Chaplain Josh Ziegler Speaks

Pictured is Captain Josh Ziegler, a U.S. Army Chaplain

“I’m an Army Chaplain; I spend all week talking to people who hate God,” said Captain Josh Ziegler. “Some know ‘Jesus’ only as a name they use as a curse word. We all have the need for Jesus. God has called me to be his ‘presence.’”

Ziegler spoke at Sandhills Assembly Church (AG) in Southern Pines, N.C., on Sunday, May 21, 2107. He is an Assemblies of God Home Missions pastor appointed as chaplain to the U.S. Army. He serves at Fort Bragg but plans to relocate to Ft. Jackson, S.C. He and his wife celebrated 19 years of marriage in August 2016.

During a previous visit to Sandhills Assembly Church, he described his work with young soldiers as “youth ministry with guns” and his overall mission as “spiritual leadership for the Army Family.”

“I was saved early and called into the ministry at age six,” said Ziegler, a preacher’s kid from Lower New Orleans. “I was filled with the Holy Spirit at age 10.” 

Associated with the Assembly of God denomination all of his life, Ziegler entered the Army as an enlisted person and has served as an Army Chaplain for eight years. He’s now an airborne chaplain.

“I’ve been to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines … ,” he said.

Ziegler said his mission as a military chaplain involves three things: 1) Nurse the living, 2) Care for the wounded, and 3) Honor the fallen.

He has assisted soldiers and families in bereavement.

“Chaplains work among the troops, wherever the troops are, but chaplains do not use weapons,” he said. “We don’t pick up weapons. We’re not supposed to.”

Ziegler spoke on “Surrendering to the Authority of God.”

“In inadequacy, I remember singing ‘All to Jesus I surrender,’” he said, repeating some words to the hymn “I Surrender All.”

He read Matthew 7:21-27 (NASB):

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell – and great was its fall.”

“God is the Almighty Lord of the universe,” Ziegler said, stressing that the name of the Lord is powerful but that not all who use his name follow him. “Christians can’t be fair-weather fans. There is wisdom in surrendering to God.”

He read Luke 22:39-42 (NASB):

“And He [Jesus] came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. When He arrived at the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’ And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’”

Jesus is our example of surrendering to God, he said. Jesus humbled himself and did not desire pain, though he knew he would suffer.

“Jesus prayed for God’s will,” Ziegler said. “Jesus prayed, ‘Change me.’ Whose will are you accomplishing? If you were recording your history today, would it say that when times got tough, you relied on yourself? Are you relying on Plan B? Sometimes His Plan isn’t too fun. When we’re out of God’s presence, we begin to find another god.”

We will experience trouble, Ziegler said.

“We’re going to experience loss in this life,” he said, noting that when people ask him what military life is like, he replies, “It’s about transition and loss.”

“In this life, there’s not going to be [we’re not going to get] a new body – but there’s a transition coming,” he said. “In my world, we expect to die on a battlefield.”

There is life after loss, Ziegler said.

He read Romans 12:1-2 (NASB):

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

“When life does not make sense, God’s plan is still in effect,” Ziegler said. “He’s faithful. … God doesn't have to say ‘yes’ [to our requests].”

Surrender is closely related to defeat, he said.

“When I surrender, I lose the ability to be in control of my life,” Ziegler said. “When we surrender, we will experience loss.”

Surrender to God is our only option and surrender can be scary, he said.

“When we surrender, we experience loss,” he repeated. “But when we surrender, we experience freedom.”

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During a sermon on Sunday, July 31, 2016, Chaplain Josh Ziegler delivered this message to the congregation at Sandhills Assembly Church:

“We have a passion for souls,” he said, “I have to live my belief out loud. Whatever you’re in, live for Jesus Christ. … I rub shoulders with people who are worldly. We live in a pluralistic environment.”

As a chaplain, Ziegler performs support for people of “like faith.” He said he tries to witness by showing Christ in his life.

“God didn’t send me into the army to tell everybody what they’re doing wrong,” he said, adding that he believes Jesus is the solution to the world’s problems.

Once, when his mother learned he was going to deploy, she told him she was going to pray that God would get him out of that deployment. He told her to rather pray that he’d be a good soldier.

He referred to various ministries, even a “ministry of warfare”: Isaiah 40:28-31.

On June 26, 2013, Ziegler made his first jump with the 82nd Airborne Division. His jump went well until he was about 100 feet from the ground.

“A rogue wind slammed me to the ground,” he said.

He broke his hip, labrum, injured his bladder and knee, and tore muscles in his stomach.

Lying in a hospital bed, he seemed to hear God say to him, “I am the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Ziegler said, “God, I can’t be a chaplain if I’m broken.”

God seemed to say to him, “You’ll be what I want you to be.”

He still qualifies physically to remain as an army chaplain.

He referred to Paul’s “thorn in the flesh,” 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NASB):

“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me – to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

“This morning, Jesus is still the solution,” Ziegler said. “After the accident, I kind of walk funny . . . I’m not the same, today. I’ve become more aware of God. There’s coming a time in all our lives that you’ll wear out this body. God’s grace is enough.”

He listed three points: Jesus is ever-present; his Grace is enough; and where sin exists, God is at work.

When God calls, go where he calls you, Ziegler said.

“I’ve not been restored to full health,” he said.

He said his father used to say, “Man’s dreams are small dreams; God’s dreams are big dreams.”

Ziegler asked the congregation to pray for soldiers, that they would turn their hearts to Jesus.

“Southern Pines is a coveted place where soldiers want to live,” he said. “Love them, be a friend, hear their stories.”

Ziegler prayed that relationships in families would be restored and that emotions would be touched.

“Lord, you’re the solution to our troubles . . . in Jesus’ name,” he prayed.