Prattville Dragoons Chaplains Column for June 2014

Chaplain’s Column: Why Not Serve God? Titus 3:5-8

            When opportunities present themselves to serve God, How do you respond? This is a list of many of the wrong reactions:

1) I can’t.

2) My schedule is too busy.

3) I don’t know how.

4) I’m just a layperson, not a pastor.

            Before we make a knee-jerk reaction and slam these doors closed on opportunities for service, maybe we need to consider if the Lord wants, or maybe He’s even asking you, to go through it. Maybe you have never thought that a refusal to serve God as idolatry. I believe that’s what it is. You are simply bowing down to self instead of submitting to Him.

            The Lord desires that His servants first be willing to do anything and then seek His specific plan for them. His unique gifts to followers will serve according to His will. But when we’ve already made up our mind that we can’t do, won’t do, or are ill-equipped to do, then we’re acting by our own will instead of His will.

            You may serve the Lord as a godly parent, a worker who shares the gospel with coworkers, or as a friend who listens to those who are hurting. There is no restriction on what God can do with a willing helper. The strength of His Spirit overcomes human limitations. Don’t have enough courage? God can fix that. Don’t have the right skills? God can fix that.

            The wisest thing we can do to serve the Lord is lay down all those excuses. We should develop trust that God will empower us to do whatever He calls us to do, He will see that we are properly equipped and trained (Eph. 2:10; 2 Tim. 2:20; 3:16-17). All the Lord asks us to do is to say yes.

Please remember to pray for the following:

1. Benny Harris's wife Glenda

2. Elizabeth Tillery - Youngest sister of Bill Myrick

3. Cathy Givens

4. Jeff Potts

5. John Durden

6. David Brantley's parents - Dave and Mary Brantley

Yours In Christ

Tom Snowden, Chaplain

Prattville Indian Hills Cemetery Cleanup and Restoration

Alert!  First Work Day at Indian Hills Cemetery!

            Dragoons please note and Prattville community is invited.  All volunteers are needed this Saturday 7 June, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. or whatever hours possible.  Dragoon Benny Harris is heading up a clean-up of the historic old Indian Hills Cemetery on Golson Road (County Road 86).  This is the first and only workday until August, so it's important there is good participation this weekend to support Benny's effort.  Bring any trimmers, chain saws, mowers, and anything else you have, or just bring willing hands to do the work.

            Directions to get to Indian Hills Cemetery:   From the junction of Highways 82 and 14 west of Prattville, go north (toward Tuscaloosa) on Highway 82 for two miles.  Turn left onto County Road 86.  Go 1.6 miles and you'll see Indian Hills Cemetery on your left.

            There are several Confederates buried in this cemetery, some of whom are on the original roster of the Prattville Dragoons. 

Prattville Dragoons Commander's Column for June 2014

Unfortunately I will be unable to make the Dragoons June camp meeting as I will be travelling, combining a work trip with a cross country National Lampoon’s “Vacation”, piling the family into a rental mini-van for a trip out to Las Vegas.  Our conference schedule has us busy from the first thing each morning til 9pm each night so I probably won’t get into much trouble and Kerri will see to that too.   But, I wanted to encourage everyone to try to put some Sesquicentennial sidetrips and historical activities into their summer vacation plans.  

I just returned from a golf tournament for my daughter and was pleasantly surprised to find a beautifully framed print of “The Last Meeting” with Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson hanging on a wall in the clubhouse of the Greenville Country Club.  I took the opportunity to get a snapshot despite my haggard look from having been chased in from the course by a thunderstorm.  I happened to chat with Tyrone Crowley that evening and mentioned to him that Greenville Mississippi was recently referenced by Dr. Brandon Beck in his presentation on the CSS Arkansas at the May camp meeting.  Greenville was where the hull of the Arkansas was beached before Lt. Isaac Newton Brown moved all the scattered parts to Yazoo City where assembly was completed prior to the Arkansas’ amazing voyage and victory at Vicksburg and its brief but glorious service.   We crossed the Yazoo River travelling westward to Greenville; Yazoo City is located just south of Greenville on the Yazoo River, a tributary of Old Man River.   I posted a blog on the camp website this time last year about the marvelous Confederate monument and cemetery in downtown Greenville MS. 

Even Nevada has some history related to the War for Southern Independence as it was one of two states admitted to the Union during the War as Lincoln sought to secure the gold and natural resources of the territory and secure the electoral votes of the new state for his reelection campaign.  Two veterans, one Union and one Confederate, retired to the “village” of Las Vegas and became lifelong friends to the point that they decided to be buried together in Woodlawn Cemetery there.  In July, I will combine a trip to the SCV National Convention in Charleston with another family vacation immediately afterward to Florida to see my parents and let the kids enjoy the beach.  I am looking forward to seeing the Hunley and the historic Charleston waterfront battery and attending another SCV Reunion with hundreds of compatriots. 

My mother’s south Florida home is the site of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse which was commissioned in 1860 before the lantern was removed by Confederate forces for the duration of the War.  The lighthouse was designed by Lt. General George Meade, later a Union commander at Gettysburg.  Incorporating historical excursions into your vacation trips and itineraries makes for memorable highlights and something you can reflect on in future years as having prioritized for your Sesquicentennial commemorations.  I would invite Dragoons to carry a Battle Flag with them throughout your travels this summer and take some photos of yourself displaying the flag in unique places and send them to me (email Tyrone) with a short note and I will compile them into a blog post or two.   

Here locally, I look forward soon to enjoying another Prattville 4^th of July parade with our Dragoon entry and lining the streets with Confederate Battle flags followed soon thereafter by our annual Dixie Butt Sale.  We also have fabulous volunteer opportunities assisting with the cleanup and restoration of the Indian Hills Cemetery at dates throughout the summer and into the fall, a camp project led by Dragoon Benny Harris.  The first date is this coming Saturday, June 7^th.   I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer with their families and carry the Charge with you, remembering your Confederate ancestors and the Cause in your travels in this Sesquicentennial summer.   

Greenville Country Club, "The Last Meeting"

Reflection on President Jefferson Davis on his Birthday - A Defense of Secession

Confederate Heritage Fund President Roger Broxton did an excellent job of presenting in a nutshell the Confederacy's case for the War, as reflected in the words of the leaders of the two warring countries, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis.  Column in today's (6/2/2014) "Montgomery Advertiser", page 7A.

Reflect on Jefferson Davis Today.

Today, June 2, is Alabama’s legal holiday to honor President Jefferson Davis, a
U.S. Army veteran who fought for the U.S. flag, symbolizing the voluntary union
of independent states guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence, Articles of
Confederation, peace treaty with Britain and the U.S. Constitution.

The Southern states had more right to withdraw from the voluntary Union called
the United States than the 13 Colonies had to secede from Great Britain,
because the independent states formed the United States, whereas Britain
formed the Colonies.

President Davis explained in his Message To The Confederate States Congress,
April 29, 1861:
“So utterly have the principles of the Constitution been corrupted that Abraham
Lincoln did not hesitate to liken the relations between a State and the United
States to those which exist between a county and the State in which it is situated
and by which it was created.

“This is the lamentable and fundamental error on which rests the policy that has
culminated in his declaration of War against these Confederate States.

“An organization (voluntary Union) created by the States to secure the blessings
of liberty and independence against foreign aggression, has been gradually
perverted into a machine for their control.

“The creature (federal government) has been exalted above its creators (the
States).”

Roger K. Broxton