First Christmas BBQ
Yesterday afternoon I showed up at church to participate in the
celebration of a life. We were there to honor the life of Robert
Archie Noyes, the father of Bob Noyes Jr., a long time member of The
LIFEhouse.
Last week, Bob Jr gave me Bob Sr.'s diary from his experience in the Marines during WWII as he served on the Battleship, USS West Virginia. I read every page as this Marine wrote of days of routine duties, chipping paint on the ship, and performing maintenance work on the ship's artillery, followed by days of sheer terror as the Japanese dive bombed and strafed the ship. Bob was there when Iwo Jima was shelled relentlessly as 20,000 Japanese were killed on the island, and only 1,000 were taken captive. He was there on the ship overlooking the island when the six men placed that American flag on the Island, on mount Suribachi.
Our worship center was filled with WWII veterans, who were there to honor Bob and pay their respects. Post 169 of the American Legion was there to present the American Flag to Bob's family, to play taps and to fire three rounds in memory of Robert Archie Noyes.
I felt that I was on holy ground, and did my best to express gratitude to these valient, and often unthanked veterans for their service to our country and willingness to pay such a great price for our freedom.
Some of these veterans never enter into a church, except to attend a funeral. So I took the opportunity to give a clear gospel presentation of how much God loves us, how we blew it by sinning against our perfect Father, how Jesus came to be a bridge back to God and how we much choose to cross the bridge.
What a tregedy that there are men and women who have risked their lives to save our country, and yet they have yet to experience the saving faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It just reminded me that life is brief and the time to honor those who have served us well is fleeting.
Then today, I wrote a letter to a soldier and wrote the words of Jesus, "greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down for his friends."
Do you know a soldier that needs some words of encouragement and honor? The time is now.
Last week, Bob Jr gave me Bob Sr.'s diary from his experience in the Marines during WWII as he served on the Battleship, USS West Virginia. I read every page as this Marine wrote of days of routine duties, chipping paint on the ship, and performing maintenance work on the ship's artillery, followed by days of sheer terror as the Japanese dive bombed and strafed the ship. Bob was there when Iwo Jima was shelled relentlessly as 20,000 Japanese were killed on the island, and only 1,000 were taken captive. He was there on the ship overlooking the island when the six men placed that American flag on the Island, on mount Suribachi.
Our worship center was filled with WWII veterans, who were there to honor Bob and pay their respects. Post 169 of the American Legion was there to present the American Flag to Bob's family, to play taps and to fire three rounds in memory of Robert Archie Noyes.
I felt that I was on holy ground, and did my best to express gratitude to these valient, and often unthanked veterans for their service to our country and willingness to pay such a great price for our freedom.
Some of these veterans never enter into a church, except to attend a funeral. So I took the opportunity to give a clear gospel presentation of how much God loves us, how we blew it by sinning against our perfect Father, how Jesus came to be a bridge back to God and how we much choose to cross the bridge.
What a tregedy that there are men and women who have risked their lives to save our country, and yet they have yet to experience the saving faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It just reminded me that life is brief and the time to honor those who have served us well is fleeting.
Then today, I wrote a letter to a soldier and wrote the words of Jesus, "greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down for his friends."
Do you know a soldier that needs some words of encouragement and honor? The time is now.
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