The Pacific Garden Mission is one of the greatest rescue missions in the world. It has seen many thousands of people come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as ...

On the 12th of May 1962, General Douglas MacArthur received a very distinguished award from a rather esteemed institution in West Point, NY. During his acceptance address, with earnest humility, he expressed deep gratitude for the recognition. He spoke of a great moral code that molds and yet exemplifies the American soldier. He noted that such a code of three dynamic words, "Duty, Honor, Country" would raise the ire of enemies and rile the hypocrite to downgrade and mock such fanciful ideals. But to the soldiers who listened, MacArthur lectured, "They mold you for future roles as the custodians of the nation's defense. They make you strong enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid." At each point, the venerated general presented juxtapositions that would arise and be overcome by faithful adherence to the values contained in those three words, "Duty, Honor, Country." These three words are those of men gone by, who believed that our nation was special, and who would never apologize for her prosperity or military power. They, being cast from the same die as Eisenhower and Lincoln, would never apologize for our ambition or ingenuity. Virtues like these teach young men to stand tall, shake firmly, and look eye to eye with anyone that might come their way. They are words like those of Sinclair Lewis who respectfully confessed, "Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country." While beliefs like these readily divide our nation today, ignoring the risk of sounding smug, I will go on record saying that I'll take up sides with Lewis and MacArthur. I don't care. I'm choosing against change. I don't believe America's image is broken, nor do I believe our relationship with communism needs to be reset. I believe if Somali pirates, or terrorists at sea, hi-jack a vessel with an American crew and ask for $10 million to release the captain that the Commander-in-Chief has an obligation, not an option, a duty to his citizenry to dispatch a Navy Seal team to the area. Upon arrival, I believe that particular Seal team has an obligation to rescue the captain by whatever means necessary, up to and including putting a 5.56 mm armor piercing round through the ear hole of each Muslim extremist involved in the capture of the ship. The FBI negotiator can stay at home. I subscribe to the foreign policy school of a big stick, because as has been proven, that is all that ever works. U.N. Security Council resolutions won't deter North Korea or Iran. Neither will a photoshopped magazine cover of our shirtless president. However, missile defense systems and Howitzers will. Apologies for national defense are only enablers which stoke the fires of radical ideologies and demagogues bent at destroying liberty. Ringing the bell of "Duty, Honor, Country" over and over again, to the corps of cadets at the US Military Academy, Macarthur clarified his philosophy by saying this, "Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds; but serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war-guardian, as its lifeguard from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiator in the arena of battle." If only today, as in days of old, they could freely do their duty, we could live with honor and take pride in our country. Yours for Portugal, Bro. Michael Andrzejewski Bro. Michael Andrzejewski currently serves with his wife and five children as a missionary to Portugal and is sent out of Milledgeville Baptist , TN. For more information about their ministry please visit MBC Portugal Missions.