Posts tagged gifts

“And all the people of the earth are counted as nothing; and He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the people of the earth. And none can strike His hand, or say to Him, What are You doing?” Daniel 4:35

Often times, when God compels our boldness to speak the truth – we Christians hesitate; remaining instead, strangely silent. Such was the case for me personally. On a late summer day way back in 1993, the Holy Spirit prodded me to boldly speak of the Son of God to a dying man – my aging father, Kenneth James Bateman.

“Dad? May I share something with you today?”, I meekly asked. His cantankerous response was quick and sure. “No! I don’t need to hear about your Jesus and heaven. End of story.”

For nearly twenty years, I tried to speak to my dad about Jesus Christ and His Gospel. Dad’s response was always the same. Frustrated, I blurted out, “What is the deal with you, dad?” Without waiting for his next brutish response, I quickly continued, “For years I have tried to approach you but your answer is always the same. Well, I want to know why you won’t let me talk to you – I am not a kid – so fess up! What’s your problem?”

I could see a strange torment come across the deep old lines of his aging face; his pale blue eyes seemed to be looking backward to a distant time and a hurt from long ago…

“It was the spring of ‘1945 son. We were going on a mission – thirty B-29 bombers, fully loaded, took off into the morning sky from the west field of Tinian Island. Before leaving, we had “chapel” service where the Chaplain prayed that, “God would bring our boys back home on the wings of safety.”

Less than two hours later, I watched twenty-nine planes and all those men, blown out of the sky. No God, if there were a God of love, would have allowed that to happen. I lost all my friends that day.”

I sat there speechless. What more could I say to a man embittered by the carnage of war, death and eternal oblivion?

“Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You go, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.” John 14:1-6

NOTE: The V.A. (Veterans Administration) projects about 414,000 deaths among our World War II veterans this year, for a daily rate of about 1,135. At the start of the year, VA estimated the number of World War II veterans at 5,032,591. The number of deaths per year among World War II veterans is projected to decline slightly for at least the next five years, although it will stay above the 1,000-per-day mark.

We are very proud of every man, woman and child who has faithfully and diligently served our great nation in time of call. We should never forget the sacrifices made on the field of battle and on our nation’s home front – some died, many were crippled while others continued serving in the military, civilian corp. and as citizens. They worked in factories, entertained troops, raised funds, grew crops, and held the family together in very tough times.

There is more to this story… watch for part II.