G.L.i.T.C.S. RATHER THAN P.T.S.D.

•  The Bible Places Refocuses Our Trauma on Christ

There's a better, more realistic way to understand our traumatic stress in order to think about it as God would have us consider it. The term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder brings something neutral, negative, and cerebral to my mind. That system of understanding the effects of traumatic stress on men made in God’s image can never get ahead of the issue, much less grasp the purpose or the meaning God has given to it. P.T.S.D. is a diagnosis that hangs about its bearer’s neck like an anchor, doing nothing for, but only to them. Worse, the VA exists intentionally outside the metaphysical realm so that they have no long-range hope to offer.

In this blog, I want to state my case for a re-designation of the acronym, P.T.S.D. A completely different perspective of this topic, I believe, must reflect its connection to God, who is infinitely and powerfully involved with our traumas.  

The following five concepts reflect a biblical and theological reality of combat trauma that P.T.S.D. does not. Within psychology and research, there is an inability to know why one veteran experiences severe or moderate trauma and another does not. The least knowledgeable Christian knows that God is Lord over these things. God designed traumatic stress to awaken warriors and their wives to need something eternal lest they perish in their sin. 

These five concepts focus on God. This divine emphasis is crucial for considering how to think about combat trauma. It is of primary importance that a veteran and spouse study and reflect on the following. 

Traumatic stress reveals this primary truth:

• "G" God GLORIFIES Himself  In and Through Our Traumatic Suffering

We have already noted God’s glory above as His and our chief end; I want to add one more comment here. Traumatic stress glorifies God, for it serves Him whether for our good or our ill.

The apostle James wrote to the Christians dispersed in the world at that time, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved (dokimos), he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (Jas. 1:12). James used the Greek noun dokimos, which means, “Hence to be approved as acceptable to men in the furnace of adversity.” Romans 16:10 reads, “Greet Apelles, who is approved (dokimon) in Christ.” Apelles went through some difficult times in his life, and through his suffering, God approved both Apelles and his faith. Christ won the gift of faith he received (Eph. 4:8), that it was genuinely heaven-sent, and it glorified the Lord in Apelles’ life. God didn’t sit in heaven, wholly detached from Apelles’ pain. Christ came to Apelles in his hour of need and him in the Person of the Holy Spirit, encouraging, guiding, counseling, healing, and approving this man of God.

In recognizing God’s glory, we discover:

• "L" God's LOVE Motivates Him to Perfect His Elect through Traumatic Suffering

God loves the heathen as well as His fallen creation. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends His rain to fall on the just and unjust (Mt. 5:45). But God has set His saving love on His chosen people. God is motivated by His love to deliver His people from all their trials. John Murray has rightly stated, “The Scripture informs us that this love of God from which the atonement flows and of which it is the expression is a love that is distinguishing.” Here, you will remember the two seed lines found in Gen. 4 and 5. Of course, Murray took his cue from Abraham when Christ and the patriarch stood looking down on Sodom and Gomorrah, discussing the great cities’ fate. God made a distinction between the righteous and the wicked.

Gen. 18:25-26 “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” 26 So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.”

Ex. 9:4, 6 “But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.” “. . . 6 So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died.” (See also Ex. 10:21-23; Eph. 1:4-5)

Jn. 15:16 You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. (See also Jn. 13:18; 15:19)

Murray continues, “The love of God from which the atonement springs is, not a distinction-less love; it is a love that elects and predestinates. God was pleased to set his invincible and everlasting love upon a countless multitude, and it is the determinate purpose of this love that the atonement secures.” The Bible reveals Christ’s glorious saving love for the elect. Because of His eternal love, God brings His broken vessels into and under His reign. When we enter the kingdom of Christ, our combat trauma also comes under His authority. 

You may ask, isn’t such a statement about God’s distinguishing love rather harsh? If you are not used to thinking this way, it does seem so. Such love is true nonetheless. God said it (1), which settles it (2). You and I must believe it (3). Traumatic stress from God’s eternal decree gives us pause to question His means of getting our attention when we are going through it. No child enjoys a parent’s discipline, but if it saves them from being hit by a car in the street or getting into dangerous chemicals, such harsh parental treatment is worth it. The Bible speaks of heaven, but it also proclaims the reality of Hell and how to escape it. Jesus said it in the Gospels repeatedly.   

Heb. 13:20-21 “Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, that is, Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

A Christian’s redemption often includes trauma, tears, and despair in this life. Jesus’ suffering for our sin possessed infinite value because of the infinite disvalue of sin. His suffering, therefore, infinitely exceeded any we will ever face. None of us could withstand the degree of agony Jesus faced. Our mitigated suffering is not worthy of being compared with His or the glories revealed to us after death. Wise veterans and their families would do well to consider, acknowledge, and trustingly receive the work of God for sinners like them. I know this personally. 

