Prague Mission

I suppose this has been on the to-do list, it has been a week since I got back from last weekend in Prague, Czech Republic. I got to go with the Chapel-on-post from the 16th-20th. A couple of things I wanted to rant/notate before I told you all (y'all is not an English word). First thing that has come to my mind is the idea and strange reference we make to missions as mission trips. This is probably an issue of semantics but let's see where it goes.

Something the Army has indoctrinated into me is what a mission is. Everything has a mission, no matter where it is or what it is, the objective is to complete the mission. I really do mean a mission can be any and everything, it defined from everywhere from "Take that hill!" the infantry would be more likely to hear but it also includes such orders as "clean the latrine" or " rake those leaves". So in my atmosphere and experience of mission being an active noun I find it odd that so often the church speaks of mission trips. Common vernacular tends to see trip as some form of vacation that includes traveling to an unfamiliar area for a hopefully good time. When I hear "trip" in my mind (in the context of travel, not one's impact upon a hard surface) it is something of leisure and relaxation.

As you might see where this is going the term "mission trip" is a rather incompatible mix if the goal is evangelism. I am not saying that a mission should not contain some fun and enjoyment but the tone of leisure or relaxation should be far from the goals or highlights that are associated with a trip. In addition, from the many missions trips that I have seen return from and report the activities it seems much more fitting that the goals and activities accomplished were on the eternal level than that of R&R. I suppose the only reason it is deemed appropriate to include "trip" in the title of the event is to establish that traveling had occurred.

Okay, so the mission, first of all I am convinced that it was by divine intervention that I got to go due to my PT performance earlier in the week. In addition to the not-so-good status that was bestowed upon me, my permission slip (known as a DA 31) which clears me to go had been approved in less than 24 hours. For normal activities to be cleared by a DA 31 of that magnitude it is expected to be turned in 2 weeks prior to the departure. So by the time I got the green light I stuffed my bag and was already pumped for the journey I was to embark.

I carpooled with the Chaplain and his family, it was about 4.5 hours, I don't remember that much of it because I slept the last half of it. Gotta love those choir tours buses. If you can sleep on Bus 3 you can sleep anywhere. Anyways we arrived with very little of an idea of what we would be doing. I had no idea what kind of accommodations we would have; I was expecting a small hostel or something of that sort. We were working with a family of long term missionaries that have been working in Praha (how it is pronounced in Czech) for the last 6 years. We arrived at a rather nice hotel; I believe the brochure said it was 4-star.

I roomed with the chaplain's assistant, the only other enlisted person on the mission. The room was spacious enough and quite comfy. We ate breakfast and dinner at the hotel for simplicity. Aside from the Chaplain, all the others were service member wives and children. Enough of the children were at the picky phase that going out for food was deemed too taxing for the group.

Anyways, the first night we just settled in and hit the mall for dinner, we arrived around 2000. I got some Thai fast food that was pretty decent, better than any German attempts of Asian cuisine so far. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get to bed and be ready for the first day. I woke up early to do some PT in the gym at the hotel (it was small but I managed), I figured if I kept up with PT it couldn't hurt. The typical European breakfast is a cold cut sandwich. Oh yea, Europeans don't really use condiments on their sandwiches. You might find mayo and ketchup but as a whole it is bread, veggies, meat and cheese. The pastries are much less sweet than American pastries. I like it, there is less guilt.

First we got travel passes; they were 3-day passes for any form of public transport (bus, tram, train, taxi). From there we traveled to the current area that the missionaries were praying for. They have been progressively praying for every street in the city, and it is a big city. Bryan and I (the chaplain's assistant) teamed up for one area while the others also broke up and covered designated areas. As we walked through the residential complexes I was reminded of pictures from the Romania missions I have seen, the housing complexes were very simple and depressing to look at. Some of them were painted in very bright colors for some form of color. The stamp of communism is still very much on the city. We walked throughout the area; I'd say covered 6-8 blocks and stopped to pray at every complex.  For the most part there were not many people around. At one building an older lady attempted to talk to us. She asked what we were doing and being that we didn't know any Czech we tried the best we could. She spoke a little English and we told her we were praying. I think she asked if we were afraid. We weren't sure if she asked that because we were praying out in the open or if we were scared in that neighborhood. We continued through the neighborhood until the rendezvous time at the cafe. From there we went to the park where the children were occupied. We shared the prayer walk experiences then went back to the cafe for lunch. I had my first pepperoni and tuna pizza, it was... interesting. We all headed back to the hotel; once we got there Bryan and I were released for the day until dinner, which gave us roughly four hours. Everyone else stayed back for nap time.

