I'm just one man.

 

I'm just one man. What do you expect me to do, change the world like Jesus? 

The thing is, Jesus doesn't ask us to do what he did alone.

Opening Lines for Short in Height, Tall in Courage

 

Thank you, Jeremy Sams for this beautiful artwork. One cannot create art such as this without God's inspiration and the spiritual gifts accompanying it.

 

     Note: a valuable lesson for those in this caustic culture. Do not judge what you see or read so critically. Just as in the last post on my blog here, you do not know the background for Leah's stinging display. As Christians, we must be a shining example of Jesus Christ in controlling ourselves, in order to show others the error of their rush to judgement. We must be a steadfast example of Jesus Christ to encourage and appeal to our youth that we are so in danger of losing our grip on. Love you all!

     I do not write for money or fame. I write to hopefully be a positive factor in our great commission from our Lord: to bring disciples to him. Furthermore, I focus on the youth because they are an endangered group of Christians. I seek to show the youth what attracted me to use such desperate and covert methods to get into the Vietnam War and, eventually, to write for our Father instead of fame and money. That attraction is the driving force to so many of our youth - excitement, adventure, and danger. I lived for those three items in my younger years, and, to a certain extent, now. God never disappointed me in my quest, while other man-made pieces of life left me despondent and bored. 

Opening lines of Short in Height, Tall in Courage the story of God's African Special Forces Unit

ENJOY!

Chapter 1

Who Is This Little Man?

 

     The sound of the C-130's engines drowned out any voice not shouting. After what The Team had just experienced in Mogadishu, Somalia, nobody felt like talking anyway. All but one sat staring into nothing with a well-practiced stoicism, suppressing outward emotions. That one was Samuel, Little Brother, who sat with his Somali robe covering his entire body and sobbing quietly underneath. The Hercules leveled off at low altitude in an attempt to not be detected by prying radar beams that might be searching for us as we headed homeward to Yei, South Sudan.

     Laid carefully out between the two rows of The Team were two body bags filled with two of the finest men to ever live. Our casualty rate was much lower than expected due to the previous experience of the U.S. Army with Operation Gothic Serpent in '93, but still brought pain and suffering.

     Aboard the second C-130 were the rescued Nigerian school girls and one seriously wounded Muslim local who most likely gave his life to save Christian strangers. That plane was en route to Abuja, capital of Nigeria, for a reunion of hostages and families and a trauma center for the wounded Muslim.

     On this day, plutonium and hostages had been seized from the hands of Al Qaeda and a Russian working for Iran. Little did we realize at that time how our Somali Mission would impact the world. The news of this long and dangerous day would instill fear into terrorists around the world and hope into many Christian and Jewish people being persecuted by those terrorist organizations. A mission of this magnitude by a Christian military unit had previously been only a dream. Now, If the world didn't know before, this small but powerful quick-strike unit of who-are-theys are not myths or fake news. 

 

 

One of my favorite passages from my book

     Suddenly Mabior whispered, "Shadows to the right."

     The shadows were bent over as they made their way to the door. I could hear the sound of the locksmith tools as they noisily fiddled with the two-door locks. I stood there thinking, "Are these misfits the best you could muster to send against us? Finally, they were in. The door creaked loudly, causing the two men to hit one another in a Laurel and Hardy slapstick move. I'd had enough. I tapped Samuel beside me as our signal.

     Samuel yelled in Farci, "Get on the floor, now! We won't hesitate to kill you. Hands behind your back! Do you speak Hebrew?"

     I flicked on the lights.

     The two men began to shake at Samuel's shouted commands. The insurgents had their hands and feet shackled with bags placed on their heads in a smooth action. The lock-picker man, probably the leader, asked, "Are you Jews? We do not speak Hebrew, sir. Please, don't hurt us. We just came to burgle the place."

     Leah stepped in front of Samuel commanding the man, "Shut up! We Jews are in charge here. We will ask the questions!!" I could tell she delighted in saying those words, and I kind of delighted in them, myself.

     Samuel resumed, "Are you alone?"

     The lock-picker said nervously, "Yes, sir."

     Samuel asked, "Who sent you?"

     The lock-picker answered in a stammer, "Nobody, we are just common thieves, sir."

     Leah stepped in for good this time, yelling in Farsi, "No thief, common or otherwise, would attempt to burglarize such a place as this. Do you think we are idiots? We captured the other six comrades of yours. They are already giving us information." Leah bent down and turned the lock picker's head to make sure his ears were focused, "Yes, we are Jews. Does it bother you that you will be transported to Israel to have a long conversation with our Mossad burglary specialists? We Jews don't particularly like to be burgled. Especially if those burglars are Iranian military. Jewish and Persian friendships go back thousands of years. They are good people, but the tyrants who rule them are pure trash. Let's get them out of here. I'm sick of talking to these terrorists."

 

 

The Real Heroes!

 

 

 

     My new book is dedicated to the millions of persecuted Christians and Jews around the world who bend but do not break. They are the real heroes. 

