“The following words were spoken aboard ship by army chaplain Russell Stroup, just days before reaching the South Pacific during the Second World War.  He spoke to soldiers and sailors who were about to enter combat, to fight and die.

In a world of hate, there is a God of love; in a world of greed, there is a God who gave; in a world of bigotry, there is a God whose salvation extends to ‘whosoever believeth;’ and in a world where death is everywhere, there is a God who gives us eternal life through Christ.

In the fever of war when hate was endemic, the good chaplain assured those in his charge that love would yet prevail. We still live – sad to say – in a world of hate, but the good news is that God is still a God of love.”
____
The above material was excerpted from a column entitled What is so great about John 3:16? by Shayne Looper, pastor of Lockwood Community Church in Branch County, MI, which appeared in the Holland Sentinel on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Reprinted with permission of the author.