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No Time To Waste is a chilling combat memoir, a gripping gospel story—to hell and back and glory beyond by God’s grace alone. It's a true tale of amazing grace at Pearl Harbor and Guadalcanal aboard the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco; under the South Pacific aboard the submarine USS Queenfish on all five victorious war patrols; over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in an F-100; and in the hearts of two veterans—cultural curmudgeons—long after their combat days were over. John E. “Jack” Bennett (USNA ’41) was a former Reagan staffer, career nuclear submarine commander, and twice-wounded WW II vet. At 78, he was a much-involved patriot with a brilliant mind but a lost soul. Author JD Wetterling, a Presbyterian elder a generation younger, was a fighter pilot with 268 combat missions in the Vietnam War. They became best friends. Then, in a heartbeat, it was war again, with eternal consequences that dwarfed their shooting wars, and there was “no time to waste.” |
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WW II: Pearl Harbor
and Guadalcanal aboard the cruiser, USS San Francisco, and all five war
patrols aboard the submarine,USS Queenfish |
For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in
him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). The reality of no greater love to which all symbolic crosses point. |
Vietnam War: 268 combat missions in an F-100
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Endorsements for
“…a gripping tale of a symbiotic
relationship of two men from two different generations, who fought
in different wars, who then were bound together by special
circumstances separated by distance and time. Not only will you be
moved by stirring accounts of horrific battles, amazing acts of
heroism, and close calls on different battlefields, you will also be
amazed by reflections that can only be fully appreciated and
celebrated in the light of a backward glance at God's providence.
But being saved from the battles of this world cannot compare with
being saved from the grip of spiritual death. Be ready to marvel at
how God's sovereign grace conquered the hearts of self-made,
self-satisfied men, who then gladly submitted to their loving and
mighty Savior. But there is also the riveting story of the
transformation of Jack Bennett, from decorated warrior of his
country to faithful soldier of Christ. You will not waste your time,
but in fact, redeem it, by reading this book.”
“...things about this
book (such as the unusual journaled format, the biographical thrust
of the stories, and the powerful interwoven biblical truths) may
speak for themselves or be addressed by others, but for me one
thought was relentless through the whole. Sometimes the thought was
accompanied with tears and sometimes with laughter, but always the
thought ‘Thank you, Lord for your grace to and through these men.' Truly, they are like those of whom you have said, ...the world is
not worthy...(Hebrews 11:38).”
“Whether the battle is military, cultural, or
even theological, author JD Wetterling has a knack for keeping his
readers' attention focused on the issues that really matter. Nothing
dry or tedious here. It's a fascinating story of a fascinating man's
fascinating discovery.” “I am so thankful that the author not only chronicled Jack Bennett's extraordinary military career, but also the painstaking way he led Jack to the Lord as he pursued the big ‘Why Me?’ Magnificent! This is a primer for soul-saving. Thank you.” Dr. Bob King Jack Bennett’s lifelong friend
“I've read a lot of combat memoirs—this is a great one. I've read a lot of gospel stories—this is a great one. A two-fer!” Robert M. Frey, Attorney
Jackson, MS Dr. Dan Youngren Custer, SDRead the first three chapters...
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“…it was hard to put this treasure down.
JD…details events of Viet Nam, Pearl Harbor, and Guadalcanal, and
brings you to feel the struggles [in shooting wars and spiritual
wars], while at the same time making it vivid, there is, without a
doubt, a loving God who is in control... Take time to get this book
by JD Wetterling. Put it on your Christmas list to give to a friend.
There is No Time To Waste. Do it for all who are named
on The Wall, and for all who are serving today.” “No Time To Waste is a rare glimpse inside the love story of God for His People, in this case, a WWII hero, and a Vietnam fighter pilot, both men of accomplishment. It is conveyed through the real events that negate 'luck' or 'chance' so that God's hand is the only explanation for survival. The reader has the privilege of being an observer to the most intimate details of faith revealed through the progression of emails and relentless perseverance. The reader becomes part of the journey with lungs filling with emotion at each step; with spine tingling excitement at each providential turn; with eyes filling at the witnessing of the true grace of God bringing one into His Kingdom. It would be easy to only claim Proverbs 27:17, Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another, but that would not be the larger story; that of God's love freely given from one to another as a demonstration of Ephesians 2:8-10. No Time To Waste is an inspiring example of faith-sharing, patience, and perseverance in obedience to God for His glory.”
