"victory or death"

It was Christmas Day in Northern Pennsylvania. A freezing, exhausted group of men, protecting American from the British, was led by General George Washington. The volunteer group of farmers, merchants, and settlers marched through an icy, driving rain and snow. Hundreds collapsed from sickness and exhaustion as they marched through the night. One third of them did not have boots. Their rag-wrapped feet literally left a trail of blood in the Pennsylvania snow. On their shoulders literally rested the future of America. Their password - "victory or death" - was their reality. Newt Gingridge claims those who made the sacrifices to win the revolution, have a message for those of us living today: He is challenging us to read the story of George Washington and his men. Historian William Forstchen has launched a new novel, "To Try Men's Souls." It is novel about George Washington and the fight for American freedom .

"To Try Men's Souls" is the wrenching, first person account of General George Washington's 1776 sneak attack the enemy at Trenton after crossing the Delaware River. This tale of heroism and sacrifice is told through the eyes and private thoughts of General Washington, writer Thomas Paine, and Jonathan Van Dorn, a young private in the struggling colonial army. It takes its title from Thomas Paine's famous work, "The Crisis," which opens with a phrase that captures perfectly the heroism and endurance displayed by Washington and his men: "These are the times that try men's souls..." "To Try Men's Souls" is a story of the miracles that can be achieved by a free people with courage and a willingness to endure. As Washington and his men march, a storm bears down on them, turning frozen earth to mud. "To Try Men's Souls" describes the unimaginable conditions the American heroes faced:

"Raise your foot, put it ahead of you, heavy mud caked thick to each boot. Put your foot forward, sink into the congealing glue nearly to the boot top, sometimes the chilled slop spilling down inside. Pull your other foot up out of the slop, stagger forward another step. There was no longer any semblance of a marching column, just an endless weaving line of men ahead, the last few stragglers of this broken army." (see Newt Gingrich Letter, October 21, 09, Vol. 4, No 42).

The Storm that brought such terrible suffering for America's heroes was called by Washington "Our Christmas Miracle." Why? Because the storm that created such hellish conditions for the Americans, who defended America from the enemy was the same storm that caused the British-paid German mercenaries, who were Washington's target in Trenton, to stay inside that night. Even though the weather caused the Americans to arrive four hours late - well after dawn - when they got to Trenton, the enemy invaders, the Hessians, were asleep in their beds. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Washington and his men won the battle of Trenton. Their victory reinvigorated the cause of American freedom. Washington's "Christmas miracle" was the turning point in the Revolutionary War in 1776, and the birth of America.

To Believe or Not Believe

By Curtis R Schofield

It takes academic "faith" and some science fiction to be an atheist. An atheist is someone who does not believe in God. When we do not believe that there is an eternal Creator, logic says we must believe that what we call the creation, matter and energy, are eternal or are created by some type of force or process. If we accept that matter and energy are eternal, as Aristotle believed, then we must explain how life was created out of dead matter(stuff). If that is so, then our only choice is to believe that in the dead stuff there is a force that developed(or creates) life. Life as we know it includes living organisms that can reproduce themselves. This includes plants and animals and human beings, plus small living organisms within matter, plants and beings that are too small for the human eye to see. It takes a lot of "faith" plus some science fiction to believe that there is a force in energy and dead matter that can create life. It takes even more faith to believe that there is a force that can not only create life, but that it can create intelligent life. Intelligent life is probably the greatest act of creation that we human beings can understand. In my opinion to believe that there is a force in energy and dead matter that can not only create life, but can also create intelligence, goes beyond faith to science fiction. If an atheist can believe that there is a force in dead matter, which itself has no self awareness of its own existence, but that it has the power to create a living being, a living being that has awareness of its own existence, then that person has to have more "faith" than is called for by the theist, one who believes in God, the Creator.

However, it is important for the serious reader to realize that becoming a believer is not just a matter of giving intellectual assent to our academic conclusions. The Scriptures teach us that faith is a gift which we must accept. The late Paul Tournier, a distinguished Swiss physician and psychiatrist, in his book, "The Meaning of Persons" and in his personal taped testimonies he tells what it really means to be a person. Because of his experience of becoming an orphan as a child he claims he was never as a child was able to accept the gift of love that his care giver offered. Therefore, he was not able to form personal relationships with others and with God, until as a adult he was able to accept the personal love that his wife offered him and the personal friendship of some Christian men who truly cared for him and taught him how to share the personal part of his life with them and with Christ.

