ATTN: All Saints of God! MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS!

Last week my pastor used the example of a luxury cruise liner vs a battleship to explain the expectations many people have of church.

On a luxury cruise line you tend to get to do what you want, when you want, and how you want...any time you want...and you have people to wait on you left and right. At no point to you have any weights of responsibility. (Not that I know this from personal experience, mind you, but I would definitely be up to doing some personal research on the matter!)

In stark contrast, I have been upon the military's USS Texas Battleship in the Houston Bay. There was nothing "beautiful" about the ship. It was the most awful color of gray I have even seen. But it was HUGE. (at least to the eyes of a 9 year old!) I sat in the seat of the automatic gunnery on the top deck, I lay down on the cold and hard "cot" in the smallest of confined compartments in the "brig". If there one thing that was clear...even to a 9 year old, was that this ship was about BUSINESS not PLEASURE.

The USS TEXAS is the last of the battleships, patterned after HMS Dreadnought, that participated in World War (WW) I and II. She was launched on May 18, 1912 from Newport News, Virginia. When the USS TEXAS was commissioned on March 12,1914, she was the most powerful weapon in the world, the most complex product of an industrial nation just beginning to become a force in global events.

The analogy of the luxury cruise liner and the battle ship stayed with me all week. And Oh yes! I must tell you how HUGE the anchor was on that battleship!! OH MY!!

Our church has been going through an "awakening" or a revival of sorts. We have entered a season of warfare that is keenly felt! You leave with a sense of urgency and determination. When the prayer chain e-mails come to the inbox you feel the call to arms on behalf of your fellow troup members-- you engage in battle- front line battle. Without a doubt...we know we are in the throws of a spiritual war.

As I was thinking about the fact that "we battle not with flesh and blood but with powers, rulers and principalities"... my memory drew me back to my college days when I was a huge Carman junkie! That man could just tell a story that would stick with you for a lifetime!

As pastor was talking about the battleship, I could hear a line from Carman's song Revival in the Land run through my mind...."Attention all saints of God! Man your battle stations!!"

If I can get the you tube video to link up here, I'd like to share one of my favorite Carman songs with you!

Looks like you will have to go to this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoBS3bREBaQ&feature=related

Dawn