Sunday, August 28, 2016
Avalon Chronicles #65: "East Meets West"
Avalon Chronicles #65: "East Meets West"
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
They Came by Air, Land, and Sea
On April 30, 1975, when the final evacuation of Saigon in Vietnam occurred, I had been returned from Vietnam for eight years. After transfusions of twenty pints of blood, fifteen months at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio from June 1967 to September 1968, twelve surgical procedures, probably 150 stitches, and a very severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I was in Dallas with a wonderful job at a bank, two young daughters, and a new found faith walk in which I was growing by leaps and bounds. I began to perceive that my involvement in Vietnam as an Army captain assigned to the Green Berets in an intelligence gathering operation in Vietnam was as a white pawn on a huge chess board of history with the two king antagonists being good versus evil, my Lord God, combating in spiritual warfare the forces of evil, led by Satan, commanding the dark set of pieces on the board.
There began to be news reports of the Vietnamese "Boat People" escaping the now Communist country of Vietnam. At the time I paid scant attention to the news because I was consumed with my new civilian career and family life. In 1981 I was in the third year of my service to my state of Texas as a special assistant to Texas Governor Bill Clements. Some of the "Boat People" had immigrated as new refugees on the Texas coast in several fishing communities where they were making a new life for themselves by building fishing boats and working long hours to make a living in competition with long-time native Texas fisherman, who had derived their own living for decades in the fishing industry. The competition and imposition of the Vietnamese refugees into the business environment in quiet Texas fishing communities was reaching the stage where it was close to violence. The Governor assigned me the responsibility to conduct a fact-finding trip to the coast to present him with recommendations to address the issues. My very small "task force" visited three towns within which we met separately with all the five affected and involved parties; law enforcement, government officials, American fishermen, Vietnamesese, and culminating with a town hall meeting at one of which my answer was displeasing to about fifteen members of the local Ku Klux Klan, who staged an immediate walkout from the room! After my visits and some actions accomplished, the towns became more quiet and for the time being things settled down. My gratitude was expressed by the American fishermen in Rockport inviting me and my family on a shrimp boat fishing trip and a spaghetti dinner at one of their homes. After that I moved to Washington D.C. and had no further involvement for many years with the refugees from the country to which I had deployed as a soldier to preserve their freedom.
My involvement began anew in a very significant and deeply emotional fashion on August 25, 2016, when an American of Vietnamese ancestry, Andy Nguyen, invited me to Arlington, Texas for a celebration commemorating his sixth year as an elected public service as a County Commissioner in Tarrant County (main city Fort Worth). It was my honor to be able to relate the story of my time in his former homeland of Vietnam and especially my healing from my wounds, which had necessitated the amputation of both my legs below my knees. Many of his guests were Americans, who had escaped from Vietnam at the end of the war or in the following years. To report to you that the evening, the conversations, the stories related to Linda and me of their refugee sagas, and their starting all over to fulfill their "Living the American Dream," so magnificently reflected by Andy Nguyen and his wife Julie, was not of such a nature admittedly literally to tear at our heart strings would do it an injustice.
During the course of the evening I offered for purchase my two published books, one especially Valor in Vietnam, and the purchasers allowed Linda and me to hear first hand many poignant, compelling, and, yes, harrowing accounts of these warm and wonderful first generation immigrants from the country where I had made such a huge sacrifice as a soldier to maintain their freedoms. We heard the narratives of the lives of families, wherein their parents were members of the Vietnamese Army and Navy, policemen, public officials, and merchants. Some I had heard previously such as a small family with only wife and two children being crowded into the cockpit of a small plane, which landed on the deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. Another story was of a family escaping on a small boat, which was intercepted by pirates, who raped and killed the wife and mother and threw her overboard.
That night we had extended conversations with several attendees. Andy and Julie Nguyen had departed Vietnam at separate times and on different boats. As a young student another related how two groups of students had begun traveling cross country to traverse Laos to reach safety in Thailand through the area in Kontum province near my Special Forces camp of Dak To. One group made it, but the attendee with whom I spoke was apprehended and imprisoned. He later left by boat and displays in his living room a picture of the U.S. Navy ship that rescued him.
Another gentleman to whom Linda and I became quickly attached had escaped on a boat with his high-ranking Vietnamese Army officer father. He has been successful in business and has not forgotten his original homeland where he returns to help in building schools and bridges and donating shoes.