God used my combat tour’s distresses and tribulations to drive me to seek salvation. The Father considered Jesus’s sacrificial suffering worthy to satisfy divine justice and grant me forgiveness and cleansing from guilt. We, like Jesus before us, learn obedience to God’s law from our suffering, or as Paul had it, we fill up the sufferings of Christ that He has left for us to do. The Father loved those He chose to share this salvation so much that He sent His Son to die for and redeem us out of the slave market of sin. In this divine love, God enables us to taste His goodness and experience the depths of grace. 

Col. 1:24 “Now I (Paul) rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions."

("Pat, I'd like to buy a vowel. 'i.""Sorry Pat, no "i.")

• "T" Trauma is One of God's TOOLS To Mature Us through Traumatic Suffering

1.    Joseph's Story (Genesis 37-50)

God decreed Jacob’s sons would hate Joseph, their youngest brother (God’s tools). God then gave Joseph several remarkable dreams as a young lad (God’s means). In his first dream, the boy saw eleven standing sheaves of grain, representing his Father Jacob and his eleven brothers, bowing down to his sheaf. He awoke and told his family the dream. In Joseph’s second dream, the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed down, representing his family again. Two dreams served as witnesses to their fulfillment. Joseph’s brothers hated him already for being Jacob’s favorite son, more so for his dreams, and latter for giving Jacob a bad report of his son’s behavior. (God’s tools)

God used Joseph’s dreams and bad reports as His tools to create a family environment where Joseph’s brothers hated him and would send their brother to Egypt. There Joseph would save the world from starvation as Egypt’s great provider. Even more important, God would preserve the woman’s seedline (Gen. 3:15) leading to Christ (Gen. 4:25-5:32) through Joseph. One day Joseph’s brothers decided to kill him, ending Joseph’s dreams. Jacob's oldest son, Reuben, saved Joseph (God’s deliverance). Instead of killing Joseph, they tied him up and lowered him into a dry pit. Joseph had to arrive in Egypt alive! 

God sent some Midianite traders to Egypt would happen by at the right moment (God’s tools and timing), and the brothers sold Joseph to them. The brothers took the boy’s colorful tunic given him by Jacob, tore it, killed a goat, and smeared the animal’s blood on it. They would later show their father, who would think a wild animal had killed Joseph rather than his sons.

The traders headed for Egypt (God's leading; Rom. 8:28-30). When they arrived in Egypt, Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officers, bought Joseph (God’s tool). Only Potiphar would buy Joseph. No one else. While in Potiphar’s house, Joseph experienced God’s hand of blessing on him so that even his master prospered. Potiphar had to marry a lustful wife. Potiphar's wife (God's instrument) lusted after Joseph day after day (God’s tool; See again Jas. 1:13-18; Rom. 8:28-30). Finally, the wife falsely accused Joseph of raping her (God’s tool; See again Jas. 1:13-18; Rom. 8:28-30; see also Job 1-2), and Potiphar sent Joesph to jail. Joseph had to end up in this jail so that he would meet the King’s two servants (God’s leading; Rom. 8:28-30). Joseph stayed over two years in prison (God’s decree). But once more, God blessed Joseph so that the jailer placed him over all the prisoners.  

God kept Joseph in prison to meet a cupbearer and a baker, two of Pharaoh’s servants (God’s tools). God ensured the King’s displeasure with his two servants to send them to Joseph’s jail. 

Both servants dreamed dreams, and Joseph interpreted the two servant’s dreams. Joseph gave a favorable interpretation of the cup bearer’s dream (God's tools). He gave an unfavorable interpretation of the baker’s dream. Both dreams came true. Pharaoh restored the cupbearer to his position, but the King hanged the baker. Joseph begged the servants to remember him to the King, which they didn’t (another tool). Joseph had more to learn staying in jail. Two more years passed (God’s perfect timing is critical), and Pharaoh, too, had several dreams (another tool). No one could interpret the King’s dream. The jailbird cupbearer of Pharaoh remembered (a tool) Joseph and told the King about Joseph. The King’s servants brought Joseph before the King, and he interpreted the King’s dreams (God’s tools). 

Both dreams amounted to God bringing seven years of plenty and seven years of famine upon Egypt and the world (a tool). Seeing God was with Joseph, Pharaoh put him in authority over all of Egypt to prepare for the harvest and scarcity. One of his dreams came true; everyone in Egypt bowed down to Joseph (God's tool). Seven years of plenty came, and then seven years of want follow.  