 

It's time to take a stand for the living God of Israel. When you take that stand, you stand for morals and its foundation, for truth and life; Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. 

VOM - Voice of the Martyrs  https://www.persecution.com/

SAT-7 USA - https://www.sat7usa.org/

Heart for Lebanon - https://heartforlebanon.org/

Get to know these steadfast Christian Organizations doing holy & many times dangerous work to take the Word to people and Christians in places like Iran, China, Syria, Saudi Arabia, etc. They do their holy work as Christians dressed in the living-loving example of Jesus Christ. They do these things for our Christian Heroes.

Another test of Church obligations and its Constitutional rights

 Though many rarely realize it in this country, the Christian Church is under constant assault from individuals and governments. These people and government institutions seek to undermine the Church and its institution's rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.     During the Coronavirus outbreak, Grace Church, pastored by John MacArthur, in California, sought relief from the courts concerning the shutdown of their Church at a time when parishioners needed it most. The Church made a film about their struggle against the state of California and its Governor, Gavin Newsome.
    The legal opinion taken by Grace Church is that the state of California overstepped its authority and violated the First Amendment by threatening arrest and $1,000 per day fines for carrying out church services during the epidemic. To jog your memory, there were thousands of people rioting in the streets of California; burning and looting followed along with these protests. These riots (called peaceful protests by state and federal government officials) perpetrated by BLM during this Coronavirus period came with no threat of jail or fines.

This is the link to the official trailer for the film, The Essential Church.

https://youtu.be/ez20oh_x3Vg

Christians have an obligation to be informed about their Churches and their Christian Community. God didn't send his only son to die on that cross to give us his Grace so that we can go to church once in a blue moon, then place the Bible back on the bookshelf and never touch nor think about it again till the next time we decide, "We ought to go to church." 

China's Communist Party to rewrite the Bible

 

 

 Per Fox News July 17, 2023

As part of a push to "sinicize" religion, the Chinese Communist Party has embarked on a 10-year project to rewrite the Bible and other religious texts. 

In the Gospel of John, Jesus famously confronts the accusers a woman caught committing adultery, saying "let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her."  

The chastened accusers slink away and Jesus says to the woman, "‘Has no one condemned you?' 'No one, sir,' she replied. 'Neither do I condemn you,' said Jesus. 'Go away, and from this moment sin no more.'"  

Unless you’re a CCP official. Then it's a story of a dissident challenging the authority of the state. A possible sneak preview of what a Bible with socialist characteristics might look like appeared in a Chinese university textbook in 2020. The rewritten Gospel of John excerpt ends, not with mercy, but with Jesus himself stoning the adulterous woman to death. 

Across Henan province, local CCP officials forced Protestant churches to replace the Ten Commandments with Xi Jinping quotes. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," became diktats like: "Resolutely guard against the infiltration of Western ideology." 

The 10-year project to rewrite the Bible, Quran and other sacred texts is all part of Xi Jinping’s quest to make the faithful serve the party rather than God. 

At the 19th Party Congress, Chairman Xi declared "We will… insist on the sinicization of Chinese religions, and provide active guidance for religion and socialism to coexist." 

Let me translate: Xi Jinping has no problem with the first commandment, just so long as he and the CCP are playing the role of God. 

You might expect the Vatican, the leaders of the largest Christian congregation in the world, to be incensed and defiant. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong. 

In a secret 2018 negotiation, the Vatican agreed to allow the CCP to select Catholic bishops in China, supposedly in exchange for vague reassurances of "safety" for some Catholic congregations which were immediately abrogated. 

= = =

Pray for the Christians in China and for God to give their leaders the wisdom and courage to follow his will. Breathe deeply, my Christian Brothers and Sisters all around the world, and pray like never before for our Lord to bring the Gospel to and be accepted by the entire world. We must have God's courage and wisdom as to how to handle these dangerous situations. These things cannot be done by man. They must have God's involvement. I am hearing in my country, the United States, that the actions of governments around the world are raising the eyebrows of even the solid non-believers with their actions. This is the time to demonstrate with the authority of the Holy Spirit that God is alive and working. That is what my writing is all about - not money nor celebrity. All glory is to God - so saith the Lord. I love you all!

I serve for God's glory, not mine

 

A publisher recently told me, "If you drop the focus on religion, we'll have a contract for you." For some reason, it brought to mind the famous quote of Admiral David Farragut as head of a Union Naval flotilla entering Mobile, Alabama Bay during the American Civil War. They encountered torpedoes (mines) floating in the water. When asked by other captains of ships in the fleet what his orders are. He replied (in a longer version), "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" I work by God's inspiration - only. Everyone should try it with great resolve. It gives you energy, passion, aspiration, and adds definition to your life. When you throw your pocketbook out the window, something divinely mysterious envelopes and strengthens your spirit - immensely. NO! I will never drop my focus on God. He stood with me when I was really bad. I'll stand with Him when most of the world spits in his face. He sent his son to die for us. The least we can do is to live for him. All glory to God!