Christian Report September 2022
Glimpses of Ministry From Coast to Coast
West Coast — Ministry to the Coast Guard: CDR Victor Primeaux, USCG (Ret)
Puget Sound, WA: All good things must come to an end, and our weekly Seattle Coast Guard Bible Study Breakfast Fellowship had to finally say “Fair Winds and Following Seas” to one of our faithful team members. After 30 years of dedicated service, Command Master Chief Lori Fields of Sector Puget Sound rendered her final salute in Coast Guard Blue and was piped ashore at Base Seattle. Vic was present to capture the entire event with his video camera and produce DVDs for CMC Fields and her family. Her involvement in support and facilitation of the Bible Studies, annual Operation Christmas Child Shoebox program, and other events will be greatly missed, not to mention her keen mind when in discussion about the Word of God with others of our group.
Down South — Texas Vets and Chaplain Support at Fort Hood: Carol Simning
I will be leading a Bible Study entitled THE REAL GOD. It's a study of 7 attributes of God and how He longs for us to know Him. It’s a very exciting study and requires the attendees to discuss with a friend outside of class as well as do a deep dive into scripture. The work with pregnant soldiers continues with approximately 50 moms who are required to attend classes on many aspects of pregnancy, delivery, and post-partum. We are there to offer gifts for the babies as well as devotionals and books relating to being a mom or dad, or a more understanding spouse.
My prayer is for us to discover new truths about God that we can put soundly into our lives and truly know He loves us unconditionally. We want to KNOW THE REAL GOD.
East Coast — Quantico MCB/Rally Point: Capt. Udell Meyers USMC (Ret)
Janet and I keep a busy ministry schedule. While she disciples and mentors the wives of Marines in our home and via Face Time, I meet with Marines for Bible studies and fellowship as frequently as their training and duty commitments allow.
Janet was hit hard by Covid late last year and still requires oxygen at night for her collapsed lung. Despite this, she continues to provide a “taste of home” at The Rally Point by preparing and serving refreshments and meals.
Please pray for Janet’s continued healing and for strength during this “perilous time”. Phil 2:14-16
Soldiers of God Live and Fight without ENTANGLEMENTS
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Tim 2:3-4)
Warriors must live distinctly from normal affairs of this world. Soldiers of the Cross don’t have it all, can’t do what everyone else does, nor do they love this world. Pastor James from First Church at Jerusalem said,
“You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
When you enlist in God’s Army (become born again), you follow Christ as your Commander! This causes us as soldiers of God to die to self and our wants and embrace His will and His wants. Warriors must leave many things in this world which we were accustomed to.
Paul orders Timothy and every believer: “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life.”
Ordinary citizens are free agents. They make their own decisions, use their time as they desire and become involved in sports, education, business, or politics. They eat what they want, sleep when they want, go out when they want, dress the way they want and more.
Soldiers, however, must not entangle themselves in anything that might interfere with their duty. We can’t say to the commanding officer, “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t go on that march tomorrow. I have a game with friends, then some sales calls I need to make. I really don’t want to get my shoes dirty, and then my wife and I are going out on a date.”
The First Sergeant would just smile and say, “You’re in the army now, soldier. You belong to me. You will be on that march tomorrow–there won’t be any games for you. When I am through with you, you’re gonna have dirt in every crevice. And the only calls you’ll make are calls for help! You’ll stink so bad your wife will not want to stand anywhere near you.”
Aren’t you glad that Jesus Christ called you to join His army? He is a merciful, gracious Commander, but He is the Commander-in-Chief, and He commands you to obey His orders so our mission will be accomplished: To Win… To Disciple... To Equip… To Win !!!
This series will continue by next examining how Good Soldiers of Christ fulfill their duty to God.
Dr. Doug Sullivan is the Chairman of the Board for CMF. He is a prior-enlisted, prior-line officer who then became a USAF chaplain and retired in 2006. Lt. Col Sullivan continues to serve as the Command Staff Chaplain for the Texas Civil Defense.
Sharing Jesus Part 4 — The Solution to the Sin Problem
Now that you are armed with a biblical understanding of ‘spiritually dead’ and understanding that, in essence, unbelievers are ‘dead men walking’, and knowing that our friend ‘Pat’ realizes that the issue if sin is the root cause of evil in the world, we can offer Pat the solution to the problem of sin in a manner that honors God. Since the conversation is reaching ’critical mass’ there are a few important things to remember.
