| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall l send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8 I recently read a testimony by a fellow named Keni Thomas. Evidently he is a Country Star. I confess, I can't even tell you one of his songs. Haven't heard of him; I was not a fan. I am now. The following are his words. "Every morning, at zero dark thirty somewhere around this globe, men from the 75th Ranger Regiment are standing in formation starting their day by screaming out the six stanzas of the Ranger Creed. The point of saying the creed every day is to commit it to memory. When you say something enough, you begin to believe it. When you believe it, you will live it. I don't know if you have a creed you live by. But if you need one, I've got one for you === Isaiah 6:8. It's on the walls of the 75th Ranger Regiment in Ft. Benning, Ga. In fact, it is on the walls of every special operations unit out there. I remember the first time I read that Scripture. It was on the wall at the US Army's Delta Force compound in Ft. Bragg, NC. I thought, 'Hmm, send me. That dude Isaiah must have been a soldier! Because send me was an easy thing for us to say. Give me the job! Let me go do what I've been training to do. Let me make my difference in this world.' That was then, this is now. I don't get to carry an M-4 rifle anymore. I do, however, get to carry a guitar. Both have a working end. Both can make an impact, either positively or negatively. I can tell a story, I can sing a song. It is a gift I have been given, and with that gift, I will once again raise my hand to God and ask him to send me. I will use the opportunity to tell people that they are extraordinary individuals and that they too have a chance to be sent to make a difference in the world, starting with the people on their left and on their right. Where are you being sent? Who are you impacting, and how? Who are you leading? Who are you following? How are you making a difference? It all begins by raising your hand and stepping up, Here I am, Lord, Send me" end quote. On a side note, The best Thanksgiving Karon and I have had in years was the last one, because we were with my son Jason, His de-lux wife Lydia, and my two most excellent Grand-daughters. My son has been in the Navy for twenty years, and when he would pray over dinner, he would not deviate from praying for his compatriots who were "down range". Think about that for just a minute. I wish I had this in last week's paper for Memorial Day. I wish like so many with the 'soccer mom' mentality, that if we just treated everyone nicely, they would reciprocate. In the real world however, there is Abject Evil, and someone has to deal with it. I praise God for men and women of this ilk who against all odds, for only the sake of what is good and true, suit up every day and cry out: "Send me!", and I have little patience for those who are anything but appreciative. |
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