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For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

I was bounding from tree to tree to avoid being tagged by the OPFOR. After one 3-second rush, I felt a very sharp pain in my kneecap. I looked down and saw a 6-inch piece of metal stuck in my leg. When I reach the Aid Station, the PA had to perform minor surgery to remove the object. Although the whole thing was painful I’m glad it was the doctor’s scalpel and not my buddies’ bayonet doing the cutting. The Word of God is both like sword and scalpel. It can quickly lop off those huge ugly sins that are protruding from our character. But it is also sharp and precise, cutting only what needs to be opened and removing only that which is harmful. It can be used for the purpose of both healing and destroying. Keep reading the Word of God and allow it to perform its major and minor surgeries in your life. SP254

Tagged – Being shot with a laser in training
OPFOR – Opposing Forces
PA – Physician Assistant

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:1-2

In the middle of the night we came to the top of Yellow Mountain and the ranger students started heading the wrong way. I stopped the Patrol Leader and asked him if he knew where he was going (a subtle RI hint that you’re going the wrong way). This developed into a full scale meeting with the Squad Leaders under the poncho for lights and maps and debate. When he emerged from the midst of his counselors he declared, “Yes Sergeant, we are going the right way.” I then pointed at the trail sign that I just happened to be standing by the whole time, which clearly showed the right direction. Even with all that prompting, he elected to take his fellow student’s advice and off we went into dinosaur land. Who are your counselors or advisors? Do they give intelligent upright advice or do they steer you into the “land of the lost?” Choose your advisors wisely and remember the Word of God is always a trustworthy counselor. SP253

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

American’s prize their freedom. Our country was built upon this foundational and noble pursuit. We expect it, we’ll fight for it, and we’ll even die for it. We place the highest value on freedom. So does Jesus. He showed us the way to true and lasting freedom. If we live our lives in accordance with His instructions, we will know truth and it will set us free. Freedom will always come at a price though. Spiritual freedom costs us our supreme allegiance and obedience to the only one that can truly give it, Jesus Christ. As we pursue our national freedoms and liberty for others, let’s be just as diligent to secure our own spiritual freedom by following Christ. SP252

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”
Matthew 9:12

An interesting quirk about being in the Infantry was the pride we put in the ability to be sick and yet, not go to sick call. I could be running a fever, have a broken bone, or be half dead, but unless someone ordered me to go see the medics, it wasn’t going to happen. That’s what you call crossing the fine line between hardcore and stupid. I have since learned if you’re sick, go see the Doc! I’ve learned that lesson spiritually as well. Jesus gets on the religious leaders of his time because they thought they had a healthy relationship with God. But, because of their spiritual arrogance they were actually very sick. We cannot allow our spiritual pride to keep us from seeing the Great Physician. Acknowledge your sin and weaknesses and He will heal you. SP251

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us Ephesians 3:20

My radio crackled, “Whiskey One Five, Stand by, Aircraft is inbound.” I thought, “We still have 30 minutes till RI change over.” I got on the radio, “This is Whisky One Five, SITREP, Over.” “Your wife is having a baby, that’s what!” I gave my fellow RI the student’s evaluation reports as the Blackhawk landed on the LZ. We flew over the camp where I thought I’d get in my car and drive to the hospital, but we kept flying. We landed right on Dahlonega hospital’s helipad and I jumped out camouflage, rucksack and all. I ran into the maternity ward for the much-expected arrival of my first-born. I had been praying for his birth for months but I never expected my ride to the hospital to be so exciting. The events around my son’s birth demonstrated to me that God is able do to above and beyond my wildest expectations. Both of my sons are living proof to that fact. SP250

Whiskey One Five – Wood, 15 Staff, my Radio Call Sign
RI – Ranger Instructor
SITREP – Situation Report
LZ – Landing Zone

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” Mark 10:51

It was my second jump in Airborne School and I couldn’t see a thing. Shortly after I exited the aircraft I was enveloped in green nylon. I had collided with a fellow jumper’s canopy. I frantically looked about me only to be totally blindfolded by parachute. Suddenly I popped out and I could see again. I quickly slipped away and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Most of us have the blessing of sight but there are occasions when we are struck with a temporary spiritual blindness. We fail to see God’s hand in the tough times or we are tempted and walk in darkness. We lose our way as we begin to doubt, groping in discouragement. The remedy for this temporary blindness is to turn to Christ to open our spiritual eyes. As the song says “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” (Helen H. Lemmel)

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Before I joined the Army I thought that soldiers woke up when reveille was played. I would soon find out that I would wake up long before the 0600 bugle call. Normally, we had already conducted first call and an accountability formation prior to hearing the first note. Then we stood quietly in formation at Parade Rest ready to be brought to attention and render the proper honors to our Nation’s Colors as they rose for the day and the playing of reveille. We weren’t getting out of bed that time; we were up, alert, and prepared for the call. Another bugle call we need to be ready for is the trumpet call of God. Jesus taught many parables in which He exhorts us to be ready and alert for the time of His second coming and the gathering of His people (Matthew 24-25). Stand Ready.

If you’d like to here reveille, go to the following link;

http://www.paonline.com/jeff_lup/bugle/reveille.wav

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
2 Timothy 4:7

I was standing next the Commander of our MLRS Battery who had received orders to aim his missiles at Iraq. The troops stood before me, their chaplain, wide eyed and prepared to perform their mission. They asked me to offer prayers for God’s protection and guidance. Operation Desert Fox had begun. Just another response to Sadaam’s defiance since the First Gulf War. And later a Second Gulf War after another round of failed diplomacy. A soldier’s work is never done. And our spiritual soldiering is never done. Day after day, month after month, we are in a fight between the forces of good and evil. Are you in the fight or have you become a POW or WIA? Are you proficient with your weapon (the Bible) or are you struggling to aim it right? Let me encourage you, soldier on for Jesus! SP247

Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
Judges 6:11b-12

If the truth be know, Gideon was hiding. He was beating out wheat on the inside of a wine press (which is not the prescribe way to perform this very dusty job) and trying to keep out of sight of the Midianites. Then the angel of the LORD shows up and addresses Gideon as “mighty warrior.” I can just see Gideon, “Who me?” Gideon did not see himself as a warrior let alone a mighty one. But God sees him in all his potential. He knew Gideon better then the man knew himself. How do we see ourselves? Sometimes a little reluctant, maybe fearful or nervous about the future? Well let me assure you that God sees our fullest potential. And why shouldn’t He? With all His power and might behind us, we really can’t fail. Has God asked you to do something you’re hesitant about? Trust Him and move out, He sees the mighty warrior within you.

But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11

I helped one of my fellow Ranger Instructors grow in his relationship with Christ in Dahlonega, GA. He in turn helped a cadet at North Georgia College who, 15 years later, became an instructor at West Point. Some very close friends of ours from Ft. Stewart, GA sent their son to West Point and was discipled by that instructor. Small world? How about this? The man who discipled me at Ft Campbell, KY had a son who joined the Air Force 17 years later. The son just happened to be stationed at an Air Force Base near the seminary I was attending in Phoenix, AZ and I discipled him. Coincidence? No way. I believe God has a plan and it is intricately woven through our lives to accomplish His will. Occasionally, God lets us “connect the dots” and encourages us as we survey His handiwork. Contemplate His awesome sovereignty and take comfort in His grand design. SP244