Terrorists Who Suck

Let's see...when we began the war on terror, the stated intent was to enable states oppressed by regimes that sponsored terrorism to defend themselves and remove the terrorist threat. Despite Harry "I'm A Loser" Reid's proclamations to the contrary, we are making giant strides toward realizing that goal. In the latest example, Afghan National Army troops were aided by US Special Forces and air support to help 24 bad guys assume room temperature. Here are the details.


Title:
ANA AND US SPECIAL FORCES PUMMEL TALIBAN FIGHTERS IN SANGIN
Release Date:
4/19/2007
Release Number:
07-01-03P
Description:
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Four Taliban fighters attacked a combined Afghan National Army and Coalition forces combat patrol in the northeast corner of the Sangin District area, Helmand Province, with small arms fire just before nightfall yesterday.
1st Kandak, 209th ANA Corps soldiers combat advised by U.S. Special Forces, quickly identified the enemy threat and begin engaging with direct and indirect fire. ANA and Coalition forces later detained three Taliban fighters after conducting a search of the enemy position.
The combined ANA and Coalition forces then received intelligence about enemy activity involving an estimated 40 Taliban fighters.
After maneuvering to gain contact with the enemy force, U.S. Special Forces requested Coalition air support to engage the Taliban fighters as they were attempting to establish ambush positions.
Approximately 24 Taliban fighters were killed and four vehicles destroyed during the prolonged seven-hour battle. Two Coalition forces members were wounded during the engagement and were medically evacuated to a nearby treatment facility. They were treated for their minor injuries and are listed in stable condition.
There were no injuries to Afghan civilians reported. “Afghan National Army and Coalition forces have broken the spirit of the Taliban fighters in Sangin District,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force- 82 spokesperson. “The Afghan populace, ANA, and Coalition forces will no longer tolerate heavy-handed and terrorist tactics from Taliban fighters.”
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# # # Contact Information – CJTF-82 Public Affairs Office Tel – 0093-799-063-013 DSN: 318-231-7852

Eternity

This blog has not been a journal type blog. I like the more political leaning stuff and so that’s where this one normally goes. Today I’m going to be a bit different and I’ll get back to politics tomorrow.

I’ve just had 7 of the most rewarding days that I’ve ever experienced. Our church presented the Eternity drama by City Bible Church in Portland, OR. I was cast as Satan and it has been an exhilarating and exhausting week. I lost my voice almost completely each night but it never faltered during any presentation. You call that what you will. I call it a God thing. My knees have been toast each day and walking is excruciating. However I didn’t feel a single twinge at all when I was onstage or doing any of the physically demanding tasks as part of my portrayal. Anyone with osteoarthritis can tell you, that’s a God thing.

But that pales in comparison to what we have witnessed since Saturday night. Let me start a few days earlier so that I don’t get ahead of myself. The initial meeting was Thursday night. We met the three person crew from Portland and began with icebreaker skits to get everyone out of their shells. Then they had us read through some parts. After about three hours, the crew and our pastor went to a backroom to pray and cast each role.

They came back and announced all of the roles except Satan. I didn’t think that I did very well on my read-through so I got in line to sign up to be an angel. Then the director, J. R. Nunez called me out and announced that I was going to be Satan. I had no idea what I was in for. I got my script which included all of the “hell” scenes and they told me which ones we would be using. I went home and began to memorize my part for the rehearsal the next evening.

When I arrived Friday night, J. R. pulled me aside and told me that he forgot to mention that the Satan makeup was a “skull” look and he asked me if I was willing to shave my head. After my initial shock I remembered that I had prayed that I was willing to do whatever God wanted me to do to bring him glory, that very morning. I had no choice. Saturday morning I got up early and shaved my head. I don’t look like myself anymore. We rehearsed through each scene twice and then a complete run through. We got an hour off and then had our first presentation at 7:00 that night. I use the word presentation because we weren’t performing but we were presenting an opportunity for those attending to meet God in a very real and personal way.