We took the public transport to the main tourist square area, and walked about the area to scope out some of the sites. At the head was a museum; along the main street were statues and pieces of art. At some point we stopped at a store so Bryan could get some new shoes. We spent all our time that day scoping out the area and just taking pictures of architecture and exhibits. We made a big loop in our walking path until our time was up. I scoped out the museum hours and prices for future reference. We got back a little early for dinner. After dinner everyone headed out to one of the other notable tourist areas. From a distance we could see Prague Castle and a magnificent gothic cathedral. We walked along the river to the Charles Bridge (bridge used in Mission Impossible and the same river as seen in XXX, oh yea those racks that he held onto at the end of the movie, those are for night lights on the bridge). It was definitely a place we had to return to during the day for some more pictures. I took a little more than 100+ pictures each day.

The second day began rather similar to the first, after all the walking I was much more in favor of extending my hours of hibernation, no PT for day 2. We took a short bus to a small shopping center nearby the missionaries house. Our objective was to give away New Testaments in Czech, we were taught simple phrases to attempt to communicate with the people. It was limited to "Good Day", "For you", and "free". We were all in about a 1/4 mile area at different access points throughout the shopping center to offer. It was very difficult to give away the bibles. For me it seemed especially difficult being that I was not as Caucasian in skin tone as the others. Aside from being a foreigner, being non-white or European I consistently had a clear sense of being watched more carefully. Often I would walk near people and they would do the "shift the eyes and walk to the right or left" as I approached. In the duration I did get a bit of a small sit down conversation with a man that was on a bench drinking. He spoke a little English; I was able to give him a bible. We tried to talk but my Czech and his English were so limited it wasn't really possible. He told me where his grandfather lived; I think he was staying with him. It took us around 2.5 hours to pass out I think 35 or so bibles between the 5 of us that were out there. For lunch we went to McDonald's (I am certain I have been to more McDonald's in Europe than I have in the US in the recent 5 years), I think we did it for the simplicity of the kids.

From there Bryan and I were released, we got directions from Steve, one of the missionaries, on which tram to take to get to the cathedral. Once we got on we were riding the tram for probably close to an hour. Once we got to the castle we did the tourist thing of walking around, seeing the sights and taking a picture of everything in sight. We toured the Cathedral, caught the changing of the guards. It is interesting to watch military drills now. Bryan and I were noting how much it would not be fun to have to stand at attention like they do in the dress uniform. After we toured the castle, which happened to be one of the world's largest castles, we realized that we did not get directions on how to get back. We got back on the tram and got off on what I thought was familiar to where we were the night before for the train stop. We wandered around for a little while and quickly found the train stop. Once we got oriented we rushed back to Charles Bridge to get some daylight photos of the sights from the night before. We got back to dinner right on time. The public transport is very easy to learn and use.

I was rather glad we had relaxed the night before cause little to my knowledge Saturday was a tiring day. I didn't know what we were doing that morning so I did do some PT. The objective for Saturday was to meet some teenagers that attended a camp the missionaries put on and play with them. Not a difficult thing to do, I wish I had packed some athletic wear. The others for the most part picnicked in the park; the underlying objective was to get the residents comfortable with our presence. I got in on 3 basketball games. After the first one I was very tired. We played with Roman; I want to say he was around 12. Steve was teaching him how to play as we went along. After a short breather a couple more teenagers showed up. Thomas and Martin looked to be in the 17-18 range. By the end of the second game, I was exhausted. We weren't really keeping track of time we just kept playing till we were all too tired or thirsty that a 10-second break couldn't recharge us. We had lunch in the park, after a good hour of rest and rehydration we played another game. It was a bit shorter than the last one, but I was still exhausted. My team lost every game, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t on purpose.

We headed back to the hotel after another stop at McDonald's. Once released Bryan and I hurried to get to the museum. We both expected it to be a museum about Czech history or Praha. It turned out to be a natural history museum. It was still cool I got lots of pictures of fossils and the sort. I kind of chuckled cause in the main lobby area there were a couple displays of trilobites, so I carefully took pictures of each one. As we toured the other section they had an entire room it seemed devoted to trilobite fossils. I got a picture of a stuffed Dodo too. When we got to the mineral displays I was a rock nerd in paradise. I tried to take a picture of every display area but the time crunch made me hurry through it a bit more. We cleared the museum and got back for dinner fashionably late, the one time that everyone else was on time. Being that it was the last night, the last objectives I wanted to see was the torture museum and I wanted to get a souvenir.

