The Great Commission(ing)

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...

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

Life, love and death...

Tracey’s Mum is dying in hospital. Promotion to glory is probably hours away rather than days. Although she has been unwell for some time the end, as is so often the case, has come somewhat suddenly. The whole situation has set a series of confusing and complicated thoughts racing through my mind. Partly because I will miss Lola, partly because it is distressing to see Tracey upset and partly because the 25 year anniversary of my brother’s death was only 3 days ago.

If it was me lying in bed surrounded by angels eager to lift me to heaven what would I be thinking? I can only assume that God in his mercy encourages the dying to look forward rather than back if heaven is, as the bible says, a tearless place. However, in those brief momentary lapses when I would slip back into the physical realm I imagine that regret would be my principle thought. The things I hadn’t done, said, sacrificed, achieved or completed would fill my mind.

Tracey’s Mum passed away as I was typing these words – I’ve just had a phone call. She died at 10:20pm.

Death focuses the mind in a way that nothing else can. It forces us to review our own priorities and demands that we put our own house in order. It asks the question and insists upon an answer – what matters most?

It is not what I do or say, it is not what I surrender or embrace – it is about where I am - for it is only by abiding in Christ that I can be certain that my life meets with the Father’s approval. To love God with all my heart is all that matters.

Usually, Albert Osborn, Herbert Booth, John Gowans or Charles Wesley has a word for such occasions – in this case the prize goes to Osborn:

I must love thee, love must rule me,
Springing up and flowing forth
From a childlike heart within me,
Or my work is nothing worth.
Love with passion and with patience,
Love with principle and fire,
Love with heart and mind and utterance,
Serving Christ my one desire.

All that matters is the quality and quantity of time I spend in God’s presence – externals are unimportant it is the transactions that take place within that matter not those that occur without. It is only when we truly love God that we can even begin to obey his commandments.

May God forgive me for trying to build a kind of ‘bolt on’ Christianity and may he help me to draw closer to him, to die to self, to live life abundantly and to act in full accordance with his will motivated and empowered by nothing other than his love.

Grace and peace, A.