By the Honorable Allen Clark
Until last year for almost twenty years it had been my privilege to be a guest speaker at high school Youth Leadership Conferences sponsored by my special patriotic organization, the Military Order of the World Wars. All hands were raised when I inquired how many knew what was meant by I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient). Only a few were raised when I asked what was meant by E.Q. (Emotional Quotient). In a secular setting I would not have asked how many knew about S.Q. (Spiritual Quotient).
Our Emotional Quotient is developed over time and is enhanced as we develop patterns in our lives that reflect choices of actions (especially words) and their consequences; reactions to the words and actions of others; and the state of the reflection of our faith in the Lord Jesus.
Once and when we cross that line in our belief as a "Christian" wherein we believe sincerely that Jesus is the Son of God, Who came to earth to set an example for righteous living, Who bequeathed us guidelines for what is acceptable behavior, and Who provides us forgiveness upon confession of our sins, we then begin to live new lives, bolstered with a new manner of living. We develop our Spiritual Quotient.
Often I have heard, "They are not 'Christian.' They get angry. They do not forgive. Observe the way they act." What this line of judgmental critique represents is, just because we are "Christians," we are automatically supposed to have it all together in our E.Q. and S.Q. Life does not work that way. But, imagine what our life would be like, if we did not have the Holy Trinity in our lives.
Just recently I envisioned a pyramid. The bottom edge of the pyramid is crossed when we believe Jesus the Christ is the Savior, Who came to earth to die for our sins and to point the path toward receiving the ultimate gift, eternity in Heaven upon bodily death.
Then begins growth in our E.Q. and S.Q., development of our maturity, and response patterns. Even after crossing that threshold of faith in which we endeavor to live as Jesus Christ teaches us to live, we must stick with the program.
I picture the pyramid as having seven levels, corresponding to Seven Virtues to which we aspire, all seven of which are the direct antithesis to what are termed the Seven Deadly Sins.
It is written in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV):
"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold all things become new."
They only become new as we are able and advance to virtuous living because incessantly we are subject to the world's system of behavior and reaction patterns because we are susceptible and typically driven by what is written in 1 John 2:16 (KJV):
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world."
Life becomes a slow and tedious climbing up the levels of that pyramid with hopeful adherence to the Seven Virtues, which are the counters to the Seven Deadly Sins (as originally defined by Pope Gregory in 590 A.D.).
The Seven Virtues contrasted to the Seven Deadly Sins are:
Humility--------Pride (Haughtiness, Arrogance)
Generosity------Greed (Excessive desire for wealth, cupidity, covetousness)
Love-------------Envy (Discontent and ill will over another's advantages)
Kindness--------Wrath (Intense anger, rage, fury)
Self-control-----Lust (Bodily appetites, especially excessive sexual desire)
Temperance-----Gluttony (Habit or act of overeating)
Zeal---------------Sloth (laziness, idleness)
Catholic doctrine divides sin into mortal and venial categories. With my limited doctrinal and theological knowledge (Protestant or Catholic) it is my desire to define venial and mortal sins in layman's terms. If we define not reflecting the Seven Virtues in their most simplified form as venial sins, then they become sins of "omission." If we define the Seven Deadly Sins as "mortal ones" (omitting for the time being the Ten Commandments), then they become sins of "commission." Sins both of "omission" and "commission" are necessary to be identified, confessed, and repented of in order to receive God's forgiveness.
We pray to God, in the Name of Jesus, by the Holy Spirit for forgiveness. If we do not confess and also receive forgiveness for the venial sins, it may lead to commission of mortal sins. For both, venial and mortal, lack of forgiveness allows the "tormenters" (a whole new topic of spiritual warfare) to take control of us. I want God on my side of the line of battle and I desire a state of grace to be imparted to me, wherein I receive the unmerited favor of God and answers to my prayers.
As a Christian, God is very patient with us in our lives (in contrast to all our "judges") as we work our way up through those levels of the pyramid. It is a constant struggle and challenge to achieve perfection, but we must never relent with discipline to continue trying. We must pray we will master as many of the virtues as possible as well as possible and maturely as we are capable, before it is our time of earthly demise. Amen.
