I AM A VETERAN

I came to know the Lord as my Savior while stationed with the Navy in Pensacola, Florida.  Having been an atheist, and having little knowledge of the Bible (what I did know was bits and pieces I had gleaned from listening to others arguing about it), I believed genuine Christians should be pacifists.  I could not reconcile Christians being in the military.  So, I went to the personnel office, and requested that I be listed as a conscientious observer.  While there, I saw a Chief Petty Officer named Hal Judd.  He had tried to tell me about Jesus months earlier, and when I called his name, he responded, "What do YOU want?"  Our previous conversation had not gone well, and to be blunt about it, Hal did not like me. 

I told him I had accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and his whole demeanor changed!  He was like a child at Christmas.  He invited me to his church, even giving me the address.  Because it was only Tuesday, I glanced at it and then put it in my wallet.  After all, Church was on Sunday.  Right?

The next day, Wednesday, February 3, 1971, a friend and I were discussing my desire to go to Bible College and Seminary.  When I asked what courses I should take to prepare for it (he had been a Seminary student at one time), he said, "It has been so long ago; why not call a pastor and ask him?"  He opened the phone book and began giving me phone numbers (it took six calls to reach a pastor).  When I finally found one, I told him of my plans, and I heard music in the background.  Wednesday.  He took my number and said he would call me back in about an hour, as Church was starting.

An hour later, he called.  He asked me if I knew Hal Judd!  I had inadvertently called the Church of which I had the address in my wallet!  He told me that Hal had come to Prayer Meeting, all excited, and praising God because the young man he had been having their Church pray for, had been saved.  He then asked, "Are you the Paul stationed with the Blue Angels?"  After I told him yes, he wanted me to meet with him the next night at the local Krispy Kreme. 

We met, and he immediately introduced me to some guy, and said we would meet in an hour back at the Church.  He sent me on visitation with this stranger!  We visited a Marine Colonel who had been at home recovering from a medical problem.  The fellow I was with didn't say anything, so I told them both that I had just accepted Christ.  I told them the story of how I had miraculously called their Church, and why I had called.  The Colonel asked if he could show me some passages in the Bible which supported Christians in the military.  In just a few minutes, God used him to encourage me to complete my enlistment.  Later, God would guide me to complete my career before going to Seminary, which I did fifteen years later.  I graduated in 1990, and began as Pastor of a little country Church a few months later. 

Today, on this Veteran's Day, I thank God for allowing me to earn a pension, to have my family's medical bills covered, and for my eight years of Bible College and Seminary.  But most of all, I thank God for hearing the prayers of a man who disliked me, and for the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ!  Today, I wear the armor of a believer, in a battle which cannot be seen!  And, I already know that WE WIN!  Praise God!