Sola Scriptura: Baptism Part One-Physical Embodiment

Now I by no means want to discourage anyone from the full blessing that is found in following the Lord in His command, that those who have received Him as their Savior and come to the knowledge that He is Lord, which comes in obedience in baptism. But there are some who have fallen away for the meaning of God's great truth by teaching that the water of baptism carries with it the fullness of salvation.

Now they do not attempt to say that it is solely baptism that saves (at least to my knowledge), but they agree with Scripture that salvation comes through faith alone in Christ Jesus. Yet, even with that agreement they add to it; and by doing so destroy the grace of God by making it about works and not about simple, yet amazing, mercy. If our salvation is based on the merits of our deeds, then how do we differ from the Judaizers (Jews who crept into the New Testament church and taught that the requirements of the Jewish tradition and Torah must be followed, along with Christ, to be saved)? It is impossible to add to grace for when such an action is done then we do away with it by making it about ourselves.

Now let us pull from the Scriptures to see what God has revealed to us about baptism. Paul was writing to the Church of Rome about their sin and how they continued in sin after being found in Christ.

• "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we might walk in the newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin." Romans 6:1-7

The baptism which the Word speaks of here is not that of water baptism, for it speaks of being baptized into Christ Jesus, which is the baptism that comes through faith in Jesus. What this means is that we have been spiritually immersed into Christ, that is, that we have been united and now identify with Him. Spiritually we have died to our old selves that we might walk in the newness of life. This was not a physical baptism; where as water baptism is. And that is what the act of water baptism carries. It is a symbolic reflection of the spiritual. The water carries with it no great power, but let us not forget the great importance of it.

Though our salvation is not achieved through baptism, it is important because our Lord calls us to follow Him in doing so. It must be so that we are obedient to Him. Also it shows to whom we belong. Baptism is a trade mark of the Christian faith, and by following Him into baptism a mark to the world is made that we belong to Him.

During the days of the Crusades, when Catholicism was trying to take back the Holy Land, mercenaries (paid fighters) were used in this quest. They had no allegiance to the Vatican or to Christ, but were willing to fight for money. How ever, since the Pope had deemed it a Holy War, the men, though not Christian, had to be baptized in order to fight. Reluctant at first to do so, the men came up with an agreement. They would be baptized as long as they could hold their swords out of the water. They were willing to be immersed in water, but they were not willing to identify with Christ.

Therefore the baptism of water is the physical embodiment of the spiritual baptism into Jesus, whom we identify with as our Savior and the Lord of lords.

To Him be the glory forever and ever, amen.

For Today in the City of David there has been Born for You a Savior

I hope that all are enjoying the celebration of the Lord Jesus' birth. May God grant to all of you a joyous time with family and friends. I want to take a short time now to comment on what Christmas is from the message that my pastor spoke today.

There are some that say that Jesus, who is called the Christ, is the reason for the season. Yet I disagree with such a statement as enlightened by my pastor. The reason for Christmas is, "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Did you catch that? " In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:4-5). Jesus wasn't really the reason for the season.

Though we celebrate it in remembrance of His birth, the original purpose of Christ birth was so that He could come and take away our sins some years later on the cross. The reason we have the season to celebrate is because of the sin within ourselves that brought Him here. If we needed not redemption His birth would have never come. So even though this should be a time of celebrating God's greatest gift, it should also be a remembrance of why such a gift was made. God bless you all and may Christ Spirit dwell in you richly.

Sola Scriptura: Church Discipline

In the last couple of post I have discussed two weaknesses in the church today either directly or indirectly. Directly I attacked the sort of preaching that is happening in many of the churches of the world today. Ones those are weak and insufficient to the mark which God has called pastors to preach. Indirectly I attacked the number of people in the church who are mistaken of their salvation, thinking they have received the salvation of God, but actually have just been deceived and claim to their salvation, which they don't have, because they came at the end of a service to the front of the church.

Well with weak preaching comes weak people, both on the level of leader and layman. Christ has called us to be His body and it should be our goal to resemble His ways, which are perfect. “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). That is what we are called to be: perfect. It is a high calling and one none of us are able to reach. Yet it should be the goal of all of us, and the goal of the church as a whole. And Scripture shows that we are to hold one another accountable and even discipline when needed, to maintain the testimony of one's self, the church, and Christ.
Yet we do not do it very well as a whole. Many members of my church are in sin and the majority of them are lazy. Why is it then that the church does not correct those who are wrong? Is not Scripture adequate? "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

I think the reason the church does not like to discipline is because its members don't want to offend anyone, and they find themselves in sin themselves and how are they to remove the speck from another's eye with a plank in their own. So the church is left weak because no one is willing to stand and correct the wrong. Now, I don’t want to sound as if there are none who are trying to do what it right in the sight of the Lord by rebuking and encouraging the sinful. But for the most of the church they don’t feel that it is their responsibility, but that of the leadership. So they go to the pastors and tell them of the other peoples' sins.

This is the first flaw in those who think they are doing right. The Word calls us to go to one another and tell them of their sin so that they might turn away from it (Matthew 18:15, Galatians 6:1). We need to understand that some one might not be aware of their sin. They might not be as far as another in their spiritual journey and the Word and Spirit of God might not have yet enlightened them to the understanding of there error. So before it becomes a wide spread issue in the church, go to the brethren and tell them their sin so that them might know and turn from there wickedness. Some might know they are wrong, but lack the strength to stop and just need the encouragement and accountability to do so. "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). If the brother repents from their sin then we have won your brother (Matthew 18:15).

This will hopefully be the end and no more action will need to be taken, but some times people fall into sin and do not wish to exit without a fight. Matthew 16-17 list out the next steps in dealing with a fallen brother; we are to go and take with us one or two others to rebuke and exhort (though Scripture does not say this, reason goes to show that this should be a man of spiritual maturity and most likely an elder of the church). It is the hope that this person will repent, but if not then you go to the church and announce the sin to the whole congregation. Then the church goes to the brother to encourage and rebuke and if the fallen brother still wishes to live in his sin then he is to be excommunicated and treated like a Gentile and a tax collector.

With that said, we are not to see that person as an enemy of the body, and we are still called to love them. "If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother" (2 Thessalonians 3:15). The reason we remove him from us is for his good (along with the sake of the church and Christ's name), so that he will be put to shame and that he might go hateful of his sin, in the loss he has, and then be willing to turn from that sin and be reconciled to the church.

Some people say that discipline is bad because it means kicking out people who aren't saved and they might never hear the gospel of Christ again, thus we are condemning them to hell. Some might say that it would be foolish to kick out a fallen brother as we are signing his death certificate in which he will fall away from God's love. Well, are we greater then God? Do we know His will better than Him? We are simply to obey what He has commanded in this Word, and trust that He at work and doing according to His purpose.

If we remove a sinner, one never saved by the atonement of Christ, because he refused to repent then we are not responsible for their blood, for it is the Father who draws and the Son who saves. If it is God's will for that sinner to be saved then they will be, whether or not we remove them or not. And if the brother who is removed never comes back then we must trust what John spoke, "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us" (1 John 2:19).

In the end we must realize why all things happen the way they do, and that is for the glory of God. We must trust that He is sovereign and allow Him to do as He wills and we must do as His Word dictates. When we try to do things by our own means then we will be found in error; thus says the Lord, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways...For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Sola Scriptura: Weak Preaching

I don’t know when the trend started. Whether in America or before that (in the Evangelical church), yet I find it of little importance. But it is a trend that has been a serious weakness to the church of God as a whole. Paul spoke boldly to his hearers and called the young pastor, Timothy, to do the same.

• "7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity" (1 Timothy 1:7-9)

Timothy was sent out to be a pastor the Ephesus and he was told by Paul to not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is just the way it is when we say the gospel is offensive. That is a sad fact to some, but to some it is the gloriousness of God. To the Greek the gospel was foolish; to the Jew it was a stumbling block. But to those whom God chose to reveal His Son to it is the means in which Faith comes. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).

