Gone Fishin!

Well I'm getting ready to go home for Christmas leave and wanted to leave this year with a picture and a tribute to some really good friends. In this photo are some instrumental folks in the ministry to soldiers at FT Jackson. The first is COL Karl Voigt our former BN Commander. He supported our ministry with all the resources that we ever needed. He attended our services weekly and was a great encouragement to us. The second is SFC Dan Roberts. I cannot say enough about him. He is no longer with me at my new Battalion, and he is sorely missed. He exemplified professionalism at every turn. He's passionate and committed. I am convinced the ministry would have failed without his outstanding performance. Finally there are the guys from Kenny Got Saved. Jared, Brian, Jeff and Dean are our band. They bring life with them. All of them are regular guys that God is doing extraordinary things with. You can check out their website at www.kennygotsaved.com This picture was after our l...

Physical training or PT is a part of life on a military installation. During our slow times of the year and during winter, I spend alot of time at Perez Gym. Its a great facility on FT Jackson to get my "PT On". Today I ran into a very special lady. I call her the blessing lady, but her name is Dean. I don't know how old she is, but her granddaddy fought in the Civil War. She's seen alot in her years. I was watching her today as she walked around the track and periodiclly she stopped and talked with people. She puts her hand on their shoulder and then I see each person close their eyes. She was praying for them. She did this for me a few months ago. Now being a Chaplain I'm supposed to be all spiritual. But her level of boldness just to reach out to people was inspiring to me. She walked up to me one day and said, "Have I blessed you yet?" I said, "No you haven't but I'll sure take one!" So she did. She prayed for me and she does this f...

Its late fall and for me and my son that means spending long hours together in the woods of NC waiting patiently and sometimes in my son’s case not so patiently for that one big buck deer to show himself. One day this week I was reading in my ground blind and around the corner of the creek that one big buck deer did show himself. I waited for the right moment, and let a round from my .308 go flying. The deer immediately went down. I was so very thankful. My heart raced, my spirit soared at the thought of a full freezer and those log hours of preparation rewarded. That was until I got up to go and retrieve the big guy. Through my binoculars I could tell he was at least an 8 pointer. For those of you that don’t know that is a good deer. My buddies met me by the creek and we went to the spot where I shot him…nothing! We looked for any blood on the ground, nothing! Then my friend Robbie said, “Hey dude, there’s his horn!” On the ground was lying 1 broken antler. I was nauseous. I had shot ...

Being an 8 year old boy has to be one of the greatest times of life for a little man. For a dad its great to have an 8 year old too. My son is the spitting image of me, its hard to deny him. Its hunting season in November and this is Jack's first year going out with me to experience this oldest of traditions. For thousands of years men have taken their sons into the wilderness to teach them how to provide. In our day something of that has been lost with our superstores. But it doesn't change what is inside a man or a boy. There is something inate about being on the hunt. Men even make shopping trips like a hunt. There is no wandering, there must be a mission to get what it is you came for. Saturday was our first day in the woods together on a real hunt. It had been a completley frustraing day for me. Early on Saturday morning I shot a massive buck but as my hunting fortunes of late have had it, I lost it after 7 hours of tracking with my friends Jeremy and Keith. This has happe...

Found this article on the Army News Service. Thought you might want to read it today. Its not glam press. Its what is going on every day over there. Enjoy Soldiers want to do mission, go homeNovember 8, 2006 The following is a commentary by Spc. Todd Selge. His unit, the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, is currently deployed to Iraq.WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 8, 2006) – When you hear news about the war in Iraq you usually hear it from a high-level Army spokesperson or you hear the media describe it as “another deadly day.” The view on the ground from the Soldier’s perspective is often overlooked. We are the ones who live the conflict every day, who see the progress day-to-day. We are the ones who experience the sorrows, who interact with the people, and who see the enemy’s effort to undo every good thing the Iraqi people and coalition forces have done. What every Soldier wants is to succeed in our mission and go home to our families. The things we do each day allow us th...

