The Cost of War

by Barbara Latta

As we honor our fallen heroes, taking a look at the numbers gives us a mental picture of the cost of

The cost of war

war. These paid the ultimate price to buy our freedom, protect that freedom from being taken, and to fight for those who couldn’t defend themselves. Many others paid a different price by coming home wounded and scarred or suffering from PTSD. We have lost too many to suicide because the experiences of the battlefield continued to haunt their minds.

Also, hundreds were missing in action and never found. The search continues to bring their remains home. Others were tortured and suffered tremendously in prisoner of war camps.

Remember each number in these statistics represents a person; a person who left grieving family members behind and who gave their all for their country.

Revolutionary War – Estimates of 25,000; 8,000 from battle and 17,000 from disease. George Washington’s decision to inoculate his troops against smallpox saved thousands.
Civil War - More than 600,000. This was the costliest war ever fought by Americans.

War of 1812 – 2,260 in battle, 15,000 from disease.

Spanish-American War – 3,289 of which 260 were on the USS Maine. The sinking of this ship started the war.

World War I – 116,516

World War II – 405,399

Korean Conflict – 36,574 (Congress hasn’t declared war since World War II so anything after that time is considered a conflict. However, ask those who fought. I’m sure they consider these times a war.)

Vietnam Conflict – 58,220

Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm – 293

Operation Iraqi Freedom – 4,422

Operation New Dawn – 66

Operation Enduring Freedom – 2,355

Operation Inherent Resolve – 7

Operation Freedom’s Sentinel – 3

Vietnam Memorial

We are still engaged in a battle against terrorism and these numbers continue to climb.

May we never forget the cost of what we have in our country and to thank those who are protecting us. America has been blessed by God because our roots were founded in His Word.  

If you would like to remember someone here, please leave a comment below.

Good-bye for Now

by Barbara Latta

Once again we say good-bye to another family member. My husband's Aunt Mila went to be with

Mila Burns with her great-granddaughter

Jesus on May 14, 2016. She will be remembered for her sweet spirit and kind words she had for everyone.

She raised three children to know the Lord and was a light to all of us. We will miss her.

This tribute is in her memory but also to remind us all that we are only here for a short time. We need to make the most of our time on the earth and use it to glorify God.

She had requested Lamentations 3:24 be read at her service. Her son, a pastor, read, "The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him."

May we all live our lives with our hope in Him and glorify His name in life and in death.

Don't Let Your Life Wallow in Regret

by Barbara Latta

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14).

Don't wallow in regret from wrong choices

I have never met anyone who is perfectly satisfied with the choices they have made in life. Most of us are wandering through life wallowing in regret because we didn’t set goals, follow ideas, help more people, or try to remedy hurts. One thing I struggle with is wishing a writing career would have started earlier for me. 

While I rejoice at the success of my fellow writers, the fangs of regret try to sink into my soul with accusations of “Look at where you could be now,” “I’ll never get anything published,” or “I’m too old to start now.” But time is too precious to waste looking behind and wanting things to be different. I had to start somewhere or not start at all. Instead of looking at what I could have done, I have to look ahead to what I can do now.

Biblical Mothers Can Teach Us

by Barbara Latta

All of us who are mothers sometimes cringe when thinking back to things we have said or done with our children. None of us are perfect, but when we are focused on training our children in the fear of  of the Lord, God blesses our efforts. Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).

Biblical mothers can teach us

We can stand on this promise from God and have faith that He will fulfill His Word in our offspring. His Word also gives us examples of mothers who listened to God and others who didn’t. These biblical mothers can teach us from their lives and the consequences of their decisions, whether good or bad, are recorded for our benefit.

How Important are the Words We Speak?

by Barbara Latta

“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you

Our speech should be seasoned with salt.

ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:6 NKJV).

 Words are a natural part of our lives. It’s hard to imagine going through even one day without saying a single thing. That’s why it is so important to have good communication coming out of our mouths.  Most of us grew up hearing taunts spit at us by other children on the playground. The usual response would be “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” While that sounds like a clever retort, nothing could be further from the truth. 

A wound made by a stick or stone can heal and later is forgotten, but words can stab at our hearts leaving a painful opening in our soul. Wounded people wound others and this can cause us to form barriers against forming relationships and can cause violent responses when we hear words against us. We can apologize for thoughtless comments, but the hurtful words remain behind and can’t be taken back. Negative words bring negative circumstances.

