Victory at Midway

The victory in the Battle of Midway destroyed most of the Japanese fleet, giving them a defeat they never expected.  This changed the balance of sea power in the Pacific, which also changed the direction of the war with Japan.  Just a few months after the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, the United States had reversed the course of the war and became the aggressor against the aggressor.

It has always fascinated me how a small island nation like Japan could even imagine that it could defeat the United States.  Indeed, after Pearl Harbor, on of their senior officers said, “I am afraid we have just awakened a sleeping giant.”  That turned out to be very prophetic.

In this day, many wonder how a small, fanatic bunch of radical muslims could imagine attacking the United States with the goal of taking us over altogether.  And yet, that is precisely what they wish to do.  If Japan had conquered us, we would all be speaking Japanese now.  If the Islamists conquer us, we will all be under Sharia Law.

Beware!!!

In honor of our veterans, I am going to post links to a different site each day that reflects America’s need for a strong military, and the courage and sacrifice of those who have defended this country.

USS Shaw at Pearl Harbor

America entered World War II with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The following image is a link to eye witness accounts of history, specifically the attack on

the USS Arizona.

Excerpt:  From Woodstock To Eternity:  Culture Wars

From Woodstock To Eternity

Blam!!  The door right in front of him slams open and spits out a skin headed kid in a gray ROTC uniform, his back ram rod straight, his arms fixed at his sides – slightly bent at the elbow, his neck locked in place in line with his back, his eyes straight ahead.  He takes two steps straight out of his room in front of Morgan.  Morgan jumps back, startled out of his fog, and fixes his eyes in amazement on the cadet.

He stops at attention for half a second, then brings his right foot back behind his left foot and performs a flawless right face.  He marches down the hallway with perfect precision, not flinching, not wavering, exactly two inches from the wall.  He marches right up to the water fountain sticking out from the wall, does a sharp left face for two steps, a sharp right face for two steps, another sharp right face for two steps, then a sharp left face to continue marching down the hall, exactly two inches from the wall.

Freedom That Brings Victory

Morgan stands transfixed with his mouth open.  He has never seen anything like it. He’s blown away by the precision and discipline the cadet just displayed walking down the hall…

“What must it be like to be under such control?”  Morgan asks himself.  “That was so strange!  He looks like a robot, but he’s a man. …They have sucked all the life and freedom out of this guy and made him into an automated, mechanical, brain dead, machine! I can’t believe anyone would allow themselves to be subjected to this.”

That’s what it was, it was subjugation.  That cadet, and everyone like him might as well have had their minds wrapped a thousand times with bands and chains until they had no will of their own.  Then their heads were opened up, and they poured in the instructions, the rules, the involuntary servitude, like a bizarre, science fiction nightmare. …

Later in life, …  He could now see the value of discipline and training for success.  It takes discipline to wake up and get to work on time.  You have to follow instructions to do your job right.  If your job is highly intricate, or carries a lot of responsibility, your degree of discipline and your ability to stay under authority could make the difference between success and failure, maybe between life and death.  One day he was reading in Psalm 2,

Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,

“Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”

Psalm 2 Freedom

He coined the phrase for this so-called freedom from the disciplines of God’s direction:

PSALM 2 FREEDOM

Copyright © 2015 John D. Cooper

The World’s Freedom Brings Bondage

The world says, “It is not good to be restrained, all things are permissible, there is no right or wrong, no one should judge you.”  This is their “freedom” from the limitations of

Unrestrained free spirits

righteousness.  However, this kind of freedom brings bondage to all those “permissible” things.

Romans 6:20  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness

This says that when we were slaves of sin, we were free.  This is what the term “In Bondage to Freedom” means.  The people in this picture certainly think they are free.  The so-called freedom of breaking away from limitations and constraints that God puts on us feels good and makes us think we are “free spirits”.  However, the compulsion to reject all things that would restrain us makes us bound to do the opposite – be unrestrained and uninhibited.

The underlying power behind “bondage” and “slavery” is law – the concept of an outside

A controlling force

force compelling you to do something – whatever it is.  To be a slave of sin would therefore mean that sin somehow is a force of law that compels you to behave a certain way.  The compulsion is more subtle than that, however.  A sinful perspective on life directs every thought and attitude – not just isolated sinful acts.

While the average person may not think they are in bondage to anything, the test comes when an alternative is presented.  Do you do the righteous thing and refrain from doing such and so, or does your sense of “freedom” tell you to go ahead and do it anyway?  This is when “freedom” becomes the force that compels you to do something you should not do.

Romans 7:19-20  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.  Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Copyright © 2015 John D. Cooper

Coming Next:  The Cadet and the Water Fountain