WAR
ON THE HIDDEN HAND
By Steve Van Nattan
Who
are these ones we cannot see,
Though we feel them so very near?
In the chapel
we felt them bend the knee,
At parades we felt them cheer.
In
the shadow and shade of Harvard Yard,
In the musty hall's dim light;
They
are nagging here and niggering there,
Yet never in sound or sight.
Ah,
the masses so free as they vote and choose;
And send "the best man"
off to reign;
Believe they are masters of their fate,
But, their trust and
faith is in vain.
For,
from the shadow steps a don,
With a threat and a bribe so grand;
And elected
man are neutered and spayed,
Enslaved by the Hidden Hand.
So,
these ghosts on high-- they seem so shy,
With deference and feigned distraction;
Will
tinker with oil and blood and gore,
In a chess game to their satisfaction.
And
the masses wail at the puppet pols,
As if they were the enemy grim;
While
the Hidden Hand in an orgy of lust,
Just laughs and snickers and grins.
For,
the heathen rage in a vain thing sweet,
As they set themselves on high;
And
rape the world and skim the cream,
While thousands bleed and die.
But,
Jehovah laughs, and so do we,
At these "bastard sons" so grand;
For
in prayer, on our knees, with fervent zeal,
We make war on the Hidden Hand.
Editor:
This poem is my way of putting the present distress in the world into perspective.
We are not at war with Presidents and Prime Ministers. They are mere puppets of
the Hidden Hand, men who stand in the shadows and control the puppets. These of
the Hidden Hand are sold out to Satan, and in unguarded moments, they have been
caught in their worship of Lucifer.
Ephesians
6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye
may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate
of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
"Praying
always" is the final and most potent weapon.
And
how do we pray in regard to evil men?
Psalms
10:13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt
not require it.
14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite,
to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the
helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil
man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
16 The LORD is King for
ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
We
may always pray that God will give us peace under the rule of tyrants. But, we
pray in spiritual warfare that evil men and oppressors would be destroyed by God.
All through the Psalms David calls out to God to destroy the wicked in high places.
Have we become pacifists or spiritual warriors?
1
Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised,
hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that
are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30 But of him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption:
We
are surrounded on all sides by evil men-- we have them right were we want them--
don't let any of them get away. "War a good warfare...."
1
Timothy 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies
which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
RIDING
WITH ALLENBY
As
I dream, it seems to me
I have ridden with Allenby.
On
a day, in the time long gone,
I rode into the heart of the dawn
Out of
Gaza. My desert steed,
Son of a sire of the Nedjid breed,
Took the breath
of the morning sun
With never a pause till we had won
er rocky steep and
o er sandy swell
To the riven House of Gabriel.
Then, ere the shut of
the eve, we came
Where the last red streamers lit with flame
The mosque
of Hebron set in the vale,
With its towering minarets, and its tale
Of
Isaac s and of Abraham s tomb,
Where only the Faithful in the gloom,
By
the flickering cressets flecked, may fare
When the swart muezzin calls to
prayer.
Thence on to Bethlehem we sped,
With the dome of Allah overhead,
And not a shred of a cloud in view
To blur the breadth of its gold and
blue.
So
he marched, and it seems to me
I have ridden with Allenby!
Then
Jerusalem, and the Hill
Of Golgotha, and the sacred, still
Church of the
Holy Sepulchre !
The Vale and the Mount, and the ceaseless stir
Of pilgrim
feet where the Christ once strayed,
Under the cruel cross down weighed !
I
rode by Jenin with its palms
Clear cut against the noonday calms.
I rode
by Nablous, I rode by Nain,
And over the wide Esdraelon plain
Up the slopes
to Nazareth,
Where out of the dim bazaars the breath
Of the shaven sandalwood
was blown.
I skirted the snow-crowned mountain zone
Of Hermon, and saw
the morning star
Silver the huts of Kerf Hawar;
And then I looked on the
lovely loom
Of orange, pomegranate and citron bloom
(A bower that to the
Prophet s eyes
Was a prescience of Paradise),
And entered Damascus as
the sun
Peered over the brow of Lebanon.
So
he marched, and it seems to me
I have ridden with Allenby!
Never
again the Turkish blight
On all this land of lure and light !
Never again
the Turkish ban
From far Beersheba unto Dan
This home of holy memories
!
Rather the beam of His promised peace,
His peace for all men under the
sun
From Nebo north to Lebanon,
His peace through the hand that set them
free!-
I
have ridden with Allenby!
Editor:
The poem is about the British freeing the Middle East of the Turks in 1918. Allenby
and TL Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) were the central figures and attacked in
parallel from Sinai ending up with the liberation of Damascus.
Although
he was a supreme master of cavalry warfare, before entering Jerusalem, Allenby
dismounted and together with his officers, entered the city on foot through the
Jaffa Gate out of his great respect for the status of Jerusalem's, as the Holy
City, importance to Judaism, Christianity and Islam (see his proclamation of martial
law below). He subsequently stated in his official report:
"...I
entered the city officially at noon, 11 December, with a few of my staff, the
commanders of the French and Italian detachments, the heads of the political missions,
and the Military Attaches of France, Italy, and America.
"The
procession was all afoot, and at Jaffa gate I was received by the guards representing
England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, India, France and Italy.
The population received me well..."
He
is also more controversially alleged to have said, "today the crusades have
ended".
Others
claim that Allenby said that no man should enter Jerusalem in triumph riding a
horse until Messiah does so himself.
As Allenby passed into Jerusalem, Jews and Arabs poured into the street shouting
and singing the praises of Allah'nbi, for that is how his name sounded to them.
