Spiritual Balance Check

I know that everyone has been watching the Olympics for the past two weeks. Each night my wife and I would watch and cheer on the USA athletes. It was the second night of the women gymnastics and all the gymnast on beam according to the announcers were having some difficulty with one skill. The skill was that they needed to balance themselves on one leg and spin around without loosing their balance or having a balance check. It seemed like a simple skill in comparison with the flips, jumps, and running across the beam. What struck me about this skill was that it seems that the simple skills may not be practiced on a regular basis. Then I thought about it for a while trying to place myself in the shoes of the athletes.

Lets say that you have been competing and practicing gymnastics for 10 years. You have been taught by a former Olympic gold medalist. You have trained for 10 hours a day for the last four years. Your coach says you are one of the best he has ever seen. So you practice your difficulty skills more and more while not practicing the easier skills. Your coach is impressed with your dismount, flips, back to back skills. He tells you well done you are ready to compete for the prize. The prize is gold and being called one of the best in the world. You begin the event and the first major slip is not when you were flipping or running but when you had to perform a low scored skill like spinning around on one foot. You balance check was a quick reminder that you have not practice that skill enough.

This is how I see Christians today with the spiritual skill of prayer. It is the simplest skill. There are no right words we have to say or eloquent phases we must use. This spiritual skill is simple in comparison to teaching a class, preparing a Bible study lesson, or even sharing the message of God with a non-believer. But it is the skill that we forget to practice on a regular basis because we feel it is not useful. I have thought about the balance checks of the gymnastics for several days now and realize that their balance checks on the simple skills is a reminder to me of the simple spiritual checks we need to asked God to reveal to us. However we cannot learn about our spiritual balance checks unless we begin to practice the spiritual discipline of prayer. So the next time something big happens in your life and you ask where was God. You may want to check yourself and ask God to forgive your failure to commune with Him through prayer.

The four spiritual skills I see most important are: Prayer, Devotions, Worship, and Communion with other Christians. The last three mean nothing if we cannot speak to the One who seeks to guide us, challenge us, grow us, revive us, nurture us, quench our spiritual thirst, etc... So do you need to have a spiritual balance check? Do you need to practice the beginner level skills again? Do not feel bad I to needed to be reminded of this? But I am glad that it is before I stand on the platform of judgment to recieve my prize. Have a great spiritual discovery.

Chaplain Paul Belcher

Thanks To All

It has been a while since my last post. I have been around the world and back twice. My time in Iraq was an experience that was challenging but rewarding. I went to Iraq with many expectations but all that I had thought I would experience it was much different than I thought. The days were long, the ministry rewarding, and the Soldiers that I served with the best. One thing that I can say is that America needs to be proud of those that provide our freedom. The men and women that I served with in Iraq were professional, and committed to the mission. They were always ready for the challenges that came their way. The men and women of the unit I served in were the best of the 3rd Infantry Division. They met the mission with great strides and accomplished so much over the 15 months.

For those that may read this and seek to understand what all I did in my first deployment as an Army Chaplain in Iraq here is a short list: Provide Counseling (Spiritual, Family/Martial, Ethical, Depression, Stress, Work Place Morale, Grief, and other areas), Provide Worship, Provide Bible Studies Opportunities 2-3 per week, Provide Classes, Provide Events (Friday BBQ on the Chaplain's Deck, Visit Soldiers in their workplace, Visit Wounded Soldiers at the Hospital, Meet with the command and staff officers once per week, Meet with the Chaplain's working in the morning worship service once per week, Prepare a sermon for the evening service every week, Work on Music Slides, and Work on the new CMRP (Command Master Religious Plan).

I did all of this in Iraq and many other things but I could not have done any of it, had it not been for the strength God provided me and the love and support of my wife Tiffany and the many friends I have made over the years.

For all who read this, know that I thank each of you for your prayers and supplies you sent me to aid in the mission of supporting the Soldiers.

May God bless you and keep you.