 Jesus said in Mark 11:23 that we can have what we say. If we are constantly criticizing, complaining, and condemning we will get the fruit of those things in return. But if we will believe what the Bible says and use God’s words even in the face of storms and trials, we will reap a godly harvest.

 My thoughtless comments 
I have more instances than I care to remember where I have used words in the wrong way. A cynical comment in reply to my husband, impatient outbursts toward the children, or sassy retorts targeted at drivers or sales people all add up to deposits in the negative bank. 

One of my most recent faux pas happened during a trip with a church group. After our scenic tour of the mountains we stopped to eat at a local restaurant. At the end of our meal I chose a dessert, but when it was served it wasn’t what I had ordered. I let the waitress know in my “how dare you bring this to me” voice that it was wrong. It was such an unimportant thing that I let become something that hurt someone and especially hurt the image of the Christ who died for me. I know God forgave me, but I left behind some words I couldn’t take back. 

Conversation seasoning
How do we obey Colossians 4:6 with good seasoned conversation? 

Thinking—Philippians 4:8 tells us, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are

The words we speak matter.

lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things.” Our speech will reflect what has been going on in our minds.

Preparation—2 Timothy 4:2 tells us to preach the word and be ready in season and out of season. If God is our focus, His words are what we will speak.

Discipline—James 4:6 says our tongue can defile our body. Controlling our speech requires discipline, but if restraint is our goal we have completed the first step. It will take practice, but if we will start small by thinking before we open our mouths, we are on the road to successfully keeping our tongue under wraps. 

 When a sponge is dipped into liquid the material soaks up whatever it has been exposed to. You can’t suck up dirty water and squeeze out clean. You get whatever went in. We are sponges in our environment. If we constantly expose our minds to negative thinking, doubt, and violence, we cannot expect love, mercy, and compassion to come out when we are squeezed by circumstances. 

Wars have been started because of words. Peace has been accomplished through the spoken or written word. History has been altered because of rash, impulsive comments and treaties signed when control was exerted. This quote by Roy Williams says it all, “Words start wars and end them, create love and choke it, bring us to laughter and joy and tears. Words cause men and women to willingly risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Our world, as we know it, revolves on the power of words.” 

 

Our words should match God's Word.

Speak over yourself--Not only do we need to watch our words to others, we need to speak positively over ourselves. Constantly hearing our own mouth put ourselves down poisons our soul and our image of ourselves suffers. We start to doubt God’s power in our lives. Recording verses which use the phrase “in him” or “through Him” and meditating on these promises give us the image God has about us. We need to agree with His Word concerning our inheritance. When the promises are ingrained into our soul our behavior will reflect our beliefs and will spill over into relationships. We are less likely to have thoughtless outbursts about others, situations, or ourselves. 

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). If our hearts are right, our mouths will be too.

What are some ways words have affected your life? 

Culture Continues to Fall under Transgender Laws

by Barbara Latta

We have again as a society come to the place where a minority of the population is

New laws are forced on society.

controlling what the rest of us are required to tolerate. Because the gay, lesbian and transgender population want something and they scream the loudest the government caves because of fear. This time because of bathrooms.

The rest of us are forced to endure something whether we agree with it or not and we don’t stand against it; again because of fear.

Fear of retribution, fear of the ACLU, or fear of being called intolerant or homophobe.

Where does this stop?

Are we going to have to start caving to the demands of the pedophile because he says, “I was born this way and I can’t help it so I have the right to abuse your children?”

What about the thief? If he or she wants something that is not theirs, do they have the right to take it while the rest of society is forced to look the other way?

The lifestyle of homosexuals is clearly against God's design. It is sin the same way stealing, adultery,

Jesus came to save life.

lying, drug addiction, prostitution, and pedophilia are sins (Leviticus 20:13, I Timothy 3:1, Revelation 21:8). The penalty for these sins was death in the Old Testament, but because Jesus has now made the way for fellowship with God to be restored, we can be set free from sin. Jesus died in our place.

God condemns these actions because they destroy people’s lives. Jesus came to save life, not to destroy it.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).

