Month: March 2023

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Baby Steps

Whenever I take on a new activity, start playing a new game, or dig into researching a new topic, my natural desire is that I want to be good at it immediately. This is true whether playing Settlers of Catan the first time, taking trumpet lessons as a kid, or deciding later in life to get into table tennis. The problem is that learning any new skill, art, or subject matter takes time, even for those who seem to be naturally gifted. Some people pick up new skills rather quickly, while others take a bit longer.

This dynamic plays out at our house over and over again. We’ll hear about a new game from our kids or friends; we’ll buy the game and start playing it; my wife will catch on really fast and win the game every single time we play; I get discouraged and never want to play it again. But then I begin to understand the strategies, and start winning once in a while.

The same may be true for new believers. When we’re just getting started in the life of faith, we might not be very good at it yet. We continue in some of our old ways, making a few too many errors, and then we get discouraged and want to quit. But don’t give up, and don’t throw in the towel just yet, my friend. There’s hope for you. In the case of a butterfly, the goal at the start is to be a good egg. Being a good caterpillar will happen later. Eventually, you’ll have a chance at being a great butterfly.

The first noticeable change that happens to a butterfly egg is that a few days after being deposited, it starts to change color.

Many eggs start out light colored like an off-white to a yellow color then change to a dark color or black before the caterpillar comes out. Most caterpillars hatch out of the eggs in 3-7 days. It can vary depending on species and other conditions.

Green or blue eggs may also turn gradually darker, and if you were to look at the eggs through a microscope at just the right time, you’d be able to see the tiny caterpillars starting to develop.

The butterfly life cycle is one of complete transformation . . . in every stage . . . in every part of every stage . . . all the way to the end of its existence. It never stays the same. It’s always changing in some way. Sometimes the changes are easily observable. But sometimes you might not even know the change is happening because it’s subtle . . . or invisible.

This is helpful for us to keep in mind as disciples of Jesus Christ. Change takes time. Learning is incremental. Like Bill Murray’s character in the movie What About Bob, we start with baby steps.

So hang in there. Don’t give up the faith or let go of your commitment to Christ. Don’t quit the church. It may be that the changes are happening at the invisible level right now, and in just a few days you’ll be ready to hatch and become a caterpillar. And then a whole new existence begins.

As the apostle writes in 2 Corinthians 3:18, We all are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory. First steps are always tricky for butterflies, puppies, and people.

The above is an excerpt from my book Butterfly Believers, which can be found on Amazon.com or on this website.

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Qualifications for Military Chaplaincy

As the officer in charge of Army chaplain recruiting at Fort Knox, KY, I met a lot of pastors, priests, rabbis, imams, evangelists, theology students, and seminary professors who inquired about becoming a chaplain. Most of them were good people, effective in service and ministry in their congregations and organizations. Many of them applied and were accepted. Some of them, however, didn’t meet all the criteria. Therefore, it’s important to understand what is required.

A phone call came from the pastor of a large church on the West Coast, who felt the Lord was calling him to become a military chaplain. He wanted to know how long it would take to get in, so he could notify his church board. After getting acquainted a bit, I started asking him about his qualifications. He had more than eight years full-time ministry experience, was in pretty good physical shape, with no criminal history or use of drugs. It was looking like he might be a great applicant for the military chaplaincy . . . until he was asked about his education.

“What do you mean I have to have a Master of Divinity? I have a B.A. in Theology & Ministry from a great university, and I got an A in every single class, and the Lord is calling me to become a chaplain NOW. I don’t want to go back to school.”

“Well, brother, sounds like you’re a great pastor, but you’re just not qualified without an M.Div. If the Lord is calling you, then you need to obey, and the first step is to get into seminary and complete the degree.”

His anger took over from there, and the rest of the call wasn’t very pleasant. Apparently, he had gotten into some sort of trouble, and needed to leave his church immediately. Going into the military would have been a perfect “out.”

