Draft Deferments

Reading in Deuteronomy 20 the other day reminded me how important the December 1, 1969 military draft lottery was to young men born between 1944 and 1950.  On that night, all birthdates were randomly assigned a number which provided the order in which men were selected for military service. 

Guys were looking for deferments – ways to avoid getting drafted.  There were medical reasons and psychological reasons; there were stories of weight gain or loss; feigning sickness or wackiness during physical exams, or new-found conscientious objection.  Some “draft dodgers” moved to Canada.  But the main deferment was to enroll in college– keep studying and passing those classes.  As soon as you graduate, you were in the pool or potential draftees and your number dictated the order of selection. 

My birthday, November 5, was Number 310; once I found out that the highest drafted number was about 200, I changed my student deferment to 1-A, available for service.  At the end of 1970, I was effectively not going to get drafted. 

My friend Dave Cushman was Number 4.  He decided to enlist and request a European assignment away from the Vietnam arena.  I don’t know how long he served, but he was able to be in our wedding in September 1972.

The Deuteronomy deferments were different.  If you had built a new house and had not yet dedicated it, you were dismissed until after the dedication.  If you had just planted a vineyard, you could go home until after you enjoyed some of the fruit.  An engaged man was to go back to his house and get married.  And, anyone who was “fearful and fainthearted” was sent home so as to not make others afraid.  One suspects there were a number of schemers in Canaan who stayed out of the battles by being polygamist real estate developers or inept farmers.

The Gospel in 1 John 1

The three-word gospel  regularly reiterated by John the Baptist and Jesus:  Repent and Believe. John the Apostle puts some flesh on the bare bones in the first chapter of his letter named, appropriately, 1 John. 

First, what are we to Believe?  In verses 1-4, John makes the case that the historical, real-life, we saw him, touched him and listened to him Jesus is the Son of the eternal Father God!   Believe in HIM. Realize His majesty and Glory; worship Him as God; acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior just as the apostles and first believers have done.  Join the fellowship of believers.

Second, what are we to Repent about?  Verses 5-10 emphasize that God is light and can tolerate no darkness, sin, or unrighteousness.  You must acknowledge that you have sinned – “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  Even worse, if we way we have not sinned, we are calling the One True God of the Universe a liar (verse 10)! 

But the Good News about the nature of sin is contained in verse 9:  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Confession leads to forgiveness and cleansing, which leads not only to fellowship with other believers but with God the Father and God the Son.

So, Repent and Believe is a call to confess sin, receive forgiveness, and join in the fellowship offered by the risen savior Jesus Christ.

The WORD Does Its Work

Just as God inspired fear and awe through his miracles in the Bible, so is He still doing. 

The following originally appeared in The Chariot 2, no. 1.1, under the title “An Answered Prayer from Stalin’s Times” by Andrea Wolfe.  It was included as part of Philip Ryken’s Pastoral Exposition “The Pattern of Sound Words,” in Entrusted With the Gospel, edited by D. A. Carson and published by Crossway.

 Many stories can be told about the freedom of God’s Word to do its work.  Here is just one, from Stavropol, Russia, where in the 1930s Joseph Stalin ordered every Bible in the city to be confiscated.  After the fall of communism, the agency CoMission sent a team to Stavropol.  When they were having difficulty getting enough Bibles shipped from Moscow, one of the locals mention the warehouse outside of town where he had heard that Bibles were stored since the days of Stalin.  So the team borrowed a truck, recruited a couple of workers, and went to unload the Bibles.

One of the men they hired was hostile to the Christian faith, a college skeptic who was there only for the money.  After working for a little while, the man slipped off by himself.  When the found him later, sitting in a corner, he was weeping over a copy of the Scriptures.  The skeptic had picked up a Bible, and when he opened it he saw that is was signed by his own grandmother, who had long prayed for his salvation!  God’s Word cannot be bound; it always does it work in the world, even in the hearts and minds of people who think they do not even want to believe it.

Random T-shirt Wisdom

I’ve learned so much from my mistakes.  I think I’ll make a few more.

 

i Tired.  There’s a nap for that.

 

I dream of a society where a chicken can cross the road without having its motives questioned.

 

If you can’t stand the heat, don’t tickle the dragon.

 

Those who can, teach.  Those who can’t, pass laws about teaching.

 

For lease: Navidad

Righteous Relationships

1 Peter 3.8-9, right after specific instructions for servants, wives, then husbands, gives good guidelines for having right relationships with everyone.

Have:

–          Unity of mind

–          Sympathy

–          Brotherly love

–          A tender heart

–          A humble mind

Do not repay evil for evil

Do not repay reviling for reviling

But bless, that you may obtain a blessing.

More Than Common Grace

The following is the November 28, 2013 entry on my desk tear-off sports calendar.  This event occurred on 11/28/1942:

Ranked number one, Boston College’s football team suffers a humiliating 55-12 defeat at the hands of archrival Holy cross before a packed house of 41,000 at Fenway Park.  The 43-point margin is still the largest ever suffered by a team ranked first in the AP poll, but is saves the lives of many of the players.

The Boston College team cancels it victory party reservations at the Cocoanut Grove night club following the defeat.  Many fans who attend the game head to the club anyway.  That night 492 people die when the Cocoanut Grove catches fire.

Very Rare Confluence

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States, the fourth Thursday in November.  It is also the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, which celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in the 2nd century BC.  Hanukkah is based on the Hebrew calendar and may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.

You probably missed the only other time this happened, in 1888 (remember Thanksgiving has not been around that long). The NEXT occurrence is not until 79,811, according to calculations by physicist Jonathan Mizrahi.  Don’t hold your breath!