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Note: You can email Ted during his deployment at tedmcgovern@gimail.af.mil. |
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What an amazing few days it’s been! For starters, I presided over a wedding service in a helicopter, while in flight, out over the surrounding countryside. The couple are both airmen here with me, and we worked on premarital counseling over the past few months. What a delightful couple—and I’m so grateful that they asked me to be a part of their wedding! Ed was the cameraman and videographer for the service, and he did an excellent job. They’re still going through all of the pictures, but here’s Ed and I before we took off Here’s a picture of the wedding party to include the flight crew. The bride and groom are to my right
With weddings, we are also reminded (in general) of the gift of love itself; and how God gives us this great gift. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, he replied “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
May God allow us to love those around us, even specifically those closest to us. Peace of Christ be with you Ted
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February 20—Forgiveness In last night’s Bible study, we talked about forgiveness. We’ve been working our way through the Nooma DVD series and this week we looked at Disk #7, “Luggage.” It’s amazing how we carry around these grudges and hurts, not wanting to give them up. Like they are so precious to us?
“We all go through life with a backpack on. It may be a hiking back pack or a rucksack depending on our journey, but we wear them on our backs. As we travel though life, when someone hurts us, it is as if they threw a small rock at us. Instead of letting the rock bounce off of us, we pick up the rock and put it in our backpacks. These small rocks by themselves don’t seem like much at the time but they add up and get very heavy and make it difficult to do the work that God needs us to do, because we are so weary from carrying that heavy bag on our backs. When we forgive the people that have hurt us, we can dump those rocks once and for all. Our back is suddenly light and we are free to do what God has in store for us.” Who do you need to forgive? Maybe a friend, or maybe a spouse, or even an enemy? I know I’ve been trying to work on that one, and I cannot escape the Lord’s words: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us (Matthew 6:12) May God, in his great mercy, grant us the grace to not only realize the gift of his amazing forgiveness, but extend it to others as well. Peace be with you Ted |
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It makes no difference where you are—on this day our hearts and minds turn to thoughts and feelings for those we love. I must say, I am humbled and thankful for all of your Valentine cards that you sent me (see picture to right) Ed and I spent our Valentines Day here passing out all of the cards and candy you sent to the troops. Everyone was very thankful for your love and support. And to all of our Sunday school kids—you are awesome! Your handmade hearts and cards brought out a lot of smiles and joy. We are also reminded, on this day, of God’s love for us: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).” And how do we respond to that? God first loves us, then we have an opportunity to respond. We have the choice to love him back. How are you loving God today? How are you loving you neighbor today?
May the love of God overflow into your life and the lives of others around you Ted
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The 40
weekdays and 6 Sundays that precede Easter comprise the period known as
Lent. On Ash Wednesday, we begin this period with the sign of ashes.
Here is a picture from our Ash Wednesday service at Kandahar. I was
honored to be able to preach and give people the sign of ashes:
From the earliest days of the Church, Christians have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection. It became the custom of the church to prepare for this by a season of penitence and fasting. At first this season was observed by those who were preparing for baptism at Easter, and by those, having been excommunicated, were to be restored to the communion of the church. By keeping these days with great care and attention, Christians might take to heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, and grow in faith and devotion to our Lord.
What’s it like right now in your wilderness? Are you ready to allow God to work in you—preparing you to be able to celebrate his resurrection as never before? By self-examination and repentance, by prayer and fasting, by self-denial and acts of generosity and by reading and meditating on the Word of God, let us keep a holy Lent. God bless you Ted |
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February 4—Super Bowl
In fact, some of the food was really good. We spent the second quarter with the Predator squadron, and they had Alaskan King Crab legs. Talk about a taste of home. People were already sick of me talking about how great Alaska is. Then they served me crab legs. Bon A petit!
As Americans, we love football. We love the game, the visceral struggle that is played out over 60 minutes. As a Christian, it reminds me of my struggle against sin. As a disciple of Jesus, I strive to become more and more like Him. And when I get down, and think that I can’t fight any more, I remember the words from the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews: “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood (Hebrews 12:4).” May God give you the strength and courage to live as His disciple today Ted
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Wow!
I love my job. Weddings are always a special time, because for those of
us who are married, we remember how special our wedding, and our
marriages are. I’m so thankful for the wonderful woman that I married,
and for the very special relationship that God has enabled us to have;
not to mention the amazing life journey that we have had so far
together. 
For most of us, it isn’t hard for us to
find someone to love. There are lots of people around us (start right at
home) who we can love as we love ourself. The question is, whether or
not we want to love them so sacrificially. 
The
great theologian Ed Vos wrote about this much better than I could:
One
way that we are trying to love our neighbor here in Afghanistan is by
distributing humanitarian supplies to local villages. We organized our
connex of supplies this past week, sorting through clothes, blankets,
toys and school supplies; and prepared them to be handed out in the next
few weeks. Here is Ed with our ready-supply
Although
our church doesn’t place much emphasis on the church’s liturgical
calendar, I have found it very meaningful, especially in times and
places like I am at now. Lent is a period, not unlike the
desert/wilderness, where we reflect and come before God vulnerable and
exposed, allowing him to work in us as we prepare for Easter. Here is a
picture of sunset in my desert:
Although
halfway around the world, Super Bowl Sunday is just as much of an
American cultural celebration here as it is back in the states. Of
course, it came on a lot earlier (kickoff was 4am). But those people who
were on shift during that time were already up. So Ed and I joined them
for fellowship, food and fun. 