The Word must be spoken in the manner in which it was given. Yet many preachers give weak sermons, meant more to cheer on a lazy group, instead of edifying Christ body.

Why? That is a good question and I wish I had the answer to that and I feel that it changes from preacher to preacher. One reason I think it so it because of what I stated earlier: the gospel is offensive. Men of the pulpit are fearful of what might come to be if they were willing to stand and tell the people of the church the truth. They might be thrown out of the door and told never to return leaving them and their families hungry and homeless.

Some might feel pressure from members of the church to "keep it simple stupid." I think that many of today's pastors have great wisdom and desire to teach the church the great truths but feel that they have to keep their level of knowledge to the height of the lowest member. Others I fear don’t have the knowledge in themselves to teach the flock of God.

In my previous post I spoke on the use of altar calls. Could it be that men of the pulpit have to rely on such measures because they don’t deliver a sermon that has the power to bring one to saving faith? I don’t know much and I don’t claim to. I am a layman of the church who is trying to point out some simple flaws it has. My desire is to be a pastor and my views of the church might be affected by that, but when I look at the great men of the past whom God has built up and established a lasting ministry, even past their own lives, I see men who preached the gospel of Christ; Genesis to Revelation, who were not fearful to speak the whole truth of God. They may not have always had the biggest churches, the highest pay, or the most respect in their time, but God blessed them in ways we can only imagine.

Men who are called to the ministry of eldership of a church must be willing to lose all in sake of achieving that goal, trusting that God will provide, and meet the requirements which God has given: to shepherd over His flock and feed them His Word. And the flock needs the whole diet, not just the desert. That means teach on: Election (whether for or against), Atonement, Baptism, End Times, Creation, Incarnation, Woman's Role in the Church, Sexual Sin, Giving to God, Responsibilities of Elders, Service of Deacons, Sin, and all the other stuff that is hopped around so that no one is offended. And once you get though all that then teach some deep theology. You might not find it all important because no one is saved by theology, but were you not made wiser by it, allow us the same pleasure.

Sola Scriptura: Altar Calls

I am not to overly aware of denominations and their actions outside of the Baptist tradition. I know some things about their doctrine, but for the way they conduct their service I am not. One of the things I most dislike about the Baptist tradition is that at the end of every service we have to sit through another song, not sang in the heart of worship, but in the hope that one might come down the isle to the pastor and give their heart to Christ. It is an emotional moment in which a hymn of peaceful melody is sang in hopefulness of one making that trip to the altar. Yet, I find it no where in Scripture prescribed to have this tradition.

So why then do we do it? Well, it all started in the early 20th century with a man hungry for converts. He called men and women to the altar to receive salvation. Well, as time went on the man who began it all was found to be a heretic, but the tradition of altar calls was well affirmed in that the numbers of converts increased. So with the use of pragmatism a tradition was started.
So why is it wrong? I find that in the modern church of America there are many churches, such as mine, which are great in number, but small in work. Now this can be related to the lack of church discipline in the church, but I will hit on that later. One of the largest reasons the church is ineffective in our society today is the fact that many, if not most, of its members are lost sinners lacking a Savior. But, when the preacher gave his sappy message of a better life, a better marriage, less stress, God's blessing, prosperity, and so on, who could resist such a calling to the altar to receive such things.

The message of hell and brim stone is given which terrifies the heart of the sinner knowing that if he don’t walk the isle he will forever burn in unquenchable fire. Not that this is a true statement (apart from the walking down the isle) and a preacher does well to teach his flock of such things, as that is what our Lord did, but what happened to the latter part. We must be willing to deny ourselves to follow Him. We must be willing to endure suffering to follow Him. We must be willing to lose all, even life, in order to follow Him. So it is that men and women come down the isle to seek salvation not knowing what salvation entails. They want the "fire insurance" of God, with out the regenerative and sanctifying work in their lives. Such salvation is not worth anything and won’t even deliver them from the hell they fear.

What the Scripture teaches is that a heart which is truly receptive to the work and Word of God will do all it can in order to display the fruits of repentance. A saved life does not happen on the altar of a church, but in the heart of a repentant sinner. When a sinner understands the depth of their wickedness and their inability to save themselves and seeks the forgiveness of God for their sin and is willing to turn from their sin and live in the manner which the Word calls for, then that sinner is truly forgiven and receives the Spirit of God which enables them to follow in obedience to Christ.

If the Spirit of God truly dwells in the heart of a repentant sinner who has been given a new birth they will have no fear to come to the pastor and to the church to tell them of the change God has made so the need of an alter call is done away with. Yet, when we use music and time to get them to come to that faith (which is not saving) we have over stepped the will of God in that we have created our own means of saving souls. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).

Praise God, deliver the message, and trust that God is at work in the hearts of those He has chosen and let Him do as His will dictates.

Sola Scriptura

I am confident that the scripture is the sole source for truth. Some might call me narrow minded because I don't hold to the traditions set in action by those prior to me. I do not follow with the Catholic tradition because I find that it has conflict with the Truth. I do not even follow all of the traditions of the Baptist's, though I am one, because I find there is conflict with them also. I say, "sola scriptura." So I am starting a series of post to affirm what I believe based on what the Word of God reveals.

Psalm 19
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.

2006 Spring Semester Schedule

Class Schedule

-M-W-F- 0800-0850 New Testament I, Redditt
-M-W-F- 0900-0950 Principles of Sociology, Dedrick
-M-W-F- 1200-1250 New Testament II, Asher
-M-W-F- 1300-1350 Old Testament Law and History, Redditt
-M-W-F- 1400-1450 History of Philosophy, Wirzba
-T-R- 0930-1045 American Government, Cairo

The True Church

About 5 hours of my day was spent discussing the church. That would not be a bad thing to me at all, except that it was mostly negative. I don't like to be negative. Talking about the church I like to be as positive as possible. Yet, I find that most of my conversation about the church is negative and it revolves around one main issue.

My title, The True Church, has nothing to do with one church, as if I were to say that the Baptist church is the only true church. That would be foolish. Yet I find that there is very little care about the True Church. And when talking about the True Church I am talking about the body of believers whom God has chosen. Yet I struggle with churches because I find none that are True. The reason I struggle with churches is because most of our churches don't have very many saved and spiritual people.

When I say saved and spiritual people I am addressing two different groups. Our walls are filled with the worlds lost who have no clue to who Christ is. Yet they make a major impact on how we do our work. Then there are the weak, those who are not strong in the doctrines of Christ, and they greatly affect the work of the Church. Why is it that such a weakness has crept into the churches of the world and made the Church weak.

When we read in Acts it tells us that the people were concerned with four main things. They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayer. Well, most churches do well at fellowship, we still do the Lord's supper, and most still pray; but how many really hit the apostles' doctrine hard and dig deep beneath the surface?

This is the weakness of the church: weak preaching leads to weak people. Our churches are filled with the lost and weak because the message is not being taught to them and they are not expected to uphold it. And that is why I am convinced that there are not many, if any, True churches. Since when did churches start using by-laws to manage their work. When did the Scripture not suffice. I'm sick and tired of churches who can't do anything because tradition dictates what is acceptable and the Word is not the standard.

Here is a challenge, show me a church where the Word is preached, powerfully in the Spirit and sound in doctrine, week in and week out and I'll show you one of two things. A church that has a ministry that is reaching to the sky, or one that is struggling to make it another week. Why? Well if one is faithful to God He is faithful to them and will bless them according to His purpose. Yet, the world hates the Church, the body of Christ, and those who are in the Church, its many members. They do not know Christ, but might love the church, the orgization it has become, because it is now designed to flatter the ear instead of teaching the Truth, the Apostles' Doctrine.

So now we have organizations established with a few who are members of the Church, surrounded by people who are members of a church, trying to seek out the will of God while every effort they make is rejected by those who are lost and weak. But we can't do anything because we are afraid and intimidated by the fact that there might be a few who get mad.

Georgetown College

I drove over five-hundred miles in two days to go to and come back from Georgetown College. All in all it was a great trip, and now nervousness and excitement settle in as I prepare for the actual departure to Georgetown College for school.