I have left my final story to the older couple with whom I spoke at the end of the evening. She was four months pregnant on April 29, 1975, the day before the final evacuation of Saigon. Her husband had been a police officer who got on a boat still in uniform. She had gone behind him to board to be sure he got away because he would have been targeted for death as a police officer by the fast-approaching Communists. The wife would have been left behind as the boat pushed away from the pier, but one of the men placed a board across to the pier and she got aboard! The passengers survived several days with no food nor water. When the boat was met again by the angels of the U.S. Navy in international waters, she was the last to disembark and discovered on the deck among the residue a Christian cross left behind! I inquired whether she had been of the Buddhist or Christian faith upon her escape. She related she had been neither, but rather adhered to "ancestor worship" only. I noted she now wore a Christian cross adorning her neck and asked her about it. She said after being the last passenger on the boat, discovering the cross, coming to America only with the clothes she wore on the boat, and working several jobs without federal assistance to become self-sufficient as a refugee, she knew there was a God!
At the culmination of my presentation, literally with tears wetting my cheeks, I looked over at Julie and Andy and the audience of very much so assimilated refugees, who sincerely appreciated America and did not take their freedom here for granted, and said I had often agonized over the worth of my sacrifice in their former country, but, being there with Julie and Andy as the living embodiment of successful immigrants, who represented "Living the American Dream,' I proclaimed that their successes and the assimilation of all in meaningful pursuits in the land of the free because of our bravery as Vietnam veterans made much of it finally worthwhile! It was an amazing closure fifty years after my Vietnam War experience commenced in August 1966. I complete this message again with tears of gratitude in my eyes for my freedom and theirs. God has blessed America. May we continue to deserve the gift.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Avalon Chronicles #64: "Compromised-Part One"
Avalon Chronicles #64: "Compromised"
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
Fifty years ago in August 1966 I was deployed to South Vietnam to serve my country in our effort to preserve freedom from communism for that troubled land. My assignment as a prisoner of war interrogator was unfulfilling as no prisoners made it to my military intelligence detachment located in Nha Trang, the Riviera of South Vietnam. It would have been a comfortable and safe war for me as I enjoyed Nha Trang's beautiful beach every day, when I finished my daily duties. A chance encounter with fellow West Pointer, Lieutenant Colonel Lee Parmly (class of 1946), on a plane motivated me to a probable much more satisfying and rewarding opportunity by transferring to his unit of the Army's Special Forces (the Green Berets), also headquartered in Nha Trang. As occurs sometimes, my orders were changed from his unit to that of Detachment B-57 of Special Forces, a newly-formed clandestine organization headquartered in the capitol, Saigon, where I was required to be clothed in civilian apparel and to store my military uniforms. That led to an incredibly exciting tour of duty, encompassing debriefing a defector from Cambodia (who was later murdered with his case making the front page of the New York Times), residing in safe houses as I trained young Cambodian anti-communists for helicopter infiltration missions on the border, and eventual assignment in the spring of 1967 to an isolated Special Forces camp in what was called the "Tri-Border" area, where South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia come together.
Cambodia was targeted by the United States because it was a supposed "neutral" country in which Chief of State Sihanouk acquiesced to allowing the North Vietnamese Army, after their travels down the Ho Cho Minh Trail, to establish base camps from which they attacked our troops and the South Vietnamese, and then retreated to the safety of their sanctuaries. He probably did it out of fear for his personal safety, if not for political belief.
At Dak To I was an infantry captain under cover with an assumed name with a mission, through a Vietnamese interpreter and a Montagnard mercenary, to recruit other Montagnards, the mountain natives of the rugged triple canopy jungle area, to travel through the jungle toward Cambodia to collect intelligence on enemy bases and activities. My mission was nearly impossible as it was a fifteen mile trek to the border through what I discovered later was the most heavily populated enemy positions possibly in the country in underground supply points, hospitals, and base camps. In early June 1967 my Vietnamese interpreter informed me that one of our "agents" had informed his village chief that he was to be paid for his mission by someone in the Special Forces camp. My mission had been "compromised" and I was at risk of being targeted when I made my frequent visits to neighboring villages. This was an example at the lowest tactical level of a "compromised" spying operation. My operation actually was closed down a few days later because one of those North Vietnamese Army units from Cambodia attacked our camp in an intense mortar barrage on June 17, 1967 in which I was wounded, losing both my legs below the knee from heavy shrapnel wounds.