Today is election day. A lot of self important people will be on TV over the next few hours. I'll find something better to watch. November is an exciting month, not because of elections but because deer season comes in! The leaves have turned, the air is crisp and clear. In the woods you can feel the onset of winter. All of God's little varmints are busying themselves getting carb loaded for the winter. In NC deer season is just coming in. Its my favorite time of the year. Its not about killing. Its about being outside. I use a deer blind. It's sort of a tent used for hunting. Its camo and its also a great place to watch the forest. People tend to think that the forest is quiet. Hardly! The forest is alive! It moves. I leave my house about 400 am and get into my blind about 445. Its cold, last Saturday 22 degrees! Right before day break its deadly quiet. But as the sun rises in the east over the hills in Rowan CO, something flips a switch. It starts slow, a chirp here, a ru...

I'm not sure what it feels like to see your son or daughter graduate from Basic combat training. Mine are still in grade school. But I think this picture sums it all up. Its my buddy Tommy from back in NC. His daughter just graduated today from her basic course at FT Jackson. He and his wife stood as the soldiers marched in the pass and review. The stands thumped with feet and echoed with claps and cheers as over 1400 soldiers walked past. 10 weeks ago they were civilians wondering what in the world they were doing. 10 weeks ago their families said goodbye with a tear. Today, those same kids, were a little different. They stand straighter, they say yes sir and yes ma'm. Tommy looked on with pride as the flag passed us by and then his daughter. I guess the amazing thing is that every week we graduate 1000-1400 soldiers. They all volunteered. They are not as some have suggested dumb or uneducated. They are most of them just kids, that have a sense of calling and have answered. Th...

Well, after 18 months on station at FT Jackson the mission of the 2-485th Unit Ministry team has come to an end. We have seen almost 5000 new soldiers some through here. There have been 30 full 9 week training cycles. In that time we have had about 75 Sunday services. 75 times soldiers gathered together to worship God. 75 times they sang songs together prayed together. We've seen God do some amazing things. We saw one young man literally brought back to life on the floor of his barracks after a cardiac arrest. We have heard countless tales of God healing family members and soldiers. We've seen young soldiers push through difficulty and overcome. We've also seen over 400 of these embrace for the first time in their lives the salvation of Jesus Christ. Many had never been in a church at all. Some were atheists that found the light of Christ brought a freedom that they never dreamed possible. One young soldier last summer came to me after coming to grips with his own mortality...

We were in the field this week and I finally completed the Motorcycle safety Course so I decided try out the off-road capabilities of my new bike. I'm less concerned about the bike now and more concerned with the rider. The bike performed like I thought it would, but the sand here makes for treacherous riding if you aren't used to riding in the really loose stuff. I was able to pack all my field gear on the back and spent several days in the woods with the soldiers. We did two field services where we took communion together, it was a great time of worship. In the picture to the right are my buddies from Echo CO's command team. This week we are all getting together so that the Chaplain can destroy them again in a spirited bout of Halo! More to follow!

Just thought I'd put of few pictures of us at work up the web for you, more to follow!

Got this devotional in my email inbox. Thought it might be a blessing to you today Jesus of Nazareth was sentenced to death by a vain puppet of the Roman government acting as district governor of Jerusalem. He was nailed to a cross by a handful of Roman soldiers who happened to be on duty, and left there to die. He died sometime around three o’clock in the afternoon on a Friday. Of a broken heart, by the way. And we call it Good Friday, of all strange things, because of what it affected. An innocent man, the Son of God, bleeding for the sins of the world. Standing in for us, as Jack gives his life for Rose in Titanic, as Sydney Carton stands in to die for Charles Darnay in A Tale of Two Cities, or as Aslan dies on the stone table to ransom the traitor Edmund. We rebelled, and the penalty for our rebellion was death. To lose us was too great a pain for God to bear, and so he took it upon himself to rescue us. The Son of God came “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). You...

I woke this morning at the usual 0450, headed to the bathroom for the first thing and after finishing the next thing I remember is waking up on the floor with my face in a pool of black liquid. For a minute I thought I was dreaming. I thought, what is all this black stuff everywhere? I noticed my face felt a bit weird so I pulled my hand close and notice the black stuff was dripping, running in fact, out of my face. I knew then that this wasn't black but red, it was just dark in my bedroom. I had very little situational awareness. The first thing out of my mouth was, "Jesus, help me!" I gathered myself up back to the bathroom and turned on the light and saw what looked like a cross between a horror movie and a Ric Flair/Harley Race wrestling match. There was blood everywhere, on me, on the floor on the door. I thought at first that I had aneurysm, but then noticed the blood gushing from a gash above my left eye. "Whew!" I thought, that was a close one, I'm n...

