The Band of Brothers Gets Smaller- Buck Compton Dies at Age 90

I just learned that Buck Compton died Saturday.  Here's the story and obit from the LA Times.

Seems the Band of Brothers is getting pretty small.  I really wanted to meet some of these men in this lifetime.  Hopefully, they were believers and I'll get to spend some time with them in the next.  And hopefully they are enjoying their reunion together where,

To fallen soldiers let us sing,
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing,
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord

No more weeping,
No more fight,
No friends bleeding through the night,
Just Devine embrace,
Eternal light,
In the Mansions of the Lord

Where no mothers cry
And no children weep,
We shall stand and guard
Though the angels sleep,
Oh, through the ages let us keep
The Mansions of the Lord

(Mansions of the Lord, by Randall Wallace)

 

Sproul-Mates

I can't even begin to count the number of people I've met, many in the blogosphere, who have something in common with me.  We were all once stuck in some form of humanistic understanding of God, our theology peppered with nice phrases about God's sovereignty and authority, but in practical reality, we all acted as though we, and not God, were really sovereign.

Then something changed.

The thing that happened to all of us was an introduction to reformed theology.  Not the dry academic kind, but the gospel-focused, mission-oriented, God-glorifying kind.  We were introduced, often accidentally (of course, we now know it was providential, not accidental!), by faithful men proclaiming God's word in its fullness. There are many names that come up in these discussions and some appear much more commonly than others.  Names like Boice, Kennedy, Piper, Mahaney, Dever, Horton, Ferguson, and Mohler are usually mentioned. Lately I'm hearing more and more Chandlers and Chans, and even a few Driscolls. But there are two names heard more often than any other: MacArthur and Sproul. And Sproul is usually universally mentioned.

Sproul gets the slight edge most likely due to his ability to take complex doctrinal issues and make them understandable, all the while engaging us with edge-of-the-seat stories that are filled with gospel truth have made him the key figure in almost everyone's story that is like mine.

I know there's been a bit of a backlash against 'celebrity pastors' recently, and rightfully so.  But I've never heard Dr. Sproul's name mentioned as one of these, because he isn't a celebrity, he's a leader and a teacher.  He may be well-known, but he's well-known for reasons primarily focused around respect, not glamor.  And he's appreciated not because he has a famous face or a national radio program (he has both), but because he's a father-figure to so many of us who have come into the light of the reformed faith late (or lately) in our lives. I don't know how much longer Dr. Sproul will continue in active ministry, though I hope it is many years.  What I do know is, there are a great many of us 'Sproul-mates' out here who hold a tremendous appreciation and respect for Dr. Sproul for his faithful ministry over the last four-plus decades. It's really funny; who would have imagined a baseball player from Pittsburgh amounting to anything!













Thank you for your service, Dr. Sproul!

We Lost a Hero

I am saddened by the passing of Maj. Dick Winters this past week.  He needs no introduction to anyone who saw the Steven Ambrose mini-series Band of Brothers, or who read the book.  For those that haven't yet seen it, Maj. Winters was the unlikely hero of Easy Company, 503rd PIR, 101st Airborne Division, in the battles of France and Germany at the end of World War II.  (If you haven't seen it, go NOW and buy or rent it.  It is not appropriate for children because of violence and language, but is essential for adults who want to try to understand the level of sacrifice that generation offered, and to get a comparison of how a we-centered generation lived versus how our me-centered generation(s) live.)

Maj. Winters was truly a hero, though he declined that description for himself.  In his words, he served in the company of heroes.  There were a lot of heroes in those places, some more likable than others; but heroes nonetheless.  For quite a while now, we've been hearing of the death of these men.  As most who served in WWII were born between 1915 and 1925, that generation (the Greatest Generation, as Tom Brokaw appropriately called them) is disappearing quickly.

One of the things about Maj. Winters that is compelling is the thought of him as simply the face of so many unknown heroes just like him.  If you read Ambrose's series of books on that period and place of history, you'll meet many more of them, but they have not had the benefit of a mini-series to bring their stories to light.

I guess this is a reminder of why we should pay our respects (in words and actions) to those who served...we may often be showing our respect to a real hero, and never know it.

Obituary for Major Dick Winters (NY Times)