A few weeks later, I got a call came from another pastor who felt called to the chaplaincy. When she was told there was an age limit, she asked, “But I heard I could get an age waiver. Can’t I get an exception from the Chief of Chaplains since I’m a bit over the cut-off?”

“Well, ma’am, the current guidelines from the Office of the Chief of Chaplains says he’ll consider age waivers up to forty-six years of age if you have prior military experience, but you’re already fifty with no previous time in service, and though you seem like a fantastic minister of the gospel, there’s no way you can begin a military career at age fifty.”

“Oh, I see.”

There are seven qualifications for every applicant who desires to become a military chaplain: Education, Citizenship, Ministry Experience, Security/Background Check, Medical Exam, Ordination, and Physical Fitness. Every one of these is also a potential disqualifier, which means as far as the military is concerned, it doesn’t matter how good a preacher or counselor you are, if you don’t have all seven qualifications, you’re not going to be a chaplain in the military.

The three military Chiefs of Chaplains have the authority to grant waivers or exceptions for faith groups that have a shortage of chaplains, but those faith groups tend to be Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Muslim. The rest of us need to make sure we understand and match up in all seven ways.

If you’ve done what it takes to fulfill all the qualifications, if you are a good minister who likes people, and if you’re sure this is the direction you’re called to go, chances are, you’re going to fit in really well, make some great friendships, and have a dynamic and effective ministry career.

For a complete understanding of what it’s like to be a chaplain in the Army, Air Force, or the Navy, take a look at the book Military Ministry: Chaplains in the Twenty-First Century. Click on the Books tab above to read more about it.

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Unity in Diversity

There hadn’t been a chaplain at Camp Echo during the three years before I arrived, but now that people were being wounded and some were dying, our leaders decided to send a chaplain. My job was to build a religious program from scratch, take care of the spiritual needs of the people, and provide a “ministry of presence.” To do that, I needed a ministry team. I already had four congregations of prayer partners back in the States. Now I needed “boots on the ground” partners.

My first day at the FOB, somebody told me there was a civilian worker on post who was a pastor before the war. A Baptist preacher from North Carolina, James had been leading a Bible study every Sunday morning for the past year. In essence, he had been the only pastoral presence for the people at Camp Echo.

James worked the night shift, so on Friday night, the day after I arrived, I went looking for him and found him in his office around eleven p.m. A forty-two-year-old African American, he was a trim five-foot-nine with a ready smile, slight mustache, and graying goatee. He had a gold front tooth, which sometimes gleamed and sometimes was dark, depending on the lighting.

When I walked into his office, he was sitting at his desk. In front of him were two computers, a stack of paperback Bibles, water bottle, calculator, flashlight, thesaurus, telephone, and a fly swatter: things he considered essential. He wore a blue hoodie. I never saw him without that on, no matter how hot it was. He was indeed an ordained Baptist minister, and had heard that a “real chaplain” was coming.

When he saw that I was the new chaplain, he looked at me and grinned, flashing that gold tooth, but he was serious. The first words I heard him say were, “You gonna fire me since you’re a real chaplain an’ I’m not?”

I’ve read a lot of books and articles on various leadership styles and principles, and could easily make a case for asking James to step away from his previous role in the chapel program. It’s a common practice, for example, to bring in an entirely different team when a new leader arrives. Another issue is that a lot of pastors and chaplains want to do all the ministry: preaching, teaching the Bible study, praying for people, and visiting the sick.

But I know how important it is for all God’s people to be involved in ministry. Plus, I had a good feeling about the man, and I wanted to honor him for his faithfulness over the past year of leading the Bible study and praying for people.

So I said, “Pastor James, I have no intention of firing you. You were here ministering when there was no chaplain. Chances are, you might be here after I’m gone. How would you feel about us working together as co-pastors?”

When I called him Pastor James, his eyes opened big and he got excited. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious. There’s plenty to do. You already know everybody on post. You’ve been doing the job of pastor when nobody else was here. Perhaps you could show me around and introduce me to people in the various offices and sections.”

