I stopped by the chapel yesterday to put my feet up and rest. While I was sitting in the couch area in the back of the chapel, I was looking through some of the books on the table. I picked up a Prayer Point magazine from Samirtan’s Purse. (I think it was the February 2008 edition.)
In the back of the magazine was an article by E.M. Bounds. Titled “Prayer and Vigilance”. At the bottom of the article Prayer Point added this bio:
Edward McKendree Bounds (1835-1913) practiced law in Missouri until he felt called to the Gospel ministry at age 24. After serving as a chaplain in the Civil War, he pastored churches in Tennessee, Missouri, and Alabama. He typically arose at four in the moring to spend at least three hours in prayer. This article is taken from his book “The Necessity of Prayer.”
This struck me as VERY significant. One of the great teachers of Prayer, was an Army Chaplain. There are others–Oswald Chambers, YMCA Chaplain during World war I. DL Moody, Civil War chaplain. These three are spiritual greats. Preachers that have been shaped to some degree by the terrors of war and the interaction with the warriors.Â
This leads to several questions:
What kind of Chaplain were they?Â
How did these Greats do ministry?Â
Were they spiritual powerhouses that became Chaplains?
Or were did they become powerhouses as a result?
What does that say to me as a Chaplain? How is this experience going to change me? How are we affecting the next generation of christian through the chaplaincy? What are we doing as Chaplains to grow in our Chrstian walk? How can we communicate to the Christian community the opportunities that can be afforded by serving some time as an Army Chaplain?
By the way, if your interested in becoming an Army Chaplain contact goarmy.com/chaplain or drop me an email–people do this from time to time, I’ll be happy to answer any question that I have answers to.
[…] This post is an edited reprint of a post from April 2008 titled “Great Cloud of Witnesses“ […]