That's my boy! Dad's are mighty proud critters and I'm no exception. I've been mobilized away from my family since March of 2005. That is a long time for a dad to be away from his kids. I get precious few opportunities to be with my children. Little boys especially need their dads. Last week was a horribly busy week. I had been planning this campout with little Jack for several months. Wouldn't you know it, life got complicated at the end of last week. I became discouraged at the level of busyness I faced. Problems just kept coming up. Undoubtedly it was warfare to keep me from building into the life of my little man. I vowed I would make it a good weekend. My wife also reminded me of the crucial nature of this. She's wise like that. I made it home and we camped, we fished, we shot BB guns, we shot bows and arrows, we sat around a fire with other dads and sons and told stories, we ate hotdogs cooked on coat hangers and we built into the lives of our sons. We wer...

I can today with great thankfulness to all you that prayed that I and my team finished the Army 10 miler! What an incredible feeling to finish a race like that. I wish you all could have been there. My wife, kids, mother-n-law and my mom all went with me. Also there were Drill SGTS and other soldiers from FT Jackson. In that group included, Scott, Mitch, Jason, Glenn, Mark G, "Chewy", Mark J and 24,000 other fine folks. It was a beautiful day about 65 degrees at the start. The course wound from the Pentagon through downtown DC, by the Washington monument, the Mall and the capital. We then ran back across the Potomac and finished at the Pentagon. It was amazing! All along the way people cheered for us and bands played. I had no idea I was even tired till the last mile or so. Inspiring soldiers that had lost limbs in our current conflict ran the race despite their missing parts. In fact that was the name of their team, "Missing Parts in Action". Eccentric folks ran to...

To the left is a picture of one of my soldiers from C-CO. He just got through with qulaification. He's good to go! He wanted to tell his mom that he's doing great, so here he is mom! He's doing great! After seeing over 5000 of these guys come through here I still get thrilled when they approach graduation. I get to see such an amazing transformation take place in these young people. When they leave they really are different. And they keep on coming. In spite of what the political climate is, these young men and women keep coming to serve. Keep that thought close today.

Normally I write short posts. I know your time is valuable. Bear with me on this one. I got carried away in the past! The picture to the left is my son (on the right) and his buddy Daniel I grew up on a street with all boys. There’s just something about a group of wild untamed boys to make life interesting. I guess that is the way we were. It was glorious. My brother Steve and I had tons of friends on our road and I’m grateful for the experience of coming up where I did. There were the Rumple boys, Ricky and Jeff and their dad Mutt. Mutt was a small engine genius; he could fix anything. The Boggs boys lived on Edgewood Rd. too. Chet, David and Joe were their names. Chet was like 7 years older than us. I always remember him picking on us and making crude jokes about our genitals. Half the time I didn’t understand what he was talking about, but I laughed anyhow. David was just two years older than us, he was a part of our group, until he got older and started hanging out with girls. Joe ...

I'm for the most part pretty selfish. Think about it. Most of what we do in life is for us. Even in ministry the traps of self exaltation are there. I'm in the Army and the Army loves awards. Its good to recognize people for their accomplishments. Its easy to come to the table of life and ask "What is in it for me?" Its easy to do this with God too. My buddy Dan and I talk often about God, His work in our lives and the real freedom and grace that we have found. I mean real freedom! And in freedom, being set free to really live there is no room for self centeredness. They are just not compatible. Its like using metric wrenches with standard hardware , pointless. Yeah you can look like you are accomplishing things and you may even tighten a bolt now and then, but eventually something will strip out. I began to think of this the other night while I was praying. I was asking God for guidance. I'm faced with the possibility of an overseas deployment. I need help in ma...

