Welcome to New Classes

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 10:03:37 -0500

Congratulations on your assignment to Air University and Maxwell AFB, the Intellectual and Leadership Center for the Air Force, and welcome to your upcoming adventure in Montgomery, Alabama! You will soon grow to like this place in spite of the heat and humidity of the summer and the academic challenge you will face. No matter what school you will be attending, your experience at Maxwell will be unique. We have enjoyed ministering alongside members of previous classes and have already been praying for you and your family. Plan on this being a great family year and one of deep spiritual growth and ministry opportunities.

Mary and I look forward to your arrival. Is there anything we can do to assist you in your transition? If so, please let us know. Also, plan on attending the OCF / Chapel Welcome Picnic on Saturday evening, 16 August, from 1730 to 1900.

Let me encourage you to consider the chapels at Maxwell / Gunter for your church home. Excellent chaplains fill our pulpits. The religious education programs, men, women, and youth groups, praise bands, teams and choirs are waiting for you to join them.

Finally, we want you to make this a year of spiritual growth. You will have time to participate in a neighborhood Bible study, a men’s or ladies group, a school unique group or a prayer and accountability group. Many of this past year’s participants were distinguished graduates or received other awards in their schools. Please be praying and asking God what you should do. We look forward to having you join the OCF ministry team here at Maxwell. Plan to use the gifts and talents God has given you to their fullest as God leads you. We want you to do exactly what God wants you to do and if that includes an active role in the OCF ministry here—great!

In Christ,

Mike and Mary Martin

Our Picnic Was Great!

Sat, 5 Apr 2008 21:57:53 -0500

If you weren’t there....you missed out. We didn’t know what would happen with a downpour all Saturday morning. But, come afternoon, the Lord slowed down the rain and the weather was actually very nice.

We had a good time just relaxing and sharing our what’s going on in our lives. We also said farewell so some of our leaders and members PCSing this summer.

Some Easter Facts

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:53:28 -0500

Have you ever wondered why Jesus took the time to fold His burial cloth after His resurrection? The Gospel of John (20:7) takes special effort to let us know that the napkin which had covered the face of Jesus in the tomb was found by Peter and John neatly folded. Is this important? Absolutely!

The folded napkin had to do with the master and servant, and every Jewish boy knew the tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure it was exactly the way the master wanted. The servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master finished eating. He would not dare touch the table until the master was finished. When the master was finished, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers and mouth with the napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. The wadded napkin meant, “I’m done.” But if the master got up from the table and folded his napkin and laid it beside his plate, the servant knew that the folded napkin meant, “I’m not finished yet.”

The folded napkin means, “I’m coming back!” Join me as we celebrate this Truth this Easter season.

To Fathers: an Old Challenge for a New Year, Major Ray Simmons

Wed, 9 Jan 2008 21:27:03 -0600

As we start the new year, it’s a “target rich” environment with many opportunities before us. There are so many good things we want to accomplish in the next 12 months. For the fathers in our fellowship, I want to present a challenge to engage a universal calling that God gave us thousands of years ago. A challenge that is more important today than ever!
About 2 years ago, the Lord put some men in my life that encouraged me to begin family devotions, or what I like to call family worship. Today, I can’t imagine--nor can my children imagine--not having this time devoted solely to our Lord. We started with no particular plan; we just read through Bible passages. We added singing, scripture memory and prayer, but throughout we’ve kept it simple....about 10-20 minutes every night.
Air University affords something to its students they haven't had in a while: predictability. The workload is still high, but we don’t have "night flights" or "exercises" or "surges." What a great environment to give family worship a try.
Many of you out there are much more experienced in this than I am (I had intended to ask some of you for input, but time got away from me). I can only present what I've read and learned myself in this new venture. I've learned to keep it simple, keep it fun, and be rigidly flexible. By "rigidly flexible" I mean that there will inevitably be events conflicting with family devotional time, but we can be determined to work around those times and still stay committed to this calling.
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Eph 5:4
There are many family devotional programs out there. The one I like comes from homediscipleship.org I’ve posted all 12 months of their Bible reading plan for families with young children. I’ve found it to be simple and appropriate for my kids. The plan has certain things for young children to listen for as the Chapter is read. My kids now ask, “Daddy, what are we listening for?” We don’t do the “drawing” part of the plan, but who knows...maybe we’ll give it a try. I suppose every family will have a different flavor.
Since we are in the second week of 2008, if you want to use this program, you might want to go back and at least get Genesis Ch 1.
Listen to Psalm 78:1-7.
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments
I’m seeing that Scripture is soaked with commands to wrap our families around God’s Word. I’m seeing that this command and calling comes to us as fathers throughout history. I ask you fathers: let us seek guidance from the Spirit, our chaplains and pastors, the Word, and each other, and let us joyfully walk into this blessed command....to declare God’s works to our children.
Feel free to post comments here or email me as you trek through this challenge. Or, if you’ve got something that’s worked for you, please let us know -- Ray/ “RAM”

There Is Therefore Now No Condemnation, Col Brett Morris, PhD.

Fri, 2 Nov 2007 06:30:05 -0500

Type-A personality. Hard charging. Driven. Perfectionist. In control.
All these traits are common to successful officers, but they come at a price. They tend to promote self-condemnation unless one returns to God’s truth and love for guidance.
Unlike guilt feelings that nag us in the wake of a real offense against others or against God, self-condemnation typically follows less than perfect performances but may also dwell on past sins that have been confessed and thus covered by the blood of the lamb. The flesh simply refuses to let go, because it seeks to usurp God’s control of our lives. Rather than resting in Jesus as our role model and source, the flesh demands perfection and the enemy is quick to pile on with lies to encourage such damaging thoughts. Finally, our military culture adds the seal of approval. If we aren’t improving, we’re stagnating – failing. We’re told that it’s all on us.
Times of crisis and conflict only add to the intensity of such feelings. Condemned by our inability to care for those at home during long deployments compounded the more immediate struggles such as “survivor’s remorse,” self-condemnation abounds and there’s little time to recognize it for what it truly is – a dangerous lie. These lies rob us of power, of peace, and of promise that all rightfully belong to those who belong to a loving God who redeemed us through the Jesus’ work on the cross.
Self-condemnation immobilizes us. It keeps us from receiving God’s best in our lives. At its very worst, it has led some to take their own lives when the impossibility of doing any more overwhelms them. Yet, God’s word holds out a truth that we need to reaffirm each day: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1-2, NIV). We stand justified before God because of the work of Jesus. No one can condemn us. God is our judge. The world, the flesh, and the enemy all seek to turn us from this truth. Our perfection does not earn us God’s love and acceptance. Rather, the perfect life of Jesus Christ provides the means by which we stand before God justified as His children.