USMC Marine Renders Honors and Salutes the Mother of the Fleet of the United States Navy, Verna M. Linzey, and Captain Stanford E. Linzey, Jr. on Wreaths Across America Day

On Saturday, December 16, 2023, the United States Navy ‘Mother of the Fleet,’ the late Verna M. Linzey, D.D., was honored and saluted by PFC Gabriel Pangle, USMC at Wreaths Across America ceremony, hosted by Miramar National Cemetery. He also rendered honors to Verna’s husband, the late Captain Stanford E. Linzey, Jr., CHC, USN (Ret.), who was a World War II hero as a survivor of the sinking of the USS Yorktown in the Battle of Midway.

The mission of Wreaths Across America is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve, and to teach the next generation the value of freedom. On National Wreaths Across America Day, active duty military personnel and volunteers gather in about 3,000 communities across America to place wreaths at the headstones of national heroes to commemorate them and keep the memory of them alive, lest their contributions to national security and efforts to protect American’s freedoms be forgotten.

What Verna Linzey did was build the largest Sunday School in the United States Navy at Naval Air Station Moffett Field, California. Adding to this seemingly impossible task was that she did it in two years from 1968 to 1970. For this incredible feat, Admiral Frederick C. Johnson, USN, awarded Verna Linzey the title “Mother of the Fleet of the United States Navy.” “Fleet” is a metaphor for the student body of 100 students, which included all the grade levels of dependent children and active duty personnel.

How this contributes to national security is by spiritually equipping active duty personnel for war. Also, when their children’s spiritual needs are being met, their active duty fathers and mothers can better focus on deployments and national security.

Organizations that support or partner with Wreaths Across American include American Gold Star Mothers, Civil Air Patrol, Young Marines, Gold Star Wives of America, United We Stand to Win, Daughters of the American Revolution, Military Women’s Memorial and Grove, Patriot Guard Riders, United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, and Military Bible Association.

Last Saturday about 4,000 military personnel and civilians, including Chaplain (MAJ) James F. Linzey, USA (Ret.), gathered at Miramar National Cemetery just outside MCAS Miramar, San Diego, to remember Verna Linzey and about 16,000 other heroes who have fought for America and contributed in vital ways to America’s national security.

PFC Gabriel Pangle, USMC, who was selected to place the wreaths and render honors to Verna Linzey and Stanford Linzey, is considered to be the most highly distinguished and honored Marine at MCAS Miramar in San Diego, California.

Source: Military Bible Association. Previously published at Christian Newswire.

More about the author: Commander Don Biadog, CHC, USN (Ret.) served with distinction as a former Command Chaplain of MCAS Miramar. His ministry earned him the 2018 Chaplain of the Year Award from Military Bible Association and the 2023 Veterans of Foreign Wars Chaplain of the Year Award. He was the emcee and host chaplain for the 2018 Verna Linzey Commemoration Banquet, which was an official United States Marine Corp event at MCAS Miramar, San Diego, California.

See the announcement from CraigKeener.com.

In 1961, a few years before becoming one of the earliest US Naval Reserve Assembly of God chaplains, Dr. Spittler, who blew his students’ away, figuratively speaking, with his humility in bidding them to call him just “Russ,” began attending Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Edward W. Watson, Ph.D., Senior Professor of Biblical Literature and Practical Theology, Graduate School of Theology and Ministry at Oral Roberts University, and Senior New Testament Editor of the Modern English Version, who served on various committees with Russ, said:

Dr. Spittler’s legacy in Pentecostal studies is treasured by all those he has impacted. He not only was an outstanding teacher and author, but he brought legitimacy to the movement through his connections to biblical scholarship. His leadership in the academy will continue to resonate for generations to come.

At Fuller, in addition to all the courses he taught and books he wrote, he held the positions of Liaison Officer for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Senior New Testament Professor, Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Provost Emeritus, and Professor Emeritus of New Testament. He passed away on Friday, January 20, 2023. He attained the rank of Captain as a chaplain in the US Naval Reserves.

One of Russ’s former Vanguard University and Fuller Seminary students, James F. Linzey, D.D., Chief Editor of the Modern English Version, reminisced:

Dr. Spittler mentored me and trained me for a successful military chaplaincy career as well as academic research, writing, and teaching. He was incredibly gifted in mentoring us students and preparing us academically for our respective callings in life. He was an outstanding mentor, personal friend, and friend of my parents.

It could be said that Russ had an impact on the creation of the Modern English Version Bible translation due to his profound impact on numerous scholars, including many not mentioned here, who served on its translation committee.

