"Faith is a subject of such importance that we should not ignore it because of the distractions or the hectic pace of our lives. Life as we know it, with all its ups and downs, will soon be over. We all will give an accounting to God of how we have lived."
"When we do not take our problem seriously, we do not seek the solution God offers with the measure of sincerity and intensity that our true condition requires. If we don't understand how seriously ill we are, we don't pursue the remedy with the required diligence. If we are slightly ill, we take an aspirin. If we are dying, we passionately pursue a cure. The cure is not forced on us; it is offered to us."
- William Wilberforce, Real Christianity
Showing posts with label Heroes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heroes. Show all posts
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Sacrifices Remembered
One year ago today the South Bend
Patrolman Michael Norby was recently honored as Officer of the Year for the South Bend Police Department. He was also given the Chief’s Award of Valor, the South Bend Police Medal, and the Purple Heart.
Patrolman Michael Norby was recently honored as Officer of the Year for the South Bend Police Department. He was also given the Chief’s Award of Valor, the South Bend Police Medal, and the Purple Heart. Corporal Nick Polizzotto was posthumously honored with the Chief’s Award of Valor, the South Bend Police Medal, and the Purple Heart.
Patrolman Norby has recovered from his physical wound and still serves as an Officer in the City of South Bend, Indiana.The Tragic Death of an Officer and the Sovereignty of God
Late on a cool spring evening the two police officers responded to a dispatched call of shots fired at an often problematic motel. The officers arrived one right after the other. A bystander was contacted and directed the officers towards the subject who had been firing randomly, awaking all who lived nearby. The officers moved in unison and climbed the stairway to the second level of the motel where the suspect was thought to be.
There he was, scraggly and unkempt. The fidgety middle aged man was agitated. The officers took up tactical positions as they made contact with the suspect and began to speak with him. Something was wrong and both officers sensed it. The first officer grabbed a hold of the suspect in order to safely detain him until the investigation was complete. The other officer stood nearby watching the suspect’s every move. Then it happened. The suspect reeled with a gun in his hand. The gun seemed to come from out of nowhere. One second the suspect’s hands were empty and the next the gun appeared and fired almost instantaneously. A shot rang out. The first officer was hit in the right shoulder, his weapon still seated firmly in it’s holster on the right side of his body. The second officer responded immediately. There was not a moments hesitation, instinct took over and the second officer grabbed hold of the suspect in order to defend his partner at any cost.
The suspect now physically entangled with the second officer. More shots fired, sounding like the quick explosion of firecrackers on the fourth of July. The wounded officer miraculously drew his weapon with his wounded right arm and fires. The suspect goes motionless. The rounds found their intended target. The suspect was dead. Romans 13:3-4 “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.”
The first officer immediately attended to his partner who was also wounded and laying on the floor. Now starting to feel the pain from his wounded shoulder, the first officer knew that his partner gave his life in order to save him. John 15:12-13 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.” The second officer departed from this earthly realm. His appointed time had come. Ecc. 3:1-2 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die.” This brave officer was now seeing for the first time with eyes that are not limited to the sights of this physical world.
Many people consider a tragedy such as this and immediately conclude that this isn’t God’s will. And in one sense they are right, but not entirely… God does not delight in evil, but God is absolutely sovereign. That is to say that He is in absolute control of everything. According to God’s sovereign plan sin and evil are permitted to exist, but they have only a limited time and scope in which to reap their destruction. Nothing escapes His view, nothing remains outside of His control. Statements like these make some cringe with the obvious thoughts like; how could God be good and still allow something so terrible to happen?
To consider the absolute sovereignty of God is not an easy endeavor, not something that can be comprehended too quickly. An example that might help with an understanding of the absolute sovereignty of God is found in the God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth. God came to this world that He created, in the form of a man named Jesus. This same God-Man lived 30 plus years on the same earth that we do – with all of it’s sinfulness, and then died, bearing our deserved punishment to bring us to God. 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” The very fact that the God-Man, who created the earth and all who live in it, would suffer to die a tortuously painful death at the hands of sinful men – demonstrates the greatest example of how God arranges for good to come out of tragedy. Isaiah 46:10 “declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. ” This verse declares God’s ability to orchestrate the end from the beginning. Nothing takes Him by surprise.