To make a long story short, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain (God’s tool). Joseph recognized his brothers when they came, but they didn’t know him. Yes, they bowed to Joseph (God’s fulfillment of the tools). Joseph toyed with them several times, accusing them of spying on Egypt, terrified them. Ultimately, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and the reunion was epic, indeed. Jacob was summoned and moved his household to Egypt. Jacob and Joseph’s brothers did indeed bow to him. 

After Jacob died, the brothers wondered if Joseph might get even without their father to intercede for them. Here comes the punch line. God has directed each of these “tools” and events in succession in Joseph’s life to humble him, perfect him, and produce greater obedience in him. Joseph’s response to his anxious brothers could have meant their execution. Instead, Joseph said to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Gen. 50:20). 

God’s grace shone through this man, revealing God’s goodness when every outward sign said otherwise. God troubled Joseph and then exalted him as He said to such a high position in Egypt. God’s tool/s were His gifts to Joseph so that He might fulfill his part of the Creation Mandate (Gen. 1:28). P.T.S.D. or GLiTCS. God's “hardware” and blessing to you and your family is traumatic stress. None of us deserves the very best of life, and we all deserve divine justice. But if God graciously shows you through Joseph’s life what is going on in yours. How you think about your distresses is crucial. 

2.    Joseph, a Type of Christ

We should take to heart the Spirit’s instruction from the life of Joseph. God made Joseph a type of Christ.  

1.  Both Joseph and Christ experienced betrayal by their brothers. 

2.  God brought about a good outcome through their betrayals. 

3. God intended that men’s wrong, even their evil choices, would be the means to bring about deliverance for

His people.

4.  Joseph suffered unjustly from his siblings and then saved all who originally intended to harm him. B.B. Warfield wrote about the man, Jesus, experiencing incredible negative emotions in the Garden of Gethsemane. Obedience to God caused Jesus tremendous suffering, and he sweated great drops of blood, indicating His soul’s distress. Jesus may have indeed experienced an infinitely worse case of combat trauma than any of you or me. The Lord suffered for others and bore our curse to Calvary. 

As I learned in seminary, whatever God commands, He alone provides. God commands all men everywhere to repent. Yet, Christ provided the gift of repentance by His kindness. As I stated above, God demands faith in Christ, and Christ won the faith He demands. Catherine and I are both living examples that God has a weighty purpose for bringing traumatic combat stress into your life. 

The tools God used, brought about,

• "C" Our Brain CHANGES Help Fill Up the Sufferings of Christ

 I won’t spend much time here as I have already covered this in greater depth in the booklet on Traumatic Stress and Brain Transformation. God used the transforming power of combat to change my brain in many ways. He did that to your brain as well, and it can occur in your wife’s brain as your tour/s of combat express themselves negatively at home. But, we must be aware that there are complex and diverse divine reasons behind those changes. Besides, God may never reveal them. The secret things do indeed belong to Him (Dt. 29:29). However, if they are a means to salvation, we are blessed.

If I want you to "buy into" something that I know will benefit you, pain and suffering are not top selling points. Combat has altered almost every aspect of your brain and you are going to suffer one way or another, in Christ or not. Let's look at what the apostle Paul discovered about his suffering to better grasp how God uses the cranial changes in our lives. 

2 Cor. 12:7-10 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh (by God) , a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Phil. 3:7-11 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (emphasis added)

Suffering becomes the portal through which eternal grace enters. Jesus' life becomes our life experientially. This new life is an alien and divinely gracious life that comes to us and is one of the means God uses to assure us we belong to Christ. No one in his right mind wants to experience suffering for no purpose. Yet, suffering also leads us to greater obedience as the writer of Hebrews expressed it: 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10 being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5; emphasis added).

But for whom was Jesus obedient? No for Himself, but for us who believe. His suffering became the source of our salvation so that we might or rather would attain to the resurrection from the dead. And Peter adds, But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. 21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. (emphasis added)

I am convinced as one who suffers because of my military service that my resulting traumatic stress is a blessing in disguise. Yes it hurts, not only me but those closest to me. Peter's point is that the very God who created us and redeemed us has suffered more than all of us combined. Moreover, the way Jesus experienced His suffering benefited us in ways even eternity can never fully reveal. 

Only through a GLiTCS world and life view can we discover the actual and larger reality about suffering combat stress. There is a better response to your despair than the one you have given so far, and you are “stuck with it” for a glorious reason. From where I am sitting, I limit my options when I approach this construct negatively, and I can try harder to stop getting angry.