At his funeral on February 9, 2023, immense respect was shown by others with great character—people whose lives were obviously enriched by him and consumed with memories of his life and the impact his life made on theirs. They saw that his effect on the church and perhaps the world was unfathomable. Dr. Russell P. Spittler was the world’s foremost expert on the letters to the Corinthians by the apostle Paul. He will be remembered as an inspiring professor and a remarkable friend.

Theme: The Holy Spirit and the healing of the body.

On behalf of the Center for the Study of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today, we are inviting you to submit research paper proposals pertaining to the theme of the 2023 symposium. Our vision is for this interdisciplinary discussion to traverse the landscapes of the psychological, neurological, spiritual and biblical-theological (although not limited to these areas), culminating in a collective exploration of the Holy Spirit and the healing of the human body.

This conversation within the guild of pneumatology will be showcased at the upcoming Fall 2023 Holy Spirit Academic Symposium. The selected scholars, along with Biola’s five faculty fellows chosen to engage in this research, will present their findings at this time. Keynote speaker, Dr. Craig Keener, and responses by Dr. Candy Gunther Brown, will provide the biblical-theological foundation for a deeper discovery of the healing work of the Holy Spirit. We encourage you to submit an abstract (300 words) to the committee by completing this form no later than January 31st, 2023. 

Join the already accepted research from the following scholars: Dr. Carmen Imes, Dr. Leon Harris, Dr. Richard Gunasekera, Dr. James Johansen, and Professor Helen Mitchell.

The research produced for the symposium will serve students across diverse disciplines, including theology, business, social science, and biological science, integrating the work of the Divine Spirit with those areas of study. Additionally, pastors and leaders will also obtain a wider breadth of knowledge and understanding regarding healing within the Church. We truly hope you will consider sharing at this academic event.

Oscar Merlo
Director, Center for the Study of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today

This series of broadcasts on the CharismaPodcastNetwork.com began airing on May 17, 2022, the birthday of my mother, the late Dr. Verna Hall Linzey.

Salient questions of our guests are the following: What happened to you? What changed? How did it change? In what ways have your life changed for the better? What did you learn? What suggestions do you have considering what you went through?

We are interested in stories about discrimination, trauma, addiction, oppression, exclusion, and violence.

Stories about personal and communal transformation are both informative and inspirational. They remind us that trauma does not have the last word – redemption is possible!

Narrativity with Dr. Antipas is part of the Mental Health News Radio (MHNR) Network. The show is available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

I hope you subscribe to listen to the weekly podcast.

Thank you so much!

Antipas

Listen to the perspective of a retired surgeon who spent his career operating on victims of gunshot wounds. The tragic scene of people unreasonably shot led the surgeon to committing his life to the struggle against violence. Dr. Bob Gayle explains that one of his main interests upon retirement is to help young people make better choices. Dr. Gayle volunteers at the Urban Renewal Center’s Homework Club to help elementary school children focus on a future of success and avoid paths to gun violence.

This week on Narrativity Keeya Vawar tells her story. Keeya was a victim of human trafficking. The glitz and glamor of the music industry lured her at a time of vulnerability. She was 16 years old with an abusive father. She was on a search for “another life.” Too young and too scared to make responsible decisions, a music executive and musicians offered Keeya the world with music videos, money, a place to live and more. Soon Keeya was a slave to the industry. From one situation to the next, Keeya finally cried out for help. She got the help she needed and now she lives to tell her story.

The ministry included providing food and shelter and transportation to the San Diego International Airport. This group of Ukrainians was comprised of relatives who were leaving by plane for Atlanta, Georgia to be with other relatives, with the exception of one who was preparing to fly later in the day to Seattle, Washington to be with his sister. This refugee was the sole individual among them who spoke English.

I was delighted with the opportunity to pray with the group and share a message of faith and hope and gratitude for God’s intervention in bringing these Ukrainians to America. I also shared in bearing the costs of the humanitarian support with the church. David Okhotin, pastor of the Russian Baptist Church of San Diego, phoned in to assist in translating for Rev. Biadog and me as we ministered to the refugees.

Various refugees shared, through the English-speaking Ukrainian translating, the atrocities they experienced in Kiev, Ukraine. They fled for their lives amidst the bombing, the ruble. Others went without water and food for long periods of time. Some experienced great fear and inner turmoil to leave their homes and country and nearly all of their personal possessions. They were heartbroken, but so grateful to God that they did escape and get to the United States. The church opened its doors to them and is allowing waves of Ukrainian refugees to spend the nights in their sanctuary.

