Monday, November 10, 2025

This week is Veterans Day.   We honor the men and women that have served in our military.  This is the day we say "thank you" to those who have served actively and are among us.  We do not want to "glorify" their service but absolutely want to show our appreciation.  

It was not until my early twenties that I came to appreciate the uniqueness of America and the significance of our liberty, especially it being fought for.  Liberty must be defended.  

I recall the first time I heard U.S. Navy veteran Dave Roever speak at a convention.   Eight months into his tour of duty in Vietnam, a phosphorous grenade he was going to throw exploded in his hand.   It immediately destroyed that whole side of his body, burning him beyond recognition.   Phosphorous will ignite spontaneously and does not stop burning as long as it has oxygen. As he tells the story, jokingly, "When the medics put me on the stretcher initially I burned through the stretcher, falling on my head when I hit the ground."  They then loaded him on the helicopter but thought he was dead.  "They didn’t do anything to try and help me… So from under that blanket I summoned all the strength I had left and yelled ‘Medic!’ That got everyone’s attention real fast.”  Unfortunately, the crew was so startled, the pilot was bumped and lost control momentarily.  Dave says he thought, "oh, no, they are going to crash this chopper and I'm going to be the only survivor!"  

He now goes into high schools to share the gospel.   Roever has the "benefit" of having visual scars.  We can look at him and see how horrific war is.  We can see the battle scars.  Many of our veterans have wounds we cannot see.  All are deserving of our respect.   Like us, all are in need of a savior.    Make sure this week does not go by without your personally thanking some veterans.  A phone call, visit, or note means a lot.  And, what a great time to ask them "have you seen the three circles?"  (see below) OR "did you get one of these sheets about Thanksgiving?" (gospel tract).  

Thank you Veterans!  God bless the U.S.A.  God bless you.  

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).  This is embracing the cross. My friend, Dean Thompson, who passed away at a young 98 last year, came a couple years to Camp Merrill to help the kids make crafts.  A few of your young boys and girls may remember him.  One craft was a cross made of two rectangular wood pieces.  This allowed for a vertical bar on one side and a horizontal bar on the other.  He had us write our names on the short horizontal bar… and “Jesus” on the vertical bar.   The vertical bar is symbolic of following Jesus and God’s will.   Being a disciple is not about adding Jesus to our already full life.   It is about choosing to follow God’s way rather than our own way.     Are you embracing the cross?  And the way of the cross?  Be the church.