I arrived Thursday in Georgetown and after a moment of confusion I found the Admissions building and made sure I knew where to be at 2 o'clock for my meeting with Cammi Carpenter. After that I was set to see campus and I met up with Kristie and her roommate, Rachel, and friend, Bobby Joe, for Lunch at the Caf, which is short for Cafeteria. After some good food Rachel and Bobby Joe went to class and Kristie and I glanced around the campus until she had to leave for her class.

I hung around some on the campus until I met with Cammi. Our meeting was great and Cammi got me pointed in the right direction. I met up with Kristie again and she helped me with my scheduling and then she left for her lab. I retreated to my hotel room and had a much needed nap.

Upon waking up I got dressed and went and saw Kristie at her work, the Mulberry, and a little before 9 o'clock Rachel, Steven, and I left for PHA, an independent fraternity, for Devo. That was awesome. I guess it fits the mold for the normal Christian college devo in which you come in sing a few songs and then some one speaks; in this case it was a member of PHA. The speaker was great. A message about the greatness of God's grace, which not only saves us from His wrath, but enables us to live in His way.

Rachel and I waited for Kristie to get off work and then we went out to T.G.I. Fridays for dinner. It was fun getting to hang out with Kristie and to get to know her roommate a little. We arrived back to campus around midnight and they walked me to my car, as odd as that sounds, figuring it was about 20 degrees, and then I drove them to their building.

Day two was good as I got up around 7am and checked out of my hotel. The gentleman working was Indian, from India, and his music sounded very familiar and I asked him from where he came. Then I told him how Indian music was a lot like that of Arab’s and we began to talk about the conflict in Iraq. After a good conversation I headed to the library to meet with my V.I.P., Visit In Person, group. That was kind of odd with the fact that most of them were high school seniors and below and I am 22 years old. It was a good time where I got to hear from some of the professors and students about classes and campus life.

When finished with that I did some Georgetown investigating trying to see how to get to some of the places I might need to go to. One thing I guess I'll need to find is a church to attend. There are thirty-one Baptist churches in Georgetown so my selection is not limited, but it might be difficult. There are many large churches, but I am thinking about attending a smaller church that has less resources. Being that I am a Religion major I am hoping that God will be able to use me in one of the local congregations. If I am to attend a large church I might just be another Georgetown student and my abilities not needed, so I guess I will just have to be prayerful about that as to where God might lead me.

After my exploring I called Kristie to see if she wanted to do anything and I unfortunately woke her up from a nap. I figured she needed to sleep after staying our late with me the night before so I made my journey back to Sparta the wrong way. I went through Lexington during rush hour and then hit the always bad Knoxville traffic. But around 6:30 I made it home. All in all it was a good trip.

After some time being bored at home Lance called me to ask about my trip and to encourage me. I really needed that and it was awesome. He came over and we talked about all sorts of things and as the night came to be late he decided to stay the night and we laid in our beds talking about stuff till one in the morning. I never really knew how much Lance and I had in common and now we are both trying to leave home to go to school. I guess we both have nervous excitement about it and basically we agree that we just have to leave it up to God to have it work out the way it should.

Kristie, Rachel, and Lance, thanks for a great two days.

Thanksgiving was Great and the Canyon was Grand

For Thanksgiving we had a small group come together to celebrate the day. It was a great day of feasting and resting as the turkey settled in. After the big day of food we all retreated to our own homes and rested for the big day a head of us.

On Friday after Uncle Fred got done with work we went and picked up the rental van, loaded up, and headed toward Williams. It is a small town just west of Flagstaff and south of the South Rim. We went out and ate at a small dinner and took the night easy before the big day.

Saturday morning we got up had breakfast at McDonald's and then were on our way to the . It was a great time. We went to the South Rim, which is the main place for tourists who don't go down into the canyon. We first went to Mather Point. It had an amazing view of the canyon to the west and Isis Temple, a peak, was pointing to the heavens. In the bottom of the canyon is the Colorado River and along the river is a place called Phantom Ranch. In a canyon that is basically rock this provided a beautiful and green oasis across the way. It is a point used for river runners and hikers as they make their way through the canyon.

Next was Yavapai Point which also had some amazing views of the canyon from a different perspective. From the angle of the point you could see down into the canyon to the Colorado River and see a suspension bridge built in 1928. It is 440-foot-long and 5-foot-wide. Most of the materials were carried by mule, but the one ton suspension cable was carried down by the shoulders of 42 men that appeared to be a great snake to viewers from the rim.

Then we came to El Tovar Hotel which was elegant and rustic at the same time. Very nice furniture that made the room fell rich with walls of wood holding the heads of hunted animals ranging from dear, wolf, elk, mule elk, to a buffalo. It was quite a site and across the way was the Hopi House. Architect Mary Colter was very familiar with the southwester pueblos building style and crafted it to appear in that manner. On the inside is a gift shop with very nice and expensive crafts, many made by Native Americans who live on reservations around the area.

As the day was getting late and we still had to drive all the way back to Mesa we decided to make one more stop and then to call it a day. We went to the farthest point to the east called Desert View. Desert View is marked by its 70-foot tower over looking the eastern part of the canyon and the Little Colorado River Gorge. The "Indian Watchtower" designed by Mary Colter was inspired by an 800-year-old tower built by the native Indians. It is a spiraling master piece decorated with wall painting by artist Fred Kabotie and rock art by Fred Geary. From the upper room you can see one of the best views of the canyon with the Colorado winding through it.

Well our day was on the down slope and we stopped in Flagstaff to eat at McDonald's and then to home. It was a great trip, both to the canyon and to Arizona as a whole. We had a nice dinner Sunday night and then I left out Monday morning. Nancy picked me up from the Airport, and after some confusion we finally met up and headed our way home stopping for dinner along the way.

Now this week I have to prepare as I get read to go up to Kentucky to meet with my councilor about classes at Georgetown so I'm excited about that and nervous at the same time. But I can't wait to get started on my upcoming adventure.

The Trio

Yesterday I arrived here in Mesa, Arizona.  It was a good flight of which most of it I slept through.  After arriving we went to Denny's for a nice lunch and then I retreated to Mom's house to hang out with Mom and my bro.

Matt for some time has been talking some trash about how good at basketball he is.  Unfortunely his talk wasnt followed by the walk as I beat him in three games.  But man, he is huge.  He is so much taller then I remember and as he is growing up he has slimmed too.  But it was fun hanging out with him and my mom for the afternoon.

Later on we went to my Uncle Fred and Aunt Marie's house to see my cousin Tim and his son Brent and Brent's mom Allison.  Man, I know babies dont like me, but this one was the worst of all I have ever seen and this one is my cousin.  I would just look at him and he would give me one of the most aweful faces ever.  And when I came close to him he would tell me to go away.  But at the end of the night, with Allison's help, Brent gave me a high five so that was good.

I retreated to bed early last night being so tired from a long day and woke up today to my mom chewing my bother out.  He was suppose to get some English done so that he could miss yesterday to come meet me at the airport and he didnt do it right.  So now he is in trouble, but at school at the moment.

Well I most likely wont post till after Thanksgiving so Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Almost Going West

Today is now Monday, which means that tomorrow I will be leaving on my way to Arizona. I am really looking forward to my trip out West to see my mom, bro, and family. I went to Wal-Mart tonight to get a jacket for the trip since I am expecting cold weather when we make our journey northward to the Grand Canyon, God willing.

Today was a great day. I got to do something I really enjoy, teach. Tim was away at a youth leaders conference so I took the responsibility of the High School class for the day. I taught on church discipline and I thought it went well. It was rough teaching again; I'm a little rusty and I was never all that great, but I had a blast doing it.

A missionary from Brazil spoke this morning and it was quite enjoyable. Instead of it being mostly about his ministry, like most do, it was about our ministry and how we are to advance what God has called us to do, whether home or abroad. After that we went to the church wide luncheon for Thanksgiving. It was a fun time, but honestly I prefer El Tap. One thing bad happened. Josh and I were suppose to hook up for some disk golf and bad communication lead to us not playing. I thought we said to meet at the church around one and he thought we were suppose to meet at the High School. I still think I'm right, but I'm very forgetful so I have no clue.