The greatest good in all the world was accomplished when Jesus, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, came to live among us and die for us as a sacrifice bearing the wrath of God upon our sins. God, according to His sovereign plan, still allows suffering, trials, and tragedy to accomplish His purposes. Do not dismay at the sight of such difficulties but rest assured that God is Just and will render punishment where it is due. We will see much injustice here on earth, but justice will absolutely be served in eternity. We see glimpses of God’s justice in His creation. An example is seen in the immediate response of the first officer to the lawless and self-full acts of the suspect who was instantly ushered into the presence of the God-Judge who is entirely Just. Hebrews 9:27 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”
Considering the justice of God, set no vain hopes of escaping God’s wrath against your sin. Set your hope in Jesus Christ, the God-Man who alone can bear your unrighteousness and your just deserved punishment and impart to you His holiness. John 14:6 “Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Romans 10:9-10 “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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
There he was, scraggly and unkempt. The fidgety middle aged man was agitated. The officers took up tactical positions as they made contact with the suspect and began to speak with him. Something was wrong and both officers sensed it. The first officer grabbed a hold of the suspect in order to safely detain him until the investigation was complete. The other officer stood nearby watching the suspect’s every move. Then it happened. The suspect reeled with a gun in his hand. The gun seemed to come from out of nowhere. One second the suspect’s hands were empty and the next the gun appeared and fired almost instantaneously. A shot rang out. The first officer was hit in the right shoulder, his weapon still seated firmly in it’s holster on the right side of his body. The second officer responded immediately. There was not a moments hesitation, instinct took over and the second officer grabbed hold of the suspect in order to defend his partner at any cost.
The suspect now physically entangled with the second officer. More shots fired, sounding like the quick explosion of firecrackers on the fourth of July. The wounded officer miraculously drew his weapon with his wounded right arm and fires. The suspect goes motionless. The rounds found their intended target. The suspect was dead. Romans 13:3-4 “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.”
The first officer immediately attended to his partner who was also wounded and laying on the floor. Now starting to feel the pain from his wounded shoulder, the first officer knew that his partner gave his life in order to save him. John 15:12-13 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.” The second officer departed from this earthly realm. His appointed time had come. Ecc. 3:1-2 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die.” This brave officer was now seeing for the first time with eyes that are not limited to the sights of this physical world.
Many people consider a tragedy such as this and immediately conclude that this isn’t God’s will. And in one sense they are right, but not entirely… God does not delight in evil, but God is absolutely sovereign. That is to say that He is in absolute control of everything. According to God’s sovereign plan sin and evil are permitted to exist, but they have only a limited time and scope in which to reap their destruction. Nothing escapes His view, nothing remains outside of His control. Statements like these make some cringe with the obvious thoughts like; how could God be good and still allow something so terrible to happen?
To consider the absolute sovereignty of God is not an easy endeavor, not something that can be comprehended too quickly. An example that might help with an understanding of the absolute sovereignty of God is found in the God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth. God came to this world that He created, in the form of a man named Jesus. This same God-Man lived 30 plus years on the same earth that we do – with all of it’s sinfulness, and then died, bearing our deserved punishment to bring us to God. 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” The very fact that the God-Man, who created the earth and all who live in it, would suffer to die a tortuously painful death at the hands of sinful men – demonstrates the greatest example of how God arranges for good to come out of tragedy. Isaiah 46:10 “declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. ” This verse declares God’s ability to orchestrate the end from the beginning. Nothing takes Him by surprise.
The greatest good in all the world was accomplished when Jesus, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, came to live among us and die for us as a sacrifice bearing the wrath of God upon our sins. God, according to His sovereign plan, still allows suffering, trials, and tragedy to accomplish His purposes. Do not dismay at the sight of such difficulties but rest assured that God is Just and will render punishment where it is due. We will see much injustice here on earth, but justice will absolutely be served in eternity. We see glimpses of God’s justice in His creation. An example is seen in the immediate response of the first officer to the lawless and self-full acts of the suspect who was instantly ushered into the presence of the God-Judge who is entirely Just. Hebrews 9:27 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”
Considering the justice of God, set no vain hopes of escaping God’s wrath against your sin. Set your hope in Jesus Christ, the God-Man who alone can bear your unrighteousness and your just deserved punishment and impart to you His holiness. John 14:6 “Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Romans 10:9-10 “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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
Monday, March 31, 2008
Heroes
Below article found at FoxNews.com (more info here):
"On Sept. 29, 2006, while on a mission in Ramadi, Iraq, Monsoor and other members of a Navy SEAL sniper team were within a moment of death. An insurgent had tossed a grenade into their hideout, hitting Monsoor in the chest before bouncing to the floor.
