Boot Camp for God's Army, Part 6

Boot Camp for God's Army, Part 6

I had just finished my eight weeks of boot camp and was feeling pretty good about myself.  I had learned some things, had a uniform, and had set myself separate from most other people.

            Also, in God’s Army, I had discovered that I was somehow separate from most other people.  I was feeling pretty good about myself.  I had stopped drinking, swearing, and was going to church.  I found out as a Christian, what I was about to find out in the Army; that I had just started my education.  Hebrews 5:12-14 and vs. 16, solid food is for full grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.

            I went back to Ft Leonard Wood for what they call “Advanced training”.  I was placed in a combat engineer unit (I had no idea what that was, but like in God’s Army, I was to find out that what I had learned was just a start).  The Combat Engineers, I found out, was a group of men that went before some other groups to build bridges and roads for those who would follow the other units into enemy territory.  They introduced us to the M4T6 floating bridge.  Floating it was no problem, building it, however, was.  Since none of us had ever seen such a thing, it was once again the cadre and officers who knew to teach us.

            As in Ephesians 4:11-14, we were appointed cadre and officers to teach us the things of God to so the work of the ministry.  I took notice, they were not doing the ministry (as a whole), but by their knowledge were teaching us to do the work.

            My supervisors were not building the bridge, they were telling us how.  Sometimes they were telling us quite loudly.  After several times of failing and re-doing, we had it down pretty good.  They thought we should then learn how to build a Baily Bridge.  The Baily Bridge was a whole different breed of cat.  You pushed and pulled, you lined up all the right holes with all the right pins.  You pushed out one section and held two for weight so the whole thing didn’t fall into the Big Piney River (sort-of).  The first two times, it fell in.  Pulling the thing apart (because you can’t push it back) was a thing you didn’t want to so over many times.  All this time, you were not to forget what you had learned in your first eight weeks and they reminded us of this all the time.  This was not a different training, but more training in the same Army.  They began to expand our military knowledge to the point that we understood the uniform doesn’t always make you a combat soldier.  We were taught by experience that the job wouldn’t be without resistance.

            Every now and then, an officer would come by (usually after the bridge was about half done) and throw a flare up in the air, shouting, “This is a bomb blast! Your bridge has been destroyed and half your men have been killed.  Tear it down, move it down river and rebuild it”!  This is just what a group of tired, cold, wet and discouraged guys are always happy to hear.

            I remember the Apostle Paul saying something like that in II Cor 12:7-10.  He was out doing the work of the ministry when Satan sent a thorn in his flesh (loosely translated, a pain in his neck) to tear it down and move it down stream and rebuild it.

            This wasn’t the time to quit, but the time to bear down and get really determined about what you were doing.  We learned that advanced training wasn’t easier, but sometimes harder.  We used out first training to put out a perimeter with rifle (learned in our first training), to protect those working on the bridges (in our advance training) so that all the training worked together for the good of those involved (just like Romans 8:28)

            After our advanced training was over, we were all sent into different units where we were to learn other things and apply what we had learned.  I went on to demolition school where I not only could build things for our troops, but also how to destroy the works of the enemy.

            In Jesus we were given authority to tread on scorpions and serpents and given authority to destroy all his works Luke 10:18-19.  For the Christian combat soldier, the battle isn’t over when you get saved, it has just begun.