Practical Faith Academy - Season 5, Episode 11 - Rachel Coggins, Ministering to Soldiers

The Practical Faith Academy Podcast from Cecil Taylor Ministries presents guests who have important things to say about putting your faith into practice. Cecil interviews each guest to understand their life stories and their ideas for living a seven-day practical faith.

Rachel Coggins is a retired chaplain, author, and non-profit leader who shares her war zone chaplain stories in the book, “Gateway to Iraq.” In this podcast, Coggins discusses what it’s like to be a military chaplain, how she helped soldiers entering and exiting war zones, and what we can learn from the faith and lives of soldiers. And she shares her own tips for living a daily, practical faith.

Highlights of the podcast:  

2:47 What does seven-day practical faith mean to Coggins

4:13 How her husband and her both became military chaplains in different service branches

8:35 How military chaplaincy is different and how the chaplain is integral to a unit and its commander

14:02 Was the emotional toll harder for soldiers entering or exiting the Iraq war zone?

17:52 How Coggins, as a female chaplain, represented both Mom and God to the troops

19:09 What we can learn from the faith journeys of military personnel

24:10 Her favorite part of her book, “Gateway to Iraq”

27:45 Coggins’ view on volunteerism’s role in Christian faith

31:48 The hardest part about putting faith into practice

32:33 Her best tip for developing and maintaining a seven-day practical faith

34:46 How to find Rachel Coggins’ books

Retired chaplain, author, and non-profit leader Rachel Coggins can be found at RachelCoggins.com. Her book, “Gateway to Iraq,” can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Gateway-Iraq-Rachel-Coggins/dp/1615790594. Her newly released book, “Exploring Turkey's Biblical Heritage,” can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Turkeys-Biblical-Heritage-Inspirational/dp/B0FTY7D8DR.

I’m Cecil Taylor – award-winning author, speaker, blogger, and of course, podcaster. I’m focused on teaching Christians to live their faith and represent Jesus every day of the week. Everything I offer for your faith journey can be found at the same starting point: https://www.CecilTaylorMinistries.com. Please visit and find ways to enrich your daily walk.

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I also offer Instant Content curriculum to small groups and adult Sunday School classes. My latest is “The Misfits of Christmas” Advent video study. Here are Misfits of Christmas links I mentioned in the podcast:

Misfits on the Cecil Taylor online store: https://store.ceciltaylorministries.com/collections/the-misfits-of-christmas

Misfits first lesson on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtH7tOLRpPc&t=444s

Misfits trailer video: https://www.ceciltaylorministries.com/the-misfits-of-christmas

For proven parenting advice that shows how you can raise high self-esteem children to mature, independent adulthood while staying aligned as parents in a harmonious family atmosphere, please visit https://www.UnisonParenting.com. That’s my parenting site, also accessible from the main site.

On the parenting site, please see a special $10 offer for my book, “Unison Parenting: The Comprehensive Guide to Navigating Christian Parenthood with One Voice.” I’m cutting out the middleman to undersell the big booksellers. I’ll ship it to you for free within the U.S., plus present you with six free bonus gifts! Either visit my parenting site or go directly to the sale at https://www.CecilTaylorAcademy.com/book.

Thanks