First of all, pray that God would open Pat’s heart to receive this all important part of the message of the gospel. Secondly, remember that God alone saves and you are just the messenger. It’s not your job to get a decision or otherwise ‘close the deal’ – the Holy Spirit does a fine job of applying the solution to a God-opened heart! As one evangelist expressed it:
“Christ is going after His lost sheep, and He wants to use our lips that they may hear His voice today, and our hands that they may feel His touch. He is the soul-winner. People are not won by us for Him. They are won through us by Him. He can win them without us, just as He can speak to them through the Bible quite apart from anything we might say. But He has chosen to work through us and with us.”
— Leith Samuel
Spend a few moments going over a few things with Pat. You might want to briefly summarize where the conversation has gone up to this point:
* The world is full of ‘bad stuff’ (evil).
* The Bible calls the bad stuff ‘sin’.
* Sin is a human problem that began when Adam sinned against God.
Once you and Pat are on the same page it’s time to address the solution. You might want to ask Pat what he or she thinks is the answer to the problem. The answers you receive might be good answers even if they are just about temporal things like passing more laws, doing a better job of raising our children, raising the quality of our schools, easier access to higher education, and/or government programs to get rid of poverty. If so, talk about them, acknowledge that they might solve problems, but that they are only external answers and cannot really address the inner problem of sin that we all have.
This is a good place to introduce, in simple terms and directly from the Bible, God’s plan for dealing with sin. Be gentle! This is a conversation, not a used car lot!
Here are some suggested passages of scripture that were all written by the Apostle Paul. You can even introduce some or all the following scriptures by telling Pat that this guy named ‘Paul’ who absolutely loved to kick Christians around all over town wrote them! Make sure to tell Pat how each passage relates what you have already discussed.
The problem: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Rom 3:23
The natural consequences of the problem: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord..” Rom 6:23
God’s plan to punish his own Son in our place: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:8
The applications of God’s plan: “Believe and call on the name off the Lord: “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Rom 10:9; “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Rom 10:13
The result of believing and calling on the name of the Lord: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom 5:1; “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Rom 8:1
The above passages are by no means a set method that must be followed. You might want to use other passages of scripture that also talk about the problem of man’s sin and God’s solution. John 3:16 is a good example and a passage we probably all know by heart. It also expresses God’s solution to our problem.
Always anticipate questions, and be ready with an answer or willing to find an answer. Be able to talk about the Biblical context of passages you use in the conversation. This communicates that you didn’t just memorize a few passages, but you know and are convinced of the truth of scripture. That’s huge!
In the next article we’ll talk about the response to God’s offer of salvation through Christ.
SGM Daniel Cartwright, USA (Ret.) is a 28-year veteran of the U.S. Army Special Forces and long-time member of Christian Military Fellowship. Dan is a Local Rep at Ft. Carson. He also serves on the CMF Board of Directors.
Sword Drill!
Scripture:
But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to Him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19-20
Wait:
What I have seen and experienced - what God has done in my life, my testimony, my story woven together with His Story.
Observe:
They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death. Revelation 12:11
Request:
LORD, Help me to speak,... sing of Your Love, speaking of the freedom I have in Christ!
Dedicate:
Sing of His Love forever!!!
LCDR Scott Lawrence Radetski, CHC, USN (Ret.) is a long-time CMF Regional Ministry Representative, who energetically ministers to the military community in the Pacific Northwest.
Christian Military Fellowship
An Indigenous Ministry • Discipleship • Prayer • Community • Support
Encouraging Men and Women in the United States Armed Forces, and their families, to love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are members of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and Christian Service Charities in order to maintain the highest standards of excellence and accountability.
We are pleased to announce that MinistryWatch has listed CMF as one of their “Shining Light” Ministries. To become a MinistryWatch “Shining Light,” a ministry must have earned a 5-star rating on MinistryWatch’s 5-star financial efficiency scale. Further, those ministries on this list have a Transparency Grade of “A.” That’s MinistryWatch’s highest transparency grade. Out of 700 ministries, only 13 meet these strict criteria.
Mailing Address:
PO Box 449
Veradale, WA 99037-0449
(800)798-7875
(303)761-1959
https://www.CMFHQ.ORG