The Turks also thought he was Allah'nbi, which literally, in Arabic, translates,
"Prophet of Allah." Allenby's humility was doubly important as he lead
his horse through the streets rather than ride. It sent a subtle message that,
yes, Allenby was a great liberator, and, yes, it was in order for Jews and Arabs
to dance and sing his praises. But, this was neither the Messiah nor the Islamic
Madhi.
How
very important it is to win a battle humbly and with a right view of oneself as
a servant of God Almighty and the Captain of our Salvation.
2
Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ.
There
is no greater treachery in the Church of Jesus Christ today than these rags like
the Sword of the Lord which over and over give the glory to man for building
Sunday School attendance, winning souls, and proliferating bus routes. I hate
it. Any man who allows himself to be thus exalted is a damned hireling and needs
to be thrashed with a bull whip.
Think
about this, preacher, the next time you sing, "To God be the Glory, great
things hath he done..." Are the sheep bragging about YOU all week to their
neighbors, or are the bragging about Jesus? I went to a small church to pastor
in Michigan, and after the first Sunday, one of the ladies in the church told
someone, "We have another John MacArthur." BARF! I was physically sick
when I heard this later. And, God have mercy on John MacArthur if he cannot preach
any better than I can.
But,
what about the line, "I have ridden with Allenby!"?
I
must say that it is a great experience to have gone to battle with a warrior of
Christ who has great zeal and great humility. There is a manly esprit that one
feels with such a man for the rest of one's days-- good memories of serving and
battling for Christ together. How grand it will be in the Glory to share these
memories around the throne of the Captain of our salvation!
__________________________
GUNGA
DIN
Rudyard
Kipling
You
may talk o' gin and beer
When you're quartered safe out 'ere,
An' you're
sent to penny-fights an' Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An' you'll lick the bloomin' boots of 'im
that's got it.
Now in Injia's sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A-servin' of 'Er Majesty the Queen,
Of all them blackfaced crew
The finest
man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din.
He was "Din! Din! Din!
You limpin' lump o' brick-dust, Gunga Din!
Hi! slippery ~hitherao~!
Water, get
it! ~Panee lao~!
You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga
Din."
The uniform 'e wore
Was nothin' much before,
An' rather
less than 'arf o' that be'ind,
For a piece o' twisty rag
An' a goatskin
water-bag
Was all the field-equipment 'e could find.
When the sweatin'
troop-train lay
In a sidin' through the day,
Where the 'eat would make
your bloomin' eyebrows crawl,
We shouted "Harry By!"
Till our throats
were bricky-dry,
Then we wopped 'im 'cause 'e couldn't serve us all.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
You 'eathen, where the mischief 'ave you
been?
You put some ~juldee~ in it
Or I'll ~marrow~ you this minute
If you don't fill up my helmet,
Gunga Din!"
'E would dot an' carry one
Till the longest day was done;
An' 'e didn't seem to know the use o' fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin' nut,
'E'd be waitin' fifty paces right flank rear.
With 'is ~mussick~ on 'is back,
'E would skip with our attack,
An' watch
us till the bugles made "Retire",
An' for all 'is dirty 'ide
'E was white,
clear white, inside
When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire!
It was "Din! Din! Din!"
With the bullets kickin' dust-spots on
the green.
When the cartridges ran out,
You could hear the front-files shout,
"Hi! ammunition-mules an'
Gunga Din!"
I shan't forgit the night
When I dropped be'ind the fight
With a bullet where my belt-plate should 'a' been.
I was chokin' mad with
thirst,
An' the man that spied me first
Was our good old grinnin', gruntin'
Gunga Din.
'E lifted up my 'ead,
An' he plugged me where I bled,
An'
'e guv me 'arf-a-pint o' water-green:
It was crawlin' and it stunk,
But
of all the drinks I've drunk,
I'm gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.
It
was "Din! Din! Din!
'Ere's a beggar with a bullet through 'is
spleen;
'E's chawin' up the ground,
An' 'e's kickin' all around:
For Gawd's sake git the water, Gunga
Din!"
'E carried me away
To where a dooli lay,
An' a bullet come
an' drilled the beggar clean.
'E put me safe inside,
An' just before 'e
died,
"I 'ope you liked your drink", sez Gunga Din.
So I'll meet 'im later
on
At the place where 'e is gone --
Where it's always double drill and
no canteen;
'E'll be squattin' on the coals
Givin' drink to poor damned
souls,
An' I'll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!
Yes, Din!
Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
Though I've belted you and flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd
that made you,
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
Editor:
Lots of bad theology for sure. But, I needed you to read this one. We don't have
half the blood and flames flying that Menno Simon and John Hus experienced in
the battle for the Truth. We live a jaded life I fear, and we boast too easily
of our numbers and how many people walked the aisle at the last revival meeting.
I cannot help but feel that, just before the archangel's trump sounds, the battle
will be getting pretty hot again. I believe that all of Christendom will unite
to follow the dream of Nirvana next door and right now. In the process the best
we Bible believers can hope for is to be marginalized.
I
suspect that in reality the whole world will soon define Bible believers as hate
criminals. And, alleged Christians will be our worst adversary as they do service
to Satan and finger Bible believers. Are your friends, are the sheep of you pastors,
ready to keep right on the heels of the Good Shepherd? Have you taught them to
feed themselves, or are they dependent on you to spoon feed them? Many will fall
at once into defeat and terror because of hireling shepherds who did not feed
the sheep.
Video
of British Veteran Soldier reciting Gunga Din
Burma Star Veteran Malcolm
North reciting Gunga Din at the RAFA
club Ripon North Yorkshire after Remembrance
Sunday Parade 2007
It is curious that he turned down the offer of a free whiskey.
