Chief Master SGT Paul Koester, Ret
58th Pararescue Squadron – Nellis AFB, NV
“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” ~JESUS
Hi Men:
I pray your week has been a blessing. Question: Have you been serious regarding the Lord’s Business this past week? If so, how? If not, why not?
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PHOTO ABOVE
I had the privilege of knowing Chief Paul Koester during my years as a Scoutmaster. As mentioned in past Friday letters, our troop had an amazing relationship with Nellis AFB, the largest tactical air force base in the world. Chief Koester was part of the pararescue squadron, commonly known as the “PJ’s.” Many have said, “The PJ’s endure some of the toughest training offered in the U.S. military.” I attended a sales conference years back, and the platform speaker was an admiral of the U.S. Navy Seals. He told me afterwards that the PJ’s are the best kept secret of the U.S. Military. By the way, Paul and I stayed in touch. He sent me the photo above from Bagram in 2005. He was holding his Wood Badge beads (advanced adult leader training in the Boy Scouts) attached to his dog tags. Chief Koester retired in 2015 after 41 years of active service. He was the longest serving pararescue airman in history. He now lives in Bozeman, MT.
A few days ago, Lee Yih and I were talking about the military and comparing it with our Christian walk. We have a call to be ever watchful and prepared. We must not be ashamed to stand firm in our beliefs and proclaim the GOSPEL, even in the face of a world that is more and more resistant and hostile. Once again, as Jesus said in Mark 8:38, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
These are our marching orders: to stand strong, remain vigilant, act like men, proclaim His Word and be His soldiers ready for the spiritual battles we WILL face.
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IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Meet Mario and Ageo originally from Guatemala. Once a year, whether they need it or not, I have my outside windows cleaned. Last Friday Mario and Ageo arrived. It was a first for them at our house, so I gave them the 30 second tour of what needed to be done. They were super nice guys. As you can guess, I got equipped with all my spiritual gear and tip money. As they were finishing up and putting their equipment away, they asked about the horses. I asked if they would like to walk out back and see them. They were super excited. While visiting the horses I said I have something for you. I asked if they were on a time schedule and they said I was there last job….. PERFECT!
I had their rapt attention and went through ALL the materials (Steps To Peace With God, Million Dollar Gospel of John, Are You a Good Person? – both in English and Spanish and a Gospel tract in Spanish). They were both committed to go through them with their wives. Ageo was age 40 and I pointed out the tree in my backyard where I surrendered my life to Jesus also at age 40. Mario shared that he loves to watch movies and has a special app that makes it simple. I asked if he had ever heard of the Chosen. He said no, but found Season 1, 2 & 3 with Spanish subtitles. He was really excited to start watching them.
What a great afternoon with these two guys. They were so grateful for all the materials and said they would email me if they had questions (you may remember, my email is on the back of the tract).
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Onward Christian Soldiers,
Dan
“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” – 2 Tim 2:3
Men:
“Certain people influenced you in your quest to grow in the Christian life. Those who gladly place their lives in harm’s way for the sake of the gospel are the ones you want to follow.”
Followers of Us – Day 158 Red Book
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically
Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”
WORTH REPEATING
The day you choose to become proactively engaged in winning the lost and discipling the saved, the war with the Enemy heats up. Go ahead, attend church, sing in the choir; attend religious programs. No problem, because you are of little if any threat to the Enemy. He’s more than happy to keep you busy with religious activities. As an evangelist and discipler, you are entering a spiritual battle with the arch enemy of your soul. So brace yourself for his vicious attacks.” Dwight Hill – Discipler of Men
Become a Transformative Ambassador
Paul Tripp
“He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Cor 5:15,17)
God is intent on owning our hearts unchallenged. He is not satisfied with a bit of theological knowledge or participation in church activity. His goal is that our lives would be shaped by our worship of him and nothing else.
Make sure you read the Full Article Here (3 min)
Is the Bible Reliable?
Men:
Check out these (2) paragraphs on Manuscript Evidence
Notice how no other ancient book’s text is questioned or maligned like that of the Bible. For instance, Aristotle’s Ode to Poetics was written between 384 and 322 BC. The earliest copy of this work is dated AD 1100, and there are only 49 extant manuscripts. The gap between the original writing and the earliest copy is about 1400 years. There are only 7 extant manuscripts of Plato’s Tetralogies, written 427 – 347 BC. The earliest copy is AD 900 – a gap of over 1200 years. What about the New Testament? Jesus was crucified in AD 30. The New Testament was written between AD 48 and 95. The oldest manuscripts date to the last quarter of the 1st century and the second oldest AD 125. This gives us a narrow gap of 35 to 40 years from the originals written by the apostles.
From the early centuries, we have some 5,300 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Altogether, including Syriac, Latin, Coptic, and Aramaic, we have a whopping 24,633 text of the ancient New Testament to confirm the wording of the scriptures. So the bottom line is, there was no great period between the events of the New Testament and the New Testament writings. Nor is there great the time lapse between the original writings and the older copies. With the great body of manuscript evidence, it can be proved beyond a doubt that the New Testament says exactly the same things today as it originally did nearly 2000 years ago.
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Read the Whole Article Here
Men:
Yesterday we recognized the 80th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy. If you read the Manuscript Evidence for the Bible above, I thought you might like Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s quote regarding the Bible below.
“The Bible is endorsed by all the ages. Our civilization is build upon it’s words. In no other Book is there such a collection of inspired wisdom, reality and hope.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
What Are You Holding On To?