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The Honorable Allen B. Clark
1963 West Point graduate, Allen Clark, served in Vietnam as a Military Intelligence Officer involved in undercover intelligence operations against Cambodia assigned to the Fifth Special Forces Group (the Green Berets). On June 17, 1967 he was severely wounded in a mortar attack at Dak To Special Forces camp in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam and required fifteen months of hospitalization for treatment after amputation of both his legs below his knees. He is a veteran recovered from PTSD. He was awarded the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action, a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Air Medal and Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
From 1979-1981 he served as Special Assistant to Texas Governor Bill Clements. In 1982 he was a candidate for Treasurer of the State of Texas. After nomination by President George H.W. Bush, he was confirmed twice by the United States Senate, once as the assistant secretary for Veterans Liaison and Program Coordination and then as director of the National Cemetery System of the Department of Veterans Affairs. He retired in 2005 as the Public Affairs Officer of the Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System in Dallas, Texas.
His ministry to veterans suffering from combat operating stress may be found at his websites: www.combatfaith.com and www.combatfaith.blogspot.com. In his spiritual presentations he proclaims boldly his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and describes his faith walk of spiritual and emotional healing by the grace of God. A video describes his lay ministry and may be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VehcTFKz8KA&feature=g-upl.
In early 2007 his autobiography, Wounded Soldier, Healing Warrior, was published by Zenith Press. His interview on the Larry King program on May 17, 2007 may be viewed at his book website: www.woundedsoldierhealingwarrior.com. His second book, Valor in Vietnam: Chronicles of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice; 1963-1977, (www.valorinvietnam.com) was published by Casemate Publishers in July 2012. See also www.openroadmedia.com/allen-b-clark.
In 1993 he was recognized by the Military Chaplains Association of America as its “Citizen of the Year.” In 2010 he was recognized by the National Association of Evangelicals Chaplains Commission as its “Centurion of the Year.” He has been interviewed on Trinity Broadcasting System and Daystar.
He is married to the former Linda Frost and lives in Plano, TX. Linda performs in period costume dramatic presentations of Women of the Bible to youth and women’s groups. Her contact info is at lindafrostclark@att.net. Her web site is http://voices.name.
Contact information: allenbclark@aol.com cell 469-831-0841 Updated January 2017.
Until last year for almost twenty years it had been my privilege to be a guest speaker at high school Youth Leadership Conferences sponsored by my special patriotic organization, the Military Order of the World Wars. All hands were raised when I inquired how many knew what was meant by I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient). Only a few were raised when I asked what was meant by E.Q. (Emotional Quotient). In a secular setting I would not have asked how many knew about S.Q. (Spiritual Quotient).
Our Emotional Quotient is developed over time and is enhanced as we develop patterns in our lives that reflect choices of actions (especially words) and their consequences; reactions to the words and actions of others; and the state of the reflection of our faith in the Lord Jesus.
Once and when we cross that line in our belief as a "Christian" wherein we believe sincerely that Jesus is the Son of God, Who came to earth to set an example for righteous living, Who bequeathed us guidelines for what is acceptable behavior, and Who provides us forgiveness upon confession of our sins, we then begin to live new lives, bolstered with a new manner of living. We develop our Spiritual Quotient.
Often I have heard, "They are not 'Christian.' They get angry. They do not forgive. Observe the way they act." What this line of judgmental critique represents is, just because we are "Christians," we are automatically supposed to have it all together in our E.Q. and S.Q. Life does not work that way. But, imagine what our life would be like, if we did not have the Holy Trinity in our lives.
Just recently I envisioned a pyramid. The bottom edge of the pyramid is crossed when we believe Jesus the Christ is the Savior, Who came to earth to die for our sins and to point the path toward receiving the ultimate gift, eternity in Heaven upon bodily death.
Then begins growth in our E.Q. and S.Q., development of our maturity, and response patterns. Even after crossing that threshold of faith in which we endeavor to live as Jesus Christ teaches us to live, we must stick with the program.
I picture the pyramid as having seven levels, corresponding to Seven Virtues to which we aspire, all seven of which are the direct antithesis to what are termed the Seven Deadly Sins.
It is written in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV):
"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold all things become new."
They only become new as we are able and advance to virtuous living because incessantly we are subject to the world's system of behavior and reaction patterns because we are susceptible and typically driven by what is written in 1 John 2:16 (KJV):
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world."
