The Honorable Mr. Alllen B. Clark Romans 10: 9-10 (NIV Life Application Study Bible).
"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
In this my 59th message I relate the most important of all I have ever written. For those that have been recipients of these messages over approximately five years I have related special spiritual and patriotic thoughts. This is the culmination of all before!
This is the Big Picture very simplistically. I am not one to know doctrine or theology. I have always attempted to use my Christianity in practical application. In the military we used the K.I.S.S. formula. Keep It Simple Stupid.
Here goes. It is generally accepted that God created and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden approximately 6000 years ago. For the next 4000 years he was laying the groundwork for a momentous happening which occurred 2000 years ago. He brought forth Abraham from the land today comprising Iraq (a full circle historic occurence with all its attendant contemporary publicity) to Palestine and with his descendants, Isaac and Ishmael, laid the foundation for what became the three major world religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Judaism in the Old Testament was full of "Religious Ritual" as is evident today in much of current day "faith" expression.
For 4000 years there were constant conflicts, crises, murders and abominable behaviors amongst humanity, the created of God. I am what is defined as a Trintarian, meaning I believe in the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The only way God could reach "humans" was to send among us another human. This was His Son, Jesus the Christ. The New Testament very simply stated is the biography of Jesus. Jesus came to set an example for living and loving. The New Testament is POWERFUL! If one desires to have a guideline or a blueprint for life, read, study, and appropriate for one's healthy attitudes, motivations, and emotional balance, what has been written, preserved, and available for us today, the Holy Bible. We spend hours in front of the television, pursue cultural trivia, read self-help books, and worship our cars, homes, stars, celebrities, money, pleasures, etc., all the current day idols of our normal secular lives. Time is short not to get with God's program. It is time to graduate from head knowledge of God and develop an inner faith in the living God with a 'Personal Relationship with Jesus." If not now, when?
It is time to believe, "God created all. He is worthy of worship, not worship of all He created. He sent His Son to die on the cross for our redemption from sins, which, when confessed, are all cleansed and gone. When we truly believe "Jesus is Lord," my Christianity teaches me I will live in eternity upon my earthly death. I believe that! When Jesus returned to Heaven, he left here for us a Helper, the Holy Spirit, available and ready to be our partner each and every day for every challenge. Prayer works. God must be asked to open up floodgates of blessings. Pray for your unhealed hurts, unmet needs, unresolved issues in the 'Name of Jesus."
Vincent, Linda's only child, died on August 10 last year at age 52 of a heart attack. Linda's greatest joy and comfort is that, because he believed and lived what is written above, he is in Heaven and undeniably and definitely believably, she will join and see him again someday.
It takes three simple audible words spoken personally for you to claim a new life, "Jesus is Lord." If you already know Jesus, do not be hesitant to leave a legacy, especially for your family members to impart to them what you know and believe. Tell them and others, in a manner that is loving and not pushy. Live it as Jesus did, not just speaking of it.
[Editor's note: I want you to know the Honorable Mr. Allen B. Clark:
Two years after graduation from West Point, Allen volunteered for a tour in Vietnam where he served as a Military Intelligence officer assigned to the Fifth Special Forces Group. He sustained injuries in an early-morning mortar attack at the Dak To Special Forces camp on June 17, 1967, that necessitated the amputation of both of his legs below the knees. He was honored to have His service recognized by being awarded a Silver Star for Gallantry in Action, the Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantryman's Badge. Since then, he has served in various government roles, including an appointment in the President George H. W. Bush Administration as Assistant Secretary for Veterans Liaison at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. His autobiography entitled Wounded Soldier, Healing Warrior was published by Zenith Press in February 2007 and is available in bookstores and on Amazon.com.
It was my privilege in the providence of God to meet him and his darling wife, Linda Frost Clark, in May of 2007 in San Antonio, TX. at the Combined National Military Chaplains Association and the National VA Hospital Chaplains Conventions. We bonded immediately, and have been close friends since them. In the meantime, Allen and Linda have asked me to be their personal pastor. This unique relation has been and continues to be one of the joys of my life. I have visited in their home in Dallas several times. They attended the Chaplains, Spouses, and Friends Dinner Banquet in Dallas at our last General Conference, and were present when the Chaplains Ministries Board and chaplains honored Melvine and me for our service to our chaplains for some 15 years.]