“I can do that,” James offered.

 “And if the war continues, there might be times I have to be at the clinic or visiting another FOB when it’s time for church. I think it’s better if we worked as a team. What do you say? I could use your help.”

“I like that plan,” he said.

When I held out my hand to shake his, he threw his arms around me for a long hug, instead. “What about this Sunday morning?” he asked.

“Why don’t you plan and lead the worship service, and then introduce me as the new chaplain, and I’ll preach,” I suggested. “At the end of the worship service, we’ll serve communion side by side.”

“That’ll work.”

“Then we’ll take it week by week,” I continued. “There’s a lot to do, and we can accomplish more if we work together.”

“Gotta deal.” He showed off that gold tooth again.

The differences between us were obvious: different denominations, different personalities, different spiritual gifts, different skin color, and more. But the fact that we worked together, supported one another, and honored each other had an immediate impact on the people at Camp Echo. Just as important, it seemed the Lord was pleased with the way we handled things, and he blessed our efforts from day one.

The decision to have Pastor James stay involved in the chapel program was a winner. There was a continuity that we were able to build on, and a unity that paved the way for the presence of God and the power of God to be experienced in ways we couldn’t have imagined.

This is an excerpt from the book Safest Place in Iraq. The book won first place gold at the Florida Writers Association’s Royal Palm Literary Awards as well as the first place Peach Award at the North Georgia Christian Writers Conference.

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Counting the Cost

The average female butterfly will deposit from one hundred to three hundred eggs, some will produce as few as a dozen, and others more than a thousand. Some butterflies will place the eggs on the leaf one at a time. Others will deposit a group or a cluster of eggs, stacking them neatly, one on top of another. Still others will release a mass of eggs in a pile. Whatever method the butterfly uses, she will glue them onto the leaf, stem, or flower to make sure they won’t come off. The glue is so strong that it’s impossible to remove the egg without destroying the creature inside.

There are two similarities to Butterfly Believers I’d like to point out here. First, in the same way some eggs are laid one at a time and others are piled or grouped in a mass, some people come to faith in Christ individually while others are part of a large gathering where there may be hundreds who respond to the gospel at the same time.

The other similarity has to do with the church or fellowship we choose to attend. Some people live in a place where there is no church or congregation, so they worship, read the scriptures, and pray all by themselves. Many people around the world attend small churches of anywhere from ten people to fifty or sixty. And a lot of people prefer what may be called a megachurch, which may have hundreds or thousands gathering at the same time and place.

I met one man who dreamed that he met Jesus. That dream led him to “count the cost” and commit his life to Christ, even though he lived in a place where there was serious persecution. The expression “count the cost” comes from Luke 14:28, where Jesus said to a large crowd:

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it? Later, when talking to his disciples, he told them, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny the self, take up his or her cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24).

I was six years old when my mother took our family to a camp meeting in a revival tent. Listening to the preacher, I understood for the first time that Jesus went to the cross for my sins. I turned to my brother and said, “I’m going up to get saved,” and he replied, “Me too!” We ran up the center aisle, around to the wooden benches behind the platform, and knelt until someone came and prayed with us. I don’t remember if there was anyone else praying to receive Christ as Lord and Savior that night, but there were at least two of us.

Years later, I attended several Billy Graham rallies in huge stadiums. When Dr. Graham gave a salvation altar call, literally hundreds of people left their seats, found their way to the ball field below, and en masse, committed their lives to Jesus Christ. It was an individual decision each person had to make, but it happened in a much larger setting than my boyhood experience or the man who had the dream.

There are many ways to come to and participate in the body of Christ. Size or numbers isn’t the point. What matters is devotion to the Lord, growing in your faith, and recognizing that you are part of the family of God.

This is an excerpt from the book, Butterfly Believers, a collection of devotional readings based on Romans 12:2 and butterfly metamorphosis. Paul Linzey is a former pastor & military chaplain, now teaching Spiritual Formation and Practical Ministry at Called College & North Central University.

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