We did manage to get to the torture museum, it was rather unimpressive. I was really bummed that no cameras were allowed. At the museum and cathedral there was a sticker you needed to buy to take pictures. There were a couple of interesting exhibits but as a whole it was rather tame things like chastity belts, stocks. Granted there were a couple of interesting stretching and spiky chairs to encourage people to confess their transgressions. I found it rather pitiful that the sense of justice at the time was to accuse and torture until they confess, then execute. With the methods and apparatuses that they used it seemed that their "interrogation" methods could prompt someone to confess to anything. Below the torture museum we found a long walkway of souvenir shops. I got a figurine of the cathedral to use up the rest of my Czech currency. Then I saw a small shop with some knights. A goal I inadvertently made is that with every country I visit to find a knight figurine with a sword. Well, so far so good, but I was rather reluctant to get the one in Czech because compared to the ones I got in Venice it was a simple casting. It does look cool though.

Sunday morning we went to a Baptist Church, the service was in Czech so I dove into some scripture. The hymns were very difficult to try to sing to because there are so many symbols on their alphabet that the pronunciation was difficult to guess. I caught some tidbits of the translator but he was speaking so quietly as to not disturb those around us that it was very difficult to hear. One of the church members returned from a conference in Texas and had words of encouragement for the congregation. When we got back on the road I was DJing with Cody (the chaplain). He had some complications the night before that lead to little sleep. I can't remember if I did sleep on the way back, chances are pretty good that I did. I was disappointed that I didn't get a customs stamp or anything on my passport. Venice didn't have me pass through customs either. After getting back to base and unloading the gear I quickly tossed my stuff in my room and rushed to the movie theater for Pirates 2. I was up late that night doing laundry from Monday. I suppose it is rather normal but it seemed like EVERYONE was doing their laundry that night... I ended up kinda drying my uniform and waking up in the middle of the night to hang it up. Despite whatever weekend stresses I had the experience it was easily worth it. It has been since summer 02 since I got to be part of a foreign mission. I look forward to the next one.

Epilogue: At present, I have lost the pictures from this adventure. :(

I Think There is a Lesson to Be Learned

I can't help but to think of my most previous blog in which I was celebrating a rather irritating road block in my military career. All of my senses of triumph are not as bright at the moment. Actually at this moment I am rather disgruntled and disappointed. As you may have detected where I am going with this, I had a PT test today. As happy as I am that my max time is now 16:36 it is not sufficient for me to meet the standard. This morning I performed the worst I have ever performed on a PT test so far. Granted my push-ups were great, the best I have done since I was in Arizona. The sit-ups are being counted in a newer stricter manner in which is not advantageous to those of thicker body mass; I lost 10 sit-ups from my previous worst. Now the grand finally of failure, my run was in 17:00 I find no reason at all that I ran so slowly. Even when I was at Basic I was in the 16:40's range, then I worked down to a very predictable 16:10's range then worked it down to the 15:50's range. I thought at worst I would be in the 16:15ish, after all I was stuck at that time area for a good deal of time. Well, apparently not.

So where am I in the middle of this? Very disgruntled and currently not seeing the proper lesson from this setback. Aside from the whole failure part, which I am not one to accept very readily, it puts a very negative outlook upon my soldiering and value to the unit. I have come to believe the general feel of the Army and people that fail at PT in one way or another are worse than a DUI. There is so much regular warning and precautions about preventing DUI's it seems like it is the most important thing in the Army at times. Those that get them are looked upon poorly for the time and the book is usually thrown at them. However, as a whole the person is not looked upon that poorly. It is a recoverable event, and then there is the group of PT failures that I am ever so familiar. It is somewhat of a not talked about stigma that I have sensed everywhere I have been flagged (the status one gets for being a PT failure or other form of trouble). The only difference I have yet to find is how blatantly poor those who are failures are treated.

I know this is not true in many people's minds, but the general aura of failure follows me around. I think the worst part is being identified with all of those that are in remedial. Part of the general consensus about those that are PT failures are that they have no heart. It is an understandable situation because my experience so far has shown that is the case with the majority that are present. Thus guilt by association puts me in the negative light of being lazy, not trying hard enough and the list goes on. To be associated with that attitude is such a misrepresentation of whom I am and constantly work to be. I do disdain the association.