"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
In this my 59th message I relate the most important of all I have ever written. For those that have been recipients of these messages over approximately five years I have related special spiritual and patriotic thoughts. This is the culmination of all before!
This is the Big Picture very simplistically. I am not one to know doctrine or theology. I have always attempted to use my Christianity in practical application. In the military we used the K.I.S.S. formula. Keep It Simple Stupid.
Here goes. It is generally accepted that God created and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden approximately 6000 years ago. For the next 4000 years he was laying the groundwork for a momentous happening which occurred 2000 years ago. He brought forth Abraham from the land today comprising Iraq (a full circle historic occurence with all its attendant contemporary publicity) to Palestine and with his descendants, Isaac and Ishmael, laid the foundation for what became the three major world religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Judaism in the Old Testament was full of "Religious Ritual" as is evident today in much of current day "faith" expression.
For 4000 years there were constant conflicts, crises, murders and abominable behaviors amongst humanity, the created of God. I am what is defined as a Trintarian, meaning I believe in the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The only way God could reach "humans" was to send among us another human. This was His Son, Jesus the Christ. The New Testament very simply stated is the biography of Jesus. Jesus came to set an example for living and loving. The New Testament is POWERFUL! If one desires to have a guideline or a blueprint for life, read, study, and appropriate for one's healthy attitudes, motivations, and emotional balance, what has been written, preserved, and available for us today, the Holy Bible. We spend hours in front of the television, pursue cultural trivia, read self-help books, and worship our cars, homes, stars, celebrities, money, pleasures, etc., all the current day idols of our normal secular lives. Time is short not to get with God's program. It is time to graduate from head knowledge of God and develop an inner faith in the living God with a 'Personal Relationship with Jesus." If not now, when?
It is time to believe, "God created all. He is worthy of worship, not worship of all He created. He sent His Son to die on the cross for our redemption from sins, which, when confessed, are all cleansed and gone. When we truly believe "Jesus is Lord," my Christianity teaches me I will live in eternity upon my earthly death. I believe that! When Jesus returned to Heaven, he left here for us a Helper, the Holy Spirit, available and ready to be our partner each and every day for every challenge. Prayer works. God must be asked to open up floodgates of blessings. Pray for your unhealed hurts, unmet needs, unresolved issues in the 'Name of Jesus."
Vincent, Linda's only child, died on August 10 last year at age 52 of a heart attack. Linda's greatest joy and comfort is that, because he believed and lived what is written above, he is in Heaven and undeniably and definitely believably, she will join and see him again someday.
It takes three simple audible words spoken personally for you to claim a new life, "Jesus is Lord." If you already know Jesus, do not be hesitant to leave a legacy, especially for your family members to impart to them what you know and believe. Tell them and others, in a manner that is loving and not pushy. Live it as Jesus did, not just speaking of it.
[Editor's note: I want you to know the Honorable Mr. Allen B. Clark:
Two years after graduation from West Point, Allen volunteered for a tour in Vietnam where he served as a Military Intelligence officer assigned to the Fifth Special Forces Group. He sustained injuries in an early-morning mortar attack at the Dak To Special Forces camp on June 17, 1967, that necessitated the amputation of both of his legs below the knees. He was honored to have His service recognized by being awarded a Silver Star for Gallantry in Action, the Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantryman's Badge. Since then, he has served in various government roles, including an appointment in the President George H. W. Bush Administration as Assistant Secretary for Veterans Liaison at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. His autobiography entitled Wounded Soldier, Healing Warrior was published by Zenith Press in February 2007 and is available in bookstores and on Amazon.com.
It was my privilege in the providence of God to meet him and his darling wife, Linda Frost Clark, in May of 2007 in San Antonio, TX. at the Combined National Military Chaplains Association and the National VA Hospital Chaplains Conventions. We bonded immediately, and have been close friends since them. In the meantime, Allen and Linda have asked me to be their personal pastor. This unique relation has been and continues to be one of the joys of my life. I have visited in their home in Dallas several times. They attended the Chaplains, Spouses, and Friends Dinner Banquet in Dallas at our last General Conference, and were present when the Chaplains Ministries Board and chaplains honored Melvine and me for our service to our chaplains for some 15 years.]