Beyond the brook...

Moving to Word Press!

2010-09-29T14:25:00.000Z

Why can't Google and Microsoft just get along?

Suddenly Word will no longer post to Blogger and there seems to be no remedy. I have searched the internet and emailed both companies but no one seems to have a solution so regrettably I am moving my blogs to word press. Starting tomorrow 'Beyond the brook...' will be hosted at http://beyondthebrook.wordpress.com/ and The Salvation Soldier's Armoury at http://thesalvationsoldiersguide.wordpress.com/

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

Grace and peace, Andrew.

Thorn in my side...

2010-09-25T07:35:00.001Z

Sometime in May 1987 together with my wife and two young children I was appointed to be the Corps officer at Hatfield Peverel. It was without doubt what should have benn an idyllic appointment, a small country village with no more than 3000 population in the County of Essex. Yet it was here in these sleepy English lanes that everything went wrong for me. It was here that seeds the devil had planted in my heart many years before blossomed and produced their poisonous fruit. Just over a year later I found myself out of work, facing divorce, cut off from the only social life I had ever known, humiliated and completely and utterly lost.

A few years later God spectacularly changed my life. He forgave me for the bad things I’d done, filled me with his Holy Spirit and provided me with countless opportunities to serve him. Sometime later, remarried with two more children I decided to apply once again to become an officer. The route back into Officership was (quite rightly) long and circuitous. Eventually in 2007 my commission was re-issued and Tracey and I were sent to Dartford, a deprived urban town on the outskirts of London. Undoubtedly this appointment was a good reintroduction to ministry and God blessed us there.

Imagine my surprise when three years later we were appointed to Rayleigh in Essex just a short drive from Hatfield Peverel the scene of my dramatic downfall. Furthermore, in the 22 years that had passed, DHQ had relocated from its old premises in Walthamstow to a brand-new building in the car park of Hatfield Peverel Hall! Apparently, when this new appointment was first discussed, neither my old DC, new DC nor the personnel secretary took my history into account. So that is how on Thursday I found myself sitting in Hatfield Peverel Hall attending a training course on effective supervision. The irony of the occasion did not pass me by!

Today, I find myself in an almost identical situation to the one with which I was presented when I took up my appointment 22 years ago. Though Rayleigh is certainly a bigger town and a bigger Corps than Hatfield Peverel it is situated in the sleepy country lanes of Essex and when I look at the opportunities that surround us and the personnel that support us I cannot help but draw comparisons between the two appointments.

Praise God, the strongholds that dominated my life in 1987 have been well and truly demolished. However I would be lying if I did not admit that demonic snipers occasionally still lurk in the ruins of those strongholds and now and again from their insidious vantage points fire successful pot-shots.

There is (as in any appointment) incredible potential hiding within the people that make up Rayleigh Corps and the ingredients required to bring about revival are all to hand. God's grace and power is as super-efficient as it has ever been the needs of the community are, as always, evident and the willingness of the people to be led is refreshing - the one thing over which God has no control is the quality and consistency of my own consecration.

The damage that the enemy achieved at Hatfield Peverel is untold, according to the current CO most of the main players in the Corps back in 1987 (although now old and frail) are still active - I have often wondered how many people, how many potential converts, how many seekers after holiness were seriously wounded as a consequence of my actions. Although I am confident that God has forgiven my sin and removed it from me as far as "the East is from the West" the thorn that is Hatfield Peverel remains firmly in my side! Somebody once suggested to me that Paul's thorn was the fact that he had actually killed Christians and participated in their persecution. Did I kill any Christians or potential Christians at Hatfield Peverel? All I can do now is commit everything to God and hope that in his mercy he will be true to his promise to ensure that "all things work together for good".

I would not want to be anywhere else other than Rayleigh at the moment, however I must admit that being so close to my past does cause me some discomfort - but perhaps that is the way God wants it to be. I don't think, other than in the months that followed my conversion, I have ever been so wary of compromise and the dangers associated with giving "the devil a foothold". Certainly this appointment has driven me deeper into the arms of Jesus and I praise God for that! I feel almost as if God has deliberately presented me with a second chance, an opportunity (by his grace and in his name) to reclaim the years that "the years that the locusts have wasted."

The truth is, regardless of the past, "without holiness none shall see the Lord", my downfall 22 years ago was quite simply an absence of holiness and the cause of my success during my second sojourn in Essex can only ever be the presence of holiness. Hallelujah!

Grace and peace, Andrew.

It could be you…

2010-09-14T08:44:00.001Z

If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for which driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day at work; think of the man who has been out of work for years.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them!

Taking things for granted!

2010-08-30T10:16:00.003Z

I always find the holiday season something of a difficult time. Don't get me wrong, it's lovely to go away and relax and as the Bible reminds us rest is a commandment! However, it's very easy with a break in routine to forget to do those things which are essential and consequently to take the things that matter for granted. In addition, in many Salvation Army Corps August signals the postponement of all weekly activities which obviously leads to less fellowship with other believers. Together these two ingredients, a disjointed and a irregular quiet time and a lack of accountability, can become a dangerous mix.

I remember reading somewhere (I think it might have been in "mere Christianity" by CS Lewis-although I'm not sure) that one of the devil's greatest and most potent weapons is "normal life". In other words, watching the television, interacting with friends, lying on the beach, going out for meals, playing with the kids, going to the cinema etc can (although all these activities are innocent in themselves) distract us from that essential dependence on Christ which is critical to all effective Christians.
This dangerous complacency can (and will if left unchecked) distance us from Christ and his will for our lives and endanger our effectiveness and even ultimately threaten our personal salvation. Not only do we stop praying and spending time with the word of God we also begin to take for granted the blessings which he has given us - blessings which should be treasured.

Job was a God-fearing and conscientious believer who, when he found himself bereft of family, friends, wealth, status and health, was able to say with absolute confidence "even if he kills me yet will I trust in him." This irrepressible faith does not come to us by chance but is the result of a determined, passionate and disciplined effort to maintain "contact with the life giver."

God has given me so much; a beautiful wife, sensible children, a fulfilling vocation, a nice home, money in the bank, good health... to be honest my blessings are too many to number. Yet I have been guilty over the last few weeks of taking them all for granted and also of neglecting God's Word. Today is the last day of our holiday and I thank God for bringing this dangerous slip into complacency to my attention.

Thank you Father for your grace and patience, for your constant and undeserved love and for the power which is able to keep me free from sin, forgive me for taking these and so many other blessings for granted and for neglecting to spend time in your presence. Amen.

Big Roy

2010-08-19T20:04:00.004Z

Back in 1990, with no faith to speak of, coming out of divorce and living on my own in a one room flat I started working for Maidstone Borough Council. At the time I was very low, very lonely, somewhat confused and on anti-depressants (this was 4 years before my conversion and a few months before I met Tracey.)

One of my colleagues was 'Big' Roy, an affable, straight talking 57 year old man. He was responsible for Health Promotion and I was responsible for Environmental Promotion and economies of scale dictated that we often promoted our two subjects together. When I got saved it became evident that Roy had no time for religion – you can imagine we had some interesting debates!

In spite of this, I had a great deal of admiration for Roy; he was loyal, happily married, hard working and generous. Last year Roy got cancer and for a while things looked touch and go but Roy being Roy made a good recovery although the adjective 'big' was less applicable than it once was J

A couple of weeks ago a mutual friend rang me and told me that Roy's cancer had returned and that he had also contracted septicaemia and had been moved to a local Hospice. Roy had specifically asked for me to visit him. At the end of our visit I politely acknowledged his dislike of religion but said that I would like to pray for him, with tears in his eyes Roy replied 'that's why I asked for you because I knew you would pray for me'. I held his hand and prayed for Roy, I thanked God for his friendship, for his influence on my life and for his courage and I asked God to relieve his pain and give him peace. I also asked God to have mercy on his soul and to receive him into his kingdom. Roy squeezed my hand tight and struggled to hold back the tears.

The bible says we are saved by faith; sometimes all we have to do is push through the crowd and touch the hem of his robe. Roy, the big passionate atheist, asked me to pray for him. He asked me to speak to what he had always claimed was a non-existent God on his behalf. In this simple act he both acknowledged God's existence and his power to save.

Yesterday morning I heard that Roy had passed away and I have no doubt that he is now safe in the arms of Jesus.

Of course if Roy had died in a car crash or of a heart attack maybe things might have been different – I don't know. All I do know is that when Jesus talked about the kingdom of heaven and its citizens he usually spoke about prostitutes, publicans, tax collectors and sinners, he spoke about the 'halt and lame' about those that lived in the alleys and the lanes.

When it comes to heaven and hell things aren't always as cut and dried as they might seem.
Faith saves us and faith is nothing more than a humble recognition that we need God – it seems to me that in his simple hope that I would pray for him big Roy did just that... humbly recognised and verbally expressed his need for God and I believe that was enough to save him.

20/20 vision

2010-07-27T12:56:00.002Z

In 1997 the UKT Church Growth and Planned Giving Department launched an essay competition titled "Do you see what I see?" Salvationists were asked to visualise what the Army would be Ike when 20/20 Vision Is effectively accomplished. Whilst I'm packing this week I came across the runner up entry, "Dreams and Visions". The competition was judged blind (i.e. the judging panel had no idea who had written the essay) maybe that is how my entry got through! It's interesting (from my perspective) that I wrote this article only two years after my conversion and at a time when the small call we attended was experiencing a powerful refreshing. In the space of six months the Corps had gone from approximately 25 to 30 people attending a meeting to well over 100. Many people were getting saved at the time and it was indeed a wonderful thing to have been part of all. Anyway, I don't think this is essay has ever been published on the Internet and so for those who might be interested in reading it here it is. I have resisted the temptation to change the article and it is published here as it was first published in the UK Salvationist on 13 December 1997.

Grace and peace, Andrew

Dreams and visions

"The optimist is right. The pessimist is right ... Each Is right from his own particular view, and this point of view is the determining factor in the life of each. It determines whether it is a life of power or of impotence, of peace or of pain, of success or of failure," said R.W. Trine. He was stating the eternal truth that what we believe today has a significant bearing on tomorrow.

Spiritual health has always been associated with 'dreams and visions'. At Pentecost Peter quoted Joel, who clearly predicted that the hallmark of God's ultimate blessing would be young visionaries and old dreamers.

Spiritual death, on the other hand, has always been associated with a lack of vision. The Book of Proverbs declares that 'where there is no vision the people perish' (29:18 Authorised Version).
What The Salvation Army will be like in 2020 is dependent on where we see ourselves now. Today's priorities are the building-blocks of tomorrow. The fruit harvested in 2020 will be the result of seeds sown in 1997. As General George Carpenter said, we will always be what all our yesterdays have made us.

Accepting the foregoing as fact we are faced with thousands of possible permutations. The Salvation Army is made up of territories made up of divisions made up of corps made up of soldiers. Every cog within the machine is unique and therefore the collective elements (or corps) within that machine will also be unique.

For the sake of brevity I am going to focus on only two of many potential scenarios.

My comments are generic and not targeted at specific corps or individuals. These visions are not portraits lovingly painted but ugly caricatures, harshly drawn in the hope that they will provoke debate. Individuals who see themselves or their corps portrayed in this essay have no need to defend themselves to anyone other than God. If the cap doesn't fit then please don't try to wear it!
As a Salvationist I see the development of two separate movements within our organisation.

The first was accurately predicted by Samuel Logan Brengle and is primarily secular. Its priorities are intellectual achievement, social acceptance, attention to detail and musical expertise - all of which are commendable in their own right.

This Army, as Brengle says, will never fail for want of resources. It will feed from within, nurturing recruits in its own nurseries and rescuing the wounded from other corps.

The high feasts of this Army will be large musical celebrations, justified on the grounds of building bridges into the community. The music presented will be, on the whole, exclusive and require the possession of certain qualifications if it is to be fully appreciated.

The unsaved targeted by such an Army will develop positive relationships with the Movement but will remain onlookers. Admiring and respecting the old lady from a safe distance, they may even lend financial support but they will never become converts or disciples.

Recognising its inability to integrate fully with its audience, this army will experiment with compromise. Total abstinence will be up for discussion on the basis that man-made morality should always come second to what on closer inspection might prove to be biblical pragmatism.

Uniforms, titles, flags will be fanatically protected yet this Army will be neither evangelistic nor militant. It will be insular and incestuous - its parochial attitude marked by pride and blind loyalty.

It will be an Army that meets once on a Sunday with no literature evangelism and no open-air work, the
majority of soldiers funding a minority workers who continue to maintain in-house community service
programmes.
There will be no Bible study or prayer other than the liturgical remnant still recited on a Sunday.

The social services of this Army will be isolated from the corps programme and rely heavily on funding from outside agencies. The restrictions placed on them by funding will sound the death knell of any remaining evangelistic enterprise.

It will be a justifiably proud institution, self-sufficient, respected and accepted at the highest level of society but, as Brengle warns, it 'will no longer be shepherds of the lost sheep' and 'God will no longer be with it'.

The second vision I would like to resent will be born in the unsuspecting manger of poor corps.

Such corps, as a result of economic reality, will lose their additional financial subsidies and find themselves threatened with closure. Like the prodigal they will discover that lack of funds and impending death has wonderful way of bringing you to your senses. Even so, some will curl up and die.

Others will rediscover the truth their forebears prospered on and this truth, when applied to their circumstances, will set them free. The truth is that 'God's work done God's way will never lack God's provision'.

Such corps have never been hampered by the chains of musical expertise, the bondage of ceremonial uniforms or the doubting which so often accompanies educated liberalism.
Over the years they have become the homes of the disenfranchised within our Movement - misfits who tried every corps within the division until they settled here. They felt at home here and they stayed.

Here it doesn't matter whether you sing in or out of tune. As far as the band is concerned the only qualification is to 'make a joyful noise' (it doesn't even have to be 'unto the Lord').

Here you can wear brown shoes with uniform. Here you feel not only accepted but used. The decision to stay is not spiritual but practical.

Physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual poverty combined with a naive hunger for something better has often proved to be the breeding ground for revival.

At first this Salvation Army will take God at his word because it doesn't possess the capacity to entertain any other possibility. God will bless its inherent humility and soon its members will believe not by default but through experience.

This Army will grow for two reasons. One, The Salvation Army was raised up to reach such people. Two, because they share a culture with those around them.

Contrary to popular opinion, the artistic highlight of many secular social occasions is still a drunken rendition of 'The Birdie Song'. Ultimately this Salvation Army will speak to all sections of society just as it did once before. It will be both militant and evangelistic. It will learn (painfully at first) from the pitfalls of previous revivals and insist on making disciples as well as converts.

In moral terms there is little to choose between these two Armies. The first Army is smart, organised, polished and respectable; its troops unquestionably sincere and committed. The second Army merely confirms the principle that God's glory is better served when the material he works with is (in worldly terms) inferior.
One man's dream is another man's nightmare and you may choose to dismiss both of the above scenarios as unlikely. But if we want a Salvation Army in 2020 then we must 'make the future in the present'.

Already corps once threatened with closure are seeing spiritual rebirth and growth. This is the Lord's doing and only he can take the credit.

However, corps which dispensed with the praise meeting because the band played to the songsters and the songsters sang to the band are now looking to do away with the salvation meeting on the same grounds. Literature evangelism is disappearing and open-air evangelism is on the decline. In contrast our music festivals become grander and greater by the minute.

Look and you can see two brothers struggling like Jacob and Esau for their father's blessing. One bullish and blind, the other weak and wily.

One sees that blessing as his by right. He is strong and disciplined and has earned it. The other has always looked to his mother (in this case the bottomless purse of THQ) to protect and further his ambitions.

Who will win this struggle? I believe it will be the weaker. Why? Because if you reminded him that Christ came to call the unrighteous he would find comfort in the thought. If you said the same to his brother he would take offence.

The first Army is the Army of the optimist. He thinks his position is unassailable and he's right. The second Army is the Army of the pessimist. He thinks he will fail and he has.

Ultimately the Army of 2020 will be the Army that God calls. God is not bound by tradition but the Bible does prove him to be consistent.

When it comes to armies he prefers to start with the bare minimum. The soldiers he calls are amateurish, unskilled and usually led by a coward. If you don't believe me, ask Gideon.

One life to live don’t waste it!

2010-07-25T20:18:00.003Z

Today, whilst unpacking, I came across my 'evil day' box. This was the result of a brilliant suggestion by the late Commissioner Denis Hunter – the idea was to put into the box all the encouraging notes (etc) you receive over the years. In mine I have a Youth Council's commitment card I signed in 1977! The hospital name tags from my two youngest daughters, birthday cards and Father's day's cards made by my older children (when they were much younger). Poems and letters I sent to Tracey (going right back to the earliest days of our relationship), marching orders – too much to mention. As I looked at all the various items and dwelt on the memories they conjured up it made me realise that time is going by fast, frighteningly fast. It also made me think about all the mistakes I've made, the missed opportunities and times of deliberate and reckless disobedience.
Later, I found myself sitting at the computer and penned the following poem – poetry helps me process my thoughts when my brain (and heart) unexpectedly becomes overloaded. As General Carpenter said 'we are what all our yesterdays have made us' and life is too short to be shortened even further by regret-induced fear. God is with us, so whatever lies behind let us 'press on towards the prize that is ours in Christ Jesus'. Whatever it involves, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer the Christian's life ought to be 'life in all its fullness' so let's learn to praise God in all circumstances.

Time, like a firework, all anticipation,
Exploding in a one-off spectral splash,
It only has one shot at detonation,
One piercing scream, one fleeting flash.

There are no brakes to grip the passing years,
No gears that back away from bitter tears.
No way to pause the happy days or play again,
No way can we delete those times of pain.

The paths we never should have walked.
The lips we never should have kissed,
The words we never should have talked.
The meetings that we should've missed,
The things we overdid or underplayed,
The loneliness - and need to be alone,
The broken vows and new ones made,
The souls so missed who used to make us moan.

This is our life that burns before our eyes
And as we fly through foggy firework skies
The very least we ought to try and do
Before we fade and fall is catch the view.
There is no time for looking back
Despite our hoard of time-consuming frets,
This is our life whatever it might lack
Don't spend it all on might-have-been regrets.

Out of the box our fuse is well and truly lit,
The 'oohs' and 'ahhs' that echo through the night
Remind us as we soar that this is it.
The sparks behind that flicker bright,
Are pushing us toward the distant sun.
So what's the point sad pessimist?
Death may be near but life is just begun!
So let's embrace each unexpected twist and turn
Not worried by the speed with which we burn.

For Christ came not to skulk and frown
He came to heal our hurts and to forgive
He came to give us life not put us down
And every day that we refuse to live
We bang another nail into his hands
And freedom smarts and looks the other way
And all of heaven fails to understand
Our sad unwillingness to seize the day!

Grace and peace, Andrew.

Prostitutes, pagan countries and positive prospects!

2010-07-19T09:17:00.001Z

I try to complete reading the entire Bible through once every year, I use a Bible reading plan that requires me to read a portion of Scripture from the Old Testament, the New Testament and a portion from either the Psalms or Proverbs. Occasionally, the Scripture I read can be very appropriate to the circumstances in which I find myself and then there are those other occasions when I sincerely hope that what I just read has no prophetic significance whatsoever. This week Tracey and I and the girls move to a new appointment in Rayleigh and the first verses I read in the Old Testament this morning were in the book of Amos:

" 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
       and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
       Your land will be measured and divided up,
       and you yourself will die in a pagan country." (Amos 7:17)

However, as I continued to read through to the end of the book, the passage did begin to adopt a prophetic tone to which I could positively respond.

Amos was called to minister to a nation that had become complacent in the extreme and a nation where social justice and national integrity were hard to find.

Verse 5 of chapter 8 refers to a people who are eager to complete their religious duties as soon as they can in order to get back to their various commercial enterprises. Verse 5 also calls into question the moral honesty of those commercial practices. Verse 6 openly condemns them and compares them to a people prepared to trade human lives for mere possessions. Yet it was verse 11 that really brought me to my knees:

" ¹¹ "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD,
       "when I will send a famine through the land—
       not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
       but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD."

With the possible exception of what's going on in Stockholm at the moment is this not a fair description of the Salvation Army in the Western world? Are we not in the midst of a spiritual famine where we seem unable to properly grasp and understand the implications of God's Word?

As I read these words and pondered over them prayerfully I was reminded once more in a powerful and humbling way that the only path to revival for us is that painful path of corporate and personal repentance. Like the Jews who made up the congregation of Amos we have become complacent and negligent and the only way to reverse this trend is to get on our knees, cover ourselves in dust and ashes and sincerely repent.

One last quick thought, before I go and do some much-needed packing and cleaning, verse 11 of chapter 9 brings hope and I believe that the wording of this promise has special significance for the Salvation Army today:

¹¹ "In that day I will restore
       David's fallen tent.
       I will repair its broken places,
       restore its ruins,
       and build it as it used to be,"

If we repent, if we turn from our foreign gods, smash our idols and consecrate ourselves then God will restore us, however this verse refers not to a palace or a house but to a 'tent'.

The Salvation Army will be rebuilt but not as it is now or in the pattern of some contemporary architect of religious methodology but 'as it used to be'. Tents belong to nomadic people whereas houses and palaces belong to those who dwell in cities. Does this verse indicate a return to a simpler and more reactive mission? May God make his word clear to us?

Grace and peace, Andrew

As it should be!

2010-07-14T06:02:00.001Z

This morning I woke me early as I got up to spend time with him.

I repented, put on my spiritual armour, believed in his presence and worshipped his holy name.

This is the way every day should start. To go into any day without first spending time with the Lord and his word is like a soldier stepping into no man's land and expecting not to be shot.

The devil, our adversary, prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour...

