| Deployed but not Discouraged! - 071226 |
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Well . . . this was probably the most powerful Christmas of my life - SPIRITUALLY. I am absolutely amazed by the work that the Lord does. And, I'm even more sensitive to our service members loneliness and yearning to connect with the living God! So, our morning began with numerous services. Many of our Chaplains were able to travel throughout the country on Blackhawk Helicopters - delivering the truth of our Incarnate Savior - Jesus Christ who came to earth as an infant.
Chaplains Squires, Cale, and myself were able to conduct the Base Operations Chapel services on Christmas Morning while the other Chaplains were flying all over the place.
Later on Christmas Night . . . the praise team and leadership core from Chapel NeXt Bagram hosted a night of worship and drama. I am absolutely enamored and amazed by their talent, zeal, and insatiable passion to serve the Lord! They performed a powerful skit portraying all of the temptations and evils of this world ravenously competing for the attention and affections of our young adults. However, in the end . . . when our young men and women wholly and without reservation cry out and dedicate their lives to Christ - they find that greater is HE who is in them than all the other temptations and trappings of this world.
View the video at: http://www.mychurch.org/church/media/media.php?c=249825&id=4326
Chirstmas Night was so incredible and powerful. Many of our deployed men and women had no where else to go, no families to share the holiday with . . . so what better place to be Christmas Night. The sanctuary was PACKED! After the drama and testimony periods . . . one of our Praise Team Leaders issued an altar call and myself and several of the learship core where heavily engaged with praying for all of the men and women who responded to God 's call on their lives!
Even after the altar call was complete, there were men and women who continued to linger at the altar . . . in God's very presence as HE continued to bless our service with His Spirit!
Now, it is time for me to confess. I am so dreadfully fearful that this experience has wrecked me for life. Never have I EVER witnessed such an insatiable hunger and passion for men and women to cry out and reach out to the living God. In my 43 years of life, I've never experienced worship like this before, nor have I ever been so blessed with a virtually endless reservoir of talented young men and women who desperately yearn and desire to serve the Lord with all their hearts!
In the end . . . of course, no Christian event would be complete without a time of celebration and fellowship. After the service, we all gathered at the 24 hour Green Bean - Bagram's version of a Starbucks Coffee Shop.
My prayer for you all this Holiday Season is that you can even taste a portion of the tremendous and unfathomable goodness that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has for each and every one of you.
4:7 he again defineth a certain day, To-day, saying in David so long a time afterward (even as hath been said before), To-day if ye shall hear his voice, Harden not your hearts. 
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