After a great lunch I went to change clothes and headed back to church for a game of football. It was fun even though my team lost. I got a little to into it once and a while as my competitive attitude took hold of me. If I never learn to control that better I might have to give up sports eventually. But thankfully the guys I was playing with kept me from getting to crazy.

The evening service was good tonight. I was so tired, but Jeff maintained a lively sermon and I made it through. After ward we took a large group to IHOP for a good meal and great conversation. Then to the Marble Slap for some ice cream.

We headed back and went to Ashley's house for a second and then Erin and I went to Wal-Mart to get some stuff. As we were walking in Erin spotted Rye's car with her and George in it and we snuck up and scared the snot out of Rye. It was quite funny. We went in and got a few things. I got to see George a little. Not enough to say I know much about him, but he seemed okay from the outside. He is a little, well it is easy to see why Rye and him are friends. But I don't mean that in a bad way. After Erin finally got all the stuff she wanted, or at least thought of, we headed to Church and I dropped her off.

It is now 12:23am and I have a dentist appointment with Dr. Boston at 8:30. I missed my appointment Friday which really ticked me, but I'm easily ticked. So I need to get to sleep, but before I do that I'm going to read a little of The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis. For FBC persons don't forget that visitation is tonight at 6pm and for non-FBCians, who are Christians, please pray for us as we go out to spread the good news.

Relaxing Day

This was a great day. I woke up early around 7:20ish when Nancy said good by to Dustin before she left for work. I went back to sleep. I woke up a little later when Sam told Dustin good by as he left for work. I laid there in my bed thinking about the awesome things I have been able to do as of late. I went back to sleep.

I finally woke up around 10 and got Dustin up so we could cut some fire wood. We did that and he went to see Anna off to Knoxville and I got ready for the Daughters of the American Revolution invitation. Dustin came back and we watched TV after I he helped me tie my tie. I took off and he went to sleep on the couch. I came back and hung out watching TV while he slept till Nancy came home. When she came in I chatted with her and checked my mail. Then she cooked a great meal as always, potato soup.

Then Sam left to go teach and we retire to the living room to watch Kentucky basketball. Lance showed up and hung out with us. Kentucky won, but didn’t play well and I was falling asleep during the game. Around 10ish I went to pick up Leah from her night of cheerleading and grabbed a Coke on the way home.

Now Lance is in the living room working on his homework and listening to classical music, and Dustin is sleeping, and I'm just sitting here thinking about pleasant things. It was a good day. I hope more like this follow.

Back in the Swing of Things

It was awesome to come back home and get right back in the swing of things. Things have been so hectic, yet they have been a great joy. I got back on a Wednesday and headed to Church. What a sweet return that was, back to seeing all of my friends and family in Christ. A large group of us went out to eat and that was pretty awesome. It was cool to see everyone together.

Thursday I hung around the house and Friday we (FBC Youth) took off and headed to our Big House Retreat. That was an amazing weekend. Friday night we had a dinner together and played a little basketball and had our intro-session for the weekend topic of coming to know God better; to better understand who God is. Saturday we got to hear more great teaching from Tim and played a ton of sports. My old knees just aren't what they use to be as I was pretty sore at the end of the day. As the night came to an end we enjoyed a movie, chatted a little, and went to sleep. I want to send out a special thanks to my roomies: John, A-ron, and Caleb for not keeping an old man up all night. Sunday we got to sleep in a little later and were greeted with a wonderful breakfast cooked by Wendy and a few of the girls. We had our last session and a lunch to end the great weekend. We packed our stuff and headed off.

It was an amazing weekend and I enjoyed it a bunch, yet sorrow was in my heart to some degree. I remember back to the days of a different youth that isn’t quite as youthful as they once were. Hard core basketball games with a bunch of guys who were all about the same level. No one person dominated a game, other than Josh when he wanted to. I missed some of the older girls that are gone. But it was great to have Rye there, on the other side this time. She did a great job with the younger girls and it was awesome to see.

Sunday night was church and it was good as always. Monday was fun, I got a car. It was my aunt and uncle's and they hooked me up on a great deal. Thanks guys. Tuesday I missed prayer breakfast like a moron. Wednesday I went to church and then we went out to eat afterward. Thursday I can’t remember. I know one of those days I went to lunch with Tim, but can’t remember which one. Friday I went to the High School for the Happening rally, then to lunch with the group at Pizza Hut, then I spoke at White County Middle School (That was rough. By far the biggest group I have ever spoke in front of.), then had lunch with Rudy (an Army friend), and finally to the Men's Conference.

That was a great opportunity. Dr. Hunt was the speaker and he did a good job of challenging men to be leaders and to remain strong through grace in the race of life. He is a very talented speaker and gifted teacher of the Word.

I woke up early Saturday to go to the second and last day of the Men's Conference. We had a good breakfast provided by the Gum Spring's ladies and heard another great lesson. After that I went to the Church to help get things ready for the Happening. After that I went home to have lunch with everyone and our special guests R.V. and his son, Xavier. That was fun. R.V. is kind of crazy, in a funny way.

Then it was off to the Happening. Man, this may have been the best year that I have experanced. Nancy, Rye, and I were the leaders of the greatest game known to man, Corn Hole. It was a tough competition, but the camps were decided. It was an amazing night. Fun, exciting, and moving. R.V. delivered a compelling and moving message, and through the power of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit sixty-two people gave their lives to Jesus Christ. Ninety-nine rededicated themselves to Christ after they had fallen away from their walk. In total around 620 young people heard the message of Christ death and resurrection and ten percent were convicted and came to saving faith. I want all of you to pray for these people who made a profession of faith in Christ. They are like babies in a forest of wolves and it is our responsibilities as Christians to go out and put a hedge of protection around them so that they may grow in Jesus Christ and be conformed to His image.

It was a great night for me in the fact that I just got to hang out with a lot of friends and the opportunity to meet a friend for the first time. I was excited to hear how Kayla is trying to get back to China. How Kristie is trying to get into Oxford. I got to meet a girl who I have talked to quite a bit while in Iraq for the first time, Michelle. It was a great night of hanging out with Nancy and Rye as we worked together. Another night I hope never escapes my memory.

Then came Sunday, everyone is tired. Sunday school was great as always as Sam leads us deep into the truths of Thessalonians. R.V. spoke during the morning service and delivered another powerful message. A friend of mine, Rudy, came to church with me and that was awesome. It was good to have him there. After that I went to lunch with my normal group,Dustin and Anna, added at the best food in town, El Tap. I had to say good bye to Kristie and Kayla once again as they headed back to school. Played a little football with the guys and I got my "bottom" smoked.

After a shower I headed to Sunday night service and discipleship. We talked about the Happening and discussed what could have been better and prayed for those whose lives were changed. Listened to Jeff bring a message and then went to eat at Yanies. Spent the rest of the evening with Erin, Kara, and Rye and then headed home.

I slept in today and then got up and cut some wood with Dustin. I have to get ready here shortly to go and speak for the Daughters of the American Revolution. That should be fun and hopefully I do better today then I did in front of the Middle School.

Home Sweet Home

The time has come; the day is here; I no longer have to look forward to this day; I am home. It has been a long journey. I can not complain though. I have learned so much, seen so much, and now know more about myself than ever before. I look forward to writing more about my final days of military life, but for now I am still in shock of what I am able to enjoy. Thank you to all of you who were so kind to me while I was gone offering up petitions to our Father. Never did I covet your prayers so much and I trust that with out them this trip would have been most unbearable. God be with all of you.

Never Loved Camp Shelby So Much

Wow, it is hard to believe, but it is 0700 on the 26th of October and I'm at Camp Shelby Mississippi. I have not seen this place in over eleven months. Honestly, when I left here I would have said, “I hope I never have to see this place again.” But now I’ll tell you that I love the look of this Mississippi paradise.