Life becomes a slow and tedious climbing up the levels of that pyramid with hopeful adherence to the Seven Virtues, which are the counters to the Seven Deadly Sins (as originally defined by Pope Gregory in 590 A.D.).
The Seven Virtues contrasted to the Seven Deadly Sins are:
Humility--------Pride (Haughtiness, Arrogance)
Generosity------Greed (Excessive desire for wealth, cupidity, covetousness)
Love-------------Envy (Discontent and ill will over another's advantages)
Kindness--------Wrath (Intense anger, rage, fury)
Self-control-----Lust (Bodily appetites, especially excessive sexual desire)
Temperance-----Gluttony (Habit or act of overeating)
Zeal---------------Sloth (laziness, idleness)
Catholic doctrine divides sin into mortal and venial categories. With my limited doctrinal and theological knowledge (Protestant or Catholic) it is my desire to define venial and mortal sins in layman's terms. If we define not reflecting the Seven Virtues in their most simplified form as venial sins, then they become sins of "omission." If we define the Seven Deadly Sins as "mortal ones" (omitting for the time being the Ten Commandments), then they become sins of "commission." Sins both of "omission" and "commission" are necessary to be identified, confessed, and repented of in order to receive God's forgiveness.
We pray to God, in the Name of Jesus, by the Holy Spirit for forgiveness. If we do not confess and also receive forgiveness for the venial sins, it may lead to commission of mortal sins. For both, venial and mortal, lack of forgiveness allows the "tormenters" (a whole new topic of spiritual warfare) to take control of us. I want God on my side of the line of battle and I desire a state of grace to be imparted to me, wherein I receive the unmerited favor of God and answers to my prayers.
As a Christian, God is very patient with us in our lives (in contrast to all our "judges") as we work our way up through those levels of the pyramid. It is a constant struggle and challenge to achieve perfection, but we must never relent with discipline to continue trying. We must pray we will master as many of the virtues as possible as well as possible and maturely as we are capable, before it is our time of earthly demise. Amen.
++++++++
The Honorable Allen B. Clark
1963 West Point graduate, Allen Clark, served in Vietnam as a Military Intelligence Officer involved in undercover intelligence operations against Cambodia assigned to the Fifth Special Forces Group (the Green Berets). On June 17, 1967 he was severely wounded in a mortar attack at Dak To Special Forces camp in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam and required fifteen months of hospitalization for treatment after amputation of both his legs below his knees. He is a veteran recovered from PTSD. He was awarded the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action, a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Air Medal and Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
From 1979-1981 he served as Special Assistant to Texas Governor Bill Clements. In 1982 he was a candidate for Treasurer of the State of Texas. After nomination by President George H.W. Bush, he was confirmed twice by the United States Senate, once as the assistant secretary for Veterans Liaison and Program Coordination and then as director of the National Cemetery System of the Department of Veterans Affairs. He retired in 2005 as the Public Affairs Officer of the Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System in Dallas, Texas.
His ministry to veterans suffering from combat operating stress may be found at his websites: www.combatfaith.com and www.combatfaith.blogspot.com. In his spiritual presentations he proclaims boldly his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and describes his faith walk of spiritual and emotional healing by the grace of God. A video describes his lay ministry and may be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VehcTFKz8KA&feature=g-upl.
In early 2007 his autobiography, Wounded Soldier, Healing Warrior, was published by Zenith Press. His interview on the Larry King program on May 17, 2007 may be viewed at his book website: www.woundedsoldierhealingwarrior.com. His second book, Valor in Vietnam: Chronicles of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice; 1963-1977, (www.valorinvietnam.com) was published by Casemate Publishers in July 2012. See also www.openroadmedia.com/allen-b-clark.
In 1993 he was recognized by the Military Chaplains Association of America as its “Citizen of the Year.” In 2010 he was recognized by the National Association of Evangelicals Chaplains Commission as its “Centurion of the Year.” He has been interviewed on Trinity Broadcasting System and Daystar.
He is married to the former Linda Frost and lives in Plano, TX. Linda performs in period costume dramatic presentations of Women of the Bible to youth and women’s groups. Her contact info is at lindafrostclark@att.net. Her web site is http://voices.name.
Contact information: allenbclark@aol.com cell 469-831-0841 Updated January 2017.