Well its drawing near to the big race day! The Army 10 miler is fast approaching. The training needs to wind down and the carb loading needs to begin. In case you didn't know it the Army 10 miler is, I believe, the world's largest 10 mile running race. This year over 24,000 people will participate in our Nation's capital. The run begins at the Pentagon and winds its way through all the monuments and then back to the Pentagon. It should be quite a scene. I hope you all will remember that we are also running to raise awareness and funding for Hopegivers international. They, among other things, love, feed and care for orphaned children in India. If you'd like to help take care of these children, just click here to find out more about their ministry. If you decide to give, just let them know you found out about them through THE ARMY 10 MILER.

I've been thinking a lot lately about hearing from God. I've been a Christian for 14 years now. I like to think I have grown spiritually. I have been to seminary, studied long hours in Greek and Hebrew. I've written massive 35 and 40 page papers on theology. According to the modern mind in spiritual thought, this is how we come to hear God, through diligent study of propositions. Don't get me wrong I am grateful for my education. I would not be where I am had it not been for those long hours of preparation. There are times however where I wonder if that is all there is. I pray. I read the bible. But the times of my life where I was most alive, was when I absolutely knew God was present and I could hear His voice from within. You see theology is good, but relationship with the God of theology is the most crucial element of my existence. It is the daily leaning and learning on and from a God who has and does desire me and you to walk closely with Him that matters. God...

Wow what a great day we had here at FT Jackson. It was bitter sweet though. The mission that I am on here will be changing g soon and my Battalion is folding colors and going home in a few weeks. Over the last year we have been honored to have a local band called Kenny Got Saved leading our music twice a month. Jared, Brian, Jeff and Dean have been a blessing to us. They provide relevant worship for this generation. They also write songs from their heart. As they have partnered with us over the last year over 400 soldiers have received Christ as their savior. Today was no different with 10 more coming forward, to include one young lady who had never been to church in her life. Today however was the last time they will be with us due to the end of our mission and other commitments to family and ministry that they have. But my affiliation with them has not ended. We are praying about doing some ministry together where they bring their talents for music I would speak at events as they co...

If you've ever ridden on a helicopter, loud is the optimal word. Its also a helicopter for heavens sake! My buddy Mitch who will be running side by side with me at the Army 10 miler did something I find almost impossible. He fell asleep after about 6 minutes of flying! He's an old 11B infantry Master SGT. I guess those guys can sleep anywhere. Here's a nice picture of him crashed out at 8000ft! Nice one Mitch! By the way if you want to subscribe to my blog you can do so by clicking one of the cool "chicklets" in the columne to the right. Then as soon as I update with cool and interesting stories, you'll know immediately. How awesome is that?

Some days in the Army are very cool. Today was one. One of my buddies here, DS Wolf made friends with some guys from the SC National Guard aviation unit. Today we hooked up with them and went on a Blackhawk ride! We flew to Savannah, then to Charleston. Landed at the airfield there, had dinner at Cracker Barrel and the flew home. It was a blast. It was my first time in a helicopter and I'll never forget it. The pilot told me it puts out 3900 HP! That is amazing. We flew up the coast of SC along the shore at about 200 ft. The pilot had a little fun with us too. All of a sudden we'd bank hard right. It feels like the floor is gone. Then he'd shoot straight up and then drop back down and for brief moment we were at 0 gravity. WOW! The guys were great, very professional and loads of fun at dinner. I'd like to thank Shawn, Tripp and Scott the all knowing crew chief for a wonderful time! During the ride I thought about how the ride itself was kind of a metaphor. I had no idea...

I may have gone off the deep end. When I was a younger man, I loved motorcycles. In 1984 I bought a Honda 700 Interceptor. I spent hours riding that thing all over North Carolina. Drove it too fast, wrecked it a couple of times and vowed never to get one again. I don’t know what it is about these two wheeled things that intrigue the male species so much. It may be the freedom of not being surrounded by sound proof windows. It may be the wind rushing past you. Its hard to put your finger on. But the truth is there just something cool about riding a bike. Yeah they can be dangerous and I’ve had my share of heartache with them. A good friend of mine was killed earlier this year on one. But still my heart leans towards two wheels. So yesterday I went over the edge and for the first time in 18 years I own a motorcycle again. Actually I pick it up on Monday. A lot of guys go for the big throaty Harley cruisers and some like the blazing speed of a rice rocket. I went a different road, not bec...

