Consequence Read Online Free
Author: Eric Fair
guitars, and lots of clapping.
Don does not always attend the meetings on Sunday nights. When he doesnât, volunteer leaders, college students mostly, talk about Jesus and being born again. One Sunday night, a volunteer leader stands up in front of the group and tells us about how Jesus died. He tells us to stand up and lift our arms in the air. When some of us start to struggle, he yells at us to hold our positions. He says we could never handle what Jesus did for us on the cross. You canât breathe, so you have to hold your weight up with your arms, and eventually they give out and you suffocate to death. I donât think that I had anything to do with Jesus dying in this horrible way. I donât think I would ever ask someone to do something like this. I donât think I need to be saved.
When I attend the Sunday night youth group meetings, I sit in the back, stay silent, and watch others clap their hands and talk about being born again.
1.2
In December 1989, the United States invades Panama. In history class, Mr. Deutsch makes us read newspapers. I read an article in the New York Times about the 82nd Airborne Division and its role in the invasion. The article says the 82nd Airborne represents the best the country has to offer. They are men who lead by example and do not draw attention to themselves. They are quiet professionals who do impressive things like kill bad guys and feed starving refugees all on the same day.
By 1990, my senior year in high school, I no longer take beatings under the overpass. I take honors-level courses and participate in the high school activities that my guidance counselor says will make me look more impressive on my college applications. I apply to a variety of small liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania and New England, but I also spend time in the Army recruiting office. The church has played a critical role in my life. Men like Don Hackett offered a safe place where I could grow and mature. I want to offer that same protection to others. I want to be like the police officer who showed up at my paper route. I want to be a quiet professional who saves starving refugees.
Don says a calling is a way of defining our choices in life. We donât hear a voice or have a vision. Instead, we rely on those we trust to help us make good decisions. When the process is done properly, we honor God with the choices we make. I tell Don that I feel called to law enforcement. Don tells me that I canât just make that decision on my own. He says you have to follow a path, not create one.
Don and I talk about the difficulty of being a soldier while still following Christian tenets such as turning the other cheek and loving your enemy. But Don says there are different ways to love your enemy. He says the world can be a difficult place. He says sometimes God calls us to do what is necessary to protect people. I ask him about war. I ask him about killing. He says, âSometimes itâs okay to lie to evil.â
1.3
During my childhood, when my father wasnât grading papers or preparing lesson plans, he was working a second job stocking shelves and manning the register at Pennsylvania State liquor stores. My mother eventually turned her substitute-teaching position into a full-time job teaching high school biology. My parents are supportive of my decision to pursue a career in law enforcement, but they insist that I attend college first. They are adamant about the importance and value of a four-year degree. They have saved their money for a reason. Before I graduate high school, they agree to shoulder the entire cost of my education.
I receive a number of acceptance letters from small Pennsylvania colleges. But there is also an acceptance letter from Gordon College, a small Christian school in Wenham, Massachusetts, so I attend a weekend for prospective students.
I spend the weekend with Roy Carson, a Gordon College sophomore. I go to class with him, eat in the dining
Don does not always attend the meetings on Sunday nights. When he doesnât, volunteer leaders, college students mostly, talk about Jesus and being born again. One Sunday night, a volunteer leader stands up in front of the group and tells us about how Jesus died. He tells us to stand up and lift our arms in the air. When some of us start to struggle, he yells at us to hold our positions. He says we could never handle what Jesus did for us on the cross. You canât breathe, so you have to hold your weight up with your arms, and eventually they give out and you suffocate to death. I donât think that I had anything to do with Jesus dying in this horrible way. I donât think I would ever ask someone to do something like this. I donât think I need to be saved.
When I attend the Sunday night youth group meetings, I sit in the back, stay silent, and watch others clap their hands and talk about being born again.
1.2
In December 1989, the United States invades Panama. In history class, Mr. Deutsch makes us read newspapers. I read an article in the New York Times about the 82nd Airborne Division and its role in the invasion. The article says the 82nd Airborne represents the best the country has to offer. They are men who lead by example and do not draw attention to themselves. They are quiet professionals who do impressive things like kill bad guys and feed starving refugees all on the same day.
By 1990, my senior year in high school, I no longer take beatings under the overpass. I take honors-level courses and participate in the high school activities that my guidance counselor says will make me look more impressive on my college applications. I apply to a variety of small liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania and New England, but I also spend time in the Army recruiting office. The church has played a critical role in my life. Men like Don Hackett offered a safe place where I could grow and mature. I want to offer that same protection to others. I want to be like the police officer who showed up at my paper route. I want to be a quiet professional who saves starving refugees.
Don says a calling is a way of defining our choices in life. We donât hear a voice or have a vision. Instead, we rely on those we trust to help us make good decisions. When the process is done properly, we honor God with the choices we make. I tell Don that I feel called to law enforcement. Don tells me that I canât just make that decision on my own. He says you have to follow a path, not create one.
Don and I talk about the difficulty of being a soldier while still following Christian tenets such as turning the other cheek and loving your enemy. But Don says there are different ways to love your enemy. He says the world can be a difficult place. He says sometimes God calls us to do what is necessary to protect people. I ask him about war. I ask him about killing. He says, âSometimes itâs okay to lie to evil.â
1.3
During my childhood, when my father wasnât grading papers or preparing lesson plans, he was working a second job stocking shelves and manning the register at Pennsylvania State liquor stores. My mother eventually turned her substitute-teaching position into a full-time job teaching high school biology. My parents are supportive of my decision to pursue a career in law enforcement, but they insist that I attend college first. They are adamant about the importance and value of a four-year degree. They have saved their money for a reason. Before I graduate high school, they agree to shoulder the entire cost of my education.
I receive a number of acceptance letters from small Pennsylvania colleges. But there is also an acceptance letter from Gordon College, a small Christian school in Wenham, Massachusetts, so I attend a weekend for prospective students.
I spend the weekend with Roy Carson, a Gordon College sophomore. I go to class with him, eat in the dining
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