Roots by the River

In October of my sophomore year at the Naval Academy, I passed from death to life. I had just turned twenty years old. Eighteen months later, my life began to have an effect on my classmates and those both junior and senior to me. This continued for the next seven years while I was on active duty in the Navy and ever since in civilian life. During my seventy-three years as a Christian, I have seen men turn to Christ and experience the joy of having their sins forgiven. I have also seen the harassment they get because of Jesus Christ. Some of them came through the persecution, and some of them caved. What happened in the cities in the Book of Acts happens to every new Christian. It is “revival and riot” on an individual level all over the world. Jesus prepared us for this beforehand. “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They w

“What advice can you give for Christian military couples preparing for deployment? What are the most needed things for them to focus on while the husband is deployed?” Here are five things to focus on, in order of priority. 1.      The husband and wife should be in the Word daily , perhaps on the same texts. Write down your blessings from the texts. 2.      The husband and wife must keep short accounts with the Lord and with each other (confession of sin). 3.      Even if mail or email is not able to go out daily, the husband must write to his wife daily —even if it is just two sentences. Send the messages when you can. (If you are in a position to call her, do that when you can.) Do not write about the danger. The wife should write all kinds of news about herself and the kids. Do not write about problems, except to ask for decisions, wisdom, and prayer. 4.      Husbands should regularly write separate notes to each of the children. This is very important, regardless how youn