Trying harder doesn’t work. You might develop a positive attitude, which only lasts until the next trigger. You can end it all in a thousand different ways. Or, you can trust Christ, and He will overrule the changes to your brain and turn your life into something glorious. 

God has brought this into your life for His glorious and just reasons, as well as for your good. This present pain cannot compare to the glories revealed in heaven. My sincerest hope is that you will stop and reconsider how you have thought about this difficulty. By faith, indeed, God’s purpose/s for making your life and your family’s lives so miserable is glorious and good. I know it is. You will be eternally grateful you asked for and worked through the answers waiting for you to discover.

As I learned in seminary, whatever God commands, He alone provides. God commands all men everywhere to repent. Christ offers us the gift of repentance, and he also demands faith in Christ. Christ won the faith He demands. Catherine and I are both living examples that God has a weighty purpose for bringing traumatic combat stress into your life. 

As the cosmic King, God leaves none of the above processes to chance. All is governed by:

• "S" God Reigns SOVEREIGNLY Over our Traumatic Suffering

Note the following verses that speak of God’s infinite, eternal, unchangeable authoritative power to bring about His will. 

Ex. 4:4-7 But the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—5 that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you. 6 The LORD furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then He said,”Put your hand into your bosom again.” So he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.

Ps. 9:3-8 “But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment.” (See also Pss. 11:4; 45:6; 47:8; 97:2; 135:6; Isa. 6:1; 66:1; Jer. 3:17; Lam. 5:19; Dan. 7:9; Mt. 5:34; 25:31; Acts 7:49; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 1:4; 6:16-17; 19:4-5; 21:3, 5).

Geerhardus Vos, the father of Biblical Theology, in defining "The Essence of the Kingdom," or the reign of God over all things recognized for the Jews, the phrase, 'the Kingdom of God' was not a common notion in the OT describing the end of the age hope. Those Jews would refer to 'the coming world,' or 'the coming age.' The reason being that its purpose for Israel rather than centering their thoughts on God found favor with them. 

Jesus chose the phrase because his of His theocentric or God-focused attention. Vos called this "a religious conception through and through." The Jews did not obsess over God as Jesus had. Vos' next concerns need our attention. He writes, "To Jesus it (the Kingdom of God) meant: 'of God the Kingdom'; to not a few at the present day (1948) it apparently means: 'the Kingdom (of God)'. And to Jesus it was far less an ideal, and far more of an actuality, than it is felt to be by the modern mind. 'The Kingdom of God' is not His destiny nor His abstract right to rule -- His sovereignty -- it is the actual realization of His sway. In this sense, and in this sense only, can it 'come'. The proposal to bring the name nearer to the general understanding by substituting 'the sovereignty of God' leads on the wrong track, because sovereignty is only de jure (by right), and not always de facto (in practice), and also because sovereignty, being an abstract conception, could not mark the distinction between the abstract and the concrete. 

"'Of God the Kingdom', then, means the actual exercise of the divine supremacy in the interest of the divine glory. Passages like Mt. 6:10, 33; Mk. 12:34 bear out this central idea [cp. also 1 Cor. 15:28]. . . . the goal is that all these exercises of divine supremacy shall find their unitary organization in one royal establishment. The three principal spheres in which the divine supremacy works toward this end are the sphere of power, the sphere of righteousness and the sphere of blessedness." (emphasis added)

I want to conclude this chapter with two stories, examples of God’s sovereign rule over the cosmos and the hearts of men. 

•  God’s Historical Sovereignty: Two Stories

Sixty-seven years ago, the world seemed spinning towards chaos. But God’s work in the lives of two men — two enemies, to be more exact — is a testament to His sovereignty and the fact that no matter how bad matters might seem, He is in control.

1.    Story One

The time was 7:49 a.m., Dec.7, 1941. Cmdr. Mitsuo Fuchida of the Japanese Imperial Navy admired the billowing white clouds and brilliant sunrise. Commander Fuchida led a squadron of 360 Japanese fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes over the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Imperial Japan’s great gamble focused on knocking out the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in one crushing blow, giving Japan free rein to continue its conquests of Asia and the Pacific.

Seeing the fleet peacefully at anchor 3,000 meters below his plane, Fuchida smiled as he ordered, “All squadrons, plunge in to attack!” He then radioed back to the Japanese fleet 230 miles away: “Tora, Tora, Tora!” The attack had begun!

In President Franklin Roosevelt’s words, “a day that shall live in infamy.” Of eight battleships in the harbor, Jap bombers destroyed five, sinking or damaging fourteen other ships. More than 2,300 Americans lay dead or dying, many trapped within the hulls of their sinking ships. Fuchida later described the day as “the most thrilling exploit of my career.”

