Items of this media type are derived from a variety of OCF print sources, magazines, and booklets, or online content over the years.
The purpose of this study is to describe the concept of calling and its relevance to the military professional of the 21st century, preparing to “fight the next war”—especially to the vast majority of American officers who identify themselves as Christians.
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 12
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 11
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 10
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 9
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 8
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 7
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 6
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 5
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 4
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 3
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 2
Study Notes and Questions for Acts 1
You must pursue God and live out your faith while on active duty. It’s easy to get caught up in the cyclical training and deployment grind to where your faith comes out only on Sunday—if at all. Stay engaged. Find a spiritual battle buddy—someone to hold you accountable. Commit to a daily devotional. Be an example in both word and deed.
Who will you meet today in an unexpected encounter, whether in a combat area, passageway, flight line, or on drills and maneuvers? And what will you say—and hear? In your command, how will you show Christ in your servant leadership?
I long to do great and noble things, but God reminds me it’s in the humble things that He can be extraordinary through me. Ultimately, I desire to be like Helen Keller: to do humble tasks as though they were great and noble.
Whether the most junior leader or a four-star flag officer, leaders come to their assignments with choices to be made in opportunities to serve.
It’s not unusual to hear people ask, “What is OCF?” or “What does OCF do?” They may wonder if OCF is a club of officers like-minded in their Christian faith, or just the local Bible study fellowship they attend.
We all love success. It feels good—certainly better than failure. But success can easily become a stumbling block if not handled humbly and wisely.
As a servant leader being the hands and heart of Christ to others in life’s tragedies, TSgt Padgett suggested that helping others is as simple as being aware of the ways you can do so.
How does a faithful walk with Jesus give life, context, and direction to the exercise of military leadership? What opportunities do I have for doing good for others’ welfare and for God’s glory?
Without boldness grounded in faith, we’ll see little transformational effect. Without godly purpose and wisdom, boldness can be rash and destructive.
So much of today’s culture dwells on victimhood, on wounds that seem resistant to heal. Christ-followers don’t deny the wounds but come alongside the struggling wounded to offer the salve secured by the scarred, yet now Risen Lamb’s victory over sin and death.
For His disciples, God gives direction. Develop a habit of checking your tendency to slide off the course He sets. Seek and find that direction in all parts of life: personal, family, professional, and community.
Transitions are certainly a challenge, yet also filled with the potential to renew, refresh, and revitalize. Let’s do our part as leaders for the latter three.
Every planner for ground tactical combat operations knows the value of seeing the area of operations from above. Looking down on the terrain, you see risks, opportunities, and new ways to achieve your objective that cannot be seen from the ground.
A particularly effective leader sees the ends amidst the overwhelming hubbub of the present. Opposition, complexity, danger, and distracting opportunities threaten to paralyze or draw the leader off course.
One simple request from a platoon leader in one small group at one location on a single evening. But when multiplied over the weeks and miles of hundreds of Christian fellowships, just consider how the Spirit might work!
This raises a question: “Are we merely in a fellowship or do we ‘fellowship?’”
We all have hitches in our giddy-up. Most are wounds within our soul: bitterness, deceit, fear, shame, guilt, and others. They hinder us; they limit us in our service with and leadership of others.
Jesus taught often through parables. Every listener could garner solid adages for life. Yet there was a special category of those Jesus taught who received the deep and rich gems that would transform them and enable them in fruitful service to the Master.
All leaders experience both fair and foul winds. The Christ-honoring leader has been given stewardship of people, missions, and things for the Master’s gain and pleasure.
If you are a leader, perhaps you are the one God appointed to initiate and lead a local fellowship, or you may be the one leader Christ has chosen as His ambassador in a unit or staff.
Men and women of authority, education, and influence are particularly susceptible. Their gifting, potentially so helpful in service and leadership, spills over to coat the heart with ill-placed personal pride and assurance.