Psalm 85

¹ You showed favour to your land, O LORD;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

² You forgave the iniquity of your people
and covered all their sins.
Selah

³ You set aside all your wrath
and turned from your fierce anger.

⁴ Restore us again, O God our Saviour,
and put away your displeasure toward us.

⁵ Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger through all generations?

⁶ Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?

⁷ Show us your unfailing love, O LORD,
and grant us your salvation.

⁸ I will listen to what God the LORD will say;
he promises peace to his people, his saints—
but let them not return to folly.

⁹ Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰ Love and faithfulness meet together;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.

¹¹ Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.

¹² The LORD will indeed give what is good,
and our land will yield its harvest.

¹³ Righteousness goes before him
and prepares the way for his steps.

Grace and peace, Andrew.

"I miss my time with you..."

2010-07-13T21:03:00.001Z

The last three weeks has been busy beyond belief and with all kinds of distractions. We have decorators in every room of the house, we're in the middle of packing, we've just finished tidying up outstanding administration and on Sunday we had a fantastic farewell from the good folk of Dartford. In eight days time we will take up our appointment in Rayleigh.

Somewhere along the way I appear to have lost my "devotions". I have not had a regular "quiet time" alone with God and his word. Consequently, to be quite honest, I feel sick. Let me explain what I mean by that , I feel under the weather, nauseous... as if I'm going down with something - not in a physical sense but in a spiritual sense.

Starting today I have reintroduced into my timetable what ought to be at the top of every daily "to do list" - prayer and Bible study!

I have also, carried out a little spiritual health check on myself and found myself wanting in more than one area. Consequently I have made some other decisions about my current lifestyle and attitude.

How easy it is to carry on with the duties of ministry and yet be slowly fading away within. Thank you Jesus for bringing this to my attention and thank you for the grace that you so freely give that enables me to put the past three weeks behind me and start again.

"There He was just waiting in our old familiar place
An empty spot beside Him where once I used to wait
To be filled with strength and wisdom for the battle of the day.
I would've passed Him by again but I clearly heard Him say

I miss My time with you those moments together
I need to be with you each day and it hurts me when you say
You're too busy, busy trying to serve Me
But how can you serve Me when your spirit's empty?

There's a longing in My heart wanting more than just a part of you
It's true I miss My time with you

What will I have to offer how can I truly care
My efforts have no meaning when your presence isn't there
But You'll provide the power if I take time to pray
So Ill stay right here beside You and you'll never have to say...

I miss my time with you." (Larnelle Harris)

Grace and peace, A

Rayleigh Band 1925

2010-06-15T17:39:00.001Z

Rayleigh Band , a report and photograph from "The Bandsman, Local Officer and Songster" October 3rd 1925.

Mixed emotions…

2010-06-13T20:00:00.001Z

The month before Officers take up a new appointment is a very difficult time. It is easy to become the victim of a whole host of mixed emotions. There is of course a natural eagerness to move on to pastures new and to get on with the job that is waiting there. There is also a natural reluctance to leave behind one's current mission. When a farewelling officer looks at the appointment he or she is leaving there are a number of thoughts that go through one's head. There are of course those successes for which you praise God; those people who have grown spiritually during your time on the bridge, those people who have got saved, those people who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and entered into the blessing of holiness. Then there are those who haven't developed as well as they could have done, there are those who haven't grown at all and maybe even some who decided to go elsewhere during your stay - as one prayerfully considers such people there is sometimes a sense of unfinished business.

As I prepare, together with Tracey, to leave Dartford and head for Rayleigh I must confess that I am to a degree, plagued by mixed emotions. Could I have done better? Could I have done more? Could I have spent more time in prayer and more time actively engaged in mission? Whoever we are, and whatever our commitment, the answer to questions like these will always be yes. There is always more that could have been done and it is far too easy to allow our attention to be drawn to the failures rather than to the successes. I for one am not prepared to allow such feelings to get the better of me. Whatever appointment one receives as a Salvation Army Officer one always knows that it will come to an end, there will be a moment when the boxes go on the wagon and you shut the door of the quarters for the last time.

Dartford has in many ways been like a first appointment to me, as is the case with first appointments it has been something of a learning curve. It has been good to see people get saved and to see people growing in grace but I would not be telling the truth if I did not admit to some disappointments. I am disappointed that we were unable to achieve more, I'm disappointed that we didn't see revival and I'm also disappointed that there have been occasions during the last three years when I have (albeit momentarily) taken my shoulder from the plough, times when I have been distracted by "the sights that dazzle and the tempting sounds I hear". I am delighted that we are being followed by quality people, people who have proved themselves in circumstances and situations far more challenging than those which Dartford will present them with. This will be their first appointment and no doubt it will be something of a learning curve for them as well.

At the end of the day the ministry of a Corps belongs not to the Officers who come and go but to the Soldiers who remain. The mission of Dartford Corps belongs to those few enthusiastic stalwarts who come week after week, faithfully turning out on duty even when their age, health or other demands upon their time might be encouraging them to slow down.

The next few weeks will be very busy as we attempt to tie up loose ends, finish packing, clean the quarters, weed the garden and generally prepare the way for a smooth transition and an uncomplicated start to Graham and Zoe's ministry. As the days go by there will be little time for the introspection I have described above. It is therefore a wonderful thought that at the end of the day the future of Dartford Corps (or for that matter any other Corps that the Army may entrust to our care) though influenced by God in us and hopefully inspired by God in us must ultimately stand on its own two feet. The future depends not on who, or who may not be appointed here but on the determination of the soldiers to get rid of their idols, repent of their sins and stay connected with the life giver.

God's plans for Dartford and for Rayleigh - indeed for the whole Salvation Army - are plans "to succeed and prosper, not to fail" if we ensure that at all times we are doing our utmost to "love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, body and mind" then we can with confidence leave everything else to him.

Grace and peace, A

Parade gloss?

2010-06-03T19:50:00.002Z

The following article written by Railton seems particularly appropriate to the contemporary Salvation Army – if the cap fits let's have the courage to wear it.

"What if The Salvation Army should in any locality become as utterly useless as so many parading soldiers on the battle-field? What if a force, say, from one hundred to two hundred strong, should appear in the streets of a big city, and go through all the manoeuvres of a whole Sunday without stirring anybody?

What if that force should be always singing and saying with all the emphasis that a big Hall and Band can give it that they will follow Jesus all the way to Calvary and never getting any farther on from one year's end to another! Surely it must be worthwhile for everybody to ask himself, 'What am I doing? Am I truly fighting, or only parading?' Let us just look into the matter a little.
There cannot be fighting except in presence of the enemy. Those who only get to such Meetings or to such parts of Meetings as consist merely of the saints, take no part in the fight by so doing. And those who are present in any Meeting where fighting goes on, but who remain silent, cannot claim that they were fighting because they kept believing for other people to fight and win. The peculiarity of The Army's system is that it gives every individual a chance not merely to come on parade, to show himself, or herself, fully uniformed along with his comrades, but to do something that offends, troubles, hits (maybe even win), some of the enemy.

Do you grapple with any enemy outside yourself? When did you last have any struggle with a resisting soul, to bring: that soul down at the Saviour's feet? Do not comfort yourself by saying, 'I live right' or 'I keep on believing'. That only amounts to keeping your own self in order so that you are at any moment ready for parade. That is undoubtedly a very good and necessary and blessed thing; but it is not fighting to save other people, and you may go to your grave a useless parade Soldier after such a life, and have a big Army funeral, and yet everybody may be puzzled, at your funeral, or in 'The `War Cry,' or in Heaven, to know what to say of you, after all your professions of being a Soldier of Christ.

Do you say, 'I get little or no chance to do anything in the Meetings? That may be horribly true in some places. If so, you will surely use very eagerly every chance you can get, though it may be when there are very few people present. If you are not faithful to the little chances you get, expect God to take even those away, and to allow you to be made to sit and listen all the rest of your life, if ever He lets you get even that wonderful privilege But The Army teaches you to fight, not merely in Meetings, but when you are quite separate from every comrade: In the very room where you sit reading this; in the very shop or work-place where you have to spend the most of each day, there may be a soul on the way to Hell. Your duty, as a Salvationist is to fight that soul, and fight you can and will, if you are true to God and The Army.

You will fight against the wish of everybody to keep God out of sight. What a jolly place this world would seem to most folk if they could only get God clear out of the way for good and all! Why does the very thought of God spoil everything to them so? Because the mere thought of Him brings up all the feeling of the schoolboy who is playing truant, or the man who is neglecting his master's work. The world will not have any suggestion made that God is looking, or that God wants to be consulted about anything. Now, he wants His Soldiers to get just right there across the world's path at every turn, and hold up the red flag, sound the foghorn, block the way, and force everybody to remember that they are not their own after all, but belong to Him and must either obey Him, or rob Him. Do you ever do that sort of thing to anybody anywhere?
The world does not at all object to your parading to a certain extent. They will even admire your march to your Hall; indeed some will come a long way to see it, if you are properly uniformed, and have a big Band which plays (Oh, I beg their pardon) renders nice music, provided you never drum so as to disturb baby, or sing anything disagreeable loudly enough to be heard in the pubs, or interfere with anybody else by any direct looks at them, or words to them. That will be a parade, and you may do all that as often as you please for anything the world or the Devil cares. The world will even listen to your singing and speaking with pleasure, and clap their hands to the whole performance, if you will only make such melody as can occupy all the hearers' thoughts, or say pleasant things so eloquently that the speech can form the topic of discussion in public house or drawing-room afterward, without hurting anybody's feelings. But if you will go bawling about Hell and damnation, the Judgment-Day, the wrath of the Lamb, and suchlike horrible things, it will no longer be a nice 'parade, but a fight, 'and the world will try to get far enough off not to hear any of it.

Do you fight, or do you parade? Do you remember early days in your soul's life when your very wife and children used to dodge you, or get up any sort of reading, conversation, or play to prevent you having the chance to speak to them about Jesus and their souls?
Did the people who worked with you, or rode with you, or even passed you in the street, continually wonder what would be the next attack you would make upon them? Did people hide in corners of the Hall, and round corners of the streets, for fear you should fire right into them some of the red-hot Gospel shot you always carried? Is all that now long past? Is nobody, not even the most open sinner, afraid of you; and are you still trying to persuade yourself that you are all right?

Then you have become an out-and-out parade Soldier. There may be nothing about you that anybody finds fault with. If you have got enough money to help your Corps regularly and heartily, and one of those nice, sweet homes that a Full Salvation has made, with every sign of earthly joy and comfort, you may even be counted amongst 'the best Soldiers of my Corps' by many a parade Captain. But the Lord of Armies, who used to be so delighted with every struggle you made for Him, sorrows over you as over a Soldier who has been made prisoner.
You have learnt to parade, it may be, largely by the fault of others, but the result is that you are now the prisoner of custom and ease and doubt. You cannot believe you will ever be again the hot fighter you once were? Ah! Then let me label you a never-though-it-it prisoner in one of the Devil's Nooitgedachts*. You never thought when you were rushing into the fight every night that you would ever get so cold as to think it enough to stay out one evening per week, eh? And now you never think you will be all that you were once more. But God is mighty enough, and wise enough, to make out of the most hopeless, useless parader a conquering Soldier. Will you let Him do it for you?

* A reference to the 2nd Anglo-Boer WarChallenging stuff,

Grace and peace Andrew

They shall come from the East and move to the West and preach the Kingdom of God…

2010-05-31T10:20:00.001Z

On Saturday our family was entertained in the home of some delightful Officers from India who are currently serving on IHQ. We had a quite exceptional day and the hospitality we enjoyed was of the highest standard. These quiet and unassuming Officers left Tracey and myself feeling incredibly humbled. Their willingness to step out of their comfort zone, to embrace another culture and language, to expose their vulnerable daughter to western fashions and values and their readiness to be tied to desks when their hearts long for frontline mission and opportunities to evangelise was truly overwhelming. Indeed it left our own (hitherto considered enthusiastic) passion in the shade.

It was an inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

I asked these Officers (both first generation Christians) if they had been disappointed with the Salvation Army in the west, no doubt they had travelled to London – the birthplace of the Army – with a degree of expectancy – had their expectations been met? Why I asked this question I'm not sure, it's was a bit like an adolescent asking a girl (who is way out of his league) to go out with him when in his heart he knows the best response he is going to get is 'I think you're really nice but I like you like a brother - let's just be friends.' There was an impending sense of pessimism as the Major paused before he confirmed my fears. Of course they had been disappointed. His innate graciousness forbade him from amplifying his answer but it was all there in his eyes. Where was the fire, the vision? Where were the new converts and soldiers? Where was the passion, that burning desire to 'save the sheep'?

In Dartford we have two ministers who are running Methodist churches in the area, both of these gentlemen hail from countries in what we once patronisingly called the third world (i.e. countries that had no political alignment with either capitalism or communism). Post cold-war we often use the adjective 'developing' to describe these countries. A hundred years earlier these areas often attracted the prefix 'dark' or 'darkest' a reference to their unchristianised status. We sent missionaries to these countries to illuminate their apparent darkness with the light of the gospel. Now they are returning the favour; as Africans, Indians, South Americans and Asians answer the call to venture into the remotest reaches of the heathen west preaching the kingdom of God as they go.

Fortunately the simple faith we passed to them they have preserved and now offer back to us, they see (with great sadness) our weary apostate and liberal state and offer the healing balm and energetic tonic of the gospel.

Thank God for their willing obedience, their readiness to sacrifice themselves. May their faith be rewarded with a revival in the west, maybe (God willing) starting in 'Heathen England' – let it be!

As Railton once said 'Courage comrades, it is still the will of God to save our nation.'

Grace and peace

A contemporary holiness testimony

2010-05-21T09:03:00.002Z

I have had the most remarkable week!

After fifteen years of searching for holiness I think I have finally discovered the truth that 'set's us free'. Any regular reader of my blog will appreciate how intense this battle has been and how vacillating my own moral performance has been during this time. My dithering and indecisive pilgrimage has seen me swing between the extremes of puritanical asceticism to liberal moral abandonment.

Last week somehow – I'm still not quite sure how it happened everything seemed to fall into place.

The stumbling block for me has always been the 'doubtful things' – identifying, exposing and rejecting the sinful things in my life has always been relatively straightforward – but when it comes to the doubtful things it has always been more complicated. Of course the problem is that a refusal to surrender what is 'doubtful' will always leave us quite incapable of surrendering what is sinful. Achan's sin – hiding those things which ought to be devoted to God among our own possessions – is, I am quite certain the curse of the contemporary church. It is our inability to settle the holiness question that holds us in our current state of fear, confusion and impotency. In short, our own version of Achan's sin leaves us 'obligated to defeat'.

Last Friday I finally got to the point where I was willing to surrender all. God's grace had put me in a position where I was willing to make a consecration that was "both entire and real" as the old doctrine book says.

" To be entire it must include the body, with all its members and powers; the mind, with all its faculties; the heart, with all its capacities; also goods, money, family, influence, reputation, time, ability, life, indeed everything. To be real it must be not in imagination or sentiment merely, but everything must henceforth actually be used as belonging to God and not to ourselves." (SA Doctrine Book 1923)

Having got to a point where I was willing to make such an absolute surrender I had a moment that within the context of my own personal struggle was Abrahamic in its immensity. With my arm raised, ceremonial dagger poised over coffee, football, crosswords, TV and the myriad of other distractions that make up my own collection of doubtful things – God held my hand! I felt; genuinely felt that in the face of my sincere willingness to surrender all God actually gave me some of it back. God didn't want me to surrender half of the things on my list but what he did want to know was whether I was willing to give them up.

At the end of the day as Samuel taught "to obey is better than sacrifice'. When it comes to holiness the one – possibly the only – condition that God sets before us is our genuine acknowledgement that he is first in our life. Keith Green puts it succinctly in his classic song:

To obey is better than sacrifice,
I don't need your money, I want your life.
And I hear you say that I'm coming back soon,
But you act like I'll never return.
To obey is better than sacrifice.
I want more than Sunday and Wednesday nights,
Cause if you can't come to me every day,
Then don't bother coming at all.

Holiness is about giving God our lives, placing him first, and having a relationship with him. It's not about what we do or even about what he does – it is about us dying and him living in our place. I'm not a huge fan of 'The Message' as an Englishman some bits of it are too American for me but there are some passages that are really quite brilliant. One such passage is Peterson's paraphrase of Romans 12:1-3

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

If the proof of the pudding really is in the tasting then God with infinite patience has finally enabled me to experience holiness. This week has been the most positive, peaceful, effective week I have had since the early days of my conversion. The phrase used to describe a section in the old song book keeps on coming back to me ''holiness enjoyed' and yes, I have watched TV, drunk the occasional cup of coffee and completed the Telegraph cryptic crossword!

This week I have enjoyed a ''career of uninterrupted victory over sin', I have enjoyed 'maintaining contact with the life giver', I have enjoyed 'the peace of God' and I have found beauty in the simplest of things, this week I have enjoyed singing the following words with the confidence that only grace can give:

"Heaven above is softer blue,
Earth around is sweeter green;
Something lives in every hue,
Christless eyes have never seen;
Birds with gladder songs o'erflow,
Flowers with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know,
I am his and he is mine."

The impact of this new life has been evident not only in my own heart and actions but evident in the life of my family. An atmosphere of domestic organisation and calm seems to have descended over our home.

After so many years of struggle and confusion I think that this is actually holiness – and the most amazing thing is that I didn't actually discover it at all – it was (like salvation) the free gift of God, he gave it to me last Friday, no angel voices, no tongues of fire, no trumpet blast - not even a 'still small voice' - he just dropped it into my heart almost unnoticed.

"Thank you Lord for saving my soul,
Thank you Lord for making me whole,
Thank you Lord for giving to me
Thy great Salvation so rich and free."

Much grace and peace, Andrew.

It could be you…

2010-05-04T17:55:00.003Z

On a Tuesday morning when I sell the War Cry at Dartford station I stand next to a sign advertising the National Lottery. It's never really crossed my mind until this morning that we both stand there advertising hope. The inanimate sign with its fingers-crossed logo and me in my Army cap.

'It could be you' is the catchphrase of the UK national lottery and if ever a slogan made spurious claims then this one does! Of course there is a possibility that it 'might be you' but the odds are incredibly slim. Indeed, if an apparently healthy man of 40 goes into a newsagents on Monday morning and buys a lottery ticket he is 40 times more likely to die of natural causes by the following Saturday than he is to win the jackpot. If the same man went into a casino and placed £1 on no 7 and won and decided to leave his winnings on number 7 for six more spins and won every time – that feat (statistically speaking) is 12 times more likely than winning the National Lottery jackpot.

People don't play the lottery to win they play it to hope. As long as they have a valid ticket in their pocket then there is always a possibility that it might be them. As long as that hope remains alive then they can dream. They can fall asleep working out how they will spend their money. They can make fantastic plans and there need be no limit to their imaginations. If, when the National Lottery began in 1995, you've bought a ticket for every draw (and never won) you will have spent over £1500!

If you spent £1,000 each week buying lottery tickets you would, on average, match all six numbers about once every 270 years.

And if you do want to play the lottery - please don't select the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6. Camelot has reported that 30,000 people pick those numbers each week.

In reality, not playing the lottery and saving £2 every week, would probably (with investment) give most punters a greater financial return.

Gambling is a mug's game and yet the number of the gamblers in the UK is increasing at an alarming rate.

One of the most popular methods of betting at the moment, especially among young people is playing 'Fixed Odds Betting Machines' (FOBs). These are the "virtual roulette" machines you find in high street bookmakers, and although they have been specifically designed (and the software written) to take punter's money and make bookmakers a profit they are still incredibly popular. The bookmakers love these machines. They account for a huge part of their profits nowadays. They have been described as the crack cocaine of gambling, and, as with real roulette, gamblers have no chance of beating the odds. Over time, the machine always wins. Also a gambler can bet up to £100 on one spin.

Why do people insist on putting their money into schemes that (in reality) offer nothing but bankruptcy and despair? Because there is always an outside chance, a very slim hope that it just 'might be you'.

Of course I know that real hope can only be found in Jesus Christ and that's why I stand at the station every week with the War Cry.

Peter encourages us to be "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

As I stood by the lottery sign this morning, even though it couldn't think or speak, I was aware that it was without doubt a more effective witness than I was. To be an effective and innovative evangelist takes effort and thought – standing outside the station with the War Cry is certainly better than nothing but if I'm going to be a real threat to the sign I stand next to every Tuesday (and defeat the evil it represents) I need to do a lot better!

The proof of the pudding...

2010-04-27T03:57:00.002Z

Te other night I was having a passionate debate with my son (Ben is 26 and an atheist). We were talking about morality, Christianity, life, death – you name it! The telephone call lasted just under two hours!

In our hopes and dreams, in our aims and objectives and in our motivation Ben and I are poles apart. He believes that as he only has this one life and that as one day he will close his eyes and simply cease to exist he needs to cram as much 'experience' into this one as he can. His only restraint is his belief that we should all 'do unto others as we would be done by' – beyond that simple maxim there are no limits.

Of course we are still Father and son and share that unique sense of love and companionship that can only be found in a Father/son relationship and of course I continue to pray for his conversion.

As our conversation continued he played his trump card – the atheist's trump card!

Lifestyle!

It goes something like this...

"If everything in the bible is true (as you say it is), if the people you meet every day (including your friends and family) are possibly going to spend eternity in hell, if God is all powerful and has given you the ability and authority to be effective in ministry, if you have access to the gifts of the spirit, if poverty and social injustice hurt God, if you are going to be made accountable one day for the way you have invested your life – if all of these things (and I could add many more statements) are true why isn't your life completely dominated by your faith? Why do you (most of the time) look just like anyone else on the planet? You drink coffee harvested by slaves. You wear clothes stitched together by child labourers working in oppressive and dangerous conditions. You tolerate the illegal activity of brothels, which 'employ' trafficked women, in your town. You show no real care for the environment. You watch sport sponsored by breweries and gambling companies. Your life is no different from the lives lived by so many other people because your God and his demands are not really real!"