The overwhelming thought I experienced from my encounters with the refugees and this ministry is the lesson of what the Bible teaches about hospitality: welcoming strangers and treating them well with the love of God. Hospitality is a virtue that is both commanded and commended throughout Scripture. The Word of God commands us, saying, “When a foreigner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The foreigner who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:33-34, MEV).

For me, this seemed like a homecoming, because not only have I been to the Ukraine twice and welcomed by Ukrainians to conduct evangelistic crusades, engage in relational evangelism, and engage in interviews about the military chaplaincy, but also because this time I was on the welcoming end of Ukrainians coming to my country.

Volunteers are currently preparing a new server to make PneumaReview.com more user-friendly, have faster loading speeds, and ready for future updates. Because we have not been able to publish articles on both servers at the same time, our backlog of ready-to-publish reviews and featured articles will be available soon after re-launch.

Our current go-live day is set before the end of July.

Thank you for your patience.

Raul Mock
Executive Editor
June 26, 2021

Update

“The Christian-Evangelical Dilemma and Response to Racial Justice: Martin Luther King, Jr’s Beloved Community.”

When: March 11, 2021, at 7pm EST

Where: Zoom webinar (without cost)  

I would love for you to join us this Thursday night, March 11, 2021, at 7pm EST/ 6pm CST for a free virtual lecture with Dr. Jamal-Dominique Hopkins. Dr. Hopkins serves as the dean at the Dickerson-Green Theological Seminary at Allen University and regularly teaches in the area of biblical languages and literature. He teaches Old and New Testament Studies, Biblical Hebrew and Greek, and Early Judaism. His scholarly research and publications are in the area of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Qumran Literature, Biblical Hermeneutics and African American Christian Thought. He is the only known person of African Descent to hold a doctorate in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Dr. Hopkins has a passion for matters of racial conciliatory activism. He sees it as a fundamental activity of the original Christian faith.

The title of Dr. Hopkin’s lecture will be “The Christian-Evangelical Dilemma and Response to Racial Justice: Martin Luther King, Jr’s Beloved Community.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. was betwixt and between his Black Christian fundamentalist upbringing and the classical liberal theological orientation of his educational training. Both contexts informed his orthodoxy which in turn helped govern much of his lived experience. While his fundamentalist upbringing largely reflected the rank-and-file participants of the civil rights campaigns (i.e., the poor and socially disenfranchised), white evangelical responses were markedly different. This session will explore these responses to forge solutions toward achieving the beloved community.

Click here to join us for the 1-hour lecture on the Zoom virtual platform this Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 7pm EST/ 6pm CST.

This Lead Like King project at The Urban Renewal Center is our brand-new emphasis on public theology. The goals are to:

1. Build stronger relationships in diverse communities;
2. Heal racial brokenness as a result of lived experience;
3. Assist organizations in their effort to build more cohesive communities of diversity.

Join us for all of the rich series in which theological scholar-practitioners, like Dr. Chandler and Dr. Hopkins, are sharing ways each of us can participate in the collective journey toward the vision of a promised wholeness at the Urban Renewal Center.

Sincerely, Dr. Antipas

“We are excited to announce the line-up of Spirit-empowered leaders from around the world who will be joining us virtually in January. They will share insights about how you can effectively reach the next generation with the gospel.”

• Gibson Anduvate, Kenya
• Max Barroso, USA
• Eli Bonilla, USA
• Stephan Christiansen, Norway
• Jamie Corcoran, Ireland
• Daniela Freidzon-McCabe, Argentina
• Ben Gomez, USA
• David Grabovenko, Russia
• Josh Heward-Mills, Ghana
• Rob Hoskins, USA
• Tan Seow How, Singapore
• Terry Parkman, USA
• Steve Patta, India
• Assif Reid, USA
• Jeremy Seaward, Singapore
• Andrew Yeo, Singapore
• Vanessa Mistretta, Israel
• Sharon Witton, Canada
• Ben Woodman, USA
• Billy Wilson, USA

Worship and Creative Arts

• Cornerstone, Singapore
• International Christian Centre, Kenya
• Jesus Revolution, Norway
• Lighthouse Church, Ireland
• ORU LIVE, USA
• Rey de Reyes Worship, Argentina
• Southeastern University, USA
• The Awakening, USA

Register  

“The NextGen Network exists to empower the next generation of leaders in the global Spirit-empowered community.”

The vision statement of Empowered21: “That every person on Earth would have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit … by Pentecost 2033.”