I’m pretty sure that I live in the 21st century. I have all the modern conveniences of the space age life. I have a cell phone that looks like something on Star Trek. I have high speed internet where I post and you get to read my wonderfully imaginative blog, (although not updated as often as I would like). I have a computer that can do millions of calculations in seconds. I have a GPS device that tells me how slow or fast I am running, most of the time how slow. I rarely get sick due to modern medical breakthroughs like antibiotics and vaccines that have rid our nation of polio, small pox and other maladies that used to kill by the thousands. We have herbicides and pesticides that keep mice, roaches and ants away. But in this modern, high tech, high speed, low drag world I have found a pestilence that refuses to bow to man’s best attempts at Utopia. It’s the most evil of all insects, preying and feeding on us like vampires….the dreaded bed bug! I used to say it…”good night, sleep tigh...

Its the most wonderful time of the year! No its not Christmas with all of its trappings of materialism! Its football season! Its the single most exciting time of the year in the life of a high school, college, or pro player and for those of us that never got over playing such a life altering game. I just got off the phone with my buddy Randall. He coaches the Statesville High School Greyhounds, my alma mater. He was talking to me from practice, blowing hs whistle, yelling encouragement. "Switch 'em up! Hustle Hustle!" Its an awesome time of year. The picture to the left is of my buddy Brant leading his semi-pro team in prayer prior to a game. Brant is also the youth pastor at my church back home. He uses sports to reach those that might be unreachable for the Gospel. Its hot now, but those cool autumn nights are just around the corner. Those footbal Friday nights where heroes are born and teams come together. The sweat in August produces wins in November! Hooray Footbal...

Countdown To

I have never been a big soccer fan, but this guy that plays for France just went nuts and headbutted one of Italy's players. The whole soccer world is up in arms about it. It made soccer a whole lot mor interesting to me. I wonder how many of them have watched one NFL game! That happens about 10 times on every play in Football. Thought you might want to see the video. Click below and you can hear the French coverage too. Have a great day every one! YouTube - mondial 2006 coup de boule de Zidane

Here they are! ATMG or Army Ten Mile Guys running for orphans! In this picture from left to right are DS Jason Johnson, DS Scott Miranda, Chaplain Borders, SSG Rethi "Chewy" Chhoeun, DS Mark Glasgow and DS Mark Johnson! Please pray for us as we train to run ten miles. The race is on October 8th. We are running to support the mission of Hopegivers International. It is a ministry that brings hope, shelter, food and clothing to orphans in India and around the world. If you'd like to find out more about hopegivers just log onto www.hopegivers.com

A .50 caliber round of plastic filled with gooey paint flies past your face and you just knew that was a close one. Then out of no where you feel bee like stings in your leg and back and all you hear is laughter behind you. You turn to find your buddy has just snuck up on you and taken you out of the game and he thinks it’s hilarious that your covered in day-glow green paint! You are playing paintball. Its probably one of the coolest things you can do, other than catching a 20” rainbow on a fly that you tied, but its pretty close. I had the honor of being invited by our Bravo Company for a day a competition in the woods near Columbia. It was an amazing time. We played for hours and got really tired. We laughed a lot and SFC Stratford and I shot each other at point blank range. I put ferns in my headgear but it didn’t provided much concealment. I also found out the difference between cover and concealment. Concealment is useless if they see you! Here’s a picture of us before we got back...

Their first fish! There are days in life that mark you. Then there are those days that never leave you. Both my kids this past week had the time of their lives actually landing their first fish. I'm sure that fishing for a little guy can be an exercise in futility. The line gets all tangled, the bait is squishy and yucky and the lure never goes quite where you want it to. But then there's that one day when it all comes together. You get the right bait, in the right water, near the right fish at the right time and you got one! Okay, reel it in, keep the line tight, don't let him go! Now the size of the fish doesn't matter, but getting it to the net sure does. Both my daughter and son caught their first fish this week. My son is pictured here helping me land a rainbow trout in the stream next to our house in Boone NC. We visited Linville Falls and Linville Caverns. The Linville Gorge is a true wilderness area and a great day hike. We went with our friends Robbie and Kelly...