With my background in Army intelligence it has always spurred on my interest in reading spy stories. The world of spying at the higher strategic level, way above where I had been, is pregnant with individuals and operations being compromised, sometimes due to agents being revealed and sometimes to moral problems of either the agents or their "handlers" due to disloyalty or being desirous of intrigue, money, substance abuse or illicit romantic escapades.
When a compromise occurs, there is a breaking down of a commitment and obligation to perform as expected to fulfill the "handler's" mission for their country, etc. or for that of the agent. As an Army officer I took very seriously my loyalty to my country and my mission to be disciplined to perform my duties. Many missions are aborted or compromised due to alcohol or drug abuse, corruption in handling of the monies involved for paying agents, or inappropriate romantic activities in an arena that lends itself to immorality.
Even when we accept Jesus Christ as Savior and thereby become a committed "Christian", we are forever tempted, as we enter the next level of faith, the "Lordship" phase of our faith walk, to compromise ourselves with disloyalty to our principles, those we love, and ultimately in each case to our Lord with sins, big and little. Our self with its attendant pride becomes preeminent in guiding us to forego what we know to be appropriate behavior. One of the most important aspects of the Christian faith is that we can be returned to "friendly territory" after entering "enemy territory" by sincere repentance and confession of our sins in the Name of Jesus. We reenter the friendly lines for our safety and peace. Just as I was loyal to my country, we must be loyal to our Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit with righteous living. If there is a final judgment in Heaven and I believe there will be, we should all hope it is short because we maintained our loyalty to our faith and our principles
We must praise our Lord for His mercy, grace, and love that endures forever. It should be the ultimate motivator for our righteous behavior in our earthly life.
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
Fifty years ago in August 1966 I was deployed to South Vietnam to serve my country in our effort to preserve freedom from communism for that troubled land. My assignment as a prisoner of war interrogator was unfulfilling as no prisoners made it to my military intelligence detachment located in Nha Trang, the Riviera of South Vietnam. It would have been a comfortable and safe war for me as I enjoyed Nha Trang's beautiful beach every day, when I finished my daily duties. A chance encounter with fellow West Pointer, Lieutenant Colonel Lee Parmly (class of 1946), on a plane motivated me to a probable much more satisfying and rewarding opportunity by transferring to his unit of the Army's Special Forces (the Green Berets), also headquartered in Nha Trang. As occurs sometimes, my orders were changed from his unit to that of Detachment B-57 of Special Forces, a newly-formed clandestine organization headquartered in the capitol, Saigon, where I was required to be clothed in civilian apparel and to store my military uniforms. That led to an incredibly exciting tour of duty, encompassing debriefing a defector from Cambodia (who was later murdered with his case making the front page of the New York Times), residing in safe houses as I trained young Cambodian anti-communists for helicopter infiltration missions on the border, and eventual assignment in the spring of 1967 to an isolated Special Forces camp in what was called the "Tri-Border" area, where South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia come together.
Cambodia was targeted by the United States because it was a supposed "neutral" country in which Chief of State Sihanouk acquiesced to allowing the North Vietnamese Army, after their travels down the Ho Cho Minh Trail, to establish base camps from which they attacked our troops and the South Vietnamese, and then retreated to the safety of their sanctuaries. He probably did it out of fear for his personal safety, if not for political belief.
At Dak To I was an infantry captain under cover with an assumed name with a mission, through a Vietnamese interpreter and a Montagnard mercenary, to recruit other Montagnards, the mountain natives of the rugged triple canopy jungle area, to travel through the jungle toward Cambodia to collect intelligence on enemy bases and activities. My mission was nearly impossible as it was a fifteen mile trek to the border through what I discovered later was the most heavily populated enemy positions possibly in the country in underground supply points, hospitals, and base camps. In early June 1967 my Vietnamese interpreter informed me that one of our "agents" had informed his village chief that he was to be paid for his mission by someone in the Special Forces camp. My mission had been "compromised" and I was at risk of being targeted when I made my frequent visits to neighboring villages. This was an example at the lowest tactical level of a "compromised" spying operation. My operation actually was closed down a few days later because one of those North Vietnamese Army units from Cambodia attacked our camp in an intense mortar barrage on June 17, 1967 in which I was wounded, losing both my legs below the knee from heavy shrapnel wounds.
