One reason we love Maury Davis, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Nashville, is because of his steadfast respect for the men and women who serve our country in the military. In nearly every service, he brings a soldier who’s about to be deployed up to the stage to pray for him or her. Today, he recognized PFC J.T. White, who just returned from Iraq, and had him stand as 3,000 people applauded him. Protestors sometimes picket outside the church because they object to this. While they certainly have the right to express their opposition to war, why they would picket a church for honoring the men and women who serve is beyond me. But Pastor Davis handles it with class, by sending them hot chocolate.
Archive for the ‘The Military’ Category
“Welcome Home Soldier, We Honor You”
Sunday, December 13th, 2009Homes for Our Troops
Saturday, December 12th, 2009If you support our troops, here’s a website you should share with everyone you know: www.HomesForOurTroops.org
September 11th
Friday, September 11th, 2009Remember where you were on this day 8 years ago? I was giving a seminar in Council Bluffs, Iowa (just outside Omaha, Nebraska) when everyone’s cell phones began going off. People were panicking, but it wasn’t because of planes hitting the Pentagon or the World Trade Centers. It was because of a plane landing at a nearby Air Force base. That plane was Air Force One, and they rushed president Bush to an underground bunker set up in case of a nuclear attack. Watching him that night on the news, I couldn’t help but wonder if being in the same place as the president at such a time made it safer, or more dangerous.
Memorial Day 2009
Monday, May 25th, 2009
Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery
I heard a radio talk show host asking people on the street exactly what Memorial Day means. Is it to honor those who served in our military, or those who died in the line of duty? Most didn’t know, and to be 100% candid, I wasn’t sure myself. So I looked it up to make sure. Click on the photo for the real story.
Mike Huckabee, Andy Andrews, and the U.S.M.C.
Sunday, May 24th, 2009What a great day! Cornerstone Church went all out this morning in its tribute to the men and women who’ve served in the armed services. Members of each branch of the military were honored one at a time, but the highlight was when four Marines repelled on ropes from the ceiling to the floor.
The guest speaker was Mike Huckabee, who was outstanding. While most people know Mike as a politician (governor of Arkansas for 10 years, and presidential candidate), today was not about politics. He was here in the capacity of his previous job – a Baptist minister. (His new job is the envy of every person in media. He got Paul Harvey’s time slot on ABC Radio networks).
I also ran into New York Times best selling author Andy Andrews, who I first met when he was the keynote speaker four years ago at the 2005 NSA (National Speaker’s Association) convention in Atlanta. Andy still has that million dollar smile, and hasn’t changed a bit.
Glenn Shepard & Andy Andrews at Cornerstone Church 5-24-09
The Time-Out of a Lifetime
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009Dear Glenn,
I was really tickled to find out that you are a hockey fan. In spite of all of the bad jokes about hockey, it can be a really exciting game to watch. I’ve loved the Flyers since I moved to Philadelphia in 1971.
I wanted to share a customer service story with you about the Philadelphia Flyers that happened last night. My son-in-law is retiring this weekend after 22+ years in the Navy. He and my daughter live in Gettysburg, PA, which is about 3 hours away from us. As a surprise gift for his retirement, she bought him tickets to see a Flyers game in person. Then she called the Flyers’ office and asked if they might put his name up on the ArenaVision during a stoppage in play just saluting him for his military service. They were very, very nice about it but explained that they really can’t promise to do that. What is displayed is very often paid advertising and that has to be their first consideration. Fair enough, right?
They did transfer her call to someone else though. Instead of that brief text message on the ArenaVision, they made other arrangements which we managed to keep a secret from Bill. My daughter tricked him into leaving home in his uniform and he was still grousing about that when we all arrived at the hockey game. Shortly after the beginning of the second period, a Flyers staff person came to where we were sitting and asked Bill to “take a walk with him”. They went into an area where there was a camera person and one of the most popular retired Flyer Players, Bob Kelly. When the game stopped for a TV commercial, the ArenaVision began to show a series of photos of Bill throughout his career. The Flyers announcer, Lou Nolan, read a short paragraph about his accomplishments and his service and then the camera went live showing Bob Kelly presenting our Bill with a Flyers’ Jersey with his name and favorite number on it. It was the Flyers way of saying thanks for his years of service to our country. Bill was absolutely stunned and the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
All of this took only the length of a TV time-out on the ice but it meant the world to Bill and to our whole family. I think the best part was at the end of the game when we were heading out to the car. At least a dozen different people came up to Bill to shake his hand and say “Thank You” personally for his service to the country. It didn’t even matter that we lost the game!
I know this probably doesn’t fit with anyone’s image of hockey in general or the Flyers in particular but I was so moved that they would do this for him. I thought you might appreciate the extra special way they handled this.
Best wishes,
Jan in Philadelphia, PA
P.S. The Predators’ color analyst, Terry Crisp, is also one of the most popular old-time Flyers. When he was a player here in the ’70′s, he had bright red, curly hair. My daughter also had bright red curly hair and when she was 5, she dressed up as Terry Crisp for Halloween! Small world, huh?
Wounded Warriors
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008I found this website from, of all people, Gene Simmons of KISS. The website speaks for itself. Click here: http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org
Welcome Home Daddy
Sunday, May 25th, 2008
Columbus is also home to Fort Benning, which is the home of the United States Army Infantry. I asked my sister-in-law to take us by North Highland Assembly of God, which planted 4,561 flags to commemorate the 4,561 members of our military who have died in Iraq. It seemed appropriate to recognize them and the sacrifice they made, for Memorial Day. It was chilling to see these.
Then on our way back to the house, we drove by the home of a soldier who just returned. The sign on the door reminded me that the soldiers are not the only ones who sacrifice.