I've never understood why atheists don't use this argument more often. If I was an atheist I wouldn't waste my time pointing out inconsistencies and contradictions in the bible I'd simply hold up the life of the western church. I'd point to Christians and highlight the obvious fact that although they say they believe their apathetic, lazy, self indulgent and worldly lives prove that they don't.

I came off the phone bruised but not beaten, recognising that the only argument that will win the day in our increasingly global society is lifestyle!

When I start to actually live my life as if God and his demands upon me are as real as the demands of my TV set or newspaper or favourite football team then maybe I'll have won the right to argue for his existence. Until then I need to spend much more time 'walking the walk'.

"Do you see, do you see
All the people sinking down
Don't you care, don't you care
Are you gonna let them drown

How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done

"Oh bless me Lord, bless me Lord"
You know it's all I ever hear
No one aches, no one hurts
No one even sheds one tear

But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds
And He cares for your needs
And you just lay back
And keep soaking it in,
Oh, can't you see it's such a sin?

Cause He brings people to your door,
And you turn them away
As you smile and say,
"God bless you, be at peace"
And all heaven just weeps
Cause Jesus came to your door
You've left him out on the streets

Open up open up
And give yourself away
You see the need, you hear the cries
So how can you delay

God's calling and you're the one
But like Jonah you run
He's told you to speak
But you keep holding it in,
Oh can't you see it's such a sin?

The world is sleeping in the dark
That the church just can't fight
Cause it's asleep in the light
How can you be so dead
When you've been so well fed
Jesus rose from the grave
And you, you can't even get out of bed

Oh, Jesus rose from the dead
Come on, get out of your bed

How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done

Don't close your eyes
Don't pretend the jobs done
Come away, come away, come away with Me my love,
Come away, from this mess, come away with Me, my love." (Keith Green)

Grace and peace, A

Freedom in Christ!

2010-04-21T20:51:00.002Z

I am posting Dr. Neil Anderson's 7 Steps to Bondage Breaking today. I believe if you walk through these steps and pray these prayers you will be free! If the Son has set us free we are free indeed. I had to go through these steps when I was first converted.

Step 1) Counterfeit vs. Real Spiritual Experiences

Go through an inventory of occult and cultic and false religious experiences in your life.
"Lord, I confess that I have participated in ________________. I ask your forgiveness, and renounce ____________."

Step 2) Deception versus Truth

Go through an inventory of different ways you have been deceived.
"Lord, I agree that I have been deceived in the area of ____________. Thank you for forgiving me. I commit to know and follow your truth."

Step 3) Bitterness versus Forgiveness

Indentify people you need to forgive ( releasing the other person from our judgment and turning them over to the Judge of all the earth to grant judgment or mercy.)
"Lord, I forgive (name_________) for (specifically identify all offenses and painful memories or feelings ________________.)

Step 4) Rebellion versus Submission

Indentify rebellion to God-given authorities.
"Lord, I agree that I have been rebellious towards _____________. Please forgive me for this rebellion. I choose to be submissive and obedient to your word. In Jesus name. Amen."

Step 5) Pride versus Humility

Indentify ways in which we may be proud or have reacted in pride.
"Lord, I agree I have been prideful in the area of ______________. Please forgive me for this pride. I choose to humble myself and place all confidence in you. Amen."

Step 6) Bondage versus Freedom

Identify uses of the body as an instrument of unrighteousness, thus creating a foothold or bondage.
Sexual, abortion, suicidal tendencies, eating disorders, cutting oneself, substance abuse, etc.
Make specific prayers of repentance for each.

Step 7) Acquiescence versus Renunciation

This cancels out any demonic working that may have been passed on to us genetically or generationally from our ancestors.
You do not have to know what they are.
Specifically pray for the breaking of the generational curse.

Follow these steps in faith and God will release you from bondage into the glorious freedom that can only be found in Jesus Christ. Satan, I command you, in the name of Jesus to release all who read this from bondage at this moment. Precious Holy Spirit I invite you to come into their new and liberated lives and guide lead them into all truth and holiness. Amen!

Grace and peace, A

Pressing projects!

2010-04-14T16:14:00.002Z

In a couple of months we are off to a new appointment – Rayleigh in Essex. This appointment will be very different from Dartford in far too many ways to mention. However Rayleigh’s status as a middle-class, largely white Anglo Saxon market town might make ministry more – rather than less – demanding.

In addition, in a couple of months, I will be starting an MA in theology. It is my earnest intention that this study will not eat into my mission time and my plan is to try and fit it into the early morning and late evening periods of the day.

All of this means that the pressure on me to finish off current projects is increasing. I have an unfinished book on holiness outstanding and I’ve also been working on contemporising the text of ‘Heathen England’. I am seriously contemplating taking a week’s leave and locking myself away somewhere like Sunbury Court and getting both projects out of the way. This might well be the answer as I always work better to deadlines – especially tight ones!

I firmly believe that my inability to complete the book on holiness is partly demonic. I do not claim to be a gifted writer but I do acknowledge that God uses me in this way and that the results of what I write (under his influence) can have a profound impact on those who read them. I think that this book, written for today’s generation but passing on truths not really properly preached or understood for 100 years or more, could have a significant effect on The Salvation Army. Does that sound a little pompous or arrogant? Maybe, but I assure you that I take no credit for this (currently drawn out) project. I believe that the words are Gods and the holiness they address is needed by today’s church in order to become truly effective.

Holiness – the surrender of all that is sinful and doubtful and the entire consecration of oneself to God – is out of fashion at the moment. Worldliness – considered a sin by the church for 1900 years and then suddenly made legitimate – rattles around our ankles like a heavy ball and chain. A holy church, an unworldly church is a liberated church and one that can reach its maximum effectiveness for Christ and his kingdom. An unholy church will quite simply not ‘see Christ’ – not in its mission, not in its leaders, not in its congregations – for ‘without holiness none shall see the Lord!’

Grace and peace, A

The 3-legged stool of holiness…

2010-03-23T20:47:00.001Z

I have just returned from a great weekend at Pill Corps with my good friends Alan and Carol Young.

I preached on the 'three legs of holiness...'

Holiness is like a 3-legged stool, if any of the legs are longer/shorter/stronger/weaker than the others then the whole thing becomes unstable and collapses.

What are the three legs of holiness?

Love, Obedience and Sacrifice.

Holiness can only ever be a response to God's love ('with eyes wide open to the mercies of God I beg you brothers to offer your bodies as living sacrifices…').

That response (our love for God) must result in acts of continued and uninterrupted obedience and greater revelations from God ('if you love me you will obey my commandments and I will send … the spirit to you').

Ultimately this mix of love-fuelled obedience will lead to sacrifice (consecration).

The result will be an unbridled embrace of God's will and a rejection of the world and all its ways (materialism, consumerism, hedonism, selfishness etc.)

Paul sums it up perfectly:

"With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity."

(Romans 12:1-2)

Unless this paragraph summarises our personal Christian faith and practice we face an uncertain eternity and cannot possibly be fully effective for God.

Let's fall in love with God all over again!

Grace and peace, Andrew

Out of the mouths of babes and infants…

2010-03-13T22:21:00.001Z

Are children born with certain gifts? Do we come into this world equipped for our God given vocations (should we choose to follow his path)?

Once a quarter at Dartford we have an afternoon 'praise' meeting, which is organised and led by the children, those who want to are given the chance to preach.

Tomorrow, my youngest daughter, Bethany will preach her second sermon (she is only 11).

She came to me this morning with all the aplomb of a veteran preacher and said do you want to read my sermon Dad, it didn't take long because I wrote it down in my sermon book ages ago so I just had to tidy it up – what do you think? I'll let you work out for yourselves what I thought by sharing the sermon below (any typos or bad grammar are hers – the sermon is posted without any sub-editing from me).

My sermon!

Talking

Talking is socializing you could not get through life happily without socializing.

Some of you may be like me and love talking. You don't have to know me much to know that once I get going I'm talk, talk, talk if someone is talking to me they don't fit a word in edge ways.

Praying is talking, you're talking to God. Some people love praying like I do talking. I don't know if any of you watch Larkrise to Candleford but Thomas Brown the postman loves to pray! It's important for us all to pray as it would be if god lived on earth in human form how important it would be to talk to him every day. More over some people find it a challenge to pray; but they shouldn't. When you pray you don't have to be formal, like your meeting the queen - even though he's a king. He'll just be happy you're going to chat and don't worry because you can just go on and, he may not talk like you talk to friends but you may get a feeling that just lets you know he's listening! In our bible reading Samuel gets a call from god. It's not a call like you call up your friend to say you are coming to meet them down the town or a call like someone calls you to dinner; but god always calls us in some way. Maybe not so much of a call but you could have a sort of feeling inside you that made you feel all nice or another way, a prayer could have been answered like someone being healed or maybe you make a life changing decision that you couldn't work out before! In a family we talk to each other, if there is a big decision to be made you have a family meeting. We are a family and we should talk to each other and we should talk to God, we should as Thomas brown says in Larkrise to Candleford 'we must endeavour'. Either way God's always there listening and will be there till you're there with him in heaven!

Thank you for listening!

Xxx J

Grace and Peace,

Andrew (and Bethany!)

Holiness or hell!

2010-03-06T14:24:00.002Z

One of the blessings of blogging is that it provides us with an opportunity to make ourselves accountable. We say things in our blogs and our words go around the world! People create an impression of the writer based upon what they read and expect them to behave in a certain way.

In June 2006 I published what I called a 'holiness manifesto' – a series of resolutions concerning how I would live my life. The manifesto was a genuine response to spiritual conviction.

Sadly, I have fallen well short of my self-imposed standards; however the conviction that created those resolutions simply will not go away!

So I'm going to commit to it again – a 'manifesto' day of renewal if you like J

Starting each day with God, I will confess my sins, thank him, intercede for others, seek his will and absorb his grace.
I will adopt a simple diet and drink only water.
I will not waste my words or abuse my freedom in Christ.
I will not neglect my family.
I will remember that rest is a command and obey it.
I will use the minimum of natural resources.
I will fight for social justice.
I will shop ethically.
I will hate sin but adamantly refuse to hate the sinner.
I will review each day in prayer and record my thoughts in a journal.

These resolutions are not a legalistic attempt to win God's favour or earn salvation but reflect a heartfelt compulsion to ensure that my lifestyle reflects my faith.

Love and prayers

Friends, fellowship and retreats...

2010-02-24T08:13:00.002Z

A couple of weeks ago we had Willis Howell over for tea. I love meeting internet buddies for the first time and I am pleased to say that Willis did not disappoint. It is always good to meet kindred spirits. For want of a much, much better cliché Willis and I definitely sing from the sane hymn sheet!

On Thursday, last week, Xander came to tea – it is hard to believe that it is now 6 months since he went into College and that it is a year and a half since he moved to the UK!

Both of these men need our prayers, a leader and a fledgling leader yet both standing at the heart of the battlefield, both with the clash of steel in their ears and the smell of warfare in their nostrils.

Yesterday I came to Ashburnham for Divisional Officers' Retreat and it would appear that many of my colleague Officers find themselves similarly at the heart of intense spiritual conflict.

Let us not forget to pray for each other, intercession is a mighty and effective gift.

Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.

Before our Father's throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
Our comforts and our cares.

We share our mutual woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathising tear.

When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart
And hope to meet again.

From sorrow, toil and pain,
And sin, we shall be free;
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity. (John Fawcett)

Grace and peace, A

Born again!

2010-02-16T12:57:00.001Z

Working for Jesus Christ in the transformation of people's lives has got to be one of the greatest privileges and experiences an individual can have.

Almost a year ago Lee walked into the Salvation Army Hall at Dartford. Kicked out by his partner, separated from his children, Lee was a street homeless alcoholic who couldn't remember being sober since 15.

We managed to organise detox for Lee at TSA's Grieg House in Poplar. Following this we had hoped to get Lee into residential rehab but the waiting list was so long that we had no option but to support Lee in the local community.

To cut a long story short Lee went to the Mercy Seat and got wonderfully saved! Lee hasn't had an alcoholic drink since March 2009.

Yesterday I helped Lee move into his new house!

We hugged and he thanked Tracey and I for changing his life and then we very quickly acknowledged that the change was down to God and we were simply his servants.

Lee still has a long way to go but hopefully we will get him linked up with the local Corps where he can continue to grow in grace.

Can there honestly be a better job than that of a Salvation Army Corps Officer?

Grace and peace, A

For even a child may serve the Lord...

2010-02-04T11:44:00.001Z

Speaking as someone with 26 years experience as a parent I can say with confidence that family life has its highs and lows. Last night was an unquestionable high!

In bible study we dealt with the difficult but important subject of spiritual warfare and demonic oppression. My middle daughter (aged 13) asked to sit in and do her homework; I was pleased that although she was doing her homework she seemed to be listening to the bible study as well. My youngest daughter (aged 11) has a downstairs bedroom next to the living room where the bible study was being held. Unbeknown to me she was listening to every word being said and later asked if she could attend bible study in the future. That alone would have qualified as a high but then she went on to share more with me.

She explained that as she was listening she'd understood the enemy's tactics, 'the devil,' she said 'together with all his demons is trying to pull as many people down to hell as he can whereas God is trying, together with his angels, to pull everyone up to heaven.' Bethany decided some time ago that she wanted to be a Salvation Army Officer and has always been very spiritually aware and mature for her years. She went on to say that 'you and Mummy are working with God to help him get as many people into heaven as you can. I know it's always been understood that one day I would be a Salvation Army Officer but tonight' she continued 'as I was listening to you talk, I got my calling, I knew that God was asking me to help fight against sin and the devil.'

In addition, she also told me that as she had been eavesdropping on bible study she had been monitoring an unpleasant conversation on MSN between some of her friends. She told me how she had eventually intervened and brought the conversation to an end and then prayed with the injured parties online.

In the bible study, in the midst of our conversation, we got onto the subject of Paul and his 'thorn in the flesh'. I explained to the group that the enemy will always attack us first at our weakest point; he'll twist that thorn in our side in an attempt to distract us from our mission.

Bethany has a lot of complicated medical problems and she can become critically ill very quickly. As she had been listening she had identified these problems as her 'thorn' and assured me that no matter how much the devil attacked her she would, in the name of Jesus, stand her ground. As she shared with me there was a glow in her face and an obvious excitement in her delivery. This was undoubtedly one of those very special moments that God gives to parents.

As I prayed with her I remembered that time 11 years ago when, as a newborn baby, she very nearly died because her medical needs had not yet been identified. At that time God gave me a promise for Bethany, a verse from 1 Samuel 1: 27 "²⁷ I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." When I was given that promise I handed my daughter over to God in a solemn covenant – it would appear he is coming to take what is rightly his – Hallelujah!

Grace and peace, A

I’m the boy you killed…

2010-02-03T08:43:00.002Z

I'm not normally susceptible to advertising but the most recent road safety campaign in the UK has really affected me and impacted my behaviour behind the wheel.

In the advert a middle aged man stares in his bathroom mirror haunted by the image of the boy he killed while speeding. Later he spots the dead eight-year-old while taking a bus, when he gets to work the dead boy is under his desk; viewers then see the driver tormented as the boy's dead body lies alongside his bed as the man tries to sleep. The advert finishes with the slogan: "Kill your speed or live with it."

You can't get away from this advert as it also features on the radio - in the radio adverts young victims tell how their memories linger with the motorists who took their lives.
One says: "At the weekends, I'm there. On holiday I'm there, building sandcastles. I'm there beside his son. At night he tries to forget. But I'm always there. I'm the boy he killed five years ago because he was speeding. And now he has to live with it. Think."

I don't consider myself a dangerous or illegal driver but sometimes I am distracted or in a hurry, now every time I get behind the wheel this series of adverts haunts me and changes the way I drive.

Maybe the church ought to run a similar series of adverts to be played to congregations on a Sunday. It could run something like this: Everywhere the subject goes they are followed by a huge crowd of people – poor, ragged, abused, fat, thin, rich, black, and white – a whole cross section of society.

The voiceover could say something like "We're the people that went to hell because you were too timid to tell us about Jesus, we're the people who starved to death because you were too distracted to feed us, we're the children who were abused because you chose to look the other way, we're the trafficked people who were postituted because you didn't care…"

What might the slogan be?

Any suggestions?

Grace and peace, A

St Francis puts me in my place (again)

2010-01-29T20:01:00.003Z

When I look at the lives of the Saints and the early Army pioneers I am reminded just how far I have to go in terms of my own personal spiritual development. I had such an experience the other day when I came across the following report of a conversation between St Francis and one of his 'little brothers' Leo (I have taken the liberty of updating the language but the sentiment remains unchanged.)

"One winter's day, bitterly cold, St Francis was travelling with Brother Leo, when St Francis said "I hope that God will allow the 'Little Brothers' (the name he adopted for the Franciscan Order) to be an example of holiness all over the world. However, even if they achieve this they will not find perfect joy.

Even if the Little Brothers give sight to the blind, heal the sick, cast out demons, give hearing to the deaf, or even raise the dead – they still will not find perfect joy.

If a Brother knew all the languages of the world, all science, and all scripture, if he could prophesy and even read minds and hearts – he would still be a long way from perfect joy.

If he could speak the language of angels and understood all of the earth's deepest secrets even in this he would not find perfect joy."

Leo was amazed and questioned the Saint, "Father, in God's name, I beg you, please tell how to find perfect joy." Francis replied "When we arrive at our destination, soaked with rain, frozen, covered with mud and dying of hunger and we knock at the door of a local inn, and the landlord angrily refuses us entry and accuses of taking money from the poor and preaching a false gospel and leaves us outside in the snow and rain all night, frozen andstarved. Yet we, so abused and rejected, refuse to defend ourselves or think badly of him; but instead humbly accept that he knows us better than we know ourselves and that God is simply using him to correct us, then we shall know perfect joy. Above all the graces and gifts the Holy Spirit gives to his friends is the grace to conquer ourselves and to willingly suffer pain, outrage, disgrace, and evil treatment for the love of Christ."

When I think how quickly I sometimes leap to justify and defend myself, when I consider how ready I am to jump to conclusions and to hastily judge another's motives then I realise how far I fall short of what God expects.

Let's all heed Paul's words to the Ephesians (4:1-3) ^"I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

Grace and peace, A

Adolescence and an Army that doesn’t care (sometimes)

2010-01-27T09:40:00.001Z

Children in the UK are unhappier than they have ever been according to recent research. The main causes of unhappiness are low self-esteem, body image and family conflict. Research by the Children's Society has shown that 7% of children aged between 10 and 15 in England - around 300,000 - are "significantly" unhappy.

The survey, carried out by Ipsos Mori between April and July 2008, asked children to score certain aspects of their lives on a happiness scale between 1 and 10. Most children questioned were actually happy, scoring (on average) above 5. However many children between 10 and 15 scored below the halfway mark.

Children who scored on average nearly 9 out of 10 - stated home, friends and family as the cause of their happiness. The highest levels of unhappiness were recorded in areas of appearance and confidence, with 17.5% saying they were unhappy with their looks, and 16% unhappy with their confidence. Almost twice as many girls were unhappy with their appearance as boys.

So, in summary, what does this research show us?

Children with settled home lives where the parents get along are generally happy.

Children with reliable friends are happy.

Adolescents are prone to unhappiness.

Some teenagers, especially girls, are unhappy with the way they look and lack confidence.

Did we really need expensive research to tell us what common sense has known for generations?

The unpredictable and sometimes unfounded unhappiness of adolescence provides the Army with a tremendous opportunity for evangelism. Let's preach the gospel to our teens – let's tell them that happiness and self worth are not dependant on how we look or how talented we are but that 'in the family of Jesus' everyone has an equal place.

The trouble is that if we told them that it wouldn't tally with what they see.

As I look around the Salvation Army and focus on our young people, I see that teenagers thrive or perish not by the rules of the gospel but all too often by 'the standards of this world'.

Talented, handsome, well-connected, athletic and confident children get the front seats at church just as they do at school. It takes a very special kind of Youth Worker to promote the awkward adolescent above the talented teen.

On a personal level, I still bear the emotional scars of growing up in an Army where people were defined by ability and appearance rather than by the desires and hopes wrapped up in their hearts.

As we seek the lost among the legions who live on the very edge of society let's make sure that we don't neglect the lost who live in our midst. Maybe they can't pass a football accurately, play an instrument, sing in tune, carry a part or find anyone to go on a date with but they are still a child of God. In fact if they qualify as 'the least among us' then God considers them to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

"Go ye into the highways and byways and seek out the geek, weed, nerd and bore and compel them to come in."

Grace and peace, A

Victory in the House of

2010-01-25T23:09:00.002Z

Praise God for a victory in the House of Lords this evening

Further to my blog recently on the threat to Christian liberty via the Equalities Bill…

Three amendments tabled by Baroness O'Cathain were passed by the House of Lords tonight. The first amendment was voted through 216 votes to 178, the second was conceded by the Government and the third was voted through 177 votes to 172.

Another amendment which would have restricted the freedom of Churches was defeated by 195 votes to 174 and the law has not been narrowed any further.

Although the Government has consistently maintained that the effect of their provisions would not alter the current situation, it is the opinion of many Christian organisations that the proposed provisions contained within the Equality Bill would have further reduced the freedom of Churches. We are therefore grateful that the status quo has been maintained and the law has not been narrowed any further.

Andrea Minichiello Williams, director of Christian Concern for our Nation said:

"This is a great day for religious liberty in the UK. We are thankful that the law has not been changed and the freedom of Churches to control their own affairs has not been restricted any further. The results show what can happen when Christians pray and take action. Let us be encouraged that even in an increasingly secular society, the voice of the Church can still be heard."

