Today, we celebrate the grace God has poured out on our nation for 238 years, despite our many failings. This is unmerited favor. The history of our country is, like all stories, replete with evidences of a good God who uses broken people to do amazing things. That’s the story of the whole world, it’s the story of each of us, and it’s the story of the church.
In honor of Independence Day, we would like to shine the spotlight on the ongoing story of a young soldier whom God has used to bless our nation and whom God has blessed by using Mars Hill Church. In 2012, we received the following letter from Anthony, an army paratrooper fresh from deployment in Afghanistan. Here, in his own words, is his story of those trying times and how God did the impossible in the middle of it all.
2012
Dear Mars Hill,
I am an 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper who just returned from a seven-month tour to Afghanistan. I am married to the most beautiful and precious woman in creation, my wife, Rita. Just weeks before my deployment, my wife had a miscarriage and we lost what would have been our first child. Three weeks later I had to leave for war. It was a terribly difficult time for Rita and although God was keeping my mind clear and constantly reassuring me that all would be well, the pain of loss was very devastating for her and I felt helpless being so far away from her in her time of need.
In coming closer to Christ, our marriage has in fact grown and strengthened in spite of the time apart.
The COP (Combat Outpost) I was stationed at was very secluded and small, but fortunately we were able to phone on a regular basis. One of our greatest comforts and joys was listening to Pastor Mark’s sermons on many issues (most of all the sermons on marriage), and then discussing them over the phone. Although it was hard to work on marriage while deployed, God gave us the grace to work on our relationships with Jesus. In listening to Mars Hill sermons and digging into our Bibles as much as possible, he kept moving us closer and closer to him and strengthened our individual relationships with his son. In coming closer to Christ, our marriage has in fact grown and strengthened in spite of the time apart and the difficult circumstances. Thanks again for all your good teaching. We hope to be in Seattle in October on leave and can’t wait to visit one of the campuses.
P.S. Have you ever considered sermons geared specifically to military personnel? We have a lot of problems in the Army with divorce and I am always trying to tend to young men whose wives are leaving them. Being away from your wife just really stinks!
2014
God wasn’t done with Anthony and Rita. We recently followed up with them to learn the rest of the story—well, the rest of the story so far.
Since that email from 2012 we have been out to Seattle twice and have visited Mars Hill Bellevue for three services, enjoying each one tremendously as Pastor Mark continues to bring the truth of the word of God to a culture that so desperately needs it. We also enjoyed meeting Pastor Thomas who, when we were first there in 2012, I believe had recently lost a child. He seems to be a truly humble man and we enjoyed his pastoral character and very kind heart. We love Seattle and look forward to more visits in the future.
God has not left us without a mission and a calling. He has called us to an entirely new and exciting purpose.
As for us, most importantly, God brought us our first child, a son, on July 12th of last year. His name is Colson Anthony (we named him after the late Charles Colson, a personal saint hero of ours). My wife Rita and I don’t agree on two things in life: one is movies, the other is first names :-) However, the first book we ever read together was Chuck Colson’s How Now Shall We Live and Rita had met him personally, years prior, when she worked a stadium event for Teen Mania where he was a guest speaker. The verdict was unanimous and God be praised for a beautiful boy with a worthy name!
My time in the Army recently ended (I completed a five and a half year contract in December of last year). My entire career in the army was spent here at Fort Bragg, NC, mostly with the 82nd Airborne Division. It was here that Rita and I got married, it was here that Colson was born, and most importantly it was here that I was baptized into new life. I had been a marginal Catholic for many years, but in August of 2011 at Rockfish Church (a phenomenal church within the body of Christ that we will truly miss), the Lord seized me with his grace and ushered me into to his truth. That is also about the time we started listening to Mars Hill sermons and reading some of Pastor Mark’s literature.
We are grateful to God and to his word. Without our Lord there is no life, no purpose, and no plan.
Since my leaving the army though, God has not left us without a mission and a calling. He has called us to an entirely new and exciting purpose for our lives.
In March of last year we travelled out to Southern California for the first time to take a look at Biola University and its master’s degree program in Christian Apologetics. On that trip some amazing things happened that convinced us that God wanted us to move out to California so I could attend school on campus.
I have since devoured much of the apologetic tools of evangelism, as teaching and discernment seem to be my spiritual gifts (I was an intelligence analyst for the Army, so I love to find evidence and analyze it to come to deductive conclusions about real things).
What is truly awesome is that not only have we benefitted from Mars Hill sermons and teaching over the past few years, but that God has placed us in Orange County where we can finally become a part of the Mars Hill family in Huntington Beach!
Finally, more than anything, we are grateful to God and to his word. Without our Lord there is no life, no purpose, and no plan.
In Christ,
Tony, Rita, and Colson
Tony and his family are now attending Mars Hill Huntington Beach. They will be starting a community group there this month.
