Deployment
It is appropriate that I am writing this blog on 9-11. The events of that day are what caused me to decide to join the Army. Here's a blog I wrote about that when I was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel:
https://thebaldguyblog.wordpress.com/2021/07/30/promotion/
Everyone is probably aware by now that I am deploying again in January 2025 for at least a year, but probably two. It is an extremely long time. I wanted to give you a rundown of how we got to this decision. When Marilyn and I met with Pastor Philip and Jejee in January of 2023, I told him I had no intention or desire to deploy anymore. What I really wanted to do was plant a church, and we had gone through an assessment process in mid-2022, but God made it clear that it wasn't time. That was how we landed at New Life.
About six months after that, I was informed by the senior chaplain for NC that he was going to be in that position for the foreseeable future and that I should look elsewhere for an opportunity to serve at that senior level and get promoted to Colonel. I started looking around. I knew my orders were ending in Nov of 2024, so there was a time limit on this. Marilyn and I prayed about what God wanted, but if He was asking me, my desires were:
- Become the Deputy State chaplain in the NC Guard and start Acacia ministries; or,
- Become the Deputy State chaplain and plant a church; or,
- Become the Deputy State chaplain and get a civilian job; or,
- Go to another state, become the State chaplain, get promoted, and do one of the previous three things; or,
- Go to the DC Guard, become the State chaplain, and take a government service job as their full-time chaplain; or,
- Go to the Reserves, get promoted, and get a civilian job; or,
- Literally anything else
Then there was about a mile of dirt, and then there was the possibility of deployment. I absolutely, 100%, under no circumstances, did not want to deploy.
And yet…
In the meantime, we had some things happen in the office at ARCENT that really messed up the cycle of moves for the staff. It's complicated, but put simply, EVERYONE in the office except the command chaplain would be replaced between December 2024 and May 2025. It is an extremely delicate time in the Middle East, and having an entirely new staff with no knowledge of the theater would be challenging, to say the least. When the new command chaplain arrived this past May, I told him Marilyn and I would add a deployment to our prayers.
Every day, I pray a prayer that Saint Martin prayed. He was a Roman soldier who wound up being an absolute powerhouse for Christ. The prayer says,
Lord, if your people still have need of my services, I will not avoid the toil. Your will be done. I have fought the good fight long enough. Yet, if you still need that I hold the battle line in defense of Your camp, I will never beg to be excused from failing strength. I will do the work you entrust to me. While You command, I will fight beneath Your banner.
God closed literally every door, firmly. The Army certainly has a need that I am filling, but that isn’t why I am going. I go because God has made it abundantly clear to Marilyn and me that He needs me there. I don’t know why. All I know is His command, and if I say I follow Jesus, then I will follow…even where I don’t want to go.
Questions
No one asked specific questions, but here are a few people have asked verbally.
1. Will I be in danger? Yes. As I mentioned, it's a delicate time in the Middle East. If a war breaks out, I will be in the location that will probably be hit first. When I went in 2020, I didn't even take my Kevlar and body armor out of my locker. Right now, it has to be nearby and ready to be used at all times.
2. Are you scared? No. The safest place I can ever be is right in the center of God's will. For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. I'm quoting Scripture, but only because I mean it.
3. What will you be doing? I will be the senior chaplain forward for all of the chaplains and religious affairs specialists in the Middle East. I will train, mentor, and develop. I'll be doing some traveling around the area.
A few final thoughts about how we know this is God's will:
1. I believe one of the main reasons God told us not to plant a church in 2022 was this. Had we started a church, I either would have not even considered a deployment, or taken it and killed the church.
2. Leading up to this, God had given me a word about a sabbatical from multiple unrelated sources. I've been doing vocational church ministry for almost 35 years without a real break. God is sending me to the desert for that very reason.
3. Marilyn and I made the call after I got a hard "no" on joining the Reserves. Then after making the decision and starting the process, God opened that door back up. It looks like I will be able to find a home in the Reserves and have a place to return when I'm done. Please pray for favor and God's direction there.
4. Marilyn and I went to see "The Forge", a movie about discipleship. In it, the main character mentioned that he spent two years discipling people. God spoke to me in that moment and said, "This is why." I don't know who I'm going to meet, but I firmly believe that there are some people there who need me to lead them to the Lord.
SONGS FOR SUNDAY
Glorious Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gklJ2XZwDHc
Graves Into Gardens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YihKbG8-X3U
Way Maker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29IxnsqOkmQ
Worthy of it All
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=worthy+of+it+all+worship+initiative