In an instant, Monsoor was on the grenade, using his body to shield his comrades from the blast.
"He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was down toward it," said a lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him."
For that action, President Bush on Monday announced that Monsoor will be posthumously honored on April 8 with the the nation's highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"Petty Officer Monsoor distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on Sept. 29, 2006," presidential press secretary Dana Perino told reporters during a briefing aboard Air Force One. The announcement came as Bush was on his way to Ukraine, Romania, Croatia and Russia in a trip built around the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.
Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured; another who was 10 to 15 feet from the blast was unhurt. They had been working with Iraqi soldiers providing sniper security while U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted missions in the area.
In an interview at the SEALs' West Coast headquarters in Coronado, Calif., four members of the special force remembered "Mikey" as a loyal friend and a quiet, dedicated professional.
"He was just a fun-loving guy," said a petty officer 2nd class who went through the grueling 29-week SEAL training with Monsoor. "Always got something funny to say, always got a little mischievous look on his face."
Other SEALS described the Garden Grove, Calif., native as a modest and humble man who drew strength from his family and his faith. His father and brother are former Marines, said a petty officer 2nd class.
Monsoor, a platoon machine gunner, had posthumously received the Silver Star, the third-highest award for combat valor, for his actions pulling a wounded SEAL to safety during a May 9, 2006, firefight in Ramadi. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for his sacrifice in Ramadi.Sixteen SEALs have been killed in Afghanistan. Eleven of them died in June 2005 when a helicopter was shot down near the Pakistani border while ferrying reinforcements for troops pursuing Al Qaeda terrorists."
John 15:12-13
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."
Many people are dying for something that is not worth living for. Some people are living for something that is worth dying for.
What are you living for?
"On Sept. 29, 2006, while on a mission in Ramadi, Iraq, Monsoor and other members of a Navy SEAL sniper team were within a moment of death. An insurgent had tossed a grenade into their hideout, hitting Monsoor in the chest before bouncing to the floor.
In an instant, Monsoor was on the grenade, using his body to shield his comrades from the blast.
"He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was down toward it," said a lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him."
For that action, President Bush on Monday announced that Monsoor will be posthumously honored on April 8 with the the nation's highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"Petty Officer Monsoor distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on Sept. 29, 2006," presidential press secretary Dana Perino told reporters during a briefing aboard Air Force One. The announcement came as Bush was on his way to Ukraine, Romania, Croatia and Russia in a trip built around the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.
Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured; another who was 10 to 15 feet from the blast was unhurt. They had been working with Iraqi soldiers providing sniper security while U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted missions in the area.
In an interview at the SEALs' West Coast headquarters in Coronado, Calif., four members of the special force remembered "Mikey" as a loyal friend and a quiet, dedicated professional.
"He was just a fun-loving guy," said a petty officer 2nd class who went through the grueling 29-week SEAL training with Monsoor. "Always got something funny to say, always got a little mischievous look on his face."
Other SEALS described the Garden Grove, Calif., native as a modest and humble man who drew strength from his family and his faith. His father and brother are former Marines, said a petty officer 2nd class.
Monsoor, a platoon machine gunner, had posthumously received the Silver Star, the third-highest award for combat valor, for his actions pulling a wounded SEAL to safety during a May 9, 2006, firefight in Ramadi. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for his sacrifice in Ramadi.Sixteen SEALs have been killed in Afghanistan. Eleven of them died in June 2005 when a helicopter was shot down near the Pakistani border while ferrying reinforcements for troops pursuing Al Qaeda terrorists."
John 15:12-13
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."
Many people are dying for something that is not worth living for. Some people are living for something that is worth dying for.
What are you living for?
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