Hmmm
___________________________
Poem
found on a barracks wall by John F Kennedy
God
and the soldier all men adore,
In time of war and not before;
But, when
war is ended and all thing righted,
God is forgotten, and the old soldier forgotten.
Editor:
You have to be real dumb if you cannot see the parallel between that poem by a
US soldier in Vietnam and our modern church age. How are you treating the old
soldiers in your fellowship, pastor? And, after the big building is built, and
the numbers swell, what do you brag on, your numbers, your baptisms, your calling
program, and your bus routes, or do you still brag on Jesus and the mercy of God
when you were nothing?
___________________________
You're
paid to stop a bullet,
It's a soldier's job they say,
But, when you stop
a bullet,
They will stop your pay.
Editor:
In all your budgeting for the glorious building and bus ministry you are planning,
what are you doing for the widows. Do you realize the New Testament Church had
only one list mentioned- the list of widows. They did not have a membership list.
You have that all neat and tidy, but I would bet you don't have a widow's list,
do you?
_____________________________
DEAR
MOM
The
war is over now My task is finally through,
But Mom there is something I must
ask of you.
I have a friend, oh what a friend
He has no home you see,
So Mom I would like
To bring him home with me.
If someone comes home with you,
I'm sure that he could stay
For a day
or two.
Please
Mom, I have to tell you something
Please don't be alarmed,
My friend,
you see in battle
Happen to lose one arm.
My
son, don't be afraid
To bring him home with you,
He could stay and visit
For even a week or two.
But
Mom, he's not just a friend
He's a brother too,
That's why I want him
to live with us
And be a son to you.
But...before you give me answer
There's
something I must say,
My friend fought in a battle
In which he lost a
leg.
My
son, it hurts me to say this
But my answer must be no,
Your father and
I would have no time
For one who is crippled so.
Sometime
later a letter came
Saying their son was dead,
And when they read the
cause of death
"Suicide" it said.
Sometime later when the casket came
Wrapped with the country flag,
They saw their son lying there
With
out an arm or leg.
Editor:
Preacher, deacon, Dad and Mom, is there a soldier who went to war with the world
and was wounded. He will never be the same. He has repented of his wandering,
and he tried to live for Christ afterward, but he needs to come home-- perhaps
from prison or from shame. Will you, preacher, take him back?
___________________________
LEAVE
A WINDOW OPEN
Summer
refused to leave,
we caught it lingering just
outside the kitchen window;
squeezing sweat from our brows,
gluing legs to chairs and keeping
papa
under the shadow
of a weeping willow.
Could he hear mama crying
over news about Johnny?
Or notice family and friends
stopping by to eat
her fried
chicken and pecan pie
while paying respects?
I wonder if
he looked into
her cloudy eyes, red as
when she told Johnny and
me
how he lost his mind,
blaming it on what some
couldn't admit was a war.
I'm sure he heard the words,
"Your son is missing in Iraq,"
since
I swore he asked the uniformed
man, with eyes as kind and red as hers,
"after you find my son, please look
for both my legs, they can't be
far
from where he is now"
Mama blamed the rising temperature,
told me
go inside and don't argue;
I tried to convince her he finally
spoke after
almost a year;
things heating up fast round here.
My heart's breaking
for my brother,
so tonight I'll open his window,
hoping he'll climb back
in and
finally rest in peace after
sneaking out and joining the
army
on his last birthday.
Not fair to blame him for that,
wasn't much
for him to do around here,
except to weep for eighteen years
under the
shadow of his purple hearted hero.
BY: Carla Procida
Editor:
I was at Fort Knox during the Vietnam War-- I was a Chaplain's Assistant. I talked
to quite a number of men who returned from Vietnam. They wondered why everyone
hated them. They also were not right in their minds. I listened a lot, and we
talked-- not much progress could be made in a short time. Some Vietnam Vets got
over it, but some did not.
Preacher,
they are still out there around your neighborhood. They sit in a chair in the
corner of a run down house-- never could keep a job. No one comes to visit because
they are bad company. Even now, some of them will dive under a table if someone
snaps a stick. Some sit in aging single wides out in the Michigan woods with a
twelve gauge shotgun across their knees and an old dog sitting next to them--
no friend, not a word for their neighbors, waiting, waiting.........
They
fought a war our leaders never intended to win, and they paid a terrible price.
Who cares? Do you? Oh, you wave the flag on July 4 and salute the flag in the
church house and may even pledge allegiance to the flag. What about those old
soldiers who still cannot think about the future they fear?
I
know a Black brother who had a brother who went to Vietnam. He was in bad shape
mentally. My friend took care of his brother, and the Vet had to be watched because
if he saw someone coming across the field out back, he ran for his gun and got
ready for a "fire fight". The Vet was taken under the wing of his brother
and a Black lady who knew him. She took him to a Black church in central Tennessee,
and they took him in. The last I heard, he had confessed his faith in Christ and
was singing duets with the lady who brought him into the fold........ and later
married him. Read, and think....... Is your church door open to them, and do they
know it? Who has ever told them?
We
attended a church in Tennessee where the preacher gave altar calls at every service.
One Sunday morning an older fellow sent forward wailing and distraught. The preacher
talked quietly with him, and then the preacher asked all the men in the church
to come forward and pray with the man. I had never seen such a thing before. We
all did so, and all of us were laying hands on him or holding an arm etc. I did
not understand what exactly was going on. Was the man confessing faith in Christ,
or was he tormented by devils? I learned later-- he was a Vietnam Vet, and he
needed these visits to the altar once in a while-- he needed to have men around
him showing they cared-- he needed to know Christ was there and still loved him.
The thing that blessed me was that the preacher always let this man have this
time with the Lord. It was disruptive, but it was sweet to see a church that had
time for a soldier wounded in the mind.