With my background in Army intelligence it has always spurred on my interest in reading spy stories. The world of spying at the higher strategic level, way above where I had been, is pregnant with individuals and operations being compromised, sometimes due to agents being revealed and sometimes to moral problems of either the agents or their "handlers" due to disloyalty or being desirous of intrigue, money, substance abuse or illicit romantic escapades.
When a compromise occurs, there is a breaking down of a commitment and obligation to perform as expected to fulfill the "handler's" mission for their country, etc. or for that of the agent. As an Army officer I took very seriously my loyalty to my country and my mission to be disciplined to perform my duties. Many missions are aborted or compromised due to alcohol or drug abuse, corruption in handling of the monies involved for paying agents, or inappropriate romantic activities in an arena that lends itself to immorality.
Even when we accept Jesus Christ as Savior and thereby become a committed "Christian", we are forever tempted, as we enter the next level of faith, the "Lordship" phase of our faith walk, to compromise ourselves with disloyalty to our principles, those we love, and ultimately in each case to our Lord with sins, big and little. Our self with its attendant pride becomes preeminent in guiding us to forego what we know to be appropriate behavior. One of the most important aspects of the Christian faith is that we can be returned to "friendly territory" after entering "enemy territory" by sincere repentance and confession of our sins in the Name of Jesus. We reenter the friendly lines for our safety and peace. Just as I was loyal to my country, we must be loyal to our Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit with righteous living. If there is a final judgment in Heaven and I believe there will be, we should all hope it is short because we maintained our loyalty to our faith and our principles
We must praise our Lord for His mercy, grace, and love that endures forever. It should be the ultimate motivator for our righteous behavior in our earthly life.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Avalon Chronicles #63: "No Dread of Death"
Avalon Chronicles #63: "No Dread of Death"
by Allen B. Clark and Linda Frost-Clark
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
allenbclark@aol.com
The triggers of our memories are rarely deleted. Yesterday Linda went to lunch at Northpark Shopping Center in Dallas and passed the area in front of Neiman Marcus, where she looked wistfully and nostalgically upon a simple structure, that children instinctively with great glee, liked to slide down. She recollected, when her young son Vincent would rush off ahead of her to slide over and over, until she passed him and he would run to catch up.
August 10, 2016 marks the one year anniversary of the demise of Vincent, who, at 52 and as her only child, succumbed to a probable heart attack. The normal order of life is that parents predecease their children. It has been a tumultuous year for Linda, but herewith we present you an uplifting update.
Awhile back I recommended that Linda read Imagine Heaven by Pastor John Burke. She has read it three times! We heartily recommend it as a book to relate collected reports of a multitude of individuals, who encountered what is termed "Near Death Experiences (NDEs)," wherein they were transported to Heaven after some life-threatening situation, where they viewed Heaven's awesomeness, beauty, and unimaginable tranquility. They were allowed to return quite and decidedly unwillingly to the mundane normalcy of Mother Earth, never again to be the same. The book is an eye and soul-opener to be sure!
Linda has had a full year to grieve Vincent's death, but she is delighted to express some of the spiritual happenings that have transpired.
It is indeed challenging for us to hear of certain encounters and happenings in our lives that verge on the supernatural and we are wont not to lend them credence. However, when they are related by the balanced, credible, and stable person that is my dear Linda, they are distinctly believable. One morning during her quiet time she had a demonstrably strong impression from Vincent declaring, "Mom, I am so happy. Now you try to be happy too." Linda knew it was a divine communication from Vincent allowed by our Lord to comfort her. It granted her tremendous contentment and peace to know he is free from the bonds of our lives, free from pain and conflict. Because of that she knows she will be reunited and see him again. For her there is no dread of physical death because her spirit will live on.
Linda is assured that the Lord is her strength and Vincent is with him. For several decades she has been consumed in the hours upon hours dedicated to her formal worship, Bible study, and prayer life. She received another impression from our Father, that, those endeavors and strivings to understand His Word, had created a sustenance/deposit, which can now be drawn upon to support her during this time of her grieving.
We commend to all reading these words to be convicted and convinced that there is life in the spirit after physical death. It is available to all who confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus is Who He said He was, died on the cross for the redemption of our sins, and all who believe this simple message need not dread death. For us it means we pass on to an incredible existence in Heaven.
"We can have the joy that overcomes the spirit of heaviness, with which we are burdened so painfully so many times and in so many ways," declares Linda. For Linda the bottom line is that God the Father in the Name of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit is the power that has sustained her because she knows her beloved Vincent is with our Lord.
