Raw Stories From ‘The Guide’ Give Glory to God, Hope to Vets
By Alex Murashko
Pastor Greg Munck, a combat-promoted Marine veteran, can get quite raw.
By his own admission, he knows that people can become a bit uneasy while listening to his real-life stories.
Munck’s stories are so vividly told, so engrossing, always mixed with brutal honesty and natural humor, that those who have seen and listened to his messages, at men’s ministry conferences for example, are clamoring for more.
At one recent conference, some men who have witnessed Munck’s storytelling, could be heard yelling and chanting, “story, story, story!”
Sure enough, he delivers.
His stories of growing up, boot camp, war, and a transformed life are not only good but give glory to God – all coming from a “gentle” giant of faith.
“As raw as I was [in writing] about what happened to me before Christ, I was just as raw and real about what happened to me in Christ,” Munck told Think Eternity, as he talked about his book, The Guide: Survival, Warfighting, Peacemaking. The book releases this week (Pre-order now, May 9 shipped).
IMAGE: The Guide / Greg Munck
Why ‘The Guide?’
In his boot camp yearbook, Munck was officially listed as a Platoon Honor Man, but drill instructors call the position “The Guide.” He carried the platoon flag, which is called the “guide-on.”
“It was a great representation of my time in the Marine Corps,” he said. “I see God as The Guide in my life.”
Prior to joining the Marine Corps, Munck described his life as one of chaos. “I was a full-on worldly guy… girls, partying…” His family situation was not ideal: “There was chaos in my house.” His dad struggled with alcohol and was gone a lot.
Munck enlisted in the military the Spring semester of his senior year in high school. Before he was sent to the Gulf War in December 1990, his life changed dramatically. He found the “love of his life,” Kymbry, who would later become his wife. And he found Jesus.
“The Gulf War broke out and then the fear of death led me to Christ,” he said. “I was slated to go overseas and for the first time, I started thinking about combat. I started asking questions like, ‘What happens when I die?’”
In August 1990, Munck went to the Harvest Crusades, an evangelistic event led by Greg Laurie, held the first year at the Pacific Amphitheatre (in Irvine, California).
“Harvest was for five nights and I went every single night… I totally fought the Lord,” he said. “I went every night and every night I had an excuse. I lay this out in more detail in my book, but it was my pride and my fear of believing that somebody would actually care for me the way that God does. I would not go down (during the invitations to accept Jesus as personal savior). I could tell that my friends were disappointed but they kept asking me if I wanted to attend the next night and the next night.”
On the last night of Harvest, Munck said, “The Holy Spirit just crushed me. I was crying out to God, ‘Lord, if you can help me not do the things I want to do that I know are wrong, I want to be your man. I want to serve you.’ It was a total, incredible surrender to God.”
He released all his anger towards his dad at that moment as well.
“I just released it all to God… my pain, my anger, all the pride, all the selfishness, all the self-centeredness. I tapped out to God. That’s why I call one chapter in the book, ‘Surrender,” because I surrendered it all.”
The Gulf War and Bangladesh Cyclone
As a USMC combat-promoted veteran (Desert Storm-Kuwait), Munck has seen the horrors of war and, although he went through a time after the war of simply plowing through life, his internal struggles eventually surfaced.
In Iraq, his assignment, ‘Graves and Registration,’ for his own unit, included “picking up Iraqi prisoners and picking up their dead… and showing them how I do that.”
“On the way home from Iraq, we stopped in Bangladesh. We were asked to help there where a super cyclone hit. It was one of the worst in history. 150,000 people died,” he said. “That was worse than what I saw in Iraq. I saw a lot of carnage.”
Both deployments, militarily and humanitarian, took a toll on Munck’s life.
“I never looked back when I returned home. A lot of Marines, we isolate ourselves, and go our own way. I just led my life. I didn’t become a casualty because I had my love and I had Jesus. That really guided me but I never dealt with anything,” he explained.
“Some things started to trickle out. For example, my [alarming] reactions to kids screaming or slamming doors. The first time I realized that something was wrong with me was when I went and saw Saving Private Ryan. That opening scene with the landing on the beach [D-Day in Normandy during World War II] and the sound of the bullets, that triggered me. I went to this catatonic place, this zone-out space, and I was weeping. The feeling left after about 15 minutes. That was the first time I had a reaction in daylight and not during dreams.”
After 13 years of being home, he realized that he needed to fellowship with his actual “battle buddies.”
“I had friends and pastors that were friends but none of them were ex-military and none of them were veterans, so that piece was gone from me. I didn’t realize what a void that was in my life.”
The Guide Soldier Foundation
“I have a voice to serve the veteran community,” Munck told Think Eternity.
“God has taken everything that’s happened to me and really prepared me for such a time as this. He has been preparing me to be a beacon and light to the soldier and veteran community. It’s not just about the care that’s needed. It’s about faith, it’s about sharing Jesus. It’s not just physical care and psychological care, it’s spiritual care.”
Munck said he wants to “serve the warrior community and help combat the suicide epidemic amongst my fellow brothers and sisters in arms.”
As one of its tools, The Guide Soldier Foundation states on its website that it will use Munck’s book, “The Guide,” to help “warriors realize that they are worthy of God’s love.”
For more information about Munck’s ministry and foundation, visit his website Greg Munck - USMC Combat Vet - The Guide - (gregorymunck.net).
Alex Murashko is a lead writer for the Thinke Writing Team. He highlights Christ followers within the media industry at Media on Mission. Find Murashko on various social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram.