Joe Alcantar

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“Faith, if is true faith, attempts great and perilous things weigh an invincible courage.” Ulrich Zwingli. On the Passion and death of Christ

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.” Dallas Willard

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“All of life is to be a response to what Jesus has done for us”! Ed Welch -The Humility Project for Men

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

Expedia story continues. When she called back after realizing it was too high he said it was non-refundable which he never said! Asked for our money back and waiting.

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

Don’t recommend using Expedia! Wife called a number think it was the Carlsbad Inn and I heard the call where she was talking with the man who answered the call. Several times she asked him “is this the owner’s rate for the rental” he said yes which was false and he overcharged.

[Eddy Quan @waronweakness]

Smart people write everything down

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“Grace is love exercised toward the unworthy “. (Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. I)

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“If we made a practice of selecting daily some short portion of Scripture for our meditation throughout the day, the most ignorant among us would soon attain a knowledge that at present appears far beyond our reach.” Charles Simeon, (Horae Homileticae, vol 18)

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“Humility and thankfulness sleep in the same bed. A thankless heart pairs with pride, but a humble heart will always be thankful.” Alistar Begg

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

Choice Home Warranty-Do not recommend this company as they are quick to deny a claim based on a exclusion! Then why have a home warranty with this company!

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“When God’s greatness and goodness fill our thoughts, fears drain from our hearts. As others have said, “When our God is small our troubles are large; but when our God is large, our troubles are small.” Daily Grace: 365 Daily Devotions Reflecting God’s Unlimited Grace B Chapell

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

@mars_stu @MarsCuriosity Awesome!

[Judianna @Judianna]

For all the fans of “It’s A Wonderful Life” and Jimmy Stewart . . .

Just months after winning his 1941 Academy Award for best actor in “The Philadelphia Story,” Jimmy Stewart, one of the best-known actors of the day, left Hollywood and joined the US Army. He was the first big-name movie star to enlist in World War II.

An accomplished private pilot, the 33-year-old Hollywood icon became a US Army Air Force aviator, earning his 2nd Lieutenant commission in early 1942. With his celebrity status and huge popularity with the American public, he was assigned to starring in recruiting films, attending rallies, and training younger pilots.

Stewart, however, wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to fly combat missions in Europe, not spend time in a stateside training command. By 1944, frustrated and feeling the war was passing him by, he asked his commanding officer to transfer him to a unit deploying to Europe. His request was reluctantly granted.

Stewart, now a Captain, was sent to England, where he spent the next 18 months flying B-24 Liberator bombers over Germany. Throughout his time overseas, the US Army Air Corps' top brass had tried to keep the popular movie star from flying over enemy territory. But Stewart would hear nothing of it.
Determined to lead by example, he bucked the system, assigning himself to every combat mission he could. By the end of the war he was one of the most respected and decorated pilots in his unit.
But his wartime service came at a high personal price.

In the final months of WWII he was grounded for being “flak happy,” today called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

When he returned to the US in August 1945, Stewart was a changed man. He had lost so much weight that he looked sickly. He rarely slept, and when he did he had nightmares of planes exploding and men falling through the air screaming (in one mission alone his unit had lost 13 planes and 130 men, most of whom he knew personally).

He was depressed, couldn’t focus, and refused to talk to anyone about his war experiences. His acting career was all but over.

As one of Stewart's biographers put it, "Every decision he made [during the war] was going to preserve life or cost lives. He took back to Hollywood all the stress that he had built up.”

In 1946 he got his break. He took the role of George Bailey, the suicidal father in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The rest is history.

Actors and crew of the set realized that in many of the disturbing scenes of George Bailey unraveling in front of his family, Stewart wasn’t acting. His PTSD was being captured on film for potentially millions to see.

But despite Stewart's inner turmoil, making the movie was therapeutic for the combat veteran. He would go on to become one of the most accomplished and loved actors in American history.

When asked in 1941 why he wanted to leave his acting career to fly combat missions over Nazi Germany, he said, "This country's conscience is bigger than all the studios in Hollywood put together, and the time will come when we'll have to fight.”
This weekend, as many of us watch the classic Christmas film, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” it’s also a fitting time to remember the sacrifices of Jimmy Stewart and all the men who gave up so much to serve their country during wartime. We will always remember you!

Postscript:

While fighting in Europe, Stewart's Oscar statue was proudly displayed in his father’s Pennsylvania hardware store. Throughout his life, the beloved actor always said his father, a World War I veteran, was the person who had made the biggest impact on him.

Jimmy Stewart was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and died in 1997 at the age of 89.
H/T @mustangmarine

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“The wicked flee when no one pursues, the righteous are bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

I can relate to this one! “The glory of young men It’s their strength, but the splendor men is their grey hair.” Proverbs 20:29

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” Proverbs 19:20

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

A definition of cool!
“Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding”. Proverbs 17:27

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He who will sustain you.” Isaiah 46:4

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.” Nahum 1:7

[Joe Alcantar @JoeAlcantar1]

“When you lead your real job is to create more leaders not more followers” Excellent Advice For Living- Kevin Kelly