Most of all we are thankful to God for answering our prayers. We serve a mighty God!

Grace and peace, A

How do you read yours?

2010-01-20T06:06:00.002Z

So Cadburys (the maker of cream eggs) are to be swallowed up by the American giant Kraft! Cadbury's cream eggs are a British institution, when I was a boy they appeared in the shops just before Easter, these days they are available from the beginning of January! Personally I don't like Cream eggs they are far too sweet and sickly for my savoury tooth. In recent years Cadburys have used the following advertising slogan in relation to cream eggs – "How do you eat yours" – the suggestion being that everyone eats them and the only question that needs to be asked in relation to them is "how"? Cadburys have even offered prizes to people for the most original methods of consumption.

Some people treat their bibles like a cream egg, they read it 'in season', i.e. they read it at special times of the year and then when they do read it they only read the 'sweet' bits. They avoid anything that might call to 'deeper consecration' or surrender. They ignore those verses that seek to correct a slack and apathetic approach to Christianity. When it comes to the bible the only question that really needs to be asked is "How do you read yours"? Every Christian ought to read the word of God on a daily basis and they ought to read it all not just bits and pieces.

If you've never gone through the whole bible in one year then you ought to do so. There are many good reading plans available on the Internet - 'The One Year Bible Online' is a good place to start. I've been using such a plan now for about 10 years and as a consequence I am more familiar with my bible than I have ever been. This year I decided to have a change.

The Salvation Soldier's Guide is a collection of bible readings for the morning and evening of every day in the year. The selected readings are particularly relevant to Salvationist's. There are 'morning' and 'evening' readings available and a very short reading for midday. Very often the readings are linked together and you will find them an excellent source of inspiration for sermons. The original readings were taken from the King James Version and very few copies of the original 'guide' are still around. This site contains links to the original readings but taken from the New International Version. This particular edition of the 'Guide' was compiled and edited by G S Railton (which for me at least always adds extra spice!)

If you have no bible reading plan I would heartily recommend the 'The Salvation Soldier's Guide' - if you already have a reading plan then the 'guide' is an excellent supplementary source of inspiration.

Grace and peace, A

Equality Bill and the rights of Christians...

2010-01-15T17:31:00.001Z

I have always believed that political correction and human rights would poses greater persecution to the contemporary church than physical persecution. The Equality Bill, which is currently at the committee stage, will place a duty on public bodies - like schools and the police to promote homosexual and transsexual 'rights', churches and The Salvation Army will not be expected to promote such rights but it may well become a crime to say that these things are a sin or to prevent homosexuals or unmarried heterosexuals who cohabit from holding certain positions within the church like youth workers.

Christians have become concerned because the Bill also is narrowing the current exemption in employment law for "organised religion" by changing the existing exemption so that it will only apply to posts that wholly or mainly involve leading or assisting worship or promoting or explaining doctrine.

Yet church ministers have many pastoral and administrative tasks which do not directly involve leading worship or teaching doctrine, even more so in the case of pastoral or youth workers. So the law may require that these posts have to be open to adulterers or practising homosexuals.

The following link takes you to a legal opinion by John Bowers QC and a briefing (from christian.org.uk) provide further information. For the wider problems being caused by the 'equality and diversity' agenda, the following report also Marginalising Christians.

Get involved now or face prison tomorrow!

Grace and peace, A

Waiting, waiting and more waiting...

2010-01-12T00:01:00.000Z

Sat in the Juror's lounge today waiting to be called. Told we would be called at 10:30, then 12 noon, then 2pm and finally 3pm. Never called and let home at 3:40pm with instructions to come back tomorrow.

Used the time wisely and wrote a dedication song (based on Romans 12) for a new soldier who is being enrolled this Sunday – if you want to sing along the tune is Denmark HillJ

Eyes wide open, held by mercy,
Focussed on the love of Christ
In my heart the Spirit asks me
What have you to sacrifice?

Knowing now the worth of worship
Knowing now praise has a price
Freely I present my body
As a living sacrifice.

Though the devil tries to tease me
From the loving hold of Christ,
In his worldly mould would squeeze me,
All I have stays sacrificed.

Now I fear no separation
From the love that’s mine in Christ,
For this living consecration
Keeps the life I’ve sacrificed.

Grace and peace, A

Justice or mercy?

2010-01-10T11:05:00.004Z

Tomorrow I start Jury Service and my thoughts are fairly mixed. First of all I'm disappointed to be away from the Corps for a minimum of two weeks at a critical time. The start of a New Year provides soldiers with a watershed that (if managed effectively) can drive the fellowship in the right direction and if necessary steer wanderers back onto the straight and narrow. So to be away from the Corps in January is frustrating. Secondly, although I am excited about seeing the justice system working close up, I am weighed down by a shared responsibility the outcome of which will impact in a major way on both the accused and the victim(s). As a Christian judgement is taboo for me – it is not my place to judge. If I do fall into the trap of judging another person then scripture informs me that the same level of understanding and compassion I exercised will be used by God when my life is weighed in the balance.

"1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ²For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ³"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7)

Finally, I do believe in justice and in the need to accept the ultimate outcome of our actions. I grew up in an education system that positively endorsed corporal punishment and I felt the sting of the slipper, ruler and cane many times! My headmaster was an old fashioned portly man called Mr Goss. When he punished a child he did so in front of the whole school. The guilty culprit would be compelled to bend over on the stage in a school assembly and Mr Goss would strike 6 times, each swing of the cane punctuating the following sentence – "You must ...(swish) always ...(swish) be prepared ...(swish) to accept...(swish) the consequences ...(swish) of ...(swish) your actions".

Last week someone wrongly stated that as a juror I would be a soft touch, I think the phrase went something like... "Your namby-pamby, limp wristed, born again, liberal view of the world will want to give him a second chance!" Certainly I would endorse anyone's access to a second chance but I also believe that all of us (in this world if not in the next) have to face the consequences of our actions.

Mercy and justice are not incompatible. As a Christian, I do not have to worry about the eternal consequences of my decisions but the practical consequences of those decisions confront me every day. God has 'blotted out' my transgressions, he has made a conscious decision to 'remember them no more' but the devil often replays my past in the cinema of my mind.

So, I will go tomorrow, ready (and willing) to be convinced, beyond reasonable doubt as to whether the accused is innocent or guilty. Ultimately he or she will have to face the practical consequences of their actions regardless of whether they avail themselves of God's mercy and I will pray passionately that they will do the latter. I will make my mind up as a Christian and my thinking processes will be under the control of Christ. However horrendous the crime or unfeeling the accused I will remember at all times that I am nothing more than a sinner saved by grace and it could easily (but for that grace) be me in the dock.

I have always found that Wesley, Orsborn or Gowans usually have an appropriate word for most situations – in this case I turn to Orsborn:

I have no claim on grace;
I have no right to plead;
I stand before my maker's face
condemned in thought and deed.
But since there died a Lamb
Who, guiltless, my guilt bore,
I lay fast hold on Jesus' name,
And sin is mine no more.

Grace and peace, A

Finishing strong!

2010-01-07T13:30:00.003Z

I emailed a friend recently and shared in that email the possibility that we might change appointments this year. He replied with the exhortation "If you are transferring, finish strong in your current appointment." This comment set me thinking. I consider myself to be consistent in my service to God and the Army. Above every other possible occupation I would choose Salvation Army Officership every time.

2009 saw some great highs for Dartford. In February, Lee (a street homeless alcoholic) walked into our hall and a month later got gloriously saved and hasn't drunk alcohol since. On Christmas Day, Tracey and I had independent text messages from him thanking us for giving him his life back. Of course God is the engineer behind conversion and we are merely tools in his hands but if we hadn't been here there is a possibility that Lee might not have got saved. Later in the year a young lady who was recently relocated to Dartford under the 'witness protection scheme' and also a victim of domestic violence was led to Christ by Tracey. This year has also seen a family of four (asylum seekers from Sri-Lanka) become a real part of our Corps family – to such a degree they have recently invited friends of theirs (a family of 4 from India) to join our fellowship. Imagine our delight when all 8 of them turned up at our watch-night service and despite obvious language barriers engaged fully with the games and worship. In 2009 we also farewelled Xander to College – Xander was a great hep and encouragement to us during his time here and I hope he feels that Dartford made a positive contribution to his ongoing Officer training. In November we saw an old soldier (85 years old) who hasn't worn uniform for many, many years don the blue surge and silver s's again - Hallelujah! On January 17th a man who was once the Corps Secretary at Dartford but relinquished his soldiership some time ago will enrolled as a Soldier again. In addition we have seen our people grow and domestic situations improve as a consequence of an ongoing pastoral programme.

In the 2 ½ years we have been privileged to be at Dartford God has blessed us greatly and fulfilled his promise to 'do more than we could ask for or even imagine'.

Yet at the same time there have been occasional troughs – fortunately God has given me a personality that is largely immune to depression – but there have been moments of doubt and sometimes even downright rebellion on my part. Yet all in all it has been a very positive experience and our time here will remain a memory when we do eventually move on.

Ideally we would have liked to stay here another couple of years but the complex medical needs of our youngest daughter make this year a sensible time to relocate (she starts Senior School in September).

So back to that encouragement to 'finish strong'... We have 6 months left at Dartford and my motivation remains the same as it was 2 ½ years ago – I am a sinner saved by grace and the knowledge of my unmerited salvation compels me to put all I have into those 6 months. If the the 'call of holiness' makes us anything other than consistent then we are not giving the right answer.

This year I'm starting an MA in theology (at the Army's request) but I am determined that this study should enhance and not diminish my service as a Corps Officer. On Monday I am doing 'Jury Service' which will necessitate at least 2 weeks away from the front (although I am sure that God will use me during this time as a witness to my fellow jurors) then it is back to the battle.

In April Tracey and I have our appraisals and it will be interesting to see if the folk at Dartford consider our 'finish' to be 'strong' I am confident that they will because at the end of the day although we serve them our master is Christ!

This Sunday (weather permitting) is 'Commitment Sunday' in the UK and as always I will be renewing my Officer's covenant as I encourage my folk to reconsider their Soldier's covenant.

The temptation at the end of an appointment to give in to complacency and to become a bit 'demob happy' is very real but praise God we are called, commissioned and empowered by Christ and in his strength we overcome the world.

So as we begin, not quite the last, but maybe one of the closing chapters in this part of our story I will cling to the words of Hebrews 12:1-3

" ¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Grace and peace, A

Puppies, prostituted people and early mornings!

2010-01-04T10:13:00.003Z

Since the middle of December our daughter Bethany has to have medication at 4am in the morning. This is an ongoing arrangement and part of the increasingly complex daily regime her medical needs demand. We also, since 2^nd January, have a new puppy in the home. The arrival of the puppy has removed any chance I might have had of returning to bed after administering Beth's medication. So my day now starts at 4am. It's done wonder for my 'rations' (daily devotions) and I use some of this time to watch the religious channels on Sky TV. Some of these channels are rubbish, some of them are downright dangerous but some of them have some good programmes. The other day I came across an interview with a remarkable woman called Becca Stevens, an Episcopal priest in Nashville. An ordained priest, a mother of three boys and a wife this woman is truly inspirational. The following brief biography was lifted from her blog 'Walking in Circles' which is well worth following.

"I've always been concerned with the practical nature of any ministry," says Becca Stevens, an Episcopal priest in Nashville, TN. Being chaplain of Vanderbilt University's St. Augustine's Chapel means fostering service as an integral part of a living faith. Being the author of five books means moving readers toward a shared ideal of love and compassion for the world as it is. And being founder of Magdalene, a residential community for women who have survived lives of prostitution and drug abuse, offers the chance for recovery on all levels and for grounding in day-to-day living skills. "I want the women here to be employed, to have financial security, and to be able to change their tires," she says. "A ministry that doesn't concern itself with the economic well-being of its recipients is just so much wind."

Stevens is working to bridge the gap between the sacred and profane, between humanity's great need and God's abundant grace. Her life is one whose underpinnings are as fixed as the seasons. "Love is my grounding," she says. "It provides the axioms, those basic truths, which inform the system and govern what I do. First is that love is the most powerful source for social change in the world. Second is that love heals. I'm not called to change the world. I am called to love it."

The implications of these axioms are interwoven throughout the operation of Magdalene, founded by Stevens in 1997. With funds from individual gifts and private grants, it offers "a sanctuary for the women where they can live for two years without having to pay." In 2001 Becca founded Thistle Farms, a subsidiary of Magdalene, a social enterprise in which the women make and sell natural bath and body products. All proceeds directly support the community. Magdalene, which now sustains five houses, has inspired similar programs in several American cities, and has helped women in Rwanda start a business.

Stevens can trace part of the inspiration for her ministry to her mother, Anne Stevens. Widowed when Becca's father, himself an Episcopal priest, was killed by a drunk driver, Mrs. Stevens raised five children as a single mother. "The whole focus of our lives changed after that," says Becca, who was 5 at the time. "I grew up with a mother who completely reinvented herself." Anne Stevens worked her way from being a being a childcare worker to executive director of Nashville's St. Luke's Community Center. Stevens describes her mother as "the role model for the hands of God - always preserving an open door and caring heart."

Becca attended the University of the South, then Vanderbilt Divinity School, where she met and married Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Marcus Hummon. Ordained in 1991, she gave birth to their first child two weeks after becoming a priest. As chaplain of St. Augustine's since 1995, she now serves a congregation of 400 students, faculty and community members. With the support of St. Augustine's, Becca has been able to open the Anne Stevens School in Ecuador, a nursing program for an AIDS hospice in Botswana, and a center for contemplative justice in Nashville. "Being a priest in the Episcopal Church has enabled me to go out and serve," she says. "I'm grateful for that. I've never had to take a paycheck for my work at Magdalene."

Becca's published-writing career began when Abingdon Press approached her about doing a Bible study for its Sisters series resulting in her first book, Finding Balance. Her meditations became Sanctuary: Unexpected Places Where God Found Me, one of Christianity Today's Top 5 Spiritual Books of 2005. Hither & Yon and Find Your Way Home, a collaborative effort with the women of Magdalene, followed. Her latest publication is Funeral for a Stranger.

Her personality infuses her writing, be it books, blogs, sermons or lectures. She is earnest and empathetic, focused and funny. She is known for her wit as well as her humility, for day-to-day absent-mindedness and for steadfast practicality. Her writing is honest to a fault, shaped by the good and bad of life, and yet it is fervently hopeful and determinedly loving. At once graceful and intimate, her prose wears real skin and muscle as it moves through the heaven and hell that inhabit the earth, imbued with the sweet unexpected scent of grace.

Rev. Stevens has raised over $10 million and gained nationwide press coverage for the organizations she supports. Given numerous awards from organizations including the Frist Foundation and the Academy of Women in Achievement,Becca was named the "Alumnus of the Year" by the School of Theology at the University of the South, "Nashvillian of the Year" by the Nashville Scene and "Tennessean of the Year" by The Tennessean. She and Marcus live in Nashville with their three sons, Levi, Caney and Moses."

Follow the blog, get the book and live the life!

Grace and peace, A

A spiritual warfare psalm for 2010

2010-01-03T20:34:00.001Z

Psalm 3 (New International Version)

¹ O LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!

² Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."

³ But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

⁴ To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.

⁵ I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

⁶ I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.

⁷ Arise, O LORD!
       Deliver me, O my God!
       Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
       break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸ From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.

Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus.

A testimony for 2010

2010-01-02T22:23:00.003Z

Song No: 764 (SASB)

Through the love of God our Saviour
All will be well;
Free and changeless is his favour,
All, all is well.
Precious is the blood that healed us,
Perfect is the grace that sealed us,
Strong the hand stretched forth to shield us,
All must be well.

Though we pass through tribulation,
All will be well;
Ours is such a full salvation,
All, all is well.
Happy, still in God confiding,
Fruitful, if in Christ abiding,
Holy, through the Spirit's guiding,
All must be well.

We expect a bright tomorrow,
All will be well;
Faith can sing through days of sorrow,
All, all is well.
On our Father's love relying,
Jesus every need supplying,
Or in living, or in dying,
All must be well.

Mary Peters (1813-56)

Resolutions...

2010-01-01T22:02:00.001Z

One of the problems I face as a Salvationist is that there is tendency for me to think of commitment in an external context. I've been brought up in a movement that has historically (in order to protect new converts) focussed on encouraging good behaviour and outlawing bad behaviour. This can sometimes lead to a Salvationist morality that can appear to be at odd with the rest of the church (for example tea-totalism). I'm happy with such restraints, indeed I think they are helpful – on many occasions my soldier's and Officer's covenant has protected me in the hour of trial. However, I do have to remind myself occasionally that some things I consider bad may not be bad for everyone and some of my virtues others might find offensive.

So, in the run up to the New Year as I have been mulling over resolutions I decided to go back to scripture and take Christ as my moral measure and not some past hero or old copy of 'orders and regulations'. The result was quite surprising. In some areas it is impossible to use Christ as a model because his morality seems to change according to the circumstances he is in. An obvious ascetic yet accused of gluttony, a man who fasted and prayed alone yet loved the multitude, a man who preached pacifism but made his point with a whip, a man who broke the law and at the same demanded absolute obedience to it – and so I could go on.

Then the penny dropped! Christ was not constrained by morality or ethics but was controlled by love. His life was not a reactive one where rules and regulations offered protection in times of spiritual ambush but a proactive one pushed and empowered by love. In Gethsemane, perhaps his greatest temptation, it wasn't the law or mere obedience that won the day but love. Christ loved God and loved sinners and his actions and words were prompted by that love rather than restrained by a code of ethics.

So my resolution must be (if I am going to take Christ as my example) to set aside more quality time in which I can 'love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, soul and body'.

The Saviour of men came to seek and to save
The souls who were lost to the good;
His Spirit was moved for the world which he loved
With the boundless compassion of God.
And still there are fields where the labourers are few,
And still there are souls without bread,
And still eyes that weep where the darkness is deep,
And still straying sheep to be led.

Except I am moved with compassion,
How dwelleth thy Spirit in me?
In word and in deed
Burning love is my need;
I know I can find this in thee.

Grace and peace and a very love-fuelled New Year

Out of the mouths of babes and infants...

2009-12-03T09:37:00.001Z

I was listening to an interview the other day with the Bishop of Croydon whilst driving my daughter to school.

The Rt Rev Nick Baines was defending his book 'Why Wish You a Merry Christmas?' (This book sets out to return the Christmas story to "its heart")

In the book, Baines says "most carols are OK", and accepts they have a difficult task. "They try, within the constraints of several verses and an easily memorable tune, to capture something of the story of Christmas or the mind-boggling idea of God becoming human and living among us," he writes.

But even accepting these lyrical hindrances, the bishop believes some carols are lacking in substance. He is particularly critical of nativity play favourite Away in a Manger, asking: "How can any adult sing this without embarrassment?"

"I always find it a slightly bizarre sight when I see parents and grandparents at a nativity play singing Away in a Manger as if it actually related to reality. I can understand the little children being quite taken with the sort of baby of whom it can be said 'no crying he makes', but how can any adult sing this without embarrassment? I think there are two problems here: first, it is normal for babies to cry and there is probably something wrong if they don't; secondly, are we really to believe that a crying baby Jesus should be somehow theologically problematic? Or, to put it more bluntly, is crying supposed to be sinful?"

Suddenly my daughter Bethany, who is only 11 years old said "stupid man, doesn't he realise it's just a metaphor used by the poet to illustrate the fact that Christ brings peace to the world!"

Out of the mouths of babes and infants...

Christmas grace and peace, A

The best of both worlds…

2009-11-12T15:45:00.002Z

It would be interesting to know if the name 'Brindley Boon' means anything to young Salvationists today – especially those outside the UK and Canadian Territories? (Brindley is pictured with his wife Nina)

In these days of contemporary worship songs, mentioning some of the songbook classics he penned still might not even raise a flicker of recognition: 'Spirit divine come as of old', 'For thy mission make me holy', 'Weaver divine, thy matchless skill', 'I would be thy holy temple,'.

In addition Brindley wrote many band pieces, a history of the ISB and two books on banding and singing 'Play the Music Play,' and 'Sing the Happy Song.' He was also the main organiser of the 1978 International Congress.

Colonel Brindley Boon was promoted to glory this year at the grand age of 95 and his autobiography has just been published 'The best of both worlds'.

The Amazon product description says of this book "In 'The Best of Both Worlds', Salvation Army officer Colonel Brindley Boon delves deep into memories covering nine decades to provide a record of an extraordinary life. His twin loves of music and journalism provide the framework for this fascinating autobiography. But, more than that, every experience he recollects seems to shine with his love for God and his desire to serve Him."

In the book, especially the earlier part, Brindley describes a Salvation Army I can only imagine yet one I would have loved to belong to!

Certainly it was an Army obsessed with music yet at the same time it was equally obsessed with soul winning. It wasn't music or evangelism it was both and evangelism always took precedence.

Reading the book was a cathartic experience for me and I feel refreshed and better able to focus on what really matters as a consequence of Brindley's memoirs.

My Dad was appointed to the Editorial Department on IHQ in 1963 at which time 'Uncle' Brindley was already an established and stalwart Army journalist.

Reading the book showed me just how much we have lost our way as a movement and the quicker we can get back to basics the better.

Deportment matters, professionalism matters, discipline matters, regulations matter, uniform matters, respect for leaders matters – all these things matter. They are not all that matters or even the most important things but we diminish their value at great cost to ourselves.

In those territories that are growing the above qualities are still valued and very visible.

Maybe they should put Brindley's book on the curriculum at Western Training Colleges J

Grace and peace, A

Minster and autumnal madness!

