I remember growing up hearing stories from my dad about his experiences growing up with an identical twin brother and the wild shenanigans they were involved in. Then being curious about his stories of serving in the Vietnam War. While the stories he told us as kids were comical and not of a serious nature, I know there are many parts that he was not able to share of his war experience to little kids at the time– the lonliness, fear, the struggle of a soldier in wartime.
Recently, he has written a book through the lense of serving in Vietnam and God’s presence with him there. Not the usual perspective for a Christian devotional book and I was excited that he was willing to do a short interview. His book is filled with surprisingly applicable emotions and struggles that we all face even though it is from the lense of a soldier and how God reaches down into our lives on a very personal level.
You’ve had quite the world traveling experience of life from a front row seat in war to rural America, what are you spending your days on these days?
At age seventy-five I finally retired after teaching high school Bible at Riverside Christian School for the past thirty years. Prior to that, I was the Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church for eight years. Now that I am adjusting to retirement, I have discovered what might be one of the most terrifying words in the English language. It’s when my wife says, “Honey, I have an idea.” Her ideas include building a six-foot-high cedar fence 150 feet long, rebuilding a deck with new handrails, or remodeling the basement.
We do enjoy spending time in the woods in our small travel trailer, fishing and road trips. My wife is into gardening and loves to visit the Sequim lavender festival. Each time we go, she remarks how wonderful it would be to own a lavender farm and raise alpacas. I, however, am reminded of how wonderful it would be to sit in a lawn chair with a fresh cup of coffee watching people digging in the soil and raising animals.
I like to start my day for about an hour reading God’s Word and sharing my life with Him. Much of this time is spent reflecting on the many ways our Lord has guided and protected me. I think back to how God used my life’s decisions to shape and mold me into the person He wants me to be. He took four years of serving in the Marine Corps, several years of undergraduate and graduate studies, and over 38 years of full-time ministry to instill in my heart and mind what it means to be a servant.
The Lord has taken 54 years of marriage to teach me the meaning of love. Most importantly, my decision to go forward at a Billy Graham Crusade to seek God’s forgiveness and enter an intimate relationship with His Son has truly been life transforming. My heart pours out with praise and thanksgiving for all that He has done and continues to do in my life amid change.
The rest of our time is spent working around the house, serving as a lay elder at our Church, visiting our children and grandchildren. A recent highlight was to teach three of our grandchildren to fish. Having fished for decades, I intuitively cast a line to its intended destination. Teaching young kids to do the same is quite a challenge. They threw the line straight up in the air, into the weeds or a nearby tree. Thankfully, they got the hang of it and went with the rhythm of letting the line go at just the right time as you turn the pole.
Your book is a mixture of real life scenarios and alternating with the meanings of different names of God. Not many devotional books are from a Vietnam vet perspective. Where did you serve and what was your role as a soldier?
My twin brother and I joined the Marine Corps at the end of the summer of our high school graduation in 1967. Once we completed basic training we were sent to Fixed Wing Mechanics school in Memphis. Upon completion, I was sent to helicopter mechanics school as well.
In 1970, I was sent to Marble Mountain helicopter air base just outside of Danang in Vietnam. I was assigned to HML 167, a helicopter gunship squadron. While on the ground I worked in maintenance control and when flying, served as a machine gunner aboard Huey gunships. (I will insert that his helicopter was sometimes the decoy and bait to draw fire for the medivac and his life expectancy was 7 seconds).
It was not long before I became acquainted with the prospect of dying and the awful feelings that come with such an existence. Fear and loneliness led to hopelessness and despair. I eventually gave up hope of coming home to see my wife once again. In the depths of my despair, God intervened and pulled me back from falling into a pit of depression. As a result, not only did I regain hope of returning home in one piece, but I committed my life to serving the Lord.
It would be years later when studying and teaching about the names of God that I realized that the meanings of His names resonated with the many ways He connected with me while serving in Vietnam. The connection between His names and His intimate relationship with me in Vietnam was a story I felt burdened to share.
You chose very particular names of God, what was the inspiration for picking those particular names? Do you have a favorite or a chapter that covers one particular standout?
While teaching Bible doctrine to high school students I realized that a great way for students to get to know God was via the many names by which He revealed Himself in the Bible. But what I also discovered was that these names were not randomly revealed in Scripture. By His names, God made Himself known to us precisely at the junction of human experience. The goal was for students to gain not only a deeper knowledge of God, but to appreciate God’s desire to be present with them in a multitude of human experiences. The ultimate objective was for students to understand that intimacy ensues when divine revelation and human needs connect.
There were many more names that I could have covered in my class and in the writing of my book, but these were chosen to help the student and reader alike appreciate how much God desires to enter into a personal relationship with us. I think the favorite name for me is “Elohim” . By this name, God (Elohim) reveals not only something special about Himself, but us as well. This I cover in Chapter Two Reflections of Majesty.
HML167-HMLA167.com has an exceellent short video on the hisory of HML-167.
Writing a book is quite a journey, were there any discoveries about the writing process that you discovered along the way that helped you? What setting did you like to write in?
I discovered that having a dedicated group of people around me who can read through the manuscript and give advice was invaluable. From this I deleted one chapter, added two others and edited several keys places in the text. I used the names of God from the doctrine class that I taught as a guide but added other names as well.
Determining the approximate length of the book was important to set boundaries for the manuscript. It helped me to know when and where to bring my book to a close. I wrote essentially every day for about six months always at my dining room table where I could spread out my notebooks, Bible and laptop and have ready access to munchies (the latter is vitally important).
What are you working on now?
Right now I am mulling over in my mind one or two adult Bible classes that I might be able to teach some time in the future. Perhaps I could write a study guide to accompany my book that would incorporate discussion questions to elicit reader involvement.
Suggestions for other people who would love to write, what would you recommend now that you have finished a book and get to enjoy the end of that process?
Do not let unfamiliarity with the writing, editing, and publishing process overwhelm you! Eventually, all this can be worked out. The important thing is that you believe you have been given something important to say that could be of help to others. There is a difference between writing style/skill and content. The former can be improved with professional help, but the content is your most valuable asset. This is what can make the difference.
I cannot stress enough the importance of seeking out a professional editor who has years of experience working in the genre you are writing about. This may be a bit expensive, but it is worth every penny. Some publishers I contacted would not even accept my manuscript for evaluation unless it had been edited first.
The editor the Lord led me to had years of experience working with new writers in the Christian field. She helped me to determine the specific genre and reading audience. She read through the manuscript with an eye to sentence structure, readability, and whether the manuscript held the reader’s attention deep into the manuscript. She helped me see that my writing was too stiff and formal in places. I needed to write as though I was talking with a friend. Finally, she was even willing to help write the back cover for my book and review the acknowledgement page.
What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
It does not take a war zone for someone to grapple with feelings of loneliness. It haunts us all. I have written this book in the hope that the reader can see that God’s desire is for us to enjoy the greatest presence of all: the gift of intimacy between Himself and all humanity.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us. I highly encourage our audience to read Jim’s book “The Greatest Presence of All” available at Bookbaby.
