Special note for members of the US Armed forces: Thank you for your service. Second, if you would like a free Bible, you can obtain it here. A second source is to write here, and provide your name and the pertinent information.
As my regular readers know, the purpose of this Weblog is to encourage, educate, edify Christians. We are engaged in spiritual warfare (Eph. 6.12). Not only do we need to keep our own spiritual lives in order (1 Peter 5.8), but we must be presenting the gospel (Luke 24.46-47, Acts 1.8, 1 Peter 3.14-15, Jude 1.8). Our spiritual warfare is difficult enough, but at least most of us do not have people actively trying to kill us.
Soldiers are fighting for our freedom. They need spiritual comfort and support, especially since they are being attacked both physically and spiritually (including the "atheist chaplains" mockery of faith). Bibles are supposedly made available to armed forces personnel, but they decline them or lose them. When they want a Bible, it is difficult to obtain.
Do you care? Would you like to help?
The first option should be obvious to most followers of Jesus, but sometimes the obvious things need to be said: Pray. We need to pray for the members of our armed forces, and that they will be able to obtain Bibles and other spiritually-uplifting materials.
In addition to prayer, we can contribute in several ways. I spent some time going through several ministries, and believe that I found two that meet my own standards. I rejected some that did not "feel right", were too obscure, had difficult site navigation and so forth (this is July 2011, one still had not updated their 2010 material).
There are several ways to participate. Quick and easy: Donate. Biblica has a program to purchase New Testaments and get them to military chaplains so they can distribute them to personnel. Soldiers Bible Ministry has a similar program, but goes further than just a New Testament. One of their partners is the aforementioned Biblica.
If you are ambitious and want a higher level of involvement, get your church involved (through proper channels, check with your pastor or board member). Your church can express their gratitude for the service members as well as show concern for their spiritual well-being.
The next level of participation is personal: Buy one and ship it. If you know someone in the military, you can buy it yourself and then ship it directly to the service member. Biblica has several Bibles to choose from. You could also buy one or several for yourself as reminders that we are in a spiritual war.
Now we come to a part that is a dilemma for me. All of the above is good, and you can stop here. At this point, I am going to suggest some special military Bible purchases and use my affiliate links. I know it looks tacky.
The fact is, I am doing it for your convenience because it is the most effective way to do "show and tell". To leave me out of this, take a few steps: Click on the link, highlight and copy the product name, close that window, go back to the site, paste the product name in the search box and go. I am saying this because I am quite serious about not wanting to make a commission on Bibles for soldiers.
But whatever you do, I hope you will pray and contribute so that our military people can have Bibles available. You can examine the sites linked above.