Pioneers: Leaving It All Behind

Posted on August 1, 2015 by eternalpioneer

The Mark of a Pioneer: Forsaking the known for the unknown

The pioneer is willing to leave behind all known quantities of his present reality because he

From Woodstock To Eternity

sees them as limitations. And, those limitations are like chains to him. He might as well be in leg irons in a dungeon with one little window where he can watch the world outside change and grow while he is forced to tolerate an eternal hell of sameness.

From Woodstock to Eternity excerpt from the chapter “How the West Was Won”

The mark of a Pioneer is what separates successful people from unsuccessful people. Many work in mundane situations their whole life and never attempt to change it. Like factory workers who get so used to their job that they can’t imagine doing anything else. A Pioneer would feel bound and limited in an environment like this, and would make every attempt to escape.

Bakery Plant Line Workers

Sometimes, we are forced by circumstances to leave our present reality. Recently, a major plant in our town closed, and many of the workers took the opportunity to go back to Junior College to learn a skill. They were forced to leave their “known reality” of the guaranteed work and go in a direction they had never dreamed of. After they became nurses and technicians, they looked back on their time in the plant as a distant memory of a routine existence. They had changed their lives.

Many get caught up in this mentality, and don’t have the foresight or the courage to step out “into the unknown”, but a Pioneer will take the challenge with glee. My son worked

Welding Shop

odd jobs in high school and got a welding certificate at the local college. For him, that was all he could see, and thought the best he could do was open a welding shop. A friend of the family convinced him that the only way to get ahead in the world was to get a Bachelor’s Degree.

He was hesitant at first, because his known reality was only welding. It was a limitation to him, but he took the challenge and left it behind. He launched into a Construction Engineering program. Now, doors are opening up to him everywhere, and he will enter a life far beyond a sheet metal welding shop.

Treasure in Heaven

The same is true of a journey into Eternity. When we are confronted with the Gospel message and the Christian Life, it requires a turning from our know existence. Just like Jesus said, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:22

Following Christ is a leap into the unknown, a departure from the way we have been living in the past to a new life according to heavenly ways. We are supposed to become a “new creation in Christ” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Many are eager to do this, and some are not so sure.

For those who make the transition from the old life to the new life – who make it “to the other side”, I have a title

ETERNAL PIONEERS

Lifestyles Cause Situations

Posted on July 21, 2015 by eternalpioneer

3 Elements of Self Improvement: Acknowledgement, Analysis, Accountability

An automatic reaction takes place in most people when things go wrong, or when we are corrected for our actions. The correction can come from a human source such as a boss, but it can also come from a Divine Source in situations that we find ourselves in. The initial response is usually to make an excuse, or deflect blame to another source, anything to keep from accepting the responsibility.

Why do we do this? Because if we are responsible, then we will have to change something. And if you think everything you do is just fine, then what’s to change?

Dustin Morgan was faced with this reality when he found himself staring at the cold, cinder block walls of a jail cell. In From Woodstock To Eternity, he is forced to Acknowledge the failure, Analyze what led up to it, and take Accountability for his actions.

Most of the time, when people get caught doing something wrong, they’re not sorry for what they did, but for the fact that they got caught. They analyze the execution of their plan to see where they messed up, but they never admit that there was anything wrong with the plan in the first place.

“If I had only done this, or not done that, then it would have worked.”

In this case, it wasn’t the execution – it was the plan! The vial of coke was there, because that’s how he had planned to live.

As he stares at the blank, pale yellow walls of his prison cubicle, he knows that as long as he continues living this way, the vulnerability will be there – like stripes on a tiger. No amount of precautions or self-imposed checks and balances will guarantee it won’t happen again. There will always be a forgotten roach in the ashtray, an open container in the car, a misplaced film tin in the trunk, an empty vial in the suitcase. And they will always lead back to this place. It’s worse than that. The next time he gets caught, it’ll lead to the state penitentiary.

1. Acknowledgement – It’s Not Working: You have to admit something is wrong before

you will ever try to fix it. This is the hardest part, because if we do admit that something is wrong in our life, then that means we have to fix it. That means change.

2. Analyze the Root Cause: Decisions have consequences, but our decisions come out of our lifestyles. Our lifestyle is where we

have put the treasure of our heart – friends, activities, style, fads, language, etc. If your lifestyle is undisciplined, your decisions will tend toward avoiding self discipline. If you are hard working and organized, your decisions will tend toward taking on the task.

3. Accountability – Accepting the Blame and Creating Solutions: This is the final key to self improvement. Take responsibility and come up with a new plan that will avoid the mistakes of the past and pave the way for a better future. Dustin Morgan vowed to raise his family up in the Lord, and he did. This one commitment changed his life and that of those around him for the better.

A Tribute to Ralph

Posted on July 6, 2015 by eternalpioneer

Ralph the Dog: A legend in her own time!

One of the only subjects who did not get an alias in the book, From Woodstock To Eternity is the hero’s blonde companion, Ralph. Ralph was unique from all other dogs in the world, because she was a human hidden inside a dog body. That’s right, I said “she”. This female German Shepherd/ Border Collie mix was called Ralph because she had an owner for a couple of weeks after she was born, and he said that she just looked like a Ralph. So, he named her Ralph, which turned out to be the perfect name for a blonde, female German Shepherd.

Ralph could communicate with her eyes and her tail. Any combination of expressions from these two features would say what she wanted to say. She could plead, show that she was happy or sad, know when she was in trouble, and give advice on world affairs. She was a diplomat of the highest order, making herself known in all of the Blacksburg community in the early 1970’s.

From Woodstock To Eternity

Ralph was even featured in a book about the culturally explosive times of the Woodstock era. Immortalized in print, she became one of the leading supporting characters to her owner, Captain Dustin Morgan. Here is an excerpt….