A
Letter from a Vietnam Veteran in Response to the above poem:
Van Nattan's comments that follow this poem - and every single poem on this webpage
- touched my heart in ways some who read here may not understand.
I participated in the SouthEast Asia War Games in 1966, 1968 and 1972. That "conflict"
was divided into five campaigns between 1964 and 1973. My VietNam Service Ribbon
has four campaign stars attached, indicating that I was there in every one of
those campaigns. During those troubles, I picked up two Presidential Unit Citations,
three Commendation Medals and a Bronze Star.
During those troubles, I saw things that, even now, sometimes creep into my dreams
and waken me. I virtually "live" in a room that I added on the rear of our home.
I eat, sleep and take my meals here, coming out only to use the bathroom, visit
the hospital or join in Friday evening family gatherings. On very rare occasions,
I "go someplace," but only where there are family present. Saturday before last,
for example, I went to my daughter's ranch to teach my grandson how to shoot and
maintain my AK-74 and 1911 Government Model Colt pistol.
I am not frightened or afraid. I do not live in fear. In fact, by God's grace
I am quite contented most of the time. I suppose that I know no one is going to
come into my house uninvited - we have iron "burgler bars" on the windows and
doors. Nevertheless, as I type, I know that my 9mm Sig-Sauer P226 is in my right
hand desk drawer, loaded and ready.
The only time I am comfortable sitting outside the house is when it rains, for
I know that no one will be coming to visit. I also am comfortable outdoors, sitting
on my patio, when it is dark, for the same reason. I learned long ago that darkness
can be a friend, covering me from hostile eyes.
I spent a year or so getting "help," but the shrinks both told me that there is
nothing really wrong with me; that I am not psychotic and only a little bit neurotic.
I do not suffer with depression - except every now and then. They released me
from their patient lists and told me that I did not need either counselling or
medication. Social Security and Veterans Administration carry me as being 80%disabled,
though a lot of that has to do with the damage to my kidnetys.
I don't believe that I am dangerous to anyone. When no one else is home to answer
the doorbell, I go to see who is calling - with my hand behind my back, holding
the Sig. But I will not answer the telephone.
I am just another guy who earned the privilege of being able to say that our recent
and present Federal Administrations are destroying the very fabric of the America
I inherited from my forefathers and grew up in.
And now I have made my "confession" to you all and wish for you to know that,
had not our Lord and Savior rescued me by granting me the gifts of regeneration
and saving faith, I could be a greatly different person.
As
we said back in 1968, he was "in the real 'Nam...."
Ms
Napolitano tells us these men are dangerous. Perhaps there is no greater crime
committed by the Obama Administration than to classify our combat Veterans as
dangerous, possible terrorists. I must stop, for my emotions will send me off
into unbecoming speech....
Another
letter from a Vet who read the above letter from a Vietnam Vet. I may have to
make a special forum page of this poem.
That
is really something. Some of those poor guys have been fighting that war now for
45 years, and not very many of them get to find peace and take part in the "armistice"
like that brother (above) in Christ did.
I wouldn't presume to be a philosopher on this subject, because even though I
was in the military I wasn't in a war. But I think that combat soldiers have enemies
on all sides for life. They have enemies in battle who are trying to kill them,
and then in peacetime they become the enemies of the bureaucracy that sent them
to war, because they can understand the horrors and the hypocrisy like very few
people can. Then, on top of that, the world tries to glamorize war and glamorize
the heroics of individual men, while spitting on a poor, maimed combat soldier
at the same time.
I have a paperback book that I have had since I was a kid. The title is "Through
The Valley of the Kwai". It was written by a Scotchman named Ernest Gordon, who
was a prisoner of the Japanese for several years. He worked on the Kwai river
bridge and the railroad made famous by the movie "Bridge Over the River Kwai."
In his book, he says that the movie was a farce and a lie. In the movie, the British
soldiers willingly built the railroad and the bridge to prove that they were superior
to the Japanese. It all made for great drama when British commandos were sent
to blow up the very bridge that British soldiers had built.
But
Ernest Gordon said that the Japanese beat, tortured, and starved the British soldiers
at every turn. There was NO cooperation. The British soldiers were lashed with
whips. They were forced to drink water until they were bloated, and then stomped
on until they died. They would be handed dynamite by a Japanese engineer, told
where to place it near some rocky outcropping that needed to be broken down so
the bridge could be built, and then before they got to where they were supposed
to place the dynamite, the Japanese engineer would blow them up. If they stole
a piece of bread because they were starving, and got caught, the Japanes would
execute them publicly with a samurai sword. The British soldiers not only did
NOT try to build a fantastic bridge, but they tried to sabotage the bridge every
chance they had, and paid dearly for trying to REMAIN IN THE FIGHT AND REMAIN
SOLDIERS, as it was their duty to do. It was quite a different scenario than the
Hollywood one.
Ernest Gordon nearly died of dysentery in the Japanese prison camps, and thousands
of other soldiers did die---from disease, from torture, from starvation, from
out and out murder. When the war was ended, and Gordon finally got back home,
they had a lot of trouble getting the troop ships, loaded with soldiers, many
of whom were sick and wounded and crippled, into port. The dock workers were on
strike because they didn't think they were getting paid enough.
It's no wonder that the survivors get cynical.
In Christ, Art
__________________________________
To
Lucasta, going to the Wars
Tell
me not, Sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast
and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.
True,
a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger
faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.
Yet
this inconstancy is such
As thou too shalt adore;
I could not love thee,
Dear, so much,
Loved I not Honour more.
Richard
Lovelace. 1618–1658
Are
there any conditions that will control our honor-- keep it holy-- even in war?
Answer:
Yes, and here it is:
Proverbs
22:4 (KJV) By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.