My whole trip went well. On the 25th at 035 we were scheduled to load a civilian flight which would take us north into Europe and then over Greenland and down though parts of Canada to some where in the US, and then to our final destination of Gulf Port, Mississippi. The process started at 1200 on the 24th when Navy customs came and searched our check baggage. We laid all of our stuff out on cots and they went though to make sure we didn’t have any thing not allowed. It didn’t take to long and we got out bags packed and out side to be picked up by the truck. Those bags were some of the tightest packed bags I had ever seen. No one wanting to carry a bunch of stuff on the plain crammed those bags to the max. It worked out good for me as all I had to carry on the plain was my computer bag.

After Customs came though we went to get some lunch, but that turned out to be a hassle more then anything. SGT Bryant, SPC Bridges, and myself went to get something to eat and came back and chowed down to make sure we weren’t late for anything that might come up. They told us we would be heading to Camp Ali Asaline (Kuwaiti base) at 1615. Well, guess what? We had some guys who decided not to show up early and when they called for us early we where missing personal. So the three of us who came back early were chosen to go look for those missing. We walked up to the shopping and MWR area looking for the missing troops—none to be found. We knew we didn’t have much time so we headed back to find that they had already returned and were waiting on us. They said we had four minutes to get back or they would have been leaving us, but nothing goes that smoothly in the National Guard and we were there for some time making sure we had correct numbers and everyone was present.

We loaded the bus and headed out. It wasn’t a bad trip but it did feel kind of strange. We had already turned in our ammo so on our trip though Kuwait all we had was an unloaded M4, not even knives or bayonets—they had to be put in check baggage which was on a different truck. But Kuwait isn't really that big of a deal. The bus ride lasted for about an hour or so and we were at Camp Ali Asaline. When we got there they gave us our briefings and then swiped our ID cards, showing that we were preparing to leave southwest Asia. We had to go though customs again for our carry on bags and then we waited for the time. Loaded another bus and headed to Kuwait City.

We got to Kuwait City and loaded the plain and took off to Shannon, Ireland. It was a good flight. I slept as much as I could of it. We made it to Ireland adding a new country to my list of those been to. Up until this deployment I had never left the forty-eight continental states. Now I have been to Germany, Kuwait, Iraq, and Ireland. After the plane had been fueled and restocked we loaded and took off to Banger, Maine. What a treat that was.

As we were coming down the hallway to the main lobby we were greeted by thirty or so people. Many of them Vets of real war such as Korea, Vietnam, and WW II. We were in the presence of some true heroes, and they were there to greet us. A group dedicated to returning soldiers has taken a room of the airport and used it as a welcoming center. They had drinks and cookies in there for us to eat and enjoy. The best thing was that they had about fifteen cell phones they were letting everyone use. Everyone was allowed to call home using them no matter where they were from in the states. It was a very special gift, their expression of kindness and love for the little service we have returned from. Then they called our number and it was time to load up once again for our final leg in the air as we headed to Gulf Port.

We pulled in and started to off load the plain and were greeted and welcomed home by a Major General and a Sergeant Major as the band played in the back ground. A small group of wives drove all the way to Gulf Port to meet their husbands and it was a good sight to see as they were reunited. We had a short formation and speech from the General and we got on the bus and moved north on our way to Camp Shelby. Got there and turned in our weapons, moved in the direction of our housing, and were welcomed by another group of wives, children, mothers and fathers. It was such a joy to see so many men returned to their loved ones. The First Sergeants got us to off load our baggage as fast as possible and we had our last formation so that the men could head to the hotels with their families.

It has been a long process. I have learned a lot; about life and myself both. I now have another ten to fifteen days left to SRP, which is getting changed back to National Guard from regular Army, and to wait on a bus to take us home. I hope to make it home as soon as possible so that I might be reunited to my friends and family, for good I hope. I am anxious to be going to Arizona to see my mom in Mesa for Thanksgiving. It will be right at 17 months that I haven’t seen her.

My days are all most over and my new adventure will start. Things aren’t as sure as I was hoping as I still have not heard from Georgetown College, but I am trusting in the Lord; that He is guiding my steps. I want to thank all of you for all of your prayers. They have been by far the greatest gifts anyone could have given. I don’t know where I would have been with out the hand of the Lord correcting me in my error if your prayers had not been with me. Nothing bad happened to me this entire deployment. I went out saying I was bullet proof, trusting in the Lord, and it turned out that it was more than that as He was always with me. In the rainy season it rained without end it seemed, yet there was never a time that it rained on me; when I didn’t have a cover of some sort to protect…where as most of my group will have the stories of being soaked while on the Brassfield-Mora OP. I never suffered any sever injury. A few colds along the way are the worst things that I can ever claim to. God has been kind and I praise Him for His mercy. Thank you once again, you who have prayed for me and encouraged me with your words and actions. May the God of grace, hope, and peace grant you with the blessings that I have enjoyed over the last sixteen months.

Leaving Today

I need to be brief because my time on the net is limited, but I wanted to let you have a little update. At the moment I am in Kuwait at Camp Victory. I flew out of FOB Bernstein on a Schnook and headed to Camp Warrior on the 21st. We left Camp Warrior on the 22nd and arrived here in Kuwait. All went well on both the helicopter ride and the C130 flight. The C130 flight was a little interesting when we had one or our engines go out. No worries though as the other three were enough to get us safely to our destination. To day we will go into lock down and have our baggage searched for any contraband. At some point we will be headed to Kuwait City to load a civilian jet which is scheduled to take off at 035 (1235am) on the 25th. Only about a day and a half and I'll be back on US soil. I cant wait. It has been a long trip.

Last Days

My time in Iraq is coming close to an end. Day from now I will be loading a Schnook and heading to Warrior, a base, to which I will then load a plain and head to Kuwait. We are so close to the end. Though the days are near the end, they are not over. Yesterday evening we were hit with a mortar which was a strong reminder. Lying on my cot I heard a loud hum. When I heard the sound I knew we were being hit with indirect. I wasn’t afraid though. When you hear a rocket or mortar coming you are usually pretty save, as you hear it when if flies over you. Then a split second later…boom! It hit. It was rather loud. I'm use to being in a bunker when it hits, but at the moment I'm staying in tents. But we aren’t that vulnerable as we have huge concrete barriers around us. None the less it was extremely loud. I got up, put my computer to the side, got my IBA (Individual Body Armor) and caviler on, and went out side to see where it hit. Most everyone was outside looking for the impact site and they said it hit in a field to the west of us and no one was hurt. So I went back to my cot to finish my movie. In the end it was no real big deal. Found out later the located point of impact and it was about 150 meters from our location. The kill radius of the mortar they used was only about 30 meters or so. So we were in no real threat. Yet, it was a reminder that we are still here and danger is still possible.

Around a week ago we had a convoy out on a mission and they were hit with an IED (Improvised Explosive Devise) hurting two members of our Eliminator group. That is the same group that lost three members in one IED attack back in August, one being from the Sparta unit. One had shrapnel to the head and one to the arm. No real reports were announced to us, but they did say that both made it. Not in our AO (Area of Operation), but in the AO of Third Squadron a soldier was killed by an IED last week.

It is a shame to lose a soldier, no matter when, but it does seem a little harder to lose one so close to the end. We have made it this far. But the time is almost over.

Anaconda

Well, at the moment I’m laying in my rack listening to Reliant K. It is 1705 and I'm pretty worn out. I woke up this morning at 09 and didn’t go to sleep until 0630 after lying in bed for an hour and a half trying to sleep, but things were just filling my head keeping me awake. When I woke up at 09 I used the latrine and headed back to bed for more sleep as I was still worn down pretty bad from a long night. But again, thoughts filled my head and sleep was not going to happen. After lying in bed thinking about grand things I finally got up at 1100 and headed to the showers to get up and ready for the day. On my way there I came to see that the shower was closed for cleaning so I just headed to the latrine to shave and clean up as best I could.

