To Train for the Kingdom
Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift.
We have hard work to do and loads to lift.
Shun not the struggle,
Face it: ’tis God’s gift.432
This poem was prominently posted on Lt. John Burkhalter’s trunk and gave a glimpse of his character. Burkhalter was a highly decorated chaplain with the 1st Division, landing early on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He had been ordained in 1935 and served as pastor of a Florida church until he enlisted in the Army in 1942 at age thirty-three. He was a former National Championship high school football player and professional boxer for eight years. With the 1st Division, he was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action after heroically exposing himself to enemy fire to recover casualties. He looked and lived like a true combat chaplain, as evident in a colleague’s description:
He stands before his congregation in a faded fatigue uniform, feet braced, chest thrown out, jaw thrust forward. His strong-looking hands hold firmly to the hymn book. He stands there, a powerful figure, his eyes meeting every man’s glance like a boxer looking for an opening. When he talks he speaks like a coach addressing a group of athletes in training. He doesn’t harangue or plead or scold. His words carry his own conviction and confidence in what he is saying. This is the way to train for the Kingdom of God, he implies in his manner, hands on hips, head thrust forward slightly. These are the things to do. This is how to do them.433
If you believe the axiom that, “young men don’t need counselors, they need role models,”you can visualize this man as a perfect military chaplain. His appearance, his attitude, and his faithfulness inspired men who were not easily impressed, as he successfully took the Word of God into a difficult and dangerous venue. His life was an inspiration then and now to live and act boldly for God’s kingdom, epitomizing the words of the old hymn: “Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross!”434
David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
—1 Samuel 17:45