No, we cannot redeem this fallen world and its deathly power on our own, but the One who can has asked us to partner in His work with what we can do. He simply asks us to “take away the stone.”
We all could use a Sherpa when facing new and formidable challenges. Junior leaders and young couples with their abundance of zeal and energy, but with limited experience, particularly benefit from a seasoned guide as they break new ground in life.
Also essential for Christian leaders are the daily development of subordinates; team building for unit cohesion and performance; setting of standards of respect and performance; and seasoning the unit culture with the aroma of Christ.
Including stewardship in our leader lexicon may put our responsibility and authority in proper balance. The goal of a Christ-like leader will remain Christ’s goals; the methods, means, and accompanying perks will then better honor Christ in practice
Do you recall when someone spoke into your life and a vision was cast? Are you intentionally doing the same with those you serve?
For those who have never led a small group, the prospect of starting such an endeavor might appear daunting and overwhelming given the busy lifestyle of those in the military. Here are tips for the new leader to consider both before and after his or her first meeting.
In the Bible-study group, the support group, the discipline group, or the fellowship group, an attitude of love and
Traditionally, Christian small-group activities are more positive, edifying, less contentious, and less confrontational than their secular or non-Christian counterparts.
The OCF mission is to engage military leaders in Biblical fellowship and growth to equip them for Christ-like service
1. Start and end on time. Starting on time will establish a practice of people coming on time. Timeliness
The type of Bible study that OCF seeks to encourage is one where people approach God’s Word and
Small groups and Bible study may take place in a variety of settings, from foxholes to comfortable homes. Only one book is essential to the study—the Bible.
Most everyone who has ever participated in small groups can bear testimony to a particular small group that was their favorite.
While we may be accustomed to defining the essence of our Christian faith in other ways, Christianity involves not only a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, but also an entirely different outlook on life that is grounded in the hope we have for all that God has promised.
“Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from
By surrendering their spring break of relaxation to instead labor for the impoverished, the mission field experiences help cadets and midshipmen hone skills of selflessness and sacrifice that are essential to becoming effective Christ-like military leaders.
As they Experience, Serve, and Lead at White Sulphur Springs, the EXSEL Discipleship interns are helping military members and their families realize the restoration needed in these challenging times.
What does that look like today? How are you courageously standing firm personally and in your family? Are you modeling an integrated life of faith, family, and profession to your family, those around you personally, and in the workplace?
To be a leader God can use, three things must happen: We must have faith in something that is worthy of our faith; we must know who we are in Christ; and we must be prepared to fight the good fight, as we engage in spiritual warfare.
The world desperately needs to hear about Jesus, and we’ve been called to share Him. I encourage you to become competent in your knowledge of Him. Draw people through your professional excellence. Be prepared through your life and words to shine His life-saving light.
My 2015 experience in Kentucky brought me to the foot of the cross, saving my soul in a way words cannot explain.
Do you know how to dream? There are three tenets to dreaming for ourselves with a greater chance of realizing those dreams.
Those who have laced up boots or buttoned an Armed Forces uniform in service to our nation know all-too-well the difficult and tough terrain of the transitional military life they lead.
With each passing mile behind the Waring family, a pathway toward future ministry was being paved by connecting with and hearing the hearts of airmen and chaplains.
COMMAND asked a trio of chaplains—LT Jon Uyboco, CHC, USN; CH(MAJ) Todd Cheney, USA, and CH(COL) Marc Gauthier, USA—to share some insights and experiences of serving military men and women for Christ.
Now in its second year, the EXSEL (experience, service, leadership) discipleship program at OCF’s White Sulphur Springs Conference Center is a yearlong, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young men and women ages 18-24.
As our culture continues drifting further into a post-Christian neo-pagan worldview, Christ-followers may be tempted to spiritual panic attacks. Especially for those of us striving to integrate faith and biblical worldview into our military profession, how can we remain faithful to our call when policies and programs appear to oppose higher principles and priorities?
