Evangelist Update: A Torrent of Opportunities in the Falls

Greetings, Friends.

Since we're currently in the Dells, I am only able to get in to the Falls about once a week while my wife attends Community Bible Study and before my kids nap. Thus, I pack out every inch of my schedule with to-dos in the church and community. Thank God that we will return to Oconomowoc on Friday and I'll be able to commute in on a daily basis.

Here are the places I went today and handed out my business card and our church invitation cards:

1) U-Haul Storage Facility--chatted with one of the first people I met upon arriving--the manager of the facility. Decent guy, and runs the place with his wife. Look forward to getting to know them better. He seems to be pretty open with me when we chat.

2) Gents Barbership--the man who runs this place in the heart of the "downtown" excels at his craft and takes great pride in his work. We also became buds when he gave me my first haircut here. He is Greek, his wife is Dutch, and his mother-in-law is curmudgeonly. :) My business cards with Falls Pres now sit alongside the piles of cards of other local business owners near the front door.

3) Nino's Bakery--also located in the heart of downtown. I visited for the first time today, having already gotten to know two of the workers there on separate occasions. The place was founded and is run by a Sicilian family and they take pride in their bakery as a place where the local priest takes his parishioners to talk. Anyone want to join me there next week for a cup of Joe?

4) YMCA--amidst the rush (there were hundreds of cars in the Y parking lot), I reconnected with a believing friend who I met a few weeks back, and met a couple other workers. My friend would like prayer for her two boys--12 and 4.

Acouple dozen more cards bearing the name of "Falls Presbyterian Church" are floating through the bloodstream of the community.

We also handed out the church invitation cards this past Sunday morning during Sunday School and before and after the morning worship service. If you haven't picked yours up yet, please come by!

Remember: Contrary to the popular thinking of our day, faith is no private matter. Your beliefs--for better or for worse--are not only the most important thing about you, but they are you. They are not only the things you hold most dear, but they explain how you think, what you say, and what you do.

In order to love someone, you must first know them. In order to know them, you must know what they believe. And if you truly love them, you will share your hope in Jesus Christ with them--knowing that the Gospel alone is the power of salvation (Rom. 1).

The Vet and The Son Who Didn't Come Home

This afternoon, as my little ones were napping, I zipped down to a nearby sports bar, ordered a half-price daiquiri (mixed fruit was the flavor of choice), and barreled down on a long-term writing project. "What project," you ask? (You didn't ask, of course, but I wanted to ask the question for a sense of rhetorical flow.) I am writing a month-long devotional for Haven Ministries, a wonderful Christian ministry that has long held my wife in their employ. The devotional will be based on my experiences as deployed chaplain.

Naturally, such work deserves a daiquiri as I am reminded that two people who served over there with me are no longer with us. I also am reminded that the helpless infant crying in my arms when I left could stand and stare at me from his pack-and-play upon my return. Not that these things carry any bitterness, but they will always be wounds I sadly and proudly bare for the cause of sharing Christ with my soldiers and serving those who serve our country.

Any time I allow myself to dwell on that time, I get a bit on edge. There is just something so raw about that experience--a "something" that lodges in the heart and mind of every vet that never goes away. After working and writing for a few hours, I paid for my drink and walked toward the door, eyes a bit glassy as the old highlight reel of sights, sounds, and smells went coursing through my head.

I walked right by an older man in one of those decked out veterans vests, proudly displaying his time of service in the 101st Airborne and in Vietnam. I took a few more steps, stopped, and went back and introduced myself to him. I love finding fellow veterans, knowing that we share a bond. I especially love finding Vietnam vets so that I can thank them for enduring fire from home and the enemy. They made it so that soldiers today can proudly face the enemy without fear of attacks from home.

This veteran, like all the rest, is a hero. I googled him after our encounter, and found this tidbit about him: He "served in 1966-67 with the 173rd Airborne as a Combat Medic.  He is the only Medic to have made a Combat parachute jump during the Vietnam War." He didn't tell me any of that. Knowing that I am a chaplain, he simply said that he was the last face that many of our soldiers ever saw.

He also served alongside the heroic Catholic chaplain, Charles Watters. Chaplain Watters cared for this soldier, and cared for hundreds of other soldiers while under fire. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor--one of seven chaplains to ever receive that honor. You can find more about Chaplain Watters here.

This veteran has two sons who proudly wear the uniform. One just returned home from Afghanistan. He also had a son who died last year at age 30 from a medical illness exacerbated by alcoholism. This man tried to save his son, but couldn't. But he puts his hope in the God of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has defeated death and will one day do away with it once and for all.

Before we parted ways, I prayed with this dear, heartsick veteran and father, largely along the lines of the picture and Bible verse he showed me from his son's funeral:

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21)

Until that Day, dear brother!