I am guessing the lesson that I am to learn is something along the lines of humility. It seems the most logical at the moment; after all less than a few days ago I was standing upon a tower of achievement for waiting out a clock... I hope there is more to be learned. It is a lesson that will be taught in more repetitions throughout my life but is there more than that? I had so much hope for the clean slate at this unit and my performance has quickly muddied that. Part of my disgruntlement wants me to hit the gym in certain specific areas to ensure I pass the Tape Test with flying colors, or at least make some of the measurements very difficult to take. I am still unaware if I have passed the body fat part of the test. I have reasons to believe I failed and reasons to believe I passed.

Next Monday I am getting tested for a form of asthma, I am not sure where I stand on what I hope the results/diagnosis will be. On one side it is something to look forward to because it directly impacts the most negative mark on my record. On the other side of things, I don't want it to be some kind of affliction that will become a crutch. However, if the test yields that I have nothing, and then what am I to think with all of my constant efforts to better myself and pass the PT test? I am torn on the issue. Do I want the easy solution and if I do want it, how does that reflect my ethics of determination and effort? Then again, if I indeed have it then what is to become of my PT training? I do like running, a good deal of that joy is because I have so much room for improvement. Granted I am not grinning like an idiot as I am constantly passed on the run route and often am among the last to arrive at the destination. I suppose that is why I am so torn about what I hope the test yields... what is to become of my physical fitness training and expectations if I do have this condition?

On the bright side of things, I guess I am getting back to my more regular grueling routine of PT. I rarely run on my own due to other issues, in short when I train by myself with cardio I can't measure progress or properly train myself for short distances. I rely on my cardio training to come from morning PT, and most can say for those that are struggling in that area it is not enough. Hopefully, the extra exercise will also help me to drop some of my excess body fat and solve both my worries. We shall see.

I Made It

I am now officially 22, now in the civilian world I don't think that counts for much more than a step closer to greater adulthood/maturity/end of the greatest years of my life. Yet in the current situation I have placed myself in for the next several years yet, 22 is perhaps a more momentous occasion for me than 18. Why you may ask? APFT, the Army Physical Fitness Test, it is bracketed in age groups and as you may have now guessed I am in the 22-26 age group. On the downside I do have to do more push-ups and sit-ups to attain my previous high scores, not too much of an issue if at all. The kicker, I now have 40 more seconds for my max run time!

From a previous blog, you may have noted that I have a little trouble running. I wouldn't say so much that I have trouble running. I have had trouble running the 2 miles in the time slot the Army allowed for me. The previous goal of 15:54 has now been extended to 16:36; in addition the point scale has been appropriately extended. But wait, it still gets better, now for the rather in accurate body fat measurement I am allowed 2% more body fat. According to the Army test I am close to the barrier I think the last test I took I passed with about .5% short of failing. I personally know that I am closer to 15% but an accurate measurement method but that doesn't matter to the Army. I have also been chuckling a little bit over the last month or so.

The CDC uses Body Mass Index to show the general body mass for what are healthy weights and such; it is solely based on height versus weight. At my current state of 5'7" 200lbs I rank in the 30+ category which is legally obese. Just a chuckle, as you all know I am not exactly in that category. Then again it is very common for any bodybuilder to be rated in the obese-overweight category. I suppose the BMI is useful for those that are not physically active or more specifically those with above average muscle mass. As I stand proudly marveling that I will not fail another PT test (and thus have negative attention on myself), I do wonder if I may indeed make the Tape Test. I honestly don't know if my neck has increased enough or my waist shrunk enough that according to the Army I will meet the standards. I'll try to have a recent update; my PT test is this next Monday.

Oh yea, since I did mention that it was my birthday I think I am approaching the point in life that it is not that big a deal anymore. I would hardly call the day eventful, actually it was rather plain. Due to the week long celebrations about the unit activation we had a short workday. I played some video games, went to the gym and did some reading. I finally made it to the bible study on Tuesdays, it was a good group, and I look forward to more gatherings. I am rather anxious for October to get here because that is the kick off of the regularly scheduled youth ministry. I hope my work schedule will allow for me to be able to attend more than weekend activities. Something to pray about that isn't looking too good; there is a rather under-manned mission this next week I hope to attend. I have not yet been able to request the time off because of all the details I need. To get a pass (something that allows us to not sleep in our room or leave a 50 mile radius from post) there is a rather extensive packet of papers to fill out to make sure there are good plans and preparation. Usually for something to get approved it should be put in a couple weeks in advance so for it to go through in a couple of days, I think it ranks in the area of divine intervention to get it through. I shall see next week. Upon further pondering I think missions is about the best kind of traveling throughout Europe that is really my style. Granted the tourist thing is nice, but I kind of get the vibe of "big deal" and "seen it".