__________________________________
Nefarious
War
By
Li Po (circa 750AD
Translated
from the Chinese by Shigeyoshi Obata
Last year we fought by the head-stream
of the So-Kan,
This year we are fighting on the Tsung-ho road.
We have
washed our armor in the waves of the Chiao-chi lake,
We have pastured our
horses on Tien-shan’s snowy slopes.
The long, long war goes on ten thousand
miles from home.
Our three armies are worn and grown old.
The barbarian
does man-slaughter for plowing;
On his yellow sand-plains nothing has been
seen but blanched skulls and bones.
Where the Chin emperor built the walls
against the Tartars,
There the defenders of Han are burning beacon fires.
The beacon fires burn and never go out.
There is no end to war!—
In the battlefield men grapple each other and die;
The horses of the
vanquished utter lamentable cries to heaven,
While ravens and kites peck at
human entrails,
Carry them up in their flight, and hang them on the branches
of dead trees.
So, men are scattered and smeared over the desert grass,
And the generals have accomplished nothing.
Oh, nefarious war! I see
why arms
Were so seldom used by the benign sovereigns.
Editor:
War is not normal. God created Adam and Eve to live in peace. Then, by their disobedience,
Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, and sin brought death. Romans
5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and
so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
War
is just one of many ways to die. But, war, more than any other way to die, is
a tribute to man's failure to preserve life. All war, at least in the past 500
years or so, has been passed off in two ways to justify killing one another. First,
war is claimed to be the only way left to make peace. This is the most oxymoronic
thing ever dreamed up by fallen men, and the most intelligent men will buy into
it eagerly. Second, war is said to be God's will. Both sides claim this, and both
sides go down to the church house and pray to the same God (frequently) to give
them victory.
Li
Po was a wise man to be frustrated with war. Men who love war are animals. They
have lost the value of life and lust to see men die. Nimrod was the first man
who lusted to kill men. Genesis 10:9 He was a mighty hunter
before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before
the LORD.
Now,
in spiritual warfare there are several parallels. If Satan had not rebelled against
God, he would not be wandering the earth inciting men to live wickedly, and if
man had not sinned in Eden, he too would not be lusting to ravage other men spiritually.
There is a caution here. While spiritual warfare is required of us, and while
Paul teaches us that we are to war a good warfare, spiritual warfare is NOT normal.
It is a tribute to the wickedness that is in the heart of evil men, some of them
sitting right there every Sunday in church pews. And, some are even standing behind
pulpits.
Let
us not make a hobby of spiritual warfare. Let us not linger on the battlefield
looking for more war when there is none. Let us seek to live at peace if at all
possible. Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord:
__________________________________
The Charge of the Light
Brigade
Alfred,
Lord Tennyson (1854)
Half
a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!
he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
II
Forward, the Light Brigade!’
Was there a man dismayed?
Not
though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of
Death
Rode the six hundred.
III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws
of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
IV
Flashed all their sabers bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabering
the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack
and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then
they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
V
Cannon to
right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed
and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from
the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
VI
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light
Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
Editor:
In spiritual warfare, there is a marriage of the physical and the spiritual. We
see in the demoniac of Gaderra that the man was naked and physically powerful
and dangerous (Luke 8). We see also that a herd of swine drowned at the end of
the story.
Paul,
as a result of preaching the Gospel and standing against Satanic oppression, had
many physical sorrows to deal with. They were directly the result of spiritual
warfare and doing his work for Christ:
1
Corinthians 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus,
what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow
we die.
2
Corinthians 11:22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are
they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak
as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons
more frequent, in deaths oft.
24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes
save one.
25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered
shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 In journeyings often,
in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in
perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in
perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27 In weariness and painfulness,
in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily,
the care of all the churches.
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended,
and I burn not?
30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which
concern mine infirmities.
31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
I
was called by the wife of a man in the church one day. She had come home on day,
hit the automatic door opener of the garage, and drove in, and pushed the close
button. Just at that moment she saw a man hiding behind a large snow sled leaning
against the wall of the garage. She rushed into the house and locked the door
behind her. After she phoned, my wife and I rushed to the home, and I had my wife
stay inside the house with the lady while I went outside with her husband's shot
gun loaded with buck shot.
The
man had fled the garage, so I searched the woods for him. If I had seen him, I
would have tried to take him and call the police. Otherwise, well, I must admit
that I am glad I never caught him. He would have had to consume some hot buck
shot, and I would probably have had a time of it trying to explain.
I
called the sheriff before I left home, and he told me if I went to help, just
don't take a gun. Can you believe what idiots we have in some law offices. This
was Michigan. In Texas or Arizona the sheriff would have told me to be sure to
take a gun. Just make sure the man in on the lady's property. I
told this wimpy Michigan sheriff that I was indeed going to take a gun, and if
he did not want the beggar killed, he better get to the house before me. The sheriff
never showed- ever.
The
point is, I was the pastor of this lady and her husband. He was at work. I was
the nearest person for her to call, so I went. I am no hero. I did not catch the
guy, but I suspect he either saw me trying to track him, or he may have heard
from the neighbors that "that damned Baptist preacher was walking around
the woods with a shot gun yesterday...."
My
little charge of my light brigade ended with me going home without a wound, and
not going to jail for shooting a possible burglar or rapist. But, they never saw
the bum again. It was all in the line of duty. My job as a pastor was first and
foremost to be a Bible teacher, but when a sheep cries for help out of fear of
being raped, delivering the wolf a three point sermon on sexual purity will hardly
be in order. Only a load of buck shot will serve the man's urgent need and protect
the sheep.
__________________________________
WAR
IS KIND
Stephen
Crane (1899)
Do
not weep, maiden, for war is kind,
Because your lover threw wild hands toward
the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone,
Do not weep.
