See ya'll at the nations biggest parade for veterans Day in Birmingham, Alabama. Take the whole family its entertaining with all the college and high school bands plus military marching. Recognizes all the older Vets, and the fallen. Remember Gold Star mothers?

Wise council, and I would humbly point out that what we must consider in Government we must also be wary of the same fear, hatred, resentment, greed, in the Church.

Either way, on this earth both are interpreted and run by people and many times they have an ax to grind that we are not aware of.

In the long run, we cannot always know what the big plan is so we need to have loyalty, faith, confidence, and depend on our being led by a much higher power and that the outcome ultimately will be as He wants.

We're counseled by the Messiah to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Sacrificial benevolence done without direct preaching is as much a brave way (and a more potentially effective way) of fulfilling the Great Commission than getting oneself martyred for trying to force a country to hear a Gospel message they can't hear over the jingoism of both their government and ours. In the Muslim world, America is seen as a Christian nation — until we prove by our actions that Christianity is not American, we will not be heard, and it seems foolish and a bit arrogant to demand that only verbal preaching is acceptable.

Also… China and other Eastern nations are sending waves of missionaries into the Middle East. Let us pray for them, as well.

I think the scriptures are clear that God sometimes uses war to accomplish his purposes. While I'd never favor a war in order to spread the gospel, we should seize every opportunity that arises.

Yes, we should be talking about how to convert Iraq.

I did not have any dealings with the Kurds so I would have no input concerning them. Iraq is a field white for harvest, but my earlier remarks were toward the safety of missionaries even getting started over there. Due to the presence of radicals and a still ingrained fear of them among the citizens (maybe this has improved since I was there) I do not see churches willing, or missionaries for that matter, to send any one into such a hot bed.

Steve Valentine

This just popped into my head and I’m just going to throw it out there. Could war in that country be the door opener for the Gospel to reach Iraq?

I wish I had an answer. You likely understand this better than I do, but there are several ethnicities there. While we may not be able to get much done among the Shia, we may be very effective teaching the gospel among the Kurds. Maybe. Just thinking out loud about something I know next to nothing about.

I agree with much of what you say, but disagree in this particular. We Americans habitually assume our government to be righteous and just. And it often is. But not always. I just think we need to get better at being Christians first and Americans second.

We need to realize that our political parties often pursue agendas that are very contrary to God's will. We need to realize that our politicians often run campaigns designed to feed on some of our worst emotions — fear, hatred, resentment, greed — and when we buy what they're selling, we often buy sin. We need to realize that selfishness is sinful even when both political parties support it.

That doesn't mean we can't serve in the military or the police. And it doesn't mean we can't otherwise work for the government. But it does mean we can't blithely assume our employer will always act righteously. Of course, this is equally true if we work for Wal-Mart — it's just that we are generally far less willing to see sinfulness in our government than at Wal-Mart. And whether we work for Wal-Mart or the United States, we must refuse to follow instructions that require us to participate in sin. And this may affect that job we willing to take.

Most matryrs are killed after their message is heard. In Iraq many have been killed just because they claim to be or are suspected of being a Christian. And this without a chance to get the message out. Soldiers captured during Dessert Storm were strip searched. Once their captors saw their circumcision it was automatically assumed they were Jewish and treatment became very harsh to them.

The message can not be effective if it first does not leave the mouth. But what is to be done when the message is cut short at the neck?

In love,
Steve Valentine