When Linda returned from her walk this morning, she related how she had prayed to the Lord to gift her the spirit of joy instead of the spirit of heaviness. With the confidence this joy displays and with the certainty that Vincent is with the Lord, this is a witness to the hope of eternal life.
by Allen B. Clark and Linda Frost-Clark
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
allenbclark@aol.com
The triggers of our memories are rarely deleted. Yesterday Linda went to lunch at Northpark Shopping Center in Dallas and passed the area in front of Neiman Marcus, where she looked wistfully and nostalgically upon a simple structure, that children instinctively with great glee, liked to slide down. She recollected, when her young son Vincent would rush off ahead of her to slide over and over, until she passed him and he would run to catch up.
August 10, 2016 marks the one year anniversary of the demise of Vincent, who, at 52 and as her only child, succumbed to a probable heart attack. The normal order of life is that parents predecease their children. It has been a tumultuous year for Linda, but herewith we present you an uplifting update.
Awhile back I recommended that Linda read Imagine Heaven by Pastor John Burke. She has read it three times! We heartily recommend it as a book to relate collected reports of a multitude of individuals, who encountered what is termed "Near Death Experiences (NDEs)," wherein they were transported to Heaven after some life-threatening situation, where they viewed Heaven's awesomeness, beauty, and unimaginable tranquility. They were allowed to return quite and decidedly unwillingly to the mundane normalcy of Mother Earth, never again to be the same. The book is an eye and soul-opener to be sure!
Linda has had a full year to grieve Vincent's death, but she is delighted to express some of the spiritual happenings that have transpired.
It is indeed challenging for us to hear of certain encounters and happenings in our lives that verge on the supernatural and we are wont not to lend them credence. However, when they are related by the balanced, credible, and stable person that is my dear Linda, they are distinctly believable. One morning during her quiet time she had a demonstrably strong impression from Vincent declaring, "Mom, I am so happy. Now you try to be happy too." Linda knew it was a divine communication from Vincent allowed by our Lord to comfort her. It granted her tremendous contentment and peace to know he is free from the bonds of our lives, free from pain and conflict. Because of that she knows she will be reunited and see him again. For her there is no dread of physical death because her spirit will live on.
Linda is assured that the Lord is her strength and Vincent is with him. For several decades she has been consumed in the hours upon hours dedicated to her formal worship, Bible study, and prayer life. She received another impression from our Father, that, those endeavors and strivings to understand His Word, had created a sustenance/deposit, which can now be drawn upon to support her during this time of her grieving.
We commend to all reading these words to be convicted and convinced that there is life in the spirit after physical death. It is available to all who confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus is Who He said He was, died on the cross for the redemption of our sins, and all who believe this simple message need not dread death. For us it means we pass on to an incredible existence in Heaven.
"We can have the joy that overcomes the spirit of heaviness, with which we are burdened so painfully so many times and in so many ways," declares Linda. For Linda the bottom line is that God the Father in the Name of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit is the power that has sustained her because she knows her beloved Vincent is with our Lord.
When Linda returned from her walk this morning, she related how she had prayed to the Lord to gift her the spirit of joy instead of the spirit of heaviness. With the confidence this joy displays and with the certainty that Vincent is with the Lord, this is a witness to the hope of eternal life.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Avalon Chronicles #62: "America's Documents and Our Legacy of Virtue"
Avalon Chronicles #62: "America's Documents and Our Legacy of Virtue"
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
Reference: Unto the Generations the Roots of True Americanism
Daniel L. Marsh Life Chancellor Boston University
The Long House, Inc: New Canaan, CT. 1968
For a recent church presentation in Terrell, Tx. on July 3, 2016 I pulled from my book shelves the above book which I probably had not opened since our Bicentennial year 1976. My next eight Chronicles will be written based on the contents of this exceptional book, a treasure indeed! After my talk a mother, home-schooling four children, approached me in the parking lot and said she was ordering the book to introduce it to her children. I commented it surely must be out of print. She said she had already ordered it on Amazon!
The author's motivation to write it in the turbulent 1960s is expressed thusly:
"Almost a generation later conditions throughout the country became in many ways parallel to those of the 1930s, only now they had become truly alarming. Our systems of government-local, State, and national-were honeycombed with corruption and malfeasance, and sinister legislation was being bought and paid for by those whom it would benefit. Vice and crime of every sort was transmuting our urban and rural thoroughfares into labyrinths of danger. It is hardly necessary to further recite the obvious."