War is
kind.
Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,
Little souls who thirst
for fight,
These men were born to drill and die.
The unexplained glory
flies above them.
Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom--
A
field where a thousand corpses lie.
Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbles in the yellow trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped
and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.
Swift blazing flag of the
regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill
and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the
excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.
Mother
whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your
son,
Do not weep.
War is kind!
Editor:
We are talking here about only human war making, not spiritual warfare.
Stephen
Crane also wrote The Red Badge of Courage. He enlisted in the Civil War
of the USA and was rejected. He, however; saw the worst of war as a journalist
in Greece, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Spain. He became very cynical about war and
saw God as disinterested in stopping war.
It
would be nice if God would simply take the lust for war out of man's imagination.
But, man has been given choice, and since Cain decided to do away with his ecclesiastical
competitor, who worshipped God correctly, man has resorted to killing on a mass
scale to settle his differences and to acquire more acreage next door. The Bible
believer, while he is often called to "stand fast" and "fight the
good fight of faith," hates war instinctively. David, a war making king,
said it this way:
Psalms
120:5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
7 I am for peace:
but when I speak, they are for war.
I
hear Fundamental Baptist preachers (and some others) rage on the enemies of the
USA in their pulpits. What fools. Who would gather the sheep of Christ together,
and then lead them in a hate fest and call for blood instead of teaching the Bible?
Not a true Bible believer. But, it has been thus during all 2000 years of church
history. The Popes of Rome and the Reformation leaders were war thirsty, and today
we have war lust still, that is, at the church house.
Are
you one of these hirelings who try to make wolves out of the Lord's sheep?
__________________________________
War
may sometimes be a necessary evil.
But no matter how necessary, it is always
an evil, never a good.
We will not learn how to live together in peace by
killing each other's children.
Jimmy Carter (1924 - )
Editor:
Jimmy Carter was in the US Navy and did duty in submarines. His wisdom here is
not that of a light weight Liberal.
We
in the Body of Christ must never see spiritual warfare as sport, as fun. I have
met alleged believers who make sport of casting out devils and binding Satan etc.
One young
lady was a bit overweight. She was a member of a Charismatic church, but she liked
to do things with our young adult group. One evening, after bowling, we went to
Bob's Big Boy for ice cream. She was in a turmoil looking a the menu. She wanted
a strawberry sundae, but she was trying to lose weight. She won her personal battle
and ordered a salad. As the food was being prepared, she told me of something
bothering her. She said that when she went to a restaurant with here Charismatic
friends, they would order big high carb deserts, and then they would hold hands
and pray, "In the name of Jesus Christ we bind the calories in this food."
She asked me if this was the right thing to do. I gave here the verse, James
4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is
sin. She thanked me and enjoyed her salad a lot better after that.
If
you play with binding and resisting devils lightly, you will one day be running
home naked like the seven sons of Sceva. (Acts 19) Spiritual warfare, like Carter's
human warfare, is a necessary confrontation with evil, nothing better.
It
is well that war is so terrible - otherwise we would grow too fond of it.
Robert
E. Lee (1807 - 1870),
Statement at the Battle of Fredericksburg (13th December
1862)
__________________________________
War
is not its own end, except in some catastrophic slide into absolute damnation.
It's peace that's wanted. Some better peace than the one you started with.
Lois McMaster Bujold, "The Vor Game", 1990
Editor:
There is a peace that can be purchased at the expense of compromise with the enemy.
This is the peace of the World Council of Churches and dropping doctrines we disagree
on. Better to go to war, take your wounds, and deal death to the wicked, than
this mongrel peace.
That
is why spiritual warfare is not an option to the Bible believer-- it is an ORDER
from the Captain of our salvation. 1 Timothy 1:18 This charge
I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before
on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
The
peace that comes after the battle is far more precious than the peace of compromise
and accommodation.
__________________________________
The
art of war is simple enough.
Find out where your enemy is.
Get at him
as soon as you can.
Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.
Ulysses
S. Grant (1822 - 1885)
Editor:
All of Europe
held back for years trying to placate and accommodate Adolph Hitler. England actually
disarmed as Hitler armed Germany. Winston Churchill cried out for several years
in Parliament that Germany was going to war. He was laughed at and mocked. Then,
Hitler invaded Poland. All of England did an about face and cried out for Churchill,
who was at once made Prime Minister. England and the allies won World War II,
but what a price they paid for Europe's folly and timidity up front!
When
the enemies of our soul-- Satan, his devils, or wicked men-- rise up against our
Lord's Church or defame the Word of God, hesitation to respond in spiritual warfare
will only result in more casualties. Get on with it, and get it over with as soon
as possible.
I
Samuel 17 is a great account of David and his lack of hesitation in the face of
the enemy.
__________________________________
You
can't say that civilization don't advance, however,
for in every war they
kill you in a new way.
Will Rogers (1879 - 1935), New York Times, Dec. 23,
1929
Editor:
It is a sorry commentary that almost all great advances of mankind were either
invented FOR war, or they were adapted TO war. War, sadly, is the ultimate testing
ground of human inventiveness. Even the "space race" has turned into
a war zone on high where a million eyes watch for a wrong move by the alleged
enemy.
Jeremiah
17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can
know it?
__________________________________
I'm
fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.
George
McGovern
Editor:
I agree 100%, but only if we are talking about human relations and political war
policy. When it comes to the spiritual realm, we have a second factor-- we have
another adversary: 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour:
A
man eating lion will strike again and again, for he has developed a taste for
human flesh. He is not just old and cannot catch other game. That is a myth. 85%
of all man eaters have been found to be in good health. The only thing to do with
a man eater is find him and kill him. That is the manner of our warfare with Satan
and his servants.