2009-10-29T10:10:00.003Z

Could there possibly be a more picturesque appointment in the UK other than Minster? Minster is a small village about five miles from the coast in Kent. It gets its name from the Abbey (which still functions today) in the centre of the village. If you ask Sister Benedict nicely she will give you a guided tour. The village has everything you might need – dentist, doctor, library, corner shop, newsagent – even a dog groomers! The Army hall is 4 years old and the previous hall is in the process of being changed into a community shop. The Corps is spiritually alive and growing with a mixed aged congregation of about 80 and a small ensemble band. The village has a total population of 3000 making the 80 that attend the Army just under 3% of the local population – is there another Corps in the entire Army world that can boast such a statistic? If Regent hall managed to attract the same percentage of their local population their weekly congregation would be in excess of 100,000! We are here for a week's leave, guests of the Corps Officer Denise Cooper. We've had a lovely week and are ready to return to the war in Dartford.

Minster seems to be in a time warp (the village not the Corps!) there are no traffic restrictions here, parking is free and most people seem to walk everywhere – which brings me on to 'autumnal madness' – like the village of Minster the summer of 2009 (at least in the UK) seems to have got stuck in a time warp too. Yesterday I saw a butterfly, there are roses in the garden coming into bud, the grass is still growing and there hasn't been a day yet when I've desperately needed a coat. Although next week is November the trees are clinging to their leaves and we've yet to have our first frost. What is happening to the weather and who is to blame? Although there are still some sceptics out there who think that global warming and climate change are natural events I side with those who think they are a consequence of human activity.

The truth is we have a responsibility to protect our planet just as we have a responsibility to protect our values. Minster looks idyllic and seems to have retained some of those values yet amongst the quaint cottages is a betting shop and 5 pubs. No doubt behind the chintzy curtains alcoholics still sleep off their binges, husbands abuse their wives, children are neglected and gamblers count their losses. Appearances can sometimes be deceptive. Within a few weeks a storm will shake the leaves from the trees, the frosts will come, the fires will go on and we'll all start getting ready for Christmas.

Time marches on, the planet and our communities develop for better or worse and we make our contribution. One day time will stop for us and we will be asked to account for our lives. Those sins which are forgiven will be ignored, the time we have wasted over which we have wept with repentance will be put to one side – but the life we've lived since we last sought forgiveness will be weighed in the balance. With God appearances are far from deceptive as Paul told the Galatians "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows" (Galatians 6:7). As we approach Christmas and 2010 let's heed the advice of Ephesians 5:5-17 " Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is."

Grace and peace, A

In his time...

2009-10-15T09:33:00.003Z

Recently I was in conversation with Lee (see blog below) about smoking. Lee has given up so much in the last 8 months that I really didn't feel he needed to get into a battle with nicotine on top of everything else. I shared with him the testimony of the Jesuit writer John Powel (recounted in 'He Touched Me: My Pilgrimage of Prayer') about smoking. Powell had tried to give up smoking on many occasions unsuccessfully then one day as he reached for the first cigarette of the day he unexpectedly heard a quiet voice within say 'no more cigarettes John'. He obeyed the voice and has been nicotine free since. I suggested to Lee that when the time was right God would take the desire to smoke away just as he had removed his urge to drink.

In my own life my two biggest enemies have been lust and gambling (closely followed by pride and selfish ambition). Although these strongholds have been comprehensively demolished by the Holy Spirit temptation still lurks in their ruins and occasionally sallies forth in attempt to ensnare me once more. When it comes to holiness our big sins are easy to identify what takes more time is identifying and surrendering the doubtful things. For me, one of these doubtful things has been coffee. I have tried on many occasions to give up coffee but without success. Recent circumstances have led me to heed my own advice and leave the matter in God's hands.

Coffee seems to be the cement which holds church fellowship together; coffee is entrenched in our very fabric. Go to a Christian conference and coffee is available on tap. Hold a meeting, get together with a potential convert, network with other agencies , go to a church service, attend an Alpha Course, got to a bible study and coffee is there constantly oiling the ecclesiastical cogs. In addition, with the advent of Fairtrade there is almost a moral obligation to support the ethical coffee market. Then there is the fact that the local coffee shop is often the hub of the community - a suburban watering hole where all levels of society find neutral ground – therefore the coffee shop is an excellent place to witness. Then last week I read an (accredited) article about the benefits of moderate coffee consumption. Anything over two cups a day is likely to have an adverse health impact but keeping your intake to just two strong cups a day (preferably taken before noon) can have a very positive effect. Apparently, coffee is full of antioxidants and can limit your chances of heart disease and Alzheimer's. In addition there is a chemical in coffee that destroys the bacteria that causes tooth decay (incidentally all of these claims are equally true for dark chocolate!)

So maybe if Paul was writing to Timothy today rather than encouraging him to take a little wine with his food he might tell him to get down to Costa Coffee or Starbucks!

So (with an absolute clear conscience) I'm going to follow the example of Railton rather than Finney and start knocking back the black gold (but no more than two strong cups a day!)

If God isn't happy with my decision then he will let me know and whisper quietly in my inner ear as I reach for the coffee pot one morning. In the meantime I am not under law but under grace.

"¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men." (Romans 14)

Grace and peace, A

Lee, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Amazing grace!

2009-10-05T21:11:00.002Z

God's amazing grace never ceases to amaze me!

Just over 8 months ago Lee walked into the Army hall at Dartford – why? Cynics would say because he was drunk, homeless and hungry - believers would say because God had made an appointment for him!

We found him a home, bought him food and booked him into detox. He came out of detox and got saved – thank you Jesus! The first couple of weeks after detox were literally hell for Lee but he (with our support) prayed his way through and eventually God completely removed the desire for alcohol from his heart and mind. Lee hasn't had an alcoholic drink since February!

This week I am at Brunel Manor (once the home of the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel) in Torquay with Lee. One of our corps folk works for a charity who sends deserving people away on a retreat for free. The break was planned for earlier in the year and the gentleman in question was going to go away with Lee. However, Lee couldn't make it at the last minute so it was postponed. The man had already booked his holiday from work and couldn't change it at the last minute I went in his place.

It will be a good chance for us to relax but also to continue discipling Lee.

Tonight I stood next to Lee in a bible study he was so eager to attend! To think that only eight months ago he was a homeless alcoholic with no hope and now (thanks to God) he is a born again Christian who has a hunger for Christ which is contagious!

To hear him singing loudly songs that he doesn't know! To watch him listening to biblical concepts that must be alien to him and then to hear him say how 'relieved' he feels just to be here has quite honestly blown me away.

Please pray that this week will be a momentous week in Lee's pilgrimage (he has brought a lot of baggage to this retreat, by God's grace he'll be going home with a lot less!) Pray too that this will be a momentous week for me as well and please find the time to thank Jesus for his wonderful love and the amazing miracles he still does today - Hallelujah!

If that doesn't brighten your day then nothing wil!

Grace and peace, A

Another William Booth...

2009-09-30T12:42:00.009Z

The Daily Mail is not my favourite newspaper, it tends to be conservative, middle class, sensationalist and unreliable. It doesn't generally print news but merely comments on it. However, in a recent edition it ran the following story:

A vast study of youngsters' wellbeing in 30 industrialised nations ranked Britain among the worst for health, lifestyles and school standards relative to public spending levels. Under-age teenagers in Britain are more likely to get drunk than those in any other country, and the proportions of teenage mothers and single-parent families are amongst the highest in the survey. In "risky behaviour" - a combination of drinking, smoking and teenage pregnancy - Britain's performance is worse than all nations other than Turkey and Mexico. Educational achievement is low given the billions poured in by Labour, with more than one in 10 youngsters aged 15 to 19 not in school, training or work. This is the fourth highest rate in the 30 countries. Only Italy, Turkey and Mexico perform worse. . . The report, published by the economic think tank the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, compared data from 30 leading countries on children's welfare. . . Teen drunkenness, as measured by the number of youngsters aged 13 and 15 who have been drunk at least twice, tops the league table at 33 per cent.

By coincidence (I think not!) the letters page in the same edition contained correspondence from Derek Hanna, of Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim. It said:

One of the nation's greatest sons, William Booth, once said: "The chief danger of the 20th century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, politics without God, salvation without regeneration and heaven without hell."

According to Mr Hanna what hope does the UK have? That God will raise up another William Booth, or another John Wesley.

What set Wesley and Booth apart from other men and women?

Booth was once asked (close to the end of his remarkable life) what was the secret of his success, was that he had given everything to God when he was a young man? He replied (words to the effect of – I can't remember the exact quote) that there was nothing extraordinary in his giving everything to God, such consecration was not uncommon, what set hi apart from other men was that he never took anything back!

We need holiness, we need it now and we need it to be not complete but consistently complete.

"O thou God of every nation,
We now for thy blessing call;
Fit us for full consecration,
Let the fire from Heaven fall.
Bless our Army! Bless our Army!
With thy power baptize us all."
Grace and peace to all who love Jesus!

A

Courage

2009-09-06T12:10:00.005Z

What is real courage? Is it leaving all to go and live among the poorest of the poor? Is it being tortured for one's faith? Is it facing ravenous lions or gladiators or is it simply standing up and refusing to compromise when one is clearly in a minority?

Not according to William Booth.

The following quote is taken from an extensive article in The Officer Magazine (1895) the article was printed across several editions.

"Perhaps the highest form of courage of which the human soul is capable is that which goes up with boldness to the throne of grace, claims a full salvation at God's hands, and power to maintain and fight for it day by day. That dares to walk in the light of God, relying upon His arm for all the grace needed for a holy, conquering life.
We want the courage that will face the rebellious world of today, come out from it, renounce its riches and fashions and recreations and follies, which will despise them, and which will reject its friendships as being enmity with God. We want a courage that will recognise and resist and defy the devil. We want a courage that will trample on the daily desires of the flesh for ease and luxury.
We want a courage that will confess our Lord and glory in His salvation and proclaim deliverance from sin by Him before the whole world. We want a courage that will tell the truth, the whole truth, the plainest truth and most soul-cutting truth, on the platform, on the streets; that will warn men of the evil of sin and beseech them to flee from the wrath to come, no matter what sacrifices may be threatened or involved thereby."

According to Booth – "the highest form of courage of which the human soul is capable" is simply being holy.

To meet the conditions of holiness - to comprehensively renounce sin (and all things doubtful), to completely surrender all to God, to establish - and ten to maintain those links which will continuously fuel holiness and finally to embrace the consequences of such a commitment – according to Booth that takes guts – real guts.

No wonder there are so few holy men and women alive in 2009.

God grant us the grace to find such courage.

Amen.

Poole and humble beginnings...

2009-09-04T12:17:00.004Z

While on holiday in Bournemouth I visited Poole to research the 'Bartletts' and the 'Gibbs' these are my ancestors on my Gran's side. Sadly the earliest records at Poole SA only go back to the 1920's. There was a reference to the funeral of a Mrs Wynn Bartlett in 1985 who must have been a relative but nothing else.

There were, however some cuttings from early Army SA periodicals about the earliest days of the Corps – including in 1878 a visit from 'Mr Railton (William Booth's secretary)'. There was also the testimony of a local fisherman – my great-grandfather was a fisherman and was saved by 'The Mission' – it is quite possible I was reading his testimony!

Walking around the town it was strange to think that it was here that my Great grandparents got converted and joined the 'Army of the Lord'. It is encouraging to know (although in reality has no significance) that my ancestors on both sides were in it from the start. My maternal great grandparents linking up with the Army in Penge at the turn of the last century and my paternal ancestors converted fishermen in Poole probably in the 18870/80's.

The picture above is of the 'Custom House' where the early pioneers held their open-air meetings. Maybe it was here that my Great Grandfather knealt at the drum or was encouraged to attend 'The Temperance Hall' (this was the building used before the pioneers were able to secure their own hall.) My Great Grandparents lived in a (now demolished) slum area in 'Love Lane'. This (as the name suggests) was the red-light district. Maybe it wasn't an open-air meeting that first led my forbears to Christ - perhaps it was a 'slum and gutter brigade'.

I wonder where I would be now if those early pioneers had been less faithful than they were in preaching the gospel!

Father, make my heritage significant for your kingdom, help me to ensure that the passion and courage of those who led my ancestors to you not be in vain. Through your spirit make me an effective soul-winner like they were. Amen.

No more blogs until September...

2009-08-11T07:52:00.001Z

Tomorrow my daughter goes into hospital (just an overnight stay) then on Saturday we are off on furlough for 2 weeks. When we get home Bethany has to go into hospital again. So I won't be blogging at 'Beyond the brook' until early September.

I pray that wherever you are God will make you aware of his presence and use you mightily for the extension and defence of his kingdom.

Grace and peace, A

Obligated to defeat...

2009-08-06T07:43:00.002Z

Holiness requires the surrender of all that is doubtful in addition to all that is sinful. Anything less that absolute surrender leaves us 'liable to defeat'. If we are holding on to things which God wants us to surrender then not all the prayers, bible study and fellowship in the world can save us – we will be defeated!

Willis Howell sent me a great quote the other day from John Piper:

""The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of the triviality we drink in every night.... And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable."

How many recently launched Christian lives have sailed out of the harbour of conversion and immediately crashed on the rocks of compromise? Usually the rock that sank the boat was something small and insignificant like a cup of coffee or a football game. It is the doubtful things that usually bring us down rather than the sinful things.

There is nothing in the bible that suggests that owning property or being wealthy is a sin, indeed some people have built a whole theology around the opposite belief but if Jesus thought the best way to survive the snares of this world and the attack of the enemy was a simple life of poverty then maybe that's the way wise Christians still choose to walk.

Father, save me from the trappings and distractions of this world, save me from the doubtful things, help me to identify the 'apple pie' in my life and lay it on the altar of consecration.

Today's scripture:

1 Chronicles 22:1-23:32

"Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and the laws that the Lord gave to Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged." (22:13)

Psalm 91:9-16

¹⁴ "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honour him.

¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

1 Corinthians 2:6-2:16

¹²We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

Grace and peace, A

Do what you know to be right!

2009-08-04T11:15:00.002Z

Yesterday I was in conversation with the Lord and were discussing (as we often do) 'doubtful things'. Sanctification requires the surrender of all things sinful and doubtful. In other words if you can't justify a particular use of time or money then it has to go on the altar! The problem is that many doubtful things by their very nature are difficult to qualify. In addition where does one stop? If it is a 'doubtful' use of one's money to buy a daily newspaper what about having a TV? If it is a doubtful use of one's time to watch a football game what about participation in sport? The last thing I want to do is to become a prisoner to a cold form of ascetic holiness that has nothing whatsoever to do with God.

As we were talking the Lord said "why not focus on the things you know are wrong – start there!" This very obvious statement struck me like some esoteric revelation from on high.

How many of us struggle with God over whether we should or shouldn't take caffeine yet give into lust? How many of us avoid eating meat but indulge in gossip? The enemy loves to distract us with the minutiae of our faith in order that we never deal with the more obvious and pressing aspects of spiritual obedience.

In Isaiah 1:16-17 we read:

¹⁶ wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,

¹⁷ learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

It seems to me that the emphasis here is absolutely right – 'stop doing wrong' – this is something we can do right away, we know what things are wrong, there is no debate that needs to be had here! Then, 'learn to do right', the doubtful things will be revealed to us with absolute clarity as we, through grace, live in the love of God. In addition, our lives will become concerned with social justice, for there is no holiness without a concern for social justice.

Today's scripture readings:

1 Chronicles 16:37 – 18:17

Is there a link between verse 18:6 and 18:11? I think so.

"The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went." (v6) "King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold he had taken from all these nations." (v11)

Psalm 91:1-8

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5

"²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."" (1:27-31)

"²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." (2:2-5)

Grace and peace, A

Laurens, power and dry bones...

2009-08-03T07:36:00.002Z

Last Sunday I preached on 'power' this Sunday we were blessed by a flying visit from Major Alan Laurens. The Major also spoke on power. Is the Lord trying to say something to Dartford? Major Laurens also compared the Corps to Ezekiel's 'dry bones'. This is the second time this prophetic word has been given to the Corps. Ray, the Pentecostal minister, delivered the same word at a recent 'churches together' prayer meeting.

Lord, fulfil this word in our time, show us the conditions attached to these promises and send us power!

Amen!

Today's scripture readings:

1 Chronicles 15:1-16:36

"Worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness"! (16:29)

"Then all the people said "Amen"" (16:36)

Psalm 90:11-17

Romans 16:1-27

"Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen." (16:25-27)

Leaders and the led.

2009-08-01T07:32:00.002Z

When I attended my re-acceptance conference as a Salvation Army Officer one of the interviewers asked me the following question: "Andrew, we don't foresee any difficulty with your ability to lead but what about your ability to be led – are you willing to be led?" I responded by saying that I had no problem with being led by a 'leader' but I wasn't going to be misled by some namby-pamby, limp-wristed individual who didn't know where they wanted to go and to be truthful wasn't even very sure of where they were!

Leadership is a gift and a rare one at that. I could probably count on one hand the number of proper leaders I have served under – both in the Army and during my time when I worked in local government. Great leaders attract great followers, inspire apathetic followers, motivate lazy followers and scare off those who have no desire whatsoever to follow. 1 Chronicles talks about David's 'Mighty men', his warriors and the famous 'three'. It also mentions Benaiah who was considered more famous than the 'three'. 1 Chronicles paints David as a magnet who draws those to him who need to be led. Without David maybe the 'Mighty men' would have simply been 'men'?

We need leaders! Leaders that inspire, set an example to their troops, leaders who motivate, encourage, correct and develop those under their control. We have a few of these leaders in The Salvation Army but we need more? What about you? Is God calling you to be a leader of his people?

"We are yours Oh David!

We are with you Oh son of Jessee!

Success, success to you

And success to those who help you,

For your God will help you." (1 Chronicles 12:18)

Today's scripture:

1 Chronicles 11:1-12:22

Psalm 90:1-10

My 'atheist' son as a young Salvationist once went to the Mercy Seat where he gave God a day to prove his existence or he would stop believing in him.

I take heart from the following verse "For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has gone by..." (Psalm 90:4)

I know that – in his time – God will answer Ben's prayer – Hallelujah!

Romans 14:19-15:13

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (v13)

Yes Lord, answer this prayer now!

Grace and peace, A

Goals, gongs and scriptural paradoxes.

2009-07-31T10:45:00.003Z

Yesterday I was listening to a news report about the 2012 Olympics in London. The reporter was explaining how the athletes, as part of their training, set personal targets and log their performance on a daily basis. If they fail to meet a target one day then they try and compensate the next. These targets don't just relate to physical activity but include things like diet, meditation, rest and sleep. Every evening they analyse and record their physical, emotional and mental state and any weak areas identified are targeted with new aims and objectives. In addition they use this intense introspection to identify areas of compromise where potential distractions might be taking their focus away from that illusive gold medal.

The report brought to mind two passages of scripture:

1 Corinthians 9:25-27

"Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

And:

Hebrews 12:1-2

"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."

What do I want out of life? I want to be holy. I want to be a successful soul winner. I want to live in the love of God. I want to abide in Christ. I want my life to be nothing other than a perfect reflection of Christ. I want to be a champion of social justice. I want to be a prophetic voice to The Salvation Army. I want to be a mighty warrior... and so I could go on.

All of these objectives are far more worthy than that of becoming an Olympic champion. Yet how does my regime compare to that of an athlete? Is my diet, sleep pattern, training schedule etc as focussed as theirs?

If I ever met an Olympic athlete I would undoubtedly recognise them by their visible commitment to their goal. That commitment would affect their whole life, the time they went to bed and got up, the food they ate and the amount of leisure time they had – all of these things would be impacted by their Olympic dream.

What about my dream, what about the Kingdom of God? Isn't that worth as much as a Gold medal?

Today's Scripture Readings:

1 Chronicles 9:1-10:13

David's mighty men – imagine being listed in the bible as a 'mighty man'! I don't know who these men were or what they did – but here are their names, preserved for all time in the eternal word of God.

Lord, may I, through your grace, find my name so listed when I stand before you in your kingdom. Amen!

Proverbs 18:17-19:2

"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." (19:2)

This September I am starting an MA in theology – those who know me may well be surprised as I have always been something of an anti-academic! I'd much rather be surrounded by ignorant practitioners than knowledgeable theoreticians. However, people seem more likely to listen to you when you have a few letters after your name and so at the Army's behest I've agreed to undertake this study. This will be in addition to my role as a Corps Officer - if I'm honest, (and where can I be honest if not in my journal?) I'm quite looking forward to it J

Romans 14

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (v17)

"Everything that does not come from faith is sin" (v23)

To me these two verses present something of an internal contradiction. This is something I will have to continue to battle with. I will either have to find 'righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit' in some parts of my life or I will have to surrender them. There is no room in my life for doubtful things. I think the key is found at the end of verse 17 "in the Holy Spirit" – our standards of behaviour and chosen lifestyle have to be determined here – in the centre of God's love. Holiness is the outcome of my relationship with God as well as the basis for it.

Grace and peace

Gentle exchange

2009-07-29T07:54:00.002Z

I had a dream last night in which God asked me to surrender some recently acquired habits – to some people these things would be perfectly acceptable pastimes – but God could see that they had the potential to shift my focus and take my eyes of Jesus. Anyway, it's not these activities that I want to discuss but the manner in which the request was made. Jesus didn't demand but asked me to surrender in the most gentle and disarming way. There was no struggle here – he could have asked for anything and I would have given it. The exchange was one of absolute love. I have never had such a gentle nor as effective an interaction with Christ. Needless to say that, through his grace, I have gladly complied with his request. It is a truly wonderful thing to be loved by Christ!

Grace and peace, A

Today's bible readings:

1 Chronicles 4:9-5:26

Proverbs 18:6-16

My mouth has always been one of my greatest strengths and one of my worst weaknesses. I am an impulsive (and compulsive) speaker! A friend of mine once said to me 'Andre your mind is like diamonds in mud, we all hang around and listen because every now and again a diamond falls out but most of the time all we get is mud!'