Am I?

This one has been a week or so in the making, I have really wanted to write it a few days ago but since this is largely based on the book I just finished I thought it would be best if I finished the book before I wrote my commentary/what I learned. This one not typical of my readings at all, was a gift from the chapel at a volunteer dinner last month. It is Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels; it is his reflection of what leadership is and how it ought to be in the local church. It was a very easy read compared to my usual reads but rocked me more than most books. Not to say my usual readings are not challenging but the concept of leadership and where I fit in is very unclear to me as this blog will divulge.

I think the book was mostly written to senior pastors or at the very least beginning leadership in the local church. The emphasis about the importance of the local church and its full capacity to make an everlasting difference will definitely roll in my head, the passion and true belief about the importance was rather new to me. On one side I was pondering at first how will this apply to me? I am not leadership nor do I have the atmosphere of the local church. The military chapel is very different in that respect, but it is still a church nonetheless so I should be able to get something out of it. Perhaps some material that really spoke to me will stay in my mind until I am able to be a part of the local church once again.

Once I got over those issues of “does this even apply to me?” a question I held in the majority of the chapters was "Am I?" I have never read or heard something so direct to leadership, at some points in the book I thought the use of "leaders" was entirely too repetitive but that just went to show how important the issue was to the author. I have often wondered in my living walk with Christ, I'd honestly say approaching ten years now if I am a leader? I know throughout the majority of my participation in the church (the body) I have been a servant and a follower. I remember a few conversations at my summer in Hume that it started to hit me that I may be a leader or at the very least that I have a desire to disciple people that they will lead stronger. I recall the year I was on volunteer staff before and how much I enjoyed that, time I will value for the rest of my life. I ponder my thoughts about the future whether I will be in ministry by vocation or by volunteer, a thought I think about almost daily.

Then there are my doubts. Some of the attributes of my personality I am not sure if I am a spiritually gifted leader. That was one of the setbacks I found with the book, I really don't know if leadership is a spiritual gift. By recommendation in that book, that was a quality of huge importance to actually be a leader. I admit that I prefer to be a follower of a good leader, but in the instance that the leader is not cutting it, I am willing to take lead to get things how they should be. I recognize that my rank expresses that I am not even a junior leader within the army and at times I am very content with that. Perhaps the biggest block in my mind is that I notice people do not tend to follow me, or listen. The only time people tend to listen to me it is when they are approaching their wits end. I think about my social interaction and socially I am not the leader, I take the position of the younger brother very comfortably, even my friend Teddy calls me his "older younger brother".

I know I have potential to lead. Multiple people around me tell me they see the potential in me, why it has not developed I don't know. I suppose the lack of people seeming willing to follow me has taken its toll, after all why try to lead when no one will follow? There are often plenty of Chiefs and not enough Indians as the saying goes. Since I know that I can follow and follow well, I resort to being a good follower. Sometimes I think my leadership is mostly manifested by example as a servant, or leading by example. Then again, my example is more often mocked than sought as something that people actually want to follow.

I think this one hits me so much is that it is not an emotional "oh yea" kind of pondering. This is something that is really big, if I don't have the gift of leadership does that mean I won't attempt to lead anything? By no means (as Paul might have said it). Do I write this with hopes of hearing people’s thoughts about this? I don't know, maybe. This is one of the avenues of blogs I enjoy; I don't think this is a serious conversation that would come up at work. I constantly look forward to going to seminary when I get out of the Army, but whether I will be a full time student or use my army experience to get a nice job and do night school seminary I really don't know. The question of where I will be in ministry is constant. My lack of getting closer to an actual answer is in the ballpark of "I will know in God's timing."

If it wasn't for the months that I worked with Josh, I think I would have no inclination of being a leader. I know I wasn't the leader of anything really large but what little leading I did I truly enjoyed. When I think back about those days, the Bible Studies I led often grew me more than those who attended. From leading Bible study I have often considered being a teacher as another vocation other than ministry. Although I thought I was more in the crash and burn stages, the one time I spoke at High Life for the message, others told me I did a good job. I have thought about taking an online spiritual gifts test but I don't think that is the kind of answer my heart is looking for. I do love teaching, but what is a teacher that is not a leader? So often I think of the teachers within our church and they indeed are leaders without a doubt. The Halo2 tournament that I planned was my introduction to creating and making an event. I think largely it was my first big chance, I don't know if I ever thanked Josh for giving me that opportunity, if so I do now. Not many people I think have entrusted me with something like that to raise me up, maybe much of this are doubts about my full potential, I think that is what makes these blogs so comforting to me. I like to just lay it all out there and vent, but I like the openness it gives to those who read these that I might learn something more from my experiences.

