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It Is Written

John Bradshaw

The Faith of Desmond Doss

Coming up next, please stay tuned for It Is Written, presented by Pastor John Bradshaw.

Right about now, Americans are preparing to celebrate a national holiday.

For many people, It's the best time of the year.

Thanksgiving, family, sometimes travel, always food, and a time for us to reflect on just how good God has been to us.

It's not unusual for people around the table at Thanksgiving dinner to recite what they are thankful for from the previous year.

Well this year, every year, truthfully, I'll be thankful for, among other things, the Bible, God's book, God's revelation to us of Himself and his love for a sinful world.

The Bible contains the story of the plan of salvation, how Jesus came from heaven to earth to die so that we might live.

When you come to the Bible, you don't have to read too far to find great men and women of faith.

You read about Abraham or of Samson, somebody like Daniel, people who, driven by the Spirit of God, did great things for the honor of God.

Outside the Bible, We find great men and women of faith also, and today we're going to discuss somebody who had great faith in God, such great faith that his otherwise unremarkable life became remarkable for the glory of God, So much so that this individual was 1 of the very few to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor.

And joining me today to discuss Desmond Doss is Pastor Les Spear, who for several years was Desmond Doss' church pastor.

Les, thanks for joining me today on It Is Written.

Now, you've been in ministry pretty much all your adult life.

And you were the pastor of a church Desmond attended for how many of those years?

But your association with Desmond predates those and post-dates those years.

And in those years you can get to know a person pretty well.

Sometimes your church members, you get to know very well.

And because of Desmond's reputation, because of his wonderful, quiet, humble manner, He's the kind of man that everyone wishes they had as a father or grandfather.

And you could sit beside him and ask him questions.

He was just as open and transparent as sunlight.

Now not that many people are awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Maybe you can explain what it was that Desmond did that saw him receive the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman.

First of all you have to understand that the background of his boot camp Desmond was despised because he was a conscientious objector.

But nevertheless during his time in the military where he served as a combat medic, he refused to carry a gun, leading many of those he served with to hate him.

So when it came to warfare, however, the ugly duckling turned out to be a beautiful person who would go after them, the wounded soldiers, no matter where they were, if they were in the line of fire, he would go after them, risking his own life many, many, many, many times, grab them by the collar and drag them out.

Desmond said that during that white-hot intense battle on the Maeda Escarpment in Okinawa, Japan, he brought to safety, under the most difficult circumstances imaginable, 50 wounded men who otherwise would have lost their lives.

The military says it was 100, at least soldiers he served with, so they split the difference and said Desmond Doss saved 75 men while under fire, literally in the crosshairs of Japanese marksmen.

Now, let me tell you something I asked Desmond about 1 day.

I said, Desmond, after you saved 2 or 3 people and you lowered them down with the rope about 40 feet to where the other men could get them and take them to aid station.

I said, did you continue to crawl on the ground?

He said, after a while I understood that God was protecting me so I stood up and carried men on my back.

I didn't try to stay on the ground anymore.

And the other men who were down there said that the bullets were like bees flying around him, but they didn't touch him.

So I said, Desmond, Is this story about you?

Describe Desmond Doss as a person, you've done that a little bit, something about his background and how he grew up as a man of faith.

His mother and father worked, both of them part-time, without regular jobs during the Depression.

His father was a very bad alcoholic, prone to beating the children.

The mother was a Seventh-day Adventist Christian and the Bible and church was very important.

Doss, Thomas Doss, 1 day at an auction, he bought a little picture of the Lord's Prayer and of the 10 Commandments for 75 cents.

And they hung that behind a chair and interestingly Desmond liked to stand in that chair and watch and look at and understand the 10 Commandments with the pictures that were there and his mother said 1 day, Desmond, you're gonna wear that chair out looking at that picture.

She really didn't mind, but that picture had a tremendous influence on not killing anyone.

The picture of Cain killing Abel and of the seventh day Sabbath and those were 2 big monumental foundations that shaped his character.

He chose to be a conscientious cooperator.

As you said, he didn't like the term conscientious objector.

Now when you volunteer for the military, you don't get to dictate the terms under which you will serve.

That's true today, but it was quite a little bit different back then, during World War II.

Today, if a person volunteers, they go in as a combatant.

They must carry arms unless it's convenient for them not to do so.

Then there was a law that allowed them to not carry a gun, which he refused to do, and still be on the battlefield, still be saving life instead of taking it.

He said, I'm willing to salute my flag, I'm willing to go in uniform, I believe in my country, I'm very patriotic, and he was 1 of the most patriotic people I've ever seen or met.

But he would not kill, He would not take life.

A man who would not take life, who would not carry a weapon, but was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

A remarkable man, a servant of his country, and a man of faith.

More of the Desmond Doss story in just a moment.

When you read the Bible, you read about many great heroes of the Bible.

People otherwise ordinary who moved by the Spirit of God did great things for the glory of God.

Outside of the Bible, we meet heroes as well, and Desmond Doss, though he would never refer to himself as such, was undoubtedly a modern-day hero, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who went into battle with nothing more than a medical kit, a prayer on his lips, and a very small Bible just like this 1.

I would like to share with you a little book called The Faith of Desmond Doss, which will share with you what it was that made Desmond Doss a great man of faith and how you too can have that kind of faith in God.

To receive The Faith of Desmond Doss, Please call right now 1-800-253-3000.

If when you call the line is busy, please do call again.

If you'd like to write, please write to It Is Written, P.O.

Box 6, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401, and we will send you a free copy if your address is within North America.

Or go to our website for a free download, www.itiswritten.com.

Thanks for joining me today on It is Written.

My guest today is Pastor Les Spear, who for several years was the pastor of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Desmond Doss and for many years was his close and trusted friend.

Desmond Doss is the central figure in the movie Hacksaw Ridge, which focuses on 1 of the most intense military engagements in this country's history.

Les, since the end of the Civil War, less than 2, 000 individuals have received the Medal of Honor.

In order to receive that award, you have had to have done something outstanding.

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The Faith of Desmond Doss

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