Two generations later in 2016 how would he view the further deterioration of the moral and ethical conditions of our land? Many of us truly weep as we view the landscape of our land. It is appears a Trojan Horse in the dark of night, while we have slept, has emptied its combatants into our "City on a Hill." They are pillaging what is expressed by my friend Bill Wilson (www.DailyJot.com), "The Founding Fathers chose a Constitutional Republic as the governmental system because they wanted the rule of law in our nation. They wanted one law for all so that the rich, the mighty, the despot would not be able to escape justice; so that the poor, the weak, the lesser in society would have the same justice as all citizens....The Biblical principle behind the rule of law is God's way to hold society accountable and provide individual protections....The beauty of the American Republic was that people were not above the law."
Author Marsh has compiled some monumental documents of America into a sequencing that relate to our Christian Bible in a very unique and creative fashion. The Foreword by John Howard relates that these documents can only be held valid to people of virtue. He describes the documents to be pregnant with wisdom that does not fail to be impactful and enduring, if we but reflect on their timeless content. He wrote, "Here are giants of American history, men who not only led our Nation through times of stress, but lived their religious faith, and earnestly and humbly sought to do their utmost for the lasting good of their fellow beings."
May these recollections of our past inspire us to emulate their ideals for our future.
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
Reference: Unto the Generations the Roots of True Americanism
Daniel L. Marsh Life Chancellor Boston University
The Long House, Inc: New Canaan, CT. 1968
For a recent church presentation in Terrell, Tx. on July 3, 2016 I pulled from my book shelves the above book which I probably had not opened since our Bicentennial year 1976. My next eight Chronicles will be written based on the contents of this exceptional book, a treasure indeed! After my talk a mother, home-schooling four children, approached me in the parking lot and said she was ordering the book to introduce it to her children. I commented it surely must be out of print. She said she had already ordered it on Amazon!
The author's motivation to write it in the turbulent 1960s is expressed thusly:
"Almost a generation later conditions throughout the country became in many ways parallel to those of the 1930s, only now they had become truly alarming. Our systems of government-local, State, and national-were honeycombed with corruption and malfeasance, and sinister legislation was being bought and paid for by those whom it would benefit. Vice and crime of every sort was transmuting our urban and rural thoroughfares into labyrinths of danger. It is hardly necessary to further recite the obvious."
Two generations later in 2016 how would he view the further deterioration of the moral and ethical conditions of our land? Many of us truly weep as we view the landscape of our land. It is appears a Trojan Horse in the dark of night, while we have slept, has emptied its combatants into our "City on a Hill." They are pillaging what is expressed by my friend Bill Wilson (www.DailyJot.com), "The Founding Fathers chose a Constitutional Republic as the governmental system because they wanted the rule of law in our nation. They wanted one law for all so that the rich, the mighty, the despot would not be able to escape justice; so that the poor, the weak, the lesser in society would have the same justice as all citizens....The Biblical principle behind the rule of law is God's way to hold society accountable and provide individual protections....The beauty of the American Republic was that people were not above the law."
Author Marsh has compiled some monumental documents of America into a sequencing that relate to our Christian Bible in a very unique and creative fashion. The Foreword by John Howard relates that these documents can only be held valid to people of virtue. He describes the documents to be pregnant with wisdom that does not fail to be impactful and enduring, if we but reflect on their timeless content. He wrote, "Here are giants of American history, men who not only led our Nation through times of stress, but lived their religious faith, and earnestly and humbly sought to do their utmost for the lasting good of their fellow beings."
May these recollections of our past inspire us to emulate their ideals for our future.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Avalon Chronicles #61: "Religion and Morality"
Avalon Chronicles #61: "Religion and Morality"
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
There are incredible gems of wisdom, patriotism, good government, and all matters of personal and public conduct in George Washington's Farewell Address.
Actually he began writing this valedictory letter to the American people to be delivered after what he had planned to be only one term in office, but he decided to run for a second term as president due to the "...rancor between his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton (later killed in a duel by Aaron Burr) and his Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson..." (Wikipedia) which reflected significant political disunity in the new country between the two new parties recently formed (Federalist and Republican). So what is else is new 220 years later? He believed his leadership was needed to keep America on a strong course. He put the letter aside until his second term was at its end and he declined a third term. He was completing 20 years of service to the new country.
