kford
12-31-2003, 10:03 AM
Please allow me to preach just a little.
I want to make this statement so that we all don’t fall into the habit of thinking negatively. Notice I said “ALL”, so that includes me. I went for thirty five years with the mess of Vietnam bottled up inside me. I knew that something was wrong but I couldn’t give it a name. I met a friend named Roger, who took time to explain what PTSD really was. He spoke in a way that wasn’t condemning but supportive. After many months of intensive counseling I learned how to deal with the darkness called PTSD.
Principle #1: Recognize that something is wrong.
Principle #2: Do something about it.
Remember this; “Most Vietnam veterans have let their tragedy become their identity”. What happened to them changed them forever. They are not the same 18 year old that left for Vietnam.
The Bible says: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf”. What that is saying is that I have a new identity! I don’t have to let the tragedy of Vietnam be my identity any longer because I am now identified in Christ.
The death of Christ on the cross has showed me that there is no hope of salvation by the law; I am therefore as truly dead to all expectation of justification by the law, as Christ was dead when he gave up the ghost upon the cross. Through him alone I live - enjoy a present life, and have a prospect of future glory. It is not of my natural life I speak of, nor of any spiritual things which I myself have procured; but Christ lives in me. God made man to be a habitation of his own Spirit: the law cannot live in me so as to give me a Divine life; it does not animate, but kill; but Christ lives in me; he is the soul of my soul; so that I now live to God. But this life I have by the faith of the Son of God - by believing on Christ as a sacrifice for sin; for he loved me, and because he did so he gave himself for me - made himself a sacrifice unto death, that I might be saved from the bitter pains of death eternal. I am now conformed to the image of His Son, not completely because it is a continuing walk and a never ending story.
The Vietnam Veteran is one of the most difficult segments of our society to reach with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These men and women rarely trust anyone outside of another Veteran. Often the Vietnam Veteran will not even trust their own wife or husband. Why should they? They weren’t there. They have stuffed their feelings down deep inside, put up walls, isolated themselves, and most often destroyed the relationships around themselves. I feel somewhat like John the Baptist, I am that voice that God will use to reach these wonderful men and women. It’s time to restore, reconcile, and return the Vietnam Veteran to a place of honor in our society. It is time to turn their tragedy into Victory. We didn’t win the war in Vietnam, but this is a war that we can win through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
Some practical ways for people to reach out to veterans is to:
1. Be available to listen
2. Offer respect, not sympathy
3. Support veteran’s issues
4. Be willing to shake their hand and say "thank you"
Other Suggestions:
1. Work with community leaders to create awareness of veteran needs in your vicinity.
2. Organize a vet’s support group at your church.
3. Invite a vet to speak to your club, church or Bible study.
4. Call your local VFW post and ask about specific needs of their members.
5. Ask a vet if you can pray for him or her in a specific way.
6. Host a veteran luncheon and offer the opportunity for attendees to share their stories.
7. Consider organizing community support for a halfway house for disabled and homeless vets.
8. Visit disabled vets in a VA hospital near you.
I want to make this statement so that we all don’t fall into the habit of thinking negatively. Notice I said “ALL”, so that includes me. I went for thirty five years with the mess of Vietnam bottled up inside me. I knew that something was wrong but I couldn’t give it a name. I met a friend named Roger, who took time to explain what PTSD really was. He spoke in a way that wasn’t condemning but supportive. After many months of intensive counseling I learned how to deal with the darkness called PTSD.
Principle #1: Recognize that something is wrong.
Principle #2: Do something about it.
Remember this; “Most Vietnam veterans have let their tragedy become their identity”. What happened to them changed them forever. They are not the same 18 year old that left for Vietnam.
The Bible says: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf”. What that is saying is that I have a new identity! I don’t have to let the tragedy of Vietnam be my identity any longer because I am now identified in Christ.
The death of Christ on the cross has showed me that there is no hope of salvation by the law; I am therefore as truly dead to all expectation of justification by the law, as Christ was dead when he gave up the ghost upon the cross. Through him alone I live - enjoy a present life, and have a prospect of future glory. It is not of my natural life I speak of, nor of any spiritual things which I myself have procured; but Christ lives in me. God made man to be a habitation of his own Spirit: the law cannot live in me so as to give me a Divine life; it does not animate, but kill; but Christ lives in me; he is the soul of my soul; so that I now live to God. But this life I have by the faith of the Son of God - by believing on Christ as a sacrifice for sin; for he loved me, and because he did so he gave himself for me - made himself a sacrifice unto death, that I might be saved from the bitter pains of death eternal. I am now conformed to the image of His Son, not completely because it is a continuing walk and a never ending story.
The Vietnam Veteran is one of the most difficult segments of our society to reach with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These men and women rarely trust anyone outside of another Veteran. Often the Vietnam Veteran will not even trust their own wife or husband. Why should they? They weren’t there. They have stuffed their feelings down deep inside, put up walls, isolated themselves, and most often destroyed the relationships around themselves. I feel somewhat like John the Baptist, I am that voice that God will use to reach these wonderful men and women. It’s time to restore, reconcile, and return the Vietnam Veteran to a place of honor in our society. It is time to turn their tragedy into Victory. We didn’t win the war in Vietnam, but this is a war that we can win through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
Some practical ways for people to reach out to veterans is to:
1. Be available to listen
2. Offer respect, not sympathy
3. Support veteran’s issues
4. Be willing to shake their hand and say "thank you"
Other Suggestions:
1. Work with community leaders to create awareness of veteran needs in your vicinity.
2. Organize a vet’s support group at your church.
3. Invite a vet to speak to your club, church or Bible study.
4. Call your local VFW post and ask about specific needs of their members.
5. Ask a vet if you can pray for him or her in a specific way.
6. Host a veteran luncheon and offer the opportunity for attendees to share their stories.
7. Consider organizing community support for a halfway house for disabled and homeless vets.
8. Visit disabled vets in a VA hospital near you.