtually unarmed republic to its south. Were it not for the combine...

You can say a lot of things about a soldier without cutting him too deeply. Tell him that he's stupid or ugly or uncouth or foul-smelling, and you might not even get an argument. Tell him that he lacks honor, and you are sure to get a passionate response. Honor is at the heart of soldiering. It is one of the seven Army Values that every soldier starts to learn from the first day of Basic Training. Every officer (even the ROTC version) is shaped by the West Point motto: duty - honor - country. For soldiers, there is no higher accolade than "honor" and there is no word more damning that "dishonor." <!--more-->The highest award that a soldier can receive is the "Medal of Honor." Conversely, the worst way of leaving the Army is by way of a "Dishonorable Discharge." This description is not coincidental. A discharge for incompetence is merely administrative; a discharge for dishonorable acts is punitive. A "Dishonorable Discharge"...

There are not enough military chapels or chaplains to provide separate, distinctive worship opportunities for every member of every Protestant denomination in existence. By one count, there are over 8000 Protestant denominations. In general, most military installations offer a number of non-denominational Christian services - sometimes called General Protestant or Collective Protestant - in a variety of worship styles.  By non-denominational, I don't mean "independent non-denominational," which itself describes one particular stream within Christianity. Ecumenical or multi-denominational might be a better way of describing them. Baptists, Pentecostals, independents and so-called "Mainline" Christians worship side-by-side. Individual Protestant congregations usually get tagged with labels like "traditional," "gospel," "contemporary," "multicultural"  or "liturgical." The distinctions are more stylistic than stric...

I am a warrior (albeit an unarmed one). I have lived and worked in the midst of warriors for two decades. I vigorously defend the validity of the profession of arms as a vocation for Christians. Yet I recognize that the purpose of armed conflict – in any form – is limited: to restrain evil and protect the innocent. The use or threat of force will not usher in the Kingdom of God. War always brings mixed results. It is at best a relative good and its positive effects are local and temporary. Warfare is certainly not for defending Christian prerogatives or for spreading the faith. Christians can never forget that they serve a crucified Lord. God’s supreme self-revelation is Jesus the crucified and risen messiah. The history of our salvation includes many who were warriors of a sort – Abraham and his kin, Moses, Joshua and the judges, Elijah and some of the other prophets, David and the kings of Israel and Judah – but in none of them did God fully reveal himself as he did in Jesus of Naza...

Luke-Acts contains a number of references to armed men, both Roman soldiers and local constabulary forces. The Roman forces themselves consisted of regular forces (consisting of Roman citizens) and auxiliary forces (legions raised in various regions of the empire and a possible route to Roman citizenship). Overall, the soldiers in Luke's writings get a mixed report card. They can be capable of misconduct, but they also can be capable of honorable deeds and great faith. God seems to like them since he chose one as his first Gentile convert to be baptized into the faith. Luke 3:14 We meet soldiers early in Luke's gospel. As John the Baptist calls people to repentance, the people ask him what they must do. He tells them all to share their food and clothing with those in need. He tells tax collectors not to cheat people, and he tells soldiers (presumably from the Jewish constabulary force), "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content wit...

The national colors fly at half-staff today (May 15) in observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day. Today’s observance was first established by public Law 87-726 in a 1962 joint resolution of Congress: Whereas the police officers of America have worked devotedly and selflessly in behalf of the people of this Nation, regardless of the peril or hazard to themselves; and Whereas these officers have safeguarded the lives and property of their fellow Americans; and Whereas by the enforcement of our laws, these same officers have given our country internal freedom from fear of the violence and civil disorder that is presently affecting other nations; Whereas these men and women by their patriotic service and their dedicated efforts have earned the gratitude of the Republic: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is authorized and requested to issue proclamations designating May...

I wonder if you might have a favorite photograph of yourself. If you are like me, I'm not always pleased with how I look on film. I see the image captured by the camera and think, "That's not me. That's not what I look like, is it?" I have a mental image of myself, don't you? Unfortunately, reality doesn't always measure up to my mental expectations. I have another mental picture of myself, however, and it doesn't have anything to do with my physical appearance. I have a mental picture of my character and the quality of my relationships, of who I am and what I believe and what I stand for. We might say that it's my spiritual self-image. Unfortunately, the real me doesn't measure up to my spiritual self-image any more than photographs do. A spiritual snapshot of my life reveals a person who falls short of his ideals in so many ways. There's not a lot I can do about the disparity between my mental self image and what the camera captures. ...

When it comes to foreign missions, there’s one question that always comes up for those of us in uniform. When the government sends us out into “all the world” to fight or keep the peace, can we or should we use that opportunity to be part-time secret missionaries to the local population? For the most part, I think not. The kinds of thing I'm talking about include activities like using the military postal system to bring in Bibles or religious literature to distribute to host nation personnel, handing out gospel tracts or evangelistic trinkets, organizing  Christian activities in the local populace, etc. This has nothing to do - in my opinion - with the first amendment or religious freedom. It has everything to do with vocation. We have chosen – and, I believe, have been called by God - to serve God and the cause of peace by taking up arms and serving our nation in uniform. Our first duty to both God and country is to do the job that comes with wearing that uniform: to keep o...

In the 1965 movie Shenandoah , Jimmy Stewart's character Charlie Anderson is a widower. His wife had been devoutly religious, but Charlie didn't care much for religion. He promised his wife, however, that he would raise the children in the faith. Thus, when Charlie's family gather around the table, Charlie leads them in prayer: Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it, sowed it, and harvest it. We cook the harvest. It wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be eating it if we hadn't done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you Lord just the same for the food we're about to eat, amen. I don't know too many farmers who actually have that kind of attitude. They know that it's hard work, but they know that they don't control everything that happens. Weather. The economy. Acts of nature and events in history. They all have a great impact on the farmer. Not everything is within his hand to control. Likewise, tro...