But,
I think McGovern's thought is also useful. There are pastors who delight in finding
adversaries out in the world of the flesh and the devil. These adversaries are
often not making any trouble for the immediate local church, but these pastors
will sic the church's young men on these adversaries in order to create some excitement.
This is wicked. Such pastors ought to be tossed into a cage with a lion for an
hour to see how much fun it is to start an unnecessary ruction.
Luke
9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach
the kingdom of God.
__________________________________
If
it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how?
Joan
Baez
Editor:
This twit totally missed the point.
There
are adversaries who WILL kill us if we are not prepared to defend ourselves. This
is why I carried a .38 all over southeastern Arizona in the '90s while going to
tune pianos along the border with Mexico. That is the zone in which the violent
illegals operate. About 50 miles north of the border, and on north, any illegals
you find are looking for a job. Along the border in that 50 mile wide zone, there
are many violent crimes committed by Mexicans, and the illegals run back across
the line to safety. I did not carry a .38 because it was natural for me to want
to kill Mexicans-- I carried it because it was natural for some Mexicans to want
to kill ME, and Mrs. Van Nattan was eager to see me come home every night for
supper.
Thus
it is with the Bible believer's warfare. We do not, or should not, have the old
nature lust to destroy others for our own gain. But, we have spiritual adversaries
who are hell bent on our destruction. So, we are told:
Ephesians
6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with
truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the
Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all
saints;
And,
if you are going to carry a weapon, you need to practice using it. That is why,
from time to time, we all went out on a ranch in Arizona and did target practice.
That is why, in Basic Training in the US Army, we were put through "live
fire" in which real machine guns with real bullets were shooting over our
heads, and grenades were going off all around us, as we crawled through barbed
wire.
If
you let your Bible sit on the end table and never read it or study it, you will
be easy to kill off in a spiritual fire fight with Satan's servants. A Mormon
"missionary" or JW "witness" will pin your ears to the wall.
That is also why a smart spiritual warrior will make himself somewhat familiar
with the tactics of these adversaries. They all have different tactics, and they
all mean to destroy souls.
Buddhists,
in their training period, have frequent sessions when the students are encouraged
to attack the Buddhist senior leaders theologically. They fire attack after attack,
slapping their hand to punctuate their logic. The senior monks have to answer
instantly quoting Buddha or doctrinal logic. This goes on until the student runs
out of gas, or the senior monk makes a slip in a quote. They all have a good laugh
and seem to enjoy the thing. I think it would be fantastic training for these
clever seminary professors and "great pillars of the faith" to have
such sessions with their students. I have never heard of such a thing, but I would
love to see it. Some of us who think we have all our cookies in a row would be
humbled I think.
Here
is a place to start learing enemy tactics.
__________________________________
It
seems like such a terrible shame that innocent civilians have to get hurt in wars,
otherwise combat would be such a wonderfully healthy way to rid the human race
of unneeded trash.
Anarchist Fred
Woodworth
Editor:
What can I say? War, that is, human political war, is stupid. It is a tribute
to the wickedness in man. There is nothing noble about war. In the end, millions
are dead, and more millions are maimed. What is noble about that? Woodworth above
shows his arrogant lust for killing without any shame.
But,
there ARE some people that need to be eliminated. God sent Israel into Canaan,
and he did not tell them to evict the wicked who lived there. God told them to
kill the wicked, sometimes even the babies. That is because there ARE people who
deserve only to be eliminated. In the dispensation of Grace it is just fine with
me that we are not called to kill the wicked. I have never seen the glory in killing
people. Even the death of a criminal for murder is pathetic. But, it is necessary
to convince other wicked men that murder is not an option.
A
Vietnam Veteran responded to Woodworth's philosophy:
It seems the implication
here is that all who fight in wars are human rubbish and that only "peaceful"
civilians are worthy. Woodworth surely must be aware that it is not those who
go to war who start wars, but their "civilian" leaders.
How simplistic to blame the war-fighter, who may well have been a draftee or in
some other way compelled to don the military uniform. Before then, he was a civilian.
He may be a once-gentle spirit who took up arms out of a sense of outrage at the
evil doings of a foreign power that, in his perception, were threatening to his
homeland - his HOMEland - wherein reside all those he loves. Or financial necessity
may have led him to risk death or dismemberment to feed his loved ones. These
are not types of war lovers.
The war lovers are those civilians in high office who are drunk with the power
they are able to bring to bear against people or leaders or nations that oppose
them; with their power to call out armed forced to quiet rumblings in their own
backyards. Or they are what we these days call "social activists" who raise up
waves of outrage against some politiccal point of view, whether internal or external,
that stands opposed to their personal position.
And young men and women take up arms and march to the sound of battle, all too
frequently under the command of "civilian" disguised as military commanders. All
too often, sadly, because those inept commanders have only "book knowledge" that
has not been tried in the furnaces of battle, they lead those unfortunates they
command into the jaws of death never to return.
Then, of course, there are the corporate chieftains and stockholders who are so
eager for high pay or profits that they urge war on the other civilians who rule
nations. And the labor union leaders who demand war so that their membership might
have jobs.
The worst of all the "civilians" who thrive on war are the senior military officers,
many who have never smelled the stench of battle, eager for promotions or medals,
some of whom have their eyes on good jobs with companies in the military-industrial
complex after they retire.
Who fights wars? Who at the end of the day finds himself, or herself, painted
with the residue of burnt gunpowder and stained with the blood of friends or foes,
sits quietly experiencing the crash that follows every enduring adrenilin rush
in battle, perhaps picking pieces of what were a friend from his web gear? It
may be a young man who, unable to go to college, puts on the uniform as a means
to escape big city slums. Or it could be a young woman who joined the Forces in
order to learn a skill that would equip her for a job in the civilian world, but
found herself re-classified as an infantry grunt. And there are young college
graduates, some of whom took four years of ROTC classes in order that the government
pay for the education they could not otherwise afford.