I want to introduce some quality control into my talking!

Today's reading from Proverbs chapter 18 mentions the mouth three times:

⁷ A fool's mouth is his undoing,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.

⁸ The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to a man's inmost parts.

¹³ He who answers before listening—
that is his folly and his shame.

I have been guilty of all three of these things: speaking foolishly, gossiping and answering before listening (indeed even before the other person has finished speaking!)

"Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips." Psalm 141:3

Romans 11:5-11:32

Teach me how to love thee

2009-07-27T20:34:00.002Z

The more I study holiness the more I realise it is about love more than everything else!

It will undoubtedly involve self sacrifice and obedience but they must be responses to God's love.

We have to be 'in Christ' to be effective.

I struggle with this. I know how to pray for people and situations and my prayers are answered but I'm not sure I'm that good at just being 'still' and knowing that God is all that he says he is.

"Teach me how to love thee, teach me how to pray..."

Today's bible readings: I'm a busy person, definitely a Martha rather than a Mary! In recent months I have become painfully aware that the only thing that really matters in life is to regularly spend time in the 'presence and power' of God.

Lord, teach me how to handle silence and inactivity, teach me how to pray, 'teach me how to love thee... better day by day'

Larnelle Harris sums it up well when he says...

"I miss my time with you,
those moments together.
I need to be with you each day
and it hurts me when you say
you're too busy,
busy trying to serve me
but how can you serve me
when your spirit's empty?
There's a longing in my heart
wanting more than just a part of you.
It's true; I miss my time with you

What do I have to offer?
How can I truly care?
My efforts have no meaning
when your presence isn't there.
But you will provide the power
If I take time to pray..."

1 Chronicles 2:18-4:7

When Paul said to Timothy that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" he hadn't recently read the first few chapters of 1 Chronicles. My bible reading plan takes me through scripture once a year and I have to confess that the last two day's OT passages have left me cold!

Psalm 89:19-29

David's understanding of God was almost Christian in its familiarity and intimacy 'He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Saviour.'(v26)

Romans 10:1-11:10

"If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Verses 9-13)

Where would we be without Paul – if you could only have access to one book in the bible which would it be? For me it would be a difficult choice between Romans and 1 John!

Grace and peace, A

Families and fundamental things!

2009-07-26T06:57:00.002Z

Yesterday sounded a severe warning!

We had a great family day – went out shopping, had a lovely meal at a Garden centre, laid turf in the backyard, planted flowers and even rounded off the day playing Monopoly!

However, when I got up in the morning I got straight into the day without sitting down with the Lord, praying, reading his word and listening to him. I always intended to but just didn't get around to it! This will have given the enemy an opportunity to undermine my relationship with the 'life-giver', would have weakened me, made me less effective and (if I allow the practice to continue) set me up for a fall.

I am a 'morning person', I like to get up when the sun does and most days God wakes me long before the rest of the family have even thought about getting up. This gives me the opportunity and time to make my devotions the first thing I do in the morning! Thank you Lord for pointing this out, I pray that you will keep me ever alert to the gradual influence of the enemy and keep my eyes focussed on you.

Today's bible readings: 1 Chronicles 1:1-2:55,

Psalm 89:14-18

"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you." (v14)

Holiness and social justice are inextricably linked, to try and maintain one without the other is impossible!

Romans 9:22-10:4

"What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (9:30-33)

Holiness is not about what I do or sacrifice it is about love, it is about my relationship with God. Of course holiness will include self-denial but such acts of sacrifice must always be a response to God's love and not done out of a sense of cold duty! If I give up coffee because God asks me to and I want to please him – Hallelujah! If I give up coffee because I think that such a sacrifice will in some way or other save me from the enemy – ouch!

There is a magic formula for victory and it is called grace – it comes through prayer, bible study, and fellowship with other Christians – it comes through abiding in Christ. There is no other way to enjoy a 'career of uninterrupted victory over sin' than to 'maintain contact with the life giver' – Amen!

Grace and peace, A

You are always there...

2009-07-24T21:00:00.004Z

Some days God the Holy Spirit seems to compensate for my emotional and spiritual tiredness. Some days I seem to float through the day unaware of the pitfalls and perils all around me. It's almost like being on spiritual anti-depressants – as if God in his mercy – seeing my plight has decided to numb me to the presence and influence of the enemy. Today has been such a day. I've managed to get a lot done, caught up with administration, answered emails, made phone calls – generally caught up with everything. The devil has been barking at me from a distance but God seems to have encased me in a bubble which the enemy can't penetrate. Today I remembered to put my spiritual armour on – I try and do this every day but sometimes I forget. Maybe it was that act of spiritual self defence that protected me. On reflection it almost certainly was; thank you Jesus for the provision of such wonderful and practical resources.

Today's bible readings: Hosea 10:1 to 11:11

Can't help but think of The Salvation Army and its current state of rebellion when I read the following verses from Hosea 11:

¹ "When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.

² But the more I called Israel,
the further they went from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.

³ It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.

⁴ I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love;
I lifted the yoke from their neck
and bent down to feed them.

Psalm 89:1-13,

⁶ For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD ?
Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?

⁷ In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.

⁸ O LORD God Almighty, who is like you?
You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

Romans 8:8:39

Do you not agree with me that Romans chapter 8 stands at the heart of the bible like some great industrial generator – masses of metaphorical steel and concrete, huffing and puffing with power beyond comprehension, ceaselessly driving the whole gospel forward!

The spirit of God actually prays for us – using our feeble words and groans!

"26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."

Everything that happens to me God can take and use to our mutual benefit!

"28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

In Jesus Christ I am irrepressible!

"37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Thank you Jesus – Hallelujah and Amen!

Grace and peace, A

All the memories of deeds gone by...

2009-07-23T19:12:00.004Z

Today has been a day when 'all the memories of deeds gone by, rise within me and thy power defy.' It is very difficult to live with a converted addict – whether their poison is alcohol, slot machines, drugs or sex. Sin that has been forgiven still has power and the enemy will do everything it can to use memories of the past to inflict misery and pain in the present.

With me this happens in two ways:

First of all I find myself re-running mental recordings of all the wicked things I've done in my life (this usually happens when I'm lying in bed or standing in the street selling the War Cry!) The enemy urges me to focus on the stupidity of my actions and on the pain they caused others.

Secondly, he uses innocent events to resurrect feelings of mistrust in those I love. For example, I may be late home one night and unable to contact Tracey (or maybe just not think to call) and then the enemy puts all kinds of ideas into her mind "where is he?" – "what is he up to?"

The first method of attack I can (through the grace of God) deal with by following the advice of Paul and "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Spiritual warfare also quickly sends the enemy scurrying!

The second method of attack is more difficult to counter and requires a great deal of discernment and wisdom – the truth is that even now I can fully understand why trust is so difficult – because I am, like all sinners, always only one decision away from disaster.

Praise God – time heals!

Praise God – 'love covers a multitude of sins!'

Praise God – 'we are more than conquerors through him who loved us'

"He breaks the power of canceled sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood avails for me."

Today's bible readings: Hosea 8:1 to 9:17, Proverbs 17:25-18:5, Romans 8:1-17

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (v1&2)

"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." (v9-11)

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (v15-17)

Grace and peace, A

All change...

2009-07-22T13:37:00.008Z

I've been keeping a journal since April this year. The journal is an honest, no-holds barred record of my personal spiritual pilgrimage. It is (as one would expect) a record of ups and downs, highs and lows and victories and defeats. This morning I read through the journal from the beginning and although I can see steady progress the narrative actually betrays far too much inconsistency in my relationship with God.

I've been blogging since February 2006 and my posts also reflect something of a vacillating approach to Christianity. Both my journal and my blog expose a man who at times has been "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine".

If I were asked to list just three Christian essentials in 2009 I would without hesitation say (in no particular order) lifestyle, accountability and holiness.

By holiness I mean a life that is born out of and sustained by an uncompromising and all consuming love for God. By lifestyle I mean the evidence of that love clearly visible in the way I live and the choices I make. By accountability I mean a fulfilment of John's command 'to walk in the light as he is in the light' – to literally turn the torch of judgment upon ourselves and to do so in the most public arena possible.

I want to bring my blog and my journal together in a way that will increase my accountability and thereby fuel my love for God and constrain my lifestyle. So starting today I am going to start posting my journal entries in my blog – in effect I am going to turn my blog into an online journal. Obviously this is a risky undertaking but one that I feel compelled to do.

God knows all about me so there is no real point in hiding anything back.

My Journal has always included the scripture passages I have read that day, any insights or revelations received, confession and prayer.

So here we go: Wednesday, 22 July 2009

Bible Readings for today:

Hosea 6:1-7:16, Psalm 88:10-18 and Romans 7:7-25

¹ "Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.

² After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.

³ Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."

It is definitely time to return to the Lord! God has certainly used me in the past and still does today but when I compare what might have been with what has been then the analogy of being 'torn apart' is not far from the truth. The same goes for The Salvation Army – even without our full cooperation he will take and use what he can – God is at war and that means he will always make the best use of whatever is to hand. However, there is no real glory in my warfare or that of the western Salvation Army... but if we 'press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.'

We've just endured a 36 hour power cut! No TV, no internet, no PC's, no hot water, no showers etc. It set my mind thinking of that old SA phrase 'maintaining contact with the life giver' – we lost our power because kids vandalised the power supply causing a fire which substantially damaged the power infrastructure for Dartford. How many times have I(through a careless sin or thoughtless act) vandalised the lines which connect me to God?

I must maintain the supply!

That means being obedient to God at all times, spending quality time with him and his word. Without a direct supply of divine power my ministry will be non-existent and my holiness seriously flawed.

Father forgive me for wilful spiritual vandalism, usually carried out when I am bored or distracted – help me to 'maintain contact with the life giver' at all times.

Amen

Grace and peace,

‘Sin in the camp’ from the top!

2009-07-17T08:07:00.002Z

The recent Salvation Army has produced a written statement endorsed by all international leaders. The full text will be published in SA periodicals but in the meantime you can find the full text here at Jin Knagg's blog.

Below is a quote from the statement:

"... a vision of the worldwide Salvation Army kneeling in repentance, prayer and rededication at the Mercy Seat. We have spoken together of all that this might mean for the Army, seeking new grace, new spiritual power, new divine prompting, and asking for and receiving afresh God's mercy....

... Also we affirm our conviction that, to be truly useful to God, the Army needs to be pure and free from sin, and that senior leaders must, by grace, be effective role models in this. We feel the urging of the Holy Spirit to examine our own hearts afresh to see if there be any wicked way within us. We want to yield again to the demands of divine love, to return to first things, to cast aside distractions unpleasing to God, and to be in a relation of entire obedience to the Father. We acknowledge our constant need of grace.

We renew our sacred vows and covenants as both soldiers and officers of the Army, thanking God from our hearts for the privilege of the calling he has placed upon us. We declare again our availability and our readiness, as senior officers, to go anywhere to do anything at any time under God and within the structures of the Army, seeking only the advancement of his Kingdom. We acknowledge our humanity and weakness, seeking the unique strength that God provides when we are weak and he is strong. We confess our limitedness, knowing that God is all sufficient. We abandon explicitly any desire that has sprung up in our hearts to place self first. We ask for the prayers of our fellow Salvationists to help us in this renewal of our covenants as soldiers and as officers, and in so doing we recognise our vulnerability and our personal need of divine help. In sharing this Spiritual Statement with Salvationists everywhere, it is our hope and prayer that it will be received with humble and understanding hearts, and that by the abundant grace of God it will be used to inspire and prompt others to seek with us repentance, with renewed purity and holiness in Christ."

In his first interview as General Shaw Clifton said in response to the following question:

Do you have a sense of where that breaking and moulding needs to happen? What strategies do you want to use?"

"It is too early to be specific, but this High Council has mandated the next General to find appropriate, loving ways of asking The Salvation Army some fairly awkward, difficult questions. We are all exercised by the Army's inability to grow numerically in certain parts of the world. We rejoice that in many places the Army is rapidly expanding. Globally we are bigger than ever before and getting bigger. This High Council has mandated me to ask: If God is withholding numerical growth from parts of the Army, why is that blessing withheld? Rather than discussing strategy, method, ceremony or even identity, I have a deep sense in my heart that God wants us to follow the example of the Old Testament prophets when they sensed God's blessing was withheld. The prophets went to God's people asking: Is there sin in the camp? Now that is a very difficult and pointed question. One has to be very tender and sensitive before even raising it but perhaps God is saying, ever so gently and ever so lovingly: I love you, Salvation Army, but would you please look within and see if there is sin in the camp, and if there is anything that causes the blessing to be withheld we must deal with it. Some issues will be personal to individual Salvationists, others will be corporate. I would like to find a way as General of being a catalyst and put that biblical question to Salvationists. We may find that as we draw nearer to him, closer to him in purity and righteousness, the blessings begin to flow where at present they sometimes appear to be withheld."

I'd never noticed before (until I read the text again this morning) that General Clifton said "this High Council has mandated the next General..." The call to repentance came from our leaders, it was a corporate call from the very top of our organisation.

On Wednesday night at a united churches prayer meeting in Dartford - knowing nothing of this leaders' statement - I urged the church ministers gathered in our hall to repent both personally and on behalf of the denominations they represented. I then went on to offer a prayer of repentance on behalf of TSA.

There is 'sin in the camp' and until we remove 'the consecrated things we have hidden among our own possessions' we will be 'obligated to defeat' - hold a million seminars, enquiries and conferences and nothing will change. If we repent then the Promised Land lies ahead of us!!!

Thank you to our leaders for their discernment, honesty and humility.

May we have ears to hear, minds that understand and hearts that will follow!

Grace and peace, A

Premature death, hawks and the wisdom of God

2009-07-15T05:48:00.003Z

27 years ago when my younger brother (who was just 21 at the time) died of cancer I found myself turning to Job for some kind of explanation. David was fit and healthy and once diagnosed was only ill for six weeks.

Recently we have said goodbye to several Officers in the UK who were all promoted to glory considerably earlier than expected – the most recent two being Jo Norton and Christine Budding (who went to heaven yesterday evening). Like my Brother Christine's demise was sudden and unexpected – 11 weeks ago she didn't even know that she was poorly! Jo leaves a husband and a young family, Christine leaves behind her a brother, her close friends, especially the Dare family who looked after her at home up until the day before her promotion to Glory, the Corps she led so well at Carshalton and the Horsham Corps who were so excited that she was due to take command in a few weeks time.

Yesterday a hawk caught a starling in my garden! I couldn't believe it – I know that the Thames isn't that far away and the heath is just up the road but this is urban Dartford and I didn't expect to see a Hawk with its prey in my garden! The Hawk patiently perched on top of the starling with its talons wrapped around the condemned bird's body. It sat like that for ten minutes patiently waiting for its quarry to stop wriggling. Then once dinner was dead it began to rip the carcass apart. Not the most pleasant sight yet strangely awe-inspiring as I watched the strength and majesty of this perfectly designed killing machine. A later inspection of the garden confirmed that everything had been eaten apart from a few feathers and the starling's beak!

In Job 39:26-27 we read "Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings toward the south? Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high?"

Will we ever understand the inexplicable sorrow of premature death – or indeed any kind of apparently unjust suffering? No, I don't suppose we will but what we can say – not with the resigned sorrow of Job - but with a confidence born of Christ and his resurrection "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him" for "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;"

Christine is with God of that there can be no doubt, the Hawk will probably not hunt for a day or two and as life rolls on so death will inevitably put in the occasional untimely appearance – let us make sure that we who are left do our absolute most to squeeze every possible opportunity out of our lives and never take our friends, family and ministry for granted.

May God bless and comfort the bereaved and may God keep us faithful unto death!

Grace and peace, A

The Great Commission(ing)

2009-07-07T19:37:00.003Z

At last, Tracey is a fully commissioned and ordained (never quit understood that bit?) Officer in The Salvation Army.

Can there be a higher calling than this - to be a covenanted leader of men and women in a holy war against sin and injustice?

I know that Tracey will (by God's grace) continue to be a fruitful evangelist and pastor and much needed brake to my own somewhat reckless and impulsive approach to leadership.

If I could have custom designed a wife, mother, mission partner and soul-mate to share my life with I could not have improved on the one that God has provided.

20 years ago this November we went out for the first time (to see Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in 'Ghost') when I got back to my little one-bedroom flat I knelt down at the side of my bed and asked God if Tracey could be my wife. A week later she was going to say she didn't want to see me again but before she had the chance to tell me I handed her a poem I'd written – on the strength of the poem she decided to give the relationship a bit more time – six weeks later I proposed and she said yes!

Sure, we've had our tough times (usually due to my stupidity) but 20 years on we are more in love and enamoured with each other than we've ever been.

If there are any youngsters out there reading this who want to know the secret of happiness then find the right person and marry them, stick with them whatever happens (richer, poorer, sickness, health etc)

Then ask yourself if God is calling you to be a Salvation Army Officer (he almost certainly is if you listen hard enough) and then immediately 'leave everything and follow him'. Again – stick it out – there is nothing glamorous or pleasant about war and Officership will certainly be extremely tough and demanding (if you do it right!)

What's the secret of happiness? Get married (to the right person) then answer the call to full time covenanted leadership in The Salvation Army.

It worked for me – I think I am one of the happiest and most fulfilled men alive :-)

Grace and peace, A

Commissioning beckons...

2009-07-03T10:11:00.004Z

After serving for 9 years in fruitful full time Corps leadership and training for 4 years as a distance learner the 'eternal cadet' is commissioned tomorrow.

My beautiful wife and equal partner in mission, Tracey, will become a Lieutenant in The Salvation Army. You can imagine the atmosphere at home and at the Corps is at fever pitch. The banners have been made, the whistles polished and tomorrow we celebrate. How it must hurt the Devil when new Officers step out onto the battlefield and in the name of Christ attempt to win the world for Jesus!

Our DC describes Tracey as the most experienced newly commissioned Officer in history! Is that true? What does it matter? Experience, intelligence, gifting, competence – all these things are helpful but without that burning divine passion for souls it counts for nothing. Just as 'love covers a multitude of sins' so it also covers a multitude of apparent failings. The SA's most successful Officers were largely uneducated, illiterate and common (one of the most frequent criticisms of the early SA was its inability to aspirate the letter H).

What use is a diploma or a degree if you don't know how to snatch one of Satan's prisoners from under his nose?

Join me in praying for 'The Witnesses for Christ' (especially tomorrow in London and around the world) as God the Holy Spirit unleashes them on the world, the flesh and the devil.

Forgive for corrupting Shakespeare but I can't resist the following butchered quote from Henry V:

"Cry God for Tracey, England and St. George and let slip the dogs of war!"

Wherever you are sing the following song with me, mean it like your life depends on it (actually it does) and feel the kingdom of Satan tremble in the certain expectation of defeat!

Hallelujah!

"Dear Lord, I do surrender Myself, my all, to thee;
Myself, my all, to thee;
My time, my store, my talents,
So long withheld by me.
I've heard the call for workers.
The world's great need I see
O send me to the rescue,
I'm here, my Lord, send me!

Here am I, my Lord, send me,
Here am I, my Lord, send me,
I surrender all to obey thy call,
Here am I, my Lord, send me.

Too long at ease in Zion
I've been content to dwell,
While multitudes are dying
And sinking into Hell.
I can no more be careless,
And say there's naught to do,
The fields are white to harvest
And labourers are few.

O hear, thou God of Heaven,
The vows that now I make!
To thee my life is given,
'Tis for the lost world's sake.
To serve thee I am ready,
Though friends and foes despise,
I now present my body
A living sacrifice.

Grace and peace, A

Free Taster 3...

2009-06-30T09:35:00.002Z

"Although revivals ultimately end in the conversion of people opposed to Christianity, they always begin inside the Church. When William Booth boldly declared 'send the fire' in his stirring hymn, he cried to God 'Look down and see this waiting host, give us the promised Holy Ghost, we need another Pentecost!' As we seek another Pentecost we might be encouraged to recall that the first one happened in a meeting attended by a group of fearful, sinful, doubting men and women prone to denial, failure and fear. The weaknesses swept aside by Pentecost were personal to each individual disciple. Pentecost didn't demolish the temple, or wipe out the Pharisees or edit the law – it dealt with the individual. Revival will always be the revival of the individual – the more individuals that are revived, the fiercer the flames of revival will burn.

It is no wonder then, that in spite of their many inquiries, the collective denominations that make up the Christian church have been unable to write a strategy for recovery, for the problem lies not in the fabric or the methodology of the church but in the heart of individual believers. Indeed, God can only revive congregations one soul at a time and he does that through holiness.

When Christ speaks about the Church, he uses the metaphor of a body. It is the nature of cells, whether they be healthy or cancerous, to reproduce. Decline will either continue or be reversed according to the health of individual cells. There is nothing wrong with the head or the heart of the church, it is the unhealthy cells that make up the body, through which the head and heart try to operate, that bring about failure."

Grace and peace, A

Free taster 2...

2009-06-29T05:55:00.002Z

"When contemporary Christians consider the role of the Holy Spirit the emphasis is often based on what he can do for us rather than on what he can do through us. Too often the Holy Spirit is seen as nothing more than a "blessing factory", as a result the connection between the ministry of the Holy Spirit and personal purity is often missed. Of course the Holy Spirit is about blessing - of that there is no doubt - but his main function is to educate and to empower. The gifts we receive from the Spirit are functional not self indulgent, they are given for "the strengthening of the church" (1 Corinthians 14:26)

Whilst the most intense, personal and passionate moments of the Christian life may well be spent relaxing in the embrace of the "comforter", the purpose of such intimacy goes well beyond our own happiness. Love remains the most powerful motive that God has at his disposal and it is not given to us so that we might indulge ourselves in isolation from the lost. Christ's love is always given to us to inspire obedience, in fact if we fail to obey – or at least fail to sense within ourselves the desire to obey – then according to Jesus it never was his love we experienced in the first place."