Saturday night saw 12 persons come to meet Christ in a real and personal way. There were also many rededications. Sunday saw another 17 first time believers. Monday there were 34. Tuesday there were 42 more and we were amazed that God had used us in a real way to bring over 100 people to know him in just 4 short days. But we prayed that we wouldn’t put God in a box and limit Him. We specifically asked him to blow us away Wednesday night. Be careful what you ask for.

As Wednesday progressed, I had no voice whatsoever. It had been horrible all week except during the presentations. I had to talk a lot at work and when I left I could barely speak above a whisper. I had to go to my kid’s high school to help with their play rehearsal before I had to be in makeup at 5:00. Needless to say, I was haggard, raspy, and very tired when Francee started putting on my makeup. I hadn’t seen my wife in three days and I was not in a frame of mind to do what I had to do. We began our group prayer time at 6:10. I was disappointed in that it seemed that our numbers of pray-ers had dwindled. I’m sure that fatigue had a lot to do with it. At about 6:40, J. R. came back and told us that the auditorium was full. The doors had only been open about 10 minutes! He then asked if we were willing to do two performances back to back because there were still about 600 people in line, wrapped around the church. We had caused a major traffic jam for a mile in each direction. Could we do it twice? Absolutely!

It was then that I noticed that my throat didn’t hurt anymore. Until then, my voice would be sore each night until I made my entrance. Tonight, God chose to heal me early. If you’ve never been touched but the healing power of God, you have no idea what it is like. I didn’t feel a charge of electricity shoot through my body. I didn’t feel heat, pain, or get “slain in the Spirit.” I just noticed that all of the aches, pains, and my voice immediately felt normal. Completely normal. There was an amazing feeling of strength and energy but that was it. God touched me and I was incredibly humbled by that. When we are willing to do things beyond our capabilities, God can do amazing things.

We went through the production and began our prayer time during the final moments of the presentation. I’m sure that anyone who could have seen into the hell pit under the stage would have been amazed to see Satan and his demons praying for the salvation of the lost in the audience. We had done that each night and God had blessed us tremendously. Of the 5 people that we named specifically, 4 got saved. That’s a God thing. David, Julian, Marc, Kelly, Brian, Chris, Savanna, Ryan, and Rebecca, you guys are some serious prayer warriors! God’s army assailed the gates of hell and snatched 87 souls from death. 87 people chose Christ over death! Ain’t God Good!

When we came back 30 minutes later, the room was almost full once again. 350-400 people came back at 8:30 on a Wednesday night to see the message of salvation proclaimed through a 2 hour drama. Once again God moved and even more people came to know Christ in a personal way. I didn’t hear the final number but it was way over 200 for the week. I was normally exhausted after just one presentation but I had more energy the last time than any of the others. That was a God thing!

Let me just say that you should know that God is real. He loves you enough that he sent his own son to die as a payment for your imperfection. God requires perfection to live with Him and we aren’t capable of being perfect. The death and resurrection of His son Jesus made us perfect by paying the blood price for us. To spend eternity with God, you simply have to acknowledge your inability to achieve His standard of perfection and accept the payment that Jesus made for you by His death on the Roman cross. Confess that you aren’t perfect, accept Jesus’ sacrifice, and believe that God raised him from the dead. That’s it. Now you have a new hope and you stop living in the imperfect way that you were. It’s not easy. You can’t do it by yourself. But the Bible teaches us that when we are weak, God is strong.

God’s love is contrasted by Satan’s hatred for all that God has created. As Jesus us the Messiah, Satan is the deceiver. If you don’t choose God, you choose Satan by default. Once you are dead, you get no more second chances. There is no more time. The world experience is full of people who expect to go home tonight but never make it. You can’t afford to miss the opportunity because you are busy, bored, or want just a little more time. You have to choose. I’ve chosen. As for me, and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Slow Blogging

I've been extremely busy over the last several days. We are doing the production of "Eternity - The Ultimate Experience" and I barely have time to sleep, let alone blog. It's a dramatic production about life after death. I've been cast as Satan and it is very physically and emotionally demanding. I'll be back around the end of the week. Our prayers go out to the families of Virginia Tech.