As my previous article states I'm running the Army 10-miler to raise money for orphans in India. The group that takes care of the children is Hopegivers Internaitional www.hopgivers.com If you have a minute and take the time to read the article below(all the way at the bottom of this article). Our friend Sam, Hopegivers InternationalPresident)was released a month ago from jail for a bogus charge and now is on the verge of being jailed again with some more bogus charges. As you read the article you'll notice that the government is charging that Hopegivers used a map without Kashmir as a provision of India. This is a violation of Indian law. The territory of Kashmir is still disputed between Pakitstan, India and China and has been since the British left the region over 50 years ago. Both countries claim that this area belongs to them. In India if you use a map without Kashmir as a true part of the Indian state it would appear that you side with the Pakistanis. The problem with th...

On October 8th I’ll be running in the annual Army 10-miler http://www.armytenmiler.com/ It’s a great race that I hope merely to finish. 10 miles is a long way to run, especially on my old knees. Who knows, this may be the beginning of my marathon career, NOT! Anyhow I’m running with some of my friends from FT Jackson and I had the idea of running for something other than me. As many of you know our friend Sam Thomas and his father M.A. have been caring for orphans for the last 40 years or so. They rely on donations to supply the basic needs of these kids. At one of their orphanages they have over 1500 children there. It costs about 23 dollars a month to keep a child clothed and fed. That’s not a whole lot. So we are going to run this race for the kids. I’m asking for sponsors either by the mile or one time donations. Now its too easy to give. Hopegivers has a web-site http://www.hopegivers.com/ If you go there you can donate online or you can mail them your check. All the information i...

For those of you that prayed thanks! Today is a good day. Dr. Sam granted bail in Rajasthan! By Robby Brumberg COLUMBUS, GA (May 1, 2006) – Hopegivers President Dr. Samuel Thomas received bail today from the Jaipur High Court and will be released tomorrow after spending 47 days in Kota Central Jail in Rajasthan. Dr. Sam, as he is known to millions around the world, has been held on charges that he “created communal disharmony.” Hopegivers Founder Bishop M.A. Thomas was also granted bail on the same charge from India’s Supreme Court on April 20. The news of Dr. Thomas’ release is being applauded by supporters of the humanitarian mission worldwide. “We praise the Lord for this decision. The Lord has heard our cries and those of his children around the world! Now it is time to get back to focusing on what we do best, caring for abandoned and orphaned children,” said Hopegivers Program Director Shelley Thomas, also the wife of Dr. Sam. Hopegivers is still waiti...

I’ve been an American all my life. I’ve been to 15 countries outside our borders. I’ve seen our land from Mainie to California. I’ve always been glad to be an American. I’ve realized it’s a gift a precious gift to be able to live here. I say I’ve always been glad to be an American, but until last Friday I was just glad, now I’m proud. I mean “swoll” up proud to see my flag, to wear this uniform, to serve with some fine men and women to be an American citizen/soldier. The reason for this is a kind of epiphany moment I had standing on the steps of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I was standing there in my dress blue uniform hugging my daughter watching the changing of the guard. The reason for the “blues” is that we had just buried our friend, 1SG Bob Kuehne, in section 64 of Arlington National Cemetery. Bob was killed in a motorcycle wreck a month ago and his family asked me if I’d officiate the service. Its not something you’d ever say no to. We had a great turnout. People from SC dro...

I’ve been told that I needed to update my blog. So I wanted to take this opportunity to do some personality profiles of people I work with. This is not a place to exalt the egos of people I know, Army leaders rarely need that, its simply just a place to get some information out to my friends outside the Army about who I get to spend most of my days with. Today I am beginning with a really good friend. His name is Pete, he’s a Company Commander in a Basic Combat Training unit. He’s probably close to 30 now. He’s an infantry officer. He can tell you all the specs on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle with enthusiasm. He knows everything about small arms. He takes his job seriously, but always remembers to laugh. When times are hard he thinks of other people. I noticed this when we lost our friend Bob a few weeks ago. At the hospital all he did was offer ways of helping other soldiers who had to think about other things. He brought me breakfast when I needed to remain in place. He is hard on his...