We are all born with a sin nature and thus we have a propensity to commit sins. When a temptation comes and we give in to that voice over and over it becomes a stronghold in a person’s life. The reason someone says they were born gay or lesbian is because at some point in their life a demonic spirit drew them to a behavior and they gave in to it. Willpower will not overcome this lifestyle, so they do think they can’t help it.

Sin becomes a stronghold.

But God wouldn’t call something sin if there was no remedy for it. The blood of Jesus washes away every sin and makes someone a new person (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is the only way to turn away from any sin whether it is homosexuality, stealing, lying, gossip, or gluttony, etc.

God loves people. That is why He sent His Son to pay for the sins of the whole world. There is nothing that can’t be changed by Him.

God is calling people to come to Him for life. He is not against sinners. He is against what the sin does to individual’s lives.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” ( 2 Peter 3:9).

Will you receive His gift?

Images courtesy of Pixabay.com.

Determining the Difference Between Godly Anger and Destructive Anger

by Barbara Latta

Anger can be destructive.

The airwaves reverberate with news accounts of killing rampages in schools, parking lots, movie theatres, and homes. Interviewed witnesses react in surprise at the actions of the

perpetrator because problems are not evident to citizens. Authorities overlook warning signs that could have averted a disaster. Anger simmering under the surface went unnoticed until it was too late.

In other cases, the violence is evident in a person’s life and deeds, but nothing is done to subvert the results.

Godly Anger

When Jesus cleansed the temple of the moneychangers by driving them out with a whip, He was angry at the way His Father’s house was being treated. Greed was the motive behind the selling of animals, not the requirement of the sacrificial law. His anger was justified because He was not thinking of Himself; He was honoring His father.  He knew the corrupt hearts of those doing the selling. When Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:26, “In your anger, do not

sin,” this is the type of anger he was talking about. We need to keep a holy anger against sin, but not against the sinner.

Anger at injustice is godly if the anger is diverted into a good cause to fight the wrong. MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is an organization formed by parents who lost their children to drunk drivers. Rather than seek revenge, they sought to prevent others from experiencing the same hurt by making the public aware of the frequency of these tragedies and by seeking to keep intoxicated drivers off the road.

The Root

Whenever we feel anger it is because something inside us was triggered by an event or

Ungodly anger can grow into our soul.

spoken word which may have started out small, but over time escalates into volcanic reactions.

It’s hard to admit, but we become angry because something invaded self. Why is it such a

big deal to us when we get cut off in traffic? Because we are made less than valuable by a stranger who thought his or her right to our space on the pavement was theirs.  We feel unimportant and anger surges against the violator.

When children and youth are bullied at school they want vengeance against their tormentors. Crude comments and threats form feelings of unworthiness when they are compared to the offender. When the victim doesn’t value themselves, hurtful comments take root and become truth to their mind. Hurt people spend the rest of their lives becoming defensive as a way to protect from further pain. Angry outbursts and actions are the result.

The Solution

The solution is to recognize anger as a fruit growing from a deeper root and cut the connection off by knowing who we are in Christ.

If we know we are loved, and know we have been made worthy by the blood of Christ, then the root is not allowed to grow. Instead, the fruit of the Spirit can come out of us instead of the fruit of the flesh. The key here is to have divine revelation through spending time with the Father who loves us more than we can ever comprehend. The Holy Spirit teaches us

who we are in Christ and what our inheritance is. We are made valuable by the blood He shed and no matter how someone else treats us; another’s actions do not lessen our worth to Him.   Feelings of anger can still rise up, but learning we are not inadequate, unloved, or unworthy can override the emotions.

Peace comes when God controls us.

Realizing the actions of others are caused because they themselves do not feel valued can shine a new light on the situation. The responsibility of hurtful actions is not eliminated, but they can be understood. It is up to each one of us to become aware of our position in Christ and not determine our value by other’s opinions, treatment, or the circumstances of life.  But when we direct rage at someone because of what they did to us, it is really selfishness because we feel our rights have been violated in some way. The tragedies we hear about today happen because a seed of anger was allowed to grow in a person’s life for a period of time.

No matter how big or small the circumstance is, recognizing and replacing the source of anger with God’s opinion will disintegrate the root before it can grow.

“Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9 NKJV).

What are some ways you can share that help to control the wrong kind of anger? Have you had an incidence where you have used godly anger to right a wrong? Share your thoughts.