Grace and peace, A

A free taster...

2009-06-26T10:01:00.003Z

I'm working on a book on holiness which I'm determined to finish before the end of the year.

For those who are interested here's a free taster from chapter 1:

"The writer to the Hebrews encourages the early Christians to 'make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be Holy...' for 'without holiness no one will see the Lord' (Hebrews 12:14) When individual Christians in a congregation experience holiness collectively, then Christ becomes visible in everything they do. In a 'holy' church, society will see Christ fighting against social injustice, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, setting the enslaved free and performing all kinds of miracles. In a church like this, Christ will be seen at the local council meeting opposing harmful developments and defending the cause of the vulnerable. He will be seen standing up against politicians and projects that seek to take advantage of the weak. In a church like this, Christ will be seen freely associating with sinners and outcasts, living with and loving those on the very edge of society. In a church like this, Christ will be seen, whip in hand, cleansing the temple and re-establishing the fundamental principles of righteousness.

Holiness can do all of this because it fills the individual believer with a perfect love for God and their neighbour and gives them that all important ability to 'stop doing wrong' and obey. Indeed; unless such deliverance takes place in our hearts, we will remain ineffective and unfruitful because our refusal to consecrate ourselves leaves us 'liable to destruction'.

Understanding the function of holiness brings us to the heart of our problem and its solution. Within the contemporary church, certainly in the developed world, there is a distinct lack of expectancy. Although we read about God's power operating in the past, we don't expect that same power to be evident in our churches today. When the unconverted cross our thresholds - especially if the baggage they bring with them is bulky - we don't expect to see instant transformation. Our first thought when an addict knocks on our door is to try and meet their material needs; food, clothing, a sleeping bag or maybe even a train ticket to another town or city – the last thing we offer (if it is offered at all) is Salvation.

Back in September 2007 'The Salvationist' in the UK carried the testimony of a man who said "I could have been in The Salvation Army 10 years ago , but each time I came they gave me food when what I really needed was Christ!"

Why is there this reluctance to offer the bound freedom, the blind, sight, the hungry satisfaction and the sinner forgiveness? Is it because we don't kreally now the power of full salvation for ourselves? Are we all too often bound, blind, unfulfilled and enslaved by habitual sin ourselves? If God hasn't done it for us how can we possibly expect him to do it for other people? The reality is that we can only share the truth if we have personally experienced the comprehensive liberty it promises. Ruth Tracy puts it succinctly when she says:

Only as I truly know thee
Can I make thee truly known;
Only bring the power to others
Which in my own life is shown. (SASB 435)

It is not our theoretical knowledge of holiness or our familiarity with miracles worked in the lives of others or our appreciation of church history that empowers us – we can only ever overcome through the 'blood of the lamb' and the power of our own personal 'testimony'.(Revelation 12:11)"

Grace and peace, A

The war of holiness

2009-06-22T23:04:00.005Z

Why is it that the most obvious things always seem to take the longest to sink in?

The war of holiness is not won or lost on the battlefield of temptation, indeed defeat or victory is determined long before we reach the moment of demonic persuasion!

Sincere and well meaning Christians do not want to sin even though they do on a daily basis. The deliberate act of disobedience isn't in the sin itself but in the refusal to obey the unequivocal call to consecration that rings in the heart of every true believer. God demands certain things from us – what he demands of you may be different to what he demands of me but don't be deceived he makes demands! Usually these demands are small – almost trifling – 'spend less time playing silly games on Facebook', 'watch less TV', 'cancel your subscription to cable TV', 'don't watch sport on a Sunday' – whatever his demands may be we will know for however we try and distract ourselves these demands will track us and hunt us down and corner us and will not let us go until we either refuse them or yield.

It is here in our own personal Gethsemane that holiness will happen or stall, it is here that our future effectiveness and fruitfulness will be decided. If we are foolish enough to try and hide these 'devoted things' among our 'own possessions' then whatever we do, however hard we try, no matter how intense our prayer or sacrificial our fasting we will fail for we will have been 'made liable to destruction'.

The following quote from John Piper was sent to me by Willis Howell:

"The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of the triviality we drink in every night.... And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable."

Or as God himself puts it in Joshua 7 Salvationists have...

"sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why they cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction."Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it."

God demands all; if we try and give him less than he demands then we will give him nothing.

If we can hear God's clear call to consecration then we must stop what we are doing, drop everything and pay attention for until we respond positively we will endure a life of constant defeat, unvarying vacillation, careless compromise and ineffective spiritual lethargy. The nagging and persistent call that constantly harries us at every turn is not our imagination but it is the voice of God. Let us have the knowledge that recognises who is speaking to us, the wisdom to understand his demands and the courage to surrender! If we settle this question we settle them all!

"Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.' "So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." And the LORD said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle."

Father let the Salvation Army be filled with Samuels!

Grace and peace, A

All or nothing!

2009-06-20T06:57:00.006Z

I am now more convinced than ever that holiness must encompass all. There is within The (western) Salvation Army a compromised holiness that might appear slightly better than rampant worldliness but is actually an impertinent insult to God and his purity.

It might seem that going to band practice, not cursing, being a good employee, saying please and thank you, not falling out with other soldiers, attending bible study and tithing makes us better than the 'miserable sinners' around us but when we place such a belief in its true global context it looks as paltry as it actually is! Still, at least this kind of holiness allows me to 'set apart' money for the cable company each week so that I can watch sport on a Sunday.

According to a UN agency report published on Tuesday almost 1 billion people in the world are going hungry each day after the rising food costs have pushed 40 million more people into chronic hunger this year – every tear from a hungry child falls on the heart of God like acid on an open wound.

The western governments' goal of halving the number of hungry people by 2015 has suffered a "serious setback" as the current financial crisis has pushed more people, particularly in the developing world, toward hunger.

"For many countries, the world goal of reducing hunger by half is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve," Food and Agriculture Organisation Director-General Jacques Diouf said, referring to one of the Millennium Development Goals set in 2000. "This sad reality should not be acceptable at the dawn of the 21st century," he said, unveiling the Rome-based agency's annual report on world food insecurity. He added: "Even the objective of cutting by half the number of hungry by 2015 is morally unacceptable."

Is Jacques Diouf a Christian? I don't know – he's certainly not a Salvationist yet even he can see that even the objective of halving the number of hungry people in our world is 'morally unacceptable'.

Holiness, proper 'social holiness' (the only kind there is according to Wesley) puts everything (that's EVERYTHING) it has at God's disposal and says, Lord, take this and use it to feed the hungry, heal the sick, free the captives and preach the good news about Jesus.

Anything else – even if it looks good – is a lie and is gently lulling us into an uncertain eternity!

Grace and peace, A

Holiness – putting pen to paper...

2009-06-16T20:18:00.003Z

I'm currently working on two projects.

The first is contemporising the text of George Scott Railton's 'Heathen England' (An eye witness account of the birth of TSA first published in 1877). I'm hoping that the amended text might be suitable for publication. It is amazing just how much of what GSR reports is relevant to today - people say that the world has changed but in truth it hasn't. A walk down Dartford High Street on Market day presents to the eye a scene that would have been recognised by GSR. Perhaps the Gin Palaces have been replaced with 'greasy spoon' cafes and amusement arcades but the place is essentially as it was 100 years ago (right down to the modern equivalent of the Pawn Shop!)

The second is a book on holiness. To say that the latter is a work in progress is an understatement. I first began to write it 15 years ago when I got saved. Since then I have chopped, changed and cut and pasted the text over and over again. Part of the delay has been caused by an uncertainty within about what holiness actually is. I've always been familiar with what Wesley, Palmer, Finney, Booth and Brengle believed it to be but it is only recently that I have fully accepted that what they taught is as true and as relevant today as it ever was.

However, we dress it up holiness is about conviction, renunciation, consecration, faith and obedience!

Today as I was about to wade into chapter 5 of 'Heathen England' I felt the spirit of God stop me in my tracks with the command that I should put Railton to one side and complete my 'work in progress'.

What we need is clear and concise teaching on holiness for (and I passionately believe this) it is a rediscovery of personal holiness that is key to revival.

So if you have any great quotes on holiness please email them to me at ajbale61@googlemail.com

Grace and peace, A

A blast from the past - you must check this out!

2009-06-13T20:48:00.006Z

If you love old Army music (vocal and brass) then you will love this great site I've found set up by an Australian Salvationist called Ian Barton.

Here you can download mp3 files of almost every Salvation Army Regal Zonophone recording ever made. Including excerpts from the unveiling ceremony of the William Booth memorial in Westminster Abbey complete with a very challenging sermon by then General Coutts (1965).

There is everything here both vocal and brass, very old vocal solos, original recordings of William Booth, General Higgins (possibly meetings to celebrate the centenary of Booth's birth).

I counted (using a spreadsheet!) 1,309 tracks in total! I'm not sure how long it would take you to download them all!

This is a treasure trove for anyone looking for the origins of souls saving music – enjoy!

Grace and peace, A

Mrs Booth on the Army's success...

2009-06-10T13:38:00.005Z

Following on from my recent posts on holiness.

I recently came across this quote from Mrs Booth:

“God has blessed The Salvation Army because it has been wholehearted in its
devotion to Him and His service. If every one of you will be true to the
principles of The Salvation Army, and everywhere put the interests of God's
kingdom first, He will help you and strengthen you and uphold you and provide
for you and will use you for the propagation of His kingdom in the world... the
secret of success is in all being true to God.” (She was speaking on July 3rd
1882 at a series of meetings held to celebrate the 17th anniversary of The
Salvation Army).

It should be noted that in the period 1881-1883 The Salvation Army had quadrupled in size going from 172 Corps and 363 Officers in the UK to 528 Corps and 1,340 Officers in the UK and 106 Corps and 201 Officers abroad!

I have struggled to identify the difference between then and now and have (after careful consideration) dismissed all of the contemporary views such as: the world was a different place then, people were generally more religious, they weren't real converts but transfers from other churches etc. Upon careful examination none of these explanations stack up.

In addition some of the conversions were extraordinary such as that of Charles Jeffries who was the second in command of the 'Unconverted Salvation Army' one of the many skeleton armies which sprang up to oppose the early Salvationists. They operated in Bethnal Green with uniforms and flags under their motto 'Be just and fear not!' they carried out organised mock open-airs wherever the local Corps went. Jeffries got converted and went on to be a Commissioner in The Salvation Army.

I have come to the conclusion that the only real difference between then and now is the commitment of Officers and Soldiers. In 1881 holiness was an uncompromising devotion of everything whereas today, if it exists at all, it is a slow and gradual progression through various tiers of nominal Christianity that never expects to reach its goal, which is (apparently) likeness to Christ.

Take the example quoted above, the conversion of Charles Jeffries. Several young recruits of the Whitechapel Corps were so concerned about the spiritual state of Jeffries that after the Saturday watchnight service they stayed on and prayed for his conversion until the dawn. Then they prayed for him again at the Sunday evening service when Jeffries got saved.

Watchnight services came out of the Methodist tradition usually began at 8:30 and went on until midnight. The service consisted of a short suitable sermon, and the rest of the time was taken up with alternate singing and prayer. No doubt on both of these days there would have already been several open-air services and at least two other indoor meetings. Of course they weren't all attended by the same people. However the fact that the crew was willing to change watch meant that the lifeboat continued to patrol the waters without ever needing to stop!

I have been castigated by Officers in the UK who refuse to accept the statement that our devotion to duty and commitment lacks the passion and zeal of our forbears but that is a fact – even if it is unpalatable.

Our predilection for worldly entertainment and our lukewarm attempts at holiness set us poles apart from those early pioneers. We need to go back to our roots, switch of our TVs, turn our back on the movies, put down our books and newspapers and devote all we have to God.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)

“LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known...” (Habkkuk 3:2)

"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you." (Joshua 3:5)

Come on let's do it!

Grace and peace, A

Jack and others...

2009-06-09T18:54:00.003Z

Someone called 'Jack' in comments on my previous blog raises concerns about holiness. It is imperative holiness is properly understood so I've decided to make 'Jacks' comments and my responses a new post.

Jack says:

"The main problem I see with the concept of holiness is that the definition of what is 'sin' will differ from person to person... What you believe to be sin and what the person next to you believes is a sin may be quite different, yet you may both consider yourself to be holy. If it is only your own opinion or what you believe has been revealed to you, does it really have any credibility...?"

The bible and the Spirit working in conjunction identify sin. When they identify sin it must be given up. Holiness will look different on other people because of the degree of revelation but if there is doubt then the grey areas have to be given up as well.

We mustn't forget consecration – holiness is all about consecration and the grace which makes it possible. We need to focus on what we surrender to God rather than on the things we give up - if everything I have is given to God then it will be impossible for me to sin (unless I take something back) to sin requires resources (time, money etc) if all of this belongs to God how am I going to sin?

Jack says:

"So do I understand you correctly... in accordance with your holiness manifesto, drinking anything other than water is for you a sin?"

No not at all. Sometimes it will be impossible to only drink water on other occasions – times of legitimate celebration - it might be OK for the water to be turned into wine (metaphorically speaking!) For me the decision to only drink water has more to do with social justice than holiness (although the two are inextricably linked) the promise to drink only water is a reminder that some go thirsty and a reminder to do something about it.

Jack says:

"So you have set your own definitions for sin and holiness, which will no doubt differ from the definitions of others. You mention the bible as helping to identify sin - who decides what keeping the Sabbath holy means? This is why I still cannot see 'holiness' as being anything other than each individual's perception of themselves - you may think you are holy by your definitions, I may disagree with you. So if you think you are 'holy' but others don't, then what's the point?"

A condition of holiness (indeed a condition of salvation) is obedience. If God directs us via conscience, scripture or experience to surrender something which others see as legitimate the issue of obedience is with me not them. If God (to use your illustration of the Sabbath) tells me not to watch football on a Sunday then the command is for me. If others choose to do what God has asked me not to do that doesn't make them sinful nor does it nullify my obedience.

St Francis of Assisi had no possessions, no home and no money. He wore one simple robe and lived on charity. However, if others didn't have the freedom to work and earn money they could not have supplied the 'alms' that Francis depended upon. George Scott Railton was often referred to as a Salvationist Francis of Assisi; however without the wealth of people like Edward Rabbits and Henry Reed the Salvation Army would never have been born. Holiness is about being obedient to what God is telling me and not about worrying about what he is saying to other people. Holiness isn't about comparing me to others it is about allowing the Spirit to create for me my own unique pattern of faith and practice and then living according to it.

My holiness manifesto is what I believe God is demanding of me, if it challenges others to follow suit that's great (as long as the inspiration to follow comes from God). If it doesn't that's fine too.

I can't tell other people what to give up or what to consecrate but what I can do (and will do) is encourage others to give up everything that is sinful and doubtful and consecrate their all to God. What I can and will do is point them to the command to "love the Lord God with all your heart, mind, soul and body." It is then up to them to work out the detail 'with fear and trembling'.

What must one give up? Everything that is sinful and doubtful.

What must one consecrate? Everything they have.

Time, health and talents presenting,
All that I have shall be thine;
Heart mind and will consecrating,
No longer shall they be mine.

Take thou my life, Lord,
In deep submission I pray,
My all to thee dedicating,
Accept my offering today.
Take thou my life, Lord, I pray;
My all to thee dedicating,
Accept my offering today."

Brindley Boon)

Grace and peace, A

Without holiness...?

2009-06-08T19:48:00.001Z

We must start to preach holiness! Pure, unadulterated, raw holiness.

Holiness happens when in response to divine conviction we voluntarily agree to renounce everything in our life that is sinful and doubtful and consecrate everything that is left to God. There can't be a Salvationist alive who doesn't understand what it means to renounce sin, but what does the word 'doubtful' mean? It means exactly what it says – if I'm not fully convinced it is a justifiable use of my time, money or resources then it is doubtful and it has to go!

Of course such a commitment will look different with different people because we can only respond to God in the light of current revelation. However, ongoing holiness fuelled by greater revelation must inevitably lead to a more fasted lifestyle and simple existence.

Holiness is tossed around these days as if it were nothing more than a theological discussion topic. Holiness cannot be treated in such a light-hearted way because without holiness a Christian cannot function – at least not for very long.

Following conversion there may be something of a honeymoon period when the enemy has had his nose so bloodied that for a short while he is groggy and unable to focus. However this is a temporary condition and must be followed by holiness if victory over sin is to continue unabated. Soon enough the enemy will return and without holiness the plight of the new believer will end up worse than it was prior to conversion.

²⁴"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' ²⁵When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first." (Luke 11)

The reality is that because holiness is not properly understood or taught in the western Salvation Army it is therefore hardly ever experienced. By default this means that the vast majority of Salvationists in the west are undoubtedly bound by secret addictive sin. They may have periods of respite, victorious days – maybe even months of abstinence but they are not free and will always ultimately return to their sinful ways. The simple matter is that 'without holiness' consistent Christianity can't happen.

The closest that humanity has ever got to holiness without a new heart or mind is probably best illustrated in the life of the rich young ruler. Here was a man who had kept the commandments since his youth. When the disciples heard Christ dismiss his efforts as incomplete they were astounded and exclaimed 'who then can be saved'. Jesus replied 'with man this is impossible'.

In Romans 8:7-8 Paul says 'The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.'

Holiness happens when God gives us new hearts and minds in which he can (according to Ezekiel) actually move us to follow his decrees and keep his laws. Human hearts cannot follow God whereas holy hearts have a natural desire to obey.

The provision of these new faculties is (as already stated) conditional we must want a new heart, repent of all sin, renounce all that is doubtful, consecrate all that remains, believe in God's power to work the change, faithfully obey God and speak to others about what he has done.

Let me state categorically (and run the risk of being called 'judgemental' in doing so) that people who argue against holiness, or try and water it down, or refer to it as spiritual growth or gradual likeness to Jesus are without doubt slaves of sin. I say that, not in the role of judge and jury but based on simple logic. A man, who cannot swim and refuses the rope or lifebelt thrown to him because he doesn't believe in the ability of either to save him, must be drowning! If holiness is the only power that can deliver me from sin and I deny its power and authenticity then I cannot be delivered!

We need to start preaching this simple but uncomfortable message. We need to preach it with confidence. We need to preach it for the sake of those who are currently forced by sin into uncomfortable double lives where outward righteousness and inward moral poverty try to exist side by side. We must preach it because freedom from sin and full consecration are conditions of revival. We must preach it because only the 'fully saved' can be used to 'fully save' others. We must preach it because it is our God-given denominational witness to the church universal. We must preach it if our claim to be a holiness movement is going to retain any shred of integrity. We must preach it because 'without holiness none shall see the Lord!'

If we fail to preach it and live it we will, both as individuals in an eternal sense and collectively as an Army, die!

I bring my all to Jesus; he hath seen

How my soul desireth to be clean.

Nothing from his altar I withhold

When his cross of suffering I behold;

And the fire descending brings to me

Liberty.

Herbert Howard Booth

Grace and peace, A

One way!

2009-06-06T15:17:00.001Z

Thursday evening I had twenty minutes to kill and that is exactly what I did – I killed them! I started playing a stupid game from 'Facebook' called 'Staries". When I clicked on the link 'add application' I could clearly hear God telling me that there were infinitely better ways I could spend 20 minutes but I ignored him. The following day I was 'obligated to defeat' and it was a lesson I mean to learn. It's time that those of us who dare to call ourselves Salvationists stopped pussy-footing around and began to preach the glorious holiness heritage that is ours without hesitation, compromise or apology!

The surrender of one's all means exactly what it says – "all"!

Below are a few quotes from the 1923 edition of the Doctrine Book – the meaning of the text is unequivocal!

"The bestowal of entire sanctification, as with every other gift of God's grace, is conditional — it depends upon the whole-hearted co-operation of the person to be benefited… It is but reasonable that seekers after Holiness should completely renounce everything wrong or doubtful. God could only rightly bestow so great a blessing upon those who separate themselves from all that is opposed to Him... By consecration a man once again yields himself fully to God to live only to please Him. Consecration to God must be both entire and real. To be entire it must include the body, with all its members and powers; the mind, with all its faculties; the heart, with all its capacities; also goods, money, family, influence, reputation, time, ability, life, indeed everything. To be real it must be not in imagination or sentiment merely, but everything must henceforth actually be used as belonging to God and not to ourselves."

On April 27^th 2006 God revealed to me a plan for my life. On May 2^nd of the same year, after prayer and consultation, I both published this 'manifesto' and pledged myself to it. I included the manifesto in an article published in the Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 43 (June 2006). This was round about the same time that I received a letter from The Salvation Army welcoming me back into Officership. However, by September 2006 I was already confessing (on this blog) my failure to stick to the promises within that divinely revealed plan. A further acknowledgement of disobedience followed in November 2006. On Good Friday 2007 I was still publically admitting my failure to adopt the lifestyle I felt God was demanding of me. On June 5^th 2007 I published a posting on my blog called 'Have I grieved thee with an ill kept vow?' in which I criticized Soldiers and Officers who deliberately break their covenants by publically doubting our doctrines and reinstating formal sacraments into Salvation Army meetings. An anonymous comment on that posting reprimanded me in the following way:

"Andrew your holiness manifesto states that it is "an extension of my Articles of War, and is from now on a sacred part of my Salvationist covenant." Yet you have admitted previously that you have not fully complied with its contents. Therefore have you broken your covenant to the Salvation Army and God? You seem so quick to condemn others simply for questioning certain beliefs and practices peculiar to this denomination... Perhaps those that hang on to legalism are the problem."