One of the things that the book gave heavy emphasis upon, was knowing our spiritual gifts, he said we should be able to name the top three as easy as our name and address. Well, I think teaching and service are shoe ins, but what about the third? Is it leading? What is the scale or list of different spiritual gifts that the author was referring to? There were also a couple chapters of different types of leaders. Some of the descriptions I found comforting that I may be a leader, just not the type that is out front as much as putting things together. The self discovery this book has opened me up to will last a while.

I Think I Am Gonna Like It Here

So this was my first Sunday in Illishiem. So far, I think I will really like it here, thus the title. I got here Friday afternoon and have been warmly received. My squad leader and the way he described the shop is everything I dreamed, namely not being gophers for another section. I actually have an NCOIC which is huge plus. The chapel service was casual, I wouldn't quiet call it contemporary but it is not liturgical. The chapel crowd like the post is small, but it has a nice family feel to it. The feeling around is everyone knows everyone, I like it so far. I met the youth leaders they are really on key and I think I will actually be able to help out in this youth ministry. The gym, oh the gym, it is huge. Doesn't have as many free weights as I would like but they do have much better assortment and at least one of everything, including a good wide grip pull-up bar that I was hoping for.

I talked to the Chaplin about starting a bible study or PMOC (Protestant Men of the Chapel), he told me they were praying for people that would come and take leadership in chapel activities. The support to start and my better understanding of what I can and cannot commit time wise I think this place was an answer to prayers. It is really nice to not be such a newb around here, I know much of the basic operations and much more about how the regular Army works, so I can properly assess what I can commit to. So far I know of one other single soldier in the chapel, good start already. I think I am getting plugged in quickly and very well.

With so much great stuff I can't help but mention the not so greats. Boondocks, easiest way to describe the location, we seem to be roughly 30-45 minutes from everything. I think I will get plenty of driving time logged in being a designated driver. I learned they got back from a deployment at the same time Jonathan got back, so they are not going anywhere in the recent future. It is very likely I will be home for Christmas. The commissary and PX are little larger than the shoppet I have been used to. It is very small; I would say the commissary (grocery store) is about the size of a large 7-11. The PX has little more than the usual hygiene products and home decor.

The best part, my room! Oh this is the best part. Right now I am living in a roughly 11x11 room with 2 other guys in the basement. We each have one wall locker but that does little good for me cause I got so much gear I had to bring over, in addition to my normal stuff. In theory I will be here a week, I'll see how it goes. The rooms I have to look forward are great. Not as nice as the one Jonathan had previously, but not too far from it. They have personal bathrooms; a very large living room with an included kitchenette, there is a well equipped community kitchen as well. I can drink the water on post; this will take some time getting used to. It is really nice to not have to buy all my drinking water. I found out I will need to shell out the cash for ACU's (uniform) that will be around $500, non-refundable. I know I expected this to be an all male unit but it is co-ed. It is a Cavalry unit for another month then we reflagged to something else, I think it is a combat aviation unit. The post layout is long; it is a little bigger than my last post but stretched out so about a 10-15 minute walk to everything.

CYOB

This started as an extended rabbit trail from my Why I support the Iraq war blog. I got worked up and excited about how irritating I find certain liberal points of view in their fairy tale world that they want to make policy.

I am reminded of an interview on Oprah (yea, I get that bored) which she was interviewing the Queen of Jordan. It struck odd when the Queen said the most important thing she wanted to raise her son was, “the idea that we are a world and too look out for everyone”. I am not so callous as to say it is completely stupid and a terrible mindset. I think it is a very happy view to approach the world with, but I do have this question in my mind. If we are always looking out for other nations who is looking after our own nation? Where does the authority over other nations come from?

The best answer in today’s world would either be the European Union or the United Nations. As I recall both are voluntary organizations which truly hold no valid authority over a sovereign nation. As noted with Iraq in 2003, the most the UN can do is ask, and it takes the agreement of the individual nations to take action to enforce agreements made. I have a hard time containing my laughter when people accuse the United States of violating international law; I simply ask to whom did we submit our sovereignty or what law did we break? If the Geneva Convention is the law, it is clear that the United States is practically the only country which actually follows it; it doesn’t count for a pacifist nation to cry about the horrors of war.

