By: Denny

This morning, July 7^th, I rode my bike from home to Central Park in the center of downtown Mason City, a distance of 2 ½  miles. With my Bible in the rear basket, my intention was to first ride the sidewalk perimeter of the park while praying then sit on a bench, read some scriptures, and pray some more. As I rode along an old chorus, Great and Mighty is the Lord our God, came to mind and I began to softly sing it. Softly, so as not to draw attention to myself, but mostly because I was out of breath from the uphill ride. The city workers were emptying trash cans and cleaning up the park from the 4th of July event, so I didn’t want to get in their way. After one lap around the park, I found a bench at the War Memorial to sit on. I’ve driven by it countless times, but this was the first time I visited it. As I sat there resting from my ride, the Holy Spirit said, “Don’t pray and don’t read your Bible. I have some things I want to say and show you.” Suddenly, I felt like I was sitting in a holy place on sacred ground. I observed the 12 large 4’ by 8’ granite slabs with the names forever set in stone of those who gave their lives fighting for and defending our freedom. The Holy Spirit said, “Count them”, which I proceeded to do. There are 3,741 names engraved there. I felt very humbled almost to the point of tears even though I didn’t recognize anyone I knew. As I counted, I wondered how many volunteered or were drafted. The Holy Spirit said, “They all shared one thing in common; they rose to the occasion and engaged the enemy on foreign soil. They didn’t wait for the fight to come to them. They left the comfort and pleasures of their own lives, homes, and borders, to serve, fight for, defend, and bring liberty and freedom to those who were oppressed, knowing full well it could cost them their very lives.” That sounded so much like what Jesus did when he left his heavenly home and proclaimed in Luke 4:18. “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” By the way, the monument is called Mason City Area Veterans Monument. This writing isn’t about the political or moral rightness or wrongness of any past war. So please place those opinions aside. The Holy Spirit then asked me to find the monument of those who refused to fight, fled, or remained indifferent. Under my breath I whispered quietly, “There isn’t one.” He said, “That’s right. The blood of those men and women whose names are written here still cries out and I remember their sacrifice. That’s what makes this place holy and sacred.” He said no more, and after that I remained in silent awe.

There is a gay pride event scheduled for July 15th in this very park. I’m not giving any details, but with minimal effort you can find out what their planned perverted agenda is. I know the Holy Spirit is grieved, but I wonder how many professing Christians will be also. This is a spiritual and moral battle, that like it or not, has come to the entire Mason City area. If you think it doesn’t affect you, then the analogy is like they say when advertising a newly released movie, “Coming soon to a theater near you.” It cannot be fought or won by physical means. As it says in Ephesians 6: 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. The armor of God as described in the following verses 13 through 17 is for every believer to put on. You may be called to the front lines to proclaim the truth of God’s word with grace if given opportunity. You may be called to pray and fast. Prayer knows no city limits or is hindered by physical distance, so all can pray wherever you are. There is also much to be said about the power of praise and worship. In 2 Chronicles 20, God instructed Jehoshaphat to put the singers out in front of the army. I encourage you to read the whole chapter for yourself and see how that ended up. We don’t sing the warfare songs anymore like we did in the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s. Songs like: Mighty Warrior, There’s a Great and Mighty Army, Yes Lord We’ll Ride With You, and many others that I wish I could remember. The bottom line is this: The objective should be to save souls, not to start, win, or partake in any contentious arguments. No one who confesses Jesus Christ as Lord in my opinion is called to sit on the sidelines and do nothing,  rather to say, “Here am I Lord, use me.”

Getting back to the names of those on the monument. They died for freedom. Freedom to live in a country that allows free speech, and to be whoever and whatever you want to be. However, the values that previous generations fought hard to defend have shifted. Good is now called evil, and evil is now called good, as referenced in Isaiah 5:20. Here is something to think about: If those who gave their lives so courageously were to somehow appear in Central Park on July 15th, what would they say, and what would they do? Hmm

When I returned home Lucy jokingly asked me if I rode around the park seven times and honked the horn on my bike continuously on the last lap. Maybe I should try that. NOT!

Since you are here on my web page, I invite you to scroll through the titles and read one of my previous posts entitled, Either Fight or Stay Home, which I originally wrote in August of 2022. It goes along with the theme of this one.