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

Free taster 2...

"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

So here it is...

Gifts!

What do we do with them? Love them, loathe them, exchange them, treasure them... give them away again as a gift to someone else?

What makes for a perfect gift?

The quality of a gift depends upon three key factors:

How well does the giver know us?

How much does the giver love us?

What resources does the giver have at their disposal?

A combination of perfect knowledge, absolute love and unlimited resources results in the gift of all gifts!

Psalm 139

¹ O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

² You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

⁵ You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

Romans 5

⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Ephesians 3

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Infinite knowledge, infinite love and infinite resources – the incarnation – the gift of all gifts!

Have an excessively happy Christmas and a peaceful and successful New Year.

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.

The waiting game...

The dilemma over holiness continues...

Is it hardcore asceticism that drinks only water and has a cold shower every morning? Or is it a celebration of freedom in Christ that knocks back black coffee and indulges in every, and ‘all good gifts around us’?

I want to get it right because holiness matters and the outcome of this inner debate will determine what I preach for the rest of my life.

Contrast Paul’s advice to the Corinthians with John’s words in his first letter;

“If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If you love the world, love for the Father is not in you. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful people, the lust of their eyes and their boasting about what they have and do—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

Of course holiness ought to be joyful and obvious celebration of ‘life in all its fullness’ but the mantle of a prophet brings with it a ‘fasted lifestyle’ that seems eccentric to all, other than the Holy Spirit who motivates it.

There’s the rub! Holiness has to be motivated by God. Holiness is what Finney called ‘disinterested benevolence’ what Wesley called ‘perfect love’. Holiness has got nothing whatsoever to do with what I do - but everything to do with what I allow God to do in and through me.

Holiness is a reflection of God’s love; it is ‘Christ in me the hope of Glory’! If Christ in me wants to drink coffee and go to the occasional football game that’s his prerogative – on the other hand if he wants to shower in cold water and eat dry bread so be it!

I need to follow the instruction he gave to the apostles following the resurrection and simply ‘wait’. It is in the waiting, in the ‘hiding’, in 'the secret of his presence' that holiness truly begins!

Lord come and educate
And teach my keen desire
That only where souls learn to wait
Falls Pentecostal fire.

If I would see the way
Where you would have me walk
Then I must when I kneel to pray
Allow you time to talk.

Revival shall be mine
In strict proportion to
The sum and quality of time
I spend alone with you.

Your word oh Lord is clear
The sentiment so plain.
If we would see and know you near
Then still we must remain.

The shells that God employs
To force his foes to ground
Though packed with loud and happy noise
Are fired without a sound.

Love and prayers - A

The 8th of the 8th 2008!

There was no alarm clock to rouse me this morning – we’re on holiday. I woke when I woke, had a shower and drove the few miles to Whitstable. I parked the car in the harbour car park at 8:08!

There’s a lovely little coffee shop at the end of the High Street and it seemed appropriate to start this particular quiet time here in the temple of one of my addictions.

There was a great deal to consider as I submitted today’s entry for ‘The Salvation Soldier’s Guide’ and the following verses (all found in today’s reading) held particular significance.

First 2 Samuel 23:5

“Is not my house right with God?
Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant,
arranged and secured in every part?
Will he not bring to fruition my salvation
and grant me my every desire?”

Then 1 Chronicles 22:11-13

"Now, my son, the LORD be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as he said you would. May the LORD give you discretion and understanding when he puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the LORD your God. Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the LORD gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

Then, perhaps most significant of all I the light of what Finney has to say about holiness -

"My will be swallowed up in Thee;
Light in Thy light still may I see
In Thine unclouded face.
Called the full strength of trust to prove.
Let all my quickened heart be love,
My spotless life be praise."

During this period of quiet reflection it seemed appropriate to read Romans 8.

How can a Christian refuse the validity and (therefore) justified claims of holiness when faced with this chapter?

Verse 8 seems to take the necessity for holiness beyond debate to anyone who wants to be useful to God – “Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”

I definitely want to ‘please God’ - it is (as it should be for all Salvationists) my raison d’être. Finney has helped me enormously this week and I believe that thanks to him I now fully understand what needs to be done.

‘Christian perfection’ happens when Christians experience and respond to the love of God. This response must be what Finney calls ‘disinterested benevolence’ – that is love which is given naturally with no thought about what it costs us or what potential blessing it might deliver. This is proper Christian love, it results in a life naturally focussed on God and his desires without room for any other consideration. It is only love like this that can enable us to give up all that is ‘sinful and doubtful’ and devote all that remains to God.

There is a struggle associated with the attainment of holiness, however this fight should not be with the minutiae of our consecration – holiness doesn’t begin with a comprehensive list of those things we must give up. Our struggle must be the struggle that Christ had in Gethsemane. This battle must centre on our will and the will of our Father in heaven.

The ultimate question every believer must answer is who am I going to serve? Who am I going to obey? This is the issue that determined whether Calvary went ahead or not and this is the issue that Paul devotes so much time to in his letter to the Romans.

What then does God expect of us? What standard of behaviour is he hoping to see in our lives? ‘If you love me’ says Jesus ‘you will obey my commandments’. It is loving that matters most, love involves the heart and it is within our hearts that our motives and desires are born – “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.’

How do I know if my love is genuine? The answer is simple - If I obey then I love, love and obedience are inextricably linked. Where can I find such love? The answer must always be in our own Gethsemane. Seekers after holiness are still required to go ‘beyond the brook’; for it is only here that ‘the whole of love’s demands’ can be resolved.

Today will prove to be a significant day because I choose to make it so, if I employ my will to meet God full on and in that encounter declare my complete love for him then holiness (and all it promises to give to me, my family and Dartford) will be mine.

Will this happen on the 8th of the 8th 2008?

I see no reason why not – watch this space :-)

Much love and prayers A