The following is from the Trumpet Brief sent out yesterday. These daily e-mails contain personal messages from the Trumpet staff. Click here to join the over 20,000 members of our mailing list, so you don’t miss another message.

I want to tell you a story of greatness. Winston Churchill said one of the grandest lessons of history was that the test of greatness is politics and war. The epic trials and challenges of politics and war test and expose and inspire greatness like no other arena.

World War ii was the deadliest war in history—and it tested the greatness of millions of men. One of them rose to greatness in a most unusual way.

He was an American soldier, but he never picked up a weapon. He read the Bible, and he believed the Sixth Commandment: Thou shalt not kill. Still, he was determined to serve his country, and he managed to become a medic. He served in combat in the Pacific theater.

This man faced terrible opposition and persecution from his fellow soldiers, but he remained committed to serving them and his country. He was an example of remarkable selflessness and courage, off the battlefield and on it. He was the only conscientious objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor—for heroic deeds more unbelievably heroic than a Hollywood movie.

I find several lessons of this man’s life extremely inspiring, and relevant for those of us engaged in doing God’s work today.

I tell his story—and several lessons we can take from it—on today’s Trumpet Hour.