Ken was always deployed.  To Cuba, Spain, Italy, Japan, Korea, The Philippines, Okinawa, Vietnam.  I never got to go with him.  Wherever we were living at the time, the children and I would wait until he returned.   There was a "saying" among Marines that if the Marine Corps had wanted you to have a wife, they would have issued you one.

And now, he has been deployed to heaven.   There will come a day when I fully comprehend that he won't return from this deployment.  But on this deployment, this time, I will someday get to join him.

I will write about him for awhile.  Bear with me.

During this season of his departure, he would look at me and say, "I know two things for sure.  I know that I love you, and I know that God loves me."  I was always humbled by his complete faith in God's love.

As the children's song goes:  "Jesus loves me, this I know,  For the Bible tells me so…"

God loves us.

If I were not a child of God, and a joint heir with Jesus Christ, I don't know who I would be right now.  I am going to have to reinvent the rest of myself.  I was my father's daughter, and then I was Ken's wife.   Now, I am on the first day of the rest of my life.

The service was unbelievable.  A tribute to his life.  Marine guards standing at attention, then the folding of the flag with a presentation to me, a brilliant sermon from a young man that Ken had led to the Lord.  "Eternal Father Strong to Save" sung by the Marine Corps choir.  A full auditorium.  Then a fly over of planes-actually a recording of Corsairs returning from a mission.  And Ken.  In full Mess Dress.  Dark blue, red, with gold braid medals and wings.  Lt. Col. E. Ken Jacks.  Looking exactly like the commanding officer of a fighter squadron--which he was.  Three times.  If you get one squadron command in the Marine Corps, you are very lucky.  His achievements were not luck.  He was truly a great man.

We honored his life.

He honored mine by choosing me.   I have loved.  I have been loved.  What more can we ask for in this life.  Fifty seven years, three months, and one day.

I will see him again.

November 19, Ken left for heaven at 12:55 in the morning.   The last words we had were when I said, "Ken, you are going to God."  He said, "Maybe God is coming to me."  And He did.

He will be buried at Arlington with full military honors.

Strange things happen.  A new couple moved to Pryor, two doors down from our house.  This evening, the man knocked at our door with a  newspaper clipping from 1945.  Seems that although he and Ken had not met in over 65 years, they had played football against each other in high school. The man heard Ken's name and found out we were neighbors.  And brought a copy of the clipping.

Ken got a kick out of me reading the clipping to him.  Pryor against Pawhuska.   They are old men over 80 now, but both of them were once young and remembering the past was a nice thing.  Both of them are veterans.  Korea, Vietnam, and WW2.  

I really enjoyed watching the two of them visiting and remembering.  God bless the men and women who were willing to go war, to serve their country.  All of you out there, thank you for your service.

Ephesians 1:7, 9-10b  "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;…Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,, according to his good pleasure which he has purposed in himself,…..That he might gather together in one all things in Christ…."

Redemption, blood, forgiveness, grace, mystery, purpose…all in order to gather us all together in Christ.  Paul could say more in one sentence than any other writer I know.

One of Paul's themes deals with the word "mystery".  I will elaborate on this when I write again.

They put Ken on oxygen today.  He is holding his own.  He has won the victory, but keeps losing the battles.  Thank you for your prayers.

There are controversial verses of scripture.  Ephesians 1:3-5 is an example.  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of this will."

Predestined.  There are two arguments.  The first says that only a few were chosen.   This contradicts other scripture:  John 3: 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him might have everlasting life."  There are dozens and dozens of other verses in the Bible that tell us that we are all included in his plan.  His salvation was for all mankind.


The second argument says that God had a predestined plan to adopt us even before the world was formed.  Naturally, if we are to look at all the letters of Paul, we know that he believed the plan of God was for everyone.  He was a Jew, but he called himself the apostle to the Gentiles.

Of course I believe the second point of view.   I believe God told us to share his plan of salvation with the world.  I have a 'driven' desire in my heart to do just that.   I want all of you to be 'driven' too.  I want everyone to know that Jesus died for our sins.  Without that, the entire future is hopeless because we have all come short of God's measuring stick.  As long as I measure myself against other people, I can come off looking okay.  But when I measure myself against Jesus, I am doomed.

Thank God He loved us enough to sacrifice himself for our sin.

  

In the New Testament there is one book of history.  Acts.  The first four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are testimonies of the life of Jesus from four points of view.  The book of Acts tells us what happened next in the lives of the people who were Christians at that time--after the death of Christ Jesus.  It is a very interesting book.

Then we get to the letters of Paul.  A rich treasure trove of personal letters that he wrote to different churches that he had started after he accepted Jesus as the Messiah.  Paul's passion spills forth in each letter.  Paul has found the Christ, and he wants everyone to know the truth.  He wants everyone to know that he was wrong about Jesus, and that he has been converted to Christianity.  To Jesus.

Probably the most important letter he wrote was to the Romans.  Ken, my husband, says that if he could only keep one book of the entire Bible, it would be Romans.

Romans, I Corinthians and II Corinthians are lengthy.  Then there are four short letters.  The first is to the Galatians.  It is not a happy letter.  Paul is unhappy with the Galatians.

Then comes Ephesians, Philippians, and  Colossians.  Very short.  These are an easy read.  I am going to give an overview of each.

In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul gives his credentials.  Ep. 1:1 "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus."

 Paul said that he was an apostle--by God's will.  Equal in every way with Peter, James, John, Thomas….and the others.  But his mission was not to the Jews.  There were eleven apostles to take care of that back in Jerusalem.  His mission was to tell the Gentiles that they were included.  Not only was he writing to them, but he was writing to us.  The faithful in Jesus Christ.   You are one of those.

My favorite books in the Bible are the ones that Paul wrote.  I have given you a little overview of the manner in which James and Peter wrote.  But Paul.  That is an entirely new level of writing.  Paul had such an advantage over the other New Testament writers.

He was a Roman citizen.  He had studied at the very best "universities" of his day.  He was an expert in Jewish law.  He was extremely respected by the Jewish leaders of the day.  And he hated Christianity so much that he had given his life to killing them.  In his mind, Christians were a threat to the one true God.  The one true religion.  Judaism.   His plan was to stamp out all the Christians and thwart the movement that declared that Jesus was God.  The Jewish Messiah.  Paul even held the coats of the people who stoned Stephen.

But he didn't take into consideration the power of the Holy Spirit.  Until, one day, as he was traveling to Damascus to carry out his reign of terror, he was struck blind. Cut down by a Holy God.

Acts 9:1 "And Saul, (Paul) yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went into the high priest, (Jewish) And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, (Jewish) that if he found any of "this way", (Christians) whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."

He got the official papers, set out on his journey, and when he was almost there he was blinded by a light from heaven and a voice:  "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"  Saul asked who He was, and received a life changing answer.  Verse 4b:  "…I am Jesus who you persecute…"

The rest is history.  Saul began to tremble and asked the eternal question of Jesus:  "…Lord, what will you have me to do?"  When you meet Jesus, that's a very good question to ask him.