At that same time, Sgt. Jacob DeShazer of the U.S. Army Air Corps was on K.P. duty, peeling potatoes at his base in Oregon. Hearing the news on the radio, DeShazer screamed, “The Japs are going to have to pay for this!” as he hurled a potato against the wall.

The down payment for DeShazer was to volunteer to join a special squadron Col. Jimmy Doolittle formed. Doolittle’s mission was to take the war directly to the Japanese in a daring bombing raid over Tokyo. The Colonel chose B-25 bombers and trained the crews to take off from the U.S.S. Hornet.

In military terms, the Doolittle raid on April 18, 1942, was only a pinprick, but it was a stunning success as a morale-booster for Americans. But DeShazer’s B-25 ran out of fuel before it could reach a safe area in China, forcing him and his crew to bail out over Japanese-held territory. DeShazer would spend the next 40 months as a prisoner of Japan, 34 of them in solitary confinement. His captors routinely tortured him, fanning his burning hatred of the Japanese into an inferno. As fellow American prisoners were executed or died of starvation, disease, or torture, DeShazer remained alive — if barely.

DeShazer’s solitary confinement gave him time to ponder the human condition. He wondered what could cause such hatred among fellow humans. Barely remembering Sunday school lessons from childhood, he asked his Japanese guards for a Bible. Two years after his capture, he finally received one and eagerly read through its pages, virtually gulping down lessons on mercy, forgiveness, and redemption. He later wrote:

“I discovered that God had given me new spiritual eyes and that when I looked at the enemy officers and guards who had starved and beaten my companions and me so cruelly, I found my bitter hatred for them changed to loving pity. . . I prayed for God to forgive my torturers, and I determined by the aid of Christ to do my best to acquaint these people with the message of salvation.”

On August 20, 1945, a smiling Japanese guard swung open DeShazer’s cell door and said, “War over. You go home now.”

DeShazer wrote a book called I Was a Prisoner of Japan and, after studying at Seattle Pacific College, he returned to Japan as a missionary to his former enemies.

2.    Story Two:

Fuchida, Japan’s “hero of Pearl Harbor,” participated in the Japanese task force that would attack Midway Island six months after Pearl Harbor. But he came down with a case of appendicitis and was evacuated to the rear. During the massive air battle on June 4, 1942, Japan lost hundreds of planes and pilots and five ships, including all its aircraft carriers — a crippling blow. Later in the war, Fuchida visited Hiroshima the day before the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb. Fortunately for Fuchida, Imperial Navy Headquarters in Tokyo called an emergency meeting, saving Commander Fuchida, who survived the war unscathed — the only Japanese pilot to survive the war from beginning to end.

After the war, he returns to a life of farming. But deeply shamed by Japan’s loss and still with the heart of a warrior, it was an unsatisfying life. Even though married, he had a mistress in Tokyo and made many excuses to his wife, Haruko, for why he had to travel there frequently.

One day in October 1948, while getting off the train in Tokyo, Fuchida saw an American handing out leaflets in Japanese. The title caught his eye: Watakushi Wa Nippon No Horyo Deshita (I Was a Prisoner of Japan). It grabbed his attention immediately, especially since it started out talking about Pearl Harbor. Fuchida was determined to learn more about this man, not out of any interest in Christianity, but because he wanted to know more about DeShazer. Even though they had been enemies, he admired the courage of the Doolittle Raiders.

But he was taken with DeShazer’s Christian testimony, too. A friend told him to get a Bible, but Fuchida could not find one in Japanese. But a few days later, on the same train platform, a Japanese man stood with boxes of books: “Get your Bible—food for your soul,” the man cried in Japanese. The astounding coincidence struck Fuchida, and despite his Shinto heritage, he bought one for 40 yen, a pittance at the time. Jesus' words in Luke 23:34 astounded the man: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Fuchida later wrote, “I was impressed that I was certainly one of those for whom Jesus had prayed. The many men I had killed had been slaughtered in the name of patriotism, for I did not understand the love of Christ.” He changed from a bitter ex-war hero to a man on a new mission. Fuchida became an evangelist throughout Japan and Asia, and he and DeShazer eventually became close friends.

Fuchida died in 1976 at the age of 74. DeShazer died last March at age 95. Sixty-seven years ago, the two men were bitter enemies. Today they are eternal brothers, a testimony to the power of God’s grace and His sovereignty.

My wife, Catherine and I, have experienced these five concepts described above. Each one is necessary for you and your family to experience new life., Vanna, please." [There is no 'i' in GLTCS, but I decided to turn this acrostic into a "noun."]