I have come to believe the liberal platform of foreign policy does not have the American people in their best interest. It seems in order for any foreign policy to be made they need the reassurance of the UN, NATO, or several other nations as if they have interests for our benefit. This goes with my disdain for the European Union as well. I believe the duty of a national leader is to look out for the people whom reside in the nation they represent and lead.

The introduction of the euro for instance, it has wreaked havoc upon the German economy, so why in their right mind would the leadership approve such an awful thing to their economy? For the good of the world? Well I like to be optimistic and think happy thoughts and all, but when push comes to shove the French government will not look after the Germans, nor the Italians or anyone else in the EU. I know this selfish political ideology is very American, I think it is for this that draws a great divide between European and American mindsets. We are very selfish and we look out for our own interests. Is that such a bad idea? I would like to think the world powers will rush to stop injustice at a moment’s notice simply because it is the “right thing to do”, but then we see events like Darfur…Sadly, when push comes to shove people look after their own interests.

In the spirit of happy thoughts I also wanted to comment on those who claim we no longer need a military, nor maintain military strength as a world power. First, I must say how on Earth does one believe our status as a world power was established? The US arose from the rubble of WWII as the world super-power; it was from our military strength which directly lead to the conclusion of the WWII in the first place. It was from WWII the US got out of the Great Depression. Once we became Top Dog in the world it is through our military's presence and ability that we were able to secure it.

Everyone knows whoever is on the top has the furthest to fall. Top dog also the most people who would like to see them fall from glory too. Though our political and diplomatic methods are greatly valued, I believe it is the ability to topple governments and overwhelm a country with military force which gives backbone to diplomacy. Talk is cheap; if we don't have any bite to backup our bark, then how could we be more than a diplomatic chihuahua?

On the personal level, it is far from the lifestyle I live to intimidate but as a body that represents millions of people and their interests, why would I have any interest in helping another country at such a cost of my own people? I am not opposed entirely to social programs to assist people in hard times, but when there is a way to help there is also a will to slack.
I think for a good portion of my high school days I was closer to a social conservative and a economical liberal, well from the last evaluation’s of where I stand I am almost completely conservative. It is more important to pay off our own debts, get rid of poverty within our own borders, before we spend fair portions of our budget to assist others. This is not to be selfish, but I believe in the long term if we can secure our own economy and stability we can be more helpful to those around. It isn’t too much to ask to be fiscally responsible before we are fiscally generous. For example, the last pie chart I saw noted the federal budget the interest paid on the national debt took up close to 30% to pay off the interest rate! Almost 1/3 of our tax dollars doing nothing but keeping us in the yellow. It is plain to see from any financial perspective that is extremely poor management.

I find it rather interesting with some simple comparative analysis; the liberal political view is very close to modern communism. For example, some points of similarity are universal and government provided healthcare and education. Being a Creationist I have strong objections to what is labeled “science” in the majority of public schools when it comes to the teaching of origins. Although I think many people do benefit from government provided healthcare I think it can be done much better in the public sector. It would be nice if everyone could have healthcare, but it is not a right, if it really was it would be named in the Preamble with the other unalienable rights granted to us.

Here is a thought; if people had to pay for their healthcare would they stop some of their regular destructive habits? I make an attempt to take care of my body because I have seen what can happen if I don't, many people don't think about such decisions on a regular basis. In fact, one sign of a developed nation, deaths from disease are from preventable diseases, verses those who die from unpreventable causes like infections, disease and the sort.

In Acts 5 the early church had a system similar to communism if not a communistic type of community with other Christians. I have heard of modern communities who continue to live in such a way. However, in Acts 6 Ananias and Saphira, two people who expressed their greed within the Christian community. Oh yea they were also the last people in scripture to be directly killed by God. I happen to think communism is a great idea in its purest form, but the only places one can find pure communism working successfully is either in someone's imagination or a book. Like most good-idea social experiments, as long as humans with a sin nature wander the Earth they cannot and will not work. There are many organizations that in their purest of forms are wonderful things, but when you add people we have this certain ability to mess it all up with very little effort.

If real life doesn't teach this I know the Army has certainly taught me this, cover your own butt. When stuff hits the fan make sure you are taken care of. I would like to be able to watch out for people all the time and put myself last but doing so is not in the best interest of my survival. I think this basic tactic should be applied to politics. This life philosophy takes an interesting turn with my theology. After all, how do I look out for number one and at the same time submit my life and desires to God? This is the balance I am learning with my experience here.