The Wikipedia page on the Address (accessed June 21, 2016) has this to say: "One of the most referenced parts of Washington's letter was his strong support of the importance of religion and morality in not only promoting private and public happiness, but also in promoting the public prosperity of the nation. He argues that religious principles promote the protection of property, reputation, and life that are the foundations of justice. Washington goes so far as to say that the nation's morality cannot be maintained without religion and, since morality is necessary in popularly elected governments, religious principle is vital in maintaining the popularly elected government of the United States. He writes."
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
Amendment 1 to the Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..." This amendment to the Bill of Rights was ratified (with the other nine) on December 15, 1791. A major reason for this amendment was so that no denomination or specific faith would be favored as had been the case for the Church of England's influence in the colonies. It did not abolish religion per se nor its freedom to be exercised by any means. It definitely did not preclude the free expression of morality so lacking then and especially as I view the landscape of our land today. My honor code at West Point was that a cadet would not lie, cheat, nor steal, nor tolerate those who did. This surely would be an appropriate practical application of Washington's passage above for private and public lives.
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
There are incredible gems of wisdom, patriotism, good government, and all matters of personal and public conduct in George Washington's Farewell Address.
Actually he began writing this valedictory letter to the American people to be delivered after what he had planned to be only one term in office, but he decided to run for a second term as president due to the "...rancor between his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton (later killed in a duel by Aaron Burr) and his Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson..." (Wikipedia) which reflected significant political disunity in the new country between the two new parties recently formed (Federalist and Republican). So what is else is new 220 years later? He believed his leadership was needed to keep America on a strong course. He put the letter aside until his second term was at its end and he declined a third term. He was completing 20 years of service to the new country.
The Wikipedia page on the Address (accessed June 21, 2016) has this to say: "One of the most referenced parts of Washington's letter was his strong support of the importance of religion and morality in not only promoting private and public happiness, but also in promoting the public prosperity of the nation. He argues that religious principles promote the protection of property, reputation, and life that are the foundations of justice. Washington goes so far as to say that the nation's morality cannot be maintained without religion and, since morality is necessary in popularly elected governments, religious principle is vital in maintaining the popularly elected government of the United States. He writes."
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
Amendment 1 to the Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..." This amendment to the Bill of Rights was ratified (with the other nine) on December 15, 1791. A major reason for this amendment was so that no denomination or specific faith would be favored as had been the case for the Church of England's influence in the colonies. It did not abolish religion per se nor its freedom to be exercised by any means. It definitely did not preclude the free expression of morality so lacking then and especially as I view the landscape of our land today. My honor code at West Point was that a cadet would not lie, cheat, nor steal, nor tolerate those who did. This surely would be an appropriate practical application of Washington's passage above for private and public lives.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Avalon Chronicles #60: "Liberty and America"
Avalon Chronicles #60: "Liberty and America"
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
In light of all the recent political rhetoric and especially after the horrendous attack in Orlando, I was moved to read George Washington's Farewell Address delivered to Congress on September 17, 1796, Constitution Day. There is magnificent wisdom in his address. Recall he would have had to write it out long-hand, no computer, and most probably no speech writer! We were much smaller then and less diverse than today, but, if any desire to reflect on some unchangeable sentiment about our foundations and values, we could go no further than to recollect the richness of these remarks.
"The unity of government, which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; ...
For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations....You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes."
REMEMBER OUR ROOTS AS AMERICANS!
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
In light of all the recent political rhetoric and especially after the horrendous attack in Orlando, I was moved to read George Washington's Farewell Address delivered to Congress on September 17, 1796, Constitution Day. There is magnificent wisdom in his address. Recall he would have had to write it out long-hand, no computer, and most probably no speech writer! We were much smaller then and less diverse than today, but, if any desire to reflect on some unchangeable sentiment about our foundations and values, we could go no further than to recollect the richness of these remarks.
"The unity of government, which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; ...
For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations....You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes."
REMEMBER OUR ROOTS AS AMERICANS!
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Avalon Chronicles #59: "Jesus is Lord"
Avalon Chronicles #59: "Jesus is Lord"
by Allen B. Clark www.combatfaith.com
allenbclark@aol.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
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.
by Allen B. Clark www.combatfaith.com
allenbclark@aol.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
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.
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