So ready to do what I needed to do I headed to the PX, the military store, to pick up some needed stuff, stuff I needed to mail home. After getting everything I went to the Post Office and sent my stuff to the Hill of Sugar. It was still kind of early, about 2ish, so I went to the MWR and got on the computers and talked to Nancy. We chatted for a while and then I made my way to the gym to shoot. My game isn’t very good, but better then when I first got here. Last night playing in a game I hurt my heal, not sure what is wrong with it but if I move my ankle fully extended it hurts pretty bad, so jumping wasn’t to good for it. Odd turns and high pressure aren’t good either. Plus my bad knees aren't holding up well after so many days streight of playing. So I took it easy and then I finished out with a good brick.

Then I went back to the PX and got some OJ and the CD I'm listening to now. Now on track three…not to bad, but I like K. So now I'm about dead, physically, after playing ball last night for three hours and staying up all night and then only getting two and a half hours of sleep. But mentally, I'm wide awake and even if I wanted to go to sleep, all I would do is lay here and think. Which wouldn’t be bad, most thoughts are pretty good ones. But I guess here in about an hour I’ll walk down and get some chow. On my way back I might stop at the Internet Café and post this blog, other wise it will be a day late, but that wouldn’t bother me to much.

I'm hoping to be heading back to Bernstein in the next couple of days. I have been here way to long, thirteen days now. And I've been away from my FOB for a month and five days. If rumors are true and I’ll be home around the 15 of November; then I should only have about 55 days left. That seems like so far off, but less then two months. Compared to the 9 months I spent on the front end of my tour before leave that isn’t much at all. But coming home was so amazing and refreshing.

I tend to forget the blessings of home when I’m there: going to church, when ever I want to just to hang out and not only on Sundays; going out to eat with friends, and it be okay to just sit there for an hour or so and talk and the food be good; driving for hours back and forth to Atlanta and it being one of the best days of all; eating dinner with my family in Christ; talking to Dustin for an hour at two in the morning when he comes in from spending the evening with Anna; getting to see such a couple as them in love; sitting though the edifying teaching of Sam in Sunday school; sitting in Tim’s office and chatting like we use to; discussing the current events with Angie; playing games in Erin’s new and awesome room with cool friends; eating the Miller’s food; getting to pick up some one who can’t drive yet at 6:30 in the morning for prayer breakfast; no-school day; beating my Aunt in ping-pong; talking to my mom on the phone with out a delay after every word; spending a day with my family and meeting my newest cousin; going to poets and buying frozen chi and hanging out in the bookstore; telling Nancy something I thought was a secret; going shopping with Leah and her finding me appropriate pink clothing; listening to Rye tell me I'm not suppose to where pink; watching Kara play volleyball; seeing Caleb get sack like Josh did when he didn’t have a O line; seeing Cookeville beat the Warriors again; talking to some one about something that actually has importance; standing in the youth room talking to Kayla as if I had never left; watching Brit paint some words on the wall; surprising Nancy on my return and getting hit; surprising Leah on my return and getting hit; hiding under a cloth from Dan when I first came back; bring a gift of chicken to the Benningfield’s and King’s; seeing David Miller run his mouth over stupid stuff; to see Joel so happy with his new girlfriend; driving Doug’s huge truck during the scavenger hunt and making a few people man, sorry; spending my last morning in Sparta with two of the coolest little kids, whom I would now call friends; talking to Ronda as she tried to pry info out of me; waking up around 7 everyday and having a purpose to get up; seeing rain; being rookie of the day at corn hole as I won every game, sorry…a little prideful; eating at Red Lobster and having the worse customer service I have ever seen and listening to Erin pray for her; seeing Rye’s dorm room and meeting her friends; talking to Phuong about my plans as we waited for the girls to get done shopping; going to Atlanta and the only thing we come back with was something for someone who didn’t even go; about dieing as a trucker tried to run us into a wall, twice; about hitting Kara in Kristie’s Kia; going to Hidden Hollow and just walking around; seeing a movie on my second day back with some good friends; listening to Leah say that fake fog smells like wet feet; taking my cousin Nicki shopping, playing put-put golf and all three of us so bad that we cheat almost every hole; talking theology with my Aunt Sue on the way back for Pigeon Forge; playing disk golf and getting my “bottom” kicked hard by Josh and Lance, but beating Jojo…haha; getting my debit card unauthorized because I spent more in two weeks than in the past year; having Nancy there to back me up; having the excellent customer service people of Belk help me find something nice to wear; getting chewed out because I don’t try my clothes on before buying; finding out that I bought the wrong size and hearing, “I told you so”; Dustin taking the shirt because it fit him fine enough; me wearing his shoes for the most part of the last week; having to label all my clothes so I’ll know which ones are mine when they are all in his closet; seeing my friend’s faces; hearing my family’s voices; starting to hear what is going on in the lives of those I love; and I could go on forever.

There were some things that I didn’t like though: letting some one down by not meeting them like I said I would; seeing some one hurt by my foolish words; paying so much for gas; it being only 15 days; people standing for me in church, as if I had accomplished something; seeing a woman, who was a friend, once married to a friend of mine now living with another man; her having kids and them no longer being in church; it being as if it was no big deal, as if divorce isn’t that big of a concern, as if a man and woman’s marriage isn't a picture of Christ’s marriage to the church; having to tell so many that progress in Iraq is so slow; people trying to get political with me; seeing how Tim has no help in the youth ministry because most people at church are so lazy and they only care about themselves; hearing about the worst revival preacher to ever come to FBC and most of the church thinking he was the best thing since sliced bread; finding out that one of my good friends has an illness and she doesn’t even seem to care enough to make the preventive measures to keep it from getting bad; seeing one who I have looked up to for so long act so foolish because his plans for his son’s future aren’t going as he planned; saying good bye to everyone I love so much.

Well, as you can see the good out way the bad greatly. All in all, I don’t think a better leave could have been possible. So now I'm about to come home to leave again though, only not over the sea this time. I’ll be heading to Georgetown, God willing, in January. I'm not accepted yet, Nancy has just mailed in the paper work, but I trust that this is where God is leading and that will be further evident when I'm accepted and there. I can’t wait to start. I'm so old and so far behind, but all things are according to His good pleasure and I wouldn’t give up my past for anything in the world. The past 4 years, since my graduation, have been the best years of my life. I have learned so much and made so many friends. I don’t think I would be here now if I hadn’t been where I was then. Further showing that, “all things work to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” So that is where I’m headed, and I can’t wait.

Okay, I’ve said enough for now so I’ll sign out. I love you guys. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

A brother in Him,

I'm Almost There

Well, I have made it to Kuwait. It was a good flight, though very long. Don't have much to say, I'll try to write more when time allows. I love you guys and thanks for the best 15 days ever.

Your brother in Christ,

The Days Seem to be Getting Worse

Well, this isn't a good story. Thing sure have started to get crazy lately. IED's are on the rise. We've been hit with indirect twice, one only being about a week ago. A while back, maybe 10 days, a VBIED hit the mayors office of Tuz and caused some damage, killing 4 and injuring 9. Today another VBIED hit. I'm not sure on the location. Some have said the mayors house but the latest story is showing that it was at a local cafe. Again no soldiers were killed. I'm not sure on the details of the story. But the info that is coming out is that between 20 and 30 people were killed. I don't know the numbers of IA to civilian. But that is a lot of deaths. Again the trend seems to be that the insurgents have moved the majority of their attacks away from US soldiers and have started to attack there own people.
It seems that the current deaths in this country, resulting from attacks, have been on normal everyday civilian. So I ask that you pray for the people of this providence, and the whole country, and that you would ask God to deliver them from the terror that is around them. God bless you all-

I Have Finally Written and I Have a Little to Say

Well, unfortunately the internet has gone out so I guess I will find this a good opportunity to write about things that have happened since the last time I wrote. I wish that I had not taken so long because so much of what has happened I’m sure I have forgot. But anyways let me begin.

About a month ago or so on one Wednesday night a brother in Christ was baptized at the Peacemaker Chapel. As awesome as it was that our brother followed in his commitment to the Lord, it was so amazing that he was an Iraqi. I don’t know his real name, nor could I type it if I did because I would be putting him and his family at risk, but we call him Joseph and he is one of our interpreters. He is of the Assyrian community which is a long line of Christians who hold to the Orthodox and Catholic tradition. He was a believer before coming to the Peacemaker Chapel but had never followed in a believer’s baptism. He had only been baptized as a baby by the sprinkling of water.