Roy Liddell
“I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed your latest book. It is just wonderful. Your making me see one of my boys in Christ's position on the cross really made me stop and realize more than ever what God has done for me and comparing Jesus becoming a man to a man becoming a cock roach!!!!! These are just a few of the things that made me stop and thank the LORD!!!! I also have started going through the Heidelberg Catechism (How I wish I had your notes!!!)… How thankful I am that the Lord caused our paths to cross at Ridge Haven!!!! Please keep writing!!!!!” Carolyn Kullmar Lake Worth, Florida
“God has given you a real gift of writing, I
lived every minute of it-- as though I was a mouse in the corner
watching it all happen. I sure do like the way you describe
scenery, action, ideas, etc. Thank you so much. I read it in 2
days. Your spiritual teaching is helpful to me. But that sermon on
"Hell" really got me thinking and praying more passionately about
my friends and ALL my loved ones, whom I deeply hope to see in
Heaven. It may not be too much more time that I have here on earth,
since I'm 93, to pray for their salvation, or till Christ comes. I
am being fed in His Word, by many books, sermons, letters and
brochures, and so grateful that He has STILL kept me growing. No,
I'm shrinking physically, but growing spiritually, for which I
thank God. To be sure: there's no time to waste. And as Jack
wondered: "Why me?" Why did He spare me? How could He keep all
these systems in my body and mind working so many years? "Fearfully
and wonderfully made", most of us don't appreciate enough. And so,
dear brother in Christ, I thank God for you and the great gift He
has given you, and do pray that it all will be used to His glory.” “No Time to Waste is a difficult book to categorize: is it a collection of amazing but true war stories? Yes. Personal memoirs? Yes. Engaging epistolary correspondence? Yes. Collected reflections on life, beauty, and even politics, with an occasional dash of humor splashed in? Yes. A practical and scripturally-grounded guide to personal evangelism? Well yes, it's that too. But perhaps predominantly, it's a book of evidences that, behind all the sometimes amazing and often mundane events of life, which seem random, happenstance, or guided by blind luck, there is a God who is not just aware in some distant and unaffected way, but a God who is actively directing every matter from small to great, for the eternal good of all whom he has chosen to preserve for himself and his Kingdom. This is true in times of war, when men who do not know or acknowledge God win extraordinary victories that they should not have won, by his meticulous providence; but it is true just as certainly and much more powerfully in times of peace, when the more miraculous victory of new, spiritual life is given to the least likely of subjects. That, above all, is the lesson this book drives home; and it is a lesson that we would all do well to bask in afresh. “It may take a good chef to make a great dish, but it takes a great chef to make a good meal. One thing done well requires a certain amount of skill, but to do several things well, and not just to do them well, but to piece them together in such a way that each individual part sets off and complements the unique contributions of each other part, so that the product is a balanced and harmonious whole, must certainly require much more skill. In a way, No Time To Waste attempts the latter. It contains op-ed articles reprinted from various major newspapers, manuscripted sermons and bible meditations, riveting war stories, both from the intense sub-oceanic world of the Pacific Front of World War II and the high-speed aerial world of a fighter pilot in Vietnam; but predominantly, and interspersed in such a way as to weave every other element into a mutually-interpretive whole, it is a correspondence, by e-mail, between two casual acquaintances, with an unlikely beginning and an unlikelier end. “Skilled fighter pilot JD Wetterling first met World War II war hero Captain Jack Bennett after the latter responded to one of his articles printed in the Wall Street Journal. Both of them knew by experience the stark realities of war, and so a close friendship was soon forged. But even though there was so much that bound them together, even across a generational gap, there was one thing that kept them worlds apart, one greater divide that JD wanted desperately to bridge: both soldiers had been preserved by God's unusual grace from the devastations of war, but only he had been snatched out of the greater devastation of sin, self-sufficiency, and blindness. He now had a brother in this world, whose bonds had been forged in the same fire of war that the intervening decades could not quench; but he wanted a brother in the next world, with bonds forged in the fires of God's redeeming love, which all eternity could only make stronger. “And so the story unfolds: while the book contains much more than this, the bare outline is the correspondence between JD, a former fighter pilot now serving as an elder in a Presbyterian Church, and Jack, a former submarine commander now retired, but with a sharp, inquisitive mind, and a desire to probe into eternal truths. In the course of the correspondence, what comes to the fore is how, over and over again, the providence of God, which preserved Jack in the war, is now bringing into his life everything necessary to bend his will, overcome his blindness, and bring him into the eternal Kingdom of Christ. World War II has many stories of great triumph in the face of overwhelming odds; but never has there been such a victory over such impossible obstacles as the miracle of the rebirth of a heart conceived in iniquity and born in sin, the miracle of divine, unstoppable grace. All praise to the Savior of the undeserving, for his unspeakable miracle of regeneration and eternal life!
Nathan Pitchford Read more reviews at Amazon... |
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Memorial Day address honoring Jack Bennett by JD Wetterling at Land’s End, San Francisco, May 24, 2009
JD's preaching and speaking schedule
Other books by JD Wetterling:
Short works for periodicals by JD :
The Wall Street Journal
WORLD magazine
Short works for this website:
Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God
"No
one" and "nothing,"
a meditation
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