Here are some more insights shared by Mike Moyles and his wife, Angie, during their interview with COMMAND.
When he was diagnosed with cancer in 1999, Mike says he worked through the usual questions and doubt—why me? what did I do?—but it was the continued struggle through multiple rounds of chemo, radiation, and surgeries that caused him to take a deeper look at the testimony God was preparing him for.
Life in general is complicated. Life in the military is extremely difficult and challenging and carries with it an increasing amount of angst with the operations tempo, separations, threats to life and limb, and the increasing challenges from within our own nation.
Take time to examine your own support system, or if you do not have one, get started now. The health of a marriage can often hinge upon the strength of the support system that has been established.
The term “servant leadership” evokes a varied range of impressions as to what that really means, looks like, and how it plays out in real life. At first glance, the seemingly incongruous servant leadership concept appears especially contrary in business settings or military circles where typically bosses lead, employees serve.
Transformational leaders help people understand the purpose, objectives and values of an organization by articulating a clear and appealing vision. From both a practical and biblical perspective, transformational leadership inspires, develops and empowers followers; it also hones our leadership skills so we become better leaders.
In my thirty years on active duty, I witnessed phenomenal leaders who inspired, encouraged, and built teams that accomplished great things. Sad to say, I’ve also seen those who used their positions to advance their own agendas, bully others, and feed their own egos—always at the cost of those around them.
We reached out to two OCF small group leaders, LTC Tom Matelski, USA, and Lt Col Jim Wamhoff, USAF, and asked them to share their insights on starting and effectively leading a small group.
Just like the silly banana-eating Minions, each of us was created with an innate desire to belong to a community in fellowship. It’s not just a group of people with similar interests, but a body of believers united for a common purpose.
If you want the best example of fellowship, we have to look no further than God, who is the author and definer of fellowship.
OCF has provided transitory military Christians with two static places—Spring Canyon in Colorado and White Sulphur Springs in Pennsylvania—for abundant opportunities of Christ-centered fellowship, programs and fun. The ideal end result: being equipped to reach others for Christ throughout the military society—and form lifetime friendships.
As a relational ministry where genuine biblical fellowship is essential for spiritual growth and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, the very heart of the ministry of Officers’ Christian Fellowship remains small group fellowships.
In preparation for our move, I found myself wondering what our new neighbors would be like. OK, I was obsessing over it. We have grown to love the people we live next to, and trying to imagine unfriendly neighbors peering at us while grilling out on the deck was making my stomach hurt.
We leaders often cope with stress by trying to survive our wounding rather than allow God to heal and refresh us to fully live. God doesn’t want us to simply survive. God’s mission field, after all, is your heart and mine.
We live in a hurting world of people desperate for answers. As a Christian, you already have the answer—Christ in your heart. If you have successfully guarded your face, heart and mind, when uncertainty strikes those you lead will look to you and find comfort and confidence. And they will also be curious about the source of your peace.
Army CWO2 Sheldon Duffy and his wife, Salena, share their story of Sheldon’s near-death experience with leukemia and how they endured the trials and uncertainties of not knowing if he would survive.
If you want to be the Christian military leader God has called you to be, I believe a must-have is a strong support system that loves, supports, and sustains you.
Like you, my husband, Steve, and I know what it’s like for our marriage to have to go into survival mode during extended periods of separation. We know the pressure of caring for children in the midst of huge transitions. We know the challenge of supporting each other when our own personal resources are depleted.
When PCSing, the most common strategies teens use with one another involve simple avoidance, picking a fight to create distance so it’s easier to leave, disconnecting through moodiness or hyperactivity, or adopting the “It’s all cool” act. This is why we need to build a RAFT.
It’s incredibly important, yet challenging, that as you run your race in uniform for Christ, to keep His light in your heart burning brightly for others to see.
by Colonel Larry and Bobbie Simpson, USAF (Ret.) “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back into its place;
The chain of command—everybody has one. Everybody knows where they are in that chain, and it honestly clarifies and simplifies your life as a military member.
Men have a lot in common with wolves. We mark our territory, strut in front of females, and bristle in the presence of another alpha male.
Only by trusting God and His plan for our lives can we lead courageously in our duty as both officers and Christians. It’s time to build a strategy that calculates the risks of leadership minefields and faces them with a moral courage that matches the bravery of those we lead on the battlefield.
The Four Chaplains, also referred to as the "Immortal Chaplains" or the "Dorchester Chaplains," were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other civilian and military personnel as the troop ship USAT Dorchester sank on February 3, 1943, during World War II. They helped other soldiers board lifeboats and gave up their own life jackets when the supply ran out.
Outwit, Outplay and Outlast? My wish for you this Christmas season is instead that you “Out Love and Out Give."
The heartbeat of OCF is the small group fellowship, over 360 of them occurring throughout our nation and across the globe, including New Zealand, Korea and Norway.
Before Army ROTC cadets can be commissioned as second lieutenants, they must successfully complete what is now known as the Leader Development and Assessment Course (LDAC), a training event developing their leadership skills while evaluating their officer potential. Once held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, LDAC —Warrior Forge—now takes place at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Given the description in Ephesians 6 of the spiritual battle raging around us, what can we do to prepare for the moral ambushes upon us from the enemy and avoid becoming a spiritual casualty? This article explores 6 tactics to help you avoid becoming a spiritual casualty.
Don’t you love it when the Lord reveals something new through His Word? I have read Matthew many times. And I’ll admit that I usually skim past the genealogy to get to the “meat” proclaiming the birth, life and good news about our Savior. Recently, however, my eyes were opened to two truths that penetrated my heart, ensuring that I will never again fast forward past these verses and forever ponder my lineage and legacy.
Marriage is hard enough for the everyday civilian. But add in the unique challenges of deployments, frequent moves, and high-pressure situations, and it’s no wonder military marriages are under stress.
Since warfare in and of itself is ultimately the warfare of our soul and spirit, we have the choice of allowing our healing to proceed through our spiritual maturation instead of succumbing to substance abuse to mask problems. Ultimately our ability to be healed, or at least cope with our issues, is based upon spiritual healing.
Do you see others as the Lord sees them, as diamonds waiting to be set free to achieve their full potential? Steward leadership is taking care of the people who have been “given” to you, developing their full potential, and earning you those wonderful words from the ultimate Steward Leader, “Well done thy good and faithful servant.”
The following short story was written by OCF member MAJ Mario Miglietta, USA. It is based on a story told during an OCF Bible study that he attends. A person in the Bible study told of a Soldier from his battalion who had fallen on hard times, but who found encouragement and hope from a letter he received from his little sister. Mario says he was inspired by that story and wrote about what the Soldier had gone through—"how I imagined the story evolved."
For seven decades the living waters of Jesus Christ have flowed forth, from the heart of the ministry of Officers’ Christian Fellowship—innumerable men and women making a kingdom difference by living, loving and working with others throughout the military society.
How do others see you fulfilling your dual commissions? Do they see a leader who cares for them with the heart of Jesus, who is humble, grace-filled and selfless, and who ultimately serves the One and only Lord? As you serve your nation and serve your Lord, you will have ample opportunities to shine the Light of Christ through your love and service to others.
When commissioned at an OCF bar-pinning ceremony twenty years ago, I was ready to take on the world, but acutely aware I knew little about leadership and military service! Through mistakes and the Lord’s patient refinement, I learned that the Bible is the greatest leadership manual ever written, but we must apply its timeless truths to the circumstances of our lives.
Not many of us give much thought to that question on a daily basis. And truthfully, some days I may not really want to know the answer. But knowing how the Lord sees us is something we must consider because the answer dramatically affects our calling.
Congratulations on your commission! As you embark on the next phase of your journey, let me recommend competence, courage, and commitment as keys to your blueprint for successfully integrating faith and profession as military leaders.
