Bob Fox
I joined MM (The Catholic Missionary Society of America) to be a missionary for Jesus. I've always wanted to be a missionary, still do. My biggest burden has always been to help people make it to heaven. In the last 40 years, I've been all over the world on short-term missions trips. I even spent two amazing months in China in 2008 to see if I could become missionary there. But, my wife did not want to leave our kids and grandkids here. It makes me very sad that MM has changed the missions theology of Father Walsh and its other founders to one that seems more like universalism.
I was in MM at Glen Ellyn from 65-67. I left seminary and God for about 18 months due to some very discouraging experiences at Glen Ellyn. The theology there was VERY different from my diocesan teaching in NJ. Growing up in Catholic schools, I was taught to believe the Bible was literally true and that Jesus was the only way to heaven. Not so much at MM.
In my final year of college in Virginia ( 1969), I came back to God though Young Life--a nondenominational youth ministry that my future wife was working with.
In college, I joined the Marines to be a pilot. Thank God, I did not see combat in Vietnam - a war we should have never have fought. Some of my Marine friends died in Vietnam. One guy in our platoon came back in a body bag one month after we graduated from OCS at Quantico, VA. Just before he shipped out to Vietnam, he had dropped me off in Massachusetts ( his home state) to see my best friend from MM, Mike Burkart.
Flying for the Marines was dangerous. I flew tactical jets like the A-4 and F-4. My best Marine buddy died in front of us all on takeoff in NV. I almost killed myself a couple of times flying jets. Easy to do.
I also had a lot of exciting adventures flying high performance jets-like flying through the Grand Canyon below the rim from one end to the other! That was before I knew it was illegal. :) I twirled through mountains of clouds and flew twice the speed of sound off the coast of San Diego in an F-4. I felt like Superman.
During the war, I personally experienced the anger of college students toward me. From 1973-74, I spent 12 months in Asia (mostly Japan), 10 of them separated from my wife and kids. That was very hard. I began to drink too much to counter the stress and loneness. Two aircraft I was riding in almost had mid-air collisions.
In June, 1973, I was visiting in Korea and bumped into the Billy Graham Crusade in Seoul! What a thrill to see 600,000 Koreans stand for three hours to hear Graham and to hear 6000 in the Korean choir sing our hymns in harmony in the night air. It still makes the hair on my arms stand up when I talk about it.
But I had a major encounter with the Lord in October, 1973 in Japan that completely surprised me. I later came to know understand this encounter as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. That was an immense emotional healing! It was a baptism of love. I was able to love myself (a huge battle until then), others and God more than I ever thought possible. I fell in love with God at a much deeper level.
After the war, I got RIFTed (Reduction in Force). The Marines didn't need that many officers anymore. I got out of the Marines in October, 1974.
So, I went to Fuller Seminary in Pasadena as a protestant, to study theology. I was ordained in '78 as a pastor. I have served churches in MN, FL and VA. I am still serving as an associate pastor now in Virginia Beach, VA. I also network with pastors to do regional ministries. For five years (87-92), I was also a Naval officer, serving as a reserve Naval Chaplain in Norfolk, VA.
Romans 8:28 (My favorite verse)
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
So, despite my reluctance to be part of the military during the ill-conceived and ill-fated Vietnam War, I encountered God in Japan and that sent me back to seminary-something I said I would never do again. I am so grateful to God for allowing me to be a pastor who also got to do some missions work and to support many missionaries.
So, all in all, I am glad I joined the Marines during Vietnam. God used it for much good-as Romans 8:28 promises!
I hope and pray that all my classmates make it to heaven. We were made for heaven. Earth is just a conflict-ridden prelude to the real life we were made to live with the Lord in a place and with people far more wonderful than anything we can imagine. Jesus is the only way to the Father. May God use us all to help others know that.
Bob Fox
I joined MM (The Catholic Missionary Society of America) to be a missionary for Jesus. I've always wanted to be a missionary, still do. My biggest burden has always been to help people make it to heaven. In the last 40 years, I've been all over the world on short-term missions trips. I even spent two amazing months in China in 2008 to see if I could become missionary there. But, my wife did not want to leave our kids and grandkids here. It makes me very sad that MM has changed the missions theology of Father Walsh and its other founders to one that seems more like universalism.