So we had our service and then we gathered around a makeshift pool that the Chaplin used to submerge him. It was a good time. There were about 14 of us present and afterward we gathered as we always do and sang amazing grace as we held hands. I thank God that there are men in this county like Joseph, who are willing to follow his Lord in a commitment such as baptism. He was worried to some degree though to the fact of finding a wife, as are many of our interpreters who are believers in Him. We take it for granted how luck we are in America not only to have our religious freedoms, but that so many wonderful Christian women are out there for us to marry, God willing. In this county the men are not nearly as lucky.

For the most part this county’s people fall under the sects of Muslim, as I’m sure most of you know. The government has never been a threat to the Christianity of Iraq. Christianity teaches peace and submission to government so during Saddam’s reign the Christian community kept the peace and Saddam repaid them by not persecuting them. But the common folk of Iraq are different. The times are changing and religious freedoms are becoming more and more every day, but there are still the radicals who wish to destroy everything that is not their own. So the Christians of Iraq must to some degree hide their faith until they felt led by the Lord to share it. Not only are their very lives threatened by some one knowing there allegiance but so are there families. So with such a threat a man seeking a wife in a culture where marriages are arranged is something that is almost impossible. Some men even have to hide their faith from there family, there father, who is the one responsible for choosing the bride. So pray for these men who have been given a new life. Ask God to give them protection, clear testimonies, and a possibility to marry a woman who loves the Lord as they do. As for the women, in this culture women never leave the side of a male relative or a trusted friend of the family so I have only been able to meet a few and I am forbidden to talk directly with them as this is a sign of disrespect toward the man. Though I have never met them I am sure that the Christian women posses the same hard ships as the men in this county, so may God give both of them strength and peace in such a difficult place.

Now let me tell you a story that only few have ever heard. It is the legend of the fobbit. You may ask what a fobbit is, but know that many of them are out there. Some of you have heard of hobbits. But a fobbit is a far more hated thing. In the far off land of Iraq there are solders that go to fight. But some of them never get to see the battle, but live in their little holes while others go out and avenge the evil of this far off land. The thing that is so amazing about a fobbit is that it was once just like a normal man. To look at him you would never notice the difference. But very different is a fobbit from a normal man. Not is strength, nor in character, but in service. The places where men go to live, in Iraq, while they fight against the evil men who lie in the sand waiting for there opportunity to kill, are called FOB’s, and a FOB is nothing more then a base with a fancy name, Forward Observation Base.

And so there is where you get the name of the hideous thing we call fobbits. They are men who are not given the opportunity, or who are too scared, to go out of these sand mounds which protect us. And before my very eyes I was being transformed into this nasty varmint. But thanks to the power of darkness (the night) and the need of light I was renewed back into my old self. We were going on a night mission to provide illume support for one of our teams which was to go in and search for an insurgent. As we drove though the gate I could feel my normal human strength being given back to me. We went out and set up and waited. Then they decided they needed illume support in another part of the our AO so we moved out again and then finally at the break of day they said our help was no longer needed and we moved back the FOB to get some rest after a long night. We never got to shoot, but at least we had left the FOB, if only for a short 7 hours and I was no longer in the fobbit transformation stage. And the guy they were after they found and brought back for questioning.

Then a couple of days later another mission was planned and this was one in which we knew we would fire. For this one we headed north to an area outside of Dakuik. It is a smaller city then TUZ, but still of decent size. We set up and were ready to shoot. We had some problems with the communication so it took longer to shoot then we would have liked. The purpose of the mission was to train and to hit an area close to the training camp of some who we don’t like. They have not yet done anything warranting a full blown attack but we wanted to send some TNT their way to let them know we are watching them. I think when they heard the explosion—they got our point.

The location we were at was a nice place and I was unfortunate in not having my camera with me on that day. Because of the dryness of the land a huge waterway has been built. I don’t know the correct name for it, but it looks like an aqueduct from what I know of them. It was about 20 feet wide with embankment that could be walked down. It didn’t look to deep, but I was wrong. After sitting in one place for so long our large size gained the notice of some local youths. Three kids, ages 13, 14, and 15 years old, came up and started talking to me. They didn’t speak well but knew the words for the stuff they wanted. All they did as we sat there was ask for water, food, candy, and American money. If these kids have learned anything from America it is greed. But I doubt it is an American thing since all of the Iraqi Army guys I have worked with do nothing but bag for stuff too. But they were good kids and then eventually went swimming in the waterway. I said early that I thought it shallow but I was wrong, and I saw that as the younger two started diving into the water.

Well, after a short swim, which I wish I could have enjoyed, we started talking and I finally gave in and gave them some water to drink. See, when we are sitting in a place we can’t give stuff out because we don’t want a crowd to gather around us, not even children. In this country it is no odd thing for them to use children as a means of killing Americans. I was weary of having the children come close to me but I thought it better for them to be near me then to be near any of the others tracks. But once they got up close to us, and even more so after they went swimming, I could see that they had nothing to cause me any damage.

Now it was time to fire the guns. I told the youths to hold there ears as it got ready to fire. It was pretty loud and the youths enjoyed the show. They were waiting to hear and see the explosion, but since we were shooting at a target about 25000 meters away seeing and hearing was not going to happen. But we were using a rocket assisted round which at about 20 second after firing you will hear a loud hiss sound as the rocket kicks in, and the kids like that. The one gun raid had finally finished firing its eight rounds and we were ready to move out. The children after seeing the show were ready to return home receiving nothing. So as they were leaving I climbed down and got a MRE for each of them and they returned running fast. I handed then out to them and they were pretty happy and thanked me and they were off.

On the same day that we were out firing an explosion happened in Tuz. Some one had made a VBIED (Vehicle Borne IED) and had hit the mayor’s office. From the stories I got four people had died and some were officials of the mayor’s office. The mayor himself was not hurt but some 9 people were. From a friend of mine on location, blood was everywhere. He is a deputy in the civilian world and he said it was one of the worst things he had ever seen. The group that he is apart of missed the blast by only a few seconds, thankfully they hadn’t left any earlier then they had. No US Forces were hurt in the blast, and the VBIED driver was killed in the blast.

A couple of days later another mission came down. One of the longest ones yet, it lasted from 0200 to 1000. I was not one of the lucky ones who got to go on this one so I don’t really have much to say about it but that as they were entering the FOB an explosion happened to the southwest of the FOB. It wasn’t that big of a deal for me but that it came from the direction of Tower One, one of our towers. I saw that the SOG, Sergeant of the Guard, was up there at that location so I wasn’t too worried about it. Come to find out the explosion was an IED that had been set up on the road to our south. Thankfully, our group was coming in the north side of the FOB this time. The IED that blow up didn’t hurt anyone but did destroy one of the Hum-V’s.

A day or so after that a solder was killed. I don’t know the full extent of the story because it happened not in Peacemaker Territory but in Warrior Country which is 1st Squadron AO. The story I heard is that a Hum-V was traveling down the road and a taxi stopped in the middle of the road and made a U-turn right in front of them causing the driver to slam on the breaks and turn to try to avoid it. As he was doing so the Hum-V started to tip till if finally flipped all the way over. The soldier who died was the gunner and the impact of the Hum-V on top of him as it flipped over was too much resulting in him loosing his life. I don’t know the soldier, and if I did I wouldn’t but it on here, but I do ask that you pray for the family that is grieving over their loss.

Then this last Sunday I was at church and one of the Majors was telling the Chaplin that another IED had hit that morning and one of the soldiers was hit with shrapnel in either the arm or leg. It wasn’t a major problem and one of the local docs took care of the problem and he was good to return to duty.

