When I graduation from Seminary, I never dreamed I would be in the Army seeing over 10,000 Soldiers give their lives to Jesus Christ. On any given Sunday our worship begins and the presence of God fills the sanctuary. The same obstacle pounding Soldiers who tackle their day at 0500 are the same Soldiers who sing out with passion and raise their hands in worship. It is common to see hundreds of Soldiers come to the altar and seek out the favor of
God. As we close the sermon we always give an invitation. We have had as many as 350 Soldiers, from all three services, give their lives to Christ. One particular morning as I gave an invitation, the hands raised for prayer were too many to count.
As I reflect on this movement, there are a few noteworthy observations. First, it is a move of God. One Sunday when we were taking in the atmosphere of the worship, I leaned over to CH Rondon and said, "You know God is changing the Army." His reply showed his vision and purpose "In this Chapel service is the future Command Sergeant Major, and today he is on fire for Christ!" As those words took life in the room, we paused to imagine what God was doing.
The second observation is how we continually refined our approach. It became obvious that the more we presented the text in its purity, the simpler the message was to receive. Also, the more deliberate we were in presenting Jesus as the only way, the only truth and the only life the more passionate Soldiers became about worship. No one wants a washed down presentation. They want a real God and a real experience.
Every ministry position in my life continually molds me into the Chaplain God wants me to be, and being the Chaplain my Soldiers need me to be. I pray that God continues to give me favor with my commanders, favor with my fellow Chaplains and favor with my Soldiers.