I must admit that my problem in being true to this manifesto was 60% disobedience and 40% doubt as to whether the demands I was placing upon myself were actually from God or simply the production of that sometimes overwhelming desire to 'self-harm' which is present in the hearts and minds of primitive Salvationists. On June I responded with the comment "like all Salvationists and Officers there have been (and undoubtedly will be) times when I fall short of the promises contained in my covenants but there is a difference between failing, repenting then re-consecrating and deliberately breaking a promise because you think it is no longer valid or because you think the promise is wrong but do not have the courage to renounce it."

On March 14^th 2008 yet more public confession appeared with the comment "sadly, I have fallen well short of my self-imposed standards..." but this was followed by the statement "the conviction that created those resolutions has not gone away but intensified." Then last November I posted the following "May God forgive me for the length of time I have spent prevaricating over this clear and concise call. Talk about vacillating – my life - since receiving this call, has been a rollercoaster of commitment, obedience and victory followed by the plummeting and hellish compromise that is always the ultimate consequence of disobedience. I have lost count of the number of times I have blogged about being 'in a corner'!"

Finally – and it has to be finally (MUST be finally) I concede defeat – holiness must be the surrender of everything – every penny and every minute - even the odd twenty minutes we find here and there. Indeed I am now absolutely convinced that it is our reluctance to renounce the doubtful things, the little almost unnoticeable things that is the cause of our constant defeat.

I'm going to republish my original manifesto here and once more publically declare my intent to live my life this way. For me this is the only way to go.

My Holiness Manifesto

I believe that the following lifestyle manifesto is a gift from God, it is not an attempt to earn God's blessing but is a response to blessings already received, it is not an attempt to win 'salvation by works' it is a commitment to see God's words reflected in my actions. This manifesto is an extension of my Articles of War, and is from now on a sacred part of my Salvationist covenant. I would encourage others to sign up.

As long as people are hungry I will only eat the minimum required to remain healthy.
As long as people go thirsty I will only drink water.
I will not waste or mince my words while there are people who remain deaf to God's word.
I will not abuse my freedom in Christ but will use it to release those who are bound by sin and addiction.
In a world of increasing leisure and dubious entertainment I surrender all my spare time to God to reach the distracted.
In a world of increasing materialism and consumerism I will embrace poverty (as much as I practically can) and surrender my money to God to reach the dissatisfied and sell all personal possessions which are not essential to my mission.
In a fragmented world of broken relationships, where individuals are increasingly marginalised, I will not forget my own family in my enthusiastic efforts to welcome the excluded.
I will remember that rest is a command and obey it even though to do so is against the grain.
In an environment damaged through the apathy of greedy industry and lazy humanity I will use the minimum of both natural resources and energy. Practically, I will wash only with cold water, walk (where possible instead of drive) and where I can travel by public transport.
In a world of political, economic and social oppression I will fight for social justice, champion the cause of the forgotten and bring those out of sight into mind. I will make myself aware of, and join in, campaigns for social justice, I will use any purchasing power that comes my way to shop ethically.
In a world of political correctness and Christian hypocrisy I will hate and oppose the sin but adamantly refuse to hate the sinner - I will love the unloved as Christ loves me.
I am a resource in God's hands made freely available for him to spend as he wishes. I give myself totally and without any reservation to God and the Salvation War.
I am dead long live Jesus!

What about everyone else..?

Well your commitment might look different to mine but whatever it looks like it must include everything – especially the little things. If it doesn't then let me assure you that you will be 'obligated to defeat'. We cannot hide the 'devoted things' among our own possessions and expect the result to be holiness. Holiness demands all that's why it's called entire consecration.

Thanks to those who have stuck by me and prayed for me during this three year struggle I am so grateful.

Now let's go to war!

Yours irrepressibly under Christ and over the devil.

Grace and peace, A

El Ejército de Salvación

2009-06-04T19:50:00.006Z

I was just wandering through You Tube searching under 'Salvation Army' when I came across several clips placed by a site called 'Radical Salvation'. The site is a real tonic and the Corps Folk at Bronx Tremont must be some of the most passionate Salvationists in the west.

We could do with some of this passion and urgency here in the UK.

Check out some of the videos on You tube as well – especially the Easter open-air meeting – I want to go to the Bronx!!!

Thank you Capitanos Gerardo and Monica Balmori for your inspirational ministry and committed Salvationism!

God give the western Salvation Army a double dose of the spirit of Bronx Tremont – Hallelujah!

Dios te Bendiga!

PS You need a fast connection, lots of bandwidth and a powerful processor - this is a media heavy site!

Grace and Peace, A

Happy Birthday Church!

2009-05-31T20:36:00.005Z

What a fantastic Pentecost!

I woke up this morning with the refrain running through my head "somebody prayed for me" and I really sensed that someone somewhere around the world was doing just that – praying for me! The thought absolutely blew me away – someone, somewhere was going to the throne of grace and asking God to give me power! Thank you Jesus for intercession!

Then this morning I preached on the word 'one' – the disciples were of one mind in one place with one vision and objective. Yet in spite of their unity and their singularity of thought they were still one big mess of weakness, fear, doubt and self loathing. However it is in 'the moment of my weakness when my need for power is great... that the Holy Spirit hears my prayer!" Hallelujah. God visited us with power, there were four seekers and the Mercy Seat was bathed in tears of repentance and consecration.

Then tonight we went to the enrolment of Brother Kyle (he's the guy in the picture). Kyle's a new convert who came to Christ simply because his RE teacher invited him to the Army. Kyle, in his testimony, gave us a brilliant definition of holiness (especially from the lips of a babe in Christ) when he said he didn't just want to come to God during the high times or even just in the low times but that he wanted to give God all the stuff in between – fantastic!

It made me think of the Message's rendition of Romans 12:

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him."

Kyle has God's anointing all over him and I'm certain one day he will have red epaulettes on that brand new uniform of his.

Again God came with power and the Mercy Seat was lined with seekers (I lost count!) Among the seekers was a College friend of Kyle's she got saved tonight after she'd been fished by Xander! Praise God!

Brothers and Sisters God is moving, fasten your seatbelts revival is brewing in the west.

Grace and Peace, A

P.S. When the meeting concluded the soldiers brought out coffee, tea and Krispy Kreme Donuts :-)

Holiness, liars, lunatics and Lords!

2009-05-24T18:57:00.005Z

I've almost finished reading (again) the first volume of the official history of The Salvation Army by Robert Sandal when I came across the following quote. It's taken from the Christian Mission Conference Minutes 1877 (although still The Christian Mission the annual conference had already by then been renamed 'Council of War'.)

"Holiness to the Lord is to us a fundamental truth; it stands to the forefront of our doctrines. We write it on our banners. It is in no shape or form an open debatable question as to whether God can sanctify wholly, whether Jesus does save His people from their sins. In the estimation of the Christian Mission that is settled forever, and any evangelist who did not hold and proclaim the ability of Jesus Christ to save His people to the uttermost from sin and sinning I should consider out of place amongst us." (Volume 1 Page 209)

It's 7pm and I've cycled down to the hall for a time of prayer. This need for prayer was brought on by the realisation that had I been around in 1877 I wouldn't have qualified for the role of Evangelist in The Christian Mission!

Of course I believe in holiness... let me explain.

We've been doing 'SA 1010' at Dartford and last Wednesday evening we considered among other things C.S. Lewis's 'Christian Trilemma' that basically says:

Jesus claimed that he was God. If his claim wasn't true then either he lied or he was mad. However, if it is true then he is Lord! We only have three options – he is either liar, lunatic or Lord?

In the discussion during the session I took Lewis's logic a step further – if we say he is Lord and yet deliberately disobey him then we must be either liars or lunatics.

You see once we have settled the question of his Lordship then absolute unadulterated surrender must follow.

So I come back to the quote above – yes of course I believe in holiness but does my lifestyle prove my belief? I know the answer to that and it is a resounding no! So unless I want to go down in history as either a lunatic or a liar something has got to change!

I brought Booth's "Ladder to Holiness" to the hall with me and have just gone through it (again) during my prayer time. The corner I often seem to find myself in is getting tighter and tighter – I am like a pot-holer I can only go forward. I either wriggle on or I die a lonely death 20 meters beneath the surface!

To be honest I can't really see any other way to go?

So...once more...

"My all is in the Master's hands
For him to bless and break;
Beyond the brook his winepress stands
And thence my way I take,
Resolved the whole of love's demands
To give, for his dear sake."

Grace and peace, A

Holiness and justice...

2009-05-19T20:14:00.007Z

I've been reading Strickland and Robert's 'Just Imagine' it's a challenging read and one I would heartily recommend. Those of us who are Salvationists in the overweight West need to read a book like this at least once a month. The last time I felt a book shake me up like this was when I read 'Be a hero' by Court and Campbell.

The biggest risk we run in the west is that Satan will lull us into becoming complacent, apathetic and lazy - people who have become deliberately blind and deaf to the truth. Although somewhere in the back of our minds and at the bottom of our hearts we will be aware that things like hunger, poverty and injustice run rife they'll be buried between so much obsolete evangelical ephemera we won't hear the cries or see the tears of those we're called to redeem.

The thing that hit me today as I was reading was the link between justice and holiness. Sometimes God gives me an order and I see it as a call to righteousness. For example 'don't drink coffee' - because the command is seen as a holiness issue my conscience spends years debating the reasonableness of the request as I question whether it actually came from God in the first place or from that streak of ascetic self harm which runs through many primitive Salvationists!

Today the penny dropped as I realised that sometimes the command to alter our lifestyle is actually a call not to righteousness but to justice – the command isn't 'don't drink coffee because drinking coffee is a waste of money and worldly' the command is actually 'don't drink coffee because most coffee is harvested by slaves!' Strickland and Robert's make the point that in scripture the word justice and righteousness are often synonymous.

So I think I'll have to revisit that list of outstanding commands I have in my internal spiritual pending tray and instead of assessing them on the basis of their 'reasonableness' look to see if there is actually a link to justice.

As I type another example immediately springs to mind – is it unreasonable to give up watching football? Probably, at the end of the day we have to be 'in the world but not of it' and the last thing God wants us to become is miserable, self-righteous, kill-joys.

But then looking at the matter from a social justice perspective – how many teams are sponsored by breweries or casinos? How much money is gambled on football every week? How many wives and children are at this very moment suffering because the man of the house has gambled this week's house-keeping on the outcome of some fierce relegation battle? During the last World Cup Germany actually erected hundreds of 'legal' brothels close to football grounds in order to service the demands of men attending games. How many of the prostituted people who 'worked' in these brothels were trafficked or forced into such service against their will?

Holiness is much more than just an issue of self denial, indeed it is more than just a commitment to a simple lifestyle it is about living a life where my impact on the misery of others is minimised to the greatest extent possible. It's a life where the clothes I wear, the food I eat, the way (and distance) I travel, the place I bank, the shoes I wear, the hot drinks I consume are only enjoyed where that enjoyment is not funded by someone else's misery.

Righteousness and justice are the hallmarks of genuine holiness and without genuine holiness 'none shall see the Lord!'

Except I am moved with compassion,
How dwelleth thy Spirit in me?
In word and in deed burning love is my need,
I know I can find this in thee.

Orsborn (SASB527)

Grace and peace, A

Write it on your banners; get it on your knees!

2009-05-13T15:57:00.001Z

I've been in hospital since Sunday with my youngest daughter, Bethany (she's home now) which has given me the chance to catch up with some outstanding projects. I have been trying to update the text from Railton's 'Heathen England' into contemporary English.

Xander recently returned from 'Fullness' a UK prayer and fasting retreat (Carol and Alan Young were also there). Before Xander had gone away we had been discussing the inescapable relevance of prayer to any truly successful ministry, obviously his weekend away simply confirmed this truth.

When we consider the early success of the Army it is all too easy to play down the significance of 'all nights of prayer', the following (updated) quote from Heathen England confirms this truth.

"In connection with these Councils, Nights of Prayer have also been held, attended by hundreds of people whose secular employment prevents them from spending long hours in prayer during the day. It is these Nights of Prayer, perhaps more than anything else that has united us in belief and purpose and empowered that holiness which is essential to our existence. If the Army were to develop an enthusiasm for anything other than holiness and living God's way, it would sadly become either fanatical or worldly. But everywhere these "All Nights" have tested the mettle of our teaching and practice and have given rise to one united testimony to the power of holiness which can be heard throughout the whole country. This has resulted in spiritual benefits that just can't be calculated. In spite of cruel reports to the contrary not one single person has been harmed by these nights of intense prayer."

"Write it on your banners; get it on your knees – victory, victory, victory!"

Grace and peace, A

Happy Spiritual Birthday!

2009-05-08T00:01:00.000Z

Today is my spiritual birthday! 15 years ago on the 8^th May I was delivered from demonic oppression and fully baptised in the Spirit of God. When I look back on those early days of my new life they seem almost fictional rather than factual.

There was a natural hunger within for me God and 'with eyes wide open' to his mercies it wasn't difficult to 'present my life a living sacrifice' – indeed full consecration seemed the most natural thing to do!

The impact of my conversion upon my Corps was profound. I was the first of many who were saved and sanctified as a result of what became known as the 'Strood refreshing'!

The last 15 years has been a series of ups and downs, victory and defeat, success and failure. There haven't really been any grey moments in that whole fifteen years – I've either been an on-fire Pentecostal covenanted warrior or a rampant backslider!

If I draw a timeline of those 15 years then it becomes very clear that the high points coincide with those times when my commitment followed God's line rather than my own.

As I blogged yesterday, I am resolved to do things on God's terms however eccentric those terms might appear.

When I was saved I was given the following verses from Judges: ""The LORD is with you, mighty warrior... Go in the strength you have and slay the Midianites. Am I not sending you? "

Perhaps I may be from the smallest clan and the least member of it, maybe I have been threshing grain in a wine vat fearful of my enemies, maybe the sheep around here run whenever I approach (fearful that I might need just one more fleece) but none of that matters for God is sending me and the battle is his!

Happy Birthday to me! Thank you Jesus!

Grace and peace, A

Complacency, carelessness and confession!

2009-05-06T22:15:00.002Z

It's probably a dangerous thing to write a blog like the one I'm about to write late at night! However, morning, noon or night I have never been the sort of person who hides his heart away but one who prefers to wear it on his sleeve.

I am disappointed and angry with myself.

I have become complacent and maybe even a little lazy of late. I have become careless and allowed my weapons and armour to get rusty. My devotional disciplines have been slack – in short I have allowed "the world to squeeze me into its own mould."

The difficulty that I have is that contemporary Christianity and in particular the approach and lifestyle of contemporary Christians lulls me into a false sense of security and distracts me from my own understanding of the 'way of holiness'.

Sometimes the path down which I think God wants to lead me seems unnecessarily harsh when compared to paths walked by other people obviously more righteous than I am! The lifestyle I feel drawn to seems unrealistic (maybe even unnecessary) in 2009.

However, scripture encourages us to "work out our own salvation in fear and trembling' not each other's!

The requirements of holiness are (to my mind) unequivocal – the surrender of all things doubtful as well as all things sinful. Others may not feel the same, their understanding of holiness might be quite different from mine but at the judgement bar I will only be required to answer for myself.

So it's a couple of hasty steps back from the precipice of dangerous failure into the arms of holiness once more.

I must, from now on, keep my eyes fixed on Jesus – he is my benchmark, my teacher, comforter, healer and Lord and I will follow him!

Under the circumstances I couldn't help but be drawn to the following verses from Hebrews 12:

"let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

⁴In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
⁶because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

⁷Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? ⁸If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. ⁹Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! ¹⁰Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

¹²Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ¹³"Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."

Grace and peace, A

The smallest of beginnings…

2009-05-04T16:18:00.004Z

I've decided to read through the official history of The Salvation Army again, I'd forgotten how gripping these books actually are.

The following quote is just crying out to be blogged!

Written by William Booth in 1865 round about the time he had just agreed to preach in the tent meetings in Whitechapel:

"We have no very definite plans. We shall be guided by the Holy Spirit. At present, we desire to be able to hold consecutive services for the purpose of bringing souls to Christ in different localities of the East of London every night all the year round. We propose holding these meetings in halls, theatres, chapels, tents, the open-air and elsewhere as the way may be opened or we seem likely to attain the end we have in view. We purpose to watch over and visit personally those brought to Christ, either guiding them to communion with adjacent and sympathetic churches or ourselves nursing them and training them to active labour."

A couple of weeks before he wrote this William was about to leave London for an evangelistic tour of Derby. Had he gone to Derby then the Army may never have come into being. However, that's not the point I want to make.

Look at Booth's vision – what was it that he was hoping to do? He was going to preach to the lost in the east end of London, disciple them, link them up with local churches and possibly employ them as evangelists, that was it – yet look at what grew out of that simple plan.

In truth, he had no plan, no vision, and no hope beyond a humble attempt to meet the demands of the 'great commission'.

As I return to active service tomorrow (following a public holiday) I don't have to come up with a strategy or a mission development plan all I need to do is to "be guided by the Holy Spirit… hold consecutive services for the purpose of bringing souls to Christ…in halls, theatres, chapels, tents, the open-air and elsewhere as the way may be opened … watch over and visit personally those brought to Christ… training them to active labour." If I do that and encourage my people to do the same then within 2 decades Dartford Corps ought to be opening up its first overseas outpost!

Grace and peace, A

The Jesuit Examen

2009-04-25T14:57:00.001Z

I came across this the other day and found it both challenging and helpful. It made me realise how lopsided my Christianity is and how much more time I need to devote to be in the presence of God.

The Examen of Consciousness

This is a prayer where we try to find the movement of the Spirit in our daily lives as we reflect on our day. This prayer can be made anywhere: on the beach, in a car, at home, in the library. Many people make the Examen twice daily: once around lunchtime and again before going to bed. There are five simple steps to the Examen, which should take 10-15 minutes to complete, and what follows is just one interpretation of these five steps in discerning the movement of God's Spirit in your day. Through this method of praying you can grow in a sense of self and the Source of self; you can become more sensitive to your own spirit with its longings, its powers, its Source; you will develop an openness to receive the supports that God offers.

Before you start: Try to be in a place where you are least likely to be disturbed, and where there is the least amount of external noise. Perhaps you might light a candle or change the lighting when you pray to symbolise the start of this activity. Sit comfortably and still yourself; relax, be aware of your breathing, your body and how you are feeling.

1. Recall that you are in the presence of God. No matter where you are, hilltop or valley, country or city, in a crowd or alone, you are a creature in the midst of creation. As you quiet yourself, become aware that God is present within you, in the creation that surrounds you, in your body, in those around you. The Creator who brought you forth into being is concerned for you. The Spirit of God, sent by Christ, will remind you that you are gifted to help bring creation to its fullness. Ask the Holy Spirit to let you look on all you see with love. "Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; ... it does not rejoice at wrong but rejoices in the right ... Love hopes all things." (1 Cor.)

2. Spend a moment looking over your day with gratitude for this day's gifts. Be concrete and let special moments or pleasures spring to mind! Recall the smell of your morning coffee, the taste of something good that you ate, the laugh of a child, the fragrance of a flower, the smile brought forth by a kind word, a lesson that you learned. Take stock of what you received and what you gave. Give thanks to God for favours received. Also look at your permanent gifts that allow your participation in this day. Recall your particular strengths in times of difficulty, your ability to hope in times of weakness, your sense of humour and your life of faith, your intelligence and health, your family and friends. God the Father gives you these to draw you into the fullness of life. As you move through the details of your day, give thanks to God for His presence in the big and the small things of your life.

3. Ask God to send you His Holy Spirit to help you look at your actions and attitudes and motives with honesty and patience. "When the Spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13) The Holy Spirit inspires you to see with growing freedom the development of your life story. The Spirit gives a freedom to look at ourselves without condemnation and without complacency and thus be open to growth. Ask that you will learn and grow as you reflect, thus deepening your knowledge of self and your relationship with God.

4. Now review your day. This is the longest of the steps. Recall the events of your day; explore the context of your actions. Search for the internal movements of your heart and your interaction with what was before you. Ask what you were involved in and who you were with, and review your hopes and hesitations. Many situations will show that your heart was divided—wavering between helping and disregarding, scoffing and encouraging, listening and ignoring, rebuking and forgiving, speaking and silence, neglecting and thanking. Remember, this is not a time to dwell on your shortcomings; rather, it is a gentle look with the Lord at how you have responded to God's gifts. It is an opportunity for growth of self and deepening your relationship with God. Notice where you acted freely—picking a particular course of action from the possibilities you saw. See where you were swept along without freedom. What reactions helped or hindered you? See where Christ entered your decisions and where you might have paused to receive His influence. "Test yourselves," St. Paul urges, "to see whether you are living in faith; examine yourselves. Perhaps you yourselves do not realize that Christ Jesus is in you." (2 Cor.) His influence comes through His people, the Body of Christ. His influence comes through Scripture, the Word of God. Now, as you pray, Christ's spirit will help you know His presence and concern. As you daily and prayerfully explore the mystery of yourself in the midst of your actions you will grow more familiar with your own spirit and become more aware of the promptings of God's Spirit within you. Allow God to speak, challenge, encourage and teach you. Thus you will come to know that Christ is with you. Christ will continually invite you to love your neighbour as yourself and strengthen you to do this.

5. The final step is our heart-to-heart talk with Jesus. Here you speak with Jesus about your day. You share your thoughts on your actions, attitudes, feelings and interactions. Perhaps during this time you may feel led to seek forgiveness, ask for direction, share a concern, express gratitude, etc. Having reviewed this day of your life, look upon yourself with compassion and see your need for God and try to realize God's manifestations of concern for you. Express sorrow for sin, the obscuring darkness that surrounds us all, and especially ask forgiveness for the times you resisted God's light today. Give thanks for grace, the enlightening presence of God, and especially praise God for the times you responded in ways that allowed you to better see God's life. Resolve with Jesus to move forward in action where appropriate. You might like to finish your time with the Lords Prayer.