Later on that day I was on Tower Five pulling my duty and I heard a small explosion to the back of me. I couldn’t tell what it was or from where it came but I was waiting for one of the Towers in the Southern sector of the FOB to call it in. So as I was looking back monitoring the radio-BOOM- what I thought was a mortar landed about 300 meters from my location. I called it up to the Main Gate and Peacemaker X with is the main guys in charge. All of a sudden a Hum-V shoes up and tells us we have to go do crater analysis. My new Chief, SGT. Linebarger, and CPL Crawley take off and go to the site. They get there and send in the info. It turned out not to be a mortar but a rocket fired from about 3 miles away. The blast didn’t hurt anyone as it landed a good ways away from any thing. But I must say it was the most excitement I have had since I got here. Getting hit with rockets and mortars was something common at Brassfield-Mora, but here, those things don’t usually happen. As weird as it is to say, it was kind of fun. It made my day a little better having some excitement that didn’t hurt anyone.

That was a couple of days ago and not much has happened since then. Sorry it took so long to write, but for a long time there wasn’t anything to say, and once the stuff started coming, I just didn’t have much time. I’ll try to be better about it from now on.

DISCLAIMER: To all who are fobbits-no disrespect meant.

Some of My Iraqi Army Friends

Here is a picture from Tower 5 of me standing with some of the IA (Iraqi Army) soldiers who have joined us in defending our base. Some of them have been in service for years, where as others only months. They none speak fluent English which makes it hard, but what little we can say we enjoy the conversations.

Peacemakers' Men of Service

To the Left is Chaplin Clark and to the right his assistant SSG Young

Chapel of the Peacemakers

This is the Chapel of the Peacemakers. It is a small building that holds about 25 people and is an awesome place to be. Captain (Chaplin) Clark is the primary spiritual advisors of the 2 Squadron Peacemakers and joined in service with him is SSG Dewey Young of Sparta (member of Gum Springs). These two men have done a lot for the Christians and non-Christian by providing a loving and caring environment for all who wish to partake. On the inside are wonderfully paneled walls and ceilings done by the two of them with banners provided by churches in Tennessee. "Blessed are the Peacemakers."

Shooting From Inside the FOB Today

Today Gun 12 got to shoot another mission; this time without us. Not sure on the total number but they did a great job of hitting the target once again. Something note worthy; SGT Stewart who is the primary gunner of his section got to fire his first live mission as a chieft-solo-today. Great job! If you were wondering about the guy standing behind the Gun as it was firing that is our Smoke (Platoon Sergeant). Not sure why he was there but holding your ears when that close is always a good thing to do.

Candy Success

About five days ago I received my first shipment of candy in from the new Candy ministry of FBC Sparta. Not knowing when I would be leaving the FOB again I put the box of candy away to find out that my next mission was only days away. So the day came of the mission and we got all of our stuff ready to go and I couldn’t forget the box. Unfortunately I had to stay in the bottom of the Gun on this trip but the work still had to be done. SGT Campbell, the Chief of Section, did the work of throwing the candy out to all the children he saw and was quick enough to get a picture of them picking it up also. Thanks to all who participated in the new ministry and remember that this isn't by any means my ministry, but out ministry. I just get to see the fruits. Hope you enjoy the picture (used by permission of SGT Campbell).

Iraqi School

On the way back in from our mission we drove though Tuz and saw this school. It looked like a pretty big school, but maybe not compared to our standards. The children seemed pretty happy to see us as they all ran to the wall; to bad we couldn't throw the candy we had left that far. Also, notice their love for basketball. The goal isn't even there. Got to feel bad for the country; just joking.

The Mission for the Day

This was one of our longest missions. We were out of the FOB for about 6 hours and shot a total of 13 rounds. This is a picture of Gun 12 shooting, SGT Linebarger's section. We were shooting our Super 8 Red Bag, the largest powder bag we have and as you can see it puts out a little smoke. After firing we headed up to the impact area to talk to the FO's (Forward Observers) who are the ones who call in the grids for us to hit. They said we were STEEL ON TARGET once again. This has been another added to a good list of accomplished training missions where our shooting has been flawless. If I was the insurgents I would stay away for the Peacemaker AO (Area of Operation).

Scorpions

We found these little guys up on the roof of our bunker. Well, actually SPC Bridges did and he was the one with the courage to catch them. I would have rather just stepped on them myself, but that is just me. They were only about the size of a thumb so I don't think they were too dangerous yet, but what do I know. Nor do I know how big they will get. Hopefully not too big and hopefully we don't find anymore, especially near my sleeping area.

My Brother: Matt

Hey everyone, this is my brother, Matt Rhoton. You can see that he got the blessing of the good looks from the family gene pool. He is now living in Mesa, AZ. He is a pretty cool guy and wanted a place in my blog so here he is.

Cross Cannons

The Finest Artillery Platoon in the Army

Section 11

This is the section I am privileged enough to be a part of: Section 11, Gun 1. From left to right we have: SPC Hayman (Driver), SPC Bridges (Section Driver), SGT Campbell (Chief of Section), SPC Franco (secondary Chief & Primary Gunner), myself (Secondary Chief, Secondary Gunner & Number One Man), SPC Lloyd (Secondary Chief, Ammo Carrier Chief, Secondary Gunner, and Number One Man), [not pictured] SGT Woodby (Secondary Chief & Secondary Gunner).

REGULATORS: 3rd Platoon 1 HOW BTRY of the 278th RCT

Say hello to the Regulators. This is the platoon that I am apart of and is now located at FOB Bernstein. Our mission is to aid the 2nd Squadron Peacemakers in their efforts to maintain and promote peace in this region.

SGT Bryant Standing in One of Our Craters

This is SGT Bryant standing in one of the many craters we left on this impact area. It was a special treat to go to the impact area after one of the training missions we accomplished. Thankfully there weren't any sheep in the field on this day which has been a problem for us in the past.

Largest Mosque in Tuz

This is a picture I got when coming back in from one of our missions. It is the largest mosque in Tuz and the picture really doesn't do it credit. It is a wonderful building when compared to the ones which surround it through out the rest of the city.

Iraqi Children

These are some of the local children of Iraq. They are some who live just a few miles north of FOB Bernstein. Seeing children like this who love to give thumbs up and asking for candy is a norm for a day convoy.

Stairway to Heaven

This is a picture that was taken from the OP (Observation Post) at Brassfield-Mora one morning.  If you will look to the bottom right of the sun you will see the Tower of Bable, also know as the Stairway to Heaven.  It is located in the nothern past of Samarra and is one of thier most loved religious structures.

B-Day Blanket

Thanks you guys

I just want to send out a special thanks to Ryanne who has helped me with the problem of pictures. Due to her educating me I will now be able to put some pics to support my writings. Thank you Rye.

Getting Better

Over the past four days I haven't been able to eat or drink anything. I was pretty dehydrated and in pretty bad shape. So yesterday morning I went to sick call and the docs hooked me up. They gave me an IV and pumped 1000ml of fluid, and some meds to ease my stomach so I could eat and drink, into my veins. I'm taking some pills now and feeling much better. Thank you to all who prayed for me as God has answered your prayers.

The Old Pastor

In reading a book about how the church is suppose to be, "The Master's Plan for the Chruch" (John MacArtur), I came across a story that was so wonderful that tears came close. I hope you enjoy.

I read about an old pastor who had been forced to retire because years of preaching had caused his voice to crack. Although a humble man, he was invited to a high-society luncheon by a friend. The person heading up the luncheon requested a famous actor who was present to recite something for the guests. Agreeing to do so, he asked if anyone had a specific request. The old pastor thought for a moment and said, "How about the Twenty-Third Psalm?" The actor replied, "That's an unusual request, but I happen to know it. I'll do it on one condition, though: you recite it after me." The old pastor hadn't bargained for that, but for the sake of the Lord, he agreed. The actor stood up and recited the Twenty-Third Psalm with the great intonation of his lyrical voice. When he finished, everyone applauded. The old pastor then stood up and went through the psalm in his humble way with a crackling voice. When he was done, there was not a dry eye in the room. Sensing the emotion of the moment, the actor stood up and said, "You clapped for me, but you wept for him. The difference is obvious. I know the psalm, but he knows the Shepherd."

--The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. (Psalm 23)