For God and country (in that order)
Logan Mehl-Laituri
(Herald Press, 2013)
About the Book
You love your country. You follow Jesus. So what do you do when those two loyalties point in opposite directions?
Most books about faith and military service answer that question by picking a side — pro-war or anti-war, patriot or pacifist. For God and Country (in that order) refuses that choice. Instead, it hands you nearly fifty lives and asks you to sit with them.
This is an almanac of soldier saints and patriot pacifists drawn from the front lines of church history — from the centurions of the New Testament to the conscientious objectors of the World Wars to the Iraq veterans of the present day. Each profile is brief, honest, and deliberately unsettling. Some of these figures took up arms. Some laid them down. Some did both. None of them fit neatly into the categories we prefer. Logan M. Isaac compiled their stories not to tell you what to think about war, but to make it harder to think carelessly about it.
The book emerged from a particular vantage point: a combat veteran who had served as a forward observer in Iraq, applied for conscientious objector status, returned to the Middle East unarmed with Christian Peacemaker Teams, and then spent years watching the Church fail soldiers and soldiers fail the Church in roughly equal measure. He didn't write this book to resolve that tension. He wrote it to name it honestly and populate it with real human beings from across two thousand years of Christian history who had to navigate it before us.
It was almost certainly the first book by a recent combat veteran published by a Mennonite/Anabaptist press — a fact that says something about both the book and the publisher willing to take the risk.
Who This Book is For
For God and Country (in that order) works as a personal read, a small group resource, a classroom text, or a starting point for congregations trying to figure out what to say to the veterans in their pews. It does not require the reader to already have a position on war. It requires only the willingness to encounter people who did — and to let that encounter complicate whatever you thought you already knew.
It is especially useful for young people considering military service, for veterans navigating faith after service, and for pastors who have run out of useful things to say and are honest enough to admit it.
A Note on This Book
For God and Country (in that order) was published in 2013 under the name Logan Mehl-Laituri. The author became Logan M. Isaac in 2015. The book remains in print through Herald Press / MennoMedia, from whom copies are available directly, at the link above.
Praise and Press
"This book is like a Hall of Fame for Christian soldiers and peacemakers. Logan reminds us that making peace is as costly as waging war, and if we aren't prepared to pay the price for peace like the folks in this book, then we should sadly confess that we never really believed that the cross is an alternative to the sword."
Shane Claiborne, “recovering” sinner and author of Jesus for President (Zondervan, 2006)
"Logan wants those of us who don't think seriously about warfare to think harder. His collection of stories does not lay out an argument as such, but stimulates the right kind of consideration of a perennially significant question: How will Christians respond to their nation's call to arms?"
Mark Noll, author of America’s God (Oxford, 2002)
"An invitation to engage in rich discussion about allegiance, courage, and the path to peace out of the soul-searing violence of war. Through centuries of witness from soldiers who sought to follow the Spirit toward the way of love, we are challenged to walk the path of peace courageously in our day."
Titus Peachey, Peace Educator for Mennonite Central Committee
Isaac's previous book, Reborn on the Fourth of July (InterVarsity Press, 2012), received a starred review from Publishers Weekly — awarded to fewer than 10% of reviewed titles.
About the Author
Logan M. Isaac is a combat veteran, professed monk, theological ethicist, and author. He served in the United States Army from 2000 to 2006 as a forward observer in the 82nd Airborne and 25th Infantry (Light) divisions, deploying in support of operations in Iraq. He holds graduate degrees from Duke University and the University of St Andrews, where he developed a "martial hermeneutic" — the recognition that combat experience is a legitimate source for biblical interpretation. He is the founder of the Military Improvement Association, a 501(c)19 veteran civil rights organization, and Grunt Works, a community platform for rank-and-file believers. He owns and operates The Chapter House, an independent bookstore in Albany, Oregon. He is a Life Professed member of the Hospitallers of Saint Martin.
Also by Logan M. Isaac
God is a Grunt and More Good News for GIs (Hachette, 2022)
Reborn on the Fourth of July: The Challenge of Faith, Patriotism, and Conscience (Intervarsity, 2012)
Find Logan on Bluesky and TikTok at @iamloganmi. For press and speaking inquiries: logan at pewpewhq dot com