[…]those who serve. Those most effective in that role are those who put others’ interests ahead of their own and put their trust in the Lord. By doing so, they exemplify the service’s core values of Honor, Respect, and Devotion to duty, and become true servant leaders. The Coast Guard core values cited above are simple yet godly. Honor and high integrity should be considered synonymous. Integrity is a critical ingredient in any leader. The dictionary defines integrity as soundness or completeness. Christian leaders know they can only be complete in Christ; they must keep their eyes on Him whom […]
[…]maybe a “brown bag” study during the lunch hour will help. Most often, studying a book of the Bible works best. You can quickly learn (as a group) how to conduct an inductive study of one of the books of the Bible. Start with an easy one that is not too theologically challenging or too long-like one of the Gospels. Sometimes there is a topic of immediate interest that warrants searching the Scriptures to see what the Bible says. Here are some other potentially helpful resources. Once Established 1. Connect. Let the OCF Home Office (303-761-1984) know you have a […]
[…]like him, but I always dreamed of being as strong and bold and fast and cool as Superman was. Most of the time, I felt like the dorky Clark Kent instead, but the boy in me longed to be Superman. For the majority of my childhood, I felt like a weak little pip-squeak with nerdy glasses, but sometimes I would put my “blanky” around my neck and run around the house like Superman. I loved having fun like that. But then I got older. I stopped using my imagination. I let the pressures of “maturity” form me into who “they” […]
[…]Laura was almost three and Beki was then nine month old. Other mothers had shared with me some of the pitfalls they’d been through. Their advice was to prepare for the fact that our baby wouldn’t even know her daddy when he returned. She’s just too young to remember, they warned. Don’t expect too much, another said. It’ll take time, but they’ll start all over again. With that advice, I purposed in my heart to be different. I would do all I could to give my girls a sense of having a father, even if he wasn’t with them for […]
[…]of war apply to Christian living? When I learned these principles in Air War College, I found all of them in the Bible. Later I applied them to Christian living. The military definition of Unity of Command (UOC) is: “For every objective, one person is responsible for war-fighting decisions.” 1 Our military has a Commander-In-Chief (CINC), the President of the United States. As CINC, he is ultimately responsible for war-fighting decisions. However, he does not personally make all war-fighting decisions. He delegates decision-making down through the chain of command; this is called centralized control with de-centralized execution. The theory is […]
[…]officer training program, and for those he recently commissioned who are serving in combat zones of the war on terrorism. An infantry platoon leader fighting in Iraq devotes his daily devotions to pray for the men in his platoon that they may have divine protection and be spared from injury or death. Both pray that the Holy Spirit will speak to the hearts of those they mentor and lead to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Common Ground Both of these leaders recognize that they are fighting both a physical foe and a spiritual enemy. As one officer […]
by Col James R. Downey, USAFR (Ret.) When I was on the faculty of the Army War College one of my favorite questions to ask of visiting senior leaders, especially general officers, was “What are you reading right now?” That open-ended inquiry was usually quite telling as to how engaged those leaders were in their own continuing growth and professional development. Those who said they were too busy to read had let the tyranny of the urgent capture them. The ones who were engaged impressed me with the breadth and depth of what they were reading. Some even suggested that […]
