This week we've been talking with our guest contributor and new executive pastor, Kevin Weaver. Today we celebrate the independence of our nation. Interestingly enough, Kevin has served in the armed forces.
Kevin, tell us about your service in the armed forces.
I served in the U.S. Air Force from 1982-1987 and was stationed in the Republic of Panama for the entire duration of my active duty experience. It really was a fantastic experience and a time where God confirmed my call into full time ministry. It was also during this time that I not only learned what it meant to serve my country in a capacity which required sacrifices, but I also learned what it meant to really care and reach people who didn't know Christ. In fact, I think that's what I enjoyed the most about being in the military...being around people and sharing my faith with them in creative ways. Especially in times when we were put in harms way. Trust me, in that environment, you have to be very creative and genuinely love the people that you are trying to reach and stay focused on the true meaning of what life is all about.
What can we as a church and civilians do for our servicemen and women?
I know that it may sound like a pastoral answer but the best thing we can do is pray, and I mean really pray. I can't tell you how many times I was in harms way or going through a difficult time when God's grace would meet me and strengthen me for the task, only to discover later that people where praying for me. God has a very unique way of showing Himself and proving Himself faithful in times like this and because of the dynamic and the depth of relationships that so naturally occur in the armed forces. He certainly does this best through passionate believers serving alongside those who are need of Jesus. One other thing I might add is that people shouldn't be afraid to write to our solders, seaman, and airman. I've talked to so many folks who have told me that they know someone serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, or in some other part of the world and they've never written them because that didn't think that it was a big deal. They didn't think that it would mean that much to the one receiving it. But, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, this is how I discovered that people were praying for me! It's amazing how a letter from home can be such a gift.
July 4th is all about freedom. How do you define freedom?
Wow! that is a really great question, and one that I believe leads to so many different opinions. It seems that many in America today think that freedom is something that empowers us to choose what we want, and that we literally have a right do whatever we think is best. I don't believe that is what the framers of our country had in mind on that hot summer day in Philadelphia, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence. More importantly, it certainly is not what Jesus had in mind when He gave His life for us on that dreadful Friday afternoon. It seems to me that the meaning of freedom is not the right to do what I want. When I get involved in those kinds of decisions, my flesh has a tendency to overshadow all reason and I find myself leaning to carnality. So, what I consider to be a great freedom is, many times, in reality bondage dressed up in Sunday clothes. The apostle Paul said it this way in his letter to the Romans; "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey -- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness." I guess you might say that this very passage has really helped me to form my idea of freedom. I'll sum it up: Freedom is not right to do what I want, but rather it is the power and ability to do what is right. It is the power given to us by God's grace to be obedient to Him which leads us in the opposite direction of our flesh. That's true freedom...freedom from our destructive selves. That's the freedom that Jesus won for us when He conquered death!
