Religion Today: Greater Love – A special Memorial Day devotional
Guest Writer Spotlight: Richard Lewis
John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
What it would be like if we were called on to give our life for someone else. What if in an instant we had to make that decision? Would we give up our life for another?
25-year old Navy SEAL Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor of Garden Grove, CA was faced with that decision. On Sept 29th, 2006, Monsoor and several SEAL team members came under heavy fire on a rooftop in Iraq. Monsoor guarded the only doorway to their location. A hand grenade thrown by an Iraqi insurgent hit him in the chest and rolled under his feet on the floor. There would be no escape for the others in the small room that day because the doorway was too far away for them to reach it in time. Monsoor could have jumped out the door and saved his own life. Instead he yelled the warning to others “grenade” and fell on top of the hand grenade to smother the blast with his own body and save the others in that room.
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Here is a quote from the Medal of Honor citation he was awarded:
“Petty Officer Monsoor’s actions could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional. Of the three SEALs on that rooftop corner, he had the only avenue of escape away from the blast, and if he had so chosen, he could have easily escaped. Instead, Monsoor chose to protect his comrades by the sacrifice of his own life. By his courageous and selfless actions, he saved the lives of his two fellow SEALs and he is the most deserving of the special recognition afforded by awarding the Medal of Honor.”
Monsoor’s funeral was held at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. During the funeral, as the coffin was moving from the hearse to the grave site, many Navy SEALs lined both sides of the walkway. As the coffin passed them, each SEAL removed their small 1″ gold Trident pin and slapped it down embedding it into top of the plain wooden coffin. For nearly 30 minutes the slaps were audible from across the cemetery as nearly every SEAL on the West Coast added their own golden Trident to the coffin. One observer of the event said, “When it was all over, the simple wooden coffin had become a gold-plated memorial to a hero who will never be forgotten.”
I think the key words from the Medal of Honor citation are Courageous, Selfless, Sacrifice and Intentional – All the things that we think about when we consider how Jesus intentionally laid down His life for us.
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John 10:17&18 “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
He is our Savior who freely gave Himself for us. He has gone to prepare a place for us where we will worship at His feet. In this life we choose to serve Him with honor, extending the love and grace He has given us to others, in hopes they too may find the peace of God and purpose of life we have in Jesus. We will do that until we go to be with Him or until He returns to this Earth to make things right.
Richard Lewis is a graduate of Arizona State University (Advertising) and California Baptist University (Computer Information Systems). Richard and his wife Sue met while they served as staff members at Campus Crusade for Christ for 8 years in the 1970’s. Richard served in the Campus Ministry at University of Texas at El Paso, Louisiana Tech and at the International Headquarters in San Bernardino, California.
Following their ministry in Campus Crusade Richard was the owner and manager of a bicycle shop in Riverside California for 19 years. After retraining in the computer field at California Baptist University, Richard worked as a Information Systems contractor and employee at Boeing for 17 years. Richard has written over 150 published articles in Information Systems and Computing publications including Windows Magazine and Windows Scripting Solutions. Richard has served in a leadership role as a Deacon and Elder in several churches as well as being a meditation presenter and Men’s Ministry coordinator.
Richard has written hundreds of meditations and devotionals that have been used in church and small group meetings. Many of these have been published in The Upper Room and Racers For Christ publications and on their web sites.
In 2021 Richard published a collection of his devotionals. These are available in a Kindle and paperback format on Amazon (ISBN 979-8705738878) “Life Stories to Uplift and Encourage”.
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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.