Therefore, I choose to believe what was given to us by the Biblical writers and our experiences in the faith community of believers:

Genesis 1:1-31

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...And God said 'Let there be a land in the midst of the waters'...And God said 'Let the earth put forth forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and trees bearing fruit'...And then God said, 'Let the waters bring forth living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth.' ...And then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures...cattle and creeping things and beasts...And God said, 'Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish...the birds...the cattle...and every living creature on the earth...and God saw everything that He had made and behold it was very good.

John 1:1-4,14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, and we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.

Curtis R Schofield is a retired United Methodist minister and an associate trustee of the Foundation for Evangelism, related to the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church.

Poem

Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me.

Break my bondage to this cold heart of mine,

And set me free from thinking only of me.

Over my rebellious heart give me a victory.

Once again, let us celebrate the year of Jubilee.

Then we will sing contentiously songs of praise to Thee.



Lord Jesus, once you broke the bondage of sin,

On a cross at a place called Calvary.

Surely the victory there included me.

If so, please from my self centeredness set me free.

Create in me a new love for You and all humanity.

Let it be, O Lord. Let it be.



I am listening now for whatever You have to say.

My little children, humble yourselves and pray:

Father in Heaven if You are really “up there,”

Make yourself known as the One who does truly care.

Assure us that through the power of your Spirit,

For all our needs, You will a bounty prepare.



Especially, help us to claim Jesus’ victory over the evil one.

Remember how on the Cross He said, “It is finished, it is done.”

At the Resurrection He defeated our worst enemy, death,

Through your visitation to us as the Incarnate One.

Thank You for making possible our eternal salvation.

On Good Friday and Easter Sunday at the rising of the SON.

Clarkston

Some of the world's greatest missionaries began their missionary service in Georgia. In the eighteenth century John Wesley and George Whitfield helped start the Great Awakening in America by coming from England to Georgia as missionaries. It is still happening today. Adam and Mary Hoyt, former Christian missionaries to Muslim refugees in Tajikistan, have recently become missionaries to Muslim refugees in Clarkston, Georgia. In a recent newsletter Adam wrote,

"Celebration Fellowship, a refugee church has become our everyday church when we are not in the Atlanta Vineyard Church. Celebration Fellowship is a house church model which is so effective as a strong Christian movement in China.We meet two Sundays a month in homes, like the early New Testament Church did. One Sunday a month we meet at a community space in a local park, and one Sunday we meet in rented space in Dekalb Technical College. We have 5 house churches, divided according to language, providing refugee leaders a opportunity to hone their skills in leading Bible studies, worship, and hospitality. These large group gatherings allow us to maintain a sense of camaraderie and community as a church...We are excited about what God is doing here by his grace, and the way God is growing us."

One day when Adam and I were both serving at the Mission Society headquarters in Norcross, Georgia, Adam told the story about a father who took his children for a ride through Atlanta on the public transportation train. He said that at nearly every stop someone of a different nationality would get on the train. Hearing all the different languages excited his children. Finally, his son asked, "Daddy, why have these people from all over the world come to Atlanta?" The father answered, "When Jesus came into the world over 2000 years ago, He asked us to tell his stories to all the peoples of the world. Since we have not yet completed the task, I guess He just to decided to send them here to Atlanta so we can share the stories of Jesus with them here."

In a recent newsletter Adam wrote, "We love Clarkston. We have big dreams for Clarkston and her refugees. We love the people we are becoming through our daily interactions with our neighbors. We feel a deep sense of belonging, of mission and of spiritual fulfillment here."

If you have been wishing you could find a way to share Christ with Muslim people, consider becoming a prayer partner with Adam and Mary Hoyt. You can communicate with them at PO Box 1151 Clarkston, GA 30021 or by calling 404-294-8177. Tell them Curtis Schofield asked you to contact them.