I can't tell you how many times I have been told to stand up for myself and not let other walk over me. I do not think people take me for being weak, but I have come across as a pushover. I look at it as making a fuss about trivial matters. Often it is easier and more beneficial, I believe especially to my testimony, to submit and get the job done. The bad part, often those forget what I do believe, forget I hold and do not move. I take stands on important matters. If I honestly believed by me not talking crap, I was a weak person, I would talk back. If I believed taking a few dead arms made me a wuss, I would hit back. I believe when push comes to shove, I can carry out my duty to the best of my ability and with a clear conscience because I do not do it for selfish reasons.

When You Believe in Miracles

This one was just randomly inspired while I was doing my monthly shave and the Prince of Egypt soundtrack started to play. It is a lovely sounding sound I think its message is somewhere along the lines of if you believe anything can happen. Knowing my style I doubt the song was hardly taking it so deeply. I am reminded of several of the books I have read in which it addresses logical arguments Humanists use to dismiss the evidence and arguments for our faith. I think it is fair to expand this to a good deal of ancient historians who deny the ancient manuscripts that currently makeup the Bible as historically authentic. The common denominator between the two parties, as to why one group denies the possibility of God and the other of historicity is their disbelief and outright denial of miracles.

David Hume is one of the most notable philosophers who argues miracles are non-existent. From face value it is one of those claims that one does believe in miracles would likely exclaim such a suggestion is outrageous. The funny thing though, in Hume's premises, what is believable is normal or natural occurrences. Things which do not repeatedly occur or cannot be repeated should not be taken into account as having happened. With such premises it is plain to see why the presence of miracles is denied. The nature of miracles defies nature and cannot be repeated upon command. If they could be repeated in nature there would be nothing special about the event, if they could be repeated upon command it would not be forces from beyond this natural world. The "logical" method of philosophy to argue against miracles stands at eliminating their possibility in the premise to arrive at a conclusion which does not include anything beyond nature. It is like asking you to persuade me to vote for a candidate with the premise that the person does not exist. The argument is dead in the water against such bountiful premises. This is the same issue with the Problem of Evil, yet another philosophy question which attempts to disprove the existence of the supernatural using false premises. Then again, this argument is not as ludicrous as Hume's.

The plausible deniability used in philosophy is similar in the historical analysis of the ancient manuscripts we call the Bible. Many historians dismiss those manuscripts, being in greater volume and number than any other manuscript used to figure out the ancient past by more than a thousand fold. The reason they deny the historicity is because they do not believe in miracles, and if the manuscripts, which dictate as something to be literal include miracles then that poses a problem for the "enlightened" ones. Andy Stanley has a good 3 part Sermon series about the reliability of the Gospels called Verdict. Then again, Lee Strobel's Case for Christ, Norman Giesler's I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, and Ravi Zacharias' Jesus Among Other Gods, all contain powerful points about the reliability of the scripture as historical documents. I am very tempted to throw out a few of the tip bits about how much ancient manuscripts there are in comparison to other ancient documents, but I encourage you all to read the books for yourselves cause it will stick much better than, "oh I read it in this guy's blog".

I think this kind of ties to CYOB. People get so much of their life views in unrealistic illogical happy thoughts, such as how they want to live and believe what they want to because it is more comfortable. Then in order to secure their comfort, because deep down (Romans 1:18-21) they know there is a Truth they convince themselves there is no Truth. I am in awe constantly every time I read Romans to see how much it completely applies to our current cultural climate. Hopefully you are either familiar with Romans 1 or you looked it up to see what I was talking about, but I would like to conclude this one with a couple choice quotes that I think add to the points I made rather eloquently.

“Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against common sense is the key to an understanding of the real struggle between science and the supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover that materialism is absolute for we cannot allow a divine foot in the door.” – Richard Lewontin, Billions and Billions of Demons (review of The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan, 1997), The New York Review, p. 31, 9 January 1997.

“Unless we are born again we cannot see the kingdom of God. A man once stood on a soap box at Hyde Park Corner pouring scorn on Christianity. “People tell me that God exists but I can’t see him. People tell me that there is life after death; but I can’t see it. People tell me there is a heaven and hell, but I can’t see them…” He won cheap applause and climbed down from his “pulpit.” Another struggled onto the soap box. “People tell me there is green grass all around. But I can’t see it. People tell me that there is blue sky above, but I can’t see it. People tell me that there are trees nearby, but I can’t see them. You see. I’m blind!” – David Watson, My God is Real