Of Weakness and Ministry

I was so impressed by General George Patton's speech that I had to quote it in full. He is regarded as one of the United States' most successful field commander of any war. He continualy strove to train his troops to the highest standards of excellence. I cannot claim to know in depth who he is. I have read a little about him in my US History classes in college. However, I do admire his courage, tanacity, and "chutzpa". I think leaders ought to have these characteristics - whether in secular or ecclesastical capacities. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. Often we read of leaders with serious lapses in character. And whether we like it or not, there is always a greater expectation upon church leaders to behave impeccably, to be above reproach in every aspect of life. I am not suggesting sinless perfection. But then again, didn't Jesus say that we should be perfect as his Father is perfect? Selah.

One of my concerns about our spiritual leaders here in the Philippines is spiritual weakness masquerading as niceness. No person of biblical account who was worth his salt was a wishy-washy, namby-pamby, jelly-bellied, weak-spined coward. They were made of firmer stuff. But this is the fruit of discipline -- something almost unknown to Filipinos, even in the church. Sigh! Pastors are a dime a dozen. All one needs to do is go to a Bible School, pass the course, and, voila, one is a "Pastor". It doesn't matter whether the person is called into the ministry, he passed the course.

I am concerned that the 107 years of evangelical Christianity in the Philippines accounts for a meager 6% of the nation's population. The figure would be significantly lower if we survey how many are mature enough to discern God's will and ways to fulfill their destiny and to disciple others to spiritual matuirty. There is something terribly wrong. I have heard of so many prophecies by locals as well as foreigners that God has a wonderful plan for the Philippines, that we will be Asia's missions launching pad, that we are the burning bush, and other wonderful visions of grandeur. These will be nothing more than rhetoric if we don't get our act together. Someone once defined insane as a person who does the same thing repeatedly but expects different results. Have we become insane? Unless we change how we "do church," we will continue to get the same results over the next century.

Wake up, Philippines. There is a new wind blowing!

General George Smith Patton

Below is a quotation of Genreal George Smith Patton:

"Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

Men, all this stuff you’ve heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans, traditionally, love to fight. Americans love the sting of battle.

When you were kids, you all admired the champion shooter, the faster runner, the big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.

Now, an army is a team. It lives, sleeps, and fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. The bilious bastards who wrote that stuff about individuality for the Saturday Evening Post don’t know anything more about battle than they do about fornicating.

Now, we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world. You know, by God, I actually pity those poor bastards we going against. By God, I do. We’re not just going to shoot the bastards. We’re going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We’re going to murder those lousy Hun bastards by the bushel.

Now, some of you boys, I know, are wondering whether or not you’ll be chicken under fire. Don’t worry about it. I can assure you that you will all do your duty. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them. Spill their blood. Shoot them in the belly. When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend’s face, you’ll know what to do.

Now there’s another thing I want you to remember, I don’t want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We’re not holding anything. Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and we’re not interested in holding to anything – except the enemy. We’re going to hold onto him by the nose, and we’re gonna kick him in the ass. We’re gonna kick the hell out of him all the time, and we’re gonna go through him like crap through a goose.

Now there’s one thing you men will be able to say when you get back home – and you may thank God for it. Thirty years from now when you’re sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you, “What did you do in the great Worlkd War Two?” – you won’t have to say, “Well, I shoveled shit in Louisiana.”

Alright now you sons of bitches, you know how I feel.

Oh, I will be proud to lead you wonderful guys into battle anytime, anywhere. That’s all."

Merry Christmas

To all of you wonderful folk who take the time to read me blogs, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a blessed and fruitful New Year. It is my sincerest desire that you come to know the Lord more intimately and passionately. May your heart be ablaze with the things that move the very heart of God. Shalom to al of you.