"Change your focus, change your life"

"Change your focus, change your life" wrote Anthony Fernando to his readers on June 19, 2008. He illustrated the truth of his challenge by the life of Sarah, a gifted dancer. From the age of three, her world revolved around ballet and she wanted nothing more from life than to dance each and every day.

As she grew older Sarah received numerous ballet awards and when she was fourteen she was awarded a prestigious scholarship to study at the National College of the Arts. Sarah continued to work hard at her dancing. Her teachers recognized both her talent and her work ethic and encouraged her to audition for the Australian Ballet.Three days before her audition, Sarah was involved in a car accident and broke her ankle. While the hospital classified this as a ‘minor injury’, for Sarah it was a life changing incident. Although her ankle healed, she found that she no longer had the extension required to be an elite dancer. In the blink of an eye her life long dream of dancing with the Australian Ballet was over. Sarah became very depressed and all she could think about was how unfair life was. For two long and miserable years Sarah was lost in a personal world of anger and disappointment.

Then one day she found encouragement from a friend, who helped her realized that by spending all her time thinking about what she could no longer do she had been making herself miserable. With a new outlook on life, Sarah made a change and began focusing instead on what she could do. While she could no longer be a professional ballerina, she was still a talented dancer. Anthony Fernando reports that Sarah began to persue contemporary, jazz, and swing dancing and to her delight she discovered that her years of classical training meant that she picked things up very quickly. She also discovered a passion for teaching and over time, Sarah’s life was once again filled with the joy of music and dancing.

A fellow pastor of mine told me about visiting an elderly member of his church who had suffered a stroke. Once when he was visiting her after long weeks of therapy he reported that he said to her, "I am so sorry that through this stroke you lost so much of your ability to function. It must be hard on you to think of all the things you no longer can do." To this she smiled and said, "Pastor, at first I focused on the things I could no longer do. I became depressed as I counted over ninety things I can no longer do, but I was encouraged when I read in the Scriptures, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' That verse changed by point of view. I began to focus on what I can still do. There are hundreds of things I can still do. That is why you see a smile on my face and a gleam in my eyes."

Curtis is a retired United Methodist pastor who lives on Sand Mountain. You can his read inspiring stories in his book, "Into All The World" which you can buy at CVS Pharmacy in downtown Trenton, GA.

We Were Lucky!

When we lost Coach Armstrong we were sure that all hope for a great season was lost. Coach Al Rotella came to us in LaFollette, Tennessee as a our head coach. He was different.

We first noticed that he did not own an automobile. He was dependent on someone else getting him to and from the high school. He and his wife had a large family. It was important to him to have them in church every Sunday.

He was a very big man, but he could move fast. He was very friendly. We liked him as a person, but we missed Coach Armstrong, who had made us a winning team.

It did not take Coach Rotella long to make us forget about Coach Armstrong. He expected a great deal from us. After he led us through our first day of exercise, it was hard for us to get out of bed the next morning. Every muscle in our body hurt. He put each of us in a position and taught us a several running and passing plays. He told us that each of us had a very important role to play. He revealed to us that every play is designed to go for a touchdown if every player executed his assignment. Therefore, we knew that everyone had an important job to do each time the ball was in play.

He was always helping us to look on the positive side. In the heat of a hard practice, he would stop us and say, "Look around you at the mountains. Thousands of people come from all over the country every year to see these mountains. They spend millions of dollars to get here. You get to see them everyday for free. Enjoy them."

When we were preparing for an important game with Lake City, one of our strongest rivalries, he asked us why in the past our team lost so many times to the "Blue Devils." Someone spoke up and said, "It is because they are lucky!" Coach Rotella said, "You are right. The lucky team always wins. What is that makes a team lucky?" We could not answer him. Then he quoted Thomas Jefferson, one of our country's founding fathers. Someone asked Jefferson, "Why is it when we are in a battle with the English they seem to have all the luck?" Jefferson answered, "To win battles it is important to be prepared to fight. You have to have a plan, and every soldier has an important job to do. Yet when all is said and done, luck does play a role in who wins. Therefore, I have studied why it is that some persons have more luck than others, and I have come to the conclusion that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." Every year Al Rotella was our coach, LaFollette had a winning season. We even completed one season undefeated. We were lucky!

Biblical Guide: "God blessed the seventh day, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation(Genesis 1:31).