You’ve always got the one companion who never leaves you, is always there, patiently waiting. She doesn’t care if you’re drunk, or tripping, or speeding, or early or late, or anything; as long as she is with you. She doesn’t complain, doesn’t criticize, doesn’t

Ralph at two years old

whine. Yes, she’s been sitting out in the truck for hours now, just waiting for you to come back. That’s what I need to do. I need to get up right now and go out West. I need to go to Colorado.

….. Sitting faithfully in the passenger’s seat, overjoyed at his return, is his female companion; his blonde German Shepherd, Ralph.

“Ralphie, girl, guess what? We’re goin’ to Colorado! What do you think about that?”

Pound, pound, pound.

The tail beats against the seat cushion as she licks his hand and whimpers with glee that her master is back.

“You know you’re just a dog. You’re not a human, and you can’t talk. You’re never gonna talk, even though you think you can talk. Now just get all that out of your head.”

Pound, pound, pound.

People still talk about her today, and she will forever be known as Ralph the Dog.

Father’s Day 2015

Posted on June 21, 2015 by eternalpioneer

The Blessings of Wise Children

Proverbs 10:1

A wise son makes a glad father,
But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.

There are many passages in Proverbs that start out, “My son,…” do this and that and you

Daily Bible Reading

will be wise. I used to read these passages to all of my seven children in the morning on the couch for “Bible Time”.

We called them the “My sons” and “My daughters” of Proverbs. Just as the Bible promises that God’s Word will not return void, and that if you “train up a child in the way he should go, when he grows old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6), my children have grown up to be godly, wise young people. They are a light in a crooked and perverse generation.

Fathers Day 2015

As they grew up, they would make cards for me on Father’s Day. The messages of gratitude and thanksgiving from them to me were so encouraging, I taped them to the inside of the door to my locker at work. On the roughest of days, I could open that door and read those cards, and I knew why I was working so hard – it was for them.

They still make me cards on Father’s Day, and they still bless my heart beyond description. Thank you Joy, Marshall, Rose, Scott, Jennifer Gloria and Josiah. And thank you Lisa, my wife, for making it all happen.

Friday Fifteen Today June 5, 2015

Posted on June 5, 2015 by eternalpioneer

Iola’s Christian Reads Friday Fifteen Blog

Today is the day Iola has posted my guest blog on her Christian Writer’s blog. Go to http://www.christianreads.blogspot.com/ and read my article on 15 authors and their

Iola’s Christian Reads

books who have influenced my writing.

Maybe some of these insights will help someone who is an aspiring writer. After all, that’s what it is all about, helping others, right?

Please leave a comment to get the discussion going!!

Friday Fifteen Guest Blog

Posted on June 3, 2015 by eternalpioneer

News flash!! Friday Fifteen on Iola’s Christian Reads

I will be the featured blogger for Iola’s Christian Reads this Friday, June 5, 2015. Go to Friday Fifteen and read about 15 great authors and their books.

Some of the authors covered will be:

Charles Colson

Jeff Shaara

Tom Clancy

Jack London

And many more!!

Friday Fifteen on Friday, June 5, 2015

Iola’s Christian Reads

March to Memorial Day May 25, 2015

Posted on May 25, 2015 by eternalpioneer

Memorial Day is here!!

Memorial Day, like all military holidays, is special to me. As a former draft dodger and war protester in the Vietnam days, I have come to my senses long ago. Deep inside, I knew the valor of those who enlisted, or were drafted and put into combat situations. I guess you could say I have been trying to make up for it ever since by raising my seven children with a love for the military and American forces in general.

In From Woodstock To Eternity, Dustin Morgan reflects on his foolish dallying with the anti war movement.

When the anti-war fervor subsided, and people started respecting the troops again, all these deferments didn’t seem so “honorable” anymore. From that time on, Morgan carried the reminder of his foolish ideas with him. He regretted not going into the service when so many of his friends paid the ultimate price. It made him angry when he saw the news clips of demonstrators spitting on returning troops. He even felt guilty for getting a high lottery number.

He can’t fix the past, but he tries to pay some of it back by supporting the troops and raising his kids to love the military and the victories they have won to keep us free. He knows that whenever the veterans are asked to stand at a public event, he cannot stand up with them. All he can do is look at them with admiration and clap.

I came to realize long ago that insisting on peace at all times, for every circumstance, and at all cost would only result in suffering a huge loss. You cannot stop bullies and aggressors with a doctrine of peace. You will only end up being conquered by them. Peace is the opposite of aggression, and the only way to avoid being conquered is to conquer.

This became so evident in the victories of World War II. There is no question that the peace America won, with the Allies, was better than German occupation and death camps. The atomic bomb not only save millions of Japanese and American lives (from an invasion of Japan), but it brought about peace in a region that suffered under Japanese atrocities.

Almost all veterans who had suffered through years of battle against the Japanese were extremely relieved when the atomic bomb ended the war. As usual, it is only people far removed by distance or time who pass judgment and wag their fingers at the morality of using it on a city. They refuse to acknowledge the facts and the consequences, because they don’t fit in with their view of the world. What everybody wanted most was the headline on August 14, 1945.

All praise and honor to our veterans, and especially to those who died for our country. We owe you our deepest gratitude!!

March to Memorial Day May 24, 2015

Posted on May 24, 2015 by eternalpioneer

V-E Day: Victory in Europe May 8, 1945

VE Day Crowd

March to Memorial Day May 22, 2015

Posted on May 22, 2015 by eternalpioneer

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!!!

March to Memorial Day

Posted on May 21, 2015 by eternalpioneer

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.