I wonder if anarchist Fred Woodworth understands that there is a distinction between
those who start wars and those who fight in them.
We
dare not miss the victims or war and up in uniform by coercion or by making a
poor choice in joining the military. Woodworth might be justified if only pathological
killers were found in war zones. They could eliminate each other. But, the fact
is, only a minority of soldiers actually lust for killing. The lust for death
is often found more in high places where political wimps make strategies to eliminate
people who are nonproductive.
__________________________________
No
country can act wisely simultaneously in every part of the globe at every moment
of time.
Henry A. Kissinger
Editor:
Good old Henry the K. He could cover any stupidity or blunder with new speak.
I do admire his ability to talk in circles and keep the listener in awe. He went
to Paris to talk peace with the Vietnamese leaders, was thrashed soundly, and
came away declaring peace and tranquility forever. The only victory the US got
out of the Vietnam war was when Henry made the world believe the Vietnamese had
agreed with him on everything.
So,
can the Bible believer talk his way out of his folly like Henry the K did? When
does the Bible believer have a right to explain his actions as a liability of
his fallibility? The saint is supposed to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and
the Holy Spirit nowhere says that God cannot act wisely in every part of the globe
at every moment of time.
The
warrior of Christ MUST act on the assumption that he is able, with God's help,
to be right 100% of the time. When he isn't, he must own up to it, and take the
responsibility for it. Modern politicians , even worse than in the past, never
admit guilt or error. If they do, they are never forgiven, they are leprous for
the rest of their life. People no longer consider it noble in a leader to admit
error or guile. All of society are like this. I cannot recall the last time I
heard a preacher apologize for something. We must have all become infallible like
the Pope (which he ain't).
A
warrior of Christ takes responsibility for his actions. Only such a man is worthy
of our trust. Here is Paul's own statement which left God as his only resource
as a Christian warrior:
Romans
7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for
to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that
I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil
is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve
the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law
could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.
You,
Christian warrior, CAN get it right if you know how utterly helpless you are in
your flesh, and how prone you are to exalt yourself. At that point, the Holy Ghost
can take charge and direct you, in the battle of the faith, to victory.
One
more note on Henry Kissinger's comment above. The United States has, for about
50 years, been trying to meddle with the affairs of nearly every nation on earth.
We have troops in over 150 countries. The USA has far too great a national ego
for its own good, and the world at large is getting tired of our meddling and
mucking up their affairs.
The
Christian warrior is the same. We can take on way too much to ourselves. It is
far better to do one thing right than to do ten things badly. Preachers should
read that last sentence again please. In world history, there has been no such
thing as a one man war since David slew Goliath.
__________________________________
The
following poem was written in tribute to America
when they entered the WW
I as an ally to England:
-
- The
American Spirit Speaks:--
-
- By
Rudyard Kilping
-
-
- To
the Judge of Right and Wrong
-
With Whom fulfillment lies
- Our
purpose and our power belong,
Our faith and sacrifice.
- Let
Freedom's land rejoice!
-
Our ancient bonds are riven;
- Once
more to use the eternal choice
Of good or ill is given.
- Not
at a little cost,
-
Hardly by prayer or tears,
- Shall
we recover the road we lost
In the drugged and doubting years.
- But
after the fires and the wrath,
-
But after searching and pain,
- His
Mercy opens us a path
To live with ourselves again.
- In
the Gates of Death rejoice!
-
We see and hold the good --
- Bear
witness, Earth, we have made our choice
For Freedom's brotherhood.
- Then
praise the Lord Most High
-
Whose Strength hath saved us whole,
- Who
bade us choose that the Flesh should die
-
And not the living Soul!
Editor:
Matthew
10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
__________________________________
Editor:
The author said it all.
_________________________________
The
Anvil
By
Laurence Binyon
Burned
from the ore's rejected dross,
The iron whitens in the heat.
With plangent
strokes of pain and loss
The hammers on the iron beat.
Searched by the
fire, through death and dole
We feel the iron in our soul.
O
dreadful Forge! if torn and bruised
The heart, more urgent comes our cry
Not
be spared but to be used,
Brain, sinew, and spirit, before we die.
Beat
out the iron, edge it keen,
And shape us to the end we mean!
Editor:
1
Corinthians 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one
that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection:
lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
2
Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
_________________________________
- THE HILLS OF HOME
By
Malcolm Hemphrey
-
- Oh!
yon hills are filled with sunlight, and the green leaves paled to gold,
- And
the smoking mists of Autumn hanging faintly o'er the wold;
- I
dream of hills of other days whose sides I loved to roam
- When
Spring was dancing through the lanes of those distant hills of home.
- The winds of heaven
gathered there as pure and cold as dew;
- Wood-sorrel
and wild violets along the hedgerows grew,
- The
blossom on the pear-trees was as white as flakes of foam
- In
the orchard 'neath the shadow of those distant hills of home.
- The
first white frost in the meadow will be shining there today
- And
the furrowed upland glinting warm beside the woodland way;
- There,
a bright face and a clear hearth will be waiting when I come,
- And
my heart is throbbing wildly for those distant hills of home.
Editor: The
Bible believer, the Christian warrior, is always far from home. Our Master was
"at home" with those he loved and ministered to, but he had no home
of his own:
Matthew
8:20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air
have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Hebrews
13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
John
14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye
may be also.
Our
next stop is death, and then-- with the Lord and home forever. Let us not spend
too much time longing for past pleasant places.
_________________________________
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